New movie with Kariya Yuiko!

Kariya Yuiko is finally coming out with a new movie :D It’s called Balloon Relay or 「バルーンリレー」 and is coming out sometime this year (hopefully very soon ♥o♥) Looks like a fun movie, but I haven’t been able to find out what it’s about yet. I will update you as soon as I get to know more ;)

Adorable Mana-chan

Right now I’ve been quite busy with my Japanese studies, so I haven’t had the time to blog that much even though I’ve wanted to. But now I feel the need to express my newfound love for this particular person.

This cute little girl’s name is Ashida Mana (芦田愛菜) ^o^ The first time I came across this 7-year-old girl was in the big hit movie Kokuhaku (Confessions) from last year, where she played the unfortunate daughter who gets murdered by some of her mother’s students. I didn’t get to see her talent that much in that particular film, though I found her really adorable of course! However, after having watched Kokuhaku I found myself seeing this girl everywhere! She was in TV shows, commercials, drama series and then suddenly also on music videos, as she debuted with the hit song Maru Maru Mori Mori together with co-star Suzuki Fuku (鈴木 福) from the drama Marumo no Okite where they sing the ending theme together to a cute dance. I really liked that song and kind of got addicted to it (even though it’s a children’s song… xD) and started following Mana-chan closer.

Then out of the blue came a contract with Sony Music for a solo singer career! Unbelievable :O Only 7 years-old and already signing with a music company for a singing career – not to mention a solo singing career (oh my god) o__o  Now I got even more curious about this girl who seemed to have it all: a cute smile, adorable personality, good acting skills, fair dancing skills and even singing skills, just at seven years old! Wuaah~ Almost too much xD and then I still want more… She’s just too cute and I’m a sucker for that, so I can’t stop loving her ^^;

Especially after having begun watching her in the role as Kaoru in the family drama Marumo no Okite I’m getting really hooked on this girl. Fuku-kun is also amazingly cute in the role as her baby twin brother Tomoki and together they just make the cutest little pair of twin siblings I’ve ever seen on television x3 ♥ I can really recommend this drama, as it’s both fun, sad, wacky and touching, which makes it a very memorable piece of work. I also think all the actors do a great job :)

Then I musn’t forget to mention that I’m looking very much forward to Mana-chan’s debut album Happy Smile! releasing the 23rd this month, as I already love the songs Suteki na Nichiyoubi ~Gyu Gyu Good Day!~ and Minna no Happy Birthday which have been released beforehand. The PVs are also really great, where Mana does her cute little jumps, smiles and energetic dance moves, where after I’m completely sold xD Haha. Aw, I wish both Ashida Mana and Suzuki Fuku an exciting and amazing career as both of them have that special “something” – that “it” factor – which makes them both so appealing and lovable to people in all ages.

Here are the beforehand mentioned songs sung by Mana-chan and Fuku-kun ^^

Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi ~10th Year Anniversary~

This year – 2011 – it’s exactly ten years since the masterpiece, that is Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi, were released in Japanese cinemas. This movie was my very first Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki movie and is actually maybe one of the main reasons I got into Japanese culture. It’s one of my all time favorite movie and I’ve watched it countless times. I don’t know what it is, but I’ve always felt this Ghibli movie was different from the other Ghibli movies. It’s probably more the animation style that’s different. I’m especially thinking about the character designs. Normally Ghibli characters have somewhat larger eyes, don’t they? I also think the characters look more Japanese and are more detailed than usually. This movie is really beautifully animated and I love the traditional Japanese setting, which captivated me immensely back when I watched it for my first time.

I also find it fascinating that Miyazaki Hayao intended to make a movie for 10-year-old girls, which is normally uninteresting for an older audience, and then it got to reach so many different age groups. Fantastic! :O I like how the movie treats the theme of identity search and how lonely and lost you can feel in that process. I think Chihiro’s a great character, as she’s first a spoiled and lazy girl who has yet to discover her true identity, but then accomplishes through an array of obstacles and various tests throughout the story. We watch her discover both the good and bad traits in the people around her and then her own good qualities which show more and more as the story processes. I think all people can relate to the feeling of being lost when rooming through the dark in the search of your identity and that’s probably why it’s such a good story. Normally kid’s movies focus on things like adventure, magic and maybe your first love interest, when the most important thing for most people that age actually is to search for one’s identity, isn’t it? Miyazaki is good at understanding people like that :) That’s probably also one of the reasons I love this movies so much. Of course they have great animation, but for me the best thing is definitely the stories’ messages. I really think his movies are for people in all ages ^o^

