KpOp & JpOp 2012/10/31
- Rock Band Muse Uses Japanese Comedian's Animation for Official Music Video The British rock band Muse is using the work of Japanese comedian Tekken in an official music video that will debut on Wednesday.
Tekken had created a three-minute "manga" animation titled "Pendulum" for the Muse song "Exogenesis: Symphony Part 3 (Redemption)" for a television program. Afterwards, the video was uploaded to YouTube and became popular with more than 3 million views. Muse eventually heard of this video and watched it, and came up with the idea to work with Tekken. The band decided to use the footage as the official music video for the song.
The song in its entirety is 4:36 in length, and so Tekken worked for 60 days to create the additional footage for the entire song. He had drawn 1,620 images for the original three-minute animation.
Muse had linked to the three-minute version of the video on YouTube in May.
The completed official music video will be available in 59 countries on Wednesday including countries in North America and Europe.
Source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2012-10-30/rock-band-muse-uses-japanese-comedian-animation-for-official-music-video - Sora Aoi (蒼井そら)
Sora Aoi (蒼井そら) - DBSK's Changmin: "I Want to Say that I've Dated Without Anyone Knowing"
Changmin, from duo DBSK, had a chance to meet up with a reporter for an interview.
# You acted in the Japanese movie "Run With the Gold" not too long ago. It must've been difficult acting in Japanese.
"I realized just how hard it was acting in a foreign language. I can understand a little just how incredible actors like Lee Byung Hun sunbaenim are acting in foreign languages like English. It's hard acting in the mother tongue, but to act in a foreign language.. how hard it must have been. I filmed for the movie at the same time as our Japan arena tour. It's embarrassing, but I would cry out of frustration if I couldn't immerse in the acting. I gave it my all. I have no regrets because I know that I did my best at that time even if the audience might think otherwise."
# I'm really curious how you spend your time when there are no scheduled activities.
"I do various things, but I prepare to hike the hills when the season changes to autumn. In the past, I hated when my parents would drag me to go on the hikes. But now, I think that going on those hikes are pretty."
# This is the season for dating. Do you date?
"There's something we would tell our hoobaes. One thing we regret about our past is that if we were more passionate during our debut days, we think that we could have been more entertaining now. (Laugh) I had my debut when I was really young and would sleep because I was so tired after working. Later, I realized that there really was a difference between friends who dated and those who didn't. Rig! ht now at my young age, I'm able to express such feelings so I want to say that I have dated without anyone knowing. (Laugh) The company said that they're not a matchmaker and encouraged us to date without letting anyone know. I didn't date the first 3-4 years after my debut. I think I was crazy back then. We usually stay indoors for our dates!"
- Cute backstage self-pic
- Why Halloween Became a Thing in Japan
When I first came to Japan, so many moons ago, Halloween was not a thing. At all. Well, it was if you were foreigner, but Japanese people just didn't really get it.
Now, more and more, they do, and are putting their own spin on it. So what happened?
The two things that have really made Halloween in Japan are Tokyo Disneyland and Universal Studios Japan. And they've done this in the last decade. Tokyo Disneyland held its first Halloween event in 2000, and each year it's gotten bigger and bigger. Ditto for Universal Studios Japan in Osaka.
Prior to this, Halloween in Japan used to only mean foreigners wearing funny customs in bars and drinking on public transportation. But Tokyo Disneyland and USJ provided an easy way for Japanese people to enjoy Halloween.
Even before Halloween caught on, it seemed like it would be a logical fit for Japan, being the country that gave the world cosplay. There isn't widespread trick-or-treating (and where there is, it can be highly organized), but more and more kids are going to Halloween parties and dressing up.
Then there's an increasing amount of merchandising, which ranges from small pumpkins (normal sized ones are incredibly expensive), cakes, cookies, ice cream, and more. You now see Halloween decorations in stores and even on some TV shows—things that you never saw a decade ago. The holiday is slightly different in Japan and it's not a national event yet, but each year, it's more and more popular. You can see the birth of a new holiday right before your very eyes.
