JQ Magazine: Film Review – ‘Love Strikes!’ Twice at JAPAN CUTS Film Festival
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‘Love Strikes!’ star Masami Nagasawa, center, with JAPAN CUTS festival curator Samuel Jamier at Japan Society, July 14, 2012. (Shinobu Torii)
By Rick Ambrosio (Ibaraki-ken, 2006-08) for JQ magazine. Rick manages the JET Alumni Association of New York (JETAANY)’s Twitter page and is the creator of the JETwit column Tadaima!
Love Strikes! had its encore screening July 22 at Japan Society’s annual JAPAN CUTS film festival, and I can tell why they had to run it a second time: a main character with a wide range, beautiful girls, and the hilarious situations he gets himself into with them (though the funny stuff is a little frontloaded, but we’ll get to that).
Hitoshi Ohne’s Love Strikes! (or Moteki 「モ テキ」) is based on a manga of the same name and is the sequel to the popular television series. The main character, Yukiyo Fujimoto (Mirai Moriyama) is a young man entering middle age and finding his luck with women wanting. From out of nowhere, he has his moteki, or time of great popularity with women of the opposite sex, which is said to happen to a man just three times in his life.
The movie’s events find us after his first moteki, with Yukiyo wishing for another shot with a great girl. That great girl’s name is Miyuki (Masami Nagasawa), whom Yukiyo makes a connection with over Twitter. We then see our introspective thirty-something hero chasing her all over Japan, making laughs, breaking hearts, and learning through the whole process.
Jen Wang (Miyagi, 2008-09) is a lab tech in Dallas and a staff writer for the Japanese music website Purple SKY. Her love of cosplay and her junior high school students inspired the name for her own Japanese pop culture blog, Hibari-sensei’s Classroom.
Ace Attorney (known as Gyakuten Saiban in Japan) made its Texas debut at the 2012 Asian Film Festival of Dallas. Unlike most of my fellow audience members at the sold-out closing night screening, I was neither a fan of the Phoenix Wright video games nor a fan of director Takashi Miike. I was, however, curious about the franchise that spawned hoards of cosplayers shouting “Objection!” across a con floor and a huge fan of the movie’s two stars: Hiroki Narimiya and Takumi Saito. The trailer promised an intense, over-the-top courtroom drama. What I didn’t expect was to be laughing for the majority of the film as well.
Ace Attorney takes place in the “near future”, in which people have anime hair and punny names and courtrooms employ Stark Industries holographic technology. Court cases must be settled in three days in a reality TV-like format. Phoenix Wright (Narimiya) is a rookie defense attorney who after nearly choking on his first trial, finds himself entangled in two big cases. The first deals with the murder of his mentor Mia Fey (Rei Dan) and the wrongful accusal of her sister Maya (Mirei Kiritani). Wright battles—and that is the best term to describe the courtroom showdown—Miles Edgeworth (Saitoh), a prosecutor whose ruthless tactics have won him admiration but not a lot of allies. Edgeworth is later framed for murder, and Wright has to not only solve the mystery but face the undefeated Manfred von Karma (Ryo Ishibashi).
To read the rest of the review, click here.
JQ Magazine: Book Review – ‘Monkey Business Volume 2’
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“Anyone can read this book and appreciate it. It provides a window into the heart, mind, and soul of the Japanese people following the tsunami, earthquake and nuclear disaster.” (A Public Space)
By Greg Anderson, (Fukuoka-ken, 1990-1992) for JQ magazine. Greg is part of the fourth class of the JET Program, which began in 1987. He is currently employed as an auditor with the U.S. Treasury Department and is a new member of the JETAA New York book club.
Monkey Business: New Writing from Japan is an anthology of opinions, thoughts, and stories written by some of the most prominent writers from the past and present on the subject of Japan and co-edited by Japanamerica author Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99). I love this book!
