I must say that Kimutaue gave a superb performance as the cold and unfeeling Ryo, with focus on his especially expressive eyes (Did he wear contact lenses for this role?).  This drama series also makes Kimutaku the "hottest: Asian drama star for me as he has continually shown that he is a good kisser (I find his lips and teeth attractive and love his voice).   He has retained his boyish charm despite his being in his 30s.  I didn't quite like the chemisty though between Kimutaku and Fukatsu Eri here; also, I found Eri's make-up too ghostly white.  On the other hand, I found Kou Shibasaki (as 19-year old Yuki Miyashita), oozing with sex appeal  (her eyes are really sexy).  It is also interesting to mention that the ending song "Smile" was sang by Elvis Costello.  This suspense drama is a must see for Kimura Takuya fans.

Nobuta Wo Produce

Nobuta Power

Proposal Daisakusen

Hallelujah Chance

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.1478620&w=425&h=350&fv=]

Kurosagi

Ma-i-do-ari BANG

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.1479525&w=425&h=350&fv=]

]]> http://aresuchan.wordpress.com/?p=464 Tue, 12 Aug 2008 11:19:16 +0000 aresuchan http://aresuchan.wordpress.com/?p=464 Me ha dado por buscar alguna noticia o referencia sobre la película de Hana yori Dango (No me lo digas con flores) que se estreno este verano en Japón y me he encontrado con este test de compatibilidad... Es una chorrarda como otra cualquiera pero es gracioso y como además el post del J-Dorama es el que más visitas recibe pues he pensado que seria buena idea colgarlo.

El test está en japones pero salen las sombras de los personajes por lo que son más o menos reconocibles, XDD!!!

Lo único que tienes que hacer el poner tui nombre en la barra y darle al botón para ver los resultados. (si le dais a la imagen os lleva directamente a la página en la que se encuentra el test)

De izquierda a derecha: Nishikado Soujirou, Doumyouji Tsukasa, Hanazawa Rui, Mimasaka Akira.

Mi resultado ha sido Doumyouji, >.<!! (Nana-Chan espero el tuyo pronto!!)

He sido incapaz de linkear la imágen del resultado... T_T

]]> http://solipsisticrian.wordpress.com/?p=219 Sun, 03 Aug 2008 12:23:40 +0000 solipsistic rian http://solipsisticrian.wordpress.com/?p=219 Spoiler alert:

I am a wuss.

I have in my laptop episode 7 of それは、突然、嵐のように… ("Sore wa, totsuzen, arashi no you ni..."/ "It was sudden, like a storm..."), but I’m scared to watch it.

This is a story of a 34-year old woman (Ogawa Kozue, played by the beautiful Esumi Makiko) who has been living a simple life these past seven years as a home maker after marrying a banker, and settling down with her parents who own a quaint flower shop in front of their house in a quiet neighborhood in Tokyo. Naturally, having a devoted but tight-lipped husband and with no children of her own yet, she becomes restless and finally decides to rekindle her past glories as a tough chick editor of a magazine, a reputation she has built over the years in pursuit of a rewarding career, but which she has completely forsaken as a married woman.

Things don’t go as smoothly as planned however as her new female boss, a past colleague, offers her only a part time position for clerical duties believing that she has lost her touch to make it big in the industry. At the same time despite herself, she finds that she is drawn to 17-year old high school student and part time ballroom dance teacher Fukazawa Takuma (played by Yamapi), a man who seems “shrouded in sadness”. Later, she finds out that he is stricken with an incurable lung disease so that he risks his life if he attempts to  dance competitively to secure his second championship.

Allow me to jump now to the beginning of episode 6 where Takuma tells Kozue he loves her. Prior to that he says “All this time, you’ve been the first I go to. Exciting or sad things, I go to you first.” This is when finally Kozue tells him she is married and leaves him, in her mind, hopefully for good. And now, let’s look at the ending of episode 6. I present to you a video I found at youtube made by xnyse (arigato!) with stills from SARS fansubs and light but heart wrenching music by  Yui entitled Tokyo.

