Interesting Jpop in Anime

I recently became obsessed with Anime again after about one year of not watching anything (but still reading manga of course). I have Code Geass and Code Geass R2 to blame for getting me started.

First, the Macross Frontier opening features "Triangular" by Maaya Sakamoto. Maaya Sakamoto did an excellent ending for the Anime Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles with the song "Loop"

I didn't like this song too much at the beginning, but then I got addicted to it after 4 or 5 listens.

Second, it's FLOW's song "COLOR" as the opening to Code Geass


Third, it's Orange Range's song "O2" as the opening to Code Geass R2

I'm not a huge fan of Orange Range, but this song is particularly catchy

All Anime songs can be found on Gendou, so give it a try!

Blaise Plant - Call me (Appelez moi)

If you happen to listen to Blaise Plant's (from Monkey Majik) solo song Call me (Appelez moi), you might have been surprised that it's French Pop. Quite the deviation from his Jpop career, but it's an interesting listen if you've never heard French music before.

In my opinion, Blaise Plant should just stick with Monkey Majik, since Blaise Plant singing without good guitar just doesn't do it for me. If you want an example of good French music, I was recently introduced to Kyo. One of my favourite songs by them is Comment te Dire:

KYO - Comment Te Dire - DVD
Uploaded by odin062

Jpop Recommendations - Girls Be Ambitious

The Jpop album Girls Be Ambitious was released March 26, 2008 which featured a variety of popular and talented female artists. I was glad the female voices were typically lower pitched, but wasn't too happy about the rapping.

Artist	Song	Details
Crystal Kay	Tears	Slower paced song with excellent vocals
ARIA	I Love You	Pop, the song's hook is the excellent piano instrumental
MINMI	Aisuru Toiu Koto	Pop/Soca, excellent vocals from my favourite Soca Jpop artist
DOUBLE	SPRING LOVE	Pop
Leah Dizon	Koi Shiyou	Pop, I like this song minus the chorus
Orion	Once More	Pop, I'm a sucker for piano yet again

Of the 26 tracks, only 5 songs matched the Jpop I enjoy. I was slightly disappointed, but then again, the percentage of songs I enjoy in the Oricon SINGLE WEEKLY TOP 30 is usually just as bad.

Highly Recommended Jpop - January to April 2008

2008 has started with an incredible amount of releases from some of my favourite Jpop Artists as well as some who I've recently discovered.

There were a lot of albums containing older songs, such as Ken Hirai's Pop Star or any song from the brilliant's green single collection. However, if you've missed them before, it's a good opportunity to get them now.

Albums/Singles

• ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION - World World World
• Ben Arashino - Chapter One ~Complete Collection~
• CHEMISTRY - Face to Face
• EXILE - Pure / You're my sunshine
• GLORY HILL - DAYBREAK e.p.
• Hikari - Naked
• Ken Hirai - FAKIN' POP
• Koda Kumi - Kingdom
• KOKIA - Tatta Hitotsu no Omoi
• Leah Dizon - Love Paradox
• melody. - Lei Aloha
  
• mihimaru GT - diverge
• Monkey Majik - Together/Akari/Fall Back
• Nami Tamki - Don't Stay
• Namie Amuro - 60s 70s 80s
• Rimi Natsukawa - Ano Hana No Youni
• the brilliant green - complete single collection '97-'08
• Utada Hikaru - HEART STATION
• YUI - I LOVED YESTERDAY
• Yuna Ito - WISH
• ZEEBRA - BUSHIDO
  

I decided to summarize my favourite Jpop songs in a tabular format, so you can quickly scan for songs that interest you.

