… on a NYLON Korea photoshoot.
Awwww~~~
Yu + Bae Doona + a Linda Linda Linda mention = awesome~~~ xD If you haven’t seen Linda Linda Linda, you must. Gets better in time~~ And just the idea that Yu was supposed to be involved, but had to back out. Oh the Linda Linda singing along possibilities of singing Yu. xD
BTW, my dad also LUVed Linda Linda, and Bae Doona’s character was his fave++ Another reason why my dad’s cool~
Well, not exactly a scanlation because I’m not thinking about scanning my book. But I was thinking of translatings… or trying to translate Travel Sand to practice my Japanese. Writing, and all… I’ve been transcribing the first chapter, which includes a Hollywood postcard, the letter, and then a bunch of captions on scattered photos.
Of course, with the help of Google Translate (and its funny translations), Rikaichan and the damn Kanji dictionary. This is helping me with my writing as well, because I can’t read all the kanji, so I write them with handwriting input… though sometimes I get it wrong, it’s quite effective.
I was wondering, if any of you… (I know you’re out there because that Travel Sand post has quite a few views) were interested in me posting that. Leave a message.
, but need to share this. LOL’
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.
Long post, spoiling the love part and some politics, so if you don’t wish spoiling, don’t read after the break. Well, you’ve been warned~~
Anyway, I made it! I woke up at 6am just to watch Ep50 of Atsu-Hime in Jap sans subs, hence me not really knowing what was going. But I did okay, I think… Yes, Amy cried. Less than expected though! xD
I saw it twice, actually… on the repeat at 1pm, and took some photos of my crappy tv reception.
LOL, I don’t even know if that’s grammatically correct, but it will do~~
So… I got ready to watch Atsu-Hime. Why? Because! Because in about… 5hrs? Yes, I should wake up at 6am, NHK will be showing the last episode of Atsu-Hime (ep50) and I just got up to date with episode 37, and read the summary for the rest (up to ep49, which I saw last week without understanding anything).
Anyway, I also saw some interview on Friday afternoon that NHK did to Aoi Miyazaki… which I didn’t understand either~~ LOL’ at least not the majority of what they were talking about.
Atsu-Hime is cool, you know? She doesn’t piss me off like a certain previous Taiga Drama I saw before starring some singer who happens to sing the closing theme of Osen. *cough cough* Anyway~~ I know I may be girly for saying this, but I really liked the drama for the Aoi Miyazaki (Okatsu, Atsu-Hime, Midai-sama? and Tenshoin-sama) and Eita (Naogoro, Tatewaki… and does he change his name more??) Yeah, all those names…. but I always really looked forward to their scenes together, which almost always make me cry~~~ hence the title. I’ve been sad for Atsu-Hime alone… you know, like when that thing with Kikumoto happened, and the thing with Ikushima. I’m just blaming Eita because I seem to always cry with anything he’s on. LOL – Let’s see… I’ve cried in Last Friends (with that Eita and Juri scene in the park), and I’ve cried with Memories of Matsuko… though, I don’t think that was because of Eita, but the whole “all characters singing the song, and the going up the stairs” gets me everytime with the “Okaeri”
Hmm… well, I didn’t cry in Nodame, maybe cried with the laughing hard xD The fact is, he’s made me cry quite a bit on Atsu-Hime alone… you know that friends-turned-lovers thing, and then with the in-love-but-afar-and-never-to-see-you-again thing? UGH, all of that with the combination of Aoi Miyazaki and Eita’s acting. I’m telling you, it will get you. And it’s not the love thing either, because they both were on that film Sukida, which I thought was boring as boring can be~~~ It’s the whole political thing, and all the other people and fate that are keeping them apart that kills me. And if the preview from last week is any indication, I think I will be crying quite a bit this one last time. xD
Epic love. Something a certain someone who didn’t make Harmony happen couldn’t achieve. LOL’
This film discussion doesn’t come until after the Honey & Clover live action movie, but I thought it will be good to post this now since Cinemax Latin America is showing the film this December and January (and perhaps scattered February, check times here).