Why? Because anyone can read this book and appreciate it. You do not have to be an aficionado of Japan or, frankly, be able to locate it on a map. This book provides a window into the heart, mind, and soul of the Japanese people following the tsunami, earthquake and nuclear disaster. Just as in the United States following the events of September 11, 2001, Americans were forced to pause and consider American values, the American way of life and America’s relationship with rest of the world, along with what it means to be an American.
The events of March 11, 2011 were a watershed moment for the people of Japan. Nothing will ever be as it once was in Japan. The loss of life, failed technology, and deceit/lies are themes that are all addressed in this issue of Monkey Business, released earlier this year. What’s great about this book is that there are two ways that it can be read: You can read it chronologically from page one through page 210, you can browse the index to find an interesting story, or you can simply thumb through the book (like I did), find a story that strikes your fancy, and begin reading (I assure you that you will not be disappointed).
JQ Magazine: Book Review – ‘Shiro’ and ‘Otaku Spaces’
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“‘Shiro: Wit, Wisdom and Recipes from a Sushi Pioneer’ and ‘Otaku Spaces’ are enjoyable reads for raw fish enthusiasts and confessed Japanophiles of all ages!” (Chin Music Press)
By Preston Hatfield (Yamanashi-ken, 2009-10) for JQ magazine. Preston moved from San Francisco to New York City in January 2012 and is now accepting submissions from people who want to be his friend. Abduct him from his house in the middle of the night, or find him on Facebook and ask about his JET blog in which he details his exploits and misadventures in that crazy Land of the Rising Sun we all love.
This month, JQ takes a moment to showcase two ambitious literary works and the indie press that brought them to print. As a writer with experience in book publishing evaluating and responding to a variety of unsolicited book proposals (we refer to this as the business of crushing dreams), I have been given the privilege of reviewing these works. Therefore, in consideration for readers who won’t read beyond this paragraph, I’ll begin with a sound bite endorsement: “Shiro: Wit, Wisdom and Recipes from a Sushi Pioneer and Otaku Spaces (published by Chin Music Press in 2011 and 2012, respectively) are enjoyable reads for raw fish enthusiasts and confessed Japanophiles of all ages!” —Preston Hatfield
Shiro is the autobiographical account of Shiro Kashiba, the “Godfather of Seattle Sushi” who first introduced the cuisine to the Emerald City in 1966. His story is one of passion, that inspirational drive that likens a man to a salmon swimming upstream—tireless, blind to distraction, and staunchly determined to reach his destination. It guides him, from his childhood home in Kyoto to his first apprenticeship in a sushi restaurant in Ginza, and eventually, to Seattle, where he now continues to perform and perfect his trade in his own restaurant.
His passion transcends mere desire to practice the honored tradition of Edomae sushi—a tradition whose authenticity he strives to preserve despite America’s penchant for fusion rolls and sauces than are anything but canon—and, indeed, finds its footing in the very earth that lavishes the bounty of ingredients he handpicks to make his exquisite, culinary triumphs. An avid hiker and environmentalist, Shiro is perhaps concerned less about the food than he is in urging people to treasure and protect our natural resources, particularly Puget Sound in the Pacific Northwest.
While the narrative and style do not always do Shiro’s experiences justice (he is a renowned chef, after all, and not a writer), they do give a concise and linear account of Shiro’s life, and an overview of the challenges he faced every step of the way. With simple language, a humble tone, and a professional’s knowledge and insight, Shiro holds his reader’s attention throughout the book, leading them at a surprisingly brisk pace. This pace, while gratifying in its ability to usher us through Shiro’s Greatest Hits, does not allow for very as many sensory details and anecdotal detours as some readers might prefer.
JQ Magazine: App Review – Japanese Flash and Rikai Browser
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"The best study materials are ones that are easy to pick up and make a habit of using. It’s also important that they’re easy to use after being neglected for a while. Both Japanese Flash and Rikai Browser pass that test." (Courtesy of Long Weekend LLC)
By Jarrad Skinner (Toyama-ken, 2007-2011) for JQ magazine. Jarrad is a game design student. He’s rediscovering New York by going to lectures, comedy shows, meetups, concerts, bars, restaurants, and by skipping subway rides for long walks whenever possible. You can find him sleeping on the LIRR.
