Next month...

There are two different concerts in Los Angeles that I want to go to, and I won't be able to. The first is a Korean pop concert, which is having many different artists, some of which I listen to and some of which I don't. Later, around the 25, there is a Japanese Rock Revolution concert, which is what I would die to go to. There are going to be MANY artists there that I like. This is not fair, it's not fair that all the Japanese and Korean artists I listen to are going to L.A. and no where else, because I cannot afford to go to either and I will miss out.



You're probably thinking, "This girl is strange, she's not Asian at all but she likes this stuff?"



Allow me to ellaborate... when I was in eigth grade I was introduced back into Japanese anime by a girl I knew. I used to watch Sailor Moon and Pokemon, but this new phase was unlike any other. It launched something that has laste six or so years with me. After I got really obsessive with Dragon Ball Z (which I insisted on watching in Japanese on the International Channel,) I started to listen to the Japanese music which was on those said shows. Once I fell into the InuYasha string, I found Ayumi Hamasaki, and she launched all of what I know today. When on an Ayu fansite I found the music artist Gackt. Gackt used to be in a visual kei band known as Malice Mizer, which led into Mana, the guitarist of Malice Mizer is now in a band called Moi Dix Mois. Watching different visual bands eventually led to Dir en Grey, who led to La;Sadies, which led to X-Japan because the old drummer of X used to produce Dir en grey. X Japan then led to Luna Sea, because the drummer and the guitarist are friends. It's all a chain, all this happened because of anime and that one girl in middle school.

Goth

My title might be very misleading, because when you think of Goth, most people think of the high school kids that wear their clothes straight out of Hot Topic who are supposed to be depressed or whatever. When I think of Goth, I think of clothing and architecture styles, but even I was called a Goth a lot when I took karate classes. Black, being one of my favorite colors, is what I wear the most of, which makes many people assume I am a Goth. I am more interested in the Gothic Lolita fashion of Japan than anything, because it’s what sparked my interest in clothing design. The clothing style that interests me the most, however is the line Moi-meme-Moitie, created by Japanese rock star Mana, (who is a MAN by the way.) Though his clothing is expensive, it’s beautiful, and it’s the reason that I wanted to learn how to make clothes in the first place. Looking at Mana’s creations made me create as well, though most of them are still drawings, I hope to make them into real articles of clothing one day. Compared to Mana, I am not a Goth at all, because all of the clothing that he makes is Gothic Lolita and Aristocrat, (can you tell he’s richer than I can ever imagine?)

Not all Goth clothing is black, quite the contrary, actually. If one looks around hard enough, they can see that deep blues and purples, as well as crimson reds are used heftily in Goth fashion. Also, if you look back through Japanese rock’s fashions, most bands went through ‘Goth’ phases, which were later moved out of, like all phases. Mana stuck to it though, and continues to create amazing peices.