The Gazette Dogmatic Trois World Tour Dallas!

This past Monday was the second time I got to see my favorite band in the world live in my own city. The last time I was so lucky was at Tokyo Dome back in 2010. And even though I had really good seating considering how huge the venue was, I never thought I would be able to see them again as closely as I did.

Right. In. FRONT of the center stage.

I got to the venue around 9am and sat with some really cool people who were there before me. I had brought the flag my friends, Edward, Victor, Niky, and I worked on and asked people to sign it as they got in line.

It was SO hot and I had only got about 4-5 hours of sleep the whole day (including an uncomfortable nap I tried to take), but I didn’t care. Everything was worth it for these guys.

Photo credit to JRockRevolution

When the Bomb Factory staff finally came out to start separating the line from VIP to GA, one of the staff was admiring the flag and talking about how cool it was. I told him that I would move it, but instead he said that he wanted us to leave it there and get more signatures! He was SO nice and laid out a little section for the flag at the front of the line.

Around 5pm when they were doing the Heresy check and handing out wristbands, I asked the same staff member if there was any way he could get it to the band. He thought about it for a second and then said he would see what he could do, taking the flag inside.

When it finally turned 6 o’clock, it was time for the VIP to be let in. The staff told us not to run, but it was so hard not to! After getting our VIP shirts, I walked as fast as I could to go save me and Niky a spot while she bought our merch. Since we both love Ruki, we wanted to be at center front (another thing that made it worth waiting 9 hours in line). Inside the venue, it was separated into two sections, the front section was for VIP only and behind it was where GA could stand. This, I’m guessing, is so that GA couldn’t just push themselves to get a closer spot since it was standing room only.

 

Before the show started, they announced over the sound system that absolutely NO pictures were allowed. I was hoping people would listen because I didn’t want them to have a bad impression of their first North American show EVER!

Right after, they go on to start the show with”Coming all the way from Tokyo, Japan, The Gazette!!” And everyone started screaming wildly! And the boys come out one by one while NIHIL played.

Everything about their performance was amazing. They’ve been doing this for years so they definitely know how to stir a crowd.

 

 Aoi for the most part stayed on the left side of the stage, but did please the crowd by doing signature spin for one of the songs. And even for not moving to our side of the stage much I could still see that he was still incredibly flirty! He would do this thing where he’d smirk at the audience and then kind of shake his head like “I know you love me”.

Uruha moved around a little more and did his adorable kissy duck faces while playing. Then he would hype us up by lifting up his arm for us to get louder and smiled this extra cheesy smile when we did.

Kai was a cute angel and smiled during the whole show. It looked like he was having a lot of fun.

Reita also seemed like he was having a blast because he kept acting SO silly! He would stick out his tongue while opening his eyes really wide, staring at us and mouth “WHAT YOU SAY?”. I think he having fun messing around with the crowd.

And Ruki, OMG. The man would NOT stop TEASING US. From his seductive smirks to his erotic dancing, I could not take my eyes away or stop screaming. It’s really quite a different experience from seeing it happen on a DVD vs. seeing it happen live right in front of you. I nearly died when he licked his middle finger and every time he’d touch and rub his crotch lol. He also did a crap ton of spins. So fast that it looked like he almost lost his balance sometimes. On top of that, Ruki just loved pulling back the rim of his hat, smirking at us as we screamed like crazy at him. I think that’s why he continued to do it. You could really see how intense his eyes were in the light when he did it. Everything about Ruki was drama and it was giving me LIFE.

I believe the first thing he said to us on stage was “WASSUP DALLAS!”. But throughout the concert there was also a lot of “I love you” and “LET’S GET FUCKIN CRAZY!”. I love how much he really tried to connect to us even with his limited English.

I don’t have a good recollection of everything that went on for each song, but I remember some key points. First of all, I felt that as a crowd, we were on POINT with the singing. At least the people around me all seemed to know the words really well. Especially during Filth in the Beauty and Suicide Circus, which Ruki seemed really pleased about. He would point the microphone out to us to let us sing.

Dogma was so hype, it’s one of my favorite songs off the album and so I went HARD. It was a little difficult for us in the front row to headband over the railing because a lot of us were 5’3 and under. My friend Niky even accidentally hit her chin :c

I was also happy that they played Deracine, but I really wish I could’ve heard Ominous. Another one of my favs from Dogma.

Chizuru was packed full of emotion, I was singing along while tearing up a little because it’s one of those songs I remember listening to when I was a teenager trying to deal with a really hard time in my life. It brought back a lot of nostalgic feelings and I’m really glad that they played it for us.

For Undying, the crowd wasn’t really sure to do cause we were unfamilar with the song. Most of the time we stayed still, but headbanged during the heavy parts. We also started swaying our hands side to side as Ruki sang. It was really beautiful to hear live.When I think of this show, I remember this song.

