Bunraku!
So yesterday I went to see bunraku. Actual Japanese puppet bunraku, that is :p
It really is a uniquely Japanese thing, with the story droned by a gidayu singer who does the narration and all the character's dialogue over shamisen accompaniment. It's all in very old Japanese and rather drawn out (the narrator takes a full ten seconds or so for a word or even a syllable at points), so I was quite grateful for the English headset I rented. Although it was more of a vague summary of what was going on than a translation, and didn't carry across the tone of the dialogue or the jokes. There is also a screen above the stage with the Japanese lines projected on to it, so I was half reading and half listening. The puppetry itself is quite impressive- yes, you can see two or more figures dressed in black surrounding each puppet, but once they get going their body language is so engaging the puppeteers merge into the background. Speaking of the background, I totally see where the Bunraku movie is coming from now. The backgrounds were flat and made of paper, but somehow had the illusion of depth to them.
Anyway, I'm probably not going to become a bunraku enthusiast any time soon, but it was quite interesting to see what it is and how it's done.
Apart from that, I ventured into my local Book-Off (a Japanese chain of stores dealing with used books, CDs, DVDs etc as well as new and used games) in search of the new Pokemon games that came out on the 18th, to no avail. I did, however, find these:
For 950yen each :O Yes, seriously. My only concern is since I don't usually buy them, I'll now feel compelled to complete the set...
I also fed more of my hard-earned money into some crane games:
Halloween Nyanpire! I think I've posted photos of my Nyanpire stuff before on the other blog, but anyway. He is a demonic invention by the Japanese created to suck 100yen coins from their rightful owners with the power of sheer kawaii.
Oh, by the way, the girl kitty with the massive pink neck bow? Chachamaru. *snerk*
Anyway, today is a public holiday, so I shall celebrate by doing sweet, sweet nothing (Unless G gets off his butt and updates :P) Actually, I'll probably study...
It really is a uniquely Japanese thing, with the story droned by a gidayu singer who does the narration and all the character's dialogue over shamisen accompaniment. It's all in very old Japanese and rather drawn out (the narrator takes a full ten seconds or so for a word or even a syllable at points), so I was quite grateful for the English headset I rented. Although it was more of a vague summary of what was going on than a translation, and didn't carry across the tone of the dialogue or the jokes. There is also a screen above the stage with the Japanese lines projected on to it, so I was half reading and half listening. The puppetry itself is quite impressive- yes, you can see two or more figures dressed in black surrounding each puppet, but once they get going their body language is so engaging the puppeteers merge into the background. Speaking of the background, I totally see where the Bunraku movie is coming from now. The backgrounds were flat and made of paper, but somehow had the illusion of depth to them.
Anyway, I'm probably not going to become a bunraku enthusiast any time soon, but it was quite interesting to see what it is and how it's done.
Apart from that, I ventured into my local Book-Off (a Japanese chain of stores dealing with used books, CDs, DVDs etc as well as new and used games) in search of the new Pokemon games that came out on the 18th, to no avail. I did, however, find these:
For 950yen each :O Yes, seriously. My only concern is since I don't usually buy them, I'll now feel compelled to complete the set...
I also fed more of my hard-earned money into some crane games:
Halloween Nyanpire! I think I've posted photos of my Nyanpire stuff before on the other blog, but anyway. He is a demonic invention by the Japanese created to suck 100yen coins from their rightful owners with the power of sheer kawaii.
Oh, by the way, the girl kitty with the massive pink neck bow? Chachamaru. *snerk*
Anyway, today is a public holiday, so I shall celebrate by doing sweet, sweet nothing (Unless G gets off his butt and updates :P) Actually, I'll probably study...