This is extremely long but is being reposted in full so that all 6 posts are together in order in case you wanted that. Next I will do a post about the single which Aiko released (not by herself but almost) in 2014. After that this blog is a clean slate and I will continue to explore the finer points of travel, life, J-pop, and whatever else pops into my head.
Girl's Box Movie Synopsis
Note: *if* I understood the film correctly, this might contain spoilers.
Hasebe Yu has dreams of becoming a big singing star but she doesn't have any connections, and meanwhile, her mom has been nagging at her to do something with her life - but not showbiz.
At a hopeless audition she meets Nagasawa Nao; afterwards, they hop on Nao's motorcycle and head to a bar called (what else?) Girl's Box. Saito Michi works here as a dancing bartender and in a very pivotal plot point, she slithers around in almost a few inches of clothing.
We find out that the place is run by Akimono Naomi (I think they call her Mama, which is fitting), who hires Yu on the spot to wait tables, but from the outset, clearly Yu is not tough enough to rebuke the shameless advances of the male clientele. She practices her slapping technique on a very willing group of test subjects until she gets it just right.
Nao then takes Yu upstairs where we meet Aiko, who has been slaving away making beef stew.
Hoshii Nanase (Nacchan) storms out with her guitar and says that she'd rather chop her own head off than choke down any more of Aiko's food. This upsets Aiko, who pouts and does some mock karate moves in a fit of defensiveness (and believe me, Aiko fans, this has to be the cutest damn thing that has EVER been filmed).
Yu follows after Nacchan and finds her writing "Dawn is standing on my back" (in the hopes that no one will ever hear it) in some industrial park area[1]. Nacchan expresses that she hates everything and everyone and that the bar should be called "Garbage Box".
Model Saaya Irie plays Mama's estranged daughter who breaks into the bar after hours and breaks a bunch of liquor bottles and glasses. Upon finding the mess, the girls think on their feet and decide to hold BEER DAY instead of their usual fare.
Aiko carries an umbrella in this scene to avoid the abundant amount of beer flying around. Even though everyone else seems to be having a great time being hosed down with beer, Aiko apparently says that she can't even stand the smell. It's pretty evident that Aiko would be the last one in the room to do a keg stand.
Mama (apparently going for a world record in drinking and cigarette-smoking) collapses from having one drink too many and gets herself hospitalized for almost the whole rest of the movie. As most people aren't hospitalized just for blacking out, she apparently has Plot-Advancing-Disease (aka Movie Illness). This causes a slick-lookin' dude to show up at the bar and say, "I've just bought the place and movie-cliché law requires me to turn it into a pachinko parlor."
The girls use this crisitunity[2] to advertise a big show at the bar in an effort to rally community support. When the show doesn't quite live up to the racy ad campaign (the flyer sports a stylized drawing of three naked dancing girls), a couple of guys get upset and start a huge bar brawl. Yu screams at everybody to stop fighting but no one can hear her. She eventually gets a microphone and sings the first verse of "standing on my back" and, as everyone takes notice of Yu's wonderful husky singing voice -- and the happenin' new song -- the fight suddenly stops.
A producer in the crowd raises an eyebrow and has the girls form a group called Kingyo. They need a song to promote themselves, and it turns out that Mama once recorded a song called Lovers High. Saaya somehow gets a copy of the tape and gives it to Nacchan, who gives it to Yu, who plays it for the group, and they are captivated by it.
Saaya admits to her mother that she's given away the Lovers High tape and instead of getting upset, this gives Mama the oomph to reconcile with Saaya and get her lazy self out of the hospital and back to business. Upon her return, she confirms that the bar will indeed be sold and the girls, sullen as ever, decide to hold one last blowout.
Yu's mom shows up and scolds her for working in showbiz. Yu stands up for herself and states that she's found a home at Girl's Box and wouldn't have it any other way.
