A Japanese board is heated up with debates about Japanese star Aya Hirano and her seemingly upside-down bikini photo published in her 2009 calendar.
To be frank I wouldn’t have noticed the mistake if I didn’t read it from Tokyomango, it’s just a cute photo for me… ladies might have sharper sense on this kind of malfunction though…
“Koko ni Iru yo” (ここにいるよ - I’m Right Here) is a Japanese song by SoulJa (not to be confused with American entertainer Soulja Boy) featuring Thelma Aoyama. The lyrics and its melodic tunes (and also the MV itself) created lots of echoes from those who are in long distance relationship.
English subbed music video of Koko ni Iru yo (the MV actress is not Aoyama btw)…
The inaugural Anime Festival Asia (AFA) will be held at Singapore’s Suntec International Convention and Exhibition Centre on November 22-23, 2008.
The festival will feature directors, producers, manga artists and creative individuals from Japan’s entertainment industries. The organisers are expecting turnout in excess of 80,000 visitors.
More information about the event available at AFA’s website; also check out some thoughts from bloggers CI, DM and IyB.
Anime and otaku culture is huge in South East Asia; there are a few notable anime events in the region, but mostly limited to cosplay fest because of the lack in contents from commercial exhibitors.
The announcement of AFA08 is certainly going to excite the anime fans; will keep an eye on this… might consider flying to Singapore if it’s creating enough hype by November, and I hope it does.
MTV Japan’s Student Voice Awards 2008 were presented last Tuesday (Aug 26) at Studio Coast, Kōtō-ku, Tokyo…
The winners (via Tokyograph)…
Best Artist: YUI
Best Dance Artist: AAA
Best Group: Ikimono Gakari
Best Actor: Shun Oguri
Best Actress: Juri Ueno
Best Love Song: “Soba ni Iru ne”, Thelma Aoyama feat SoulJa
Best Lyrics: “Home”, Shōta Shimizu
Best Party Karaoke: “Polyrhythm”, Perfume
Best Ringtone: “Kiseki”, GReeeeN
Best Movie: “Koizora”
Best Game: “Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G”
Best Athlete: Ryo Ishikawa
Best Comedian: Harumi Edo
Best Fashionista: Jun Hasegawa
Best Trend: “Wisshu~” (DAIGO)
Respect Award: AI
Japan’s “CountDown TV” has recently concluded their annual poll for ‘the most wanted artist as girlfriend/boyfriend’ in 2008… with YUI and Jin Akanishi topping the girlfriend and boyfriend category respectively.
CDTV’s Japanese countdown video below which gives a fast glance on the trend setters in J-pop these days… [Hat tip to Thierry]
Top 20 Japan’s most wanted girlfriend 2008
1. YUI 2. Kaori Mochida 3. Ayumi Hamasaki 4. Ai Ōtsuka 5. aiko 6. Ai Takahashi 7. Ai Kawashima 8. Kiyoe Yoshioka 9. Maimi Yajima 10. Yui Aragaki 11. Nocchi 12. Namie Amuro 13. Ayaka 14. Kaela Kimura 15. Kumi Koda 16. Misako Uno 17. Hiroko 18. BoA 19. Mai Kuraki 20. Reina Tanaka
Top 20 Japan’s most wanted boyfriend 2008
1. Jin Akanishi 2. Kazuya Kamenashi 3. Hyde 4. Jun Matsumoto 5. Tomohisa Yamashita 6. Takahiro 7. Takahisa Masuda 8. Jaejoong 9. TAKUYA∞ 10. Shō Sakurai 11. Kōichi Dōmoto 12. Akihito Okano 13. Kentarō Kobuchi 14. Ryo Nishikido 15. Yusuke Kamiji 16. Yuya Tegoshi 17. Masaki Aiba 18. Haruichi Shindou 19. Teppei Koike 20. DAIGO
It seems like only singers are being shortlisted for this poll. Korean stars BoA and Jaejoong (from TVXQ) are the only two non-Japanese celebs that made the list.
Taiwanese boyband F4’s Japan Tour 2008 concert tickets are selling like hot cakes at the moment. The group was planning to have three concerts in October initially, but added to seven following popular demand from fans around the world.
Was checking some info on Dragonball (the movie)… as it was originally scheduled to release this summer; didn’t realise that it was postponed to April 2009.
Dragonball movie is starring Justin Chatwin, James Marsters, Jamie Chung, Emmy Rossum, Chow Yun Fat, Joon Park and Eriko Tamura etc.
The movie created some hype when it was announced last year that Hong Kong star Stephen Chow, a renowned DB fan, would be working with Twentieth Century Fox to produce a live movie adapted from the popular Japanese anime and manga.
The initial buzz was not all positive though, as lots of the Dragon Ball fans are worried that the movie would spoil the original work. Judging from some recent developments, it seems that their worry are not entirely baseless.
I won’t say that I am a huge fan of Dragon Ball, but it was one of the first Japanese manga that I read… and I do like it. Hope that the movie will at least be watchable.
Video from CNN - the story of Shigeo Tokuda, a 73-year-old Japanese porn star…
