On: Visiting the AKB48 Theater and Shop

As I mentioned in a previous post, I recently traveled to Tokyo and spent some time completely freaking out in Akihabara (ok, so it wasn't that bad, but like, Akihabara is the the holy ground for any AKB48 fan and coupled with the Hello!Project shop that's also in Akiba, I was having the time of my life, haha). I visited Akihabara twice and it was only on the second visit that I gathered enough courage to head to the 8th floor of Don Quijote in order to see the AKB theater in person.

My younger sister headed up with me and one of the first things I noticed (aside from all of the AKB promo decorating the outside of the building), was that there are images of the various AKB CD covers plastered on the walls which you can see when you're taking the escalator up (or down!). There are tons of covers and they're all HUGE! It was really neat for a fan like me and definitely built up the anticipation I had to get to the theater itself.

On: Visting the Hello!Project Shop (and oh yeah, Hi, I'm back!)

Tokyo Tower!

Wow, it was almost 3 months ago that I posted that I was back. Well, I wasn't, although there are tons of things I want to post/have to post about. First, let me start by saying that in March, I made a trip to Japan to visit a good friend of mine and to take a much needed vacation. That week flew by, but it was awesome to see and get to know Tokyo. It is definitely very different from Osaka and is overall, much more touristy. That's not a bad thing of course, but it I did miss the more homey atmosphere of Osaka (although I did get asked on three different occasions if I needed any help - twice in English and once in Japanese. I learned that I understand way more than I can actually speak and I'm both super happy and disappointed about that, haha).

As of right now, I've launched into the summer semester of library school - yay! Well, kind of. I'm already feeling extremely overwhelmed because I'm taking a management class and I'm not good at management. This is why I'm a library assistant - less responsibility that way. But *sigh* I really should get used to the fact that I'll eventually be in some sort of management position. Aside from school, I'm writing more! That is a definite YAY! I've got so many new soundtracks I'm using as inspiration, so many books (and reviews!) to share that have helped drive my creativity and more importantly, I'm also drawing a lot more, which helps me when writing descriptions.

I will be posting (hopefully sooner rather than later), a couple of reviews on plays/DVD performances I've watched recently, my hopes for the AKB election, book reviews, manga reviews, and some television shows that I've been hooked on as of late. There is tons to share and I can't wait to start posting. But first, I wanted to share a bit of my trip to Japan.

Music Mix: Morning Musume '15 Tsumetai Kaze to Kataomoi/Endless Sky/One and Only

Just two months ago, I wrote an entire blog post dedicated to one of my favorite idols of recent years, Sayashi Riho, who had just announced her graduation from the group, Morning Musume. Being that she graduates in two days time (one if you're in Japan's time zone), Morning Musume dropped one final single with Riho as a member. A tripe A-side single, this single hits a perfect balance between featuring Riho and providing a final farewell from her and looking to the future of the group. In this post, I will tell you of ALLLLL my feels and general feelings about each song.

The single's first song and main A-side is "Tsumetai Kaze to Kataomoi", whose official translation is "The Cold Wind and Lonely Love". The song was originally intended to be Riho's graduation solo song, however, the song was rearranged to include all members so that it can be promoted into 2016, after Riho's graduation. The song is a melancholy ballad that has sprinkled EDM dance breaks which sounds bad in written form but actually works very nicely in the song itself. The dance breaks are specifically for Riho to perform her solo dance(s) as she is known for being an AMAZING dancer.

I'll be honest, I'm kind of upset Riho herself didn't choreograph these solo's since I think she would do a much better job, but eh, she pulls it off. Some of the dance steps seem a bit off in certain parts but overall, she does a great job and this song stands as a great homage to Riho's skill and status as ace of the group during her tenure. The music video does a good job of showing us how much Riho has grown and her solo dance breaks are especially good because they really reflect Riho as a person: a solitary girl with great talent and a passion for performing. This music video is definitely my favorite of the three.

