Welcome!  Irasshai!

You have reached the journal of one Laura H. aka Areea aka areea-chan.  This journal is totally dedicated to fangirling with a few non-fangirling things thrown in for good measure.  I mainly blog about mah main JE boy, Toma.  If there's anything you want to know, look around, send me a comment, look at my profile page, or just ask!

Friending Policy: I don't mind if you friend me, but I won't add you back if you don't post anything in your journal.  If you don't, but you still want me to friend you, you must do one of the following things:

1. Send me a message or a comment basically saying, "Hey, I'm here!  I'll be posting in my blog!  Please add me!"
2. Comment on posts.  If I see your comments, I'll definitely add you.
3. Make me an offer I can't refuse.  Involving shiny pretties.

Thanks to princess_rei09  for the wallpaper from which I made this header.  Isn't it purty?

Somewhere over the emo
Way up high
I sit here drinking some tea
And staring into Toma's eyes

Somewhere over the emo
I have a cold
So I feel too physically bad
To be very emo

So I'm back at the Park House...Un-House...Park...thingy until school starts back.  It was a crazy last week of work, and someone had the bright idea to let the kids stay up until 2:00 AM on the last night before they all went home.  Another brilliant person made something called Kickaboo--can someone younger please explain to me what this is?  It looks like grape soda, only with five times the sugar--and gave it to them at 1:00 AM.  Oh what a fun night that was.  Plus, it has been unseasonably cool this summer, so the kids going in and out of the front door for two hours which is right next to the front desk contributed to my cold attainment.

Ah, gomen, flist!  I feel like I'm bringing everyone down with the emo.

I love Toma scans and the people who post them.  I'm sure they were nice, but I was too distracted by the "PROFIRE" in the bottom right corner of the second scan.  Totally skipping my thought process, I came up with this list of useful jobs that Japan should hire me for:

JOBS JAPAN SHOULD HAVE AND SHOULD HIRE ME FOR

1. Engrish checker: We all love Engrish on occasion.  It's endlessly amusing and makes for some great t-shirts.  But sometimes it gets annoying.  The Toma scan mentioned above is a good example.  As many times as a magazine has the world "PROFILE" in it, you'd think they'd get it right by now.  That's just being lazy.  Therefore, magazines should hire an Engrish Checker to make sure the Engrish is at least spelled correctly.  Engrish wouldn't be Engrish without its sometimes wacky way with the words.  So you'd need someone with a wacky sense of humor.  Engrish checkers don't have to be just for magazines, either.  TV shows as well could benefit from someone who knows the language and could make sure the true Engrish meaning comes through to the Japanese audience.  Japan, please consider me for your future Engrish checker.

2. Diet cabinet member:  Oh wait, they already have these jobs.  Seriously, though, do many Japanese citizens have faith in their government?  What with confusing policies, weird decisions (like sending mini-skirted ambassadors to teach the world about Japan's culture and building giant robots in the middle of a city), and electing people who probably should have nothing whatsoever to do with politics EVER (i.e. those people who are arguing AGAINST making child pornography totally and 100% illegal with no excuses), I'm surprised people just don't put the Diet members out on an island and keep them there.  Japan, I know I was only elected for 4th grade class secretary, and FCCLA reporter and treasurer for one year both, but I'm a fast learner.

3. Foreign Negotiations Expert: I.E. a go-between person between foreigners and Japanese.  There are some things in Japanese culture that we don't always understand.  It's just accepted in Japanese culture.  Okay, fine.  Every country has ways they do things.  With a Foreign Negotiations Expert aka FNE, we can get people together and  figure out some of those pesky problems we seem to have.  Like rental agreements and why the heck you have to pay key money or why the landlord is irky about renting to foreigners.  The FNE can step in and make negotiations between parties.  The only downside is that the FNE would probably have to take responsibility for things that happen.  We'd need a lot of funding.

4. JE Personal Assistant:  Okay, this is my own preference.  But sometimes those idol boys get a little out of line.  Having a  PA is a perfect way to keep a scandal from happening.  Also, by hiring an English major, you get free English lessons!  And JE boys have fans all over the world.  By teaching them other languages, they'll be more apt to go abroad and do concerts and get more fans and then take over the world per Johnny's instructions.  Japan, you have some very nice idol boys.  Share them with the world.  If I may be so bold, might I request Toma as my JE boy?  Like I said, I learn fast.  I also have a terrific memory, and I'm organized like nobody's business.

Okay, that's enough of that.

In DramaLand, I started some summer dramas and came to some conclusions.

Ninkyo Helper: Aside from Toma, my favorite JE actors are indeed every single one of SMAP.  *waves Kusanagi banner*  I want a button that says "I SUPPORT KUSANAGI!" or "KUSANAGI GRADUATES!"

Buzzer Beat: Yamapi's not a bad actor.  He'll probably be the new KimuTaku if he can just break through that acting wall.  It's like he's almost there, but not quite.  Break through the wall, Pi, break through the wall.

Also, since there have been soooo many references to KimuTaku's drama Pride and how it was the last sports/romance drama Fuji TV did before Buzzer Beat, I decided what better time to start watching it?

Orthos no Inu: I know it's not out, but I'm FRIKKING EXCITED!  This shall the one drama I watch without fail.

Foreign Accent Syndrome: This fascinates me to no end.  About the "secret language" thing, though.  If you've seen the show House, then you may have seen the episode where a writer suffers a head injury and starts replacing words with other words.  This is kind of the same thing.  The brain makes you say certain things in place of other words.  You think you're saying the right thing, but you're not.  Don't ask me to remember the technical aspects, I'm sick.

Maybe fandom will pick up soon.  Everyone must be on vacation.  Or busy putting all the Diet members on an island where they can't hurt anyone ever again.

Why is this post so random?

Ja ne!

This might be a friends-only post since it's slightly personal.  I've been thinking lately about this journal, and exactly what it's for.  I started it because one time I saw a NEWS clip or something, and I wanted to talk about it with someone.  With anyone.  No one was around, and I didn't have any fandom friends at that time.  So I made this journal.  It was right before Honey and Clover started.  I guess at first, I just posted without much thought.  I just wanted to post stuff.  I didn't think anyone read it or would read it.

Nowadays, I don't really know what this blog is for.  I post stuff, but I get this "meh" feeling sometimes.  I hate not posting, but sometimes I just don't know what to post about.  You guys ever get that feeling?  There are some things you find interesting that you could mention but nothing that's really post-worthy.  Plus, I hate to say it, but sometimes I get sick of fangirling.  It doesn't mean I stopped liking dramas or JE or anything I usually talk about.  Sometimes I just get tired of flailing.  And sometimes I wonder if I have another opinion besides *flail* or keysmashes or what have you.  It's just that the things I talk about here are all things I like.  Things I love.  So if I can take the opportunity to wax eloquent and sometimes not-so-eloquent, I should, right?  That's what this journal is for.

Right now there is just way too much free time.  Even my job is comprised of free time.  It sounds cool, and it's fun for awhile.  After awhile, though, you just get sick of sitting there with nothing to do.  You get sick of sleeping days away and being up at night like a vampire.  I guess once school starts again, I'll have more to occupy my time.

One more thing.  Back at Christmas, I promised holiday cards to everyone who wanted one.  I did make the card, but by the time I was able to get them printed, it was past Christmas.  So I'm making the offer again.

~SUMMER HOLIDAY CARD EXTRAVAGANZA~

Yeah, there aren't really many summer holidays, but if you'd like a summer card, please leave a comment.  All comments will be screened.  Also, the extra surprises will be included, so please tell me your JE boy/drama/fandom of choice.

A summer card will be heading your way!

...I really need to start writing letters...



How can I NOT flail about Toma?  Is that even possible?

Ja ne!

