Category: Books

  • Yu Aoi – Portugirl by Yoko Takahashi – Kodansha

    Yu with braces!!!

    Ok… moving on~~ Portugirl is in my hands!! Or actually, on my desk now, otherwise I wouldn’t be typing. HMV Japan is pretty good~ even though they delayed my order, they sent it 5 days ago and it’s here already! And considering I don’t get Free Shipping with YesAsia anymore… also noticed? Prices are higher in YesAsia now, for example Portugirl would have cost $20ish bucks more with them. Should you be doing YesAsia now?

    Anyway! Here it is!!!

    Yu Aoi - Portugirl

    Proper fan-ish review, after the break~~~ For a ‘pro’ review, you’ll have to wait. LOL

    (more…)

  • Ike-chan and Me in Theaters this June!

    Yu’s site says her new film, Ike-chan to Boku, will be released this June 20 in theaters in Japan. Yes, I still haven’t seen TOKYO!, One Million Yen Girl is still NOT subbed, Osen is NOT on DVD, and Camouflage is still not done subbing either… BUT Yu’s got more new work on the way.

    Synopsis sounds SAD! Check this over at Nippon Cinema~

    For as long as he can remember, Yoshio (Arashi Fukazawa) has had a mysterious blob-like companion named Ike-chan (Aoi) watching over him. When Ike-chan is happy, she multiples; when she’s troubled, she shrinks; and when he becomes friendly with girls she turns red and starts getting angry. Throughout their time together Ike-chan sticks up for Yoshio when he’s bullied, and the two of them fight when she becomes too smothering for his liking. Then one day when Yoshio is older and has experienced his first love, Ike-chan vanishes from his sight.

    T.T reminds me of Winnieh the Pooh. Anyway, Nippon Cinema’s got a teaser, the one-sheet and a little more info on the book it’s based on.

    Also~~ Yu’s voice is only feature, and she’s a blob. LOL’ Not sure about the blob on the movie, but illustration looks super cute. Anyway, Yu has proven she’s good voice acting, though this role feels like its very soft unlike her voice acting in Tekkon~~ just saying. xP

    Here’s the Japanese website… and the trailer with subs~~ weird subs, but subs. Any Yu Aoi subs are appreciated~~

    [iframe width=”480″ height=”390″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/WWoIEtqYAGM?rel=0″]

  • Easter YAM! YAM Issue 003, that Is…

    I just posted YAM 003 over at my portfolio~~

    There’s a lot of international flavor in it… all by chance actually. It really wasn’t planned, it all just came together like that. There’s a couple of rant articles on movies and music, loads of reviews including complete non-fanatical reviews of Ao Akua, Utada Hikaru, DBSK, Hathaways, U2, Madeleine Peyroux, and Michel Gondry/Bong Joon-ho’s Yu Aoi’s Tokyo!

    ALSO! A special on the Peruvian film winning the Berlinale’s Golden Bear top prize~~ The Milk of Sorrow, and some of the discussion regarding the original name “La Teta Asustada”.

    YAM - Issue 3

    Head over there now!

  • Remembering Harmony

    I was looking for some photographs on my backups, and ran into this piece – which I had uploaded to DeviantArt before it was taken down by them. SUCKY. – Anyway, this wallpaper/fanart… though some weird color (which I named ‘acid’ and was feature on my blog back in the day…) is one of my favorite Harmony fanart.

    So I thought I’d share this… loved Harmony back in PoA. Best Harmony. By the way, have you guys seen the HP6 trailer? I promised I won’t go to the theater or dish my money to JK, but that trailer I saw gave me a fuzzy feeling *sighs* reminded me of Harmony coincidentally~~~

    Enjoy,

    Harry Potter - H+Hr - Harmony - Their Looks

  • 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.

    (more…)

  • Yu Aoi + Yoko Takahashi = Portugirl!!!!