During Hyena Ruki and Uruha did a little fanservice by getting really close to each other. My friend Edward also told me that Uruha might’ve possibly messed up at one point of the song because he saw him turn to one of the staff members and laughed.

I don’t think I have to explain the energy of the crowd once FITB came on. I wasn’t looking at the crowd behind me, but I could feel that everyone was going all out. Singing along and headbanging in sync after yelling “SEXUAL DISGRACE”.

Another thing I really loved about our crowd is that we were really respectful of each other and there was honestly like no pushing??? It was amazing. I’ve never experienced that at a show before. It was an all ages concert too so I’m glad that we were all able to have fun without trying to kill each other.

When the time came for the encore, honestly we were a little lame…

Half of the crowd was saying “The Gazette” and the other half was saying “Encore”. I was so worried if we were going to get an encore at all! We couldn’t manage keep a steady beat and some people weren’t even saying anything!! So I just tried to make as much noise as possible. Even if it was screaming I wanted to make sure that they knew we still wanted them to play.

We must’ve done okay because they came back out after a little while to give us an encore! Some of the boys were changed into their casual Bomb Factory clothes. Ruki was still wearing his hat. And he freaking CARRIED OUT THE FLAG WE MADE THEM ON STAGE!!! Me and Niky immediately started crying tears of joy. I was so so happy. Who would’ve thought that something I designed would be put into my favorite members hands and then brought out on stage.

He really struggled with it though lol. When he first came out I thought to myself, “Oh my GOD why are the other members not helping him!!” I felt so bad! Even me and Niky holding it up TOGETHER is hard! And I’m the same height as Ruki!!

For comparison haha

I’m gonna guess that the other members couldn’t help him carry it out with him because they needed to get their instruments ready for the encore songs.

Ruki had a big grin on his face and tried laying it down on his platform, but it was so big that it just folded over lol. I heard it looked like he said “chotto matte” as he tried to fix it one more time. Once he got that situated, I’m guessing he either read what the flag said or saw the guns because he mADE A LITTLE GUN WITH HIS HANDS AND SHOT IT. //dead

So to complete a perfect concert, they played Cockroach, Attitude, and then ended with Tomorrow Never Dies.

When they were done with the encore, Ruki started taking pictures of us on his cellphone. And LOOK WHAT HAPPENED!!

I can’t belieeeeeeeeve I made it onto my favorite member’s Instagram. What a dream come true<3

So after they said their goodbyes and threw their picks and drumsticks into the crowd, a line started to form for the meet and greet. Me and Niky were so nervous. I went to the bathroom to freshen up a bit and then put on some hand lotion cause I wanted to make sure they’d be soft enough hahaha.

Once we got upstairs where they were holding the meet and greet, I started to panic, realizing how fast it was going.

I was freaking because I had a notecard of things I wanted to say in Japanese, but it didn’t look like there would be enough time! Everyone seemed to be saying thank you to them, so that’s what I did. I still hand my notecard in my hand at first so I was only able to give Uruha a one handed shake (which I feel bad about cause everyone was using both). Then I quickly stuffed it into my pocket and shook Kai’s hand. And he was so smiley, but honestly I remember their eyes more. They really looked at you. It’s not like when you’re in the crowd and they look in your direction and you think they’ve made eye contact with you. It’s REAL eye contact!

Anyways, when I got to Ruki I knew I wanted to say something more to him, but it was so on the spot and I knew I’d only be able to say one sentence to him. So when we clasped hands I decided to thank him for what he did that really MADE my entire experience of the show. “Thank you for bringing out the flag.” It’s definitely not everything I’ve ever wanted to say to him, but it was what I wanted to say the most at the time. I opted for that because believe it or not that flag took SO much time and effort AND money, and not all of our attempts to make it were successful. It was a stressful mess, and to have Ruki come out with it on stage made it all worth it. It was greater feeling than I ever could have imagined.

But back on topic, after I told Ruki that he smiled said “Thank you very much” or “Thank you so much” (I can’t remember cause I was so nervous), but it was more than a thank you and I couldn’t even process what had happened. Just looking into his eyes I was starstruck. I really hoped he knew what “flag” was in English so he could get the gist of what I was trying to say. Shaking Reita’s hand was such a blur because of that starstruckness, but I was brought back  when I got to Aoi. For some reason everything about Aoi seemed so flirty. It’s probably his attitude and that smirk of his; honestly could make any girl nervous.

Right after I was done I couldn’t help but laugh, I feel like no matter what I had said to them I’d still feel so incredibly stupid! I’m 23, but being around these guys makes me feel like a super shy and bashful 17 year old again. They’re truly amazing and yes, all of their hands were extremely soft. I love the way they clasped their hands around yours. It was so intimate and full of appreciation. You could tell by their aura that they had a really good time. And I’m proud we were able to provide them that.

I knew we weren’t going to be their biggest show in the US, but at the very least I hoped we would be able to show that we still love and respect them just as much.