On: Sayashi Riho: Confessions of a Fan

Sayashi Riho, ace and center of Morning Musume

When I do Jpop reviews, I largely tend to pick some of my favorite groups. I've posted two different reviews about the jpop group Morning Musume. This group has a rotational system whereby girls join in "generations" and leave when they see fit to move on. Being in the group helps them grow as entertainers and helps them determine in which sector of the entertainment world they want to work in or if they even want to stay in entertainment at all. To date, Morning Musume has had 12 generations. Today, the members of Morning Musume feature the entire 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th generation(s). All members from earlier generations have graduated from the group.

Riho, at the concert that
announced her addition to
Morning Musume.

I've been a fan of Morning Musume since about 2009. I didn't seriously start following them until 2011, which is the year that Sayashi Riho auditioned for and was added to the 9th generation. I've been a fan of Riho since watching the audition footage. She was an amazing dancer and she just exuded confidence and shone throughout the audition. Her singing was not the best, but I was confident that the agency would help her polish her voice. In addition, it was well known that she had studied dance at the Hiroshima Actor's School, and videos began to appear online of her dancing when she was younger, here, here and here. It was obvious from the auditions that despite her young age, she was a professional who was used to receiving harsh criticism and using it to fuel improvement. When she was officially announced a new member, I was ecstatic and knew she would become my favorite from the group instantly.

Sayashi in the Maji Desu
Ka Ska! outfit

Sayashi's debut in the group, along with the rest of the 9th generation was in Maji Desu Ka Ska! While her feature was equal to the other members, in the second release featuring the 9th generation, Only You, Riho was notably featured and it became clear from that moment on that she was the ace and face of the new generation of the group. From there, Riho's skills continued to develop, in particular her singing. When 10th generation was added to the group, Ayumi Ishida grew as a competitor to Riho, largely due to her focus on dancing. The two would grow to be the definitive dancers in the group, often partaking in dance battles during concerts or tv shows (here they had like a minute to come up with a routine!) and bringing the dance level of the group as a whole up another level. With the release of the song, One Two Three, Morning Musume became known as the group that used formation dances in their songs.

Manga Review: Ōoku The Inner Chambers

History teaches us that during the reign of Tokugawa Iemitsu  and extending until 1853, Japan was an isolated country.  Contrary to popular belief though, the country wasn't entirely closed off - it continued to conduct trade with a Dutch factory as well as with its neighbors China and Korea. Little is known about what occurred within the country during these years and taking this historical event into account, author Fumi Yoshinaga depicts an alternative history of Japan - one where women, not men, rule the country.

Ōoku the hidden chambers begins during the reign of the shogun Yoshimune and follows a young man named Mizuno Yunoshin. Mizuno joins the Inner Chambers - a harem of men at the disposal of the shogun - after realizing that he will not be able to marry the woman he loves. However, anyone who enters the chambers can never leave and must live their life out as a member of the Inner Chambers. Within the first month Mizuno uncovers a shocking secret - the shogun is really a woman! The story then shifts to follow Yoshimune, the current shogun and her quest to learn the reason why female Shogun's must be presented as male to all but those within the Inner Chambers. She seeks out the oldest member of the Inner Chambers and from a chronicle that begins with the reign of Iemitsu, Yoshimune learns that the shogun was once a male and that in fact, the female line has been kept only because of the red face pox. This deadly disease affected boys and young men and almost always resulted in death. Unable to stop its spread, the male population of Japan dwindled away eventually killing the shogun as well. Japan converted to a matriarchal society, where men became precious treasures to be protected and where they could sell themselves as prostitutes to women willing to pay the high price to have a child. Reversing the roles between men and women affected every level of society, including the shogunate where Tokugawa Iemitsu became the first female shogun.

Tatakau! Shoten Girl [Fight! Bookstore Girl]

In my last j-drama blog post where I reviewed the drama Sunao ni Narenakute, I mentioned that I was watching 3 dramas. Tatakau! Shoten Girl [Fight! Bookstore Girl] is the second of the three that I have completed. To be quite honest, I finished this drama a while ago - about two weeks ago? Yeah, that sounds about right. However, I was unable to find the time to write about it. But luckily I found some time this week, so lets get on with it! 