The last night arrives and everybody shows up for the party, including Yu's mom. In attendance are a couple of suits from the music industry who are hoping to discover a new talent. The curtain comes up for Yu's performance but for a number of reasons she has lost the will to sing. She paraphrases her speech to mom and basically says, "it's gonna suck when this place closes because you've all been so good to me". The crowd, clearly unaware of the impending closure, says "ehh?"
After an extremely long soul-search on Yu's part, everybody finally begs her to sing instead of standing there for the rest of her life. Even 14-year-old Saaya can see that Yu is dead in the water and Nacchan stares at her like she's trying to start Yu on fire just to get some entertainment going. Eventually (finally!) Yu sings the introduction to Lovers High.
Nacchan, having graduated from the acoustic guitar, hits a play button on a sequencer and starts the 'real' version of the song, and Aiko and Nao join her on stage to finish the song.
Then, (SPOILER ALERT) everyone is graphically executed and the bar gets burned to the ground.
Actually, I'll give you three guesses what really happens and the first two don't count. Does the bar actually close its doors forever? Well, everybody smiles until their face hurts (to the point that it even hurts my own face), so I'm guessing that it doesn't.
I've left out a surprising number of details which you'll just have to see for yourself, like: What's up with Yu's little brother? Does Nagasawa get into several hilarious sparring matches with an overzealous fan? Who ends up producing Kingyo, and do they get a record contract?
COMING THIS WEEKEND (I do hope): you've read the plot, so read my review of the Girls Box Movie.
_ Wed 2008-08-20 8:31 PM CST
Girl's Box LOVERS HIGH Review, Part One
Okay, so when I said "review," I meant "reviews." There's so much going on here that I thought it might be beneficial to split it up a bit. I really REALLY enjoy this movie, so the more the merrier.
I thought that each of the lead actresses should get a post, in order of appearance (but I'll save Aiko for last). So, let's スタト！
HASEBE YU
Perhaps the most prolific of the whole group, Yu was the focal point of dream and DRM[3] for nearly a decade (no, it's not the same group, I don't care what you say!). Also, if you didn't already know that she's really damn cute, may the photo above serve as exhibit 'A'. [Note there was a picture in the original post and 'photos' referred to in this article are not available in this post, just trust me or GIS]
In LOVERS HIGH, Yu gets the part of the 'plain-Jane' who wants to be a singing star. So, it's the opposite of real life, where she has sold a gajillion records and makes everyone look ugly by comparison. This requires some suspension of disbelief, of course, but the girl really seems to have kept some humility after all, and it works very nicely.
Her character Yua (or Yuwa) undergoes the biggest transformation in the film. Starting out as a normal girl with a nagging mother, she mails an audition tape and gets an invite to the finals. One just gets the feeling that somewhere down the hall are several girls with broken nails and bleeding eye-sockets -- a regular occurrence at talent searches like these. Yet Yua shows no signs of jealousy when Nao struts her stuff and clearly outshines most of the other girls with her coolness and fully-formed stage presence. The two characters don't speak to each other and it's doubtful that Nao even noticed Yua at this point, but nevertheless the wheels are set in motion.
After passing the first round, Yua shows up the next day to find that the audition-holders have vanished without a trace. Rather than get visibly upset by this (as some of the girls do), she realizes she's been had and calmly wanders off to be alone with her feelings. There, she is approached by a creepy guy who is a little too 'into' her. Enter Nao, who beats the guy up and offers Yua a ride on her motorcycle to the Girl's Box. If this club were real, I'd be filling out my change-of-address forms.
NEXT POST: Nagasawa Nao, the badass of the group.
_ Tues 2008-08-26 6:32 PM
Politics
Time for a break in our regularly-scheduled programming to make an important announcement. I've been watching the presidential race and wondering for sure what size of bomb shelter to build (depending on who wins) and I think I've got a much better idea: Aiko for President!
Seriously, I think I'm going to write her in despite all the "roadblocks" that the founding fathers threw into the Constitution (just to keep Aiko down, at that). So she's not 35, it doesn't matter in the least. So she's not American by birth, who cares? Anyway, that clause is open to interpretation.* It's better to stop looking at the negative side -- what they call "mudslinging" -- and think about some of the more positive aspects that Aiko could bring to the executive branch instead.
