Gomene minna.

The Unremarkable Life of the Female Otaku has come to its end. I, Fujiwara Kumiko, have decided to end my unremarkable life. It has nothing to do with Kazu, my parents or anyone else. This is the decision I’ve made long ago. I was just waiting for the right time.

Last September 1, I wrote my name on my “Death Note” and followed it with the line: “will die quietly after 7 days. I know it’s not a really going to kill me but I just wanted to mark the start of my countdown to my death. Also, I’ve always been linked to the number 7 since I was a child so it would only be fitting to die at the 7th. Most of you probably won’t understand my decision. You might say I’m insane, demented and just plain stupid. But I don’t care.

Thank you for all the people who’ve supported me with their wonderful comments in this blog. And I’m sorry if I’m a disappointment to all of you. I have my reasons for doing this. Reasons most people wouldn’t understand.

Before my death I was able to see the sights of Singapore and I was able to see Kazu and Reiko again. For that I am so happy. The last movie I saw on the theater was “Hana Yori Dango: Final” which is so perfect since it’s the first drama I’ve really obsessed about. It’s like fate that it’s now showing here in Singapore when just a few weeks ago, I was complaining about not being able to see in theaters. That movie made me last day on earth so worthwhile. It was so much fun to watch and Fujiko Naohito just made my day! I was also so proud that the Singaporeans loved HYD so much! The theater was jam-packed and the people were laughing and cheering while watching. Some girls even screamed when F4 first showed up together. Everyone had a smile on their faces when they left the theater and so was I.

The last anime I finished was “Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion” and it’s seriously one the best anime there is. The plot is really clever, the characters are complex and it was just so twisted! I’m glad I was able to watch it before I die.

The last book I read was “Good Omens” although I was not able to finish it. It’s a shame but I just don’t have the time. But I’m glad that my last book was one written by Neil Gaiman. He will always be my number 1 favorite author!

The last drama I have finished watching is “Ashita no Kita Yoshio”. Which is quite fitting since it’s about a guy who decided to kill himself in 11 days. Without meaning to, I even spent my last few days like Kita Yoshio. I withdrew all my money, stayed in a fancy hotel room, ate my favorite food (chocolate cake and onigiri) and I even went face to face with the man I love before I died.

I only have hours left to live now but somehow, I feel nothing. No fear, or sadness or nervousness.

Sayonara minna! Thank you for everything.

End of Day Fifty.

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QUOTES FROM “VERONIKA DECIDES TO DIE”:

“She is not killing herself because she was sad, embittered woman, constantly depressed. The First reason: Everything in her life was the same and once her youth was gone, it would go downhill all the way. She would gain nothing by continuing to live; indeed, the likelihood of suffering would only increase.”

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“At twenty four having experienced everything she could experience, Veronika was almost certain that everything ends in death. That is why she chose suicide: freedom at last! Eternal oblivion!”

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“To hell with taboos and superstitions. God knows the  past, the present and the future. In that case, he had placed her in this world in the full knowledge that she would end up killing herself and he would not be shocked by her actions.”

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“What makes a person hate themselves? Cowardice perhaps. Or the eternal fear of being wrong, of not doing what others expect.”

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“She had managed to appear utterly independent when she was in fact, desperately in need of company. When she entered the room everyone would turn to look at her, but she always ended the night alone watching TV. She gave all of her friends the impression that she is a woman to be envied and she expended most of her energy trying to behave in accordance with the image she created for herself.”

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“Certain people in their eagerness to construct a world no external threat can penetrate, build exaggeratedly high defenses against the outside world, against new people, new places, different experiences and leave their inner world stripped bare.”

I’m sorry if it took me quite a while to write this post. I’ve just been extremely busy these past few days. I told you, day forty nine would be different from most of my posts and believe me it is. What’s so different? Well, for one thing, I’m writing it in a different country. I flew to Singapore last Monday and I am now writing this post in my hotel room. I’ve been planning on going back to Singapore for quite some time now. But I didn’t have enough money for my expenses. But recently, I got my hands on some cash so I flew here immediately.

But that wasn’t the only reason I came to Singapore in such a hurry. The main reason was that two of the most important people in my life are here on vacation. Shortly after their engagement, Kazu and Reiko flew to Singapore to relax and see the sights. And I’ve decided to finally face them. Yes, I was really shocked and hurt when I found out about them but I didn’t cry at all! Truth is, the more I looked at their photo, I started to realize how much I wanted to see the both of them. I miss them so much. And so, eventhough it might hurt me even more, I decided to go and see them.

When you have decided to do the right thing, luck would definitely be on your side. Everything went smoothly when I came here to Singapore. My plane arrived ahead of schedule, the cab driver was extremely nice and helpful and even though I didn’t make a reservation, the first hotel I went to had an available room. And it wasn’t just any room, it was a very very nice room and it even has free wifi access!  It was my most relaxing and convenient trip ever!

Of course, the first thing I did when I got here was take a 2-hour long hot shower and then I pigged-out on the local cuisines! It was amazing! Unfortunately, the sudden change of weather and the different types of food I ate, did not agree with my body at all. Not to mention, the jet-lag and the extremely long time I spent in the shower. So after one day in Singapore, I started to feel really sick! I had a terrible cough and cold and even a slight fever! It sucked big time!

But that didn’t stop me from seeing the sights! I went to Sentosa the other day, hoping to feel a little more relaxed. But it didn’t turn out as good as I thought it would be. Sentosa looked completely different. They seemed to be renovating the place, so what used to be a beautiful view was now replaced by steel bars, tractors and machineries! It wasn’t a pretty sight at all! The park was also quite empty. In fact, there were barely any people there. I even got to ride the cable car by myself! The last time I went to Sentosa, they squeezed five people in our cable car! But now I had the cable car all to myself! It was unbelievable! But I sorta loved it! Although an empty park could be quite depressing.

When I got to Sentosa, of course the first few attractions I checked-out were the movie theaters. I first went to “4D Magix”.  It was rather disappointing. The 4D effects were pretty good, especially the water splashing and the claw-like thingys nipping at my legs.  But the movie itself was really crappy! I thought it would at least be funny since Leslie Nielsen was the lead actor but it was a total disaster!

After 4D Magix, I went to “Cineblast”. Now that one was so much better! We went on this Extreme Log Ride and it was like a virtual roller coaster but so much more exciting than your average roller coaster. I  had so much fun! I was sitting next to a Korean girl and we were both laughing and screaming!

After that, I planned on going to the “Underwater World” but I just couldn’t find it. Maybe they were renovating it or something. So I just walked around the place, in my high-heels, no less. It was exhausting but it was quite refreshing being outside again! When my feet started bleeding, I knew it’s time to go back to the hotel. So I rode the Skyride which was awesome, by the way. The view was spectacular and the wind was cool and very relaxing!

But before I went home, a movie poster at Vivo City Mall caught my attention. Currently showing in Singapore was the movie “Cyborg She”. A Japanese movie from the directors of the Korean “My Sassy Girl”. Of course, I couldn’t pass the chance to watch a Japanese movie in a movie theater! It’s been a year since I watched a Japanese movie on the big screen! All this time, I’ve been watching them online! It was so frustrating watching them in this teeny tiny screen of my laptop.

So, “Cyborg She” had all the elements that made the Korean Sassy Girl such a success. The lead female character is a gorgeous but strange and nameless girl with a very strong personality and the lead male is a dorky, silly loser with a kind heart.  The nameless heroine, was played by Ayase Haruka who looked too perfect to be human in this movie. Which works, since she’s not supposed to be human! The male lead, Kitamura Jiro, was played by Koide Keisuke who looked uncannily like Gyeon-woo of “My Sassy Girl”. Seriously, they could be twins! Even their facial expressions were the same!

“Cyborg She” started exactly like Sassy Girl. A shy and timid loner was leading a very sad and normal life when a mysterious and extremely strange girl came into his life and turned it upside down. She was obviously trouble! She was emotional, crazy and eats wayy too much! But she was gorgeous and charming and she immediately captured the heart of our hero. But just when I thought this would be exactly like “My Sassy Girl”, things took a turn to the sci-fi genre. There was this Terminator-like scene then it was followed by scenes reminiscent of Zettai Kareshi. The heroine came back as a very different person. She was more robotic and emotionless. She was a lot like Night when he first came to Rikko. So it was up to Jiro to teach her how to be more human. Or as they future Jiro said, “It was up to him to give her a soul”. By the way, I loved how, the heroine was modeled after Ayanami Rei of Neon Genesis Evangelion! Ayase Haruka looked exactly like Rei! It was amazing!

Anyway, it was really fun seeing how Jiro tried to make our heroine more human. And just like Night, our female lead was some sort of Superhero too. She goes on saving lives during her free time. She really is exactly like a female version of Night! She even recharges at night. Although instead of sitting on the toilet, she just stares blankly outside the window.

But although the concept and some of the scenes are unoriginally, Cyborg She, is definitely a must-see movie! The special effects were superb, the two lead characters had great chemistry, the performances were stellar and it has a very ambitious plot! Plus there are lots of familiar faces playing minor roles, like Kiritani Kenta (One Pound Gospel, Crows Zero), Kohinata Fumiyo (Ashita ni Kita Yoshio), Sato Megumi (Hana Yori Dango, L:Change the World), and Takenaka Naoto (Kurosagi Movie, Nodame Cantabile and First Kiss).

Plus it has the perfect mix of comedy, drama, action, sci-fi and romance. There’s just so much going on in this movie. It even had a scene that reminded me of the apocalyptic movie “Dragonhead”. And I cried so much when they revisited Jiro’s past. His grandmother reminded me so much of my own grandma. And just like him, I neglected her. I felt so awful. Well, anyway, just go watch this! It has something for everyone! The only thing I didn’t like was the cheesy ending. But it’s okay, I guess.

Anyway, on to the main topic. I came here to do one thing and that is to see Kazu and Reiko. And yesterday I did. They were both so happy to see me! And surprisingly, so was I! I could not believe that both of them were standing right in front of me. I really missed them so much! I thought I would get hurt when I see them together. But I didn’t feel any pain at all! I was genuinely happy! I could not believe. We hung out all night and we were laughing and chatting. It was just like old times! Eventhough they were engaged, the three of us hung out as friends. Kazu and Reiko held hands occasionally but I didn’t mind it at all. I was really happy for Reiko. She’s been through so many bad relationships before and Kazu was the perfect guy for her. Kazu hasn’t changed at all. He was still funny and nice and we had so much fun last night! He was even joking about me being his first fiance (Remember, we pretended to be engaged before so that I could quit my job)

When Kazu and Reiko told me how they got together, I just realized that the one thing that lead them to being together was me leaving the country. If I didn’t leave, the things that happened to them wouldn’t have happened. But you know what, I didn’t feel bad at all. Their story was so funny and beautiful, it could be made into a dorama! Seriously! It felt great to finally face them. I now know that I did the right thing.

But when I said goodbye to them and rode the cab, I felt sadness welling-up inside of me. I didn’t know why. When I got to the hotel room, I lay on the bed and for the first time since I found out about them, I cried. Tears just kept falling. All the emotions I’ve been bottling-up inside me, went pouring out. I cried all night. But when I woke up the next morning. I felt like a new person. The chapter of Kazu in my life is finally over. Now, I don’t have any unfinished business. I’ve never felt better!

