Yu Aoi – Portugirl by Yoko Takahashi – Kodansha

April 20, 2009 — 5 Comments

Yu with braces!!!

Ok… moving on~~ Portugirl is in my hands!! Or actually, on my desk now, otherwise I wouldn’t be typing. HMV Japan is pretty good~ even though they delayed my order, they sent it 5 days ago and it’s here already! And considering I don’t get Free Shipping with YesAsia anymore… also noticed? Prices are higher in YesAsia now, for example Portugirl would have cost $20ish bucks more with them. Should you be doing YesAsia now?

Anyway! Here it is!!!

Yu Aoi - Portugirl

Proper fan-ish review, after the break~~~ For a ‘pro’ review, you’ll have to wait. LOL

First impression?? The book is TINY! It’s just like holding a really heavy DVD case, that’s how big it is… then, it’s not a BOOK – which I should’ve figure with “Postcard Photo Collection”. The nicely printed photos come in stacks of what… 12 or 6-ish photos, depending if they are big or smaller postcards, and they come in a box.

Yu Aoi - Portugirl - Content

DVD-sized-box comes with 6 stacks of postcards (ready to detach), printed on medium-matte-glossy (?) paper with the back ready to be used for writing. Only two postcards have written messages (by Yu?). Also inside the box, a humongous map of Madeira – the Portuguese archipelago.

There’s not much writing, other than some on the map… and the two postcards – which if you can help read and translate, would be awesome.

Yu Aoi - Portugirl - Detail Yu Aoi - Portugirl - Detail

Some of the ‘critic’ I’ve been able to read is that they ‘hate’ the ‘photobook’ because many of the photos included in this collection don’t have close-ups of Yu, or no Yu AT ALL. Certainly, these people are what we know as ‘idol-craze’ and are not able to enjoy something without the face of their idol splattered all over the product.

Second of all… there are photos of Yu at the beach, or near the ocean. But NO, she does not show up with a bikini – so all you pervs googling for “Yu Aoi Bikini” on google~~~ Pervs, don’t go badmouthing these photos because of it. LOL’

Third of all… Yu is sporting braces!!! You know, the nearly transparent ones? The ones you use as an adult, and just use for a short period of time~~ Plus the glasses. Uber geeky, Yu is embracing the geek~~ LOL’ cute. You don’t see them much though, just in the few close-ups when she smiles.

Yu Aoi - Portugirl - Detail Yu Aoi - Portugirl - Detail Yu Aoi - Portugirl - Detail

Okay, that’s enough for the ‘idol-craze’ ~ moving towards the actual content. Yoko Takahashi, I dunno how she does it, but she takes a photo of a dish that’s already been eaten and it freaking looks good. The photos have a very 70-ish look… color, elements, and even some clothing. Some of them remind me of my dad’s photo album of when he was young… xD

Many of the photographs don’t include Yu, and actually look very much like they could be real postcards – Portugal should buy this and do a limited print~~~ Also, Yu seems to get along really well with old people… and kids too, but there wasn’t any kids on this one. After all, Europe is the old continent.

Yu Aoi - Portugirl - Detail Yu Aoi - Portugirl - Detail
Yu Aoi - Portugirl - Detail
Yu Aoi - Portugirl - Detail

Madeira reminds me of Lima… perhaps only Barranco, and other smaller towns… or Cuba! A lot of old structures, old bodegas, old butcher places where meat is hanging, old cafes. And Yoko takes the photo of an empty room, and it’s still looking good… damn~~

Yu Aoi - Portugirl - Detail

Yes, those are bikinis. But none of them is Yu, so pervs don’t get your hopes up.

I am a little scared of the poscards separating, it seems a little bit flimsy… but overall, collection is great. No snapshots on this one, maybe except on the map… which I will be talking about in a moment~~

Yu Aoi - Portugirl - Detail

The map is huge… covers my sofa, and it’s like a collage of photos, doodles, cutouts, etc etc. My mother says her writing is not so good, and I keep telling her that young people can’t write anymore. However, it’s true~ It’s hard to read when they have hand-written content. Especially when they use markers or ball-point pens. Maybe I’m just not used to… and when I use a ball-point pen to write, my kanji is enormous!! Like a 100% in size increase from my regular hand-writing. LOL

Yu Aoi - Portugirl - Detail Yu Aoi - Portugirl - Detail Yu Aoi - Portugirl - Detail

Thoughts?

5 responses to Yu Aoi – Portugirl by Yoko Takahashi – Kodansha

  1. It is a different product…TVXQ did something similar when they went to the states last time. One of the PB’s they released is the sam size of Yuu’s and is also made out of postcards.

    I can tell u this, Portugal is so damn pretty! I love it there and I am dying to go back. The food, the people! I bet that Yuu was approached several times and asked where she comes from. Portuguese are obsessed with race and they love to discuss it!

  2. Hahaha.

    Well, better to approach you and ask you where you’re from, than approach you and call you “china!” LOL

    Yes, because “arr asian ar same.” xP

  3. Waaah it’s so coool. I wanna buy too but it’s so expensive ( i saw one in yesasia, and im not happy looking at the figures **sighs**). Anyway I know it’s aoi yuu and it’s worth spending but, how many pieces of photos are there? i really want to hang the map in my room **yay!** Thanks for sharing!

  4. Hey, Kelly~

    thanks for commenting. there are roughly 50 to 70ish photos. It’s supposed to be 30 postcards, but many of them are double photos, and some have multiple shots.

    I suggest not buying from YesAsia *wink* – it costs the same for me as I bought from HMV JP with shipping to South America, so it will definitely be cheaper there if you buy from the US.

  5. Wow,thanks for the info. I think I’m going to buy one now! hehe! Thanks again :)

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