Anonymous asked: This may seem as an odd question, but I'm really curious. :) I've heard japanese people are really polite and try to be not intimidating, so when I hear about "crazy releases" at AP or CC I'm really surprised! I can't imagine a black-friday. XD
Haha, I found that really weird too when I first arrived here. xD You get used to it though. Japanese are polite in most situations. It’s all about social context. It’s so crowded in Tokyo (and being packed together is so common) that pushing and shoving becomes kind of normal and acceptable. People push past each other on the trains, in stations, in stores and queue relentlessly. It’s just what you gotta do if you want to get what you want and where you want.
That, and Japanese are freaking serious about sales. (O_O;) I’m surprised more people don’t get injured. If they did Black Friday here I think it would double Japan’s crime rate. xD The New Year sales are probably the closest equivalent, but thankfully most stores anticipate for it so everything is pretty well-organized to minimize the spilling of blood and the slaughter of tiny children. Smaller stores (such as Closet Child) are not so well-organized…and lolitas don’t care who they trample to get what they want. Survival of the fittest! (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ
You’ll find that everyone politely ignores each other whilst trampling though, much like you would ignore other people in a crowded elevator despite having their elbows shoved in your stomach and the ends of their hair tickling your face.
…In conclusion, people are weird, but as the Japanese say, “Shikata ga nai.” - “There’s no other way.”
For those who missed out on the Cosmic series, there will be a made-to-order re-release!
Visit here for more details regarding reservation.
Anonymous asked: When exactly will the re-reservations of Ave Maria be sent out? I thought the thing initially said August, but I've read that people's confirmation emails said late May.
I’m afraid I’m not sure since I didn’t order any re-reservations online. At a guess I’d say it’ll be sooner than August, so the confirmation emails are more likely to be right. They may not have updated the webpages. I can’t say for sure though, sorry.
Anonymous asked: Sorry what is CDC?
CDC is short for Crystal Dream Carnival. :D
Anonymous asked: Hi! How was the Cosmic release? Did it sell out really fast?
Hello, it was definitely one of the busier releases. I was there for about 4 and a half hours and I had a medium sort of number. I’ve no idea how long people with extremely high numbers had to wait. The queue of customers before opening was so long that I couldn’t see the end of it.
Yeah, everyone was going for navy first and it sold out so fast. I’m not sure how fast the navy sailor JSK sold out, but I reckon it was within the first 15 or 20 customers. It’s so sad they don’t stock more! (;_;) It was fun though and there were some lovely outfits. Next on the bloodbath list is CDC. ;)
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I will most likely be going to Yokohama soon (date undetermined). If anyone is interested in something from Baby, Angelic Pretty or Yokohama Closet Child commission will be reduced to 2,000 yen for that day and travel fee will remain at 500 yen. :)
Anonymous asked: Hope you survived the Cosmic release okay xxx
Haha, I did just, thanks. :) It was pretty intense.
Anonymous asked: Hello! I saw you've mentioned CC's so called "campaigns" some times. Would you mind to explain what a campaign is? :3 Thanks!
Sure. :) A campaign in Japan is basically any special sale. In the case of Closet Child, they have two types of campaigns. One type is a general reduction in prices of certain items for an extended period.However, their most popular campaigns are when they release a whole bunch of rare dresses on a particular date.
They specify a date (usually a Saturday) and then everybody must queue up before opening time. Unfortunately, unlike Angelic Pretty releases, it’s first-come-first-served, so you have to go very early (between 4-6am) and wait for hours if you want to be anywhere near first in line. Even worse is, once they do open the doors, people don’t stay in queue form but stampede in, shove and do whatever they can to grab the dress/dresses they want. Due to a lot of Chinese re-sellers attending these events, they’ve started restricting people to one or two dresses per person, but it would be much better for all if they introduced AP’s lottery system for releases. ^^ It’s very difficult to succeed at these campaigns. It’s an interesting experience though. :P
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