(✪㉨✪)/ Katakana and Hiragana (日本語 Lessons)

Okay, I have been self studying Japanese (Nihongo - 日本語)   for more or less 3 years now. I have not been able to continuously study though because of other things I have to worry about my life. But starting today I would again study right at the beginning to fully ingrain all the lessons to my head. During that time I was able to learn some basic sentences structures (how to make japanese sentences, they really are different from English and other languages, It's like studying math formulas). I was able to fully memorized Katakana, Hiragana and about 500 Kanji's. I want to create this blog to share my progress (and to motivate me) and also to provide some little help to those people who wanted to learn 日本語 too.

I first studied how to make sentence structures and stuff but really it was of no use if you don't know the words so it was my mistake. The very first things that you people would want to learn is their "ALPHABET" called KATAKANA and HIRAGANA. Hiragana and Katakana are virtually the same. Katakana is used for foreign or borrowed words. (e.g. ハンタ ｘ ハンタ - Hunter x Hunter,  Hunter is a foreign word). This is the primary building blocks of learning Nihongo and it would take you about a week or two to learn both Katakana and Hiragana. Easy right?

Here is a chart i got from www.fanpop.com:

Besides that chart u can also add modifiers:

1.Double Apostrophe:

For the
　　             Ka, Ke, Ki, Ko, Ku 
Hiragana  （か、け、き、こ、く）
Katakana （カ、ケ、キ、コ、ク）

adding double apostrophe will convert them to:
         
　　　           Ga, Ge, Gi, Go, Gu
Hiragana     （が、げ、ぎ、ご、ぐ）
Katakana　（ガ、ゲ、ギ、ゴ、グ）

The double apostrophe applies to these:

Ka, Ke, Ki, Ko, Ku    becomes    Ga, Ge, Gi, Go, Gu
Sa, Se, Shi, So, Su      becomes    Za, Ze, Ji, Zo, Zu
Ta, Te, Chi, To, Tsu   becomes   Da, De, Ji, Do, Zu
Ha, He, Hi, Ho, Fu     becomes    Ba, Be, Bi, Bo, Bu

2.Small Circle:

Besides the double apostrophe we have a the small circle which only applies to:

　　   Ha, He, Hi, Ho, Fu 
　　（は、へ、ひ、ほ、ふ）
        （ハ、ヘ、ヒ、ホ、フ）

adding a small circle will convert them to:

　　　Pa, Pe, Pi, Po, Pu
        （ぱ、ぺ、ぴ、ぽ、ぷ）
　　（パ、ペ、ピ、ポ、プ）

3. Combining "I" vowels  with  "small" ヤ（や）Ya, ヨ（よ）Yo and ユ（ゆ）Yu:

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　(add a small Ya, Yo or Yu) 
Ki    キ（き）　   =    Kya  キャ （きゃ）、Kyo キョ（きょ）、Kyu キュ（きゅ）
Shi   シ（し）　   =    Sha  シャ（しゃ）、Sho ショ（しょ）、Shu シュ（しゅ）
Chi   チ（ち）　  =    Cha チャ　（ちゃ）、Cho チョ（ちょ）、Chu チュ（ちゅ）

You can add small Ya,Yo,Yu to all I vowel characters:

Ki　= kya, kyo, kyu
Shi　= sha, sho, shu
Chi　= cha, cho, chu
Ni　= nya, nyo, nyu
Hi　= hya, hyo, hyu
Mi   = mya, myo, myu
Ri    = rya, ryo, ryu
Gi    = gya, gyo, gyu
Ji　 = ja, jo, ju
Ji　 = ja, jo, ju
Bi     = bya, byo, byu
Pi     = pya, pyo, pyu

4. the small　 ツ（つ）tsu

If 　ばき　 =  Baki 　（reads as Ba.Ki）

then adding a small tsu between the characters makes it (always inserted between two characters)
   
     ばっき　= Bakki   (reads as Bak.Ki)

another example

もと　　=  Moto  (Mo.To)
もっと     = Motto  (Mot.To)

5. Prolonged Sound or Long Vowel by adding A, I and U.

For ア（あ）vowel sounds　    add          ア（あ）
For  エ（え）and イ（い）      add           イ（い）
For オ（お）and  ウ（う）      add            ウ（う）


Examples:
ぱた　=　Pa.ta.
ぱたあ　=  Pa.Taa~  (you don't read it as Pa.Ta.A.)
ぱあた    =  Paa~.Ta  (you don't read it as Pa. A. Ta.)

