Diamond in the Rough

Movie: Rough (starring Masami Nagasawa, Ichikawa Yui, Hayami Mokomichi)

As much as i hate to give away spoilers, any idiot should already figure out that the two (pic below) are going to end up together in the end. Now of course a savvy movie viewer would expect something to come between them and ruin their fun before the big happy ending, but that's just it. There's no plot twist, no sudden revelations and no death/illnesses (thank goodness for that; since too many films with diseases and sickness recently). Kind of ironic to call it 'Rough' when everything's so smooth sailing...

Without a doubt, the BESTest part of the movie is watching Yui and Masami in their bikinis and swimsuits.

One thing that also caught my eye is how tall Masami is (she's 171cm, that's taller than Ee Wei, Ming Wei and Alex!) and how awkwardly short Yui (158cm) looks when they're in the same scene. (below pic)

Did i mention that the movie revolves around swimming? And swimming doesn't exactly make for the most exciting sport subject for a movie (the same goes for tennis or golf). I wouldn't recommend this movie unless you really want to watch a bland sport-romance flick. Rating 5/10

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Before i forget, here's a poster of the actors in the live-action Bleach musical:

Besides the rather flat singing, i enjoyed this stage presentation very much. Most of the actor/actresses playing the characters are about as close as i would imagine them to be if they were real. Entertaining stuff.

Up and Coming

Some interesting dramas to look out for come July. And by 'interesting' i mean the actors/actresses i like or just know are starring in them:

-Ushi ni Negai wo: Love & Farm (official site; starring Erika Toda!): Makes me mad to see her name listed 5th in Dramawiki... Start Date: July 3rd Tuesday

- Yama Onna Kabe Onna (official site; starring Misaki Itoh and Kyoko Fukada): Been a long time since i've seen a Kyoko Fukada drama. Start Date: July 5th Thursday

- Papa to Musume no Nanokakan (official site; starring Yui Aragaki): Still deciding whether or not to track Yui Aragaki's shows.. Start Date: July 1st Sunday

- First Kiss (official site; starring Inoue Mao (from Hana Yori Dango) and Ito Hideaki): No screenshots or promo pic! Start Date: July 9th Monday

- Doubutsu 119 (official site; starring Ichikawa Yui): Ichikawa Yui's back! Or is she? It's only a one episode special like her last drama.. Air Date: June 30th Saturday
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Another all-too-cute Erika screen capture...from Bomb Vol 6 DVD.

Curtain Call

I have officially fulfilled my 2 years of NS duty! All that's left is for me to pick up my IC tomorrow, and after that, bowling with Alex (the '224 man'). I wonder if it will be a case of 3rd time lucky because i've been losing to him the last 2 times we have bowled together. But any competition can only be good for both of us to improve our scores. I'm looking to bump my average from 120-130 up to 140-150 and progress from there. That means more consistency and focus!

I've been drinking Anything the past few days and i must say i'm extremely unlucky cause i got the exact same flavor(Cloudy Lemon i think, the one that tastes like Mountain Dew w/lemon) thrice. Since there are officially 6 flavors, the chance of me getting the same thing thrice is 1/216? Ok, maybe those odds means i've been lucky but i want to try something different! But since the taste is not bad (though not exactly original) and i LOVE sugary stuff, i'll continue supporting our local product. Ee Wei was speculating that there is some hidden ultra rare flavor waiting to be found but that's just more of his usual crap i guess.

As part of my plan to help reduce plastic bag waste, i've been buying those reusable bags from NTUC/Cold Storage ($0.95). Ok i lied. There is no such plan of mine. I just bought the bags because it was in green. But they have been very useful for carrying whatever (no, not the drink) in it. Except that every auntie going to the market has the same bag. I'll just lie to myself this time that it's all for a good cause.
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Ichikawa Yui has a part in an upcoming drama! Not much info about it yet on Dramawiki except for 4 cast members and it's title, Doubutsu 119. Yui will probably be the main female character from the looks of the cast billing. And i managed to pick this up while reading her blog. Some pictures of her from the set (at least i assume it's from the set from the looks of it, except the last one):