Aki Kitamura [played by Watanabe Mayu] has just begun to work at the Pegasus bookstore where Nishioka Riko [played by Inamori Izumi] works as the vice-manager of the store. Aki comes from a wealthy family and rumors immediately begin to swirl around her, however, what really surprises the staff about Aki is her fervent love of books and her desire to make sure each and every customer is satisfied. Nishioka shares the same goal as her subordinate but Aki's ideas to attract and satisfy more customers often causes burdens on the other workers of the bookstore. Their different approaches to obtaining the same goal, has the two women often butting heads. 

Anime Talk: Wolf Children

Recently, I decided that I should really watch some of the movies I've been planning to watch for a while now. So, I went ahead and rented a few of them. Most of them are Hollywood movies but there are a few that are animated movies. One of the first ones I grabbed was Wolf Children or, if we go by its Japanese name, The Wolf Children Ame and Yuki. 

I have been wanting to watch Wolf Children for a while now as many of my friends and former classmates have raved endlessly about the movie. I wasn't sure what to expect to be honest. But after settling down snugly in my living room to watch it from beginning to end I TOTALLY GET IT. 

The movie is told from the perspective of an adult Yuki who is reminiscing and relaying the story of her mother Hana. Hana was a young college student when she met Yuki's father, a young man who is very reserved and is attending her college lectures without actually being a student himself. Hana notices that he doesn't have a textbook and offers to lend him hers. This eventually buds into a romance between the two, with Hana slowly but surely, getting past the young man's tough exterior and getting to know him little by little. One day however (it's Christmas if I remember correctly) he arrives VERY late to their scheduled date. He apologizes to Hana and finally reveals his secret - he is a werewolf! The last of his kind, he was raised in the country by relatives who knew nothing about his origins following the death of his parents. He decided to come to the city for work and lives a lonely life, keeping to himself due to his secret. While surprised, Hana accepts him for who he is and they soon begin a family. Yuki is born first and then one year later, Ame is born. 

2015 Election Results + Reactions (part 2)

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So, the election~! Before we get into the top 16 ranks, there's a few comments I want to make about the lower rankings. I was happy to see more NMB48 girls rank at higher places this year, although I'm not so fond of not having seen Nishino Miki rank again :/ Ryoha ranking in the lower categories was good enough for me. She's in the rankings. Now, if she could only open up more and improve her character, she may start the climb up like many of SKE's girls. Sato Sumire ranked this year - and she got a center position! I was really happy to see that, although sad that members such as Maeda Ami and Iwasa Misaki were out of the ranking altogether. Also, Souda Sarina ranked! She was my favorite member from the first AKB draft and while I knew she was popular I wouldn't have expected her to rank in her 2nd election - you go girl! :)

Now, onto the reaction for the top 16 spots!

2015 Election Results + Reactions (part 1)

Guess what? I woke up this morning at 3:30 am (after having gone to bed at 12:30 am) and didn't go back to bed until 8:30 am. Why? I wanted to watch the AKB48 election live! I voted this year more than I have any other year and I wanted to see how my favs would do (both those that I did vote for and those girls who I didn't have enough funds to vote for but still support). This year, I split my votes 4 ways; I joined a campaign for Watanabe Mayu and one for Tano Yuka. For Watanabe Mayu, my donation bought roughly 5 votes for her. For Tano Yuka, my donation bought about 1.5 votes for her. For the final two members I voted for, I used a proxy service. I sent money to a member of the Stage48 forum that was in Japan during the election voting period and he bought the votes for me at a super cheap price ($9 a vote! Had I bought the CD's from my go-to place, YesAsia, the votes would have been about $18 each. So by using the proxy service, I got two votes for the price of what would normally be 1.) In return, my proxy buyer got to use the handshake ticket that came with the CD to meet one of the girls (something that I wouldn't have been able to use anyway since I'm way over here in the U.S. so it's a win-win situation) This was one of my best decisions this year because I was able to buy 10 votes. My proxy buyer took a picture of the voting codes and sent them to me through email. I inputted the codes and voila! I had voted for two girls. I sent 8 of the 10 votes for my favorite member - Yokoyama Yui. I sent the final two votes in for my favorite NMB48 member Watanabe Miyuki.

