It's been some time since my last actual blog post...2 years to be precise. There's nothing too crazy I want to report this time, but I guess I'll give a quick update on what I've been up to, and then I'll talk about some awesome stuff! Let's break things up into sections to make this easier to read!
What I've been up to:
Remember how I said I'd "try to be away less".....yeah that didn't exactly happen. For the most part, I haven't been dying and my website isn't anywhere near dead. Between May 2013 to August 2014 I took a year off from school and continued working to make some money to cover my finances. I still added content through 2013, but 2014 was a pretty sparse year. I wasn't necessarily too busy, but for a while I just didn't feel like working on lyrics so much. Once I received a new request for a LIGHT BRINGER song, it kind of kicked me into gear and I started working on lyrics again. Albeit that time I was back in school so my update schedule was still pretty slow. At the start of the summer this year, I was doing pretty good until July hit, I got busy, and stopped. (Also because I wanted to make this blog update for the reason that I will be explaining very soon!) So I guess while I have some summer left I'll post more lyrics until school takes over my free time again....
The real reason for this update
So other than the fact that I was due to make an update, the main reason I'm writing this is because the website has hit a new milestone, 400 song lyrics!!!! Yaaayyy.....ok maybe that wasn't that exciting... But hey, you know what, on my last update I was only at 250 lyrics. That means that it's taken a whole two years....to add...150...more. Alright, so that may seem like a small amount compared to how much I have left too add (it's never-ending really...). But now I'm only 100 lyrics away from 500, which will only take...less than two years to reach...so, HA!! Joking aside, posting the 400th lyrics was actually pretty awesome for me, here's why. If you didn't notice, I've started running multiple projects at the same time; mostly so I don't get bored of the same artist and so I can have some variety when adding stuff. But the cool thing was that the last round of lyrics I posted for each artist were some of my favorites songs from each one. F.I.R.'s 「I remember」, FLiP's 「JEREMY」, Rei Yasuda's 「Delight」, ONE OK ROCK's 「Decision」, and Yuka Masaki's 「Change Myself」. Number 400 was a little bit different though. Instead of running through the next round, I decided to add another new artist so that I could hit 400 song lyrics and 45 artists at the same time. So the winner for number 400/45 is Hitomi Shimatani's third single 「papillon」! Maybe not my favorite song from her, but still a good one.
New website things:
Unlike the last section, this one will be pretty short. I haven't made any real changes since the last update. Again, waiting for the big 500 before I really start doing stuff. Mostly I'd just say, pay attention to the Project Status box to see what's happening project-wise. That will always be updating...unless I'm not posting anything...and then it won't be... Actually...I just added something... In the current projects section, I'm now showing the total amount of songs I've completed per album. So now you can see how far along I am with each one, yay!
What's cool about Otakon 2015?:
So for those that don't know, Otakon is an anime convention held in Baltimore, Maryland every year, and as you probably already expect, I went to it. I actually go to it every year though since it's the largest convention in my area, so maybe the fact that I went is not so surprising... But what's cool about Otakon is that they often bring in some pretty awesome musical guests which is my biggest draw to the convention. In 2013, they had T.M.Revolution, Home Made Kazoku, and Yoko Kanno, as well as Yoshiki and ALTIMA in 2014. I often can't resist going when big names such as those are in town. So who they did they bring in this year? Although it took a while for me to decide to attend, every time they announced a new guest the J-music nerd's hype for this convention grew more and more inside me. (Sounds weird, I know...go with it.) The first guest they announced was none other than Draft King! (And now everyone says, "who?!") Draft King is a new band formed a few years ago by NOHANA (bass) and SHIHO (drums) of the band STEREOPONY, which I was a die hard fan of up until they broke up in 2012. So having the somewhat reincarnation of one of my favorite bands coming to my local convention....it got me preeeeetty excited, haha. Following that Otakon announced ORESKABAND, a 6-member all-girl ska band that I had never listened to before, and finally BACK-ON!!!!!!! The announcement of BACK-ON was pretty much the icing on the cake, because not only were they coming to my convention, they were also performing for free!! To clarify, they performed during Otakon Matsuri, a free-to-the-public convention event set up before the convention starts that doesn't require any registration (it is public after all). And even though I wasn't particularly excited for ORESKABAND, I decided I would check them out anyway, because free concert too (with purchase of registration of course). One other thing that contributed to my convention experience was the opportunity to meet up with members of Very Good Days (VGD); a fan site once dedicated exclusively to STEREOPONY, but now dedicated to all kinds of girl bands including both Draft King and ORESKABAND. (I'm also a member too!) The majority of the North American members all traveled from across the continent to support the girls of Draft King. Getting the chance to meet them and joining them in all sorts of events really made this Otakon the best I've had so far. So thanks guys!!!!