End of Day Forty Nine.

I’m dreaming right? This couldn’t possibly the real world. I’m probably staring at the ceiling now and day-dreaming because things like this don’t happen in real life, right? Haven’t I experienced enough drama in my life? How could something so cliched, so typical in cheesy romance drama happen to me? I want to scream and burst into tears but I can’t. I’m still in a state of shock and disbelief. This can’t be reality.

You see, in my entire life I only opened myself to two people: my guy bestfriend, Kazu, and my girl bestfriend, Reiko. I’ve mentioned Reiko before. She’s my funny, loud and confident girl bestfriend. We’ve been friends since I was a freshman in college. And she’s the only friend of mine that I’ve known the longest. We’re complete opposites but somehow we got stuck with each other. She was one of the few people I really cared for. I cried with her when she had fights with her boyfriends, I was by her side when her father died and she was the only person I’ve ever hugged. I said before that I don’t like touching people and I’ve never hugged anyone even my sisters. But I hugged Reiko when her father died. It was the first time I tried to comfort another person, the first time I really wanted to be there for someone. Although I didn’t tell her everything about me and until now she doesn’t fully understand my personality, she’s probably the person who knew me better than anyone else. She’s my oldest and dearest friend. We only went our separate ways because of our differences. But I really missed her. She’s the only person, aside from Kazu that I really miss seeing.

So I couldn’t believe what I saw when I checked my email. It was a picture and a short note. A picture so unexpected, it made my mind go blank. I mentioned before that my absence didn’t affect anyone back home. Their lives went on as usual and me not being there didn’t change anything. I was right.

While I was gone Kazu, Reiko and my family continued living the way they used to. And while I was gone, a lot has happened to Reiko. Her career was going better than ever and she broke-up with her useless boyfriend. I’ve always been against that guy and kept telling her she should just break-up with him. And while I was gone, she did it!

While I was gone, Kazu finally got over his ex-girlfriend. He stopped chasing after her and he started to move-on with his life. He got a new job and a moved into a new place. He seemed to be doing extremely well.

But most importantly, while I was gone, Kazu and Reiko got engaged.

She was heart-broken and alone and he was finally free from his old feelings for his ex. She’s sweet, funny and charming, just as Kazu likes his girl to be and Kazu’s kind, good-looking and caring, just as Reiko likes her guy to be. It was a match made in heaven! And they looked so happy in that picture!

It was shocking and so unbelievably unexpected. Before I left home, Reiko was happily dating her ex-boyfriend. They were even talking about getting married. She and I were even searching for good wedding dresses, churches and reception halls when we were still living together in a share-house. As for Kazu, he was so focused in his work that he didn’t even paid attention to all the girls who flirted with him. He always hung out with me and the guys. He didn’t have dating in his mind at all! And before I left home, Kazu and Reiko haven’t even seen each other for months. Plus, Kazu’s known Reiko for a long time and he never showed any special feeling towards her. So to find out that they’re engaged is just so unbelievable! It’s just something that couldn’t possibly happen in real life! It’s just not possible!

But if it’s real, then I’m glad Reiko finally found a man that would love and cherish her. A man that wouldn’t make her cry like all of her ex-boyfriends. And I’m glad Kazu was able to love again too. Both of my bestfriends are happy now. But just as they both found their happiness, I’ve also lost my two bestfriends forever.

I feel like the biggest loser in the world right now. If this is really happening then, I have absolutely no home to go back to. The only thread of hope I’ve been hanging on to finally snapped and I’m falling deeper and deeper into this dark pit I dug for myself. No one can help me now.

Two more entries to go before this blog ends. I have no idea what to write to make this a little bit more special so I’ll just write this the way I write my usual entries.

Well, first and foremost, I quit my job. I knew I couldn’t do this forever, but I’ve always been afraid to let go of my job. Whenever I tell people that I work at home, they were always saying how lucky I am. I don’t have to commute, I don’t have to endure any nagging from my boss, I don’t have to worry about being late for work and my time’s in my hands. They always asked how I got this job because they wanted to do it too. But you know what? They’re the lucky ones to have real jobs. There’s nothing rewarding about working at home. I won’t get promoted, I won’t be recognized and I’m in total seclusion. This job is not as great as they think it is. So I quit.

Now I have so much free time it’s driving me nuts! So, I’ve invested all that free-time in my hobbies. I finished reading a new book, I made a little art project using paper-clay and wooden sticks, I started drawing again, I sang at a karaoke bar, I started playing this Bleach RPG online and I even made a hundred paper cranes (don’t ask why). I’ve also been actively participating in all of the online groups that I’ve joined before. I’ve also been making Membership ID cards for some of those groups. I’ve been starting forum threads and I’ve even signed-up on a fanfic-writing site. I’ve got a huge collection of fanfics I’ve written throughout the years but never posted any of them online. Well, I can’t post my old stuff anymore because I left them in my old hard-drive which is still back home. But I did start writing a new one for the drama Gokusen. It’s my own story for a 4th Gokusen series but it’s going to be a darker, more serious and more dramatic type of Gokusen. One with a flawed and confused Yankumi. I’ve always wanted to see Yankumi’s dark side and also want to see more yakuza action so I made this fanfic. Aside from that, I’ve also started playing SIMS again too! And this time, I’m really playing it and not just building towns and houses and making characters. I’m actually playing with the characters now until they grow old and die, which I never did before. I’ve also continued writing Saeko’s story but I’m not gonna post it yet because I’m still not sure if I can finish it two weeks.

You see, I’ve only got two weeks to do all the things I’ve been doing for the past few months because after this, I won’t be able to play games, write stories, or talk to people online anymore. So I’m trying to squeeze as many things as I could in these two weeks. Oh, I’ve finished “Sailor Fuku to Kikanjuu”, by the way, and it’s unbelievably amazing but tragic. I cried while watching One Litre of Tears and I thought I’ll never cry harder than I did when I watched that drama. But Sailor Fuku to Kikanjuu proved me wrong. I was wailing, for Christ’s sake! The neighbors probably heard me and thought a ghost is haunting the building! I’m a noise-less crier, okay? I never made a sound when I cry…never. Even when I had a fight with my mom or when I was bullied, tears would fall from my eyes but I never made a sound! So I couldn’t believe that I was actually wailing like that while watching a drama! This drama is THAT tragic!

First of all, Sailor Fuku to Kikanjuu could be quite misleading. When I saw the poster with Nagasawa Masami carrying a machine gun and with that bad-ass look on her face, I thought this would be about a very tough, merciless female yakuza boss. I thought it would be action-packed and bloody, like Kill Bill. But I was wrong! Masami’s character is no Yankumi. She can’t fight, she’s not strong nor intelligent and the only thing she has that makes her worthy of being a yakuza boss is her courage and determination. But even though this drama was not what I expected it to be I became so attached to it. You know how in most superhero movies and shounen anime, the heroes always get battered and bruised in the beginning of the fight but no matter how badly wounded they are or how impossible it is for them to win, they always win in the end. The good guys always wins and funny and lovable characters could never get killed. Well, sailor Fuku to Kikanjuu is the exact opposite. It shows us the real and very ugly side of the lives yakuza members. Not the sugar-coated version shown in Gokusen and My Boss Mu Hero. In reality, people die, good doesn’t always win and one man can’t beat 50 gangsters no matter how righteous and determined he is. It shows a painful and gruesome reality and that’s why I really loved it. This drama started light-hearted and slightly comedic but ended with such sadness and intensity. The scenes on the last few episodes were just so intense, they made my chest feel heavy. I couldn’t stop crying. I cried even more than Masami’s character did. It was just awfully sad! This is actually the reason why I started writing a Gokusen fanfic. I wanted to fuse the two dramas and make Gokusen as dark and realistic as Sailor Fuku to Kikanjuu. I even borrowed some scenes from this drama and placed it on my fanfic. Anyway, I’m telling you, this drama a must-see! But be prepared to spend the whole night crying and with a heavy-feeling on your chest. But then again, it’s probably just me, since I’m a big cry-baby.

Since I’m done with one drama, I’m going to start watching another. This time it’s another detective drama: “Kuitan” (The Eating Detective). It’s on my detective drama list so I definitely have to watch it and I just read the cast list and Kindaichi is in it! I mean the character, Kindaichi Hajime, of the drama “Kindaichi Shonen no Jikenbo”. But in Kuitan, Kindaichi is just a little kid who looks oddly like Conan of “Detective Conan”. That’s making even more curious about this drama.

Oh and for a upcoming drama update, here are some of the dramas to look forward to this fall. First is “Bloody Monday”. This one got me really excited! It’s about a genius young hacker facing off against terrorist organizations. How cool is that? I love hacker stories! I’ve said it before but I think they’re really cool! (Well, at least the good ones, like my old college professor. He’s an ethical hacker.) And what’s even more exciting is that the lead character, Takari Fujimaru, is going to be played by Miura Haruma of Gokusen 3 and Binbo Danshi! I really like Miura as an actor. He’s the only guy in Gokusen 3 that I didn’t find annoying and he was adorable in Binbo Danshi! And speaking of Miura Haruma, he’s also going to be in “Galileo: Episode Zero”, the Galileo Special that will be aired this October. And Miura Haruma would be playing the young Galileo! Come to think of it, he does look a lot like a young Fukuyama Masaharu! Oh and Nagasawa Masami would be in this Special too!

Another drama to watch-out for is “Innocent Love” starring Horikita Maki. It’s about a young woman named Akiyama Kanon, who’s parents died in a fire seven years ago and what’s worse, her brother was arrested as the suspect. Because of her dark past, she had terrible life and was shunned by the people around her. They say this is going to be some sort cinderella-story where a pitiful girl’s life was changed when she met her prince charming which is going to be played here by Kitagawa Yujin. Yujin’s character, Junya, is a kind and innocent pianist here but also with a sorrowful past. Sounds interesting, right?

Also this fall, is a fun Ueto Aya drama entitled “Celeb to Daihinmin” where Aya would be playing a Japanese Paris Hilton who fell in love with a poor widower with three kids. This looks really fun. They say opposites attract but these two characters exist on opposite sides of the globe! She’s a spoiled, pampered rich girl with no sense of responsibilty and He’s a poor, hard-working, family man with three mouths to feed!

Finally, for the youngsters, Chinen Yuri, Nakajima Yuto and Yamada Ryosuke have a new drama this fall called “Scrap Teacher”. It’s like the exact opposite of Gokusen because in this drama the students would be the ones reforming their useless teachers! Now that’s a great role-reversal! It’s great that they made this drama into a Renzoku format! It was aired last April as a Tanpatsu under the title “Sensei wa Erai!” I haven’t seen it yet but it looks interesting!

Well, that’s it for the drama updates. As for the anime department, I’ve started watching Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion. I didn’t want to watch it at first because I thought it would be one of those animes with useless plots and tons of fan-service! But it’s actually really really good! There are some fan-service but their not excessively annoying like in other anime. You know, like in Rosario+Vampire, Moka’s panties can be seen ALL the time, the camera angle’s always exposing underwears and the female characters always fall down to show their panties! Why the hell are they so obsessed with panties?

