わたしのさいしょのアニメ：フェアリーテイル

A little over 1 year ago, I started watching my first anime: Fairy Tail.  Originally, it was a manga made by Hiro Mashima, and both the anime and the manga are still running today.  I thought it was about time for me to honor that anime in a blog post.

The first issue of Fairy Tail was published in Japan in 2006, and in America in 2008.  As of me writing this post, there have been 464 manga chapters published.  The story revolves around a group of mages in a fictitious country called Fiore that have joined together in a powerful guild that fights evil, but ends up getting into a lot of trouble.  So far, they've gone on quests, battled dark guilds, fought powerful monsters and dragons, explored dungeons, and even played in some tournaments. Basically, if you've ever played Dungeons and Dragons, it's that but everyone uses various types of magic in some form.  I actually have not yet read the manga, but I've heard from my best friend back home that it's excellent.

The shonen anime adaption of the Fairy Tail manga started in Japan in 2009, and the English dub of it started in 2010.  As of me typing this, there have been 261 total episodes, 7 OVAs, and 1 movie, with both the movie and around 175 of the episodes being available in English dub.  I'm not fully caught up yet, but I only have 10 more episodes to watch until I am.  It's action-packed and philosophical at the same time, and I highly recommend it. (if you have the time).

Here are some of the main characters that have been there since the beginning:

This is Natsu Dragneel, a fire dragon slayer with insane amounts of power.  Natsu seems tough, but inside he cares about his team and his friends very much and will do anything for them.  He also gets motion sickness easily....

This is Happy the talking blue flying cat (bet you thought you'd never see those words stringed together), who's also Natsu's companion.  Happy is a member of a magical race called Exceeds.  He also really likes fish.

This is Lucy Heartfilia, a young mage that uses the power of celestial spirits in the form of keys.  Her spirits, however, have minds and personalities of their own.

(Yes, that guy on the bottom right is a snowman)

This is Gray Fullbuster, a mage that has the ability to create and make shapes out of ice.  Natsu and him constantly fight over who's the strongest.  He also likes to take his shirt off a lot...

This is my favorite character from this anime: Erza Scarlet.  Her power is being able to change her armor at will, and each of her armors have different magical properties.  She's one of the strongest in the guild, but she's also very wise.  Plus, she's obsessed with cake.

Speaking of Erza, for Halloween this year, one of my costumes was Erza in her casual outfit.  Take a look!

                                      

Sorry for the long blog post, but long story short is that you should watch Fairy Tail whenever you get the chance.  It's a good balance of action, comedy, and emotions, plus it's very well-written (for the most part, every anime has those few episodes that make you question what you're watching) and the art is fantastic.  If you need a project for winter break, definitely pick this one up!

アメリカのうち

わたしのうちと日本のうちはことなります(different)。


アメリカのトイレでボタンをもっていません。そして、へやのなかにシャワーとトイレがあります。これはアメリカのバスルームですよ。すこしりっぱです。わたしのうちのバスルームはやすい(cheap)です。






わたしのうちのへやはいいです、でもりっぱじゃありません。あれはコンピューターとベッドとかぞく(family)のしゃしんです。でも、このへやはりっぱへやですね。わたしのかずくはほふ(rich)じゃありません、そしてうちはかんたん(simple)です。





アメリカのこがい(suburb)で２－かいがあります。ちかしつ(basement)があります、でもよくちかしつはストレージです。わたしのかぞくはちかしつでゲームをあそびます(play)。そしてときどきパーティーがあります。でも、ちちはちかしつでしごとをします。たもくてき(multi-purpose)ですね。

日本のうちとアメリカのうちはことなります、でもりょうほう(both)はいいです。

にほんのゆうめいなところ

ウェナーさん：こんばんは、フィシャーさん。あの～、にほんになにがありますか。
フィッシャーさん：にほん？え～と、あれはポケモンセンターがありますよ。
ウェナーさん：ほんとに(really)？いいですね！ポケモンセンターはにほんおどこにありますか。
フィッシャーさん：にほんのときょにありますよ。
ウェナーさん：そうですか。ほんとう(real)のポケモンをいますか。
フィッシャーさん：いいえ、ほんとうのポケモンはそんざい(exist)しません。でも、カードトーナメントがあります、そしてぬいふるみ(plushies)がありますよ。ポケモンセンターはおおきいですね。

