#AAA BEST!!!!

Yatta! I arrived home today with an awesome present waiting for me on the doorstep- my latest purchase from CD Japan, which was none other than the brand spanking new AAA Greatest Hits album, titled, appropriately enough, #AAABEST!, complete with the twitter hashtag affixed to the front to make it an instantly “trending” topic!

 This new Greatest Hits CD picks up from where their last Best Of left, beginning with "BEYOND Karada No Kanata” on down through to CALL  and featuring bonus new versions of “Hallelujah, Hurricane Lily Boston Mari and Get Chu!, while the second disc is a DVD  with the PVS of the singles! 

There’s a very nice 12 page Glossy Booklet with some awesome shots of the group, and a random bonus trading card as well! As far as the card goes, I was (as usual) hoping to get Chiaki, but this time the member I got was….Shuta!

CD Booklet 1

CD Booklet 2

The bonus disc on the set features the seven members of the group individually traveling to various schools around Japan dropping in on Kindergarten classes and playing games with them. AAA have always felt like the “High School Musical” of Japan, (they’d even invite kids from the audience come onstage during concerts to participate n activities between songs) and it’s nice to know that they’ve still got those sensibilities!

Ahaha, It was cute to watch the members interacting with the kids, though after about the 9^th visit, I was beginning to get a headache from all the shrilly yelling going on! Highlight of the entire excursion though, MUST go to a visit for Misako- she’s so pretty that all the girls gravitate towards her like a big sister, and as far as the boys, this one infatuated kid makes his move and during a “tunnel” walk, steals a big kiss from a stunned Misako! AHAHAHA, that's JUST what I would have done!

Stealing a kiss from Misako like a BOSS!

LOL!

All in all, another FINE collection from the group! #AAA BEST is the very first album of theirs to hit the Number One Position on the Oricon charts, and I remember feeling quite proud that I was part of that fanbase that helped propel it to the top in some small way when I heard the news!

AAA Best Promotional Poster

And as usual, CD Japan was nice enough to include a poster along with my purchase, and this time, unlike the others which were mostly poster reproductions of the Album’s cover, this poster was a really beautiful one featuring gorgeous shots from the Booklet Photoshoot, a TRUE “promotional” item! NICE!!!

Yuusha Yoshihiko To Maou No Shiro 終わり

Ahhn, where to start?  First off, as I always do when I've come to the end of a really great drama, I'm left with a huge sense of loss and loneliness knowing that I won't be seeing the characters that I've grown to love over the course of the show- when you see the same recurring people for 12 weeks straight, you really get used to having them around, and as you all know, i REALLY loved this show!

Episode 11 left us with the cliffhanger of Yoshihiko , Murasaki, Merebu and Danjou finally infiltrating the city and about to come face to face with the evil mastermind MAOU, and I was trying to guess and guess just HOW they were going to handle the eventual meeting of hero and foe...you see, in the past episodes, whenever it came time for Yoshihiko to fight the villian of the chapter, the bad guy would either reveal itself to be nothing more than a feeble old man, or, if it WAS a monster, the show would morph into bad animation to slapstically show the gang kicking the monster's butt!

 Somehow, I really didn't think it would fit the "feel" of the last episode, which had turned rather dark and somber, (for such a silly show!) furthermore I think it would have cheapened the sincere "goodbye" little sister Hisa gave Yoshihiko (in episode 10) if the fight turned out to be nothing more than a joke. I was hoping for a more serious conclusion to the show. but wasn't sure I was going to get it!

Well, turns out the last episode was INDEED a slugfest worthy of being titled as the "great battle" between Maou and Yoshihiko, (and I have to admit I was at the edge of my seat...!) but somehow, when it was all said and done, the ending still seemed a bit "rushed" to me- It seemed like the show had its big battle and then quickly ended...I think the show's finale would have benefitted by them combining episode 11 and 12 into a full hour show (each episode is only a half hour) , somehow I think that would have gave a better overall "build-up and wrap-up"..

