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wStuff You Don't Wanna Know But Are Reading Anyway |
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I dunno how you found this, but alas, here you are. So enjoy the frightening fruits of my troubled little brain.
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wSaturday, January 31, 2009 |
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feeling: ulcerated
listening to: Gakkou ja Oshierarenai BGM in my head
So I still haven't booked any flights or anything for the last BLOOD tour that's coming up. Or I should say, that's already going on. Originally I wanted to go to as much of it as possible, but someone didn't send me the necessary itinerary-type stuff until 6 days before I'd have to take off for Boston (Feb. 1, two days away now), and even that was only half of what I needed and took two weeks of prodding before he sent it to me... so I figure I'm apparently not really needed that much anyway. Besides, last time I went on a full tour with them, though it was fun, I spent a majority of the time hanging around off to the side by myself, not contributing or being called upon except for random trivial little stuff. Well, besides interpreting a couple interviews.
So yeah, for those and a few other reasons, I decided to only go to their very last show, in Chicago on Feb. 5. But I still haven't booked anything. Can't decide now whether I should fly there or rent a car. Both would cost roughly the same at this point, I think. If I fly, I'll just meet everyone in the airport and run around with them until we all return to the airport the next morning to part ways, and if I rent a car I'll be able to leave a day early, rest the night before in a hotel, help provide transportation, visit Mitsuwa again before going home, and basically take my time. Problem with driving is, this time I'd be doing it alone, which would get really tedious and boring, not to mention easier easier to get lost... and easier to fall asleep at the wheel not having anyone else's safety to stay alert for. Also, of course, there's no telling what the weather will bring then.
So yeah, flying seems like the wiser choice. Just seems like a lot of wasted effort to get to the airport at like 6am for a flight that would only take 6 hours in a car, spend exactly one day there, and fly right back home the next morning. Oh well, I guess that's life.
I feel like I should be more broken up about BLOOD's dissolution and more determined to spend as many days as possible with them on this last tour, and sure enough back when it was first confirmed, that was exactly what I felt... but... I don't know. It just doesn't seem as blindingly awesome to me now, for some reason. And saying I'm going with them as staff isn't worth much since they don't really need me in that capacity anymore. Haven't for a long time.
Anyway... one upside is, only going to Chicago means I can save the rest of my money for something else. Like that trip to Japan I'll never get to make. Or, more realistically, a whole truckload of goodies from Mitsuwa. God, I love that place. I could live there. Seriously, as much as the BLOOD concert, I'm looking forward to eating oyakodon there again. *fails*
comment! (2)
dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 1/31/2009 12:16:00 AM
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wMonday, January 19, 2009 |
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feeling: sleepy
listening to: some hymn stuck in my head...
I'm increasingly tempted to give up waiting for Uta no Oniisan to end and just start watching a new drama while I wait for the next episode to air. I dunno, for some reason the idea of watching two dramas simultaneously squicks me. But maybe after watching the first episode of UtaOni and seeing how light and simple it was, and how sufficiently I could follow it, I kinda feel like watching another series in between won't cause my brain too much twisting and writhing.
There are just way too many dramas I want to see, and for the past few days I've been in a mood to watch some, but haven't had any since I finished Tantei Gakuen Q. So why not, I guess. Not right now though. I'm already sleepy and doubt I could keep my eyes open for a drama episode's hour-long duration. I'm only not in bed yet because my cat is hogging it.
Yeah, it's 2 am and my cat is inside and zonked out on my bed, and I'd really rather not wake her. Once she wakes up she'll go downstairs and want to eat, and along the way she's pretty much guaranteed to encounter her psychotic little temporary roommate, at which point the yowling match will wake up the parents and they'll blame the racket on her and throw her out in the below-freezing cold. Yeah, dad says she and Spotty are "getting along better," but I have no idea what angle he's seeing this from. In the course of the week since Spotty came here, Ginger has actually gone from simple growling and screaming at the intruder to actually trying to attack her. I fail to see how this is an improvement. And right now I think the only reason Spotty doesn't bother to fight back is because she's distracted by more primal instincts. Read: she's coming into season. Wonderful.
But yeah. This room is my cat's one safe haven of peace and quiet away from the little pest and potential fights, since for some reason Spotty doesn't come up here. She did a couple times in the beginning, but as soon as she becomes aware of my presence she gets pissy and leaves, and she hasn't been back up here in days now. Perfectly fine with me. Fur won't fly and my fat elderly furball can enjoy a few hours of no fighting and normal blood pressure as long as she stays up here. Didn't really like the little psycho beast getting into my stuff up here anyway. She just about got her nose pinched off by the mousetrap under my dresser early on, which Ginger is too fat to squeeze through the cracks and get to, and my reward for keeping her out of it was more growling and hissing and swatting. This cat is seriously damaging my reputation as a cat lover, because honestly, I kind of can't stand her anymore. The soreness and swelling and bruising on my right wrist left by all her slashes and bite wounds on Tuesday is only just now recovering enough that I can bend my wrist normally. Still hurts to touch it.
