Korean Invasion of Summer 2009 (US Pop)

Utada Hikaru started off as 2009's hope to become a hit in the American market, releasing her second cd. Then swine flu hit, she used it as an excuse not to come to the US (never mind the fact her album was at best forgetful). Then a funny thing happened. The Korean pop stars moved in (to NY!) and took her thunder away totally in the press, and actually experienced some success (although no one hit big). (Funny thing, all the Korean pop stars who came to the US not only stayed in NY, but all stayed in the upper East or West side in Manhattan. Did you see a pretty girl shopping at Zabar's on Broadway? Or taking pictures near Uniqlo downtown? It may have been Sun of the Wonder Girls. See a tall handsome Korean guy drinking coffee outside near Central Park? It may have been Se7en.)

Let's start from smallest impact to biggest...

SE7EN

He released his debut single, GIRLS with Lil Kim. It actually got some play on local radio stations, and Hot 97 actually mixes in his sample of him saying GIRLS with their mixes. It came and went without much fanfare. He is still in the process of making his US cd, and some have suggested (not farfetched in my opinion) that he is using the cd to get his green card as he has a valid US job, and not return to Korea for his millitary service. A US career and no army service?
Hardly sounds like a bad thing to me.


Se7en - Girls

Grade: C. Did a few local shows, got some attention, got on TV. It's a question right now if his album is actually moving along, or will move along. He may need to go back to Korea to resurrect his career there, which would trigger his millitary service and probably kill any chance of a US career. His album needs to come out and soon for him to have any chance at US stardom.

THE WONDER GIRLS

Some groups come to the US to become big stars. The Wonder Girls did just this, although I'm getting the feeling they wanted to be bigger stars in Korea. Their driving force, JYP got buzz for their English single prior to release, got them on tour with the Jonas Bros (which finished in August), and then....nothing. No TV push, no real single release (just the ITunes), no album even looking like it's planned. Their buzz was great, they came across great, their web presence is outstanding and yet I get the feeling that nothing else is planned.

WONDER GIRLS - NOBODY (US Version)

Grade: C+. I really saw potential here. I hope I'm wrong, but I think the cute korean girls visiting NY for the summer was just them doing a great angle for their TV show, and nothing more.

BOA

BoA is the artist out of the three listed here, who seems to have a personal vested interest in wanting to be a US star. And it's not surprising, BoA is a very driven young women. She is a huge star in Japan, probably bigger than she ever was in Korea. Seeking an even larger market isn't much of a stretch. And she did what no one else could do, she charted on radio (Two Singles - Top 100). On the internet (and ITunes) she had much more success. Her album was 11th most downloaded the week of its release, she has a few singles which have done well, enough so that a second version of her debut album is being released in a few weeks. The truth of all these artists is even a small US presence helps their popularity in their home country immensely, but only BoA seems to be striving for US success for simply that reason - US success, and not translated success at home.

BoA - I Did it For Love (1st Single)

BoA - Energetic (2nd Single)

Grade: B. Did she get a radio hit? Nope. Did she get video rotation? (Does anyone play videos?) Did she get name recognition? YES - some. She made a real push at being a presence in the US pop scene, enough so that a future US BoA release seems not only possible, but likely. BoA suprised me a lot. And the best thing. The CD is REALLY good. Pick it up if you can. (Note: A 3rd single seems possible.)

Note: 2NE1, a fairly new Korean girl group were hanging out in NY for a few weeks this year at the same time the Wonder Girls were around. I wonder if they met?

The summer of 2009 had not one but three english releases from K-Pop artists alone! (Plus Rain working on his first US movie and Utada pretending to be sick so she didn't have to visit NY and contract Swine Flu. (It's flu people! Just flu!!) Great stuff, even if no one hit big. What will the Summer of 2010 bring? (G.E.M., I'm pointing at you!)

GreeeeN (J-Pop)

GreeeeN is a 4 member Japanese pop/rock group which made their debut in 2007 and have 3 cds so far (as well as a string of hit singles). Their music is hard to describe, more rock than pop but very light (although not ballad heavy). The main characteristic that stands out is the sing-along nature of the songs (and the lyrics), a GreeeeN single is something you can sing and shout along with, and almost calls for it. It feels like music made to sing along to during the Summer. That's the best way I can describe it. GreeeeN is nothing else if not fun. (Each E in GreeeeN stands for a member of the band, which is why there are 4 E's.)

One of the interesting things about GreeeeN is that they never show themselves in the videos or the promotional pictures of the band. It's always images or other people, etc. One of the member's brother takes care of the PR for the band. The more interesting thing is why they don't show themselves, it's because they are in dental school and they don't want to disrupt that. 1 member still needs to graduate, and once he does, they will request permission to become more public. Tell me that isn't unusual.

GReeeeN - Ayumi (One of their more recent singles)

This is a link to KISEKI, a great song by GreeeeN, the theme song to a show called ROOKIES in Japan (a baseball drama). For some reason the parent company disabled all the embedding for the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_lcH_2nw-o

Greeeen is the kind of happy, sing along type group that the US music scene really lacks right now but J-Pop seems to have in abundance. (US rock music has become folksy or Emo and pretty painfully dull IMO.) They have a bunch of singles which are karaoke staples already. They are definitely a group worth checking out.

Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greeeen - Wikipedia page
http://www.greeeen.net/ - Official Site

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Anime)

I don't watch anime. I don't like the pacing, I don't like the artwork, and I find it all painfully boring except for two shows, Evangelion (I'll talk about that later) and this. This show is hard to describe properly but I will give it a chance.

Kyon is a high school student, generally bored with life. One day a new student comes to school (Haruhi) who promptly declares if anyone is an alien or otherwise paranormal being to please let her now as she has no time for anyone else. Kyon decides one day to speak to her, and this seems to get her in motion as she makes a club with him and several other people (she practically kidnaps people to do her bidding) to make a club, the S.O.S. brigade whose mission is to really find paranormal things but often becomes just to serve Haruhi's whims.

