The Steampunk Princess' Notebook

Notes from a cherry blossom miko who also works part time in an imaginary steam world far away...

[flowermikonotebook]

Saint Seiya: Dark Wing - Vol. 1 English Release Review

There’s a lot of things I’ve been a fan of over the years. Fan of all things, master of none, but there’s plenty of things that never really caught my attention. One of them? “Isekai” – yes, that notion of getting transported to another world. As avid of a “Saint Seiya” as I am, when the spin-off “Saint Seiya: Dark Wing” came out in Japan in December of 2020, it really didn’t interest me at all and just seemed very confusing in regard to what it was about.

Fast forward to March 2025, and we find ourselves with the completely “out-of-left-field” announcement that Titan Manga was going to publish the series in English. Could perhaps a very well-done official English translation of this work change my mind about giving it a chance? The answer is YES.

The cover of "Saint Seiya Dark Wing" Vol. 1 English release by Titan Manga

“Saint Seiya: Dark Wing” is an isekai spin-off off the classic shonen manga “Saint Seiya” by Masami Kurumada. In this spin-off, an ordinary high school student, Shōichirō, awakens in the land of the dead after a cruise accident, only to discover he's become a powerful Specter, a soldier of the god of the underworld, Hades, and one of the three Underworld Judges. Conflict ensues when Shōichirō is tasked with eliminating the goddess of war, only to discover that his childhood friend, Cattleya, is the reincarnated goddess Athena. Plus, his twin brother, Sōjirō, is the Gemini Saint, one of Athena’s elite golden warriors that protects her. This sets the stage for complex relationships where friends and classmates are on opposing sides of the eternal battle between the gods.

The amount of ‘Seiya’ mangas releases in English have been less than a limited handful, given the franchise’s complex history in English-speaking territories (and in particular in the USA). It begs the question: “Could this be the one that ‘breaks the curse’ and establishes a fanbase with solid footing?”

One of the challenges any franchise spin-off has is being able to appeal to both new and long-established fans already familiar with the lore and concept of a given series. ‘Dark Wing’ absolutely has the potential to introduce and invite brand new readers into the ‘Seiyaverse’ and also indulge long-time fans while remaining its own unique story.

Regarding concerns of “AI” possibly being used for translation, rest assured this has not been the case. On the cover page for the first chapter, we have two translators credited: “Motoko Tamamuro” and “Jonathan Clements”, who previously worked together writing “The Dorama Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese TV Drama Since 1953.”

The translators that worked on Dark Wing vol. 1: Motoko Tamamuro and Jonathan Clements

The translators have done an incredible job of adapting the story into English that flows and reads naturally and is not “stiff”—not once did I ever feel I had to re-read a speech bubble because I had to stop and think about what was being said.

It did, however, stand out to me that the word cloth was used to refer to Specter armors instead of surplice, the term Masami Kurumada specifically gives as the name for Specter’s battle garments. However, considering this volume is the introduction to the story, I can see the train of thought behind the word choice: Had I’d been reading this with no prior knowledge of the series, surplice would have confused me (and if you look up the actual meaning, it makes even less sense). Arguably, the same could be said for having used cloth. Personally, I would have chosen to use armor as a generic term, but one word choice doesn’t take away from the translation as a whole.

As of the first volume, it’s unclear whether or not the characters have truly been “isekaid” or if there’s some sort of “reverse isekai” mechanism at work, making the story all the more intriguing. It’s intentional that the story is somewhat vague in the first volume. We are meant to discover how things will unfold in volumes to come—it’s part of what gets the reader hooked. The cliff hanger we’re left at the end of book certainly delivers that.

I now have a much clearer picture of what is the story about, and the delivery of a very well cared-for translation has completely changed my mind regarding ‘Dark Wing’. I find myself left fully invested on wanting to know “what will happen next?” Needless to say, I am completely sold on this manga. I cannot wait to read volume 2 when it comes out in December of this year (2025).

A funny out of context panel from vol. 1, showing the story takes place in the era of smart phones.

I’m truly grateful to Titan Manga for picking up and localizing “Saint Seiya: Dark Wing”. It gives the opportunity to fans not only in the USA, but also Canada, the U.K., SEA, Australia and other regions around the world that rely on English translations of works in order to enjoy them. My sincere hope is that this is just the beginning of a future where more Saint Seiya and Masami Kurumada works are made available in English to serve the fans that have long been waiting for these works.

A review copy was kindly provided by Titan Manga. All opinions on this review are completely my own. Don’t forget to check us out, the Saint Seiya Cosmocast podcast! Be sure to check out our latest episode. We're holding a giveaway of TWO copies of Saint Seiya Dark Wing vol. 1, courtesy of Titan Manga!

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Interview with Jérôme Alquie and Arnaud Dollen from Saint Seiya - Time Odyssey

Thank you to everyone that submitted a question! As promised, the text version of the Saint Seiya Cosmocast's interview with the duo behind Time Odyssey, courtesy of Ablaze Publishing.

For the audio version with our commentary, please check out episode 45 of our podcast at the Cosmocast's official page! You can also listen to it on the multiple platforms listed on the website.

Disclaimer: Questions and answers were edited for the purposes of clarity. All questions were directed to both Jérôme and Arnaud.

1. From Albiore Caballero Argentino:

“How does it feel to be the first non-Japanese artists to publish an official Saint Seiya work? How has the reception been? Do you think there will be more western Saint Seiya artists in the future?”

First of all, it's a great honor to officially work on such an iconic license from the 80s, a series that we dreamed of as children. But it’s also a great responsibility because we have to give our best in carrying out our work so that our first reader, Kurumada-sensei, is as satisfied as possible with it.

The fan reception has been particularly positive, and everyone recognizes the great respect we have for the original work while enlarging the extended universe by exploiting parts left in the shadows by Kurumada-sensei.

We don't know if other Western artists will be allowed to do the same in the future, but we hope so, as long as it respects the sensei's work. Respect is the essential element of any project, if only because it respects the fans as well.

2. From Juni-Anker:

“How did you decide what graphic style to use for the comic? For example, what was behind your thought process when you decided ‘Oh! This is how I’m going to draw the characters!’”

Kurumada-sensei's style is perfectly identifiable and personal, and it’s perfectly well calibrated for the manga, including its layout. Similarly, Araki-sensei’s anime style is the one that most readers expected to find in the comic. We opted for a "compromise" between the two, while adding a pronounced personal style, to make something true to what people love while offering something different. This includes the way the eyes are drawn, the anatomy, the armor, the coloring... The graphic choice of this style required several months of testing to arrive at a version that was satisfactory for us, for Kurumada-sensei, and for the readers.

3.  From Ramses:

“Your first arc included the origins of Guilty. What were some of the difficulties in your comic when fleshing out characters already established in the franchise? Were there any objections or input from Kurumada-sensei himself, Kurumada Pro, or any of the parties involved in the creative process?"

Everything we do is validated by Kurumada-sensei. Sometimes we have carte blanche because the sensei had not planned anything in particular other than what he described in his albums, and that was the case with Guilty. Sometimes the framework is more complete, and therefore restrictive, as it is currently in volume 3.

But that's not a problem, in any case, because we always work based on what we know and always exchange ideas with Japan before developing the story fully. So, we know beforehand how much freedom we have and what framework we have to respect.

4. From Gryphy18:

“In the original series, Guilty was only a minor character to spur on Ikki’s growth. What was the inspiration behind giving him an extended backstory? I liked how Guilty was given more of a reason behind acting the way he did and making him feel like a more sympathetic person.”

We knew that as soon as we worked on Ikki, we would refer to his weakness and guilt for letting Esmeralda die. Guilty is a strong character in the Phoenix story, as he catalyzed the character's hatred towards others.

If Ikki is consumed by hatred, there are reasons. It must be the same for Guilty. So, the idea of developing his background came very early. We gathered everything we knew about the character, information from Saint Seiya Taizen about Death Queen Island, and the mythology of the Phoenix Armor we developed, to imagine the background of Guilty, who is now called, before donning his mask, Jorge.

5. From Flowermiko:

“Multiple Saint Seiya works have hinted at or loosely mentioned the existence of Chronos: What made you want to create a story revolving around this particular god? Did you want to explore the particular character and/or the concept revolving time?”

As far as we know, Chronos, the God of Time, appears only in Next Dimension. The Cronus of Episode.G is not the same, he is the titan father of Zeus, and not the god of time.

We chose this character because we wanted a story that could take place at various points in the original work (part Sanctuary, part Poseidon, and part Hades), and this God, capable of making leaps in time, seemed to be able to allow for this desire. So it was on this basis that the story was developed, and its mythology and ambitions were built.

But we don't forget that he appears in Next Dimension and so, not only are the sensei’s original 28 volumes considered in our work, but also what happens in Next Dimension.

6. From Benjas:

“Greek mythology is the foundation for the world of Saint Seiya and Kurumada-sensei has always taken creative liberties to weave new stories that respect the original myths yet are not bound by them. What creative twists did you find the most interesting to develop while creating Time Odyssey?

Of course, Greek mythology is the basis of everything. Its richness and depth offer us an inexhaustible well of ideas and inspirations.

In Volume 1, we not only developed the background of Chronos and his ambition to become an Olympian (which is a divergence from Greek mythology), but we also revealed the three Moirai, weavers of the destiny of men. However, we also intend to work with other mythologies, as Chronos chooses his warriors from different countries and builds them armor related to their own beliefs.

Thus, the Scotsman Arctos is dressed in the armor of the kelpie in accordance with a legend from his country. The same goes for volume 2 with the exploration of Native American and Celtic mythologies. In volume 3, we will go to Inuit, Danish and especially Japanese mythologies. And from the feedback we've received from Japan, it seems that Kurumada-sensei greatly appreciates this mythological development within Time Odyssey.

7. From Seiya Kurumada:

During an interview in Spain, Arnaud Dollen hinted that there could be an animated adaptation for Time Odyssey. How likely would it be for this to happen? Would it be exclusive to Toei Animation, or would a French studio participate in this project?”

It is true that discussions and desires exist... I must admit that it would be a great accomplishment for this project. But for the moment, we're 200% focused on comics. Our job is to make the best Time Odyssey comic book possible, so we'll see what the future holds.

8. From Pollux Dioscuros:

“We know so far that Kurumada Pro has been involved in advising and answering questions during the creation process, as well as approving certain decisions. Have any of your original ideas been rejected or changed during the creative process? If so, which have those been?”

Since everything is validated by the sensei, it happens that we are not always in perfect harmony with his ideas, in which case we discuss them.

It’s happened twice that we’ve been forced to change something. In Volume 1, we had Deathmask as a subordinate to the Pope's orders, but Kurumada-sensei made it clear that he didn't see this character that way, and that, if he agreed to do what the Pope asked of him, it was because he found a real personal interest in it. This required obvious changes in his lines of dialogue.

For Volume 2, the first attack on Ophialtes was changed. In the storyboard, Seiya, Hyōga, and Shiryu rushed at him at the same time. However, Japan reminded us that, unlike the anime, the manga still only features 1-on-1 fights. It’s against the rules of chivalry to attack alongside others (except against a god), so we've changed this sequence so that only Seiya attacks.

These are the only two examples so far. There's another one in book 3, but I can't talk about it ^^!

9. From the Saint Seiya Cosmocast Hosts:

“Time Odyssey is one of the few ‘Seiya’ works that have been released in English. What do you hope this release can accomplish for the franchise in the English-speaking world?

Personally, I don't know much about Saint Seiya's life in the US, but I understand that it wasn't aired at the time of its production and that, when it aired later, some things were changed.

Every time our story is translated, we only hope for one thing: that it will please the public and make those who are not familiar with the sensei's original work want to (re)discover it by reading Kurumada-sensei's manga. We hope the same for the current release, which we know is very faithful and respectful of our own work thanks to the efforts and professionalism of the ABLAZE team, who have already shown us their great involvement in the publication of our Captain Harlock.

Bonus Questions:

10. From Seiya Kurumada:

“The comics are being released on a yearly schedule, meaning the publishing will be complete in about 5 years. Once this project is finished, will there be any other Saint Seiya sequels for ‘Time Odyssey’?”

It's a bit early to talk about it today, as the mountain of work that remains to be done between now and the end of this project is enormous!

But when I finished Captain Harlock after 4 years of work on July 31, 2020, by August 1, I was already missing him, and I wanted to redraw him. I guess it will be the same for Saint Seiya, and that I will miss the Knights of the Zodiac the day after finishing a 6-year job!

11. From SantoLibra:

“Was Guilty’s (Ikki's teacher) name and nationality decided on by you or by Kurumada-sensei?”

Of course, we were the ones who proposed it as a nod to Jorge Vasquez, the biggest Saint Seiya collector in the world. And we gave him Peruvian nationality, also Vasquez's. As far as we know, Guilty is the first Peruvian knight. Kurumada-sensei willingly accepted the name as well as the reference to the real Jorge.

Before he was Guilty of Death Queen Island, he was a knight in the service of Athena. In the bonuses, we learn that he was the Silver Knight of the Furnace. I won't present his armor there, but maybe we'll see it in another volume? Who knows^^!

12. From Albiore Caballero Argentino:

“Outside of working on ‘Time Odyssey’, do you get to talk with Kurumada-sensei and ask him other questions. For example, like what was the design of Guilty’s mask based on?”

We only talk to Kurumada-sensei about Time Odyssey and nothing else... We wouldn't allow ourselves to do that, anyway.

I sometimes receive personal messages asking if I know how the sensei planned to complete his Next Dimension. There's no need to pester me; I have no idea!! As for the mask, it is inspired by the masks of a goddess from the island of Bali. But we don't know, the same as you, why he took this as a reference...

13. General question:

“Will you do surveys about the Time Odyssey characters? (like Jump's)?”

