KpOp & JpOp 2012/09/28
Psy teaches GOOGLE chairman Eric Schmidt the ‘horse dance’
Psy met up with GOOGLE chairman Eric Schmidt at the GOOGLE Seoul headquarters recently.
Chairman Schmidt is reported to have asked to be taught the “horse dance” choreography from “Gangnam Style“, and Psy showed up to teach him personally. Psy received a framed “Google Doodle” in return.
He tweeted earlier:
How the world did I meet and have fun with the chairman of GOOGLE!?? @ericschmidt!!! twitter.com/psy_oppa/statu…
— PSY (@psy_oppa) September 27, 2012
Check out more photos of Psy and Eric Schmidt below!
Source: Yahoo
1,000 Japanese fans help create animated video celebrating the 25th anniversary of MJ's Bad album
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson's Bad album, Sony Japan launched a special animated music video, featuring the King of Pop's iconic dance moves and an insane amount of t-shirts!
Animator and MJ fan Saburo Hashimoto (known for his work on films such as "Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro") hand-painted 1,000 illustrations, over a period of 14 days, to create the flip-book effect seen in the final video.
One thousand MJ fans were then photographed wearing Hashimoto's specialized shirts in an underground parking area in Akihabara, Japan. (The lucky volunteers were chosen at random from a pool of 30,000 applicants.)
Check out the making-of featurette, below:
Source: http://listen.jp/store/musicnews_41094_all.htm- Toyota unveils robot helper
Toyota's robot can help fetch objects around the house for the elderly or infirm - AFP
TOKYO —
Toyota on Wednesday unveiled a robotic best friend that can offer a helping hand around the house fetching and carrying for the elderly or immobile.
The human support robot, a compact cylinder-shaped machine 37 centimeters in diameter and up to 130 centimeters tall, can be remotely controlled by a tablet computer to recognise items it is sent to fetch.
Taking their cue from dogs that are trained to retrieve things, Toyota engineers designed the robot to perform simple tasks on command, using an arm equipped with a small suction pad.
"The robot still has challenges such as selecting items from a drawer containing all sorts of things, for example," said Takashi Yamamoto, general manager at Toyota's advanced technology engineering department.
"Finding an item by itself before getting it to the person controlling it is the most difficult challenge," he said.
Toyota, one of the world's biggest automakers, has applied technology developed for its cars, such as precise control of motors at high speeds, in the design of the robots.
Products catering to the elderly are big business in Japan, where a declining birthrate and lengthening life-expectancy is creating a greying society.
Source: http://www.japantoday.com/category/technology/view/toyota-unveils-robot-helper
The one thing that Japan is famous for. ROBOTS! :D
Also OP takes a break at this point. XD - The PV for "Transfer" by Livetune is Pure Anime Bliss
Livetune is an electro unit from Tokyo, best known for their recent Hatsune Miku smash song "Tell Your World". Today, livetune has released a new mini-album in Japan and we're here to celebrate with the music video for the title track "Transfer" which has everything you'd want out of life: great music, vocals by Megumi Nakajima, AKA Ranka Lee from Macross Frontier, and some stunning animation...
Livetune previously wowed the Nico Nico crowd with their Vocaloid tracks, but "Transfer", with it's vocals sung by an actual human being, marks a new direction for the group. The new "Transfer" e.p. also includes a collaboration with model-singer Yun*chi, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's pal. You're probably going to be hearing a lot more about Yun*chi in the months to come, so read this to get up to speed.
Source: http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2012/09/26/video-the-pv-for-transfer-by-livetune-is-pure-anime-bliss
I was all ready to dislike it but it turned out to be pretty good! :D - Liu Yi Fei at The Four Press Conference
- Daily Lives of High School Boys Manga Abruptly Ends
Manga creator Yasunobu Yamauchi released the final chapter of the Daily Lives of High School Boys (Danshi Kōkōsei no Nichijō ) series on Square Enix's Gangan Online website on Thursday. There was no previous sign that the manga would end this week. Square Enix will publish the manga's seventh volume this December.
The gag comedy manga follows the humorous yet "realistic" everyday life of Tadakuni, Hidenori, Yoshitake, and other students at a boys' high school. In the final chapter, the three main characters have a light and comedic talk about the masked hero that saved Hidenori from bullies when he was a child. The ending of the chapter reveals the truth behind the hero.
The manga launched in Gangan Online in 2009 and inspired a television anime earlier this year. NIS America licensed the anime for a North American release.
Source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-09-27/daily-lives-of-high-school-boys-manga-abruptly-ends
I wonder what happened. :S - Japan Has a Thunderbirds Cafe, and It's Freakin' Amazing
Retro British TV lives on in Tokyo. Iconic program Thunderbirds has its own official cafe, which serves up salute and Thunderbirds fandom.
