JPOP video of the week!

Ryuusei by TiA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K76QCVqKbbA

Jpop Oricon Charts Week of 1/11

JPOP Video of the Night!

Hatenaki Michi by Himeka
~This is my life~

She's from the same country as Monkey Majik!
If you're interested in her ethnicity and anime song skills check out her wiki

Also the ending theme of Tegami Bachi (Letter Bee)!

Springtime

Sayonara no Sora by Qwai
"While pursuing the natural way to say farewell, I stretch my hands outward just to find nothing is there"

Reflect on that along with the rest of the lyrics in this video below.
Merry Easter, Sakura biyori, and the Height of Spring!

While we're on epic...

I thought I'd skip an epic ending ranking and show you one of the most epic end show themes in all of shounen.

Fourth Avenue Cafe - Rurouni Kenshin


They've devoted more to the bittersweet rivalry between Kenshin and Saito than, they devoted to Kenshin versus Shishio. Especially when it came to epic openings and endings...

This ending shows high speed fighting between Kenshin and Saito... If one were to play it in slow motion you could see GREAT detail in the fight scene, which for the most part looks like a real and diesel fight.

Did I mention Rurouni Kenshin is my absolute favorite anime in the world...?

Did I also mention that Kenshin didn't move away from Kaoru because he was being a jerk. He was preparing to fight Shishio by defeating his master to learn his secret move. He doubted whether he would live to fight Shishio or even if he could beat Shishio, he was in a rut. o.u

I recommend this show! That's right, this is a show recommendation also. Everyone watch Rurouni Kenshin. But stop after the Shishio(Juppon Gatana) arc because they don't finish the main story. Buy the manga, like me.

Jpop Video of the Night! And... Quote of the Night!

Sekai wa sore wo ai to yobundaze (What the world calls Ai and Love) by Sambomaster!
*Ai is the Japanese word for love, so the title, I think, repeats the word love first in Japanese then as an English sounding Japanese loanword for love because the artist wants to sing about the meaning of love... as it's summed up in the title.

This is the ending theme of "Densha Otoko". Watching this was good times last year!
To find out more about "Densha Otoko" check out this post:
http://coolotakureviews.blogspot.com/2010/02/animemanga-pick-of-week-densha-otoko.html
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And today's quote of the day, from Gintama episode two.
"My house?!" Ken-sama
"Now that you have changed you can build 100 houses." Gintoki-san

I have to admit the quote is from a bad fansub that exaggerated Gintoki's response which actually was
"You have changed haven't you? I'm sure your house will be fine."
Since nouns aren't singular or plural in Japan, the first translation could actually hold weight however the number of houses wasn't said at all!

But the point is that when you've changed you can do anything! The adversity in the past is nothing!

Jpop Video of the Night! And Anime Recommendation

Namida (Tears) by 2BACKKA

This is also the ending theme of Skip Beat!
Interesting story is that I was watching Skip Beat when I was in love... I just wanted to be Honjou Ren, the love interest of the main character (who's a girl).


I loved "Skip Beat!" so much I'm going to recommend it right here! Or maybe it was that I loved being in love and watching "Skip Beat!".

Before I give you guys the scoop, interestingly "Skip Beat!" is an anime with a female main character. I know I go on and on about the type of main character in a story... Anime with main characters from different groups are always welcome to me! Just for anime classification, this anime is a Shoujo one (one that is geared to girls and the boys that like romance).

"Skip Beat!" is about a girl named Kyoko Mogami. Ever since she was a little girl she was in love with her neighbor around the same age, Sho Fuwa. He hung out with her all the time. Then all of a sudden he broke into the pop industry. Once that happened he slowly distanced himself from her even telling his assistant that she's (and I paraphrase) a poor bimbo that he keeps around to do his chores when he's gone. Kyoko overhears a comment like that one day and she leaves him. She becomes independent and gets a job but what she really wants to do is break into the industry and become more famous then him. Soon she's noticed for her image in an acting gig. She decides it will be acting that makes her more famous than Shotaro (Sho's full name). Kyoko goes through many obstacles in her newly formed acting career and one of them is a "serious" actor's scorn from a man named Honjou Ren. However will something develop between Kyoko, a acting novice, and a "serious" actor who's criticism is always out for her? That all depends on how much Kyoko can grow as a person and an actor! Also, will she get more famous than Shotaro ^.-

click below for the ending theme video
»Skip Beat Ending One«

Translation of the ending theme lyrics:

(Note: The translation can be read when listening to the music. The singer usually changes verse after a pause of a certain amount of time. I've gotten good at being able to tell)

No matter how many thousand times we cry, we'll get through it.
But pretending to be clumsy and turning tail is not an option.
Though I'm sure you know that already.
We're not afraid of blowing our last chance.
Sadness, woefulness, and affection will all find their remedies someday.