Ok, yeah, enough random pointless sleep-drunken ranting. Sorry, Ginger. I really need that bed now.
comment! (0)
dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 1/19/2009 02:08:00 AM
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wFriday, January 16, 2009 |
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feeling: annoyed
listening to: nothing
Wait, what? Since when is Japan 14 hours ahead of here? It's always been either 12 or 13 hours difference depending on DST. Hasn't it? Am I that far our of touch?
Ugh. I got up at 11 this morning for nothing. Actually, no, I was awake over an hour before that thanks to one of the felines going insane and hissing her throat out. Whatever. Point is I was all excited thinking I could get up at 11:15 on Fridays and watch Uta no Oniisan, but nooooooo, it was on at 9:15. Screw that. I'll wait a few hours for people to upload it in high quality.
Yes, this was my own stupid fault for not checking ahead. I don't care. I needed to rant.
And since I stayed up last night watching the end of my Kamiki Ryunosuke drama thinking I was pressed to finish it before UtaOni started, I'll go ahead and review it now, I guess.
Tantei Gakuen Q
Or, Detective Academy Q, in which Q stands for "qualified class." It's about a group of junior high kids (and one guy in his 20s) who are in a special "class" training to become the successor to the famous detective Morihiko Dan. The kids are Kyuu, Megu, Kazuma, and Ryuu, and the adult is Kinta; Kyuu is friendly and cheerful and optimistic and brave and all-around cute; Megu is a lot cuter than someone her age should be and has a photographic memory; Kazuma is a computer genius and video game designer; Ryuu is the moody little guy who's keeping a secret from the others; and Kinta is the strong, sharp-eyed big brother figure who looks out for them in his own dorky way.
I only got this drama because Kamiki Ryunosuke, my all-time favorite child actor who's turning 16 soon (God I'm old), plays the lead character Kyuu... so I wasn't expecting much, but it turned out to be really interesting for being centered around a bunch of kids. Which sort of made me feel like a pedophile watching it, but anyway. :\ It was a pretty interesting twist on a mystery/suspense drama, a bit cheesy and predictable at times, but grew more intense with each episode and remained engaging through the end. O-or maybe I was just holding out hope that, by the last episode, Kazuma would take off his hat. *cough*
No, seriously. All these kid actors did a pretty good job. Kamiki Ryunosuke is still adorable, Yamada Ryosuke (as Ryuu) was obviously a Johnny's boy in the making right from his cocky little moody idol strut in his first scene (and sure enough he has since debuted with Hey!Say!JUMP), and Shida Mirai (Megu) is gonna be a gorgeous actress someday, and OMG Kazuma. Something about that boy was sosososo adorable. Besides the hat. *cough* He apparently hasn't been in any other dramas, except a tiny side role in a 2004 one. Hopefully he'll show up more in the future. (Wakaba Katsumi, for my own reference)
And I guess I should do Kiken na Aneki too, while I'm here... it's been a while, but I'll try...
Kiken na Aneki
Means "dangerous [older] sister." The story begins in some remote little boondocks town called home by the Minagawa family, whose father is the owner of a successful and award-winning shochu (a Japanese liquor) brewery owner. His kids are also successes in their own right; elder sister Hiroko is cute, optimistic, friendly, and cheerful to the point of annoying, and younger brother Yutaro is a prodigy who aims to become a doctor. He's elated when he passes his med school exam and moves to Tokyo to pursue his dream... and he's not so happy when, 6 years later, his big sister shows up in his apartment out of the blue, saying their father lost the shochu brewery and then passed away. Hiroko thinks the siblings should stick together at a time like this, and wants Yutaro to help her save Minagawa Shochu... but Yutaro wants nothing more to do with the Minagawa name and just wants to keep his job at the hospital and go on with his own life. So the series is basically about how the impossibly sweet, cheerful Hiroko worms her way into the life of her overly serious little brother in hopes of keeping her father's business alive.
Honestly, while it wasn't a bad drama at all, it just... wasn't particularly memorable. Hiroko was played by the very popular actress Ito Misaki, which was pretty much its one saving point - she was crazy and exaggerated, but formed some interesting links holding together an otherwise bland cast of characters. Overall, though, it was just kind of... there.
