From Arama Japan:
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Avex Group Bans CD and DVD Sales Outside Japan
Well, this doesn't sound like good news. Japan Publishers Avex Group have announced they are restricting sales of all their CDs, DVDs and Blurays. This is horrible news and one can only wonder how many more companies are going to follow suit. So far it seems to be limited to their Anime releases, but who knows how long til it branches off into their Music releases!!
From Arama Japan:
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com
From Arama Japan:
Saturday, February 11, 2017
A Vindication For T-ara
Days later, Hwayoung would release her own statement saying that the reason for her departure was because she was being bullied by the senior members of T-ara, and overnight it seemed the entire T-ara community (and Korean netizens in general) turned on T-ara. I’m not kidding. i rememebr watching as people I’d chatted to every day on T-ara forums changed their tune and began saying things like “They should be punished!” and even my friend whom I knew in real life and thought would back up T-ara to the end shrugged and said, “I don’t know who to believe!”
My initial feelings were stted here with a quick note simply saying how worried I was for them!
I was stunned that so few T-ara fans stood by them and defended them, and of how many so easily believed the accusations. Over the next coming months, T-ara fell out of the graces of the K-pop world til they were practically also-rans even though they were part of the great Hallyu Wave.
Of course, a small but soon to grow community was always there to step up for T-ara, and if you’ve followed any of my posts on K-pop sites know that I have always ever defended them, I NEVER believed the rumours of bullying no matter how many times it was brought up.
And brought up it was. It seemed that every couple of years, when animosity towards T-ara seemed to be waning, Hwayoung would appear on a show and cry about how traumatized she was being bullied, and the ball would start rolling all over again.
As you may know, in recent years, T-ara have again and again showed what fighters they are, never giving up, even if it meant starting over from scratch. they worked fastidiously and, though still shunned in Korea, have bgun making a name for themselves in China. Little by little, they began to get back TV drama roles and CM endorsements and even won a recent international fan battle.
And then Hwayoung and her sister appeared on a new show and brought up the bullying again. Finally, staff and management, who had been silent for 5 years, couldn’t stand by any more and finally released statements saying that all the bullying allegations were absolutely UNFOUNDED! They talked about her playing pretend victim, they talked about her faking her leg injuries to get out of performing. ALL of it came out, and now, FINALLY, T-ara have been proven INNOCENT!
As Captain_Fantasy Summed Up:
"For further clarity, today sisters Ryu Hwayoung (ex-T-ARA) and Ryu Hyoyoung (ex- F-ve Dolls) appeared on a Taxi themed talk show. Hwayoung spoke about her time after she was fired from CCM and she said "I hid in my room and cried for days".
Shortly afterward, an article on Instiz appeared from an ex-manager of T-ARA with screenshots from a KKT conversation saying that Hyoyoung and Hwayoung were threatening to beat Areum and cut her face.
He also goes on to say that Hwayoung never injured her leg at all when she claimed to be injured going so far as to get a cast at the hospital despite no diagnosis or any injury whatsoever.
Some skepticism was the initial response from netizens but then Hyoyoung admitted the texts were true when she said what she did to protect her sister.
Netizens are angry because they played the victims for the past 4 years at great expense to T-ARA who has been forced to endure the label of "bullies" after the infamous witch hunt of 2012.
Areum posted on instagram today thanking the ex manager for passing along the message to the media and sharing his story with the public."
Aw man, it is SUCH a good feeling to know that my girls have finally been cleared of the horrible labels laid upon them. Of course, nothing can bring back the lost time and missed opportunities, but our girls have proved they have the stuff the beat all the odds!
T-ARA HWAITING!!!!
Monday, February 6, 2017
Tokyo "What If?" Girls
Way back during the 1984 Tokyo Olympics, the three girls mused about what they would be doing by the time of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and all of them figure they will probably be married with kids by then….BUT, fast forward to 2017, and when the girls see a plaque commemorating the 1984 Games, the three realize than ALL of them are still SINGLE with no one significant in their lives. and realize they’ve got go out and find suitable boyfriends so that when the Olympics come round again they can fulfill their prophecy of happiness, but finding the right guy is harder than it looks!
