嵐 = CAMARADERIE

I never doubted for a second that the production for Nino's stageplay would be different from what Johnny's usually gets. And bingo! The director is a non-Japanese who, I read, had experience in handling several broadway productions. Also, Ackerman's imdb profile shows that he had been nominated for Emmy Awards several times and won once. So happy ^^. With this, I hope Nino's name will be internationalized more. =) Praying hard that it'll be released on a dvd. I want to see Nino play a psychopath role. ><
PS: Anybody in my hood knows how to access windjp clubbox? A new window always pops up whenever I try to access the box. I don't know what I should fill in, comments asking for permission? or some sort of access code? Thanks a lot, yygall! ^^

As much as I love Arashi, I can not disregard the fact that they come from Japan's No. 1 manufactured boyband brand, that is Johnny & Associates. I'll support them having world concert tour, but I just can't find myself conceding to the idea of them going international. In the earlier case, they are only burdened with the responsibility to make the tour a sucess, engraving a memorable concert-watching experience in their fans' mind and possibly attracting new fans, but in the latter case..... they have to appeal to mass foreign audience most of which do not know their existence. Hateful criticism can't be evaded. =(
Still, I'm amused that Kyle Eastwood listens to some of their songs. Clint Eastwood's son and a jazz musician... I'm surprised that a person of his caliber listens to Arashi (probably thanks to the chance Nino-chan had to meet him during Letters from Iwo Jima. He really promotes Arashi wherever he goes~ XD).
In the meanwhile, I'm waiting impatiently for the day Mezamashi will show this.  

The looks on the anchors sitting behind the desk are priceless, esp. the male anchor - he just had to blink repeatedly and gape in horror before clasping his hands nervously, haha. XD *Pats Ogu-san*

Nominated as one of the contenders for 49th Monte Carlo Awards (Outstanding Actor Category) for his performance in RnK.
Doesn't matter if he doesn't win. What matters is that he's gained another international recognition.
Damn proud of this kid!
Info: courtesy of 15th Moon @livejournal. =)

PS: Smile~ Oh Smile.... *Pats Bito* I'm such a sucker for heartrending human drama, esp. those with real-life application and relevance. Pilot episode is good. Looking forward to watching the rest of the series. Bito x Hana-chan is damn sweet~ <3 *Ships away* (Not that I haven't done so XD).

Felt like owning this DVR box because of its mouth-watering specs and rave reviews from its buyers. It supports HD outputs with vertical resolution 720p and 1080i, ED (720 x 480p), SD (720 x 480i) and analog (NTSC); has dual recording (can record two programs from diff. channels simultaneously, or record one program with two diff. formats, e.g. analog and HD 720p, HD 720p and SD) and watch-and-record functionality (can watch while recording up to two programs simultaneously). But the prob is there's nothing to record ^^;;; (If only Japanese satellites didn't confine the range of the broadcasts of their TV stations to within Japan =( ). Oh, well... Really, during this era where industrialized nations are migrating from analog to digital (US TV stations switching over in 2009, Japan in 2011), all I can do is fancy if I lived in Japan, I could watch Arashi real-time on TV, sitting on my comfy settee reveling in the highly-defined figures of the boys and buy the DVR to record their shows for collection and repetitive viewing purposes *Drool*. Dreams are dreams... don't know how many years ahead I can fulfill them ^^;;;.
On an unrelated note, been watching Smile PRs. They're looking good so far; in fact, looking VERY promising. Looks like I can finally see Jun acting normal. Had been wishing for him to act in a non-manga slice-of-life series. Hopefully, I can see another moving performance from him like the scenes in the last 10-15 mins of BokuImo. +I love Shiina Ringo's Ariamaru Tomi, fell in love with it on the first listen. <333
Onto The Quiz Show, all I can say is, Ehem~, I WANNA SEE SHO'S VERSION OF THE FOLLOWING SCENES: STARK-NAKED, BUTTS EXPOSED FOR OUR PERVERTED VIEWING PLEASURE, WET, AND HOT!!!!

*NOSEBLEEDS* (And complaints from the PTAs ensues XD, after all it's golden time)
Btw, the producer in the first season (above caps) = Prince Himuro in UtaOni. o.0

This kid, I don't know what kind of complex he has. He's totally fine if his partner has an affair. And to think that he had it done to him before in close proximity and was not even a bit disconcerted about it, Wow. Everyone on the table practically bombarded him with, "Eh, you serious?", "Your affection for her won't change?", "Did you seriously like her?", "You're such a weirdo!" remarks. Just what kind of steel ^^;; forgiving heart --> translation: masochism fetish XD he has. He might've lied though, that little twerp. ^^;;;

It's really aggravating *poor head explodes* to re-load US hosted web pages few times in order to get through the connection interruption. Hopefully TM is able to fix the circuit faults by the forecasted date 'cuz I need my daily Arashi nutrients XDDD.

Am completely clueless! Askljdkjkdfskj!!!!!!! I wanna go! Almost missed it! Almost! Luckily, I read aishoni's comment to one of Aini's entries (btw, Welcome Back, Aini! Congrats on your graduation!!!).
Yes, yes, I'm still alive. Went back to Indonesia for about 3 mths. No internet connection (my parents didn't subscribe to any Indonesian ISP 'cuz they don't use the Internet at all = technologically inept. Besides, Indonesian I-net is super slow, not worth the price... ^^;;;), no Arashi, blog deserted. Came back here in Jan, been catching up with Arashi, but blog remained abandoned. ^^;;;
Anyways, I'll definitely go! Midvalley is just 1/2 hour from Bandar Sunway by rapidkl, yeah!!! *Aiba-double-peace-signs* =)))

PS: Kato Rosa is damn cute!!! She's got this ojiobasan-ppoi mannerism which I think is very cute! XD Watching various Door to Door PRs now...