Ahh, but why nit pick?! The show ended very nicely, which is all I ever ask of a show that I love. Watching the last episode, I was SO WORRIED that at the last moment they would do something STOOPID to RUIN the show's happy end, but it went off quite smoothly! Wish they could have done more with Murasaki and Yoshihiko's future, but as they've hinted at an upcoming movie, who's to say where it will all lead? I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Yuusha Yoshihiko To Maou No Shiro has been QUITE a ride, and it's funny- I began watching it (starting from episode 4 or so) to preoccupy myself while I waited for my OTHER favorite show ARAKAWA UNDER THE BRIDGE to get subtitled, and now Yuusha Yoshihiko has completed its 12 Episode run, but we're still only on episode TWO of Arakawa! LOL! 

Aw, Yuusha Yoshihiko was such a FUN ride! Kudos to my friend Car, who, for the first four episodes, kept badgering me to watch this "Yamada Takayuki Dungeons and Dragons TV show that's really Funny"...so GLAD I took her advice!

And special gratitude MUST be given to subber DANBURI who has faithfully and consistently subbed each and every episode of the show week by week without fail, a remarkable and noteworthy gesture these days! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE RIDE!

Little Miss Agitator

Listless

Okamoto Azusa eating a Jumbo Nigirimeshi

Yuusha Yoshihiko Episode 11 Rocks!

Finally on the Borders of Maou's Domain

GOD DAMN, Episode 11 of Yuusha Yoshihiko To Maou No Shiro was one of the most AWESOME and satisfying Japanese Drama episodes I've seen, EVER!!! SO GOOD! 

Throughout the show. Yoshihiko and his troupe have been traveling to various strange and different magical kingdoms on their was to acquiring the weapons and trinkets needed to defeat the Evil forces of Maou, from towns that behave like video games, towns full of magical sprites and zen holistic retreats, but the backdrop they chose for the domain of Maou was pure genius:

The Most Evil place Imaginable: the Real World!

Out of all the hellish scenarios they could have dreamed up they really chose the PERFECT backdrop for the most evil being in their lands: the REAL world! Like Jesus entering the decadent land of King Herod, nothing could be more fitting than the real world with it's allure of all the evil vices like gluttony, sloth and sex to tempt the good-hearted heroes to stray off the path of righteousness!

Sampling the Tokyo Fare

To blend in with this strange (to them) world, the Yoshihiko Gang adopts the attire of the local townsfolk (read: Normal Tokyo style clothes) and I found it thrilling to see them all taking in the food and sights out of costume, especially (of course) Haruka Kinami, who looked simply adorable in her sassy, girly clothes! And before they know it, all four heroes have fallen for this new city life....WHAT AN INTRIGUING EPISODE!

Crusing in the Park like all the Townies...

Gullible Murasaki doesn't recognize an obvious come-on... 

Merebu gets a talking to by Danjou

A Realization

Granted, an off-beat show like this one is not for everyone, and if you weren't watching this show all along, I don't think this episode will be any good reason to start, but for those of us who were, this is as good as it gets! Man, I don't know how the Final Episode can live up to this! 


 They've built this thing up so well, and despite its EXTREME silliness, also managed to throw in some genuine heart which made for some great emotional scenes, so much that you care so much for this crazy bunch of ragtag heroes and I'm BESIDE MYSELF with anticipation to see just how it all winds up! God,  I love this show so much and am dreading what I'll do when it's all over! I don't want this to end!!!!!!

Sada Mayumi eating Fettucini

Crush Of The Day: Okamoto Azusa

One of the recurring passages in each episode of "Yuusha Yoshihiko To Maou No Shiro" is to end each episode with Yoshihiko's little sister Hisa watching worriedly at him from behind a tree as he goes off into the sunset, and a further gag is that for some reason, she's always dressed in a different costume each time...

Aloha Attire, Yankee Gal gangbanger outfits, it's (I suppose) supposed to be funny how she always looks like she's in the middle of some other genre comic than the Sci-Fi/Fantasy one in Yuusha Yoshihiko, but I must profess to being confused more than titillated.  Perhaps the outfits are relating to some inside joke I'm not in on? 

