Just a quick post right here.

In celebration of Philippines – Japan Friendship Month, the Japan Foundation, Manila, in cooperation with the Embassy of Japan, the Shangri-La Plaza Mall, the Cultural Center of the Philippines, and the UP Film Institute presents a glimpse of the Japanese culture in Eiga Sai ’08.

In line with the celebration, the J-Pop Anime Matsuri to be hosted by the Embassy of Japan will be held on July 26 and 27 and the event includes the preview screenings of Chibi Maruko Chan (1990, written by Momoko Sakura) and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Toki o Kakeru Shōujo, 2001, directed by Mamoru Hosoda) . . .

HOLY— TokiKake on the big screen?! I'm THERE!!!

Venues are:
Shangri-La Plaza Cinema 3 (July 8 to 13, 26 & 27)
CCP Dream Theater (August 7 to 10)
UP Film Institute (August 11 to 14 & 16)

ADMISSION IS FREE so let's go!!!

Eiga Sai Screening Schedule
Eiga Sai Film Synopsis

Source: Japanese Film Festival “Eiga Sai ‘08” opens on July 8

Labels: anime, eiga sai, movies

Posted by sarah at 6:15 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

leGASP! Is this true?! Yes, it's true!

Come October 2008 there will be more gyaboooo~! Read more, mukyaaaa!

According to Anime News Network

The official Japanese website of the Nodame Cantabile anime series has announced the October premiere of the Nodame Cantabile Pari-Hen (Nodame Cantabile: Paris Chapter) sequel. The new story arc will run in Nodame Cantabile's former late-night Noitamina timeslot in Japan. Both Tomoko Ninomiya's original manga . . . and the 2006-2008 live-action drama adaptation have already set their later stories in Paris. All versions of Nodame Cantabile have the common plot threads of two music students who drive themselves and each other to greater artistic heights in Japan and later Europe.

Mukyaaa! Hehe. I'm sure all of you already know how much I love the Nodame Cantabile manga, and how much I enjoyed the Nodame Cantabile TV renditions.

I liked how that anime ended, actually, and I wasn't expecting a second season. But, hey, I'm not complaining! I can't wait! *giddily excited* ^_^

Labels: anime, manga, nodame cantabile, tv

Posted by sarah at 2:30 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Since my HanaKimi TV post last year has been, as it turns out, helping a lot of people in deciding which HanaKimi rendition to watch, I thought I'd write a similar post for another one of my favorite manga, whose TV renditions I absolutely adore.

I've written a short Nodame Cantabile review, actually, so let's consider this a part 2.

Extremely talented pianist and naturally gifted conductor. Another extremely talented pianist and your all-around weird girl. Put them together and what do you get? An impossibly addicting manga on classical music, love, and the love of music. And, yes, it's hilarious, too.

Obviously, the main ingredient of this manga is music, but non-musicians should not shy away! No, no, you won't drown in jargon, and, believe me, this series will enrich your knowledge in music. Also, there is an ample amount of comedy and a dash of romance to taste. Read full post...

Nodame Cantabile is originally a manga by Ninomiya Tomoko, running since 2001 and is currently ongoing. It now has a J-drama adaptation, an anime series, and a handful of OSTs. The anime and regular J-drama season both take from the manga's first to ninth volume. The J-drama, though, has a Special, which follows the manga a little bit further.

Most people know that I usually say that manga is the best, and, I guess, I think the same applies for Nodame Cantabile. But I think both the anime and the J-drama are a couple of must-watch renditions. Both have their pros and cons, though...

Cast and Characterization
Both anime and drama were SUPERB. I mean, seriously. The art in the anime was easy enough to adapt from the manga, but I just have to say that the voice dubbing was excellent.

As for the J-drama... ARGH! PERFECT! When I first saw the photos, I was, like, "Whoa! Nodame came to life!!!" But it doesn't stop there. When I watched the J-drama, right from the first episode, Ueno Juri and Hiroshi Tamaki (and everybody else, really) acted exactly as I imagined Nodame and Chiaki (and everybody else) to act. Not only did they capture the characters' look, but also their personalities, attitudes, mannerisms, speaking patters, everything! Kudos to the cast, and especially the director, Takeuchi Hideki-san!