Huhuhu, so sad that she’s married! Poor Takuma! Conformity really kicks you in the ass sometimes. Taking Kozue’s perspective... I get that. I’m not married but I know what it’s like to reach a certain part of your life when you should be contented but you want something more. Sometimes, you want to stick your hand into the fire to feel that you are truly living.

When is love forbidden? When it does not conform to the standards set by society. But society has been wrong before. When do you decide that the regret would be far too great so that you take a shot at life, you leave your life of security for a chance to become blissfully happy?

I'm so affected. Obviously, despite being married and twice his age, I'd prefer she end up with Takuma someday, somehow. (Song in my head:"There's a place for us, a time and place for us..."). Sigh, time to lay off these types of dramas in the mean time. I don't think I've ever shed tears for a drama before. Give me Nobuta wo Produce, I need my "Akira shock!".

Ich danke dir, dass Du mein Blog anschaust. Von dem ersten Satz verstehst Du sicher, dass ich kein Deutsche bin. Und keine Deutscherin auch. Ja, ich komme aus einem anderen Land, wir können es das Land der Absurdität nennen. Ich lerne Deutsch in der Schule und ich hoffe, bald aus dem Land zu fliegen und nach Deutschland zu kommen. Bis dann lese ich mit Interesse die deutschen Blogs und arbeite gern über mein eigenes (das Blog oder der Blog?).

Jetzt muss ich mich ein bisschen vorstellen. Ich bin ein 18-jähriges Mädchen. Meine Interessen umfangen alles, was mit dem Ost verbunden ist - ich mag Japan, die japanischen Animes, die J-doramas (ihre Serialen), ich mag die japanischen Männer, die Frauen, die Kinder, ihr Humor, einige Lieder, Bücher, Authoren. Wenn es mir bis zum Hals von Japan geht, interessiere ich mich über Korea. Manchmal um China, Taiwan und so weiter... Mein Character ist sehr schwermutig, mir gefällt mein trauriges Lebens, die unerwiderte Liebe, die ständige Suche nach Charmonie und Ordnung (die ich nie finde). Wenn ich aber zu Mute bin, kann ich auch ein bisschen Humor zeigen. Alles mit der Zeit. :)

Der Name des Blogs "Shu Jitsu" bedeutet vielleicht "Herbsttag" - ich weiß nicht, ich habe es im Wörterbuch gesehen. Herbsttage liebe ich auch sehr. Aber sie sind weit in der Zukunft.

Jetzt kennst Du mich ein bisschen mehr. Ich bitte Dich, mir einen Komentar zu schreiben, um meine endlosen Fehler zu zeigen. Nur damit kann ich mich verbessern.

Bis bald!

Kawaiii

De momento estas son las canciones de algunos de los doramas (La gran mayoria son de Arashi, pero es que la gran mayoria de los doramas que he visto tiene a alguno de los miembros del grupo como protagonista @_@)

Canción: We can make it

Artista: Arashi (嵐)

Opening de Bambino!

PV (video musical)

Canción: Truth

Artista: Arashi (嵐)

Opening de Maou

Todavía no hay PV... (estoy esperandolo con los brazos abiertos XDD)

*UPDATE* YA HA SALIDO EL PV, XDD!! T_T lloro de alegria, >.<!!

Canción: Seishun Amigo

Artista: Shuuji to Akira (Kamenashi & Yamashita)

Ending de Nobuta Wo Produce (a mi personalmente no me gusta mucho el ending...)

PV

Canción: Kotoba Yorimo Taisetsu na mono

Artista: Arashi (嵐)

Opening de Stand up!

PV

Canción: Happiness

Artista: Arashi (嵐)

Opening de Yamada Taro Monogatari

No he encontrado el opening así que os dejo el video musical...

Canción: Ikenai Taiyou

Artista: Orange Range

Opening HanaKimi

PV

Canción: Peach

Artista: Otsuka Ai

Ending HanaKimi

Canción: Love so Sweet

Artista: Arashi (嵐)

Hana Yori Dango Live

PV

Canción: Wish

Artista: Arashi (嵐)

Hana Yori Dango Live

PV

Canción: Daite Señorita

Artista: Yamapi

Opening de Kurosagi

Live performance (sólo por verle mover las caderas, XDD)

De momento sólo pongo estas... >_< tampoco quiero aburriros a videos, pero ya vendran más!!