It’s June. That means six months until the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test in December, so it’s a good time to take a look at goals and study materials and get crackin’. Long Weekend LLC has two iOS apps, Japanese Flash and the Rikai Browser, which may help.
JET alum Mark Makdad (Toyama-ken, 2005-06), Long Weekend’s director and co-founder, explains what sets their apps apart: “We took the dictionary approach but added on two important things: an SRS algorithm to show you words you’d already looked up and saved to a custom set, and 150+ sets of useful and/or interesting words pre-loaded so people can just study vocabulary relevant to their situation,” he says. “For example, there’s a ‘Drinking Words’ set–if you’re going out to an izakaya with Japanese friends for the first time, you’ll probably want to learn a few ahead of time!”
Learning Japanese has become much easier in the past five years. When I started JET in 2007 and began studying Japanese, I used a ragtag paper pocket dictionary that my predecessor had left on my desk. It got me through a lot but not without a lot of tedious fumbling, and I was envious of my fellow JETs with their fancy electronic dictionaries. Those fancy electronic dictionaries are really expensive, though. It wasn’t until the middle of my third year on JET that I upgraded from my not-so-sturdy pocket dictionary. I had gotten an iPhone and immediately put the free dictionary Kotoba! on it. This was not a minor thing, but a cause of a marked improvement in my quality of life as a JET.
Not only was I more willing to jump into Japanese conversations because I knew I could quickly look up a key word if I needed to, but students and teachers were more willing to try to talk with me and have deeper conversations because they knew the dictionary app was right there to help them, too. Never having to learn how to look up kanji by stroke order in a paper dictionary was also appreciated.
JQ Magazine: Book Review – ‘Project Japan: Metabolism Talks’
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"What’s most striking about 'Project Japan' is the text itself, a frenetic landscape of drawings, photographs and textual tidbits both fluid and choppy. The book is also a portrait of a moment; once futuristic, now historical, yet still as influential as ever." (Taschen America)
By Sharona Moskowitz (Fukuoka-ken, 2000-01) for JQ magazine. Sharona is interested in fresh, new voices in fiction and creative nonfiction.
What does it mean to be a Japanese architect, and is this distinction even worth making? According to Rem Koolhaas, the legendary architect and co-author of the book Project Japan: Metabolism Talks, the answer is unequivocally yes. As he puts it, “The Japanese are a group of modernists that never entirely cut connections with the past. That is probably still something one intuitively senses when they look at Japanese architecture.”
Project Japan (co-written with Hans Ulrich Obrist) offers a documentary-style look at the avant-garde Metabolism movement that flourished in Japan after World War II. While the country was recovering from the war and reinventing its image, the Metabolists strived to make architecture “a public rather than a private affair,” designing for a widescale shift from the rural to the urban.
What’s most striking about Project Japan is the text itself, a frenetic landscape of drawings, photographs and textual tidbits both fluid and choppy. It’s essentially a reference book, reading like a series of presentations whose format begs audience interaction. The book offers an intimate glimpse into the lives of the men responsible for propelling the movement forward and the processes involved. The book is also a portrait of a moment; once futuristic, now historical, yet still as influential as ever.
JQ Magazine: Concert Review – L’Arc~en~Ciel Take Madison Square Garden by Storm
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L'Arc~en~Ciel frontman hyde at the band's historic Madison Square Garden show, March 25, 2012. (Courtesy of BAM! Marketing, Publicity & Promotions)
By Sam Frank, an ALT who taught English in Hiraizumi-Cho, Iwate-ken, from 2002-04 and worked in Shirahama-cho, Wakayama-ken as a JET from 2004-06, for JQ magazine. He currently manages the New York division of UnRated magazine and works as a project manager/Web producer at Arrow Root Media.
