Cosplayers on the train!

I love how casual you guys are while wearing all that Touhou get-up. I take it this is just another day in Boston, right?

ahh yes, cosplaying in public is something that you would never do in Japan, that is, outside events.

This looks like the beginning of the Eagle's Deli trip, though that was dinner instead of lunch.

Boston is also super chill about public cosplay. The locals find it all amazing and hilarious. I've yet to talk to a stranger on the street, drunk or sober, who didn't think it was the best thing they'd seen all day.

On a random note, is this a different Suwako? The hair isn't styled the same way as Juhani's.

Juhani was the only Wacko we had. I don't think he'd make a random NPC Wacko, so...

I bought Necomimi a few days ago, and wore them around town. Almost nobody noticed.

Okay, well if this is the beginning of the Eagle's Deli run, theeeen http://youtu.be/g4TKoiL4tus http://youtu.be/jGFjKtDFmdw aaand... http://youtu.be/3fij3Jt6KR0 (warning, massive food related spoilers like, a minute in).

It's one of those laws of society - if enough people act like they belong there with enough presence, nobody is going to question you. It's what makes Bolivian Fire Drills work. People just assume that if everyone is acting normal, it must BE normal.

My father always told me he had a friend that was a government inspector. He always said that, "If I have a white coat, clipboard, and hard hat, I could walk into any factory or secure facility in the country without being stopped or asked for ID."

Cue Dr. Who's psychic paper.

A jumpsuit, mop, and bucket have much the same effect. Janitors are practically invisible.

On the other hand, I think most people ignore cosplayers on the assumption that if you don't bother them, they won't bother you, and you don't want cosplayers bothering you. More of a Somebody Else's Problem effect.

Making a rare translation correction since クラスタ really isn't an English word.

I'm getting クラスタ = cluster, which is sounds very similar to.

People in general don't seem to have a problem with cosplay. I ended up traveling home in cosplay after the con (the only thing I switched to regular clothes was my shoes). Most of the people I talked to just wanted to know why I was dressed up, many said they liked the costume. I did get a couple negative comments from some teenagers on the plane, but I just ignored them. I think the best reaction I got from cosplaying was when I was traveling while dressed as Meira and everyone thought I was the leader of some kind of crazy religious cult.

Also remember that, despite what anime/manga/video game saturation here might suggest, a good chunk of Japan is still deeply, DEEPLY traditionalist. There's two choices, The Ancient Way, and utter error.

I think the story of the two weddings of Izanagi and Izanami exemplifies this. For those of you not in the know (and if this is the first time I've broached the story here), the first time they performed the wedding ceremony (and with no assistants or mentors; this is going to be important), there was a point in the ritual where one had to approach the other. In this case, Izanami (the woman) was the one who did the approaching. Everything went well...until their offspring began to manifest. Apparently a good many of the offspring wouldn't look out of place in the Hundred Demons' March. Looking into the situation, Izanagi and Izanami eventually found that they had misdone the ceremony in that one approach part--for proper effect, the MAN had to be the one approaching, and the woman who received. So, they re-did the entire ceremony with that one adjustment, and their offspring afterwards were all of the non-monstrous variety.

Now, I don't doubt the story was written to justify the Jimmu-introduced patriarchy without needlessly vilifying the Himiko matriarchy (they weren't being spiteful or anything, they just had no way to know what the better way of doing things was until Jimmu found it on his own). However, it looks like both the matriarchy and the patriarchy would have accepted without question the idea that even the gods were subject to authorless, immeasurably ancient dictates with Nettlesome Consequences (TM) (C) (R) if varied from at all. In other words, the One Good Way is BUILT INTO reality, and if somebody thrived, that meant they'd done everything right, and the only way to thrive yourself--AT ALL--is to mimic all they did to the jot and tittle. </hopelessly amateur deconstruction>

Basically, so-called otaku culture, being something less than obsessed with tradition, is regarded as heresy, impugning the lineage of tradition all the way to the cosmic egg itself. If it worked at all, that meant it was perfect, so how DARE you even think about the possibility of improving change?! Beneficial change is oxymoronic! (I wonder if this helps explain why Oda Nobunaga was vilified...) Which basically means that outside of the event venue, portraying yourself as an otaku or other non-traditionalist is a Bad Idea if you want to avoid getting shamed or castigated.

Firestorm29 said:
I'm getting クラスタ = cluster, which is sounds very similar to.

It's wasei-eigo meaning an unorganized group of people. I guess this is important in Japan where a meetup would usually be organized beforehand.

It's kind of funny to read these since I was at AB/the Touhou panel but couldn't stay for long.

Kilgamayan said:
Juhani was the only Wacko we had. I don't think he'd make a random NPC Wacko, so...

Interestingly, a lot of the group--Juhani included--changed out of their cosplay before dinner. Sorry to spoil the fun. http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v130/crapitalism/Photography/Anime%20Boston%202012/?action=view&current=DSC_0221-1.jpg (eeeeeeveryone in that shot is one of us, by the way)

Also, we had one lady on the light rail ride back who was super freaked out, all calling her friend to talk about "transvestites on the train." But overall, people's reactions were super positive. The workers at Eagle's even asked for a group picture of us before we left.

