First of all sorry for the long delay! Due to pisspoor time management and pressing matters I haven't been able to update anything even though there was enough material. Still I wouldn't deny laziness is also to blame. Without further ado (I like this idiom, knowing so many people using it) here is my last update for 2012.
To keep this entry simple and straightforward, I made a couple questions which you may ask upon seeing the magazines.
What is it then?
#28-#37
By definition it is actually a newsletter about Nana Mizuki lastest news. Combined with fanletters, interviews, Nana's song chart etc. Anything that can be related to her, is included. And on top of it, it has a lot of pictures of photoshoots. You can get pictures you won't see anywhere. Still I am not really sure if I can name it newsletter or magazine. The cover says 'Nana's magazine' So for efficiency I will call it 7mag. I did first have 7 of them. But since I could find more, I bought three more.
Pick-Up Voice VS Nana's Magazine
This or the seiyuu magazines?
Both have their pluspoints and downsides. 7mags are cheaper and smaller. The paper format is between A4 and A5. The content is full of Nanaliciousim. (Yes this is a word, in my mind) It has exclusive photoshoots and important announcements. However Seiyuu mags like Animedia, Pick-up etc, are more expensive. The price covers high quality of paper, other seiyuus in spotlight and delicious extras like XBOX huge posters. So it all depends on what you want. I would totally recommend the 7mags if you are a Nanatard.
Soo how much did you pay for it?
I was actually surprised by the price. I have paid in the range 300-500 Yen each. It does depend which offer you could find. Manadarake has pretty much a fixed prices for all Nana goods. At proxy shopping you can - if you are lucky- even get 7mags for 200 Yen. Then again it's compromised with loads of costs.
Okay okay I see where you are going. Where to buy it, mister Obvious?
A 7mag is released every four months in a year. It's a part of privilege of being an official fan of the Nana fanclub. Of course receiving this gem isn't the only thing you get as an official fan. However I am not an official fan so I can't elaborate on this. Beside that I heard you will receive a pleasant birthday card on your special day. Back on track, you can buy as aforementioned in online secondhand stores. (Mandarake or proxy shopping) You don't have to worry about out of stock. They are always available. However the earlier issues are more rare to find.
Nana's greeting~
I like you! Now hand over your magazines!
It's not likewise. These treasures have increased emotional value of multiplier of 777 by the time it landed on my hands. Meaning if you want to them from me, you will be paying a hefty pricetag. Happy Christmas to you too. *spraying sarcasm*
Well I think I have talked enough. In case someone needs to know more. You can always leave a comment. If you ask me to scan them, I will consider it. No promises! So I will end the blog with my favourite photoshot from the 7mags I have.
Moshi moshi expression and LEGGSSS <3
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to the people who read my blog!!! Cheers~
Last week I went to the Camera Japan Festival, as a first timer. - because there isnt a wiki page, I will give a small introduction - It is a yearly event in The Netherlands, very similar to our Rotterdam Movies Festival. The event runs in Rotterdam and Amsterdam. All the movies being shown are originated from Japan in a three different movie theaters in Rotterdam. They have Japanese dub and English/Dutch subtitled. For each movie you plan to watch costs seven to nine euros, depending if you are student or not.
The themes of movies are very varied; documentary, comedy, anime, short movie, retrospective etc. Enough choices for anyone's likes. Beside the screenings, there are also small stands for selling goods or tasting snacks. During the day there are also small workshops like sake tasting, tea ceremony and sushi making. Because this year theme of the festival is japalicious. All very interesting indeed!
As a my first time for this sort of event, I didnt know what to expect from the festival nor the shown movies. In the theater where I went, has eight small screening room sufficient to entertain 80 people. As I was checking for interesting picks, loads of movies were interesting. Though the movie ticket was quite expensive. Meaning I had to narrow my choices and cheated a bit. Two from list, I had to download and watched at home orz. Of course the opinion remained the same.
All trailers can be found on Youtube (I can put them here, but it will make the post unnecessarily long.)
Japanese salaryman NEO
Synopsis: Shinjo gets a salaryman job at the industry’s No. 5 beer, ”Neo”. In his
first weeks as a salesman, Shinjo fails to make even one sale and falls
out of grace with everyone, from the short-fused Nakanishi to the
company’s office-ladies. Though he feels like a total failure, instead
of calling it quits, Shinjo vows to make Neo No. 1, and he hits the
president’s sweet spot with a concept for a product he calls “Sexy
Beer”. Assigned to head his own development team, he quickly realizes he
is in way over his head! (cjf)
Review: I havent got any expectations for the first film. The only thing I knew that it was a comedy. My knowledge about Japanese comedies were only slapsticks and cheesy yet funny performance. However Japanese salaryman NEO blew my prejudice. The cast was good added with very attractive and good-looking female actors (always a pluspoint). The story setup also gave a good sample of daily life of an ordinary salaryman in Japan.