After the Meet & Greet, I needed a moment to sit down and let what had just happened sink in. I probably sat there for 15 minutes. Then after taking some more pictures, me and my friends went outside to leave. But we saw this big group of people waiting at the back of the venue, so we went over to go see what was going on and found out that everyone was there in hopes of seeing the band leave. The venue had set up barriers for the crowd to stand behind and we waited there for a good 30 minutes watching staff pack up all the equipment. That was when my friend Michael saw one of his friends who worked at the Bomb Factory and his friend gave him an Aoi pick!! Michael ended up giving it to me because he said I would appreciate it more and I’m still so grateful!!

After those 30 minutes the staff finally told us that unfortunately The Gazette had already left the building. We weren’t sure if they were lying or not, but it turned out the car waiting there was just for the staff lol. Either way, we sent them off with a warm goodbye!

The entire day seemed so surreal and days later I still couldn’t believe it actually happened. Neither could my body apparently cause I’ve been sore ever since (my neck is barely getting it’s strength back).

But I regret nothing and it was amazing and worth missing school and being in complete pain the day after.

I want to thank all the Sixth Guns from in and out of state who made this great experience and enjoyable as possible and to everyone who donated what they could for the flag.

I love you guys so much and I can’t wait to see you again when they come back again next time!

P.S. check out The Bomb Factory’s Snaps of the show! You can see Ruki bring out our flag @ 1:40 :)

Thank you so for reading Sixth Guns!!<333

xoxo Risa

Anime Expo: My First-Timer Experience

Hey guys! So I’m posting this before I post my Matsuri 15′ review cause I just can’t seem to find my sim card full of pictures anywhere… I’m hoping it turns up, but I wanted to post something one of these already, so here we go.

ANIME EXPO 2015!!

Wow, I never thought I’d make it here lol. But really. This was like a dream.

The Lovely Ify, who has recently started working with Gothic Lolita Wigs, was the reason I was even able to go to this con in the first place. We’ve always talked about visiting LA together and going to Anime Expo when we had the money. So when GLW gave her the opportunity to attend AX with some friends, she said yes and got free passes for TimaLovesLemons, 7Subtle, and I!

And it’s no secret that Miles Jai is good friends with all of these lovely people. And since he had a room provided to him by AX, he let us all stay with him! I’m still so grateful to both of you guys<3 It was an unforgettable experience.

Moving on to our arrival~

Day 1:

Thursday morning we arrived in LA. We were really tired and moving pretty slowly so we got to the convention center a little later than planned. Since Crystal had summer school it couldn’t be avoided, but if possible, getting the AX on Day 0 is probably more ideal. It also would have helped us realize sooner that it was better to just use Uber than to spend 20 minutes walking from our hotel to the con.

But yeah we got our badges and headed to the exhibit room.

 

OOTD1:

Top: Cotton On

Skirt: Eat Me

Choker: Katie

Shoes: Steve Madden

One of the first booths we visited was Kokokim‘s. Even better, we were able to catch Kimura U there and meet her! She was really adorable and sweet in person. Even with her limited English she was still taking the time to talk fans with the help of her translator.

We didn’t get to see much else that day because we got there maybe an hour before the exhibit room closed. So really the last thing we did on Thursday before passing out in our hotel room was go to Miles’ panel. Which was a lot of fun! We came originally as guests, but ended up being a part of the panel lol. Once Miles was done with a little Q&A, he asked us to help improvise some activities like anime charades and doing a “Weave Weview”. Here’s a short clip from my IG.

Day 2:

Friday came and I was finally well rested and able to do some more exploring in the exhibit room.

   

Who else loves Kaichou wa Maid-sama and Ore Monogatari?

I don’t even watch Kill La Kill, but you HAVE to appreciate the amazing job she did with her wig! (She said there was foam inside)

 

After we did a little shopping, Crystal, Fatima, Kevin, and I went on our way to where they were holding the fashion show.

GLW was the fashion show’s sponsor, and since they were so nice to get us all badges, we helped them lay out some flyers in the showroom. In exchange we got some great VIP seating.

The fashion show consisted of the brands Japan LA, Galaxxxy, Liz Lisa, and H.Naoto.

Sadly, I don’t have any photos from the H.Naoto segment because only press with special permission were allowed to take any kind of footage. But it was GORGEOUS. And Shinya was a perfect model, he walked and posed so elegantly. Absolutely perfect for the looks he was given.

 

 

Kimura was also a guest model in the fashion show for Japan LA. Her cheerful personality really came out as she was on the runway. There are some short clips of her posted on my Insta Here.

After the show we hung out for a bit and took pictures with Kimura and the host of the fashion show, Junnyan!