Where should I start off? I've got a lot to say about the brilliance of KudoKan's mature screenwriting. The way he weaved his own elements into the original story is amazing. He made a fair amount of changes to the original, creating an overall atmosphere different from that of the novel, while sticking faithfully to the overall storyline. So, watching the drama is like watching a remake of the original. And it's totally REFRESHING. 
The major difference between the drama and the original probably lies in the order of events. The drama is a non-chronological narrative, where the story's not told in the order of the events' occurrence, as opposed to the original. Though this approach is not a new challenge to KudoKan (as he's tried this writing style before), I still can't help but be amazed at how smooth and natural the transitions between the past and the present were. And I'm certain that they didn't confuse the viewers at all. I love the flashback which took place after the scene where the grown-up Kouichi was surprised to see Detective Kashiwabara in Hayashi curry house. Captured from the camera point of view: a patrol car parked across Ariake shop, a police officer running towards his colleague, and a sound of something hitting the ground. And as the camera panned to the origin of the sound, to the narrow passageway to the right of Ariake shop, a figure of a detective practicing his golf swings with an umbrella could be seen. Simple but nice details to give an overall picture of what the police officers were doing in the aftermath of the homicide (very cost-effective, no need to hire unnecessary number of extras to play out the hectic scene of officers running around the neighborhood for investigation) and to introduce how Detective Kashiwabara and Hagimura were related to the Ariake brothers and sister in the past. However, if I'm asked to pick my favorite flashback of the episode, it has to be the last one. No, no, not because it's powerful and heart-rending, but because of the details that were put into Ariake spouse's death scene. There's more to it than what meets the eyes, I tell you. It's the type of details that novice screenwriters often fail to put attention to. From that scene alone, we can draw some theories regarding the murder which I'm not going to reveal at this stage for fear of disclosing unnecessary things that people might not wish to know until the later stage. Taking back my words. Hint: Watch the preview for the next episode and rewind to the first and the last flasbacks and watch both closely. Keywords: Plot device and blood. 
Secondly, I love the way KudoKan opened the series with Kouichi's short soliloquy. It made the viewers who hadn't read the original wonder what sort of tragedy befell them in the past that caused the eldest to utter those contemptous words. At the end of the episode, during the last scene where Taisuke saw with his own eyes their parents' dead bodies, the same line was uttered again. I felt that that was a powerful way to end/conclude the episode. I saw this pattern before in Ping Pong, another great piece screenplayed by KudoKan. He started off the film with a scene and went back to that scene later in the middle of the show after a series of events which led up to it.
Thirdly, I love how 'Beautiful Days' started playing when the brothers poked their little sister's cheeks. With the stars falling one by one in the sky, it was just the right and perfect moment to start the theme song. And I love the opening sequence, in particular, the series of scenes where the stream of particles (most probably represent meteors) linked the brothers and sister together (hence, Ryuusei no Kizuna or Meteor Bond) and the last scene where Ariake shop materialized into particles (or meteors) ascending into the sky, and with "Sora ni egaita mirai" (The future painted on the sky) playing in the background, it kinda suggests that the brothers and sister's utmost wish was to re-build their parents' shop. Onto the theme song, I'm loving it. On the first listen, I was not really fond of 'Beautiful Days', mainly because there are too much boyband chorus and lack of Nino's solo sections. Since RnK is Nino's drama, I expected him to have a fair amount of solo or at least, to sing the whole bridge passage. So, I was dissatisfied. However, composition-wise, I loved it and I still do. The lyrics are also suitable for the drama. That's why the song grew on me as I listened to it a few more times.
Onto the comical elements, geez, THEY'RE BRILLIANT!!! From 'Hayashi' pun to Kouichi's kimoi stalker-ish pursuit on the lady swindler to Kouichi's self-produced con script to the no.2 host's shoujo manga fetish, name ALL of them, I love it!!! Props to KudoKan!!!! Btw, I'm starting to suspect that 'Eien Shoujo Shiori' was specially made by Makino Aoi (the mangaka whose name was on the cover of the said manga) for RnK. 'Cuz it's really fishy how well the manga matched the con script. Also, the volume the host read in the car was the 20th!!!! Observe the cover at 43:52 and compare it to the cover at 43:31! It's unbelievable that the host's first meeting with Shiori happened in the 20th volume! Haha. And there were only a few panels shown, so the manga might well be nonexistent. XDDD
Some minor changes: Hayashi George is a nonexistent character in the novel, Togami Yukinari didn't meet Kouichi until in the later chapter of the novel, Shizuna was never employed in the company where Takayama Hisanobu worked.
All in all, this episode gave a great start to the series. Eagerly looking forward to the next episode. <33333
PS: I found the following scene cute!!! Rofl at what Kouichi and Taisuke were doing in the background. XD
PS2: Kouichi's too short to snatch the materials away from Taisuke (and he actually had to jump like a little kid)! ROFL!! XD

Heard that the movie will be screened in Malaysia Cinemas on Oct 30. Not a fan of Hanadan but I must do my part as an Arashi fan. XDDD Besides, the movie theater is just a few mins away from the condo where I stayed by car (Wait for me, Hime-sama!).
PS: Geez, the connection is lousy today. When am I going to finish dl-ing RnK??!!!! *Tugging my hair in all direction* I'm dying to watch!