So these are the basics of Hiragana and Katakana. Just study for a week or two. A good tip i have learned is that never study translate in your head. Make the character pure in your head. For example if you saw まこと and you translate each character (Ma... Ko... To...) then it'll take too much time and it is a bad habit. Make this characters as pure as they can be in your head, don't think about any English letters or stuff, just this characters when studying Japanese. Never translate.

Another tip. Use flash card programs or just plain real cards to learn these characters. and WRITE them. again and again and again, it'll help in memorizing and It'll be better if you can read and write.

I hope you guys learned something from a Bad teacher like me lol. I'm primarily doing this for my own benefit though so i get inspired learning again but i do hope it helps other people. Next time i'll be posting about Kanji's, Cya  (^_^)/

(✪㉨✪)/ 30 Sai no Hoken Taiiku (FA - Fan Art)

Done from Mangastudio and Photoshop using Mouse only (i'm a poor guy T_T)

Planning to do one art for each of my anime collection (about 300 plus right now)
Will serve as my training 

(✪㉨✪)/ ACCEL WORLD (FA - Fan Art)

My first FA (Fan Art) Post - Daidaiiro

Done from Mangastudio and Photoshop using Mouse only (i'm a poor guy T_T)

(✪㉨✪)/ Baki The Grappler (AR)

Baki The Grappler

Episodes: 24 

Aired Date: Jan 9, 2001 to Jun 26, 2001

The first season of Baki the Grappler focuses on the childhood life of our main hero, Baki Hanma, who is an energetic and a hard headed 13-year-old boy who loves to fight. Day and night he actively searches for any strong opponents from professional boxers, war veterans, monsters to gang leaders etc.

(✪㉨✪)/ Asura (AR)

Asura

Episodes: 1 (Movie)

Aired Date: Mar. 31, 2013

Asura is a dark and twisted anime movie based on a controversial 1970 Japanese film of the same title. At first glance, it would look like a movie full of mindless violence catering for people who enjoy watching those horrific stuff. It would put off some people because of the gore and violence (these scenes would appear immediately right off the start of the movie). I managed though because these kinds of movie are right up my alley and I consider the scenes in this movie as somewhat "mild violence". Anyway, behind the killings and the blood fountains portrayed in this movie lies a message that was strongly delivered.

(✪㉨✪)/ Minori Scramble! (AR)

Minori Scramble!

Episodes: 1

Aired Date: Feb. 15, 2012

Minori Scramble is something I downloaded and kinda ignored for more than 2 years (sitting on my downloads folder with tons of other neglected anime). I was expecting a nonsense (plotwise) and not-entertaining-enough anime. Well, I was correct for the nonsense plot, but it was quite entertaining and will give you some good laughs.

(✪㉨✪)/ Aquarion Evol (AR)

Aquarion Evol

Episodes: 26
Aired Date: Jan 9, 2012 to Jun 25, 2012

Aquarion Evol is not just a plain mecha anime. Aquarion Evol is a mecha and an over-the-top cheesy romance anime. This series is a sequel of "Genesis of Aquarion" but you need not watch the first series to understand the plot since both were set on different eras.(about 12,000 years apart). When i first started watching it i expected a serious mecha (I haven't watched the original series) i had no idea it would be an exaggerated love story.

(✪㉨✪)/ Arve Rezzle: Kikaijkake no Yousei-tachi (AR)

Arve Rezzle: Kikaijikake no Yousei-tachi
Arve Rezzle: Mechanized Fairies

Episodes:1

Aired: Mar 2, 2013

Arve Rezzle is as short anime OVA that is part of the 2013 Young Animator Project. Young Animator Project is an annual project, which started from 2010, that aims to develop young Japanese animators so as to avoid outsourcing from other countries. Arve Rezzle is set in 2022, in a futuristic and dystopian city of Okinotorishima Mega-Float City (OMFC for short) Our protagonist is a young male named Remu. Remu has a little sister named Shiki who lives and studies in an academy in OMFC.

