• V Live + Showcases and Fandom Interaction

    I’m not a social media fan, though I do spend a lot of time posting links on the YAM Magazine Twitter account. Less active on Facebook, though I regularly use my own profile. No Instagram or any other site. I’m mostly active on movie websites— still active on IMDb, because they make searching for stuff easier [year, country, language, etc. filters], still active on MUBI (and helping with profiles and database submissions), and Letterboxd coz they help keeping an orderly diary of movie-watching.

    No longer have music sites, and Living Social FB apps have long gone.

    I’ve always been reluctant in creating new profiles, new accounts, new emails and different passwords. However, my level of obsession with Mamamoo has reached such point that I finally logged in V Live with my real-life identity, and though I’ve only left like 3 or 4 comments (so far), I’m a Level 5. Each artist you follow starts with a Level 1, adding points by watching videos, leaving comments and who knows what else, but I digress~~~ I wanted to comment on V Live as a platform. I’m amazed by it. I don’t exactly know why. I’ve seen countless of web stream concerts [1][2], I’ve seen a couple of Facebook Live sessions, but somehow V Live sessions make me feel closer to artists.

    Of course, they can start a random session just like in Facebook, though FB is always a 1:1 ratio, no? There’s comments, and the artist can actually reply to your comments, which is something V Live doesn’t have since comments are live, they scroll as they keep coming just like in a YouTube stream. But YouTube streams always seem so impersonal, more like online TV broadcasts, which is actually GREAT for TV broadcasts [KBS World 24][KBS World]. Add to V Live multi-camera broadcast, HD quality, multilingual subtitles and there’s just this added something to it.

    I recently saw Brown Eyed Girls’ JeA’s Orgel Live with JOKER, a 50-min multi-camera phone shot in portrait. I didn’t watch it live, because the show began at 6AM, but the replay was available quite fast — in probably just a few couple of hours — with subtitles in English, Chinese, Viet and Korean; and available auto-translate for others like Spanish. They started reading some of the comments, I lamented not being able to say hi to JeA [this is what I’m talking about], and proceeded to perform a couple of songs, while also going through the live comments.

    Fans are also allowed to give ‘hearts.’ Though, I haven’t actually figured out how to give hearts (it’s not by clicking the heart icon, lol), I supposed it’s just pasting hearts in the comments, and that’s why users can give multi-hearts all around. Since a video can have 200k views and one million hearts. :P

    And apparently, if you have the V Live App, you can chat with your faves. I don’t have mobile, so……………….

    jea-joker-live-v-live

    If you could do this for movies, it’ll be amazing. About 8 years ago, I wrote a proposal for screening movies like this xD but I didn’t know how to go through with it. Imagine you have a screening event, fans gather online 30min. before the movie begins, they chat among them. The movie streams, and afterwards there’s an online Q&A with the cast/crew. Because videos from the Q&A and the movie to be screened are different video sources, you can only have the Q&A available for replay instead of the movie.

    See? Someone make it happen.

  • Yoko Takahashi’s Mikako Ichikawa Travels with Masako Motai + Satomi Kobayashi

    Are you guys following Yoko Takahashi’s instagram account? If not, you’re missing out on the snaps she’s sharing of Mikako Ichikawa traveling to Osaka with Masako Motai and Satomi Kobayashi— aptly hashtagged “Noppo to Masako no Futari Tabi” (#のっぽとまさこのふたり旅) and “Noppo to Jukujo no Futari Tabi” (のっぽと熟女のふたり旅). In this case, Mikako Ichikawa is Noppo because she’s lanky. xD There’s only one Noppo in my life, but it makes so much sense.

    I also learned how to say a version of MILF in Japanese, coz Jukujo (熟女) is the word used for “attractive mature lady,” which is refering to Kobayashi.

    Masako-san is just Masako. xD

    yoko-takahashi-mikako-ichikawa-masako-motai-001

    I’m almost hoping Hairi Katagiri shows up at one point in an actual photo.

    I’ve also added a travel/tourism tag, finally. xD

  • Evan Rachel Wood Appreciation~

    I had this picture stored for a couple of weeks already, and forgot to post. Over 13 years ago, I was a really REALLY big fan of Evan Rachel Wood xD It was probably during one of the seasons of Once & Again, I remember I’ve rented a whole bunch of her movies, so when I moved to Vancouver, I was ecstatic to be actually able to watch Thirteen on the big screen. During my time there, I probably watched all her movies at the cinema :P

    evan-rachel-wood-600x800

    It was on and off after leaving Canada, I still managed to watch a whole bunch of her films, but there was a period when I didn’t know anything about her. I didn’t know I missed her until I caught Into the Forest, and I was super psyched to hear that she was gonna be in HBO’s Westworld. Usually, HBO and I are not that compatible, but I caught the first episode [and read that list of actors, phew!], and I liked it quite a bit, so I’ll definitely catch the whole season when it’s done.

  • No, Seriously~ I’m Mamamoo-shaken~

    Someone, please, call 911.

    And they’re all wearing their suits. Blessed.

    After the initial hiccup with the release of the Decalcomanie MV, we’ve put that behind us (but shouldn’t really, because it’s important to talk about these things). RBW has promised to release a brand new video once Decalcomanie (all CJ+Mamamoo uploads combined) reaches 3M views. At the moment, the CJ one has 1.127M while the Mamamoo one has 211k, so do the math.