A few years ago I went to the MTV Video Music Awards in Japan, and noticed something interesting. Whenever categories came up where American artists went against Japanese artists, nine out of ten times, the American would win, and not even be in attendance to accept the award. It seemed so unfair to compare American artists to their Japanese counterparts when you think about how many American bands have sold out stadiums in Tokyo while most Japanese bands that tour America have a hard time filling up mid-size venues such as Roseland Ballroom and Irving Plaza in Manhattan. That comparison doesn’t seem quite so unfair after watching L’Arc~en~Ciel (French for rainbow), a band formed in Osaka, cement its name in rock history as the first Japanese band to perform at New York City’s famed Madison Square Garden on March 25.
In celebration of the band’s 20th anniversary making music together, hyde (lead vocals), tetsuya (bass), ken (guitar), and yukihiro (drums) have taken their dynamic visual spectacle around the globe to thank fans in true rock star fashion. The show got underway with an epic opening video displaying the band members’ names carved in platinum scrolling across the screen before showing a beautiful butterfly landing in Hyde’s glove-clad palm.
As the excited crowd eagerly waved their florescent glow sticks in anticipation, L’Arc~en~Ciel stormed the stage backed by the enchanting piano intro to “Ibara no Namida” (いばらの涙). The instant the spotlight dropped on hyde, the Garden erupted into a surge of screams and cheers for the international superstar. Juxtaposing band members with various computer generated ethereal images, songs like “Good Luck My Way,” the theme song to 2011′s FullMetal Alchemist The Movie: The Sacred Star of Milos, “My Heart Draws a Dream,” and “Honey” all came to life in a fresh and exciting way. The visual narratives added another level of interactivity to each song, which is why concertgoers who might not be familiar with songs like 1999′s “Driver’s High” will remember it as the song that opened with a revving engine sound, pyrotechnics, and images of white smoke spreading across the three gigantic LED screens.
For the complete story, click here.
JQ Magazine: Book Review – ‘Tomo: Friendship through Fiction: An Anthology of Japan Teen Stories’
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“Reading ‘Tomo’ is a reminder that even in the most desperate straits, friendship and personal relationships have the power to nourish and sustain us.” (Stone Bridge Press)
By Sharona Moskowitz (Fukuoka-ken, 2000-01) for JQ magazine. Sharona is interested in fresh, new voices in fiction and creative nonfiction.
If you could know your future cause of death, would you choose to know? This is the question posed by “Yamada-san’s Toaster,” one of the short stories in the new fiction anthology Tomo: Friendship through Fiction: An Anthology of Japan Teen Stories. As the title suggests, the collection is geared toward adolescents and dedicated to the youth of Tohoku, though it undoubtedly has— in the parlance of publishing— tremendous crossover appeal. There is plenty for adults to enjoy here, too. Edited and with a foreword by Holly Thompson, this collection features 36 stories—including 10 in translation—contributed by several JET alums from around the world, all of whom share a connection to Japan. Proceeds from its sale will go directly to the continued relief efforts.
In Kelly Luce (Kawasaki/Tokushima, 2002-04)’s story, Yamada-san’s toaster burns into each slice of bread a Chinese character supposedly predicting one’s cause of death. The tale’s young narrator observes the effects of the toaster on the townspeople as news spreads and they become stirred into a ridiculous pandemonium. There’s a great element of humor to the story though it also reveals a universal human folly: the vulnerability towards superstition. People try desperately to find order and make sense of a chaotic and random world, even if it means looking for burnt kanji of the toast on a breakfast plate.
The stories are grouped thematically, represented by “Shocks and Tremors,” Friends and Enemies,” “Ghosts and Spirits,” Powers and Feats,” Talents and Curses,” Insiders and Outsiders” and “Families and Connections.” (The final story, the poignant “Peace on Earth,” is penned by Suzanne Kamata (Tokushima-ken, 1988-90), whose own book of short stories, The Beautiful One Has Come, was released last year.