We get feedback on the characters from readers' letters. Obviously, the armor of Arctos was very popular, but also that of the Moirai on volume 1. Eastre, for her armor, her totem, and her background tying her to the Golden Knight of Pisces, was particularly appreciated in volume 2. We'll see if you all like the new characters in Volume 3. It's that there will be no less... than 10!

But I have to admit that doing a poll would be very good!! That's a great idea!

14. General question:

“What kind of Time Odyssey merch would you like to see?”

That's a very fun question to end on ^^! I'm not going to shy away from the infinite pleasure that merchandising around Time Odyssey would represent... I'd like to make a collection of illustrations (because I'm more of an illustrator than a comic book author). As a toy collector, I admit that the best thing would be to see the new characters reproduced as figurines. By the way, when I create armor sets, I always try to imagine what it would look like in a Myth Cloth version! Or in a 1/6 scale statue version. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. We'll see what the future holds.

15. From the Saint Seiya Cosmocast Hosts:

Any final thoughts or messages you’d like to share with all your fans checking out the comic?”

Just a quick word to thank them because we are fans too, and we share the same passion. We give everything we can of our time and energy so that they can relive the strong and intense emotions they had for the original series through new adventures. We thank you all for bringing Saint Seiya to life around the world through your passion.

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Translation: Saiyuki Voice CD ~Greetings~

Now that I’ve finally finished talking about meeting Seki-san, here’s a translation that was kindly gifted to me by “Gundamcrazy” over at Livejournal. This CD was a bonus part of the Saiyuki Reload game for the PS2 circa 2003.

So how would each of the men greet you (as the original character of the game this was bundled with) good morning/good night? That’s exactly what this is, followed by a group message from everyone...You can get the CD here & if you’re interested in seeing a bit more of the game, go HERE.

Please DO NOT REPOST or Re-translate without requesting permission. Get ready for some funny one liners & enjoy!

Goku

01. Goku Morning Greeting: “Good Morning! It’s Morning! Get up! You’ll be late!” 02. Goku Daytime Greeting: “Yo! How ya feelin’? Lookin’ great as usual!” 03. Goku Evening Greeting: “Gah, today was another tiring day, right?! Take ya time & rest!” 04. Goku Good Night: “I’m so sleepy! and I’m stuffed from dinner, so let’s head to bed! Night night!” 05. Goku Consolation: “What’s wrong? Cheer up! Even I’m gonna start feelin’ sad if you continue to look down like that!” 06. Goku Encouragement: “Alright! Do your best! Since it’s you, I know you can do it! I believe in you after all!”

  Gojyo

07. Gojyo Morning Greeting: “It’s mornin’ ya know. Better get up, or ya waiting for my passionate kiss to wake you, hmm?” 08. Gojyo Daytime Greeting: “Yo! Lookin’ happy today! That’s the way it should be!” 09. Gojyo Evening Greeting: “Well done for a day of hard work again! I’m gonna personally make sure you feel relaxed.” 10. Gojyo Good Night: “Right, close your eyes. I’ll personally escort you into your dreams. Goodnight.” 11. Gojyo Consolation: What’s wrong? You’re lookin’ so sad. That expression doesn’t look good on you ya know?” 12. Gojyo Encouragement: “You’ll be just fine! You’re capable of doing anything! I’m with you!”

 Hakkai

13. Hakkai Morning Greeting: “Good morning! It’s morning now. Let’s do our best again for the day ahead!” 14. Hakkai Daytime Greeting: “You’re looking really cheerful. I’m glad!” 15. Hakkai Evening Greeting: “Today you worked really hard again. Well done, but take care of yourself & rest enough to give it your all tomorrow!” 16. Hakkai Good Night: “Right, time to head to bed. Staying up late eats into your beauty sleep. Good night. “ 17. Hakkai Consolation: “Don’t be defeated so easily. This is just the start of the fight!” 18. Hakkai Encouragement: “I know you’re capable of anything you put your mind to! I assure you of it!”

Sanzo

19. Sanzo Morning Greeting: “Oi, it’s morning, get up. Can’t hear me? Get up! I SAID GET THE FUCK UP!!!” *gun shots* 20. Sanzo Daytime Greeting: “Heh, that’s one great expression you got there.” 21. Sanzo Evening Greeting: “It’s late. Head to bed.”. 22. Sanzo Good Night: “Hurry it up and go to sleep. You got an early start tomorrow. Oi...! You wanna sleep permanently?! *gun click* 23. Sanzo Consolation: “Tch. What the hell is up with that miserable look? It’s pathetic. Hurry up & raise your head.” 24. Sanzo Encouragement: “Hmm…Give ‘em hell like a human with a death wish! You can do it! Go!”

  25. Group Message

Goku: Yo everyone! Thanks for takin the time to always support my hard work!! Gojyo: It had nothing to do with your input! It was all down to me! Goku: What the hell?! Hakkai: *he’s laughing* Sanzo: Shut it up! *gun shots*

*Goku screams*

Gojyo: That’s so damn rude, scared the Christ out of me! Hakkai: Mah, mah. Considering the fact we got this far with everyone’s support, isn’t there anything you want say to thank them? Sanzo: Nothing.

Hakkai: Ara ara… Gojyo: Hah. What a boring guy. Can’t you say more than one or two words of gratitude when asked?!

Sanzo: Then how about you lot say something. Goku: Let’s go eat somethin’!!

Gojyo: You shut it…Umm Let me see… how about, I raise my glass to give cheers to your beautiful eyes.

Goku: *laughs* What the hell is that?! How lame! Hakkai: Nowadays it seems to be so many like with that kind of flattery (*Translator note: as in flirting rather than thanking). Sanzo: Kinda like bewitching someone through alcohol. Gojyo: What the…?! I don’t want to hear that kinda crap from you guys!  Anyway Hakkai, you got anything to say? Hakkai: Me? Hmm, you’re right. To everyone, I thank you all for supporting us, from this point on… Sanzo: Too damn straight forward… Goku: Hakkai, it’s just borin’… Gojyo: You should’a followed my method of flattery~ Hakkai: Did you both just say something? (*he’s probably grinning here…) Goku & Gojyo: No, nothing Hakkai: Well if you both are allowed to say what you wish, then does it matter if my way is too straight forward? Goku: Ah, Hakkai just ran away. Gojyo: Well, he kinda has a point. We all have our own ways to show our appreciations. Sanzo: As they say, the quiet ones are the worst with holding back & not speaking their minds.  (Translator note: As in people that are bad with showing their true feelings, so they stick to straight-forward rather showing their personality) Goku: Oi! get a grip! Hakkai: I don’t really like the idea of being portrayed as being “quiet”. I don’t want to hear that kind of thing from you guys. Sanzo: Does any of all this crap really mean a damn thing? We’re all on the same wave length. That’s all that matters! Hakkai: Ma, you’re right, we have our own ways; ‘tis what makes us unique. Gojyo: You don’t have to act all polite in front of us fearin’ us attacking your way of speaking. Goku: You don’t even remember what you just said to him a second ago! Gojyo: Shut up! Sanzo: Hm. Let’s get going.

Hakkai: So then, let us get going.

Gojyo: Ja, as you said.

Goku: Cya later!

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Flowermiko Meets Toshihiko Seki (Index)

I figured since I’ve taken so darn long to finish writing all of this, a nice little “cover page” will make things a bit more organized. This is an index of all posts that chronicle my trip to Vancouver to meet the voice behind Genjyo Sanzo from Saiyuki, a dream in the making for over 10 years.

Meeting Seki-san Part I - Day One

Meeting Seki-san Part II - Day Two Morning

Meeting Seki-san Part III - Day Two Afternoon

Meeting Seki-san Part IV - Day Three

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Meeting Toshihiko Seki - Part 4

I had this finished a month ago but once again like usual, real life gets in the way of me editing it. But it’s time to finish like I swore I would, even if it took me this long. So here it is, the final day of meeting Toshihiko Seki & perhaps the most important day with lessons to be learned & a total fangirl confession...oh my!

Again, as a disclaimer, what’s written is entirely my personal opinion, although I’ve striven to the best of my ability to recall as much as possible purely from memory. All my questions are Saiyuki related. It’s a long read, so TL-DRs beware, and I meant it when I say it’s long. Otherwise thank you for stopping by and enjoy!

Sunday, August 7th: The Third Autograph and the Last Q&A

The time change was probably throwing me slightly off (Vancouver is two hours behind Houston time). Nonetheless, it felt great to wake up a little “earlier” than usual when in fact I was sleeping my longer usual hours on the weekend! Besides, Saturday’s events had left me tired to say the least. I decided to take my time that morning prior to going to the last autograph session & go on a short ride through Vancouver’s SkyTrain high speed rail and take a few pictures for my family.

But! By roughly around noon I was back at the Vancouver Convention Centre for one last autograph from Seki-san. My final CD choice for today would be Sanzo’s Character CD from 2013. Still, a part of me kept regretting not having brought back up items to be signed (I had intended to bring one Minekura wall-scroll but ultimately forgot to grab it from my room).

The Autograph Tables with Romi Park (from the AniRevo Closing Ceremonies Video)

Same as the previous days, I lined up in the VIP line with my CD in hand. Tara was already there in line and we started talking while we waited for the autographs to begin. I took a look to the side and spotted Seki-san along with Shiori & other helpers walking by to the wall far to our right. Nothing stood out other than them eventually coming back around to behind the dividing curtain behind the autograph tables.

I can’t remember how soon it happened after that, but as I continued to talk with Tara & another fan about wanting to find some other item to get signed, suddenly the loudspeaker came on: it was Seki-san speaking in English!

What a random, out of nowhere moment, and I only wish I could remember exactly what he said! All I can recall is him coming on the loudspeaker with a really warm voice saying “Hey! This is Toshihiko Seki from…” and I believed mentioned a few of the series he worked in, along with something how much fun he was having being here. The atmosphere had certainly changed since Friday when he first met up with fans and seemed much more reserved. I noticed this too when I met Suwabe Junichi at AX, but I’ll go into analyzing that some other time. What I am saying is, there’s certainly an effect and a period of guest seiyuus “warming up” to meeting international fans and I’m happy that Seki-san had felt so welcomed and warmed up to us.

Not much later after Seki-san spoke on the loudspeaker, he and Shiori stepped out from behind the curtain and walked to the autograph table. Like on Saturday, we’d let some of the regulars go first, since after all we had at least one signed item already. Before I knew it, my turn to get my autograph came. The next thing I knew, I was wishing I’d kept my “flowermiko” name card I had saved from AX and regretting I couldn’t find it because the moment I got to the table Shiori tells me “today we got more time, so he can sign the album with a dedication to you.”

.  .  . .  .  .

 Needless to say, I was scrambling to find in my bag pen & paper so I could scribble down “FLOWERMIKO” for Seki-san he could copy & autograph my CD. Oh, but getting it signed with my name wasn’t going to be the kicker at all.

As Seki-san is signing my Sanzo Character CD, he suddenly asks me (and Shiori translates) about the meaning behind “flowermiko”. Precisely he asks “Is it a nickname of some sort?”.

You know, one thing is over the years of being a Saiyuki fan coming up with an Original Character/self-insert/you-get-the-drill thing like most fangirls do because you want to romance a guy in the series cause you ain’t into BL either and who cares if in my own private RPs I get to confess & romance Sanzo. But…having to more or less CONFESS to otherwise Sanzo-sama (or Seki-san anyways as the voice of Sanzo) that “flowermiko” is a “code name” for my own original character for Saiyuki is something that would have NEVER -EVER- CROSSED MY MIND that it would happen!

With a thousand thoughts scrambling through my mind & starting to feel a tinge of embarrassment, I try to put together as much of a mildly simple & generic explanation as possible. For the curious, “flowermiko” stands for “cherry blossom miko priestess” which is the code name for my OC “Tenjou Sakura”.

But thoughts pulled together and what felt like taking an inner deep breath, I tell Seki-san “’flowermiko’ is a character inspired by Saiyuki as a ‘companion’ character to Sanzo more or less.”  Simple enough answer, right? However, to my sheer embarrassment and Seki-san’s amusement, he appears to see right through my answer as he looks at me rather very amused and says -very- assured of himself “Ah…I see” (and I still hear this in my mind as “naru hodo” just as he said it).

Honestly, I don’t know if he was more amused at my silly answer, or the fact that I was so flustered about confessing that, or that to him it was pretty obvious the precise kind of Sanzo fangirl that I am. I’m sure my friends would’ve had a field day seeing me in the moment, hah hah (or even better, how much I was flailing my arms and legs in bed later back at my hotel that night thinking back all that actually happened). But I recall back on it fondly. I’m sure it wasn’t anything new to Seki-san to hear how much fans like Sanzo, but I stand by what I’ve been saying since I began writing this: if it wasn’t for how Seki-san has voiced Sanzo and for so long, I don’t think I’d be half as much into him. Minekura-sensei of course created the character, but it’s all Seki-san that truly brings him to life. What can I say? I love Sanzo <3

And after all of that, Seki-san hands me my now autographed CD with a “To flowermiko (from) Seki-san”. I smile and thank him for signing it and we shake hands one last time before I exit the autograph area.

Score! Got Sanzo’s Character CD autographed with my nickname.

As I walked out of the autograph area, I had this lingering feeling that I really wished I could have gotten something else autographed by Seki-san, but what could I? Silly me had left back up items to be signed at home. But I figured for all I knew perhaps in the albeit small dealer’s room, I could find something Saiyuki I could get him to sign. So, I made a quick round around the dealer’s room but found absolutely nothing.

Feeling a little disappointed, I went back to the autograph area to see how Tara & the others were doing. Tara was already lining up to get some more things signed for friends back home. When I tell her how I couldn’t find anything else to get signed, she suggests “Why don’t you get your bag signed?” At first I blinked at her thinking the idea was odd but it quickly began to sink in, well why not?! I was a bit hesitant at first thinking that I didn’t have any fabric markers or anything but Tara told me Seki-san had plenty of different markers at the table.