Familiar Faces

Brandon and I have been alternating between songs clearing Guitar Hero 2 on Medium. I'd say we're about the same level on the guitar controller (ie we both suck). Took us over half an hour (him on guitar, me on controller) today getting the perfect song achievement on co-operative mode. Personally i still feel like a retard with the guitar (i only managed to clear 2 songs on Expert and 11 on Hard with it) so i'm still clearing the Hard campaign with my trusty controller (the Xbox's shoulder buttons are way inferior to the PS2 controller) and i'll leave the Expert stuff to Herbert when he get backs from China.

Went to the BOB forums to add all the local people who owns Guitar Hero 2 on Xbox. Of all the names on my friends list, it looks like i'm topping the leaderboards. Fancy that. I'm the least loseriffic of all the GH losers i know.

Target this weekend: 1000 note streak on Freebird (Medium)! With a little luck and alot of patience i'll probably get it. The bad thing is that Freebird is 8mins+ long so 1 mistake and i have to play through a heck of a long way again.
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It's a coincidence but over the past week, 3 dramas (Sailor Fuku to Kikanjuu, Dragon Zakura and Proposal Daisakusen) and 1 movie (Nada Sou Sou) i started watching had Masami Nagasawa (she won the Japan Academy Prize 2005: Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Winner for Sekai no chuushin de, ai wo sakebu) starring in it, and an even better coincidence is that she plays a high school student in each of them. Even though i'm not too bad at recognising faces (not as bad as say, Wee Kim), it took me sometime to realise that it was her in all 4 of the shows because she looks a bit different everytime:

I like the look on the top right the best.

She's not a 10/10 (a 7.5 to me) in the looks department but she is kinda cute, most importantly of course, is that she exudes a very likeable on-screen charm for all the characters she plays. I can add her to my list of actress to look out for. Her latest work seems to be a movie (Sono Toki wa Kare ni Yoroshiku ) alongside Yamada Takayuki.

Whatever happened to poor Ichikawa Yui? She's not in any dramas or movie projects at all this season so i thought something might have happened to her (some scandal) or for some reasons she's being shunned by TV studios (her last movie was Nana 2). So i checked out her blog and it looks like she's still alive (according to the entries dates) and apparently she is still alive and well.

Not to nitpick, but has she put on weight? Her left arm looks flabby..

Sort of miss her seeing her bad acting in dramas. Hope she gets into some new projects soon. I'm sure Ee Wei misses her as well.
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Last thing to add, i missed my IPPT today because i was feeling a little sick. Wee Kim said i'm probably chao genging and to some extent i think that's a little true. Maybe i'm just sick of being at work last Friday and Monday when i'm supposed to be on leave.

Th3P-Law

Pain, Pleasure, Pointless. Any activity that i do in the SAF can be associated with at least one of these 3 Ps. Duty on a Saturday? Painful. Day off? A pleasure. Digging up my No.4, SBO and forced to go on a midnight route march? Painfully pointless. Usually i get some satisfaction out of completing a march, but asking me to go on one without carrying anything while everyone else has a MOP or field pack on just hurts my pride. To see Joseph and Jordan carry a field pack full of water bottles hurt me more than the post-march blisters on my heels.

Had a nice nap when i got home in the afternoon and watched finished H2. Maybe Ee Wei is right in saying i'm a sucker for 'friendship' drama because i really like this series. Especially when the (girl)friends look so hot. And i'll say it again: i really like the ending sequence and song by "Over" by K. Gonna start on Kurosagi tonight, another Ichikawa Yui drama.

Care to guess who Hiro ends up with in the end?

I'm very happy to discover that there's at least one more game i'm looking forward to on PS2: Sengoku Basara 2: Heroes, which is my favourite hack n slash title on any console. The HnS is so good that i don't mind not understanding a single word of the story (it's only in Japanese). Capcom is probably the publisher that i trust the most when it comes to quality game releases. Big news to me is that Kojuurou (Toshiyuki Morikawa, VA for Sephiroth, Kazuya Mishima) and Oichi (Noto Mamiko, VA for Yakumo (SR), Enma Ai) will be playable! PS2 is not dead yet!