Anyway, confusion aside,  I've always thought that actress Azusa Okamoto was a very pretty little lady, and it was quite nice seeing her  each episode, but one thing that I REALLY liked was whenever her costume required her to be dressed up in a Blonde Wig. 

Man, she looks so good in these get-ups! It was even better when episode 10, which was centered around Hisa, was one where she was draped as a blonde throughout the whole show! SO PRETTY! (This of course, is my OWN Opinion, and your own mileage may very.)

Car informs me that Cutie Azusa-chan appears in the rainbow star-spangled ikemen drama "Tumbling"... gads, I love Azusa but I'm not sure if it warrants any forays into THAT territory! (Though that would make Car's day, THAT'S for sure! She's been only trying to get me to watch that one since episode 1!) LOL

YATTAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

Yes, what you see in my hands is none other than that coveted issue of the Japanese WEEKLY PLAYBOY with lsucious Kiritani Mirei gracing its cover, an issue I was beginning to think I was never going to find!

Earlier today I was making my way down to the town WAL-MART to look for a clock for my living room (ever since I gave up cable I realized how much I relied on the  converter box to see the time of day, but I digress...) and on the way I decided to make one more trip to Nippon Shoten. As I mentioned earlier, the last time I checked, they didn't have any Weeklies on the shelf, but since it was the last place I'd purchased any PB's, I hoped they might still have brought some in!

Stepping in, it didn't take but a second to immediately recognize the Kiritani Mirei issue sitting right on the rack, and snatching the copy up as fast as my hands could move, it was all I could do to restrain myself from doing a Hallelujah dance right in the store!

Flipping through the sleek, glossy pages upon arriving home, the pics were just as beautiful as the scans I'd seen online, and the magazine even featured a nice B&W article on Mirei's "graduation" from Seventeen Magazine complete with pics from the "ceremony"! Awesome!

As if that wasn't enough, the issue also featured articles on those ubiquitous AKB48 girls and a sneak peek pictures from Morning Musume 's Takahashi Ai's upcoming shashinshuu! Nice pics but UGH for that short hair!

Ai Takahashi

Mirei So Delicious!

When I found out that Mirei Kiritani was gracing the cover of the latest WEEKLY PLAYBOY with her luscious looks, I busted a move down to the Japan Bookstore, only to realize that 1. Hakubundo doesn't carry the Weekly Playboy anymore, and 2. Nippon Shoten (where I purchased my last PB with Miura Rieko years ago) didn't have too much of anything! Man, where does a guy have to go to get the Weekly anymore? There was a time when right in the McCully area, you had five, yes FIVE!!! Japanese Bookstores to shop from, Bunbundo, Hakubundo, Nippon Shoten, Iwase Books and one that I completely forgot its name (across the street from the Hawaii Rent-All) and back then even Shirokiya carried at LEAST the "regular" titles. Now we ain't got CRAP!

Ah well, at least true believers like the awesome HPriest via Tokyohive have been kind enough to grace us with these absolutely KILER scans of Mirei's pictorial HERE, such STUNNING pics of Mirei-chan looking more grown up and SEXY than ever!!!

Up To Episode 6 or 2...

Thrilled to find  Episode 6 of my beloved "Arakawa Under The Bridge"up for grabs, and right on the heels of SUBS for Episode 2! This is one of the very few shows that I love so much that I'll watch the show RAW, but it's still a relief to know that the translations are still slowly but (hopefully) surely coming!

Besides being a really sweet episode, this chapter featured the shot used for the promotional picture of Riku carrying Nino on his back as she pointed to some object off-camera. Was so cool to see it and go HEY! That's the Drama Pic!!!

A Double Treat!

It was a Banner day the other day when I found that not only was episode 8 of "Yuusha Yoshihiko to Maou No Shiro" up, but amazingly enough, the subs for Episode Two of ARAKAWA UNDER THE BRIDGE as well!! Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa~

MAN, how I love these two shows!!!