Rant: Oni-Con Curse

For those who have never heard of Oni-Con, it is an anime convention held in Houston, Texas every year usually held on the last weekend of October. It has hosted many great Japanese rock bands such as Camino, Duel Jewel, echostream, Phantasmagoria, 12012, Sugar, and a few others. Personally, it's one of my favorite anime cons in Texas.

Anyway, there's a little topic floating around the Oni-Con forum that there's a curse on the jrock bands that perform there. I think it's amusing and I don't really believe in curses (most times). But let's start with the first jrock band I've seen live, Phantasmagoria. I think the reason for their disbandment is their growing popularity and success. Now you might think that's a weird reason to break up such an amazingly talented band, but I seriously believe that their band leader and bassist Kisaki has fear of being in a major band, but I will most likely expand upon that in a later rant. Then we have RENTRER EN SOI. I don't know enough to comment nor am I a fan of theirs. Next is 12012 who were in the transition of graduating Under Code with Vidoll. They're staying stong, but in my opinion they're becoming musically weak. I'd like to believe that this won't hinder their growing popularity and creativity, but a little break to get in touch with their roots will bring a new wave of love in their direction. Let's move on to last year's bands, Sugar and Dio - distraught overlord. To me, Sugar's disbandment seemed completely random. Maybe the fictious curse broke up the band, but the members personal relationship with each other, along with their former bassist Koto, is still on a positive note. As for Dio, I ca't explain what happened there either. After performing at Oni, they had plans to revisit Europe, produce more amazing tracks, and move to a new label. Maybe it was a sign the band was going major and Erina couldn't handle the chaos any longer. Whatever came up, I'm not upset with his decision. I wish the best for him and the band.

With all those bad news about bands, you must consider that indies bands have it hard whether they perform at Oni-Con or not. A few examples are Ayabie who signed to a major label and gained a great replacement guitarist, after Ryouhei's departure. Despite losing a member, Suicide Ali is making a U.S. comeback live this year. And for all the bands that broke up, good things have happened. Satsuki of RENTRER EN SOI is having a successful solo career and is reappearing to the Oni grounds this year with echostream and born. And to prove that the curse doesn't exist, we have the examples of Duel Jewel and Camino keeping things strong in the music world.

Rant: An Café Suspends Activities

[from left to right] Teruki (drums), Miku (vocal), Yuuki (keyboard), Takuya (guitar), and Kanon (bass)


It's amusing how fans freak out when their favorite band decides to "suspend activities". Most of them immediately jump to the conclusion that the members are considering disbanding, but that usually isn't the case. I think a band like An Café deserves a little break from popping out new singles and touring all over Japan and a little overseas, especially from their sudden lost of their former guitarist Bou. I know it's been a while since Takuya and Yuuki joined, so people figure things are settled. I wouldn't be surprised if they're still not by now.

The band had to adjust quickly to the new members while rushing to their first U.S. appearance without their blonde fourth member by their side. I'd like to believe that this suspension is to clear each members' minds of the stress of touring, recording, losses, and jetlag. I believe by the time they come back from this pause that An Café will hit harder than ever. With the new line-up, the band has more room to grow and gain an even bigger fanbase. I'd like to wish all the members luck and to all the Cafekkos (or people like me who enjoy the band more casually) to keep your spirits high and welcome the band back with warm hearts.

Promo: 2NE1

[from left to right] BOM, DARA, CL, and MINZY
|Official Site|

They have been called the female Big Bang and everyone was waiting for their musical debut. Originally planned as a female trio, CL, DARA, BOM, and MINZY teamed up with the infamous Korean pop boy group Big Bang to make a catchy, colorful video called "Lollipop". It was not only did it show off the girls' talents, but another version was filmed to promote CYON, a cell phone brand. The song spread like a wildfire and the public waited for more.



