Category: Japanese

  • Yu Aoi – Yesterday – Fanmade Vid by KenKen

    Yu Aoi - FanMade Video - KenKen - YesterdayI almost never (almost sure) post fanvideos… especially if they just center on a real person, you know? I’m pretty sure I’ve never posted one… usually they make me eye-roll. It’s a whole other thing with shipping (not real people)~~ I can get a little nutz over shipping videos… though many suffer from what I’m about to describe below.

    This video, however, I thought it was pretty good… like not Windows Movie Maker related. The music too, kinda reminded me a little of Kobukuro. xD

    I’m pretty sure it’s all software/plugin related… and it’s really just a cool slide presentation, but still… like this screencap – looks good. Those bits at the beginning, very simple… very clean, and not showing Yu’s face. Mystery! xD

    I really wish more fanmade stuff were like this, as 90% of everything out there is just put together with crappy-ripped/cam videos or widescreen footage stretch out like it’s fullscreen. Keep the aspect ratio, people!!! And then there are the ‘slides fanmade videos’ that just show photos one fading after the other… Come on, this video certainly could’ve gone the corny way~~~ being the video with a shot of Yu’s cute face next to the name on Comic Sans. O.O COMIC SANS!!! [why exactly designers hate comic sans] [7 examples of inappropriate use of comic sans] –

    So here you  go… follow this link to watch the video.

  • Amy’s Current Nearly-Perfect Films

    … though a couple have been demoted half a star. LOL’

    Let’s see~~ From nearly 2000 rated films on my Flixster on Facebook application, this are at the top by rating… in no particular order…

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  • Yu Aoi Film Discussion – Otoko-tachi no Yamato

    Delay, again~~~ SORRY! xD Yamato took a bit longer to re-watch. I really feel it’s been just sitting… there… ANYWAY! Next up is Honey & Clover, which has also been just sitting there~~~ Promise to try to re-watch sooner.

    Something about the film:
    (from Wikipedia)
    Otoko-tachi no Yamato is a 2005 Japanese war film telling the story of Kamio, a teenage boy who ended up fighting in World War II on board of the biggest Japanese battleship, and its crew who ultimately met its death in battle.

    Genre: War, Drama
    Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Kyoka Suzuki, Sosuke Ikematsu, Kenichi Matsuyama, Shido Nakamura,Yu Aoi
    Appearances by: Kimiko Yo, Kayoko Shiraishi, Takahata Atsuko
    Duration: +2hrs

    Alert!!! Spoilers ahead!

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  • Criterion Collection, I Wants!

    Continuing the trend on pricey stuff – yes, beacuse we love the economy xD –

    *ironically* Thank you, Lainey… if it wasn’t for you mentioning Wong Kar-Wai’s In the Mood for Love,  I wouldn’t have gone through all the Criterion catalogue and pretended to get a debt buying Criterion… because OH HOW I WISH I could buy more of those… especially since lately, so-called double-disc “special” DVDs have been SHIT.

    Yes, I’m talking to you The Dark Knight 2-Disc “SPECIAL” Edition~~~

    So… you know, just in case – gonna put this out there.

    But you know… any Kurosawa Criterion would be nice as well or Wes Anderson. Or you can be daring and buy this Twenty-four Eyes film (the 1954 film version of the made-for-tv film Yu did a cameo for…) or… you know something recent like Benjamin Button.

  • Lily Chou Chou – Kokyu Re-Issue

    So this totally slipped my mind! I got the re-issue of Breathe!!! The Lily Chou Chou album from the Lily film by Shunji Iwai. The first time you see the film is so SO difficult~~ it’s such a hard theme, and characters you just want to slap around. I was a kid not long ago, and I felt so disconnected from THAT reality… yet, the film. You go back to it, and absorb it. The visuals, the music… it’s heartbreak.

    Salyu, her voice~~ I fell in love with the soundtrack. The album is an experience all on its own… perhaps more than Salyu’s other albums. It’s the film, it’s because the album is strongly connected to that reality that it works so well… perhaps, a bit poetic. It’s THAT magical. At least to me, and to all the people that had bought the first issue of the album~~~ and maybe the reason WHY it was re-released.

    I just want to know, from the people that bought the first run of copies… is it the same as the re-issue? Or has something changed? Hence, the re-issue credits in the album (including a re-design credit) ~ your thoughts?

