Some time ago I thought about writing this in case people had some problems going around or looking for Japanese Iroha fansites. So I wrote an unorganised guide based on my experiences with the Japanese Iroha fandom. And here it is for anyone who might find it useful.
If you have anything to correct, clarify, add on or comment on - please feel perfectly free to do so either by commenting, or by sending an email to me. And if you want to repost this/modify this go right ahead. I don't care, really. The formatting sure could be 100x better!
Basic manners(READ IT)
Vocabulary (will be updated when I remember more)
The fansite layout
The Iroha fansite indexer
One thing before we start - a lot of fansites you see now, will only be up for a limited period of time. So go do all your searching now, before they close down at the end of the anime.
This section may come across as naggy. I apologize. But please, please read it before everything else if you don't already know the manners. Because the last thing I want is that everyone learns how to navigate Japanese fansites but then piss the site owners off greatly.
We all love fansites. Unfortunately, not so many fansites love us foreigners back. Why? Because we don't respect their manners.
But first you might be asking - why should I follow these manners?
It helps all of us by not cementing this image that "foreign fans are completely tactless and like stealing art". And it also is a sign that you actually care about and respect the people who create the fanart you like.
Also, remember - don't expect to be welcomed by them if you don't follow and respect their manners.
#0 DO NOT LINK TO THE SITES EVER EVER EVER
Please, for the love of God, Jesus, Mary, Allah, Buddha, Krishna, $deity and Akizuki-sama's hawtness.
DON'T LINK THEM.
Sites may say "Link Free" meaning "feel free to link to this site" or similar phrases. But actually, they only mean linking among fellow Japanese fansites. This is an important point.
Just about every site REALLY HATES being linked to on forums and blogs and stuff because: they don't want to be searchable on search engines. And why? Because they want to avoid being discovered by copyright holders.
I won't say anything about how correct or wrong or paranoid it is but they really do not like it at all. And of course they can find out when you link them because they use tracking services.
Trust me, they really do not like it: I found out the hard way.
If you really, really, really, really have to, make the link un-clickable by changing it to ttp:// or whatever, so that people have to paste it in their browser.
#1 DON'T do anything to their art
The work on their site is the result of their hard work. Please don't go around using it in banners, sigs, layouts, icons/avatars etc. without their permission. (Some of them do not like people downloading it either) That includes throwing tons of effects and stuff on it. I don't know a single Iroha fanartist who wouldn't mind it.
Even if you give the source and post it somewhere it really annoys them (remember, they don't want to be found easily) and it gives us a rather bad impression... and as someone who draws fanart, whether or not you agree with their mentality I think it's only right to respect the artist's wishes if you truly like their artwork. If they don't want it - just don't do it, or stop visiting their site if it annoys you that much.
Of course they won't necessarily find out whether you did it or not - so ultimately I leave it to your conscience.
Regarding ideas for pics (like jokes and things) - I'm not too sure, but they appreciate it if you drop them a message saying you like their idea and if they don't mind you'd like to use it... It seems to me they're quite touchy about jokes/punchlines/ideas clashing (so if some other place came up with an idea of, say, Soutetsu dressing up as Okita, other places will not use it unless they're friends with the person who had the original idea, or they "got permission"... and if they coincidentally come up with the same idea and find out later they get very apologetic.)
#2 Obviously - DON'T hotlink their pictures or give a direct text link to them
I don't need to explain this, I hope.
They want people to see their whole site not just one picture with no attribution or anything.
Once I absentmindedly pasted a link to a picture and the next day the fansite owner turned the gallery into a Flash-based one so that nobody could 'steal' the pictures. So don't think they don't know.
#3 If you like their work a lot, and can type an understandable Japanese sentence - why not thank them for it?
Most websites have a comment form or a webclap section (see site sections). Fansite owners are generally very pleased when they receive comments. In Japanese. Very few understand English well enough but I don't suggest leaving comments in English unless you really, really, really, really like the site. (I've seen it once.)
Try to include some Japanese even if it's broken. And be tactful, of course. Don't mention illegal things (see below). Try not to get too lengthy. Be patient for their reply, some reply very fast on their memo page (see site sections), but some take up to a month.
#4 Always keep illegal things undercover
Some webowners actually are uncomfortable with foreigners because we shouldn't be able to watch the show in the first place. Keep in mind that even the sharing/using of official pics among fandom circles like the Iroha ones, is seen as near blasphemous - so the fact that we're downloading DRM'd shows would be... well.. you guess.
They're very picky about copyright. You'll notice that for the Iroha search site, one of the very first and most constantly repeated rules is that you cannot put any sort of official pics or screenshots or links to sites with those or any sort of association with such things...
So if you ever leave a comment or join a paintchat session or whatever, avoid mentioning how you get the episode or even the process of watching it because it makes them uncomfortable.
The vocabulary here ranges from the really simple to some Iroha-specific ones.
This list can continually be added to and expanded. If you come across some word not listed here on an Iroha fansite and don't know what it means, post a comment or send an email and I'll find out what it means and add it. But before that try checking with an online dictionary.
CP/カプ - coupling/pairing.