Curiouser and curiouser. So it seems he doesn't have a black black heart after all but the mystery goes on. In episode 3, the same questions still reverberate with regards to why he's so obsessed with becoming the best to the point of seeming void of all human feeling. However, in episode 3 what has been piquing my interest more is his relationship with Dr. Shiraishi (Aragaki).

In episode 1, we saw how he was about to tell Aragaki why he joined the fellowship but was interrupted by the entrance of brain surgeon, Dr. Sugimoto. The way he looked at her when he was about to say it, well, it looked like he was going to allude to her. Now in episode 3 he turns on his heel to see her as she walks away looking all concerned. In the latter part of this episode, he even checked himself and started calling his patients by their real names as opposed to the other two in the fellowship (examples: "lawyer patient at gynecology" and "tough nut patient"), because of Aragaki's character... The million dollar question is "WHY?". What's up with her, hmmm?

In any case, he's not the complete sicko I cut him out to be based on the first two episode. 'Fess up, Dr. Aizawa. We know you care. Why the fight within yourself?

Anyway, to make me feel better, let me end with my favorite scene in episode 3. It's not supposed to be funny but I found it to be. This is the scene where his tough nut patient is yelling that he doesn't want Dr. Aizawa or any other "lousy, lackey doctor" to treat him but a higher ranking one. At the same time, in his temper he pushes dear Yamapi. This is the reaction we get from him.

In his mind he's saying "Go on. Try pushing me one more time. I'll punch your face in." Just the right hint of emotion. Hahaha, now back to doing school work.

The name of the drama is  流星の絆 (Meteor Ties) which should be airing every Friday at 22:00, TBS channel. (the same time slot as Maou I think)

Synopsis (taken from the lj kanjani8 community) 
The History turns surroundings to three brothers.  During the night they met to see fleeting stars, and their parents were assassinated. In revenge and to survive they become in swindlers. Ninomiya will be the big brothe, with very good brain, is the one who organizes all the plans. Ryo will be the second brother their technique is the disguises. And the litle sister would use the seduction.

***

Of course, i also read somewhere else that it is Ikuta Toma, and not Ryo who is in the drama. These are all rumors anyway so don't take it 100% seriously. (BUT I REALLY WANT TO WATCH THIS DRAMA....it sounds really good!! )

Generally, one noticeable difference is the length.  The Japanese versions will usually have about ten or so episodes while the Taiwanese ones will have around 15-20 episodes.  The t-drama versions would usually have several subplots and will try to stick as much as possible to the original storyline; the j-versions' plot are usually centered on the main plot and would slightly have a "modified" storyline compared to the j-manga on which it was based.    Second difference is that the t-dramas would usually have an OST with a main title song and several pop songs which lyrics are related to the song.  These songs would usually be played in scenes where the actors are in a contemplating or reflective mode, scenes where the actors would usually be looking out the window or lying awake in bed while scenes are flashbacked. Thus a viewer would have to listen carefully to the lyrics of the songs to get an enhanced understanding of the scene.  The j-dramas OST are usually composed of one main title song and a so-called "insert"song .  The rest are background music and thus have no lyrics.  I noticed j-dramas have less or even zero reflection scenes of the t-drama mode but there are also flashbacks.  A third difference is the ending--for t-dramas, the endings are happy, boy and girl live happily ever after type of endings; in the j-dramas, one doesn't directly see a straightforward ending where the girl and boy live happily ever after, although this is implied.  This leaves the viewer to expect a "drama special-SP" of two episodes to follow.  In the SPs, the "happily ever after" ending usually happens. 

Now, let's see the four cases of the comedy/romance genre taiwanese and japanese dramas that I have watched and give my personal (subjective?) rating.

Hana KImi--I like the J-version better because I found the lead actress, Ella Chen, in the t-version not appealing.  Maki Horikita as Mizuki Ashiya was better (in fact, she won the Best Actress award in the 54th Television Awards in Japan).  Further, the j-version starred Oguri Shun (aka Hanazawa Rui of Hana yori dango fame) as Izumi Sano.  Oguri is one of my favorite actors, which explains the bias. 

