Kirarin Revolution, episodes 35 & 36

(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).



Episode 35:

Kirari is going to be a police officer for the day at an elementary school. Her assigned partner is a very strange man named Keiji Atsui, who can sit at a 90 degree angle without a chair, and believes food should play a part in any police activity. Together they have to find and defeat a mysterious figure called Phantom X, who leaves notes around the school declaring he will steal all precious items. Pretty soon everything is pinned on a boy scout, Ohkami, who was spotted in the areas where notes were left, and seems to find the the whole thing hilarious. Kirari steps in to defend him and makes it her goal to find the "real" criminal, thereby freeing the boy from these accusations. Eventually Ohkami is moved to tears by her actions and confesses to be the culprit. However, when a final note is delivered and it was not written by Ohkami, they realize they may have a real case on their hands, especially when Naa-san could be in danger.



Episode 36:

At Fubuki's complaint that Kirari's cat is stealing too much limelight, a celebrity pet show is organized by the Higashiyama Company. Because Hiroto does not have a pet, he is only a guest spectator - but Seiji, Kirari, Erina, Arashi, and other recurring characters join in on the game. The first trial is testing the pet's intelligence; they have to jump through a sheet with the correct answer for a question (such as 76 minus 54), but if they get it wrong they land in a pile of mud and are disqualified. Not surprisingly, Fubuki and the president of Higashiyama's pets get the super easy stuff. The second trial involves finding assigned items in the audience - poor Kirari gets the rather impossible item of a dinosaur, but Naa-san cleverly digs up the bones of a T-Rex in record time to make the time limit. In the final trial, the animals must lift objects chosen by their owner out of a box, as written on a piece of paper. Seiji's turtle has to lift a microwave, Arashi's cat a vase, and so on. Still more bias for people from Higashiyama ensues (disguised this time to look like there isn't any), and Hiroto does not miss this. For the final round, each pet must run an obsticle course, ending with landing in their owner's arms. Who will finally come out on top in this race for a jaded collar and trip around the world?

Silly, filler, skippable episodes, the both of them. Do idols actually do things like play law enforcer for a day? I've never heard of them doing that. They might dress up like one for reporters to, I don't know, promote a safety issue or something - I could see that, but not this. Oh well.

Kirarin Revolution, episodes 33 & 34

(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).



Episode 33:

Daimonji Gengorou, a man who has hosted some of Kirari's past public appearances, is directing his first drama. He remembers her, and decides she is perfect to play the role of his daughter, Misako. Besides settling into a serious story (which she isn't used to - "Sonata" was as serious as it got), Kirari also has to deal with Haruko Mizura, an important and experienced actress who hails from the Higashiyama company (which Fubuki is from). Haruko (who will be Misako's grandmother) has always been strict towards new actors, and lately has taken mostly evil old lady roles, which makes things worse. Not only does she call Kirari slow at their first meeting, but she talks Daimonji into adding more "suffering" into Misako's role, supposedly to make the ending more "passionate" when Misako is reunited with her father. Kirari does what she can, but the older woman keeps stepping up the challenges, until finally crossing the line by throwing tea at Kirari and calling her performance pitiful. You can't simply act from the "outside" - one must pretend to actually be in the story - or at least, that's what she's told later, after being kicked out of the studio by Haruko. After working hard to pretend to be friends with Misako, Kirari comes to understand her assigned character, and begs to be included in the drama again. In the end, it's a showdown between skill and overcoming immediate changes, and Kirari learns another important lesson (Haruko does, too).



Episode 34:

Basically, Kirari is a special guest on SHIPS TV show, SHIPS BURABURA. This edition is live, and Hiroto is on location in Kirari's hometown. Kirari's eccentric grandmother, who would tell you she's Hiroto's #1 fan, finds out about it, and tries to get close to him. When finally given a chance to talk to the male idol, she kinda kidnaps him and takes him all over the place. When finally stopped, Kirari apologizes for her grandmother, and everything is, more or less, OK again. What really creeps Hiroto out, though, is the old woman's theory that he supposedly looks like Kirari's grandfather. When Kirari brings a picture of him to the office, they all see that they don't look alike at all - well, perhaps they have a siliar hairstyle.