Artist	Song	Details
ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION	After Dark	Rock, the popular song used in the opening for the anime Bleach
ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION	Korogaru Iwa, Kimi ni Asa ga Furu	Rock
ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION	Travelog	Rock
Beni Arashino	Cherish	Pop, an old favourite of mine
Beni Arashino	FLASH FLASH (feat. KOHEI JAPAN)	Pop, rapping
Beni Arashino	Goal	Pop, an old favourite of mine
CHEMISTRY	Kagayaku yoru	Pop, song supported by Monkey Majik, which means amazing guitar
EXILE	Pure	Pop, on the slower side but excellent male vocals
GLORY HILL	DAYBREAK e.p.	Punk/rock, sounds like ELLEGARDEN (including unintelligible English)
Hikari	Sowelu	Pop
Hikari	Still lovin' you	Pop
Ken Hirai	Pain	Pop
Ken Hirai	Pop Star	Pop, if you haven't heard this song before you should!
Koda Kumi	anytime	Pop
Koda Kumi	Under	Pop
KOKIA	Tatta Hitotsu no Omoi	Pop
Leah Dizon	Love Paradox	Pop, surprisingly good for a Leah Dizon song
melody.	Haruka -Eternal Version-	Slow song
mihimaru GT	diverge	Pop
Monkey Majik	Akari	Pop
Monkey Majik	Fall Back	Pop, the rap sucks but the rest of the song is good
Monkey Majik	One More Chance	Pop, the surprisingly good b-side
Nami Tamaki	visualize	Dance, reminds me of her song "Believe"
Nami Tamaki	Promise	Slow song
Namie Amuro	NEW LOOK	Pop
Namie Amuro	ROCK STEADY	Pop
Namie Amuro	WHAT A FEELING	Pop
Rimi Natsukawa	Ano Hana No Youni	Slow song
the brilliant green	Ai no Heart Ai no Hoshi	Rock
the brilliant green	Rainy Days Never Stays	Rock, one of my favourite tbg songs ever
the brilliant green	I'm So Sorry Baby	Rock
the brilliant green	Stand By Me	Pop, another one of my favourite tbg songs
Utada Hikaru	Beautiful World	Pop
Utada Hikaru	Flavor Of Life -Ballad Version	Slow song, my absolute favourite song from this album
Utada Hikaru	Stay Gold
YUI	My Generation	Pop
YUI	Namidario	Pop
Yuna Ito	Mahaloha	Pop
ZEEBRA	BUSHIDO	Rap, this is what Japanese rapping should be like

Namie Amuro Play Tour 2007 Cover Scan

I saw Namie Amuro's Play Tour 2007 DVD for sale today, so I decided to make an impulse purchase. I had seen the Play concert on JPOPSUKI, but my ISP does a great job in preventing me from getting it. The concert was okay. I don't think there's much lasting value, since I don't see myself watching it more than two times. I would recommend you "sample" this concert before you buy it, since the concert wasn't spectacular.

I love the DVD cover:

The Namie Amuro Play Tour 2007 cover, scanned by me. I'm a newbie at scanning stuff, so hopefully it turned out correctly. It was originally scanned at 300dpi and Flickr shrunk it down to 692x1024 (which is not too bad of a resolution). I wasn't able to find a large scan of the cover anywhere, so this is my attempt to scan something.

Not Dead...Yet. Just Really Busy

I've been really busy with work, so haven't had time to do anything Jpop related.

Luckily, even when I'm completely out of touch with Jpop, I can always rely on these two great sites for finding recent and older releases:

Jpop n' Kpop
Too Fast To Live

Basically, they are my JPOPSUKI substitutes, since I would get exactly what shows up on those two sites anyway :) If you didn't know about those resources before, check them out!

Monkey Majik's new single is out tomorrow. Hopefully it won't be disappointing or I'll be crushed.

Monkey Majik - Together

Title: Together
Artist: Monkey Majik
Single: Together / Akari / Fall Back
Release date: April 23, 2008

It's about time Monkey Majik released something new in 2008. I've been eagerly waiting for something new from Monkey Majik. When I found out that the title of their new single would be Together / Akari / Fall Back, I was overjoyed at the potential for three killer songs. Hopefully these songs will be the triple counter to compete against Namie Amuro's 60s 70s 80s single, which will probably still be at the top of Oricon SINGLES TOP 30 when this single is released.