There is a guy that Rinko has in mind, Tetsuro Hayasaka (Ryohei Suzuki) the producer of the TV company she works for as a screenwriter. Years ago he confessed his love for her, but back then he was so boring, she passed. Now looking at him as a successful guy with a huge career in front of him, she finds herself interested in pursuing him.
Additionally, her cute young friend Mami Shibata (Ren Ishikawa) tells Rinko that she's noticed Hayakawa staring in her direction for some time now and he must be interested in her. "I think Hayakawa likes you!" she notes.
Whenever any of the girls feels the need to discuss things, they can always find refuge at the bar that Koyuki’s father owns, where they can laugh and gossip with ggod news or complain and drown their sorrows for bad news. She calls them up for their advice on how to deal with Hayakawa....
Unfortunately, it all comes crashing to a halt when Hayakawa confesses to Rinko that he's in love with her friend MAMI, NOT her!!! Arghhh! She immedaitely calls upon her girls to meet at the bar for some serious venting.
Unfortunately, it all comes crashing to a halt when Hayakawa confesses to Rinko that he's in love with her friend MAMI, NOT her!!! Arghhh! She immedaitely calls upon her girls to meet at the bar for some serious venting.
Sympathetic, Koyuki and Kaori tell her she should get serious and become more stylish and then love will surely come, They tell her to wait til Hayasaka is rejected back and then swoop him up! They create a never ending stream of ”What if” situations, til Rinko is amped up and ready to attack again!
Unfortunately, their loud and drunken pronouncements get on the nerves of a young man sitting just behind them, and when Rinko bumps him in her drunken stupor, he lays into them, calling them pathetic “What If” girls who only whine about what could have been and never actually go out and do them.
His name is Key (Kentaro Sakiguchi) and this is a guy that Yuriko has bumped into before, and even then, though they think he is very good looking indeed, are turned off my his icy demeanor.
Adamant to at least interact with guys after the scathing admonishment , the three girls try a French restaurant, where patrons are paired up with members of the opposite sex just to mingle, but even there they find that they are considered “too old” for the majority of the dating public and no guys want to sit with them!!!
On their way back to the bar to wash away the sting of the night’s rejections, the three stumble in just as Key is leaving. They blame him for their predicament: if he hadn’t put them down the other day, they wouldn’t have gone to the restaurant and made fools of themselves. But Key takes no part of the blame and when Yuriko drunkenly stumbles and falls, he curtly says that “a grown woman can pick herself up”.
Well, that really sets them on fire, and from there they make it their mission to show him up and really aggressively try to find the ideal romance. Nobody’s gonna tell THEM that they’re a bunch of “What If” Girls! And even Key has to smile and be impressed when he sees how determined these girls are to put a stiff upper lip and fight!
Ahhh, sounds quite spirited and the show is very colorful to look at but, hmmm, gotta say, Tokyo Tarareba Msume seems like a pretty basic drama so far, with a plot that anyone can surely see coming, i.e.Rinko is bound to fall in love with Key even as Hayasaka decides he wants her back, at least that’s what usually happens in these situations.
Might be better if I even liked any of Rinko’s prospects, but I can’t say I particularly like either of them. Luckily Yuriko acts in such a slapstick and cartoonish way that the show is at least fun and entertaining to watch.Well, it is based on a manga, after all, and the parts where the show goes to animated effects like hearts appearing around Rinko or arrows being shot in her back it’s almost like a cartoon strip come to life! And there’s this running gag throughout the show that whenever Rinko’s conscience speaks to her, they appear in front of her in the form of animated liver and roe pieces, beerating her and telling her if she doesn’t get off her duff she’ll be alone for the 2020 Olympics for Sure! HAHA
So yeah, I’ll definitely be checking in on Tokyo Tarareba Musume, but more for the zany elements and not particularly for the romance storyline. But we’ll see how this one shapes up-
Friday, February 3, 2017
Ayame Gouriki Captivates My Heart in New Drama “Rental No Koi”!
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| Ayame Gouriki as Remi in Rental Noi Koi |
Our drama opens with a merry man skipping gaily down the street humming Jingle Bells to himself, a HUGE gift wrapped present in one hand. He is on his way to deliver a special gift ordered by a potential client….
