I must say, that yesterday was the best day of my life. I really mean it. Ogawa-san and Komori-san (From our work place) took us to a game school in Akihabara. A real freaking Japanese game school, where people study every element of video games, starting from programming all the way to the graphical design, in other words: art.
We were given a quest pass card to carry around our neck, and off we went to explore the giant building with each floor filled with students representing their portfolio and studies they have done. As a digital artist, I was most interested about the graphic students, who in Japan are most focused on the Anime style, rather than western video game style like Batman and so on.
So many students were so talented in art, they were a true inspiration to me and my own art studies. When asked how many years they had studied art, many said they had studied around 3-5 years, much less than me, yet way more talented. They must have a good teacher, I bet. This is the kind of art I enjoy studying, and I was actually surprised to see and hear, that in Japanese schools such as this one, drawing adult art is considered a normal thing. Many students had taken interest in Hentai, which is Japanese drawn adult pornography. Even underaged-looking girls were okay to draw in erotic scenes, and the teachers took very professional attitude towards them. Something like this I could never see happening in Finland. For obvious reasons, I can not show any of these creations of course due to their sensitive nature.
This one particular student was extremely talented artist, I can see her being successful in her life after she graduates. She had studied art for only three years, and yet she is able to produce the kind of quality which you see in Hollywood. This truely showed me how one can reach great levels simply by having a great teacher who to learn from. I have never had anybody to teach me art, I had to figure out everything myself.
To get to see so many young talented aritsts was a true honor to be given, and I abused the crap out of this chance by talking to each student and asking about them everything I could think of that could benefit my own studies about art. No student could speak English, and many were nervous to a point where they literally held their books in front of their face while whispering in Japanese: "What am I going to do now!" Some tried to throw a word or two in English, but failed horribly, poor things - they didn't need to worry, becuase I managed to have a full conversation with them in Japanese, which gave each one a bright smile and a relief. Obviously I could not understand every word they said, but they managed to explain me everything about them and I managed to ask everything I wanted to ask them. Each student was unique, and none seemed to follow a same pattern or style. Their creations were inspiring from first page till the very last.
All I can say about the experience, is that it really opened my eyes and gave me the confidence to keep on drawing and studying art. For the past two years, I have been feeling down about my art and how long it has taken me to reach certain milestones, but thanks to this experience, I no longer care how many years it will take, I want to draw like a professional digital artist.
Once the event was over, my pocket was full of students' business cards. I gave a big thanks to Ogawa-san and Komori-san by deep bow and words of appreciation. Even now I can not express enough how happy I was to be able to have this experience, I will treasure it in my heart for years to come. Because of this special event, I now have the boost I was looking for to take the next step in my life towards a full time art career.
The event at the game school was very interesting both for learning experience and inspiration, but what happened next, I think I will never forget. Ogawa-san took us to a Maid cafe near the school. I swore I would never go to those places, for they seem way too weird to my taste, but what happens in Japan, stays in japan, right? Nah... I will tell it to you with pictures of proof.
If you do not know what a Maid cafe is, then I suggest you to google it for a moment and then return to this part, but to give you the short version of it: they are cafes that serve an unique experience that you can not find anywhere else in the world. The waitresses there wear French maid outfit, and they treat you like a God or something by using ご主人様 (Goshujin-sama/Master). The food you eat there is extremely kawaii (cute-like) and decorative, expensive as well, but you pay for the experience, not the food.
When you order something, your personal maid brings you your desired snack/dessert and instructs you to make a magical whatever you call it, where you have to repeat what the maid say while waving your hands in heart sign, feeling like a complete idiot, and shoot this "Love beam" at your food to make it extra delicious. You see men over their fifthies doing this at a nearby table, looking very excited, like a child watching his/her favorite morning cartoon. I don't judge, I think it's actually hilarious, but having to do it myself, I just can't bring myself to do it, yet I had to...
Taking pictures of the maids is strictly prohibited, but you can pay to have a picture taken with a maid by a maid. When they call your name, you have to step to a stage where everyone can see you, and your maid you have selected from a list of beautiful young girls, gives you a bunny ear hair accessory to wear as you take your picture with them. You also have to make a Kawaii face with a weird hand sign like cat paw, and say something cute. I can not tell you how red my face was when I had to do this, damn you Ogawa-san - No, but thank you, really, it was a very unique experience, one that I will never do again, but I will remember this one with warmth in my heart.