Luckily, this single starts off nicely with the song Together. Together follows the award winning Monkey Majik recipe: the use of their indie-pop style, amazing guitar playing, excellent English and Japanese vocals, and no rapping (thank God). Overall, Together has a depressing tone similar to their song "Sotsugyō, soshite mirai e.". About 85% of this song is sung in Japanese with very few consecutive lines of English. I felt that the tidbits of English were appropriate and didn't sound out of place.

I'd say the weak point of this song was the chorus. I didn't find the chorus to be particularly interesting. To me, it's a rare anomaly, since Monkey Majik choruses are usually the song's hook. Besides that, I really enjoyed the song. As an added bonus, the music video was well made too. The music video is touching, as it focuses on a mother and daughter dealing with the death of the father. This music video reminds me of the "Christmas Gift" scenario in the Nintendo DS game Elite Beat Agents, which has a similar premise (including the ghost father watching over his family). Here's the Together music video:

Mirrors:
High quality MV at Jpop n' Kpop
Flash video at JpopAsia

Lyrics: Monkey Majik - Take

Title: Take
Artist: Monkey Majik
Album: eastview
Year: 2005

Take what you will what you will
I can go where I wanna go

Take what you will what you will
I can go where I want to
Say what I want to

I forget
Repeat x4

If I changed your name
Repeat x3

Take what you will and what you will
I can go where I wanna go

Take what you will what you will
I can go where I want to
Say what I want to

I forget
Repeat x4

If I changed your name
Repeat x3

You can take back
What you wanted
I don't need it
I don't need it anymore
Repeat x2

Take what you will and what you will
I can go where I wanna go

Source: lyrics from eastview CD pamphlet, typed up by me with minor modifications. The reason for the modifications is the CD pamphlet does not repeat certain versus/choruses, so I had to recopy some lines and add repeats.

Lyrics: Monkey Majik - Apology Accepted

Title: Apology Accepted
Artist: Monkey Majik
Album: eastview
Year: 2005

Forgive me if I do forget

Forget your name seems to have changed
overnight just keep it the same
I know it's 12 o'clock
I was gonna pick you up around the blockade
Your Birthday, it's the same day, now isn't it?
Have we met before
I don't even know if you were
a purple, brown, black, blond, blue eyed, red head
I don't remember

Apology Accepted

Source: lyrics from eastview CD pamphlet. Odd song, I can't actually hear most of these lyrics, so I typed it up as is.

Lyrics: Monkey Majik - Inside

Title: Inside
Artist: Monkey Majik
Album: eastview
Year: 2005

Did you ever wonder how we got this far
All these little people crammed up in a jar (I know)
Living like we take for granted everyday
Made up of a single thought that blinds our way

All I ever wanted wasn't there to take
A reason to explain my only real mistake
Even if I asked you wouldn't clear my name
'Cause that is just something for me

Leave me inside here wither with you
This is the place I belong to
Tell me in secret what should I do
Tell me you need me with you

Did you ever wonder how we got this far
All these little people crammed up in a jar (I know)
Living like we take for granted everyday
Made up of a single thought that blinds our way

All I ever wanted wasn't there to take
A reason to explain my only real mistake
Even if I asked you wouldn't clear my name
'Cause that is just something for me

Leave me inside here wither with you
This is the place I belong to
Tell me in secret what should I do
Tell me you need me with you

Source: lyrics from eastview CD pamphlet, typed up by me with minor modifications. The reason for the modifications is the CD pamphlet does not repeat certain versus/choruses, so I had to recopy some lines.