Plot execution
The anime is, from start to finish, faithful to the manga; the pages were literally transferred to the screen. As for the drama, it's also as faithful as live dramas can go. Okay, sure, there were tiny tweaks here and there (some characters appeared earlier than they should, some events were merged into one, some pieces were performed at a different time) but I suppose it's understandable, since they had to make adjustments to fit 9 volumes of manga into 11 episodes. Still, there's only a hairsbreadth of difference, small enough for me, a purist, to actually let it go. About the J-drama Special... Hm... Now this one takes more events out of the plot, but, again, I'm willing to let it slide, since the parts they focused on were important, and the story flow wasn't disrupted.

Music
The drama, I think, is the best version to watch the performances. Not only do you actually see them playing the instruments, but the emotion is also seen better in the performers' faces. But in the anime, since it's understandably hard to animate people to move as they would in real life, the majority of the performances are just stills of the musicians playing. There are, however, exceptionally amazing concert sequences where you can really see the musicians' fingers hitting the right keys at the right time in the right tempo. Those are awesome, awesome sequences, but they rarely happen. In the anime, though, the shown/played excerpts of the music pieces are longer than the ones in the drama's regular season. (In the Special Lessons, though, the musical sequences are longer. Wheeeee~)


In summary:

• The anime has 26 episodes (about 25 minutes each ) plus one Summer Detour (15 minutes). The drama has 11 episodes (about 1 hour each) plus 2 specials (about 2 hours each).
• The anime is exactly the manga, just moving. The drama changes a few things here and there.
• The anime characters can't really move like real people all the time. The drama's cast is composed of real, living, breathing people (like, duh).
• The music is the same.
• The story is the same.
• The level of comedy is the same.

"So," you ask, "which do you recommend I watch, Sarah? Anime, or drama?"

My answer: BOTH.

I mean, really. I've read the manga, watched the anime, and watched the drama. And I still laugh. Every. Single. Time. Although, of course, you can chalk it up to the fact that I love the series, but it's just that each version offers something unique while still remaining so very... Nodame.

So, really, whichever rendition you pick, as long as it's Nodame Cantabile, I guarantee enjoyment. ^^

Labels: anime, manga, nodame cantabile, reviews, tv

Posted by sarah at 5:24 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Last week, I found out that the last episode of the Jdrama (Japanese drama) of Hanazakiri no Kimitachi e, a live action TV series based on the manga of the same title, was out. It started in Japan in June this year, and ended just a few days ago.

The manga Hanazakiri no Kimitachi e ("For You In Full Blossom", also known as "HanaKimi") was written by Hisaya Nakajo way back in 1996, and ended in 2004... right about the time I first started reading it.

The story revolves around Mizuki Ashiya, a Japanese girl who grew up in the States. One day when watching a track and field competition, she sees Izumi Sano competing in the high jump. She begins to idolize him for the way he jumps, and also for the way he lives. Eventually she transfers to Japan in order to attend the same school that Sano attends. It's not just any school, though: it's an all-boys high school!

Even though I absolutely love the manga series, I tried not to watch the J-drama first... Partly because I was never a "manga turned live action" fan -- I've got nothing against it, though -- and partly because I wanted to marathon it. Harhar. (And also partly because I was too busy to bother with it.)

So, this weekend, I decided to marathon all 12 episodes.

And, suprisingly... Read full post...

I was slightly disappointed.

*sigh*

"But why?!" you ask. "Isn't the acting good?"

It was, actually.

"Isn't the casting good?"

Argh. Near perfect. I think everyone fit their characters well! Tomo Ikuta (playing Nakatsu) is, like, a scene stealer. Haha! But still everyone did an awesome job.
"Isn't the story good?"

Hmm... Well... Er...

*ahem*

The story is , I suppose. That is, if you completely forget the manga. True, the J-drama followed the original general plot, and they kept the characters as they were (that is, if you ignore the additional characters inserted here and there), but the events in the story were too different.

I also felt kind of rushed... The development of chemistry between Mizuki and the Dorm 2 boys was a bit sudden, the whole "Sano going back to high jump" issue wasn't simmered, and the Sano+Mizuki build-up was a bit off in the beginning... Argh. And I missed Umeda-sensei's bishieness (and ecchiness. LOL!)

Of course, this is all me.

And, I suppose if I DID forget the manga, maybe I'd be thinking differently.

And so, after watching for 12 hours (not continuous, though, as I had to eat and have a life) and finished a bit disappointed, I was driven into checking out the 2006 Taiwanese version.
That made Hua Yang Shao Nian Shao Nu the first Taiwanese drama I ever watched. Whoopee. (No. Unlike the rest of the Philippine female population, I did NOT watch Meteor Garden.)

