Anti Western Cosplayers?! Preposterous! [Rant]

Today, I came across a depressing blog. It calls itself the 'Anti Western Cosplayers' blog.
I'm an Asian and I can't identify myself with this blog! I must be broken. The blog explains, in a very heated manner, why westerners should not cosplay anime or asian characters.

'No! Dokuro-chan, I swear it is a misunderstandi-'

Yep, apparently, Anime fans hate western cosplayers. I'm pretty sure I was left out of the loop when they started the hate club, because I didn't receive any invitation.

What surprised me was the long posts of why westerners shouldn't cosplay anime or asian characters:

1. Because you are a westerner and thus have no 'asian features'
2. Because you, as a westerner, is (suddenly) racist
3. Because western cosplayers hurt fans when they cosplay (Not sure where it hurts though. The toe nail?)
4. Because if a westerner cosplays anime or asian characters, it is a sign of racism, insult.

The blog is probably one line away from saying 'For every western cosplayer, one Asian otaku drops dead.'

I might as well do it.

I've tried my hand on cosplay and I find it a very arduous journey. It requires time, effort, money and a lot of courage to walk out in a weird costume that probably most of your friends and family don't understand. Essentially, people cosplay to express their adoration for a character. They want to be like the character's personality, to feel close to the character. You walk like the character, you talk like the character and you pick up your weapon/staff/accessory like the character.

Some love the creative process; they enjoy the sense of achievement when they complete their handmade costume or accessories.

There are people who loves the attention. They love being known for a cosplayer. They love walking with their friends and fans of anime who are cosplaying the other anime characters in the anime. Boy, getting a good picture of the full cast from your favorite anime is one of the best moments that you can get!

This picture is simply full of Joy. 

Cosplay is a hobby; an activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure. It's like reading, writing, gaming, eating, shopping, drinking, smoking, you get the point. You don't see people saying 'Hey! You can't read that asian book because you're a westerner!' or 'Hey! Only Asians play Final Fantasy XIV!' or 'You can't eat sushi because you're racist and you can't think of any other way of eating it other than on a woman's body!' I'm not trying to deny that there aren't any terrible western cosplayers. Some pictures make you cringe when you see the gap between reality and anime. But that does not limit to Westerners! In Singapore (mind ya, Asian country), we have cases like this:

Sexy T zone when you spread your wig apart.

However, westerners can be as good as Asian cosplays as how Asians can be as good at western cosplays. Tech-Tsuko here supports human equality. If you're a human, you deserve as many rights as any other human. With this, I shall end this rant with a wonderful photoshoot and a video of westerners cosplaying the Legend of Zelda (reminder: an Asian game made by Nintendo Japan):

(I refuse to share the link to the Anti Western Cosplayers blog because it is monetizing with Google Ads, but for your convenience, you can check them out through this Google search. Just don't tell me or I'll go crazy.)

Good Designer Phones Stay In Japan, We Continue Living In A Monochrome World [Mobile]

Source: GSMArena


This makes iPhones look like crap.



There have been several designer phones out over the years, as mobile phones become a symbol of identity and status. However good designer phones should not be judged based on unreasonably-high prices.

Several designer brands have tied up with mobile phone manufacturers, but hardly any revolutionise, and simply put their logo on the phone.

Others are plain ugly:

(Image from KateSpadeLoveAffair)

Which probably only a specific group of people will want, like Singaporeans' favourite MP, Tin Pei Ling:

Anyway... The header video's featured phone, the KDDI iida INFOBAR, is what I mean by a good designer phone. Stylish, simple, designed not just plastered all over the exterior, but extends into the software (Android 2.3 with designer custom UI that is actually practical and drool-worthy) and even the live wallpapers too. Not to mention that it's probably cost-efficient too.

It just probably has a forgettable and bad name.

Now here is my question: Why are Japanese manufacturers reluctant to release their amazing-looking devices outside of Japan? Don't they know that many people overseas are destroying their keyboards drooling over them?

Please, Japan, let our money flow into your wallets, let go of your exclusivity and enjoy an even richer life.

Japanese Mobile Phone Ad: A Work Of Art [Mobile]

I've always admired the physical designs of Japanese phones. They're unlike the phones that are sold in Singapore (usually 'forwarded' from the US), holding the same boring look:
- Black/Dark brown/Silver/(rarely)White
- Rectangular design with rounded corners
- One odd looking button at the bottom that probably serves as a stress(making) ball

The brands that our market provides can be counted with both of my hands: Apple, HTC, Motorola, Samsung, LG, Nokia. There may be more, but I usually filter them out of my vision because their physical designs just don't catch my eye!

I wish phones had more variety like this and promoted artistically like what you're seeing below:



Cue the Touch Wood SH-08C, a concept model available at NTT Docomo, sold at a limited amount of 15,000 sets. It's made with the Shimantou Hinoki carved into the shape of a bean. The website even has a disclaimer indicating that the colors of each phone may vary by a little, showing that the phones are made of actual wood with little human interferance to the natural 'waves' of the wood.

It is wear and tear durable, water resistant, worm resistant and fungal resistant. Here's a quick list of the features available:
- "Feel the Forest" theme by moretrees
- Easy to use design where you can customise your buttons
- QWERTY soft keyboard
- Calling buttons and the lock button
- 5.3MP camera
- 3.4" AQUOS AVS screen
- Eco mode to save battery life
- Pedometer
- Noise cancellation

The first thought I had when I saw this phone was "Why did they design it like a kidney? Did some Yakuza sponsor for it?" Still, it'd be a fresh experience if it were to appear in Singapore, even though it probably would be stuffed into one corner of the store.

Really, it wouldn't be too much to ask for phones in more colors, would it?

Drooling at the thought of LG ice cream and Google Ice Cream, from the Biased blog, peace out.