Last week I was at Wal-Mart in the pet fish aisle looking for potential pet fish I could conceivably name Kenji and Toru when I heard the following true conversation:

MAN: What kind of fish should we get this time?
WOMAN: Mm, I dunno...
MAN: How about a shark? *points to the tiny, slightly confused shark trying to bump his way out of the tank*
WOMAN: Yeah, right...I guess maybe a goldfish.
MAN: One that won't commit suicide this time.

So I'm thinking of taking down the flag counter and traffic feed thing in the sidebar because it freaks me out to see people around here. I'd rather think that no one stops by, and I'm just somewhere in the void of the blogdom. I'm also surprised that only 39 people watched the 8Kuro teaser trailer. I'm proud of that video! Especially the ending. Sure, I'm kinda sick of hearing "Middle Management" by Bishop Allen now, but I thought the video was funny. That last part took me forever to get because Windows Movie Maker sucks ass when it comes to editing frame by frame. Despite it being a trailer, I like it as a random music video. I'd like to do more videos like that. Random clips for dramas.

It was hard making that thing, too. I had to go through and find RAWs that I had downloaded, of which there actually aren't many. I had a lot of subbed dramas, so I tried really hard not to use any SUBS (yes, there are a couple of sub accidents) for fear the wrath of a subteam would befall me. Also, I realized I didn't have that many TV clips, and most of them were actually Toma clips. Call me biased, I know I am. It says so in the video. There's also a lot of Mabo, but Psychometrer Eiji 2 and Yasuko to Kenji were two of the only RAW dramas I had available. Also, he's just too funny! After finishing it, though, I definitely decided I can't make more than 8Kuro video a month. Especially once school starts again.

Meg and I were nostalgic again this past week...I think it was this week...so hard to remember. Today's Wednesday, right? Aaaaaaanyway, I found more nostalgic videos! Although, it makes me feel old. I'm a child of the late 80's and all the 90's, and so many people now are children of the late 90's and the millenium. One of the counselors at the Academy summer camp hasn't even seen the movie My Girl. Never even heard of it. WHAT?! *falls over in despair* That was a token movie in the 90's! Macaulay Caulkin!

"The Way" by Fastball: This used to be the one song outside of Spice Girls that I really liked in 7th grade. It's still a pretty awesome song. It makes an appearance at the end of the movie Johnny Tsunami, which proves that Disney actually used to be cool.

"Dammit" by Blink-182: Meg's recommendation. It sounded familiar, and I finally realized it was in the awesome 90's movie Can't Hardly Wait. Ahh, they just don't make 'em like that anymore.

"Bye Bye Bye" by *NSync: Ahhhh, this makes me yearn for the era of American boybands. Even though at the time I wasn't into BSB or NSync, I was constantly exposed to their songs. This is actually pretty good. Hehe. You ever notice how 5 seems to be a golden number for boybands? Five just seems to be the right number.

"I Want You" by Savage Garden: Meg's rec #2. Savage Garden pretty much defines the 90's for me because their music was EVERYWHERE. I first heard this song on the Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards. Yeah, Nick used to be cool, too. CHIKKA CHERRY COLA.

"Truly, Madly, Deeply" by Savage Garden: Now THIS song was everywhere. Even if you don't know Savage Garden, you probably have heard this song somewhere. I now think of the movie Music From Another Room starring Jude Law because it featured prominently at the end. A bit of trivia, but I found out that you can sing the chorus for this song to the chorus for NEWS' "with me." It totally works, I promise.

"You Get What You Give" by New Radicals: This is the 90's. Utterly. It has everything that defined the 90's. Malls. Baggy pants. Bucket hats. Disaffected youth...

"'Til I Hear It From You" by Gin Blossoms: I still listen to this song. It's plays the end of Empire Records. It's just a pretty darn awesome song, even if I'm not totally sure what the lyrics are about.

"Hey Jealousy" by Gin Blossoms: AHHHHH! OH MY GOSH! THE 90'S!!! This is so 90's!

"Two Princes" by Spin Doctors: Honestly, I kinda hate this song. It literally was everywhere in the early 90's. You couldn't watch a movie or listen to the radio without hearing this song over and over and over again. It was sooo overly hyped. I can't even listen to the whole thing now.

"Semi-Charmed Life" by Third Eye Blind: Slightly less annoying song, however, it was also overly hyped and still gets played on commercials. The chorus is kinda fun to sing, too, hehe.

Even though I'm totally going to buy it because I just WANT IT, I downloaded flumpool's first live DVD "How did we feel then?" where they play at Shibuya Club Quatro on their Unreal tour. Big thanks to my new flist palmiserabilities for the linkage. I wrote a huge commentary on it which is mostly how much they rock and how adorable Ryuuta is with accompanying pictures. I highly recommend joining flumpool_ko if you like flumpool AT ALL because the awesome members post pretty much every piece of news they can get their hands on.

 
 

I feel like I've been on hiatus.  And I haven't!  I just had nothing to talk about for over a week.  Then the other day when I was making a list of what I thought were a few things to randomly write about, I ended up with two pages.  So, I made a decision.  The idea I've had brewing for several months will now be put into action.  In fact, I've spent the past two caffiene-fueled nights at work working on this thing.  That's me and my perfectionism.  I am dedicated to editing like that.

So without further ado and bruhaha, I present the teaser trailer for 8Kuro, a Honey and Clover Video Podcast....once it finishes converting, that is.

EDIT: Yay, it's done!

Well, we're officially moved into our PARK. It is an actual park, yes. I will take pictures to prove this. I spent my first night in the new "house" last night, which probably wasn't a good idea, since I had to work all night on Saturday night and kind of passed out and felt like I'd been hit by a bus when I woke up this morning.

Anywho, since fandom is dead (at least the NEWS fandom, anyway) and there's no hope of zombification any time soon (not even a Buzzer Beat theme song WTF?!), I've been continuing on with the Spring dramas and watching some older dramas. For which I will provide a bit of commentary since they are quite good.

A Million Stars Falling From the Sky (Sora Kara Furu Ichioku no Hoshi): This the third KimuTaku drama I've seen in entirety. It aired in Spring 2002, so it's post-Hero. Even though it's after Hero, KimuTaku looks younger in this drama. His hair is a bit shorter, and he wears a pageboy cap most of the time. The story is about several people and their connections. True to any romantic/angsty drama, there are a lot of emo moments and people dying as well as some WTF moments near the end of the series. Sigh...I miss dramas like this (says the girl who only started watching them two years ago).

( Ichioku no Hoshi )

A Sleeping Forest (Nemureru Mori): I chose this one next because it was the next one alphabetically on a list of dramas. I've decided to go in fairly alphabetical order from now. Plus, it's another KimuTaku/angsty/romantic drama. I'm only three episodes in because I'm watching three dramas at the same time, so I can only get so far plot-wise. This drama is pre-Hero and aired Fall of 1998. Yay for 90's dramas!

Psychometrer Eiji 2: Three episodes into Sleeping Forest, pinkujisatsu very nicely uploaded Psychometrer Eiji 2 at my request. Unfortunately, it's not subbed, so I spaced out a couple of times while watching the first two episodes. I'm only two episodes into it. I asked for it because I saw Psychometrer Eiji a few weeks ago (stupid 5LDK for making me want to watch Matsuoka dramas) and LOVED IT TO DEATH. It left a gaping hole in my life. Plus, I wanted to see Toma on PE2. This aired Fall 1999, and incidentally co-stars KimuTaku's wife Kudo Shizuka.

Trick 2: I was watching the newest subbed BOSS episode the other day and just wanted MORE. So I turned to Trick 2 for the wonderfulness of the combination of Nakama Yukie and Abe Hiroshi. The first season was okay, but I think it was the wrong time for me to watch it. It was at the end of the school year, and I was all BLEGH and didn't want to watch mysteries. I have only one more episode, which I plan on watching right after I post this. It aired Winter 2002 and features the same kind of mysteries that the first season did with somewhat more hilarity.

