SaiAni reports that Jpop band Exile is going to be made into an anime, not unlike yesterday’s news in which one section of the 48-member girl group AKB48 was getting made into a manga.
The anime series is called Eguzamurai (”Egg Zamurai,” perhaps, or a play on “Exam”?), and the seven members of Exile will be samurai characters in the show, which is set in a whimsical future Japan. The anime is going to be released as a bonus item with the band’s best-of compilation, EXILE ENTERTAINMENT BEST, this July.
I mentioned in my first date with Vampire Knight that the ED theme, the Mana-produced “still doll,” performed by Kanon Wakeshima, is sexy and awesome. Then I found out that the full version can be heard along with the PV, so I figured I’d share it. The PV also informed me of something awesome: Wakeshima plays her own cello (both in the tune and in general). Sexy!
HashiHime reports that a special site for Haruhi seiyuu Aya Hirano’s three upcoming singles are online, but the article offers a lot more: specifically, gossip that Aya never really wanted to become a seiyuu.
However, that’s all gossip and rumor from someone who claims to be well-informed on the topic, so who knows? Whether she wanted it or not, Aya is definitely on her way to becoming one of the premiere female seiyuu in Japan. And she’s really quite good at it– granted, she’s played very over-the-top characters, so “doing a voice” for them isn’t necessarily as difficult, but she actually sounds different in her roles. If you hear her Haruhi voice and compare it to her regular voice? Or Konata and Haruhi, or Konata and her regular voice? Yeah, biiig differences.
So one of my favorite Jpop artists ever is Ken Hirai, O He of the Amazing Voice. So imagine my excitement when Japan Probe posted an interview with him found on YouTube!
And I was left only SLIGHTLY disappointed (the English-language voice over dude? SO stiff). But they keep talking about him as an R&B singer, when really he’s about as much an R&B singer as, say, Justin Timberlake– he’s pop, but there’s a lot of R&B and soul influence. The poor guy had to tell the interviewer this TWICE. -_- And then they still keep calling him a “Japanese R&B star.”
But there’s some really interesting info– like, Hirai doesn’t read or write musical notation; he writes his music via (for example) huming. Hope for the rest of us, perhaps? Also: Ken and Stevie Wonder, plus those notoriously “un-Japanese” facial features.
Anyway, good stuff. I love that man. Check out the interview after the jump. For fun, I’ve also included his most recent(?) PV, “Bye My Melody.” And now I’ve added two of his other big singles, “Pop Star” and “Aika (Elegy)” (a fave of mine), because I’m trying to spread the Ken love. ♥ Read the rest of this entry »
So, apparently after their concert at Otakon, the Jpop band AAA (All-Around Attack) tagged a rock. You know, like with spray paint. And posted pictures of it to their blog (apparently not saying that hey did it). And then a couple of fans whined…but most of them just chuckled, and then pointed out that the entry only had a photo of the rock and there was no evidence that it had been tagged by the band itself.
But that argument can no longer be made, since the band has ignored the temptation to let things be and declared that they did it, apologized to the city, and are working out how to best make amends.
Hey AAA, how about a coast-to-coast U.S. tour? I’d forgive you. ♥
Anime News Network seems to be pining for kudos for their exclusive comments from Yoko Ishida about the weather (and Brazil). So, cheer up, emo ANN! Boffo job!
According to MantanWeb, the theme song for the upcoming PEACH-PIT anime Shugo Chara! going to be performed by two members of Beryyz Koubou (”Koubou” means “workshop”), the little sister protogee band of the popular girl group Morning Musume.
The members are Momoko Tsugunaga and Miyabi Natsuyaki, who will be joined by °C-ute’s Aori Suzuki. The three make up the newly formed idol unit Buono! This is the only pic I could find of ‘em (from here.
I did dig up this video of the gals making the announcement at the Nakayoshi Fest, though.
It’s been announced by Gundam.info that a Gundam expo is going to be held in Tokyo on August 11th. Don’t you kinda wish we could have cons that topic-specific?
Japanator has a sum-up of the Q&A session with AAA, as in the Jpop band, not the travel service company.
Aaaand for those of you who miss regular figure posts: Moon Phase linked me to this Haruhi figure on Hobby Channel. It’s called the Haruhi “epilogue version,” which explains why it uses her old ponytail hair style - the name refers to the epilogue in the first volume of the novels, in which she attempts to put her hair up after having cut it shorter.
A quick addition - according to a press release Active Anime got, TOKYOPOP’s catalogue is now going to be distributed by Madman Entertainment. (Edit: I probably ought to have noted that this is for TOKYOPOP in Australia.)