The food doesn't exactly look spectacular, but the inside of the restaurant definitely does. Inside, there are rare items from the show as well as replica Thunderbird vehicles on display. Episodes are on continuous loop.
Website Japan Trends recently visited the cafe, which is in Tokyo's "book town" of Jimbocho (and not the otaku mecca of Akihabara), and found out that most patrons either lived or worked nearby—or were old enough to have seen the shown when it originally aired in the 1960s.
Thunderbirds, of course, and its "Supermarionation" marionette puppetry have been hugely influential, inspiring the likes of Team America, among many other projects.
The original program has a following in Japan and even spawned an anime sequel in 1982 called Thunderbirds 2086.
The official Thunderbirds Cafe opened in Tokyo this past June. Five, four, three, two, one, Thunderbirds Cafe go!
Thunderbirds Cafe [Official Site]
Tokyo's Thunderbirds Cafe brings retro puppets to delicious life again [Japan Trends]
Source: http://kotaku.com/5946503/japan-has-a-thunderbirds-cafe-and-its-freakin-amazing/gallery/1
How cool is that? More pics at the source! :D - Earth Defense Force 3 P's Aliens Attack in Live-Action Short The official Japanese PlayStation YouTube channel began streaming the four-minute live-action "commercial" for the upcoming Earth Defense Force 3 Portable PS Vita game. B-movie director Minoru Kawasaki (Everyone but Japan Sinks, Executive Koala, Crab Goalkeeper) helmed this recreation of the alien invasion and Earth's counterattack from this third-person shooter remake.
This homage to Ultra Seven and other tokusatsu (special-effects) classics is complete with attempts at English dialogue and costumed heroes (and heroine, in the form of returning Earth Defence Force 2 character Palewing).
The official website for the game accepted applications for fans to appear as extras in the commercial. Those selected to appear also received special gifts and the opportunity to play an early copy of the game, which is scheduled for this Thursday in a regular edition for 5,800 yen (about US$74), a downloadable edition for 5,000 yen (US$63), and a 6,980 yen "Double Enlistment" pack (US$89).
Source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2012-09-26/earth-defense-force-3-p-aliens-attack-in-live-action-short
Heheh! XD - Arashi reveals the track list for their upcoming album "Popcorn"
As announced previously, Arashi will be releasing their new album on October 31st.
The upcoming album titled "Popcorn" will come with the first pressed regular edition and regular edition, and both versions will have different cover jackets, but the same track list.
Check out the track list for "Popcorn" below!
—-
[Popcorn]
1.Welcome to our party
2.Kakenukero!
3.Wild at Heart
4.Face Down
5.We wanna funk, we need a funk (Vocal:Jun Matsumoto)
6.two(Vocal:Satoshi Ohno)
7.Waiting for you
8.Rakuen (Vocal:Masaki Aiba)
9.Tabi wa Tsuzuku yo
10.Sore wa Yappari Kimi deshita (Vocal:Kazunari Ninomiya)
11.Meikyu Love Song
12.Your Eyes
13.Fly on Friday (Vocal:Sho Sakurai)
14.Cosmos
15.Akashi
16.Up to you
Source: http://www.tokyohive.com/2012/09/arashi-reveals-the-track-list-for-their-upcoming-album-popcorn/ - Liu Yi Fei at Harper Bazaar 2009 Backtracking to the past, here are some photos of Liu Yi Fei at the Harper Bazaar last 2009. I just love her so much.
- Live-Action Kyō, Koi o Hajimemasu's Full Trailer Streamed The Japanese website Cinema Today began streaming the first full-length trailer for the live-action film adaptation of Kanan Minami's Kyō, Koi o Hajimemasu shōjo romance manga last week. Emi Takei (live-action Rurouni Kenshin's Kaoru, Ai to Makoto's Ai) stars as the old-fashioned "Showa-era girl" Tsubaki Hibino opposite Tori Matsuzaka (We Can't Change the World. But, We Wanna Build a School in Cambodia, Samurai Sentai Shinkenger, .hack//The Movie), who plays a "modern" boy named Kyōta.
Kyō, Koi o Hajimemasu began serializing in Sho-Comi in January 2008, and it just ended last November. The manga's 14 compiled book volumes have sold over eight million copies. The manga already inspired two anime DVDs.
Takeshi Furusawa (Ghost Train, Another) is directing the film for a December 8 release in Japanese theaters.
Source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-09-26/live-action-kyo-koi-o-hajimemasu-full-trailer-streamed
This looks rather adorable! :D - Filling your forehead with saline solution is the grossest way to cosplay as a Klingon
Have you ever wished to dress up as Worf, but are too hem to glue pretzel sticks to your noggin? Simply travel to Japan and attend a saline forehead injection party. For one magical night, your cranium will be distended and pliant, like a giant gag-inducing block of liverwurst. You can even transform your dome into a bloated flesh bagel. Truly the dapper look for your Second Rite of Ascension!
