J-Pop ah maybe J-Techno grr ok J-Dance ?

Perfume

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfume_(group)

http://www.perfume-web.jp/

Repost: Updated to replace lost videos: You decide what genre they belong in or J-pop by default. As with Hello!Project groups such as Morning Musume the trio here only sing & perform the music/lryics produced/writen by someone else, but despite knowing such it doesn't detour me from supporting them. Discovered the group in 2008 and like most of the singles released to date. Japanese lyrics are easy to find, but not so much translated into English. However give them a try for some of the songs are "catchy" & might find your toes tapping. 

 Love the World (live)

Dream Fighter PV

Edge (live)

Electro World PV

Computer City PV

Dream Morning Musume ( Dorimusu ) ~ The OG are back!

Just when we thought the OG were gone forever following thier own careers OR this is an attempt by HiP to gain lost revenue due to the AKB48 craze I could care less! I think it's a great idea. Unlike most U.S. fans who are/were into the recent line up era 2007~ 2009 of the nine ( including Eri, Kusumi, Junjun & Linlin ) when I discovered Morning Musume the older X-members tugged on my heart strings more. Other then Ai & Risa-chan ( being 5th generation ), though I love all the members past & present, the generations 6 & up just didn't grab me. *laughing* In short for my U.S. fans the way you feel about the OG most likely. So yes I'm excited even of all they do during thier up coming tour & album is sing the old songs. Well enough of me boring you all, here are some links to inform you.

http://www.dream-morningmusume.com/

Main website

http://goo.gl/6to2V

Hello!Online article

http://goo.gl/XH9KV

  UP-FRONT LINK (english): Dream Morning Musume。

Proof to the U.S. fans what HiP is up against.

As much of us that may dislike AKB48, myself included, & only have room in our hearts for Hello!Project groups/idols you have to admit that AKB48 is enjoying thier "Golden era" as Morning Musume did in 2001~2003'ish.

Note: According to both Nakazawa & Yasuda's blog there will also be a Autumn tour. So we may have to wait till the end of the year for a DVD release.

My J-Rock favorites ~ The Gazette

One of my favorite bands of Japan that over the years has consistantly kept me as a fan. I love thier sound, lyrics ( when I can find them translated ) & performance though I don't like every single they have released. A link of info on the band so I don't have to babble http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gazette_(band) If you like Rock/Metal genre by all means give this group a try. The following is just a few videos of the group. Note: Thier record company is very good at removing CC content so it may be difficult living outside of Japan to listen/preview the band prior to deciding to support them per single release.

If you have the bass crank it for thier sound is intensive. Enjoy!

Leech

Filith in the beauty

Taion

An alternate site that has a library of videos by artist J-pop/rock & K-pop http://www.jpopasia.com/charts/ Note: The charts lisitings are a week behind if you want up to date then goto http://www.oricon.co.jp/ 

What's that? Neither can I. No problem if you download, install & setup "Google toolbar" for your browser it'll auto-translate the web page ( in part ).

Faith Manages

The following is a response to a friends post. Figured what the heck someone else might gain something useful out of it.

Its understanble that the average Japanese citizen( at least in the big cities ) are unhappy. We touched on this before in part with the long work hours & that the company/country comes first. It also doesn't help that some marry purely for financial/survival reasons & not for love. Your countrymen/women have so little free time & deal with so many people all day its no surprise they just want to be left alone at the end of the day or relief stress with friends. There have been psychological studies that people in high dense populated areas lose some of thier humanity and become selfish, pent up anger or depression, stressed out, uncompassionate, indifferent to the suffering of others. This same study found just the opposite with people in small towns.

I understand the pain you have/are gone/going through. I went through 21 years of depression & depair having failed time & time again not being able to find a women who could love me for who & what I am. Just a simply nice guy. The dreams I had were that of a wife & daughter of my own. I believe it took a toll on my health in which failed me in 2007. My work attendance suffered to the point I lost a great job & benefits. And now struggling just to stay employed let alone come anywhere close to what I had.

Anyway I finaly had to let go of those dreams in order to survive. Reguardless of how God did it shim healed my soul. So despite feeling I had nothing to offer, nothing more to give ( burned out ), sacrificed & suffered so much surely God would have mercy & take me from this earth. Finaly, finaly I would be able to serve then. Knowing beyond all reasonable doubt that I would be doing what, where & how God wanted me to serve. However no matter how much pain I was in, I still awoke the next day. If God went through the trouble to heal me then thier must be something worth saving, something I have yet to do. It can be so frustrating when God knows you have faith & believe, but will not directly tell you the who,what,why & how.