ノーマル/ノマ - Normal (girl/boy pairings)
リバーシブル/リバシ/リバ - Reversible. I understand it means that the seme/uke relationship can be switched any time rather than it being fixed.
フリル - "Frill". Refers to Kanna.
オンリー/厭離 - "Only". Refers to show-specific doujin events. There's one for Iroha coming up (see ttp://boysblue.lolipop.jp/eventiroha/070304top.html for more info)
wwwwww/ワロス - The Japanese way of saying LOL.
リンクフリー - "Link free.” Means you can link to their site freely. But they tacitly mean only on other Japanese fansites.
オフ - "Off". Short for "offline" - that is offline fan activity. Usually refers to doujin production, methinks.
オフ会 - "Off-kai". Offline meeting. If you've watched NHK ni Youkoso you'd know this.
絵チャ/絵茶 - Paintchat. Do note that they only put up the URL for the place to go to for a very short while. [advertisement]And we have our own paintchat thingy too! Use it, dammit![/advertisement]
アンソロ - Anthology. A fan publication of illustrations for a particular pairing or so. Currently I believe there's one for Kanna/Akizuki, Okita/Akizuki and Katsu/Kanna. I hear there's one for Akizuki/Kanna.
ブクマ - "Bukuma". Short for "(online) bookmark". Not the social bookmarking type, but just keeping an online list of links to sites you like.
本家 - The main oekaki site - oekakibbs.com. Recently Iroha was featured there (mentioned in this post).
夢小説 - Dream fanfiction. The difference between this and normal fanfiction is that it tends to be more... of the guilty-pleasure ZOMG hawt sex *hides in toilet and reads* type. Can totally ruin your image of the characters but can also be incredibly fun.
よーずろー - "Yo~zuro~". A funny way of saying Youjirou.
ワカメ - "Wakame". Means seaweed. Refers to Soutetsu (because of his hair...)
ワンレン - "Wanren". A common contraction meaning hair that is all cut to the same length, literally "one-length". Also refers to Soutetsu...
セブンティーン/17歳/17才 - 17 year old. Refers to Akizuki.
とっとこ - "Tottoko". Refers to Akizuki. The word describes taking small hurried steps and refers to Akizuki's running in the OP.
密度萌え - "Mitsudo moe". Means super-intense moe. A clever pun referring to episode 12. Soutetsu had brought Akizuki, Kanna and Kakunojou together and commented that it was a 三つ巴 (mitsudomoe - a 3-way fight/struggle). So the fans made a pun of it. By the way most fans would tell you that the mitsudomoe was Akizuki, Kanna and Soutetsu, and not Kakunojou.
A large number of Japanese fansites, particularly female-run ones, tend to be very minimalistic in their site design. (And have tiny font.)
You get two types: the Iroha-only site/section (usually called a 部屋, 別館, 分館 etc.) that is a branch of the person's main fansite (本館); or just a person's fanart/personal site that has a few Iroha works on it.
Most sites share the same few essential elements, so it's quite easy to figure out most of them once you figure out a few. There are variations on the names which I've listed, but in the case of exceptions, just look at the URL or... just figure it out yourself!
Sometimes these elements can be pushed in a small part of the page to be purposely obscure so open your eyes.
Top page (Top, Reset, 入り口, etc.)
If not on a sidebar, this is where you can find the name that person goes by, a banner to link with, and disclaimers plus a warning not to reproduce/redistribute etc. their artwork. It's very, very basic courtesy in Japanese circles that if you link people's pages you have to link to this page. Sometimes a comment field can be found where you can leave a few words for the siteowner.
Memo (メモ, memo, diary, 日記, 絵日記, P, 帖, 備忘録, ひとりごと, 独り言, etc.)
Almost every site has this. It's either a diary or a personal oekaki diary. Sometimes the diary is for all their fandoms (本館と共通), sometimes it's Iroha-only. You'll find their impressions and fangirling and memes and stuff on it. Always check it out - you can find a lot of awesome stuff they don't put up in the "pictures" section of their site, mostly very amusing doodles.
They also reply to comments/webclaps here (see below).
Pictures (絵, え, ゑ, pict, ログ, log, IMG, メイン, Main, sometimes it doesn't have a section name)
The standard with most sites is that pictures are organised by clicking on small symbols like squares or circles. Most don't have thumbnails. The different symbols indicate different types of art: some are paintchat logs, some are "proper pics", some are manga, some just doodles, etc.
Links to other sites (Bookmark, BKM, ブクマ, 輪, etc.)
Self-explanatory.
Some are very sensitive and even apologetic about putting links there (they say "I'm sorry I never asked these sites whether I could paste their link, I just did it anyway..."); I think it's probably that Japanese mentality about being 'unworthy' enough to link to better and more popular sites.
Web clap/comments (コメント, 拍手, WEB CLAP, or an image of clapping hands) and replies (レス, RE, 返信, )
There are generally two types - comment boxes with pretty much no limit on how much you can say and a name field as well; and web claps where you send a "clap" and the message is optional. The text box also doesn't allow for long messages (you'd ahve to send consecutive web claps for that). Web claps usually come with their own special images which you see as a thank-you for sending a webclap.
