Hiya ^_^

This is my little corner where you can read a bit about myself.

The contents of this blog will refer only to my hobbies, and things I do related to them. Posted content doesn’t mean to offend anyone, and if it ever does, please kindly contact me and I will withdraw it. You are very welcome to post comments here with your opinion, and constructive critics, please refrain to make rude comments that might offend people reading or myself.

Who is Kuraikawai?

I’m a cheerful Spanish girl born in Croatia, that loves everything related to Japan xD. Kuraikawai is a nickname I have been using for a long time now. At first I started with Kurai only. I took it from a character that appeared in a manga called “Angel Sactuary”, but I found out that when I tried to subscribe to web pages it was taken in many occasions, so I added “kawai”.

Why did I create this blog?

I thought this was a good way to organize my ideas, projects and photos and make it public at the same time, so other people can take a look and share thoughts and opinions.

Why Murasaki.me?

I didn’t have to think too much about the name of this blog, I love purple color, and I like how ” murasaki” (?) sounds (purple in japanese). Unfortunately the domain .com was taken, and I randomly chose .me ( me ? means eyes),  which turned out perfect for the meaning “purple eyes”. So this is why its called Murasaki.me :)

Anime, manga and Japan

Anime, manga and Japan became very popular in the last few years, this helped a lot to get in touch with new blogs, webs, and people that also shared this hobby. So starting from the beginning, I should go back …like 8 years ago when I met a friend that was really into Japanese culture, she introduced me into japanese music, j-pop, j-rock, cosplay… I wasn’t aware of how many things I could find while surfing the web! That year I wore my first cosplay at a local anime convention, it was so fun to represent an anime character and be photographed!. I repeated the experience 3 more times, and I hope I will do it again in the future!

I have to say I have always been a bit lazy to surf the web, read forums and do research, I didn’t know about blogs either :S, but at the end of 2008 I found out my husband was reading a couple of interesting blogs related to japanese and otaku culture. He read Kirai’s blog (www.kirainet.com), a spanish guy living in Japan and at that time working with Danny Choo. Through his blog we discovered Danny Choo’s (www.dannychoo.com). I found his blog very interesting and it helped me to be updated with a lot of Japanese culture and otaku related stuff. Since that time I have found out also other interesting blogs.

Dollfie Dream and custom clothes

I heard about them before they became popular on DC, but I had never seen how they looked like. The first time I saw them, I thought “oooohh they are so cuuute, I m ust get one!” …and Nia came some months later as a birthday present :)

I was lucky because my father volunteered to sew the cosplays for me, and I always observed closely how he made them so one day I could make them too :). When I got Nia, and also encouraged by Chun’s amazing work (www.puppy52dolls.com) , I decided to try my sewing skills on her, and started to make some custom designs and mini cosplays for her. I am still in learning process, with time I hope I’ll get better! :)

Japanese language

Three years ago, I finally decided to start learning japanese in a local language school. I was lucky to get in, because the acceptance goes through a lottery since there are many interested students now. My first teacher was a native, which helped a lot, and made it very enjoyable!! I’m still in the same school, currently in 3rd year out of 6.

Photography

This was the typical thing I always thought “I wish I could take beautiful photos”. This year, finally I got a DSLR camera and started to learn about photography. Although I am still in learning process, from time to time I will post photos I make.

Music

Who doesn’t love music? :)

I started to take piano lessons because I wanted to play all nice anime songs I heard, and years after, I also started to take singing lessons to improve the technique. I practice music simply as a hobby, I don’t take exams or anything, and I go at my own pace. I don’t think I will post any of my covers… :p

This was a bit about myself, I hope you enjoyed reading it!

Looking forward to see you in my blog!

Thanks for reading,

Kuraikawai ^_^