Through the club Kyon meets other paranormal beings, the club's members who range from Time Travelers to interstellar police to robots. Oh, and Haruhi may or may not be a god, and may or may not be controlling the universe and all the occurs in it. So Haruhi getting upset may cause the entire universe to be destroyed, which at times isn't even Kyon's most pressing problem.

The entire first season was shown not in order, with each episode being an event within the school year culminating in the final act, Kyon trying to keep Haruhi from destroying the universe and starting it over, which he may or may not have done. Just great stuff.

It sounds heady but it's generally funny and manic, with Haruhi being simply insane in a wonderful way. (It's got a bit of the MY SASSY GIRL vibe with Haruhi pulling Kyon all over to do her current whim.) More for guys than for girls though, as a lot of what Haruhi does to get attention from the outside world is fanservice.

Haruhi got a lot of attention for the dance the characters did in the closing credits which became a youtube hit, with people copying it all over the world, making videos of other characters doing it, gathering hundreds of people to do it, etc. This has been removed from the second season ending, probably to put the focus on the show instead of the dance.


Opening Theme

If you are a anime fan, or a sci fi fan who has a bit of appreciation of strange japanese things, then this show would be something you probably should check out. Haruhi is right now in the beginning of its 2nd season. The 1st season is self contained but you probably should watch that prior to watch the 2nd, as there isn't any explanation in the first two episodes really of what came before.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruhi_Suzumiya#Anime - Wikipedia page

Ai Otsuka (J-Pop)

I think Ai Otsuka is and has been one of the more interesting artists on the J-Pop scene since her debut in 2003. She writes the lyrics and composes the music for her own songs, which gives her a sound unlike anyone else. (She is also an accomplished pianist and sometimes plays the guitar.) She is at times pop to an extreme (it's the happiest, poppiest music you will ever find sometimes), but other times she sings beautiful ballads and yet other times her songs are straight out punk or ska. (Happy Days is an extreme example, a blaring song where the chorus is HAPPY DAYS shouted over and over through a megaphone). She is Osaka born, and her concerts there often get recorded for her tour DVD as the energy in those concerts is off the charts insane. I am not exaggerating at all.

She currently has 5 cd's as well as a greatest hits cds. She is best known probably for her hit Sakuranbo, a cover of an older Japanese song that she infused with her energy that stayed in the Top 100 singles charge in Japan for 86 weeks over a period of 3 separate calendar years. If that's not impressive someone has to explain to me what is.

Ai does not get the credit she deserves because some of her subject matter is so fluffy and used for equally fluffy drama (like the cute song PEACH used for a idol laden drama last year). I think the lyrics and the symbolism contained within are sometimes lost on the J-Pop crowd who is used to fluff for fluff's sake, things like Morning Musume singing about nothing to appeal to 10 year olds. A song like Neko no Fuusen (The Cat's Balloon) has lovely images about a cat walking with a balloon that go much deeper than the simple (and seemingly silly) subject matter.

It may seem silly to say an artist who has a string of hit singles and hit albums doesn't get the credit she deserves but in a market that favors the artist who doesn't want any artistic freedom at all and only wants to sing the cookie cutter single, Ai Otsuka shines, and does so with her own songs.

Don't miss this quirky artist and whatever gem she puts out next. (Some of my favorite Ai Otsuka songs are below.)

Ai Otsuka - Sakuranbo


Ai Otsuka - Neko ni Fuusen


Ai Otsuka - Yumekui

Ai Otsuka - Planetarium

Note: I mentioned a few times how you can see that songs touch people as people perform their own versions. The imagery in Ai's songs clearly touches people in this way if not even more; if you search for her songs not only do people sing them, they create their own videos and strings of images to play along to the song. It's really common for her songs. If that doesn't show the imagery of the lyrics I am not sure what does.

LINK

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ai_otsuka - Wikipedia Site

Wonder Girls (Update - US Debut June 27th!)

http://www.amazon.com/Nobody/dp/B002COTNEG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1244949917&sr=8-2

Amazon has the girls US Debut single on sale June 27th. YAH! BTW, some of the comments are really stupid I've read so far. There is this thought process that somehow they will be ruined by singing in english (there is this thought process that Japanophiles have that I guess extends to Korean Music fans that the artists they like are theirs and theirs alone and cannot be shared) and the other comment that their english isn't good enough yet, which to be honest is borderline racist as well as stupid. People do things in other countries in other languages all the time. Americans go to other countries and butcher other people's languages too. Is the thought that unless you can speak another language perfectly you are not allowed to use it? That's so retarded. I speak my horrid Japanese all the time. Is this not allowed? Since when?

I love it, you will too, and the haters can stay in their corner unhappy and hating.

Wonder Girls - Nobody (English Teaser)

And notice the samples are up on youtube and have not been taken down because JYP loves us all. =P

Namie Amuro (J-Pop)

(Cover from Sweet 19 Blues)

Namie Amuro is my favorite J-Pop artist of all time. The impact she had was undeniable, there was a period of several years (not hyperbole) where she was the best selling artist and the lead cog of the juggernaut of Avex (and TK's) empire where it seemed every single successful artist was part of that group. Her backup singers (Max) turned into a hit group just off her momentum. Her style (the schoolgirl outfit, the blonde hair, etc.) turned into the Ko-Gal subculture that still exists today. (Ever see the Blonde Hair, strange colorfully dressed Japanese girls who look like they are playing dress up? That's from Namie. Baggy socks on the Japanese girls? Namie.) The most famous part of Tokyo (Shibuya) was hers, and to this day (even as she has become a mid level artist) still revels in their association with Namie, playing her new single on speakers all over the central part of the area. (Yes, her singles play on infinite loop as you walk around. Again, no exaggeration at all.)

Namie started out as a more eurobeat artist (like most of the Avex stable at that time) within a group, the Super Monkeys (with the girls who later became MAX). That quickly became by her popularity Namie and the Super Monkeys, and then she split solo where she added some R&B overtones and moved a little away from the eurobeat. Eventually, she moved fully toward R&B and became the artist she is today, basically completely her own artist, writing what she wants, singing what she wants, and performing and releasing WHEN she wants. (Namie doesn't do all the big shows, etc. She is still famous, yet outside the main circle. It's actually a fantastic accomplishment that most artists in Japan would never be able to do, to be somewhat free but still popular.)

