Necrosarium has undergone a website change! I wanted to let people know the update through here, as I haven't edited the link to Kasumi's website on my prior posts. Albeit, the banner IS updated with the correct link to take you to her current website. Show it lots of love~! Check out her amazing new websitehere!
I am pretty much doing here what I'm doing with the J-rock post for this month!To celebrate the 25 days of Christmas, I am going to add a Kpop song/video each day to this post. Some may be related to the holiday and some may not~ Enjoy!
December 1st:
Girls Generation (So Nyeo Shi Dae)- All I Want For Christmas
Ayo GG! I love this rendition^^ Then again this is one of my favorite songs for the holidays, and most of the Kpop stars did it justice, so it was hard to pick which version I wanted to put up. Tiffany and Jessica were like, "I got this!" haha. I wish Alex from Clazziquai Project sang more <3
December 2nd: Infinite & Teen Top - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town & White Christmas
Teen Top and Infinite oozing cuteness with a special performance stage on Music Bank! :D December 3rd: Dong Bang Shin Ki- Love In The Ice (Japanese version)
I am not usually one for ballads. I appreciate them and think a vast majority of them are beautiful, but I don't like to listen to them for the feels. There are some songs that I can't not listen to, and this is one of them. It's such a beautiful song. This is one of their most moving performances in my opinion, so I had to up this for the holidays. Hopefully one day, we'll be able to hear this live again.
December 4th: EXO- Miracles In December
This video literally just released! I'm not usually into ballads as I mentioned above, but it's a very pretty song. It almost reminds me of the above Love In The Ice. SM Entertainment loves putting out things that tug at our heartstrings ~
December 5th:
Cube Artists (United Cube)- Christmas Song
This video was released two days ago. As the title suggests, it features all the artists under Cube Entertainment! Such a cheerful and happy song and video with all the artists~ What's not to like?
December 6th:
Starship Planet- Pink Romance
Staying in the same vein as yesterdays post, I've posted the collaborative effort of Starship artists for their Christmas song from approximately 2 years ago :D It's such a cute and upbeat song ~
December 7th:
Super Junior/SJM - Santa You Are the One
This video is technically SMTown because it features all the SM Entertainment artists participating in photo shoots throughout the video, but I decided to label it Super Junior and Super Junior M because it's their song on the album~ I love that this included Zhou Mi and Henry. I adore Zhou Mi.
December 8th:
Daniel (DMTN) & Yoseob (B2ST)- First Snow and First Kiss
This song is a more uptempo ballad~ Yoseob is adorable. Those two are such good friends. I hope Daniel can move forward with a clean slate after the scandal.
December 9th:
Afterschool- Love Love Love
Such a cute sounding song from Afterschool, usually Orange Caramel's ( AS's subunit) territory, but I like it^^
December 10th:
MBLAQ- White Forever
In true MBLAQ style comes a Christmas song that makes me feel happy. Yang Seung Ho :D Fan girl moment^^
December 11th:
JYP Nation- This Christmas
Staying true to JYP R&B beats, JYP Nation came out with this Christmas song. Junsu and Changmin's soulful voices~ Love it. Nichkhun and Taecyeon crack me up for some reason.
December 12th:
Henry (Super Junior M) & Amber (f(x))- Happy Holidays
Ah such a nice song~ Just their voices and instruments. And I like that Amber is actually singing and not rapping here^^. Their voices meld well together.
December 13th:
4Minute Kara MissA f(x) Christmas medley
For a special stage the maknae's (youngest in a group) and '94 line Sohyun of 4Minute, Jiyoung of Kara, Suzy of Miss A, and Krystal and Sulli of f(x) ang a medley of Christmas songs, joining together in the end to sing White.
Note: The remainder of these were done late to make sure I was getting all the new Christmas songs in first~
December 14th:
2NE1- Missing You
This was their most recent performance on Inkigayo 12/22 for the Christmas special. Pretty right?