Anyway, Code Geass is really cool. It has a lot of very interesting characters and I find it hard to choose a favorite! The moment I watched the first episode, I was hooked! I also love the fact that the lead character is a little villainy. Lelouch, is a good guy and he cares deeply for his friends and family but he’s also quite evil like Kira of Death Note. He uses people like pawns in a chess game and he kills mercilessly. For him, killing is like a game.

But that’s what I love about him! I love characters that have complex personalities and this drama has loads of them. Like Kallen, the tough chick who fights with the terrorists but pretends to be a timid and sickly rich girl to hide her secret! Then there’s my one of my favorite characters: CC, the mysterious and strange immortal witch who loves pizza. Unfortunately, along with the great characters, there are also the really annoying ones! Just when I thought I won’t be seeing Orihime for a while, she shows up here in Code Guess as “Shirley”, the perky, cheery girl who’s crazy about Lelouch! She looks and acts exactly like Orihime! Why? Why is she here too!? Then there’s also that irritating racist girl named Nina who acts all timid and innocent but she’s actually sick and perverted on the inside! Well, annoying characters can’t keep me away from this anime! I’m seriously hooked! It’s a lot like Gundam Wing with the royalties and politics and all but Code Geass has a more intelligent plot and complex characters. Oh and since it’s made by CLAMP, I saw some familiar faces like Suzaku who looks exactly like Shaoran of Card Captor Sakura and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles.

Well, that’s it for the drama and anime part. Since I don’t have much else to talk about, I thought I’d share a few facts about me that most people don’t know. Ever since I started this blog, I got to know myself more. A few years ago, I didn’t know much about who I am. My doubts, insecurities and dark past, I never faced any of them. I pretended to be different types of people just to fit into different types of groups. When my friends listened to American boybands, I listened to American Boybands. When my classmates read plotless teen romance novels, I read plotless teen romance novels. When my office-mates wore pink shirts, I wore pink shirts. But I never liked any of those things. Most of my hobbies and preferences growing-up were being dictated by the people around me. And the funny part is, I didn’t know that. I actually thought I really liked those things. I thought I love pink clothes, American boy-bands and cheesy romance novels. But when I began living alone, I started to find the real me.

So here are some of the good, the bad and the plain weird random facts about me:

- My favorite icecream flavors are vanilla and strawberry but I prefer eating them with tomato ketchup.
- I could eat up to 5 cups of rice in one meal and still have enough room in my stomach for dessert.
- Unlike most girls, I’m not afraid of the dark, or spiders, roaches and rats. But I am afraid of house lizards. I just hate that they look like a patch of human skin with tiny eyes and legs. They creep me out! But I do love iguanas! I even had one as a pet!
- I’m very good at handling my liquor. I could drink two pitchers of margaritas without throwing-up.
- I wore a Korean hanbok as a costume for a school event when I was seven . Everyone who didn’t know me thought I was actually Korean.
- The very first story I remember reading was Snow White. It was when I was three but I could still clearly remember the pictures in that book until today.
- I am a very good liar. Some say I could be con-artist. My old boss from an old part-time job I had, didn’t even know I’m Japanese. I told him I’m an Asian American who grew up in New York and he bought it. I’m not very proud of what I did but I needed to do it to get the job.
- I also lied to another old boss of mine for me to be able to quit my job. I told him that I was engaged to Kazu and we have to get married soon so I absolutely have to quit. He did not only believe it, he was teary eyed when I told him our story and he even announced it to the whole office. Kazu laughed so hard when he found out that our plan worked! He was my collaborator in this plan!
- I shop-lifted when I was eight years-old. I wanted to buy a nice gift for a friend of mine for Christmas but my parents won’t give me money even though we could afford it, so I stole a small stone figurine from a gift shop. (Of course, now I know that stealing is bad even though it was really easy to do)
- I accidentally stole a book when I was 18 years-old. My friend and I were looking around in a bookshop and I placed my things on top of a stack of books. When I picked-up my things, I accidentally took one of the books with it. When we got out of the bookshop, the book fell on the floor and when I saw it and realized what happened, I planned on putting it back. But when I saw that the security guard was looking at us, I panicked! So my friend and I just ran for it!
- When I was six years-old, I punched a mean boy so hard that he toppled into some chairs and seriously hurt himself. But since I was known as a quiet and timid girl, no one believed him when he told the teachers about it.

- I have an uncle who’s a famous American author. He met my aunt on a website and now they’re married and living in America. He’s really cool and even sends me signed copies of his books.
- I was once ran-over by my own cousin with his bike when I was nine. I hid it from my grandparents for him not to get punished but they found out when they saw the bloody sheets in my room and my grandfather chased my cousin out of the house with his katana.
- I fall asleep whenever I’m listening to RnB music. But only if the singer is a male artist.
- I faint at the sight of blood. (Well, only real blood. I feel okay when I see them in movies.)
- I ran away from home three times when I was a kid and I wasn’t scared at all. It was actually exciting!
- I like to throw stuff on the TV screen when the character in a TV show irritates me.

- I once peed on my skirt in front of everyone when I was seven. We’ve been standing for so long and I couldn’t hold it in! It was soooo embarassing!!!

- I’ve had long hair since I was little but when a popular guy liked me when I was in middleschool, I cut my hair really short for him to stop liking me. I was being bullied because of him liking me. So even though I liked him too, I cut my hair because he said that’s what he liked most about me.

- I’m such a literature geek that when I was in highschool, I found out that the books I’ve been borrowing from the school library hasn’t been borrowed by anyone since 1940.
- I’ve never given a guy chocolates for Valentines Day. And I mean, never! Not even to my co-workers and family members. But I did receive gifts on White Day, which was weird but nice.
- I had a very expensive European doll named Emily when I was kid. I carried her with me everywhere I go but when my nanny painted her nails red while I was asleep, I thought the doll was possessed and I locked it up in the storage room and never took it out.
- When I get sea-sick, I sing as loud as I can to keep myself from throwing-up. It’s actually embarassing!
- I pretend to be singing in a concert whenever I sing in the shower. Complete with hand-gestures and weird facial expressions.
- I’m very good at mimicking voices and weird sounds. I can also imitate various English accents.
- A guy friend of mine lent me a doujin (Adult or x-rated manga) by mistake before. I was surprised at first but I still read it out of curiosity and it’s not as gross as I thought it would be. Some doujins are actually like a fanfic manga (only with useless sex scenes). So I’m not embarassed to say that I read doujins occassionally. I’m not embarassed because I read them for their story. It’s just like reading a manga and there are some really good ones out there!
- I suck at cooking Japanese food but I make one mean lasagna.
- I can’t drink hot beverages right away. I have to blow them non-stop for a few minutes before I could drink them.
- I hate it when people stare at me. It’s okay if I’m on-stage or when I’m talking to that person but if someone stares at me for no reason, I get really pissed off.
- I can’t look people in the eye. (Except from family members, close friends and job interviewers)
- I’m deathly scared of chatrooms and phone calls.
- I love eating chocolates more than anything in the world.
- My grandma made me a pillow when I was a baby and although it’s old, lumpy and smelly now, I can’t sleep without it.
- I don’t move when I sleep. One of my guy friends told me that when he slept over at my place. He was up all night because of his insomnia and he watched me while I was sleeping to see if I would drool or something. But he said, I didn’t move at all! He found it really creepy.
- I’m the type of person, you wouldn’t want to dare because I would do anything you dare me to do. Like one time, my guy friends and I were at the beach and I jokingly told one of them that I’d throw a beer bottle at him if he doesn’t stop making fun of me. Of course I was kidding but then he said “Okay, I dare you to throw that bottle!” And I did throw the bottle at him! It only missed him by an inch! Even I was surprised that I did it! Weird huh? I also ate crispy crabs dipped in chocolate syrup and wasabi because someone dared me to.
- The strangest food I’ve ever eaten are fried locusts. They’re not so bad, actually.
- My favorite beverage is strawberry milkshake.Yum!
- When I’m reading something very interesting, I get so absorbed in what I’m reading that a bomb could explode right in front of me and I wouldn’t notice.
- The very first time I wore a dress (that I own) was when I was in college.
- I’m scared of little kids. I find them cute and all but I just don’t know how to act around them. Plus they’re so unpredictable! (Wait a second, I sound like Galileo! But it’s true though)
- I have obsessive compulsive disorder sometimes. One time I couldn’t sleep because the curtains were uneven. I was also late in class once because I couldn’t leave the house until I made sure the doormat wasn’t askew.
- I also have very bad short-term memory. I could remember lines from an anime I watched 15 years ago but I sometimes forget where I placed an object that I was holding a second ago.
- I have a habit of making-up explanations for every single thing in the world. And the funny part is, people actually believe them. So when my friends or siblings ask me weird questions like “What do you think those things are made of?” “How do you think that machine works” or “How did that guy do that?”, I always have a long and very convincing answer eventhough I have absolutely no clue about it. But my explanations were always very convincing they end up saying, “Wow, I didn’t know that.” Of course, I always tell them in the end that I’m kidding and they get relly pissed-off because I completely fooled them.
- I find occult stuff like Vampires, Witches and Demons really interesting. But of course I have no plan on going over to the dark side.
- I hate crowded places. I get dizzy and can’t breathe when I’m surrounded by lots of people.

- I analyze absolutely everything! Like when I’m watching TV, I would suddenly complain about a commercial I’ve just seen because what they showed wasn’t logically correct. My sisters get really pissed when I do that!
- I have very delicate skin. I get wounded around the hips when I wear slightly tight shorts, pants or skirts and I get cuts my skin if I scratch it a little too hard. Good thing my wounds heal very fast.
- When I was a kid I got ran over by a bike, fell on my face really hard, scraped my knees while playing etc. but I don’t have a single scar on my body. It’s mind-boggling!
- I had a nanny who used to hit me and shove a spoon really hard into my mouth. She was really scary and her face haunts my dreams until this day.
- I wore a maid’s outfit with combat boots for Haloween a couple of times. You know how Holoween’s the one time of the year that you could dress-up as someone you’re not. Well, I couldn’t possibly be an Akihabara maid because they’re all perky and cheery and tries to sound cute all the time! That’s just not me.
- The first english song I’ve learned to sing was “Somewhere Out there” from the movie: “An American Tail”.
- The first english movie I watched was “The Never-Ending Story”. (The one w/ the white flying dog/dragon)

- The first anime I’ve really obsessed about was “Yu Yu Hakusho”. ( I practically worshiped Kurama)

- I’ve always wanted to be a manga artist since my classmates used to always come up to me and ask me to draw anime characters for them.

- I spent around 50% of my entire life day-dreaming.

- My favorite colors are black, green and white. And I absolutely hate the color pink!

- I love jellybeans!!! I can eat any flavor there is..except licorice! (Ewww!)

- I love mixing-up all types of food. One time, I ate curry with green tea cake and lemonade. Ever tried a tuna and bacon pancake with maple and chocolate syrup? I have!

- I’ve never thrown garbage or even a single candy wrapper on the street. Not even once.

- I always obey the stop lights, no matter how much in a hurry I am. If it’s red, I wouldn’t cross the streets even if everyone else is crossing! Man, I’m so stuck-up!