To keep this section from getting too much longer I think I'll just sum up what I did at Otakon with a day-by-day list and offer a few comments. So yeah, here's how Otakon went down:
Thursday:
・Arrived in Baltimore and stood in pre-registration pickup line for 3.5 hours (longest wait yet!)
・Made it to Otakon Matsuri for BACK-ON concert, but missed most of it due to being in line.
－Songs I heard: Butterfly, STRIKE BACK, Nibun no Ichi, NEW WORLD, Departure
Friday:
・Arrived early to find almost no pre-reg line (poop, didn't have to miss BACK-ON after all)
・Went to a Japanese underground music panel (listened to metal, it was neat)
・Stopped by the dealers room and bought Draft King merchandise (CDs, towel, and t-shirt)
・Got in line for the Draft King concert, and met up with VGD members for the first time
・Commence concert! (Sat with VGD members in the center front rows, lots of towel twirling)
－Songs performed: READY STEADY GO (cover), 1/3 no Junjou an Kanjou (cover), Electric, Chikai no Uta, Zankoku na Tenshi no Teze (cover), Crossing Field (cover), Okuru Kotoba (original cover), Hey My Love, Mayonaka no Merry-go-round, This is me., Abra Kadabra, Hitohira no Hanabira (cover)
・After-concert dinner with VGD
Saturday:
・First stop, Draft King Q & A panel!! We got to see a bonus acoustic performance by Draft King! There was also a quiz at the end where we could win signed posters. Guess what?! I won the last one!! I'll share a photo below once it's framed.
－Songs performed: Chikai no Uta, This is me., Abracadabra
・Next stop, Draft King autograph session! I had all of my Draft King CDs signed, and my t-shirt as well. I was also wearing Godzilla shirt that day, and NOHANA commented on it, awesome!!
・Third stop, VGD fan meetup event with Draft King. VGD helped organize this awesome exclusive event where fans could meet and mingle with the band members of Draft King. We weren't really getting close and personal or anything, but we got to hang out with the band as a group, play games, and have a good time.
－Played janken (Japanese -style rock, paper, scissors) 3 out of 4 of the band members. I beat SHIHO, and erica, but MAO kicked my butt. I will get her back for that one day! Haha!
－Played charades in groups; first with the fans guessing what each member was acting as, then with each band member guessing (in English!) what the fans were acting as. It was awesome and hilarious!
－VGD also presented Draft King with a bunch of gifts, including a custom banner signed by fans, and we took a group photo.
・Joined up some other friends to hang out and check out a few panels.
・Went to the 18+ Voice Actors After Dark panel which was pretty hilarious.
・Overall, a pretty awesome day!
Sunday
・Stopped by the dealer's room to get my photo taken with Draft King.
・Went to the ORESKABAND concert with a few VGD members. I originally went to kill time, but it was actually really fun.
－Songs performed: Brand New Day, TSUMASAKI, 24 Carat, Jitensha, Getting Higher, Carry On!, Anime Medley, Pinoccio, Almond, Camereon, Katte na Riron,Tequila, Chuck, Cutie Honey, PAPAYA, What a Wonderful World
・Got in merchandise line after concert, bought ORESKABAND's album and got it signed.
・Finished up with the convention and hung out with VGD members for the rest of the day until we had to say our goodbyes.
New Stuff
Alright, so to keep this last section short, I'll just be sharing some photos of some new album and merchandise I've collected over the summer.
Part 1: Otakon Stuff
・Draft King - This is me. (Limited Edition) [single] (autographed)
－with SHIHO photo (autographed)
・Draft King - Okuru Kotoba [single] (autographed)
・ORESKABAND - Carry On! [album] (autographed)
・Draft King US exclusive t-shirt (autographed)
・Draft King towel
・Draft King poster (autographed)
Part 2: Chinese music from summer
・AMIT - AMIT 2 [album]
－with album poster
・Da Mouth - Back to the Future [album] (autographed)
・G.E.M. - The Best of G.E.M. 2008-2012 [best album]
Part 3: Japanese music from summer:
・Draft King - This is me. [single]
－with MAO photo
・MUTANT MONSTER - Yuuwaku no Akai Kiss [album]
・ONE OK ROCK - 35xxxv (Deluxe Edition)
・Rick Rack - Ima wo Ikinuku Otome-tachi [mini-album]
・Wagakki Band - Yasou Emaki (Limited DVD Edition A) [album]
－with Limited Edition A album poster
End
Anyway, I think it's about time that I ended this blog update. Obviously I've had a lot to say, and I hope someone stuck around long enough to read this far. Who knows when my next update will be....hopefully sooner than two years. This post actually took me two months to finish though, haha. I hope no one noticed... >.>
Catch you all later!
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