Jpop Mix: ℃-ute, Gamusha Life/The Middle Management/Turn The Next Corner

℃-ute is one of those groups that I have been following for a while now. I first really got into them in high school. I stumbled across their songs, "Massara Blue Jeans" and "Ookina ai demotenashite". I remember finding the songs extremely addictive and fun to listen too. Despite their young ages,℃-ute turns 10 years old this year. With this year being their 10th anniversary, their first release of 2015 is a triple A single (meaning that all three songs are main tracks, receiving the same amount of promotion).

℃-ute has always praised for their good performances and great teamwork. When watching them live, it's easy to see that they are veterans in the idol business and they are admired for their professional and sleek performances. Despite having more of a "cool" vibe in their music these days, ℃-ute still releases cuter songs, normally reserved for younger groups in the agency. This single gave us a bit of both worlds as well as a ballad in order to showcase how well-rounded ℃-ute are as a group and as individuals. Without further ado, let's take a look at the three title tracks.

Anime Talk: Black Butler Book of Murder

Before we get started, just a quick disclaimer: I am a big fan of the Black Butler manga/anime series. So be prepared for a (likely) biased review.

"There's nothing more deceiving, than an obvious truth."

I don't quite remember why I first started watching Black Butler. I think it had something to do with finding out Yuya Matsushita would be in the stage play. Whatever the case, I watched the original Black Butler anime and Black Butler II. When Black Butler: Book of Circus was released in 2014, I watched that too and patiently waited for English subs for Book of Murder. I loved the original Black Butler series, and I quite liked how Black Butler II ended. It was unexpected and I loved that about it. However, I quickly learned that the ending seen in BBII is not the official ending to the manga series; it was just an ending made for the anime only. Well, with great demand, the studio that animated the original Black Butler released Book of Circus, which continues the manga storyline. Book of Circus is my favorite of the 3 series related to Black Butler so naturally, I decided I was absolutely going to watch Book of Murder. Well, without further ado, let's take a look at Book of Murder. 

Manga Review: Millenium Snow

Following my venture into macabre/horror manga, I decided to go back to my comfort zone. It's not that I don't enjoy manga with a more serious tone to it - I enjoy it very much, but I have a long list of shoujo manga I want to read and I would rather knock out these shorter series now rather than start a longer series from a different genre. >.< Anyways, a manga series that has been on my list for some time is "Millennium Snow." I have wanted to read this manga since high school, but I quickly learned that it was incomplete; only two volumes were published and the author, Bisco Hatori, had stated that it was not completed but she planned to eventually finish it. So, I decided not to read it, because I didn't want to read an incomplete story.

Anime Talk: Fate/Zero

In an earlier Animediction post here, I reviewed Fate/Stay Night, the first anime in the Fate/ series. As promised, I have now finished watching Fate/Zero, the anime that serves as a sort of "prologue" to the Fate/Stay anime, setting in motion many events that come to fruition in the Fate/Stay night anime. I'll be honest, I started out this anime a bit skeptical, because hey, I didn't particularly like Fate/Stay Night. However, from the very first episode, Fate/Zero captivated me in a way that F/S never did and ultimately, is a far superior anime than its predecessor. 