- I could stay-up for three to four days straight as long as I’m doing something really interesting. Like when I’m doing a very fun project or playing a very interesting RPG.

- I love watching American Idol and I agree with Simon all the time. (What does that say about me? )

- My most favorite place in the world is inside the movie theater. Second is Starbucks.

- My favorite pizza topping is anchovy.

- I love animals. In the whole duration of my life, I’ve had 25 dogs, 11 cats, 7 rats, 6 guinea pigs, 4 rabbits, 2 chickens, 1 chick (the cat ate it) and 1 iguana. Oh I forgot the fishes! But I lost count of them!

Well, I think this is long enough. There’s still more but I have to go to bed now. Thanks for reading! Two more entries to go! The next one would be different from my usual posts. I promise!

End of Day Forty Eight.

I am not going to write about anime and dramas in this post. I’m here to make an announcement. I would like all of you to know that this blog is about to come to it’s end. Something big is going to happen soon and I would have to stop writing in this blog for good. It’s something that I’ve been planning to do for months now. I only have two weeks left to write in this blog and Day Fifty would be my last entry.

I know this blog hasn’t been that interesting lately. I guess, that’s because I’ve gotten a little too cheerful because of your wonderful comments. The dark and gloomy Kumiko has began to come to life because of everything you said to me. I could sleep at night now, I go out more often and I’ve become more optimistic. For that I’m really thankful to you guys. I have three more posts to go and I have no idea how I’m going to use them properly. But I would like to beg you guys to read the last two entries because I have some very very important things to say in those two posts.

I would be posting my last entry on the 7th of September. Thank You.

End of Day Forty Seven.

***I wrote this a few days ago but I couldn’t access wordpress for days!!! It was so frustrating!***

It’s been another interesting couple of days for me. (Although my internet connection is going on and off) Something strange just happened…My sleeping pattern’s back to normal! I don’t know why or how it happened, it just did! I couldn’t stay-up late now, even if I wanted to. I know I should be rejoicing now since my vampiric sleeping pattern was bad for my health but, somehow, I feel worse now than I felt before. I guess, some people are just meant to be up at night!

By the way, to Kinki, it’s weird that you mentioned Kamen Rider Kabuto because I was searching for it the other day on veoh. I’ve watched all of the old Kamen Rider series when I was kid so even though they look cheesy to me now, I still wanna watch them for old time’s sake. I was even also looking for the Kamen Rider Faiz movie because Hayami Mokomichi was there. About “Tsubasa no Oreta Tenshi Tachi”, yes, I’ve seen the episode with Maki and Ken’ichi in it! It’s the one called “Live Chat” right? The one about a girl who stays shut inside her apartment, works at home and only goes out to buy food. A girl who’s all alone and only talks to people online? Hmmmm, why does that story sound so familiar? It must have been based on the life of someone I know, minus the stabbing part! And for Kram and kyouya, thanks for your very nice comments. Again, I’m sorry about Saeko’s story. It would take a while before I post the next chapters because I still have a lot to do.

Anyway, since I’m awake during the day now, I get to go out more often. And just the other day, I watched the most awaited Pixar film: “Wall-e”! And it was a masterpiece! In fact, almost every Pixar film was a masterpiece. I know, since I’ve seen them all. But I think, Wall-e is probably the best one I’ve seen so far! It’s visually stunning, has a heart-warming story and has robotic characters that are more human than…well, humans! From the very first moment this movie started, Wall-e captured the hearts of everyone in the audience. He’s just such a lovable character: sweet, innocent and somewhat silly but with the purest heart there ever was (That is if he has a heart). In the beginning, we see Wall-e living all alone on Earth. There were no humans, no animals and even the other robots have all stopped moving. Wall-e’s only companion was an adorable little cockroach. (Seriously, I never thought roaches could make good pets, but apparently they do). Wall-e diligently fulfilled his duty to clean-up the planet even though he’s the only one there. We get to see his lonely and boring existence. He gets up every morning to do the same things over and over every single day. His only refuge from his miserable life is watching an old movie he found among the garbage. It is because of this old movie that Wall-e developed his own personality and started to have human emotions. In fact, his heart is so human that he even collects stuff like we do. He also values the life of his pet and he has unbelievable sadness in his eyes. It’s astounding how the creators of this movie were able to reflect all sorts of human emotions in Wall-e’s robotic eyes. And even though he did not speak human language, we could understand what he and the other robots were trying to say! It’s just pure genius!

“Wall-e” is first and foremost a love story. A love story between two beings that are not even supposed to have emotions. But like I always said when I was watching “Zettai Kareshi”, anything that has the ability to love is no different from us humans. And the love between Wall-e and Eve was one of the purest and sweetest one I’ve seen in such a long time. They were both created to serve a certain purpose. One was programmed to clean-up the world while the other was made to find life on Earth. But they both abandoned their duties and did things beyond their programming because of their love for each other. They both reminded me so much of Night of the drama, Zettai Kareshi. He did things he’s not supposed to be capable of doing because of his love for Riiko. By some sort of miracle, a man-made machine was able to defy its programming and fall in love. Another “Zettai Kareshi” moment in “Wall-e” was when Wall-e was damaged beyond repair and the only way to save him was to change most of his parts including his memory chip. It’s just like that part in ZK where Night was over-heating and kept malfunctioning, they had to to change his memory chip because his old one was already fried but he refused to have it changed because he treasures his memories and without them, he’d be nothing more but a common robot. Wall-e, on the other hand, had his memory chip changed and when he woke up with blank expressionless eyes, I was literally holding my breath. The unnerving silence also added to the tension of that scene. It was a very scary and emotional moment.

But aside from the love story, “Wall-e” is also a sci-fi movie that gives us a terrifying glimpse of the future. A future where human beings are nothing but soul-less blobs. We survived even after Earth became uninhabitable but we’re not truly alive anymore. I thought I live a meaningless existence, but the human beings in “Wall-e” were even worse. They have no emotions, no hobbies, no interests and they do nothing. Music, dancing, movies, art, nature, even people like me, appreciates those things. But the people in “Wall-e” didn’t even know those things. They did’t know what it’s like to love, to be happy, to connect to others. They simply exist for nothing. I guess it’s true what they say, “The only way you could appreciate the good things in life is through sufferings”. People in the future do not suffer anymore. They don’t work, they don’t get hurt, they don’t even lift a finger. The robots did everything for them. As a result, they didn’t know things like friendship, love and camaraderie. For God’s sake, they didn’t even talk face to face anymore. The future shown in “Wall-e” seems absurd and ridiculous but it’s possible. Look at me, I live in a world full of people but I connect better with people I meet online. I’d rather make friends online than in real life. And there are tons of people like me. So a future where humans don’t have any personal connection with each other can really happen. As technology advances, communication between humans becomes less and less personal. Someday, we’ll be the ones who are like robots: doing only the things that we’re expected to do and feeling no emotions towards others. We’ll live and die without doing or feeling anything. And there’s nothing ridiculous about that. It’s actually frightening.

Another frightening notion about the future that was shown in Wall-e was the extreme uniformity. Everyone looks the same, wears the same clothes and do the same things. Today, we live in a world were most people have to go through great lengths just to fit into society. I know, because I was one of them. So there’s a high probability that someday everyone would be the same. I mean, more and more people are giving into society’s demands. I’ve had many otaku friends who stopped being who they are just because people ridiculed them. Now, they’re pretending to be someone they’re not to be like everyone else.

This part of “Wall-e” reminds me of the book, “The Giver”. It shows a future with no crime, no sufferings, no sadness. But without evil, good cannot exist. Without sadness, there can be no happiness. Without tears, there can be no laughter. So we should all be thankful that we live in this age because the future is one scary place.

Anyway, all I’m trying to say is…”Go watch Wall-e!” It’s not just a big-budgeted family film. It’s a movie with a heart. It can touch your soul and probably change your perspective in life. And it doesn’t hurt that the visuals and the music are astounding. That’s why all Pixar films are successful. Even though the characters are all animated, their movies have more depth and emotions than most live action films. The audience could clearly see how much thought and effort were put into their movies. And that’s why almost all of them became instant classics! And “Wall-e” was no exception! I’ve always thought Wall-e looked a lot like E.T., but now I know that he’s also as lovable and memorable as Steven Spielberg’s little alien.

Watching “Wall-e” was a wonderful experience and it lifted my mood even more. So I didn’t feel that bad after spending too much money on some yummy but incredibly expensive spicy salmon sushi. By the way, I also got to eat Tuna Wasabi crepe again so I’m definitely happy and contented now!

After watching the movie, I also bought a new book. I just wanted to drop-by the bookshop but when I saw Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s “Good Omens”, I just had to buy it! I’ve been looking for that book for years! I have all of Neil Gaiman’s books except for that one. I don’t know why, but I just couldn’t find that book before. It was always unavailable or sold out. Even book rental shops didn’t have it. So when I saw it sitting there, I wanted to scream out loud. And the best part is, the book was really cheap! They also had two different covers to choose from. One was a black book with an angel on the cover, while the other was white with a grinning devil on the cover. Well, just so you know, I was really torn between the two but I chose the white one with the devil in the end. I wonder if they made two covers to see which one most people would choose. It’s like they’re trying to see how many people would pick the angel over the devil and vice versa. The book IS about the impending apocalypse and the war between heaven and hell. So picking a cover is like picking a side on this war! (***thinks for a second***) Oh no!

When I got home, I immediately started reading it and, as expected, it was pure genius! It’s the funniest, most ridiculous and most clever book I’ve ever read! It’s probably going to be one of my favorite books ever! I’ve only read a few chapters so far but I just couldn’t stop giggling while reading it. Clive Barker was right when he said that “The apocalypse has never been funnier!” I’ve read Revelations in the bible and Nostradamus’ predictions (I even wrote a paper about it) but none of them made the apocalypse seem as interesting and entertaining as this book! I’ve adored Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett before but now I freakin’ worship them! Only the most twisted and clever minds could come up with a book like this!

And speaking of twisted and clever minds, I’m more than half-way through Galileo now and I’m loving it more and more! The cases were also getting more and more difficult and interesting. Most of them are impossible to solve, unless you’re a physicist. I bet even Kindaichi would have a hard time figuring them out! You see, even if you have the highest IQ or the best logical reasoning, if you’re not knowledgeable in Physics, it would be impossible for you to solve most of the cases in Galileo. It’s simply brilliant! I said before that Galileo is a lot like Remote but now I see that it’s more like “Trick” or “Myth Busters” (Discovery channel show)! Galileo is always trying to prove that popular supernatural beliefs can all be explained through Science. Like poltergeists, astral projection, precognitive abilities, teleportation etc. But instead of a cocky and useless Physicist like Ueda of Trick, Galileo is the real thing! He’s a true genius and had every right to be arrogant! But I was really surprised to find out that Galileo is not just your average Science geek, he’s actually very athletic and artistic. He’s good at squash, rock climbing, archery, boxing, sculpting and a whole lot more. I just love the look on Utsumi’s face whenever she sees Galileo playing sports. She looked like a love-sick puppy! If she was an anime character, her eyes would have turned into hearts! But of course, she snaps-out of her trance whenever Galileo starts talking about logic and Physics again. I guess that’s the biggest turn-off for Utsumi, otherwise, Galileo would be her ideal man! But seriously, I was never a fan of Fukuyama Masaharu before, but now I’m starting to really like him! Just like Utsumi, I fall into some sort of trance whenever I watch him playing squash or rock-climbing! How come I never noticed before that he looks really hot? Anyway, aside from the fascinating science experiments, the funny love-hate relationship of the two lead characters and the very intelligent plot, Galileo also has a lot of famoust guest stars like Ohgo Suzuka and Horikita Maki. I espcially loved the episode with Ohgo Suzuka because it’s like seeing a younger version of Galileo. Even though Suzuka’s character is female, Galileo saw his younger self in her because they’re both twisted and very logical! I could definitely relate to that!