Lyrics: Monkey Majik - I was waiting

Title: I was waiting
Artist: Monkey Majik
Album: eastview
Year: 2005

I was waiting
Everybody knew my name
If you didn't notice
Everything was still the same
'Cause everywhere I go they're watching
Everyday I hear them screaming
Everything is building up on me
'Cause everywhere I go they're watching
Everyday I hear them screaming
Everything is building up on me

Everybody wants to be like me
Repeat x2

Hanging on a string
It's never too late
'Cause I want it
Repeat x2

I was waiting
Nothing ever came my way
Didn't even notice
Everything would be the same
'Cause everywhere I go they're watching
Everyday I wake up screaming
Everything is building up on me
'Cause everywhere I go they're watching
Everyday I wake up screaming
Everything is building up on me

Everybody wants to be like me
Repeat x2

Hanging on a string
It's never too late
'Cause I want it
Repeat x2

'Cause everywhere I go they're watching
Everyday I wake up screaming
Everything is building up on me

Source: lyrics from eastview CD pamphlet, typed up by me with minor modifications. The reason for the modifications is the CD pamphlet does not repeat certain versus/choruses, so I had to recopy some lines and add repeats.

Lyrics: Monkey Majik - 1996

Title: One moment
Artist: Monkey Majik
Album: eastview
Year: 2005

It's not so bad
I tell you everynight
I think about it everyday
Something tells me that it'll be alright

I get up
I see you
When I come home
I'm fed up
Won't you make it right
Repeat x2

Don't take me back to a time before
Don't take me back
Don't take me back to '96 no more
Just don't take me back

It's not so bad
I tell you everynight
I think about it everyday
Something tells me that it'll be alright

I get up
I see you
When I come home
I'm fed up
Won't you make it right
Repeat x2

Don't take me back to a time before
Don't take me back
Don't take me back to '96 no more
Just don't take me back
Repeat x3

Source: lyrics from eastview CD pamphlet, typed up by me with minor modifications. The reason for the modifications is the CD pamphlet does not repeat certain versus/choruses, so I had to recopy some lines and add repeats.

Lyrics: Monkey Majik - One moment

Title: One moment
Artist: Monkey Majik
Album: eastview
Year: 2005

Take my away for a moment
Take me away if you don't mind
We could just dance in the moonlight
Until the morning shines

Remember the times we were singing
Remember the knock on the door
We were so loud getting busy
But that was all before

Oh ooh! Why did ya fake it Here I go again
Tell me tell me please, you know
I'm begging you for more

Love had never made a difference
Living in a lonely life
Repeat x3

Ohh...No one has it worse than me
(But) Ohh...Maybe it suppose to be

Take my away for a moment
Take me away if you don't mind
We could just dance in the moonlight
Until the morning shines

Remember the times we were singing
Remember the knock on the door
We were so loud getting busy
But that was all before

Oh ooh! Why did ya fake it Here I go again
Tell me tell me please, you know
I'm begging you for more

Love had never made a difference
Living in a lonely life
Repeat x3

Ohh...No one has it worse than me
(But) Ohh...Maybe it suppose to be

loving never made a difference so much as an essence that u and i never had a chance to go the distance let's not be too hard on ourselves it's only been like 24hrs but seems like we've been going for miles you know i love it and you love it too and every minute that we're together is telling me that i can only be true this isn't the first time i've had a little fling so take of your clothes cause i'll know that you're the real thing

Love had never made a difference
Living in a lonely life
Repeat x3

Ohh...No one has it worse than me
(But) Ohh...Maybe it suppose to be

Love had never made a difference
Living in a lonely life
Repeat x3

Ohh...No one has it worse than me
(But) Ohh...Maybe it suppose to be

Source: lyrics from eastview CD pamphlet, typed up by me with minor modifications. The reason for the modifications is the CD pamphlet does not repeat certain versus/choruses, so I had to recopy some lines and add repeats. Note: The rap is exactly written with the short forms: u, i, and hrs.

J-Rock Group GLORY HILL, the ELLEGARDEN Substitute?

Since ELLEGARDEN's last release in November 2006, I've been eagerly waiting for some new music from my favourite J-Rock/Punk Rock group. For those hardcore the brilliant green fans that waited five years for their comeback single, how did you survive? Last week, I was skimming through the March 17, 2008 edition of Oricon SINGLE WEEKLY TOP 30, when I found the song DAYBREAK e.p. by GLORY HILL (ranked 26). I promptly took out my "Essence of ELLEGARDEN" checklist from my pocket and filled in the details:

Band name is CAPITALIZED
Music genre is J-Rock/Punk Rock
Songs contains (some) unintelligible English lines
Lead singer has a whiny voice similar to Simple Plan's Jeff Stinco

We have a winner! The list may be simple, but it fully represents the wonders of ELLEGARDEN.