    Lily Chou Chou - Salyu - Kokyu

  • A Little Over a Month of Music

    I was horrible last time, and I’m actually pretty horrible at keeping track of the music lately. No idea why though~ Also, I’m pretty sure I might be repeating or missing some albums hahaha ~~ go figure that one too. Annyway, the list after the break!

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  • Time to Test HMV Japan~

    So much for my economy~~~ I went to YesAsia to check if they listed Yu’s new PB – almost had a heart attack with the price tag. Portugirl took way~~~ LESS time to get listed in YesAsia than Juri’s Ao Akua. It’s like instant! But COME ON! $45USD? !!???? Just for it? And I don’t even get free-shipping. So I just signed up to HMV Japan, because they are listing  Portugirl at almost half the price… + shipping, is costing around the same price YesAsia’s book. And Amazon JP’s listing it at $30USD + $30ish shipping here~~

    Hooray for HMV’s international business plan. Now, don’t go all YesAsia on me and suddenly change your country zoning to charge me more… and don’t go all Amazon JP on me and suddenly charge 30 bucks for it.

    Will report on how f ast, and how nice HMV is~~ Will YesAsia lose my business? And I do a lot of business, considering I’m broke but I keep on clicking. *tsk tsk*

  • Paco and the Magical Book, Tetsuya Nakashima + Dramatic Comedy Meets Disney on LSD

    Tetsuya Nakashima’s latest film, PAKO to Maho no Ehon is one horrorific Japanese film – and you should see it for it. Nakashima has become quickly in one of my favorite Japanese directors (alongside Shunji Iwai, who is, by the way, a total different approach to filmmaking) and Memories of Matsuko is my favorite Japanese film to date.

    Nakashima is quickly turning into my Japanese sort of Tim-Burtonesque filmmaker stylist, in the way he uses rich visual enhancements to his storytelling – thanks to his background in CMs, and just found out and remembered watching this – He combines amazing color treatment, art direction, cinematography and mashes it all up with anything he can… be it a bit of violence, grandeur musical numbers, and animation.

    PAKO to Maho no Ehon - Paco and the Magical Picture Book

    In the end, it isn’t much of a surprise when you begin watching Paco and the Magical Book and find yourself in a very Disney-nesque world (the film starts with a Lion-King-esque chant, literally) – after all, this is supposed to be aimed at a younger audience. However, don’t ever fool yourself thinking that this will dumb down anything that Tetsuya wants to show… which includes a punk-goth-tatooed-blond nurse (Anna Tsuchiya), a psychologically-insane-ex-child-star-bum (Satoshi Tsumabuki), a raging-drag-queen whom a lot of people are referring to as ‘gay’ (Jun Kunimura), and a blood-sucking-neck-biting-vampiresque nurse (Eiko Koike). And don’t forget the grumpy old man who doesn’t back down when hitting the kid (Koji Yakusho)… well, I actually laughed at that bit. Does that make me an asshole??

    Yes, the film is nuts, but it’s worth watching. For international audience, it might not be recommended to watch with their kids, unless they are willing to read subtitles… because films like this should be enjoy in its original language. I still think is not as brilliant as Matsuko, but I will have to see it once more with proper subtitles to form a strong opinion. And man! Those CGI animated sequences… and the whole thing, like I said~~ dramatic comedy meets Disney on LSD. I think that’s the perfect description for Nakashima’s style.

    I’ll leave you with some links,

  • Juri Ueno – Ao Akua by Yuichiro Kobayashi – GOMA BOOKS

    Ao Akua arrived this afternoon! – Book is the cutest thing ever. LOL’ Tinier than I expected really~~

    Juri Ueno - Ao Akua - Cover

    Though, I don’t love this PB as much as I love A Piacere, mainly because I was a tad bit disappointed on the photographs. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few great shots, but a lot of snap shots too~~ What I love about this one? I like the concept, and the fact that there’s a companion DVD.

    More after the break.

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  • Yu Aoi Film Discussion – Nijuuyon no Hitomi – 24 Eyes

    Something about the film:
    (From AsianMediaWiki)
    Schoolteacher Hisako Oishi struggles to imbue her students with a positive view of the world and their place in it, despite the fact that she knows full well that most of them will die in the war.

    Genre: Drama
    Starring: Hitomi Kuroki, Kaoru Yachigusa
    Appearances by: Akira Emoto, Yu Aoi, Shun Oguri
    Duration: +2hr

    Below, the spoilers~

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