This is how a special move should look like..Dynasty Warriors, eat your heart out!

3 games announced for PS3 looks really interesting to me, Brave Arms, Chain Limit and Second Season 01. Nice to see some original games and hope the reviews are good so i can justify getting a PS3. I will always be a Sony fan at heart but of course now my brain(and wallet) is on the X360 side.

Heard of Low Ji Wen? He's the Singapore National Cyclist who's going to France soon to begin professional training. (appeared in Strait Times a about a week ago). Well anyway after reading the article Brandon couldn't believe that anyone his age could be as strong as him in cycling (not exactly what he said but i just summarised what he actually intends to say) so somehow he got his email address and invited him to go for a ride with him this evening. I can tell from his expression when he came back that it was 'no kick' (summary). Me and my brother (and father) are pretty prideful when it comes to things we feel we are good at. And cycling is pretty much in my family's blood. (my elder brother happens to be a former national cyclist as well). I think Brandon intends to go overseas (France) to train as well. Well good luck to him.

Mini-Movie-Marathon

I'm quite speechless how Ming Wei can continually liken this pic of Miyazaki Aoi to Ee Wei. Somehow or rather he managed to psycho Wee Kim to think so too but thankfully Wee Kim turned to the light after watching Aoi in "Nana". The most obvious difference is of course, Aoi is outrageously cute while to describe Ee Wei as 'cute' is like hacking a flea with a chainsaw...pure overkill. Unless Ming Wei somehow thinks that Ee Wei is kind of cute, then it would make some sort of sense..in a very brokeback kind of way. Brrr.. i think i better not board my mind on that train on thought for the sake of my sanity in branch.

Went on a mini movie marathon this past 2 days (as in half-a-half-marathon). First show i watched was Forbidden Siren 2 nights ago (VCD from VideoEZY). Wouldn't mind collecting this movie if i find it on DVD.

Movie Pros: Short movie (87mins), good pacing, made me jump more than Ju-On, nice plot twist at the end, Ichikawa Yui in a starring role, no noisy children like in Ju-on (cause the kid is dumb)
Movie Cons: Lots of Siren 2 references that are not explored/explained further, almost nothing to do with the game in fact except the island name and the siren, Ichikawa Yui tying back her hair to reveal her elfen ears, poor CG (see last scene)
Rating: 7.5/10

Watched 2 movies with Alex and my dad yesterday at West Mall and then Lot 1. Eng Wah tickets on PH cost $9.50 while Shaw cost $8.50. But i did find the screens at EW to be slightly clearer. First of yesterday double header was Ghost Rider.

Movie Pros: Movie started on time at 1710hrs.
Movie Cons: Plot (or lack of it), climax (lack of it), insanely pathetic villains (full of them); the demons most potent power is to darken/brighten up lamps and candles (i'm not kidding), draggy pacing, ridiculously overpowered protagonist (Pennace Stare -> GAME OVER), lame dialogue, the longest boss battle probably lasted as long as you took to read this paragraph, Blackheart not transforming to his winged form, Mephisto being threatened and cowering away from his own creation, Eva Mendes.

Rating: 1/10

Even the Ghost Rider game on my PSP has better plot than this show. And cooler boss battles. This just overtook 'Daredevil' on the bottom of my Marvel movie adaptations.

Last show of the day was "Just Follow Law", a Jack Neo film. Seems that every new year we get one movie from Mr Neo. The worst i've seen was "I do, I do" because of Sharon Au (note to Miss Au, asking for your autograph doesn't make me a 'fan') but generally i enjoy our local comedies. This was no exception. Singapore (Movie) Boleh!

Movie Pros: Fann Wong gropes her own breasts many times, satirical accurate potrait of office life (CC: Cover Ca-chng, BCC: Better Cover Ca-chng), made me laugh out loud more than a couple of times (esp. the chinese exorcist scene, "You want to up-size?")

