During one of the Gears' attacks on the colonies, the young Baiken watched both her parents die before her and ended up losing her right arm and her left eye. However, it was during this chaos when she was able to witness the real culprit behind the attack, the Creator of the Gears. She then swore to hunt "that man" down and seek her vengeance.
Beautiful cosplay! I have never seen this character in the Guilty Gear games I played, but I heard the tatami mat was something of a signature move of hers? Thanks to Wilson for sending this in!
During my high school years, I wasn't the "emo kid", the "goth kid", the "nerd", the "cheerleader".... I was just like every other Asian at my school: good grades, involvement in sports, active participant in club activities. However, there weren't many Asians in my school that were interested in Japanese rock music or Gothic/Lolita culture. The few of us that WERE piqued by this culture eventually went all our separate ways, and I somehow ended up working in fashion, leaving that "culture" behind. Then I started watching anime again, and a Ticketmaster email roped me back in, as one of my favorite artists would be returning to LA on a world tour.
Miyavi, as a young boy, dreamed of being a professional soccer player, but had a serious foot injury that kept him on the bench for the rest of his life. As he could no longer play soccer competitively, he took up the guitar... which, now, doesn't seem to be so bad after all.
Miyavi's origins were in visual kei, a type of Japanese rock that involves a lot of make-up, outrageous hair and ensembles (think 80's hair bands with more make-up). He was the guitarist for the band Due le quartz, who were very popular in the indie circuit and were thisclose to touring in the US. But most indie Jrock bands separate after one or two "mini-albums", and Miyavi went solo in 2002 shortly after the bands' breakup.
I don't know where this image is from (sorry!) L-R: Kikasa (bass), Sakito (vocals), Miyabi (guitar), Kazuki (drums)
His solo debut was highly anticipated, as fans (like me) simply saw him as a pretty guitarist, slightly uncertain of his skill as a musician. I don't believe his debut album helped to confirm his abilities, but it was different from what other indie artists were producing, and of course, with his good looks, he garnered more and more (mostly female) fans. His first solo tour piqued a lot of interest as well though, as he recorded all the instruments himself on the album, and there was no mention of a traveling band.
One of his first singles, "Girls, be ambitious". I'm not crazy about it, but it did pretty well on the indie charts.
An updated version of the song, featuring the KAVKI BOYZ! I much prefer this variation of the song.
POP is dead
Senor Senora Senorita
It was his 5th album, "Miyaviuta ~dokuso~", an all-acoustic album--just him and his guitar, that finally won me over 100%. My favorite songs from him are from this album.... (see below)
The intro track on ~dokuso~
A version of "Kimi ni funky monkey vibration" performed with TYKO; one of my favorite tracks from his acoustic album.
On his next album, "This iz the Japanese Kabuki Rock" he collaborated with the KAVKI BOYZ, and again, changed his sound. It was funky but it was still Miyavi. I caught him on tour after the release of this album, at the Avalon in LA (my video is below). The KAVKI BOYZ performed with him, TYKO providing the beatbox, Tap SARO bringing tap-dancing skills, both giving a very unique rhythm and sound to what could have just been a very ordinary rock concert.
Though he's left the visual kei scene, he's kept some of it with him, as his style continues to evolve through his career....
Miyavi vs Tap SARO
He went on a little hiatus it seems, after that tour, and in the middle of 2009 he got married and had a daughter. This was totally unexpected as most of us Miyavi fangirls were praying that he was gay. I mean, look at him, isn't he pretty? On occasion I check the Japanese music charts, various J-music websites, and it didn't seem like he was producing music anymore....
Until I got that email today from Ticketmaster.
Scanned from "21sekigata koushinkyoku" Scanned from "This iz the Japanese Kabuki Rock"
This is such great news for me, as he is one of the best musicians around today, though many people don't know of him. From reading his blog and seeing a few of his tweets, I could tell that he genuinely cares about his fans, much like another huge talent today, Lady GaGa. I think it's unfortunate that other superstars aren't more grateful and humble to their fans (I won't point out any in particular), and this only makes Miyavi a better artist.
Hopefully, this insanely talented 28-year-old decides to stick around for a long, long time, because not enough of the world has been exposed to his talent yet.
It has been a while since I had Cosplayers up on this blog. I have to say that one that I enjoy seeing is Yoko Ritona from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. She is on my top 5 list of Anime girls I want to see cosplayed. She is hot as hell and one damn fine girl to stare at like a stalker - ummm - not that I do that kind of stuff * cough * cough *, must have a cold.
I have complied some pics and links back to where I got them if I could remember. I also tried to make sure I got the names of the cosplayers as well. If I missed you, let me know :)
A master of parkour and very skilled with a flickblade, Izaya is a young man who enjoys torturing everyone and then observing their reactions because he "loves" the human race. He also enjoys giving Heiwajima Shizuo a hard time; such as having local gangs attack him framing him for crimes he didn't commit. Izaya's name is based on the biblical Isaiah and means "the one who looks over the crowd" in Japanese.
Cosplayer 香吏 (Kaori Ri) makes a convincingly great Izaya! I love how classy Izara is portrayed here. Character requested by Amelia!
This coming 4th of April 2010 from 3:00AM to 8:00PM, at the Eastwood Citywalk Mall, will be held the Easter Wonderland 2010. 7 worlds of play and imagination, packed with more activities, more attractions, more freebies, and more fun!
While significantly weaker than the Dark Magician himself, the Dark Magician Girl gains attack points for every Dark Magician or Magician of Black Chaos sent to the Graveyard, whether it is the player's or his opponent's. She starts out with a 2000 attack point and 1700 defense point.
I'm guessing Eric Liao is the photographer behind this beautifully snapped shot, though I'm having a hard time finding his website. Thanks to Yoshite for sending this in!
(my dad made this stand especially to hold the sword!)
The clay took about 24 hours to dry, and between that time, one of the parts fell off because we didn't properly secure it with glue....
After spending a little over an hour sanding down the rough edges and knobby shapes, my dad showed me that the hilt was ready to be painted...
I didn't really use all this paint. My dad just thought it'd be funny to display all these colors...
That's me, obviously, my dad's hair has light colors but no pink.
After 6 coats of the goldenrod.
You can use any regular acrylic paint; don't thin it with water, otherwise you'll just be brushing all day.
I did something very, very wrong, that my dad did not point out to me until I was completely finished.
In my attempt to create a worn, rusty metal look of the sword, I started layering a goldenrod color (6 coats to completely cover the red tone of the clay), then proceeded with a dry brush to add gold accents. I then mixed the gold with brown to create a bronze tone, then mixed gold with orange to try a more "copper" tone. Then I added some silver highlights, all of which took me far too long. My dad said that in the future, I should paint the entire surface black, then use a dry brush to dab on a FEW strokes of gold or silver, which would do the trick. I thought my way was the best way to go about painting, as anyone who has painted, used markers, pastels, knows that the dark color is usually last. Anyway, I learned something very valuable this time and the next time I need to paint a sword hilt, I will heed his advice.
Only 1 coat of the ultra blue... many more coats are needed.
While significantly weaker than the Dark Magician himself, the 