 

OOTD 2:

Top: Honey Mi Honey

Skirt: American Apparel

After the fashion show we ate at this great shabu shabu place called Yojie and stuffed ourselves in preparation for the rave. Which was a lottt of fun, but a little smaller than I expected for AX. Kinda similar to how I felt about the fashion show.. NOT that I didn’t enjoy both of these events because I really did. But in comparison to Anime Matsuri 2015, it wasn’t as extravagant as I wanted it to be. AM has their problems though….haha but we’ll get to that some other time.

Dugtrios were TURNING IT UP!

Also why does AX shut down their rave at 2am??? I am not used to this..

Day 3: 

One longg night later~

Our first and only day of cosplaying! Crystal and I both cosplayed as Meme-chan with the cosplays I made us for Anime Matsuri. I would have brought my Jibril cosplay, but packing the wings for the plane was not possible and I didn’t want to pay extra. Still, I was really happy cause I’m always proud when the cosplays I make get us a lot of pictures.

My favorite photo of us by Photography Is Me

The wigs we previously had were cheap and TRASHED. But luckily we found the perfect replacement at the Assist Cosplay booth. The wig quality is great there. 10/10 would buy again. At the booth they even did free wig cuts!

  

As we were exploring the other half of the exhibit room, we found the Voltage Inc. booth! Which was VERY popular. I have wasted spent quite a bit of money on their dating sim apps. And their honestly my favorite company for that. The boys and storylines are always so cute. My personal favorite is Ichigo from Dreamy Days in West Tokyo…it actually made me tear up…

ANYWAYS, they had a really great attraction for the fans of their games!

Many girls and boys waited in line to have their picture taken with these tall attractive men in a pose of your choice.

Since it’s been a long-time dream of mine, I chose the kabe-don.

I’m ridiculous, I know I’m shy and yet I chose such an intense pose lol

 

Skeletiano was gettin it!

A lot of people are curious about who these Dugtrio guys were. If you click on the photo you can find their tagged Instagrams.

 

After we were worn out from shopping around, taking pictures, and meeting people, we got dinner at the Yard House to prepare for the turn up. I love LA cause you can find vegan friendly food SO much easier than you can in Dallas.

Unfortunately, I don’t really have pics from Saturday night’s rave, but if you’d like to see what was going down just check out Miles’ vlogs posted below. He has the best footage of it all ;)

Day 4:

The next morning, we woke up and felt totally trashed. Not even from alcohol, but we just stayed up SO LATE. I don’t even know why that happened, but we still got ourselves up and ready to go back to the convention center one last time.

 

Day 4 was mostly about seeing the rest of the exhibit room (it was so big it literally took us all 4 days to explore it) and getting in on those last minute sales.

Milk Ink was my favorite booth in the artist alley. Every one of their prints were so stunning. And the layout of their booth also caught my eye (it’s pink so I mean of course).

They had fan art prints for Steven’s Universe, Adventure Time, and Pokemon, but they also had some of original characters as well. Again, their stuff is great, please go buy like everything from their store. They were really cool people.

The best thing about Day 4 was getting to meet with my favorite guests.

First up was…..Gudetama!!

  

They had to warn us not to sit on him cause apparently some people didn’t realize there was an actress inside lol. I love the fact that this little egg was somehow everywhere throughout this con.

Then I got to meet one of my favorite designers from since I was a teen, Hirooka Naoto. I was too broke to buy anything from the H.Naoto booth..but I’m so glad they let non-customers take pictures with him on the last day!

Next time I’ll try to have more money with me….

Cause the selection was so great! They were even selling the actual garments worn in the fashion show. INCLUDING one of the outfits Shinya wore.

Lastly, we met with Kimura again. I think she was my favorite guest just because of how absolutely sweet she was in person. And I loved how she was drawing small portraits for everyone who wanted her autograph, it was such a cute and thoughtful gesture.

My god, I never wanted Expo to end. Even though it’s so big and an extra day longer than any other con I’ve been to I really enjoyed my time there. I was exhausted, but I wanted to see everything.There was just so much that I didn’t even get to see half of it.

My haul~ (The cosmetics and magazines are from Little Tokyo and the sunglasses are Vivienne Westwood though)

I want to come back next year, even more mentally and physically prepared so that I can use all of my time wisely and see as much of it as I can. Until then.. :(

Also PLEASE take a look at all of Miles’ and Crystal’s vlogs from Anime Expo if you want a good laugh and an even better idea of what Expo was like for us. Or if you went and have post-con depression like me..

Thank you for the good time, Expo. It was real :)

And thank you for reading,

xoxo Risa

Spring Summer ’15 Fashion Trends

As promised I’m bringing more fashion related posts into my blog. I focus mainly on Japanese fashion trends, but a portion of those trends can be relevant to America as well.

There are many great trends going on for Spring/Summer 2015, but these would be my top 3 favorites.