National Geographic recently profiled this body modification technique on their television program Taboo, and as journalist and saline-injection pioneer Ryoichi Maeda told Vice of the process in 2009:
It's quite easy — we use medical saline solution and using infusion we pump it into the forehead for about two hours, or until it's ready [...] Everyone I know who has done it, no matter how many times, their skin has gone back to exactly how it was before [...For the bagel-head look,] you just press your thumb in to the middle of the forehead while the saline is being pumped in, and that creates the donut, bagel effect. I've read reports of people colouring the infusions as well but I don't think there's any truth to those claims, it must be the way the light is shining on someone in the photo, or something.
Maeda has also witnessed saline partygoers attempt, well, scrotal injections. I really hope this catches on with suburban teenagers, and American society ends up with an omnipresent horde of Toxic Avenger lookalikes at every sweet sixteen and sock hop from Kutztown to Kalamazoo. More photos can be found at Bizarre magazine.
Source: http://io9.com/5946734/filling-your-forehead-with-saline-solution-is-the-grossest-way-to-cosplay-as-a-klingon
What even? o_O;; - Belated Happy Birthday Andy Lau Here's an article on Andy Lau's 51st Birthday Celebration. Now here's a nice article I found from Asianfanatics: (Source: http://asianfanatics.net/forum/topic/774625-andy-lau-fulfills-three-wishes-at-his-birthday-party/)
Andy Lau Tak Wa celebrates his 51st birthday today (September 27). Earlier his fan club celebrated in advance. The stage had the words "Fortune Like The East Sea" in the background. Wa Jai wore a red Chinese suit, his parents also attended and cut the birthday cake with him. Wa Jai said that at this birthday three wishes came true, including his invitation of the Hong Kong Paralympics fencing gold medalist Yu Chui-Yee and taking a photo with her; at the event, his "family" arranged for an exciting performance. Wa Jai praised their performance was concert quality; the audience's appreciation and respect already touched him very much; his "family" loving and caring for each other was his birthday wish.Wa Jai earlier guest starred in COLD WAR (HONG JIN). He said that when he read this script it was already attractive to him and he really wanted to participate. However his family just had a joyous affair (the birth of his daughter) he could not make time. Thus he was only able to guest star. In the film Wa Jai played the Security Bureau secretary, the highest ranking person in the entire film.
- Yume no Kayoiji Manga Gets Live-Action Film
Yasuyuki Ōno's Yume no Kaiyoiji (Route of Dreams) manga is being adapted into a live-action film. The film will open on November 17 in the T-Joy Nagaoka theater, and on November 24 in the T-Joy Niigata Bandai theater.
The film stars Anna Ishibashi (Yōkai Ningen Bem, Yankee-kun to Megane-chan), Seika Taketomi (To Aru Hikūshi e no Tsuioku), Shunya Shiraishi (Kaiji 2, Gantz), and Kaya Asano (Tomehane!). Toshihiro Gotō (Monochrome no Shōjo) is writing and directing the film. Additional cast members include Yui Ueta, Satsuki Okada, Yoshinobu Yamada, Michie Kita, and Miyoko Ōmomo.
The original one-volume manga revolves around a girl who transfers to a suburban high school. One day the girl wanders into an old wooden school building and meets another girl wearing a strange uniform, who turns out to be a ghost. The two have a mysterious exchange.
The original manga ran in Shonengahosha's Young King magazine in 1987-1988. Kadokawa Shoten reissued the manga in 2001.
A teaser trailer for the film began streaming earlier this month.
Source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-09-26/yume-no-kayoiji-manga-gets-live-action-film - 10 Visual Motifs that American Science Fiction Borrowed from Anime
We owe so much to Japanese animation and comics. Anime and manga have given us some of the most unforgettable characters and stories in the universe — but also, the visual style of anime has had a huge impact on Western science fiction and fantasy. American movies and television have gotten a much-needed injection of style from Japan, several times over the decades.
Here are 10 key visuals that U.S. science fiction and fantasy lifted from Japanese animation.
For this article, we spoke to Jason Thompson, writer of King of RPGs who's written some articles on manga for io9 in the past. And Peter Hyoguchi, director of the animated series The New Kind.
10) Insectoid mecha
As with a lot of the items on this list, it's always hard to establish just who did something first — but Masamune Shirow did a lot to popularize the idea of mecha designs that look like creepy insects, in Ghost in the Shell, and especially Appleseed. As Thompson puts it, these insectoid mecha, "with their twitchy arthropod-like joints & multiple eyes, have been really copied in Western sci-fi movies and comics dating back to at least The Matrix." (You'll be hearing about The Matrix a lot on this list, because it was like the checkout counter, where anime imagery got distributed wholesale to American visual cortexes.) Adds Thompson, "Between Shirow's many-legged bugs, and the skeleton-robot unfleshed T1000s in Terminator, you have the majority of modern Western cinematic robot designs, which have out-trended the more simple & streamlined robot designs that preceded them."