But I deeply regret watching episode 7. It was the worst episode ever! I figured-out the whole thing from the very beginning! I was so disappointed! I was able to guess the method of the murder, the culprit and the motive before Galileo even started investigating the case! It was THAT predictable! And when my guess turned out to be right I felt like a kid who just found out that Santa Claus is just a guy in a red suit! I felt betrayed! Okay, you might think I’m over-reacting but I just felt horrible after watching it! The way the wife looked at the friend in the very first scene gave the whole thing away! I shouldn’t have watched this episode! It changed the way I see Galileo! I wish the next episode could wash away all these negative feelings!

Aside from Galileo, I’ve also started watching another drama, “Sailor Fuku to Kikanjuu” (Sailor Suit and Machine Gun) I’ve already mentioned this drama before but I only got to watch it this morning because Veoh took forever to finish downloading it. Sailor Fuku to Kikanjuu is about a nerdy and clumsy highschool girl named, Hoshi Izumi (Nagasawa Masami) who suddenly became the boss of a small Yakuza clan (Medaka clan) after the death of her father. Although this drama is a bit comedic and has lots of silly characters, it’s actually R-18 because of some really violent scenes. The opening scene alone, really surprised me. When Nagasawa Masami went Scarface, and started shooting all those gangsters with her machine gun while wearing her school uniform, all I was able to say was “Whoa!”. She’s like a gun-wielding Gogo but I do wish that they made that scene a little bloodier! The intense opening scene was followed by a touching scene between Izumi and her father. Her dad is probably the sweetest and nicest dad there could ever be. I was teary-eyed just watching the way they interacted with each other.

This drama is one those “Zero to Hero” stories. Izumi was just your ordinary highschool girl. She’s not smart, or popular and she’s not even courageous and idealistic. In short, there seem to be nothing special about her. But after her father’s death, her mundane life was turned upside down. Remember the movie “Wanted”? Well, replace assassins with Yakuza and instead of Angela Jolie, there’s a tough, tall and tattooed gangster named Sakuma, played by Tsutsumi Shinichi. Well, I love watching these sort of dramas because it makes you think that anything can happen. Even the biggest loser can be someone special!

Anyway, the first episode is really sad but interesting. We see Izumi coping with her father’s sudden death and her doubts and fears for her future. The guys in the Medaka clan, were also dealing with problems of their own, like the possible disbandment of their gang because of the death of their leader. I couldn’t help but think of Gokusen while watching this. The guys in the Medaka clan were so much like the guys in the Oedo Clan. They’re the hot-headed, silly and lovable gangsters. The type who have scary faces, rough exteriors but kind hearts. Even their former leader was a gentle old man who’s attitude greatly resembled Yankumi’s grandpa. Even Izumi made me think of what a young Yamaguchi Kumiko would be like. I mean, Yankumi looked nerdy because of her glasses but she doesn’t seem to be the intelligent type and Izumi was exactly like that. They even wore similar glasses! Unfortunately, unlike Yankumi, Izumi’s weak and timid but her heart is in the right place. Plus when she took off her glasses and said these words to Sakuma: “Don’t call me, ojou! I am the 8th Generation leader of the Medaka clan! Hoshi Izumi!”, she looked just like Yankumi. The serious and determined look on her face and the way she said those words with such conviction was very Yankumi-esque!

All in all, Sailor Fuku to Kikanjuu, definitely got me hooked. I mean, Yakuza clans, violent fight scenes and a very Yankumi-esque lead character! How can I not like this drama?! Plus, the performances were pretty good. Tsutsumi Shinichi was very convincing in his role and he perfectly portrayed the tough but very kind and gentle gangster. He and Nagasawa Masami also makes a great team! In fact, if only Tsutsumi Shinichi’s the same age as Masami, the two of them would probably make a good pair. Unfortunately, he’s too old for her, so his character was more like a father-figure to Masami’s character. My only complaint was that there seems to be something missing. I’m still not sure what. Plus, even though Masami was very good in playing Izumi’s tough and determined side, she wasn’t very convincing as the nerdy and clumsy highschool girl. Her characters is supposed to be silly and Masami is just not that good in playing silly characters.

Oh, by the way, I finally finished watching Binbo Danshi. I really couldn’t find anything remarkable about this drama. Even the ending was pretty ordinary. But the last episode made my chest feel a bit heavy. It’s just that when 300 people came to Kazumi’s aid when he was in a pinch, I realized how much of a loser I am when it comes to making friends. When I was in a pinch before, I had no one to call and even if I had someone to call no one would probably come. So when that character Omu Omu, told Shun’s character, Kazumi, that “I hate you and I don’t ever wanna see you again!” I felt the exact same way. Kazumi was just TOO good, TOO selfless, TOO optimistic and TOO friendly. I couldn’t stand him because there couldn’t possibly be a person like him in real life! There is no one who is completely good! Everyone has a dark side or even just one negative trait. That’s what makes us human! It was also lame that Mimi (Yamada Yu) didn’t end-up with Kazumi. She’s obviously in-love with him, so I pity Megane-san because he’s more like a substitute. Anyway, this drama had it’s touching and funny moments but most of the time it just infuriated and annoyed me. Shun’s character was also very unoriginal. The way he talked, moved and dressed were reminiscent of Nagase Tomoya’s character, Sakuraba Yoichiro, from the drama, Mukodono! For an Oguri Shun drama, this is very disappointing. It’s a good thing Shun looked really hot in the end when he was a wearing suit and his hair wasn’t a mess. I had a fleeting fan-girl moment then so I felt a little better.

Anyway, that’s it for now. It’s been a great couple of days. I just wish I could be a day person though, so that I wouldn’t have to constantly knock into things while walking. I’m seriously clumsy during the day!

End of Day Forty Six.

***I  wrote this the other day but again, I kept getting disconnected.***

Just as promised, I’m writing everyday now. To kinki and Christine thanks for what you said on my last last entry! To kinki, I’m glad you find this blog interesting. I’m really sorry for not being able to post the continuation of Saeko’s story. I just couldn’t find the time to finish it. And I don’t want to post the next chapter yet because it might leave you guys hanging. By the way, I probably said some strange things in my last entry. I hope I didn’t sound conceited or anything, I was just stating some of my past experiences.

It’s been a wonderful couple of days for me. I’ve started going out more. You know, I should have started this whole blogging thing long ago. It really helped me a lot. I get to say what’s on my mind, even my deepest darkest secrets. I even get to have regular readers which I never thought was possible. I didn’t even think anyone would read this when I started it. So thank you guys!

So I went out again and watched a movie…as always. It was just a great day. It didn’t rain but it wasn’t too bright and sunny. I spent the whole day drinking coffee and eating crepes! Yay! Crepes! I missed eating those but I couldn’t find a good crepe shop here (if only Angel Crepe exists ) Luckily, a new one just opened at the nearby mall recently and I finally get to eat crepes! I ate tuna wasabi and banana butterscotch crepe. They were absolutely scrumptious especially the tuna wasabi! Yum! It’s seriously the best crepe I’ve ever tasted! And I couldn’t help but think of “L” while eating it! And yeah, my new obsession with crepes is the reason behind the lame title of this post!

Oh and about the movie I watched, it’s called “Bank Job” with Jason Statham. Well, I told you I watch every sort of movie there is. Bank Job is a bank heist film similar to the movie “The Italian Job”. But as for the characters and story, it’s more like a British Ocean’s 11…except there were only 6 people involved and the robbery is a bit smaller in scale. It’s not the clever, perfectly-planned bank heist where the players are all professionals with varying areas of expertise that we often see in movies like this. In fact, the thieves are just a bunch of amateurs and they were sloppy, careless and left a lot of room for mistakes. In fact, the only reason they pulled the job off was because of pure dumb luck! But robbing the bank was the easy part, the hard part was getting hunted by the people who owns the stuff they stole. That’s their big mistake, they didn’t rob a vault full of money, they robbed  a bunch of safety deposit boxes which are filled with items that are highly important to a bunch of powerful but very nasty people. It was a pretty interesting movie but it didn’t offers anything new. The performances were pretty solid but some parts were a bit of a mess. Oh well, at least I got to watch something new. I actually thought I would have to watch The Dark Knight again since I’ve already seen every single movie in the theater.

Speaking of movies, Matsuyama Ken’ichi’s latest movie, “Detroit Metal City” has just been released in Japan last August 8 (I think). This makes me regret no much that I’m not back home. I want to watch it so bad! I just saw some Behind the scenes clips on youtube with Ken’ichi rocking on-stage with the legendary Gene Simmons! They were awesome! Oh and I love Ken’ichi’s black nail polish! I have a thing for guys with black nail polish since I have black nails as well. Anyway, I can’t believe I missed another movie release that I’ve been waiting for for a long time! First L:Change the World, then Hana Yori Dango Movie and now this! This sucks big time! Now I have to wait for months before I could watch it online! By the way, for my fellow Fujiki Naohito fans, just in case you haven’t heard, Nao is on the Hana Yori Dango Movie. It’s kinda poetic actually. He played the role of Hanazawa Rui in the old HYD movie and now his in the new version too! I bet he and Shun compared notes about playing the same role! Oh since we’re talking about the cast of HYD, I was just looking around on youtube and I found this clip from the press conference for the 24hr TV event in Japan last June 17. And Nakama Yukie and Arashi were there! Waaaah! It’s been 6 years since Gokusen 1 and seeing Nakama Yukie and Matsumoto Jun together in one show again just makes me so nostalgic! When Jun said to Yukie, “Long time no see, Yamaguchi sensei”, I couldn’t stop giggling! I am, after all, one of the biggest Shinkumi shippers there ever was! I wish they were sitting next to each other though. They were like sitting on the opposite sides of the room, with the other members of Arashi between them.

As for the drama department, I only got to watch two dramas these past few days because I kept getting disconnected.  I watched episode 5 of Code Blue and  the very first episode of Galileo!  I tried loading Ashita no Kita Yoshio and Binbo Danshi but they took too long to load and always got cut-off half-way.

Code Blue was still pretty awesome. Episode 5, for me, wasn’t as intense as the 2nd episode but it was still pretty good. In this episode, three of the interns had to fly to an old factory were a terrible accident just occurred. 30 people were seriously injured so they had their hands full. It reminded me of the ferry accident in Grey’s Anatomy but with less intensity and grandeur. It had so much potential to be a great episode but somehow it felt quite lacking. It was quite touching but I felt like I’ve seen it all before. But I’m still looking forward to the next episode! I really want to know more about Yamapi’s character because he’s been this cold emotionless guy since day one. He’s like a closed book that doesn’t reveal much about himself. I wish, by the next episode, we get to see more depth to his character.