( Tricky Tricky )

I'm slowly getting back into Japanese study. It's summer, for crying out loud, I'm allowed some off-time. But enough is enough, and I need motivation. I was stalking JapanSoc the other day--please join if you haven't already. Put it in your RSS feed reader or bookmark it, whatever, but just check it out because there are TONS of awesome articles about everything you've ever wanted to know about Japan from people living there and not living there--and read this article about why kanji is important to learn. That lead to a whole website about how to become fluent in Japanese in about two years.

It's called All Japanese All the Time. I read a lot of the articles, and it really motivated me. The guy who runs is called Khatzumoto. He's currently living in Japan and became fluent in Japanese in 18 months. All because of the method he talks about on his website. Basically, you tune out your native language and do pretty much EVERYTHING in Japanese. You're studying Japanese 24/7/365. You have to bombard your senses with Japanese. His method is kind of extreme, though, and would be difficult to put into practice all the time. He does recommend learning kanji first, which I think is a good idea. Learning kanji first is a good idea because you get vocabulary and you're able to read and understand a lot more instead of learning it as you go.

I would love to be able to become fluent in two years and be able to read as well, but I don't know if I can do this method. Sure, I have no problem listening to Japanese music and watching Japanese TV or studying kanji/grammar/sentences. But Khatz goes so far to say you should always talk and think in Japanese. Don't get me wrong, I think this is a good way to become fluent. A lot of people think it's studying that makes you fluent, but you really have to start thinking in the language you're studying. In essence, this is like being in Japan and having to rely on your Japanese skills without actually being in Japan. But if you're in school (like I sadly still am) and have to talk to people all the time in one language that is not Japanese and cannot cut them out of your life (he does kind of recommend this as well), then this method will take a lot longer. Unless you just have tons of free time and can cut yourself off from most people for a couple of years, I find this method extreme. But if you want to become fluent in a short amount of time, it's probably a really good way to do it.

Must take a moment to say HOW MUCH DID TOMA ROCK IN VS ARASHI? He totally made up for the utter fail in Tokyo Friend Park II. Sho is also hilarious. I loved it. I loved it so much.



Ja ne!

ME: When I move away, I half expect to one day hear a knock on the door, open it, and standing there will be a big guy named Vinny who says he knows you and owes you a favor.  As such, he will be keeping an eye on me.

DAD: I'll try not to be that bad...well, his name won't be Vinny, anyway.

So, officially, I am moving to a park.  I am not kidding.  The "house" we are moving to is at the edge of city park.  This adds a strange new level of complexity to my life.  Mom says this is temporary until we find a better house (since I still live with them, technically), but uh, I'm doubtful.  Oh, well, I have things to discuss.

Just the Monday before last, Puffy made a guest appearance on SMAPxSMAP and sung the end theme for Konkatsu! WITH SMAP.  I love this song, which was originally done by the band Sugar in the 80's. I think they say '81 in the video. I thought it was a cute song for the end theme of Konkatsu! SMAP performing it with Puffy is just extra awesome icing on the cake. I am a horrible general JE fan because this is the first time since I got into it that I've seen SMAP perform ANYTHING. Seriously. I really can't believe I haven't seen them perform anything before. Where have I been? Clearly, though, they are still awesome. SMAP: proving that no matter how old JE boys get, they will still be able to dance. There were some cute moments in the video, too, like Goro singing "Kutabacchimae," KimuTaku riding one of those playground horses, and Nakai making goofy faces in the background.

Clearly, I must give up my love of NEWS and switch to SMAP. The more I watch variety shows, the more I realize that NEWS needs one. NEWS is sort of the "Eh, whatever" group of JE. But they're really going to need a show. What's going to happen once Koyama no longer hosts Shounen Club? He's going to need an outlet for all of that energy. Both Ryo-chan and Tegoshi already do variety shows, Shige's a big talker during MC, Massu's too funny not to be on anything, and Yamapi's been whining for a show for awhile now. I think it's about time for them to get a show.

The best thing that happened today: flumpool's "Natsu Dive" PV came out, reasserting what I have said many a-time: flumpool can do no wrong.


OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD. They...they...they...they...THEY DANCED! Just when you think flumpool can't get any more awesome, they do.

Laughable things:
1. Everyone's names on the front cover of the magazine. The "Diet Now!", under which is Kazuki's name.  Kazuki constantly says he's fat. But where is Seiji's name? They left him out! Poor cat-loving Seiji.
2. Ryuuta's the only one allowed to be cool. XD
3. For some reason, Seiji looks like Johnny Depp when he first appears.
4. Genki actually is actually goofy? Plus, this is the most passionate and into it that I've ever seen him. In a PV, that is. No idea about live.

I'm not even going to try to compare this song to another, as it's different from their other songs, but still purely flumpool. It's still got that flumpool flavor. I really think it's in Seiji's drumming.  This isn't favoritism, but Seiji has a unique drumming style. It's got kind of...jazzy feeling? That makes no sense. He reminds me of my friend Matt, who is an awesome drummer, and he drums just like him. Maybe that's it.

Lately I've been thinking how little I know my flist.  So I am jumping on the bandwagon and posting THE MEME.  Please to be filling it out if you wish, so I can get to know you guys better.

( LJ Cuts Hate Me, But Memes Are Spammish )
Ja ne!

Finally, after weeks of waiting, I got into the AVID lab and made a video file of my final edit project from Video Editing.  And here it is.  Just FYI, all of the crazy special effects and weird audio are supposed to be in there.  They were requirements for the project.

PAJAMAS IN LOVE

Ja ne!

Toma and Pi as detectives.

HELLS YES PLEZ CAN WE HAZ?  And as former gang members turned teachers...?

Feeling sick of not contributing to fandom (must make videos, must make videos, must make videos!), I took c0rin's rant that there are no TomaMi (Toma+Manami Higa) fics, at least not in English and wrote...well, I started a Toru/Kaori fic.  I fail.

This is crap, but please to be enjoying, if you can, Part 1 of "Won't Go Home Without You."  Also, this will get better.  This first part is just horrible.

Title: Won't Go Home Without You
Author: areea-chan
Rating: G to PG?  There's one cuss word in it.
Genre: Romance, fluff
Summary: Toru is a struggling designer with a great love for women, when one night, he literally runs into a girl he looks twice at.
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters.  I just make stuff up.  Don't sue me, Fuji TV, I wanna work for you!

( Won't Go Home Without You Part 1 )

Ja ne!
 

Feeling nostalgic the other night, I went trolling through YouTube looking for old music tastes. Can I just Hanson is one of those bands that just never gets old?

First of all, thanks to the lurkers who actually commented on the entry before the Majo Saiban pimp post. If there are other lurkers out there who want to comment but who might be afraid of saying something dumb or what have you, don't be afraid! Everyone's pretty nice around here, even if we're all a bit insane. Yes, you know who you are. Anyway, special thanks to all of my flist for being such awesome friends! I know most of you are "on hiatus"--come on, I know you're actually out there reading your flist and pretending not to be around--but come around every once in awhile.

Okay, I am getting way excited for Orthos no Inu after seeing these scans. I am SO GLAD that Takki dyed his hair back to black. I think he really looks better with dark brown hair, but black is quite nice on him. *spazzglitterflail* This picture reminds me of that Ohno/Toma one...yeah...this one. Orthos pic courtesy of jesychan. Maou pic courtesy of lady_mercury.

I went through a big Takki phase last...was it last summer? I think it was last summer. It was after I saw Strawberry on the Shortcake (good grief, angsty!Takki is hot, everyone must watch this drama for crying out loud), and just couldn't get enough. So, yes, Ryo-chan is also in this. Double trouble. I'm still a little irky on Ryo's acting abilities. I know he can pull off a normal guy like in Attention Please!, Ryuusei no Kizuna and a little bit in Last Friends. He can be scary, he can be romantic, and so forth. I just wonder what he'll be like this role. He's supposed to play a "gentle high school teacher."
 

