Notes on "1Q84"

1Q84

Just finished Haruki Murakami’s “1Q84”, and HOLY HELL was it GOOD! This is the fourth book I’ve read by him, and it is without a doubt my favorite one yet! The story of the two star-crossed (moon crossed, rather) romantics Aomame and Tengo fighting against distance, time and unfortunate events to meet one another laid against the surreal backdrop of other-worldy “little people” who control the world behind the veil of a mysterious cult is a mysterious, engaging and totally exciting tome of EPIC proportions!

The book takes its time to introduce and flesh out the main characters with so much care that you come to really love them, from the main characters of Aomame, Tengo and the precocious 17 year old scene-stealer Fuka-Eri down to the wizened Dowager and her kind but gruff bodyguard Tamaru and even Tengo’s outspoken Editor Komatsu, their personalities just leap off the page and make you want to read MORE!

I can’t remember a time when a book thoroughly entertained me so much- the pages of my book are now full of post-its marking some of my favorite scenes and quotes, some intriguing, some hilarious, and some just every beautiful and poetic passages. Leaving those stuck there so I can refer back and read them from time to time!

After finishing up the book which ended with one of the most SATISFYING CONCLUSIONS yet, I was sorely in need of more 1Q84, and so went online to read up more about it. It was here I found that there is quite a bit of appreciation for this novel by people all over, and some of the artier ones have even taken the time to ILLUSTRATE their versions of what the characters and the world of 1Q48 looked like through THEIR eyes! Some samples:

The Two Moons theme and portraits of Tengo and Amame ruled the web:

Fan Art: Tengo and Aomame

not to mention lots of cool and moody depictions of FukaEri…

Fan Art: Fuka Eri

A few people latched on to the wonderful scene where Tengo is sitting on the top of a slide in a playground at night looking at the moons while Aomame watches him...

Fan Art: Tengo Looking at the Moons

and more drew upon the scene where Aomame got out of her taxi and climbed down the emergency escape of the trafffic-clogged Autobahn, leaving 1984 and stepping into the new mysterious world of 1Q84…

Fan Art: Aomame in the Taxi 

Fan Art: Aomame Descending the Stairwell

And who can forget the spellbinding scene of the "Little People" spinning their "Air Chrysalis" with Fuka Eri?

All these and MANY MORE drawings are scattered ALL OVER GoogleImages!

Another thing that I found so fascinating : Haruki Murakami writes his stories with such detail that I would find myself wanting to look up what some of the things he referred to actually looked like: Aomame’s Green Junko Shimada dress. The Esso “Tiger In Your Tank” Billboard which figured prominently in the backdrop of the important scenes.The Autobahn which Aomame used to climb down from, etc…and guess what? when you typed in “1Q84 into the image search engine, ALL of these images came up with it! It seems there were a LOT of people looking up these images after reading his book!

Now it’s off to the bookstore once again because I’m going to need another book to fill the void 1Q84 has left- hope the next one can even come close-this was one really terrific tale!

PS: Funny, I never realized until someone mentioned it online, the title makes a lot more sense when you read it in Japanese, as "9" is pronounced "Kyu", so the book in Japanese is called "Ichi-Q-Hachi-Yon", a very punny title indeed!

PPS: Just found out the designer behind the awesome 1Q84 American Release cover (which I showed a bit of here) was none other than Chip Kidd, the guy who had designed the recent Charlie Brown and Peanuts hardcover volumes! VERY nice work!!!

PPPS: Reading the Wikipedia page, very interesting to realize that in the Japanese version,  "Air Chrysalis" is written as "Kuki Sanagi"... So, that means that Inazuman's morph stage was actually called CHRYSALIS MAN? I always thought Inazuman kind of looked like a moth, but Chrysalis Man? That's disgusting! No wonder they wrote that character out in the second season! LOL

PPPPS: Just came back from Ala Moana's Barnes & Nobles, and it looks like Murakami's famous "Norwegian Wood" novel is going to be my next read! Saw it on the shelf and just felt in my heart that this was the one!

Hmm, and after I read this I think it'll be time to watch the Rinko Kikuchi/Kenichi Matsuyama movie as well! Already got it downloaded and ready to go!!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Seiko’s New Gig

Hmmm, seems like "Eternal Idol" Seiko Matsuda’s been making headlines lately with her new gig as model for  the Triumph Lingerie Company’s Floral line, and she’s looking good as ever!