For one, she's never voted against Medicare or Medicaid. In fact, all the legislation she's introduced has passed unanimously. Ai Shite ne Motto? We do now. Hold on to love? Done.
Next, no scandalous past which might ugly-up the election.
Third, think how much better our foreign relations would be with Aiko at the helm. Peace talks would be a breeze. Aiko would say, "stop making nuclear weapons" and Middle-East guy would say, "but we like making nuclear weapons!" and Aiko would be all, "I'm going to pout, then," and Middle-East guy would say, "okay, we'll stop, no problem. That's the cutest damn thing I've ever seen -- why do we hate these people again?" and Aiko would say, "look at my new boots!"
So, with the way things are going, apparently anyone can be on the ballot. Go ahead and say that I'm throwing away my vote, I've got solid reasons for writing in Ms. Kayo. Potentially, it's a better deal, and everyone who votes for one of the "mainstream" candidates is making their own bed. I can at least say I didn't vote for whatever impending disaster is about to occur in our Aiko-less future.
*Article 2, Section 1, Clause 5: "No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, or a cute Japanese girl, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, or twenty-two Years, give or take, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States, or Kanagawa-ken." See, says it right there in the Constitution.
_ Fri 2008-08-29 5:24 PM
Girl's Box LOVERS HIGH Review Part Two
My words wouldn't do justice to Nagasawa Nao's legendary hotness. She stands out amongst the unbelievably cute cast as the girl who's been there and done that many times over. You get the feeling that she'd use you up and move on to the next guy without any awkward long goodbyes. (So, Miss Nagasawa, if you're taking applications...)
Picking up where I left off, Nao (as Nami) saves Yua from certain creepiness with a couple select hits to the creepy guy. Beforehand he explains, "I'll go easy on you", and after a thorough ass-whipping, he falls to his knees and howls with laughter like any crazy masochist would (he's a good actor!).
As I mentioned before, even though Nami is a Lone Wolf type, she throws Yua an extra helmet (probably normally reserved for her 'catch of the day') and it's off to Girl's Box. She shows Yua around, introduces her to Mama, and gets Yua hired on as a waitress. Yua serves a table of businessmen whose behavior demands a little tweaking. After they pat Yua on the butt (hey, that's MY job!) Nami points out the 'Girls Box Rules', which include "hands off the waitstaff" and "if you're not going to follow the 'hands off the waitstaff' rule, prepare to get slapped." Already she's got to enforce both rules and she slaps the offender to the ground, to the amusement of his companions (and we, the viewers). Nami has Yua practice up a little bit until Yua's technique also lives up to the bar's fine man-slapping reputation.
Nao first appears [earlier in the film] at the audition in full punk-rock dress and boy, does she rock 'em good. The auditioners cut her off a little too soon and she replies with something like, "So you're looking for a few new girlfriends, is that it? What a crappy audition!"
Nao does such a good job with her role in this film, maybe because she really is the no-nonsense type, maybe because she's got a lot of acting experience, maybe because she had it rough growing up, I don't know. Her special talent here seems to be flipping people off, and she does so, twice! Whatever we did to push you over the edge, Miss Nagasawa, we take it back. Before that, you seemed like a really nice girl to take home to Mom, if Mom needed a few defensive karate lessons.
Nao has always been a darling of Girl's Box; she has style, she has class, and somehow it seems that she'd be equally comfortable hangin' out with the boys. You know: spitting contests, poker games, working on beer number 40-something long after you pass out. Every side of her comes off equally strong here, and although Nami doesn't really change from beginning to end, she certainly gives Mama and all the others a good example to follow of a chick who's truly 'with it' and keeps a 'real cool head'[4].
In summary, Nao may not be my favorite but she's gained more than a couple of notches with this role. I had to watch her bring down the house on the Girl's Box Natsu-Matsuri DVD yet again last night. Worship her -- or face her wrath!