Also relevant: http://maullarmaullar.deviantart.com/art/More-drawing-with-Mizuki-Hitoshi-294790417

alphamone said:
ahh yes, cosplaying in public is something that you would never do in Japan, that is, outside events.

Points of information:
- There have been cosplay flash mobs in the past. Like that famous Hokkaido Math Class dance.
- OTOH, even at events, there are strict rules on where you can and cannot cosplay. Generally there's a specific area set aside for cosplayers, and everywhere else in the event area is a no-no. This is why, in anime featuring a Comiket episode, you never (AFAICR) see cosplayers in the waiting line or the main halls.
Small-scale events like those organized by university anime clubs are almost certainly more casual though.

Skyknight said:
Tons of stuff
\

Hard to say how long it'd last as many traditional things are starting to fall apart due to all the modern elements. The NEET epidemic is caused in part by Lifetime sure thing jobs being increasingly non-existance and fear of a shaky job market (nothing their parents would know of quickly), pushes them home. And the old politicians enforcing tradition and such won't be around forever.

it's funny how they like to Villify Nobunaga as without him, Japan would be much different as he was the first of the unifiers and the other two used notes on general governing from his book (not the temple burning stuff though)

I was more under the impression Otaku were reviled because they're not ones to be good little cogs in the Japanese business machine.

The US is quite different as if anything we discard too much tradition than preserve too much.

Excellent job on the onomatopeia btw. Fits perfecctly for the sound of a train.

Whew...I've had a hell of a day, Vegeta. (Still having it, actually, but I've finally got a brief respite...)

Actually, the cosplaying crowd went on to the restaurant ahead of us, so I didn't ride the train with them, but they were definitely still in costume at the place.

About 20 of us rode out there, so we split into two groups because if we'd all gone at once, then our orders would've likely run late. It was a restaurant filled with Touhou characters! It was quite a spectacle. :-)

Reader-added tags include "However, Nazrin is left out", "I'm going to the Unit-...to Gensokyo for a bit", "Culture gap", "Real-world Touhou-style party" and "Pandemonium train" (as in "night march of 100 demons" version of "pandemonium").

The poll offers some other destination options:

Here's where I'd like to march into in Touhou cosplay:
• A shrine, of course!
• A western house-style candy factory in the West
• An old private home-style soba shop
• How about a temple or something?
• Some bamboo forest to get actually lost

2 and 5 are good for me.

Moonspeaker said:
"However, Nazrin is left out",

Ha ha! Mythology gag.

So the USA is now Gensokyo. Well, certain cons are sort of Gensokyo-ish if not just one huge cosplay/anime/gaming party.

What restaurant were they at, anyway?

memento_mori said:
It's wasei-eigo meaning an unorganized group of people. I guess this is important in Japan where a meetup would usually be organized beforehand.

Sounds like "mob" might be a decent translation, then.

Kogasa said:
Nobody will say anything even if you walk around cosplaying in America?.

It's dependent on the area and crowd you're around. Been to tons of conventions in the Chicago area over the years, and have yet to hear disparaging remarks directed at cosplayers. Attended Otakon in '99 (I think), was close to a bunch of cosplayers as we passed near Oriole Park, and heard them on the receiving end of tons of insults and catcalling from the drunken idiots emerging from the stadium after the game.

Skyknight said:
Also remember that, despite what anime/manga/video game saturation here might suggest, a good chunk of Japan is still deeply, DEEPLY traditionalist. There's two choices, The Ancient Way, and utter error.

I think the story of the two weddings of Izanagi and Izanami exemplifies this. For those of you not in the know (and if this is the first time I've broached the story here), the first time they performed the wedding ceremony (and with no assistants or mentors; this is going to be important), there was a point in the ritual where one had to approach the other. In this case, Izanami (the woman) was the one who did the approaching. Everything went well...until their offspring began to manifest. Apparently a good many of the offspring wouldn't look out of place in the Hundred Demons' March. Looking into the situation, Izanagi and Izanami eventually found that they had misdone the ceremony in that one approach part--for proper effect, the MAN had to be the one approaching, and the woman who received. So, they re-did the entire ceremony with that one adjustment, and their offspring afterwards were all of the non-monstrous variety.

Now, I don't doubt the story was written to justify the Jimmu-introduced patriarchy without needlessly vilifying the Himiko matriarchy (they weren't being spiteful or anything, they just had no way to know what the better way of doing things was until Jimmu found it on his own). However, it looks like both the matriarchy and the patriarchy would have accepted without question the idea that even the gods were subject to authorless, immeasurably ancient dictates with Nettlesome Consequences (TM) (C) (R) if varied from at all. In other words, the One Good Way is BUILT INTO reality, and if somebody thrived, that meant they'd done everything right, and the only way to thrive yourself--AT ALL--is to mimic all they did to the jot and tittle. </hopelessly amateur deconstruction>

Basically, so-called otaku culture, being something less than obsessed with tradition, is regarded as heresy, impugning the lineage of tradition all the way to the cosmic egg itself. If it worked at all, that meant it was perfect, so how DARE you even think about the possibility of improving change?! Beneficial change is oxymoronic! (I wonder if this helps explain why Oda Nobunaga was vilified...) Which basically means that outside of the event venue, portraying yourself as an otaku or other non-traditionalist is a Bad Idea if you want to avoid getting shamed or castigated.