December 15th:
BOM&HI- All I Want For Christmas Is You
Now two of YG's powerhouse vocalists Park Bom and Lee Hi have teamed up as a unit and bring their slow jazzy and soulful rendition of a classic Christmas song. Love their vocals, so YG teaming them up was genious~
December 16th:
Hyorin- One Way Love
Everyone by now knows I love this song, this is the Inkigayo performance on 12/22 Christmas Special.
December 17th:
Crayon Pop- Lonely Christmas
The quirky girls of Crayon Pop are back with a quirky Christmas song~
December 18th:
EXO- Christmas Day
Keeping in the same vein as their other holiday hit, EXO bring the soul with a slow jam. Simple and sexy enough to eternally mess with the minds of Exotics haha. Also a performance from Inkigayo~
December 19th:
VIXX and Seo In Guk- Winter Propose
Cute song, VIXX looks really tired and out of it though~
December 20th:
HyunA, Suzy, Jiyeon, Hyorin, Kahi (Christmas Girls)- Blessings on the Christmas Time + Overture
This was a special stage for the Christmas Special of Inkigayo in 2011. Fun times haha~
December 21st:
T-ara- Bo Peep
This was during Inkigayo back in 2009~ The Christmas outfits they had on each of the shows were really cute. This song was so catchy to me that year~
December 22nd:
SHINee, f(x), SNSD- Gee and Jingle Bell Rock
It's not the full version of the Gee performance, but the main focus in the cute Jingle Bell Rock rendition~ D'aww Shinee's Ring Ding Dong Days :D
December 23rd:
BoA- Merry Kuri
Flashback~ I can't not make a list without BoA on it right?
December 24th:
Wonder Girls and Wonder Boys- Be My Baby
This was a funny collab on Music Bank in 2011 for their Christmas special~ :D
December 25th: (Since I won't be here tomorrow I'm doing this a day early)
Miss A- Hush
From the Music Bank Christmas special on the 20th! Love this song!
And there you have it guys! This completes my Kpop picks for 25 days of Christmas! Happy Holidays everyone!
We are now in the last month of 2013~ December the month of Christmas cheer and all that jazz! So, to celebrate the 25 days of Christmas, I am going to add a Jrock/Jpop song/video each day to this post. Some may be related to the holiday and some may not~ Enjoy!
December 1st: L'Arc~en~Ciel - Hurry X'mas
What better song could I have picked to kick off the holiday spirit? With Hyde's honey vocals and the Christmas cheer all over the stage, to include a smoking "ken" snowman -that always cracks me up- Tetsu and Yuki look so cute! This is such a fun and bouncy song~
December 2nd:
Miyavi- Jingle Bell
This brings back some memories :D. I miss the MYV crazy hair sometimes ~ :3
December 3rd:
Judy and Mary- Christmas
Bringing it back a bit old school with Judy and Mary~ Such a peppy song, right?
December 4th:
Shonen Knife- Sweet Christmas
The pop punk trio, rocking out one of their hit Christmas tunes in adorable outfits. What's not to like? December 5th: Gackt & Namie Amuro- Itsuka no Merry Christmas
Cos Gackt and Namie Amuro~ That's why^^
December 6th: T.M. Revoliution- Burnin' X'mas
Turning up the heat this winter with some rockin' Takanori~ This man has so much energy, love it! XD December 7th: Crazy Ken Band- Hallelujah Christmas
Such a cute song~
December 8th:
Glay- Winter Again
I love Glay! Grew up with them, X-Japan, Malice, Buck Tick, Malice Mizer, L'arc en Ciel etc. One of the many bands I want to see live. Hisashi man~ I seem to have a thing for guitarists haha.
Decemeber 9th:
Ellegarden- Santa Claus
One of my favorite pop punk bands. I believe they are on hiatus now, not officially disbanded, so I hope they make a comeback!
December 10th: Acid Cherry- Fuyu no Maboroshi
Have I mentioned I love Yasu's voice? No? I love it~ And this video is just~XD December 11th: An Cafe- Snow Scene
I miss Bou in An Cafe~ I heard An Cafe is no longer in hiatus and making new music, so I look forward to their new stuff. For now here's this rockin' song! December 12th: hide with Spread Beaver- Rocket Dive
This one is dedicated to my friend Jade Pearson, as it was her birthday yesterday and she's a big X-Japan and hide fan, especially since they're a band near and dear to her heart from her time in Japan! Happy 'Forever 29th' birthday! :D It's Christmas related to me because I got Jade a Christmas hide to compliment the Yoshikitty I got Keira earlier in the year. If you knew those two in person, these plushies fit their personas so well! <3 You guys!!
