Category: Japanese

  • Ueno on Acting, LF, Love + Marriage

    Juri Ueno - Nikkei Entertainment MagazineAwww, Juri-chan! I was reading a post over at the boards, and found that Yuuki provided a link to an English-translated  Juri Ueno interview for the latest issue of Nikkei Entertainment Magazine. Juri can be so charismatic~~ LOL’ but apparently it only works on girls. Let’s face it, girls~~~ Boys or most of boys have RUBBISH taste in women… case and point all those guy magazines, such as FHM. Here’s the chart~

    Juri Ueno - Boy and Girl Charts

    It’s a really insightful interview in which she discusses her latest film (GuGu), her acting in Nodame, Last Friends~ Here are some quotes;

    “Rather than films, I grew up watching variety shows most of the time (laughs). Refining or adorning myself, I still don’t have much interest in that area. But in this era, the scope of what being ‘an actress’ is have widened greatly haven’t they? In the olden days, being an actress means you have to be beautiful and ladylike else it won’t be possible. Now, there are even roles like Nodame, and because of that, even someone like me is able to be one (laughs).

    […]

    Being married probably won’t effect my focus towards work but at the moment the image of being alone is stronger. […]

    Scans and complete article translation, here. ^^

  • 2008 Films Seen This Past Month

    Trying to figure out a better way to keep updated with films I watch, some are not on Flixster or IMDb, which makes it hard to figure out which ones I’ve seen by the end of the month.
    —
    Wow, a month already~ This post began Aug. 10th xD just because I couldn’t find some of the short films, ha! It’s a really not so fun way to keep track of films…

    Anyway! I know I don’t blog DVDs, so I’m gonna do now! Can’t really remember which was the last DVD post I made of DVDs that I’ve bought, so these are the films in my last buy~~ which hasn’t arrived yet.

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  • Some Teasin’ from Hayato Ichihara

    hayato-ichihara-personal-photobook

    So… Hayato Ichihara also has a Photobook of his own. It came out in 2006 and it features photos by Yoshiaki Sugiyama of a 19-year-old Hayato… there’s even an image reminding us of his debut of All About Lily Chou Chou (in which he shared the screen with Yu Aoi)~~

    Well, you can get his Photobook in here:
    beNippon.com [minimum shipping $8 I think…]
    YesAsia.com [free shipping when reaching $90 for International orders, and cheaper for US, Canada, etc]

    The book features 90+ pages of Hayato being silly, included rabbit costume photos (like the one on the cover), making faces with an oba-chan, and even a naked butt…. LOL’

    But don’t worry, it’s not only fun and games~~ there’s also some artistic shots of Hayato wearing his traditional Japanese clothing, some with a tux, and some very cool black and white shots. And I will be posting a teasing image… no, it’s not the butt. It’s a really nice shot of Hayato in Japanese outfit running up a stony set of stairs~~~

    Hayato Ichihara - Personal Photo Book Scan

    As with Yu’s Travel Sand scan, I’ve added some photo and PB credits~~ It’s a wallpaper sized 1680x1050px, there’s also a more ‘squarer’ version of it (fullscreen one sized 1280×1024) if you are interested. Just leave a comment either here or Flickr.

  • Cinemax Latin America – Tekkonkinkreet and Yu Aoi!

    What are the chances… really~~~ to become a fan of Juri Ueno and having the chance to watch Swing Girls at Centro Cultural Peruano Japones???

    And now, what were the chances of watching Tekkonkinkreet not long ago… buying it online just a couple of days ago, and learning that it will be playing all throughout September on Cinemax Latin America??? So rejoice television surfers~~~ the zapping will end when being able to watch this, ‘coz it’s totally worth your viewing. Plus, it’s Yu Aoi… once you know Yu, her voice is very recognizable. Here’s what the Cinemax-LA website says about the film….