9) The Three Point Landing
As TVTropes rightly points out, the "three point landing," ! where so meone lands in a crouch with one hand on the floor, came from anime and then conquered American media. Just check out this supercut, where the two oldest pieces of footage are probably from Evangelion and Ghost in the Shell. The three point landing seems tied up in ninja anime, along with the infamous ninja run, which focuses on absurd ways to keep your weapon from eviscerating you when performing high speed acrobatics.
8) Cracking the Cement
On a related note... You see this in Iron Man as well as some other recent films. "The famous drop onto and cracking concrete shot that Iron Man is sort of known for is something that almost every mecha anime does," says Hyoguchi. The shot of the hero falling so hard that the cement cracks on impact is "very cliche anime," he adds.
7) The Power Up
Anime has provided a convenient short hand for powering up. Think of just about any Dragon Ball episode. The hero, often Goku, takes a stance, grits his teeth and starts to grunt. The pebbles rise up off the ground as a sign that serious forces are in play and if in a city the glass starts to shatter. Or if your taste runs darker, similar scenes play out in Doomed Megalopolis. As Thompson says, "In the dramatic buildup before the [psychic] powers are released, gravity weakens and all the little bits of dust tremble, and little pebbles & bits of rubble start to float up in the air." And you've seen different aspects of the "power up" effect in different movies. Chronicle, which borrows heavily from Akira, features a final showdown that reads like a classic anime battle, with a lot of buildings being shattered while the main characters grunt and scream. Havoc's power use in X-Men: First Class also mirrors! the cla ssic teeth gritting pose. Even in the stop motion movie Paranorman you know things are about to get dangerously out of control when the pebbles start levitating off the ground.6) Psychic Battles That You Can See
As Thompson points out, back in the day, David Cronenberg was relatively subtle in depicting psychic battles. But anime gave us telepathic showdowns that you could see, "with competing 'force fields' of energy surrounding the combatants and pushing against one another." In American cinema, CG effects made it possible to show psychic conbat, using visible energy fields and zones, and American creators borrowed heavily from anime and manga to represent this. As with a lot of items on this list, it goes back to Alex Proyas' Dark City, which borrowed a lot from Akira.5) Energy Balls
Instead of just showing laser beams that just fire instantly, recent years have given us "the energy blast that charges up and then releases, with a dramatic buildup and a glowing ball of light in the mouth of the cannon or wherever," says Thompson. This always "feels very anime" in Western cinema, and brings to mind all of "those balls of screentone crisscrossed by lightning that you see in psychic manga like Akira. In general, the tendency of U.S. media to represent a "round, slow-moving ball of plasma crisscrossed by jaggedy electrical shocks," like the glowing energy ball in Spider-Man 2, comes from anime, manga and video games. It's hard to tell where this imagery came from originally, but you can see it in Akira, plus the Kaoi-ken in Dragon Ball Z, says Thompson. "Harmagedon may have been an earlier example, as for many 'psychic' things later used in Akira."4) The Not-Quite-Human Weaponized Woman
Ladies clad in black pvc and trench coats are hot, and also kind of scary with their over the top sexuality. They are even scarier when armed and superhuman. Anime has designed a new female character archetype, the female cyborg. Their powerful physicality is at odds with their existential struggles with humanity and emotion. Major Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell and Alita from Battle Angel Alita epitomize the character design with their dark skintight body suits and trench coats .Their sexy bodies are put at odds with the styling of their face and hair. They sport no-nonsense hair and the open features of an ingénue free of make-up. The genetically modified lead character of James Cameron's Dark Angel sports a similar look — and this isn't too surprising, since Cameron bought the movie rights to Battle Angel Alita. Kate Beckinsale's vampire in the Underworld franchise also has a nearly identical look, as does Alice from Resident Evil:Retribution. And of course, Trinity in The Matrix follows a similar look to Ghost in the Shell. Finally, Quorra in Tron Legacy has the iconic bob, fresh face and black jumpsuit as well.
3) Insanely Large-Eared Elves
People who grew up on Dungeons and Dragons and other fantasy representations in the U.S. were probably shocked at their first sight of Deedlit in Record of the Lodoss Wars. You'd scarcely recognize that pointy-eared freak as an elf — but anime seems to be littered with them, notably in the series Those Who Hunt Elves. Meanwhile, with the exception of the indie comic Poison Elves, the ears of Western elves tended to be more horizontal and not look like they would aid in flight. There looked like there was a solid line in the sand between anime elves and the Tolkein-inspired Western elves — but the line got blurrier and blurri! er as id eas mingled over in the RPG world until World of Warcraft came along, obliterated the line, and made the flappy-eared elves a common depiction. The large-ear movement is rapidly spreading. Compare the ears from the first Dragon Age video game to Fenris in Dragon Age II.
