raptor's Blog: January 2007

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Happy Weekend

What an eventful weekend it was... lotsa outings and fun. Okla, there was a bit of shopping and meeting up with friends... and the week was also filled with the excitement of BoA's Made in Twenty (20) launch... (btw, it's just me as usual posting stuff almost a week late... haha)

I found Sapurii~!
Yup, I can't believe I found Misaki's latest drama, Sapurii... bought it at Anime Tech, watched only 2 episodes so far, but I quite like it already... Pretty good stuff, she looks super-good as usual (she gets more and more mature as her acting roles come by), this time she's the narrator and main character, Fuji Minami... a really (really-really) hardworking graphic designer in an advertising agency. She finds the handphone of a hyper young man, Ishida Yuya, while on a daily commute to work. Later she finds out that he actually starts working at her office as an office boy. Hence, starts a rather interesting story... can't wait for the rest of it to unfold...

Sapurii Cover

The word "Sapurii" (Btw can't they even spell Misaki's name right?)

Sweet Misaki ^^ Even with glasses, she's so sexy~

Meeting Up Old BuddiesMet up with my old frens from college at Mid Valley Megamall... haven't met them for quite some time, so it was quite fun. There was Balloon, Annie, CK, Alex, Daniel and Cheryl... apparently some of them had a few rounds of makan due to our constant changing of meeting place. We also wanted to watch a movie, but the queue was horrendous, leading all the way to McDonald's... It was nice to catch up after all this while, but I admit it was kinda short, as some of us had other stuff to attend to. But it was really worth meeting up! Didn't snap too many pics unfortunately... so some don't even get a good shot...

Me, Daniel, CK, Balloon & Annie

Oh ya, Alex was snapping the photo... hehe...

Karen's AlbumYup, Karen, the Friendster phenomenon... I decided to go support her by getting her album in Speedy. I had no idea her album was THAT good. I kept repeating her songs, they were awesome... This girl has talent, and add that to a wonderful voice, adorable looks and well-written songs, and you've got a winner. Paul Moss must be sooo mistaken when he said this girl can't sing. So dead wrong... It's nice to see a young Chinese girl trying to break into the competitive Malay market. Will come up with a full review soon. I'm gonna keep supporting this gurl, and I suggest you do too~

Lovely album design...

Karen with her CD
(Sori for curi-ing, Karen-chan!)

Outing wif Aween & Sock Boon
Met up with Aween and Sock boon too... decided to meet up and just hang out around Mid Valley Megamall. Went for dessert session, chit chat, shopping... Me and Sock Boon wanted to catch a muvee, but that Aween ar, real spoiler cos she has watched almost everything that's on screen... too free liao. Btw, all our jalan-jalan was really nice, but Aween had to leave early to collect something from her friend in Kajang (yeah, Kajang... so far~) leaving me and Sock Boon (kesian us, right Sock Boon?) Anyway we went jalan-jalan like crazy, cos I think we covered almost the whole complex. Haha... had dinner at Sushi King, shot a lot of photos as well (we were really shutterbugs). What a day it was~

Tiga sekawan~

Wif Aween~

Wif Sock Boon~

Sushi King~

Green Tea~

Salmon Sushi~

Salmon wif Rice~

Wif Sock Boon again~

Oh yea, Sock Boon gave this cuteeee lil slipper from her recent Malacca trip. Arigatou~

MADE IN TWENTY (20)
It's finally here, BoA's 5th Japanese Album, (10th studio album)... MADE IN TWENTY (20). There are such high expectations for this album, especially after the success of OUTGROW. It also marks BoA's 5th year in the music industry and also her 20th birthday, hence the album title... BoA has always been fun to support, cos I actually get to see her grow up. Hee hee... And based on previews and music videos of songs from this album, boy she does not disappoint. A clever mix of her usual poppiness and rock, added with some hip-hop beats, this album is predicted to do better than OUTGROW. And true to BoA tradition, MADE IN TWENTY topped the Oricon Charts, and get this, in ONE (1) day! And it's still there, aiming to break even more records... This makes BoA the highest selling foreign artiste in Japan, and in terms of successful albums, just behind Ayumi Hamasaki. I'm so darn proud of my baby BoA... In one of her songs, Lady Galaxy, she goes "wo ai ni, Je t'aime, Ti amo, saranghae, aishiteru, I love you"... OmG!!! Unfortunately, due to the usual system of Malaysia getting her albums one month late, I'll just have to wait... will update with a full review when I get it... gambateh, BoA-san!

Meanwhile, check out these pix... :D

CD + DVD Version Cover

CD Version Cover

Poster

BoA's special promo bus...

Ain't that just cool?

At night time...

BoA's on Shibuya 109!!!

The bus and Shibuya 109 building...

