Shortcuts
Whilst on the channel today, a fellow channeler posted a danbooru link of a Shortcuts (manga) page. Reminiscence of that familiar manga, of which I thoroughly enjoyed.
^ This picture is not related to this post. Just here as eyecandy :)
Shortcuts 「ショートカッツ」 is a comedy manga by Usamaru Furuya, who explores the Japanese fascination with kogals (high school girls) in this collection of bizarre shorts. Released in two volumes and originally published in Young Sunday magazine, each volume contains approximately one hunderd ‘cuts’ spanned over one or two pages. Besides it’s primary theme of Japanese kogal and youth culture, it is tackled with the heavy usage of visual jokes, black humor and sex comedy.
What are Kogals then?
Kogal (コギャル kogyaru in romaji (romanised Japanese) is a subculture of girls and young women in urban Japan, one of several types of so-called gals. They are characterized by conspicuously displaying their disposable income through distinctive tastes in fashion, music, and social activity. In general, the kogal “look” roughly approximates a United Kingdom Chav or sun-tanned California Valley girl, and indeed, the similarities between the two extend to the linguistic, for both subcultures have derived entire sets of slang terms (コギャル語 “ko-gyaru-go”). Kogals are not to be confused with the ganguro subculture, although they are similar.
Source: Wikipedia <Link>
Do note the last sentence. Kogals != Ganguro
A rip of one of the ‘shorts’ :)
There were scans on the internets a few months back, but it seemed to have disappeared.
HTTP Download
Shortcuts (56.0MB, WinRAR)
Be it just for laughes, or something else, I would really recommand this manga as part of your reading list :D
Other posts that might interest you
Makoto Shinkai
I have probably found my motivation.
Yes, he’s no other than Makoto Shinkai (新海誠, Shinkai Makoto)
Makoto Shinkai (新海誠 Shinkai Makoto?) (born February 9, 1973) is an Japanese anime director, animator, and principal voice actor. A native of the Nagano prefecture in Japan, he traces his passion for creation to the manga, anime, and novels he read while growing up in middle school. His favorite anime is Castle in the Sky by Hayao Miyazaki. Shinkai has been called the new Miyazaki in several reviews including Anime Advocates and ActiveAnime, though he disagrees with this comparison, stating that “it is an overestimation”. (Shinkai, activeanime.com)
Future Works
「秒速5センチメートル」 Speed of 5 centimeters per second <Link>
Previous Works
「雲のむこう、約束の場所」 The Place Promised in Our Early Days <Link>
「ほしのこえ」 Voices of a Distant Star <Link>
「彼女と彼女の猫」 She and Her Cat <Link>
Others
「雲のむこう、約束の場所」 The Place Promised in Our Early Days: Main Theme Score <Link>
Interview with Makoto Shinkai <Link>
Makoto Shinkai Fan Web (MSFW) <Link>
Cosafe – Maid Cafe
The long awaited maid cafe has finally opened it doors! Situated in CHIJMES, I headed down together with bj0rn to check how it is coming along. Apparently, it is the soft-opening (meaning for family and friends to visit) and so it wasn’t really officially opened. Press release would be this Friday or Sunday (Can’t remember which day!). There wasn’t anyone in the meido uniform yet, and most of the stuff are still being shiffted around.
Location wise, I do think CHIJMES would do good. Why? It’s located just opposite Raffles City, although the rent is rather on the expensive side. Mini-akihabara (a.k.a Sunshine Plaza) is also located about 10 minutes walk from the cafe.
There wasn’t much to see on the first day, given it’s soft opening. We managed to have a word with the managing director, Mr Floyd. He at a worried look on his face at first, when he saw that I was carrying a DSLR camera. He approached us and asked
“Are you guys from any clubs? Like SGCafe or Tsubasa Shirou (Think the name is spelt as that) or something like that?”
“Oh no. We’re just ordinary folks that heard of the opening of the cafe”
“Ah ok, well, today’s actually the soft opening”
(Conversation went somewhat like this)
It was originally to be opened in Far East, but it seems that they managed to grab a nice location in CHIJMES.
I’ll be heading back there again probably either this friday or sunday (can’t remember which day!) , where it’s the press release and everyone comes snapping pictures of their maids like no tomorrow :)
Cosafe Maid Cafe
Location: 30 Victoria Street
#01-11 CHIJMES
Singapore 187996
Website: www.cosafe.com.sg
Pictures of two cosplayers that were there as well.
Alright~ I’ll check it out. I could leech the whole thing from you too! ^^
huhu, thanks windbell.