2) Neo-Noir Cityscapes
When it comes to the noir cyberpunk city — a dark gritty, claustrophobic city punctuated with bright bursts of neon advertising with an Asian flair — it's hard to tell what came from anime and what came from Blade Runner. Ridley Scott's seminal 1982 film definitely had a huge impact on Japanese creators, but then they took the visual and ran with it, adding lots of flourishes along the way. Numerous series and movies like Bubblegum Crisis, Armitage, Ghost in the Shell and Akira explored dystopian cyberpunk landscapes. Anime turned the "dark city" into a genre all its own. Japanese RPGS also expanded on the visuals, with locations like Final Fantasy VII's Midgar. Once again we can point to the Wachowskis for a Ghost in the Shell influence on The Matrix. Alex Proyas says the scene of the buildings restoring themselves at the end of his film Dark City is a direct homage to Akira. And while the city visuals in Tron Legacy makes a direct nod at Blade Runner with the light up umbrellas, the polished glowing visuals also owe a great debt to anime and the video games that piggy backed off the visual style.
1) Bullet Time, Super Speed and Imaginative Ways of Showing Movement
In a 2006 interview, The Matrix visual effects designer John Gaeta partially credited the development of the bullet time to Katsuhiro Otomo, the co-writer of Akira. Joel Silver, the producer of The Matrix, says the Wachowskis showed him Ghost in the Shell and said they wanted to create that type of action in a live action film. The Matrix, in turn, influenced tons of other American films — ! but beyo nd the one iconic effect of Neo dodging bullets, the entire way action is visualized in film has been changing more and more to an anime sensibility. Anime fight scenes, from the lauded Ghost in the Shell movie to the children's television fare of Naruto, manipulate time during fight sequences to add static moments during periods of intense action. Traditionally this is done for character reactions, to change the fight perspective, or just to create an eloquent pause of anticipation before the onset of extreme destruction. Says Thompson,
Perhaps imitating anime & manga (and Western comics which imitated anime and manga) is one contributor to the focus on speedup-and-slowdown effects and dramatic (over)emphasis of moment-of-impact shots in Western cinema in the past 25 years, as opposed to the more realistic, documentary, boxing-match style in which fight scenes used to be shot. Ever since The Matrix... this kind of CG-enhanced focus on 'moments' (kind of like panels in a comic?) has been everywhere in Western film, to the point of becoming a cliche.
From: Choo, K. (2008). "Visual evolution across the pacific: The influence of anime and video games on US film media." Essays in Film and the Humanities, 28(2), 28-37
Source: http://io9.com/5946495/10-visual-motifs-that-american-science-fiction-borrowed-from-anime
Interesting to see the effect of anime on today's media. - Viz Anime Adds GoRA, GoHands' K TV Anime North American anime distributor Viz Media announced on Tuesday that it licensed GoRA Project and GoHands' K television anime series for an October premiere on its Viz Anime service.
Shingo Suzuki (Mardock Scramble) will be the director and character designer of the series, and the GoRA group will handle the series composition. Makoto Furuta (Seitokai Yakuindomo) will be the chief animation director, and Ringo Kishimoto (Asa Made Jugyou Chu!) will be the animation producer. As a "GoRA Project" group member, producer Gou Nakanishi (Fafner, Asura Cryin', Negima) is also participating in the project.
Angela will perform the opening theme song and Mikako Komatsu will perform the ending theme song.
The show's voice cast includes Daisuke Namikawa, Tomokazu Sugita, Komatsu, Kenjiro Tsuda, Daisuke Ono, Mamoru Miyano, Miyuki Sawashiro, Yui Horie, Takahiro Sakurai, Jun Fukuyama, Yūichi Nakamura, Satomi Satou, and Yuuki Kaji.
Source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-09-25/viz-anime-adds-gora-gohands-k-tv-anime
So many anime this season! I only have two eyes. =_= - One Piece: Pirate Warriors' DLC Costumes Previewed in Video The European division of Namco Bandai Games began streaming a promotional video for the first three sets of downloadable content (DLC) for the One Piece: Pirate Warriors game on Tuesday. The video previews Lufy's samurai costume with the new "One Vs. 1000!" scenario, Nami's kimono costume with the "East Blue Forever!" scenario, and Zoro's kimono costume with the "Heavy Hitters" scenario. The American division also began streaming the game's launch trailer.
The costumes will be available in Europe on Saturday for 2.99 Euros. The game itself just launched in North America on Tuesday after debuting earlier in Europe. The same DLC were available in Japan on the same day that the game launched there, March 1. The costumes are based on the color opening-page illustrations that One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda himself drew for the original manga.
