Category: Japanese

  • Yu Aoi Film Discussion – Hana to ARISU – Hana & Alice

    First a little about the film:
    (from Wikipedia)
    Shot in 2004, by Shunji Iwai about two girls [Hana (Suzuki) and Alice (Aoi)], and the stress placed on their friendship as they move into high school.

    Genre: Dramedy (Drama/Comedy) [**NOTE: It’s a Drama with Comedy, so don’t expect huge laughs]
    Starring: Yu Aoi, Anne Suzuki
    Written and Directed by: Shunji Iwai
    Duration: +2hrs

    In case you’re interested, I invite you to catch the film at CrunchyRoll – because this post might contain spoilers xD, unless you want to be spoiled.

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  • Kyoto (The Old Capital) by Yasunari Kawabata

    Actually name of the book in Spanish is “Kioto,” but I can never get used to writing Kyoto with an “i” –  I don’t think I can write “Tokio” either, there’s just something odd for me…

    Anyway, I bought this book on Monday… short one, “The Old Capital,” it’s called in English, from the original Japanese title “Koto,” referring to Kyoto which was Japan’s capital back in the day~ xD – I bought this book because I’m superficial and buy books by their covers. LOL’ ~ I had seen a bunch of books in the store, and read a bunch of synopsis, but eventually returned them to the rack… but not this one, because I liked the cover. xD

    Written by writer from Osaka, Yasunari Kawabata, who won a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968 (First Japanese, and only?). In fact, this was one of the books mentioned (but I didn’t know this) … sadly, he killed himself 4 years later.

    Kyoto (sorry, can’t type it with an “i”) is a book about nothing. There’s no BOOM by the end of the story, but yet it is a surprisingly good read. You know? Like one of those films that is about a little about everything, but nothing at all? Just like that. But just so you know exactly… the back of the book says it’s about a 20-year-old girl named Chieko in Post-War Kyoto, daughter of a Kimono maker, who discovers she was an abandoned child, despite her ‘parents’ story. Then one day, she discovers something while attending one of the many festivities in the city.

    When I first began reading, I had a picture in my mind of how Chieko looked like (you may have an idea of who)~~ But then, I decided to look it up online, and found out that there was a made-for-tv-movie done for this, and OH SADNESS! I was kinda disappointed with the choice of Chieko~ T_T

    Though the Spanish translation seems good enough, it does lose some UMPH… and it makes me wonder how it would look with the use of Japanese Honorifics. I mean, they already used words such as geisha, and maiko… so why not keep the honorifics too? I think it would’ve been a better read…

    The book gets very nostalgic at points, there’s also some funny moments here and there, and there are parts that I don’t think I really got… which requires me to read it again. xD All in all, this book is a keeper~ and I want to check out other books by Kawabata.

  • Time to Discuss!

    I am currently watching and reviewing the DVD for Yu Aoi’s Tekkonkinkreet (which you can still catch on Cinemax Latin America on the 30th), and it got me thinking… I am er… fairly bored with Yu Aoi’s fandom discussion. I have found little to no people to discuss Yu Aoi Films (and other projects) with, which certainly makes me sad~~ I KNOW, photos are nice… magazine scans are too, but I need a little “meat” – after all, I was sort of a ‘film school’ student, so I need to discuss projects. I don’t need the latest movie news reporting about films, but it would be nice to discuss other films… you know ‘be active’ – case and point, I heard Natalie Portman has a fairly active fandom… I’m a lurker, and I enjoy reading.

    Anyway, I was thinking… I think I’m going to be ‘reviewing’ her films… at least the ones I’ve seen, maybe that will get me to watch some of the others I haven’t. I was thinking I should review those films based from the following criteria:

    • Overall Film
    • Yu Aoi Participation
    • Yu Aoi Performance
    • and maybe… Yu Aoi fave scene or sequence?

    Thoughts on that in the comments, and I’m off coz I remember I’ve got something to do HAHAHA – and I’ll be watching my er…  5th round of Hana and Alice on Saturday. I’m getting everyone to watch it…. hahaha, Shunji Iwai + Yu Aoi = pretty genius, non?

  • Osen OST Spotting?

    Last night I was surfing channels, and as I normally do when there’s nothing to watch on TV, I ended up on NHK. “Begin Japanology” was on (never seen it before), and they were showing how to make Dashi with some really thick seaweed, and with shavings of dried Bonito… which reminded me of Osen-san and the episode of the Katsuobushi. I will always laugh when remembering Osen-san physically assaulting the owner of the shop with the hard block of Katsuobushi… I’m telling you, priceless!

    Anyway, as the show went on, they showed the people that worked in the top kitchens in Kyoto, is in this sequence when a light tune begins playing. “I KNOW that TUNE!” I say~~ And I am 99% sure it was a track from the Osen OST because it’s one of my favorite pieces on the album…

    本物を見る目 (Honmono wo Mirume)
    Discerning Eye for the Genuine <- this is Amy’s translation
    and I don’t know if it’s correct, HA! But it will do~

    It’s track13 of 22, by Yugo Kanno.

    Does anybody know if it’s the track?

