Kirarin Revolution, episode 21

(きらりん☆レボリューション) 2006

Kirari (voiced by Koharu Kusumi of Morning Musume!) is a middle schooler who LOVES her food. So much so that it's scary! While girls her age swoon over idols, Kirari swoons over her dad's cooking, and couldn't care less about the life of a celebrity. But when she saves the pet turtle of Seiji of pop group SHIPS and falls in love, she decides to become an idol herself so that they can be together (or so she hopes).

It's almost time for "Nojo's Hot Idol Award." This honor is given to the best new artist of the year - and Kirari's agency wants her to win. SHIPS won themselves last year - naturally, this is motivation enough. But you can't expect an idol's career to be free of greed and manipulation (at least, behind the scenes). When Kirari and her manager go to do a photoshoot, they see the room is already being occupied - by none other than the famous model, Fubuki Todou. Fubuki has been modeling since she was a small child, and certainly doesn't have any self-esteem issues. To add insult to the fact that Fubuki is actually Kirari's age (yet looks so sophisticated and mature), HER manager, a shady looking woman who seems to have a history with Kumoi-san and the chairman, announces that Fubuki will be debuting as an idol the next week. This means she can take part in the Nojo award competition. And nobody who opposes the Higashiyama company has ever done well.

Keeping with the tradition of characters having a pet cat, Fubuki has one of her own. A cat named Mya-san, along with a bird named "Bird Year" (!?). Both are horrible little trouble makers who see no problem with throwing a banana at poor Naa-san and Nayan (who had followed them). Fubuki also doesn't think much of Kirari - is she really an idol? Are they really the same age? Her body doesn't have much to it, and her singing is bad. It annoys the black-haired beauty that someone like her could be a #1 idol. SHIPS, who was also there (they came to get someone's autograph), tells her that being so direct will hurt Kirari's feelings. This doesn't help at all.



Through her own photoshoot, which follows after, Kirari tries to show Fubuki what she believes an idol must be. Someone who wants to make people happy, someone who puts on a smile and makes people smile. It doesn't work - Fubuki finds her approach stupid. Anyone can smile. And it's rude to stuff your face (Kirari's photoshoot involved eating). She will destroy Kirari's career and teach her a lesson.

Finally, the time has come for "Nojo's Hot Idol Award." Everyone you expect is there - Erina, Arashi, Fubuki, Kirari, Mochida, and two unknown others. In the end, it is no surprise that it boils down to Kirari and Fubuki. But it is a surprise that while Fubuki did in fact win, Kirari also won. It's a double award! Stubborn and unwilling to "share" with an un-sexy chow hound, Fubuki challenges Kirari to see who's really the top new idol. Unable to back away, and not wanting to let down everyone, she accepts.

Hmm... could be interesting :)

Kirarin Revolution, episode 20

(きらりん☆レボリューション) 2006

Kirari (voiced by Koharu Kusumi of Morning Musume!) is a middle schooler who LOVES her food. So much so that it's scary! While girls her age swoon over idols, Kirari swoons over her dad's cooking, and couldn't care less about the life of a celebrity. But when she saves the pet turtle of Seiji of pop group SHIPS and falls in love, she decides to become an idol herself so that they can be together (or so she hopes).

Kirari and SHIPS have just wrapped up their special radio show, this time around featuring members of (real life) pop group C-ute. As Kirari enjoys a refreshing drink, she brings up the fact that her older brother will be home today. He's been in America for a year, studying to be an actor. Hiroto and Seiji are both shocked that she even had a sibling, and so she explains her family situation. It's just her, her dad, and Naa-san. Her grandma lives nearby, but her mom left when she was small. The reason wasn't given, but Kirari says that everything is fine, and excuses herself to go home.

When she gets to the gate in front of her home, a strange boy with blonde hair approaches her, dressed like a pizza delivery boy. He says it's just for her, but when she opens the box, a cat is inside, and there is no food to be found. Watching her confusion, he laughs and calls her a fool. Some random jerk? No - the pizza guy reveals himself to be her brother, Subaru (the car?). The cat is Subaru's pet, found in New York where he schools. His name is Mr. Na, which I can only assume is an American counterpart of Naa-san!



Absolutely thrilled to have his two children home, Kirari's dad prepares a feast of all their favorite dishes. While watching them eat, the adults (here meaning the dad and grandma) comment that Kirari and Subaru look identical when you put them next to each other. It's always been so - even in the way they eat and react. When the topic of life in America is brought up, Subaru brags (in a strained voice) that he was complimented by Steven Spielburg at an audition, which is met with great awe. Grandma interrupts to turn the TV on, revealing Kirari singing in one of her music videos. Subaru is absolutely struck with this. Since he wasn't in the country, he didn't know, and nobody had told him. Instead of feeling happy for his sister, he is frustrated and angry. How could his idiotic, pig-outing sister become an idol? That night he has Mr. Na steal her schedule book, and when he sees she's the real deal, he's furious. His dream was to debut in America, but he was kicked out of the school! And now SHE gets to be successful! How does that work? Recalling the dinner discussion about their near twin-ness, an idea is formed.