But it's not as simple as Japan importing an American holiday or just playing dress up. Japan-based game localizer and writer Matt Alt, co-author of Yurei Attack!, calls Halloween a "kid's version" of the Japan's traditional spooky season, which is in August. (Full disclosure: Tuttle, which is republishing o! ne of my books, publishes Alt's book.)
That month, there are the Obon holidays, when the spirits of the dead visit household shrines and when families clean the graves of the deceased. This is what people traditionally are supposed to do—though, I've only cleaned the family grave a few times—when they return home. These days, some people go on vacation or just relax at home for a "death free" Obon. Still, the spooky notion remains, with people telling scary stories on TV. During the hot, sticky month, people traditionally tell spooky stories to send chills down their spines. Yurei, or vengeance spirits, often appear in these stories.
"I can almost guarantee you that you will never hear the word 'yurei' with Halloween in Japan," Alt tells Kotaku. "You'll hear 'ghost' or 'obake', the Japanese word for ghosts, because those are relatively cute. Yurei are fucking terrifying. You can quote me on that—fucking terrifying."
Yurei Attack!'s co-author Hiroko Yoda says that the lesson behind yurei is that if you mistreat someone, they will come back to haunt you. "It's a karmic thing," she says. Yurei, however, are indiscriminate. Alt calls yurei "spiritual landmines" that are relentless and determined to kill pretty much whomever is in their way, and it doesn't matter if you are completely innocent or not.
The West has a wide variety of ghosts—from terrifying, vengeful ghosts to, well, friendly, cute ghosts. Yurei are not cute. They are not friendly. Because of that, Alt points out, you pretty much never see "Yurei" marketed on toys. Instead, toy companies use "obake" (ghost), which seem softer.
What's more, Obon isn't marketable in the same way Halloween is and doesn't exactly inspire a slew of merchandise.
In the West, Halloween is closely connected to death, with its roots in festivals of the dead as well as All Saints' Day. But in Japan, it isn't seen that way; it's a holiday imported from America. It doesn't have the close connection to death like Obon, thus ! making it! somewhat abstract in Japan. That doesn't mean it cannot be scary in Japan—there is an uptick in the number of haunted houses during the fall now. Though, like the Resident Evil attraction now at USJ, they're not centered around yurei. There's still a clear distinction.
"Everyone loves haunted houses, because they're fun," says Alt. "Everyone loves candy and dressing up. Halloween becomes an excuse in Japan to enjoy the spooky season again." In Japan, Halloween is a stopgap of sort, allowing Japanese people the opportunity to enjoy another spooky season, that's slightly more carefree and based in artifice—instead of tangible death and fucking terrifying yurei.
Source: http://kotaku.com/5954768/why-halloween-became-a-thing-in-japan - Conquer Your Fears By Eating Them With Halloween Bento Boxes When Halloween time rolls around, most people get excited about costumes, or candy, or even drinking heavily. Pretty much no one ever gets excited about Halloween food (candy doesn't count). Luckily, the Japanese have got us covered. Japanese styled bento boxes are impressive enough as they are, but the Halloween themed bentos some manage to come up with are quite impressive.
But Wait, What be this Bento Thing?
For those unfamiliar, a bento is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japan. A traditional bento consists of rice, fish or meat, and one or more pickled or cooked vegetables. Although bento are readily available in many places throughout Japan, it is still very common (and way more fun) for Japanese homemakers to spend time and energy creating an expertly prepared and visually pleasing lunch box.
Bento can be very elaborately arranged in styles called kyaraben and oekakiben which resemble animated characters and real people respectively. Contests are often held where bento arrangers compete for the most aesthetically pleasing arrangements.
For Your Viewing Pleasure
I hobbled around the internet a little bit and found some of the more interesting Halloween themed bento boxes for further inspection. Which one is your favorite?
