Category: Japanese

  • Camouflage – Aoi Yu x Yottsu no Uso – Chapter 1

    Jinseitte Uso Mitai, or Life is like a Lie, is the first 3-episode-chapter of the Yu Aoi WOWOW drama Camouflage (previously known as Aoi Yu x 4 Lies) which aired at the beginning of the year, and it’s already on DVD. Finally saw! WEEEE – I waited… what, 6 months??? And still haven’t finished ‘coz no one is translating, and my translator bailed on me… dunno where he is.

    So I re-watched the three episodes last night, though the 3rd episode only had subs in the story and not on the introductions (in which the director and writer explain a bit), and the ending (where the photographer shows and explains the photos taken), so kinda missed some of the episode.

    Anyway…

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  • La Bailarina de Izu (The Dancing Girl of Izu) by Yasunari Kawabata

    la-bailarina-de-izu-kawabata

    Also known as Izu no Odoriko, or The Izu Dancer is the first published work (1926) to achieve popularity and acclaimed by Yasunari Kawabata. The book, very much like Kyoto, is about nothing at all… in fact, this is just a compilation of stories put together.

    The first one, which gives the name to the book is one of the few interesting ones, as well as Diario de mi Decimosexto Año that tells some of the moments of Kawabata’s dying grandfather. Some other stories I liked were La Princesa del Palacio Dragón, El Camino de Monedas, and Una Oración en Lengua Materna.

    Despite that, the just over 200-page book seemed to be a very long and slow book, compared to the reading time it took me to finish Kyoto. If you are a fan of Yasunari Kawabata’s writing about a time and a place and the people, you might enjoy this compilation of stories. If you’re looking for an introduction to him, or an epic tale about Japan… you might want to skip this one.

  • Dango San Kyou Dai

    When I watched Memories of Matsuko, there was one scene when Matsuko’s life was already going to the gutters, she was lying on the garbage bags, and she was watching TV. I immediately recognized the song as an Okaasan to Issho song… today I decided to look for it, and found it!

    Okaasan to Issho 1999 song, at first I thought it was a Takoyaki Mambo song, but I was lucky enough to find it on a website listing all the songs. Video and Romaji after the break!
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  • Yu Aoi Film Discussion – Nanako to Nanao – TV Movie

    I was gonna apologize for not getting the time to write a new review, luckily I found that this reviewed followed next. Yay! xD

    Nanako to Nanao – Ane to Otouto ni Nareru Hi

    I have no idea where to put this since it’s not a film, but it’s also not a series. Sure it is, for some reason, labeled as a TV show or series… but no. It’s a TV movie, people. What is the difference between a film/movie and a TV movie, you say? Well, first it’s medium… then it’s budget and resources. In the end, you can almost always tell the difference between one and the other.

    What’s this TV movie about?
    Well… let’s see~ It’s a 2004 NHK Made-for-TV-Film about a high school girl named Nanako (Yu Aoi), who is often labeled as weird and anti-social due to trust issues with people caused by the betrayal she feels her dad committed. Seven years after his death, Nanako is thrown into the unusual situation to cohabit with her half-brother, Nanao (Yuri Chinen).

    Genre: Drama… kinda cute, but drama.
    Starring: Yu Aoi, Yuri Chinen
    Duration: 1:15hr

    Spoilers ahead, you’ve been warned.

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  • Please, scanlate Osen!!

    Over this past weekend, I decided to look for the Osen manga again… I had tried times before, but ended up in nothing. However, this past weekend… THIS PAST WEEKEND! I found a group that are scanlating Osen!

    Thank you Kotonoha!

    Osen is a 12 volume (and ongoing) manga series, which gave way to Yu Aoi’s Osen NTV adaptation this year. And I liked the series, so I wanted to read the manga… Kotonoha has only uploaded the first two chapters of the first volume, but I am already liking it. MangaOsen is different to JDramaOsen… at first I had an issue with how skanky MangaOsen looked on the cover, but she already has me after the 2nd chapter xD

    So I am hoping they continue releasing scanlations for this one, because I wanna continue reading.

  • Top Runner: Yu Aoi

    Ok… YouTube sucks. The video I was looking for says “deleleted by user” – it is most likely YouTube told the user to remove the video. Though, there is a slight possibility that the user removed it himself… less likely, but still possible~

    Anyway, in the case anyone was wondering. It was a 3-part-video of Yu Aoi being followed around for some time (a month maybe?), and they showed two photos of when Yu Aoi was little (one in a tutu, and the other sitting in a classroom), they also showed her in a video store (renting or buying?) looking for dvds, and they showed a whole bit on the making of Hula Girls… even showing the part when Yu re-shot her solo dancing sequence. Other bits of footage showed Yu studying, something about driving, and something related to the death of her grandmother (or another relative?), which made her a bit emotional on camera.

    You have any ideas on what show it is? and the link??? Please, leave a message. For the time being, I will leave you with this interview from the NHK talk show, Top Runner from when Yu was 19 years old (2004?) after the break.

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  • One Million Yen Girl Trailer~

    Crap! YouTube sucks… still can’t fin the video so this will have to do for ‘multiple post day’ –

    This film made its round in theaters this year (2008), just right before TOKYO! – and it’s coming out on DVD soon… if I recall correctly, this coming January 2009 (you can preorder on Amazon.co.jp, and YesAsia), though I doubt it will be subtitled. xx But here’s to hope!

    In the meantime, enjoy the trailer.

    [iframe width=”480″ height=”390″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/SrfmL36G84k”]

  • MTV: Yu Aoi + Yoko Takahashi

    Found this MTV – inside: Yu Aoi, that they probably aired for the release of Dandelion back in 2007 with photographer Yoko Takahashi (aka. Yoko-san) who photographed Yu on Travel Sand (USA, and a bit of Mexico) and Dandelion (Russia).

    No subs, does anybody know what they are talking throughout all the video? After the break~

    — June 18th 2009 EDIT —

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  • DoCoMo – Yu Aoi + Eita

    LOL’ Today is multiple post day! I was looking for something else, but ended up finding other stuff as well (haven’t found what I was looking for just yet) – I wanted to share this DoCoMo commercial with Yu Aoi and Eita, kinda cute~ xD

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  • Atsu-Hime – Aoi Miyazaki and Eita luvin’

    I am just about to watch episode 8, but I just had to mention Aoi Miyazaki on episode 1. You all must see her on this scene at school (for boys), pretending to be a boy… and I mean, can you believe? Aoi Miyazaki and Eita playing kiddos? Bizarre concept idea… and it doesn’t always work, but there ARE cases. You’d know that if you ever saw El Chavo del 8.

    Atsu-Hime - Aoi Miyazaki
    Aoi Miyazaki as Okatsu (later known as Atsu-Hime) getting Naogoro (Eita) out of a lecture by her father.

    Grownups playing little kids, you can see the are grownups, but their acting totally works. This is the case…