I think this drama will be a serious contender this summer. Everyone's getting so pumped up for Buzzer Beat, which, yeah, I'm gonna watch. Not because it's going to be a cinematic masterpiece. I have purely shallow motives: YAMAPI. Yes, we all know we're going to watch it for Yamapi. Okay, also Mizobata Junpei...Anyway, Orthos looks like it'll be really dramatic and have layers of meaning. Probably even the chalkboards upon which Ryo will write will have some kind of meaning. I'll tell you one thing, if I had had a teacher who looked like Ryo-chan when I was in high school, I would not have minded going every day. In fact, I wonder if they'll make mention in the script of Ryo-chan's ikemen status. Random high school girls swooning over him even though he could kill him just by touching them...That sounded vaguely dirty...

How cute is it that Tamaki Hiroshi and Yoshioka Yuriko are dating? They seemed like such an unlikely couple on Love Shuffle! YAY PANDA! I just thought it was incredibly cute. And of course, I have no screencap from Love Shuffle because it's on my hard drive AT SCHOOL. Sigh...

Some more nostalgia! The 90's PWN'd.

"If Only" by Hanson--I remember watching this on Disney back when Disney actually played music videos. Sorry, but the Jonas Brothers have NOTHING on Hanson.

"He Loves U NOT"--Dream--Oh gosh, freshman year of high school. So much pop.

"Graduation" by Vitamin C--Why does everyone--EVERYONE--use this song for their graduation? It orginated when I was in 8th grade. That's how old it is.

"Say You'll Be There" by Spice Girls--Yes, I admit it. I was a huge Spice Girls fan in 7th grade. I must have seen Spice World about 100 times. Nice to see Posh Spice in the pre-David Beckham era.

"Absolutely (Story of a Girl)" by Nine Days--Please do not listen to this unless you want it to be in your head for the next year. It's too darn catchy to ever leave your brain. It's like a brain slug.

"Supergirl" by Krystal--PRINCESS DIARIES! I love how Anne Hathaway, Erik von Detten, and Robert Schwartzman (he was Schwartzman back then) have a sort of role-reversal in this video. And yes, that's BSB's Howie as the customer/random dude and Kevin as a fry cook.

"Back Here" by BBMak--I still love this song. It's one of those songs that never gets old. These boys had real style.

"I Knew I Love You" by Savage Garden--Talk about getting old school. Savage Garden is a true 90's band.

"You Were Meant For Me" by Jewel--The first time I heard this song was the on the Kid's Choice Awards. After that, I went up to my brother's room and listened to his copy. It was just something he had (probably a girl got it for him).

"Ironic" by Alanis Morissette--Angsty Alanis! I did go through an Alanis phase. It's totally my brother's fault for having that CD.

"One Week" by Barenaked Ladies--Pure old school 90's geek rock. This song cracks me up.

Okay, if I go any further, I'll end up delving into every single Savage Garden song I heard in the 90's. Which is pretty much all of them.

Ja ne!
 

I've been watching many dramas this past season, most of which I am halfway through.  However, there is one particular drama that I must pimp no matter what.  It is a drama which, as soon as I see it posted, I download it.  As soon as I download it, I watch it.  As soon as I watch it, I flail.  As soon as I flail, I...go get some juice...What is this drama?  Well, you probably guessed it from the title.

MAJO SAIBAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*confetti*

If you're not watching it, you really should.  And no, I am not biased because it's Toma.  Pfft, I don't watch dramas just because Toma's in them.  Pfft, pfft, ahem.  Yeah, enough of the crappy brushing off jokes.  Yes, I am incredibly biased because it's Toma.  It's not just because this drama has Toma in it that I like it.  Majo Saiban is pretty interesting, albeit shorter than normal dramas.  In all honesty, it's not the best drama that's ever been made, but it's different.

Henceforth, because I'm waiting for our new giant jellyfish overlords to finally take over the planet, the new season of Futurama to come out, and because the boredom is gnawing at my brain like an ice weasel, I decided to make this

MAJO SAIBAN PIMP POST EXTRAORDINAIRE!

WARNING: IMAGE HEAVY AND SOME SPOILERS.  READ AT YOUR OWN RISK OF BEING SPOILED.
 

So bored.  SO BOOOOOOORRRRREEEEEEDDDDD.

Everyone's on hiatus/vacation/living their lives, and I'm sitting here at home waiting for my job to start.  Meanwhile, nothing big is happening.  Nothing terribly epic.  Just some interesting news here and there.  I really hate posting when I don't have much to actually talk about or something to contribute.  But I'm just so BORED!

Okay, I'm still in a drama-watching mode.  The subbing pace has picked up (probably because everyone's finally out of school) and a lot of new releases have come out.  I'm saving major drama comments for the ends of the series, but let me say that they are getting WAY better.  I look forward to finishing many of them.  OMGATASHINICHINODANSHIEPISODE8MAJORFLAILAAHHHHHGONNAEXPLODE!

Ahem.  So in between watching new episodes (currently downloading Meitantei no Okite episode 4), I watched Psychometrer Eiji season 1.  It has to be season 1 since I can't find season 2 ANYWHERE.  So I started watching it because of 5LDK and the whole Toma/Matsuoka acting together thing.  Plus, I've been really into the late 90's dramas lately.  Psychometrer Eiji is AWESOME.  It's like Ikebukuro West Gate Park mixed with a little bit of Silence of the Lambs, and Trick.  Seriously.

The story starts with Eiji (Matsuoka) who is just a normal high school student getting by and slacking off with his friends Shokichi (Inocchi from V6) and Yosuke (Kohara Yuki).  They mostly skip school to go out and try to make money just to get food.  One day, Eiji literally runs into female detective Shima who is working on a case involving the serial killings of high school girls.  Once he touches her, he sees what she saw at the last crime scene and thinks she's the killer.  He sees her again at the police station while going to pick up his little sister and accidentally touches her again and sees more information about the case.  Shima, who studied psychic phenomenon, recognizes Eiji as a psychometrer, a person who can see the past by touching objects.  She tries to get him to help with the case, but Eiji has taken a don't-get-involved-or-use-psychometry stance.  Eventually, when Shokichi gets blamed for it and his own sister gets kidnapped, Eiji has to help figure out the real criminal.

The series goes on like this with Eiji and his friends mainly trying to make money or get free food.  They stumble upon a crime scene involving Shima, and Shima wants Eiji to help.  He's always reluctant, even though he gets less so as the series goes on.  Touching the objects is always very dramatic and slow with appropriate visual metaphors and 90's special effects.  Must give props to the writers, however, because what Eiji sees is always very confusing and doesn't give many clues as to who the killers are.  Yes, they are always killers.  The series is more graphic and realistic than newer ones in terms of what they show.  It can get gross and somewhat disturbing at times (episode 5 dealt with a whole busload of kids who were each killed with a one of those ski sticks...*shudder*), and also after episode 4 it starts getting paranormal with some really unbelievable stuff.  Yeah, that stuff would not fly nowadays.

Again, must give props to the writers for keeping the continuity and having an overall storyline that, while it got kinda crazy at times, actually wrapped itself up nicely.  Props to the directors as well, one of which actually DID co-direct Ikebukuro West Gate Park.  And major props to the editors who are not credited at d-addicts so I have no idea who they are.  Everyone thinks it's the director and the actors who do such great work.  But without editors, the truly great work would not be shown.  Power to the editors, yo.

I started watching Neverland last night, again because of Toma.  Oh man, if ever there was an angsty teen drama, THIS IS IT.  I did not know it would be this angsty.  Of course, it's a total JE drama starring Miyake Ken as Mitsuhiro and Tsubasa as Yoshikuni, Hina as Shinohara, Toma as Osamu, and Koki as Shigehisa.  Toma actually does not appear that much (so far).  It's a lot of Ken--I find it so weird that Ken is playing a high schooler as he was 22 at the time--and Tsubasa and lots of closeups of them looking all angsty and emo.  I've never seen Tsubasa act, but he's not bad.  Somewhat unexpressive, but not bad.  The plot is sooooo angsty and dramatic.  A little disturbing as well.  And the music is so cheesy that it makes the whole drama seem silly.  Add in the zooming-in closeups and it could be a comedy if everyone just overacted.  Alas, they don't, and it makes the drama cheesy.