The girls busted out with another hot, catchy track called "Fire". They decided to make two different versions of the music video to showcase their creativity, uniqueness, individual personalities, and various talents. The space version gave us a clue to each girls personality and the street version focused more on the dance aspect that most KPop fans expect from Korean pop talent.



The girls kept themselves busy between each single release, leading up to the debut of their first mini album. They did interviews, various lives, cover songs of popular U.S. artists like Rihanna and Jennifer Lopez, and taking part of dance showcases with other female KPop artists.



Soon, they released "I Don't Care", a more mellow song that empowers girls in bad relationships to let things go and move on to something better. Once the single dropped, self titled mini album followed that featured the songs that brought the girls into the spotlight along with 4 newly released tracks.



Looking at the path they've created for themselves, 2NE1 has a very promising future. These girls have attitude and their sound and image are quite the opposite of other popular KPop girl groups like Wonder Girls and Girls' Generation. They're not afraid to get down and dirty and show that girls don't always have to display excessive innocent cuteness or sexiness. They follow along the hard hitting style of BoA and keep the fans wanting more. I hope the girls never change their image to something doesn't suit their original concept and continue to bring amazing and addicting tracks.

Review: Nerima Daikon Brothers

Title: Nerima Daikon Brothers
Language: English & Japanese
Genre: Musical comedy
Episodes: 12


I've never heard of this series before and I don't think any of my friends have either. While at work, I came across some colorful DVD boxes on the shelf, read the back of the case, and decided to check it out. I ended up watching it with an online friend. She watched it in English on YouTube and I watched it on DVD in Japanese and we discussed and commented on it together.



Hideki is a daikon farmer that built a stage with his cousins in hopes of becoming famous performers. Mako is a former pop idol and a dreamer of debuting again and becoming rich, while informing Hideki that she can't marry him because of their relation. Although, it's not illegal to marry your cousin. Ichiro is supporting the others by working as a host and becomes fixated on a certain panda he comes across on their daikon field. Together they are the Nerima Daikon Brothers! They all share the dream of becoming performers and spreading their love of music to Japan, but end up plotting on stealing money from unique "villians" to get themselves known. Although, their constant plots always seem to fail and they end up more in debt.



Upon watching this comedic musical series, I didn't know what to expect. The more I watched it, the more I fell in love with it. My online buddy and I particularly became attached to the dancing money girls, the strange but amusing affection for the panda, the creative, catchy musical numbers, and our favorite animated host Ichiro's mellow personality.



This is a series you can't get enough of, if you don't mind a few perverse memonts, lots of singing, and an odd panda fetish. It's a little random, but not too out there like FLCL. Everything has a straight storyline and every challenge the main characters face are unique and entertaining; there's even a Michael Jackson-like character.



Nerima Daikon Brothers is a very colorful anime. I personally liked watching it in Japanese, because Mako's accent in the English bothered me a little and the dialogue seemed better overall. Either way there's perversion, but it appeared a little more forced in English and the panda song sounds better in Japanese. Sorry, Chris Patton.

If you're looking for a good comedy anime that guarantees to keep your attention and makes you constantly laugh, you should check this out. The character relationships pull you in and the songs will probably be burned into your mind after watching all 12 episodes. Power to the Daikon!

Rating: 4/5

Review: Reincarnation (Rinne)

Starring: Yuka, Karina, Keppei Shiina, Shun Oguri
Directed by: Takashi Shimizu
Language: Japanese
Rating: Unrated
Running Time: 95 minutes

I was a little hesitant to do a full on review of this movie, but I feel it deserves more detail than just an opinion filled paragraph. I downloaded this movie months ago and ended up watching the end online since it cut off.



The story starts off with Nagisa Sugiura and her friends at a diner or something. They have a discussion on reincarnation and we get the first glimpse of a potential ghost in the reflection of her friend's cell phone. Later, we learn that Nagisa has an agent and is working on getting a role in a movie based on a series of murders in a hotel. She starts seeing bits and pieces of the crime, during her work through the eyes of a little girl she portrays in the movie. Gradually, we see the murders in more and more detail.