  • TOKYO! in Hawaii~~

    TOKYO! the 3-part-collaborative film by Joon-ho Bong, Leos Carax and Michel Gondry, has been (or will be) making rounds in theaters in Japan – I think. – And I won’t be able to watch this in a long~~~ LONG time, I’m pretty sure… but Hawaiian residents will be able to watch it at the Hawaii International Film Festival. [WTF? Louis Vuitton??] xD

    TOKYO! will be showing on:
    Saturday, Oct. 18th 2008 (obviously!) at 8 p.m. at Regal Dole Cannery.
    Sunday, Oct. 19th 2008 at 4.30 p.m. at Regal Dole Cannery.

    Get tickets, and check! Coz schedules could’ve changed during the time of this post and the day of showing~~

    If you are a Yu Aoi fan, and live in Hawaii… or don’t mind spending the airfare to Hawaii, LOL – Go for it! Yu Aoi is featured in the Joon-ho Bong (The Host) directed/written segment title Shaking Tokyo, about a man who stays in his apartment very much like a hermit, trying to isolate himself from society, until he meets a pizza delivery girl (Yu) and there’s an earthquake… apparently.

    TOKYO! - Shaking Tokyo - Yu Aoi
    Yu Aoi faints on Shaking Tokyo, part of TOKYO!

    Also making the rounds at the festival will be Kung Fu Kun (aka, Kung Fu Kid), which in itself isn’t much of a film I would watch… it is kinda funny at the beginning. However, it’s worth noting that there’s a small cameo with Juri Ueno! [click for some funny screencaps] ~ so if you’re a fan of Juri Ueno, you can get tickets for it for the festival!

  • Tartaruga Folding Bike!

    Tartaruga Folding BikeAmy WANTS. xD

    You know, ever since I was little, my mom used to say she will win the lottery. I remember she asked me what I would want when she won, and I told her “A bike.” – LOL, Am now 22, and I still haven’t gotten my bike… but I found a pretty nifty choice of bike, if my mom ever decides to win the lottery~~

    I was watching Cha no Aji (The Taste of Tea), and fell in love with the bike there. With a little googling about the net, I found what I was looking for~ Tartaruga-ew.com!

    Apparently the bike in the film is the Tartaruga Folding Bike v. 1.5 – Priced *only* at ¥139,650 – or just a little bit more than $1300USD (duh!) ~~ But apparently there’s a Tartaruga Folding Bike v. 1.55 ~

  • Amy’s Ramblings

    Random post of no fix topic ahead! Well, it’s been about a month or so since Olympics… and I’m kinda glad they’re over even if it brough thousands of hits, because… well, it also brough a lot of spam~ which sucks. So I’m kinda happy with the couple of hundreds that visit the site each day or so…

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  • MixTape – Japanese-a-Mix

    Just found Mixwit.com – Coolest $hit EVER. LOL’ Well, actually, can’t really say much about it YET… because I just discovered it 20min ago, but I already made my first tape and I already registered xD – at the moment it’s a nifty tool, but let’s just wait until it becomes popular and begins taking down songs. *knocks on wood*

    So my first tape! Japanese-a-Mix~~
    Enjoy!

    1. Miyavi – SELFISH LOVE
    2. Shiina Ringo – Konoyo no Kagiri – Limits of this World
    3. Salyu – Arabesuku (Arabesque)
    4. Miyavi – Aishiteru kara Hajimeyo
    5. Kobukuro – Yell
    6. Shiina Ringo – Identity
    7. Salyu – Yoru no Umi Tooi Deai ni – Night Meeting in the Distant Sea
    8. miyavi – Kimi ni Negai wo
    9. Shiina Ringo – jazz a go go

  • Subtitles Vs. Fansubs

    The amount of films that are not in a language I can speak have increased at least 90% this year… thanks to the internet of course, otherwise I will be waiting for them to either arrive at the cinema, hit the small screen on satellite or cable, or just by finding some Region 1 distributor… but none of that!

    Anyway, because of this reason, I have been focusing a lot on subtitles, and I finally have 3 films that I saw with fansubs and now I watched with the subtitles on the dvd. And the results are in… 3-0 in favor of fansubbing.

    It’s not because the subtitles on the dvd are bad… they just lack on something. A little UMPH… a little personality… a little common sense?

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  • Osen-san Will Keep on Going…

    OsenBut she made me cry. LOL’ What started as a funny (almost goofy) ride about yummy-looking food from Isshouan, ended up as something that made me cry xD No? Weren’t the last two episodes of Osen so nostalgic?

    Maybe it is because my family owns a restaurant as well… and I’m so not-very-much like Osen-san T-T Sadness, NE?

    But I do! I do appreciate GOOD food! I appreciate good everything… taking the time to do something~ I do with design… I may not be the Osen-san of design, but I worry for it… and am scared of ‘the times’.

    Because now I have to compete with $100 websites, and have to convince and fight for a client that websites are only for them. Okay, I may not call a button “Button-san,” and I certainly can’t drink as much Sake as Osen… and oh yeah, did I mention I can’t cook to save my life? LOL’ But I treat each of my projects like an Isshouan dish~ With time, and dedication.

    In the end, is all about learning… connecting, and passing it on. Please, don’t let good things go by just because other things seem more convenient. Hontou onegai shimasu. *bows*