Movie Cons: Fann Wong has not much breast to speak of (or to grope for that matter), Fann still needs to improve on her English (but still a fantastic improvement from last time), Jack Neo in another unfunny cameo (this time as a Doctor), the accident CG was so fake, not a show i would rewatch again (but enjoyable 1 time through)

Rating: 7/10

And concluding my movie marathon i watched 'Siren' and 'Nana' again today in camp while doing (unproductive) office work. I think everyone found Siren to be quite interesting as well. But i don't know why people keep asking me to tell them what is going to happen in the movie. Just watch the show finish first then discuss later la! Just because you want to know what is going to happen doesn't mean that those around want their movie to be spoiled as well, especially if they are not asking any questions. And it's not like the movie is going to stop playing half-way before the plot is revealed. For the record, i can't stand having any movie that i plan to watch/am watching to be spoiled. I think that rules out watching Saw III for me cause i overheard most of the plot (twist) already. But the worst case of spoilers was when we were watching "Shutter" on a LST, Kiat kept telling us "eh, the next part is very scary" and Matthew was like, "ooh, i can't watch this next scene!". Really, thanks for nothing... But 'Shutter' still managed to be quite scary even with the 2 spoileroos.

Saw this Death Note 1 and 2 movie box-set on YesAsia.com. Really hope they have a local release with English subtitles as well cause i would love to buy this DVD (Erika Toda as MisaMisa!). Some interesting Erika Sawajiri movies as well, .this and .this and .this movie starring Takeuchi Yuko that i wouldn't mind collecting as well.

Miyazaki Aoi vs Ichikawa Yui PART 2 (END?)

Went to Herbert's house for an evening of games (played GH2, DDR:SN, GT4 and WE8). Anyway i got sabohed because no one told me that they were going to eat out so i ended up ta-paoing my own dinner (MOS Burger) from West Mall before coming... So i was munching my burger and fries while walking out with them to eat when suddenly they decided to order Macs and turned back to the house. Haiz...Highlight of the evening was playing 4-man GH2 (me/wk vs mw/bert) and WE8 (same teams) but i didn't really like DDR:SN cause the score system rewards the player's accuracy more than their consecutive hits, which meant that my team kept losing even though we probably had a longer streak. Or maybe it was just me pulling Wee Kim down with my psychomotorness. Anyway i just dislike losing in video games so i'm just going to stay away from DDR (and also Guitar Freaks and Beatmania, basically any KONAMI rhythm games). And our favourite CFC was not present (not because Herbert didn't invite him) but cause he was on duty. Ee Wei i just want to say on behalf of everyone that we had alot of fun today! Too bad you couldn't join us. What a shame. Aww..

PSP GPS and MAPLUS Software: $160

While walking out from Herbert's house i tested my PSP GPS with Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops 'GPS Scan' Mode, and suprise suprise! it managed to connect to the GPS. Came close (to connecting) at Tuas and elsewhere but this was the first time i got to see the game's GPS Scan in action. And it just so happened that on the road leading out there was a hotspot (but i got a sucky character). I assumed it would be easy once connected to locate a hotspot but on the taxi home i didn't pass through anymore. The closest hotspot that i passed was (presumably) somewhere in Matthew's condo area according to the zoomed out view of the GPS.

As promised (to Ee Wei) i am going to put up another comparison (part 1 is here) between Miyazaki Aoi and Ichikawa Yui. This time the theme is who is SEXIER. I think the result is pretty obvious (so i'm not going to name the obvious winner) and i'm not going to pretend to be blind or too biased. However if given a choice i would choose...Erika Toda. But overall between this 2 i still prefer Aoi.

Pretty hard to find comparable pictures because Aoi doesn't have many skimpy pictures (the opposite is true as well).