This reminds me of a JET teacher's blog while he was living in Japan. One thing he noted was that everything was always done the same way, there could be no variation at all even if sometimes it was more logical/less life threatening (in the case of a play simulating someone suffering a heart attack the ambulance drivers had to do the bowing and kowtowing to the school officials or whatever despite the fact that was time wasted that could've been used to get the victim to the hospital.)

Another example was with this school ceremony where a bunch of 4th-5th graders had come back from a field trip tired and muddy. They had to go through this school ceremony despite being on a tight time limit and because they were forced to go through this school ceremony they missed their buses and had to wait an hour for the next group of buses. The JET teacher was immensely irritated about these things because he felt they added unnecessary problems to the students quite a few times.

Rukaroa said:
So the USA is now Gensokyo.

This is a very scary idea.

BadRoad said:
A jumpsuit, mop, and bucket have much the same effect. Janitors are practically invisible.

That didn't work for Spike in the Cowboy Bebop movie.

BadRoad said:
What restaurant were they at, anyway?

Sounds like "mob" might be a decent translation, then.

Sorry, not unorganized so much as self-organized (people show up on their own). Most common example is people discussing something with a Twitter hashtag.

warellis said:
This reminds me of a JET teacher's blog

Unless there's some rule against it I don't know about, you can just say "Outpost 9" or "Gaijin Smash", it's cool.

Skyknight said:

Basically, so-called otaku culture, being something less than obsessed with tradition, is regarded as heresy.

Isn't this the kind of problem most Asian countries have? I mean, we in Malaysia would get such reaction from people around us if we walk around in our cosplay outside a convention, anyway.

The poll said:

Here's where I'd like to march into in Touhou cosplay:
• A western house-style candy factory in the West

I'm getting a Hansel & Gretel vibe here. That, or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Amusing how Nobunaga is a villain (despite the fact he unified Japan) while Meiji (who turned the old Japan into the most powerful country in Asia) is a hero.

Nobunaga was a pretty brutal bastard. Of course to be honest you probably had to be a brutal bastard in order to unify any country during the Renaissance/Middle Ages. I'm sure many national heroes had their share of dark moments that aren't really in history books.

Also the JET blog was called "Chopsticks: The Sequel".

BadRoad said:
What restaurant were they at, anyway?

http://eaglesdeli.com/

e: beaten by next strip ;;

warellis said:
Nobunaga was a pretty brutal bastard. Of course to be honest you probably had to be a brutal bastard in order to unify any country during the Renaissance/Middle Ages. I'm sure many national heroes had their share of dark moments that aren't really in history books.

Thats true, but the obvious follow-up question is; why does Nobunaga have such a bad reputation if he was no different than any other national hero trying to unify his country?

uchuunamako said:
- OTOH, even at events, there are strict rules on where you can and cannot cosplay. Generally there's a specific area set aside for cosplayers, and everywhere else in the event area is a no-no. This is why, in anime featuring a Comiket episode, you never (AFAICR) see cosplayers in the waiting line or the main halls.

Actually, you can cosplay in the main halls, and not a few people do, including circle members in the booths. What you can't do is take (or pose for) pictures, that's what the cosplay area is for.
But I have in fact seen people in cosplay in some areas around cosplay event, though they usually don't stray far. Plus there's quasi-cosplay stuff like the Goth-lolis in Harajuku and flyers girls in Akihabara.

As for the otaku stigma, I don't think it has so much to do with traditionalism as much as it has with their perceived inability to fit in modern adult society. In fact, Japanese otaku frequently have much more conservative views than those of their Western geek counterparts, or even mainstream Japanese society (as can be seen by looking at 2ch output).

MMaestro said:
Thats true, but the obvious follow-up question is; why does Nobunaga have such a bad reputation if he was no different than any other national hero trying to unify his country?

Ironically, it was because he discouraged segregation and the caste system, as well as introducing new and innovative tactics. The proud samurai classes just couldn't take the fact that they have to be working and fighting side-by-side with dirty peasants.

MaullarMaullar said:

Interestingly, a lot of the group--Juhani included--changed out of their cosplay before dinner. Sorry to spoil the fun. http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v130/crapitalism/Photography/Anime%20Boston%202012/?action=view&current=DSC_0221-1.jpg (eeeeeeveryone in that shot is one of us, by the way)

Also, we had one lady on the light rail ride back who was super freaked out, all calling her friend to talk about "transvestites on the train." But overall, people's reactions were super positive. The workers at Eagle's even asked for a group picture of us before we left.

Also relevant: http://maullarmaullar.deviantart.com/art/More-drawing-with-Mizuki-Hitoshi-294790417

Awww, would like to see that group pic