(✪㉨✪)/ Area no Kishi (AR)

Area no Kishi

(The Knight in the Area)

Episodes: 37

Aired: Jan 7 2012 to Sep 29 2012

Area no Kishi is a sports anime about soccer. It is an average show, sometimes episodes are entertaining and sometimes they are boring too. Nothing really outstanding but it also has nothing to make it a bad show. Area no Kishi is about our young siblings Kakeru Aizawa and Suguru Aizawa.

(✪㉨✪)/ .hack//Sekai no Mokou ni (AR)

.hack⁄⁄Sekai no Mokou ni
.hack⁄⁄Beyond The World

Episodes: 1 (Movie)

Aired: Jan 21, 2012

.hack// is a famous franchise of animes and games centered in an online game. I myself have never watched or played any of those before I watched this movie. .hack//Beyond The World is set on 2024 and our protagonist is a young girl named Yuuki Sora. Now, there is an online game called "The World" and almost everyone plays this game. Yuuki Sora however doesn't want to play an online game, even though all her classmates, including her two bestfriends Kakeru Tanaka and Tomohiko Okano, continuously urge her to play this game. Even her grandpa (and his secret girlfriend lol) secretly plays this game. Now The World is a virtual reality online game that they play through an app downloaded to phones and with the help of a "face mount display" (sunglasses) that users wear they are able to experience the virtual reality. When curiosity won and Sora finally tried playing the game, she was amazed by the surreal fantasy world and all the beautiful avatars(or Mascot, Player Characters) inhibiting it. However, immediately upon entering the world, she had an encounter on viruses that hid behind the beautiful facade of this world. These viruses are soon to be a threat not only to the virtual world but also to the real world.

(✪㉨✪)/ Appleseed Ex Machina (AR)

Appleseed Ex Machina

Episodes: 1 (Movie)

Aired: Oct 24, 2007

☢WARNING☢  Spoilers!! (Continue to my Review) Appleseed's second movie, Ex Machina, Is a direct continuation from the first movie. The duo of Deunan and Briareos are back and are still active members of E-S.W.A.T. After a mission which left Briareos injured, Deunan was assigned a new partner, a Bioroid name Tereus, who is the splitting image of Briareos when he was still a human.(Tereus was a bioroid designed from Briareos' DNA). After recovering from injury Briareos himself was assigned a new partner, half human half cyborg Aeacus.

(✪㉨✪)/ Appleseed (AR)

Appleseed

Episodes: 1 (Movie)

Aired: Apr 17, 2004

Appleseed is a sci-fi anime based on a manga of the same name which was written by the "Ghost in the Shell" author Shirow Masamune. A global war has just ended and the world is left as a big wasteland. Deunan Knute, our main heroine, is a very skilled soldier who participated in the global war. Having no knowledge that the war was already over, she was still fighting (with fellow fighters) against androids trying to survive on ruins of what was once cities.

(✪㉨✪)/ Ao no Exorcist (AR)

Yukio, Rin and True Cross Academy's Shady Chairman Mephisto Pheles

Ao no Exorcist
"Blue Exorcist"

Episodes: 25 Episodes
Aired: Apr 17, 2011, Oct 2, 2011

Ao no Exorcist is a typical shounen anime that had great potential to be a top tier shounen, but ultimately falls to a little under average.. It started off great, and had high potential, but the plot never really went anywhere and things just didn't make sense plot wise. While the first half was okay the second half with it's fast pacing kinda ruined the series. It's like they just threw stuff after stuff there that wasn't really important and the story had no direction. It only has 25 episodes (pretty short for a shounen) but it managed to give its viewers, pointless filler episodes which leaves little time for the important details.

(✪㉨✪)/ Another (AR)

Misaki Mei and Kouchi Sakakibara

Another

Episodes: 12 

Aired: Jan 10, 2012 - Mar 27, 2012

Another is not your typical horror anime. It doesn't involve scary monsters or your typical ghosts (Ghosts here don't really float and scare you). It's about a "curse" where the class 3 of Yomiyama North Junior High had to endure ever since a horrible incident involving the death of one of its student (Misaki). Legend has it that the classmates of Misaki (even after her death) treated her as if she was still alive and existing in the class. The only problem is that the already dead Misaki inexplicably showed up in their graduation photo (Yikes!). This is kinda where the mysterious curse began. This curse is a mystery to everyone, all they know is that every school year, student lives are taken through horrible freak accidents (one for each month).

