...what are you watching...

Had the most absurd msging from a cg member this morning. Next time I create a community, comprehension tests will be administered.

In other news, Gackt mostly lost me as a fan during his 100 versions of the December Love Song period. I think he lost many fans during that boring period since all the reliable news sites have stopped posting. Afterwards, he somewhat left music to pursue his 'acting' career, but is recently back with numerous (up to 5?) singles; one per month. 'The Next Decade' is the newest one. The PV is laughably bad all the way through the credits. The song is dull (deecade?), but is used for a Kamen Rider theme, so in that case, it sounds appropriate. I miss the 500 year old vampire Gackt with his violin buddy.

I'm glad google video search includes nicovideos. yay.

Otomen 1! Masamune Asuka, a star kendo player, secretly likes cute things and thrives on cutesy crafts and baking. Miyakozuka Ryo, a tough girl, wants to be more feminine. They fall for each other. This is based on a manga by Kanno Aya from which I read a handful of chapters. The first episode basically introduces the main characters and the other stock-cast of supporting characters; the tough rival and his gang, and the lapdogs. It's a well-made drama, but like other recent manga-to-drama shows, the jokes kinda fall flat in live-action form. It might be too early to confirm this flaw, but the first episode gives me that impression. I think the writers are giving it a formulaic format. The highlight of the show is the eye-candy named Okada Masaki who plays Asuka, and seems to be the younger version of Takizawa Hideaki. (Btw, I think it was reported that Uverworld was doing the theme song. That news bit was wrong. Shibasaki Koh's 'lover soul' is the theme...not too bad). I can't say that the first episode was all that brilliant, but I might marathon this show on a rainy day.

I want this Kobato outfit.

LJ somehow spontaneously ate one of my icons and gave me someone else's. Has anyone else had that happen? Oh well, delete, upload another. click.

Here's another one of my music blurbage posts (I probably need to stalk new artists):

Utada's 'This Is The One' album's tracks all blur together into an R&B musical pop angsty mess. 'chemistry like apple and cinnamon'...'sex was so good, and the talk was so smooth...'taking my money back'...'did I turn you on'---The album is trying way too hard to make her sexy. I always thought she appeared like a more intelligent music artist who wrote exotic, fantastical songs as well as thoughtful lyrics (based on what translations I ran across). While this album is polished, it's also boring and sounds like any other half-arsed American R&B artist.

Hyde's Hyde Best album is full of his solo songs; good, likable stuff if you like jrock. I wish he could belt out english as smoothly as Utada. The one new-ish song on the album is the english version of Glamorous Sky which was originally sung by Mika Nakashima. It takes a bit of effort to understand what he is singing, but hey, fans will love it anyway. Even though his solo songs are better (with less engrish most of the time) than his VAMPS work, I'll be interested in what cities VAMPS will hit in the USA. East Coast, please.

Judy and Mary's 15th Anniversary Tribute album features other artists covering fan-favorite JAM songs. They have some fun songs, and while I initially thought it might be nice to hear different variations of the songs, it's not that refreshing. There are a few that make me rush to click online and hear the original...like Puffy's Motto or Ai Otsuka's Lover Soul...blech.

Amused by Gackt's latest album, Slo-Pachinko Gladiator Evolution Soundtrack. Apparently, he made a pachinko game, and his music is the bgm. The album is just full of his old music - gladiator special edition style. I didn't think any of them varied too much from the original, so good stuff if you are a fan.

Hey, Utada Hikaru is releasing another English album AND the first song, Come Back to Me, isn't that bad. It's rather generic, but her lovely voice saves it from being very bad. I think to have a successful US-english song, you have to have one phrase that is repeated over and over and over and over and over....maybe this'll be more successful than her last attempt?

Gackt has a new song/PV out, too. The PV for Ghost is here...also the theme to that Terminator series in Japan. It's nice that he's experimenting with his robo-voice, but I really haven't like any of his music since his acoustic album.

So organizing the fanbook...uh, anyone on my flist know hebrew and/or finnish? or indonesian?

Ah ha! the new opening for Soul Eater starts with episode 31. The opening is a little darker than the first amd features some of the other students which coincides with the developing story. The song well, reminds me of her Gundam 00 song which is nothing extraordinary, but fun rock music.
Tommy Heavenly6's Papermoon PV is also out. I like watching her PVs since she always plays out a wacky role. In this one, she kinda plays Maka from Soul Eater as Dorothy from the Wizard of OZ.

Uverworld's new PV, Hakanaku mo Towa no Kanashi, is out, too. This is the song used for Gundam 00 S2. It's a nice song, but I like their previous anime song, Gekidou from D. Grayman a lot more. Gekidou had a more unusual composition. They usually don't do anything special with their videos outside of featuring themselves rockin' out, so eh, the new PV isn't too wow.

I never gave much credence to the Hyde x Gackt fanworks, but after seeing the photos from the VAMP's Halloween concert..huh, so Hyde's a bride and Gackt's in uniform. Anyway, Gackt has a new single, Jesus, coming out. His musical decisions seem to be influenced by Hyde once again.

Short post about~
Gackt's version of Ai Senshi which I thought was a weird song, but compared to the original, it was a pretty good updated version.

mentioned by insaneneko: The Simpsons in a couture magazine spread.

Viz pictures is releasing Gackt's Red and Blue versions of The Greatest Filmography 1999-2006 on DVD with subtitles! subtitles..woah...something foreign to Tofurecords.

Gackt has been on a hiatus from the music scene for awhile, but he's back now with Returner ~Yami no Shuuen~. I haven't been very enthusiastic about his music before the break, but the PV for this new single is a dark, angst-ridden ball of prettiness that deserves a mention. Most likely inspired by his 'acting' job as Uesugi Kenshin, he plays soldier from historical Japan....there's horse-riding and sword-fighting and snappy outfits with lotsa little details. The downside to Gackt's music is that you probably don't pick it for some karaoke fun nor is it driving music. It's more like shitty-day, put-on-full-blast music. Gackt sounds better than he had been with this new release, but I do like his music from his early career better. Enjoy the new angsty PV; it made me laugh.

Death Note 34! A simple plan is more brilliant than a long, drawn out one. Near chose the latter option. Maybe Mello will push the entertainment value of this show up in the next episode.

For my own reference, Gackt will be in the period jdrama, Fuurin Kazan starting Jan 7. Hopefully his acting skills have improved.