December 13th: Momoiro Clover Z- Christmas Song
I'm having a slightly more difficult time looking up J-rock Christmas videos. Songs, I have plenty...videos are not so abundant, so it may carry over into J-pop. But this video is funny. Pie in face, that is all. Haha. December 14th: The Gazette- Cassis
I love the Gazette and I picked Cassis cos it could totally have a Christmas sound to it right? Haha. December 15th: Gackt- Setsugekka End of Silence
It's dark, there's snow...and it's Gackt! December 16th: Kagrra- Shiroi Uso
I love Kagrra, so I had to put them in here somewhere. This feels very winteresque to me^^ December 17th: Psycho le Cemu- Omoide Aruki
Another one of my favorite bands. They were so quirky and heavily into cosplay. Their videos are always entertaining and festive haha :D December 18th: Phantasmagoria- Kyousoukyoku- Cruel Crucible
Oooh look at all the pretty~ December 19th: Kra- Alice
Has nothing to do with Christmas, but still along the lines of something whimsical like Alice in Wonderland^^ December 20th: Screw- Cavalcade
High energy~ December 21st: Alice Nine- Blue Flame
I like this song, guitar solo is awesome~ December 22nd: Sugizo ft Bice- Rest in Peace and Fly Away
Such a beautiful song~I have mad love and respect for Sugizo December 23rd: Hyde- The Cape of Storms
Here's another intense song from an intense movie. December 24th: Exile- Last Christmas (live)
Of course I had to bring Exile into this! December 25th: ( Doing this a day early as I'll be gone tomorrow~) Stereopony- Hitohira no Hanabira
I really like this song, so therefore it will round off the list! And there you have it guys! Thank you guys for stopping by and checking out my list of videos! Happy Holidays!~
I had the pleasure of doing a special interview with Kasumi, founder and artist behind Necrosarium!
Q&A with Kasumi:
1) What was the inspiration behind Necrosarium? From what I
discovered on your Facebook, you initially had a “cute” brand when you were
younger, could you talk a bit about that and how your craft morphed into what
it is today with the darker Goth/Lolita/Visual Kei theme?
-I did have a cute brand when I was 16 years old, I was really
into the style and I really wanted to dress so cute always. Unfortunately, I
had no money to do it, so I tried to make cute jewelry at least to wear. I did
feel that there was a huge limit to my cute creations though. I didn’t feel
that I had much creativity in my pieces. They were cute, but they were lacking
something. I didn’t make the cute jewelry very long. I always loved dark
fashions since I was very young, and I wanted to try my hand at it. Dir en Grey
was my very first inspiration to get into the Gothic, Lolita, and Visual Kei
fashion. Even their current style, and especially music, are my biggest
inspirations. I also gain inspiration from Takato Yamamoto’s art. I felt that I
could be more creative with darker styles, so I pursued it when I was 18 years
old.
2) Your shop and Facebook have quite the following, which is
understandable as you have quite beautiful and unique pieces, and your
repertoire is always growing. What would you like to work on in the future (ex:
jewelry you’ve never made before, clothes, other artistic avenues) and where do
you see the future of Necrosarium heading?
-Thank you so much~ In the future, I want NECROSARIUM to be much
bigger, of course; I want to sell at Anime conventions very much! It is my
dream. I love to travel, and when I attend a convention, everyone is so kind
and happy. It feels like another home. I want to travel many places and meet my
fans, they make me so happy! Also, I am still fairly new to creating jewelry
and designs, but I grow each day. I want to create some more sewn
accessories…perhaps clothing one day, but I think I would need to have help to
keep that up, as I work alone. I just hope to create as much as I can~
3) Up to this point, which piece has been your absolute favorite
to make and why?
