what I did today

[insaneneko]

I made the mistake of buying some honey sweetened umeboshi when we went to the Japanese wholesale place today. Oh my god. It's like candy. It's still sour and tart, but there's this lovely sweetness that is just pure rapture. I have to resist eating the whole package at once. >_<

My mom also bought some iichiko, a famous brand of shochu. I've never had it, but I think I'll try some as oyu-wari, which is having it mixed with hot water. I have never had any sake I liked, but I figure if it's in the house I'll give it a go.


I spent way too much time pillaging seiyuu (which I joined today) because it is apparently Seki Toshihiko week and there were songs there to be downloaded. Got some really nice songs, and I commented on every post I downloaded from! I try to do more than a "thanks!" post...I guess I feel bad not having things to share back, since my love of seiyuu has only recently emerged and I really don't own anything except for Pot stuff. But then, most of my "sharing" online tends to be translating and summarizing things...I have no idea if that's "fair trade" for all the media people either give me or I just grab from wherever. :P

In any case, one of my favorites from the bunch I downloaded today has to be "10-ji no Cinderella" from KICKS ON THE WAY. He is singing higher than I'm used to, but it works very well with the lovely, gentle melody. I also really liked "It's So All Right!" from Gundam Wing. I had never sought out the vocal songs from that show, so I had previously only heard one of Duo's songs. I like this one better. Too bad I was totally not impressed with "Wild Wing Boys." The other two songs I really liked were ones where the poster didn't put the titles up. ;_; One was from Cyber Formula and another from a CD called Super Stylish Doctors Songs. Ah well.

ayatsujik mentions a Japanese drama called Double Score that is apparently so made to be slashed. That reminded me of my favorite slashy drama, Night Head. There is also a movie and a manga series beautifully drawn by Tateno Makoto. This just drips angst and UST. The two brothers are just so meant for each other. The younger brother, a telepath/empath, is so sensitive he has a hard time coping with being around anyone. The older brother, a telekinetic, is very angry and protective. There is a lot of the younger brother clinging to the older brother, and the way they only have each other is just beautiful. The movie is a bit bloody, but the slash quotient totally goes up. :D The manga is just eye-candy, pure and simple. With lots of angst.

And then I went on a random LJ jaunt, visiting people's LJs via comments/posts on community and friend posts, as well as looking up people with certain interests. That latter method is not a good way to find more interesting people. Mostly I came across those LJs that people who mock LJs are probably talking about. The 14 year old incoherent squeeing shit stuff. >_<

I did find out that gay alien school from PoT will have vocal singles out. God, is it the end of the world? I checked out the link on the post (I have no idea which LJ that was on, thank you whoever you are, wherever you are!) to some kind of Japanese PoT news site and the top piece of news was the Oshitari album information. Still no title, but they have the track listings. I was a bit disgusted at the marketing of this. So blatant in how they take advantage of the rabid fangirls. There will be a limited and regular edition of the CD, both coming out next month. The packaging will be different, as well as the track ordering. What is the blatant taking-advantage part is that the regular edition has one track that the limited doesn't. Normally it's the other way around, right? They so want the fangirls to buy both. Ugh. The thing is, I so wouldn't buy this without listening to it first. Of the three singles I've heard from him, two were not very good and only one was pretty good. Yes, the VA's voice oozes sex and he's quite amusing to listen to, but that's not why I buy vocal albums. I don't even care about Oshitari's character, since I frankly haven't seen enough of him to form any kind of opinion.


Oh, and I read some more original BL fics...nothing noteworthy, in the bad or good sense. ^_^

Comments

[mirichan.livejournal.com]

First off... Oshitari... ^___^

He's the reason I started watching my PoT CDs (I was collecting the series without watching it)... I know him (Kiuchi Hidenobu) for his Dr. Tenma's interpretation in Monster where he does NOT ooze sex (unfortunately) ^__^

But then, most of my "sharing" online tends to be translating and summarizing things...I have no idea if that's "fair trade" for all the media people either give me or I just grab from wherever. :P

That works fine for me ^_^

I don't mind sharing media stuff with you knowing IF I'm stuck with something Japanese, I can turn to you ^___^

BTW... while discussing that... I found this (re: Winter Cicada CD-drama):

A side story was added as the last track of the CD, about Kato and Iwaki visiting the historical places related to Kusaka and Akizuki as they were making a movie about them. This short story kind of cheer fans up after the tragic end of their
previous lives.

According to the old man in the side story, Aizawa regretted what he did. He built a shrine at the small cottage where Akizuki used to be hidden, and for generations, had made the second-born males of his family as heads of the shrine.

Is that mostly what you remember from listening to the thing then?

As for the Seki songs... thanks for the comments above. I'm gonna check them up later because there's too many songs and not enough time so I did not download anything (except the Sanzo drunk song ^_^)...

I won't check the Duo's song but that's because I have all the GW soundtracks... so it should be somewhere on hand.

And I don't do the LJ jaunts myself... found too many scary places the first few times I tried so nyahhhh...