Before I can care for others I must be able to care for myself. I spent two years being unemployed and no matter what I did no one would give me a chance. My efforts to get back into my old line of work failed not once, but twice when the same position was up the following year. For awhile I thought perhaps I'm here just to look after my mother & maybe after she left this earth I'd not be far behind living with partially controlled Diabetes. Still struggling to stay employed since my skills don't transfer well in the civilian world ( 17 yrs of Aircraft Avionics Maintianence ). I had a job recently for 6 weeks that I could do just fine, but to slow for thier needs. I always felt that if I did my best God would do the rest. I did so & now another chance awaits this Wednesday.

No matter the struggle my faith is what has saved me. I simply will not give up on God & shim has returned that sentiment. I understand that God treats all of shims children equally thus therefore can't directly intervene. Or as the saying goes Gods helps those that help themselves. I think of it as meeting shim halfway.

I had been looking for a means to give back & seek that community you mentioned. Maybe after, if I can keep this new job, I'll look into it. I'll never be happy in my life, but for as long as I can serve God in my own way I'll be content.

*Oh afterwards I remembered an old saying of mine. "What is this life compared to eternal life? Nothing, but an old faded memory". Thus I'm not worried about the struggle(s) ahead.

Note: Shim = Meaning neither male or female for I don't believe God has a gender.

00:00 to 01:12 

How a fan survives being outside of Japan

Its not easy being a fan of a group outside your own country. How do I do it? Uncondition love. That is what I feel for the members past & present, yes even Ogawa Makoto. I enjoy following her & the rest through there blogs and/or Twitter. I expect & want nothing from them however I do enjoy commenting from time to time.

It also helps not being a diehard fan or ture Wota. I love Mako-chan, but I respect her as well. I don't care/want to try to know every detail or her daily life like others do about there idols. For me that would be a invasion of her privacy, rude, disrespectful & unhonorable on my part. Perfectly happy just admiring from afar wishing the very best in her life. Of course I'd like to be close to her. Who would not want to be a real part of thier loved ones life, but its called keeping yourself grounded, in touch with reality & good old fashion common sense.

So here are some links I use to keep in touch though I'm always the last to know about the goings on with any of the Morning Musume members past or present mainly because of that unconditional love & respect for them e.g. I don't actively look or hunt down information, but just monitor.

J.P. Room 

M-Line Club

Hello!Online 

Never miss a Birthday

Japanese & English lyrics to Hello!Project songs of all groups

If there is a idol from Morning Musume you would like to follow via thier blog ( If applicable ) just ask for I wasn't going to post all of the links ~ too lazy.

Review of the moive Gantz

Disclaimer: I have never read the manga or seen the Anime. This review is solely on the moive itself & my own opinion(s). No sploilers follow.

Note half of the action senes / characters seen here are Not present in part one

First let me provide links for you to familiarize yourself with the genre http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gantz and http://asianmediawiki.com/GANTZ_(2011-Japan-Live_Action)

Review: It is a stand alone moive based on the manga introducing the story from the very beginning with the two main characters & supporting cast. It is worth noting for an American audience that the Japanese model of flim making & Hollywoods idea of an Action film are totaly two different things. The typical American model is bogus stunts, guns, violence, sex & special effects with a simply story not much better then one from a porno. The Japanese model is just the opposite with the focus on the story, setting & character method acting with the actual "action" in brief segments simular to thier horror films.

Therefore if you are new to Japanese films you will find this movie boring & could of been shortened to a mere hour. The guy sitting in front of me fell asleep for ten minutes & I could hear him snoring. Being basicly a drama with bits of action. However if you are use to this format especialy from Anime then this film will be what you would expect. Though I feel they could of added a sustained action sene exploiting the technology to make it more entertaining. I could hear from the audience around me were starting to get into the final climax, but even it was broken up with dramatic pauses.

Overall I liked the moive though even I found it slow & needed more action. The story & acting are great though as expected with two male leads the women were just there to be there. It would of been nice to of seen the actress Natsuna Watanabe play an equal role instead of just exploiting her body. Also instead of the original Japanese dialogue I found it was dubbed, boo!. Guess they feel Americans are to lazy to read & would hurt ticket sales. There is a squeal coming soon so if you liked the first one, now that "story line wise" our characters should be experienced hunter/killers, I'm sure it'll be better then the first.