-At this point, I would say my favorite piece to create right now
is my Vampire’s Requiem collar necklaces! It is a very bold necklace, and I
have upgraded the design this year. It is one of my favorite pieces that I can
always create~
4) You have garnered the attention of quite a few in the Visual Kei
scene. If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be and why?
-It is very hard to say who I wish to work with, there are so many
talented artists that I would love to work with! I have worked with some
artists, such as the lovely model Artemis Hyde, the amazing makeup artist
PureBlackLove, and some bands such as Pan-d-ra, HimemaniK, Jet Set Gypsies, and
have been featured on others! I have some upcoming collaborations with other
bands as well, I will reveal them soon as it is in progress, but I can say that
you will be seeing a lot of work with Jet Set Gypsies! ^o^
5) You have made well known your love for astronomy, what was it
that drew you to what lies beyond, and can we expect some pieces in
Necrosarium to tie into this passion in the future?
-My love for Astronomy is endless. It is one of my biggest
passions, I have been studying Astronomy since I was around 5 or 6 years old, I
was naturally drawn to it, as well as Paleontology, and I had a microscope! I
can’t say that we will see any pieces in NECROSARIUM to be inspired by
Astronomy, though. I keep them separate. Of course, you can always see me
talking about it, and sharing anything interesting! I may have a smaller brand
in the future that is science-based on the side. I want to grow my own
crystals, use images from my telescope, microscope, and more, and also use
meteorites and fossils in jewelry! It will be kinda far in the future though~
6) With the end of the year rapidly approaching and chalk full of
holidays, what would you say were the highlights of 2013, and what are your
plans and resolutions (personal and/or Necrosarium related) for 2014?
-I think this year was great. In the beginning of the year I
started selling with Tetragrammaton, based in Tokyo! They really helped me with
my confidence in selling, and was a great support for me to keep going! They
are closed now, but will forever be special to me. Also getting to work with
Pan-d-ra, I see them wear my jewelry in so many photos! It is very encouraging!
I also got to see my work featured in HimemaniK’s new PV! That was super
awesome! I think I got so much better with designs this year as well. I used
too much bronze in the beginning, but now I use black, brown, dark red, blue,
silver, etc. My designs have also become more intricate. My resolutions for
2014 are to work harder! Right now I feel behind, I guess holding up a brand by
myself can get stressful, but I am getting better at it. I think I just need
much more supplies so that I can work on many things! My personal life revolves
around NECROSARIUM, so I think it’s the same, I also want to feel happier and
make others happy.
7) On that note, would you say something for your fans and
supporters out there?
-I want to say thank you so much! NECROSARIUM has turned 2 years
old this month, and I already have so many supporting fans who just make me so
happy! I also want to say, if you ever need someone to talk to, or if you need
someone to cheer you up, I am here! I want to make friends with my fans and
make them happy, I want them to know that I am always here for them just like
they are here for me! ^o^
8)From talking to you on a personal level, you’re such a sweet and
kind person! I absolutely wish you major success in the future and thank you so
much for this interview!
Ohh thank you so much, you are so awesome~ The interview was very
fun and I wish you all of my luck as well!
***I would like to again thank Kasumi so much for everything she's done for me, from providing jewelry for my first panel's fashion show, doing this interview, and being a great friend! I hope that one day if I get a substantial amount of readers that they will visit her store and show it lots of love and support! (Click the banner in the right column to head to her shop!)
