For once I actually managed to get done what I absolutely wanted to, namely finish the maps and updates related to Chapter 4 of the FF XII walkthrough *whew* I've also finished playing that section of the game and am now in the middle of 5.1; I've also completed the map of the Giza Plains (rainy) including icons and now it's just a matter of having it ready for upload and adding the lists, which I hope to do during the upcoming week

I've started taking caps from Kurosawa's "Drunken Angel". Because now my screen resolution is so high, and because of the DVD's and film's particularities, I'm taking caps manually instead of using vlc's built in system. Which means it takes more time, but the quality is there - I hope! Below the cut is a first batch: some will be added in the review and the post of selected caps I shall make at bamboo_house, but I've also taken a few extra of Toshiro Mifune for long_halloween - because a girl can never have too much Mifune in her life *g*

Speaking of hot Japanese males: I've spent the best part of this week trying (in vain! most of the time) to get my brain focused on something else than the avalanche of Masaya Kato-related news: the preview of his latest photoshoot for "Uomo", which came as a bit of a shock seeing as its publication wasn't announced on his official website (although that in itself was nothing compared to the shock of how friggin' amazing he looks in that one, even by his standards). And right on its heels came the movie news: of course, there's that huge "Sakura Sakura" project which shooting is apparently starting any day now, but that's been announced a while ago. Before that announcement though, there had been rumours that he could have an appearance in another, somewhat pan-Asian, movie (I think the director is Korean). Only a teaser page for the official website of that movie ("Sayonara Itsuka") has surfaced and it looks like instead of a mere appearance, he might actually have one of the lead, at least if the fact that his name appears fourth in the listing is any indication o_0 And now it seems he's just shot a part in yet another movie, for now entitled "Umizaru 3" (now, the whole Umizaru franchise, be it manga, tv series or movie, is not exactly my cup of tea, but if I understand correctly, they are very popular in Japan)

And of course, he's on stage at the end of the year. Does he even vaguely remember the meaning of the word "holiday" anymore??????

( Drunken Angel caps - part 1 )

Damn, I thought summer at work would be slow - and I was well mistaking! But at least I can look forward to a week holiday next week! I'm only gonna be gone for a day to Lyon - I'm planning to stay in Geneva and around the rest of the time. But I'm actually quite looking forward to be abe to just be at home without the stress of work always around the corner *g*

I got started on Japanese lessons with teachers, which is a huge step for me. So far I had learned everything on my own, but I figured I had come to the limits of what I could learn that way - I really felt lately that I needed to start using the language beyond just passive comprehension if I wanted to get to the next level. So I've looked at the possible options and online school was definitely the only feasable one, both because they are more flexible in terms of schedules and because of the costs involved

I've enrolled at JOI (that is "Japanese Online Institute") and so far I have only praise for their system. You don't pay any fee to enroll and you can test their lessons system by taking three 50 minutes classes for 900 Yen (that's around $9 - for all three!), then the price depends on how many lessons you buy in advance, and whether you want private classes or take classes in groups (of maximum 7 people). I've bought 20 tickets and paid an average of $8 per lesson for group lessons. Teachers have all been very nice and helpful , and I can already feel the improvement as the grammar points I go through with them really stick with me, instead of being forgotten after a day or two as it had been the case when studying the same material on my own.

I've started at Beginners level 1, which is for people who already have some basics (you don't need to be able to read kana or kanji though), but I know they even offer introductory classes for those who have no previous knowledge whatsoever, and lessons go all the way to advance (for people who are studying at JLPT 1 level - the equivalent of Advanced/Proficiency Cambridge examination for English as a foreign language)

Oh yeah, and a few things I've promised and actually got done:

Japanese magazines: Shel'tter Summer is available for download - post is comm-lock, but if you're not a member yet still interested, leave me a comment and I'll email you the download link. Madame Figaro Japan and interior design/zakka mags are next up (hopefully I'll have something ready sometime in the next two weeks)

movie reviews: the review for the second movie in the Sasori series is up here, with an alternate version including some more caps over at AW; I've also watched the first in the Yakuza Papers series, as well as received the Red Cliff part 2 Japanese LE box - planning to watch that one during the holidays *g*

Oh yeah, and the Masaya Kato related stuff: I've posted the videos (not hi-res, but the quality is decent enough) of all three of his interventions during his appearance in Downtown DX last month on Youtube - you can watch them all from my account page. I've also posted all the caps from KiraKira Kenshuin over at nekomi815 and huddlebubble's forum in seperate threads for each episode - I'm posting all the links below the cut.

Oh yeah, and he appears in this month's edition of Uomo - again! - so expect new mag scans pretty soon (saw low-res preview at a girl's blog yesterday morning and let's just say I couldn't focus properly at work for the whole day.....)

