Category: Japanese

  • Casual Yu > Fashion Yu

    I never ever really talk about Fashion, since I don’t consider myself fashion~ tees and slacks are my thing~~

    So… how do I go about this? Let’s see~~~

    Casual Yu is the BEST Yu.

    Casual Yu Aoi

    Be it wearing an oversized tee, slacks, baggy shorts, a sweater, a beanie, truck caps~ sure, sure~ most of the pics above are magazine shoots, or photobook pics, and even the seldom movie still~ but there are also 5 candid shots from project sets~~ completely adorable on that Don’t Laugh at my Romance on-set shot with the white/creme beanie. Even that theater-personnel uniform shot is pretty cute.

    Now, don’t get me wrong~ modeling Yu is pretty great – I LUV LUV LUVVVV Travel Sand and Dandelion. And I think Yu and Yoko Takahashi should come over to Peru for some great shots in Machu Picchu, and all the many ruins in here~~ plus, loads of food.

    However, I prefer seeing Yu all casual and relaxed than Fashionable Yu. You know, the one on the red carpet at some event, or modeling on a photoshoot to some high fashion magazine.

    Fashion Yu Aoi

    I must admit though, I dig her bangs on the bottom right pic, which I’m pretty sure is a candid from a photoshoot. Crazy bangs, I know… kinda off, but I think works with the pic.

  • Happy Two-Year-Using-WordPress!!

    Today, two years ago, I began using WordPress!

    I’ve gone through… several WordPress updates (some of them messing up with the website), many CSS styles~~~~ and a LOT of topic changes AND even MORE~~~ category additions~~~ and of course, one of the first proper posts was a rant, coz Amy loves ranting. xD However, in those days and age~~~ Amy ranted about many topics into one post~ the rant turned from a Dixie Chicks forum heated discussion, to how crappy Jennifer Hudson winning an Oscar was. LOL I still feel the same way though~~ Rinko Kikuchi so totally kicked major butt there~~~

    Topics haven’t changed much actually… I still rant about Oscar, and AM so into Japanese films. Haven’t seen much Rinko Kikuchi since then though… as I am still waiting for Brothers Bloom to come out anywhere I might be able  to watch.

    Similar to today, a year ago… well not exactly today, since I didn’t blog on March 3rd 2008 –  but 7th, I blogged Julyssa’s Greta Garbo’s book gift. WOOOOOOO – Julyssa!!! It’s been a year since that gift!! Thank you SOOOOO much. Greta Garbo photographs are sooooooo AWEsome. Ne? xD

    So thank you, WordPress~ Two years together! xD

  • Salyu Madness, News and Music Links

    I must have died and gone to heaven… xD I’m listening to Salyu, who just released a two-track single titled Corteo/HALFWAY, which you can download over at the Salyu LJ Community… which I just found. Heaven!

    There, I also found out that Salyu’s turn as Lily Chou Chou on the Shunji Iwai film of the similar name (where Yu shows up) that sprang a double album… including Breathe (Kokyu) has been re-released. Why is that GOOD? Well, because Kokyu was totally sold out online… and it’s probably one of the finest contemporary albums out there. So now I just gotta get money to buy it hahahahaha.

    CD Japan – $24.26
    YesAsia – $27.25
    Amazon.co.jp – 2.500 Yen

    Also, apparently… she also released Mercmal in THREE different editions… the regular (of course!), one limited edition with a DVD of a concert in Yohohama, and another limited edition with and extra album with her collaboration work. Call me crazy, I want just the DVD with her collaboration work, I think. I’m split! I think I want the concert more… since apparently the other only has 3 tracks? I’m not sure I want to pay +$30 for a greatest hits album… I’m undecided!!! LOL

    Let’s see…
    Amazon.co.jp has the two limited edition out of stock, and only has the regular one at 3000 Yen.
    CD JAPAN has the limited collaboration edition at $32.99, and the regular edition at $29.11.
    And YesAsia still has the limited with DVD edition at $40.25, the regular edition at $31.25.