Here is a YouTube video of DAYBREAK e.p. by GLORY HILL

I hope they're using Japanese and English in this song, otherwise they have some epic English pronunciation problems...

If you've never heard of ELLEGARDEN before, here's a sample from their song Marry Me

Since YouTube tends to remove Jpop videos, an alternative MV for ELLEGARDEN is the song Space Sonic, which can be found at JpopAsia by clicking here.

If you've never heard of the popular Canadian band Simple Plan, here a sample MV for their song Perfect (one of my favourite songs by them)


Unfortunately, JPOPSUKI doesn't have their single and they have no Wikipedia article. They may be lacking popularity now, but if you're a fan of the J-rock/punk rock genre or a fan of ELLEGARDEN, they're a nice temporary substitute.

GLORY HILL's myspace page can be found here. You can legally sample some of their songs. An interesting note: ELLEGARDEN and POLYSICS are myspace friends with GLORY HILL.

The Joys and Horrors of English Lyrics in Jpop

The Joys of English Lyrics
I've always been a fan of seamless integration of English and Japanese lyrics from popular Jpop artists such as Angela Aki, Utada Hikaru, melody., and Yuna Ito. I'm a big fan of English lyrics in Jpop for two reasons. First, I don't know Japanese. God knows I've tried to learn, but I can never make it past the first few chapters of any learning Japanese books. Unless the lyrics involve common romaji terms or ninja jutsu techniques, I have no idea what they're saying. Second, when used correctly, it creates a unique sounding song with lyrics I can understand and sing along to.

Pop quiz! What do all four artists mentioned previously have in common?

Answer: they were all born or brought up in the United States, so their English skills are superb (i.e. they are cheaters).

Angela Aki - brought up in Hawaii
Utada Hikaru - born in New York City
melody. - born in Hawaii
Yuna Ito - born in Los Angeles, brought up in Hawaii

Depressing note: the only Jpop artist I know who is from Canada is Monkey Majik...

However, English lyrics also bring much pain when used incorrectly.

The Horrors of English Lyrics
#1 - Jpop Artists who pronounce English poorly
One of my pet peeves is poorly pronounced English from Jpop singers. If you can't pronounce English properly, please don't use it in your songs...For those poor Japanese listeners trying to learn English, it doesn't help to hear bad English.

Example offenders: Beat Crusaders and BoA

The first offender is Beat Crusader's song Tonight Tonight Tonight. I first heard this song while watching the anime Bleach and later heard the full version on Oricon top singles. Although it was popular, the English killed me. There are parts in this song where I'm not sure if they are speaking English (nor do I know what the hell they are talking about). Here's a sample:



Second, is BoA, the undisputed master of terrible English. Although BoA is getting slightly better, some of her older releases featured English so terrible, it could be used to torture prisoners. In 2003, this horror was released in dangerously high concentrations. I'm referring to BoA's English album Next World, an album I believe would be looped continuously in hell. I'll admit that not all the tracks are bad, but then there's tracks like Amazing Kiss (English version):



What horror!!! Did you feel a part of you die in the inside?

#2 - Seemingly unnecessary use Of English
It can get annoying when people use English in Japanese songs for no reason. Maybe it sounds cool, but sometimes I feel like it's forced and really breaks the flow.

Example offenders: Namie Amuro and Mika Nakashima

The first example is the recent release of Namie Amuro's single 60s 70s 80s, which features the song ROCK STEADY. In the chorus, Namie uses the phrase "bungee jump" in the middle of some Japanese lines. If you're like me, you're wondering what the hell she is talking about and grow increasingly angry each time she says it. In my opinion, it would have annoyed me less if she had just used Japanese instead.