Namie is to me the artist that really brought J-Pop to the mainstream outside Japan. She was everywhere on the net, and her singles, etc. brought her attention outside of people like me who were looking for this kind of entertainment. Pre Namie - there were a few Japanese artists people liked, a lot of them coming from Anime (like TM Network). After Namie, there was an absolute flood of information you could find about Japanese artists if you wanted. Her impact is just undeniable.

Namie has had a few different periods in her career so I wanted to go through them a bit with a song (video) from each. (All in all she has 12 cd's, 8 studio cd's and 4 single collections. I own them all.)

Namie Amuro (with Super Monkeys) - Body Feels Exit (Live)
This is her first period, becoming a solo performer right after the Super Monkeys, still doing the eurobeat type stuff. This song was HUGE.


Namie Amuro - Can You Celebrate (Live)
One of her biggest hits from the second phase of her career, the solo artist moving away from the eurobeat stuff. This is a HUGE wedding song in Japan. I can't tell you how big this song was, it's indescribable. Think Celine Dion and Titanic.


Namie Amuro - Say the Word
She is moving away from TK at this point, but still trying to do the same type of J-Pop. Her popularity is going down at this point and her music is pretty unfocused.


Namie Amuro - Queen of Hip Pop
Completely reinvented as an R&B artist with J-Pop influence, Namie's return to the album charts is complete. Her last few cds, if you listen to them, you can see how comfortable she is with herself and the music. It's all really good.


Namie Amuro - New Look
This is from her single 60s,70s,80s which featured songs with samples from all 3 decades. This is 60s with new look. Great fun, I wonder if it influenced the Wonder Girls Trilogy that came out late last year (with the single Nobody). Her first #1 single in 10 years.

In recent years Namie has faced some unbelievable tough times in her personal life, but has come through with great aplomb and resolve. She must be a strong person. I would not be shocked 20 years hence to see her still writing, performing, and reinventing herself once more.

Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namie_amuro - Wikipedia Page
http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/2000/0724/japan.okinawa_sb1.html - Time Magazine - The Songbird who made Okinawa Cool (2002)
http://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/10/news/10iht-idol.t.html - NY Times - New Teen Queen reigns in Japan (1998)

Wilber Pan (M-Pop)

Wilber Pan is a Taiwanese singer (and rapper) who is clearly heavily influenced by hip hop and R&B music. I am honestly almost never a fan of these hybrid Chinese artists, I just don't like how the rapping sounds in Chinese and a lot of it feels very forced, like they woke up one day and decided to be hip-hop (like Janice's sister). However, Wilber has a very nice mix in his music, it doesn't overpower the singing, and generally a nice mix in his albums which allows his style to shine. He is actually American born, and although he moved to Taiwan at an early age he cannot read or write in Chinese. (His music is in Mandarin as he releases cds out of Taiwan.) His songs range from ballads for faster, almost dance music type songs. He sings, occasionally raps, and generally has a good mix. I really like his cd from 2006, Around the World. Although if you are just starting to check him out, I'd recommend his Singles + Collection (Will's Future).

Wilber Pan - Bu De Bu Ai (Have To Love) I really like this single. Interesting if you go to youtube, you can see the (pointless) back and forth K-Pop fans seem to engage in with non K-Pop fans. I think some of that comes from the fact people don't realize how much the asian pop scenes cross polinate each other, and they all accuse the other artists of stealing, etc. It's funny Japanese and Chinese pop fans don't argue this with each other, just both of the fans with K-Pop fans.


Wilber Pan & Akon - Be With You - His new single with Akon. Great song, typical Akonish song but on a Taiwanese cd!

Check him out.

Links
http://www.willpan.com.tw/ - Official Site
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilber_Pan - Wikipedia Page

The Host (Korean Movie - 2006)

The Host is a monster movie from Korea from 2006 that aside from being a fantastic giant creature movie, also has elements of drama, comedy and political satire. It is one of the highest grossing films of all time in Korea. (There is a US release of the movie that has both an english dub and the original korean print. It came out here as a limited release in theaters in 2007.) The film is directed by Bong Joon-Ho.

The film is about a man trying to save his niece who has been kidnapped by a giant creature which comes out of the river. The creature is intentionally funny and scary at the same time. I won't describe it, but either clip I am providing will give you a good look so click on them at your own peril.

The satire in the film is aimed at the american millitary presence in Korea, the callous attitude of the Korean millitary toward people's feelings about this and about pollution, and the media's overkill about americans. (An American dies in the movie and the news all show AMERICAN KILLED BY MONSTER when it's clear many, many Korean's died as well. If you have spent time in Asia you would know that although this is hyperbole, maybe not by too much.)

It's a really good film. The only criticism would be it get's somewhat muddled near the end and because some of the parts are meant as satire, they occasionally take away from what would otherwise be more serious parts of the film. A sequel is supposably in production but it has a different director, producer, etc. and may wind up being related to the prior film in name and concept only.

I have included two clips below, the trailer (which is great) and a 4 minute clip which is in the first 10 minutes of the movie that is just a trip, and if you are on the fence about seeing the film, will push you to see it. Enjoy!

The Host Trailer


4 Minute Clip of the Movie

Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Host_(film) - Wikipedia Page

Aqua Timez (J-Pop)

Aqua Timez is a popular and fairly recent band who released their first single in 2006. They are one of the bands that have arisen lately (such as Orange Range, etc.) who seem to have as much of a hip hop / reggae background as they do rock. (Aqua Timez is a softer band than Orange Range, with more ballads and generally more mellow.) I honestly don't have a lot of info about the members, etc. They are a band I listen to a lot but never really hear much about how they started out or anything like that. (Sounds like a project for a boring day..)

Aqua Timez - Ketsui no Asa Ni (Their First Single)

They have released 3 cds so far, the third one coming out in the last few months. All of them are solid but the singles are really the driving force for this band, and they have had a succession of smash singles. Chiisa na Tenohira, from about 2 years ago is one of my favorite songs of all time, a driving ballad that is an excellent example of what this band can do.