ウェナーさん：レントラーですか。(Luxray, a Pokemon) ああ、そうですか。レントラーはいちばんです！かわいいですね。
フィッシャーさん：はい、でもわたしのおきにいり(favorite)はトゲピーです。(Togepi, a Pokemon)

ウェナーさん：ああ、そうですか。トゲピーもかわいいです。でも、ほかになに(what else)がありますか。
フィッシャーさん：あの～、ディスニーランドがありますよ。
ウェナーさん：ディスニーランドがありますか。でも、カリフォルニアにありますか。
フィッシャーさん：はい、そしてにほんのちばにありますよ。たくさん(a lot)があります。
ウェナーさん：そうですか。ゆうめいですね。ふるいですか。
フィッシャーさん：いいえ、ふるくありません。ノートルダムだいがくはディスニーランドのちばよりもふるいです。(older than)
ウェナーさん：そうですね。にほんはおもしろいです(interesting)。ありがとうございます。
フィッシャーさん：いいえ。じゃあ、またげつようびね(see you Monday)。
ウェナーさん：はい、じゃあまた！
～～～～～～
(check out ウェナーさん's version of this assignment; it's hilarious)

あきやすみ

ごりょうしんのうちにかえりました、そしてともだちにあいました。ハロウィーンのいしょう(Halloween costume)をつくりました(created)。バンドのコンサート(band concert)にいきました。でも、ざつよー(chores)をしました...

ダウネスグローフ

イリノイしゅうのダウネスグローフからきました。シカゴのちかくにあります。ダウネスグローフはあまりおおきくありません、でもいいまちです。たいていきれいなまちです、そしてふるいです。

カタカナ expressions

Here are some fun カタカナ expressions I've found, starting with...

Onomatopoeia:
ニャニャ: sound of a cat meowing (nyan cat anyone?)

モーモー: sound of a cow mooing (literally moomoo)

ブーブー: sound of a pig squealing (does your pig have a boo-boo?)

ニコニコ: action of someone smiling (I just thought this was really cute!)

(Look how happy he is! Yes, I know his name is Nico, not Niko...)

Other カタカナ words that I found cool (I underlined their translations):

メイク (make? close: makeup)

ドライパー (driver? well kind of....if you consider a screwdriver a driver)

マント (next time you're in Japan and you need a cape...)

エイリアン (my personal favorite: alien.  Always a good thing to know how to say in any language.)

Hope you enjoyed!

アーサービナードさんのレクチャ

I only got a chance to go to Arthur Binardさん's lecture on Monday, but it was very fascinating regardless.  He talked about what he learned from his experiences in Japan, especially from the Hiroshima Peace Memorial.  He told us how he learned to look at situations from a different cultural lens, and he shared that look with us.  What I found the most interesting was how in America, we look at the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as images of a mushroom cloud, or a plane dropping a bomb, but in Japan, people look at it as a flash of light, what they call "pika".  They never looked at it as a mushroom cloud because they were directly in the situation, while Americans try to distance themselves.  Overall, I thought his lecture was a very eye-opening experience.  It made me appreciate the Japanese culture even more!

So you know that I LOVE どうぶつのもり...

There's a spin-off game that's literally coming out this Friday and I am SO EXCITED!!!!

ハッピーホームデセイナー  (はっぴいほうむでせいなあ), or Happy Home Designer, is a game where you get to design animal's houses any way you want! (well, with a few guidelines, of course...)  Unlike New Leaf, which I talked about a few weeks ago, you have full customization of villager's homes and you can have as many villagers as you want (New Leaf only lets you have 10 at a time), but your character doesn't have a house.  There's also no concept of money in this game, so you have access to furniture based on your progress in the game and which villager's houses you design.

I can't post any screenshots from my game yet (since I don't have it.....), but the game has been out in Japan for two months now, so here are some screenshots I found from people who have the Japanese version of the game:

In the game, you work for a company that designs houses.  The first house you design is for a client named Goldie (キャラメル, or Caramel in the Japanese version).