Jpop Mix: Yasashiku Suru Yori Kiss O Shite -やさしくするよりキスをして

Welcome to the third Music Mix post! (Yeah, I'm doing a lot of these...I recently bought quite a lot of brand new CD's so I'm trying to review them all as quickly as possible). This time up is Miyuki Watanabe, who celebrated her solo debut in December of 2014. I decided to start off right away with the video for the song because I love the 80's super idol vibe she is channeling through her music video. Yeah, I'm a total fangirl, haha.  Miyuki is actually a member of NMB48, another of the sister groups of AKB48. Many soloists are produced from their ranks, but I don't generally follow them unless I really like the song. All in all, I think I have like 4-5 singles from their soloists, which is not that much considering they have quite a large number of them. Anyways, Miyuki is known for her flirtatious personality. While her singing is not the best, she is a very good dancer and is quite charismatic on stage. She currently claims the title of my favorite member in NMB, so it's not much of a surprise that I bought her first solo single.

Jpop Mix: 12gatsu no Kangaroo

Hello and welcome to the second installment of Music Mix! As I warned in my first post here, most of the music I listen to is Japanese pop music or just Japanese in origin. So, I'll likely be posting quite a lot of reviews of Japanese pop music, although I will try to add rock/classical/etc. when I'm able to :) This time, we take a look at SKE48's December single, 12gatsu no Kangaroo or １２月のカンガルー. The name of this group must sound pretty familiar right? The first music release I reviewed was one by a group named AKB48. SKE48 is AKB's sister group, founded 3 years after AKB was formed. Both groups have their own theater's where members perform nearly everyday. AKB's theater is located in AKihaBara, in Tokyo. Meanwhile, SKE's is located in SaKaE, in Nagoya. Just a quick explanation as to why they're so similar in name and structure. 

Manga Review: Mermaid Saga

I was recently browsing Youtube and stumbled upon a video of one of my favorite animes as a teenager: Inuyasha. Wondering if the author had published any other stories since, I decided to look her up. Turns out, Rumiko Takahashi is currently working on another series, her first since Inuyasha. Browsing through her previous works, there was one in particular that caught my eye: Mermaid Saga. I read that it was a different type of comic than what Takahashi usually published in that it was dark/macabre. Intrigued, I decided to look up how many volumes there were (3 in English!) and settled down to reading them!

Mermaid Saga was written over the course of many years: one chapter here, and one chapter there. Therefore, since it was not a constant publication, Takahashi did not face the same pressures that she did with many of her other works wherein she had to publish the next installment before a deadline. This translated into a very concise and well written short manga that properly does its job of offering the reader a glimpse into the strange and ultimately sorrowful lives of Mana and Yuta. 

Jpop Mix: Kibouteki Refrain

What is this? A new post category? Why, yes, yes it is. Welcome to my MusicMix post, where I review a new CD/single I have bought or maybe a song that has caught my attention. I will try my best so that this category doesn't end up filled solely with jpop, but as a forewarning, most of my music is jpop. I listen to a wide range of jpop artists, from idols to classic artists so even if I don't seem to break from the jpop bubble, I'll try to present a slice of my varied music tastes. As a heads-up, in addition to jpop, I listen to a fair amount of cpop, kpop, indopop, Spanish pop & rock, and in terms of American music, it's a little bit of everything. My iTunes has tons of soundtrack music from American movies and television shows so I may review a few soundtracks from time to time. Please be aware that not all the music I review will be the latest release, but I will try to make sure the music is no more than 1 year old. :) 

So, with that out of the way, lets get started! First up is the single, Kibouteki refrain (希望的リフレイン) by Japanese mega idol group AKB48. The first picture on the left is of the front cover of this single which features the members in various phases of running. The second picture is the back cover, featuring the following members, from left to right: Mako Kojima, Sakura Miyawaki, Mayu Watanabe, Nana Owada, and Rena Kato. One of the first things I want to make clear is that AKB48 is huge. HUGE. This is literal. AKB48 is a girl group made up of tons of members. The original concept was to have 3 teams: Team A, Team K and Team B. Each team consisted of 16 members (thus the 48 at the end). Why so many girls? The girl group has its own theater where they have shows daily for fans. In order to not overextend the girls, each team takes turns performing. In addition, the girls hold handshake events and meet-and-greets with one main goal in mind: increased access. The idea behind this group was to create a group that was easily accessible to their fans and therefore a group that everyone could relate to. Of course, since their indie days they have grown into the bestselling girl group in Japan. They also now have 5 teams (Teams A, K, B, 4 and 8) and boast waaaayyyy more than 48 members.

