I finally figured out how to make wallpaper for my keitai out of just regular graphics, rather than choosing one of the cheesy T-Mobile graphics from their website. It just involved activating the Picture Messaging feature, and now I can email graphics directly to my 3-year old Samsung e105. Here’s what I got on my phone: Bay and Koa, Yankumi (Gokusen), Mariko and baby Bay, Misaki Itoh (with a Target symbol on her shirt), and then I set Mariko’s phone to use Yama-P from NewS. So now I got a Gokusen wallpaper, Takoyaki Hello Kitty phone strap, and Super Mario Bros (NES) ringtone.

I just started watching “Lunch No Joou” (Lunch Queen) last night and was up until 4am (of course). I made it through episode 8, and it is getting exciting. The first couple episodes were sorta ho-hum, but it picks up, with a developing love story and some real tear-jerker scenes as well. Where I am at now in the story is where more mystery comes into play, with Natsumi’s past coming back to haunt her.

All-in-all, this is a good drama. It’s got lots of stars, including Yama-P, Itoh Misaki, and Yamada Takayuki. A bonus is that most of the story takes place in their restaurant, where there are plenty of beatiful food shots. It makes me so hungry to watch. At about midnight, my stomach was growling with the shots of hamburg steak and omu-raisu!

I just got finished watching the movie version of Densha Otoko, and I really liked it. It’s funny to see a dorama and movie of the same story, especially since that story is derived from the same source, which is a verbose chatroom log. I watched the dorama first, all 11+ episodes, so the movie seemed kind of short. Or was it just very compressed? The events moved at a quick pace, and there wasn’t enough time to really get into the relationship building. I think even adding a half hour to the movie would have been better to add a few scenes of them getting to know eachother. On the flipside, the way the movie showed the chatroom members was perfect. Nothing too over the top, but much more effective than the dorama. I especially liked the part about the couple who were following Densha’s story separately, and then later, together. That was kind of cool.

Even though the story is generally the same, the overall feel of the movie is, well… more movie-like. The acting is on a higher level, plus the quality of the cinematography and soundtrack are definitely a couple steps up from dorama quality. Don’t get me wrong, the dorama quality has its own unique charms, but the movie does well to distance itself from the small screen. For me, it was the camera work… I might be way off, but I think it shows a difference between the type of camera used for movies and television. Just the control of the DOF in a cinema quality camera is so much more sophisticated than one used in TV.

I really like the actors in the movie version. I have always liked Nakatani Miki (yowza), and I think she was especially good in this role. They made her up to look much more plain in the movie, but she still had that classic beauty. And Yamada Takayuki was great as Densha. His otaku character was the right amount of geekiness and shyness, whereas Densha in the dorama version was quite a bit too whiney and over-the-top. (I guess that what doramas excel at, though) I would say that the movie versions of Densha and Hermes are much more believable than the dorama versions. In the dorama, I often wondered why such a beautiful young woman like Itoh Misaki would even want to spend a minute with the whiney, kimochi-warui otaku played by Itoh Atsushi. A little too unbelievable… the movie, on the other hand, really seemed like it could happen.

I had read that there were lots of cameos of actors between the TV version and movie version of Densha Otoko. In fact, the movie Densha was in the first episode of the TV dorama, for just a couple seconds. But I only spotted one TV actor who was in the movie (Shiraishi Miho)… at first. If you wait until the credits finish rolling, you are in for a surprise! I guess it won’t mean too much unless you saw the dorama first, but it is still cool. And then Yamada Takayuki reprises his role from his cameo in the dorama, but as the movie character, who was different in the dorama… so weird, now I am all confused.

Anyways, it was a great movie, I just wish it would have been longer! I read something that it might be screened here in the US around the holiday season? I wouldn’t mind seeing it again in the theater, as long as it is subbed rather than dubbed.

This is the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time… It’s basically Star Wars, with Vader’s voice dubbed with James Earl Jones’ other work. It’s so well done!

“Pupae”

I prefer the kind of snacks that don’t have that kind of sprinkled-on flavoring. For instance, I have before me a box of Cheez-It brand “Cheddar Jack” baked snack crackers. I love regular Cheez-Its, and I thought that this flavor would be good. But after eating a few of them, the powdered flavoring is all over my fingers, and the taste is getting too strong. These days, I don’t like bbq chips, because of the same type of extra-artificial flavoring. I will give Cheetos some slack, however, since I consider them the snack I had my first encounter with the flavoring technique. It’s pretty much the king of dirty finger snacks. But for the most part, I will stick with the original flavors, and keep my fingers clean.

Episode 2 of Supli is out! Woohoo! Now I must wait for subtitles… in the meantime, here is another picture of Misaki Itoh.

Was watching Trick2 last night… that is a great series. So funny and interesting. But, I am totally anticipating the next episode of Supli. It should have aired already in Japan, so I’ll give it a day or so to find it’s way to me… In the meantime, I have Trick3 to watch! I can’t get enough of Nakama Yukie!

Mariko and I started watching Suppli this week, and we both really like it. I guess its because Mariko likes Kame (from KAT-TUN) and I like Misaki Itoh, especially when she wears her geek-chic glasses. The story is pretty good so far (only one episode has been shown), with Itoh as the experienced campaign planner in an advertising agency and Kame as the reluctant part-time worker who just started. The acting is pretty good, and really I love how the show captures the feeling of living in Tokyo. This drama really makes me miss living and working there, even though it was a long time ago. I get a natsukashii feeling when I watch Suppli. Even in this first episode, the yurikamome train going to Odaiba, and the photos of Tokyo Tower bring back great memories.

The ending of the show where the credits scroll is really well done, with still images from the story, and the photos are kind of holga-like in appearance. It’s very cool. I think the music goes perfectly. (Click here to dl a QuickTime movie of the ending, 6.7MB, mov)

Speaking of the ending song, the name of it is “Real Voice” and it is sung by Ayaka. It is excellent! If you listen closely you can hear a guitar sound reminiscent of Cocteau Twins or Siousxie and the Banshees. (click here to dl the QuickTime version, 24MB, mp4) I really need to find her CD or a single of this song. Mariko says the Suppli opening song is sung by KAT-TUN (maybe just Kame?) and it was a big surprise for fans since it was never announced. Whatever… I’ll let her write about that in her own blog!

Anyways, last night I made a couple 1280px wallpapers using screencaps from the ending sequence. You can download them at Flickr. Just click on the pic below to go to the site, then click on All Sizes to get to the full-size jpeg. I think I will do that for each episode, as long as they use unique stills. I can’t get enough of Misaki Itoh. And I made a wallpaper for Mariko as well, since she is nuts about Kame and the KAT-TUN boys.

Lastly, here’s the CM for the drama (3MB, mp4)