Photo by sherimiya ♥
Photo by maisha752000
Photo by gamene
Photo by The Purloined Letter
Photo by sherimiya ♥
Photo by sherimiya ♥
Photo by mymealbox
Photo by meltong99
Photo by lianbento
Photo by lianbento
Photo by A Pocket Full Of Buttons Blog
Photo by gamene
Photo by gamene
Photo by Susan Yuen
Photo by bentology
Photo by bentology
Photo by hapa bento
Now, I don't know about you, but I'm one of those people who packs their lunch every day because going out to eat for lunch can be a serious drain on one's finances. However, I seriously do not have the time to make my lunches as fancy as the bento boxes above. Some of them look pretty amazing and probably took more time to make than they took to be eaten. But the power of photography has preserved them forever so that we might enjoy them.
I'm sure that not all of the above bento boxes were actually fashioned by Japanese people, but that in no way detracts from them. Food art is something that rarely gets much attention, and I think these folks deserve to be recognized an appreciated for their impressive works of art.
Source: http://www.tofugu.com/2012/10/27/conquer-your-fears-by-eating-them-with-halloween-bento-boxes/ - Japan's Terrifying Manga When I was a kid, I was over at a friend's house and found a magazine with a bunch of comics in it. As I started looking through it, I found a horrifying comic. I'd never really seen a comic like it before, and was really freaked out by what I saw.
Even today, a decade and some change later, I remember sitting in the back of my family's minivan on the way home with those images still in my head, more than a little shaken.
Guess what happens next.
This week I found out that the comic that had scared me so much as a kid is called Parasyte, a manga about alien parasites that take over human bodies and kill and eat people.
I read through it recently and was kind of underwhelmed. Even though I remember Parasyte being so freaky and unnerving when I was a kid, it doesn't have the same effect on me now.
Although Parasyte isn't the scariest horror manga out there, it taught me early on how manga can really scare you and shake you up.
For Halloween week, I decided to look into more horror manga and explore the different Japanese artists who frighten us to our core.
Shigeru Mizuki
I don't think that many people would be very scared of Shigeru Mizuki's manga, but he has to be included in any conversation about manga featuring the spooky and supernatural.
Mizuki is most famous for his manga ゲゲゲの鬼太郎, or GeGeGe no Kitaro. It's a story about a boy trying to bring peace between the warring worlds of humans and supernatural beings.
Kitaro is about as scary as Casper the Friendly Ghost, but what is lacks in creepiness it makes up for in traditional Japanese folklore. There's probably no other manga that's so full of different obake, or Japanese monsters and spirits.
Over the years, Kitaro has gone through (appro! ximately) a billion iterations, from manga to anime to live-action features. Kitaro isn't the scariest manga out there by a long shot, but it's still very near and dear to most Japanese.
Kazuo Umezu
Kazuo Umezu is another old-school manga artist. Besides being known for dressing like he's starring in Where's Waldo?, Umezu has been making manga for decades.
His most famous work is The Drifting Classroom, an eerie story of a school miraculously transported into a post-apocalyptic future. Separated from their families, the kids and teachers begin to snap, grow paranoid, and drift apart.
It's a chilling world that Umezu has created, and one that's resonated for the forty-some years since its release.
The Drifting Classroom was also made into a laughable, English-language movie in the 80s that pretty much destroys the eerie atmosphere that Umezu worked to build. But let's not talk about that.
Junji Ito
We wrote a whole post about Junji Ito last year, but he's still worth mentioning here.
There's a reason he's so iconic and such a favorite of mine. His stories and art are bleak and convey a sense of hopelessness that's hard to shake.
Ito's created classics like Uzumaki (which was made into an awful movie), Gyo, and The Enigma of Amigara Fault.
You can read our whole post about Ito here: http://www.tofugu.com/2011/10/26/junji-ito-master-of-japanese-horror/
Hideshi Hino
Hideshi Hino really stands out from a lot of other manga artists; his art st! yle is ra! dically different from what you normally expect out of manga. His characters are simple, cartoony, and he's all but thrown anatomy out the window.
Even though Hino's art looks less realistic than most manga artist, the effect is that it's more frightening. Something about these inhuman characters doing such horrifying things seems to take it to the next level.
Hino's more than a manga artist; he also directed and starred in a movie in the infamous Guinea Pig horror movie series. The movie, Flower of Flesh and Blood is so gory and realistic that, before his life became the train wreck that it is today, Charlie Sheen reported the movie to the FBI because he thought it was all real.
