Tag: japan

  • Just like a puppy: Rena Nounen

    People were commenting that her eyes sparkle… and they kinda do! And she’s got the cutest dorkiest smile/laugh ever. I dunno if I’m ever going to be able to see her outside her Ama-chan role.

    But how can she be resisted?

    rena-nounen-amachan-towel-001

    Source


  • Yu Aoi for Haru wo Seotte in the Mountains

    New movie alert with Kenichi Matsuyama and Etsushi Toyokawa. Sakura Ando also supposedly appears in the film.

    This is what ‘being obsessed’ with someone for a few years means, right? Noticing and nitpicking the little details normal people don’t pick up. I’m always eager to hear of new Yu Aoi movies and projects, even if I’m not as enthusiastic as before. I do get a kick whenever I see her act and she does her best smile making my day.

    During my second watch, eager to watch that smile again, I noticed something…
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  • Yu is a Pirate for the Japanese Academy

    … and Machiko Ono is looking super fly!

    I ran into a set of photos on Weibo of Yu-chan with her eye-patch, and voila! According to Google Translate she had conjunctivitis, though I’ve never seen someone get it on one eye… so maybe it’s a stye.

    yu-aoi-machiko-ono-2013-2014-japanese-academy-awards

    On a Machiko Ono note… when I ‘met’ her via Mother and subsequently saw her on Carnation, I… just didn’t see the appeal. She got that “oh, must be a really good actress” comment from me (not a bad comment to get, I might add), but after seeing her on The Great Divorce, I’ve sorta started seeing her in another light. Like- she really does look extra good in this white dress.

    Also~ Is Yu wearing extensions? I doubt her hair grew this long in such short period of time.


  • Sign Me Up for the Upcoming Shiina Ringo Concert Release

    I was catching up with all my ‘to watch’ queue on YouTube which at some point had been inundated with Shiina Ringo thumbnails. After her split from Tokyo Jihen and the celebration of her debut 15 years ago, she’s releasing this gorgeous (and pricey) concert.

    I was just marveling myself with the palest of pale queens and thought to myself that if I ever get to see her show live, I would probably cry. When Bjork was here for the first and only time, I remember tearing up a bit- the others I would tear up/cry for would be Shiina Ringo, Faye Wong… and BiBi, for sure.

    It’s been ages since I last bought anything on HMV Japan.


  • Guillermo del Toro is Hobbled by Mana-chan

    I just imagined Mana-chan (who is not so little any longer) jumping and latching herself onto the huggable Guillermo del Toro. I imagine a world where Del Toro found a tiny muse and made a movie with her. NOW! GIMME ME.

    ashida-mana-guillermo-del-toro


  • Nepia for Tissue Animals

    What’s more awesome than just animation? And origami? How about origami-animation? Japanese tissue manufacturer Nepia has a short commercial/PSA/short showcasing origami animals and some stop-motion.

    Creative director: Jin Sato (佐藤仁)
    Copyrighter: Ochi Kazuyoshi (越智一仁)
    Producer: Takuo Ozawa (小澤卓男), Yasuhiro Kawasaki (川崎泰広)
    Director: Arai Fuyu (新井風愉)
    Production manager: Takasugi Makoto (高杉誠)
    Stop-motion animation: Ohno Motoki (おーのもとき)
    Camera: Chiyoe Sugita (杉田知洋江)
    Camera assistant: Mahiro Shintani (新谷真博)
    Lights: HIGASIX
    Lights assistant: Tomoya Yoshimura (吉村知弥)
    Art: Kiyomi Tokita (鴇田清美), Takanori Saito (斉藤貴教), Shizuka Masaki (正木静香)
    Editor: Maho Inamoto (稲本真帆)
    Music: Mituru Samejima (鮫島充)
    Sound effects: Yoshiaki Tokunaga (徳永義明)


  • Ore Ore – Eri Fuse – Hadoken + Yoga Fire

    I couldn’t resist myself because it’s likely I’ll never see an animated GIF of this golden nugget from Satoshi Miki’s Ore Ore. Especially because there’s not enough Eri Fuse love on the net.

    eri-fuse-ore-ore-hadoken

    Animated GIFs and bonus after the break.
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  • Best of the Foreign 2000s

    experiment-awards-foreign-best-of-2000s

    I also made a [nomination] list of all my favorite foreign things of the last decade. If I had included all movies, general suspects would have applied (eg. Children of Men, Dancer in the Dark), but still remains a very ME list. I hope you like the selection, and don’t hesitate in suggesting films to watch.

    Check all nominees and comment here.


  • Yu Aoi for Zipang Punk Trailer

    A film cut of the Zipang Punk play [1] they did last year is being released on March 29th, so we -unlucky ones- will get to see Yu Aoi singing and dancing in a wacky period punk musical. It looks super funny, but I doubt it’ll ever get subtitled or er… shared.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc5L6WGqUCk

    We’ll always have this trailer, though.


  • The Pressure of Marriage, No Tension~

    Fandom funny crossover~

    I was watching (finally) Tokyo Kazoku — which I liked more than I thought I would — and just felt this incredible marriage pressure during the the scene in which Yu’s character is accepted by the father with that terribly heavy “There may be some hard times ahead, but if you’ll consent to be his wife, I’ll be able to die in peace.

    My mind immediately went to Arshad Warsi’s Circuit; “No tension, bhai.

    tokyo-kazoku-marriage-pressure-no-tension-mbbs