_ Fri 2008-09-05 5:41 PM
Girl's Box LOVERS HIGH Review Part Three
Okay, look out: that's right, it's Mi-chan's turn. A casual observer might confuse Saito Michi with Ms. Kayo Aiko. It's an even bigger possibility since Mi-chan does a dead-on Aiko impersonation. But, to hell with casual observers. Once you've seen these girls, you either go on with your life as before, or you become OBSESSED.
So, Michi has more than a few fans out there, and I'm sure they're just as damn dedicated (damn, damn, damn dedicated) as we Aiko fans, and why not? Her songs are catchy, her personality seems likeable (maybe a little *too* shy... oh well) and she's extremely pretty.
She's also the only main cast member who isn't involved with Kingyo in some way, and it's kind of awkward watching the group come together with no real mention why Michi doesn't get a part in it. You really feel for her and demand to know more. The English-language information available on her is just as scant, if not moreso, than what's to be found about Aiko.
It goes without saying, then, that I don't know enough about her to pass any real judgement beyond what's been put in the film. And that, while it's not 'enough' in the traditional sense, is plenty to go on for the issue at hand.
When Yua and Nami get to the Girl's Box bar, what's in store for the viewer? Mi-chan stealing the whole movie by dancing on the bar, that's what. This scene alone makes the film worth the price of admission, and yes, I have a one-track mind. This one appearance (a.) made me want to listen to the song 'HOLD ON' [which is playing during the scene] over and over again, (b.) proves that she's got what it takes to stand out amongst all the other girls here, and (c.) begins my full-blown obsession with Saito Michi.
So she plays Miku, the bartender. And a darn good bartender at that: all Mama has to do to get a new drink from across the room is to hold up an empty glass and point at it. Miku then immediately hops to it. Barkeeps like this are few and far between; most make you wish you had stayed home so you could get served quicker. Also, she does that trick where full shakers are stacked one by one, turned sideways, and poured into every glass in one move. Maybe you'll just have to see the film to understand, and don't worry that they don't show her face while it's being done. You can't prove that it's another person doing the pouring, so don't even try.
Miku makes a game of luring men, promising them the world, and then letting them down without a thought after stealing their money or whatever else she can get. Personally, I'm not sure that anybody should be using this technique in real-life, but we don't have to suspend any disbelief that it works when watching the film. It would totally work on me. I'd give her all my cash, all my credit cards, take her to the ATM and drain my account, give her a map showing the secret location of all that gold I buried in the Grand Canyon, then wave to her as she drove off in my car. "Call me later!" I'd say.
But you know she wouldn't. Miku is calm and calculated, nice on the surface but greedy and jaded underneath. Through it all she sticks by her friends and makes sure they get enough to drink. The perfect woman? Probably not, but she thinks so, and I may someday agree.
_ Wed 2008-09-17 5:21 PM
Girl's Box LOVERS HIGH Review, Part Four
Why, oh why, did Hoshii Nanase have to play the 'bitch' character, save for the last five minutes of this film? She plays it WELL, mind you, but if this were your first exposure to the actress, you'd probably wonder what the hell she'd ever done before this and why she showed up for filming if she was just going to be a crab about the whole thing. Nacchan was one of the cast members that I was really excited about seeing and unfortunately, in my opinion, the writers left her out in the cold.
You WISH you were this prolific at age 19; trust me, you do.
She started out in music with the single 'Glass no Kutsu ~Nacchan~'. The song is about being discovered; she, the 'every girl', somehow the song is also about the whirlwind of exposure she got from being the star of a popular orange juice commercial in real life. So the video for this song, THE BEST CHEAP VIDEO EVER MADE, is this: Nacchan walks down a dirt path in a school uniform with a bunch of other school kids in the background, as if she's late for something. She's not too hurried at the start, but as the song goes on, she picks up the pace, and is almost in a full sprint three minutes later, leaving the other kids in the dust behind her. It's all done in one shot, and the song plays, but she doesn't 'sing' it, she just keeps hurrying to some important encounter somewhere behind us. An analogy for something, probably 'heading towards fame', but still very open to interpretation.