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

I do like the VA for Oshitari...great voice, and he's really fun to listen to when he's being himself. ^_^ Monster, huh? Is that a good show?

Yeah, that summary for Winter Cicada drama CD is correct...and I was nuts again. Check my latest post. ^_^;

Most of the Seki songs were quite good. I think they are all worth downloading, personally. How was the Sanzo drunk song? I didn't download that one...

I don't think I"ll be doing many jaunts...I'll probably stick with friends of friends or something...

[mirichan.livejournal.com]

Monster?

It's great. It's hard to explain what it's about but I read all 18 volumes of the manga and been following the anime faithfully (It should be close to 80 eps. by the time it's finished... presently it stands at 38 eps. fansubbed).

Okay... will check your post...

The Sanzo drunk? It's strange... you hear the others discussing/having fun while Sanzo karaoke in the background. It's probably funnier when you know what they're saying, though.

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

Wow, 80 episodes? I know my cousin (who doesn't read much manga) said he really liked it, but I never did find out what it was about.

[mirichan.livejournal.com]

It's hard to explain what Monster is about.

It's starts with a young idealist doctor who goes against the director of his hospital's wishes and operates on a young boy who's been shot in the head instead of the mayor... the boy survives, the mayor dies... the young doctor loses his fiance (the Director's daughter) and his standing...

Then the Director and two other doctors get murdered... the boy (and his twin sister) disappear from the hospital...

Fastforward 8 years... and the young doctor (Tenma) discover just how bad a decision that was... as more deaths start piling up around him, all centering around the young boy he saved... and Tenma (while being suspected by one "machine-like" inspector of being the murderer) goes on the run trying to catch up on the young boy now a man and discover WHY he did/does what he did and stop him from killing further.

And you get a story involving neo-nazis at times, suspicious experiments on kids behind the iron curtain, etc.

I love it... it's a great story ^__^

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

Oh...a thriller, then? Maybe I'll check it out...

[mirichan.livejournal.com]

Yeah... And it follows the manga faithfully which is great 'cause the manga is sensational...

[mitethe.livejournal.com]

Can I second mirichan's recommendation for Monster?
It's an incredibly gripping story that delves into all the little nooks and crannies of human nature as well as being a mystery where it's not about "who did it" but "why did this come about?"
The writing is pure genius and the anime is an excellent adaptation well worth checking out. ^_^

It never even crossed my mind that the man who voices Dr. Tenma also voiced Oshitari. *boggles*
Though I did know that he also plays Kawamura's sushi chef dad in AniPuri. XD

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

I'll give it a try. It may not be my cup of tea, but it can't hurt...I'll download an episode and see.

I've had moments where I realize after a long time that some character was voiced by someone familiar...in this case I guess he must sound pretty different.

[mitethe.livejournal.com]

I suppose it depends on whether you feel like watching/reading a more gritty, realistic series but I've found in my experience that everyone who's tried it has ended up loving it. Anime and non-anime fans alike.

Boy, his voice and acting for Dr. Tenma and Oshitari are as different as night and day. It's rather mind boggling...I'm impressed all over again when seiyuu show what incredible talent and range they have.

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

I try not to have high expectations on anything (with the possible exception of Miyazaki because he is god-like), but I will check this out. Especially since now slow, slow downloading torrent has finally finished.

I will be looking forward to hearing Oshitari's voice oh-so-different, though.

[mitethe.livejournal.com]

But Miyazaki is a god. XD

I'd be curious to hear how you find it whenever you get around to trying it.

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

*laugh* I was going to say he was a god, but then I remember Kurenai no Buta...

Let's just say I don't care for it.

I'll watch it one of these days...when my brain stops fangirling at random other things...^_^;

[mitethe.livejournal.com]

Hmm, haven't seen that one. The man sure has done a lot but for Spirited Away alone I'd elevate him to godhood. ^_-

It's always like that isn't it? My list of things to check out keeps growing longer...

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

Damn, what have you seen by him? You can't tell me only Spirited Away, right? All of his stuff is so worth watching...

[mitethe.livejournal.com]

Uhhh...*sweats* My introduction to his works was through Princess Mononoke when it came to the theatres here (subbed!) several years ago and then Spirited Away a couple of years back which I completely fell in love with. I ended up watching it 10 times at the independent cinema (Sydney was the only place in Australia to show the subbed version).

Since then I've also got The Cat Returns (which he only directed and not wrote, I believe) and Kiki's Delivery Service. The anime companies here only started releasing most of his works at the end of last year so I'm in the process of catching up. Australia is always way behind the USA when it comes to anime/manga and I wanted to buy the official DVDs. ^_^;;;

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

Ah...I've managed to watch almost all of the movies he's done (but not the cat returns). I love his movies and the music in his movies....Hm, now I want to see Mimi wo sumaseba for some reason...

[mitethe.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen nearly enough but I love how he mixes the ordinary with the extraordinary in his works. And the music is always utterly captivating...magical even.

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

Yes, he is amazing, and his collaboration with Hisaishi Joe is part of that magic. *sigh* I want to see Howl's Moving Castle already...