...what are you watching...

Nothing like having to get up extra early and sitting in rush hour traffic an hour to get you back into the grind.

I like Hikaru Utada's newest PV, Goodbye Happiness. It's very youtube-y. I guess she is going into retirement or hiatus soon.

Kuragehime 2-3! While some of the plot reminds me of other series like Yamato Nadeshiko Shichihenge or Kimi ni Todoke, it still retains its uniqueness with its whole jellyfish motif. Kuranosuke Koibuchi is the name of the crossdressing boy who uses food to get the otaku girls to accept him, but they still do not know he is a 'he'. In episode 3, his older straight-laced brother develops a crush on Tsukimi after Kuranosuke forces a makeover on her.

Arakawa Under the Bridgex2 4-5! Riku gets roped into directing a movie for P-ko. Episode 5 is about the sci-fi otaku and Billy & Jacqueline's romance. I like the nonsense. This anime makes me happy. I also like that there are different popular artists featured at the end of each episode. Lily Hoshino did the illustration for episode 5.

Tegami Bachi REVERSE 4-6! Lag finally meets the famous Jiggy Pepper; gotta love the name. Jiggy saves him from a gaichuu and takes him for a spin on his motorcycle...the other characters squee. Lag next meets a couple members of the anti-government faction, Reverse, who pose as government officials from the capital. And then takes Sylvette on a delivery. Nice episodes.

Bad Guy 9-10! Gun-wook gets promoted...and gets a new haircut--less shaggy, more pimp-like butler? During the mask-themed exhibit opening, Tae-seong and Gun-wook switch places for a little bit. Tae-seong is becoming more like a cute kid when he's learning to do commoner things with Jae-in though he does revert to being a brat when he's uncomfortable. Gun-wook is kind enough to give his rival opportunities to get the girl he himself likes. It's kinda fun to root for both guys, since essentially, they sorta both want the family to get slapped in the face. Since Tae-seong isn't the first-born heir, there's more incentive to cheer for the family's downfall. The women in that family and the older brother aren't given any likable traits, and because of that, Gun-wook's seduction of the two sisters is still amusing. Episode 10 is a good episode, but it makes you want to smack Jae-in for walking out on Gun-wook. That dinner is was so sad. As a side note, I like the style of his apartment and the artsy clutter.

Namie Amuro's music is hit or miss with me; much of it sounds the same, but I like the new song, Get Myself Back. Mellow...like Baby Don't Cry.

Not fond of the supercell songs with the digital voice, but do like when they use a real person's voice. Utakata Hanabi is the newest song..some interesting animation in the pv.

Those Laruku members are busy this summer...
Hyde/VAMPS' My First Last PV - didn't they just release a PV a week ago...interesting ballad, too much engrish, I bet it took 5:11 min to shoot that video.

Tetsuya's Looking for Light PV - tons better than his Heroman theme song, and still a happy-sounding pop song.

Ken's solitary stroll PV - moody as always...angsty writer he is.

Yukihiro/acid android's violent parade PV - released a month ago...still a bad singer, but out of the three, the most experimental sound, that is to say, the least Laruku-ish.

VAMPS' Revolution PV is one of Hyde's more interesting PVs in recent years. I did have to look up the yelling...I wasn't sure what he was saying.

I like the new album, Beast. It was pre-released on itunes.jp (Can't say the price ~$24 for LQ 160k is all that fair, but whatever). There's a fair amount of engrish which isn't that great. I do like the increase in variety of types of songs compared to the previous album.

So, spent downtime this weekend tramp-sing around Boston, viewing the old city, munching yummies here and there. It's a lovely city. Have to thank sis for not minding that I never went to an atm.
We went to see HP after doing that lengthy follow-the-red-bricks trail..the theater was actually pretty full for a movie that is now old.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix continues the trend of giving fans an incoherent movie with less & less dialogue and more & more book-to-movie inaccuracies than the previous installments. Show them pretties and maybe they'll ignore the fact that the writers didn't read the book. Snape is still great! Not enough Snape! And Harry being the cute short one is very...cute. No wonder there are so many fanfics. BUT wasn't this the infamous CAPS-LOCK book?...where was the teenage explosion? All we got was a constipated Harry.


Naruto Shippuden 27! Sakura's battle ends with blood and repeated angst. Sasori, Gaara, Sasuke, Naruto...woe, the similarities in their backgrounds.


Darker than Black 21! Gotta love the 'Matrix'-y move in this cheesy episode. AND the beam-me-up-scotty without my clothes power! Amber & her followers, Hei's group, November 11, and the police all clash while trying to get to a professor who discovered something important about The Gate.

Anyway, how happy is Arashi's Happiness PV? ... there's the puppy, Monopoly, the belly machine, hand-jiving, the touching, the biting..ah! no choreographed dancing?! so only 99% happy.

Utada Hikaru looks really different in her recent live performances...maybe that's why she isn't in her new PVs? the freshman 5 ended up being 15?

btw...what's with all the un-settlement going on in various parts of the clamp community?

Ya! Another cute and pretty PV from Laruku. Wait, did he have that outfit on before? Is the new album going to be green themed? Apparently, An Inconvenient Truth was one of many inspirations for the last single (though, I don't really see it). Al Gore would be so proud.

Her new PV has popped up on Youtube. It's so pretty with it's sad, little poppet-like character.

seems like alot was released this week.

Firstly, Death Note's new opening is one of the most interesting openings I've seen this year. The last time an opening impressed me was Blood+'s. Death Note uses pure heavy metal and really great colorful, unique visuals in perfect time with the music. The music itself is definitely not mainstream, Maximum the Hormone's what's up people? Not too fond of that or the new ending song, but hey, is that a big, fat spoiler at the end?

Crystal Kay's Konna ni Chikaku de single is out. Love the single, but not the c/w track nor the remixes. This is another fun song from her.

Angelo's Winter Moon PV is quite inappropriately funny. You see a girl walking alongside her boyfriend/Kirito chatting him up. He barely looks at her. Then you find that she is from a mental institute and imagining this. Poor fangirl. Definitely want to look up the lyrics to this song. Kirito has indirectly written about the stupidity of his audience before and I'm wondering if this has any of that sarcasm.

HMC's SAN album was pretty uninspiring. They remind me of a less-angsty, more prolific Evanescence.

Other new notables:
Sunao na mama is a PV by Mika Nakashima where she elegantly wears a dead bird on her head.

Himitsu no Hanazono 1! is another jdrama which looked interesting to me.



+ Plot features a fictitious making of manga.
+ Cute guys.
+ Nicely made.
+ Opening song, Baby Don't Cry by Amuro Namie, is fun.
+ A reliable fast subtitler is working on this. (but look in the comment area of d-addicts for a fixed subtitle file...the original had some messed up timing)

( Summary and impression )

I also tried to watch Kimura Takuya's new drama, Karei-naru Ichizoku, but it was awfully boring. There's really horredously dramatic music and ugh, just a bland cast. A rich banker and his son who works in the steel industry fight about financial matters during the 1970s.

For those who wander here- Utada Hikaru's Flavor of Life PV which makes me think of candy or cereal; not the PV, the title. The PV features Utada in an unflattering outfit, but it is still a nice song.