No room for argument there, so it was decided: I would get my old but beloved baggy autographed. As we talked with the same girl from earlier (she’d lined up again as well to get her badge autographed) I had a sudden idea: I recalled from multiple Saiyuki books that I bought that quite often when an interview with Seki-san was included or some sort of autograph, he would often sign it as “3ZO” (because by now we all agree he IS Sanzo, right?). Most of you probably know it, but the number three in Japanese is pronounced “San” which is also the first kanji of Sanzo’s name is “三” from “三蔵” (San-zo). So, if I could just be this little bit greedy, I wanted to ask him if he could sign my bag exactly like that.

Without hesitation, the moment I get to the table I tell Shiori I would like to have my bag autographed, as well as if she could ask Seki-san if he could sign it as “Sanzo”. I wasn’t sure at first if he’d do it or not, but the writing on my bag spoke for itself: as soon as Seki-san switched out to a better marker that he liked, he wrote “三ZO” followed by his actual autograph.

And like they say, pictures or it didn’t happen, hah hah.

~*~

A close up of Seki-san’s “三ZO” autograph.

I can’t remember how many times I’d seen his “三ZO” autograph through different Saiyuki books, anime guides, shikishi, etc., so between ever getting to meet Seki-san & getting his autograph, getting his Sanzo autograph was the cherry on top of the cake! One more time, because I’d never get tired of saying “thank you” to someone so special to me, I thanked Seki-san and stepped away from the autograph area as things began to wrap up. I ran into Tara & our other friend and showed off my now autographed baggy. I’m so glad she put the idea on my head and convinced me to get it signed—if I hadn’t I think right now I’d instead be kicking myself for it instead of writing about it!

With the last autograph session over, I went wondering about the convention for about an hour while waiting out the time to line up for the last panel. And before I knew it the hour flew by and I was back to the area where everyone lined up for panels. I noticed that the same Japanese girls from the previous day were there once again. I waved hi to them, though I still felt like kicking myself I didn’t even know how to say a thing in Japanese. Honestly, I worry about silly things like “omg, what are they going to think of the big plus sized girl…” not that things like that should matter, right? It’s like I have this incorrect thinking that in Japan there is a stigma against pochacco (“plus size” and there is), because am plus size, I would come off as an unapproachable person. As it turns out, by the end of my time at the convention, I’d learn how completely wrong I was about that.

Perhaps because I had my Saiyuki ita bag with me, it sent off the right signal I am just another fangirl. So, the next thing is I’m suddenly approached by the duo with one of them holding her phone in her hand. Even if we were unable to talk because of the language barrier, she had “Google Translate” open on her phone to try to ask me if anyone had asked Seki-san about the “Saiyuki Reload Blast” anime. I didn’t think about anything else other than I had to somehow reciprocate the effort and try to answer back! I had to think a bit to figure out Google Translate’s garbled version of the question (which came out something like either Saiyuki Blast Bombs or Saiyuki Explosions…), but once I did, it was funny to hear myself pronounce “Sa-i-yu-ki Re-ro-do Bu-ra-su-to” but at least it was clear I understood. So, I type in on my own phone’s Google Translate to reply that none had asked about the new anime but that they certainly were more than welcome to get up and ask during the panel.

A small back and forth starts between the two girls, as if trying to convince one or the other to go up and ask Seki-san about the new Saiyuki anime project. One of the girls is not able to convince her friend to ask, but rather convinces her to say something to me, so she’s tells me in English “I’m shy”, then both look at me with probably the same idea, heh heh. Not that I had any excuses to not ask since I’d gone up to mic before, but I felt that everyone should have a chance to ask Seki-san something and I’d already asked four questions by then (not even counting the Meet & Greet ones!). But well, as I like to say in these situations... “if we must we must.” Besides, it was true none had asked anything specifically about the Saiyuki anime and I was just as curious to know what Seki-san had to say about it. As we made our way towards the panel as the line moved, I started thinking how exactly to word my question. I had every intention now of lining up right away to the mic the moment Shiori called for it, and if this was the only question I got to ask in the panel, I had to make it count!

I’m glad I got thinking that way, because in contrast to the autograph session being less busy, the final Q & A was a full house! No sooner that Shiori ran through the house rules for one last time & called people to the mic, several members of the audience got up. Considering I was right at the front, I ended up being about 5th or 7th in line! The line itself this time was VERY LONG, so there was a high chance not everyone would get to ask a question and certainly no chances for lining up again, so yes, I had to make it count!

As agreed with my new friends, after ten minutes or so in line, my turn comes & I run the question in my mind one last time before turning to the mic. I turn to Seki-san and ask “If you’re allowed to share anything at all, what can you tell us about the upcoming ‘Saiyuki Reload Blast’ anime and/or what can we look forward to from it or from your role as Sanzo?”

As soon as he finished sharing his answer & Shiori jotting her notes, we learned that Seki-san as well as the other seiyuu did not even expect Saiyuki would even get another anime at this point in time— they were all very surprised. I quickly chimed into the mic “yes, even we as fans were all surprised” although I had always hoped this would happen sooner or later. Seki-san added that, at the same time, it makes him a little sad to think this will be the “end” of Saiyuki (Minekura has stated this is the final arc of the series), but like all things, everything has to have an end & has to come to an end. Nonetheless, his intention is to make the end a good one. In addition, Seki-san didn’t know (as of the time when I met him at AniRevo) what the anime project would be (TV anime or otherwise) but that he personally hopes it will be a movie.

Of course, by now we know from Saiyuki FESTA 2017’s announcements that the Reload Blast project will be a TV anime. Nonetheless, I was more than grateful to hear what he had to say about the upcoming anime. If anything, it increased my hopes for the series as a whole to be revitalized along with its fandom. Yet, there was ONE more thing I knew I had to say and what I felt was my mission all along and my one chance to get it accomplished.

I spoke up again, first, once again thanking Seki-san for all the hard work he’s put into this series and for sticking with it for so long. Next, came my final message:

“On behalf of the entire International Saiyuki Community, please tell Minekura-sensei for us that we are rooting for her, Hoshi-san, Hirata-san, Ishida-san & Seki-san and wish them the best— that even though Minekura-sensei’s health has been so bad, we will be with her & the Saiyuki boys until the very end of the journey.”

I might never find out if Minekura-sensei will ever get it, but I trust Seki-san will without a doubt let her know. My hope is that she’ll know she has so many international fans that support her all the way, even if we’re spread all over the world.

But if anything seems to signal that Seki-san will tell Minekura-sensei my message, it was that he seemed really impressed with my statement once Shiori translated it to him. Before I realized it, I was hearing Seki-san speak as Sanzo one last time...

“ARE YOU READY, BASTARDS?!” our “Sanzo” spoke out loud and clear. I am ready. No: We’ve been ready for this for a long time.

I made a small bow as the audience clapped for Seki-san and walk over to my seat. That felt like a wonderful parting gift if I can call it that. I came in to the first panel thinking at most I’d get to hear Seki-san only say ONE line as Sanzo. Turns out, I was beyond spoiled.

And so many others went by until time ran out and only one more question could be asked. But before said last question, Seki-san first begins saying he never knows what’s going to happen on these fan panels because heck—we even made him sing the previous day! Just as the last question is about to be asked, he suddenly shouts “NOI’MNOTGONNASINGAGAIN!!” Shiori translates and everyone in the audience bursts out laughing.

I don’t recall the exact last question but I believe it was Gundam related. But it was more painful to realize it was now over. Shiori gave the go for Seki-san to share his last few words. Seki-san thanks everyone for coming and says he has really enjoyed himself these past three days and that he’d now also be rooting for the Canadian Olympic team as he really had a great time in Canada (the Olympics were currently taking place at that time). Shiori then calls the panel to a close and everyone claps as she and Seki-san leave the stage. Several of us wave at him (myself included) wishing him farewell and a safe trip back to Japan. So many mixed emotions between happiness & sadness. My dream had come true. After so many years, it finally came true.

Once Shiori & Seki-san went behind the enclosed area out of sight from the rest, me & Tara walk up to each other, hug and say goodbye to each other wishing safe travels. Next I turn to my two Japanese friends. I give them the “thumbs up” –mission accomplished. They both come up to me and give me a hug!! I was just too happy and elated ,I asked them for a fangirl group hug. I think the moment of Saiyuki fandom love was going all around for so many of us.

We were ushered out of the room as it had to be readied for next panel, so me and the girls step outside to an open corner. Then, my friends started showing me pictures from Seki-san’s different performances in stage plays. I commented in one of them he really really looked like an old man (lol, I did actually say “jii-san” hah hah). I really wish I would have been able to say something more, but still we were able to communicate and exchanged twitter accounts and followed each other. They asked if I was going to the closing ceremony but I explained I had to go and get ready for my return home. We hugged again and I waved goodbye as I walked out of the convention center.

Lesson learned: When it comes to things you love, not even language barriers will stop fangirls from helping and reaching out to each other, especially us Saiyuki fans. Having learned that makes me really happy.

As I thought about that while walking down the boardwalk away from the convention center, I happen to run into Shiori. I stopped to thank her for all her wonderful translations and interpreting, asking for her name so I could remember her. We shook hands and I thanked her again for all her incredible work interpreting for Seki-san.

The Victory Round: All Three Autographed CDs

What a weekend that had been. All the feels settled in back at the hotel, at the end of the journey. I felt so happy because I got to meet Seki-san but so sad I already had to say good bye to him. But what’s a lifetime experience if you don’t get all the feels and write about it, right? Writing all of this has taken such a ridiculous amount of time, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. It gives me a chance to travel back and when I think it all seemed so surreal or wonder if it was all a dream, I know it wasn’t: it did happen.

~*~

Closing Remarks

Bringing back Seki-san’s pic…because he IS SANZO.

The road was long & so was the delay writing this, but from the bottom of my heart, to anyone reading this, if you read through every one of my posts, really, a big THANK YOU. I know it was a ton to read, but thank you for taking the time to read through this and for letting me share with you my experience of making one of my biggest dreams & fangirl moments of my life come true. Truly, I am grateful.

[flowermikonotebook]

Meeting Toshihiko Seki - Part 3

I know, I know. It’s taken me more than three months since Meeting Toshihiko Seki - Part 2 . Work life just got in the way leaving me with very little energy to write & and wrote what I could bits at a time. Nonetheless, this now is finished and I am almost finished with the rest. But for now, the second half of Saturday which involves the second autograph session as well as the second Q&A in which I will go down in infamy for forever making Seki-san....you’ll just have to read it

Again, as a disclaimer, what’s written is entirely my personal opinion, although I’ve striven to the best of my ability to recall as much as possible purely from memory. All my questions are Saiyuki related. It’s a long read, so TL-DRs beware, and I meant it when I say it’s long. Otherwise thank you for stopping by and enjoy!

Saturday Afternoon, August 6th: The Second Autograph and the Second Q&A

As soon as Tara & me were back outside and sunk in the last hour, it was time to head back to the Vancouver Convention Centre and line up for Seki-san’s autograph session, so we started making our way there. Hard to believe time had flown by so fast and it was already approaching 2:00pm, so no time to waste.

A very blurry view of the autograph lines, sourced from AniRevo’s media video.

We once again lined up in the VIP line, though we’d let a few go ahead of us since by now we already had at least one autograph (and then some if not more, heh). I knew that if it had been that I only could have gotten one autograph, it would go to the Heart Sutra cd, but since I’d already succeeded, my next choice would be my oldest Sanzo CD: Sanzo’s Song Collection.

I only wished I would have realized that I could have had more items signed, but I didn’t want to abuse Seki-san’s kindness. Besides, I was thrilled when I got to walk up to the autograph table for a second time and seeing that smile of his when he saw my second “Sanzo” cd and not to forget, he grabbed my hand into both of his for a handshake. I cannot stress enough how wonderful and sweet Seki-san really is and I really admire him for being so comfortable around so many strangers that can’t speak his own language. If there is one thing that I can say Seki-san and Sanzo have the most in common is their charisma: something just draws you in.

With no other items to be signed, I had another hour to kill, so I went to explore some other areas of the convention and visited the yukata-rental area. The lady managing the rental there (she was really sweet & cute) had a beautiful wa-lolita dress and we made plenty of conversation until it was time for me to go line up to get into the second Q&A. Whether it was just coincidence that I chose Sanzo’s Song Collection CD to be autographed that day or that I considered it my second most important CD, I would have never foreseen the role it would play next and how grateful I will be for whatever compelled me to have it that day.

Side quest bonus: The now autographed “Sanzo’s Song Collection” album

I walked back to where I’d first lined up in the morning and once again took a seat on the floor against wall closest to the escalator the VIPs were to wait by. Eventually, two Japanese girls approached me and with difficulty, try to ask me in English if this was the line for Seki-san’s panel. I replied with a yes, with my mind scrambling and kicking myself mentally thinking “why oh why do I not I speak Japanese” just as they asked if I could speak it, so very regretfully I had to say I did not. The best I could do was direct them by making hand gestures where to wait and then call them over when we were told to line up in front of the regular line. I could tell that they wanted to try to talk to me more (probably because they’d noticed my bag, the dead giveaway I was a Saiyuki fan), and I wanted to talk too. If I could have guessed I’d run into Japanese guests at this convention, I’d at least brought my phrase book!

But no time for regrets as we were directed to follow one of the volunteers and we were walked into the same panel room from this morning. Tara was already waiting inside, so I took a seat by her and watched as everyone else filed in. It looked like this time there were some more fans than the previous panel, but still not a full room. Shiori was adjusting something on the table before she would open the panel, so I quickly went up to her to let her know of the two Japanese guests I’d met and to let them know they could ask questions if they liked. She had to begin the panel so she wouldn’t get a chance, but told me it was nice of me to be on the lookout for them. That said and same as this morning, I took my seat as Shiori welcomed everyone to the panel, laid out the house rules before we would re-welcome Seki-san back to the Q&A table for more questions.

