:::Random Videos:::

Hey everyone! Usually this is RPGHero's department but I felt compelled to make this! >:)

I hope everyone's had a wonderful Fourth of July! Remember--July 7th is Tanabata so don't forget to learn the song and sing it when the time comes! ^^

Alright, so let's move onto the post! :D

First we have two very interesting AMVs that I really liked:

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AMV - Around The World



AMV - Do You Know Your Anime?



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Next we have this Otaku Breakdancing video!  The whole story is pretty funny--see for yourself!



Next we have Tarako Tarako Tarako by Kigurumi! This song was released in June 2006 for "Q.P. Corporation's (Kabushikigaishu) spaghetti sauce" (source). This song has set a record for making it to the Top 100 Singles on the Oricon charts with such young performers! (source).



And now to break the record of the youngest performers on the Oricon charts come Kaoru and Tomoki. Together, in a viral song called "Maru Maru Mori Mori" which is the ending song to the very popular Japanese Drama (and by "very" I mean VERY--20% of the Japanese population is said to know it!!!) "Marumo no Okite", they have pushed up to #6 on the Oricon Charts!!!

Look at this quote from Wikipedia: 

"This singles album debuted on the Oricon charts at the 3rd position with sales of around 35 thousand albums a week. This makes the group Kaoru to Tomoki, Tamani Mook ( 薫と友樹、たまにムック Kaoru to Tomoki, tama ni mukku?) the youngest group ever to debut in the TOP10 charts at the average of 6 years old, beating the previous record set by the group Kigurumi ( キグルミ?) for their singles Tarako・Tarako・Tarako ( たらこ・たらこ・たらこ?) in September 2006."

And now for the song and dance! :)



There was an interesting news program on this as well:



And here's a fanmade version incase you feel like learning the dance =P.
And I thought this video was funny ^^.

And last but not least is the hilarious Mameshiba series!  It reminds me of Fireball (MAL) and they are totally worth watching!  There's 20 of them, so watch them all! >:).

"What exactly is Mameshiba?
They're not quite a bean, nor a dog
but rather a hybrid of both.
They love to appear out of nowhere
and offer random bits of trivia
whether you asked for it or not..."

Here is the first video (I will provide links to the rest of the series later--or you can just click the next episode from the related videos).



Entire Series:
(1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20)

Well, I hope you've enjoyed my Random Videos post!

That's all for today!

Thanks for reading! ^^
:::Deretsun:::

Tanabata! :::July 7th:::

Every year, on July 7th there's a Japanese Star Festival that they celebrate called "Tanabata" which literally means "Evening of the seventh."

In this tradition, many people write their wishes on small strips of paper called "tanzaku papers" and hang them on bamboo branches. Some people decorate the bamboo and place them outside their houses.

Popular decorations are the streamers which you can see here:

There's a traditional story that goes with this festival. I'll shorten it the best I can:

There was a weaver princess named Orihime and a cow herder prince named Hikoboshi. They were always playing together and forgot their jobs so the King got angry and separated them by the Amanogawa River (Milky Way). The king allowed them only to meet on the seventh day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar. So now Orihime and Hikoboshi are believed to have become stars. And since they can only see each other on July 7th and on a non-rainy day, everyone prays for good weather and also makes wishes for themselves.

A traditional song they sing in Tanabata: (lyrics below)



Lyrics:

Verse 1:

Sasa no ha sara-sara
The bamboo leaves rustle, rustle

Nokiba ni yureru
Swaying back and forth

Ohoshi-sama kira-kira
The stars twinkle, twinkle

Kingin sunago
Gold and silver sand (decorations)

Verse 2:

Gochiki no tanzaku
On five colors of little paper

Watashiga kaita
I wrote

Ohoshi-sama kira-kira
The stars twinkle, twinkle

Sora kara miteru
From the sky they are watching us

*Note: These lyric translations are almost exactly accurate because they came straight from my Japanese step-mom! :) Also note that some translations are not perfectly literal or they wouldn't make much sense =P.

So if you get a chance, learn this song and sing it tomorrow on Tanabata! :)

That's all for today,
Ja~ne! :)

:::Deretsun:::