The CNY post that has almost nothing to do with CNY

As previously posted i went to rent 3 movies 'starring' Ichikawa Yui. I added ' ' because after watching the first of the 3, Ju-On: The Grudge, i have to say that she's more of an extra than a star of the show (a very hot extra if i might add). Not to be acting brave or anything, but i didn't find Ju-on scary at all. I like how my heart would jump when i got scared while playing the Fatal Frame (my favourite being FF 2) games but i didn't have any of that feeling throughout the show. As for the plot..well, what plot? To sum it in an equation, CURSE => DEATH. The movie just tells how everyone eventually kicks the bucket after being involved with the curse and being spooked by Kayako (woman with long dry hair, presumably drier than mine) and that irritating powdery kid. I was scratching my head at the end sequence wondering whether i missed some important twist or plot point somwhere but then i read online that that's all there it is to it. There's no point cracking my brain trying to find a deeper meaning into the show. The intention is just to entertain (good looking female cast) and frighten (failed miserably) the viewer. So plot wise and scares wise this movie was really disappointing. The only thing that made it interesting was how each character's mini-story intertwined with each other, with the chronological sequence of their meetings also jumbled up (a la Pulp Fiction). Interesting to follow the links between each chapter but ultimately pointless. Read that Ichikawa Yui has a bigger role in Ju-On 2 so i 'm hoping that will keep me entertained tomorrow night.

More like a 5 minute cameo than a real role.

Saw this picture (see below) of Zhang Ziyi from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (which i'm going to rent after i return this batch of movies) and the first thing that came to mind was that she looks perfect to play the part of Ling Xiaoyu if ever a Tekken Liveaction movie is to be filmed. Granted that she's 28 years old while Xiaoyu is supposed to be an 18 years old schoolgirl, but Ziyi probably has the martial art background to pull the role off as well. All this is SUPPOSING a Tekken movie is to be shot. Just thought i'd offer my 5 cents on casting so that a Tekken Liveaction movie doesn't end up like the DOA movie. Movies like Fearless had fighters of different nationalities (speaking in their own language) coming together so why can't a fighting game to movie do the same?

Zhang Ziyi prepares to go into the Rain Dance Stance.

Since we're on the subject of movies, just want to highlight this article here, stating that Kojima will be producing a Metal Gear Solid movie! Can't help but be excited about this cause MGS is my all-time favourite video game series. Just hope that the essense of MGS won't be lost in the leap to the big screen, but with Kojima involved i doubt fans will be disappointed with the outcome. And to quote another source, "Sony Pictures' vice chairman Yair Landau announced the company is working on a movie version of Konami's Metal Gear Solid. In addition, Sony Pictures is also looking into a possible movie version of EverQuest." Glad to see that there will be more MGS even after this year's MGS4 which will conclude the series.

Went through the formality of house visiting today and i have to say i feel bad taking Hong Baos from people i don't know or remember. What can you expect if i only see some people once a year? I doubt most of them know who i am as well. The comment going around was that Brandon looks like Takeshi Kaneshiro (as you can see i have alot of blind relatives) with his long hair and i look very si wen (a polite way of saying i look bland or just bleah). Whatever. Anyway i'm already thinking which of the items on my wishlist i will be getting with my CNY money. Probably the Wii since i already pre-ordered it from Funz Centre. (~$400+). Oh, and Happy Chinese New Year to all! May the money we collect this CNY be more than our NSF monthly allowance!

Futureal

Just returned from a leisure ride with Alex. Lent Alex my MTB with a gel pad overlaid on the most comfortable seat in my house, but he still complained of groin (and back) pain. Can't blame him. Used to get that when i started riding after a long lay-off. Travelled through Mandai Road down to Upper Thomson Road and had supper (2 kosong, 1 kopi cino for me) at the Roti Prata House before heading down through Macritchie Reservoir and back down to Upper Bukit Timah Road to my house. Distance (as estimated by Brandon) was about 40+km. Quite impressed that he managed to cover such distance on a first ride. But he still can't beat Sufian's legendary cycling journey from Marsiling to my house to Changi Village..on a BMX.