Kind of funny to see her being talked about in the news as a “55 year Old Lingerie Model” as if that was the high point of her long and storied life, but hey, it’s promotion, and if you got it, flaunt it!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Quartet 終わり

Just wrapped up watching the final episode of the highly enjoyable and totally cute drama Quartet- damn, for a drama that seemed more about four people’s daily run of the mills lives than any of the actual story arcs, it sure packed a lot of punch and is one show I will really miss!

At first the show seemed like a murder mystery as Maki is suspected of killing her husband. Then the show seemed to be about deception as each individual member was revealed to have hidden agendas, and then the show seemed to be about the group's almost unattainable dream of becoming successful musicians in the field...but as you sat back, you realized: it didn't matter WHAT the show was about as LONG as the four of them were together!

I already know that as the days go by I am really going to be missing seeing them each week: Takako Matsu as Maki Maki, the "Mom" of the group, Ryuhei Matsuda s Beppu the "Dad" of the group, Issei Takahashi as Yutaka the rascally "brother" of the group and Hikari Mitsushima as Suzume, the group's resident "little sister"...these people really made the show a full and vibrant one!

Sure, there were a few nail-biting episodes with lots of tribulations and trials (some quite literally) and lots of exciting developments, but ultimately, the show ended the way it began: four entirely sweet and caring people doing everyday things where the main point was to be together and be there for each other! SUCH A SWEET SHOW!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Crush Of The Day: Hikari Mitsushima

And Boy oh BOY I just can’t end my GUSH on drama Quartet without mentioning how much of an impact Hikari Mitsushima had on me- Holy Toledo, she was so freaking adorable in each episode that I must have screen-capped over a hundred pics! 

It's true that most of them have no real meaning without the context of the scene: Suzume bringing attention to a letter, Suzume hugging Maki, Suzume kicking off her socks backstage in the wings, etc, but there were some where she was too damn pretty  and cute NOT to post!

Man, how can this chick be at some times so goofily eccentric and then turn around and be so strikingly gorgeous? Not sure, but Hikari did it in every episode! Man, Suzume has become one of my favorite television characters, that for sure!

 Hikari has really become one of my new BIG favorite actresses and I’m looking forward to seeing her in many more dramas to come!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Haruki Murakami's "1Q84"

Haruki Murakami's 1Q48

About 3/4ths of the way through Haruki Murakami’s book “1Q84”, and what an awesome, intriguing and totally SURREAL trip it is!

As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, 1Q84 was the very first Haruki Murakami novel I ever saw- the striking cover of a steely eyed femme fatale staring out through the letters of the title was interesting to say the least! But it wasn’t until I heard a few of his stories on NPR and falling in love with them that I actually began looking for his books to read. As detailed earlier, the first book I read from him was “Dance Dance Dance” and then  “The Elephant Vanishes” and “Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years Of Pilgrimage”, and now, finally I decided it was high time I got around to reading  the Haruki Murakami novel that had, for the longest time, been synonymous with his name

Murakami’s novels are always so strange and dreamlike that it’s hard to summarize the storyline in a paragraph, but here goes: 1Q84 tells the tale of two people, Aomame and Tengo:

Front Cover: Aomame

Aomame is a cool and methodical woman (the aforementioned “steely-eyed girl” in the cover) who is a loner who works as a muscle therapist by day…and as a sleek,  calm and collected assassin by night! Her choice of murder weapon is a sharp and perfectly honed icepick which she uses to stab a vein thru the back of the neck- if she does if jsut right, the victim will look like he’s only had a heart attack and no foul play is suspected.

On her way to one such mission, Aomame is waylaid because of a traffic jam and she opts to walk the rest of the way rather than sit in the unmoving taxi. As she makes her way to her destination, she notices an odd sight: there seems to be TWO moons hanging in the night sky. From this point on, there is a strange shift in what she believes is factual and what isn’t. She notices the policemen  in outfits she doesn’t recognize, carrying weapons she isn’t familiar with. When she speaks about it to others, however, they tell her that that’s how it’s been for awhile. Even worse, when she reads up on old news, events are reported that she didn’t remember happening. Is the world changing or is she becoming crazy?

Back Cover: Tengo

Tengo is a math cram School teacher by day who gets pressured by his boss to re-write a girl named Fuka Eri’s novel “Air Chrysalis” . It’s an engaging story but it needs some polish so they can enter it for consideration for the debut writers of the year award. Tengo meets up with Fuka Eri who is (in the great tradition of Haruki Murakami novels) a detached, morose girl who says nothing unless prompted, but they get along well, and through their working relationship, become close.

