Category: Japanese

  • The Best Performance on NHK’s 61st Kouhaku? DREAMS COME TRUE

    I’m not even a fan, but woman knows how to work that stage. She certainly knows how to close a show! On a very VERY long new year night… imagine having to download 11Gb to watch a roughly 6hr show, Jpop duo DREAMS COME TRUE was the most memorable number of the night — which includes a giant tsuru (crane), and a rock n’ roller tongue-wiggling ojiisan,

    [iframe src=”https://you.video.sina.com.cn/api/sinawebApi/outplayrefer.php/vid=44605592_1463781897_Z0LkG3M5B2LK+l1lHz2stqkP7KQNt6nkjWy3vFqlLQdeQ0/XM5GdZtsH5SzfAtkEqDhAQJw5dfsj3h8/s.swf” width=”480″ height=”370″]

    Are you kidding me? A marching band (the Kouhaku Marching band) with a lead singer jumping in a kimono? That’s an automatic win. xD Plus, Ikite yuku no desu (生きてゆくのです) is super catchy, the performance just brings it to the level of memorable.

    This is the best I can do for the moment, the only clip I’ve been able to find. If/when I find something better, will re-post. Now, if NHK was smart, they’d be posting the Kouhaku performances on their own site for embedding, instead of taking down the performances that make it online…


  • NHK Taiga Drama Gou 15sec Tease

    OMG, how time flies!

    Gou begins this Sunday!! And it’s supposed to be a 70min. episode.

    Please, that clip of Juri possibly crying… and possibly pulling at each other’s cheeks, I’m going to be crying and laughing with this… just like when Atsuhime aired.


  • Facebook Friends Mapped World by Paul Butler + 2011 Wishes

    Amazing~ I thought this was a good graphic to close the year with~ a graphic of the world!

    I love how China and Russia are pretty much dark on this graphic. Also how the East coast in the US is all lit up… like everyone there has a FB account. LOL [check details + bigger resolution here]

    Anyway, guys~ 2010 is OVER. It’s gone! We’re getting older! This is so depressing xD with the opening of YAM Magazine, I’ve stopped blogging quite a bit here… which I didn’t expect. I really wanted to keep both active, but it’s impossible. I have decided to keep this for fandom blogging.

    So don’t worry, Yu Aoi fans~ I’m still going to be talking about her. I’m due a few posts on her already. Also, I tweeted someone who plans to attend Yu Aoi’s play with Satoshi Tsumabuki, asking them if they would review the show for us xD At the moment, they said yes – EXCITING! This is the first time we’re getting a review of any of her stage performances.

    Then… I have decided – Bibi Zhou fans. I’m gonna Bibify the world! I’ll try to post everything Bibi and become the Bibi hub online for English… or non-Chinese speakers/readers xD I’m starting 2011 with a Bibi post, and with a mission. LOL

    Without further ado,

    Happy 2011, everyone!


  • Yu Aoi + Juri Ueno for FRaU Magazine Covers

    Not together, because that would be too much awesomeness for one cover.

    And because Juri’s is the latest one — promoting her upcoming Taiga drama… CAN’T WAIT O_O — it goes before the break~

    (more…)


  • Blog updates~

    Surprise!

    I can’t keep up with two blogs hahahaha.

    So… I’m thinking.

    1. Is there a way – plugin? – that would let me post by writing once? xD

    2. or I could just post fan stuff xD

    The other day I got an email thanking me for introducing them to Bibi. That her voice is very moving, and it just made me feel so SO proud. I know it sucks that I can’t find almost anything on her. And it sucks that I don’t speak Mandarin, to translate the lyrics for you… or read Chinese to hunt for news.

    But I do it for Yu-chan.

    Shall I do it for Bibi?

    I, at least, want to get Bibi’s pinyin lyrics out. I’ll work on that.

    Please, in the meantime~ visit YAM Magazine, and add us to your Yahoo or Google feeds.


  • Word Lens: Spanish to English + Viceversa

    This $hit is amazing stuff.

    But I’m pretty sure I’ve seen some Japanese cellphone that could do that same thing translating on the spot, but in Kanji. Now take that and tell me that’s not amazing? xD


  • 34th Japan Academy Prize Noms

    First, let me get this out of the way: All the foreign nominations are American films, which includes Avatar, Toy Story 3, Hurt Locker, Inception and Invictus. Those along are a mixed bag for me xD Invictus was rather insipid, wouldn’t you say? And to include Avatar in the same list as Toy Story 3 is… hmm, rather a pity xD

    The 34th Japan Academy Prize is led by Sang-il Lee’s Akunin (Villain) with 15 nods in 13 categories. Followed by Yoji Yamada’s Otouto (Yougner Brother/About her Brother) and Takashi Miike’s 13 Assassins with 11 nods. Rounding up the best pictures is Izuru Narushima’s Kokou no Mesu (A Lone Scalpel) with 5 nods.

    And forgive the bias, but Yu Aoi got a nod for Supporting Actress xD

    Film
    Akunin
    Otouto
    Kokuhaku
    Kokou no Mesu
    13 Assassins

    (more…)


  • Finally YAM Magazine Website

    I was beat last night. Full of anxiety xD

    But it’s finally out. Please, visit yam-mag.com leave a comment and subscribe ;P


  • Australian Film Institute Noms, Yokohama Film Festival Awards, Plus Oscar Animated Shorts and VFX

    That’s the longest title I’ve ever written. I think. Not sure, but pretty~

    First, let’s start with Oscar talk. There are 10 animated shorts line-up for 3/5 spots at the Academy.

    • Coyote Falls
    • Day & Night
    • Let’s Pollute
    • Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, A Journey Diary)
    • Sensology
    • The Cow Who Wanted to Be a Hamburger
    • The Gruffalo
    • The Lost Thing
    • Le Silence Sous l’Ecorce (The Silence Beneath the Bark)
    • Urs

    (more…)


  • Yu Aoi Film Discussion – Honokaa Boy

    You know what this means right? I finally saw a new Yu Aoi film, so I can move the queue just a little bit. We’re discussing Honokaa Boy first, then Ikechan to Boku… instead of One Million Yen Girl because of the length of roles that Yu had in the films… and we’re leaving Hyakuman-en up on the feature spot for a while… ;P

    First a little about the film~
    Honokaa Boy tells the story of a boy – Okay, a young man – who ends up living in the small Hawaiian city of Honokaa, after he mysteriously falls in love with the place during a failed trip with his girlfriend. In there, he meets a bunch of quirky people that are very likable, who end up having an impact on his life.

    Genre: Dramedy with a bit of Romance
    Starring: Masaki Okada, Chieko Baisho, Keiko Matsuzaka, Jun Hasegawa
    Duration: almost 2hrs

    (more…)