    Oh, and there’s also that one-shot M Countdown fancam.

    Moonbyul looks so happy with all those layers of clothing and actual pair of pants. lol

    I can’t wait for all the other performances, once the jitters of the first performance has gone.

  • Someone, Please, Call 911~ Mamamoo’s Coming back~

    Someone please call 911
    Tell them I just been shot down
    and the bullet’s, in my heart~

    Coming back in the Korean sense of the word, that is~ Mamamoo’s released 3 songs [sub-unit songs Dab Dab and Angel, as well as New York], and they’re back again with the release of a proper EP/Mini, despite having released their first full length this past February.

    And despite the fact that everyone was worried about the red sequin gochujang dresses, having Solar to tell us to love the gochchujang in her most recent solo VApp,to later flip tables over when Moonbyul (and Hwasa) slayed us all with their tuxes.

    Now RBW is telling us that their Decalcomanie comeback might have a Bond Girl 007-related theme?

    mamamoo-decalcomanie-001

    Everyone’s dead. Everyone.

    And the girls did another crazy VApp where Whee-In is wearing crocs and playing with a stuffed panda, Moonbyul plays with Solar’s new braid and turns her into a propeller, and Hwasa tickles Solar to release her dolphin seal laugh.

    Dead, I tell you.

  • Yu Aoi for Giuseppe Tornatore’s Geek

    Oh, my gosh~ I just found this out while browsing Yu’s IMDb, and has left me incredibly disappointed with what used to be my English-based sources of Japanese cinema news- Yu’s shooting a movie, Geek, with Italy’s Giuseppe Tornatore, who’s obviously most known for his classic Cinema Paradiso.

    Interlinea Film reports that the first section of shooting in Venice was done back in March, while shooting in Japan would be at a later date. I’ve seen people on Twitter posting about Yu Aoi at some recent shootings [1][2]. I wonder if it’s related to this.

    Interlinea Film also attached this photo~

    yu-aoi-tornatore-venice

  • Throwback Mamamoo with Piano Man for Kpop Awards

    I am obviously not a true Mamamoo fan, because I wasn’t aware of this performance until today. I’ve reached a point in my fandom life where a Mamamoo-related site is one of my top visited websites. I visit it three or four times a day, at least. LOL I’m shameful.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzEVl9aPQGE

    I’m also saving money for a YesAsia purchase of their Moosical DVD and/or their upcoming album/mini, and possibly other stuff- I mean, have you seen The Handmaiden? LOL

  • 1000 Days of Xiami

    I’m about to clock 1000 days on Xiami logins xD

    xiami-1000-days

    Sad for this excitement, I know. LOL But I get obsessive-compulsive over these things easily. I took a screen grab because I don’t know whether the count will reset to zero or continue. Back in March when I went to Japan, I told my friend to login for me, so I don’t lose my clocked days, and there was a weird bug that made the counter go back to zero, so we thought for a while that it was done. A couple of days later, it went back to normal :P

    I’ve been using Xiami for a lot longer, of course. And gone are the days when you could find everything on the site for stream and download :P Though you can still find stuff and download, it’s often the case when albums are empty. Recently, Xiami has taken to just be able to stream music (which is better than having blank albums), without download capabilities— Faye Wong’s most recent track is only available for stream, so you gotta find it elsewhere if you want it. The site is still a great source for Chinese music, especially from the independent scene. However, now Xiami-approved artists are allowed to mark their music as only-Mi tracks, meaning that you have to have Xiami credit on your account and not download music from your VIP free-tracks perk or use your red envelopes (points).

    Having said that~~~ I have like +500 points (you get points for single days and months counted, albums added and music shared, etc.) and haven’t used them in so long. What the heck~ What are the perks of the VIP account if you still gotta pay for the Chinese music that you download; at least make it so that you use twice or thrice the # of downloads for those.

    I still haven’t figured out what the note reputation is (eg. Re*), but I’m just a few hundred away from reaching the other level. Increasing my stars is a little trickier because English reviews don’t get as many likes or comments. lol

    Also~ OMO! 1000 days on the 10 of 10. xD

  • Yu Aoi for Discover Japan: Watashi no Kyushu

    I just got a notification that the November edition of Discover Japan [HMV JP] titled Watashi no Kyuushuu (私の九州) features Yu-chan on the cover and on several pictures inside.

    Discover Japan 2016?11?? Vol.61 | ebook5

    If you visit the Discover Japan website [1][2], you can check out more on the content. There’s even a short clip of Yu riding the JR Kyuudai Main Line (久大本線).

  • Because I’m Alive, I found Lily: 15 Years of All About Lily Chou Chou

    Bless my heart~ I’m the only one celebrating 15 years of Shunji Iwai’s All About Lily Chou Chou xD but if you are too, drop me a line! Tell me how much the film has affected your life~ As a celebration, I sat down for a re-watch and a brand new ‘more professional’ review.

    yu-aoi-all-about-lily-chou-chou-glider

    I also sat down for my first watch of Shunji Iwai’s latest— A Bride for Rip Van Winkle. It was glorious. At the moment, it’s battling it out with Kubo for my #1 spot~