Welcome everyone, to the first non-introductory post of this blog. For old readers, this is where you will soon be reading anything related to Japanese cultural events exclusively; for new readers, this is your virgin trip to our fun little world, so sit comfortably and enjoy the show.
As (some of) you know, Ordre de Ciel is a DJ collective who have taken it upon themselves to be at the forefront of J-culture dissemination in Greece. Ever since I first met them, back in late November 2007, I could discern two things: (a)they love what they are doing and (b)given half a chance, they can take their independent project a looooong way. Several theme parties, cosplay events and even the presence of Sugizo in the Anime Party Extraordinaire in April later, Ordre de Ciel is gearing up for big things, among which closing the season with great music, great guests and the first ever Japanese Music and Cosplay Marathon in Greece (JMCM for short) but I digress. Among those great, aforementioned guests, Unshin were last week in Greece for the Schoolwave Music Festival and given the opportunity, Ordre de Ciel invited them over to the Friday party, so that we could meet them, drink with them and they, in turn, have fun alongside the trigger-happy Greek J-community.
Oh, did I mention that Ordre de Ciel have been playing Japanese music EVERY week (initially Sundays and as the crowd increased, Fridays)? KABATZA Bar, where these weekly events take place, has become part of our weekly entertainment, with many birthdays being celebrated, simultaneously at times! Last Friday’s event was extra special because, apart from Unshin being present, some of us had conspired to surprise Ordre de Ciel’s fearless leader (room302, with the other members being Raven Sweetwater, KrizD and Larva)), with an early gift for his birthday and two other people had independently decided to celebrate birthdays there (one being our friend Asaph-chan and the other Martita). I am proud and moved to say that this business started with my birthday, when room302 gathered all my friends and organized an elaborate conspiracy to surprise and even freak me out a little, a few days earlier than my birthday. Now, he, in turn, had said that he would celebrate his birthday in KABATZA, on the 11th of July (his birthday’s on the 8th). It was the perfect opportunity to surprise him back, given that statement, by giving him his gift on the 4th!
Unshin, three birthdays and one being that of our way cool DJ and above all, great friend: it was bound to be a great night. However, as older readers have found out, I am more prone to let my pictures do the talking, so I will restrict myself to commentary.
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- Dear Keru-chan, singing “Kouga Ninpou Chou” from Basilisk. This song really pushes her buttons.
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- I cannot, for the life of me, remember what the hell I told her to make her laugh so hard…
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- It did take her a while to recover…
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- Demi-chan, painfully un-smiling. Having Kyo as a facial expression model CAN be hard…!
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- Sweet Lady With a Tiger Tail, had her tail caught somewhere at the beginning of the evening…
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- …as did Evil Lolita. What is the matter girls? Cheer up!
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- Ah…there we go!
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- Thank God that smiling is infectuous… for some.
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- Another grumpy bunch?! What is going on around…–
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- Aaah…! Now I see. It is all a hoax, a ruse and with that, the music raises its beat and everyone’s…
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- …um…spirits?
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- Even our dear kitty-cat seems to have gotten over that tail accident…
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- …and yet the Fearless Leader is in a mood as blank as it is unfathomable (that will be remedied soon enough though).
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- On the other hand, Velvet Vortex and company have already started getting crazy!
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- John…
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- …and Nicolas (left) have already arrived for…
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- …Asaph-chan’s birthday! Asaph-chan (with Darkside_Blues) who cannot stay put for a normal photo, if I may say so…!
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- Kyoshiro, losing a brief battle not to have her photo taken. The recently unbraided hair, along with the flash at close distance have a rather odd but quite faithful effect!
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- Tomodachi-san, Mistress of Cosplay, in civilian clothes.
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- Velvet Vortex: “Heeey, is it just my idea, or is my beer glass much larger than yours, little Sokail?”
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- Sokail: “After we are done smiling for the camera, I’ll pay you a piece of my mind, waif!”
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- “Oh, no you don’t! It’s mine and I am not sharing it with anyone!”
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- OK, now this is taking it too far for a big, foamy, delicious glass of beer. Isn’t it…?
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- “Ha! Ruined your photo Speedy-san!”
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- “It was MY photo, because I was in it! How dare you?!”
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- “Two can play at that game sister!” Ahem… Now, now girls, there are plenty of photos left to…–
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- “Sod off man! Bring it on!”
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- “Hmmph, how childish, fighting over photos and beer…”
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- Tsirotos and Freaking Candy Freak.
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- I just love this girl’s hair (and it changes color every time I see her!)…
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- …and this is an excellent example of how an optical illusion of depth perspective can lead to misunderstandings, hehe.
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- “Dude, what are you hiding there?”
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- “Nothing! None of your business you nosy photographer!”
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- Meanwhile, the time when Unshin would arrive was nearing and typically, in a very Murphy’s Law way, Demi-chan’s audio recorder came apart in pieces…
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- …leaving her with no alternative but writing down the questions and hoping her cell-phone’s recorder would be enough.
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- As the time for the midnight lottery approached, we took a look at room302’s present, appropriately wrapped in Silent Hill fashion (way to go Kyoshiro!).
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- Artact (who had been hiding 4 pictures earlier), went on calling out numbers, until the presents had been all given and then called out “302″!
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- I then gave room302 a non-descript brown envelope with the number “302″ written on it, containing a simple key. Then , Constantine (an intentionally unlikely choice) appeared and gave him the wrapped and chain-locked box…
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- …much to his great elation…
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- …containing…
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- …
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- … …
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- … … …
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- (the agony is killing me)
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- …a fully articulated figure of L from Death Note!
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- I believe, if nothing else, that his instant change of mood was well worth it!
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- Happily, he shows around his new cool thing…
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- …until it becomes evident that showing around anything related to L has peculiar side-effects on reality!
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- “I must hide away my preeeeciousssss!”
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- And as some more presents attract his attention…
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- …yet another celebration is under way!
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- Careful with that knife my dear Ms. Velvet. Someone could get hurt…
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- As all this transpires, Unshin finally arrive and join in the multiple celebrations.
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- Unshin and friends!
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- Thereafter the party is in full swing…
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- …with style…
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- …craziness…
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- …and good company!
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- Yours truly with Tomodachi-san.
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- However, something is still brewing…
Unshin, though tired from having played at Schoolwave, not half an hour before they came over at KABATZA, were great company, amiable one and all and ready to discuss anything we cared to ask them. Not only that, but they had brought along several envelopes printed with the group’s Kanji, which contained the lyrics from their album, “Waltz for Broken Dolls”, as well as Japanese sweets! There is much to be said of their impressions from Schoolwave, the event at KABATZA and much more besides, pertaining to the slightly freak weather during their interview and a few surreal events surrounding it. However, that all will be discussed next time.
Yours in earnest,
Speedgrapher
[To be continued...]
P.S. You might notice that the pictures have the Easy Subjugation signature, That is because it remains the main blog and frankly, it is too much of a pain to work two diffrent sigs in photoshop, without getting mixed up.