Like the building stress from work, blowing off steam in an arcade, drinking at a local bar or dating parties. It has fairly simple yet important morale in the story; ''Life is difficult, dont let it get to you. Keep your head high up and try again because that is the life of a salaryman.'' and many more. Perhaps a minor point ... during the story I had a hard time to keep track with the characters names because there are lot of them.
A small fun fact: the junior manager in the story is a huge fan of Hanshin Tigers. IIRC Nana-san is also Hanshin Tiger fan.
I would recommend anyone to watch this movie. Not only Japan fanatics will like this. It will make you laugh, enjoy and pity. I left the screening with a big smile. That says a lot. :)
Kamome Diner
Synopsis: Sachie owns a small Japanese diner in Helsinki but has no customers
except for a Finnish anime-fan, who wants to know the theme song to
Gatchaman. Sachie only knows the tune, but then she runs into Midori in a
bookstore and they bond over the lyrics of Gatchaman. Midori joins the
diner soon after. They are later joined by Masako who lost her luggage
at the airport. Together they work to make the diner a success. Kamome
Shokudo is about being lost in a strange land with food at the centre of
cultural understanding. (cjf)
Review: I have chosen Kamome Diner for the fact the place setting is much closer to home. Although its in Finland, it's still closer than Japan. I hope it's much easier to sympathize the characters and the environment. There are three female main characters. Each one has her own troubles and had a hard time to overcome it. Yet thanks to Sachie (main character), they gradually open theirselves and gladly to work for her. She has a strong and hard working character. However not everything works out. All what she hoped for, is to attract ordinary Finnish people with Japanese domestic cooking. It did work out eventually. In the end her restaurant was filled. Funnily enough it was all instigated by a Finnish animefan who was also the first customer. The other characters spoke Finnish which was new for me. I never heard of the language before. And Sachie's Finnish was great. Perhaps the actrice is living in Finland.
Though the story was interesting .. the execution was rather boring. I guess they had a limited movie budget which translated in long pause scenes and lack of background music most of the time. It's best to watch it during the daytime. Because honestly I felt asleep twice when I watched in the evening. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. There aren't any action scenes. It's slow paced and usually talk. You have to be quite open minded for it. Did I enjoy it despite the flaws? Yes, I did. It shows a very good interaction between the eating cultures. Like how Sachie wants to make onigiri more interesting for people to try. Also the basic Japanese etiquette is also presented very well.
Tampopo
Synopsis: A truck driver stops by a small ramen shop to have some noodles and is
surprised by the bad taste of the ramen, but charmed by Tampopo, a
widowed mum and terrible chef at her own ramen store. As an experienced
ramen store customer, Goro feels pity and decides to help her make the
best ramen.
Wonderful comical classic movie which, alongside the story of Tampopo’s
ramen shop, has some exceptional sensual short scenes about people and
their love for food. Don’t watch this movie on an empty stomach! (cjf)
Review: While we are on the momentum of Japanese food culture, let's continue with Tampopo. First of all Tampopo is from 1985. It shows cleary in the movie. Loads of interactions and etiquettes are easily understood by native Japanese viewers. However as foreigner we have no idea what's about. Like in a scene where was a company diner meeting with higher ups in a fancy French restaurant. All the boss ordered the same thing while a salaryman - who was knowledgeable with French cuisine - ordered much different menu and cleary showed his know-how in choosing wines. However the salaryman got constantly kicked by his manager under the table.
The plot isn't limited to Tampopo's. There are also other short scenes from a different characters which are totally irrelevant with the main plot. I was quite confused in that part. It seemed the only relation with the food. The main plot with Tampopo is the same what you expect from an ordinary cooking movie. It starts with a rubbish eating place. Then a master appears and teach the main character. Afterwards the place get renovated and the customers keeps coming in. The formula for this remains the same. (By the way very important remark, it has nude scenes. Didnt expected that!)
In the end it is a fun ride. But it shows it's age in the way of storytelling. There are any particulars I dont like. The good food looks delicious. Still I did got hungry after watching it.