    En la Ciudad del Tesoro, donde la luna sonríe y los niños pueden volar, la vida puede ser tan apacible como brutal. Allí dos huérfanos tratan de sobrevivir, mientras intentan proteger a sus habitantes de la mafia yakuza.

    The two orphans, named Kuro (Black) and Shiro (White), make perfect compliments. Amy loves herself some compliments because it reminds her of symbols, and Amy loves symbols… for OBVIOUS reasons. xD Okay, maybe not so obvious… but whatever, that’s why they’re called “symbols” because they’re not obvious. LOL’

    Anyway, knock yourselves out~~~ Here are the times for Cinemax Este and Cinemax Oeste – If you don’t have anything fancy (meaning just Cable Magico) you have Cinemax Oeste.

    Cinemax-E 11:15 Sab 30/8/2008 | Cinemax-O 13:15 Sab 30/8/2008
    Cinemax-E 15:45 Jue 4/9/2008     | Cinemax-O 17:45 Jue 4/9/2008
    Cinemax-E 17:30 Vie 12/9/2008 | Cinemax-O 19:30 Vie 12/9/2008
    Cinemax-E 14:15 Lun 15/9/2008 | Cinemax-O 16:15 Lun 15/9/2008
    Cinemax-E 07:15 Dom 21/9/2008 | Cinemax-O 09:15 Dom 21/9/2008
    Cinemax-E 14:00 Jue 25/9/2008 | Cinemax-O 16:00 Jue 25/9/2008
    Cinemax-E 11:00 Mar 30/9/2008 | Cinemax-O 13:00 Mar 30/9/2008

    Oh yeah, they are also showing (more…)

  • People Love’em some Juri!

    Kobe Collection - Juri Ueno - Aug 2008xD Oh yesh, they do~~~

    Now that Olympics are over, I can slowly return to my current obsessions… so I stopped by the forums, and *le gasp!* How did I not find out about this sooner????

    Juri-chan won Best Supporting Actress at the 57th Japanese Drama Academy Awards.

    YAY! GO FOR JURI! OMEDETTO GOZAIMASU!!! ^+^~~

    Also, seems like Last Friends swept awards by winning Best Supporting Actor for Ryo Nishikido (WTF? I need some Eita lovin’), Best Directors, Best Script, Best Drama, and BEST THEME SONG~~~

    Go Utada Hikaru!!! Hope you have a fun party with Kuma-chan xD

    You can read a little bit more about the results in the Juri Ueno Live Journal Community. They also have the awesome photos of Juri’s last public apperance at the Kobe Collection, which happened yesterday in Japan… just click over here.

  • Juri Ueno – A Piacere by Kentaro Shibuya – WANIBOOKS

    3 of 3!

    This time with lovely Juri Ueno~~ Rocking photos by Kentaro Shibuya. First time i find a portfolio online…

    Anyway, as the name suggests… A Piacere, is a pleasure… a delight. It’s got 50+ photographs of Juri-chan visiting Kodaira (Tokyo), Okinawa, Yokohama and Ebisu (Tokyo). Moreover, Juri’s photobook is western. LOL’ It begins from the left to right like any regular books you buy in America or Europe, and there’s a lot of easy-to-read info (like the cities, and people involved names).

    Juri Ueno - A Piacere

    PLUS, there’s an interview with Juri and Kentaro Shibuya. I didn’t get much of what was going on… since they didn’t talk much about food (and the interview is in Japanese), and food talk in Japanese is what I’ve been practicing. But they did talk about Juri’s musical projects, relating it to some of the photos of Juri playing the guitar. So a little bit of Swing Girls talk, then some of Nodame Cantabile… and they even get to talk a little bit about Niji no Megami (Rainbow Song)…

    If you doubt whether to get this or not, photos are REALLY worth having, many of them have a natural lighting style that remind me of some Mario Testino photographs. Anyway… some photos of the photos ahead!! You know the drill!