Aqua Timez - Chiisa na Tenohira (One of my all time favorite songs)

I recommend you check out their videos on youtube, I think you will find a lot to like from this band there.

Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqua_Timez - Wikipedia Page
http://www.aquatimez.com/ - Official Site (It's actually very nice)

Janice (C-Pop, English Release?)

(Cover of her 4th cd, Serving You)

Janice (Vidal) is a comparitive newcomer to the HK music scene (debuting in 2005) and is by far my favorite singer of this current generation. Janice is a great singer, and reminds me of the older idols I liked stylewise as she has not moved to an R&B influenced style, rather it sounds like the C-Pop I loved so much when I first discovered it. Her introduction was almost tailor made for me (thanks Janice for introducing me to Janice! LOL (see links)). She debuted as a mysterious voice singing one of Leon Lai's classic songs (another favorite of mine) and then another, until she was revealed as the singer. Her first cd contains a bunch of Leon Lai covers, and I really like it. (It also had a lot of production from Justin Lo, another singer I like a lot. Seriously, in terms of something I would be interested in all the stars aligned for me with Janice.)

And most importantly she can SING! She really sings well. There are a few artists I just like listening to them sing and would never tire of them being in the background (like Vivian Chow, who I must do a post about soon..) and Janice is one of those.

Janice - "Long Distance"

Janice is of mixed origin and speaks English well. She was discovered by Mark Lui when she was recording backup vocals for one of Leon's songs. I have heard she will have an english cd next which should be great. I am really looking forward to it. I wonder if there will be any thought of releasing it in the US. With ITunes, that really doesn't require much thought, and a song can hit instantly as it can be purchased as soon as it enters your mind to do so. (BTW, Janice's sister Jill also records, and although I like Jill's voice, stylewise the music is not interesting to me at all.)

Janice records almost like an american artist in that there is a cd every 1 or 2 years. They aren't rapid fire, they aren't EP's, they are not singles +3 collections (I hate those to death), etc. They are new cd's of material. And so far, all 4 albums have been really good. A new Janice cd to me is an event, and honestly, I can download anything but I make sure to be at the store as I want the physical copy in my hand as I listen.

Janice - "Big Brother"

Because I am not Asian and living in the US, I see when the fans like me really gravitate toward an artist from overseas. (It was more pronounced when I was younger and there was less people able to have access to the music, now you can download chinese pop on ITunes. But I digress.) Janice is one of those artists. Clearly the fact she can sing in, speak english helps, but I also think the way she was introduced and the interest built around her also helped. (For example, Namie Amuro (way back when), Utada (when she debuted), Coco (up until her ill fated english debut) and A-Mei had that kind of impact. The Wonder Girls are a really recent example but it's almost different now, they are actually here in NY all the time.) These artists spike the interest by people; Janice fans become Justin Lo fans become Kary Ng fans, etc. They are good for the genre. I think Janice has been good for the genre. (Note: You want to see impact? Search for Janice songs on youtube. Everyone and their mom tries to sing her songs and uploads it. That's a strong tribute from fans if they do that.)

One More Janice Video

So yes, I love Janice and you should check her out. Check out her videos mixed in with this post and you'll see what I mean.

Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janice_Vidal - Wikpedia Page
http://www.amusic.hk/index.php?i=artist&id=2 - Janice at Amusic
http://www.janicevidal.net/index.php - Janice English Forum

Utada Hikaru (J-Pop, US Release)

The path of an artist in J-Pop has a few paths. There are the chosen ones, the idols that the record companies drop of a fast path and almost never fall off, often artistically vapid but having hit single after hit single (like an Ayumi Hamasaki). Or there are those artists that the labels saw potential in, but grew into their stardom to a point they became the standard (like a Koda Kumi). Then there are those artists that just hit out of nowhere, and become the new thing, changing the entire scene by their presence. Utada Hikaru is one of those artists. Utada hit like a thunderbolt in 1999 with her R&B influenced Single "Automatic" from her debut cd "First Love", a great album that had a string of hit singles that made her not only the most popular artist in Japan, but hugely popular all over asia. My friends who listened to chinese music and no j-pop suddenly because Utada fans and listened to her cd all the time. I was in Taiwan and Hong Kong (as well as Japan) during that year and her songs were played EVERYWHERE. She was a true phenomenon that really has not been matched since. First Love still has the highest sales ever for the first week of an album in Japan (2 million) and the highest sales ever for a debut cd for a Japanese artist (10 million worldwide and counting, 3 million of those copies outside Japan!).

Utada Hikaru - Automatic

Utada followed up that early success with a string of pretty good albums. Her musical style has moved more from R&B to J-Pop, and her personal style from almost alternative looking, rough R&B girl to more Idol looking. (1999 Utada was jeans and a T-Shirt, 2009 Utada is a dress and lots of makeup.) She has had almost continuous success with a string of top selling albums, #1 singles, etc. She's done drama songs, anime songs, a childrens song (Boku Wa Kuma) and unlike many J-Pop artists, is the driving force behind her career, writing songs, etc. She is clearly no product of her record company. (Recently, her personality is a little silly. I can't understand Japanese that well to understand news reports or anything, but I wonder if they touch on her eccentric behavior. She just seems a bit off, almost too happy.)

Utada Hikaru - Can You Keep A Secret? (From her Second Album)

Utada was also the first Asian artist in a long time to make a real attempt to enter the US market, first in 2004 with EXODUS and again in 2009 with THIS IS THE ONE. Exodus was unfortunately a mess, it didn't sound like an Utada cd and the producer Timbaland gave her a lot of experimental sounding beats to work with. It wasn't very good and got little attention outside of Utada trying to crack the market. THIS IS THE ONE is a much better cd (it sounds like a logical extension of the music she has been doing) and the first single has got some decent airplay, but nothing spectacular. Utada has cancelled all her US appearances as she has been sick (virus or something, nothing serious) and her second attempt at US success looks to be almost over before it began. Utada may become a footnote to the whole "Asian Invasion" of pop music in the US as the Wonder Girls (and Se7en to a lesser degree) are getting much more buzz than she did with her album. Her presence definitely helped them get attention though, and she deserves credit for that. Hopefully a later single could hit bigger - she has set the groundwork that something like that remains possible which is a feat in itself. (One of the asian artists needs a hit. Once one has a hit, all their songs will get renewed interest.)

