Category: Reading

  • Project China 2009

    Take that Revista Integracion *laughs*

    project-china-2009

    Anyway, turns out the Swedes have been doing this thing called Project China for a few years now. This year they have made a 148-page-downloadable book called “31 days of Watching China Change,” which is a far better read than anything Revista Integracion can come up with.

    They talk about Economics, and how the financial crisis has affected China and its people way of thinking. They also talk about the environmental impact of the crisis in the country and overall life.

    You can download the PDF from the Project China website.

    Design is a bit dull though…

  • Al Sur de la Frontera, al Oeste del Sol by Haruki Murakami

    haruki-murakami-sur-frontera-oeste-solOtherwise known in English as “South of the Border, West of the Sun,” it tells the story of Hajime who meets with a childhood friend he hasn’t met in the last 25 years. Her name is Shimamoto, and Hajime is contemplating leaving his wife and daughters to be with her.

    To be really honest, when I was reading 20-year-old-Hajime, I felt I was reading myself. Except I’m not a dude. But I did feel that way. Actually, I could also relate with the fact that he was an only child. The way his head worked, his personality… it reminded me of me.

    However, unlike Hajime… I think ahead. LOL — I really didn’t know whether to shout at him, or roll my eyes when he began cheating on Izumi. But I’m also forced to admit that I was actually hoping he would get together with Shimamoto, and I actually had to stop reading the two last chapters because I was feeling his desperation. She is never coming back, and she’s trying to erase everything that will remind you of her.

    I wanted to know what was up with Shimamoto, I was expecting a big revelation, instead I got a bucket of cold water.

    Other than that reading experience? My moral compass (do I really have one? After all, people have already called me a Fascist) tells me that Shimamoto was wrong, but as she explains… she couldn’t help herself. She had to see him, and she had to talk to him. I wonder if the book would be as “popular” if it were written in the perspective of a woman going about her teens cheating on her boyfriend with his cousin, and then cheating on her husband with her childhood crush.

    I love to hate or hate to love that last chapter on the emptiness. 4/5

  • Un Grito de Amor Desde el Centro del Mundo by Kyoichi Katayama

    kyoichi-katayama-un-grito-de-amor-desde-el-centro-del-mundoSo this month I bought a whole (and I mean like half a dozen) books because I felt like I had been spending all my money on music and movies, and had stopped reading. To be honest, I was beginning to feel like I was being a little ignorant on everything that had to do with books xD

    So I grabbed everything Asian I could find on the shelf, including this Alfaguara Spanish translation of Crying Out Love, In the Center of the World (aka Socrates in Love, aka SEKACHU in short Katakana xD) by Kyoichi Katayama. The book sprang a manga series, as well as a film (starring Masami Nagasawa, Mirai Moriyama and Kou Shibasaki), and a TV drama… as well as other Asian remakes, namely Korean. xD

    The book is about the tragic young love of Sakutaro and Aki, and it was apparently very well-received by the public in Japan because of its theme. The Spanish translation is a bit idiotic, some of the words used are very Mexican in use, so I didn’t really know what it meant. The story is super short, but it expands a long period of time so the story feels rushed and characters are barely examined.

    For example, I’m not really sure why should I care much for Aki, other than Sakutaro having a crush (or being in love with her), I am led to believe she is good nature, a good student, shy, and a regular kawaii girl, but I’ve no idea what makes her tick, what are her passions. I don’t relate to her… or him. I know he cares for her, I also know he contemplated getting under her panties or wanted to touch her. I know they are supposed to have developed a deep friendship, but it’s not on the book. I know people begin to see them as one, and I’m a sucker for this type of relationships, but it’s not on the book.

    If I want to see sweet tragic love, I’ll get Sweet November (though, I haven’t read the book), but the movie starring Charlize Theron and Keanu Reeves (though badly received by critics) made me so sad.

    2/5

  • Deconstructing Revista Integracion

    Since I liked working on the BOUND magazine post, I decided to do one on the Revista Integracion issue, which I saw this past weekend. I’ve always been a little pissed at this magazine ever since that cover with Zhang Ziyi with the info “cover: Gong Li” or was is it the other way around? Can’t even remember now, it was so long ago. The thing was it felt like “all Chinese are the same, even for the Chinese working on this magazine.” LOL Plus, who the FUCK confuses Zhang Ziyi with Gong Li????

    Integración is the local magazine, formerly known as Revista Oriental, done by the Peruvian/Chinese association… obviously to integrate the Asian community.

    Only, there couldn’t be more ass-licking in a magazine like there is on this one. Trust me, the magazine is 98% photos of them and their events, than actual articles talking about Asian issues in economics, cultural or even entertainment. I’m sure as hell I haven’t ever read a review of The Curse of the Golden Flower when it opened in the city. I’m sure as hell that they didn’t mentioned that the Lima Film Festival was showing Wong Kar-Wai films in some of their events.

    The bigger your stake in the magazine, the bigger the ass-lick you’ll get. Meaning, the bigger your photo will be. Trust me.

    And maybe one or two pages on Korean and Japanese? Integration, my yellow ass.

    Well, now that I’ve rant about content quality of the magazine, let’s talk design, shall we?