Yup. This is how you walk the walk towards the Q&A panel.

The microphone, thank goodness, had been moved to in front of the center walking isle where everyone was to line up to ask questions, so no more semi-blocked view for me. But I didn’t want to be the first to ask a question again, so I didn’t get up right away till at least two or three questions into the panel since not many lined up from the get go. Nonetheless, when my turned came, I would ask the second part of the question I didn’t get to ask earlier.

I smiled at Seki-san as I got to the microphone and began, “What was one of the most challenging moments Seki-san had while recording Saiyuki?”. Shiori translated the question and let Seki-san give his answer, letting him speak in Japanese on the microphone before she would translate to English. Seki-san commented that back in 2001 for the first Saiyuki anime, airing programs with religious-related content wasn’t considered acceptable in Japan (Saiyuki is based on Zen Buddhism), so for Sanzo’s “Makai Tenjou” chant, the producers came up with a fake chant that sounded something like a Buddhist prayer but it’s really just gibberish.

Who would have guessed! But this made me really stop to think! I always thought in the anime when Sanzo starts chanting for the Makai Tenjou, it sounds like it’s chant, but if you stop to listen closely, it never sounds like the text you read in the manga—you really don’t hear the “Gyaa tei gyaa tei” and so forth. We’re just given the illusion that Sanzo is chanting something so cool because we can’t understand the language; it’s not even Japanese!

I thanked Seki-san for the answer as he thanked me for the question and I’d went back to my seat. More fans would walk in during the panel, so Shiori would repeat the house rules a couple of times. Still it didn’t seem that many people were lining up for questions, so without a second thought, I lined up a second time, never imagining what would happen next.

First there was a question by another Saiyuki fan, which was requesting another Sanzo line (which I sadly didn’t recognize).  Two questions later, another fan had a unique request: she (who now I know was @doodlebugdebz ) wanted for Seki-san to sing in character as Sanzo!

I think most of us were surprised by the request. Heck, it never occurred to me you could even ask guests to recite lines & only did so because someone told me you actually could. But there was a problem with singing! Seki-san said he apologized that he didn’t remember any lyrics to any of Sanzo’s song, but dear @doodlebugdebz kept insisting just to try even a little bit. I noticed some of the other audience members started to get really excited about the idea, but Seki-san kept apologizing that he honestly did not remember a thing. At that moment, I realized that I had with me the very thing that could make it happen: Sanzo’s Song Collection! The CD booklet had lyrics for several of Sanzo’s songs. I debated a bit on my head whether or not to speak up, but seeing so much insistence coming from the audience, I knew I had to do THE RIGHT THING.

And so…I shouted “I HAVE THE LYRICS!”. The whole room went silent and turned to look at me. Shiori asked quickly if they were in Japanese. I nodded “yes”. I can’t remember much of what was going on as I scrambled from the line to my seat, grabbed the CD from my bag, pulled out the booklet and opened it to show Shiori the lyrics were in fact in Japanese. I had no idea what Seki-san would pick as he looked at the booklet while I returned to my spot in the line. I think I handed it open to “Game” & “The Clouds Walk Away” but it went without saying, excitement was building up fast as we waited for Seki-san to surprise us with his choice. Before he began, he apologized in advance as this might not sound as “nice” as the recorded version and this is what they called in Japan something along the lines of “Hellish singing”. Seki-san took one last look at the lyrics and began…

♪ Sora takaku nobotta tsuki ga (The moon that rises high in the sky)

Itami o nonde michite yuku (Continuing to drink and fill up on pain)

Karamiau sadame no ito ni (In the thread of fate that I am entangled)

Mogakeba fukaku shibarareru (If I struggle, I become deeply bound)

Yowakunai mitomokeru (To see for myself that I'm not weak)

Kokoro o nakusu koto naku…♪ (I won't get rid of my heart)

*Source: Hold the Light Net   (recovered through the Wayback Machine)

I could not believe what I was hearing, but I recognized it right away. Seki-san was singing TRIGGER (from Saiyuki Reload Vocal CD volume 1) right in front of us LIVE. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything more beautiful in my life nor would I have ever dreamed of hearing “Sanzo” sing live with my own ears. Needless to say, all of us in the audience shared the sentiment as we cheered in awe and excitement, myself bouncing on the balls of my feet. “Trigger” happens to be my all-time favorite Sanzo song so you can imagine the double treat this was for me.

As soon as he stopped, everyone in the room exploded into cheers & claps as many got up from their seats. Seki-san immediately began “I’m so sorry that sounded so horrible!” Awww, he was being so apologetic about it but none thought he sounded bad in the least! None of us would have guessed we’d get to hear him, or for that matter, convince him to sing live for us. I only wish at least that I could have recorded it but even now, I can at least remember the first two lines he sang and what Seki-san...what Sanzo sounds like singing “in person”.

Moving on and two people later, it was my turn to ask a question. I know I could not hide the smile in my face, so I began, “Well, first I’d like to thank Seki-san for singing ‘Trigger’ since that happens to be my favorite Sanzo song.”

As soon as Shiori translated that, Seki-san immediately face planted onto the table in embarrassment, pretty much with the “omg I can’t believe you actually liked that” look. We all giggled and laughed at his antics. There’s just something adorably cute about Seki-san’s reaction, in the sense despite being a veteran seiyuu, he still has his embarrassing/funny moments, heh heh.

But on to the actual question I had in mind, I asked Seki-san “What is one of the things you like most about Saiyuki?” Seki-san shared that he likes that the series is different– unlike most of the stories you see everyone trying to work together for the sake of friendship and benefit of all, the characters in Saiyuki (particularly the four main characters) never try to work together on purpose; it’s more of a “happens by chance” due to the circumstances in the story. I recall nodding to Shiori as she translated and commented on the mic while looking at Seki-san, “Yes, that is true,” as we all know how the fearsome quartet has behaved over the years. However, to put it into context, Seki-san suddenly switched to his Sanzo voice and quoted one of the most well-known lines in the series: “...from the day I was born ‘till the day I die…The Only Side I’m in is On My Own”. Once again, without even asking, Seki-san had spoken as Sanzo again. Whether he did something like this for questions from other series, I honestly don’t remember, but it goes on to reinforce that Saiyuki is a very special series to Seki-san.

Like before, I thanked him for answering my question and returned to my seat. As the panel drew near it’s end, Seki-san was asked to say a line from one of his characters from Gundam Seed (Destiny). First he let the audience know the line requested always tended to kill his voice. He set his mind to speak it, coming out in this really deep voice with the line requested, but after saying it, poor Seki-san really looked like he might fall off the table and needed a big gulp of water as well.

Finally, Shiori called the panel to a close, reminding everyone that tomorrow there would be one last autograph session as well as Q&A and to please join in. She then gave the nod to Seki-san to say a last few words, again thanking everyone for coming to the panel and that now he’d go let his voice rest lots so he could be ready for tomorrow. With that, we all waved good-bye to Seki-san, but right before he left, he turned around to look at me and reached out towards my Sanzo CD to make sure I didn’t forget it. I smiled back at him and nodded as I got up to get my cd as Seki-san left.

What a long, tiring but wonderful day it had been filled with so many memories. And while I planned to go to the Crunchyroll panel (which later I’d realize I might as well have skipped in favor of more rest), it dawned on me there was only one day left to spend with Seki-san and I couldn’t help but feel a bit sad this magical weekend was coming to an end. But as they say, it’s not over till it’s over and Sunday would prove to have just as many surprises in store.

...stay tuned for part 4 and the conclusion of “Meeting Toshihiko Seki”.

[flowermikonotebook]

Meeting Toshihiko Seki - Part 2

Continuing from Meeting Toshihiko Seki - Part 1 , here’s the first half of Saturday which involves the first Q&A and the Meet&Greet. Again, as a disclaimer, what’s written is entirely my personal opinion, although I’ve striven to the best of my ability to recall as much as possible purely from memory. All my questions are Saiyuki related. It’s a long read, so TL-DRs beware, and I meant it when I say it’s long. Otherwise thank you for stopping by and enjoy!

Saturday Morning, August 6th: The First Q&A and the Meet & Greet

Whereas the previous day I had wanted to doll up bit by wearing a dress, Saturday I was determined to be a Saiyuki fan and represent, so it was t-shirt and Sanzo bag ready to go along with “Sanzo’s Song Collection CD” which is the one I’d chosen to get autographed that day.

Me decked out in my Saiyuki Reload Blast shirt & Sanzo Ita bag – Ready for Q&A #1

This would be my busiest day, which I had jokingly called “Chasing After Sanzo Day”. That wasn’t far from the truth: each event I’d be going to only had about an hour in between. Things would start off with the first Q&A Panel. I was surprised that the line for the regulars wasn’t that long and in fact I felt a bit disappointed thinking maybe not as many people had come to see Seki-san (later I would realize with each Q&A more people would join in). Nonetheless, I’d be able to stand on the side with the other VIPs waiting for different lines until it was time for the panel. I’d be able to sit in the first row and get the best view of Seki-san since from the way the microphones were set up on the table, it looked like I’d be right in front of him (although later I’d realize I was in front of the question-asking microphone and it would block part of my view).

As the room wasn’t even half full, the doors were left open in case anyone else joined later. Only a few minutes after everyone from the line had been let in, Shiori, the interpreter from the previous day came out from behind a curtained area to the left. She welcomed everybody to the Q&A and laid out some basic house rules: no pictures & recording and absolutely NO BL QUESTIONS as she explained Seki-san was not comfortable answering those. I had a quick mental sigh of relief: the last thing I wanted to see/hear was a repeat of this year’s Anime Expo in which both Suwabe Junichi & Kakihara Tetsuya got asked by fans (that unfortunately lacked a brain-to-mouth filter) very inappropriate questions on the subject matter.

With that said, the interpreter welcomes in Toshihiko Seki-san and we join in a big round of applause. Thanks to the video shared by Anime Revolution, I was able to get a screenshot from this day and at least have one picture of Seki-san at the event!

Toshihiko Seki & his interpreter for the weekend (Shiori) during one of Saturday’s Q&A, sourced from AniRevo’s Closing Ceremonies Video

To my surprise, unlike AX’s very strictly structured panel, as soon as Seki-san had taken a seat, the interpreter called out for anyone that wanted to ask a question to line up in the middle walkway between the left and right rows of seats in room and walk to the microphone.

Most questions would revolve around Seki-san’s work in “Kamen Rider”, Gundam Seed (Destiny), Gundam Wing, Naruto & even Doctor Who (in the Japanese dub he was the 10th doctor). My focus would be on Saiyuki of course, but it was great getting to learn about other voice work Seki-san has done. I even learned he’s used Sanzo’s voice pitch in Kamen Rider.

Some of the more interesting tidbits I recall from other’s questions throughout all three Q&A panels are Seki-san being asked about how the voice acting industry has changed in Japan since he first started doing voice work. Seki-san shared that when he began, voice acting wasn’t nearly as popular or as big as it is today. As many fans may know, Seki-san also does theater work and this is what he’d began his career in. Basically, someone offered him to do some voice work and he picked up on it from there as part of expanding what he did. Seki-san said he didn’t have any specific interest in voice work and jokingly said had someone offered him to try out something in wrestling, he’d probably done that instead! Compared to when he started, the voice acting industry is far more competitive now and much harder to get into, but for anyone that would like to be a seiyuu, to keep on trying your best and give it your all.

Other things he shared throughout the weekend is he practices kendo (and he even shared his “kendo” yell, which was quite hilarious to hear). Seki-san also enjoys going often to Disneyland Tokyo with his family (FYI, Seki-san is married and has two daughters). One of the more important things he shared which definitely set the stage was (from a fan’s question) is that although he’s proud of every work he’s done, Seki-san is certainly more attached to those works he’s had a role in for many years. Naturally, Saiyuki clearly falls in this category and certainly explains why he would recite a few Sanzo lines in character through the Q&As without even being asked!

And so, the honor of the first question went to yours truly since I was only right in front of the microphone (and none got up right away strangely enough….) Since I’d been told you could request lines, I wanted to start strong and began, “As you know, since a new anime project for Saiyuki (Reload Blast) has been announced, could I ask you to say the ‘Makai Tenjou’?”

Believe me, I only wish I could have recorded it other than in my heart, but I’ll further reinforce my statement from earlier that Seki-san is very attached to Saiyuki (and Sanzo, no less). I remember him having a big smile when I asked for it. No need to look up the line: he knew it by heart. One, two, three he went… “On mani hatsu mei un…MAKAI TENJOUUUUU!!!!” . I can’t express how I literally felt sent to heaven having heard it live with my own ears. Hearing Seki-san is great of course, but hearing him burst out his Sanzo voice LIVE…damn, just DAMN! The closest thing I can offer is this clip from Anime Expo back in 2008 when he visited there.

It felt like I was the only Saiyuki fan at the time. Since there was no limit as to how many questions you could ask (as long as there was enough time left within the hour the Q&A lasted), I decided to line up a second time. To my surprise  and a couple of people ahead of me, someone suddenly asked a Saiyuki-related question! Finally, another fan present (and later we’d get to talk).  Her question was, “Saiyuki has had a lot of gaps between series (2000-2001, 2003, 2004, 2007 & 2011) and since a new anime is slated for next year, how do you (Seki-san) prepare to play Sanzo again with such large gaps in between each role?”

Seki-san began his answer by stating that to him, it didn’t feel there was such a big gap between Saiyuki anime series & OVA as he’d done a lot of drama CDs for them. He described sometimes recording little parodies for the drama CDs (which likely refer to the hilarious mini drama scenarios found at the end of regular Saiyuki drama CDs and character CDs) and the gaps in between these recordings weren’t long either.