And now, a poem for your enjoyment.

Not much to say or much going on
I decided to write this poem/thing/song
With news of things and a little bit of spazz
Though my word prowess compares not to Jason Mraz.

Ryo-chan's starring in a new drama on TV
He'll play a guy who dies for 24 Hour Terebi
Ryo-chan's gonna die from overwork
but that's okay we'll still go berserk

Surely Someday will be Shun-kun's debut
As a director of people better looking than me or you
It's expected to have the handsomest cast
Lets hope he picks actors who can actually act

Looks like Hiro and Takeru will join up again
And play brothers--no, bandmates--with a group of young men
Mukai Osamu joins this wonderful cast
So this movie needs two verses of this crappy non-rap

The movie will feature Nakamura Aoi,
Who's that guy from Gakko ja Oshireranai!
Kiritani Kenta plays the rapper Chiba
Remember him as Post-It guy from Ryuusei no Kizuna?

And here with a third verse I present to you
Aoi, Osamu, Kenta, Hiro, and Takeru
Will all perform original songs written for this movie
So clearly we will all die from extreme overglee.

Now it's time for Gokusen flail
I can't think of a rhyme because this poem is utter fail
But Kame comes back, yay! I'm so happy
With season 2 buddies Keisuke, Koike, and Mokomichi

Then there's the awesomeness from season 1:
Nari-kun, Ishigaki, and Oguri Shun
There won't be any MatsuJun or Jin
I really wish Jun would come back as Shin

Because I don't know of much else to discuss
I shall stop this dumb poem without a big fuss
Since you ended up reading this far
Blabbedy doo dah dee dee ba ba bar

I'm still on a quest to get lurkers to comment and post.  Seriously, lurkers need to comment!  Comments are appreciated!  Donna Martin graduates!  Ahem, anyway...

This is getting so boring.  As much as I was excited about the video for "MW~Dear Mr. and Mrs. Picaresque" coming out, I feel like another lull has set in.  NEWS has disappeared once more into oblivion.  Which can only mean it's almost time for a new single.  BE AWESOME ONCE AGAIN, MY NEWS BOYS.  Oh geez, clearly I've lost my mind from boredom.

So since I am so bored, I actually sold my soul and joined Twitter.  If anyone wants to add me, go ahead and add me.  I feel slightly ashamed of myself.

This post fails.  I'm going to bed.

Ja ne!

wi3098qkjna;oih3w;h9a9u2]9-ru2]90ruq;n;jandkan AJSNA;DOIHW;AOIDHAIDHW0E\2IFNQJIJKWFHG98HN ALKJKFAHFEUGFEW !!!weiRW8IR3HYURH#%$w^&e%oUI8AHDJANFJEHBFAUH

In case you didn't know, that was a huge key smash. Because guess what?

FLUMPOOL'S NEW VIDEO FOR "MW~Dear Mr. & Mrs. Picaresque" IS OUT!!!! Can you tell I'm excited? It's because the video and song are epic. EPIC. Not just epic, but EPIC. This song is actually a reworking of one of their older songs called "Tsuki to Gaitou," which is a pretty darn awesome song in itself. The lyrics are different, and it's not as hardcore as this version. Please enjoy it below.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Epic. EPIC EPIC EPIC EPIC EPIC. Okay, can I just say a few things:

1. flumpool+suits+water=EPIC WIN (don't you just love the netspeak?)
2. Seiji's actually not wearing a hat for once
3. Best flumpool video yet, even though half of it was scenes from "MW," but still, Tamaki Hiroshi looks hawt with a beard and mustache. Heck, I really want to see this move now. Although...wait...isn't that church where Yamada Takayuki is praying from Bloody Monday?

This video just thrilled me. It's so...just...AWESOME. It's more proof that flumpool, like GReeeeN, can do no wrong. New single cannot come soon enough. When I go to Japan, flumpool concert is number one on my list. Tickets will be easier to get than for NEWS. I love NEWS, but damn, it's flumpool. And flumpool is made of pure, unrefined awesome.

Wow, what an utterly boring title. However, that's what this post is about because someone actually requested to know what I thought about one of this season's dramas. Seriously? Okay, then, here we go off into A-chan's Land O' Dramas.

Uh...wait, what am I watching this season? Surprisingly not much because there seems to be a LOT of detective and cop dramas.

Me: Gah, I hate this weather.

Will: Me, too.  Usually if I want it to rain, it rains.

Me: Wow, Will, you're like God.

Will: I know!  Isn't it weird?

So I am finally back from my self-imposed hiatus due to Finals Hell.  Long story short, I spent last week living in the editing lab while I wasn't doing finals.  But I finished it my short film, dag nabbit.  It shall be posted here once I can get back to the lab and actually create a movie file.  So anyway, even though I went through utter hell and was on hiatus, I still checked my flist every day or so before I passed out from exhaustion, so I know all about what's been going on.  Why is it I miss EVERYTHING when I'm gone?

Okay, where to start.  How about TOMA'S MOVIE OF EPIC AWESOMENESS.  Hehe, I want to make a movie with that title.  Our dear boy, Toma, will be starring in his first feature film based on Dazai Osamu's semi-autobiographical novel Ningen Shikkaku or No Longer Human.  The story is about a man who has felt alienated from society and other human beings since childhood.  He sees the truth in people, realizing that people put on different fronts and that it's impossible to truly trust another human being.  He turns to alcohol, sex, drugs, and eventually attempts suicide to escape from his own mind.  There are English copies are available at Amazon.com.

I'm majorly excited for this because it's Toma's first movie EVER.  Literally two days before this announcement, I was in my car and I randomly thought, "Hey, Toma has never done a movie.  I wonder when that's gonna happen."  AND IT'S HAPPENING, FOOS.  May I kindly request a Toma Community Fan Trip to Japan to see this movie?  Sure, it's gonna be dark and depressing, but who cares?!  Seriously, though, I'm excited for Toma playing such a dark and angsty character.  This is beyond angst.  Angst was Maou.  This is the darkness of the human soul.  I think this will be a real test of Toma's abilities.  Watching Majo Saiban lately, I see how Toma uses some of his old quirks from other characters.  He's a good actor, but he still needs to learn.  This role will be good for him.

TAKKI'S GETTING ANOTHER DRAMA!  PWN!  How long have I been whining for this?  Months now?  Not only that, but he's co-starring with Ryo-chan in a very Maou-esque drama called Orthos no Inu which takes its name from the two-headed dog of Greek mythology. Takki plays an evil and mysterious man whose hands have the ability to heal and give life.  Ryo-chan plays a gentle high school teacher whose hands only bring death.  Once these two meet, a battle of good and evil ensues.  Oh yes, this is going to be awesome.

Takki hasn't been in a renzoku since 2005 when he starred alongside Hasegawa Kyoko in Boku Dake no Madonna, which I highly recommend if you like Takki and romance.  This drama convinced me that Takki must be one of the all-time best kissers in JE.  This will be a different role for Ryo-chan as well.  He usually plays cool, fairly normal guys aside from his brief stint at Sousuke.  I wonder how he'll pull off the "gentle" high school teacher role.  And hey, at least one member of NEWS is playing a high school teacher.  He may not be a former gang member turned high school teacher, but oh well.  Also, I would totally have gone to school every day if Ryo-chan had been my teacher...which would have been weird as he's only a year or so older than me.