( this way for the goodies )

Sorry for not giving news in so long. Just been busy really *s* Between work, crossing fingers for Federer at Wimbledon (try typing while you do that, I dare you! Oh, and while I'm at it: Dear Roger, thank you for the wonderful fortnight and for this great victory but please, no more 4 hours+ thrillers in finale, I had stomach cramps the whole evening and my nerves were all but shot for the following days. Thank you.) and getting somewhat back at Ancient Worlds (sort of, really, I'll see where this whole thing gets me). Oh yeah, and I'm back in the saddle for the FF XII walkthrough which I have abandoned somewhat over the last couple of months....

Anyhoo, a few things that I am about to/ have ticked off my list:

- I'm almost done with scanning the latest issue of Shel'tter which should be online this weekend

- The review for Red Cliff part 1 is online (thank you Beth for the beta-reading!), along with the picspam (here for the complete - but access-restricted - one and there for the somewhat smaller, but public one)

- Just posted the picspam for the second installment in the Sasori (Female Prisoner: Scorpion) series here (I'll make a smaller, public picspam alongside the review when I have that one ready)

- Started translating the first book in an illustrated history of Japan series. I am still wondering if it will be worth making longer summaries of what's in there, but at any rate, I'll posting short notes in English about it and the first one, on Paleolithic Japan, is here; threads will change according to the period, but I'll post links here anyway

- Am currently posting Masaya Kato picspams from the KiraKira Kenshui series over at a chinese discussion board dedicated to him. But the access is public so I'll post the complete list of links (there's one thread per episode) here if anyone wants to have a look ;-)

Oh yeah, one of the other things I've been busy with IRL is that I found out early this month that Nara (Nara Prefecture, Japan) will celebrate next year its 1300th anniversary of becoming capital of Japan. They will hold events throughout the year. And since it's been a while I've been thinking of going to Japan within the next few years, I thought I might just change my plans and go a bit earlier than first planned *g* : Nara was definitely a place I wanted to visit (I am a history geek, after all) and it will be easy to travel to Osaka and Kyoto from there. I will probably stay in that area for a week and in Tokyo for another one - at least that's the early plans I have in mind

So sorry I went AWOL for almost two weeks, but I caught a cold. In June. After I went through winter without even sneezing *sigh* I just CAN'T do things the way normal people do, it seems. It was pretty nasty and for all I know, it might have been Swine flu. If it was though, it doesn't seem I've passed it on to anyone. I have a good idea when I caught whatever I got, and after that I've only been with colleagues and a few friends, and haven't been in close quarters with other people until I was really ill, and the couple of people I know who also got ill actually became so before me. Anyway, whatever it was, I must have had a touch of hay fever thrown in the mix, because I would feel worse at my workplace (my eyes start to sting, my nose runs constantly, etc.) and I know from experience there must be something growing there that I'm more sensitive to, as I've had hay fever symptoms at work around this time of the year since I've been there. And of course, the whole thing would block my sinuses which led to heachache after headache.....


Anyway, I'm better now. I've managed to scan the whole of Madame Figaro Japan February issue which is in answer to a few requests made over at jmagazinescans - I just need to photoshop the lot and upload it, so the matter of a couple of days, normally *fingers crossed* Started also taking screencaps from Red Cliff part 1 which I have now seen two times; I must say I've come to really love Nakamura Shidou (Japanese kabuki and movie actor) in this: he just has these great facial expressions that had me laugh and want to hug him simultaneously. Generally speaking, I found the generals more entertaining than the leads (I think John Woo seriously overindulged in his "men coming together" fetish to the point that it becomes distracting in the middle section of the movie) with the exception of Chang Chen who has a more complex character and plays the nuances well


I've also seen Female Prisoner #701 - Jailhouse 41 again which I'll probably review right after Red Cliff part 1. And I've seen the last part of North and South over on BBC Four and must say it was one great episode! I know I owe salimbol to write at least some details about it but it will come in another post - it's already getting pretty late :p

Another thing that I'll owe her and quite a few other people are more Masaya Kato pics - I WILL get to it, in fact I *am* getting to it *hint hint* especially since I have more dvds coming in over the next couple of weeks AND he'll be in a new tv show starting next week already (in a guise we haven't been used to see him in so far, as he warned in his blog. Unfortunately I don't have any good quality picture to show, but let's just say that when I saw a tiny illustration of what he meant by that, I spit my tea all over the keyboard :p). Now let's hope that KeyHole TV does its job this time around and that I actually get to see it when it is broadcasted on TV Tokyo *shake fist*


( Because I'm such a tease and it's just too funny not to share )

Ok, finally managed to post that review of Female Prisoner #701 - Scorpion, which you can find here. It is both more detailed than planned yet very frustrating because the more I was writing, the more I was thinking "Oh yeah, there was that too....". It's such a rich movie, both visually and thematically, that from the moment you start detailing some aspects, it becomes very hard to know where to stop. At any rate, I hope curious minds will give it a go, because that's definitely an experience like few others....