Embassy of Japan in the UK Webmagazine (February 2012)
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Embassy of Japan in the UK Webmagazine round-up. Posted by JET alum and current editor of the webmagazine, Dipika Soni (Ishikawa-ken, 2003-06). To subscribe to the Embassy of Japan’s monthly webmagazine, email webmagazine@ld.mofa.go.jp with the subject ‘subscribe’.
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Embassy of Japan in the UK Webmagazine: February 2012
Ambassador’s blog
My visit to Fukushima
Featured article
JAPAN: International Fashion Showcase 2012
Other articles:
Films at the Embassy of Japan: The Glass Cape
Manga Jiman 2011 Competition Results
Wasabi and chocolate?! An interview with William Curley
Tatsumi – A new film by Eric Khoo
Olympic Judo Champion Maki Tsukada to appear at HYPER JAPAN!
One Year After the Great East Japan Earthquake
Jen Wang (Miyagi, 2008-09) is a lab tech in Dallas and a staff writer for the Japanese music website Purple SKY. Her love of cosplay and her junior high school students inspired the name for her own Japanese pop culture blog, Hibari-sensei’s Classroom.
For their 28th annual KidFilm Festival, USA Film Festival paid tribute to Studio Ghibli by screening 10 of its films, plus Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind which was made before the studio’s founding. Since The Secret World of Arrietty was sold out, I decided to catch Pom Poko with some friends. I had heard some odd things about the film and wasn’t sure what to expect.
Pom Poko , directed by Isao Takahata (Grave of the Fireflies), revolves around a group of tanuki, or Japanese raccoon dogs (incorrectly called “racoons” in the dub), who have banded together to face the transformation of their forest in Tama Hills into a suburban neighborhood. They cook up various ideas to reclaim their homes, ranging from sabotaging construction sites to tracking down legendary tanuki for assistance. Eventually the fun-loving tanuki have to come to terms with the harsh reality and learn to adapt to the changes around them.
The tanuki in the film appear in various forms: animal, mythical creature, and cartoon. In the presence of humans, they look much like their real-life counterparts. Amongst one another, they assume anthropomorphic forms with personality traits based on the lazy shape-shifting tricksters of Japanese folklore. When they get carried away with their emotions and behave ridiculously, they become even less realistic with their appearance based on characters of manga artist Shigeru Sugiura. The audience gets to see the tanuki in all its forms: animal, myth, and cartoon.
Click here to read the rest of the review.
JQ Magazine: Film Review – ‘Norwegian Wood’
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“The wintertime beauty of the Tonomine highlands in Hyogo prefecture is a sadly haunting visual expression of Naoko’s isolation and loss of life. One only wishes the characters were as compelling as the landscape in which they find themselves.”
By Lyle Sylvander (Yokohama-shi, 2001-02) for JQ magazine. Lyle is entering a master’s program at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University (MIA 2013) and has been writing for the JET Alumni Association since 2004. He is also the goalkeeper for FC Japan, a New York City-based soccer team.
Haruki Murakami’s novel Norwegian Wood 「ノルウェイの森」 was published in Japan in 1987 and propelled the author to superstar status, especially among the nation’s youth. The novel was also an international success and the first English translation (there were eventually two) introduced Murakami to the U.S.
Unlike his other well-known works, such as Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Norwegian Wood eschews surreal and Kafkaesque sensibilities in favor of a more nostalgically sentimental narrative. It tells the story of love and loss from the vantage point of its 37-year-old protagonist, Toru Watanabe, looking back on his youth as a student during the 1960s.
As in Europe and the U.S., Japan at that time was a society in flux and the establishment was being challenged by idealistic student movements. Against this backdrop, Toru falls in love with the emotionally troubled and fragile Naoko, who sinks into a deep depression after the suicide of their mutual friend Kizuki. She leaves the university for a mountainous sanitarium and during her absence, Toru has a love affair with Midori. Eventually, Naoko succumbs to the darker nature of her illness and commits suicide, sending Toru into an emotional period of bereavement, after which he can commit emotionally to Midori and continue on with his life.