A Happy 28th Birthday to Yaguchi Mari 矢口真里

Formerly of Morning Musume she joined as a member of the 2nd Generation along with Ichii Sayaka & Yasuda Kei http://goo.gl/hviYM. The producer Tsunku-san took a gamble & did something no one before had ever done by adding new members to a all ready established group. The risk payed off. The group won "Best new artist" by the Japan Record Awards along with there first live concert. Mari-san may not of been the original five, but no one can argue that she was not thier in the beginning & helped bring the group along with the others to the main stream. Before I might add Goto Maki in which most attribute brought about the " golden era ".

Mari-san is a giddy & emotional character. Having a blonde stereotype persona & always giggling or laughing through the day. However for those who have taken her for granted by either being rude or bullying her will pay the price very quickly. This little devil ( 4 feet 7 inches or 145 cm ) will not take such behavior by standing up for herself & matching your level of threat with her unbreakable will. Considered a mood maker within the group & loved by her seniors especially the first leader Nakazawa Yuko.

As great of a person that she is we forget our idols are human & like such can give in to temptation. This group is that of idols & being such its active members are not permited to be in a realationship. It was discovered that she was in one & took it upon herself to resign from Morning Musume. However the reason why I have such respect for her is instead of just quiting all together she fought back tooth & nail to regained her honor. To this day she is loved & respected by her peers. Mari-san has since moved on to being an Actress, singer, T.V. host / personality & sucessful commercial promotions.

Yaguchi Mari

Yaguchi Mari - Seishun Boku (subtitled) 

A live performance unlike any other

A Happy 26th Birthday to Ishikawa Rika 石川梨華

A note to English readers when it comes to reading full Japanese names. Unlike America e.g. "John Doe" in thier language it is the opposite "Doe John" thus the family name is first. Therefore Rika ( the letter " r " is pronounced as a " D+L "'ish sound ) would be her first name. http://goo.gl/A0Pmu 

Formerly of Morning Musume http://goo.gl/qjWCc she joined as a member of the 4th generation as a cute, quiet, shy & a indecisive character during the beginning of what is refered to as the " Golden age " of the groups popularity.
She viewed her time with the group as a treasure. She was a friend to all, an enemy to none, always there to lend a hand or advice or both to her fellow members. Credited by the 5th & 6th generation as being difficult to approach or "scary", but respected just the same. Though I feel Konno Asami is the closest to who I am spiritualy Rika-chan would be the 2nd. During her time with the group she became more out spoken & refused to be ignored especially when in the public eye. Always pushing herself forward, to improve & do better. She has since moved on as an Actress & singer / performer in the J-Rock group of " Hungry & Angry ".

Singer & Actress:

Ishikawa Rika

Hungry & Angry " Top Secret "

Footage from her graduation concert 2005

Single: The Peace!

Note1: It is a custom within the group that the graduating member is the last on stage. The other young women you see with her is fellow 4th Generation member Yoshizawa Hitomi whom out of 4 total was the last remaining. The other two members not seen here having graduated prior in 2004.

Note2: The use of -chan / -san in Japanese culture. Simply " -chan " meaning the person you are refering to / addressing is younger or Junior to you, " -san " being older or Senior.

Credits: Sayuri-san for properly educating me on how to say the dreaded " R " sound in the Japanese language though it still sounds like a " D " to me *laughing*

Note3: Now Sayuri is not a old women, only 19. So you would ask why do I refer to her as " -san " . . . I am not Japanese thus to me when it comes to her country, culture, language & intelligence she is my Senior.

My top 10 songs of Morning Musume

After have been a fan since August of 2007 I have pretty much heard & read the translated lyrics http://goo.gl/Yri7e of about 80% of what the group has performed. The remaining 20% mostly are the "B" sides that were never popular. So here is my all time top 10 songs to date.

The following is for the fans that all ready know these songs & care not to view the videos.

10: Resonant Blue
09: Roman ~My Dear Boy~
08: Ai no Tane
07: Mikan
06: Go Girl ~Koi no Victory~
05: Ame no Furanai Hoshi dewa Aisenai Darou?
04: Love you forever
03: I wish
02: Do it! Now
01: Sakura Manki

For those interested in the videos.

