Any Hakuouki fans?
Hajime is my bae. At one point in history he even usurped Itachi as my no. 1 (shameful I know. I could not apologise enough for my infidelity...). I knew him as a reserved and self-contained man when I first watched the anime prequel, Hakuouki Reimeiroku (to prep myself for the emotional ride game), and even then his quietness, his presence stood out amongst the bishies Shinsengumi (or Rôshigumi, the name they called themselves before the miulitary officially recognised them as a police force). Based on pictures alone, I was pinning for Harada Sanosuke, but Saito Hajime-san was magnet to my eyes. He needed to do nothing to become my bias.
While surfing the net for other fan's sentiments, I was piqued by his description as moe (萌).
{If you live in Singapore and google 'moe,' my advice is don't even try.}
This was a slang derived from the verb moeru (萌える, to bud), and used to describe "an affective response to fictional characters" (Galbraith 2009). This is probably a causality of pop culture scholars trying to make sense of us otaku's irrational attachment to non-living characters. N this is where it confuses me.
moe in this sense is clearly a noun, isn't it?
Well, turns out I have much to learn as a full-time otaku...
According to Dr. Masami Toku, an expert in Shoujo manga (hooray to pop culture academics!), moe can also behave as an adjective "to refer to a type of anime / manga character...who is adorable and lovable." While it has traditionally been used to imply pure feelings, it has also been defined elsewhere as "a fetishistic obsession with a particular topic or hobby...related to moeru [燃える], to burn with enthusiastic fervour" (Cavallaro 2009, 16). This is a complete opposite of our earlier definition. And in the context of anime, it lends a tone of unhealthy preoccupation with our favourite characters. Oh dear.
On retrospect, my behaviour and writings probably exhibited more of the latter. I guess scholars really can't make such statements without empirical evidence in published books lol.
Whatever. Otakus, don't be afraid to verbally express your passion!
(However, I still advice doing so during conventions and among likeminded people... Think about someone gushing about his/her one-sided crush on Beyonce for perspective.)
Back to Hajime...
After sorting out the definitions, it appears fans think moe describes our broody samurai. Here comes another question - What makes a character moe?
Well Toku mentioned something about inspiring "fans to feel protective...somewhat forbidden lustful desires..." We're treading on some sensitive territories now. Labelling our love as lust...
Though it certainly feels forbidden, as you can't exactly explain to someone that you broke up with your ex because your feelings towards him doesn't match up to that pony-tail anime guy...
Veering away from the academic field, let's hear what the anime community has to say about our word of the day.
According to Japanator, an exhaustive news site on all thing J-Pop, there are certain criteria to fulfil before we can call a character moe.
For instance:
#1 Moe characters are cute
[This section contains SPOILERS. Skip if you have not played the game]
For those who have seen the way he blushed at the most mundane reason (like wrongly buttoning his jacket - his famous quote, 「あーあとで直す。」gets to me every time) to the more hot and heavy instance (okay a bit misleading, but he did nibbled Chizuru's ears a tad too long, and any longer it would have turned into an R-18 game.) So checked.
#2 Moe characters are young
He's 19 when the series started, and even though that's not really young, he's one of the youngest next to Heisuke, so he passed this law.
#3 Moe characters are innocent
Refer to #1, but omit the second example.
#4 Moe characters are quirky [weird in a cool way, if that's even possible]
While he doesn't go out of his way to do anything weird worthy, I guess just knowing he's hopeless with a knife in the kitchen (while bearing in mind he's acknowledged as the Best Swordsmen among the Shinsengumi), and how Souji and Chizuku have to intervene and supervise his kitchen duty, makes him quirky ;)
There you have it. Also, the website calls this "The Four Laws of Moe," but I wouldn't go that far, since this law doesn't seen to be globally recognised (or known) lol.
Moving on to him as a figurine:
Series: Hakuouki: Shinsengumi Kitan
Manufacturer: Kotobukiya X Movic
Product Line: Gassen Ver.