1. Lacing Detail: I saw this trend start up around the end of winter, and now I’m seeing a whole lot more of it for the spring. Most of the time the laces won’t serve any kind of function, but its aesthetic is what I find appealing. And since it doesn’t serve a function, you can see these being used on everything from accessories and shoes to tops and bottoms.
2. Marabou Fur Trim: This is also another trend I saw kicking off in the winter. Most of the winter actually, and now it’s falling into the spring because of how popular it was. I’m not sure if it will remain popular through the summer, but I only really see it being used as trim for accessories maybe it will. I love this trend because it can be very versatile in what kind of image you want to pull off. At first glance it might seem too cutesy for some, but it can be very wearable for people who want a more subtle look when paired with the right things.
3. Lip Motifs: Since new spring collections started coming out I started to see lip motfis everywhere. It was mostly through bags at first, but then a lot of prints came out as well. I think this new motif is very fitting for spring, it’s definitely something different than the usual floral print. I would say that if you want to get in on this trend, a must have is any of the multitudes of lip bags out there(which I’ve also seen in the U.S.).

SS15 Trends by risazirakchi featuring a linen skirt

Linen skirt $24,825 – honey-mi-honey.com

Skirt $24,825 – honey-mi-honey.com

White purse $24,825 – honey-mi-honey.com

laceup 3way bag $24,825 – honey-mi-honey.com

WEGO / WEGO/バックリボンパンプス $36 – gocart.jp

WEGO / WEGO/レースアップリボンリュック $32 – gocart.jp

 *Some of these prices are wrong since Polyvore seems to have trouble listing things in another currency. So no these are not $20,000 skirts.

In case you we’re wondering about all the light colors..I’ve been getting more into larme fashion recently! So I’m getting familiar with a bunch of new brands (why didn’t anyone tell me larme fashion is so expensive??!?). But I’m still very much into rokku gyaru, neo gal, etc., so keep an eye out for those in my future fashion related posts if that’s what you’re into.

Thanks for reading!

xoxo Risa

Spring 2015 Wishlist

Hey guys! I’m in the process of revamping my blog and being more diverse with my content. So I wanted to start off with a little preview of some of the things on my Spring ’15 Wishlist.

I want to talk to you all more about trends I’m noticing or just in general things that I’m currently loving.

Spring 2015 wishlist by risazirakchi featuring a choker necklace

Choker necklace
katiestore.jp

Tech accessory
runway-webstore.com

Product Details – WEGO / lace up ribbon Luc / WEGO (Researching our) |…
$33 – gocart.jp

WEGO/リボン折り返しソックス
$3.19 – gocart.jp

WEGO/レースソックス
$2.73 – gocart.jp

WEGO/ファーヘアゴムボンボンセット
$1.37 – gocart.jp

Also, Polyvore makes it SO easy to share these with you guys, so I’m thinking about sticking with this format.

What do you think?

Thanks for reading!

xoxo Risa

Things to Bring into Your Life in 2015

Hey guys! It’s been a while, school has definitely kept me busy and a lot has happened! Mostly good stuff, .

To end the year, I thought I’d share to my readers some of my current obsessions. These are basically just my recommendations of things I think everyone should introduce themselves to in 2015. It’s a completely random list, but I hope you can take at least one into consideration!

Ao Haru Ride

I’m not sure if I can explain well enough how much I adore this series, but I’m going to try anyway. Ao Haru Ride is a shoujo manga revolving around two classmates who liked each other in middle school, but due to unfortunate timing, never became anything more than friends.

This manga really tugs on your heart strings. The first chapter is probably the saddest I’ve ever read. In just one chapter you become attached to the characters.

I watched the anime that came out this year before I read the manga, and I still cried.

If you’re a fan of shoujo manga then you’ve probably read this. And if not, I don’t know what you’re doing with your life right now but READ IT. If you don’t like the bittersweet feeling of being in love then this might not be for you, but I think that the pain is worth going through. For every time this manga has made my heart ache it has also given me butterflies. Even past the romance, it is also a great story about friendship and finding yourself. It also doesn’t hurt that Kou is super handsome So before the manga finally comes to an end, please give it a read.

(Warning: There is a love triangle in this series)

Kat Von D's Makeup

If you’ve ever asked me anything about my makeup routine, you’ve probably heard me mention Kat Von D. The reason for that is because I believe that I cannot live without her products.

I’ve tried everything from her lipsticks and eyeshadows to her bronzers and foundation. So far I haven’t been dissatisfied with any of her products except her Immortal Lash Mascara (the brush was just too flimsy for me).

I have a lot of favorites from her line, but I think 3 of her most impressive products are the Ink Liner, Everlasting Liquid Lipstick, and Lock-It Tattoo Concealer.

The best part about this brand is that it’s reasonably priced. I mean..it’s still higher end, but the still on the lower end of that higher end and so worth the money. I plan to do a proper review of her products in the near future.

Tsubaki Shining Hair Water

This is my favorite thing for my hair right now. I’ve tried the shampoo and conditioner from the Tsubaki line and they’re both great, so I decided I would try the hair water after a friend recommended it to me. And. It. Works. Amazing.