Diving Back In

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to dive back into my Tobira textbook for a while. While I haven't picked up the textbook, I have finally started reading a book I have owned for a good 4 years or so. I bought the pink book below, when I first started becoming interested in the Japanese music scene. At the time (and arguably until today) one of the most well known artists was AKB48. I had watched some of their television shows and found them interesting, so I decided to buy this book thinking, hey, I know hiragana, katakana and about 200 kanji, I'm sure I can read a good part of this. Yeah, no. I got the book and immediately set it aside for the "future" where I would be "better" at Japanese and recognize more of the kanji.

I definitely recognize more kanji, but I've also forgotten a ton of them. So, despite these drawbacks, I decided to start reading it this week. It has been a very very very slow start. I feel like the second picture says it all....especially taking into account that it took me like 3 hours to get through the prologue. Jeez! Luckily the next page was not that bad and I actually got through it pretty quickly (pretty quickly being in about 1 hour and a 1/2). The third page was the easiest because it has words said by the members themselves. I find it a lot easier to read dialogue so that went by pretty fast. I'm really proud of myself for having at least started this and hope that by March I'll have 2 chapters done (this is my goal. It's kind of a sad goal, but if I reach it I will be super proud of myself. Never mind that each chapter is like 8 pages long >.<)

Anime Talk: Conqueror of Shamballa

So, it has happened. I have watched Conqueror of Shamballa (to be honest, I watched it yesterday but I didn't want to blog about it right after as it probably would have been an incoherent post). For those that haven't watched it, there are major spoilers in here, so be warned! Back to the movie - I was honestly confused during the first 5 or so minutes, because I seriously thought the first half of the movie was going to be a summary of everything that had happened in the anime series. However, it quickly switched to Ed and Al?? Well, yes, Ed is speaking with Alphonse, but not the Al we all know and love but the Al that exists on the other side of the gate. From there, the movie begins to unfold pretty quickly. While Ed is on one side of the wall, trying to find a way to get back to his world and helping a gypsy fortuneteller on the way, Al is on the other side, studying alchemy and developing an uncanny resemblance to his elder brother. Seriously, you can mistake Al easily for Ed if it weren't for the different bangs. I thought this was a neat quirk as throughout the series, it's Ed that is constantly mistaken for Al due to his stature. And speaking of stature...Ed has grown taller! The topic of Ed's height makes for some great comical moments in the movie as Ed seems to take just as much offense when people mention that he's taller as when he was being teased for being short.

Anime Talk: Fullmetal Alchemist 「鋼の錬金術師」

Ahhhhh!! The time has come. It's time to write of my tumultuous feelings surrounding Fullmetal Alchemist or, as known in Japan, 鋼の錬金術師 (Hagane no Renkinjutsushi). There are a few things I want to say first. 1. I have watched Fullmetal before, but never in any particular order. During my middle school years, I would sometimes watch an episode during my wait for Inuyasha to start (or maybe after Inuyasha ended...I can't remember which aired first). In total, I watched maybe 5 episodes of FMA. I found it entertaining, but didn't commit to the whole series. I decided after my 2012 trip to Japan that I should really watch the series from beginning to end. I now know that there are two Fullmetal animes: the original Fullmetal Alchemist which diverges from the manga storyline into it's own separate story entirely and Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, which stays faithful to the manga. I opted to watched the original FMA first, and this is the anime I will be reviewing today. Also, another quick thing to note: I watched the subbed version of FMA, meaning that the audio was entirely in Japanese. Due to this, I may slip into referring to FMA as "Hagane" or "Fullmetal", sorry about that in advance.