Utada Hikaru - Come Back to Me (Debut Single from 2nd US Album)

This is one the artists I doubt I am introducing to anyone, but she definitely needed to be included. If for some reason you are not yet a Hikki convert, I would suggest you pick up an Utada cd ASAP as I'm sure you will become one soon.

Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utada_Hikaru - Wikipedia Page

Mechaike - Bakajo Kimatsu Test (Japanese TV - Variety)

The Bakajo Kimatsu tests are special episodes of a Japanese variety show called Mechaike. Mechaike is an ensemble comedy show where they occasionally do sketches, but generally spend most of their time doing jokes, playing games, and making fun of each other and other famous people who are on the shows.

(There is a thing you need to know about Japanese entertainers to make this all make more sense. Japanese entertainers work for agencies, which control their booking, etc. Unless you are a enormous star, or just strange enough that you don't care how your career goes, you do what the agency tells you. So if you are a famous movie actor, you still go on comedy shows if asked. Are you the most famous singer in Japan? You still go on the weekly music shows like a beginner star would. It's very different from the US where an A list star would almost never be on TV.)

During the episodes, the lead comedian Okamura (a fantastic talent) is the teacher of a fictional school, Bakajo (like Stupid person school) and he gives a standardized test to a bunch of people, sometimes actors, sometimes other comedians, members of his show, and in my favorite, to Morning Musume, a young group of idol singers who are the time these shows were done were huge stars, but apparently not the brightest bulbs in the room. Okamura gives their tests, then goes over their answers, highlighting the wrong ones.

Part 6 of the Test. All 11 parts are here WITH subtitles.

It's really hard to explain just how funny these shows are. The answers are hysterical, and watching the girls squirm to avoid the title of Baka Queen (the dumbest girl) is great. The answers range from not knowing even and odd (calling them indivisable and divisable), thinking the capital of China is Cham Po Chan, translating into english wrong (instead of telephone - Telepudding) and some extremely bizarre rememberances of Japanese history and geography.

Again, it's hard to explain - just watch it. You'll be glad you did.

Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechaike - Mechaike Wikipedia Page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_musume - Morning Musume Wikipedia Page

Younha (K-Pop, J-Pop)

Younha is a rising face on both the Japanese and Korean pop scene at the young age of 21, releasing her 3rd cd in Korean this year to go with her 2 previous Japanese releases. Younha plays guitar and sings, and her songs range from more folksy to straight on J-Pop / K-Pop. (She also plays piano.) At first she had a more folksy image, with a short haircut, dark clothes, strumming her guitar. She has really moved from that in her more recent Japanese releases and definitely has embraced more of a cutesty idol look for her third Korean release, titled Peace, Love and Ice Cream. It's a really fun album, has a variety of songs, and is a great introduction to this young talent.

Younha First Single and Title Track from her new album: Peace, Love & Ice Cream. (In Korean)

Her career has been interesting so far. She broke in with Yubikiri, the Bleach theme song and from there has some minor success in Japan. She then broke even bigger after her first Korean cd came out. It seems that she gets bigger each time she returns to a different language. She is one of the few artists I can say has yet to dissapoint me with her albums, each cd brings something new to the table and each are different. Her Japanese cd's are probably better but they feel like single collections, whereas the Korean albums feel like independently worked on. It's hard to explain but I don't think you can go wrong seeking any of them out.

Yubikiri (In Japanese) - a much younger Younha in her first video, where she also plays the piano!

Hopefully Younha will be releasing good music for years to come. Seek her albums out, you will not be dissapointed. I was kind of late in discovering her. I knew of Yubikiri years ago, but didn't really keep up until I heard her latest Korean release, and went back and sought out her older stuff. I was really glad I did.

Link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Younha - Wikipedia Page

A Song of the Sun: Good-Bye Days vs. Taiyou no Uta (The Theme Songs)

A Song of the Sun, Midnight Sun, Taiyou no Uta, etc. is first a book, then a film, and then a drama about a girl with a disease which makes her extremely sensitive to sunlight, a disease which is slowly killing her. She hangs out on the beach at night, and develops a crush on a boy she sees going to surf early each morning, Their relationship, her music (she is a musician in the story) and how she chooses to live her remaining time is the crux of a pretty moving story. (The movie is better than the drama, as the material is not enough for a drama, it feels drawn out.) But that is not what I am here for. The theme song is crucial to the story, it's played during the end scenes, it's the song the main character is waiting for in her life / career, and it's played beautifully in both the movie and the drama by the main characters, singer / songwriter Yui in the movie (who also wrote the song) and Erika Sawajiri in the drama, the (often tempermental) quickly rising young actress. I really like both songs, and think it will be fun to introduce both songs to you in the same place so you can compare. (We are comparing songs, not careers, and not musical talents, as there is no comparison - Yui is a proffessional musician while Erika did a great job with the song given her.)

YUI - GOOD-BYE DAYS

This is just an absolutely fantastic song and turned Yui from a borderline independent artist to someone who was going to spend the rest of her life writing, recording, and acting as she saw fit. If you want to see the impact that this song has, go to youtube and try to find the video for the song. You will find tons of versions sung by a variety of people, all people who picked up a guitar and learned to play and sing the song. That's a really huge compliment that her fans don't just want to hear it, they want to play it and sing it.

ERIKA - TAIYOU NO UTA

I absolutely love this song. I was really surprised she was able to do such a good job with it and it fits in as well if not better with the story than Yui's version does. It also has inspired a sea of wannabe Erika's strumming along with their guitar on youtube.

So which do you think is better? Defintely Yui gets credit as she wrote her song, but both were hugely popular, and I don't think either one is a bad choice.

Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiyou_no_uta - Movie, Drama notes. (Mostly the Movie)

Hard Boiled (Hong Kong Movie - 1992)

Trailer for 2008 DVD Re-release

Hard Boiled is the last Hong Kong film directed by John Woo, and is considered (without hyperbole) one of the most influential action films ever made. It is, without question one of the best action movies I have ever seen.