Before this I would always use leave-in conditioners, which weren’t bad, but I didn’t like how my hair felt like it had product in it. This doesn’t do that at all. After I wash my hair I spray this in and then brush it out. Once it dries my hair feels softer, looks less frizzy, and becomes shinier without being oily. I’ve also heard it works great on all hair types!

I buy mine from Amazon because I get cashback bonus from my Discover card, but you can also find it cheaper on Ebay.

Portable Phone Charger

I feel the last on my list may be the most important one lol.

I’m a social media fiend. I love being online and browsing the web. And I do most of it on my phone. So when I’m out my phone tends to die. Which is really inconvenient because I love taking photos and snapchatting if I’m out with my friends. Buying a portable charger was my solution.

My life has never been the same since.

I’ve never felt so carefree. I never have to worry about using my phone too much as long as I have this with me. This was also bought from Amazon with my cashback bonus. There are cheaper ones you can find, but I would still recommend this one. It’s bigger than most, but you can charge your phone up to 5 times.

Also keep in mind that you can charge more than just you’re phone with this. As long it has a USB it can be charged.

 

So that’s all I have for you guys!

One of my New Years Resolutions is to blog more so let’s hope I stick with it. Hope you enjoyed my last post of the year!

Thanks for reading!

xoxo Risa

RAD MARKET / BLACKMORAL Review

At the beginning of July, Rad Market launched and it stirred a lot of good and bad commotion in the Gazette fandom.

Before I get to the actual product review, I want to address a couple of things that seemed to be an issue with a lot of the Sixth Guns.

1. The “Heresy only” items

I understand why this was such a problem for most fans. When the announcement came, we were all so excited that the shop would be open to fans internationally. Then when the products became viewable, we discovered that more than half of it was “Heresy only”. I’m not going to lie, I was disappointed, but I also realized that this is most likely because they’re on a FC tour right now. So it only makes sense that the merch being sold is only going to be for the FC too. Just because it’s available online doesn’t mean that the exclusivity is going to change. It wouldn’t be fair to the Heresy members if they did that; they pay yearly for extra perks like this.

For those that don’t want to/can’t join, be hopeful cause in the future I’m sure they’ll have more stuff available on Rad Market for all the fans once they’re on a regular tour again.

Even if for some reason this doesn’t happen, you might as well join Heresy if you can. It may seem harsh, but showing the willingness to spend your money on them will catch their attention the most (and by “their” I mean their label). And this can help in the future, like getting them to do more world tours in more countries! They’ve already started making some their dvds, like CODA, region free. So that shows that they are paying attention. We as foreign fans have to support harder to get the recognition we deserve, so please don’t give up!

2. Price

I’m sure that we all know that BM goods aren’t cheap, but I still saw the prices irking some of the Sixth Guns. Really the only thing I have to say about this, is that unfortunately there’s nothing you can do about it. Their company is allowed to price things however they see fit. And to be honest I don’t think it’s overpriced either, considering the quality and the fact that it IS attached to a famous name. Don’t get me wrong, it IS expensive. And there are things listed on there that I would never pay that much for, but anytime a brand is designed by someone famous, it’s going to cost more. This is because they know people are willing to buy it. And people have been buying.

If BM goods are something you can’t buy on a regular basis, that’s okay. No one is going to think of you as a lesser fan. Just save up when you see an item that you really want.

3. The “Freeaboo”/”Engrish” Thing?

Don’t know why this caused such a fuss, but I’m going to talk about it anyway. Ruki does like to use English words, and yeah sometimes they can sound funny to those who know English well, but it’s not a crime. Can we really judge him on his fascination for American stuff, when the foreign fans as a whole are into Japanese culture? To me his use of words like “swaggy” and “hedache” aren’t even so bad. I mean, you DO see clothing in the States with the word “swag” on them. (I’ll also tell you more of my thoughts about “hedache” later on).

I like to buy Japanese brand clothing, and it’s not unusual to see awkward English phrases being incorporated onto them; sometimes I care, sometimes I don’t. It depends on how noticeable the phrase is and how ridiculous it sounds. Like I’ve said, the English used in BM isn’t nearly as bad as some of the things other brands have done. You just really have to be thankful that Ruki isn’t putting things like this on his clothing:

 By INGNI in case you were wondering lol.

I know I might be taking some of the complaints about this last one too seriously (I know not all the people poking fun at this are truly serious about it), but for those who are really being judgmental, those were my thoughts.

Now onto the actual product review.

Okay, so first of all Rad Market was really slow the day the site launched. That’s honestly what I expected though cause EVERYONE was waiting for this. I’m sure it would have been slow even if it was just the Japanese fans coming in, but with all the fans internationally too? It took me about 30 minutes to sign in and buy a single shirt.

This really was only because I tried to buy it as soon as the shop was opened. After 30 minutes it finally started to gain some more loading speed.