The t-drama "It Started with a Kiss"(ISWAK)  vs j-drama "Itazura na Kisu".  I like the t-drama version better.  It was funnier, acting was good although sometimes exaggerated, the actors had better chemisty esp Ariel Lin and Joe Chen, OST was excellent, the longer length allowed for development of the story, the ending really made me feel good.   The j-version, although made ten years earlier was also okay because acting was likewise good.  (BTW, the  lead actor is far more handsome than Joe Chen. ) Plot was short and really focused on the two lead charaters; absolutely no subplot. The lead actress' acting was not as " naturally cute" as Ariel Lin; she was really "trying hard" so her acting was exaggerated to the point of irritating. The title song cute for its time. 

"Sweet Relationship" (t-drama) vs. "Oishi Kankei" (j-drama).  Again, ST is a remake of OK which was shown in Japan ten years ago.  I like the t-drama version better because the lead actress, Patricia Hsu, was so convincing whenever she describes the food she eats.  Although I like Nakayama Miho (the lead actress in the -j version), it was Patricia that pulled it off better.  The J-version is more realistic though, but the t-version funnier.  Again, the length of the t-drama allowed for more development of the storyline, although the subplots were sometimes boring and tended to draw the focus away from the main plot.  I was a bit disappointed in the acting of Vic Zhou, one of my favorite t-actors.  His acting didn't exude "authority" that his role asked for, in contrast to the Japanese actor who played the same role in the j-version.  (BTW, this actor looks better than Vic).  Vic looked  emaciated here and his facial expression was almost the same throughout (although he really looked  great when he smiled). Although both Vic and Patty looked good together, their chemistry was lacking  (maybe due to Vic's "tired" acting).  But the ending of ST is better, as the j-version ended with the chef going to Paris with his girlfriend and leaving Nakayama Miho in Tokyo, with the promise that he will come back to Toko after two years to taste Miho's cooking.  (I have a feeling there is an "SP" to provide the closure to the story, but have searched the internet endlessly for one but in vain).  Again, the t-version OST is good and I like Vic Zhu's sweet relationship main song and Alan Kuo's "Don't say goodbye". 

Meteor Garden (t-drama) vs. Hana Yori Dango (j-version).  Definitely, HYD lords it over MG.  Why?  I will save the comments for another day.

While patiently waiting for the episode 2 subs… I’m thinking back to why I found Yamapi looking at his fingers in a tender yet subtly perverse way so salient. I’m particularly referring to this episode 1: elevator scene. Now I realize that his character reminds me of Colonel Santiago Aure from Arlene J. Chai’s “Eating Fire, Drinking Water”. Allow me to show you what I mean.

[1 hour later] Blast it, I can't find the book! OK, had to resort to lifting and stringing excerpts together from Ama/zon onli/ne rea/der.

---

Excerpts where Laslo and Sophia , captured during their school protest, are now in the hands of the doctor/colonel. Dark basement of the detention center, classical music playing in the background, here Laslo is lying on the floor, tied to his toppled chair. He can do nothing else but watch the colonel, scalpel in hand, begin to perversely slice Sophia up.:

"His fingers were long and straight, hinting at a tender sensitive nature. They were not made for holding a gun or a dagger or the many other instruments he was supposedly familiar with. Rather, these were hands one could easily imagine on a piano."

"What held Laslo spellbound was the graceful movement of his hands. They were beautiful, so fluid in motion."

""Paganini's theme was turned upside down by Rachmaninoff. From it he created gavottes, minuets, fantasias, and little marches.""

"He lapsed into silence after this. And Laslo watched, mesmerized, as the colonel began to move his hands, seeming to draw the music from thin air, like a magician."

"Laslo watched with growing unease the man's contained madness. The music played on, soaring notes and all, and the colonel said not a word, lost in the stirring melody that filled the room.Then he began to speak once more, his voice sitting above the melody."

""How rude of me not to introduce myself to you, Sophia." Sophia shivered as the man's voice caressed her name. "I am Aure. Colonel Santiago Aure." She gave a start. "The butcher of the south!""

"With graceful movements, he combed out the tangled strands with his long fingers. Then, he carefully twined the two sections around her neck, making them cross and cross again, pulling tighter each time."