The second example is Mika Nakashima's song GLAMOROUS SKY. For most of the song, I don't even realize that Mika is using English phrases here and there, but around three-quarters into the song, she uses the lines:

SUNDAY MONDAY inazuma TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY yukibana... OH...
FRIDAY SATURDAY nanairo EVERYDAY
yamikumo kieru FULL MOON kotaete boku no koe ni

Source: Absolute Lyrics

Thank you Mika, for saying all the days of the week in English. Maybe it's poetic to others, but it really annoyed me.

#3 - English lyrics I'd rather not know about...
Sometimes it's best to not know what your favourite artists are saying. If the lyrics are in Japanese, your favourite artist could be singing about horrific killing spree and you'd never know, unless you found a fan translation. Then you'd realize you were indirectly enjoying songs about serial killers. It's pretty horrible when your favourite Jpop artist's reputation is destroyed when you hear some of their lyrics.

Example offenders: ELLEGARDEN and m-flo

First, it's ELLEGARDEN's song Under Control. Here are some verses:

She's 40 when I'm 22
Her skin is almost like my mother's
She'll be 50 when I'm 32
Stop wondering what is the point
Leave us alone

Her sweet smile is cure for my wounded mind
That's all and you won't understand
Way she cares for me no one else has ever done
That's all hey I do mean it

Source: Seek Lyrics

Personally, I find this song disturbing since he's talking about loving someone 18 years older than him. Not that I'm saying it's wrong, but compared to other young punk-rock bands out there, they are usually singing about girls within a decade of their age group.

Second, it's m-flo's song Stuck In Your Love (which features melody). Here are some verses:

Let's leave all of this behind us
Forget it like highschool calculus
I'm into YOU and YOU into ME
And I know intuitively you feelin me
So please, TALK IS CHEAP
So like Ben Stiller in Starsky and Hutch…and just DO IT

Source: Just Some Lyrics

Those are some killer metaphors. Who couldn't relate to a calculus and a mediocre movie reference? "Forget it like highschool calculus" is probably my favourite line. I'm sure VERBAL could've come up with something better. These lyrics alone have destroyed any gangsta rapper image I had of VERBAL.

Conclusion
Ironically, I complain about bad English lyrics in Jpop when my English is poor and I write articles in this blog. I'm a hypocrite, there's no doubt about that. I hope I provided some decent examples of bad English in Jpop. I know there's an abundance of terrible English in Jpop, but I typically stop listening to those songs and remove it from my memory. If you have some examples you'd like to share, feel free to leave a comment. If I've offended anyone, say if BoA's Next World album is your favourite album of all time, direct your anger towards clicking some ads or something...so I can continue buying better Jpop.

Single: Namie Amuro 60s 70s 80s

Title: 60s 70s 80s
Artist: Namie Amuro
Released: March 12, 2008

Track List
01. NEW LOOK
02. ROCK STEADY
03. WHAT A FEELING
04. NEW LOOK (Instrumental)
05. ROCK STEADY (Instrumental)
06. WHAT A FEELING (Instrumental)

I was very excited to purchase Namie Amuro's new single 60s 70s 80s about two months ago. Having watched NEW LOOK, ROCK STEADY, and the making of videos, the hype subsided as I listened to both songs more than 20 times.

If you don't want to suffer the same fate as me, don't over listen to these songs. No matter how amazing they sound. All three songs, NEW LOOK, ROCK STEADY, and WHAT A FEELING, feature great vocals from Namie with addictive fast paced beats. It appears that Namie has improved her English skills, as her English pronunciation was great.

I really enjoy the chorus for NEW LOOK and ROCK STEADY. Every time Namie says, "how do I look baby tell me" or "let's go, tell me are you ready? ROCK STEADY 1...2..3...4... Are you ready? Ready, ready, ready ROCK STEADY BABY" I tend to lip sync to it. I'm pretty sure I creep out my office mate as he must think he's sharing a cubicle with a psycho. I'm not sure if he knows I'm wearing headphones in my other ear...

Anyone know why Namie says bungee jump in ROCK STEADY? I'm puzzled as to how that relates to anything in the song. It just seems so random.

