Tuesday, March 27, 2007

SMAPxSMAP made THE most bizarre Death Note parody:



Did I mention that it's bizarre? (For more bizarro SMAP stuff, this vid inexplicably led to the most caps lock-abusing LJ convo I've had in a while: "HIS FAKE CLEAVAGE COMPELS YOU.")

Now go watch the DMC anime trailer. Then go play the games. 8D
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Monday, March 26, 2007

KAREE STOP!!!
Now that my brother's spring break is over, Rem's total damage over the week adds up to:

- Almost being sat on.
- Being put in the laundry hamper.
- Having a dirty sock put over his head. :/

Pfft, older brothers. I'll have to buy something for Remy to make up for it. ;)

I've been watching yet another j-drama recently called Ikebukuro West Gate Park, which is filled with WIN, WIN, and WIN just for its cast alone. It has Watanabe Ken! And the woman from The Last Samurai! (Which also had Watanabe Ken! :o)

I'll probably end up writing another overly-long review of it, although I doubt I'll be able to get started on anything, including the Johnny's article, until after the speech competition. Which is this Saturday. *worried* o_o

EDIT: I noticed that on Japanese variety programs, the most common award or incentive for winning a game of any kind is food. Sometimes food is even part of the game.

So basically, on Japanese TV you get to watch skinny, beautiful people eat a lot of delicious-looking food.

...Bastards.
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Sunday, March 25, 2007

TOKIO has invaded my profile. Shocking, I know.
Rem looking very pompous indeed in his new pimp coat:



He should also be getting a new hat some time around Thursday or Friday. :D

And to keep up the whole listenable Johnny's music thing from a couple posts ago, here's Akanashi Jin (KAT-TUN) and Ryo-kun's cover of the Kinki Kids song Ai no Katamari:



I normally don't like ballad-like songs too much, although this one is strangely addicting! I must have listened to it at least a dozen times today, probably partly because Jin has a surprisingly good singing voice. (Too bad it's largely wasted in a fanservicey band like KAT-TUN. *cough*) And Ryo-kun's singing voice isn't as high-pitched as normal, thank GOD.

As a note, Jin is the friend who Ryo-kun said "was fat and needed to diet."

Jin is now skinny.

...And that is why I love Nishikido Ryo. XD
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Saturday, March 24, 2007

*is AMV crazed again* D:
Since the girlies in my anime club are crazily obsessing over this series right now (I almost regret introducing it to them), here's a Loveless AMV I've liked for some time now:



Title: Walking in the Butterflies
Song: Imogen Heap - The Walk

Certainly one of the prettier Loveless AMVs I've watched. And the song is by Imogen Heap! 8D

EDIT: LOL @ the phallic jet of water. That's Loveless for you, I guess. XD

EDIT #2: DMC4 IS GOING TO BE ON THE 360 WTF.
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Wednesday, March 21, 2007

*officially loves imeem*
My brother came home for spring break. This basically means two things for me:

1) Less internet time since he STEALS MY MODEM
2) Remy gets harassed for a week D:

Though at least my family goes out to eat a lot more whenever he comes over. In fact, my sister, brother, and I just came back from a Japanese restaurant, where we ate about six different orders of maki sushi. We also had a surprisingly yummy dessert: snicker bar tempura with strawberry red bean ice cream. Yes, you read that right. TRY IT.

In fandom news, I recently learned an extremely interesting, albeit creepy bit of info that will undoubtedly make it into the 2nd half of my Jimusho article: the Jimusho are not allowed to marry.

Seriously. They are not allowed to get married or have public romantic relationships of any kind without the explicit consent of Johnny Kitagawa himself. (I'll explain why this is in the article.) Just felt the need to share the UTTER WEIRDNESS of it with all of you. And on that note...



TOKIO is just about the only Johnny's band, with the possible exception of the KinKi Kids, whose music I can enjoy without feeling guilty in any way. They're an actual band! They write J-Rock songs! L'Arc~en~Ciel once covered a song of theirs! (Albeit somewhat badly. :3) Their vocalist is this big, hulking guy who plays tough guys and yakuza in dramas!

They're still technically a manufactured boy band, but if they're not hardcore, then I don't know what is. Sorafune is a particularly cool song. It should totally be the theme song of some series filled with YOUTH and SPIRIT.

EDIT: ALSO I finally sent out the penpal letter! :D
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Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Now that I know it will fit properly, I'm ordering these pants for Rem within the next couple days:



It has the cutest name: Slim N Slim pants. XD

Rem also has yet another kind-of-penpal. Her name is Priscilla:



Although I still haven't responded to Rem's other penpal yet. *is a bad person* D:
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Monday, March 19, 2007

I found out something veeeery interesting on my old friend's LJ; I once met a Japanese celebrity, and I didn't even realize it at the time.

I'm assuming some of you remember that I went to a video game concert around May of last year, and that there was a promotional event preceeding it during which I got Nobuo Uematsu's autograph. What I didn't mention was that Angela Aki, the singer of the FFXII song Kiss Me Goodbye, was also present and signing autographs.

When I first saw her, I didn't naturally assume she was Japanese (despite her surname) because:

1) She didn't quite look it. (She's part Italian.)
2) She spoke perfectly fluent English. Even the Kiss Me Goodbye song is entirely in English.

She was nice enough to compliment the FFX-2 mini-poster thing I gave her to sign, and I said thank you and didn't really think too much about the event afterwards.

Until yesterday afternoon when visiting the aforementioned LJ. My friend made a post about her boss having a famous Japanese daughter and linked to a picture of her.

It was Angela Aki.