Somedays things don't go my way,
so I lie to myself that everything is A-OK.
But something inside me is about to burst and tears will come flowing out.

Unable to be honest.
Unable to put on my true face.

If I keep running away from my problems,
no one will ever understand my feelings.

But it's not over till the fat lady sings, in fact it hasn't even begun!
I've yet to find the answer, I haven't given up yet.
I have yet to fully appreciate the joy of what it means to be me.
I stand here alone, my future awaiting.

All those tear-filled days are over. We're going to be strong once again.
But pretending to be a coward and turning tail is not an option.
I'm sure you know that already.
Knock us over a million times, we'll get right back up.
Your voice will guide me as I continue journeying onward.

A concept drawing of Kyoko and Ren

Interestingly shoujo titles have many concept drawings showing a relationship but throughout there'll be no signs of a relationship...

Season 2 is coming out in Japan sometime this month!!!
I should watch it... ^^

Jpop of the Night!

Mosiac Kakera by Sunset Swish

I love this song.


I'm connecting together and drawing mosaic pieces one by one
As well as the encounter and parting you gave me

I think, "It shouldn't be like this," and go to sleep
And when I awaken, it's the same old unchanging, fruitless effort
I repeat it meaninglessly

I picked up and gathered the mosaic pieces for "a way to live a good life"
That warped thing seemed beautiful to me
Above the path I chose to the end while I bluffed, while I failed
The pieces came unstuck and fell, and I would not bury them

A world spread all over every will
Even though I must have something I can't yield to anyone
I'm worried about the multiple colors

While bewitched by the various colors and shapes in the mosaic pieces
I wished far too much for "youthful indiscretion"
Believing in the cement of love in the gaps in my heart, I washed down
Pieces that will never, ever melt together

Because contrast is beautiful, roughness conversely works well
For some reason, I won't wait for my turn and find my own style of answer

The mosaic pieces brilliantly project the lies and mistakes of my past
The more I think I want to erase them all
The more I still can't advance past the start line there when I turn around
I'll try picking up and gathering my dreams once more
I'm connecting together and drawing mosaic pieces one by one
As well as the encounter and parting you gave me

This lyric was added to Jpopasia by: SakuraSan

Jpop Video of the Night

Friends by Stephanie


The Gundam 00 Version (It doesn't really have any spoilers)

Anyway watch Gundam 00 because it's epic!

California's Little Tokyo!

Hi everyone! You might not know but I recently went to California on a family-trip and I found Japan there as well! Being closer to Japan than New York, they obviously had more Japanese inhabitants and so they dedicated a place they call "Little Tokyo" to all things Japanese!

From Manga to Figurines to authentic Ramen! They had it all! Although it was only about two blocks of Japan-related stores, it was very nice.

Here is where I went:

So I visited the "Jungle" which was a "Special Collectors Shop" I only managed to take one picture before they screamed at me and said "No Pictures!!!" Well look at how many figurines they had on this shelf!

I have to admit. When I walked into this store (the first figurine shop I ever visited) I was in awe. I was overwhelmed and felt like everything in the store belonged to me and only me.

They had anime music playing in the background and a bunch of otaku's floating around. It was paradise. If you just listen to the conversations you'll hear tons of people talking about vocaloids and saying stuff like "I want this, this, this, and this!"

I wish they let me take pictures so I could show you what I mean but there was this place in the back with these large figurines (around a foot long) that just made me want to spend all my money on them. I saw this giant figurine of Hatsune Miku (if you've been keeping up with Chansu's vocaloid reports you'll know she's one of the cutest!) as well as smaller figures of some of my favorite moe-characters such as Konata and Kagami from Lucky Star! The sad thing was everything on that shelf was $20+, the big Miku being $50! With tough restraint, I resisted the attempt and only bought a few small figurines... which were still quite expensive.

For lunch we went to a pretty authentic japanese restaurant. They had an appetizer section in the front which was pretty good. I was disappointed at the staff, however, because it was mostly a spanish staff rather than Japanese. Interestingly enough the waitresses were Japanese...




I had takoyaki (which literally means fried (yaki) octopus (tako)) as well as Ramen but I wanted to try something new. So after being inspired from Clannad's Dango Daikazoku Ending (which you can watch here:)




(uploaded myself, just for you guys! :))

I decided to order some Dango. It was too chewy and sweet for my tastes, but it was an interesting experience :)

And finally we went to a Japanese Museum which was practically deserted but had some interesting things such as this real shogi set:



as well as a Samurai and traditional music exhibit:



So if you ever end up in Los Angeles, California, don't forget to check out Little Tokyo! :)

That's all for today, thanks for reading! ^^
:::Deretsun:::