Now for the main course: “Galileo!” First of all, I would like to thank Eve for recommending this to me. I was actually having second-thoughts about watching this drama before. I’m just not a fan of Fukuyama Masaharu and I thought this would be boring and overly serious. I was such an idiot! I’ve only seen one episode but I already fell in love with it! It was just so much fun to watch! Fukuyama Masaharu and Shibasaki Kou had such amazing chemistry. They just light-up the screen with their presence. It’s a perfect team-up and both of their characters were simply adorable.  It would be impossible not to like them! Galileo was just a funny guy. I love his silly laugh, strange mannerisms and weird way of dealing with people. Utsumi, on the other hand,  reminds me so much of Ayaki Kurumi of the drama “Remote”. In fact, Galileo is like a more modern version of “Remote”. The whole Galileo/Utsumi team-up reminds me so much of the Himuro/Ayaki team-up. Putting together a socially retarded genius and a pretty and idealistic cop is always a winning formula. Come to think of it, Utsumi could be Kurumi’s future-self. Utsumi was a former traffic cop who became a detective by doing a lot of undercover jobs to bag molesters. She even dressed-up as a highschool student once. Well, Kurumi did the same thing in “Remote” and she was also a traffic cop who started investigating cases.

Anyway, I am soooo glad I started watching this! It just made my day! The first case wasn’t that challenging but the way Galileo solved the case was so much fun to watch. I can’t wait to see the next episode!

In the anime department, I’m still watching the same stuff. But I started to watch Katekyo Hitman Reborn again. I didn’t like it that much before because I found the fact that Tsuna have to always get stripped into his underwear whenever he has to use his super powers is quite ridiculous. I just thought it would be way cooler if he didn’t have to get naked when he’s hit by the dying will bullet. But now, I’m on the second arc and Tsuna is fully clothed when fighting now! He even have another weapon at his disposal. The story’s also starting to get interesting. So I think I might start liking this anime. But I still have to wait and see. I’ve still got a lot of episodes to go before I reach the latest episode.

Hmmm, It’s almost time for lunch. I’m still on a Pocky and coffee cream soda diet since there’s nothing else on the fridge but it’s okay. Well, that’s it for now, I have to load lots of anime and drama while I still have internet connection. I might get disconnected any moment so I have to make the most out of my limited  internet access!
End of Day Forty Five.

***I wrote this two days ago but I didn’t have internet connection.***

I overslept again! I slept yesterday around 10 in the morning. I was supposed to wake up around 7 or 8 in the evening, instead I woke up at 2 in the morning the next day! Waaah! My body clock seems to be going haywire! Oh well, since I was up early, I thought I might as well go out. So I went out today. I planned on just spending a pleasant day drinking hot caramel macchiato while watching a movie. But I ended up spending lots of money on a chocolate cake and a sandwich only to throw up everything I ate! I guess, I was still a bit sick.

But that wouldn’t stop me from watching a movie! Against my better judgment, I decided to watch the American version of “My Sassy Girl”. I promised myself that I wouldn’t watch it because I seriously loved the original Korean version and American remakes of Asian films disappointed me one too many times. But, again, I had nothing else to watch so I gritted my teeth and went inside to the theater.

Truth be told, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It has its own charms and positive points but it has one huge problem: “It’s still a remake and the original was just too darn good!” I probably would have liked this movie if I haven’t seen the original…five times…in three different languages! I liked the original THAT much! This remake stayed true to the Korean version. Almost all of the scenes in this movie could be found in the original but this movie is like a simplified and shorter version. They removed most of the hilarious and really important scenes that made the original so brilliant. The throwing-up-at-the-old-man’s-head scene, the getting-caught-by-the-cops-naked-at-a-cheap-motel scene, the cheesy-futuristic-rescue scene and a whole lot more. It just felt incomplete. You know the feeling when you’re talking to someone then he stops mid-sentence and didn’t finish what he’s saying? That feeling like you were left hanging and expecting something more. Well, that’s what I felt while watching this. Another thing I hated about this film is that, not only did they remove the vital scenes but the scenes that were there were even simplified. Like that part with the crazy soldier. That was supposed to be a big scene in front of a beautiful grand carousel, with SWAT team all over the place, snipers on standby at the top of the park rides and all that; but in this movie it was so much simpler and smaller in scale. Even the fireworks display in the background looked like it was done in someone’s backyard. They just limited themselves so much instead going wild with the concept like the Koreans did in the original.

As for the actors performances, well, I have to say, Jesse Bradford was perfect for the role of the pitiful Gyeon-woo (or Charlie in this version). Even when I saw the trailer, I thought they made the right choice casting him. He pulled-off the role pretty well. I couldn’t say the same thing about Elisha Cuthbert though. First of all, I love Elisha Cuthbert. She’s a really talented actress and is one of the prettiest young faces in the business today. Unfortunately, this role is just not for her. She fits the bill in terms of good looks and she also has that incredible charm and screen-presence. But her character lacks the strong personality and “sassiness” that Jeon Ji-hyun had in the Korean version. But I don’t hold anything against Elisha, the Korean “Sassy Girl” was such a beloved character and Jeon Ji-hyun was born to play that role. That character already goes with Jeon Ji-hyun’s name and she immortalized it with her brilliant performance! Just like Matsuyama Ken’ichi with “L” and Heath Ledger with “The Joker”. Elisha had such incredibly big shoes to fill and I applaud her for her effort. It’s a failed effort but at least she tried.

All in all, the American “My Sassy Girl” is not that bad. The cinematography was beautiful, the script was quite well-written, the two main leads had good chemistry and it had a unique charm that typical romantic comedies don’t have. In fact it’s not your everyday-average romantic comedy. It’s actually quite better than most films in its genre. Unfortunately, it’s too short, too rushed and falls-short in terms of character development. In short, it wasn’t able to live-up to the original. But it’s quite an improvement compared to the past remakes of Asian horror films!

And speaking of horror films, remember Sadako? I just had a trip back memory lane this afternoon. After watching “My Sassy Girl”, I didn’t want to go home yet so I went to the bookstore to pass the time. The first book that caught my attention was Suzuki Koji’s “Birthday”. Suzuki Koji is the man behind the ever popular “Ring” novels. Yes, the same novels where the hit J-horror movie, “Ringu” and the American remake with Naomi Watts were based on. I don’t actually like to read horror novels because I’ve always believed that they are much scarier when you watch them on-screen. But man, was I so wrong!

By the way, “Birthday” is an anthology just like “Yume Juya”. It’s composed of three different stories that are all related to the “Ringu” universe. I didn’t have time to read all of them so I just read the longest one, “Lemonheart”. It’s actually the story where the screenplay of the movie, “Ringu 0: Birthday” (starring Nakama Yukie), was based on. I’ve seen the movie years ago so I thought I knew what I’d read in this book. But I was wrong. It was completely different and didn’t feel like a horror novel at all. I guess that’s the difference between watching a movie from reading a book. The movie, was interpreted the way the director wanted it to be interpreted and the viewers have no choice but to just sit back and drink it all in! But when you’re reading, you can interpret the story any way you want. It’s up to you to imagine what the characters look like, what the settings feels like and how they all interact with each other. And to be honest, I’ve never appreciated the Ringu story as much as I did when I read this book.

“Lemonheart” is a story about a man named Toyama and the one great love of his life, the woman he was never able to forget for 24 years: Yamamura Sadako. In the silver screen, “Birthday” is a horror story but in this novel it’s more like a tragic love story. It has a completely different feel. In fact, aside from the few creepy moments with the baby’s cries being heard on the recordings, this didn’t seem like a horror story at all! For the first time, I got to see a Sadako who’s not scary. I saw a Sadako who’s beautiful, young and innocent. In the movies, she’s always that terrifying girl with supernatural abilities but here she’s just you’re everyday average teenage girl who dreams of becoming an actress.

“Lemonheart” started as a love story between Sadako and Toyama that happened 24 years ago when Sadako was only 19 years-old. I think there’s something sweet and innocent about their love for each other. Reading about how they met and how they fell in love just put a smile on my face. Sadako was a very beautiful girl who worked as an intern for a theater troupe. She’s smart, talented and pretty and all the men admired her. Among these men were Toyama, a fellow intern who’s in charge of the sound effects. It was love at first sight for him. Toyama was your typical nice guy. A hopeless romantic, a little shy and timid but an overall good guy. At first he was contented in loving Sadako from a distance. But when he saw her dance on-stage, he fell even more in-love with her and knew he had to talk to her. The first time he talked to her, he said “You dance really well! Good job!” But she took it the wrong way. She thought he was being sarcastic.

Even though she knew she’s a great dancer she thought everyone else thinks she was terrible and so she treated all their praises as sarcasm. When she got mad at him for praising her, I caught a glimpse of myself in her. I too have always been like that. From middleschool, to highschool, to college until I got a job: I’ve never had full confidence in myself. When guys come up to me and tell me that I look cute or pretty, I always thought they were making fun of me and that they’re laughing at me behind me back. When I look in the mirror, I see a pretty girl, not exceptionally beautiful, but still quite pretty. But even though I see that girl there, I don’t believe that’s what other people see when they look at me. I’ve always believed that even though I see myself as a pretty girl, I think what everyone sees is an ugly and very ordinary girl. So whenever someone praises me, I always treated it as sarcasm. I’m also like that with my work. When I draw, I could see that I draw really well but I doubt that other people would see it the way I do. That’s why I rarely show my work to anyone. If it weren’t for my past teachers who encouraged me to join art contests I would probably hid my drawings from the world forever. But even when I won in those contest, I always felt like I won because I got lucky and not because I’m good. I guess you could say that I didn’t trust people’s judgment. I didn’t trust that their judgment would be the same as mine. Or is it the other way around? I don’t trust my judgment. I don’t trust that my judgment of myself would be the same as others. Does that makes sense?

Anyway, in the novel Toyama once told Sadako “You know, you shouldn’t hate the world so much. Everyone’s not always out to get you.” For some reason, that line made me laugh because I’ve always had that same mentality. That the world is out to get me. That everyone’s judging me. That everyone doesn’t like me. Another funny thing about this novel is when the people in the theatre troupe called Sadako: “That creepy girl”. Although she’s beautiful and they all had a crush on her they found her really creepy. Not because of her supernatural powers (There was no mention of that at this point of the story) but because of her gloomy nature. It’s funny because I used to be “that creepy girl”. Back in my last few years in college (after I got sick) up until when I was working in various companies, I’ve always been labeled as “the cute girl whom guys were afraid to approach”. I remember my first day on my first job. I was wearing a really nice dress because I wanted to make a good impression. When I got there, some guys eagerly approached me trying to be “helpful” seniors. They were so attentive to my needs and were incredibly nice to me. But a few days later, they all started backing away from me because my creepiness started to come out. I guess they thought I was cute at first but my weirdness scared them away in the end.

I guess that’s why I really enjoyed reading this novel. My friends used to call me “Sadako” before, because I had the same long dark hair as Nakama Yukie (I’ve got bangs now though) and I did make a couple of guys at the office scream like a girl when I suddenly popped out from behind them. But after reading this book, I realized, I didn’t just look like Sadako, I even had the same personality as her! But let me just say, I’ve improved so much this past couple of years in terms of accepting praises. I believe more in other people now and I don’t treat praises as sarcasm anymore. I guess, I owed that to Kazu.