Since I decided to go ahead and join Heresy this summer, I was able to buy their Mesh T-Shirt in black (medium). The shirt costs 4800 yen and in total with the shipping it came out to 6400 yen. After I ordered it, it arrived to my house in about a week and came packaged in a normal plastic wrapping. This is just me being nitpicky, but I hope in the future they make the packaging more distinct or include a flyer or something with their logo on it like a lot of brands do. Some brands leave handwritten notes on official postcards, but that’s being WAY too hopeful lol. Though it’d be nice if Ruki could write a message for his customers and then just do a mass print of that.

The shirt itself is really well made and the softness of the fabric is something I noticed right away. Even after washing, it still remained soft so that should say something about the quality. I think this shirt is fitting for the summer because not only is it on trend with its “jersey look”, but the mesh itself allows for a little breathing room. This is nice especially since it can get to 100 degrees Fahrenheit where I live. Also I love love love the little homage he included for the Sixth Guns on the back<3

As for the front where it says “Hed Ache”, I honestly think this was done for aesthetic reasons. Before you think I’m just a fangirl trying to defend him, please consider how silly the shirt would look if he had actually used “Head. If it’s meant to be read literally, changing “Headache” to “Hedache” doesn’t make much of a difference in how you read it. Personally though, I don’t think it was meant to be read literally since the words are separated AND out of order so if you did it’d read “Ache head”.

Besides, The Gazette has a song called “Headache Man”, so I’m pretty sure Ruki knows how to spell it correctly and this isn’t just some “Engrish” mistake.

I really like the length of the shirt, I think it’s perfect since it is a unisex item and I love when shirts are a little baggy. The font used is also really nice; it looks like a standard Jersey font at first, but the small pointed detail sets it apart. The fact that it’s printed on more places than just the back or front is also a big plus for me. One of the reasons I didn’t buy their hoodie is because I felt like it wasn’t worth buying something that was just printed on the back for that price. That’s just me though.

The way I wash this shirt is in cold water and with low spin. I also let it air dry, just because I’m afraid of it shrinking and since it’s not all made of just one fabric (the mesh) I don’t want it looking warped if it does.

 

Now that I’m finished with this review I want to thank TheLovelyIfy for taking all these wonderful photos<33 Thanks for putting up with such a newbie model like me ;__;

I’m really excited to see what kind of look the next collection from BM will be!

Thanks for reading my little review~!

xoxo Risa

A-Kon 25 (2014)

This year’s A-Kon was probably my favorite out of all the past A-Kons I’ve been too. A lot of that has to do with who I went with and the fact that I tried to be more involved this year, but really, cons are always what you make of them. I will say that if you’re looking for a quiet con though, this is not it. I personally enjoy big and busy cons so I had fun.

Last year I know the pre-reg line was something everyone complained about and took hours and hours to get through, and that was just on thursday. This year it seemed to go along faster, but I know there were still complaints. I usually avoid all of that waiting anyway because I’d rather spend more money than wait all that time in the pre-reg line. The on-site line literally only took 10 minutes, which was great! Last year took about an hour, which still isn’t too bad, but only having to wait 10 minutes is definitely nice.

Friday:

On Friday I cosplayed as Fem Rin. I think it was pretty successful except for the fact that I bought a crappy wig cap that caused my wig to keep slipping back during the con, but most of the time it was like this. Kinda wish I could have gotten around to making the teeth too..

I bought my wig from Match Wigs and got it cut by Crystal‘s boyfriend Kevin, then I styled it a bit with some wax. The swimsuit I bought from eBay and the jacket from Mic Costumes. The circle lenses I used were Vassen’s Dolly+ Red, which I’ve actually already done a review of. And if you’re wondering how I got my eyebrows so red, I used Sugarpill’s Love+ Pressed Eyeshadow (after covering my own brows with a gluestick and concealer of course).

So the first thing I did Friday was go to a Free! photoshoot. Actually what happened exactly was that as soon as I walked into the convention I ran into a group of genderbent Free! cosplayers who didn’t have a Rin! I asked them if they were going to the photoshoot and since they didn’t know about it we went together. Then once we got to the photoshoot, their photographer friend started taking pictures of them and I joined in. I ended up not participating in the original photoshoot cause we were having our own lol. We really stepped out of our comfort zone for some shots, but it was so much fun. We even went swimming!

 

I was really lucky to run into such nice cosplayers. They really made A-Kon start right for me, so I’m really thankful for that. Once again proving that you can meet some really great people at cons.

The rest of my day was spent shopping and meeting up with friends. The Dealer’s Room was satisfactory this year mainly because of one booth that sold a WHOLE BUNCH of phone straps, charms, posters, and other stuff. Lately I’m crazy about collecting phone straps, so this booth was heaven to me.

