Japanese comic heroes come to life at Cosplay

Japanese comic heroes come to life at Cosplay
PRINCESSES in flowing ballgowns, pilots of futuristic vessels and gigantic robots competed

on a level playing field at the national Cosplay championship at the weekend.

The grand final of the "costume play" event, held in an Albert Park hotel, brought together

Australia's most fervent supporters of Japanese comics and cartoons, better known as manga

and anime. Rather than just read or watch, people like Adelaide's Jenita Naipal spend

hundreds of hours making costumes of their favourite characters and then parading about in

them.

"I've had 3½ months to make it - that's a short time in the costuming world," the 24-year-

old said, struggling out of her robot suit from Laputa: Castle in the Sky.

"The arms are 190 centimetres, the head would be another 30 centimetres on top of that. I'm

five-foot-one-and-a-half [155 centimetres] so I'm walking with my hands above my head … I

was dying in there."

The fifth-placed Naipal won products from anime distributor Madman, which put on the event.

"I can definitely improve," she added.

Melbourne's Nicole Collis, 21, has just finished a digital arts course at RMIT, but her life

has been "full-time costume pandemonium" since then. The competition's runner-up is widely

known as Siera, her pen-name on internet forums, and she portrayed Rue from Princess Tutu, a

manga with a similar story to Swan Lake.

"I love the performance, being in character, it's a unique and creative way to express

yourself," she said, twirling in her pink and burgundy ball gown.

Her parents and friends were not particularly surprised by her hobby, she said. "They think

I'm a bit more than just crazy."

The competition's winner, Christie Lee of Sydney, was overjoyed with her prize: a trip to

Japan to attend next year's Tokyo Anime Fair.

"It hasn't really sunk in yet,'' she said.

In two outfits - a blue Victorian dress and a tight red number - the 21-year-old explained

how her favourite series was like a "twisted version" of Lewis Carroll's Alice in

Wonderland.

"I did a character named Alice from Pandora Hearts. Pretty much a girl who has a super power

and turns into a demon killer bunny," she explained, casually.


The surfing story

SURFING has taken seven-time world champion Layne Beachley around the world, but she never

thought she would end up in an exhibition.

A new collection celebrating the sport opened at the National Sports Museum at the MCG

yesterday, thrilling the wave-loving Beachley.

"I know, I was in a surfing museum before I was dead," she said, laughing.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I think that boards would be hanging up at the MCG."

Collections manager Jed Smith said The Long Ride: 100 Years of Australian Surfing traversed

the origins of the sport through to the professional circuit of today. The exhibition

stretches back to 1909 when Manly's Tommy Walker brought a board from Hawaii and started to

ride. (It was previously held that Hawaiian champion Duke Kahanamoku was the first to ride

local waves in the 1920s.)

Until interest spiked in the 1970s and '80s, surfing was amateur and recreational, he said.

"So to get hold of boards to see the evolution, it's quite extraordinary."

Beachley said her first boards were thick, wide and long. "We'd be encouraged to learn on

'moving sidewalks'," she said. "Now the craftsmanship is just amazing, and it's great to see

it be honoured and admired and appreciated."

The exhibition runs until the end of February.

Tears to Tiara

Tears to Tiara is a Japanese eroge tactical role-playing game developed by Leaf. It was first released for PC on April 28, 2005 in Japan. Then it was followed by 12 years old and up version released for the PlayStation 3 platform on July 17, 2008 in Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan in which the pornographic content was removed. The PlayStation 3 release, entitled Tears to Tiara: Kakan no Daichi (ティアーズ トゥ ティアラ 花冠の大地, Tiāzu tu Tiara: Kakan no Daichi?, Tears to Tiara: Earth's Wreath) contained several enhancements and additional scenarios. The gameplay has changed from the original 2D to 3D gameplay as well as a change of character designs, thus becoming a remake.

Africa - The time is now

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The Telecommunication industry in Africa has experienced explosive growth over the last decade and is unquestionably amongst the most exciting regions for Telco solution providers right now.

However, communication throughout the continent cannot be solved quickly and will not be driven by one company alone. In order for the Telecom market to rise, competition, and most importantlycollaboration between service providers and operators needs to be addressed and the creation of a stable environment for foreign investment is key.