Hello Lovelies! I'm back with some recent Kpop Picks before the holidays! Trouble Maker- Now
This video takes Trouble Makers' shenanigans to a more dangerous and risque level than their first single. It's a catchy track and I like the dance! Sure Trouble Maker's first release "Trouble Maker" was a very catchy and appealing song, but this is certainly a good follow up song! I especially like that Hyunseung is less in the background, and it feels as if his and HyunA's presence are more balanced. Go watch now, now, now! Taeyang- RINGA LINGA
Taeyang certainly brightened up the season with his swag. He's wild, crazy and free, with his buddy GD. I see it as kind of a futuristic homage to their very hip hop beginnings. Assa! Hyolyn- Lonely & One Way Love
This is a double feature of Hyorin/Hyolyn as I love both of her songs and they were released just this week, and already stuck in my head! Hyorin's "Lonely" gives a softer cafe vibe, and then "One Way Love" is like BAM! FIERCE! Go Hyorin! Hwaiting Sistar! 2NE1- Missing You
This is such a beautiful song. I absolutely love the feel of the song and the video, it reminds me of their "Lonely" days. The song and video are certainly very emotional. I love how the girls look, especially Ms. Park Bom. She looks absolutely stunning in the shots with the beaded headdress, and her parts in the song were great, especially live. She's definitely more confident with these promotions! People were worried about CL when they got word she was going to have nude scenes, but I had the feeling they would be artistic and tastefully done. Nolja! And last but certainly not least: T.O.P- Doom Dada
Oh my freaking gosh guys! I will admit I listened to the song late. It was a tad on the 'what did I just listen to' list (not in a bad way, more so just confused. The second listen, it was getting stuck in my head. Third listen was in conjunction with watching the video. The video is hilarious and awesome! I must say, T.O.P with contacts...
...Yep, that about sums it up haha. Then MAMA came and I watched the live performance. He killed it! I can't wait to see him perform the whole song...Even though I fear he may suddenly get claims of impregnation from various fan girls. He may have to put warning labels on his videos from now on LOL. What are your top picks?
Gwiyomi, what is it and why am I making a post on solely this? As most of you know, I had intended on doing a Gwiyomi game as part of my panel at Monitacon, but due to shifts in scheduling, and not having had enough time to decide what items to coordinate with W2Beauty, I chucked it out the window for future use. That future use came sooner rather than later, as I now have a panel at Aniwave called Ongaku ( Japanese for music) Sarang (Korean for love). Visit the event page here:
The Cutie Player game is going to be one of the main points, if not the highlight, of the panel as the prizes are sponsored by W2Beauty. Yay! Alice, the owner of this shop full of the trendiest skincare and makeup products of Korea, is such a pleasure to work with, and she's so stinking pretty! She even has a blog for those of you interested in expanding your knowledge on Korean skin care and makeup, and keeping up to date with what's in! Visit that here! So before I make this entire post on how cool Alice is, let me reel it in, and get back on track to Gwiyomi!
So in Korea there is this well known style of extreme childlike cuteness called애교 (aegyo). If you ever watch K-dramas or K-pop stars and see the girl's and guy's eyes large and glistening, puffing out their cheeks, pointing their fingers together or making hearts, v signs or fists like a cat, in conjunction with cute voices then you've been exposed to aegyo. I've seen it in action between my friends Adachi and Chris. Note: The guys are weak to hearing girls say "오빠 (oppa)" which means older brother/man. Most of my Korean penpals say they hate it, but still get suckered in by it haha.
Because aegyo style is very popular, many trends come up such as phrases like 뿌잉뿌잉 (bbuing bbuing) and now Gwiyomi. Gwiyomi is basically simple addition (usually up to just six in Korean) in a nonexistent math land where everything equals cute. Wouldn't that have been so much easier in math class? No matter what, the answer is always gwiyomi! So basically: One plus one is gwiyomi, two plus two is gwiyomi, so on and so forth. Here's a standard "dance" guide to kwiyomi , but really you can make it your own and do whatever you want. Remember to click on the image to enlarge! :D
If I remember correctly it all started with BtoB's Ilhoon (pictured above with romanized lyrics) and his cute actions, coining it Gwiyomi. Shortly thereafter, a singer named Hari made an entire song about it. Here is the original video of Hari's Gwiyomi Song with romanized lyrics:
Consequently it became quite viral, with several uploads around the globe of everyone trying their hand at this aegyo phenomenon or uploading videos of their favorite celebrities partaking in it.
I uploaded this video of SHINee's leader Onew doing his rendition because it's got more elements than just aegyo in it, it's also funny and awkwardly sexy (haha Onew Sangtae for the win). And that, ladies and gents just about wraps up this blog on gwiyomi! So if you're coming to Aniwave and my panel, if you want to win some awesome prizes from W2Beauty, make sure to bring your best Kwiyomi A-game!