The reason I wanted to watch this was the interesting storyline. Even though the director used a cliche element of angry ghost, I still wanted to check it out since it had to deal with reincarnation, whether you believe in that sort of thing or not. I enjoyed the way the director went back and forth between Nagisa's visions of ghost from the actual events that happened in the hotel they're shooting in and the scene being filmed by the director in the movie. There were a lot of great visual moments like the doll being a key element of the plot and also the lack of sound toward the climax of the movie.



I thought the acting was pretty decent, especially Yuka as Nagisa, since it was her first time being in a movie. She reacted to every situation thrown at her with skill and she should continue building on her resume. In the middle of it all, I became a little disconnected with the movie and a tad bored with some of the dialogue, but in a way I couldn't keep my eyes off the screen. There was a lot of good moments where anticipation built up inside me, but somewhere toward the end I became a little confused and I had to read some viewer comments to piece together everything.

In the end, if you're the type to watch angry ghost movies like The Grudge and The Ring, you should probably check this one out. It isn't mind blowingly fatastic, but it isn't a complete boring disaster either. The movie is worth watching and the ending to it guarantees some satisfaction.

Rating: 3/5

Quick Movie Review

Up (2009, USA) | Rating: 4/5

The latest Disney Pixar movie to hit the big screen and it has been doing great in the box office. It's another great movie to watch with the family. Like many Disney masterpieces, it is a bit of a sad film, but it brings joy by bringing two opposite characters together on a wild adventure and giving us a great message at the end of it all.



Dance Flick (2009, USA) | Rating: 3.5/5

Another crazy Wayans family parody to add to their list of Scary Movie series and other people's recent parody films of typical teen flicks, super heroes, disasters, and wandering in an alternate world of your own closet.
I know a couple critics complained about the movie being dated, but all parody movies are. I thought it was hilarious and entertaining. It was also worth seeing the movie a second time. The acting was good, especially the new generation of Wayans and the jokes kept me laughing (as well as my family).



The Proposal (2009, USA) | Rating: 3/5

I'm really picky about seeing movies in this genre...the whole romantic comedy. I already knew things would become predictable, but I still managed to be entertained and laugh at the jokes. It had a nice storyline and the chemistry was good, kinda gave me a Meet the Parents vibe at times.



Orphan (2009, USA) | Rating: 4.5/5

This movie came out a couple weekends ago and it seems to have mixed reviews. Some believe it targets orphanages in a negative light. I guess in a way it could, but for me and the people I watch the movie with (my mom and a couple friends), we didn't read into it that deeply. We all really enjoyed the movie to the point we discussed it the next day. For me (and mi madre), we want to watch it again and I think I want to add it to my movie collection when it comes out on DVD. If I get a chance, I would like to rewatch 1993's The Good Son and compare the two, since a lot of people including my mother thought about this movie.

Quick Anime Review

Elfen Lied (2004) | Rating: 4/5

Recommended by a good friend (and co-host), I was a little skeptical on whether I'd like it or not, but the story seemed interesting and dark enough to my liking. I checked it out from work and ended up thoroughly enjoying it enough to consider buying the whole series. I thought of a darker, slightly more serious Chobits. Although, there was one little thing that made me question the series that I'm sure is probably explained a little more in the manga series.



Papa to Kiss in the Dark (2005) | Rating: 3/5

A cute little yaoi OVA with a father/son pairing. I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but I'm a little picky about incest pairings. Sometimes I find them disturbing and other times intriguing. This...was moreso cute and weird. I liked the storyline and I thought things would turn predictable with the younger main character attracting his best friend and an older student at his school, but things went a different direction



Fruits Basket (2001) | Rating: 3/5

Probably one of the most overrated anime along with Naruto and InuYasha, I couldn't resist checking out the anime series last year. I ended up getting my siblings and cousins into the series. It's very enjoyable and follows the manga pretty decently. My only complaint about the series is that it was way too short, which might make Furuba fans disappointed if they haven't seen it yet.