The next morning, Kirari wakes up and looks at her book. The hours of her planned activities are different, but she doesn't think much of it. Adding to this, her manager calls in sick, so if something was amiss, there won't be anyone to correct the changes and set her straight. With the supposed extra time, Kirari decides to do something for her brother. Meanwhile, Subaru has put on the finishing touches with his wig, makeup, and dress. Mr. Na has been dolled up to look like Naa-san. This impersonation thing should be a snap! The only little snaffu that occurs is Kirari turning the TV on. When she sees HERSELF on a LIVE broadcast, of course there is panic. Confronting her sibling at the studio leads to a high speed chase, ending with SHIPS spotting two Kiraris and a bucket of ice water.

The ice water that fell on the young idol makes her sick, and Subaru, SHIPS, and her dad are at her bedside. Subaru laments his guilt for being a lousy big brother and cries when they find what Kirari was making for him - a glittering crown, since he is her "Prince Subaru." Because she isn't well, unless she can really push herself, they'll have to cancel her Music Studio appearance. Subaru steps in and says he'll once again play the part - just leave it to him. They didn't count on the fact that Subaru had never heard any of her songs, and thus, couldn't sing. Pretending to be sick, he tries to get out of it, right onstage. The pain of possibly ruining his little sister's career causes him to cry, but the oblivious fans, believing the lie because of "her" deep voice, let things slide. Later, at the airport, Subaru puts on the little crown, and Kirari says she wants to perform with him someday.

How can a person get sick from a bucket of water falling on them?! I'm curious, because unless that water was SERIOUSLY cold, or it had some kind of weird thing in it, I don't see how that's possible. Anybody is free to correct me on this. At the very least, Subaru didn't come back dressed in a cowboy hat or Hawaiian shirt, saying random, strange English phrases. And Mr. Na didn't have a huge gaijin cat nose or something. So that's a step in the not typical direction ;D I don't know what I'm saying, sorry.

Jero - Japan's first black Enka singer

JAPAN PROBE

Believe it or not, this 26-year-old American in hip hop clothing is actually about to become a professional enka singer in Japan!

According to the biographical information on his JVC Music site, Jero's Japanese grandmother exposed him to enka music, building a great love in him for traditional Japanese music. Jero hadn’t planned on becoming a musician, and had actually graduated from the University of Pittsburg as a computer engineer, but a chance runner-up victory in a karaoke contest led JVC Music to scout him. He’s been in Japan for two years for vocal training and he will be releasing his first CD later this month.

I'm impressed! He's quite good, though he doesn't seem to have that LILT that regular Enka singers do (not that it's a terrible thing). Represent America, buddy, and good luck! :)

Pokemon fanfiction, old school

9 years ago, I discovered Pokemon. This was during a time I was freshly graduated from high school, and was both juggling my first job and first year in college. It was very stressful, the job moreso. Then I found Pokemon, supposedly something "only kids can understand" and was blacklisted by the elitist anime community for "giving anime a bad name." Yeah, OK.

This same year, I discovered the world of fanfiction. I'd print out stories I thought were particulary interesting and bring them to read between classes. Looking at them today, I see some were rather blah, or bordering on bad/disturbing, but I still fondly smile everytime I reread them. Here are a few (written before [maybe] or in 1999):

Planes of Existence Team Rocket comes across a young "dimension hopper" named Meiya, who takes them back to her "underground palace of ice and stone" to hang out. [Must be downloaded, in Word format]
Rocket Revenge James is (deliberately) hit by a car on his way back from shopping, and Jessie has to go to his family for medical help. Part 2
Team Rocket Two Jessie and James meet their twin offspring from the future. You also hear reference to Ash, Misty, and Brock's kids. [Must be downloaded, in Word format]
Valentine Valentine's Day. Misty struggles with her romantic feelings for Ash, along with her all-too-often tendency to beat on and argue with him. She wonders if, by doing that, she is only ruining her chances.

Kirarin Revolution, episode 19

(きらりん☆レボリューション) 2006

Kirari (voiced by Koharu Kusumi of Morning Musume!) is a middle schooler who LOVES her food. So much so that it's scary! While girls her age swoon over idols, Kirari swoons over her dad's cooking, and couldn't care less about the life of a celebrity. But when she saves the pet turtle of Seiji of pop group SHIPS and falls in love, she decides to become an idol herself so that they can be together (or so she hopes).

Erina and Kirari are starring in a TV special together! They think it's just going to be cute and harmless, where they act like close friends (Erina certainly doesn't consider herself friends with this idol rival) for the camera, but it turns out the spring resort they must go to is so creepy it must be haunted! Neo Takada is the name, and the man in charge, Adamusu Takada (hmm... last name sounds familiar) keeps things quite strange. Even the spiders make them a welcome sign out of their webs! When they go outside to enjoy the hot springs, a whirlpool appears and sucks Erina and Tantan in. But it's not a spirit - it's Arashi making a dramatic entrance. Erina does not appreciate the interruption, and whaps him good with a fish.