The plot (without giving away too much) is as follows: ultra cool cop Tequila (played by Chow Yun Fat and one of the best characters in movie history) in his pursuit of the Triads (the Hong Kong Mafia) crosses paths with Triad member Alan (Tony Leung, who also starred in Infernal Affairs) and almost kills him, but stops after finding out Alan is a member of the police, working undercover as a Triad member. The main crux of the story concerns Tequila trying to find the Triad's enormous weapon stash and trying to bring them down, and when it is found, the climatic scene of Tequila and Alan versus what feels like a million triad members in a hospital in a literally 40 minute action scene with millions of shots fired, a scene where he saves babies, and moments where you will swear you've seen things from other movies, and you have, because this scene inspired so many future movies and the iconic scenes in them, the moments between cop and his loved one before he leaves, the heroic sacrifice, the running from explosions, just on and on and on.

The only bad thing about this movie is it was so good that Hollywood immediately snatched up Chow Yun Fat and John Woo and ended what really was a golden age in Hong Kong cinema.

(The film is referenced in 2002's Infernal Affairs (which is the Hong Kong film which is remade in the US as The Departed) and clearly influenced that film. I will need to do an Infernal Affairs post fairly soon.)

There are some films that everyone should see and unless you are completely action movie averse Hard Boiled is one of them. Highest Recommendation possible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_boiled - Wikipedia entry. As with all wikipedia movie entries tread lightly as they are plot heavy.

Death Note (Manga / Anime / Japanese Movie / US Movie in Production)

Death Note: How to Use It
1. The human whose name is written in the note shall die.
2. The note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.
3. If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen.
4. If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack.

Death note is a property which started off in a manga in Sunday Jump (a manga anthology in Japan) which ran twelve volumes (collected books) that quickly become one of the most popular manga in Japan, moving on to spawn three popular movies as well as an anime. All of the products are available in the US from Viz, and it has since started casting and script writing in a movie to be made by Warner movies. It is primarily a thriller, a murder mystery which has a backdrop of the supernatural, but is completely driven by the interplay between it's main characters.

The story concerns the finding of a "death note" by a high school student in Japan, a near genius named Light Yagami. The death note is the tool through which Shinengami (death gods) schedule the deaths of humans as their job. Light uses it once almost by accident, and then decides to use it again to "save humanity" from criminals. The sudden surge of deaths does not go unnoticed by anyone, and as news reports focus on the mysterious deaths of criminals, the police begin to investigate. Light winds up involved in the police investigation himself, with the interplay between Light trying to stop his pursuers while he is participating among them being the main draw of the story. The police are led by a super detective who goes by the name of L, and the near brilliant moves by both him and Light to try to outwit the other are the crux of the story, and just immensely compelling. Other characters join both on Light's side and against him. There are just tons of interesting turns and twists. Character's motivations are never that simple, and the lengths Light goes to not to be caught, and that L goes to catch him are just amazing. It's easily one of the best manga I have ever read.

(Note: The manga almost feels like two stories. Books 1 to 7 are just brilliant. Books 8 to 12 continue on the story after a major event in volume 8 brings the first part of the story to a close. It almost feels like Godfather 3 (book 8 to 12) as opposed to Godfather 1 and 2 (the first 7 volumes). The remainder of the story is just not necessary, to the point that the movies wrap up the story at the end of the first 7 volume point, and just ignore everything going forward. I kind of mentally have done the same.)

Death Note inspired 3 movies in Japan, the first two being part 1 and 2 of the main story, and a spin off with L solving another case. The movies are just ok. They aren't the best acted films (there are a lot of idol types in the film) and some of the more iconic moments from the manga are not handled properly. (One character, whose introduction in the manga is just fantastic and so interesting is done in a way that takes all the fun out of it.) Cutting the manga at the end to try to wrap it up neatly doesn't work that well either. Still, for those of you who don't read manga the movies are a fun diversion and I can recommend them.

DEATH NOTE FIRST MOVIE TRAILER

Death Note has also fueled a bunch of negative incidents with people using the imagery and names in the book. There have been death notes references found near murder victims in Europe, and schools in the US and China have confiscated "Death Notes" from students which they thought were precursor's to some action. The most interesting is the Edison Chen photo scandal (which I am NOT touching here) where the person submitting the photos signed his submissions KIRA, which is the name Light uses as his fictional alter ego which kills criminals. Clearly none of this is good but I think it shows the iconic nature of the images in the work.

A US film is in the works and should be out in 2010. This is a film product with just great potential. Like an Infernal Affairs (which led to The Departed), this is material which can lead to a simply incredible film. Hopefully it is treated like what it is, a brilliant thriller as opposed to a horror movie, or a supernatural film.

Links
http://www.angelfire.com/anime2/OA/OA/series/deathnote/rules.html Rules of using a Death Note.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Note - Wikipedia Page

Wonder Girls (K-Pop / US Release?)

May 15th (so they said) will see the US release of the single Nobody, a great song (already released in Korean) by one of my recent favorite acts, the Wonder Girls. They are already very popular, becoming almost instantly popular since the release of their first single Tell Me in 2007 from their first cd. They are similar to Danity Kane, as they came about from a MTV show (in Korea) called MTV Wonder Girls, where they showed the recruitment of each girl in an episode, and finally the group together. The process was all very organic, with the four girls rehearsing and making the album together as the fifth girl Yubin is not on the album as she joined too late.

I think the Wonder Girls really hit stride in 2008 with the release of Nobody, from the Wonder Girls Trilogy, a Motown inspired 4 song EP with songs and production actually assisted from old Motown producers. It's really good, and the video for Nobody is just great fun. (BTW, the man in the video they displace to sing the song is their producer JYP who is a very famous singer /songwriter / producer in Korea.)


NOBODY MV

There is a real charm and energy about the girls which is infectious and it's really easy to see why they are popular. They also have wonderful production, can actually really sing, and a lot of effort is put into every release to make sure it's worthwhile (For anyone who follows Asian pop, this is far from a given. Cookie Cutter releases are often not the exception, but the rule.)