The drama episode was cute, but frankly, I only watched the grandma episode so I could review it. Otherwise I have no real desire to see it.

Nice to see that Kirari is proving she's not just a pretty face that's better off sticking to sappy high school love stories. Did people in Japan ever actually dress like that, though? I'll have to look it up.

New store and cels!

I have put up a store at eCrater.com :)

On that note, here are some items that I just added:

-Tonde Buurin cel - Keiko & Takuma - comes with original background
-Daa! Daa! Daa! (or Da! Da! Da!) cels - Miyu, her mom, and Christine (or Chris-chan)

Please check them out at: http://aledanaiya.ecrater.com/

Kirarin Revolution, episodes 31 & 32

(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).



Episode 31:

Kirari (and SHIPS) is going to New York! She's so excited, even the walkway in the airport is a thrill. And while everyone else is sleeping on the plane, she and Naa-san are busy eating the food (I guess she'll eat anything, then :P). By the time they get to America, she's sleepy from no rest and can't adjust to the time difference. This is a problem, as she makes the mistake of wandering off, without thinking, to get a balloon for a little kid. Now seperated from her friends (and fellow Japanese), she has no way of knowing where she is, and can't even ask for help. Eventually even Seiji gets lost from looking for her, but luckily finds her, and so they decide to sightsee around New York until they either locate the hotel or run into the others. And what an adventure they have! Giant interactive keyboards, candy and other sweets, hectic streets. Kirari wins a donut eating contest, too, at the recommendation of a local donut vendor (whom Seiji can talk to, since he's been to America before). Meanwhile, Hiroto, the chairman, and her manager frantically search for their lost lambs, running into Kirari's brother, Subaru. He offers to lend his aid, of course. Even Arashi enters the act - he was in New York to be in a magic contest. After all of this arguing over thier two star's whereabouts, we see Kirari and Seiji walking in the park. As a carriage is about to reach them, Kame-san rushes away from Seiji, trying to proect the horse from stepping on a nail in the road. As thanks, they are offered a free ride. When mistaken for a couple, Seiji finds it amusing, and Kirari doesn't understand why all she can think about is Hiroto. Just before our finders and seekers can meet (after Seiji and Kirari get off the ride, they all spot each other from opposite sides of the park), Kirari bumps into a blonde-haired woman, and both she and Seiji are grabbed and pulled into a waiting car. A kidnapping?!



Episode 32:

No, not a kidnapping - just a misunderstanding. The woman they ran into is an American celebrity named Tina Judy Garland Turner. Her bodyguards thought Kirari and Seiji were fans out to bother her, and simply reacted. While Kirari worried that communication would be difficult, it's shown immediately that Tina is also fluent in Japanese (why? I don't know. Plot convenience, I guess). She feels terrible about ruining the reunion, and has her limo go back. But by then, everyone has already run off for help, so Tina tells them to come stay with her until something is worked out. Naa-san prints off flyers and leaves to enlist the help of local cats, and Tina and Kirari watch Seiji play a game of basketball. While doing this, Tina makes the comment that Kirari has a very nice boyfriend, but the Japanese girl explains that he's simply her senior, and nothing else. When Tina finds out that Kirari is also a celebrity, like Seiji, she is surprised - Kirari doesn't have a celebrity aura at all. This hurt's the young idol's pride. Finding him impressive, Seiji is asked to perform with Tina that night for a special concert, and he accepts. Because she feels bad, and wants to see Kirari shine, the American blonde asks her international counterpart to also join in. Come showtime, Kirari is nervous; however, by then (and thanks to the cats Naa-san asked for help from) Hiroto and the others are also there to cheer her on. Kirari yells for Hiroto to join them (as does Seiji and Tina) for a grand finale. Later, after all is said and done, Tina asks Kirari to visit again - hopefully with a boyfriend to meet.

I'm just a little confused here. If a celebrity was being bothered by fans, why would her bodyguards grab them and pull them into her limo, where she could be harrassed further, or worse? I do like Tina, though. She was a breath of fresh air for gaijin stereotypes. Can't say the same for the donut vendor, though :B

Morning Musume to tackle Cinderella - Official

Morning Musume is in fact due to act out Cinderella. It's going to be the Rodgers and Hammerstein version, which is even more exciting. I know that musical very well, so even if nobody fansubbed it, I could still know what's going on anyway (unless they make some big adjustments for a Japaneses audience, or something).