Oh, and I am currently uploading pictures to add - hopefully they will already be available when you get there - if not, please give it a try a little later on ^-^

I have received, among others, the Goemon OST and am being completely hooked. I won't be seeing the movie before a while yet (I will have to wait for it to come out on DVD in Japan), so I really can't comment there except that reviews are, once again, very mixed. Still, I can't wait to see music and images brought together now *g*

And, because I know some people would probably get very upset at me if I didn't post it now, here is another Masaya Kato photoshoot, this one from Uomo of December 2008, which is pretty much a promotional shooting for a Swiss luxury watch brand (they were holding an event at their new shop the following month and Masaya Kato was their main guest, so I guess this explains that).....yeah, yeah, I know, Swiss have great taste like that *cough cough*

( Warning: highly handsome man under the cut )

Received the deluxe Aragami box in the post this morning. At first the bonus disc wouldn't play on my computer, but after a couple of tries I managed to make it work on my tv set (which was weird because there is no scratch whatsoever on the dvd, and the dvd player of my computer seems to work fine otherwise). Didn't have the time to watch much, but I had to watch the making of : I had already seen it and it was quite funny at the time, but I knew I had been missing quite a bit of what they were saying as my Japanese is not that good. Boy am I ever happy I got myself the subtitled version, although I almost chocked to death on my sandwich, due to Masaya Kato's extreme, at time surreal, goofiness ("The Aragami paper cup. Very practical. I use two if I have a hot drink [.....] I am thinking of patenting it")


It was fascinating, and also a tad scary, to see how Osawa (the Samurai) and Kato's (Aragami) dramatically different approach to their work, at least on that particular set, is a perfect reflection of their characters in the film. Takao Osawa (probably one of the best Japanese actors of his generation) was the embodiement of dedication, spending all his time between shots immerged in the script. He appeared also very soft spoken and shy when talking to the guy shooting the making of video. By contrast, Masaya Kato seemed as relaxed as they come and without a care in the world (at one point though, you can tell the extreme fatigue the whole team went under because of their insane schedule got to him as well), and got various staff and the making of interviewer in stitches on occasion (and me, hence the chocking). But then again, his carefree, good-natured attitude recalled that of his character in the movie itself. There's also the fact that he had a familiarity with action movies Osawa didn't (Osawa admits at one point he had never shot an action movie before) which might have played a role in their difference of attitude

It's however hard to tell how much art has imitated life, and vice-versa. Kitamura admitted that he rewrote the part of the samurai after Osawa accepted the role. And since they had very little time to work on the script beforehand, a lot must have changed once they start shooting anyway. I guess I'll find out more after having watched the additional interview with Kitamura, as well as listened to the commentary track of the movie, even if that's only in Japanese (0_0);

Screencaps coming soon *g*

All it took was a trailer (that of Jackie Chan's "Shinjuku Incident", which is out in some areas in Asia and will be out in Japan on May 1, the same day as "Goemon" and Wolverine, dammit!) and an email and video files exchange with a friend to send me back into Masaya Kato (Japanese actor, former model - and still does some modelling on occasion - probably first came to attention in this part of the world with his role in Christophe Gans' "Crying Freeman") frenzy mode and looking for some of his harder-to-find movies and tv series

As a result, I finally got to see the Yakuza flick "Agitator" by Japanese director Takashi Miike (of "Audition" and "Ichi the Killer" fame). It was so much better than what I had hoped for, in particular since I don't even enjoy half of Miike's work (mind you, with an output of 6-8 films per year, that still makes a lot I do like to watch). Actually, it falls just short of being a small masterpiece - although I'm reserving definitive judgement for when I get to see the Japanese cut (the international version is *only* 150 minutes, while the Japanese one is 200!)

I'm actually waiting on that longer version (hopefully it should be in the mail on its way here) to write a full review, but I can already point out of few things. In terms of storytelling, Miike's rarely been so coherent and subtle, and although very realistic, with few scenes of great violence and with none of Miike's fancy 'n' flashy tricks in sight, I found it to be actually much more ambiguous morally - and therefore much more interesting, not to mention, at times, poignant - than most of his more violent and fast-paced stuff. And Masaya Kato is almost unbearably hot in this (btw, as much as I adore Hugh Jackman, I think some actors outside western countries are woefully omitted in these so-called sexiest/most beautiful/blah blah blah lists), although the hotness - luckily! - takes a backseat to his acting abilities: I know the role was supposedly tailor-made for him, but it is also extremely demanding, yet he manages to convey a multitude of nuances, whole emotional landscapes with something as simple at times as a slight nod (typically in the birthday scene in the first few minutes). Also, he and Takenaka (who incidentally, also stars in "Shinjuku Incident") have this great interaction that provides most of the emotional weight to the story (plus Takenaka manages to actually lighten the mood on a couple of occasions)


So here are a few caps I've already taken from Agitator, plus a few others I've taken for a friend who sent me a video of Kato's appearance in Downtown DX (a Japanese tv show) last October (when he was promoting the Samurai 7 stage adaptation).

I think I can smell icons. Yep, I definitely need some Kato icons asap (why I haven't done any yet is beyond me, now that I think of it).....



( Shirtless hotness - but still work-safe - this way )