Kirarin Revolution, episodes 73 and 74

(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 73:

Kumoi-san gives them the benefit of figuring out that girls are interested in stepping outside the comfort zone and dressing as cute as an idol, but scolds them on their design sketches. It seems they still don't understand, and both Kirari and Hikaru are baffled and greatly discouraged. Hiroto and Seiji walk in on their misery party, and Hiroto offers to create one of the outfits. To really test out people's reactions, Kirari decides she will walk around (disguised, of course) outside. Seiji offers to come along, so naturally so does Hiroto and Hikaru. Despite running into trouble (Kirari's identity is revealed and people freak) they manage to find out that, while the outfit was nice, it wasn't an everyday thing. And if you take off the ribbons and lace, it's too ordinary to fit what Double Crescent is about. When one of the ribbons on Kirari's dress falls off, she gets an idea. But there's still trouble ahead when the delivery truck full of the product gets stuck on the road, and surely won't make it in time for the opening. Could the cold and calcuating "Black Wood" be behind it?



Episode 74:

KiraPika has been invited by a man named Gegishubeta to perform in a musical version of Hamlet, the first of its kind. Kirari will be Ophelia, Hikaru will be her sister, but neither have any previous experience with musicals. Not only that, they can't fit into their costumes, and "Beta" is a very strict director. Concerns arise over Kirari's unwillingness to change her excessive eating habits (along with her inability to get into character), but when she tries to cut back on meals she sees crepes everywhere and her stomache rumbling makes things worse. But if you can't take Kirari away from food, what can be done to motivate her?

Are you kidding me? If anything, Kirari could stand to gain a few pounds! Just call a taylor or something. Also, I want to know what the heck most of that musical had to do with Hamlet (at least from the whole two seconds of the play they showed us). Oh, and Kirari? We've been through the "It's really haaard for me to get into character! I don't know hoooow!" thing already. Seriously, you should have this mastered by now. Or do you have the memory of a half-eaten goldfish?! Not much to say about the store episode, it's all filler to me. Get back to what the anime was all about at first. Awkward learning and plenty of SHIPS x Kirari ;D

Slayers Megumix CD

Just arrived in the mail and released to celebrate the new Slayers series coming out next month. There are three CDs - Gold, Silver, Bronze - the first, Gold, has songs from the first season, NEXT, and TRY, along with the movies, and at the end features the opening and ending to the new Slayers Revolution. Silver has ending songs from the series and movies, some extra songs like Slayers 4 The Future, and even a new version of この世界のどこかで sung by Megumi herself. Bronze is just basically instrumental versions of some of the songs.

If you already have most of the songs and are perfectly content, you probably wouldn't find this purchase a top priority. But if you're looking to "upgrade" or only downloaded the songs (or bought bootleg CDs with them on them), this would be a great deal with lots of goodies for the Slayers fan (including a small book with information on Slayers music history). And you're supporting Megumi and the show! My favorite of the three CDs would have to be Silver.

Gold CD

1. Get Along～SelfTag Version～
2. Give a reason
3. Breeze
4. don't be discouraged
5. MIDNIGHT BLUE
6. Just be conscious
7. Reflection
8. raging waves
9. feel well
10. Meet again
11. Give a reason ～Ballade Version～
12. Going History
13. 限りない欲望の中に
14. Plenty of grit(TVサイズ)
15. Revolution(TVサイズ)

Silver CD

16. Get along
17. KUJIKENAIKARA!
18. 眠れない夜は・・・
19. SLAYERS 4 the future
20. 乙女の祈り
21. Shining Girl
22. RUN ALL THE WAY!
23. GLORIA～君に届けたい
24. ルンバ ルンバ
25. I & Myself
26. 灼熱の恋
27. Touch Yourself
28. EXIT→RUNNING
29. この世界のどこかで-MEGUMIX VERSION-

Bronze CD

30. Get Along～SelfTag Version～
31. Give a reason
32. Breeze(OFF VOCAL VERSION)
33. don't be discouraged(OFF VOCAL VERSION)
34. MIDNIGHT BLUE(OFF VOCAL VERSION)
35. Just be conscious(OFF VOCAL VERSION)
36. Reflection(OFF VOCAL VERSION) REFLECTION(OFF VOCAL VERSION)
37. raging waves(オリジナルカラオケ) RAGING WAVES
38. feel well FEEL WELL
39. Meet again(Off Vocal Version) MEET AGAIN(OFF VOCAL VERSION)
40. Give a reason ～Ballade Version～(カラオケ) GIVE A REASON -BALLADE VERSION-
41. Going History(OFF VOCAL VERSION) GOING HISTORY(OFF VOCAL VERSION)
42. 限りない欲望の中に(OFF VOCAL VERSION)

Morning Musume in Cinderella full cast list announced

They are as follows:

シンデレラ：高橋愛 - Cinderella (Takahashi Ai)
王子：新垣里沙 - Prince (Niigaki Risa)
姉 ポーシャ：亀井絵里 - Sister Portia (Kamei Eri)
妖精：道重さゆみ - Fairy (Michishige Sayumi)
姉 ジョイ：田中れいな - Elder Sister Joy (Tanaka Reina)
伝令官：久住小春 - The Herald (Kusumi Koharu)
妖精：光井愛佳 - Fairy (Mitsui Aika)
ページ：ジュンジュン - Page (Junjun)
ページ：リンリン - Page - (Linlin)

妖精の女王：麻路さき - Fairy Queen
継母：愛華みれ - Stepmother
女王様：光あけみ(宝塚歌劇団・専科) - Queen
王様：箙かおる(宝塚歌劇団・専科) - King

I honestly think those clothes make them look like Sailor Moon cosplayers. I like that they went for colorful, but it's not something I would've chosen, had I been in charge.