Casting is still unknown, but shows start on August 6, 2008. There will be 33 performances.

I really wish former members, such as Mari Yaguchi and Ai Kago, were still in Morning Musume - I would LOVE to see what parts they would've played. I personally think Tsuji would've made a great stepsister ;)

Kirarin Revolution, episodes 29 & 30

(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).



Episode 29:

Kirari has been so busy with work, she doesn't even realize that her semester exams are coming up. SHIPS gives her the advice that she should put effort into studying - cut out snack time and instead pour over the books between shoots and other jobs. Erina overhears their conversation and decides to sabotage Kirari's attempts to study, figuring she can steal any jobs the girl might get (after she fails), and make her terribly embarrassed, too. Her plans work for the most part - Kirari blunders her way through her free time, which then affects her career. Kumoi-san is furious with her inability to focus - after all, SHIPS has double the work, yet they manage to do well in school. Hiroto and Seiji finally step in for the big push. Since Hiroto has to force his siblings to study, he turns this energy on our genki idol. In the end, Kirari passes with 80 points (you need 30 points to slide by) - ironically, since Erina has spent so much time trying to ruin Kirari, she herself only gets 0 points.



Episode 30:

If people knew that Kirari was a glutton for food, it would be very, very bad publicity; so says their always right mouse director. Because of this, the chairman and her manager forbid her from eating snacks in public. And since she's set to appear at a school festival, where food is always sure to appear, this will be hard. Fubuki's company gets word of her flaw, and hires a group of photographers to catch her in the act. As if that's not enough, a student at the school Kirari is set to go to, Takashi, seems to have crush on her - and a female student named Sakura is quite hostile towards them both. Turns out that Sakura has a crush on the boy, and really wants Kirari to teach her how to be cute. After a meaningful conversation on just being yourself, Kirari leaves to do her anticipated performance. But the "cunning" photographers set up an eating contest nearby, and the temptation becomes overwhelming for Kirari. She eventually gives in, but still looks cute and delicate while gourging, keeping her reputation safe.

Eh, I didn't find these episodes particularly interesting. Just filler stuff, and displays the ridiculous logic of the show (photographers - heaps of them - hiding in a trash can? Spontanious food eating contest?).

Cosmic Baton Girl Comet-san, episode 2

(コメットさん) 2001

12-year-old Princess Comet has no interest in her royal duties. She'd much rather play with little stars in the Haromonica Star-World system than fulfill anyone's expectations. On the evening of a ball meant to introduce Comet to the prince of Tamborine Star-World, he runs away, and the only way to know him is from the "twinkle" in his eyes. Now it's been decided that Comet will go to Earth to find him and set things right - but can she make the time between having so many fun adventures?

In this episode, Meteo, the princess from the Castanet Star-World, has found out about Comet leaving to locate the prince (and supposedly win his heart). Furious that she will be beaten in this quest for marriage, Meteo immediately heads out to Earth. Comet has been taken in by the young twin's family (Nene and Tsuyoshi, as they are called), as a sort of "home stay," since she's certainly not from around there. In the course of 24 hours since then, Comet has also created a comfy room for herself in the house with star power, and treats the kids to an afternoon of sight-seeing (if by that you mean sailing through the skies on a tree), as a thanks for helping her. Only they, however, along with a weird little guy named Pani, know and believe in her witch magic.

When Meteo finds her in this simple, domestic situation, it's amusing. How is living in a home like that, doing things like laundry, fit for royalty? Meteo's angle is to let Comet do most of the work (she used a rather lazy approach to find even Comet) - she also uses star power of her own to brainwash a rich old couple into thinking she's their daughter. With that, now Meteo will be living in a mansion while the prince hunt continues. How will life on Earth differ for each of the girls? Who will "win"?

This show doesn't seem to be "monster of the week" fare - it's more like "twinkle" of the week. No villian out to conquer the universe, either. In this way, it's sorta like Hime-chan no Ribbon. Both Comet and Himeko use their given powers to better the lives of those around them.