I've been watching Blue Seed for old-times sake lately, but now I am catching up on recent Jpop files. Today, it was Futarigoto 15, 16 and 17. You can find them here.
I watched Domoto Kyoudai with Aya Matsuura from 4.25.2004, and I thought it was funny so I translated the "ichimon ittou" [one question, one answer] part. It's the main part of the show. You can find it here. If there is any demand, maybe I'll do the rest.
Nothing terribly exciting planned for today, so time to catch up on stuff I missed. Starting with Futarigoto #14
I also went to the gym and exercised while watching the most recent episodes of Utaban, Domoto Tsuyoshi no Shoujiki Shindoi and Matthew's Best Hit TV. A summary of all three is here.
I just got back from Sakura-con, it was entertaining. I went to the Tofu records panel, found out a bit about what they're trying to do. My friend and I also gave a Jpop panel. We tried to give a good overview of everything from seiyuu to Ayu to L'arc to Hello Project, as well as show some promotion videos and music shows where translation wasn't very necessary. We also went to panels for Akitaro Daichi, Hiroshi Nagahama, Yoshitoshi Abe and Yasuyuki Ueda and got their autographs. Of course, we went to the hiro concert, regretably without glowsticks. The schedule said glowsticks would be handed out between 7 and 8pm. We arrived at 7:36pm and they had not given any out yet. We asked for some to take to the concert and the staff said no because they didn't feel like it. I thought much more than in the past, many staff members were on a power trip. The hiro concert itself was enjoyable, though a bit late. She spoke a bit in English, and catered to the otaku by singing "Fly Me to the Moon" in English. I went to her panel the following day, it was interesting to hear answer questions. The questions fans asked were very general, such as "Do you like your time in Seattle" etc. I wanted to be noticed by the AVEX staff, and I wanted to separate myself from the typical anime otaku who only know a song if it is tied to a particular anime. So I asked her in Japanese which music show she liked the most. Naturally, the translator asked me to repeat the question in English for the other fans, so I did. But I thought it was cool that hiro and I were able to engage in a brief conversation without the translator. He was a nice guy, but how often does a white Jpop fan get a chance to speak directly with a Jpop star? She asked me directly in Japanese "Do you mean which do I like appearing on?" I replied "Yes, to appear on, such as Utaban or Hey Hey Hey etc." She said she liked appearing on Utaban, and liked Nakai. I didn't see if the Avex cameraman recorded me, but I hope he did, and I hope I make it some some DVD, like for her fanclub, but I doubt it. Anyway, then the translator repeated our conversation in English. That was definitely one of the high points for me.
Now, what I hope will be a useful part of this blog, some English summaries. First is Rika Ishikawa's radio show from 4.15.2004, Chanchaka Charmy.
One more thing for today, I watched Tofu Records's R1 release of T.M. Revolution's Crush 2002 Concert DVD, and created a review of it here.
I went to the A+nation Concert this year, July 27th at the Kasai Rinkai Park. It was a great experience I'll never forget, definitely the highlight of my trip to japan. I heard that a DVD of the tour would be coming out 10/10, but that may or may not be true, I don't remember who I heard it from. So far, the only A+nation DVD I know of is the A+nation invitation magazine+dvd for 2003...it's performances from the 2002 tour. It's a magazine, not a book, but I remember amazon carried it. It's somewhere at www.amazon.co.jp, but I couldnt find it again when I checked just now. I got mine from some bookmstore in Tokyo Staton.
My friends and I went together, but because we're all white, we couldnt get tickets on our won, we had to buy from scalper stores. Sure I paid twice as much as I should've, but I got like 5th row, so I was like 10 meters from my beloved Tomiko Van and Kaori Mochida, and for a once in a lifetime or at least a long time experience, I'm willing to pay that. They said there were 25,000 people in attendance.
For the setlist, as best I can remember, here it is. Don't read more if you don't want it spoiled.
Comments, questions, please email me at crazyaoshi@yahoo.com