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Futurama: The Beast With A Billion Backs review

First let me say that I'm a big Futurama fan. I have all the TV sets, some of the comics, and a few other oddandends.

WARNING, SPOILERS BELOW! If you haven't seen the movie yet, or don't want to be spoiled, please don't read!

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1. What the heck happened to continuity? Apparently Leela and Fry have completely forgotten about the Lars drama from the last movie and we're back at square one again (or, really, nothing at all). Fry is dating another woman, and Leela shows absolutely no emotion or any kind of jealous reaction towards it. So, the fact that Lars was Fry and you claimed he was the only man you'd ever love meant nothing? You know, if he married that girl, future-mature Fry whom you madly loved would not be yours. Ever think of that?

2. And Fry, what about you? In Big Score you were desperate to win Leela's heart. After you broke up with Colleen I assumed you'd go right back to that, like always. No, it didn't even occur to you. You just put on a space suit and left the universe. If he was going to drop Leela cold turkey, at least tell us why! Give us a backstory or something.

3. Despite the fact that Nibbler was freaking out at the end of Big Score, and there came a huge rift in the space-time continuum in the sky, it took them weeks before they even started to investigate it. I don't know, you'd think something like a large, potentially deadly hole in the sky would go to the top of the "to fix" list. Besides which, Leela didn't seem to care or notice that Nibbler had run away. Isn't he supposed to be her beloved, spoiled pet?

4. We have some kind of creepy "lonely" monster who suddenly decided he was going to mate with everyone on Earth literally behind their backs. Then when everyone found out what was REALLY happening, he says they should all be friends, sends them giant flowers and candy, and DATES everyone on Earth? The hell?! That's not funny, that's just incredibly weird and skeezy :/

Granted, there was some really funny stuff in there, and I enjoyed it a lot for the first half hour or so, but towards the end I was actually FForwarding. It was all "Shouldn't it be done?". The Bender and robot league thing got boring fast and I think it was just an excuse to give him more air time. It was rather pointless.

I'm not saying Futurama can't be too weird or too serious - they've done both in the past, and done it well (I still can't rewatch Jurassic Bark to this day because it made me cry for days). But this just isn't what I expect from this show, and I'm both saddened and disappointed. I hope the last two movies will be better :(

Mamotte Lollipop, volume 5

-Nina has been caught in a "compromising" position with Forte, and worries that Zero, who walked in on the scene, will misunderstand. Is this what Pearl meant by a "mature" relationship in his prediction? Despite this, the flustered schoolgirl denies that anything the little dragon claimed would happen was right on the money, causing him to get angry and run off on his own. When Nina and Zero find themselves alone together while searching for Pearl, it becomes even more confusing on what she's supposed to interpret.
-Most of the cast of Mamotte has been roped into being in the play Snow White for school due to lack of participants. Nina is the spirit in the mirror, Zero is the prince, Ichi is the Wicked Queen, poor Forte is Snow White, and so on. Meanwhile, a strange villian (whom the people around him refer to as "King" and nothing else) has emerged from the shadows, waiting to snatch Nina and her magical creature to make them "his." But how can Nina be concerned about that when she might've accidentally kissed our two main magic users during a falldown? Which one really claimed her first kiss, and do they feel anything at all about it?

Well, we're still dancing around the "will they really kiss/fall in love or won't they?" cliche. This is probably one of those series where we have to wait until the last chapter to see who gets together. And since this series is very cliche and unoriginal, I'm probably right (and I mean, come on guys. It's always the bad boy with a soft side in these). We have a new "villian" named King who has some, I guess I could call "minions" named Clover, Diamond, Heart and Spade. Heart thinks Ichi is her type, doesn't mind dressing flashy and showing her underwear, and hates Nina because she's "pretty and popular." All of them are after her because she and Pearl have some kind of huge power they desperately need (if only they knew Nina is only human).

Maki Goto sings Whitney Houston for Avex shareholders

On June 22nd, Maki Goto performed Whitney Houston's "Saving All My Love For You" for an Avex shareholders event in Saitama.

News Article
Event Photos

Cosmic Baton Girl Comet-san, episode 5

(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, Comet learns that cutting corners doesn't bring the most satisfaction. Meteo is annoyed by the rich couple she hexed into believing she was their child, what with their strange tastes and behaviors, but doesn't want to give up the life of luxury and find somewhere else to stay. After picking up the twins from school, Comet is asked to help in "kingdom-making," which in this instance means helping the father plant the fruit and vegetable garden in the backyard. After being told to close her eyes and listen to the sounds of living things in nature, and Keisuke swings by to pitch in, educating Comet on certain things a farmer must do, she comes up with a plan. In the middle of the night she sneaks out and sprinkles the field with star power, causing everything to grow - she figures the faster everything comes out, the happier everyone will be. But when she presents her home stay family with a few samples, the father says that they couldn't already be ready. Fruits and vegetables are best after time and labor - where's the fun in simply having it handed to you? When you break a sweat it makes everything more delicious. Comet feels humiliated and goes to fix the situation as a result. At the end, Comet decides that the best method to finding the missing prince is at a slow and steady pace. That way the end will be the best for all!