---

*Shudder* Granted he’s not likely to be portrayed as a killer. But I can’t help but see the twisted similarities. I changed my mind, he's not like Ryo's character at all in Last friends where as I've said there was at times some enjoyment in seeing him as a bad boy. Although same as Ryo, he might be having nightmares because of this. Poor baby.

Yes, I'm just getting carried away. Gotta hand it to the Code Blue producers and scriptwriters because you have to wonder, what could his dark hidden past be? Also, who in the world will set him right?

I will do it! *Scrunching up shirt sleeves* Hahaha, only in my sick sick dreams!

Spoiler-alert:

Doesn't say a thing for a bearably long time - I say bearable because his lack of dialogue for the first 8+ minutes of the show was offset by his "cool factor" - then at a critical moment he swoops in to adeptly perform a surgical procedure. "Scalpel please." And I'm hooked.*

OK so he wants viewers to find him "hateful". However, there's only a hint of a possibly twisted mind in the last scene of episode 1. It's almost as if the show's producers built up his character as a cool, highly adept doctor and withheld his deviant statements 'till the very end in order to ensure those who are watching primarily to see him get hooked on the plot first and then leave them err us hanging. Such ploys would allow the show to build a large viewer base. As can be learned from fans' reactions to Ryo's DV character in Last Friends, casting JE idols as villains shouldn't be much of a gamble. On the contrary, their is some enjoyment in seeing the bad boy side albeit it's not real. (Or so we think....) Squares are boring. Ahihihi.

Nonetheless, I'd like to see believable character developments in subsequent episodes. Yep, I’m rooting for Fuikawa played by Asari Yosuke. Wouldn’t want Yamapi to be the only one in the fellowship who can, at first try, prove to deliver results in high pressure environments. However, Asari may be doomed to be typecast as the clumsy, somewhat socially inept but still lovable fourth man. Let’s hope not.

Initially saw episode 1 without the subs and so had to resort to heavy use of Jim Breen's WWWJDIC Japanese dictionary server and 医歯薬英語辞書 (MEDO) in order to understand the Japanese medical terms. Here are some that appeared  and may likely show up - some clearly more than others - in subsequent episodes.  (Order: Kanjiform, Hiragana/ Katakana, usage, english translation).**

• 緊急 【きんきゅう:kinkyū】 (adj-na,n) emergency
• 救命 【きゅうめい: kyūmei】 (n) lifesaving
• 病院 【びょういん: byouin 】 (n) hospital
• 研修生 【けんしゅうせい: kenshūsei】 (n) trainee
• 患者 【かんじゃ: kanja】 (n) (a) patient
• 開放創 【かいほうそう: kai ho usou】 (n) open wound
• 傷病 【しょうびょう: shoubyou】 (n) injuries and sickness
• 救急車 【きゅうきゅうしゃ: kyūkyūsha】 (n) ambulance
• 消防 【しょうぼう: shoubou】 (n) fire department
• 蘇生 【そせい: sosei】 (n,vs) resuscitation
• 病棟 【びょうとう: byoutou】 (n) (hospital) ward
• 挿管 【そうかん: soukan】 intubation (n); intubate (vs,vt)
• 脳 【のう: nou】 (n) brain
• 鼻 【はな: hana】 (n) nose
• 透析 【とうせき: touseki】 (n,vs) dialysis
• 薬 【くすり: kusuri】 (n) medicine; drug
• 輸血 【ゆけつ: yuketsu】 (n,vs) blood transfusion
• 吐き気 【はきけ: hakike】 (n) nausea; sickness in the stomach
• 糖尿病 【とうにょうびょう: tounyaubyou】 (n) diabetes
• 腎不全 【じんふぜん: jinfuzen】 (n) renal failure
• 感染 【かんせん: kansen】 (n,vs) infection
• 損害 【そんがい: songai】 (n,vs) damage; injury
• 内出血 【ないしゅっけつ: naishuketsu】 (n,vs) internal hemorrhage
• 血圧 【けつあつ: ketsuatsu】 (n) blood pressure
• 酸素 【さんそ: sanso】 (n) oxygen
• 心膜 【しんまく: shinmaku】 (n,adj-no) pericardium; pericardial sac
• 殺菌 【さっきん: saukin】 (n,vs) sterilization; sterilisation; disinfection
• 心電図 【しんでんず: shindenzu】 (n) electro-cardiogram
• メス【:mesu】(n) scalpel
• 切断 【せつだん: setsudan】 (n,vs) amputation -> Saved it for last, hihi.  Yamapi's first offsite surgical procedure via Doctor Heli.