That’s why while I was reading this novel, the Sadako I was picturing in my head was a young Nakama Yukie but the Toyama in my head was Kazu. They just have the same personality and I just couldn’t help but see his face while reading this. Especially, since Toyama was always there to encourage Sadako. Anyway, what started out as a pure and innocent love story, slowly became a dark and creepy tale when strange things began happening in the theater. There were weird noises appearing on the recordings and a strange altar was found in the sound booth. I thought horror scenes are scarier on-screen but I felt more chills down my spine while I was reading them. I guess, it’s because they were told in a very detailed manner and your mind could make them look as scary as you want them to be.

Of course, the story ended tragically even though it could have had a happy ending. Toyama was never able to forget Sadako even though he hadn’t seen her for 24 years and he’s already a married man. He kept asking a lot of “What-ifs”. “What if Sadako didn’t disappear 24 years ago?” Maybe they would be happily married now. “What if he was able to prevent the terrible event that happened before?” Maybe his life would be completely different now. I’ve been asking a lot of “What-ifs” myself. I’m only 21 but I already have many regrets in life. But you know what? It’s perfectly useless asking these questions. If there’s one line in the American “My Sassy Girl” that I would never forget it’s this: “Fate is the bridge you have to cross to get to the person you love”. Even though you are destined to be with someone, it’s still up to you to make the move. You still have to cross that bridge. Like when I was in highschool, a guy I liked courted me for a year but I was too scared to cross the bridge so he moved on and now I keep thinking “What if I said yes to him? Would we still be together until today? Is he the one I’m destined to be with? But since I didn’t cross the bridge, Fate moved on and he became destined for someone else? It’s just too darn confusing! Oh well, I guess I’ll never truly understand this. But I do know that I have to cross the bridge right in front of me now. But I’m still too scared. The bridge is far too shaky and unstable. I think I may never have the courage to cross it but at least I could see the other end from where I stand.

End of Day Fourty Four.

Wow! After usually writing one post per week, I’m now posting everyday again! I hope I could keep this up! I just felt a need to write in this blog now and I don’t know why. Anyway, it’s 3 in the morning now and I just had my lunch of Pocky sticks and coffee cream soda. I know, I know, that’s not actually real food and it’s not actually lunchtime but I can’t help it. Anyway, it’s raining again and I’m sick…again. Big shocker there! For someone who loves the rainy season, I sure do get sick a lot when it’s raining. I have a fever now and I’ve even lost my voice. Not that I need it, anyway. The only ones I talk to are my cats and dogs. This is nothing new though, I always lose my voice when I’m sick. One time, I even had to talk through my laptop while I was at the office. You know, I type the words and my laptop would say it in a weird robotic voice. It was hard but also kinda fun!

Okay, so where do I start? To Love Dokkyun, thanks for your interpretation of my dream. My interpretation of it was similar to yours but somehow, I have a feeling there’s more to it than meets  the eye. Oh and I forgot to mention that the lady in purple was a foreigner. (I mean, she’s not Asian like me). She also faintly said something. I wasn’t able to hear it properly but her accent sounded British. I don’t know if that makes a difference or anything but I just thought I should mention it. By the way, Love Dokkyun, (I wish I know your name because Love Dokkyun is too long to type ) it’s the second time you apologized on your comment. The first time was in my post about “The Clown…”. You really have nothing to apologize for. I’m really happy reading your comments so feel free to say anything you want. Don’t ever think you’re over-stepping any boundaries or anything like that. I really appreciate everything you guys say in this blog. By the way, I’m sorry if I reply to your comments here instead of emailing you guys. I don’t really check my email that often because there are some mails that I don’t want to see there. I know it’s stupid but I’m even scared of emails. I guess, any form of human communication is pretty scary for me. I’m such an idiot! Wait! Now I’m also apologizing! LOL! It’s contagious!

Anyway, I’m so excited now because I just finished watching the movie, “G@me” and it was brilliant! I’ve been meaning to watch this movie since it was released in the theaters but somehow, I never got to watch it. That’s the problem with having so many hobbies and interests, you end up losing track of all the things you want to do and all the stuff you want to watch. I got so wrapped-up in all sort of stuff that I forgot all about this movie. Until the other day, someone from the streaming-site “Crunchyroll” invited me to join the Fujiki Naohito group. Since I love Nao-san, I joined and when I entered the homepage of the group I saw the poster of this movie. And I was like, “Waaaaah! How could I have forgotten this!?”

Anyway, if you haven’t heard about this movie, it’s the 2003 Thriller/Romance film starring two of my favorite actors: “Nakama Yukie” (Gokusen, Trick) and Fujiki Naohito (1 Litre of Tears, Proposal Daisakusen). It’s a movie a about a big-shot Advertising executive named Shunsuke (Nao) who lost a big project and was publicly humiliated  because of one  man, Katsuragi Katsutoshi, the VP of one of their biggest clients. Angry for his great loss and humiliation, Shunsuke went to Katsuragi’s mansion to say what’s on his mind.  But when he got there, he saw Katsuragi’s spoiled and sassy illegitimate daughter, Juri (Yukie), sneaking out of the manor. He followed Juri out of curiosity and ended-up letting her stay for the night in his apartment. Rebelling against her tyrannical father, Juri suggested a brilliant plan for Shunsuke to get his revenge. And that is to kidnap her. And so the devious and clever game of deception and intrigue began as Shunsuke and Juri planned the perfect kidnapping scheme.

At first this movie seemed like a feel-good romantic comedy about a spoiled rich brat who fell in-love with her “pretend” kidnapper. It’s actually a lot like that American movie, “Excess Baggage” with Alicia Silverstone and Benicio Del Torro. Nakama Yukie’s character was exactly like Alicia’s character in that movie: spoiled, immature and a royal pain-in-the-ass.  Fujiki Naohito’s character, however, was more like Orlando Bloom’s character in the movie “Elizabethtown”. He’s cool, sleek and successful. He was at the top of his game. He lives in a classy apartment, wears designer suits and has a car that’s to die for. But one mistake, made him fall rock-bottom! So that means Katsuragi’s the Alec Baldwin of his story. Sorry, here I go again with the silly comparisons.  It’s like a part of my brain is built to show flashbacks of previous movies I’ve seen whenever I’m watching a movie.

Back to the movie. It started out pretty entertaining but quite typical. Nao’s character is a little colder and more mischievous than the usual nice and gentle characters he plays in dramas. But all in all, he didn’t change much. He still looked like that doctor in 1 Litre of Tears and that teacher in Kou Kou Kyoushi. Nakama Yukie, on the other hand, totally surprised me. I just finished watching Gokusen 3 last week so the image of Yankumi is still fresh in my mind. But the Yukie in G@me is like a completely different person! She’s the exact opposite of Yankumi, from her voice, to her mannerisms, to her clothes and the way she walks, she completely transformed into this materialistic rich brat!  I kinda felt a little bit uneasy watching her play such a bold and seductive character since I had just seen her less than a week ago, as the simple and naive Yankumi. Oh and I was really uncomfortable seeing her love scene and passionate kisses with Nao. I guess I should have erased the image of Yankumi before I watched this. I was half-expecting her students to suddenly pop-out while she and Nao were making-out!  And it didn’t help that Namase Katsuhisa (Sawatari Goro of Gokusen) was also here in a cameo role!

Speaking of cameo roles, there were a couple of other actors who had cameo roles in this movie. First was Shiina Kippei as the “imaginary” detective. “Imaginary” because his character was only in the imagination of Juri and Shunsuke. You see, when they were planning the kidnapping scheme, Juri imagined that the police officer who would be in charge of her kidnapping case would be fat and ugly man who looks like a bulldog. Then Shunsuke said, “No, for a case like this they would send an elite cop.” Then Juri asked, “What would he look like?” Shunsuke said, “Like Shiina, the actor.” So ever since then, they’ve been imagining that the cop who’s investigating the case is Shiina Kippei. It was hilarious! But what’s weird is that, I saw Shiina on T.V. for the first time in years, a few minutes before I watched this movie. What a strange coincidence!

Another weird coincidence is the extremely short cameo role of Kohinata Fumio in this movie. It’s strange because I was watching the drama, Ashita no Kita Yoshio, right before I watched this movie.  And Kohinata is the lead actor in that drama! I’ve decided to finish watching that drama after putting it on-hold for weeks and then this happens! Pretty weird.

Anyway, I’m getting side-tracked again. Back to the movie. What seemed to be a typical romantic comedy turned out to be so much more. The plot slowly transformed into that of an intelligent crime drama because of Shunsuke’s clever tactics to avoid getting caught by the cops. It didn’t have the “wow” factor but it was still pretty clever. But eventhough the plot was quite clever, it was just a typical thriller/romance movie for me, that is until  the shocking twist was revealed. And man, that was one hell of a twist! It totally blew my socks off! I was speechless and utterly confused.  And the characters I thought I knew so well, suddenly changed right before my eyes. Nothing is what it seemed to be. And from a feel good, romance, it slowly became a dark movie about deception and also a tragic love story.  I burst into tears when Juri found that red shovel inside her suitcase. (You’ll get what I mean when you watch this). Unfortunately, there’s more. It would have been great if they ended it in a tragic and dramatic way but they decided to steer back into the feel-good romance direction again. And so after numerous twists and clever games of deception, the movie ended in a bitter-sweet way. It was a nice ending but they should have stopped with the red shovel. That would have been a more fitting ending to this story. But with all it’s minute flaws, this is still an awesome movie! Brilliant acting, clever plot, complex characters, strange cameos, and a smoldering hot Nao, how could I not love this?

By the way, I mentioned earlier that I’ve continued watching the dramas and anime that I’ve put on-hold before. Last season I started watching Gokusen 3, Binbo Danshi, Ashita no Kita Yoshio and Katekyo Hitman Reborn but I was never able to finish them. I lost interest in Gokusen because, as much as I love Yankumi, Gokusen 3 is simply a disgrace to the Gokusen series! Gokusen 1 was sheer brilliance! Gokusen 2, although not as great as the first one, was utterly hilarious and had a really great cast. But the third one, I don’t even know how to begin explaining how disappointed I am with it. So I stopped watching it. Binbo Danshi was really fun and I love anything with Oguri Shun in it but I couldn’t relate much to the story since I’ve never had a debt in my life. (Binbo Danshi is about having debts) I hate owing people anything whether it’s money or favors. I’d rather starve than borrow money. I know it’s a stupid way of thinking but I always felt that I couldn’t face my friends or anyone properly if I owe them money. Another thing I didn’t like about BD was that Shun’s character was too good to be true! He’s just TOO kind and giving! There couldn’t possibly be a person like that! Plus, I like characters who are morally flawed so that they could grow throughout the series and Shun’s character was already morally perfect. So I stopped watching it.  As for Ashita no Kita Yoshio, I don’t know why I stopped watching it. I just did. But after Tantei Gakuen Q, I wanna see Kaname Jun again so I decided to watch it again. Now, I already managed to finish Gokusen 3 (although I had to grit my teeth to do so) but I still have a lot of catching-up to do. “Galileo” and “Sailor Suit and Machine Gun, would have to wait for now.