The story of Air Chrysalis itself is a story of a girl who is pursued by a bunch of mysterious creatures called “the Little People” who work at night doing strange and spooky things…and with their arrival is the appearance of Two Moons in the sky!

What is the connection between  Aomame’s two moons and the two moons of Fuka Eri’s story? What is her connection to Tengo and what is his connection to her? And just who or WHAT are the Little People? These questions and more are the reason I keep turning the pages of the book! And it seems the more that is revealed, the more that needs explaining! Better get back to it!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

In Praise of the Original “Super Monkeys” Tracks

I got into J-pop just as singer Namie Amuro was ascending to the heights of J-pop popularity,  back in 1995, it seemed like there was no place you could go or show you could watch  (J-pop wise) without seeing her face or hearing one of her catchy songs. I had already picked up her CD “Dance Tracks” which featured all of her recent electronic dance hits, but it was when the J-pop buyer of Tower Records had brought in all of Namie’s earlier singles with Super Monkey’s that I decided I had to investigate her music more!

 I bought all four of the singles, and upon getting home, i was happily surprised at how catchy and FUN the songs were! I was used to associating Namie Amuro with the Electonic style music, and it was thrilling to hear her doing actual, bubbly and cutesy J-POP!

The first single, from late 1992 was the song “Koi No Cute Beat” and it was very much in the style of Pony Canyon acts, jangly synth pop, but it was the B-side “Mister USA” that really caught my ear- so dancey and full of happy pop  (think Radio Disney) that I just couldn’t get enough! It was hearing this song that I knew Namie was going to be an artist whom I would love for life!

The next song was the theme song from the cartoon Nintama Rantarou, a tune called “Dancing Junk”. Anna Makino had left the group by this time and they had changed their name to “Super Monkey’s 4”. 

This was an OK song, (though I must admit this live performance below is really great) but it is noteworthy that the B-side for this single was a Namie Amuro solo track, “Rainbow Moon”. Namie was already being groomed as the focus of the group and she proved she had the voice to do it!

The next single was a dancey number called “Aishite Muscat” which I really dug, and WOW, the "sound" of the future Namie Amuro and Super Monkeys was finally here!!! Such a rocking song!!

The B-side was the Namie Amuro Solo song “Wagamama Wo Yurushite”, and this was a powerful ballad that showed beyond doubt that this girl had the vocals worthy of superstardom! Give a listen to that powerful soulful choruses- hard to believe Namie is only 15 years old here!

The fourth single was “Paradise Train”, a super catchy groovy song, and the breezy vocal style of hers is unmistakeable!!!

...and if I thought the A-Side was good, the B-Side “Kanashiki Broken Boy” was even BETTER- So cool and CATCHY, this happy song is still one of my all-time favorite Namie Amuro tracks ever!

Listening to it, it’s AMAZING to realize how much this group had grown in such a short time- Within just 4 singles, Super Monkey’s had gone from a Disney-styled Kid Group to a full-fledged J-Pop Group with one HELLUVA singer! They had gone from Koi No Cute Beat to Paradise Train and their ascent was now complete as their very next single would be TRY ME~Watashi o Shinjite!!

Try Me, was, of course, the first single of the new “Techno-fied” Namie Amuro who would go on to conquer Japan with singles like Stop the Music, Chase the Chance, Taiyo No Season, Stop the Music,  A Walk In The Park and the all-time classic Can You Celebrate?! And to think, it all started with that cute little girl group Super Monkeys!

PS: By the time Namie had released her Tetsuya Koumro-penned song “Don’t Wanna Cry”, Namie had completely gone solo and the Super Monkeys were nowhere to be found. My world was oncea gain rocked when my co-worker Holly told me,  “You know that after Namie went solo, the other girls in Super Monkeys continued on as a new group, right?  They’re called MAX”. “WHATTT!!!!” I said. I made my way to the local J-pop Video rental store (this was a Japanese video rental shop in Waimalu Shopping Center, another long-gone store) and picked up the latest MUSIC STATIONs, and right there onstage was Mina, Reina, Nana and Rina as the newly formed MAX, singing their AWESOME new song “Tora Tora Tora”  and from there, a BRAND NEW favorite group was born!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com