Source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-09-25/one-piece/pirate-warriors-dlc-costumes-previewed-in-video
OP once again has to do a spammage of news so please bear with me. m(_ _)m
Arashi reveals the track list for their upcoming album “Popcorn”
As announced previously, Arashi will be releasing their new album on October 31st.
The upcoming album titled “Popcorn” will come with the first pressed regular edition and regular edition, and both versions will have different cover jackets, but the same track list.
Check out the track list for “Popcorn” below!
—-
[Popcorn]
1.Welcome to our party
2.Kakenukero!
3.Wild at Heart
4.Face Down
5.We wanna funk, we need a funk (Vocal:Jun Matsumoto)
6.two(Vocal:Satoshi Ohno)
7.Waiting for you
8.Rakuen (Vocal:Masaki Aiba)
9.Tabi wa Tsuzuku yo
10.Sore wa Yappari Kimi deshita (Vocal:Kazunari Ninomiya)
11.Meikyu Love Song
12.Your Eyes
13.Fly on Friday (Vocal:Sho Sakurai)
14.Cosmos
15.Akashi
16.Up to you
Source: http://www.tokyohive.com/2012/09/arashi-reveals-the-track-list-for-their-upcoming-album-popcorn/
Daily Lives of High School Boys Manga Abruptly Ends
Manga creator Yasunobu Yamauchi released the final chapter of the Daily Lives of High School Boys (Danshi Kōkōsei no Nichijō ) series on Square Enix's Gangan Online website on Thursday. There was no previous sign that the manga would end this week. Square Enix will publish the manga's seventh volume this December.
The gag comedy manga follows the humorous yet "realistic" everyday life of Tadakuni, Hidenori, Yoshitake, and other students at a boys' high school. In the final chapter, the three main characters have a light and comedic talk about the masked hero that saved Hidenori from bullies when he was a child. The ending of the chapter reveals the truth behind the hero.
The manga launched in Gangan Online in 2009 and inspired a television anime earlier this year. NIS America licensed the anime for a North American release.
Source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-09-27/daily-lives-of-high-school-boys-manga-abruptly-ends
I wonder what happened. :S - Liu Yi Fei Sweetly Naive Look
Here's a picture of Liu Yi Fei being sweetly naive. I just love her expression here of childlike innocence mixed with her pretty face. Well I'd really have my feelings here to the very end.
- Liu Yi Fei in the Assassins Premiere in Beijing, September 25, 2012 Here are some photos of Liu Yi Fei at Beijing for the Assassins Premiere. If you ask me, she's red hot in here. Careful though, she might break your limbs LOL!
Idol Round Up: Alice 10
Idol Round Up: Alice 10
Alice 10 One of the current leaders of the new wave of a growing Indie idol movement that mixes Heavy Metal , Horror and other nontraditional cookie cutter idol concepts have been making a few waves as of late.
It`s a movement that in my own life I have embraced fully with the production of a newly debuting Independent Idol Group that also embraces this division of idol genre and it`s growing offshoots of concept diversity.
With Heavy Metal Idol branches and Horror Idol branches, this is a movement that will continue to grow, at a healthy pace as new units have started making debuts recently.
Much like Morning Musume and AKB48 opened doors for large member, cookie cutter traditional idols. Alice 10, BiS, BABYMETAL and others are embracing a different road and creating our own brand idol freshness.
So here is a look at what these mask wearing idols have been up to the last few weeks.
Popout
Invasion of the Red Carpet
Popout
Popout
Popout
Popout
Popout
Popout- Morning Musume: Wakuteka Take a Chance PV [Provisional]
Morning Musume has released a PV for their 51st single, I can`t believe I've lasted all 51 singles as a fan; time sure has gone by fast.
This version of "Wakuteka Take a Chance" is a provisional or temporary version if you like, because Ayumi was injured at the time and could not dance, so an alternate version was released to meet promotional deadlines.
A new version is expected to be released at a later date.
This version features some close ups, some auto tune and CGI and 100% Morning Musume style cuteness.
This is one PV that your either going to like or dislike right from the start and the vast majority of fans here and overseas is on board with this.
Overall I like Wakuteka Take a Chance and after 50 Morning Musume singles and countless albums I am use to how Tsunku works and thinks as well as Up-Front.
While there are some minor things that I am not a fan of from a visual standpoint, it`s not enough to vote thumbs down .So I think you`ll find this a thumbs up video, just like I did.
- expo7000: タコ焼きみたいな目やな。 （と書いてからグロい連想してしまった。）
expo7000:
タコ焼きみたいな目やな。
（と書いてからグロい連想してしまった。）Morning Musume: Wakuteka Take a Chance PV [Provisional]
Morning Musume has released a PV for their 51st single, I can`t believe I’ve lasted all 51 singles as a fan; time sure has gone by fast.
This version of “Wakuteka Take a Chance” is a provisional or temporary version if you like, because Ayumi was injured at the time and could not dance, so an alternate version was released to meet promotional deadlines.