Now back to Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (btw, love the meaning of the title: Sen and the Mysterious Disappearance of Chihiro. It has a nice poetic sound to it hasn’t it?) I need to tell you about my love of Haku xD (Sorry, he was my first anime crush…) I really liked his mysterious intro, where he appeared to recognize Chihiro (but Chihiro didn’t recognize him) and then went out of his way to protect her ♥ Best intro ever!! Really left a big impression on me. I also loved his big green eyes and that funny “prince-like” haircut of his’ :P His seiyuu (Irino Miyuu) voice was also perfect, love how he talks a more formal old-fashioned Japanese which they used to talk at the emperor’s castle :O So cool! And then of course I loved the fact that he was both a dragon, god and a witch’s apprentice ( totally multi-talented! xD ) and also the fact that he was such a gentle and kind person towards Chihiro. I hope they got to meet again, as Haku promised Chihiro they would in the last moment between them in the movie. But it’s nice how Miyazaki made that “open” ending, making it up to the audience’s imagination to decide what will happen afterwards – just genious \(^o^)/ yay

Right now I’m just really wishing for a Blu-ray release from Pony Canyon. They have released like 8 out of 15 Ghibli movies (if you only count their major projects), so it’s about time they release Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi >< It’s the movie’s anniversary and all :(  And then I just really want to have the movie in Blu-ray and watch some more extras (would be amazing!) *sigh* I guess I’ll have to wait some more years though ;( I just think this wonderful movie deserves it! xD

Kingyo Club ~my new joy~

Okay so I’ll admit I’ve been a little bored lately without my weekly Teen Wolf fix (haha), but now I’ve found some new dramas to watch ^o^ One of them is the ultra cute and romantic drama series Kingyo Club :3 I discovered this series on Tokyohive (my new best friend) because they had posted an update of the ratings on current series airing in Japan. A screen cap of the beautiful Kariya Yuiko (刈谷友衣子) caught my attention and I found myself looking this actress up as I hadn’t heard about her before. I clicked on her drama Kingyo Club and decided to give it a chance. I’m glad I did! ^O^ ☆彡

It’s a really sweet story about a first year student (Harukawa Koto) who gets bullied every day, because of her alcoholic mother who goes out with men for money and a third year student (Hiiragi Haru) who used to play basketball, but now spend his days idly after a misunderstanding about his friend’s girlfriend and him caught at a bad time.
However, one day Haru sees Koto being bullied by some girls from her class and decides to stop them. Koto is grateful, but the bullying continues. One day, Haru sees Koto on the school roof looking like she’s about to kill herself and panics. Luckily, Koto wasn’t thinking of that and as an apology for his mistake, Haru takes Koto out for a treat. On their way home, they stop at a goldfish stand and catch two goldfish. For a lack of anything better to do, they decide to start a goldfish club just for the two of them in an unused building behind the school. But as love begins to bloom between them, the bullying just escalates…

I started watching this drama without any subtitles, as it’s not based on a manga, but a mobile novel by Tsubaki Hana, not very many people know about it. But fortunately someone recently started translating the two first episodes (out of currently five) so I was able to understand better what was going on ^^; Thank you! I really like this drama and I love the actors (whom I’ve never seen before) who I think are doing a great job. Especially Irie Jingi, who plays Haru, gives a very believable performance as the lost youth, who doesn’t know what  to do with his life. The soundtrack is also surprisingly good; composed by Uchiike Hidekazu, a relatively unknown composer, he does a great job at giving the series the right mood of happy and sad and just that wonderful feel of romance in the air ♥  I can’t wait to listen to that soundtrack, who sadly isn’t out before the 31st of this month :( Buhuu~ But I’m sure it’s going to be great! I’m also in love with the theme song Kimi Dake  wa Hanasanai performed by Supernova (aka Choshinsei) a really lovely romance ballad song, who I find just perfect for this drama ^^

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another cool thing about this drama series is that as the episodes only last 2o minutes, a live segment runs afterwards with a host and a guest, who either answer to questions send in by the viewers or do polls to find out what people think of miscellaneous stuff about the drama. I think that’s a really good idea and fits well with our time, where nearly the most important thing is to get your thoughts and opinions heard as often and much as possible xD (Haha). So that’s also fun to watch ^o^ Supernova were also guests in one of the episodes and made a live performance of the theme song ;) That was quite hilarious to hear their thoughts on the shows and the comments. I hope that maybe Jingi or Yuiko will get to be the guests of the show too in one of the episodes to come ^-^

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I find Haru’s and Koto’s relationship really adorable, as Haru really shouldn’t have anything to do with Koto as her senpai and a stranger too, but nonetheless he choose to help her. That’s just so sweet x3 And then there’s also the age difference :O It’s kinda rare to watch a drama where the lead character falls for a person that’s younger than himself. Isn’t it? Or is it just me who haven’t watched enough dramas? ^^; (Haha, I feel like I’ve watched quite many though…) And because this is a romance drama, of course that includes a triangle: Hiiragi Haru > Harukawa Koto < Motoi Takaya.