JQ Magazine: Book Review – ‘Life After the B.O.E. the Book’
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"This whimsical compilation of cartoons that appeared previously in JETAA publications worldwide is likely to hit the funny bone of both former and current program participants alike."
By Sharona Moskowitz (Fukuoka-ken, 2000-01) for JQ magazine. Sharona works at a literary agency in New York City. She is interested in fresh, new voices in fiction and creative nonfiction.
Flexibility and a sense of humor have long been predictors of a successful JET participant. And with good reason. After all, let’s face it: life in Japan for a gaijin can range from the frustrating to the absurd to the downright hilarious, often within the same day.
The malleable young JET is expected to smile and wear a variety of hats placed upon his or her head in the name of “international exchange.” For most JETs, it’s what happens in between the lines of the job description that makes the experience so meaningful.
Who better to capture the flexible thinking and sheer comedy of the JET experience than a former participant himself? JET alum and professional illustrator David Namisato (Aomori-ken CIR, 2002-04) showcases some of the more memorable aspects in his new book Life After the B.O.E. This whimsical compilation of cartoons that appeared previously in JETAA publications worldwide is likely to hit the funny bone of both former and current program participants alike.
Each cartoon presents a different familiar scenario. There is the moment of sudden awareness when it becomes all too clear to the ALT that he or she is more of an exotic show-and-tell object than a real teacher, a realization that can be disappointing, underwhelming, or just a huge relief, depending on who you ask. Read More
Hibari-sensei: Interview with Mio Soul for Purple SKY
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Jen Wang (Miyagi, 2008-09) is a lab tech in Dallas and a staff writer for the Japanese music website Purple SKY. Her love of cosplay and her junior high school students inspired the name for her own Japanese pop culture blog, Hibari-sensei’s Classroom.
Tokyo-born songwriter Mio Soul makes her debut with In My Skin. The EP contains the heavy drum beats and smooth melodies of contemporary R&B with flavors of pop, dance, and jazz. Simple yet candid, the lyrics are in English, except for the rap in “Let’s Party” where Mio effortlessly flows in and out of her native language. “Promise” chronicles Mio’s pursuit of her dreams in New York City and features sensual vocals complemented by airy piano trills. The final track, “Out of My Life”, takes a complete 180 from the sweetness of “I Wish” in the beginning. Mio engages an ex-lover in a showdown with passionate vocals and sexy Spanish guitars. Even though she sings that her “story’s ended” for that person, it has only just begun in the music world.
I had the opportunity to ask my fellow biologist via email about her career change, the “I Wish” PV, and her involvement with music-related charities.
What made you change from being a biologist to a musician?
When it comes to biology, I had a huge influence from my father. My mom, however, is a pianist, so music was always around me as a child. In college I was so curious about the connection of brain function and soul (heart)…I enjoyed all of the field work. I did, however, want to do music more than anything else. I started performing more and attending singer and dancer showcases, and these live performances just really fueled me to continue pursuing music.
Science is a real academic thing. You use instruments and theories to find the truth. When it comes to music, singing or making beats is the art of using your own instrument (your body and soul) to express your truth.
Did you have any formal vocal training?
Yes, I had two amazing vocal coaches since moving to NYC: Stacey Penson and Jamelle Jones. The best vocal training was…wait, should I mention this secret? I can give a hint: it has to do with going to church on Sunday.
Click here to read the rest of the interview
Justin’s Japan: Theatre Review — ‘Kutsukake Tokijiro’ an Inspired Yakuza Yarn
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'Kutsukake Tokijiro' runs through Nov. 27 at New York's Flea Theatre. (Courtesy of Kurotama Kikaku Company)
By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his page here for related stories.