    OMGOGMOGMGGMOMOGMG. I just died of excitement. *laughs*

    I haven’t been to Yu Aoi’s website in a while, and not only did I find a new ‘news item’ but also a new ‘message’ – they were announcing the release of Portugirl!! Yu’s NEW PHOTOBOOK!!!!!

    OMG, I’m so frakin’ BROKE. =.=

    Yu Aoi x Yoko Takahashi - Portugirl Photobook

    And  the PB just went on sale on Saturday… according to the website. March 14th ~ which is NOT TODAY anymore. However, the Amazon.co.jp link I found shows the ‘pre-order’ button, instead of the ‘add to cart’ – not like I’m buying through Amazon *laughs* but just something to point out.  Also~~~ HMV Japan has it listed with another title.

    Should I test HMV and not wait for YesAsia to list it? I have $5 off my next YesAsia purchase, but that could expire before the book shows up there~~~

    Anyway!!! Best thing ever~~~ Yu’s back with Yoko *laughs* – to quote Yu on Travel Sand. I LOVE Yoko-san’s world. ALSO… when did Yu got time to visit Portugal??? Yo, girl~~ I’m telling you… you should totally visit this side of the world, and I’m not talking about Venezuela or any of the Guyanas xD

  • 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!

  • Wow wow wow~~

    Can’t believe it’s almost like >this< to the end of the year on this side of the world… and even less time on the other side of the world. Actually, by the time I wake up again, it will be 2009 on that side of the world most likely.

    Oh, the memories… how time flies by. What have I done? I feel I’ve done so very little…

    One oft he few things I feel I’ve done is YAM [help yourself to some leftover YAM] – and I would like to continue with that. As a special something, this is a little of what we talked on the issue.

    Let the Right One In, the Swedish film… which is probably MY favorite film of the year. Though, I saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button last night and WHOA. Blew me away… but that’s not on YAM. LOL – What’s on YAM? There are also reviews on Blindness, Slumdog Millionaire, and Twilight. Yes, Julyssa decided to review Twilight for us… how brave of her! xD – And yes, please? Go watch Slumdog Millionaire (or Benjamin Button) at least once, instead of watching Twilight for the 20th time… just like Lainey says.

    I also reviewed music… Britney’s comeback Circus, Marit Larsen, Guns N’ Roses, Taylor Swift and DBSK. There are music, film and tv news… also a review on Season 3 of Dexter. PLUS! There’s more! Book reviews!! One of them features Yu!

    Yeah! For Frak’s sake~~ I’m doing what others are ‘afraid’ to do. I’m mixing West and Asian entertainment. LOL’ Not ONLY the stuff that makes it here… but also the stuff that doesn’t, but should~~ So be sure to know that I’ll be reviewing music from all sides of the world, films from everywhere… and maybe even series~~

    So please do! DO READ YAM! And link a post there so more people can read YAM.

    Happy New 2009. Much success to everyone!

  • It’s Xmas, and I’m already late~~

    , but need to share this. LOL’

    yam001_dec08-cover

    Thank you, Nate… for poking my eyes on the voodoo dolls you’ve got stash away. Yes, we’ve done YAM. Please, help yourself to some YAM for Xmas over here…

    Hope you enjoy.

  • Would You…?

    Chuck out +$150 for a PB? LOL

    I just got some PB news, which I will talk in a minute. That made me wonder if Aoi Miyazaki had any PBs, so I went to YesAsia to look it up. Amazon.co.jp has it also listed, and at +$115 … will Shipping get u from behind though?

    Anyway, just read the Juri Ueno, who is planning to release a trip/photobook-y DVD called AO AKUA (YesAsia – Amazon.co.jp) this coming January, will also be releasing a companion PB with the same name. PB will include photos, illustrations and messages written by Juri, who apparently also worked a bit with the designers and had her say in layout, typesetting, and a lot of work. Makes me giddy that Juri did it. LOL

    Also… I found this. LOL