Nerima Daikon Brothers (2006) | Rating: 4.5/5

I started this series this year and checked it out from work. I watched it with an online friend, who watched it in English while I watched it in Japanese with subtitles. She got hooked and I got hooked. This is very comedic and perverted little musical series that I would love to do a more in-depth review some time, but it's worth seeing if you enjoy comedies with random musical numbers in it.

Review: Bangkok Love Story

Starring: Rattanaballang Tohssawat, Chaiwat Tongsang, Weeradit Srimalai, Chatcha Rujinanon
Directed by: Poj Arnon
Language: Thai
Rating: Unrated
Running Time: 90 minutes


I normally don't watch a lot of Asian movies that are not Japanese or Korean, but I do find a couple interesting works that catch my interest by just the summary. If you hadn't noticed, I'm a pretty open-minded person and I can usually find some things very artistic as oppose to others who don't analyze movies as deeply as myself. One example could be Strange Circus which raises many controversial topics that most would think is for pure shock factor and not delving into the artistic symbolism of the film. This movie isn't for everyone, because the subject deals with homosexuality and touches a bit on HIV/AIDS as well. So, if you don't have an open-mind, you might want to skip this review or even attempt to try something new.



Mhek (Cloud) is a lone gunman who assassinates people as a living. He's very good at what he does and never misses his target. He uses his income to support his mother who is suffering from AIDS and his younger brother who has HIV and plans on taking them to the mountains of Mae Hong Son Province. The movie starts off showing us Mhek doing his job and soon spots his latest target...a police officer by the name of It (Brick), who is enjoying the evening out with his fiancée. After following his target for a good amount of time, Mhek captures It and brings him to his boss, but his boss orders Mhek to kill him and he refuses, saying he only kills the targets that are criminals. This response upsets his boss and the scene breaks out into a gun battle. It helps defend Mhek during the fight and helps him escape once he is hit by a bullet. They hop onto Mhek's motorcycle and head out to the streets. They make a little stop to Mhek's family and It informs them about the situation and passes Mhek's message along to Mhok (Fog), Mhek's brother.

Settling in Mhek's hideout on a rooftop it seems, It consistently takes care of Mhek's bullet wound and nurses him by staying by his side and cleaning him up. As he continues to care for the gunman, It gradually develops feelings for him and soon acts on them. Feeling conflicted with what was going on (and possibly an influence from his past), Mhek later threatens It to leave his home and to never come back.



I must admit, I normally get bored with the majority of romance stories. They become predictable and unrealistic, but this film had more than just romance. It added action, crime, and drama. Bangkok Love Story has a bit of unrealistic emotion, but in a way, you don't mind it, because you're so drawn into the story. The movie doesn't completely depend on mushy moments or graphic sexual scenes to keep your attention nor does it have senseless violence. It goes at a slow easy pace so you can get a good grasp of the characters and gather your opinions on how you feel about them and the situation that's going on around them. This movie allows you to study the characters' body language, the environment, and the emotion translated onto the screen with or without dialogue.