At first I was raising my eyebrows because of Ella, the girl acting as Rui Xi (the Taiwanese counterpart of Mizuki). I mean, hey, no offense to Ella or anything, but Mizuki had to look like a pretty girl and a cute boy. At the same time. Now, Ella's actually pretty and all, but when Rui Xi was acting like a boy, she looked too... tomboyish. They seemed to forget that, even though Mizuki had the whole school fooled, she was still supposed to fail at acting like a boy, and she was supposed to look immensely girly that a lot of guys thought she was a girly boy, and it should be a wonder why everyone else didn't become seriously suspicious of her.

As the series progressed, though, I began to warm up to her. But still I maintain that the haircut could've been better, and the acting might have been more fitting... Horikita Maki did an awesome job in the Japanese version, so... Yeah. I'm comparing. Heh.

The rest of the cast was okay. Quan (TW counter of Sano) was a bit too smiley too early for me, though. Hm. Then again, Shun Oguri's Sano was a bit too... frowny.

The best part about the Taiwanese series, though, is how faithful it was to the manga. Sure, a lot of the original events were omitted (unavoidable, unless we want a LONG series), but still, it was as faithful as they can make it. And they even gave some scenes nice twists of their own.

I'm just annoyed that Rui Xi didn't look (and, sometimes, act) like Mizuki. If Rui Xi was another girl who is NOT Mizuki, it'd be fine. But no. She's supposed to be Mizuki, just with another name. Rawr. Quan got an awesome Wu Chun, though. *insert fangirl screech here* Heeheehee.

So, in summary....

HanaKimi J-drama: awesome casting, awesome acting, but diverges from the manga.

Hua Yang Shao Nian Shao Nu: okay adaptation, but a bit overacted Rui Xi >_<>

Labels: anime, hanakimi, hanazakiri no kimitachi e, manga, reviews, tv

Posted by sarah at 8:53 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Michan recently gave me a copy of Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo, a movie she had been raving about. I watched it yesterday, and immediately it was included in my favorite movies list. And I bet it'd be in yours, too, whether or not you're an anime fan.

Toki o Kakeru Shoujo (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time) is a Japanese anime film first released in theatres in Japan in 2006.

Don't worry: there ain't no bad spoilers in this post.

The Plot
The story is centered on 17-year-old Makoto Konno, a girl who gains the power to leap through time when she gets involved in an accident at a train crossing one day. Although a little confused with her new powers at first, Makoto uses them extravagantly to avoid being late in school and to get perfect grades on tests. But then, things began to turn bad as she discovers how her actions can adversely affect others. She then goes back in time and tries to fix things for the people affected, but that just makes things even worse... Read full post...


My first thought as the movie progressed was, "Wow. Sorta like Groundhog Day... But different."

Groundhog Day is a movie where Bill Murray lives February 2nd over and over and over. TokiKake is sort of like that, I guess, except that Makoto can control when and where she wants to go. It's hilarious in the beginning, but as the story progresses, it begins to take on a bit more serious mood that makes the audience think.

The Characters
What I loved most about this movie is the characters. In my opinion, Makoto is a refreshing heroine: she has a strong character, but is also very reluctant about things. She's energetic but quiet. She knows who she is, but her doubts about herself inevitably surface, like what happens to all of us at times. She's a bit of a tomboy, but is very, very much a girl.

As for Makoto's friends Chiaki and Kousuke, they're established with such strength right smack in the beginning of the film that they manage to make you feel for them, whatever happens to them through the course of the story. Their on-screen presence is strong, whether they're doing something significant or just throwing a baseball.

These three main characters are very real, their chemistry is endearingly hilarious, and their relationship is close to the heart of anybody who's had friends.

All other supporting characters are precisely that: supporting. They all play an important role in building the plot. All of them, from Makoto's sister to Makoto's classmates to the lady who yells at Makoto for bumping into her.

The animation
I may be no professional, but I think the animation is superb. Adorably designed characters, realistically painted scenes, and intricately detailed...er...details. Facial expressions are priceless, the stage is always amazingly rendered, and the small details are never overpowering.

The perfect symmetry in a lot of scenes is always amazing to stare at. It's symmetry, but it's not simply a mirror image, since what appears on one side is different from what appears on the other. Er...yeah.

The direction
Oh my goodness. Mamoru Hosoda does such an unbelievably amazing job at this, I don't even know where to begin.

For one, all the sequences are done perfectly, whether it be one that shows tranquil everyday life, a comedic episode, or a thrilling bike ride down a steep slope. I love where they locate their cameras, showing scenes at angles that will get the most effect. Perfection, I tells ya.