Each client has a "theme" that they want their house to be based off of, and you gain access to furniture items of that theme when you design their house.  You get to keep copies of the furniture to decorate other's houses too! Carrie (マミイ, or Mommy in the Japanese version) requested a kid-friendly house.

You can even decide what biome you want each client to live in (everything from grassy to tropical to snowy), and customize the outside of their house and their yard!  This house belongs to a bear cub named Pekoe (ジャスミン, or Jasmine in the Japanese version).

You also get to design buildings on Main Street, like a school, a department store, a shop, a hospital, and a music hall!

I am soooooo excited for the American version to come out! So if any of you have a car and want to drive me to GameStop on Friday................????? ;)

まいにちの せいかつ

わたしはおきます。わたしはくらすにきますそしてぶるんちゅをたべます。くらすにきます。どみとりいにかえます。わたしはしゅくだいをべんきょします。しょくどおにばんごはんをたべますそしてべんきょします。わたしはねます。

とびだせどうぶつのもり

One of my favorite video games is とびだせどうぶつのもり, or Animal Crossing: New Leaf, by Nintendo.  In the game, you are the mayor of your own little town, and you have various animals as villagers.  You can customize your character to look like you, design your own house with lots of different kinds of furniture, create a town with many public works projects, and have fun shopping on Main Street.  This is probably my favorite game because it's so calming and tranquil, unlike a lot of action games where you're constantly stressed. I can play どうぶつのもり when I'm having a bad day and need to get away from the real world.  Plus, a lot of my friends play the game too, and we can visit each others towns!  All of the villagers I've had in my town are so cute, and they'll interact with you in various ways throughout your playthrough.  There's no way to win; you just play for fun!

This is my favorite villager, ぐみ (Gummy), or Poppy in the American version of the game.  She is a sweetheart and so adorable!  I've had her as a villager since I first started playing the game.

This is my character in the game, Jadzia.  You can see from this picture that there are lots of plants, and weather phenomena!  You can make your town however you want, from a very nature-focused town to an urban-looking town.  My town is a combination of both.

I love to play games with my friends!  This is a picture of me and one of my best friends from back home dancing around in the "club" on Main Street.  Some of our animal friends are here too!  The kangaroo you see is named キッズ (Kids), or Astrid in the American version.  The DJ in the back is とたけけ (Totakeke), or K.K. Slider.  He has a party every night!

If you have a Nintendo 3DS and want a game that's very relaxing, I highly recommend playing  とびだせどうぶつのもり.  I've done so many fun things in this game!

あいさつ

はじめまして。わたしは　ふぃしぇるです。いちねんせえです。あめりかじんです。せんこわ　せえぶつがくです。どおぞよろしょく。

こんにちわ！

My name is Rachel Fisher, and I'm a freshman at Notre Dame living in Lewis Hall. I'm super excited to learn Japanese!  I've been fascinated by other cultures since I was little, and I took French in high school.  I chose to stop taking French and take Japanese instead because I'm a huge fan of anime and Nintendo, and I'd like to be able to not have to read the subtitles on anime and be able to play video games right at the Japanese release date instead of waiting for the American release...anyway, in addition to those reasons, watching anime has taught me a bit about Japanese culture and has inspired me to learn more.  From discoveries in science to plenty of entertainment avenues, Japanese is fascinating to me.

The other reason for me wanting to take Japanese came about in my junior year of high school.  Our school hosted a Japanese high school band, and the band I was in played a concert with them.  I met lots of new friends who played the same instruments as me (percussion), as well as wind players, but they all had the same dedication towards their practice.  When it was time for their concert, the quality of their music just blew me away, and I learned that in high school, you were encouraged to do one activity and master it, not several activities and just merely be good at them.  I know I probably won't see them again, but if my band ever hosts them again, I'd love to go back and see their sensee and the younger students.  Seeing the Japanese culture firsthand really made me interested in the language, so I guess I'm excited to be able to have less of a language barrier if I ever see my friends again.