Mounting a 1920s Japanese gangster play with J-pop flavored fillips may seem like a tough sell, but the new Off-Off-Broadway production of Kutsukake Tokijiro is a successful hybrid that should appeal to fans of “world” stage productions.
Opening last week at Tribeca’s Flea Theater and running through Nov. 27, Kutsukake Tokijiro (if you can pronounce it, you’ve probably already seen it) caps a nearly three-year journey to the stage by New York’s Kurotama Kikaku Company and its artistic director, Jun Kim. A native of Japan with Korean heritage, Kim is an actor, dancer, and director of the show, doing double duty in the opening scenes as Mutsuda-no-Sanzo, the target of the titular Tokijiro (played with noble gravitas by Yasu Suzuki).
If these names sound hoary, consider the source material: written by Shin Hasegawa in 1928, KT is a hallmark of Japanese popular theatre, based in turn upon on a 19th century Japanese Yakuza/lone gambler story cut almost from the same cloth as the Spaghetti Western. In its first-ever English translation by the venerable Keiko Tsuneda, KT is reborn for an American audience.
Kim’s vision for a 21st century KT is to inject Japanese pop culture animation and folk songs as well as the dance movements of Noh, Kabuki and contemporary dance to form a “J-pop Theatre.” This is achieved via Japanese-language scenes between Tokijiro and his rivals (English supertitles are helpfully flashed above center stage) and through his more tender moments with Sanzo’s widow, Okinu (Hiroko Yonekura), whom Tokijiro elopes with along with her young son Tarokichi (Asuka Morinaga).
For the rest of the article, click here.
Justin’s Japan: Film Review – ‘Hatsune Miku Live Party 2011 39’s Live in Sapporo’
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"With New York going bananas in between numbers and the room itself mimicking the Sapporo show with timed strobe and lighting effects—the theater’s management really went the extra mile—it truly felt like being at a concert." (Courtesy of Live Viewing Japan)
By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his page here for related stories.
On Nov. 10 a one-time theatrical screening was held for a new concert film from virtual pop phenom Hatsune Miku. Entitled Hatsune Miku Live Party 2011 39’s Live in Sapporo, the film—captured in August at the 2,000 capacity Zepp Sapporo—is Miku’s latest appearance in America following a Toyota ad campaign and live gigs at L.A.’s Nokia Theatre and the San Diego Comic-Con earlier this year. (In fact, this reporter was interviewed for Japanese TV about that; click here for the news clip.)
Hatsune Miku, whose name means “first sound of the future,” is a Vocaloid (meaning machine-made vocals) digital female avatar and the most popular of Crypton Future Media characters that employ Yamaha technology to create synthesized vocal tracks, similar to Auto-Tune. In Japan, Miku is massively successful and has appeared in numerous popular video games and music videos, and her Sailor Moon-meets-Avril Lavigne image (she is a teen idol, after all) is equally fanboy and fangirl friendly.
Presented by Live Viewing Japan and simulcast in nine U.S. cities, this screening was shown to a capacity Times Square crowd. From the moment Miku’s name flashed up on the dark screen five seconds in, the audience was hooked. Wild applause, shrieks and excitement from the mostly American teens and twentysomethings in the crowd took the older folks by surprise. “This is like Paul McCartney to us,” remarked one lady several seats away. (She and her companion left about an hour in.)
For those unfamiliar with J-pop, the genre’s credo is style over substance (Katy Perry and Lady Gaga are our closest counterparts), but just like with our pop tarts, a catchy hook is a catchy hook. With a black, completely bare stage flanked by a five-piece band (yes, the music seems to be performed live), the only thing besides Miku noticeable throughout are the hundreds of lime green glow sticks pumped energetically by the fans throughout. Again, this was mirrored by the Times Square audience as one enterprising otaku passed out five blue ones (not to be outdone, he carried a massive Darth Maul-ish staff that lit up a chunk of the theater.)
For the rest of the article, click here.