And the odd occurances don't stop there. During a serve in ping pong between the girls, the ball stops in midair, and blue fire zooms around the room. When the crew takes a food break, everything has been eaten, even though nobody else was around. Come night, as Kirari and Erina try their hand at firework sparklers, the blue fire returns. None of this was Arashi's doing, or so he claims even after violent threats from Erina. Then, what could it be? Unable to hold back any longer, Mr. Takada tells them there are indeed spirits in the building. They've been there for 10 years and have the ability to make fire appear, along with white fog, so guests are afraid. The poor man was hoping to advertize with the program and boost business, but at this rate things look hopeless. Kirari gets the idea that they should go out to look for the alleged spirits - if they can disprove any hauntings, Neo Takada can yet be saved. So that's what they do.



Not one to be outdone, at the restart of filming Erina runs ahead of them in the dark (they were walking down a path towards the hotel, like the beginning), and does the old sign switcharoo at a fork in the road. She, of course, takes the "easy" way (shortcut) to where they are headed. She's so thrilled to be beating Kirari that she doesn't pay attention to her surroundings. As she tries to catch a hat that blew off her head, she falls off a cliff. Thankfully, the crew hears her cries and finds Tantan, who wildy tries to demonstrate Erina's terrible situation. Arashi runs off to get help, while Kirari takes it upon herself to look for her. As fate would have it, SHIPS shows up at the entrance. They were supposed to be a surprise for the end - instead, they join the search for the lost idols.

Meanwhile, Erina emerges from where she fell. She landed in a bush, so things aren't as bad as they could've been. However, her ankle is sprained and it's not known how she'll be able to get back to anyone, especially when they might not even know she's missing. When she sees two bobbing yellow lights in the woods, she freaks out, assuming ghosts are coming to get her. No, it's just Kirari and Naa-san holding flashlights. She tries to make like everything is OK, nothing to be alarmed about, but Kirari insists on carrying her piggyback. This only frustrates Erina more, and she asks why she's even doing this. Why not? After all, Kirari says, they are friends. Moments later, SHIPS comes swooping down the cliff on ropes.

After the whole group has been reunited, a white fogs comes rolling in. Rushing off to solve the mystery once at for all (with Erina, riding Tantan, in the lead), they find Mr. Takada the producer, relaxing in a hot spring with his two pet pigs. Turns out this is his own private little spot, as he didn't want to disturb his relative in the hotel. When it's wondered how Mr. Takada could've made blue fire appear, the weird things come back, revealing themselves to be the spirits of past owners of the resort. Screams ring out into the night.

Shoujo cliche #15, falling down a cliff. Usually a female, one character will find themselves alone and probably injured after taking a fall. Another character, a potential love interest/friend, will come down to save them. A realization or bonding tends to occur. Though, this was cute. You have to wonder how this will affect Erina's future pranks, and if she will ever struggle over Kirari's kindness and claimed friendship.

Morning Musume in 2008 - Wishful Wishes

-A "Morning Musume in New York/San Francisco/Anywhere in America that isn't Hawaii" photobook.

-Revival of Mini Moni. Original members are impossible, but if a second generation could be handled properly, I'd be 100% behind it. I'm already seeing something Mini Moni-esque in Athena & Robikerottsu, even though they are temporary and only for a kid's show promotion. At least I'm getting my "cute as a button" fix.

-New Summer Shuffle Units. And I mean of the "Happy 7" and "11 Water" variety. I miss the cute little theme groups that released their own singles. When was the last time I even saw something similar to it? 2004? 2005? And that wasn't even the same. It was one big song with all members of H!P in it.

-Yuuko Nakazawa should get an album. The best we get is maybe one single a year from her, and that's not near enough for me.

-More "exchange students." It doesn't have to be in the "flagship" group (because I know a lot of fans were already angry that the "purity" of an all Japanese group had been compromised when the two girls from China joined), but something similar to Coconuts Musume would work. And I'd really like them to look beyond Hawaii if recruiting American members. How about somebody from a small town in Florida, or Michigan? Or heck, New York (which I'm sure your average Japanese would be more familiar with).

-Another play (similar to Ribbon no Kishi!) or movie.

-Fun specials of the Universal Studios Japan and Battle in Hawaii variety.

What you can learn from Spirited Away

-Don't be greedy, as it can make you a stingy and "witchy" person.
-Likewise, don't let yourself become consumed by evil and corruption, or you will become ugly on the inside.
-Don't want for more than you need.
-Don't dwell on the past, look to the future.
-Don't litter/pollute.
-Never forgot who you are, or you will be lost.
-If you want to survive, you must be brave.
-You never really forget - you just can't remember.
-With the destruction of nature in the name of technology/progress, something important is lost.
-Cherish friendships. People can still be important to you, even if it doesn't seem like it.
-Love can break the most vile seals.