Arashi inspired, shall we say
Today, I decided to watch Tekkon Kinkreet, the one that Nino does the voice of the main character. I must say, I really enjoyed it. While it was a bit bloody and had some risque scenes, I liked the battle (or was it more of one can't live without the other?) between light and darkness which just happens to relate to the names of the main characters. Nino's character was named クロ (Black) and he takes care of a little guy named シロ(White) while they live on the streets, who I'm not sure if it's his brother or not. At first, the animation seems really strange, but then you come to respect how beautiful it really is, especially during White's dream sequences. Nino did a superb job of voice acting. I've heard that seiyuus usually go through long training periods, but Nino doesn't seem to need that. Overall, a very good movie. I plan to buy it the next time I'm back home.
I also liked the theme song, "Aru machi no gunjou" by Asian Kung-Fu Generation. I only like a like a few select songs from AKFG (also, the lead singer's voice is a bit too slurry for me), but this one is a little different then their normal ones, so I'm not sure how to explain why I like it. The vocal's voice is good this time around, though.
I've been watching Love Shuffle because I saw that Matsuda Shota(Nishikado Sojiro from HYD) was in it, and since I like his acting, I decided to try it. The girl who played Asuka in "Bambi~no!", the girl who played Hinata Sara in HYD, and Daigo are also among the main cast. The story is about 4 floormates in an apartment who are having sucky love lives, so they decide to switch partners every week and see how it goes based on what card (boys are jacks, girls are queens) they get, hence the name Love Shuffle. Suits determine who you are with for that week. I only watched the first two episodes, but I already like it. There are random moments of humor that make it funny, all of the actors are good (Daigo is a little 'eh', but still good), and the story is interesting, so I really like it.
I'm also reading a Japanese book called "Five Minutes to Tomorrow" by Honda Takayoshi. It's only in Japanese (sorry), but the story revolves around an unnamed (or was he named and I missed it?) and his love life. He works for a photography company and likes to swim a lot. I'm only 91 pages into it, but I really like it. I'm really glad to be reading again, because reading is one of my favorite hobbies. I took some time off from reading because I'm on a program where I only read Japanese (unless I have to read English, like my Shakespeare plays) to improve my Japanese (imagine that!). It's taken me almost a year to be able to read at the speed and skill I can now (about a page in 4 minutes [half of my English speed] and only a few kanji on a page I can't read correctly or at all), so it's been a long journey. Anyway, I recommend it if you can read Japanese!
Oh yeah, and any time I see subs advertised in LJ comms of a certain Arashi program, I automatically go out and dl the raw. Recently: G no Arashi 12 (air band), 45 (A no Arashi [sorry, I wanted this one, it may not be out there]), 48 (Haiku), 49 (Aiba's dice game), 50 (in pajamas [this is another I just wanted]). SO, I think you should too (or the sub). Seeing as you're just as much of an Arashi fan as me.
OH, and the Sho cut scans..................... I......really, just wow. Actually, I really like the one with the phone, because it looks like he's looking at the phone, going "phone?" Sorry, I just really like how he can be cute in a really sexy photo shoot.
And that's all for now. じゃね！