Resonant Blue

Roman ~My Dear Boy~

Ai no Tane

Mikan

Go girl ~Koi no Victory~

Ame no furanai hoshi de wa aisenai darou?

Love you forever

I Wish

Do it! Now

Sakura Mankai

This blog does not allow you to simply enter a URL, but just search Youtube thus by all means look for either a better quailty version and/or subtitled one. Under the advice of a friend of mine Sayuri-san I'll be looking into reviewing & posting other J-pop / rock groups. 

Mr. Doom & Gloom meets a Optimistic Doctor

I had always assumed after losing my job back in the fall of 2008 & unable to find employment since then, that was it. Nothing left to do, but to go back home to my mother & in return for the necessities of life ( Food, water & shelter ) I would just look after her and wait for God. Without health insurrance a condition such as Diabetes http://goo.gl/9SWYc can be a death sentence. My problem is I can only afford the cheap medications minus the life saving Actous I have been doing without for the last two years. Thus my blood sugar has been elevated averaging 270. Note: A normal blood sugar level is 70-120. Therefore I just acepted that I was probably going to die in my 40's ( currently 41 ). Having never married & no kids, might as well just enjoy what time I have left though I have taken what care I could by exercise, diet & the cheap medications. Just not good enough to get control.

Then I meet my new Doctor today. Warm, friendly & Oh did I mention Optimistic? LoL After a long talk he explained programs that he will be able to get me onto if the increased dose of Metrofin does not work. He gave me the hope that maybe, just maybe God wants me around on this Earth a while longer. Why I have NO idea.

So a good day. Going to be checking my blood sugar twice a day for the next 10 days & see if his first step works. If not we will look into Actous ( $285.00 U.S. Dollars per month ouch! ) under a manufactuers prescription drug plan or other wise known as "handouts" & Isulin if need be later on. So far I have not suffered or noticed any symptoms however Diabetes is a hidden disease. Like smoking it catches up with you causing organ failure. So for those at risk or have it take it seriously & talk with your Doctor. For I found out today there are still options.

Why Morning Musume, the 5th Generation & Ogawa Makoto.

Why Morning Musume?

Being a nice guy, at least in America, is a curse. I never possessed "sex appeal" nor am I spiritualy perfect for those of the church. Thus stuck in the middle ignored by women no matter what I did. I suffered from depression & despair for 21 long years before God was able to heal my soul 4 years ago. I believe the last piece of the puzzle God used to do so was my discovery of Morning Musume. I have always had a " general " love of women & had just found the very finest of them. Be that as it may I had to let go of my dream of a wife & daughter of my own in order to move on, but that general love remained. I see them as spiritual idols or role models not " sex " objects though it is clear that is what they are selling at times. Such is the world run by men. I love all of the group past, present & future. However this does not explain why I looked to Japan to begin with. Anime is your answer so I had all ready had some exposure to thier culture, though it had always been a passive one before hand.

Why the 5th Generation?

Odd yes, considering by the time I had discovered the group half of the members or " Gokkies " of Ogawa Makoto & Konno Asami had graduated from Morning Musume a year prior. Youtube, at the time TBS ( a T.V. station in Tokyo ) were not so diligent in removing thier Copyrighted materal from it. So thanks to a few uploaders I was able to watch the majority of the groups appearances, mostly on a show called " Utaban ". Whether you condone such behavior or not if it was not for thier efforts I would never of become a fan. You can not determine personality from a concert performance or single release. Therefore that is when I fell for the group learning who & what they are individually. The 5th Generation was the one though that stood out to me among the others to date. Takahashi Ais incredible talent in which rivals even Goto Makis & to have remained so humble to this day. Niigaki Risa with matching talent 2nd only to Ai only because of her voice, in which I love, is not as good ( due to no fault of her own ). However she more then makes up for it with her attention to detail, reliability & self discipline. Konno Asami for having such a pure heart. She's one of those rare women you see in thier eyes are so sincere. Lastly the Gokkies are so very close to each other.

                                     Takahashi Ai

                                     Niigaki Risa

                                    Konno Asami

Ok, ok. Why Ogawa Makoto?