This was probably the third film I saw of Yu, I was most impressed with the fact that Asians could move their booties like that… call it my Latin American gene that told me that the Asian gene makes you unfit to dancing. xD
Here’s the 12-part video on YouTube. Or just wait for it on cable…
A little about the film:
(from Wikipedia)
It’s a 2006 Japanese-award-winning film based on true events of a small coal mining town facing the shut down of the mine, and looking at the loss of +2000 jobs. While all the grownups seemed to be fuzzing about the future of their coal-legacy, a young group of girls see a gleam of hope in the opening of The Hawaiian Center, and hula dancing.
Genre: Drama, Comedy and dancing!
Starring: Yasuko Matsuyuki, Etsushi Toyokawa, Yu Aoi, Eri Tokunaga, Shoko Ikezu & Shizuyo Yamazaki
Duration: 2hrs
Spoilers ahead, you’ve been warned.
Jinseitte Uso Mitai, or Life is like a Lie, is the first 3-episode-chapter of the Yu Aoi WOWOW drama Camouflage (previously known as Aoi Yu x 4 Lies) which aired at the beginning of the year, and it’s already on DVD. Finally saw! WEEEE – I waited… what, 6 months??? And still haven’t finished ‘coz no one is translating, and my translator bailed on me… dunno where he is.
So I re-watched the three episodes last night, though the 3rd episode only had subs in the story and not on the introductions (in which the director and writer explain a bit), and the ending (where the photographer shows and explains the photos taken), so kinda missed some of the episode.
Anyway…
Also known as Izu no Odoriko, or The Izu Dancer is the first published work (1926) to achieve popularity and acclaimed by Yasunari Kawabata. The book, very much like Kyoto, is about nothing at all… in fact, this is just a compilation of stories put together.
The first one, which gives the name to the book is one of the few interesting ones, as well as Diario de mi Decimosexto Año that tells some of the moments of Kawabata’s dying grandfather. Some other stories I liked were La Princesa del Palacio Dragón, El Camino de Monedas, and Una Oración en Lengua Materna.
Despite that, the just over 200-page book seemed to be a very long and slow book, compared to the reading time it took me to finish Kyoto. If you are a fan of Yasunari Kawabata’s writing about a time and a place and the people, you might enjoy this compilation of stories. If you’re looking for an introduction to him, or an epic tale about Japan… you might want to skip this one.
When I watched Memories of Matsuko, there was one scene when Matsuko’s life was already going to the gutters, she was lying on the garbage bags, and she was watching TV. I immediately recognized the song as an Okaasan to Issho song… today I decided to look for it, and found it!
Okaasan to Issho 1999 song, at first I thought it was a Takoyaki Mambo song, but I was lucky enough to find it on a website listing all the songs. Video and Romaji after the break!
(more…)
I was gonna apologize for not getting the time to write a new review, luckily I found that this reviewed followed next. Yay! xD
Nanako to Nanao – Ane to Otouto ni Nareru Hi
I have no idea where to put this since it’s not a film, but it’s also not a series. Sure it is, for some reason, labeled as a TV show or series… but no. It’s a TV movie, people. What is the difference between a film/movie and a TV movie, you say? Well, first it’s medium… then it’s budget and resources. In the end, you can almost always tell the difference between one and the other.
What’s this TV movie about?
Well… let’s see~ It’s a 2004 NHK Made-for-TV-Film about a high school girl named Nanako (Yu Aoi), who is often labeled as weird and anti-social due to trust issues with people caused by the betrayal she feels her dad committed. Seven years after his death, Nanako is thrown into the unusual situation to cohabit with her half-brother, Nanao (Yuri Chinen).
Genre: Drama… kinda cute, but drama.
Starring: Yu Aoi, Yuri Chinen
Duration: 1:15hr
Spoilers ahead, you’ve been warned.