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  • 1434 by Gavin Menzies

    1434 by Gavin MenziesI was browsing books at the local bookstore (weeks ago) and picked up a copy of Gavin Menzies’ book 1434 in Spanish, well because it’s hard to look away with a caption like “The Year a Chinese Fleet reached Italy and started the Renaissance.” I’m not a book reader, I’m not a historian, and I’ve learnt to take everything I read or hear or see (documentaries) with a grain of salt… even more so when my sources tell me “they are free and independent” because I know how the media works. I hate journalists, and I hate news reporters…

    To be honest, I’m very likely to believe things written on this book, because at this point in time I have a very deep dislike with everything dealing with the West.

    You gotta admit that’s a pretty bold statement, and it is interesting. If you think Menzies is full of shit for saying this, what makes you think anything written anywhere else is true? Take my school days as example. When I was around 13, we used to have a Chinese Culture class where we learned about Chinese geography, a bit of history, folk tales. In this class we learned about The 4 Great Chinese Inventions. Later the same week, we would get History class on universal history, where they would tell us Gutenberg invented Printing. So, what the fuck. What gives?

    So should I believe one or the other? Why should I believe one over the other? This is all I have to say after reading a lot of hate towards 1421 (Menzies’ first book).

    Fact is, there are some similarities between indigenous people in Peru and across the Altiplano, and the Amazon, and minorities in China, Taiwan and all across South East Asia. And you didn’t have to read the book to notice that, you only need to watch the news, and documentaries to see their cultures, rituals and physical traits.

    On the book itself… it’s a pretty messy read. Like a experimental film edited to jump back and forth, only in written form. Book could’ve been shorter and more straight to the point, instead of musing over Menzies activities. I don’t fucking care if you were a sailor, or if you went with your family to the DaVinci’s exhibits around the world. LOL

    The illustrations and other image inserts is also a mess. I hate it and makes the book very amateur, but I think all these books suffer from the same crap. Cheap design. After all, it’s all about content, right? Whatever.

    Rating: 3/5

  • Early YAM006!

    So I wanted to make some time to work on those subtitles I was supposed to work on, and today is October 8th! So it’s perfect to release YAMM006, even if we are a little ahead.

    yam006_Oct09

    Thanks to Julz for working so hard on the cover story, and all those reviews. ^^

    On this  issue we review a lot of stuff, including Inglourious Basterds, Honokaa Boy, Mother, Treeless Mountain, Big Bang, G-Dragon, Arashi, BackStreet Boys, Imogen Heap, Olafur Arnalds, Chang Shilei, Juri Ueno and the Five Bags, Mad Men… Cusco Bizarro – and we even talk a bit about Glee, Dexter and House~~~

    So head over here~~~

  • Deconstructing BOUND

    BOUND is…

    … lifestyle monthly with content drawn from around the globe. With the tag line “Different culture, same lifestyle”, BOUND will target female readers with in-depth features, celebrity interviews, travel editorial, fashion and lifestyle news.

    or… a Lesbian magazine targeted for everyone. Or that’s what I understood from the Examiner.com ~
    Or… really, another glossy.

    bound-dec09-brand

    Hot pink bubble, mine. LOL
    Well, typography treatment is not exactly the same, eh?

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  • New Studio Ghibli Film: Taketori Monogatari

    !!!

    Studi Ghibli

    Just browsed through NHK, and Miyazaki Hayao was there, so I went online to look it up of course. I needed to know why he was gracing my TV screen~~~ xD

    Director Isao Takahata, who co-founded Studio Ghibli with Hayao Miyazaki, has revealed that he will be directing his first feature-length flick since 1999’s My Neighbors the Yamadas. Takahata, who also wrote and directed the tear-jerker Grave of the Fireflies, will be taking on the classic folktale The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, or Taketori Monogatari.

    via Cinematical.

    Grave of the Fireflies is my all time FAVEEEEEE animated film. You will only not cry and feel sad watching this, ONLY ONLY if you’re not human. LOL

    Also! There’s more!!! Miyazaki will be working on two new animated films!!!

  • Multilanguage Winnie the Pooh~

    Continuing with the Multilanguage dubbing~~~
    Something reminded me of Winnie the Pooh,
    and I ended up finding a bunch of clips in different languages.

    My big cousin was a Winnie the Pooh fan.
    I bet he still has his teddy. xD
    Don’t you, Bruce?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTK9x4baQY8

    That’s the original intro in English, but check out some of the other versions in Spanish, Swedish and even Japanese…

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  • Yu Aoi and the Rest of 2009~~~

    It’s hard to believe it’s almost the end of the year… only 3 proper months left!

    Anyway! I was checking YesAsia stuffs and turns out Ikechan to Boku will be released this coming December 4th… sadly, no English subtitles listed. TuT So I’d figure we’d list what’s left of upcoming Yu related stuff (without counting magazine and CMs appearances because frankly those are hard to keep track of).

    October 9th, 2009
    NHK – Gakuya Presentation

    October 15th, 2009
    2009 Calendar Launch [Amazon.co.jp][HMV.co.jp]

    eh… Nov? xD

    December 4th, 2009
    Ikechan and Me DVD [R2, no subs] [YesAsia][Amazon.co.jp][book]