It's a religious experience for we viewers at the very least. We never find out what she is running to, she never gets there, and it doesn't seem to matter. This song is the perfect pep-talk for those times when we know we have to keep going despite all, but just can't seem to face the world.
Sometimes when the mood is right I'll sing along with this song, and choke back tears when she gets to the bridge: "watashi wa Nacchan/utatte odoru/jyu go byo dake no Cinderella" and I realize that I'm crying over a f**kin' orange juice commercial, one that refers to 'becoming Cinderella in fifteen seconds', and I don't care, because it's really about something more, dammit! The next bridge is even more perfect for the occasion, "watashi wa Nacchan/itsu itsu made mo/kagayaki tsuzukeru Cinderella", (forever, a Cinderella shining endlessly), and it's you versus the WORLD! So if this twiggy little girl can face a seemingly insurmountable challenge, what's stopping you, eh?
Quickly bucking the orange juice image, she then released 'Renai 15 Simulation', which is a five-minute rap song. On first listen I thought it was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard. Every listen after that I've been transfixed, bobbing my head like I'm Dr. Dre all of a sudden, and listenin' to her droppin' a flow over that slammin' beat.
I've memorized this song, for godsakes, and once joked that I'd still listen to it "if it had been recorded with a boombox from a mile away". The song and the rap image (complete with Lakers jersey) that Nacchan conveyed gained her even more fame, and she had appearances on Hey Hey Hey and Utaban to promote the single, and the hosts were agape at her flow and gang-sign-flashing stage presence. A couple of years later, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that she's a little embarrassed about having recorded this song, maybe she's not, but had this been the only song she ever recorded, it would still be one of many high water marks.
I'll skip the next few singles and just say that each one was again very different from the predecessor. If you've never heard Perm Pavilion, quit reading this and find it and listen to it and watch the video! Same with Nana Navigation, which was the first Nacchan video I fell in love with, least of all for the building-licking dragon, an alien abduction thwarted by a magical wheeled suitcase, and, get this: Nacchan breaking into an already-soaring jet with a jackhammer! All while singing about a 'heart that runs on gasoline'.
She then turned a huge corner and is now in a punk/electronica band called Seventh Tarz Armstrong, my current weapon of choice when trying to blow out my pesky ol' eardrums (who needs em?).
Search her whole musical catalog, front to back, and find nothing but nails being hit on the head, from sentimental (Suki Desu) to cool urban kiddie-life (Famiresu Kousaten) to dance-pop (Nanapreme no Renai SO! DANCE! RADIO-7700), and all points in between.
Search her acting résumé, which I don't know very well, and find out that she's had more than a few gigs, and should be well up to the task at hand, the Girl's Box Movie.
And what does her character 'Nana' do here? Mostly she says, "Go away, I'm a bitch!" It can't be her fault... she's the real-life 'total producer' of Kingyo (propers!), a charming celebrity of her own merits, and as an idol she scores consistently higher[5] than Ms. Kayo Aiko (in a different age category, but still) so it's doubtful that in real life she's some alienated youth seeking refuge from stardom.
In subsequent viewings of LOVERS HIGH it's still unclear why she lives at the Girl's Box bar with everyone else, maybe she's related to someone, but she clearly doesn't work there and calls it "Garbage Box". So? Go find a bridge to live under, then, jeez... While she gets the pivotal role of handing a tape of the "Lover's High" song to Kingyo, and starts the sequencer at the end of the film to get the group a'going, I just wish they'd chosen a more upbeat and rounded personality for her character. Again, though, she plays it well. I'd been so stoked to write about Nacchan, as she just represents all that is hip and holy, and musically has been in every corner and still refuses to be pinned down to any one image, or any one genre. If there IS OR EVER WAS a more tuned-in 19-year-old Japanese girl, please let me know, and if so, she still couldn't have been this damned cute. This is fact, not opinion.