Looks like Yamapi can stop complaining about not being busy.  His summer drama has been CONFIRMED.  It's not the High School Musical drama that everyone thought it would be, but it does have to do with basketball, so...it's a sports drama?  It's called Match Point, and it has an AMAZING cast that comes with it.  I can't say anything about Kitagawa Keiko (never seen her in anything), but the rest of the cast includes Aibu Saki (Zettai Kareshi, Utahime), Kanjiya Shihori (Kimi Hannin Ja Nai Yo Ne?, Love Shuffle), Ito Hideaki (First Kiss), and Mizobata Junpei (Akai Ito, Hachi-One Diver).  OH MY GOD, MIZOBATA JUNPEI.  I AM IN.  I AM ALL FOR THIS DRAMA.  So it looks like Pi's playing an unconfident yet straight-forward guy.  Someone said like his Kenzo role, but he may surprise us yet.  It would be nice to see him as a dork.  Not as Akira the dork, but just as a guy who is not confident in his abilities at all.  Hard for the ever-confident Pi, but it would be very interesting to see.

Half of NEWS will be in a drama during the summer.  Tegoshi makes number 3 where he plays a host in a drama special called Dareka ga Uso wo Tsuiteiru.  So, Tegoshi as a host.  I can...kind of see it...sorry, Tegoshi will forever be the little brother character in my NEWS family.  I just cannot see him any other way.  He's too hyper to be anything else.  Still, I look forward to seeing him as a host.  Speaking of hosts, this has nothing to do with the drama, but did anyone else see that article about one of Japan's top hosts cutting a record?

As if the summer season couldn't get any better, Nagase is starring in a drama this summer!  He's playing a swindler who was sentenced to prison for 30 years but is brought out so his skills can be put to use.  He'll be dressing up in various disguises a la Kurosagi (is this typical of swindlers?) and will be equipped with an array of gadgets a la James Bond.  Nagase in a comedy as a criminal turned spy?  I am there.  Nagase as a criminal/yakuza/gang member is just fun times all around.

And now a few moments I enjoyed:

Shige's HAWT kiss in Seminar: You know after seeing that you were jealous, too.  Heck yes, Shige.  You go, boy.

Kusanagi's Return: I was so happy and yet surprised to see it happen this quickly.  It was clear that Kusanagi was sorry.  And financially, it was dumb to pull him from so much and cause so much money to be lost.  I understand the implications of what he did, but still...That's what's surprising.  That he was "reinstated" so to speak so quickly.  But I'm glad.  It's a big step toward acceptance in Japanese media.

Yamapi's (full-on lipsynced) MOLA performance....but I enjoyed Takki's "Mugen no Hane" and "Sha La La" performance waaaaay more.

Oh yes, Takki's PV for "Mugen no Hane" has come out as well.  I liked "Sha La La" more, but it's still kind of cute.  Yes, it has been a Takki week because I finished Antique yesterday, and how come no one ever squees over this moment with Fujiki Naohito:

       

       

My last excursion in Japanese II happened last Tuesday at the final.  Basically, I was given a different test than everyone else because Joe-sensei gave me the story that actually was the final to help Bradtachi study for the final.  So since I had the story all that time and no one else did, Joe-sensei asked me if I would take another test.  I thought he meant in addition to the original test.  He meant a totally different one.

I had a vocabulary list and a "ganbatte" and had to translate a story about Ikkyuu-san and Kahei-san and them trying to outwit each other with a soup bowl.  I still don't totally understand the story or how Ikkyuu-san outwitted Kahei-san, but I got an A.  I was quite proud of myself, actually, because I hadn't read the story at all.  It was like a true test to see how well my Japanese has improved this past year.  FYI, it was a lot.  I was surprised.

Excursions in Japanese will hopefully continue this summer because Joe-sensei is going to help some of us improve our speaking ability, especially Thomas, who will be leaving for the JET program in August.  Ganbatte, Tomasu-chan.  Maybe I'll visit you someday.

COMING SOON ON HONEY AND CLOVER:
--TAKEMOTO IS ON HIS JOURNEY OF SELF-DISCOVERY...oh wait, wrong announcement.  *clears throat*

--TOMA ON VS ARASHI: Hells yes.  HELLS YES.  Can we has moar Toma fayle plez?
--MW PREQUEL SPECIAL: I'm only watching this in the hopes that the new flumpool song will appear, but who's gonna sub it?
--SPRING DRAMA REVIEW:  Halfway through.  How are the dramas?
--FANFIC: Uh, maybe...if I can go back and look at the suggestions that were made...actually, I'm still taking them...
--WHY IS EVERYONE ON HIATUS?: The Hiatus Syndrome and what you can do to keep yourself safe.  Not really, but I can't think of anything else.

Ja ne!

P.S.: I appreciate lurkers who comment.  Just saying... ^_^

I realized right after I posted that I had deleted a part of the post because LJ cuts hate me, and I had forgotten to put it back in. Then I checked my flist, and well...TOO MUCH FLAIL!!!! *explodes* And holy crap, who the heck reads all of this anyway?

So first of all, the mysterious missing piece from my previous post:

NEWS WO ABAKE

I'm such a sucker for News wo Abake. The Koi no ABO performance was awesome, but am I the only one bothered by Pi's obvious cop-out in every single live performance during his solo part of the "Suuuuubete woooooo"? He just doesn't want to sing that! It's so obvious! My love for NEWS is unbreakable, though. Despite their attention whore-ness sometimes. They're still just huge dorks.

Ryo-chan: Didn't say much, did he? Surprisingly. But he always speaks in Kansai-ben, so they know it's him! I love how he and Pi totally backed each other on that handsome question. Ryo-chan just sat there looking bored. He always does that, though. He did that in the last News wo Abake.

Shige: He was begging to be picked on. Aw, Shige. Even the audience picked on him. And he totally admitted it, too. He was just all-around bad that day. Even he agreed that Yamapi and Ryo-chan were the most handsome. He just talked way too much. I think he meant to do it, though. Just for fun.

Tegoshi: LOL, Tegoshi did Koyama's normal trick and tried to be someone else. And poor Koyama was like "NO NO, I DON'T REALLY THINK THAT."

Massu: The glasses. Oh man. Koyama knew it was him talking. Massu didn't say much, either. He mainly tried to keep the peace and stopped Shige's endless rant about Koyama's computer.

Koyama: Why why why is he such a baka? IT'S TOO CUTE. He got lost on the way to the chair! He comforted Massu. Such nice fanservice. He's always surprised by Nakamaru. Oh, and that awesome moment when Koyama went all yakuza and started rolling up his sleeves like he was gonna put a beat down on Shige. I half-expected him to say, "I'll put you at the bottom of Tokyo Bay!"

Yamapi: He was Yamapi. What can I say? He's all into being a super-star these days. But Pi, why did you have sunglasses on in the bathroom? Pi actually spoke quite a bit. Pi seems like a non-talkative type, but he really is. I remember reading something where NEWS said that Pi is actually like Akira in NwP most of the time. Yeah, he probably is. We've seen him in the DVD documentaries...he really is.

Now moving on to another band. Of course, it is the unbeatable flumpool. I've been listening to "Unreal" on repeat at work...and in the dorm...and while I'm driving...and walking to class...I haven't seen any actual translated interviews or scans, but jellyfishsongs posted the translated interview from the January issue of b-pass. If I didn't love flumpool before, I certainly love them now. They are different than I thought they'd be. THEY'RE AWESOME. They're all just normal guys who happen to play music.

Seiji (drummer who always wears that hat, which is cool) is a huge animal person. He has a kitty that he lurves! That was so cute. He seems like a pretty normal guy, and he likes Harry Potter. Dude is cool in my book. If you read his section...the boy really loves his cat, lol.

Ryuuta (vocalist with an interesting voice and gorgeous smile) is a man after my own heart. He knows English (doesn't say if he actually speaks it much), likes cheerful people (well, he's cheerful himself, isn't he?), and his favorite movie is Ghost (seriously? such a romantic). He mentions in the group interview that he actually did a student exchange in Australia. He likes how foreign countries look in movies...I must admit that was my excuse for going to England.

Genki (bassist who looks like he never talks) is the most serious of the group. And he looks like it, really. Genki is probably the most normal of them all wanting to go to Hawaii and laughing about their old lives when they were still in the indies. But he likes the movie Cool Runnings which I find hilarious. He seems like the kind of guy who'd get bored easily...like Yamapi? Genki looks just like my friend Mitchell from school. I sometimes wonder if he leads a double life...