A new version is expected to be released at a later date.
This version features some close ups, some auto tune and CGI and 100% Morning Musume style cuteness.
This is one PV that your either going to like or dislike right from the start and the vast majority of fans here and overseas is on board with this.
Overall I like Wakuteka Take a Chance and after 50 Morning Musume singles and countless albums I am use to how Tsunku works and thinks as well as Up-Front.
While there are some minor things that I am not a fan of from a visual standpoint, it`s not enough to vote thumbs down .So I think you`ll find this a thumbs up video, just like I did.
Heo Yoon Mi at KSF R5 and R6 2012
Heo Yoon Mi at Korea Speed Festival Round 5 and Round 6 2012. Round 5 on 22nd and round 6 on 23rd September 2012.
Name: Heo Yun Mi / Heo Yoon Mi 허윤미
Date of Birth: Mar 23, 1986
Height: 172 cm
Weight: 52 kg
Blog: http://cafe.daum.net/s-yunmi
About: Heo Yun Mi 허윤미 is a popular race queen and model from Incheon, South Korea who has a sweet face and a superbly hot body. Heo Yun Mi looks effortlessly sexy even with minimal make up. Anyway, only the best of Heo Yun Mi available here.Big Bang spotted at the airport on their way to Singapore
Big Bang were recently spotted at the Incheon International Airport en route to Singapore for the ‘2012 Big Bang Alive Galaxy Tour‘. Seungri is noticeably absent due to his busy schedule in Japan and will join the rest of the group on location.
The photos show the members rocking the color, black, each according to their individual styles. T.O.P. recently injured his hand during the filming for ‘Alumnus’ and is also seen wearing his hand cast. Starting in Singapore, Big Bang will perform in various countries until December.
source :allkpopSHINee’s Key and KARA’s Nicole celebrate their birthdays together
SHINee‘s Key and KARA‘s Nicole, well-known as good friends, celebrated their birthdays together, as pop artist Nancy Lang shared a new picture on her Twitter account.
Nancy Lang tweeted, “Today is SHINee Key’s birthday party~! Kibum-ah (Key’s real name) happy happy birthday~~ And it’s almost KARA’s Nicole’s birthday soon, so we’re celebrating together! Happy~ ^^ Love you all~~ Ang~~!”
In the two pictures, Key and Nicole look very friendly with Nancy Lang and are happily smiling for the camera.
Upon seeing the pictures, netizens commented, “Key and Nicole. I’ve heard they were close and now they’re celebrating their birthdays together,” and “Happy birthday!”
Happy birthday to Key and Nicole!
source: allkpopLee Ha Yi and Epik High’s comeback officially announced
YG Entertainment has officially announced Lee Ha Yi and Epik High‘s comeback in October.
Epik High had signed with YG Entertainment in July and had been working on their new album until now. This comeback will be their first in three years, during which Tablo was involved in an academic controversy and the rest of the members had been serving their mandatory military duties. Tablo released a solo album with YG Ent. last year and during his promotions, he stated that Epik High will continue to release songs, keeping their color of music.
As for Lee Ha Yi, after K-Pop Star, she signed a contract with YG Entertainment and has been preparing for both a solo debut and as a member of SuPearls. Even though SuPearls’ debut was expected to happen first, it now seems that her solo debut will take place first. JYP has also debuted Baek Ah Yeon already and Park Ji Min will debut as a duo through ‘15&‘.
There is a possibility of Lee Ha Yi and Epik High’s October Comeback to be a collaboration, but that has yet to be confirmed.
Professionals rank Gyuri #1 in beauty amongst KARA members
MBC Music‘s ‘All the K-pop‘ ranked the KARA members in terms of looks.
‘All the K-pop’ performed a survey with 100 plastic surgery surgeons, nurses and other personnel from Chungdamdong, the mecca of Korean beauty, asking to rank the KARA members in terms of looks.
Called goddess by herself and others around her, leader Gyuri was ranked #1 in beauty. Most of the plastic surgeons said, “Park Gyuri’s face has golden proportions.” They explained that her eyes, nose and mouth proportions are the most ideal for beauty, and revealed, “There are people who come asking to look like Gyuri“.
Gyuri showed a modest side and said, “I think this is the effect of telling people I was a goddess since debut.”
Seungyeon ranked second with her cute and vivid face. Her perfect face shape and vivid eyeline was judged to be the best. When she heard this, Seungyeon confessed, “Actually, I have a complex with my eyes. I hear all the time that I look scary and intense if I open my eyes wide because of my double eyelids. But I’m really happy that I was ranked 2nd.”