I felt the pace that we did tonight was the sort of speed i would probably aim for when bike-touring Japan. 1 day cycling to a youth hostel, 1 day sight-seeing and vice-versa (something like guard-duty rotation). Ya i decided to plan a cycling trip through the whole of Japan instead of backpacking. Why? Cause i think it will be more meaningful and fun to do something like this before i start my working life. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that i don't want to miss while i'm still young. Been looking through this site to see some of the routes that i can take through the middle of Japan. Plan A would be to cycle through the middle, sent my bike back to Singapore and then backpack all the way back to my starting point down the coast this time. Plan B would be for me to chiong for my driving license, convert it to an international license, bring my bike over and rent a car and cycle around while driving from point to point. Easier said than done cause i haven't even taken my Basic Theory.

Anyway at this point i'm still very early in the planning stage. Will probably find some detailed maps, hostel information on the route, modify my MTB for touring and pick up my PSP GPS attachment (arrived 2 days ago!) and test it out etc. Have to really plan as i get closer to ORD if i want to make this trip possible. For the time being all i've bought is a bicycle rack attachment (centre and 2 side panels) to mount my luggage. Alex suggested that i blog on the way through Japan via my PSP (built-in Internet Browser) and take pictures via my PSP camera as i cycle through for a day by day update progress as i cycle. Oh yes, if anyone is interested (and available) to go through this tour with me please let me know. Plan to leave after July and be back before or during November (wintertime). Would love to see snow before i return.

Found this mini-series that Erika Toda also acts in titled "Division 1 Stage 8". Only 4 episodes in the series but too bad that there's no subtitles available. Airing date was 2004 so Erika was only 16 in the show. Have to say that she looks better as she gets older but she is still uber cute nonetheless in the show (after i skimmed through all 4 eps). Also starring with her are Horikita Maki (Nobuta in "Nobuta wo Produce"), Nakamura Ruria (some extra in "Attack No. 1" and the ugliest of the four) and Tokunaga Eri (same talent agency as Erika, never seen any of her other shows before). Hope someone releases some subs soon (though i doubt it cause it's a 2004 series) cause i can't understand shit on what the show is about, or maybe i'm just too distracted by Erika in a high school uniform.

Pretty. And cute. Or just pretty cute.

(L to R): Eri, Erika, Ruria and Maki.

PS: Ee Wei probably didn't realise this but Ichikawa Yui's birthday passed last Saturday. I noticed it last week but forgot to remind him about it. Saw "Siren" the movie in VideoEzy the other day. Will borrow it during the weekend to see how she acted in it. (Quote from Geek.com, "Its main star is the lead actress Ichikawa Yui, who is most noted for her roles in two of the "Ju-on: The Grudge" films.") Haven't seen either Ju-on so will try to find it as well.

Burn(ed)out

Was peeing outside in the office toilet yesterday afternoon when the new storeman came up to the urinal beside me and peed on my shoe (!). Anyway if after he peed on my shoe he said sorry immediately i would have just shrugged it off and assumed i was just suay. Plus i would have a pretty funny story to tell everyone. But new guy just remained silent as if nothing had happened (and it was not just a drop or two on my shoe...it was a whole 'splatter' of pee). Anyway i still had a funny story to tell after the incident. Except the 'funny' part of the story is not how unlucky i am but what a weirdo the new guy is.

So anyway i circulated my tale of woe to people around me including Nigel who was his upperstudy. But didn't expect him to go and tell Michael Lee about it. So Michael Lee gave the new guy a ticking off and told him to go apologise to me which was, i felt pretty unneccesary since i hate forced apologies. If someone is really apologetic and sincere he doesn't need to be told to go say he is sorry. Anyway Herbert told me to go look for Nigel and new guy after lunch but i didn't want to. So out of the blue Nigel brought him to DMS to apologise to me. Sorry i don't appreciate the gesture at all. And the first thing he said was he can't recall whether it was me he peed on or not. (.....) I'm pretty speechless at this point so i just walk off to another room. Then Nigel brings him in again and he says he is sorry. I'm more curious to actually know why he peed on me so i asked and he tells me, "oh i misfire sometimes..". Okieeee....THANKS for the warning! I'll make sure he doesn't come beside me the next time i am at the urinal. Otherwise if he approaches i probably have to pull rank and ask him to pee somewhere else or after i'm done. But i feel pretty bad that Nigel had to also apologise on behalf of his understudy. I mean he was not at fault at all. Just want to tell him that i'm more shocked than angry that a 19+ year old guy can pee on someone else's shoe and have no reaction after that.

