Interview With A Necrosarium

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!)

Sincerely,

Rave <3

Minyoung's Kpop Picks 2

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/Kwiyomi (Cutie Player)

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 called 애교 (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!

YoshiKitty Makeover

My blog just got a massive makeover, to include a spanking new background ft Yoshikitty!
For those of you who don't know what that is,  it's basically a collaboration between one of Japan's most talented  and iconic men Yoshiki, of the band X-Japan, and the iconic and well loved Sanrio/Hello Kitty! I found this image on DeviantArt:
 http://www.deviantart.com/art/Yoshikitty-186763582. I do not claim ownership of Yoshiki (although sometimes I wish lol), Sanrio, Hello Kitty or this blog background.

Rave's Jrock Picks

Hello lovelies!
Welcome to Rave's Jrock Picks! I will admit I have been out of the more current Jrock loop for a while, so my collection consists more of old school Jrock and Visual Kei from the 80s all the way up until circa 2010. I may not know many of the newer bands, but I still keep tabs on the older artists I love!

So without further ado, here are my more recent Jrock picks!

The GazettE- Inside Beast

As Sony Music Japan doesn't allow play of full PVs on their Youtube, I can only show their highlight that's available. This PV is super crazy and I love it! 

Halloween Junky Orchestra- Halloween Party

It was Halloween not too long ago, so I played Halloween Junky Orchestra, and even though it's the 2012 version, I love it and all the artists in it!

Alice Nine- Daybreak

Alice Nine <3. People argue over their concepts of darker vs. more pop oriented, as they do with most J-rock, Visual Kei, Oshare Kei, etc. I like it all! Seriously you guys should see my music collection! It's full of various genres from all over the globe, so hearing different genres coming from an artist doesn't really bother me like it bothers some^^.

Acid Black Cherry- Adult Black Cat

I love this group. Everyone who knows me and my J-rock loves,  knows I loved Janne Da Arc, so of course, I love this band. Anything Yasu is in I'm sure to like, as I love his voice^^.

Miyavi- Horizon

This song was my jam during the summer. I love every avenue Miyavi has explored with his music from Due le Quartz to now. Here's to many more years of seeing him grow and evolve musically!

What are some of your favorites?

A Step Into Asian Pop Culture (Panel at Monitacon 2013) Pt.1

Hello lovelies!
So, I've been a little slow on the release of this blog as I've been trying to collect pictures and footage of my panel. I was working registration at Monitacon all day, then prepping my models for the panel, then it was go time so I didn't quite get to film or take pictures like I wanted to >_<.

I will say for some pictures of my panel's fashion show and pictures of the con overall, you can head on over to Mission Start Podcast's Monitacon photo album over here (the fashion show pictures start after the picture of the con schedule ^^)!

This will be a two (or more) part blog. This first part will focus on the process leading up to the con itself and the following part(s) will be about how everything panned out on the day of!

My ideas for my panel were to have a(n):
Jrock/Kpop Inspired Fashion Show
Kwiyomi Game
Jrock and Kpop Quizzes
Epic Dance Battle

Most of the time and effort towards this panel was put into the fashion show.
I acquired 11 models (4 of which were D20 Girls), went about gathering tons of items from clothes to accessories for the show (with a few visual Kei pieces set for use by the lovely Ryushinikaru and Keira), and held photo shoots for extra outfits that would be used for background montages I created.



 Most pictures didn't get used, but at least I know I have some for future use! Here are the three models I was able to do shoots for, these images were not used in the montage^^. 

Brittany photographed by Rave

Maria photographed by Rave

Amara von Nacht photographed by Rave

I also created BTS videos featuring Amara when she came over to shoot~ (No copyright infringement intended with the usage of the songs in the videos!)

I had one heck of a time with my endless search for donations and sponsorships, where I was  met with  the fortune of the generous Kasumi providing me with some pieces from Necrosarium.

Pictures taken by Kasumi, I just compiled for use in my background montage.

 For those of you who hadn't read my previous blogs and are into Visual Kei and Jrock, this store is an amazing and precious gem. The owner/artist Kasumi is a pleasure to communicate and work with. She's such a kind and talented person and I am glad I mustered up the nerve to contact her, because it worked out wonderfully. Seriously, you guys check out the shop and go like her  facebook!

Here are the pieces she sent me. I seriously can't thank her enough. My photos don't do her work justice, but you can still tell how amazing her stuff is!