Arriving at the apartment of a derpy guy named Kosuke Yamada (Taiga), the jolly man sets the huge present down and breathlessly says, ‘I’ve delivered her”. Ehhh? what did he mean?
Kosuke has no time to wonder as the box begins to open and he is engulfed in a blinding, heavenly light! When his eyes adjust, he is greeted by the sight of the most beautiful young girl, beaming a smile at him!
“Hello Ko-Chan…and Merry Christmas!” Her name is Remi (Gouriki Ayame) , and unbelievably, she is there to be his rental girlfriend! She taps a timer on her watch, and says, “We’ve got three hours! Let’s go!”
How did this happen? To find out that, we must go back a few days. It is a few days to Christmas, and Kosuke has been feeling down about having no one in his life to spend the holidays with, and while passing out flyers, he is presented with a tissue pack with a mysterious company name “Rental Lovers’ printed on it.
Usually leery of such stuff, he is desperate enough to try it out, only to find that all the girls, though every pretty indeed, are booked for Christmas!
Fortunately for Kosuke, Remi, the company’s “Number One Girl”, has had a cancellation and he is told he can have her for a beginner’s rate of only 6000 an Hour! What does he have to lose? He is told to await his delivery, and this is where we came in...!
Ko-chan is beside himself as Remi smiles at him , ready to go on their date…He just can’t believe that this gorgeous girl is there for HIM! D-Does he even dare to hold her hand as they walk down the street? He doesn’t even have to wonder- she grabs his hand right away! WHOA!!! it’s really happening!
Having never has such a beautiful girl as a date before, he tries to make it the best date ever…but true to form, even though he gets a stunning, beautiful girl as his girlfriend, he still has the shleppy mindset of the loser that he is, and continually blows his chances on the date to be “cool”...
When Remi says she wants to go to the aquarium for her date, as all couples go there, he readily agrees. but when he gets there, he is much more preoccupied with bragging to his friends about her and showing her off. Before he knows it, they’ve left the aquarium and have arrived at the park.
When it comes time for a meal, he realizes that he hasn't booked anywhere for them to go, and on Christmas Eve, finding a place that will seat them is impossible! Agh! it’s tough trying to be a suave guy!
Lucky for him, as Rental Lovers Number One Rental Girl, Remi knows how to make the best out of ANY situation, and she masterfully turns all of his flubs into positive points- When Kosuke misses taking her to the aquarium, she says she PREFERS the park!
When Kosuke hasn’t made restaurant reservations, she says she’s GLAD because she’s made him a special CHRISTMAS BENTO for lunch and wants him to try it! She even changes into a Neon Genesis Evangelion putfit as she's noticed he's a fan from his collection at home! She is 100% the perfect girlfriend for a clumsy guy like him!
Things are going so smoothly that Kosuke decides to extend the time with Remi, even though he has been warned not to by the handler. When his bill comes at the end of the day, he finds that it’s a whopping 138000 Yen! He thought that he was paying only 6000 an hour, but forgot that only the initial 3 hours was at a special rate…the extended 2 hours were at Remi’s normal rate…a massive 60000 an hour service! Such is the command price for the company’s Number One girl, and Kosuke’s plans to permanently rent Remi as his full-time girlfriend is out of the question!
The ironic thing is, (as usual in j-dramas like these), there already is a real flesh and blood not-pretend girl who truly loves him, his sweet and caring childhood friend Sumire (Yukino Kishii), but he is too thick-headed to see it.
When Sumire shows him that she bought tickets for a Christmas Eve Classical concert, the clueless Kosuke, who has no idea that she’s inviting HIM to accompany her, instead says she is brave for being able to go to one of those alone.
She is hurt by the slight, but tries to keep optimistic anyway. Of course, she is crushed when she eventually sees Kosuke out on his date with Remi. Now THAT is a girl that Kosuke seems to love!
But Remi is never going to really be Kosuke’ s girlfriend, truthfully, her entire persona is a disguise, and the dazzling, perfect and capable girl he thinks she is is nothing but a job, and when she is off the clock and alone at home, we find that Remi is just as lonely and lost as the rest of us.
Seems to be a great show so far, sweet story and MY GOSH, for someone who’s always loved Ayame Gouriki in pretty outfits, this one’s the freaking ZENITH!
AW HELL YEAAAAHHHH!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com
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