The Wonder Girls are currently set to release a single in the US as part of an english album (a lot of this is speculating, it's all been announced but not announced) and as part of their swing through the US to support the third season of their TV show, which is about them living in NY and trying to become US pop stars. They wound up with a small blurb in People magazine (in an article about the Asian invasion of pop stars, Utada, Se7en, BoA and the Wonder Girls) and blog postings of their videos and twitters about them from an unlikely fan, Perez Hilton (the gossip maven). Note: you can watch their third season here WITH subtitles. I just discovered this, and need to go through it and figure out exactly where they are in NY and accidentally run into them.
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=34BAE96F446BB399&search_query=wonder+girls

Can they break into the US market? It's doubtful. I'm not entirely sure they really even care about the US market, I think it's all just something for their TV show which is just so well done and well planned out that it's having some impact. They are a fantastic marketing machine, when they decided to come to NY they have people filming them making a scene at JFK, their myspace page up immediately, ringtones out for free and everyone of their songs available on ITunes and Nobody popped up on the front page. That's so far beyond what Utada Hikaru, the japanese star had for her US debut and her second US release that its just laughable. They are a really fun pop act and I always thought Korean pop stars had a better chance at the US market style wise (more R&B than pop), and their looks (tall and pretty is not a bad thing). I hope for the best, and will be downloading their song on ITunes the first moment it is there and I recommend that you do too.

(Note: One of the things i loved that they did was they went on youtube and found english versions of their songs their fans made (when they heard the Wonder Girls were coming out in english) they put a blurb that says "The Wonder Girls and JYP sponsor this" or something of that nature on the video as they own the material copyright. If you are a fan, that's just wonderful. Normally a blurb says "we don't like or allow this"!)


TELL ME - Their first single. The simple little dance was very popular in Korea.


Wonder Girls Land in JFK in April of this year. (With the amount of times I am picking up people there, at that same terminal and how long I have to wait, why doesn't this happen when I am there?)

LINKS
http://www.myspace.com/wondergirlsusa - Myspace US Page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonder_girls - Wikipedia Page

Sekai no Chuushin De Ai wo Sakebu (Japanese Drama - 2004)

Sekai no Chuushin De Ai o Sakebu (Crying out Love in the Center of the World) was a drama based on a japanese novel. It was a huge hit back in 2004. (There was later a film adaption, I have neither seen the film adaption nor read the book, both of which are available in the US, the film with subtitles and the book in english. The drama is not available.)

Theme Song from the Drama

The drama alternates between current day with Sakutaro (Saku) a grown man, still trying to come to grips with the death of his high school love Aki from leukemia 17 years prior. He is currently involved with a woman who has a little boy and is planning to marry her, but he finds some tapes she had made him in a box, and returns to the home town to try to reconcile some things for himself. The bulk of the drama is him and Aki in the past (1980's Japan in a small town), falling in love, dealing with the heartbreak and joys of life day to day, and finally dealing with her illness and eventually, her passing.

The drama does a wonderful job of really drawing you into the story of Saku and Aki as if it was open ended, when we know that it's going to end poorly. The drama is a bit too long (12 one hour episodes) which leads to some uninteresting side stories, but for the most part it's very engaging, at times feel good, and finally just absolutely heartbreaking, in a good way, if that makes any sense. It really makes you think about life and death and the people you care about. The relationship between the characters in high school is painfully real and something I am sure most of us can relate to, and because of that, watching Aki become more and more ill from her disease is just incredibly moving.

When we saw this, my wife was watching to see if i cried. Crying was not the issue, this drama just crushed me when it ended even though I knew what was coming the entire time. I literally went outside to sit and think about things once it was over and try to regain my composure. I'm not even kidding.

Anything that has that sort of impact to me is worth seeing. But it's not just a sad story, it's a very engaging drama with leads with great chemistry and one of the dramas which I feel really helps you to understand the Japanese drama format and why it's so wonderful at times at telling stories.

Very highly reccomended if you can find a subtitled copy. Check D-Addicts.com to see if there are any postings. Its from the SARS drama group (a group that subtitles dramas) so they may have it somewhere too.

Kobukuro (J-Pop)

Sakura - Arguably Kobukuro's biggest single and still one of the 10 favorite Karaoke songs in Japan years after it's release.

Kobukuro is a band made up of two members, Kentarō KOBUchi and Shunsuke KUROda (thus the name). Kentaro is the taller man (he's 6'4'') and Shunsuke is the one playing the guitar. They were primarily an indy band from 98-2001 (prior to 98 and being signed they were street performers, and they were found and signed after being seen performing in Shibuya). In 2001 they have their first hit single, YELL. But they really hit big in 2005 with a string of hit singles, the most notable being Sakura which was one of the most popular songs of the year, and a Karaoke staple. Since then they have had a string of huge hits, and are now one of the most popular pop acts in Japan. They are primarily a rock band (acoustic at times) although they are heavily into ballads, and most of their popular songs are ballads. They are one of my favorite groups, and since 2005 they really have the magic touch, releasing great song after great song. Below are a few of my favorite songs from them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobukuro - Their Wikipedia page.

AKAI ITO w/ Yui Aragaki (I also like Yui but not for her singing. She's a pretty good young actress and really likeable and her parts so far, singing wise, not so much.

TSUBOMI - Another of their hit singles - one which is also very popular in karaoke.

Ponyo and the Cliff By the Sea (Japan Cartoon - 2008 / US Release August 14th, 2009)

JAPAN TRAILER

Ponyo is the latest film by Miyazaki (of Totoro and Spirited Away fame) and the first one that is really primarily aimed at a younger audience since Totoro in my opinion. Ponyo is a variation on The Little Mermaid, played out instead with 5 year olds (Ponyo, the fish/mermaid become girl and Sasuke, a little boy). The story is engaging but is not really the draw, with the draw being just an absolutely beautifully drawn world and very charming characters and situations. It's something that has really grown on me with repeated viewings, and that I think people with children will especially appreciate. It's a small child's dream world, the children are the important characters, there are fish swimming on roads, etc. It's really good although the lack of a detailed involving plot puts it a touch below films like Spirited Away in my opinion.



