Friday, March 14, 2003

CURRENT SONG:
"Fast Car" By Tracy Chapman from VH1 Classics on the TV...

Ohayo, minnasan! I apologize that I haven't posted for a long time, but things have been very hectic for me this past week. I'm still on the job hunt, and fortunately, I do have two options that look very promising! ::smiles:: So, that's something to keep my spirits up, ne? I also have been trying to get myself a bit more settled back into my house and I've been searching the second hand shops for costume pieces. ::chuckles:: Finally found the accursed gray V-neck sweater at the last place I looked and found a yellow tie at the salvation army yesterday! YOSHA! So, fortunately, my Harry Potter costume is getting toward finished and I found a pattern for meh Sissy's Misato jacket a couple days ago, so things are good!

I thought I would do something a little different in this Blog posting today. I've been quite obsessed with the video game Guilty Gears X for quite some time. I'm planning to cosplay as the character Anji Mito from the game and thought I'd post my musings on Anji from my own opinions, general information and Japanese fan views! For a great Anji Mito American shrine site, please visit Butterfly Wings: Anji Mito so you can know a bit about who I'm talking about!

First, the "official" information on this character!

Anji Mito is an intriguingly designed character. He stands at six foot high and weighs about 150 pounds. He hails from Pre-Destruction Japan and is obsessed with finding the one who destroyed his home land. His garb is a mixture of traditional Japanese clothing and modern lines. He wears a small set of spectacles on his nose and fights with two very large fans. His hair is a short styled, medium brunette and his most unusual feature is he has pure black eyes. Anji has a very muscular build and his outfit is most noted for the "arm shawl" he bears, a beautiful piece of material that connects from one arm to the other. His most known version of his outfit is deep blue with white accents.

Anji as a person loves to travel and enjoys active sports. He despises lying and untrustworthy people. Oddly enough, Anji has little sense of justice and doesn't feel a need to get overly involved with problems that have nothing to do with him. He is known to have somewhat a short temper, but usually it only comes out when highly provoked. He is a quiet man but tends to be more irrational than one would think. Anji is controlled highly by his emotions, which is both his greatest asset and his greatest weakness.

Anji's fighting style is unique, a cross between martial arts, dancing and the ancient art of fan dancing. He is a good "hand to hand" fighter and definately has one of the most unique finishing moves, a flurry of butterfly spirits that he can call upon to destroy his opponent. A very beautiful display indeed!

Now, the "fan's" view of things!

Anji Mito is a favorite among Japanese fans as I've been noticing and he's picking up speed here in the States! Which of course, makes me very happy!

First, we'll look at Anji in the "normal" coupling and "normal" game setting. Anji is often paired with his female counterpart of Pre-Destruction Japan, Baiken. This lady is one hell of a fighter and I wouldn't want to meet her in a dark alley! Amusingly enough, Anji is often shown being rather submissive to the buxom Baiken, who I am pretty sure could kick Anji as well as any other guy in the video game's rear. Their relationship is often shown as quite loving and lacks alot of that "hentai" aspects, which I admire. Then again, I am not sure I'd want to be anything BUT a gentleman in the presence of Baiken! ::laughs:: Anji also treats May like a little sister, entertaining her with his butterfly spirits, and carries a good report with both Axl and oddly enough, Sol. Mind you, this is the fan's interpretation of things!

Now, for the YAOI aspect of it, which of course, if my favorite! Anji is quite an interesting character in the YAOI schemes of things. He is rarely shown as a seme, despite being one of the tallest characters in the game. Few sites that feature him as seme are ones that are AnjiXChip Zanuff and on an even lesser scale, AnjiXAxl Lowe. Anji often portrays the uke aspect because he really is considered the "bishonen" of the video game, some times even surpassing Ky Kiske on this level. That has to do with Anji's "dance like" fighting style and his weapon of choice, fans being a dominantly feminine weapon.

The most popular Anji pairings are Axl LoweXAnji and Sol BadguyXAnji. On a lesser scale, one can also find Dark KyXAnji. (Dark Ky is an "invention" of Japanese fans in reference to Ky's second player mode.) I myself prefer the AxlXAnji pairing because they not only look good together, but they are polar opposites! Unlike the rather darker SolXKy pairing, you tend to get the impression both are okay with being opposite and tend to tease each other. They are also shown as being a rather romantic couple, often starting out rocky with each other, but ending up quite happily. They're pairing is also unique for thethe fact that AxlXAnji are often portrayed as a REVERSE couple, which means that some times a fan artist or writer will write or draw Anji as the seme. This is because there is only an inch height difference between them. Overall, their relationship is portrayed on a most interesting level. What can I say, I'm a sucker for angst with a sorta happy ending. On the next level is SolXAnji, which tends to be a more posessive relationship. There is no question who is in charge of the relationship and this is often shown in the Dom/Sub line of things. Sol seems to carry that kind of persona, ne? They can be shown cute and sweet, but it really is rare as far as I've seen it. The final lesser pairing is Dark KyXAnji, which is often disturbing, usually involving rape, submission or awful mind games. I admit, I like the "invention" of Dark Ky, 'cuz he provides quite a "monkey wrench" into any working Anji relationships! ::grinz::

Other amusing points about Anji is I have found many a Japanese fan site which Anji "suffers" the same fight that my beloved Cho Hakkai does. Anji is often drawn as a very busty girl. This always interests me, because Anji is a shirtless character. But most of them that I've seen have been done very tastefully and I hate to admit it, but Anji makes a pretty cute girl! ::laughs::

Overall, I think Anji Mito is a wonderful character with a fabulous design. Being a collector of butterflies and a lover of fan dancing, I couldn't help but fall in love with him! I look forward to doing what I guess will be a "girl" version of Anji, even if my chest is going to be bound for it! Hope you all enjoyed the review of the character, both from real information and fan based! Domo arigato for 4600+ (!!!!!) hits, sign my Guestbook onegai, and ja ne for now! =~.^=V (Proud Supporter of the 58 Pairing!)

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