Reviews From Other Critics

Amai Wana

Although I was nervous about Namie’s 32nd single when the project was first announced, 60s 70s 80s really blew me away.

Full Review

Beyond the Sea

60s 70s 80s definitely contains Namie Amuro’s best material to date

Full Review

do you love?

Fresh, funky, fun. Packs in everything you’d want in a single and more.

Full Review

Looking at Jpop Artist Blogs Part 2

http://www.myspace.com/melodymelmode
As if I wasn't already obsessed with melody., I found her official MySpace page. Thankfully, I wasn't dissapointed since melody. uploads many pictures of herself. Like all MySpace pages, it's a stalker's paradise (not that I'm stalking melody.). You can also subscribe to her blogs, so you can find out what's she doing. She updates frequently and writes in an informal tone. For example, she says:

..the flower looked way too big!! It was as big as my face! ...actually the flower was completely in my face and in the way... lol.

Her posts are relaxing and fun to read, so I'd highly recommend it for any melody. fans. However, the absolute best part of her MySpace page, is you could potentially be added to her friend list. You can be part of her exclusive 2000 member friend list :)





http://ameblo.jp/leahdizon/
Before visiting Leah Dizon's music blog, I was contemplating what I would see. Perhaps something pink, maybe a few hearts, maybe some scantily clad photos of Leah Dizon...getting 2 out of 3 isn't too bad. Unfortunately, the one I got wrong is probably what people were looking for :)

From Leah Dizon's past posts, it seems that she has only recently started to translate her posts in English. I'm not sure if it makes sense in Japanese, but her English is very random. For example:

Ive been busy, busy, busy but Ive been sleeping well. I dont want to speak too soon but I can finally sleep at night. Ganbaru yo~
Im also taking very good care of my skin and doing face massages everyday. Machi taught me how. She made a blog recently.

Also, I ate sashimi recently and really liked it. I am surprising myself more and more everyday. Maybe tomorrow I will eat EBI NO ODORI GUI =D!

The photos aren't too bad, since they are approximately 400x300 pixels. However, Leah Dizon looks surprisingly normal when she's not under special lighting and mass makeup.

POLYSICS - "DOMO ARIGATO" Mr. Roboto

Thanks to J-MELO, I was introduced to the Jpop group POLYSICS. My favourite music video is "DOMO ARIGATO" Mr. Roboto. I'm all for comedic Jpop music videos, since I rarely see any humerous music videos from the likes of Yuna Ito, Ayumi, or Namie Amuro.



The music video starts of with the antagonist Mr. Roboto filming a Japanese robot TV show. However, like all free minded robots, he escapes and prepares to wreak havoc on humanity.

Mr. Roboto's wrath includes:
1. Tipping over supplies and stealing batteries from a local convinience store
2. Pushing over bikes on a bike rack
3. Pulling childish pranks like ringing a door bell and running away
4. Kicking ass at a club (including the DJ)
5. Beating up children until they are unconscious (although I wouldn't rule out death)
6. Returns to the film set to kick the director's ass


The gruesome aftermath of Mr. Roboto's wrath on small children

It's a random music video, which is always good. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. As for the song, it's pretty repetitive, but I'm too distracted by the music video to make any deep analysis about it.

This music video proves once again, why robots are a danger to our society. Yes, that means you Honda ASIMO. Your cute outer shell was intelligently designed by engineers to hide your dark, evil intentions...

Photos: melody. singles 6 to 11 cover scans

I really like melody.'s single covers for Finding My Road and Haruka :)


melody. 6th single Take a Chance / Take a Chance


melody. 7th single see you...


melody. 8th single Lovin' U



melody. 9th single Finding My Road


melody. 10th single Love Story


melody. 11th single Haruka

Note: I didn't scan these singles covers myself

Photos: melody. singles 1 to 5 cover scans

melody. 1st single Dreamin' Away


melody. 2nd single Simple As That/ Over the Rainbow


melody. 3rd single Crystal Love


melody. 4th single Believe me -English version-


melody. 5th single Next to You

Note: I didn't scan these single covers myself