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  • Yu Aoi – Kaiten TEBURU wa Mutsukashii by Ivy Chen – Media Factory

    #2 of my 3-part order!

    Yu Aoi - Kaiten TABURU wa Mutsukashii

    Now, don’t ask me what the name of the book means because I haven’t the faintest idea. From what I could find out is something about a Rotating Table… which kinda makes sense ‘coz of the food rotating tables, and the whole food take on this book. And apparently, Mutsukashii means ‘difficult’ – a title that makes no sense to me xD…. Difficult Rotating Table?? xD

    If I read correctly… photos taken by Ivy Chen, who apparently was the on-set photographer in Yu Aoi’s participating films All About Lily Chou Chou, as well as Hana and Alice.

    This time around, Yu goes to Taipei (Taiwan) for a full-on Foodie trip. Yup, that’s right… if I thought her Travel Sand, and Dandelion photobooks talked a lot about food~~ well, I read a lot more food paragraphs and saw a whole more food photos on this one. There’s also a WHOLE lot more text, which would be ubber cool if I could properly read. LOL I read… I tried to read. I swear~~

    Also… I was ‘reading’ and noticed Peru. Can someone help out? Plus, I’m looking for a reliable Japanese translator to have on call for projects (maybe even paid) ~~ So it’ll be good if you can drop a line~~ Here’s the text, I hope I typed correctly~~

    フィアンセ　の　”ペルー”　を　呼んで、　みんあ で ご飯  を　食べた時　は、　幸せな　気持ち に なりました。

    Sorry, don’t wanna transcribe everything, takes me too much time. LOL So, does it say something like Ivy Chen’s fiancee is from Peru? And that they were calling out for lunch time, and that they’re happy? LOL Just wanna make clear, coz I get giddy each time I read Peru in something not remotely Peruvian.

    Who else thinks Yu Aoi should visit Peru for some Foodie trip??? Anyway, photos of the photos ahead!

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  • Yu Aoi – Dandelion by Yoko Takahashi – rockin’ on

    Sorry that I didn’t post last night! Olympic fever is madness~~~ My YesAsia order arrived yesterday! Sugoi NE! Photobook Fever at its MAX~~~~~ I devoured Dandelion, you wouldn’t believe it. I saw the photos, swooned over many of them, and went mad with super concentration to try to read. Because, as you know, Amy doesn’t read Japanese.

    Yu Aoi - Dandelion Photobook

    Photos of the photos ahead! Like before, I doubt I will be posting scans… support Yu, people! ^^

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  • Gake no Ue no PONYO on Top of the Japanese Box Office!

    Just read over at Lunapark6 that the newest animated adventure by re-known Hayao Miyazaki, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, has taken the #1 spot in the Japanese Box Office, and some are even predicting it might surpass Miyazaki’s Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away).

    Check out this Cinencuentro post on the film. And if you fancy singing of the song in the trailer~~~ here’s a direct link to the lyrics in Japanese, Romaji and translated English.

  • Kiraware Matsuko no Issho on Region 1?

    Oh yeah! God is grand!

    Nippon Cinema updates saying Memories of Matsuko will be coming! Once again~~~ The UK distributor Third Window Films has it listed in its website.

    COMING TO CINEMAS IN THE UK ON JUNE 13TH, 2008
    OUT ON DVD IN LATE SEPTEMBER 2008

    Now… will that be only a Region 2, or will they be my salvation and released a Region 1??? xD Please kamisama, let it be a Region 1~~~~ xD

    Also on other Matsuko news~~~~

    Memories of Matsuko, Kamikaze Girls and Dasepo Naughty Girls will all be playing at the Cube Cinema in Bristol during August.

    Memories of Matsuko will be having a one-off screening at the Curzon cinema in Clevedon on the 31st of August as a part of it’s film club.

    *EDIT* I just got an email back saying they will only release this on Region 2 PAL, in January. BUMMER.