The O-Talk Podcast

Well hi everyone, I'm here to show you a quick guide on how to register on Nico Nico Douga and Pixiv. Why do you need to? Because both are important sites for fans of Japanese animation and art. Nico Nico Douga is sorta like the Youtube for Japan I guess you could say. Pretty much all those Miku Hatsune music videos and MMD videos you like to watch were first on Nico. Pixiv is sorta like the Japanese version of DeviantART. Where artists show off they're drawings and collect feedback and whatnot. I like to browse all my favorite artists and see previews of their latest doujinshi they're going to release.

First up Nico Nico Douga. If you know Chinese , German, or Spanish they have those language options if you wish. I know a little Spanish from high school so I chose that.

After this step check your email.

And congrats! You now have a Nico Nico Douga account! You can browse all the MMD and MAD's you want. Here's a couple random videos to celebrate. These ones are NSFW
http://es.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm3304988
http://es.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm9916553
These ones are safe
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm5309128
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm9769931
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/nm10004610

Now for Pixiv:

There are no language options for Pixiv so unless you know Japanese this can be a tad tricky.
Click this first

Now check you email for a confirmation link.

And now you're done!
And if my guide wasn't good enough there's one over at Danbooru but they don't have a fancy picture guide like mine.

If you have any questions feel free to jump on over to the IRC channel and I'll at least try to answer them.

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I remember a long time ago, I heard in one of the episodes of Otaku Generation a review of a documentary. It was until now that I remembered the title of the film, The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief. This documentary shows what really happens in Host clubs. Come on in to see the truth.

During the whole documentary, I did not like Issei because he is exploiting these women. However, as the film went on, I started to noticed that these men are also suffering. These hosts are psychologically dead inside. They forget who they really are and they do not feel real human emotions. For a man like Issei who has been a host for 4 years(at the time the movie was filmed) straight, that kind of lifestyle takes a big toll on the mind and body. To be honest, I don't see him making it to the age of 40.


I was going to give this film a rating, but it's difficult due to the raw reality it has. So, what are your opinions on this documentary?

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Let me first say that I'm a big fan of the J-drama, Akihabara@DEEP. When I found out a movie was made I was ecstatic and I found if it was going to be similar to the drama. The only thing it is similar to the drama are the characters names and I'm glad that it's different.

If you already noticed, there are two big differences so far. First of all the cosplayer of the group Daruma was omitted from the film and Izumu is a male. If you have seen the J-drama, Izumu is a cute girl but the film is closely following the novel.




In the film, the main characters meet for the first time at Yui's funeral. Page, Box, and Taico decide to make an IT company and Izumu and Akira later join. They decided to create a search engine that is projected to be bigger that Yahoo and Goggle. Nakagomi want to buy it from @DEEP but they refuse. However, Nakagomi ends up stealing it and @DEEP wants to take it back.





I recommend this film due to the great character development, the twists, and the interesting meaning behind it.

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For the last month, I have been "studying" the content in idol DVDs. If you don't know what an idol is, click HERE. In Japan, The idol DVDs are a big thing in the idol otaku community and teen age guys who can't get real porn. Most idols get their big break in stardom just from these DVDs. In my opinion, these DVDs are a little boring.

The things that happens in most idol DVDs are usually the same thing. The girl just stands around wearing a swimsuit or some sexy outfit and you get to see it in different angles. If they want to spice things up, they give them something to play with like a ball. If it is an AV idol DVD, then you get to see them naked but everything else is the same.

I still don't understand the concept of idol culture even thou I wrote a post about it. These girls are willing to make a name for themselves by doing these DVDs. I'm not going to start talking about how this is demeaning to women because it's their choice to do these things and no one is making them. So, what do you think of idol culture and these DVDs?

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While visiting Youtube(I have A LOT of free time on the weekends), I notice a video in the "Recommended for you" box titled Do you like Japan? Japan doesn't like you! racism in Japan. I was curious and typed in racism in Japan in the search bar and found a lot of Youtubers who live in Japan that have videos who have experienced racism in some form.


Japan has been known to be somewhat of a xenophobic country. You can see this from the "no foreigners, Japanese only" signs in front of some establishments. These signs are most common at Onsen and hostess bars. I can see why an Onsen would have these signs because some foreigners may not know the proper etiquette but still it is not fair.


I think in a way it is the fault of some foreigners that make all foreigners look bad because one Youtuber had his membership to a internet cafe stripped from him because a week earlier, some random foreigner acted like a fool and screwed it up for everyone and all foreigners are banned from there. So, what do you thinking of this matter?

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Something I will never understand are these Japanese variety shows. JVS are television shows that are made up of musical act, comedy skits, and other weird acts. When I had Livestation, I would watch these shows and I was scratching my head in wondering what the hell I just watched.


These shows have a panel of people that is made up of a host, celebrities, idols, and the flavor of the week. Then they will watch the act or some video clip and comment on it. Example below.

Now some of these act themselves are really wacky. One minute you are seeing some guy in his underwear with a panda hat and he juggling cats, the next minute you are seeming a pretty awesome skit. Example below.





I think it is a cultural think and that's why I don't understand. So, what do you think of Japanese variety shows?


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Japanese idols are female media personalities in their teens and early twenties who are considered to be pretty and/or cute. They will appear in J-pop groups, magazine spreads, advertisement, TV, and other media outlets. These idols will be famous for about several months to a few years. The life of an idol may be seen as fun but there is a dark side to it.


The only way an idol can remain popular is if she remains beautiful but with time, she will end up aging and be cast away into the shadows and become a distant memory. Some idols are not willing to give up that lifestyle that they have become accustom to and they are going to do one of 2 things, become a hostess or an AV idol. For those who don't know, AV idol stands for adult video idol or porn star for short.

There is another thing that I don't like about the Japanese idol culture is that the idols are becoming younger every year. Nowadays, the average age new idol is 12 years old, which in my opinion wrong. However, I read a while back on Sankaku Complex about the youngest female idol who is at the tender age of 6 years old. I find that disturbing in many levels and the parents of that child should be sent to jail for exploiting a minor.

Not all idols end up with with such horrible lives, some actually go to college and get real jobs. At the end of everything, I really still don't know much of the idol thing in Japan, it must a cultural thing. So, what are you opinions of the Japanese idol culture?

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Japanorama is a British television show that is about learning the Japanese culture and its many subcultures. The show is presented in a documentary format but it does not feel like one.



The show only had 3 seasons with 6 episodes for each season. I think it is a good show for people who are interested in Japan or for those who want to learn more about the different subcultures. I'm going to keep this post short because I'm really busy writing a very important term paper. Below I have episode 2 from season 2, the Otaku culture episode. You can watch the other episodes on Youtube or download it from a torrent.

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I think that engrish is the funniest thing that comes from Japan. Many people find it funny because of the really bad grammar and misspelling. Today, I will be posting pictures of very funny engrish pictures. All of the pictures are from Engrish.com.


















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