Afro Tanaka
Synopsis: With his huge afro and fragile heart, Tanaka moves to Tokyo, dreaming of
adventure, but remaining lonely and single. When he receives an
invitation to his best friend’s wedding, he is reminded of the pact he
made with his high school friends : “When one of us marries, the rest of
us will bring girlfriends!”. Now scrambling to find a girlfriend to go
with him and facing setback after setback, he finally meets Aya, his
beautiful neighbour. How many arrows does cupid has to fire before he
finally hits the mark? Huge desire in a huge afro! (cjf)
Review: Finally we have reached Afro Tanaka. It's my personal favorite of the whole festival. While it is also comedy like Japanese salaryman NEO, it uses different techniques. Main difference in humor was the straightforwardness; expressions and actions. For instance pulling long face for serious discontent or daydreaming and perverted face for pretty ladies or simple slapsticks. From the laughs I had heard in the screen hall, I can say the humor was super effective.
The actor of Afro Tanaka did an amazing job at conveying character's feelings to the public and the inner monologue was too hilarious. The female actrice as supposed love interest is also very pretty and cute. And the biggest suprise was the ending. I didn't got a happy ending like in a typical Hollywood comedy-romance (I won't spoil the ending :3). Anyhow it ended in a good laugh and went back to the motto ''Life goes on, lets have a drink'' To be honest I was very pleased to see this kind of setup.
The movie is very straightforward, the same goes for the humor. You can switch off your mind and just enjoy it. I would totally recommend it to anyone.
Monsters Club
Synopsis: Ryoichi lives as a hermit in the snow covered Japanese countryside, as
far away from civilization as he can afford. From his mountain cabin he
has chosen to fight back at the establishment by sending mail bombs to
his very own ‘Monster’s Club’, the CEO’s of corporations and TV
networks. Haunted by a monster (played by Japan’s genius pansexual drag
artist Pyuupiru) Ryoichi is dragged closer and closer to returning to
civilization. One night his older brother, who had committed suicide,
appears before him and confronts him with some life altering questions. (cjf)
Review: As I was totally pumped for another good Japanese movie. No matter how abstract it will be. However this left me in a yawn. The first half hour showed a daily life of murder hiding in a snowy mountain. Afterwards main character got hallucinations of his dead family members. And then for pete's sake scary Jeti's joker lookalike appeared. Throughout the movie short, poems were citated. No idea if they are revelant. The point were the complaints towards the industrial society.
Frankly I didn't bother with the content anymore. It was almost 23.00 in the evening. The monologue made it all more difficult to concentrate. In the end it was too deep for me. I left literally hall with a yawn. And this prelonged short movie was meant to have relevance with Totoro. I didnt see anything from it. So much for me being open minded, because it has already crushed mine.
Do I recommend it? NO, stay it away from it. No offensive, but I dont see any value for my seven euros for this.
Final thoughts
Camera Japan Festival was an eye opener. I didn't that know our small city, Rotterdam has such cultural initiative towards Japan. There were a lot of Japanese present too. I think I will come back next year. I took part in their questionnaire. The last questions sounded along the lines ''What would you like to see in the next Camera Japan Festival?'' .... simple and straightforward NANA MIZUKI!!
I hope you all had nice read. Didnt expect from myself to post this ... all well
Matta ne~
PS: The Nana magazines are still laying on my desk only to be covered by my homeworks orz. But I am planning to write soon enough.
My recent new Nana fan sempai gave me the idea to do this post (My Somewhere) I waited till I received her lastest live concerts Blu-Ray. It is easier and much more inspirational to write while watching the concert. Some may know I am a fan of Jpop. Now I can openly announced I am a full fledged Nanatard.(Nana fan + retard, I think). In this post you can read how much I adore and admire her.
Nana = 7
However let me first start with; who is Nana Mizuki?She is a popular Japanese seiyuu (anime voice actor) and songstress. However this much talented girl is far from the generic S/S combination. Through hard work and consistency, she has achieved many awesome records. Like for instance her last concert was in Tokyo Dome (biggest concerthall in Japan), she was the first seiyuu songtress to appear on stage.And her seiyuu list is miles long. She still get roles in today recent anime.
1. When did you become a fan of Mizuki Nana and how?
- About when Impact Exciter was released. As the name suggested, it surerly gave me an impact that got me exicted. At first I only knew she was a seiyuu. Never really paid attention to her concerts or singings. However I did had some of her famous anisongs. Back to Impact Exciter, it was probably the very first album I bought I haven't skipped any tracks. Every song sounds very unique and different. And the whole DVD acadamy lessons contain high level of cuteness. That was the floodgate. My interest for Nana boomed in just a matter of days. The more I knew about her, the more I got interested. Not even one Youtube video escaped my eyes. A month later she became my favorite singer of all time. Before I knew it, I became a Nanatard. Best course of action ever, haven't regretted for a moment.