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虜ノ姫

ゆとり調教

予てより、ファンからの強い要望が押し寄せられていたＤＡＲＣＲＯＷＳの続編が、満を持して遂に発売！　と、つい慌てて勘違いしてしまいそうなぐらい、かの名作ＤＡＲＣＲＯＷＳとの類似点が散見される虜ノ姫。王家の姫君たちを一流の奴隷に仕立て上げるという根本部分は一緒ですし、主人公の名前がまったく同じ“クロード”で、漂う雰囲気も瓜二つ。意図的なパスティーシュかどうかは知りませんが、世界観や設定は酷似しています。

主人公が自らの享楽として奴隷を調教しているのではなく、仕事として請け負っている身であるのも、また共通。ＤＡＲＣＲＯＷＳのクロードは女衒として、虜 ノ姫のクロードはプロの調律師として、クライアント好みの奴隷に育てなくてはなりません。つまり、奴隷の所有者は自分ではないので、せっかく手塩にかけて育てた奴隷でも、いずれは持ち主の元に返還しなくちゃならないってことを意味しているわけで…。

虜ノ姫

ゆとり調教

予てより、ファンからの強い要望が押し寄せられていたＤＡＲＣＲＯＷＳの続編が、満を持して遂に発売！　と、つい慌てて勘違いしてしまいそうなぐらい、かの名作ＤＡＲＣＲＯＷＳとの類似点が散見される虜ノ姫。王家の姫君たちを一流の奴隷に仕立て上げるという根本部分は一緒ですし、主人公の名前がまったく同じ“クロード”で、漂う雰囲気も瓜二つ。意図的なパスティーシュかどうかは知りませんが、世界観や設定は酷似しています。 主人公が自らの享楽として奴隷を調教しているのではなく、仕事として請け負っている身であるのも、また共通。ＤＡＲＣＲＯＷＳのクロードは女衒として、虜 ノ姫のクロードはプロの調律師として、クライアント好みの奴隷に育てなくてはなりません。つまり、奴隷の所有者は自分ではないので、せっかく手塩にかけて育てた奴隷でも、いずれは持ち主の元に返還しなくちゃならないってことを意味しているわけで…。

スワヒリ

概要 [編集]

スワヒリ語は東アフリカ沿岸地域の多くの民族の母語となっているバントゥー諸語の一つである。 数世紀にわたるアラブ系商人とバントゥー系諸民族の交易の中で、現地のバントゥー諸語にアラビア語の影響が加わって形成された言語であり、語彙の約35％はアラビア語に由来する。また、ペルシャ語、ドイツ語、ポルトガル語、インドの言語、英語からの借用語も見られる。現在、東アフリカでは主に第二言語として数千万人に使用されており、異なる母語を持つ民族同士の共通語としての役割を果たしている。

タンザニア、ケニアでは公用語、コンゴ民主共和国では国語に定められている。また、ウガンダは1992年にスワヒリ語を小学校の必修科目に指定し（実態は伴っていない）、2005年には東アフリカ連邦構想を念頭に公用語に指定した。スワヒリ語とその近縁の言語は、コモロのほぼ全域（コモロ語参照）、ブルンジ・ルワンダ・ザンビア北部・マラウィ・モザンビーク・ソマリア南部沿岸地域の一部でも話されている。スワヒリ語話者はかつて北はモガディシュまで広がっており、紅海南部の港市やアラビア半島南岸、ペルシャ湾岸でも通用した。しかし、20世紀半ばまでにソマリアにおけるスワヒリ語の範囲はキスマヨ、バラワおよび周辺の海岸沿いと沖合の小島のみへと狭まり、1990年にはスワヒリ語話者を含む多くのバントゥー系が内戦を避けてケニアへ流れた。現在ソマリアに残っているスワヒリ語話者の人口は定かでない。

ガスリーによるバントゥー諸語の分類法では、スワヒリ語はGゾーンに属する。

スワヒリという語は、アラビア語で「海岸に住む人」を意味する「sawāhalii سواحلي」に由来する（sawāhaliiは「sāhil ساحل」（海岸、境界）の複数形「sawāhil سواحل」の派生語）。

知られている最古のスワヒリ語文献の一つに1728年の『Utendi wa Tambuka』（Tambukaの物語）と題するアラビア文字による叙事詩がある。ローマ字が一般化したのはヨーロッパ諸国による植民地化以後のことである。

スワヒリ語は「メタヒリ (Methali)」、すなわち言葉遊び・洒落・韻文の形をとる諺・寓話の類が発達している（例：Haraka haraka haina baraka 英訳：Hurry hurry has no blessing）。メタヒリはスワヒリラップ（Swahili rap, Swah rap）の中にも見ることができ、音楽に文化・歴史・地域的な質感を与えている。