By the way, I'm making that picture my wallpaper.

I cannot wait for their first actual full-length album. Unreal is a mini-album, which is just not enough. I hope they include "Kimi Iro" on their full-length album. I just watched the old performance of it at Club Quatro on YouTube and totally fell in love with the song. So funny to see Ryuuta with that hair. So funny to see EVERYONE with different hair. Genki's hair is actually out of that one eye. Seiji has short hair, and Kazuki has this weird mullet thing.

I have had a cold this week. Plus there's finals stuff to do. Plus I have to move out of the dorm, find a summer job, and a place to live. All I want to do is watch dramas. I started watching "Regatta" the other night but couldn't get into it because I was too sleepy. But there are still the awesome Spring dramas like Atashinchi no Danshi, Quiz Show, and Majo Saiban. I started SMILE, Ghost Friends, Meitantei no Okite, LOVE GAME, and Konkatsu!

Honestly, after sampling most of the Spring dramas, I'm a little disappointed. Especially in Konkatsu! because I thought, "Hey, Nakai, Ueto Aya, Sato Ryuuta...it's all good!" But the first episode was sadly boring. It was like they filmed too much filler or didn't film enough action and had to fill a whole hour with filler. Mainly the big street celebration when they find out Nakai's getting married. That should have taken five minutes at the most. It took about ten minutes. And what did they do? They went around and talked about nothing!

According to Tokyograph, the ratings for Konkatsu! have significantly dropped since the first episode. The lowest ever for that time slot in Fuji TV history. They're trying to push some of the blame onto the Kusanagi Incident since SMAPxSMAP's ratings have dropped as well. Really, I don't think that's the problem. The public has shown immense support for Kusanagi (kudos by the way), despite the dropped campaigns and certain, ahem, older people's opinions about it. I think it's because the first episode of Konkatsu was just boring half of the time. As for the dropped ratings for SMAPxSMAP, that may be the case, but it also may be that since people aren't watching Konkatsu!, they're not sticking around for SMAPxSMAP, which comes on right after it. Still, I'm going to stick it out. If I can get past the first four episodes, it'll get more interesting. I've been wrong about many a drama (Long Vacation, Giragira, Love Shuffle) until I got past episode 4. Then suddenly the drama gets way more interesting.

Wow, I meant to make this post about music and ended up going on a drama rant. Well, anyway, this week I've been musically-oriented. Not that there has been a great increase in awesome music coming out, but I just found more, I guess. Been watching PV's like cah-ray-zah. And you know how I love to screencap things *evil genius maniacal laughter* Wahahahaha cough sputter cough...stupid cold. By the way, I hope you get better soon,c0rin. I be missing your snarky and sparkly posts.

GReeeeN's PV for "Haruka" came out! YAY! "Haruka" is going to be the theme song for the ROOKIES movie. I'm so glad they're doing the song again. I heard that this song is more of a ballad, and I guess for GReeeeN, it is. It's an absolutely beautiful song, and the PV is absolutely moving. You'd have to have a heart made of ice covered in stone and cement not to feel anything by it.





A couple of weeks ago, I saw Takki's new PV for "Sha La La." THANK GOODNESS is all I can say. It was waaaay better than "Ai Kakumei." I mean, I liked Ai Kakumei, but it had this weird Evita feel to it. Plus, Takki's hair made him look deathly sick. Thank goodness for hair dye, is all I can say. Takki's back to black (really dark brown?) and back to being dorky.





The music. I love big band rock. There just needs to be more of this. All of it. And what is it about the black and red color scheme in a video? It makes it 100 points cooler. Taiyou no Namida, for example, wouldn't have been nearly as awesome without the black and red. I think when Takki's new album comes out, I will have to get it. My poor hard drive...

Oh, random but slightly related: B-chan and I were doing our Top 10 Who You Would Kiss List both JE and non. This led to a big discussion on who would be an awesome kisser (majority rules: MatsuJun and Mizoshima Hiro) She really knew who she wanted to kiss (Toma was like, number 10). I could only think of two I would really want to kiss: 1.) Toma, and 2.) Takki.

Nande nande
Do I love Takki so?
Nande nande
I really do not know
Dame dame
I guess because I really do

*end weird song moment*

I've also been really getting into The Blue Hearts and MONGOL800. I just needed some grungy, punky, slightly dancey, 80's-90's music. The kind you'd hear in an 90's movie like Empire Records. Also, if anyone has the TOKIO version of "Love and Peace," please can I have it? I can't find it anywhere! And dude, it's TOKIO. They're automatically cool. I must watch Love and Peace for the awesome combination of Matsuoka and Toma.

Last but should be first: TOMA'S GONNA BE ON VS ARASHI! BOO-YAH. I think it's a general consensus that Toma is beyond awesome nowadays (despite the questionable hairstyle, which I have deemed a character choice for Majo Saiban) and has proven beyond doubt that you don't have to debut OR be in a group to be popular. Plus, it's Toma. He's just a great guy. *wants to someday write a drama role for him* I'm kinda mad, though, because school ends next week, and it probably won't air before then. So I'll have to watch it by my lonesome. WHO'S READY FOR SOME OLD-SCHOOL M.A.I.N. LOVE PLUS OHNO AND SHO? You know what, Toma and Sho should do a drama together. We need some Shoma love. *wants to write drama roles for both of them*

I know you, I wrote you a drama role one time
I know you, you're Toma ohhhh, so divine
And I know it's true
That though you have bad hair right now
But if I know you, I'll know what you'll do
You'll go on TV, make us squeal with glee
Like you did with Maou

*end really bad weird song moment*

Ja ne!
 

This isn't a typical post for me, but I'm making it public because I'd like to know what EVERYONE thinks.  Yes, that means everyone who comes across this post, even if you're a lurker.  Particularly those people from other countries (people from Japan!  I'd like to hear your thoughts!).

So here's the deal.  The little sister of a girl my mom used to babysit is in second grade.  Her name is Cassie.  We're still close to her family because Dad works with her grandparents.  One night, Dad told me that Cassie is learning Spanish.  In the same elementary school that I attended, they now have Spanish class for primary students.  Cassie said she thinks she'll fail because she couldn't understand a lot of it.  I asked him what she was studying, and he said that the class has to read stories in Spanish.  Remember, she's in second grade.  For those countries that have a different grade-level system, Cassie is 7-8 years old, so that should give you a good idea of where she's at.

In America, we don't have mandatory language classes until around high school.  It's starting to change, but it also depends on the school.  When I was in elementary school and middle school, I never learned any kind of second language.  I only started learning Spanish in high school.  I took three years and then took the Advanced Placement test.  I couldn't understand any of it.  I took a semester of Spanish in college because a second language is required, but I remember very little of it.

I tell you this because I think starting to learn a second language in elementary school is a good thing.  Kids like learning how to speak in a different language.  It's something mysterious and fun.  Plus, with the increasing connection of people through the Internet, the whole world is gradually becoming diversified.  We want to know things that are said and written in different languages.  People are going to different countries and living there.  Being bilingual or trilingual or just a good ol' polyglot can be a huge plus in this day and age.  It can open doors and create opportunities for kids.  So I think having the kids learn Spanish is a cool thing.  I'm all for it.

If you think about it, don't we here in America often require people to learn English?  We don't have a national language.  Yet people here (I see this a lot in the south, particularly) want people to learn English.  We don't want to another language.  To quote Eddie Izzard,

"Two languages in one head?  Impossible!  No one can live at that speed!"

"But the Dutch speak four languages and smoke marijuana."

"Yes, but they're cheating."

A friend of mine from Norway told me he doesn't like English, really.  It's more of a tool.  Which I kind of agree.  English is fine for those of us who grew up with it, but for everyone else, it's pretty much just a tool for career advancement, education, etc.  Unlike other countries, our language isn't tied to who we are as Americans.  It just happens to be the language that became dominent here (sometimes forced into dominancy as well).  I think offering foreign languages classes and even making them mandatory--right now, 2 years of a foreign language is mandatory for high school graduation--can be a great thing.  Especially if you start early and reach kids when they still think learning is fun.  School can provide the groundwork for further study.