It is her short commings or quirks that got to me. The "open mouth" while focusing / listening, the "scratching", the "unnecessary waving", how she walks like an "Obasan" ( old women ), but my favorite was how she would lose her train of thought causing her speech to come to an abrupt stop. Most of which she has out grown however I simply love & admire her personality, who & what she is as a person. Energetic, sense of humor, sense of self, humble, self esteem, honor, integrity, belief & faith in herself & always doing her best in everything she does. Singer, Dancer ( I miss such ), Actress, T.V. Personality & Guitar player. My only regret is not being able to support her from afar though I do feel honored to be a fraction of her life by sending Tweets. However I am surprised she has not blocked me yet for other then advice I like to joke with her a little bit in which such behavior by Japanese standards is considered rude or unethical. So why? Just being who & what I am. My intent is just to get her to laugh a little bit, relief stress.

Where is her picture? Ah, your looking at it --------->

The Origin of my nickname

Well we have to go way back. Some 16 years when a little T.V. show called " Xena: Warrior Princess " came out. Yes, I did watch the entire series from start to finish including " Herclues ". Being a fan of Science Fiction & Fantasy genre it just fit right in. No never mind I also at the time I was still actively playing Dungeons & Dragons Role Playing Game ( RPG ) ~ Shhhh! Really I don't see why people were calling it evil especialy the church(es) from its introduction till the late 90's. People are people & there will always be those who can not separate reallity from fantasy.

So where was I, Oh yes the show Xena. Out of all the episodes I would say about Ooo 1/2 were unrealistic though I enjoyed the show(s) for what they were. Along came one particular episode staring an actress I had never seen before that caught my eye by the name of " Victoria Pratt " http://goo.gl/pybtj for obvious reasons. I am a honorable man / nice guy, but still a guy. The character she potrated " Cyane " in the episode " Sin Trade " an Amazon queen of her tribe got to me.

Cyane

I winded up adopting the name & character into all RPG games I played since then such as:

                     Asherons Call ~ Custom Warrior

                 Asherons Call 2 ~ Bounty Hunter class       

                                Jenquai Defender

                                   Paladin Class

And so Cyane became my nickname in which stuck with me over these last 16 years and now into this thing we call social media Youtube, Twitter & a blog. The use of " Xx  xX " is to ensure I can continue the use of the name & are not apart of the spelling, meaning & should be ignored.

I Wish

This is my first post on a Blog that now two Hello!Project fan friends have asked me to create. I make no promises of it being entertaining or worth reading WHAT so ever!

Hmm so much for cheating using copy/paste so lets do things the hard way.

Was tagged by Kylon by a chain of sorts to respond to questions & have iTunes being on "shuffle" answer them. All songs are from a J-pop ( Japanese popular ) group called " Morning Musume. " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_musume For the English translation please visit http://www.projecthello.com/momusu/index.html

How would you describe yourself?
Aino Tane - Fitting being an old timer since I'm the only one I know that loves all of Morning Musume including the OG.

What do you like in a girl / guy?
Fantasy - Why yes I have about Mako-chan, but not in the way you would think 8)>

If someone says "Are you ok?" you'd say?
Aiaraba It's all right - Seriously that is what came up next. LoL

How do you feel?
Rennai Revolution 21 - Hmm not so much

What's your lifes purpose?
Aruiteru - Love, hope & faith . . . got me pegged there.

What do your parents think of you?
Genki Pika Pika - Great advice just the same

What do you think of very often?
Ship to the Future - That I do, that I do very much.

What do you think of your bestfriend?
Genki+ - Don't have one so N/A - but reminds me of one I had.

What's your lifes story?
Morning Coffee - Nope not even close for no women will not touch me with a 10 foot pole.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Summer Night Town - Ok...

What do you think when you see the person you like?
Ame no furanai hoshi de wa aisenai durou ( Chinese version ) - LinLin I'm coming for you!

What will you dance to at your wedding?
Kokoniiruzee! - LOL The one song I can't stand anymore, but fits such an event.

What will they play at your funeral?
Sukiyaki - "Yeah he's dead!" ~ Party!

What is your passion in life?
Sexy Boy - Not at 238 pound I'm NOT! I'm the complete opposite!

What is your biggest fear?
Chokkan 2! - Probably did when I was "playing the field"

What is your biggest secret?
Seishun Collection - I do?

What do you want right now?
Shouganai yume oibito - Break up with a girlfriend I don't have I guess...

What does your love think about you?
Manatsu no kousen - Now that would be the happiest time of my life.

What will you title this as?
I Wish - Indeed.