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Name: By Your Side
Designer: KraUjaGysLea

Pics source: TH-Litauen

University life so far, Touken Ranbu & KanColle

20 September 2015

Hello~
So time flew really fast and it is already towards the end of September! It is now my Recess week for uni which is like between weeks 6 and 7. Recess week exactly because we have this break to consolidate our learning and also to do our project. omg you know, this semester I am taking exposure modules for Sociology, Malay Studies, Communications and New Media, Quantitative Analysis and Samurai, Geisha and Yakuza as Self and Other. ALL of them except Soci have group projects!! Well, while I admit it is good exposure for us so that we can also meet new people in school and make friends this way, there is so much to do! >< But what else can I do but to obey.... hahaha...

Yes I took a course from Japanese Studies! Well it is somewhat a core module so it is not really a Japanese-studies thing but I learnt so much about Japan than I ever thought I will need to. I learnt about the hierarchy structure of Japan(Emperor, Shogun, Samurai, peasants, ronins and others) and the history of Japan from the end of the warring state, to start of the Tokugawa Era, Edo Era, right to the Meiji Era. It was because we were learning about the Samurais and the applicability of them during the Tokugawa era because it was this era that Japan is truly at peace and there was no more major wars. The samurais turned from being warriors to mere bureaucrats, and they wanted a change... I also learnt about how Japan is so closed off to the rest of the world until the Meiji Restoration when the Americans forced their way with their machinery to empower the Samurais to restore power to their emperor and open Japan's doors to the rest of the world. I also got to know about Bushido and the debate on how Bushido is an invented tradition rather than something actual in the past. However, the main thing that I learnt was the binary concept of The Self and Other, and also about Orientalism, that is, how the west viewed the east (mainly how the colonial powers viewed Japan). There's a reading we were given, "Orientalism" by... It is confusing, but it is a good read to know about Orientalism. We had just completed the section on samurai and now we are starting on Geisha. From the first lecture, it was quite interesting to know about the Geishas which was a more modern thing that happened after the era of the samurais somewhat ended. Through learning about the history of Japan and their samurais, I more or less got to relate things more easily than before especially when I am watch historical anime and manga!
There is a new hype in town!! Touken Ranbu! It is an online strategy game on DMM.com set in the fantasy world that there are Kebishi(the enemies) that are set to change history and make sure that the samurais of the past will not exist. So the player(you) have the ability to bring forth the swords of these samurais and god knows where in the form of all-male humans with personalities influenced by their history and/or users. All the swords in the game are based on real history of japan, mind you, and you can gather as many swords as you can through smithing or through enemy drops. Right now, there are 47 swords including the new sword that just released yesterday hahaha... Touken Ranbu is said to be like the game aimed at females whereas Kantai Collection is the game aimed at males. KanColle is similar to TouRan but it is more modern because the characters are battleship girls instead of sword boys.
TouRan is actually the reason why I took that module to be honest. I wanted to know about the samurais and their past and WHY they ended. What happened back then because when I read the touken danshi's background histories, some of them were really sad and depressing but it was clear that most (not really all haha) of them swords were being held at high value (afterall, the swords in Japan have more sociological meaning than just a weapon of destruction. It was the symbol of honour and social class, and much more). Yeap, through that module, I learnt so much and could relate to the swords better. I could also relate to more anime that I have watched before and make better connections.
Not only that, through this module, I made a close friend! She's Pamela and she's a cosplayer too! I've yet to meet her when she is in costume but the first event we met was Sports Fest yesterday hhaha...
While I was almost regretting picking a totally random module, I feel glad I didn't change it last minute because the module is really interesting and I am enjoying it so far. :)

Besides that, I am quite disappointed that the Malay studies is in English and there is barely a literature section... I thought of minoring in Malay studies but there is no literature!! :( Might as well take sociology where it is more society in general rather than just the Malays... >< I am quite enjoying the modules this sem, I hope it will be like this for the rest of my uni life hahahahahaha......

However, one thing that I HAVE to rant is the travel time... really though, I took NUS because it is prestigious and is easier to commute than NTU which is true... but why do universities have to be at the other side of the country :') My travel time from home to NUS is 2hours. >1hour MRT ride and the buses can be asses sometimes,... well, most of the time. Oh, do you want to hear a frustrating story? NUS INTERNAL SHUTTLE BUS. YES. There is only one way to get to UTown fast from Kent Ridge MRT, that is, the D1 bus. Which is ALWAYS full and I can hardly get on. Late, yep, late. T__T I didn't get my licence so I can't drive so... but I'd rather public transport but STILL. T_____T ~4 years yea, :')

I thought of sharing about STGCC which was last week and Sport Fest which was yesterday but I still have some project stuff to do and I'm sleepy hahaha next time then! ^~^

Thought I'd share some pictures of KanColle and my sword husbands, TouRan, Most of them are fanarts though. Enjoy~

Labels: HotCakes

12:29 AM •