There are a lot more -- and I mean a LOT -- of aesthetic and artistic techniques used in this film that are executed beautifully, but I don't think I can tackle them without pointing out spoilers, so... I'll just leave it at that.

The music
If you were to ask me what the main musical score feels like, I'd say that it's an exhilarating flight, light and floating at one point, and then soaring at another. It makes me think of blue skies, white clouds, and cool winds. Hehe. I think it's just perfect for a movie that has a title connected to leaping/flying.

Other sound tracks include a great mix of light summer tunes, peaceful nocturnes and dramatic melodies, all played at the perfect times throughout the movie, further enhancing the story unfolding in the screen. The insert songs are pretty, too, and the lyrics are most fitting to the characters.

Sarah's verdict:
Oh, gee, isn't it obvious? A perfect 10! The only thing I didn't like about this movie is also one of the things that I grudgingly love: the ending.

ARGH the ending. It SO made me want to smash the laptop into pieces. (Of course I didn't.) I hated (and loved) it so much that I even wrote a fanfic for it. Yep, my TokiKake fanfic is the latest addition to my fanfic archive, but don't read it if you haven't seen the movie!

*ahem* Seeing that I can't rant (and rave) without giving out spoilers, I'll stop now.

Hm. Maybe the only thing a lacking in this movie is a bit more answers. Many questions are left open at the end of the film... I guess they meant it to be that way, but... yeah.

In summary: TokiKake is an awesome movie. Watch it. Seriously.

More info
Tsutsui Yasutaka's novel, Toki o Kakeru Shoujo (unofficial translation: The Little Girl Who Conquered Time) is the basis of the film... (Yes, it's the same Japanese title, but a different English translation for the sake of distinction.) The film isn't a movie version of the book, though, but is set as a continuation of the book in the same setting some twenty years later.

TokiKake was produced by the animation studio Madhouse and distributed through Kadokawa Herald Pictures. Directed by Mamoru Hosoda.

Labels: anime, movies, reviews, Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo

Posted by sarah at 10:24 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

*gasp* Newtype said it was so. Therefore it must be true!

Yep, that's right, folks! The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi gets a second season! It's going to be announced officially on the magazine in August (and in the website on July 7th), but fans get an early celebration from Newtype's... well... early edition. Hehehe.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu (The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi) is an anime series based on light novels entitled (er...surprise, surprise?) Suzumiya Haruhi. The fourteen episode anime series premiered in Japan on April 2006 and ran until July 2006.

The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi revolves around the story of a high school girl named (er... another surprise?) Haruhi. She's a very, very, veryveryvery (did I say VERY?) eccentric girl, obsessed with ESPers, aliens and time travellers, and is always looking for something interesting to do. (Which is, basically, looking for ESPers, aliens and time travellers.) The story is told Greek-chorus style by Kyon, one of Haruhi's classmates. He's realistic, cynical, apathetic and sarcastic, and he's pretty much dragged (literally) by Haruhi into chaos in the form of the SOS Brigade, a club which Haruhi formed focused on — you guessed it — looking for ESPers, aliens, and time travelers.

What's so fun about the series is Haruhi's enthusiasm and the contagious insanity of everything she does. Even if you avoid her at first, you'll learn to love her, just like what happened to poor ol' Kyon. The insanity is so contagious, it even seeped into the way the series was broadcasted. Haha! The TV episodes were NOT released in chronological order. It's a bit confusing at first, but you'll get the hang of it. I personally think that the anachronic order is WAY better than the chronological one: it's more fun that way, and the presentation is just... genius.

If you haven't checked the series out, go and grab a DVD (or leech from torrent sites. Haha!). Episode 1 (aka Episode 11) may look weird, but I implore you, watch Episode 2 (aka Episode 1), too. It's hilarious, I tells ya, and I'm sure you'll love it, especially if you like crazy anime comedies like Azumanga Daioh or Lucky Star. But it's not ALL craziness, either. There's actually a story, and the players get their character developments, too. Sorta like Ouran High School Host Club, but with less bishounen and drama (what minimal drama Ouran has). It does involve high school girls in bunny suits at one point, though, if that'll make up for the lack of bishounen. Hehe.


Oyeah: about the second season. The broadcast dates and other information will be anounced later, I suppose. I'll update you on that when I get info.

Meanwhile, enjoy this Gundam doing the Haruhi dance video. Heeeheeeheee.

Labels: anime, reviews, the melancholy of suzumiya haruhi, tv

Posted by sarah at 11:17 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post