When you send one you'll usually get a reply (レス), some have a separate page but most reply in their memo pages. If you haven't put in a name of any sort, they'll say something like "To the person who said "....."" (where ..... is the first few words of your comment); whereas others quote the time of the comment. Otherwise they'll write the name there, and then their reply underneath - usually in the same colour as the background so you have to highlight to read the reply.
What is this site (ttp://b-iroha.hp.infoseek.co.jp/)?
An index of Japanese Iroha fansites, often referred to as サーチさん/サーチ様.
Basically, website owners can register their site on this indexer, where they will have to classify their site under all specified categories for easy browsing. Since they want to attract visitors who would enjoy their works I doubt they would lie about their site descriptions.
Currently I think it's the most comprehensive one and well-organised one out there. It is maintained by トクダ (Tokuda).
It is extremely stringently maintained; sites can drop out any time if they infringe directly on copyright by pasting copyrighted pictures or text, linking to sites that do so, describing illegal activities, etc... Sites that haven't updated for too long will also get dropped. Recently if sites have content that's hostile to a particular character or pairing, it gets removed as well. So if you want to find sites that may not be on this site do scroll to the bottom for a list of alternative fansite indexers.
What are the categories?
These are the categories and stuff as they appear on the front page as of 10 Jan 07. And it is how I understand them, so they are not direct translations. I also do not understand everything. >.> If anyone can clarify/reword these then by all means please fire away :D
All are from top to bottom, left to right
一般向け (General)｜女性向け (Female)｜男性向け (Male)｜健全 (Clean)｜年齢制限あり (Has an age limit)｜♂♂(BL)｜♂♀(Het, also known as Normal)｜♀♀(GL)｜リバーシブル (Reversible (see Vocabulary))
イラスト (Illustrations)
WEB漫画 (Web manga)
お絵描き掲示板 (Oekaki boards)
小説 (Fanfics)
夢小説 (Dream fics (see Vocabulary))
詩 (Poems)
レビュー (Reviews)
素材配布 (Materials [chibi web icons, etc.])
お題配布 (Topics [afaik, like they set topics for fanfics. I THINK.])
質問配布 (Questions?... Dunno.)
考察 (Reference/research)
データベース (Database)
企画 (Projects)
同人活動 (Doujin activities)
コスプレ (Cosplay)
オンリーイベント ("Only" events (see Vocabulary))
サーチエンジン (Search engines)
同盟 (Fanlistings)
アンソロジー (Fan Anthologies)
期間限定 (Limited Period Only sites)
休止中 (On Hiatus)
その他 (Others)
アニメ1～26話現在 (Events in the anime eps 1-26)
投獄中 (During Akizuki's interrogation)
坂本存命中 (While Sakamoto was alive)
一座 (The Troupe)
江戸 (Edo)
京都 (Kyoto)
高麗の里 (Koma no Sato)
横浜 (Yokohama)
過去 (The past)
新選組 (Shinsengumi)
パラレル (Parallel)
ほのぼの (Light/fluffy) ダーク (Dark) シリアス (Serious) コメディ(Comedy) ギャグ (Short gags [I don't know how to explain the diff. between this and Comedy.) あまあま (I don't know what this means.) 切ない (Sad)
秋月耀次郎 (Akizuki Youjirou)
遊山赫乃丈 (Yuyama Kakunojou)
茨木蒼鉄 (Ibaragi Soutetsu)
神無左京之介 (Kanna Sakyounosuke)
不知火小僧 (Shiranui Kozou)
坂本龍馬 (Sakamoto Ryouma)
恵比須の頭巾 (Ebisu no Zukin)
案山子の恵信 (Kakashi no Keishin)
座頭 (Zagashira)
こばこ (Kobako)
赤丸 (Benimaru)
琴波 (Kotoha)
中居屋重兵衛 (Nakaiya Juubee)
針尾玄蕃 (Hario Genba)
河井継之助 (Kawai Tsuginosuke)
勝海舟 (Katsu Kaishuu)
雑賀孫蔵 (Saiga Magozou)
パークス (Parkes)
沖田総司 (Okita Souji)
おりょう (Oryou)
その他 (Others)
オールキャラ (All characters)
Please figure them out by referring to the character list with kanji names above because every possible coupling is listed there (automatically generated)
Aside from that you just need to know:
受け - uke (submissive)
攻め - seme (dominant)
総攻め含む / 総受け含む - General seme/uke (i.e. not dominant over a particular character or whatever).
Can I get my site there?
I predict - no. Unless you have absolutely ZERO usage of official pics and text (no screencaps, no lyrics, no icons from screencaps, etc. - for any show not just Iroha), and no links to sites with that sort of thing, or any mention of how to do it - in which case... you might. Who knows.
Other Iroha fansite indexers
ttp://naive.in/iroken/ - a general Iroha site search, only by individual characters. (Click on 入室 and then 検索所 on the bottom right on the next page)
ttp://roo.to/kan_na/ - Kanna fansites. (Click 検索. Try figuring out the categories using the ones here. Only until 30th April)
ttp://roo.to/yojiro/ - Akizuki fansites. (Same as above)