Motoi Takaya

I really dislike that guy Motoi from Koto’s class. He really doesn’t seem to care for Koto’s feelings at all. He’s never there to help her when she’s in trouble, but always come afterwards, when it’s too late. And then he just says things like: “You shouldn’t let them bother you”. Well, bro, it’s a little bit hard to do, when they trash her shoes in the trash bin, scribble over her books with death threats and pour both milk and paint on her clothes – jeez, that’s really something you just ignore!  -  Moron c_c And then he also goes spreading evil rumors about Haru, to make Koto dislike him (,,#ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ Shame on you Motoi! xD Haru is much more a man than you are!  （＾▽＾） (Okay I’ll stop my ditching now xD lol).

 

Apart from Kingyo Club, I’m also watching Ouran High School Host Club and IS ~Otoko Demo Onna Demo Nai Sei~ ^^Ouran is really crazy and funny, while IS is a very moving and quite thought-provoking. (If you want to read more about IS, my sister made a blog post about that drama) All three dramas are really good in their own way. Ouran I watch to laugh, Kingyo Club I watch to kya~ and IS I watch to think over life (^_~) It’s great with some variation ;P I like Kingyo Club so much I’m going to make a music video about Haru and Koto’s relationship. Will be posting it on my blog as soon as it’s ready, so look forward to that! ^o~ Well, that’s all for now, see you soon ^-^

Isn’t Kariya Yuiko just the cutest little thing you have seen for a long time? x3
She’s incredibly adorable ♥♥♥

I really want to watch this movie >o<

The movie is called Kanseitou and came out in Japan the 9th of April. I stumbled across this movie because I’m a big fan of Hashimoto Ai (the actress well-known for playing Kitahara Mizuki in the movie Confessions/Kokuhaku). First I actually watched the music  video for the song “Kanseitou” by Galileo Galilei, which I think this movie is based upon. The clip had a lot of clips from this movie and became really intrigued  by the cinematography, as well as the beautiful winter landscape of Hokkaido :O And then of course also because of the pretty actors. Hashimoto Ai is beside being an actress also a model and began at the age of 12! I find it amusing her name in this movie is Mizuho (was her nickname in the Confessions movie xD).

Here’s more info about the movie:

Loosely based on the origins of the rock band Galileo Galilei, “Kanseito” (Control tower) tells the story of a pair of teenagers who fall in love in Wakkanai, the northernmost spot in Japan.

Shot entirely in the middle of a cold Hokkaido winter, the film describes the loneliness of the two protagonists, who somehow find a way to communicate through music.

The movie takes the same name as Galileo Galilei’s first big hit song, “Kanseito.”

In the film, Kakeru (Kento Yamazaki) is a 15-year-old junior high school student born and raised in Wakkanai. He doesn’t feel that he has anything interesting to do with his life.

One day, Mizuho (Ai Hashimoto), also 15, transfers to his school. She too feels lost and lonely; she has repeatedly transferred from school to school because of her family circumstances. The two become friends.

One day, Kakeru finds an old guitar in storage at his home. He decides to learn how to play it and asks Mizuho to help him form a band.

In 2008, the band Galileo Galilei shot to fame after winning the top prize at a rock festival contest that was just for teenagers. Brothers Kazuki and Yuki Ozaki are the founding members of the four-piece band. They too discovered rock music after learning to play instruments they found at their home.

The band’s first album, “Hamanasu no Hana” (Flower of Japanese Rose), came out on SME Records in 2010. It has been downloaded more than a million times.

Actor Yamazaki has starred in “Clone Baby” and other television series, while model-actress Hashimoto grabbed the spotlight last year in Tetsuya Nakashima’s “Confessions.”

Director Takahiro Miki is noted for his many music videos for J-pop stars such as Ikimonogakari and Kaera Kimura. His first feature film was the 2010 live-action adaptation of the manga “Solanin.”

I like movies like this and I love Hashimoto Ai, so I really want to watch this movie! xD
Here’s a trailer :)

And here’s the music video “Kanseitou” by Galileo Galilei ^^

I really hope this movie comes on DVD fast xD I wanna watch my Ai >o<