Scale: 1/10
Material: PVC
Sculptor: Asada Saki
Release Date: July 2011
Alright, enough vocab and introductions for the day. Let's move on to the photography process!
*****
This set is based off this striking art, which I feel captures the essence of the pre-modern Japan (specifically the Tokugawa Era from 1603-1867) - wilderness and traditions.
There's also the spirit of samurai to consider, marked by a constant hover between daunting opponents and uncertainty of tomorrow. The bamboos that symbolically represent tranquility and homogeneity feels like a mocking contrast to Hajime's tumultuous life on the frontline and his ostracisation as a left-handed swordsman.
I need to give credit to my BFF Ray for igniting the impulse that made this post possible. We even went shopping for part of the materials together heh.
This textured paper is one of the leftovers from my Landscape Architect days. Very useful for creating realistic leaves. Cutting these tiny dudes took me half a day.
Next is the stem.
1a. First grab a handful bamboo sticks from Daiso and cover it with yellow paint marker (due to time constraint I only managed to do 12 TT). For texture, leave some parts uncoloured.
1b. Use a brown fine-liner and define the internodes (the space between the lines). Initially I did this randomly but did not like how it turned out. I recommending spacing them by 20 mm for realism.
2. Chop out your handy floral sticks into 50 and 70 mm for variations - this represents the bud where leaves will sprout from
Here commerces the tedious part - getting the bamboo come alive - gluing the floral sticks and leaves together. As from the photo, the yellow marker ideas was included at a later stage. I couldn't get over how lacklustre the raw bamboo stick looks. This took me a good whole day.
Thanks to my Landscape days, I based off the yellow bamboo from this native China species called Bambusa vulgaris (common bamboo).
Not so ready-made bamboos - ready!
Quickly slapped on some brown paint on a spare A2 styrofoam board to pass off as the ground
Here's the other bamboo product - sushi rolls as the fences to up the 'Japanese' feel, attached on using 3M removable square mounts. These are really reliable for sticking art works on wall as I did for my Itachi Wall.
For the curious, this is the original artwork for one of the Hakuouki RPG games (that I unfortunately did not get to play). This is only the only universe where his hair is down, ever. <3
Still prefer his hair in a ponytail though.
Overall, the sculptor maintains high fidelity to the artwork. My problems for this (besides it being a 1/10) are the chunky tresses, sloppy paintwork on finer details, and the unnecessary giant ass base. One modification I appreciate is his slight melancholic eyes as compared to the original's "I'm ready to go Hijikata-san," feel.
Did I convince you with the bamboos?
I really struggled with finding the suitable colour balance with him. I wanted to go for the similar washed out effect as their CGs, but mine ended up being flat and unexciting instead of rustic. Reverted back to the saturated look. The lighting here is probably the best of all shots (I went out too late, like close to noon...)
Heading for his daily rounds, and caught me spying on him <3
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Did I mention I've upgraded my gear? This is the first that wasn't shot on an iPhone, but as it was my first time messing with the new gear, a lot of potential shots were off focus and unusable, to my crushing disappointment. Hopefully it'll go better in the next shoot.
The above Grey Sepia is a filter from the Arts (filter) collection.
I wonder what this gear is, hmm.
Well, till next time, and thanks for sticking around - you're the best.
xoxo
References:
Cavallaro, Dani. 2009. The Art Of Studio Gainax. 1st ed. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co.
Galbraith, Patrick W. 2009. "Moe: Exploring Virtual Potential in Post-Millennial Japan." Electronic Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies. <http://www.japanesestudies.org.uk/articles/2009/Galbraith.html>.
Toku, Masami. 2015. International Perspectives On Shojo And Shojo Manga. 1st ed. Florence: Taylor and Francis.
Snyder, Jon. 2010. "The Four Laws Of Moe - Japanator". Japanator. http://www.japanator.com/the-four-laws-of-moe-14072.phtml.
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