End of Day Forty Three.

This is the dream I dreamed. I was walking on a long dark hallway. Everything was black and white. There were people with the same faces all around me. They had the face of a hideous man that I’ve never seen before and they were all walking backwards, seemingly oblivious of my presence. I walked past them and headed towards the light at the end of the hallway. There was a man there, waiting for me. He had the same face as everyone else yet he was smiling at me. He was holding a black and blue poster as if he wanted me to look at it. I looked at the poster and saw pictures of people singing on-stage, all with the same faces as everyone else. I shook my head and stepped away. Then something caught my attention. A staircase. The light was coming from above that staircase. I went closer to it only to realize that it’s only a painting on the wall. The surface was completely flat but it was painted in a way that gives an illusion that it was three dimensional. But it looked so real. I knew it was real. I closed my eyes and took one step forward. And when I opened them, I realized, I was walking up the staircase. When I reached the next landing, I saw a bright light coming from a slightly opened door. I walked towards the door and cautiously opened it. It was a public restroom. There were white tiled walls and floors, white flourescent lights, white cubicles and sinks, and a large bathroom mirror. It looked completely ordinary except from the fact that every inch of it was covered with books of all shapes, colors and sizes. There were books everywhere! Scattered all over the floor, stacked above the sinks, hanging on the ceiling. I walked inside, careful not to step on any of the books. I headed towards the last cubicle as if I was being drawn to it. I slowly opened the door and peered inside. There was a mountain of books stacked on top of the toilet and at the tip of that mountain was a tiny window, as big as cat’s door. I climbed up the mountain of books until I reached the window. It was too small for me to fit in, yet I tried to squeeze into it. And I managed to get in! Once I reached the other side, my eyes were blinded for a second by an extremely bright light and I had to close them for a while. When I opened my eyes again, I was lying face down in the middle of a forest. It was autumn and the ground was covered by orange and golden brown leaves. The trees were also of the same colors. The sun was shining brightly and everything was so bright they looked like they were ablaze. Suddenly, a beautiful woman wearing a purple velvet 18th century dress, a matching purple hat with white feathers and holding a purple parasol, came out from behind one of the trees. She smiled at me and tipped her head to one side as if she was asking me to follow her. As I was about to stand up, the alarm clock sounded and I woke up.

Pretty strange huh? But that’s how dreams are. Strange, incomprehensible and confusing. This dream is the only one I could remember in detail. It was a dream I had when I was in highschool. I dreamt about it over and over for days, always waking up at the exact same moment when I’m about to follow the purple lady. And then, one day, I suddenly stopped dreaming about it but I was never able to forget it.

You must be wondering why I’m suddenly talking about dreams. It actually has something to do with my latest obsession: “Yume Juya” (10 Nights of Dreams). This is an anthology that was released last year by Nikkatsu. It features ten short films based on the book of the same name by famed 19th/20th century author Soseki Natsume. The film gathers together some of the best Japanese directors around, including several names who will be familiar to J-horror fans. The cast also includes some of Japan’s biggest names like Toda Erika, Kashii Yu, Koizumi Kyoko, Sadao Abe, Yamamoto Koji, Honjo Manami and our very own “L”, Matsuyama Ken’ichi. This movie was shown in the Vancouver Film Festival last year and will be released by Cinema Epoch in the USA on October 2008.

This films reminds me a lot of the animated movie “Paprika” and the graphic novel: “Sandman: The Dream Hunters” by the macabre master Neil Gaiman and the genius behind the Final Fantasy characters, AmanoYoshitaka . Neil Gaiman’s short stories are the type of stories that doesn’t seem to make sense yet they’re incredibly clever. They bring a chill down your spine and leaves you with a funny feeling in the pit of your stomach. I don’t know how to explain it but his stories always leaves me in some sort of dream-like trance. They’re unnerving, insane and sometimes seriously disturbing but they always manage to make you feel emotions you’ve never felt before.

Natsume’s Soseki’s “10 Nights of Dreams” made me feel the exact same way. When I watched it, I didn’t feel like I was watching a movie, I felt like I was entering someone else’s dreams and nightmares. Everything just seemed so surreal and strange. Each short story’s very beautiful in an eerie and eccentric way. Some will leave you with your mouth wide-open and with one giant question mark floating above your head. Others would make you wonder if you should laugh or cry or just sit in a state of disbelief. I asked my sister to watch this while we were chatting online. And after she did, she was totally speechless. She didn’t know how to react. She didn’t know if it was brilliant or stupid, if it was scary or silly, if she should applaud or run away. It was just plain weird and leaves you with mixed emotions. And that’s why, I think this is a really brilliant movie and novel (I’ve read the novel after watching the movie) Watching this was just like dreaming. Nothing makes sense, everything’s bizarre yet somehow you understand it and you feel strange things because of it. It has a certain quality that is rarely seen in movies and I absolutely love it!

10 Nights of Dreams is a compilation of 10 short stories or “Dreams” as the author calls them. Each dream has a different theme and had titles like: Love, Anguish, Son, Nostalgia, Fear, Passion, Loneliness, Imagine, Family Love and Egoism. It’s a madhouse of unique creativity and talent of very different directors and actors from various genres. It has everything from horror to action, drama to comedy and any other genre that comes in between.

My favorites are the 7th and 10th dreams. The 7th Dream, “Loneliness”, was directed by Kawahara Masaaki and the brilliant Amano Yoshitaka (Yes, the same Amano Yoshitaka I talked about earlier). It’s the only animated film in this anthology and it is visually stunning. The animation is superb, you could clearly see its similarities with the Final Fantasy series. I’m a Final Fantasy geek so it’s no surprise that I fell in love with the surreal and very dream-like world in this short film. The lead male character even reminded me of Squall’s emo-ness and the ship here greatly resembles the one in Final Fantasy IX. There isn’t much of a story in this vignette though, but people like me could easily relate to the main character. The main character, who strangely resembles “D” of “Vampire Hunter D” (Another Amano Yoshitaka creation), was a lonely traveler who questions his own existence. He asks the same questions that I often asked in this blog: “Can one be truly called “alive” when you’re living such a mediocre existence?” “Why is it that even though you’re surrounded by people, no one seemed to really care?”. The title suited this dream very well. Even though the colors were vibrant and there were wonderful and magical creatures floating all around the screen, you could feel the sorrow of the dark and gloomy traveler. The only thing I didn’t like about this vignette is the terrible English voice dubbing. The voice actors did a horrible job and was not able to convey the proper emotions with their voices. It’s like they were simply reading the lines. It was so bad it even made me cringe. I wish they just dubbed it in Japanese or they should have at least cast American voice actors like in the Advent Children movie.

Anyway, my most favorite short film in this anthology, and probably everyone’s favorite is the 10th dream, “Egoism”. It was directed by Yamaguchi Yudai of Battlefield Baseball and Meatball Machine and stars non-other than my beloved “L”, Matsuyama Ken’ichi and Honjo Manami. Ken’ichi once again proves how fearless he is when it comes to portraying eccentric characters. This is without a doubt, his weirdest role yet. In this short film, Ken’ichi plays the role of Shotaro, an extremely handsome young man who gets the attention of all the women. But unknown to them, he is also a serial killer who mercilessly kill people he considers to be ugly. One day, a beautiful woman came to town and Shotaro immediately fell in love with her. But the woman have secrets of her own and she’s about to teach Shotaro a lesson he will never forget.

This short film was both stupid and clever at the same time! It would drive you insane! It’s funny, disgusting and makes no sense at all but you will end up having a huge smile on your face after watching it. This is by far, the most entertaining short film in this whole anthology and it made me want to watch it over and over again. It made my brain turn to goo with its silly antics and out-of-this-world ideas. The Willy Wonka parody was seriously bizarre! And the fact that Ken’ichi looked adorable in this film is also a huge plus!

But seriously, I could talk all day about how amazing this film is. It’s the only live-action film that made me feel the same way I felt when I watched “Spirited Away” and “Paprika”. It has the weirdness of Mirrormask without having the need to use over-the-top special effects. It’s brilliant and cheesy and just plain confusing! I love it! I’m a weird girl after all!

On a totally unrelated note, I finally finished Tantei Gakuen Q the other day. It is by far one my favorite dramas now! It’s completely flawed and predictable as a mystery drama but I absolutely love its story and characters. The ending was so sweet and left a huge smile on my face. I think that’s why I loved this drama so much. It just has that innocence and youthfulness that I rarely see in dramas. It’s such a great and completely idealistic story about friendship and I just couldn’t help but smile while watching the characters interact with each other. I’m surely gonna miss it!

After watching the drama, I watched the “Tantei Gakuen Q Special”. It’s a prequel to the drama so it was aired one year before the series. Everyone looked so young and tiny in this special. They really looked like little kids! I couldn’t believe how much they’ve grown in one year. The special took place before they’ve entered the Detective Academy. Kyuu, Ryuu, Megu, Kazuma and Kinta were living separate and ordinary lives and by some twist of fate, they met during the entrance examination for the Morihiko Dan Detective Academy. There were tons of other people (mostly adults) who took the entrance exams but little by little, they all got eliminated until there were only six people left. Then one of those 6 people got murdered and it’s up to our five heroes to solve the mystery. This was their first murder case as a team and we get to see how their friendship really started. It was really fun seeing them work together for the first time. But it was kinda weird since they all looked so different. Kyuu was so skinny and his voice was so much smaller. Ryuu was too cute and tiny unlike the cool and mysterious Ryuu in the drama. He looked so so young in this Special especially because of his childish voice. Megu still looked a little boyish and was still just a little girl in this Special unlike the pretty young lady she has become in the drama. Kazuma was played by a completely different actor so I was a little annoyed by his character here. Kinta was the only one who didn’t change much except from his outfit. Speaking of outfits, it’s weird not seeing them in their signature outfits. Oh and, Megu and Ryuu’s hair looked so strange. Were they wearing wigs in this Special? Anyway, it was a really fun and feel-good Special and the mystery to be solved here was so much more unpredictable than the ones in the series. I wasn’t able to figure-out the mystery behind the giant concrete block and I was so glad! It was the first time in Tantei Gakuen Q that the mystery was difficult to solve! Although it was still quite easy to figure out who the culprit was. But all in all, it was a great Special and I was grinning till the end!

Since I finished Tantei Gakuen Q, I’m moving on to the next mystery drama on my list: “Galileo”. I was actually torn between Galileo and Kuitan (both are detective dramas) but Galileo’s ratings were higher so I picked it over Kuitan. Along with Galileo, I’ve also decided to watch Nagasawa Masami’s yakuza drama, “Sailor Fuku to Kikanjuu” (Sailor Suit and Machine Gun). It’s about a highschool girl who suddenly finds herself as the boss of a Yakuza family. It looks really interesting and it only has 7 episodes so I should be able to finish it in no time.

Well, that’s it for now. Anway, if you wanna see the kick-ass trailer of Yume Juya, you can find it on youtube or on my multiply site “http://yankumi7.multiply.com”. The 10th short film: “Egoism” is also there. Enjoy!

End of Day Forty Two.