Her character's quirks (for me) lie mostly in her guitar-playing abilities. I'm a guitar player so I watched closely and have determined that she is NOT playing here, but only from one (1) cut of film can this be determined. I'd guess that in real life she is learning to play or knows some basics already, because it's believable, just not if you're watching very closely. Still, it's the little things... for instance, if you had written a song and were just banging it out for the first time on your acoustic guitar, you'd get to the end of the lyrics and stop right there to think 'should I add something here? did these words really flow? etc.' and instead, as I touched on earlier, she gets mad when Yua claps after having eavesdropped on the song. But again, if you were writing a song, you wouldn't end the verse, play for a few more bars, and then play the final resolving chord really strong as if it were a recording session (if you're just playing it to yourself). This isn't an 'error' as such, just a curiosity, because she seems to be playing the song for someone else. But Nana is CLEARLY loathing the fact that Yua had heard any of it. Later, when Yua sings the song to break up a bar brawl (and in the midst of this brawl, Nami is bustin' heads left and right), all the girls are impressed with Nana's 'secret' songwriting ability. But she didn't write it, really, she just belted it out to the fish in the river for no reason, and Yua picked up on it.
Next, we see Nana later putting a new string on her guitar, the fifth 'A' string. So I have too many questions, like: "are you going to do the last one, too?" because she puts the guitar in the case when she's done with that one, and if you restring the whole guitar, you usually go from one side to the other (basically, the middle strings are not the last ones you put on the guitar).
Another question is: "Did she just break the 'A' string?" as (a.) it happens, but usually it's the low 'E' or the high 'E', (b.) if it's been more than a week, you'll want to replace them all anyway (bronze acoustic strings oxidize (rust) very quickly, and you've got five rusted strings and one really twangy string in the middle), and (c.) if you break a string and your playing session ceases, you usually take the old string off and save putting on the new one for the next time you play. Maybe she's more in tune to the 'rusted string' theory than I am and will pick the guitar up again in a few days, nullifying the one-new-string's twang.
On the upside, she uses a capo on the fourth fret, and for all you aspiring -- or ol' pro -- guitar players, this is correct, I've checked.
(Image derived from Aiko's blog. Sorry I cut you out, Ms. Kayo, but you're up next, I promise.)
_ Wed 2008-09-17 6:57 PM
Girl's Box LOVERS HIGH Movie Review, Part Five
Finally, I get to talk about Aiko again. I won't spend a lot of time talking about how cute she looks or how well she does with her part, as I'll have plenty of time in the future to do all this and more. No, the issue at hand is LOVERS HIGH, the Girl's Box Movie, a film I've wanted to see since I heard it was being made.
In this film, Aiko plays 'Ai', a name which I'm sure took countless hours of thought, but I'm just kidding, that's not the important part. She gets a much bigger role than Nacchan and like Nami (Nao) and Yua (Yu), Ai is a waitress at the Girl's Box bar.
We get our first glimpse of Aiko in the "apartment" above the bar, slaving away making what looks like (at best) two helpings of beef stew. She offers Nami a taste test and Nami confirms that it's good indeed. This pleases Ai, until Nana wordlessly wanders off with her guitar. Ai says essentially, "where are you going, don't you want your thimble-full of stew?" and Nana replies, "lay off!" This does not please Ai, and their long-term rivalry is made apparent when Ai gets upset and starts throwing air punches and kicks, but the arrival of Yua is enough to lift Ai's spirits.
Throughout it all, Aiko plays the 'girlie' character that everyone likes, save Nacchan, who has issues with everyone. Ai cooks, she can't stand beer and she makes it known, and she gathers a crowd of would-be admirers when papering the town for the Big Blowout. Later, at the event itself, she's confronted by two men who say "hey, Ai, you said we could go out sometime!" alluding to some empty promise she'd made just to get them to the bar, and Miku (Michi) abandons Ai to deal with the situation on her own. Instead of standing up to the pair of guys, Ai wordlessly crouches to the floor with a panicked look as they lean in on her. Another hilarious/cute-as-a-bedbug's-ear moment from Aiko, and I laugh every time I see this.