Ponyo is being released by Disney on August 14th with a fully english dub starring Miley Cyrus's sister and Matt Damon among other. (Note: I don't want to hear ANY complaints about an english dub, there is no way disney could release a film aimed at little kids with subtitles, and they will include the japanese language track on the DVD (they always do) and their DVD releases of the Miyazaki films are head and shoulders above their japanese counterparts.)

Check the film out come August 14th.

G.E.M. Tang (HK Pop)

G.E.M. is a relatively new face in the HK scene, with her first (and only) EP released in 2008. She is only 17. What differentiates her (IMO) from a lot of the new talent is HK is she can really sing well. It's a good start, there was a point I felt like they were taking looks first, second, third and then got around to if the person had any talent. (I really think they looked at girls, thought "Wow, they can take a nice cover picture" and then signed them to make cd's.)


WHERE DID U GO - My favorite song of hers.

Don't expect a lot of information from me about her because there really isn't much to say. She is clearly on the fast track, a winner of a singing competition in HK, a trained pianist, and a voice that outshines almost all of her contemporaries. In a HK market that (IMO) lacks a lot of new and interesting faces, G.E.M. strikes me as someone with a good future, and I am really looking forward to new material to her in the future. (You'd think she will have a new cd this year.) Once her new material comes out I'm sure there will be more information about her. I am confident she will be popular, and she's the most interesting new talent to me since Janice came out a few years ago. There are very few chinese artists I would buy their cd's because most of them are just a few good songs, and 8 or 9 filler. Janice, Leon Lai (not as much as before) Vivian Chow (if there is an interesting re-issues), A-Mei (is she retired?), possibly Justin Lo and now G.E.M.

http://www.hummingbird.hk/GEM/ Her Official Site

My Sassy Girl (Korean Movie - 2001)

Movie Trailer with Subtitles

My Sassy Girl is one of my (and many others) favorite movies ever made. It is the second largest money making movie in Korea ever and easily the movie with the largest following outside of Korea.

If you don't watch Korean or Japanese movies (or dramas), one of the things they do very well is they can be serious and funny at the same time. US romantic comedies are comedies with romance inside. Asian romantic comedies can be either, but are more serious, which makes the whole thing seem more important and the impact of the scenes more-so.

The story is about a male college student who just can't seem to catch a break (and deservedly so) and the drunk girl he meets on the train. This starts a romance between the two that is anything but typical, the girl is demanding to say the least (he takes a lot of punishment, both physical and mental) and there are issues that come to the forefront later on in the story.

This movie has a few truly iconic scenes, including (below) a scene which literally led a generation of Korean girls to take up the piano and put Pachabell Canon on a nation's playlist. It's not the only one, how they meet, the subway scene, the scene in the restaurant where he talks to her date, and the ending scene all are truly moving, or funny, and sometimes both.

Another great thing about the movie is it plays a lot on Korean movie conventions (intentionally by the director) by not giving you the typical Korean unhappy ending, making fun / giving homage to Korean sci-fi movies (there is actually a time travel element in the film making fun of IL Mare (the Lake House in the states.) and overdoing things at times. But when it needs to be serious, it is. The timing and pacing is just impeccable. It's a work of love by the director and it clearly shows.

Scene by scene, it's superbly entertaining and by the time it wraps up you are completely in love with both main characters, have been hugely entertained and left feeling just really good. What else is there?

Highest recommendation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Sassy_Girl I would only check this link for actors names and such. The plot description is much too detailed.

Note: There is an absolutely horrific US remake which didn't even attempt to remake the film and instead became some horrid straight to TV mess. I guess I give them credit for not even trying.

Beni (J-Pop)

Beni is the latest relaunch of Beni Arashino, who is trying to reboot her career (and is getting popular) by the same route that Thelma Aoyama did, from being the featured singer on a song (by Dozhi T), and then releasing her own single singing the song, but with the original "rapper" (like Soulja was for Thelma) as the feature on her own single.

I don't know much about her aside that I like her latest two singles, and she seems to be marked for a push which is a great thing for her career. Here is her latest single, Kiss Kiss Kiss, which I think is also a great song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RkykFUBX50&feature=PlayList&p=969412E14568A524&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=6
Her initial career push had completely stalled a while ago, and with good reason, it involved boring single after boring single, completely uninspired. It makes me worried this latest comeback will be short lived, but who knows. (She has prior always been an artist whose presence and image outweighed her talent.)

You can see the video there, her record company disables the embedding for any video of her except live performances. (I'm not sure why, the single doesn't even have a DVD sold with it so what is the point. Force people to watch it on youtube?)

Some Links
http://www.youtube.com/user/BeniChanNeL - Her Youtube Page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beni_Arashiro - Her Wikipedia Page

Thelma Aoyama (J-Pop)

Thelma Aoyama is a relatively new artist on the J-Pop scene. (It's pronounced Teruma Aoyama, and sometime's spelled that way. In my opinion, she was the best new artist in 2008 (even though her debut single, the song above came out very late 2007 in it's original form. The song above is the answer song, Soulja song featured her and was addressing the girl, and she is answering him in her song, which features him. Very cool.) I LOVE this song to death. She has had 5 singles since then, and one real album, and two remix, collection etc. type cd's. The first cd was prior to the last 4 singles, so I think she really needs to have a second official cd very soon. Part of the reason I think she got famous is her heritage, for better or worse being only partially japanese is a draw and gives you credibility in music there. She is 1/4 Trinidadian. Her style is very R&B influenced although some more J-Pop undertones seem to be creeping in. She reminds me a lot of K-Pop, which features a lot more of the R&B/Pop fusion than Japanese music does (or i might even say DID as more and more artists are moving that way).

Some Links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelma_Aoyama (Her wikipedia entry)

http://www.youtube.com/user/ThelmaAoyamaTV?gl=JP&hl=ja (Her Personal Youtube page)

Next time I think I'll start to take a look at the mini Korean Invasion into the US with the Wonder Girls (to be followed by looking at BoA and Se7en). Or Not. I have a lot to post!