Notes: *Deeply thankful to morimoli, gryzze and Querbeet. **Efforts of a neophyte. Please excuse and let me know if there are any mistakes so that I can revise accordingly.

In Maho, the woman was only 26, but the guy, her student, was only 17 yrs, a minor,  so there is a deeper societal abberration here than in Anego and KWP, where the guys are in their early 20s, and have finished  compulsory schooling already.  In Anego,  Jin Akanishi is  the young guy in love with his older officemate.  Jin is a famous Johnny's Entertainment talent  and also a member of the boy band KAT TUN. In KWP, the young guy was played by Matsumoto Jun, also with Johnny's and member of the popular boy band ARASHI.

I have yet to see a May-December romance where the guy would be older than the woman, except for one Korean drama-Sweet Eighteen; but this didn't play on the older guy's weakenesses but rather focused on the younger girl's immaturity.  Looking at it both ways,  the Asian dramas I have seen so far played on the women's limitations rather than the guy's.  Is this a reflection of these countries current society's thinking?

 In the Philippines, although I am not updated on the movie-drama scene,  I would think that there are more May-December movies where the guys are older than the women.

Another older woman-younger guy relationship that didn't end happily is that of Koji (Jun Matsumoto) and Kimiko.  I thought that it would have been better if the story only focused on Tooru and Shifumi to have more impact.  Providing the opening song is Nora Jones.  Not really a touching  movie  as Moho no Jouken, but Okada Juinichi is hot.  Is he the same guy as Junpei Oribe in HYD or the guy in Hana Kimi who thought he was a gay (Nakatsu) because he fell in love with that girl (Ashiya Mizuki) who posed as a guy because she is in love with Izumi Yano (played by Oguri Shun).  (I just opened the site of Hana Kimi and found out that Nakatsu is not Junichiro Okada.

As early as year 2000, Japan had been working on a large-scale project to set up a fleet  of EMS helicopters to be used for rescue missions including those in connection to natural disasters such as earthquakes.

In 2006,  a study was conducted on the effectiveness of the EMS helicopters not only in terms of rapid evacuation but in providing emergency management to patients with life-threatening injuries in the prehospital setting. Based on this same study, the use of EMS helicopters was "shown to improve probability of survival for life-threatening trauma in the Japanese emergency medical system".

Thereafter in 2007,  the New Komeito Party, a political party founded by members of the Buddhist organization Sokka Gakkai geared at enhancing quality of life esp. through augmentations in Japan's social services, included in its Manifesto its aim for a nation-wide deployment of EMS helicopters. Particulars of this policy taken directly from their Manifesto 2007 are as follows :

• "Enhance the survivability of victims of trauma and other medical emergencies in under-populated areas and outlying islands by enlarging the fleet of EMS helicopters from the 11 now deployed in ten prefectures to 50 in 47 prefectures within five years, based on the passage of our EMS helicopter bill;
• Equip heliports in regions and communities suffering from a shortage of medical professionals with night-landing lights to permit after-dark EMS operations;
• Initiate programs to train and educate medical personnel, including physicians, as flight crews for EMS helicopter operations; and
• Institute measures at the earliest possible opportunity to reduce the financial burden on prefectural governments operating the helicopters, either by absorbing operational costs through the medical health insurance program (factoring in the overall cost reduction in medical services the aircraft will provide) or through subsidies from other programs."

The term "Code Blue" is said to have no formal definition but is used as slang by doctors to refer to a medical emergency as in a patient in cardiopulmonary arrest, requiring a team of providers to rush to the specific location and begin immediate resuscitative efforts.

Finally, feast your eyes on  select pictures from the Code Blue press conference. (Stills from a youtube video I don't see anymore).