It's soon discovered that Aiko has a singing talent and thus begins Phase 2 of 'Save Girl's Box', where a little bar becomes a big hit after showing off some local talent, courtesy of the soundtrack songs. She sings 'Runaway Girl' in a montage that shows the bar gaining more and more popularity, and in the end it's decided that Kingyo (Yua, Nami, and Aiko) should be formed and marketed. So they use Mama's old song, "Lover's High", and based on the strength of that one song, they are given the keys to super-stardom. And that's where the movie ends, you know, back where you bought the Lover's High single.
It's great to see Aiko in a movie, especially a good film like this. It was well-acted, well-edited, and well, everything else was enjoyable, and in repeated viewings it hasn't lost much integrity in this viewer's opinion. All the girls do a great job acting and singing, and at the end of the day, they have nothing to be ashamed of. I curse them not, and this movie has served its purpose in introducing me to the others to whom I haven't been paying attention. If only the marketing department[6] and the writers could be so lucky as to be spared the wrath of my rantings...
First of all, writers, that's enough! Stop pretending that Aiko needs to be coaxed into singing. Furthermore, stop perpetuating the myth that anyone can sing, provided you push on their stomach! She's been the featured soloist on 12 singles that date back to 5 years ago -- we don't need convincing! Even *if* it had to be done for delicate story purposes (i.e., to keep the bar in business), this is the one and only time you can play that card, and ever after, she's a singer! Not an "oh-my-god, I could have been singing this whole time" singer, but in reality, an "I can sing, I've done it before, it's no problem" singer. She sings; she's a singer.
Next, there's a scene in this movie where the girls first listen to "Lover's High" and we watch them fawn over the 'unheard' and beautiful song. This would've had more impact on the core audience, *if* we hadn't gone partially deaf in the last year from listening to it endlessly, waiting for the movie to come out. Kingyo really needed a B-side, you know, a 'c/w', which would have given the group a little more depth. Instead, you marketing geniuses said, "one song, that's all you get!" and it appears that the viewers have more insight into the group than the girls themselves. Please buy a clue and put the song out at the same time as the movie, not a full year before! Any of those who thought this movie might be slightly esoteric have already refused to buy a ticket based on the song they've already heard!
Last, when it comes to Special Features on the DVD, let's think about the market. If you offer a Special Edition for $20 more than the Regular version, please put features on the 'other disc' that the dedicated fan might like to see, and hasn't already been assimilated by the target audience. The one feature which no one has already seen is a skit done by the lead actresses for the film's première, the rest are already in the collection of those who've paid a premium. The "Original PV Clip" of Lover's High... I already have. The "Movie Version PV Clip" of Lover's High... I already have. As I paid at least $10 more dollars each for the DVD versions of the single and movie soundtrack, respectively, I should get more from the "Special Edition" of the film. Is it too much to ask? Those who purchase the overpriced 'Special' film will undoubtedly have purchased the "Special Editions" of 'Lover's High' and the 'Girl's Box Movie Original Soundtrack'. Again, buy a clue... does it do any good in the long run, for Aiko's sake, to rip off hardcore fans while simultaneously alienating the casual fan?
I sigh deeply and admit that I'll buy anything which gives me more Aiko, anytime, anywhere. But it makes this fan wonder if the stone isn't exhausted from being bled dry. The future of Aiko depends on you marketing so-and-so's.
A lot has changed since I first registered this site. She stopped putting out singles in favor of 'Cheer Up Indies!', another show which the Japanese can see but I can't. Her popularity could transcend Japan's coastal limits; her personality is so askew from the global status quo that we could use such optimism down here in the doldrums. And yet you squander it all for a quick buck.
