Archives For fandom

Time to Discuss!

September 26, 2008 — 3 Comments

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?

Subtitles Vs. Fansubs

September 12, 2008 — 4 Comments

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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Rejoice! After a few years absent from the music scene (at least mine…), Korean musician Seo Taiji (서태지) is back with a new single… and and new album, of course! Oh yeah, and a new video… ;)

I remember that my friend Jenny, back in DD school… she sent me Seo Taiji mp3s (See! Thank Kamisama for mp3 transfers), and I was instantly hooked. I was surprised to know that my other Korean friend was also a fan, because these two friends couldn’t be more different xD Anyway, Just about a year ago, I ended up buying his 7th album Issues, which is now out-of-stock in YesAsia.

I don’t know when the full new album will be out, but I’ll keep my ear open. xD Gosh, so many releases now~~ Luckily, Amy does not buy Singles~~~ I’ve only bought EPs, but not Singles, not yet. xD

This might be old news to some, but it’s news to me… and the more people blog about it, the better~ I just read over at Marit’s MySpace that her 2nd studio album as a solo is almost done and that it will be called “The Chase”. The first single is already up on her profile, and it’s called “If a Song Could Get Me You“.

I love her music! So head over there and give it a listen if you haven’t heard her music~ Such a fusion of magical sounding pop with a folk countrish vibe. She’s got an innocent sweet soudning voice that mixes well~~ xD And you know, her last album (her solo debut, “Under the Surface”) was great… and even too short an album! Whenever I put it on my disc player, I have to repeat it at least 3 times. xD

Anyway~~~ to top it all off, Marit has also posted 3 home-made video versions of the song… one on the train, the other on a green grocery store, and one last walking through escalators in a subway station.

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.

I had heard about the Nikkan awards of some sort, which are supposedly based on popularity… and well, I don’t feel up to typing the list of winners, so I’ll be linking to this lovely post that does and even lists the number of votes.

Last Friends didn’t win for Best Drama… that’s sadness. And I was sorry that Eita didn’t win~~ I mean, no offense to Ryo and his Sousuke… but *sighs* Takeru~~

I also understand Juri Ueno wining Best Supporting Actress, though she deserved a Best Actress. LOL’ xD I mean, did any of you watched LF for Michiru??? Really??? Cross your heart on that?? And poor Asami Mizukawa… she was supporting of the supporting~~ *sighs* this world is upside down, I tell you!!!!

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Buffy - Chose One CollectionI always thought Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a popular show, but apparently is not very cool to say you like Buffy. But I disagree. I respect people who have watched the show and don’t particularly like it, but the most uncool of the uncool people are the ones who think are TOO COOL to watch or like a show like Buffy.

I’m one of those people who grew up watching Buffy… something that my writing teacher thought was nifty. The fact is that I was like 11 when I remember watching an episode of Buffy… and I have been a fan ever since. Am now 22, so have been a Buffy (and Whedon fan) for half my life. Le GASP!

I’ve seen the episodes so many times, that even my mom (who despises Fantasy and Sci-Fi) has seen repeat episodes of Buffy. Once, while watching a re-run on Canal Fox, my mom told me “Haven’t you watched this episode before? I know I have seen it at least 3 times… so by now you must know all the lines.”

The fact is that growing up watching Buffy shaped who I am today (I am most certainly sure about that). Being an impressionable 11-year-old with a knack for martial arts (am a fan of Bruce Lee), I thought Buffy kicked major ASS.

So it was so easy for me to watch Buffy… with a combination of ass-kicking, supernatural, and teenager-ness that gave a great transition of viewing habits between my pre-teen and teen years. It does help a lot as a young adult to know that Buffy was metaphorical (but you don’t really know what a metaphor means when you’re 12… do you?). So for those of you who don’t know… What the EFF is Buffy about?

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Almost a month ago, I blogged PRICEY! xD OMG, has it been almost a month already?? A month of pricey-ness~~~ which includes Photobooks. Which includes me buying those photobooks. Yes, those 3 photobooks (except for Travel Sand) are in PROCESSING status on YesAsia.com – And I’m hoping that I don’t get an email saying they can’t find the Rhythmedia Photobook entitled Dandelion, because that one already shows up as OUT OF STOCK. But it wasn’t out of stock when I placed my order, so there you go~~ I also bought Travel Sand from another store, but I won’t post where until I complete my order successfully. xD

Anyway, July 16th is coming soon. That’s the day when Aoi Yu x 4 Lies CAMOUFLAGE weird thingy series comes out. I like weird, and I like artsy fartsy~ and apparently the show wasn’t so popular, but people IT WAS GOOD. But it’s not for the masses… le sigh. Will my Yu sacrifice the artsy for commercial? I don’t want her to stop doing projects like Camouflage just because they don’t sell. So AM wondering… should I buy or should I not?? If there weren’t language and region issues, I would so totally buy. BUT there’s such thing as language and regions… Right now, it’s only being released as a Region 2 DVD (Japan, Asia, etc etc) and there are no subtitles listed. In the day of multi-region DVD players, I could overlook the region… but I can’t overlook the lack of English subtitles.

So if you’re Japanese… or are able to watch the show sans-subs because you know Japanese… AND you liked the series, I suggest buying. I can only hope to either learn Japanese fast enough (ha!), or that a version with English subs comes available soon. Here’s the link to YesAsia.com:

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

EFF! I say~~~

I was REALLY looking forward to buying the Buffy Tarot Cards Deck! I even created an account with TFAW.com just to find out they didn’t ship to Peru, so my friend was gonna buy it for me.

Sucky! I don’t even read tarot, lol… but the deck was a must-have because it was so awfully pretty!! [see, because me buy awfully pretty stuff, LOL] – Anyway, my friend was ordering for me, so I thought it was a sure thing~~~ until I check up on the link just to find a notice!

THIS PRODUCT HAS BEEN CANCELLED. Official word from Dark Horse:

“Due to circumstances beyond our control, Dark Horse will not be producing the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” Tarot Deck. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, but no existing orders will be filled. We appreciate your support of this program, and again apologize to those who placed advance orders and to fans alike.”

When did that show up? I don’t know. But I demand a proper explanation!! LOL’

Say~~~ what if DH releases the artwork on high quality printable digital files!?? It’ll be good to have, and it will be such a waste of prettyness if it’s just discarded~~~ And I’m sure many will still buy the deck, if they EVER decide to publish a print version. I know I would~~ My printing abilities wouldn’t compare to the quality printing they would offer…. most likely. Non?

I am NOT against dubbing… I have read that some people with viewing difficulties prefer watching dubbed films, and I respect that. This is why I’m titling this “Only-Dubbed,” I don’t have a problem with dubbing a movie, but what bothers me is not having the option of watching the subtitled version of it.

Case and point, Continue Reading…