Rode 55km today (20 to work, 15 after lunch and 20 back home). Bad idea after such a long lay-off with the flu. Luckily Alex woke me up or else i would have slept till the morning. He came to return me some PS2 games i lent him for a chalet while on his evening walk. Think he should get a bicycle.. Me and Alex haven't had a walk cum singing session around Bukit Panjang for quite a long time. Quite miss that. Singing out loud shamelessly while walking is fun and we haven't caught up in a while. Had (another) 'big' dinner today after my ride: 8 BBQ chicken wings, 1 plate of white rice and 1 can of Campbell soup all to myself. No wonder i conked off. Hope i at least burned more (calories) than i took in..

Wanted to post just one more pic of Miyazaki Aoi. I think she looks really great in this shot from her website. And for the record Me, Matt, Nigel and Zhaoliang have chosen her as the cuter actress. On the other side of the ring is Mingwei and of course Ee Wei. The score (so far) is 4 to 2 to Aoi in case someone wants to keep track.

I don't think a Japanese actress would sign her name in English..

Miyazaki Aoi vs Ichikawa Yui PART 1

Before i get to the main topic of the post, just thought that i would share some of the pics taken during my last karaoke session with Andrew, Eugene, Nigel and Melvin. No Superstar contest this time but it was just as fun cause during the latter portion we were all quite into it and standing on the sofa and singing. And it seems to be an unspoken tradition to group-sing "朋友", "笨小孩" and "对面的女孩看过来" during a karaoke. At least that's what i notice.

Nigel struts his stuff..i mean his voice.

Not to be outdone..

Nigel does his best to come in between Melvin and Eugene's duet.

Caught the trailer for Nana 2 yesterday night (movie's been out for a few months i know..poor outdated me). I knew since long ago that Miyazaki Aoi was going to be replaced by Ichikawa Yui in her role as Komatsu 'Hachi' Nana. But only after seeing the trailer did i realise how irresitibly cute/well casted was Aoi in her role as Hachi. Of course to fully appreciate her acting you have to follow the NANA manga, anime and movie (which i have been doing). Ichikawa Yui is cute and sexy in her own rights that but she looks too 'bitchy' (for lack of a better word than 'slutty') to play Hachi. And she doesn't radiate the innocence, childishness and sweetness of Hachi as well.

Anyway Ee Wei took offense when i mentioned she looked more 'slutty' as Ichikawa Yui is one of his favourite bikini models actress. For the record i have yet to see her in a non-skimpily dressed picture online (not that i'm complaining mind you). But for the purpose of partialness i have found some pictures to compare the 2 actresses. Make your own mind up on who is more suited to play Hachi.

Komatsu 'Hachi' Nana (from the manga)

Comparison 1 (Left = Miyazaki Aoi; Right = Ichikawa Yui):

Scene from Nana (L) and Nana 2 (R)

Comparison 2:

With co-star Mika Nakashima.

Comparison 3:

Ok i couldn't get much screencaps from the movies. Anyway this is also from the movie press conference.

Just to add this in.. Nana 2 bombed compared to the first movie. Not to point any fingers but you can guess why.. Aoi ditched the 2nd movie to act in "Tada, Kimi wo Aishiteru", again looking immeasurably (i ran out of suitable adjectives to precede the word 'cute') cute. And she's an '85'er too. Want to get this movie when it's DVD is released in March. Despite all i've said about Ichikawa Yui, i also want to get Nana 2's DVD when it's out, cause i love the series. And to be fair to Ee Wei, i'll do another comparison (PART 2) on 'Who is sexier?' between the 2, with pictures of course.

Miyazaki Aoi in Tada, Kimi wo Aishiteru