But Cassie is in second grade, and the teachers are making the kids READ STORIES?  I've been studying Japanese for two years, and I'm just now reading stories.  Of course, Spanish and Japanese are fundamentally different.  Spanish is, most likely, easier for native English speakers.  But the kids are in elementary school.  I think they should be learning the basic stuff like colors, numbers, basic expressions like "Good morning" and "Good night," and just simple stuff at that level.  In the entire time I took Spanish, I never read one story.  I probably could have after three years at high school level, but to make kids in the second grade read whole stories and expect them to understand?

What's up with that?

So, tell me what you guys think about learning languages and making foreign language study mandatory.  Is it your mandatory where you live?  Did you have to learn English as a second language?  Do you feel like it's a tool for other things?  What about other languages?  Do you wish there were more opportunities for foreign language study?

I'd like to hear everyone's opinions on this.  Please leave a comment and we can have some good ol' language talky.

That was a really bad example of English

Tuesday in Japanese class:

Joe-sensei: You guys heard they're raising tuition next year, right?

Us:*confused*  Yeah...they do it every year...

Joe-sensei: And they just gave big raises to Western's board members?  Does no one protest things anymore?

Us:..not really...

Joe-sensei: Don't get me wrong, I'm not telling you to go take over the administration building or anything...

Us: *thinking* We never thought you were...

I'm still alive after this week, thank goodness.  I've actually been meaning to post for several days, but various things kept me away.  There's no other way to do this than a Week in Review.  First, though, I want to say

BELATED TANJOUBI OMEDETOU KEII-CHAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Keii-chan's interviews and thoughts always make me want to glomp on him, because he's just so darn adorable.  Keii-chan, if you're out there somewhere reading this, I adore you.  I can't decide if you'd be a better big brother or boyfriend.  Please keep being your amazingly cute and caring baka oji-chan self.  We wouldn't have it any other way.

This week I've also been reading Turning Japanese by Cathy Yardley.  The book is about a half-Japanese, half-Italian American woman named Lisa who wins an internship at a famous manga publisher called Sansoro books.  The publisher is in Japan, and she gets the chance to go to Tokyo for a year and work as an intern.  Lisa is not big on travel, especially when things are so comfortable in her life and with her soon-to-be-fiance Ethan.  But everyone gently pushes her to go, and she ends up in Tokyo living with a slightly weird Japanese family (honestly, I thought they were a fairly typical Japanese family, albeit a bit more extreme), working as "just an intern" at a Japanese manga publisher with a boss like a burnt marshmallow, and going up against the company's star manga artist who is also an uber-bitch.

I had issues with this book.  I liked it, but I found Lisa's obvious amazement at almost everything in Japanese culture a little unbelievable.  The girl says she's been reading manga and watching anime for years.  Manga and anime, while containing exaggerated and often characaturized life, is still not a bad indicicator of Japanese life and culture.  Seriously, she didn't learn ANYTHING from reading and watching?  Plus, her mother is Japanese.  She taught her the correct way to bow but didn't tell her about Japanese vagueness?  Also, the portrayal of the family that Lisa lives with...yeah, I had a hard time believing a lot about them, too.  Mainly about the son, Ichiro.  Ichiro apparently didn't go to high school and spends all of his time on the couch in the living room playing video games.  I know kids have the option of not going to high school, but for Ichiro's fairly well-to-do family, wouldn't it have been pretty shameful for him not to go?  It's never explained why he didn't go.

I felt really frustrated by this book at times.  There are SO many times when people tell Lisa she's the foreigner.  She's half-Japanese, but that doesn't matter.  People finally warm up to her, but it's like they expect her not to understand anything just because of an accident of birth.  I found myself wanting her to scream "I KNOW I'M NOT JAPANESE!  SO WHAT?"  Seriously.  Am I just naive or is it really that bad?  Don't answer that.  I felt like the author called way too much attention to that fact.  Of course, it also could have been Lisa's personal thoughts on the subject.  Feeling like a total outsider even if it may not have been the case...she was pretty whiny, actually.  I'll tell you one thing.  The book did not make me feel better about living in Japan.

I finally started some Spring dramas.  For now, all I can say is...YAY PANDA!!!  Quiz Show is AWESOME.  MAJORLY AWESOME.  EVERYONE GO WATCH IT.  Sho...I have never seen Sho that creepy.  He's so unnerving.  The whole show is almost an absurdist comedy.  It's so circular and you don't really know what's going on, but it's all connected.  Yoko is evil.  Sho is creepy and yet he breaks my heart.  Also, I really like his hairstyle, hehe.

I just watched Majo Saiban last night.  It was shorter than I thought it would be, but still pretty good for a beginning.  Some people said it's like Maou, but I actually watched the first episode of Maou right before it, and I didn't think it was like Maou at all.  Really, it reminds me more of Liar Game.  One of the directors actually directed Last Friends and Innocent Love.  Tooru is perverted-ish.  It's really funny, but then Tooru also feels like cross between a more mature Nakatsu and Ryuuji from Tiger and Dragon.  Toma is a great actor, but I feel like he still has things to learn.  I actually loved how he has a perfectly nice girlfriend at home, but he's always flirting with other women.  He was disappointed that Kato Ai's character was married!  LOL.

I want one of those "Think Twice" t-shirts.

Okay, everyone's been going crazy about The Kiss from episode 2.  I actually went, "Cool!" when I saw it.  It's not like the boy has never been kissed before.  He's kissed girls for plays and even kissed guys for dramas.  The boy has been kissed.  It's just a drama kiss.  Most drama kisses are boring, too.  I always wonder why that is.  Are the actors that uncomfortable?  So many times the kisses are just lips against lips, and it looks so fake.

Toma's Domoto Kyoudai.  Now that I've had a chance to see the better-quality video with SUBS *sparklesparkle*, I can honestly say it was crackalicious.  Of course, I just drank a bunch of caffiene, so I was all giggly and a little punch-drunk during it.  This is so boring to say, but I just loved all of it.  Toma always surprises me.  He's definitely a hard guy to pin down, but I'm glad he's doing a lot more interviews and things lately because we learn more about the real him.  Like that he has a great memory, he likes a variety of artists (most of them from the 70's-90's), and his ideal date is at Disneyland?  And staying over?  Hmmhmm, quite childish and yet mature, don't cha think?  A very surprising person indeed.

Let's see, what else is there?  I feel like this post is so...blegh.  Not up to the usual.  I guess I really don't know what to say sometimes, but there are still some things I saw on the flist today that I have comments about.

Yamapi may be in "High School Musical"?  It's just a rumor, but dude.  Yamapi?  I hope this is not the same High School Musical from Disney and that is in, in fact, a drama about a yakuza-turned-teacher who decides to hold a school musical for his deliquent students.  Please oh please oh please.  Pi just looks too old to play a high student anymore.  Kitagawa Keiko is supposedly playing in it, too.  I can believe her as a high school student.

NEW FLUMPOOL SONG IN JULY WITH THE MOVIE "MW" WHICH LOOKS FRIKKING FANTASTIC.  I need more flumpoooolllll nooowwwww...braaaaiiiiinnnsssss....

This layout is made of total and utterly pure win.  I want a layout like this only with some of my favorite JE boys.

I've been thinking about writing another fanfic, but I have to have something to write about.  So if anyone has a suggestion or something they'd like to read, or preferably an image or manipulation, please send it my way.  I may not do it depending on the suggestion, but you never know.  I want to write another fic in parts.  Something that won't make me feel like gouging my eyes out.

Gah, I've got to get these posts back to being normal.  But still, NOT MUCH IS HAPPENING.  April, the month of win, is over.  May, the month of blah, has started.

Ja ne!