Bangkok Love Story has so many commendable elements that must be recognized in this review. Starting with Rattaballung Tohssawat and Chaiwat Tongsang who play the main male roles as Mhek and It, they both did an amazing job interacting with each other as well as the other characters who have a strong bond with them. Both men have stated that they are straight, I have read that Chaiwat took on the role to challenge himself and Rattaballung said it was an honor to take on a possible homosexual character. The article also stated that Rattaballung's girlfriend was a little paranoid about the kissing scenes, although both men thought they could fake it, but the director didn't want that. Being both heterosexual, it must've been a challenge to be something you're not and they did a great job of having this strong loving bond that you can't help but support. Rattaballung brought masculinity and a sense of wanting to be emotionless to his character. It's difficult to portray a character who believes he is strong and independent, but deep down inside he wants to grab ahold of his true emotions instead of shunning them away. Chaiwat also did just as good of a job being a little more sensitive and also masculine in certain ways. He portrayed the difficult task of wanting to be there for the woman he was planning to spend his life with, but also wanting to be a little selfish and lose himself with his feelings for Mhek. Weeradit Srimalai as Mhok, Mhek's younger brother, had a hard character of being frustrated with the world for judging him and his disease as well as his mother. He had a somewhat weak character that had a lot of pent up frustration building inside him, until he decided to take control of the situation in a way that isn't right. Although she had a minor role like the mother, Chatcha Rujinanon as Sai, It's fiancée, had an important task of moving the story along as well. Like Mhok to Mhek, Sai (Sand) has a close bond to It and the whole subtle emotional shift affected her, which created even more conflict in the movie. She was very quiet, emoted her emotions through her body language, and wasn't oblivious to the distance in her relationship with It like some characters in other movies. She reacted to the situation in a very realistic way, even though it could've been viewed as extreme.



What I've noticed by looking at other people's reviews on the movie is that they mention the beautiful soundtrack and the amazing cinematography used throughout the film, which I can definitely agree with. There are a few moments in the movie where there is absolutely no dialogue just music and great shots of the character(s) in this lavish environment. Not only does the acting pull you into the emotion of character(s), but the music plays a big part of prodding your mind and heart into feeling that same emotion. The scenery completes the rest of the emotional translation on the screen to the viewer's eyes. If you notice, the colors and lighting aren't that cheerful which emphasizes that this is a serious movie and there's a possibility that emotions will be flowing out uncontrollably.

In the end, the love making scenes could've been executed a little better, but they do their job of telling the viewer that there is a lot of emotion built up and the feeling between the two main characters are true. Sometimes the chemistry between them became a little frustrating and you're ready for them to hook up already, but the pace is tolerable. There's a lot of drama that goes on throughout the movie. When you think things are going to be "happily ever after", things tend to go downhill and drag the viewers along with it to the possibility of being in tears by the time the credits roll. If you can handle gunfights, discrimination against people who are diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, homosexuality, and suicide, then you can get through this Thailand masterpiece. Bangkok Love Story is a great movie to watch to get in touch with your inner most feelings about romance and just embracing what true love and sacrifice looks like. I highly recommend this movie and if you're going to watch it, be sure to have the tissue box on stand by, because I nearly cried...which is a very, very hard thing to do.


Rating: 4.5/5

Review: Anna-san no Omame

Title: Anna-san no Omame [The Best Friend of Beautiful Anna]
Starring: Becky, Sayuri Anzu, Shuji Kashiwabara
Language: Japanese
Genre: Romantic comedy
Episodes: 10


Before crunchyroll.com took a vast majority of the videos down to become a more legitimate place as well as avoid possibly lawsuits, I came across this interesting little Japanese drama. I was a little skeptical that it'd keep my attention, but I made it through the whole series and I even managed to buy it.



Anna Saionji is one of the most beautiful and intelligent women in town that every man dreams of, but...the story isn't about her at all. We follow the series with probably the most misunderstanding and overconfident woman named Lily Momoyama, who is Anna's best friend. In Lily's mind, she believes that she is the most beautiful woman in all of Japan (maybe the world) and every man she comes by wants to be with her. In reality, they're either promoting some charity group, trying to talk to Anna, or, in Kyotaro's case, just trying to be friendly to her. Kyotaro is Anna's boyfriend who's just seeking Lily's approval. Somehow she misinterprets his friendly gestures as a form of flirtation which carries the series through many entertaining and ridiculous antics between the two characters.