BoA in the headlines...

Article...

Official website has been changed to compliment the album

In January alone, she has so many magazine covers!!!

Postcard...

Promo leaflet

All the hype building up at Oricon, where she topped the charts~

Ok, here's a preview of some songs in her wonderful new album :D

Calbee!!!
What else to talk about eh... oh, bought a Calbee potato snack from Hock Choon. Yup, that's right, Calbee, the Japanese brand... but wait, it's localised! Hope to see more around cos it was so goooood....

Okla, that's all for this post... dun wana go on too much... Looks like I have to do a couple of reviews soon...

PEACE and God Bless,
Aris

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Nihon Chinbotsu

Nihon Chinbotsu

Watched Nihon Chinbotsu (Sinking of Japan or Japan Sinks, depending on where you live) recently, a remake of the 1970's movie of the same name, which itself was based on Sakyo Komatsu's best-selling novel. This movie is a gem of Japanese film-making. It appears that Japan is sinking due to a subduction of a tectonic plate to the west. The Americans predict that it would happen in the period of 40 years, but according to Dr.Tadokoro (a seemingly 'mad' scientist), it will happen in less than a year. The Japanese government isn't that convinced but sets up a Disaster evacuation plan as well as form a new D1 team to handle the crisis. While on a trip to China to negotiate evacuation plans, the Japanese Prime Minister was killed, and sends the cabinet into a state of panic. The D1 team is left to handle most matters, and led by the newly elected Minister of Crisis Management, Saoro Takamori (Dr.Tadokoro's ex-wife). She turns instead to Dr.Tadokoro for advice, and he has plans to blow astronomically HUGE holes under Japan to avert the process of sinking.

Japan would soon have to negotiate with various countries and persuade them to adopt Japanese refugees. Soon, it seems that a lot of countries are reluctant to accept any more due to the sudden influx of Japanese in their country and the chaos that follows (if this ever happens, touchwood, I hope Misaki will be safe... she can always stay at my place... hee hee). The scenes of evacuations are really well done, showing the havoc, suffering and desperation civilians have to face in such disastrous times. And the many faces of human beings surface, arrogance, selfishness, bribery, bravery, cowardry...

This is a really well-made film. the storytelling is solid, with an engaging storyline and wonderful acting. Dr.Tadokoro (played by Toyokawa Etsushi) was done really well, portraying a divorced and often mad scientist who kicks and bashes up stuff. His frustration and concerns were very visible and that's a really good thing. Reiko (played by gorgeous Shibasaki Kou) was also played rather well, and has the most memorable line in the entire movie (go watch it to find out) and I fancy that she has a nice acting voice. She plays the love interest of Toshio Onodera (played by Tsuyoshi Kusanagi of SMAP). Oh, I almost forgot... she has really, really long hair~ And there's also a subtle but background love story, which is well written and if there's something the Japanese do really well, it's love stories...

One thing that makes this movie interesting is the technical explanations of the events that occur, and if you're interested in geography, you'll have a really good time (I know I did... hehe). I can see that they went to great lengths to make this movie's theory believable, and the first few graphical displays and explanation were done rather well (although you'll have to excuse the Japanese's famous "Engrish".

Ok, now about the effects (it's all about the effects, isn't it?). After watching the movie with pure awe, I must say that this movie has special effects that are on par (or even better) with some Hollywood productions. The volcanic eruptions... the massive earthquakes... destruction... tsunamis... explosions... all done splendidly. The opening scene is so cool, the 1st earthquake catches you by surprise, mountains fall, the destruction due to volcanic eruptions makes you cringe... to actually watch Mount Fuji heat up is a marvel... then you see Shibuya fall to the ground... it's so sad!!! However, what I felt was one of the best scenes was the giant tsunami scene, which sees rescue operations fail and people left with nowhere to run and no hope to hold on to... the ending scene also deserves a mention... wonderful stuff. If you like effects, you'll love this movie.

Oh ya... every good movie has a great song behind it. The seriously addictive "Keep Holding U" sung by the supercute and adorable SunMin is a duet with Kubota, and it's simply lovely. I feel it suits the movie really well and it shows that no matter what disasters hit us, our love and strength would keep us holding on. The disaster scenes are handled with orchestra music and at times silence (a Japanese specialty) and really gives a sense of chaos to the destruction on screen. Oh, and did I mention it's a really, really, really WIDE screen?

Okla, been going on and on about this movie. Yeah, I LOVED it, and hoping to watch again... It does have plot holes, but it's all excusable because it was just a wonderful popcorn movie. Not perfect, but really well-made. I'd give it a 9 out of 10. I'm glad to say that the most expensive movie in Japanese history is also one of their best. If you haven't watched it, you really should today... it is a MUST WATCH!