About all I want to show you of Flower of Flesh and Blood
Needless to say, we can't really show you anything from Flower of Flesh and Blood, so use your imagination. Think Cannibal Holocaust and you're probably pretty close.
This is just a small dose of all of the horror manga out there. There were some artists whose art was so gory and graphic that I decided against putting them in this post, and I'm sure there are a ton of incredible artists that I'm completely unaware of.
Source: http://www.tofugu.com/2012/10/26/horror-manga/
I thought I should post these articles since it's already Halloween in Japan. XD/ - Random Image of the Day: it has been a while. . .
My copy of the Team K Version of AKB48's UZA just came in (which is a day ahead of the official release date). I was really disappointed with the team songs this time around. The characteristics of the each team seem to have remained the same, and it was fun to get a taste of the new line-ups. However, the songs left something to be desired. The Undergirls song was the same kind of deal we've seen before. Their video is probably my favorite of all the coupling songs. Team A had an interesting song that we don't often hear from AKB48. It just didn't have anything to hook me. Team K's song resembled the songs they tend to have in the album releases. Their album songs in my opinion are kind of meh. They severely lack the quirky, edgy, or strong dance skills that I am accustomed to seeing from them. I much prefer the B-sides that are included in the Janken singles. Team B might have my favorite coupling song out of the three teams. This single's major selling point is the A-side, UZA.
A little side note: UZA really improved my outlook for AKB48's future. The song and the performance of the song have been superb (in my humble opinion). I'm not in full support of Oshima Yuko's reign as AKB48's center. If Aki-P keeps this up AKB48 might reach new heights. I mean they've had the success and now with the change in center they have the perfect excuse to experiment with their sound.
Sorry t! hat this pic is a
little fanservicey, but
I couldn't help myself
I've recently become nostalgic for Abe Natsumi and Fujimoto Miki as singers. They were talented and the fact that they aren't releasing anything of notice is a let down. I wish they had transferred to Avex or a different talent agency because Goto Maki has had a decent run as a solo artist. They have name recognition. Then again, it might be silly ageist male wotas fault that they don't have as strong of a fan base.
- zeebraltar: www.dotup.org3344642.jpg 武藤十夢
- Liu Yi Fei Dresses for Zdorzi 2013
- Heo Yoon Mi at DDGT R6 Heo Yoon Mi at DDGT Round 6.
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.
source: cutekorean
- SMTOWN releases BTS photos from "MAXSTEP" MV SM Entertainment has release behind-the-scene photos from the set of Younique dance unit's "MAXSTEP" music video.
The agency and Hyundai have partnered up to release the 'PYL Younique Album'. This is the first time an entertainment agency has collaborated with a car company to release an album, and the collaboration has been gathering much attention.
BoA, Girls' Generation's Jessica, and a dance unit team composed of Super Junior's Eunhyuk, Girls' Generation's Hyoyeon, SHINee's Taemin, Super Junior-M's Henry, EXO-K's Kai, and EXO-M's Luhan are featured in the album.
Check out BoA and Jessica's previous releases and the "MAXSTEP" MV teaser if you missed them!
source: allkpop
- Running Man Episode 117 English subs Guests: Ji Jin-hee, Ji Sung and Song Chang-ui, Yoobin (Wondergirls) and Suzy (Miss A) Venues: Asian Culture Complex (Gwangsan-dong, Dong-gu, Gwangju) Mission: Solve the absolute riddle
Running Man (Korean: 런닝맨) is a South Korean variety show; a part of SBS's Good Sunday lineup, along with K-pop Star. This show is classified as an "urban action variety"; a never-before-seen new genre of variety shows. The MCs and guests complete missions in a landmark to win the race. It first aired on July 11, 2010 with 116 episodes aired.
Watch Running Man Episode 117 English Subs Subtitle :
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5
Source: kshownow.net
- Lovely Park Hyun Sun
- yoimachi: 荒井萌
- Kim Ha Yul at KSF R7 2012
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- kawaii-sexy-love: Rina Aizawa 逢沢りな
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