Jiyoung placed 3rd, Hara placed 4th, and Nicole placed 5th. Many were surprised at Hara’s low ranking because she is famous for her thin waist and large eyes. Professionals explained, “Hara’s face has good proportions and it’s beautiful to the point of perfection. That may be the reason, but she doesn’t have a sense of natural beauty.”
source: allkpopCore Contents Media files suit on behalf of T-ara’s Eunjung against ‘Five Fingers’ producers
Core Contents Media has filed a lawsuit on the behalf of T-ara‘s Eunjung against the producers of the SBS drama ‘Five Fingers‘.
On September 27 KST, the agency filed a 140 million Won (~$125,100 USD) lawsuit for breach of contract. Eunjung was previously cast as the female lead and even appeared at the press conference for the drama, but was suddenly dropped without prior notification after T-ara’s bullying controversy.
Core Contents Media stated, “Eunjung was emotionally hurt [after she was informed she was being dropped from the show], and we’ve decided to file the suit in order to regain her reputation.”
source: allkpopG-Dragon performs “Missing You” with Lydia on GD FRIENDS LIVE
Big Bang‘s G-Dragon went live on Naver Music for a second round of GD FRIENDS LIVE on September 25th at 10 PM.
During the broadcast, he performed “Missing You” with Lydia for a special live collaboration of the song.
GD FRIENDS LIVE was an opportunity for G-Dragon to perform new collaborations live and get closer to fans and netizens through these music sessions.
Check out the awesome special collaboration below!
Popout
Big Bang’s G-Dragon, Taeyang, and Daesung update fans on Seungri
The members of Big Bang have updated fans on Seungri following his recent string of scandals, and spoke carefully, yet honestly about their feelings on the situation.
On September 25th, G-Dragon held his ‘GD Friends Live‘ through portal site Naver, and was also joined by fellow members Taeyang and Daesung for a talk session.
The three of them began by updating fans on T.O.P., who recently injured his hand on the set of his upcoming film, ‘Alumnus‘. Turning to the topic of Seungri, G-Dragon began, “Seungri is doing well. He’s filming in Japan right now. He’s fine.”
Despite the message, the three of them looked a bit uncomfortable talking about him. Taeyang spoke carefully, “I’ll just be frank about this. We reprimanded him a lot. He’s reflecting on his actions now. Don’t people make mistakes? I think for us, as his brothers, we need to forgive those mistakes. These are problems that we must carry with us. Once again, we reprimanded Seungri and will make sure that it won’t happen again.”
G-Dragon knelt down on his knees and held his hands up following Taeyang’s speech while Daesung added,“Shall we finish this off by saying ‘Seungri-ya, we miss you. We love you’?”
Taeyang honestly replied back, “I can’t actually say that I love him right at this moment. I think he needs more time to reflect.”
G-Dragon also stated, “I nor any of us, are in any position to be reprimanding anyone, but I will work hard if it means that we can show a better image to everyone. I think it’s all up to us as to how well we do. He’s currently self-reflecting, I know because I’ve been through it before. These times aren’t just wasted times, but times that truly help your life. Thinking about it in a different light, you can see it as a good experience as well. If you all view him in a good light, I’m sure that Seungri will be able to show you a better image as an even better man and adult.”
Concluding, G-Dragon stated towards Seungri, “Seungri, I don’t love you yet as well but I will love you and I miss you. Fighting.”
Source + Photos: Mydaily via Naver
BoA: “We Don’t Use All Advices We’ve Given To The Contestants”
Making headlines as a young girl who could sing and dance, BoA has already grown up before our eyes. SBS’s “E! Celebrity News” had a chance to have her for an interview.
You composed and also wrote the lyrics for this album’s title track “Only One.” This is the first time that a song you wrote has been released as a title track.
BoA: “This song was originally not a title track, but the arrangement was nicely done and the recording came out well. Founder Lee Soo Man decided that it should be the title track after listening to it. I wondered whether the song would be appropriate for the summer season. But thankfully there was a good response.”
To be honest, when I first looked at the lyrics describing the delicate details of a breakup I wondered whether you wrote from your personal experience.
BoA: “I received that question a lot, but it’s not based on personal experience. It’s something anyone can relate with and ponder about.”
As one gets older, his or her thoughts and actions become more mature. I think getting older affects the maturity of the artist’s work.
BoA: “The person who becomes older doesn’t really realize that he or she has become older. I think that as I see more, feel more and learn more, my horizons expand.”
How do you feel preparing for your album as you were on “K-Pop Star” as a judge?
BoA: “Half air, half sound. I kept thinking about this phrase while I was recording. (Laugh) That’s why I would randomly ask ‘I’m using half air, half sound, right?’ We don’t personally use all the advices we’ve given to the contestants. Every person was born with different sounds and therefore should use techniques that best fits them.”
Have you ever thought about leaving the entertainment industry?
BoA: “Rather than leaving, I thought about distancing myself from music and experience it as a consumer. I want to travel around the world before I’m 30. It’s probably impossible. (Laugh) I REALLY want to travel.”
</! a>
</ a>
Comments