Somewhere along his answer he also shared about Hirata-san (who plays “Sha Gojyo”) that for him, whenever they recorded something new, he’d asked other seiyuu (namely Ishida-san who plays “Cho Hakkai” & Hoshi-san who plays “Son Goku”) “Hey, does this sound like Gojyo to you?”. I guess it takes Hirata-san a little bit to get back into the Gojyo groove, heh. But as for Seki-san himself, he will listen to previous recordings (in particular I recall him mentioning “Sanzo’s Song Collection”) as preparation to get back into playing Sanzo’s character.

And for my lack of Japanese, I’m not sure what brought about the next wonderful moment, other than the continued conversation about the drama CDs: Seki-san proceeded to talk about one of the last CDs he’d recorded as Sanzo, which is the “Saiyuki: Genjyo Sanzo: Chanting of the Heart Sutra CD” and suddenly he changes to his Sanzo voice and starts reciting part of THE HEART SUTRA exactly how we hear it on the CD. Oh my! Once again my memory goes blurry as I was too excited to have heard LIVE a portion of the CD I’d only gotten autographed yesterday, but nonetheless, he mentioned such recording existed and he’d done it as Sanzo.

The Genjyo Sanzo Chanting of the Heart Sutra CD as autographed by Toshihiko Seki for me on the previous day.

When my turn came up again, I would be the last one to ask a question. Although mine was a two-parter, only one would get answered, the first, which was “What is one of the memorable moments you’ve had while recording for ‘Saiyuki’?” (and this one is for you @seiten-taisei).  Seki-san shared he recalled a time when all of them (him, Ishida-san, Hoshi-san & Hirata-san) had just finished a recording and were having an after party, Hoshi Soichiro brought in some home-made food to celebrate (I believe it was sushi, but something with rice): IT TASTED LIKE CRAP. Seki-san demanded from then on that he’d rather have something edible that was made by a professional cook. So now we know, much like his character Goku, it seems Hoshi-san unfortunately can’t cook very well either, heh heh.

With that, Seki-san was given the go to share a last few words. He thanked us for coming and that he was really happy and excited to meet all of us and that he’d do his best to continue working hard in the roles we love so much.

After the Q&A ended, I approached the girl that had asked the other Saiyuki question and started chatting and found out her name was Tara (she is an anime-cel collector, be sure to check out her website jadeduo.rubberslug.com!). By now I probably don’t have to over-state Seki-san is Sanzo. Memory fails me when this was asked (either the second Q&A’s of the day or the first one) but I recall Seki-san being asked who did he like more, Sanzo or Konzen.

Seki-san shared that nowadays he leans more towards Konzen as he shows more emotion than Sanzo. However, he can understand why ladies would mostly prefer someone with more of the physique & looks of Sanzo (*cough cough* not saying @flowermiko here…), but obviously, he enjoys very much and is proud of playing Sanzo. If you ask me though, I get the feeling secretly Seki-san might be much more like Sanzo that he wants to let us on! If anything, I will add to my argument what my new-made friend shared with me that happened when she got her autograph: Seki-san put his hands firmly on his hips and oh-so very firmly said “I AM SANZO.” So there you have it—straight from the source of the voice!

Back to after the Q&A, I’d learned that Tara was also an American (from Florida) and like me, had made the trip just to meet Seki-san mostly because it’d been eight years since Seki-san had even been to NA (as well as being a Saiyuki fan too). As we were both attending all events with Seki-san, we decided to tag along together and head for the next event, which would be the “Meet & Greet” (a separate ticketed event) at the “Butcher & Bullock” pub about two blocks south from the Vancouver Convention Centre.

Entrance to the “Butcher & Bullock” with two volunteers-now-turned-bouncers.

No photos, recordings, etc., everything we’d been told for the autograph sessions & Q&As. Who cares?! This was going to be a much more intimate, informal and relaxed setting with the guests invited and about as close as you could get to them. They would be rotating us in groups and be given roughly about five minutes to talk to each guest. VIPs would be let in first (which weren’t that many), but since we got asked who we wanted to talk to the most, quickly I chirped “Toshihiko Seki”, so we’d get to go straight to Seki-san (and get to talk to him for some extra minutes while the rest of the crowd filed into the pub).

Seki-san was located on the end of the front row of cocktail tables. In a circle from Seki-san’s right, it was Tara, me, three other girls & Shiori (the interpreter) to his left. I think we all looked at each other for a moment as to how to begin, but Shiori quickly said to just start asking questions.

I honestly can’t remember how the conversation started out but it might have been all of us quickly (re)introducing ourselves and stating where we were from. Tara gifted Seki-san an official illustration with line art used in one of the Saiyuki anime (I only got a quick look, but I believed it looked like Reload/Gunlock art). At some point the conversation shifted towards discussing subs vs dubs in animation and Seki-san asks our group which do we prefer our anime in, dubbed into English or in the original Japanese with subtitles?

One of the girls quickly chirped “in Japanese” and we all nodded in general agreement as she added because “the voicing in English tends to be exaggerated” while referring to the voice tone & script, as in she personally felt these get “overdone”. Some of the others nodded in further agreement. However, I felt compelled to speak up my own opinion.

I’ll take a moment here to say while I’m not against dubs (especially English ones), I have to say there is some validity to the group’s opinion. I have seen both good and bad English dubs, some incredibly well done & some chopped to pieces and without naming any titles, I’ve also seen a ridiculous amount of cheesiness. But for me personally, it’s about first impressions and whichever audio I get to listen to first when I become introduced to an anime.

With that in mind, I turned to Seki-san and said, “To me it’s not about whether English or Japanese is better; it’s about what formed my first impression of the series and the audio I got to hear first is what I associate a character’s voice with the most. When it comes to specifically about ‘Saiyuki’, I started with ‘Reload Gunlock’ and heard first Seki-san as Genjyo Sanzo before any dub voice.” I seemed to have Seki-san’s attention with this, as well it seemed to make him very happy to hear I felt that way, especially as some of the others nodded in agreement.

There was more I had more to say, “Also, because I listen to the drama CDs as well (which obviously are never released officially outside of Japan) I have heard Seki-san’s voice as ‘Sanzo’ the most. To me, and as he (Seki-san himself) has said, he is ‘Sanzo’; I don’t really associate other voices with the character.” At hearing this, Seki-san’s eyes widened in big surprise. “You guys listen to the audio drama CDs?” he asked very curiously. We all nodded and said “Yes, absolutely!” (oh silly Seki-san, you’d just signed my Heart Sutra cd the day before, heh heh). Seki-san continued to be genuinely surprised by this, so he asked further “So how do you guys understand what is going on?” since obviously most of us don’t understand Japanese.

At first I was a bit hesitant on how to say it, but I figured as long as I worded it right it wouldn’t be an issue. So I said, “Sometimes other fans that do understand Japanese will transcribe and translate the dramas into English for fans that don’t understand the language. It’s never for profit in the least, but something by fans for fans because we all love the same series.” I let Shiori translate before I added, “However, even if a translation isn’t available, just because I can’t understand what’s being said, it doesn’t stop me from wanting to listen or enjoying a drama CD because in the end, Sanzo is still ‘Sanzo’ because Seki-san is the voice behind him.”

As soon as I finished saying that & Shiori finished translating it to Seki-san, a big wide smile spread on his face. He was still very surprised by the sudden revelation that international fans will listen to drama CDs regardless of understanding or not, but more than that, I think hearing just how much we indulge in his voice work beyond the anime, language barriers or not, made him very, very happy.

This brought about a final question from Seki-san: “Not saying it’ll happen, but theoretically if we (seiyuu—I’m assuming this is about Saiyuki) were to do an English recording would you guys listen to it?”. We said absolutely yes. I suggested that even if it was something little like an extra in a drama cd or mini drama in character CDs, we’d really love to listen to it.

What do you want me to say? Personally, of course I’d love to see a mini drama of Sanzo, Goku, Hakkai & Gojyo trying to speak in English, at least as the theme for a mini drama!

But moving on, the MC called time for table rotation, so we all shook hands with Seki-san and moved on to the next table, which was Romi Paku. I admit though, other than saying hi and letting her know I knew her from voicing “Nana” from the series of the same name & Edward Elric from “Fullmetal Alchemist”, I remained mostly silent and let the other more knowledgeable fans do the talking. However, when the next table change was called, I decided to step away and grab something to drink and some of the appetizers they had available for us. By then it was late lunch and I was starving.

A Look Inside the pub, screenshot sourced from AniRevo’s closing ceremonies video.

I guess I don’t have to repeat I obviously was here almost entirely for Seki-san, so I had in mind to just maybe sneak back in to his table when the event would be almost over. But first, food, and while doing so, Tara also joined me by the bar and we were both on opposite sides of the MC (whose name I didn’t get…) and started a conversation with her.

There isn’t much I can recall other than she thanked us for coming, some talk about PokémonGO and the critters local to the regions Tara & me were visiting from and how they (AniRevo) are trying to grow as a con and invite more popular guests. They were really excited and wanted to make sure everything went well since this was the first time they’d invited someone major like Romi Paku and Toshihiko Seki-san. Their goal is further grow and hope to invite more major guests, such as other Japanese voice actors.

So, with no apologies about it or any shame, I had to pitch in to consider inviting Suwabe Junichi, mentioning I had met him about a month ago at Anime Expo and that I thought he would be an excellent guest for Anime Revo. She mentioned apparently there isn’t as much demand in Canada for a guest like him, but I insisted you never know, and I for one, would certainly be willing to fly to AniRevo again, especially if they invite Suwabe-san.

But! Tara and me both agreed and told her we were here almost entirely to meet Seki-san and asked if we could go back to his cocktail table one last time. She said to go ahead since there wasn’t much time left of the Meet & Greet. As soon as she said that, we thanked her for chatting with us, then slowly squeezed around some of the people rotating around the cocktail tables with the other guests and worked our way back to where Seki-san was.

We’d have to wait a little before the last group moved so we could squeeze in with the next round. I’m sure Shiori knew we were going for the repeat (only how many times had she seen us by now, hah hah!). Nonetheless, another staff member came by and asked if we were just standing there or waiting for our turn, which of course we answered with the latter. I would listen in a little to what the other group was talking about, but I really couldn’t make out a thing. As soon as the group moved, we moved once again surrounding Seki-san, myself ending up in the same spot I had when we first walked into the pub.

Since we’d technically already had our chance, I stayed silent and give the others a chance to talk. I can’t remember how it came about, but somehow the topic of Seki-san’s different voices for characters was mentioned. I took the opportunity and began blabbering how I was practically mind blown the first time I heard his normal voice after first hearing him as Sanzo. I probably exaggerated my “mind blown” expression when I made a slap to my heart, but I’m not kidding when I say I really couldn’t believe how different is Seki-san’s voice to the one he does for Sanzo.

Of course, Seki-san was highly amused and was quick to tease me saying “What, you don’t like my regular voice?”

I admit it: Seki-san really got me with that one as I started frantically waving my hands saying “No it’s not that! It’s just the difference in tone of voice since I heard Sanzo’s voice first before I had heard Seki-san’s normal voice.” Seki-san nodded and let out another chuckle, probably like his inner Sanzo self, amused by my reaction. Thinking back on that, I can’t help but smile seeing it in my mind all over again. The time to wrap up the event came as the MC called for the end, thanked everyone for coming and instructed us to exit the building as we were also reminded guests would have more autograph sessions and Q&As.

Half of the day had gone by and it was already packed with memories. With so much more that would come, Saturday will just have to have a part two to it, so stay tuned!

[flowermikonotebook]

Meeting Toshihiko Seki - Part 1

Rather than writing a “Q&A” report, this is my personal experience being a

Saiyuki & Sanzo fan and getting to meet Toshihiko Seki. As a disclaimer, what’s written is entirely my personal opinion, although I’ve strived to the best of my ability to recall as much as possible purely from memory since rather than taking notes, I wanted to be in and live in the moment of a dream come true and in the making for over ten years. All my questions are Saiyuki related. It’s a long read, so TL-DRs beware. Otherwise thank you for stopping by and enjoy!

Friday, August 5th: The First Autograph & First Meeting

I didn’t have a chance to finish or even start hand-writing my letter before I traveled on Thursday. Work had been relentless since returning from my trip to Los Angeles in early July, so by the time the trip to Vancouver arrived, I was just too tired. I figured, well, if I survived meeting Suwabe Junichi dead-on first at the autograph session at AX a month ago, then I could definitely get through meeting Seki-san without going to the Opening Ceremony (even if he was there, it would be what, for 5 minutes at the most?). All that mattered is that I made it in time for the autograph session with extra time, since I still had to figure out the matter of whether or not I’d be able to give him the gift I brought, or at the very least the letter!

The letter to Toshiko Seki, hand written version & the translation courtesy of @apricotsushi.

With that in mind, I sat down to hand write the letter on Kutusita Nyanko stationery while keeping an eye on the clock so I didn’t leave late (plus I still needed to pick up my badge—I had missed the early pick up the previous day due to my excursion through downtown Vancouver). For having struggled so much with writing out the letter’s draft a week ago I had ended up writing a lot—I ran out of a whole set of one of the sheets and I had to move onto the other (I used at least 9 pages if not more). But after almost two hours, it was finished, closing in on the time I had to leave. No time to practice reading the message I had for Seki-san: like a month ago with Suwabe, I’d be reading the romanji right out of the paper.

Dressed and double checking I had everything, I made my way to the convention, which thank goodness, was only an eight-minute walk from my hotel. Mind you I kept getting distracted by some of the PokeStops, but hey, I finally got that Pikachu I wanted! And for all the distractions, it was a great thing I had gotten the VIP badge: anyone getting a badge on con day was stuck in a pretty long line and the same went for those picking up badges.

The Vancouver Convention Centre at Canada Place in Coal Harbor & Location of AnimeRevo

As I asked where to pick up VIP badges, staff directed me to a different section of the ticket pick up booths around the corner. Unlike the others, practically no wait in line. Badge and goodie bag picked up, I would have about an hour to kill before the autograph session. To calm my nerves a little, I went looking around the dealer’s room. It wasn’t super big, but I was able to find some cute things for friends & my siblings.