Anna-san no Omame is a very entertaining comedic drama. As ridiculous as the situations that occur during Kyotaro's struggle to fix things in Lily's mind, you get attached to the characters in some way. The atmosphere and characters are both equally colorful and it becomes difficult to stop watching. You can tell that the creator had a specific design thought out for each characters' appearances as well as the details of where they work and hang out. It also coordinates with the mood that they want to portray to emphasize the character's emotion.



Although I found her voice and character's personality to be annoying the first three episodes, Becky did an amazing job committing herself to the lovable Lily. Being conflicted with being loyal to her best friend, but also tempted to give into Kyotaro's "affectionate" ways can be a difficult task. Deep down inside, she is a loyal friend and just wants to have a love of her own, if the reality of someone liking her truly hits her. Shuji Kashiwabara as Kyotaro kept his focus of trying to please Anna by taking care of Lily, trying to be loyal to Anna, and also attempting to keep everyone happy while trying not to lose his sanity by fixing Lily's misunderstandings. He doesn't come off as a jerk, but just a kind and frustrated character that you wish you could help during his little crisis. Even though Sayuri Anzu's character Anna doesn't have a huge part, she manages to keep her character memorable by being this loyal, sweet, and understanding friend to Lily. She reflects a true bond in their friendship, despite their first meeting and starting of their lasting relationship. Aside from the three main characters of the series, the other characters were also very delightful and interesting seeing how they interact with Kyotaro and Lily's relationship.

Overall, the drama is a bit of a hit or miss for the general public that enjoys Asian dramas. Some may find the drama to be a bit tedious and annoying with Lily's personality and immediately give up on the series all together. For me, it is definitely worth seeing. I found the storyline to be unique and entertaining and Kyotaro was nice eye candy for 10 episodes. Even though Lily's character is a bit annoying and you kinda pick up her catch phrase after a few episodes, you learn to love her and embrace her misinterpretations.

Rating: 4.5/5

Quick Movie Review

Imprint (2005, USA) | Rating: 3/5

Takashi Miike joined the "Masters of Horror" series with this unique movie, which was surprisingly in English. The storyline and twists throughout the movie were cleverly executed. I also found the contrast of colors from scene to scene well balanced, although a few could've been better lit. This isn't Takashi's best work, but it's worth looking at. Be warned of the controversial torture scene though.



Red Shoes [Bunhongsin] (2005, South Korea) | Rating: 3.5/5

Who would've thought that a pair of shoes could cause so much trouble. This movie makes you question your trust between your friends and even your own family. This movie displays extreme situations of selfishness and jealousy like "Strange Circus". With such a simple storyline, the director played it out well for viewers to become sucked into this unbelievable, crazy predicament, but keeps you wanting more to come to some sort of reason why everyone's fighting over these shoes.



Prom Night (2008, USA) | Rating: 1/5

I remember a friend wanted to drag me out to this movie in theaters, but I quickly declined, since it's too cliché of a movie for my liking. I watched it a few days ago on TV, out of boredom, and most of my predictions were correct. You take your typical slasher movie formula and apply it to this movie minus the hormonally challenged teen couple. The only two things I was looking forward to in the movie was the purpose of the killings and the ending with the credits. If you want a predictable movie or just some movie to talk at the screen with friends, then this is your movie.



Obsessed (2009, USA) | Rating: 3/5

Even though the storyline isn't anything special, I still wanted to see it and it was kinda worth it. The pace of the movie jumped right into the conflict, letting it build and build and build, until things became uncontrollable for the main characters. The movie did manage to keep my attention and there was minimal scenes with Beyoncé's character's involvement.



X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009, USA) | Rating: 3/5

Not being a huge comic book fan or a big fan of any X-Men series, I did enjoy this little prequel going into Wolverine's back story. Whether it was accurate or not, I couldn't tell you, but I like the direction it was going. Although, I would have to disagree with some comments made in the preview. It's not as amazing as they make it out to be, but if you saw the other two X-Men movies, then it's worth seeing.