(✪㉨✪)/ Ano Hi Mita Hana (AR)

Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wa Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai

"We Still Don't Know the Flower We Saw That Day"

Episodes:11

Aired:Apr 15, 2011- Jun 24, 2011

Ano Hi Mita Hana is about a group of childhood friends who is being haunted by their cute childhood friend who is now a cute ghost. The show focuses on the now teenagers as they try reunite the old childhood group and try to come to terms with each other and their own pasts. Along the way they will realize their regrets and past mistakes as they try to fix these mistakes and move on with their lives. Eventually they all have to deal with the acceptance of someone who will never come back to life. Meiko Honma (menma) is our cute ghost who unfortunately died on an accident when she was still a child, She comes back to the physical world probably because of things she has yet to settle before she can finally rest. Our main protagonist, and the only one who can see our Menam is Jinta Yadomi. Now Jinta's issue is that he probably loved Honma back when they were still young/ He was a typical rowdy kid who always makes the crybaby Menma cry.  
Unfortunately Honma died before Jinta could ever apologize nor express his true emotions. Now after a lot of years Honma appears before the now hikikomori Jinta as a ghost, how will Jinta handle this situation?

(✪㉨✪)/ Akira (AR)

Akira

Episodes: 1 (Movie)

Aired: July 16, 1988

My Summary: WARNING!! SPOILERS!! (Skip to Review) Akira is set on 2019, tokyo which is now "Neo-Tokyo", a futuristic-dystopian-post-WW3 version of Tokyo. The image of Neo-Tokyo is that it's chaotic, there is tension between the army and the anti-government factions, bike gangsters are everywhere and violence are a common occurrence.  Our story begins in the middle of a night with our main characters(A group of teenage bike gangsters) having a fight with another gang. Not far away, a man with a pistol and an "old-looking child, Takashi" are making their way through the shadows of the city trying to avoid their pursuers. The man was eventually spotted and was shot by the soldiers. The boy, (who was able to hide in the shadows with the help of the man who is now dead) from great shock ,seeing a man in front of him get rained down by bullets, suddenly unleashed supernatural powers resulting in the breakage of glasses and structures.

(✪㉨✪)/ Acchi Kocchi (AR)

and with a tap to the head...

Acchi Kocchi 

"Over There, Over Here"

Episodes:12

Aired: Apr 6, 2012 - Jun 29, 2012

Acchi Kocchi is a very simple slice of life anime. Don't expect a lot plot because it's almost non existent in this show. It's a show about a group of 5 friends just interacting with each other and living their student lives/ The show however do focus more on the relationship between our two lovers Tsumiki Miniwa and Otonashi Io.  Tsumiki the main heroine is a kitten-like-sometimes-tsundere-cute-girl who is shy about showing her true feelings to Io (the silent type, perfect and cool guy who always looks after Tsumiki). Their feelings for each other are kinda obvious early on (Tsumiki's shyness and Io being dense are what holds them back from being real lovers) and it just kinds of develop throughout the series

(✪㉨✪)/ 30-sai no Hoken Taiiku (AR)

30-sai no Hoken Taiiku 
"Health Education for 30 year olds"
Episodes: 12

Aired: Apr 7, 2007 - Jun 23, 2011

This is one crazy and outrageous anime. From the title alone I expected something a bit normal like a comedy or education anime within the bounds of reality. But this show defies logic and sense with all its craziness and weird antics.

(✪㉨✪)/ ACCEL WORLD (AR)

(✪㉨✪)/ - Daidaiiro Desu! This is my first post of my Anime Review(AR). ^_^ 

Accel World
Episodes: 24
Aired: Apr 7, 2012 - Sep 22, 2012

Plot: Set in 2046, Young Haruyuki Arita "Haru" who is a short chubby junior high student is the primary target for bullies. With his miserable life (in the real world), he blows off steam playing games on the virtual reality and is ridiculously good at it. People have access to this virtual world (kinda like the internet) with the help of a device called Neuro-Linker , everyone has it installed in their necks. Despite being a loner and bully magnet, Arita still has his childhood friends supporting and trying to cheer him up, Chiyuri Kurashima "Chiyu", (She is an annoying character who can't decided between his boyfriend and our MC Arita) and Takumu Mayuzumi "Taku" (Chiyu's boyfriend)