Now it was down to 30 minutes before the autograph session began. I made my way to the line and asked which one was the express/VIP line. While the regular line was already long, there was none in the VIP line, meaning regardless of whether or not I’d manage to give Seki-san my gift, I’d be THE VERY FIRST PERSON TO WALK UP TO HIM.

First things first: I mentioned to the staff that previously through e-mails I had asked if I would be allowed to give Seki-san a gift. One of the girls called someone from behind the curtain to talk me. He would tell me they’d have to check with Seki-san’s management—they would have ultimate say. I showed him exactly what I had brought: a Texas t-shirt, two keychains & two post cards. It wasn’t anything fancy (my hope only being Seki-san might remember me a little & where I’m from!). Whomever he’d talk to next, hopefully he’d let them know the items were not inappropriate, or worse-case, to ask if I could at least give Seki-san a letter.

A picture of the gift I gave to Seki-san. The purple bag is a nod to Sanzo’s signature color.

He left to check with staff while I was told to go ahead and line up and that they’d be on the lookout for me. I would probably end up talking with about four different people or so, each saying that they were checking with whoever was above them, all at the same time while I was reviewing my message and reading in a low voice to myself.

The scheduled time for the autograph session arrived, but still no word if the gift was a go or no-go. Finally, a girl comes out from behind the curtain to talk to me. We talk a little bit and she tells me it’s okay to give him the gift, as long as I hand it to her rather than Seki-san (later I would find out her name was “Shiori” and she would be the interpreter for Seki-san throughout the weekend). At first I thought she meant I had to give it to her then, but not at all: I would be allowed to hand it to her in front of Seki-san, so he’d see the gift was for him.

As soon as she went behind the curtains, someone came on the loud speaker and announced/asked “Who’s here to see Toshihiko Seki? Anyone familiar with ‘Kill La Kill’?”.

SILENCE.

I was surprised to say the least that none was cheering loudly for him. Did none know him? Were they in line for no particular reason other than just to get items autographed from series he is in? I know, it sounds very contradicting, but it was the first thought I had at the time. As someone would explain to me later, at least in Canada, that lack of response was in fact a sign of respect. Odd to me, but okay, I won’t disagree: us Americans can be loud to say the least! A few ground rules were laid, such as no touching, hugging, pictures or recording and NO HANDSHAKES (guess they must’ve heard of someone shaking Suwabe’s hand *cough*).

And then…he walked out from behind the curtains. There he was: none other than Toshiko Seki-san, the person I’ve wanted to meet for over ten years ever since I’d gotten into Saiyuki, the one behind that voice I could never forget. I was shaking to say the least! But it wouldn’t even be a minute before pens & markers were ready and I was called to the table.

With the Saiyuki: Chanting of the Heart Sutra CD in one hand & the gift with the letter in the other, I walk up to the table. Seki-san greets me in English with a simple and warm “Hello”. I reply “hi” in English a bit shyly, then handed him the Heart Sutra CD. Seki-san’s eyes widened in surprised when he saw it, not sure if from the fact it’s pretty rare even in Japan, or the fact somehow I had it. At this I suddenly snap out of the shyness without thinking, point my finger lightly towards Seki-san and shout “SAAAAAANZOOOOOOOOO!!” (spontaneity FTW). Seki-san gives me a big wide smile knowing exactly what I recognized him for & that I was a Saiyuki fan. In fact, seems it made him very happy as he gave me the “OK” sign with his hand. I tell the interpreter I’m going to read my message as he signs my CD.

“Hajimemashite”, I began, which Seki-san quickly followed with his own “hajimemashite” as I continued “Watashi no namae wa Jackie desu.” He nods and addresses me as “Jackie-san” (*blush*). I felt much more at ease and confident by then, so I continued with the rest:

“I came all the way from Texas in the USA and I’m very happy to meet you. Thank you very much for coming to Anime Revolution. Pleased to meet you. It makes me really happy that you are taking time to meet international fans.”

The sheet I used to read a message to Seki-san, translated/Romanized by @apricotsushi

My memory gets a bit blurry here, but I’m pretty sure I recall Seki-san having a very warm & happy smile. At this, the interpreter cuts me off to speed things up, so before I could say the rest, I hand her the gift as we’d agreed previously. What came next would be unexpected: Seki-san was so impressed & surprised, he immediately got up from his chair and grabbed my hand into a handshake! So much for the earlier rule! (turns out Seki-san shook hands with almost every fan multiple times—very sweet of him!) No freeze up from me, I shook his hand in return, he handed me back my CD and I proceeded to leave the area, walking out in a daze.

The Saiyuki: Genjyo Sanzo: Chanting of the Heart Sutra CD now with Toshiko Seki’s Autograph.

I couldn’t believe it, but it had indeed finally happened. I had met the very Toshiko Seki-Sanzo-sama in person and gotten to shake hands. I went outside into the boardwalk, crying happy tears, because really, ten years ago I thought all I would ever have is dreaming of meeting the man behind the voice of the character that has inspired me so much. I quickly messaged Apricotsushi to thank her for translating the letter and my message, because if it wasn’t for her, honestly I don’t think any of the previous would’ve happened nor would I’ve been able to make such an impression on Seki-san.

But this was just the very beginning. Saturday & Sunday laid ahead of me, especially Saturday, which would be full of getting to interact with Seki-san & being a Saiyuki fangirl in the moment.

Stay tuned for part two of meeting Seki-san, coming soon!

[flowermikonotebook]

Translation: RAIMEI - Thunderbolt Fantasy Opening Theme

I’ve been a fan of T.M.Revolution for many years, but I hadn’t kept up with much anything as far as j-pop. Get him to do the Thunderbolt Fantasy opening them and the translation, I had to have it!  Right from the begining song feels epic and TMR brings all the energy he’s known for in his music. I got to watch him live at Anime Expo. My goodness is he intense! I hope one day I can see & hear him perform RAIMEI live!

Until then, this translation comes courtesy of and was commissioned to the lovely @apricotsushi​ who is my queen (be sure to visit her website Chick Pixel and discover lots of fun cute things from Japan). I can’t thank her enough for all her amazing work on these translations. They’ve allowed me to do so much and I treasure every one of them.

Do not re-post or re-translate and Absolutely Do NOT use for subtitling of any manner without requesting permission . You may link to this post directly. To view the “RAMEI” video, visit TMR’s VEVO account here. Thank you & enjoy.

RAIMEI [THUNDER]

Kuroku omoi sora ni mukeru negai no ha o hikarasete Face the black, heavy sky and shine the blade of prayer

yume no chiru zanzō ga kieru ka to kirameku shukumei to tawamureta soko wa mada jiyū da

The afterimage of the shattered dream glimmers as it vanishes You’re still free to play with fate 

majiwaru yami o kakiwakeru sekai de shiroi kiretsu no raimei ni tsuzuke

Treading through a world covered in darkness Led by the white crack of thunder 

akumu no yō na risuku mamono ni sumitsukare jibun dake ni mieten no ka to furueteiru

Inhabited by dangerous demons of nightmares You shake, wondering if they can only see you 

meguri megutta inga no gōka odoritsuzukete arashi no naka sora ni mukeru negai nara ken no yō ni

The fickle fires of fate continue to dance In the middle of the storm, face the sky with your prayer like a blade

yume no chiru zanzō ga kieru ka to kirameku hokori takaki kokoro wa kareta koe o agete

The afterimage of the shattered dream glimmers as it vanishes A heart full of pride raises a parched voice

sakinzuru jōnetsu ga hayagane o utaseru tabidachi o kimeta nara soko ga mō mirai da

Heart beats fast in anticipatory zeal If you decide to set out on a journey, that is now your future

tagai no yami no motsureau sekai de yaketa kiseki no raimei ni tsuzuke

In a world entangled in mutual darkness Led by the burning tracks of thunder

ana no ōi riaru sukui ga nasasugite komoru netsu no otoshi tokoro o sagashiteiru

In a reality full of holes, help is beyond nonexistent Searching for the place where you lost your built-up passion

sabakikirenai kizu mo itami mo me o tsumurya ii karadajyū ni kizan da mama okasarenu ken o idakeru

Just close your eyes to the scrapes and wounds of countless judgments With your wounded body, embrace the impenetrable sword

owaranai zankyō o ashita e to tsunageru yogoretemo kagayakeru sore ga sō mirai da

The never-ending echo connects you to tomorrow Shining even when sullied, that itself is the future

todomaru koto ga tsumi o umu sekai de shunkan shikakeru raimei to susume

In a world where straying breeds sin Advance with the instantaneous thunder

kumoma o saite yobareru hikari hakai no hibiki ga saisei o tsumui de yuku

Summoned light that pierces through the clouds The echo of destruction weaves rebirth

arashi no naka sora ni mukeru okasarenu negai daite In the middle of the storm, face the sky embracing the impenetrable prayer

owaranai zankyō o ashita e to tsunageru shitsubō mo zetsubō mo kumeru fukasa ni aru

The never-ending echo connects you to tomorrow Disappointment and despair are in the shallows

otozureru hajimari o dare datte eraberu yogoretemo kagayakeru sore ga sō mirai da

Anyone can choose the beginning that’s calling Shining even when sullied, that itself is the future

yume no chiru zanzō ga kieru ka to kirameku shukumei to tawamureta soko wa mada jiyū da

The afterimage of the shattered dream glimmers as it vanishes You’re still free to play with fate

majiwaru yami o kakiwakeru sekai de shiroi kiretsu no raimei ni tsuzuke

Treading through a world covered in darkness Led by the white crack of thunder

~*Afterhtoughts

This has been quite a year to say the least! My inner j-culture fan has woken up all over again. Falling head over heels for El Suave has led from one thing to another, including watching him voice Syou Fu Kan and before I knew it, I was totally in love with Thunderbolt Fantasy. But it did catch my eye on it’s own from watching the preview movie & display at Anime Expo. Suwabe Junichi playing Syou Fu Kan was a very well received extra bonus for me *smiles*.

Overall, I feel the song’s lyrics do a great job of wrapping the whole feel of what Thunderbolt Fantasy is. I personally feel the song slightly leans towards Syou Fu Kan (or Shang as I call him for short) since he is the one we really know about the least! I think a lot of the verses reflect on the what we do know of his personality. But the song overall makes a lot of allusions to many of the themes from the story, and in a way, summarizes them together.

[flowermikonotebook]

Translation: Code Realize ~Princess of Genesis~ -Van Character CD Mini Drama: ~ A Nighttime Conversation ~

This has been a long time coming & in the making, but real life has been keeping me busy, but no complaints about Suwabe fever! But here it is as promised to many that have been asking for this one and in tribute to meeting him in person.

What’s it like to get inside Van’s head & go through all his thoughts, as well as just how he feels about a very special lady? That’s what you’re about to find out. This story takes place somewhere along the beginning of Van’s route, possibly being after Cardia’s kidnapping by Jack the Ripper but before the attack by Neuntote. Of course, feel free to make your own guess. Also note, although this is a full monologue, Cardia is present in the room & his words are directed to her.

The translation was commissioned to and is courtesy of Lijakaca - thank you very much for all your hard work on this! Be sure to check out her blog! CD information available Here.

Do not re-post or re-translate without requesting permission . Thank you & enjoy! 

*Internal monologue

**Denotes an action

The more peaceful  things are, the more powerful and clear some memories are recalled

The gun blasts piercing my ears

The flames surrounding my body

The crimson shadow shimmering on the other side

Since the day I vowed revenge, without a moment of respite, as if it’s telling me

Just like the  flames burning in my chest, telling me “There’s no peace for you.”

Overwhelming, overpowering, as if it’s ridiculing me.

*sound of gun handling*

This gun is well-used. It’s started to show inaccuracy

Maybe it’s about time to switch it out

I need to check ammunition and top up those supplies as well

Although, since I teamed up with Lupin and everyone

It’s a frustrating fact, but I’m definitely getting closer to my goal

The enemy, though it doesn’t act like it, is a national organization. It’s a formidable foe.

*Van continues handling a gun*

However, I have no intention of finishing this all together like a close-knit group

And for that, right now…

*There’s a knock on the door. It’s opened followed by Cardia walking in. She carries a serving tray with dishes and sets them down on a table*

*Van sighs*

Well? How long do you intend to stay there?

*sigh*

I’m grateful to you for bringing tea and dinner, but…

You don’t have anything specific you  need from me, do you?

You say that, but you just continue to stand there…isn’t this a waste of your time?

It’s fun to watch me maintain my  weapons?

Huh, you’re as odd as always.

I can’t understand your thinking.

*annoyed sigh*

You ask strange questions.

I’m only doing this because it’s necessary.

I’ve never even considered whether it’s enjoyable or not.

Fu…Of course I’ve never slacked on maintenance.

In a dire situation, if this isn’t usable, it’s worthless

And this gun isn’t here just to protect my life, but also to protect you guys…

*clears  throat*

No, it’s nothing.

Anyways, you can’t miss taking care of your weapons.

*grunt*

Really, you should have let that comment slide…

But you don’t have to say thank you.

I didn’t intend to say that.

*gun clicking  sounds*

Hm? What’s wrong?

A-ah…do you want to learn how to handle a gun?

Yes, that’s definitely true.

If you learn to use a gun, you can have a broader role in our future strategies.

For our activities, that will definitely be a major  advantage.

But, remember this: this is a weapon. A weapon that can take someone’s life by squeezing one finger.

You’re not stupid. I’m sure that you made the suggestion wanting to help all of us.

But…but even so, a weapon is not something you should use without being ready.

*short  breath*

Well, knowing you, I’m sure that’s not a worry.

OK, fine. I’ll teach you the basics while I do my maintenance.

Yes, I’ll teach you thoroughly so you won’t make any mistakes.