Ms. Kayo, I have not lost faith in you. I'm writing you in for President, if only to see how the voting machines scan your name (嘉陽愛子). And the worst crime of all would be to let you fade into obscurity because your reputation has been besmirched. This site was intended as a counter to that possibility.
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past[7].
_ Thurs 2008-09-18 8:39 PM
SUPPLEMENTAL
1 Not quite an industrial area, the location for this shoot is the southwest tip of Kōnan Park just southeast of the Rainbow Bridge (facing away from this direction to the southwest). The park neighbors Tokyo Kaiyodai Shinagawa Campus in Shinagawa (of course)
2 Explaining a joke might not make it funnier but this is a quote from Homer Simpson. His daughter Lisa asks, "Did you know that the Chinese use the same word for 'crisis' as they do for 'opportunity'?" and Homer responds "Yes, crisitunity!" in The Simpsons S6 E11 'Fear of Flying'
3 The girl group 'dream' consisted of three girls, and began in 2000. The main lyricist and performer Matsumuro Mai left in 2002 and an audition was held to replace her but resulted in 6 new members (8 girls total) and was rebranded as 'DRM' to note the change in personnel. The respective groups' musical output was starkly different and I hope most fans of the group would agree that the original group was more genuine and focused (also unarguably more successful) than the later version. Yu left the group in 2008.
4 Even though it looks like I was "going for something" here I was just trying to be cute in quoting the Beach Boys' 'I Get Around'
5 Naachan was usually 'ranked' somewhere circa # 20 - 30 and Aiko was closer to # 70 - 80 (as I recall) in magazine polls where they (I don't know who or how) gather votes about girl idols because of course this is 'a thing' in Japan
6 This film turned out to be (if not in fact the very final) the last major release by Avex for most of these idols, possibly all of them. As of 2018, Saaya Irie continues to work as a popular gravure idol as an old lady at age 24. Aiko and Yu continue to work in the entertainment industry (though much more off-camera) and have not married (someone else) to anyone's knowledge at this blog and they still hang out together IRL. In 2011 it was announced (supposedly by her talent agency, probably not Avex) that Nacchan was married with a child, and no other info is available about when either event happened. Nao married soccer player Koji Nakata in 2014 and they had a son in 2015 and a daughter in 2017. I kind of forgot about Mi-chan but in 2018 she is a somewhat active blogger with an interest (or maybe a career) in yoga, and does hella-yoga, and looks like she's doing FABULOUS. She does not publicly identify as having a child or partner but sometimes posts pictures of herself with other women and their babies, and she is holding a baby occasionally. If it's not altogether obvious that she doesn't have a child from the lack of 'mom posts' and a fairly active interest in cosmetics and her appearance to a degree that would require the time and composure of an individual with no other responsibilities, she once posted a series of pictures with her fawning over a cute baby with other women, and it's right plain who the mother is, as Mi-chan clearly seems to avoid any heavy-lifting when it comes to attending the child.
7 Plagiarized last sentence of the book 'The Great Gatsby' which some people think is pretty good (I mean the book and not just the last line specifically). Was supposed to read it for a class in high school. After getting an earful from the teacher about the book's wonderful symbolism (which seemed kind of obvious) and lacking a personal interest in stories about rich people having affairs - at a time, not much different from now, when I dreamed of someday being intimate with another human being - I decided that I didn't care and never really read this line (or anything else from the book) in context. It just confuses me. I mean, I GET it and there are a thousand explanations out there if you really want to learn what it means. So my intention was to be somewhat nihilistic, as in, "here's some more words, see you later."
Postscript
Beside the fact that the movie ended a lot of careers, the plot is pretty dismal. The whole resolve of the movie is that the girls get to continue being barmaids in a rowdy bar, and that doesn't seem like a great reward. I suppose you could say that they keep performing at the bar and eventually get some better gigs but that's not what happened in reality. We watched famous singers pretend to be nobodies that become really minor stars who in real life kind of fell off the face of the earth for a while.