I guess that's it for now. Nephew is on his way up for the weekend again. Joy.
comment! (2)
dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 1/16/2009 02:48:00 PM
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wSunday, January 11, 2009 |
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feeling: frustrated
listening to: Arashi - Pikanchi
I knew from the start that bringing my brother's cat here while he's in Georgia for 8 weeks was a bad, bad idea. We already have a cat. An old, fat, spoiled, 13 year old cat who hasn't had to share this house with another animal since 2005. And now she's slinking around the house scared to walk around the next corner, never knowing where the temporary invader is lurking, despite the fact that said invader is also so scared that she won't set foot outside the master bedroom during the day when Ginger's inside. They've both always been friendly cats, but now they're both so stressed they growl and hiss and go into defensive posturing whenever even one of us tries to approach. Ginger, my closest friend for 13 years, won't even look at me without growling now, and Spotty absolutely hates me ever since she saw me sitting with Ginger petting her and trying to calm her down during their first yowling match.
This all frustrates me way freaking more than it should. For reasons even I don't entirely understand, and wouldn't feel like spelling out here even if I did.
Instead, since in the process of downloading Kamiki Ryunosuke's 2007 drama I was reminded that I still never wrote a review for Ryusei no Kizuna, I'll try to do that now. Can't promise it'll be as thorough (read: gushy) as my other reviews, but I'll try. Just to work out some frustration and tire myself out enough to go to bed.
Ryusei no Kizuna
This drama was... not the best I've ever seen, not the worst, but interesting. When I first heard the synopsis before it aired - three siblings whose parents were murdered grow up and vow to find the criminal together and kill him themselves - I was expecting a dark suspense-ish revenge story, kinda like Maou but with more of a... family feel? But watching just the first episode proved how very wrong I was.
It was hilarious.
I mean, with a synopsis like that, who would've expected humor? Which is probably what made the humor in it extra-funny, I guess. Element of surprise and stuff.
Anyway, let me expand that synopsis a little more. Koichi, Taisuke, and Shizuna are the children of parents who own a little restaurant, and one night they decide to sneak out to watch a rare meteor shower together (hence the title, which roughly means "meteor bond")... but when they return home, they find their parents stabbed to death. They're placed in foster care and the police, of course, can't seem to figure out who the killer was. Meanwhile the three kids promise to each other on a shooting star that when they grow up, they'll find the killer and kill him themselves. Years pass, they grow up, eldest brother Koichi has taken over the family restaurant (kinda) and Taisuke lives with their little sister Shizuna. Shizuna, as it happens, becomes a victim of fraud and loses... like, 30,000 yen or 300,000 yen or something, I forget... and that event inspires the siblings to get together and form a little swindling operation of their own to get her money back from various gullible people - all of whom remain tied to the story later, of course. Anyway, eventually they single out a young guy as their next target, and Shizuna starts to lure him into security while the brothers coincidentally find out that this young guy's father is the same man they saw leaving their restaurant/house after their parents were killed years ago. So they set out trying to prove this man's guilt, but meanwhile, Shizuna ends up complicating things by developing feelings for his son, her intended fraud target.
Wow, that came out long. But yeah... doesn't sound like it'd be particularly humorous, does it? But oh, the little side stories on their fraud victims are so random and disturbingly hilarious... among other moments. Ahem. Post-its? CONDOMS! ...yeah, I rest my case.
Anyway... yeah. It's weird. The drama was so confusing in the sense that it bounced between vengeance and suspense and comedy and etc, and to be honest it wasn't nearly as gripping as Maou (why I'm using that as a yardstick, I'm not sure), but it was interesting. All the random crazy stuff thrown in, all the dorky cuteness of the eldest brother Koichi (guess who played him? Ninomiya Kazunari, of course. orz), the unexpected twists and wrenches thrown in to their search for the killer... I found that every episode I watched seemed to fly by, and at the end of each one I was quite bouncy for the next to arrive. And even after all this babbling about it, I still can't pinpoint exactly why.
Ok... gonna stop there. Guess my next review will be that Kamiki Ryunosuke series, Tantei Gakuen Q, since I'm hoping to finish that before Uta no Oniisan starts on Friday.
...You know, if I were to make a list of all the dramas I still have yet to acquire and watch, it would... um... be really long. Sorry, my brain died and ran out of amusing segues. Must be time for bed.
[edit: I just realized that I never wrote a review for Kiken na Aneki. Darn it.]
comment! (4)
dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 1/11/2009 03:14:00 AM
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