2. First song you heard
- Innocent Starter, from Nanoha. It was very nice hear and meaningful song. Till today I like it very much.
3. First PV you saw - Discotheque.I didnt know that PV of jpop isn't that very common. At least that is what I think. Amercian music videos come and goes around. However each Nana's PV is great to watch. The first one for me was Discotheque. I couldnt get enough of it, especially the wink at the last scene. It is cute and very catchy PV. It makes you want to dance.
4. Favorite anime role
- Pretty much related to the second question; Feito chaannn!! Sorry I mean Fate Testarossa from Magical Girl Lyrica Nanoha. She had a very soft and modest voice. In the end the character got more heart warming you could really hear it from her voice.
5. Favorite album track from supersonic girl
- Very tough one between; Looking on the moon and Look Away - together version -(Just going on fast track here otherwise it will be too long)
6. Favorite album track from MAGIC ATTRACTION - freestyle
7. Favorite album track from DREAM SKIPPER
- Again very tough between; Koishiteru... (恋してる．．．) and Takaramono
8. Favorite album track from ALIVE＆KICKING - Tear's Night
9. Favorite album track from HYBRID UNIVERSE
- Might aswell change the title to favorite album trackS. I just keep it to one.; BRAVE PHOENIX
10. Favorite album track from GREAT ACTIVITY - Heart-Shaped Chant
11. Favorite album track from ULTIMATE DIAMOND
- Dancing in the velvet moon (actually all of them)
12. Favorite album track from IMPACT EXCITER
- Albireo(again all of them, but albireo just stands out more. DAT strong voice)
13. Your favorite single - Of all time I would say You have a dream. However it is changed to POP MASTER now. Singing genki songs is really one of Nana forte. Beside that the song actually gets me into high spirits in times when I am feeling down. I have to jump up and yell ''Yes I am okay''. The lyrics are great too. It is even better when I found out that POP MASTER was written by none other then Nana herself. It is almost like Nana understood your personal hard life and
daily pressure. As she sings, she tries to transfer the courage and
energy to you.
14. Favorite PV
- Etsuraku Camellia, the PV comes off very strong and sexy. I like it very much. A very unique PV for a very unique song. DAT shoulder scene!!
15. Best b-side of a single
- STAY GOLD. Most of the b-side singles are on par with their a-side counterparts. All of them are great. Haven't got any I don't like to listen. STAY GOLD is very special. I didn't expect the style of rythm and melody. Nana's voice blends very nicely in. It is fast paced yet it comes off well arranged.
16. Your favorite live performance - From Live Formula, Heat shaped chant. This performance describes the best what I like about Nana Mizuki. She had a classy and fluffy tail blue long dress. Mika is there for the harp guiding song.It shows how strong and passionate Nana is performing with her voice.Although Nana is quite small in figure, she has a voice of awesome heights. The dress is fluffling (quite using this word a lot :p) around, was a very cute sight. It fitted perfectly with Nana posture.
17. Favorite concert DVD
After watching Live Castle Queen, I have a hard time thinking which one is better; Live Formula (my all time favorite) or Live Castle Queen or Live Grace? Live Formula (LF) and Live Castle Queen (LCq) are really close for my top favorite. LF suprised me a lot; such as tsundere moe Nana, harmonica playing and DAT heart shaped chant performance. LCq has my eyes fixated on the screen from the start till the end. It has great visual (blame the Blu-Ray advantage) with 40.000 penlights waving around. Nana's performance was just marvelous. I felt that she was more static on the stage before in her early concerts. But since Live Grace, she has put more and more body language and expressions making the concert more passionate to watch. As I said in one of my tweets;
Watching Live Castle (King or Queen) feels very special to me, It is like I can join in the joy of a new milestone in Nana legend! Eventhough I wasn't there in person.
Live Grace was beautiful, but it didnt have a special attachement to it. It has all the right ingredients. Nonetheless it is right on the second place.
18. The song you relate the most to
- Last scene. The lyrics are very touching. It makes me want to cry everytime whenever Nana sings it live. Sometimes love isn't that always pretty and rose-coloured.
Never did paid attention to lyrics, even if the lyrics were English or Dutch. However whenever I listen to my favorite Nana tracks, I want to know the lyrics. Just about every song she wrote, is very meaningful. Quite contradicting, because last scene lyrcis were written by someone else. But you get the idea.