So of course, I IMMEDIATELY googled her and found out that, yes, she is the same Angela Aki who attended the signing, and yes, she's a big star in Japan. She even performed on Kouhaku. :o





See? That's her sitting next to Ryo on a recent Music Station episode.

*obviously finds this all really really cool and brag-worthy*

Now I, too, can proclaim, "HAHA I'VE TALKED TO A FAMOUS JAPANESE PERSON AND YOU HAVEN'T."
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Sunday, March 18, 2007

A tl;dr post filled with NEWS crap
Just as the post subject says. But before that, a couple points to get out of the way:

- Remy's got a response from his penpal a few days ago, though I haven't written back yet because I sux. He's also going to get a new coat shipped in some time this week, although the turtleneck shirt I want STILL isn't back in stock. (After three weeks! What the heck, Luts!)

- I watched the last episode of Hana Yori Dango 2 this morning. Man that series had good production values. They all had such nice clothes. And the last scene was filmed AT THE BUDOKAN. With a PACKED STADIUM. IT WAS SO INSANE.

Although I must say, I was quite disappointed that the model guy from the first episode never appeared again. I wanted to see him get his REVENGE!! against Domyouji.

Now to the good part:



Either my tastes are deteriorating rapidly or this song is listenable. (What? It's research for the second part of my article. GAWD.) Points of interest:

- I actually like Yamapi's singing voice. (Again, deteriorating taste?) At the very least, Yamapi's voice is very... not girly-sounding. Yes, I'm looking at you, Ryo.

Another point on Ryo: he is CLEARLY made to be whiter-looking in this music video than he actually is. Stop trying to be so Caucasian, Japan! It's not working! >_<

- Really weird dancing. Don't think Haruhi Suzumiya; think "oh my God, are they flapping their arms?"

- The unusual lack of hideous clothing. Because although NEWS is essentially a small army of good-looking 20-year old men, they are forced to wear the UGLIEST clothing you have ever seen. Consider:

- You gotta love their portrayal of fangirls.



O_O

THAT IS ME IN A NUTSHELL.
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Saturday, March 17, 2007

One Litre of Tears (Ichi Rittoru no Namida)

"Just being alive is such a lovely and wonderful thing."
One Litre of Tears is based off of the real-life story of Aya Ikeuchi, a young girl who contracted Spinocerebellar Degeneration Disease, an incurable illness that impairs one's physical movements to the point where they can no longer walk, speak, hold objects, or eat without assistance. In spite of this, Aya held an optimistic view on life up until her death at the age of 25.

This series is very popular amongst the j-drama circle. In fact, a couple classmates of mine first recommended it to me about a year ago, but I avoided it mainly because of its absurdly emo-sounding title. Though I'm glad that I finally did check it out, as its certainly one of the better j-dramas I've seen. (And it came after I had watched a string of mediocre ones.)



As you can probably guess through the summary alone, this series aims to be a tear-jerker right from the get-go. Some have criticized it for being emotionally manipulative, but honestly, what disability/fatal disease show isn't? Point is, if you're not the type to let yourself be affected by these types of shows, you shouldn't start watching it in the first place.

What keeps the series from being overwhelmingly depressing is primarily the support Aya gets from her family and boyfriend. The most absorbing character of the family is Aya's preteen sister, who at the start of the series, is very aware of the fact that her parents favor Aya over her. She spends the first chunk of the series complaining and snapping at everyone, but when she realizes that there's something very wrong with her sister, she starts to grow up a little.

Then there's Aya's boyfriend, who is a complete and utter dream, as unlikely as it seems at the beginning. For those of you who are familiar with Princess Tutu, he's very much a Fakir-esque character, and thus I was completely sold on him from the very start. <3



And then there's Aya herself, who is appropriately cheery, endearing, and teary-eyed when she needs to be. She could have easily become one of those annoying leads who cry and whine too much, but she didn't. She's likable. And in a series this gloomy, it makes the show that much more watchable.

So I suppose my final verdict is, if you think you can stand it, then by all means, give the series a shot. Just have some Kleenex ready.

On a much less serious note, the eye candy:

- Matsuyama Kenichi, the dude who plays L in the Death Note movies, plays Aya's initial love interest. He has a buzz cut here, though. *facepalm*

- Sawajiri Erika is ADORABLE. I can totally understand why guys fanboy over her.

- Ryo-kun plays Asou Haruto, Aya's boyfriend. I think that's all that needs to be said. :3

Lastly, of the many vids I looked through on Youtube, I think this one represents the series the best:


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Thursday, March 15, 2007

no ichi rittoru no namida review yet because I suck. boo. :(
Fun Fact About Japan:



"I am Yamapi, and I'm so pimp with my imaginary girlfriend and my smokes."

Yes, smoking is still considered cool in Japan. The majority of men in Japan (and for that matter probably China and Korea too) still smoke packs of cigarettes per day on average, and I highly doubt that it's socially acceptable to publicly lecture others' on their smoking habits in those countries.

If you look close enough in anime and especially video games, you'll probably see it. (Cid? Solid Snake? Anyone of age in Cowboy Bebop?) Even with BJDs, the few manly, hardcore-looking males have lit cigarettes propped into their hands.

...And on the subject of BJDs (crappy transition, I know), my mother's co-workers were interested in seeing my Bahamut papercraft and Remy, so I sent them some pictures. They liked the Bahamut, and as for Rem, aside from the usual "That cost $600? And it's a GUY?" comments, they actually liked him. And they said I'm a good photographer! HAHA I WIN.

And now, to end this post appropriately:



EDIT: Oh my God, that gif is entrancing. It's like he's trying to fwap you with the girl's arm over and over again. *o*
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