But, as I said, now that you’re getting ready to use guns, never forget what kind of thing they are.

They don’t always kill, but still, they exist in order to hurt people.

  *Sometime later…Music  fades to bells tolling and gun handling in the background.…*

Hm, good, you’re doing well.

OK, next one.

Put that part in the gap and lock it in position.

That’s right, you can go slowly.

Rushing and making a mistake would be worse.

Huh, you’re much better than I’d expect a first timer to be.

Just like when I taught you fighting, you really pick things up quickly.

Ha ha, even if you say you’re going to assemble it, I’m sure it will be difficult for you.

Alright, we’ll stop here for assembling and loading it. Next, I’ll show you how to stand in battle.

Hm? You intend to try it on your own? I don’t mind, but an amateur won’t have the steadiness—

 *Sound of gun being cocked very steadily. Van stops abruptly  mid -sentence*

You– is this really your first time?

Sometimes I can barely believe it.

I see, you were imitating me.

Even still, can an imitation be done this skillfully?

Really, you’re scary sometimes, heh.

Now, next you should learn how to take guns apart.

When it really counts, knowing how to remove your enemy’s firepower is a way to find an escape route from even the tightest corner.

*gun clicking sounds*

Oh, that’s right–  you could also use your poison to render guns useless.

Ah, no— that should only be your last resort

It’s best to have at least basic knowledge and countering strategies.

Ok then, first I’ll quickly teach you about the outline of a  battle.

I’ll go through it in order, so memorize it.

Ready? First, if the enemy is standing in front of you– that’s  right, as you say… (*speech fades out*)

  *Music fades in and some unknown time has passed*

*How long has it been since then? The time passed so quietly

It’s unusual to have another person in this room for so long.

To have that person’s presence not be unpleasant is even more strange…and surprising.

But truly, the more I know her the more I’m amazed at her aptitude.

That she can follow my instructions so closely…

Now I can understand why the others value her so highly.

This one, left behind by Isaac Beckford, and my only connection to the source f my revenge, of all my suffering, Finis.

That’s all she is to  me

There’s no way I can  think of her as more than that

*sigh*

There should be no way…but…

*Van snaps back into the moment*

Hm? What?

There are many marks on the gun?

Of course, I’ve been using it a long time.

*Yes, since that day I swore revenge

That day, etched on my mind, impossible to wash off

That red, red, horrible memory

I’ve continued my journey doggedly as if to shake off that nightmare

With no one to have my back, no one to share my heart with

With anger and hatred as my nourishment, wishing only to be alone

Just, continuing, slowly, on the road to destruction…

*shifting sound in background*

And now look at me, one of a thief’s gang.

*Gun clicking sounds in the background come to a stop as Cardia turns  to Van*

Eh-did I say that aloud?

Ah, it wasn’t anything.

I was just thinking how life never goes the way we expect, although that worry doesn’t suit me.

No, apart from that, someone who’s ruined as many lives as me doesn’t even have a right to think that.

 I’m sorry–  please forget you heard that.

 Ah…

*heavy sigh*

 Now, that’s all for today.

 It’s getting late. Go to your room and get some rest.

 *Van gets up, steps towards the door and opens it*

 I’ll do the cleanup.

*Cardia starts to walk out but stops*

Hmn? What’s wrong? Did you forget something?

*Cardia turns  back, walks up to Van and grabs hold of his hands. He is caught by surprise  & remains silent for a moment*

I’m a kind person? How did you get that from what I just said…

Sometimes I’m surprised by what you say.

No that’s fine, there’s nothing to blame in what you just said.

I’m helping you because you are worth helping in my view.

Nothing more and nothing less.

Is that all you had to say?

Ok, goodnight– sweet dreams.

*Cardia walks out and leaves Van’s room. There is a pause followed by a long-drawn sigh*

*What am I thinking?

She’s not supposed to be anything to me except a stepping stone to my goal.

But though I say that, right now, this feeling in my chest, it’s almost like…

*heart beat  sounds follow another long sigh*

I’m an instrument of revenge. No matter what, that won’t change.

I will just…shoot through everything.

No matter what this feeling is, I won’t take my eyes off the goal.

Afterthoughts:

And that’s it!. Many people felt that Van’s feelings for Cardia seem to come out of nowhere at the end of the game, but that was never the case. He is so split between this feeling growing in his heart as well as the anger he has in it due to everything that happened to him.

If the line “I’ve continued my journey doggedly as if to shake off that nightmare…With no one to have my back, no one to share my heart with“ isn’t an indication of just how lonely this man is & deep down wants someone, then I don’t know what is!

But as you see right here, Cardia’s actions little by little conquer Van’s fragile heart and helps him grow past the anger dominating it. This is why they will always be my OTP from this game.

[flowermikonotebook]

Code:Realize ~Blessed Future~ - Abraham Van Helsing

A slightly different posting format, I always try to gather as much information as possible about Van & Cardia. So with a wonderful translation courtesy of the amazing @apricotsushi​ from Chic Pixel, I wanted to try my hand at re-creating this article in English. No I don’t plan on doing the others since my focus is on Van & Cardia and information surrounding them. But I do hope one day the world of otome in the west will evolve enough so we have magazines and more games like these.

Do not re-post or re-translate without requesting permission . Thank you & enjoy!

[flowermikonotebook]

Translation: “Endless Pain”  - Abraham Van Helsing (cv: Suwabe Junichi) - character song from Code: Realize ~Princess of Genesis~

As soon as I knew there would be a character song & mini drama for Van I set my heart and committed myself that I would see this translated or bust. This translation comes courtesy of the wonderful @apricotsushi​. She has done a superior job with translating the lyrics & is an amazing gal, so please be sure to check out her website Chic Pixel - lots of fun things to be read!

This is the journey of Abraham’s Van Helsing’s heart from remembering the sins of his past, the never-ending pain and beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I have no doubts this ties in right with the mini drama on the disk. Translation for the mini drama coming soon. To listen to the song, go HERE.

Do not re-post or re-translate without requesting permission . Thank you & enjoy!

Can’t fade away, I don’t forget it

I’ll never forgive me eternally

 Sabitsuita tamashii de fukushuu o chikau—

I pledge revenge with this rusted soul

  Shouen no hazama de mujou ni warau no wa

That cold smile between gunshots

Keshite kienu kioku

Is a memory that will never fade

Chi nurareta kanashimi, tsumiageta nikushimi

Blood-soaked sadness, built up hatred

Todokanu sakebi to Endless pain

Cries unheard and Endless pain

  Aa kishinda kodoku o daki

Ah, I embrace the creaking loneliness

Tsumi o seoi ikiru mono ni

Those who live burdened by sin

Ai o nozomu kenri nado nai

Have no right to desire love

  Never ending revenge kataku tojita kokoro de misueru

Never ending revenge, gaze at the heart I firmly closed

Kokuu no hate tada hitori yami o kakeyuku

At the end of the void, all alone, I run from the darkness

Kuraku moeru chiiro no mune no honoo yo douka

Darkly burning flame of my blood-red heart, please

Samayoi madou kanjou nado moyashi sukushitekure

Burn away these confused feelings

  Koko ni aru no ga inori demo ikari demo

Whether in prayer or anger

Omoi o kome tada me o sorasazu ni uchinuku dake

I must simply not look away and shoot

  Hiki gane o hiku toki yogiru shinku no kage

When I pull the trigger, a shadow of deep crimson sweeps past

Towa ni kienu kioku

A memory that will never fade

Owari naki sekai ni buchisuteta gensou

Abandoned illusions in this never-ending world

Nari yamanu mune no Endless pain

Won’t stop ringing in my heart, endless pain

  Aa, kasunda yume ga yureru

Ah, hazy dreams waver

Tsumi o kakae agaku mono ni

Those who carry sin

Ai ni fureru kenri nado nai

Have no right to feel love

  Never ending revenge kobiri tsuita taenu juusei wa

Never ending revenge, the endless gunshot that clings to me

Eguru you ni zankoku ni yami o kakeyuku

Cruelly rides the darkness as if to pry away

Kuraku moeru chiiro no mune no honoo yo douka

Darkly burning flame of my blood-red heart, please

Samayoi madou kanjou nado moyashi sukushitekure

Burn away these confused feelings

  Soko ni aru no ga no itsuwari no kokoro demo

Even though the memories I hold

Kono te ni tsukanda omoi wa mada kiete kurezu ni…

Are within a false heart, they remain unfazed…

  Ah… Amata no kagayaki ga uro ni tsudoi ochi kieyuku

Ah… A multitude of light gathers in the hollow, falls, and gradually disappears

Kotaenaki shirushi no saki e todokanu to shirinagara mo

Knowing that I will not reach beyond the sign with no answers

 Kizudarake no nageki ga kono mi o mitashiteiku

Body filling with wounded grief

Kanaderareta zetsubou e yami o uchinuku

I shoot darkness at the despair that played me

 Never ending revenge kataku tojita kokoro de miageta

Never ending revenge, admire the heart I firmly closed

Kokuu no hate ima hitori ikari motomete

At the end of the void, all alone, I seek the light

Tsuyoku moroku kagayaki obita mune no honoo

Strong, fragile, the faintly sparkling flame of my heart

Tatta hitotsu kono ryoute de mamori nukeru no nara­­–

If I can protect just one with these two hands––

  Soko ni aru no ga inori demo ikari demo

Whether in prayer or anger

Omoi o kome tada me o sorasazuni uchinuku dake

I must simply not look away and shoot

I am blown away by the depth of this song. It is a cry of pain & desperation while being lost in darkness but also a plea for help from someone who is lost and confused, that even if he thinks he has no right to love, a small part of him still hopes to find that. But he’s also slowly changing as there is a strong, fragile, sparkling flame in his heart - THAT light he seeks and wants to be able to protect is Cardia.

[flowermikonotebook]

Translation: Code: Realize Special Situation Stellaworth Voice CD - Van, Fran, Saint Germain

The wonderful @sweet-trick-star was gracious enough to translate all 15 tracks from this voice CD. All I can say is I can’t thank her enough. Even though I had commissioned a translation for Van, it’s great to see another take on the translation-- you always pick up on something else. Plus now we can understand the Fran & Saint Germain versions of the tracks.

Re-posting with permission from @sweet-trick-star for archival purposes. Please DO NOT re-post or re-translate without prior permission. Original translation post Here. CD download Here. Thank you and enjoy!

Van

Track 1 I heard your condition was off. I see. You do look pretty bad. Hmph. It’s because you’re pushing yourself too hard. You should rest for today.　I’ll take care of you. That way you won’t have anything to worry about, right? You feel bad for me? If you feel that way then you’d better get well soon.　From now on, tell me before you work yourself too hard.

Track 2 Oh? So that sort of thing happened, huh? But what are you worrying about? If you failed then just do it over again. Your tenacious spirit is your only redeeming quality.　…Haha, that’s right. Getting angry is good. There’s nothing you need to feel down about. …Ah, I over spoke when I said ‘just’ your spirit. That bright smile of yours is also a redeeming quality. But don’t show that smile to anyone other than me. It’ll be trouble if someone else falls in love with you.

Track 3 Up until now I wasn’t able to find a reason to pull the trigger. …No, it’d be better to say I lost myself. I thought there was no cause worthy of fighting for.　But it’s different now. I have a reason to fire my guns, to fight. I’ll fight if it’s for you. I’ll only pull this trigger for you, to live together at your side. If it’s to protect you, I don’t care if the entire world is our enemy. Because I love you.

Track 4 You can’t sleep? Fine, come here. If I hold you, you can relax a little, right? Why are you holding back? Be good and do what I said. … How is it? Warm, right? If you’d like, we can stay like this until morning. I’m sure you’ll sleep well.

Track 5 Ah, you’re finally awake? What’s wrong? Why’s your face turning red? Hah, it’s too late to get embarrassed at this stage. Hm? You’re leaving the room already? Hey, wait. There’s no reason to be in such a rush. I want to feel your body warmth a bit longer. So just stay by my side for a while.

Fran

Track 6 Ah, don’t force yourself. If you aren’t feeling well, just stay like that. Can you show me your face? Looks like you’re getting better. I made some simple food. Do you have an appetite right now? Ah, you don’t need to get up! Look, I’ll feed you. There, open your mouth. Ahh~n. How is it? You’re sick so you can be spoiled as much as you want.

Track 7 I see. So that happened. I understand why you’re feeling down. During these sorts of times, hm… You should get lots of rest to refresh yourself. Hm? That won’t solve anything? Haha~ It’s fine. There’s more to the world than just problems to be solved. It’s important to get some distance and gain composure. It’s okay. I’ll be with you.

Track 8 I think it might come as a bit of a shock because it’s so sudden, but umm…I…I love you! Maybe… for a while now… since the moment I met you. I promise I’ll make you happy. So would you go out with me?

Track 9 It’s already this late? Huh? Could it be you’re nervous? Haha… Well, I’m nervous, too. Mm, no I won’t stop. Tonight is fine. Tonight… I want to make you be mine only. I’m confident that I’m the only one who can make you happy. Come closer. Just leave the rest to me. Let me feel you more.

Track 10 G-good morning! We overslept, huh? We went to sleep so late last night. …Ah, I didn’t mean that in a weird way!? Ah…Haha, why is this sort of embarrassing? Well, let’s get up! The weather is nice, so let’s go for a walk outside after we eat breakfast. I’m sure today will be a good day, too.

San

Track 11 Well, shall we go to the bed? Hehe. You’re aggravating it by pushing yourself too hard when your condition is poor. Can you lay down on your own? Here, give me your hand. Please rest for today. Oh, right. It would be bothersome if you pushed yourself like before. Shall I watch over you here? Hehe. It’s a joke. For now get plenty of sleep and rest your body. And then please show me that beautiful smile of yours again. It’s a promise, my lady.