Bought this set of Free! posters with Rin and Nagisa (I only bought it for the Rin poster so I’m actually selling the Nagisa one for $10+shipping. E-mail me if you’re interested ;) )

Then I got an Ayato biscuit phone strap and the Color Colle Ayato to match the Ruki one I bought from my friend who lives in Japan (the Ruki one cost me 400 yen whereas the Ayato one cost me around $15 o_o )(but it’s a matter of convenience so I don’t mind spending that much at cons).

There were a lot of great things in the Dealer’s Room this year in general. The only thing I wish I saw more of was Haikyuu!! merch, but I was still happy seeing more Diabolik Lovers merch at cons.

I went to the Artist’s Alley afterwards for my favorite booth there, Love Who. Cristy, who designs and hand makes all of these adorable plushies, is really nice and I’ve gotten to know her a little more now after talking to her at the con. The things she comes up with are so cute and creative with great quality! I bought this adorable little cake roll plushie that she had just finished making that day. Originally I wanted one of her new Octoyaki plushies, but they were sold out THURSDAY AFTERNOON. I’m just going to go ahead and buy it from her etsy shop now, but the lesson learned here is that I need to get to their booth ASAP next year.

Friday night came around quick and nighttime A-Kon means drinking and dancing. Rave was pretty good for a Friday night, but I won’t bore you with anymore detail than that.

Saturday:

Saturday I didn’t do much that’s worthy talking about except attending the Free! Q&A panel. I actually didn’t know what this panel was going to be exactly, but since I am a BIG fan of Free! I decided to check it out anyway. Cosplayers came in and role-played as their characters, so it really was a Free! Q&A. They had the audience write down questions on slips of paper and answered questions from people who raised their hands. 90% of the questions were inappropriate, but their replies were so cute I thought it was funny. And all of the cosplayers pulled off their characters so well! Could not take my eyes off that Rin. No, but seriously this was the first amazing Rin cosplay that I’ve seen in person so it made my whole day.

One eye was like half closed so I censored it lol

Here I’m wearing my new Sex Pot Revenge dress. The quality is great and the material is beautiful, but the only thing to be wary of is that it has very little boob space. I couldn’t even wear a bra with this. I’ll actually probably end up buying a bandeau or something to make it fit a little better the next time I wear it. In retrospect, I should have tried it on before the con, but I buy Japanese free sizes usually fit fine so I didn’t think about it. I think it was mostly the fabric that was unforgiving since it doesn’t stretch much even with shirring in the back.

After the panel was over I tried to find some food because I was starving and what little meal I had from the hotel’s cafe earlier was not enough. For some reason I felt like this year it was harder to find food (that wasn’t overpriced). Last year I didn’t have any trouble finding vegan friendly food, mostly thanks to the food trucks. Though this year the food trucks didn’t show up until 6 or 7 pm each day and last year they were at the con practically all day. Which upset me because I was really looking forward to Nammi’s bahn mi again. By the time I saw their truck (not even open yet) at the con there was already a line. And then once they were open the wait in line was at least an hour! I was too hungry by that time to wait and my boyfriend ended up driving to Spirals to pick me up some food cause we had ran out of snacks. Even non-vegans had trouble finding food apparently. Crystal told me the lines  at the food court were horribly disorganized and long and the ticket situation was a hassle. I hope next year they either think of a better system or at least have the food trucks arrive earlier, but it’d probably just be safer to just pack some snacks. A last resort for food would be the gift shop because they did have things like oatmeal and granola bars that could hold you over if you get too hungry. I just needed something heavier because I knew I was going to be drinking that night.

photo credits to Lynn again XD

Saturday’s rave was awesome and I really liked the music this year. Crystal and I got dressed up in our same Luna and Artemis rave outfits that we used for Anime Matsuri, except we forgot our leg warmers. We were having a lot of fun, but around maybe 2 AM it got shut down because the fire alarm went off. Apparently someone was smoking somewhere in the hotel halls and ruined it for everybody. I would’ve been ready to dance until 4 in the morning if it wasn’t for that.

Sunday morning was a pain. Everyone was leaving at the same time so trying to get down the elevator took forever. We were staying at the Double Tree, but the same kind of thing was happening at the Anatole. What we ended up doing was secretly using the staff elevator and somehow made our way out of the kitchen so that we could check out.

Now, it’s time for some cosplay photos

 

And friend’s cosplays ^^ 

 

This is my friend Lisa, she’s a super talented cosplayer and artist. She’s always working on some extravagent cosplays and is actually the one who created my blog banner! During the con she was giving away free buttons with her artwork on it so when I saw her I made sure to ask for some.

You should all go give her cosplay page a like and follow her DA.

There were sooo many good cosplays this year! I also missed a lot of them… I wish I could have gotten a picture of some of the Haikyuu!! or No Game No Life cosplays I saw floating on the web after the con.

I’ll just have to be more diligent about finding them next year!

Thanks for reading!

xoxo Risa