    I’ll leave you with the Salyu Merkmal 2009 Tour pics. Wish she’d come here xD

    For some of Salyu’s discography, check this post.

  • Woah, March Already?

    Gotta be careful, I could yawn and it will be December next. LOL’

    So award season is over… but that only means it’s time to begin the hunt once again~~ Posts on February reached the +40 mark… in fact, I matched my December record of 44 posts. And considering February has less days, well~~ Here come the quiet months though… March, April, May. They kill me.

    Also, don’t forget the BackStreet Boys…

    Plus… Yu Aoi Film Discussion~~~ Next up is Otoko-tachi no Yamato – or Yamato for short. Still there, haven’t found the time to re-watch that ++++ Hachimitsu to KURO~BA~ or Honey & Clover. Haven’t forgotten…

    Today though… next to last episode of The L Word, which ends next week with a 2hr episode… not looking forward to IT per se, but AM looking forward to just finish once and for all. LOL’ To ger your Sholly (Shane+Molly) fix – do your thing.

  • Oscar Winners and Moments

    Oh, Hugh… what happened to thee~~

    But that’s another subject~~ It’s not like I despised Beyonce, and the Disney people on ‘my’ stage. I didn’t like them, that’s all. LOL’

    It’s not like their Moulin Rouge number was totally unnecesary, instead they should have performed the Original Songs separately… and NOT have John Legend trying to butt in Jai Ho. On that subject, the drums… VERY COOL.

    Natalie Portman… hot. + Ben Stiller doing Joaquin Phoenix??? Just OH!-Some~~~

    Natalie Portman and Ben Stiller - Oscar 2009

    What else is cool (though mildly surprising…) – JAPAN WINNING, not ONE BUT TWO!!! For Best Short Film Animated – which was great – but also getting FOREIGN FILM, when I so totally thought Waltz with Bashir would win. Okuribito (Departures) took back home Foreign Film~~ I totally FLIPPED.

    Other cool moments… Best Actress. GOSH! Sophia Loren… Shirley MacLaine… Marion Cotillard (My Marion, OUR Marion), Halle Berry and Nicole Kidman. AND! Kate Winslet winning! Introduced by Marion! And Sophia Loren with her accent… introducing the fab+++ Meryl! I’d die for an intro of any of those two.

    Actually, that was my favorite category of the night, haha. I’m glad for Best Actor… and Supporting Actress~~~ Penelope!! I have to update an old post on Oscar Studded Films~~~

    And Tina Fey!! She was funny~~ as James Franco was.

    I think I did pretty good on predictions (20/24) … I hope no one did better than me in the contest I entered hahaha.

    Slumdog took 8, while Button took 3, Milk 2, Dark Knight 2 – the rest, if not mistaken took 1. xD

    Winners and more photos below the break~~

    (more…)

  • Me @ J-MELO Site

    xD – Just found me, while looking for times at the NHK Premium website – yes, ‘coz I still haven’t figured out if I will be able to see Yu talk about that book I mentioned posts behind… – not sure it will air in NHK Premium. What I did find, however, the times that Top Runner airs~~~

    Wednesdays 6am GMT-5 – if you recall… Top Runner had Yu a while back. Check back on it here.

    But yeah, on the J-MELO business… I emailed them once to thank them for the Miyavi introduction, as well as the Kobukuro one~~ And being the geek that I am, I sent a picture coz there was a field~ xD – I wonder if they ever read my email on the air… hahaha.

    Me at the J-MELO website gallery~

  • NHK’s Japan’s 100 Favorite Books

    Woah… my Japanese reading is most improved hahaha. I still suck at it, but not as badly. At least I sort of ‘get it’. Still can’t get the times though… is it 24hr time instead of PM, AM?

    Yu Aoi will be in the show/segment… whatever it is talking about her favorite book. 10min!! 8am – 13hr = 6pm?

    BS2　2月23日（月）8：00～8：10
    BSハイビジョン　2月23日　8：45～8：55／2月28日（土）7：45～8：35

    ?

    So, to catch those 10min you will have to tune in NHK on Sunday at 6pm GMT-5 – Then what’s BS HighVision? Another channel? Confused. haha.