19. Your favorite lyric
- From undercover, the part where she sing these lyrics. It comes off very powerful. Nana sings it with great intonation (especially in Live Grace). It makes you feel how it is to be in undercover of yourself.
取り乱し想いをぶつけて すべてを壊したい 二度と元に戻れぬほど 愚かに失なってみたい
Translated:
Tackle those distracted thoughts Wanting to destroy everything Unable to ever return to normal Foolishly, I want to try to lose everything
- Hitotsu Dake Chikaeru Nara. I want a tear jerking MV for this one (hope I dont sound like a sadist here). The song is so sad and the lyrics are touching too. In the song context It gives the courage of both partners to go on with their life.
21. One song that you’ll never get tired of
- undercover. DAT violin! I want to listen more to understand why I like it. It never works out. I always end up enjoying to listen to it.
22. Favorite animelo collaboration
- Gimmick game, Nana Mizuki and motsu of MOVE. As a MOVE fan, this was a collaboration to be dreamed of. It gives the upbeat feel like Eurobeat. With motsu backing up Nana, I couldn't even sit still for a second. Awesome it was!
23. Favorite TV appearance
- MUSIG, this was pretty much a must watch for all Nana fans out there. It got;
Nana had short pants you could see her delicious thighs
Nana doing weird poses thanks to Shokotan
24. Share a moment when you were extra proud of being her fan
- As a regular visitor to a certain anonymous message board, there happens to have a seiyuu thread in some time. Mostly the anonymous talk about their favorite seiyuu and their attributes. However in 80% of the time, it always end in a Nana appreciation thread. I suspect a Nanatard is lurking in the thread and post random pictures. Surprisingly many of them are quite knowledgeable about her.
Their point of view are; ''Nana is one of only decent seiyuu who can do voicecasting AND singing.'' and ''She is in a whole different league.'' Nana pictures being post here and there and the only things you could read, are just praises. As a Nanatard I could only giggle like a little girl. I realize there are many people out there who appreciate Nana's hard work.
regular posted picture
25. Tell us what you believe is her charm point
- her personality, Nana has (in my mind) a perfect image of an idol. She is hard working and consistent in her professional singing and voicing career. Yet behind the scenes, she is just a very girly lady who likes cute things, just like any other girls out there. She doens't show arrogance of her sold records or achievements. She remains humble and reserved with people of greater status.
She also likes anime and loves to play video games. As a fan how much more can I ask for?
A perfect example what I meant with consistency. A video with 9 different concerts of the same song, she didnt missed a single note or beat.
The main difference between her and the American female popstars (which I grew up with) is that she didn't fall for the slump of improving her image by singing suggestive/mature songs or even acting slutty in the MVs. Nana let her voice do the work to reach her fans heart. We all like Nana who she is.
To be honest I hated concerts because some people think they could fool their fans by playbacking (Yes, I am looking at you, miss Spears) And live performance is very different from CD. I remember I was horrified hearing a singer in live while I liked the CD version. (Yes you Kate Perry) I loathe the live versions even more, didnt even consider buying a DVD of it. However it has changed drastically. Nana's concerts are full with energy and joy. I can say I am a proud owner of many Nana Live concerts DVDs/Blu-Rays.
Important remark: I am not biased. This is the conclusion I get from watching countless of the making of Live concerts and exclusive videos about her working life (seven pieces), reading summary of her book etc.
26. Have you been to any of her concerts?
- No, I have regret A LOT I haven't being persistent going to Live Castle. There was a great blog post on Danie'shopping log (another Nanatard sempai) about it. The blogger explained how to go and where to stay. Till today I regret it. So next time (which I pray very hard) if there is another opportunituy, I will do my best to go to Japan for her concert.
27. Do you own any goods? (picture not necessary)
- In my sempai's eyes perhaps not massively much. Got the recent singles and live concerts BDs and most important also her autobiography (only in Japanse though). lately I have been very obsessed with the Seiyuu magazines (as long as Nana is on the cover). I will get it. As a foreign Nanatard it is quite difficult to become member the fanclub orz. I have to go with this way.
Just finished watching Live Castle Queen! It was superb!
As I look back to my older blogposts, I did quite lot of them. Will be a waste to delete it.
Might aswell to use for my personal use. Likewise a personal ''express yourself'' for yourself.
Changing the atmosphere here is the first step. The background is from my favorite city and also the change in the blog name. Next probably will be the content. There will be less serious stuff but more my things will appear from left to right in the blog. The broken written English will stay for the foreign followers.