Track 12 You seem quite down. Hm. How about some warm tea? How is it? Have you calmed down a little? It’s an honor to be able to help. I won’t force you to tell me what’s wrong, but it’s useless to worry. You’re a wonderful young lady. If you’re positive, then I’m sure fate will smile upon you.

Track 13 No matter what, I’ll always be with you. The path that you desire, even if it’s a path that would destroy the world, I’ll take your hand and continue to walk that path with you. I can’t let you go - my love for you is deeper, stronger than anyone else. I love you. Always.

Track 14 You really are beautiful. Hm? You don’t want me to stare so much? Hehe. I understand. But your body in the moonlight is more attractive than any work of art. I’m sure it’s because your heart is so beautiful. Now… Come here. I’m your captive. And tonight, you’ll become my captive, too.

Track 15 Oh? Are you awake? Good morning. Why do you look so surprised? Did you forget about last night? Don’t be so embarrassed. You looked so beautiful under the moonlight. And you’re equally as beautiful in the morning light. Well, shall we spend another wonderful day together?

[flowermikonotebook]

Basic Picture Editing & Clean Up on Photoshop Elements

Woosh, my first guide about something that’s possibly useful “?” blink blink. But here it is at the request and special thanks to @apricotsushi​ who talked me into doing this out of nowhere. The tutorial uses as a sample one of my latest Snow Miku scans.

Unfortunately though, Tumblr is being special with the guide graphics and I can’t get them to display as I’d like. Feel free to download the PDF format of this HERE.

The Beginning:

Anyways, I’ve always been one to try to push for quality when it comes to scanning. But let’s face it, equipment alone (as in a really good scanner) won’t yield 100% amazing results. This is why we have to use graphic editing software to enhance an image and really make it “pop” and stand out.

There’s many of them out there but for this guide we’ll be using Photoshop Elements, which has come a long way from the original releases and allows you to do much more considering what you pay versus the ultra-mighty ridiculously overpriced regular Photoshop. As a note, this guide assumes you have some base working-knowledge of Photoshop such as scanning, simple resizing of an image & saving in different formats.

Scanning:

Usually I scan my images between 300-600 dpi (dots per inch) depending on the size of the image source. In theory, the bigger your original source, the less need for scanning at higher dpi. In addition, the higher the number of dpi you’re scanning at, the more detail the scan will have. However, this does not automatically mean your scan will be great-looking to the eye. Unfortunately, no scanner will save you from “the noise” a.k.a. the “grain” you see, which is the little dots you see upon zooming into the image that even when -not- zoomed, your scan doesn’t look quite as smooth.

What causes “noise”?

This is caused by the vibration produced by the scanner as it (at the risk of being redundant) “scans” and the laser light moves underneath the flatbed glass and “reads” the image. This unfortunately adds unwanted “detail” to the image (the noise/grain) which in turn adds to the size of the file. In the example of the image of “Snow Miku” scanned at 1200 dpi (my clear file was smaller than usual size), it yielded this:

Yeah, that’s a pretty big sized file and certainly most hosting places will not accept that. You could resize the file by making it smaller. This however, will not get rid of the noise and your scan will still have that grainy look.

By using noise-removing filters such as the “Gaussian Blur” we are able to fix this and reduce file size without reducing the size of the image.

In this zoom in you can clearly see the terrible dots of different colors. This is the “noise” generated by the scanner and it really hinders the quality of the image as well as appreciating the art on it. We will start getting rid of it by using a combination of “Blur” filters.

Step 1: As show in zoom below, select Filter > Blur> and on the sub menu pick Gaussian Blur.

This will yield a new small window as shown below. Click on the small slider and move it to the right until the image in the preview window begins to look smoother. You can also input manually a value. I usually use 1.2 like in the example. Click OK and the filter will be applied.

Step 2: Next, go back to the same filter menu but this time select “Blur”. This will automatically apply a basic blurring effect that should help smoothen the image further.

When we apply “blur” filters, however, this will also un-sharpen things we don’t want it to, such as hard lines and outlines that help define the illustration. In the following step we will address that.

Step 3: As shown in the image below, select Enhance > Unsharp Mask. You will get another pop up window. The next image shows a zoomed-in version of this.

In the pop up window, use the handles/sliders to adjust each setting. Play around with them till the image begins to look sharper. The numbers you see in the picture are my standard and I hardly change them. Click OK.

Step 4: Now go back and repeat steps 1 through 3. Very often with high resolution scans, one round of filtering is not enough. After repeating these steps, we are adding one more sharpening filter.

Step 5: Go to Enhance> Adjust Sharpness. A second sharpening filter helps the outline defining lines show and become more visible once again but without re-adding the noise.

As you can see, there’s plenty more controls to play around with. Move the sliders/handles back and forth. Be patient and keep trying until you are satisfied with how the preview looks.

Miku is starting look very pretty now, ne? But there’s still that kinda gray overtone that seems to be hiding some of the true colors of the image. Next we’ll really make the image pop out!

Step 6: Go to Layer> New Adjustment Layer > Levels…see image after this one for the zoom in to what it looks like.

The zoomed-in version of the pull down menu. Be sure to click on Levels and not on anything else!

As shown below, you will get a pop-box asking you to name the layer. Feel free to name it as you’d like or leave in default. This doesn’t affect our picture editing in any way.

As you can see, a “Levels” control box appears (as shown inside the purple box I added). I will be moving this one to the left of Miku so it’s easier to see and explain better how it works.

The way the “Levels” layer work, it will give you a graph of how colors are “balanced” or rather “unbalanced” in the image.

To enhance the image using the Levels, you want to move the sliders/handles towards the center in order to “balance” the colors as well as gray/black overtones. As you can see from the purple arrows, the idea is move each slider towards the spike of color as shown in the graph.

Step 7: As the picture above shows, move the outer sliders towards the center while keeping a close look on your image to make sure it doesn’t become too bright/dark, etc. Also try moving the middle one either to the left or right. If you feel you made a mistake or doesn’t look right, just hit “Undo” (Ctrl + Z) and try again until it looks right.

With just a little adjustment of all three sliders we can see a big difference and improvement on the image!

Picture Color Balance Comparison

Before // After

Miku looks much brighter now! You can also adjust the “RGB” (Red/Green/Blue) levels as well by clicking on the channel as shown below. This is really great for when a picture looks literally “too red/green/blue”.

Same as before, slide the sliders toward where the graph peaks, always keeping an eye on your image as doing so. You don’t want it to become too red/green/blue! However, if it happens, just hit “Undo” and try again. This step can take a long time and a lot of going back and forth and “Undos”. Just keep trying and you’ll get it!

Final Steps: All there’s left now is merging the Adjustment Layer with the image below and save save Save!

Again, if you need visual reference here’s a zoom-in of the pull-down menu.

Zooming in as we did in the beginning, you can see how much of the noise is gone, yet the image still looks sharp and pretty. There’s other filters that can be used, such as “Dust & Scratches,” “Despeckle”, and more, but this is the best combination that’s worked for me. Always save extra copies of your originals in case something happens!

Final size comparison: We went from the original at 105 MB to 37.1 MB after all filters were applied, a total decrease of 68 MB.That’s a lot to say the least!

The Final Result

Not to mention that’s in addition to that now the image on the right looks much more lively and smooth now! I hope this is helpful to and thank you for reading! Happy Photoshop-ing-editing-hopping and all that good stuff!

~flowermiko March 3rd, 2016.

[flowermikonotebook]

Japan Character Goods Online Shops

Might be useful or not at all, but these are the stores that I have shopped from at least at one point or another.

*All of These Require a Proxy Buyer

AERL - (Accessories)

Alice.NET - Girl’s Side (Otome section of the website)

Animate Online Store

Cozy Wave/Romantica (Otome-themed and others Health & Beauty goods)

  Code: Realize Shop for Cozy Wave

Ensky Shop Online (Hoshi no Kirby goods & others)

Family Mart (Famimart) Official Otomate Shop:

 Code: Realize Famimart Otomate Shop:

Frontierworks Online Shop (Music/Drama CDs branch from Animate)

Gift Online Shop (Collectible Plushies)

HobbiGirls Store (Similar to Stellaworth: drama cds, games & more)

Ichigatsu to Shichigatsu (”January and July”) - Otomate Goods

LoliiShop (Accessories)

 LoliiShop Otomate Goods Shop

Minekura.net & Online Shop (Saiyuki, Wild Adapter)

Movic Online Shop

Pokemon Center Japan Online Shop

Premium Bandai (Multi-Series Collector Items)

Sakuranomori Books (Otomate Books & CDs and More)

Skit Dolce (Otome goods - Rejet’s Official Online Shop)

Stellaworth (The Otome Wonderland)

Super Groupies (Official Animanga Inspired Shoes & Accessories)

Super Potato (Second hand classic, retro games & consoles + more)

Suruga-ya (Second-hand Goods and Finds)

Takara Tomy (TOMY) Online Mall (Pokemon anime toys & more)

Other shops? Anything I missed or you’d like to recommend? Send a PM and I’ll add it to this list! This will be updated as I find new shops I order from ^^

[flowermikonotebook]

Saiyuki Crossroaders

Seeing as many of you have been asking about this light novel and to clear up some details, let’s have a proper post about it.

What is it?: A exclusive “online only” light novel by Kazuya Minekura, posted on Ichijinsha’s Zero-Sum website HERE. On their usual way to the West, the guys realize they’re near the vicinity of “the Famous Maakou Town”, Shangri-La’s equivalent of “Las Vegas”. Although reluctant at first to waste more time with yet another distraction, Sanzo agrees they all go into the city as he needs to have his Smith & Wesson serviced.

Is it an Alternate Universe (AU) story?: No, it’s not. This is one of the many side stories/adventures that take place on the way West. In other words, it’s one of the many delays the Three Aspects keep complaining about!

Where does it fall in the series?: Although Minekura-sensei has been working on this while already releasing “Saiyuki Reload Blast”, this story takes place during “Saiyuki Reload” as the guys have NOT reached India.

Is the story finished?: No. It currently stands at four chapters as of November 2013. One day she will finish it, but due to on-going health conditions it’s unpredictable when she might be able to pick up this project. Originally this was intended for her as a way to continue producing material for Saiyuki in a lighter form as her health conditions can limit how much time she can spend in the manga or even go into the office for work.

Okay, got all that. What about translations? “Konnyakuhonyu“ from Livejournal translated the first three chapters of the story. See the links below:

Chapter One: The Sleepless Town.

Chapter Two: “The Famous “Maakou Town...”

Chapter Three: “You Wouldn’t Think this was the Same Shangri-la”.

What about Chapter four?: It’s currently untranslated. If you or anyone else would like to volunteer to translate this chapter you can view & download the Japanese script HERE. Sometimes when opening the file it tends to give an error. Try clicking on it a second time and it should open. It also has some extra color art on it as well.

[flowermikonotebook]

Music Inspiration: “Mirrors”

Ahh...this song...this this this this THIS SONG by Justin Timberlake has VAN written all over it! Originally it was my choice for my Sanzo x SaiyuOC because I’ve always felt (and it’s true) Sanzo is not one that would open up quite easy & you’d have to be quite special to get his attention. That still stands.

Now after all my suspicions about Van were confirmed after playing his route, it’s no wonder this song fits him PERFECTLY. I’ve mentioned multiple times how much Van & Cardia parallel each other because of their pasts, how they’ve handled it (although one is certainly much more emotionally damaged than the other). I feel this song covers this theme entirely, as well as what Van ultimately saw in Cardia and ultimately made him turn around to not loose the love of his life.

For this post I’ve chosen the Radio Edit version for the purposes of illustrating the themes within Van & Cardia’s relationship. Click HERE. for the video of the radio edit with lyrics. If you’d like to see the official video with the extended version of the lyrics (which apply to Van just as much) Click HERE. As usual, I’ve bolded the lyrics that make me think the most about Van.

Aren't you something to admire, 'cause your shine is something like a mirror And I can't help but notice, you reflect in this heart of mine If you ever feel alone and the glare makes me hard to find Just know that I'm always parallel on the other side

'Cause with your hand in my hand and a pocket full of soul I can tell you there's no place we couldn't go Just put your hand on the glass, I'm here trying to pull you through You just gotta be strong

'Cause I don't wanna lose you now I'm looking right at the other half of me The vacancy that sat in my heart Is a space that now you hold Show me how to fight for now And I'll tell you, baby, it was easy Coming back into you once I figured it out You were right here all along

It's like you're my mirror My mirror staring back at me I couldn't get any bigger With anyone else beside of me And now it's clear as this promise That we're making two reflections into one 'Cause it's like you're my mirror My mirror staring back at me, staring back at me

Aren't you something, an original, 'cause it doesn't seem merely assembled And I can't help but stare 'cause I see truth somewhere in your eyes Ooh I can't ever change without you, you reflect me, I love that about you And if I could, I would look at us all the time

'Cause with your hand in my hand and a pocket full of soul I can tell you there's no place we couldn't go Just put your hand on the glass, I'm here trying to pull you through You just gotta be strong

'Cause I don't wanna lose you now I'm looking right at the other half of me The vacancy that sat in my heart Is a space that now you hold Show me how to fight for now And I'll tell you, baby, it was easy Coming back into you once I figured it out You were right here all along

It's like you're my mirror My mirror staring back at me I couldn't get any bigger With anyone else beside of me And now it's clear as this promise That we're making two reflections into one 'Cause it's like you're my mirror My mirror staring back at me, staring back at me

Yesterday is history Tomorrow's a mystery I can see you looking back at me Keep your eyes on me Baby, keep your eyes on me

I don't wanna lose you now I'm looking right at the other half of me The vacancy that sat in my heart Is a space that now you hold Show me how to fight for now And I'll tell you, baby, it was easy Coming back into you once I figured it out You were right here all along

It's like you're my mirror My mirror staring back at me I couldn't get any bigger With anyone else beside of me And now it's clear as this promise That we're making two reflections into one 'Cause it's like you're my mirror My mirror staring back at me, staring back at me