    My Favorite Book, Japan’s 100 Favorite Books is listing a 100 people (including Yu’s)’s favorite books. Yu’s choice of book is Michio Hoshino’s essay 旅をする木 – if you can write Japanese (dunno if non-Japanese entries will be accepted), you can send them your favorite book!

    I dunno if I will be able to catch this… conflicts with my Oscar watch!

  • Rest of January, Half February Films~

    Last viewed films list before the Indie Spirit, and Oscar this weekend! I think I did pretty okay for a bit more than a month… you think?

    How’s YOUR movie watching?

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  • Yu Aoi Film Discussion – Guuzen nimo Saiaku na Shounen – Worst by Chance

    Decided to do this one already! Just to get going… this goes all the way back to… Before Hana & Alice? 2003! A lot of faces on this one… you might recognize many~

    About the film:
    A 2003 film directed by Su-yeon Gu about a high school student named Hidenori Kaneshiro (Hayato Ichihara) who lives in Tokyo as a Korean-Japanese, who gets bullied for being half-Korean despite being raised Japanese. Because of this, he’s developed a reckless answer to life’s problems by not caring about anything in the real world… except maybe his sister.

    Genre: Drama, Comedy
    Starring: Hayato Ichihara, Mika Nakashima, Shin Yazawa, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi
    Special appearances by: Akira Emoto, Rie Tomosaka, Yu Aoi, Kimiko Yo, Yoshinori Okada
    Duration: +1:50hr

    Below, the spoilers~

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  • My Life as a Soundtrack~

    I’ve got another list of songs for you~

    care to do yours too?? It’s the same business~

    1. grab your music player of choice (iPod, iTunes, Windows Media, etc)
    2. activate shuffle
    3. the song that plays for each category~~
    • Opening Credits
      East Village Opera Company – O Mio Babbino Caro Redux
      this actually has a nice intro for an opening sequence. I accept. ^^
    • Waking Up
      Matchbox Twenty – If You’re Gone
      kind of a downer song for waking up, no?
    • First Day At School
      Tegan and Sara – Back in Your Head
      this soundtrack has all the flare of a RomCom, no? Back in Your Head on the First Day at School
    • Falling In Love
      Gianmarco – Te Mentiria
      Again… I’m sure I’ve got something against love.
    • Fight Song
      The Futureheads – First Day
      this one has a nice energy for a fight sequence. trouble-maker amy!! Fights on the First Day.
    • Breaking Up
      Greenday – Homecoming / The Death Of St. Jimmy / East 12th St. / Nobody Likes You / Rock And Roll Girlfriend / We’re Coming Home Again
      hahaha, such an epic breaking up song~
    • Prom
      The Sunwater Diaries – Age Old Question
      Prom’s the Age Old Question? LOL – xD
    • Life’s OK
      Faith Hill – Dearly Beloved
      sounds like either a wedding, or a funeral… something church-y going on here.
    • Secret Love
      St. Vincent – Marry Me
      uh-oh. is that a request?
    • Mental Breakdown
      Greenday – Extraordinary Girl
      great… must have a mental breakdown to be an ‘extraordinary  girl’
    • Driving
      Melanie C – Protected
      … ‘coz me’s dangerous at the wheel? xD
    • Flashback
      Bjork – Innocence
      oh… falshback to my innocence? does that mean I’m not no more?
    • Getting Back Together
      Lauryn Hill – Can’t Take my Eyes Off of You
      *i love you baby!* xD
    • Wedding
      Anika Paris – It’s About
      what the…
    • Birth of Child
      Aqua – Barbie Girl
      oh, geez~~
    • Final Battle
      The Ark – Hey Modern Days
      final battle for modern days? xD
    • Death Scene
      Yugo Kanno – 暖簾を守る (Noren wo Mamoru) – Protect Reputation (Osen OST)
      Actually… kind of a nice song. LOL
    • Funeral Song
      Dixie Chicks – Baby Hold On
      ugh, break my heart already~~
    • End Credits
      Pink – Who Knew
      the end! who knew!! xD