Most of us know Cha Tae Hyun as the funny lead in My Sassy Girl, but few of us (me included) knew that the man was an established singer.
Cha Tae Hyun plays the main lead in the movie “Highway Star”. His character “Dal Ho” is an aspiring rocker who makes his living by playing backup for a Trot singer in the local nightclub (Trot is very much like Korean Country music, its popularity nowadays has resurged thanks to such groups as Super Junior taking their hand in it). One day, whist his band is playing in club after all the patrons have emptied it, a producer Jang (Lim Chae Moo) decides that Dal Ho has the stuff to be the “next big thing” in Trot. Tricking him into leaving his band and coming to the city, Jang signs him up to a contract to make an album.
After a long winded introduction where new characters and a romance to a certain trot singer in his company (actress Lee So Yeon), we find that Dal Ho is ashamed to be singing trot music, and during his album photo shoot he completely hides his face. During his television debut, a make-up mishap and his ashamedness causes him to appear on stage wearing this funky yellow mask (something that you would see possibly on wrestling).
Unknown to the company, the Masked Singer Dal Ho (or as he is now known as “Bong Feel”) is an overnight sensation and his song is broad casted everywhere around the country, with his single selling out in record stores.
In light of his new success, the fame gets to Dal Ho’s head, and we see him battle with his conscience, his mother, his cast-aside band mates and his old friends for the remainder of the film.
The film starts out slow. He doesn’t even put on the mask till well into the second third of the movie, I thought if we had begun there, there would be a lot more fun for everyone involved. The characters were well acted an engaging, his mum in particular was hilarious.
Cha Tae Hyun has quite a voice, I was shocked. It’s almost perfect for the Trot style of music, and he holds his notes really, really well. Besides the slow paced beginning, the movie evolves into something that is thoroughly enjoyable. I would recommend this to anyone, especially if you’re fond of a good laugh. The ending sequence for this movie is one of my favorites of all time.
The article states that founder Yoshiki summoned former vocalist Toshi to Los Angeles to work on a hide-tribute track titled “Without You” (originally released instrumentally on Yoshiki’s first album) during November 2006. After an emotional recording session the two felt that “the puzzle pieces just fit,” and decided to officially reunite the band.
Yoshiki is said to be in talks with guitarist Pata and bassist Heath regarding the reunion, with hopes to feature the band lineup circa the band’s final performance. While nothing has been set in stone, the tentative touring lineup is Yoshiki, Toshi, Pata, Heath, and roughly 10 guest guitarists who will perform hide’s parts during various songs in the set.
Current information indicates that X Japan’s tour will begin near Yoshiki’s home of Los Angeles, with the Toshi-sung single release of “Without You” due sometime this year.
Regarding the reunion, Yoshiki stated the following: “After hide’s death most fans were split between two extreme opinions, either ‘you reunite and I’ll kill you’ or ‘if you don’t reunite I’ll die.’ I had trouble making the decision and for a while I wasn’t able to move forward. This reunion is actually a first for me as well.”
Well, it was announced on the 25th at the Jrock concert Yoshiki was holding what the line-up for his supergroup is.
Rumours were right! It was Miyavi in the wings. The band looks something like this:
Yoshiki = drums and piano
Gackt = vocals
Sugizo = guitar
Miyavi = guitar
Ju-Ken (Support) = Bass
Their name is Skin~
Its really like… almost perfect…
They all come from famous (and successful) backgrounds (which makes the fans squeal); Yoshiki is formerly X-Japan, Gackt formerly Malice Mizer, Sugizo formerly Luna Sea, Miyavi formerly Dué le Quartz and Ju-Ken is Gackt’s current bassist ^^. Ju-Ken as of now is only listed as a support act though.
From what the comments have been saying Skin is absolutely awesome in concert *grins*, ahh I’m so jealous, no chance of them upping and visiting me down under huh? They performed at the 2007 Anime Expo XD.
It’s really a J-rocker’s dream. First it was a rumour, and now it seems to have a little bit more backing to it.
Last year Yoshiki announced that he would be doing a project/collaboration with Gackt and now Sugizo has joined the duo (from Luna Sea fame). Yoshiki has announced that there would be a forth member joining their project (he has a myspace… who would’ve known… and apparently its legit - beats me why its in English).
And…… some people have questions about “THE BAND”.
Yes, Sugizo from Luna Sea came here to LA several times last year, and last month Gackt came to town, and we both went to dinner….. pretty much just the two of us……
Actually that was really funny….. Gackt came to my house and ate dinner…… that was good….. Then I said to him “why don’t we go out to dinner?”. and he said “we just ate…..???” then I said “I wanna eat different food…..” well …. we ate Japanese food at my house, and then ended up going out to a Japanese restaurant in LA…..
(We are very weird…. Ha, ha, ha, ha)…… but that was fun!
Yes, I’m so lucky to have them as friends, and also to be able to work with them professionally.
Sugizo and Gackt are such talented people, also having such an amazing vibe. Actually, they are all going to come here next month with one more person that I can’t reveal yet.
Anyhoo… the word is that it could possibly be Miyavi. If it is, then the world is complete. If it isn’t - well… it’s pretty darn close.
I seriously hope he’s gonna participate in the new KAT-TUN single Yorokobi no Uta, because the last album was kind of…lacking? bad? ^^;
Well KAT-TUN isn’t KAT-TUN without the A. There’s hope for them yet…
Wiki -
Member Akanishi Jin went on hiatus from the group from October 12, 2006 to April 19, 2007 to study English abroad in the U.S. leaving KAT-TUN as a 5 member group for 6 months.
Akanishi took time off to study language starting on October 12, 2006, but returned to Japan on April 19, 2007 to resume activities with KAT-TUN.
I got the NewS Calendar (returned as a 6 member group XD) and the six of them are in it. It comes in a large corrugated cardboard box type slipcase, and it’s huge - B4. I opened it up and I was greeted by a cute little postcard book in the centre of a large cut-out.
Inside contains pictures of the members and some personal messages. After you lift up the cardboard that’s covering the calendar, you have this white envelope and some cardboard cut out things. My reaction was:
“What the…”
Turns out, the format of the NewS calendar is that you get these cardboard cut out things and create an easle, and then you place the giantic monthly cards onto the cardboard cut out things to create this painting-on-easle-or-photograph type of effect. The print of the photos is very good quality, and they’re quite big. Each card is double sided, one side featuring all the members, the other side has solo or smaller group shots. There are 58 cards in total.
Once again… I don’t think I’ll ever write on this. As a desk calendar its kinda big, but it still functions as a calendar. But the pictures are sooo.. coool… and it’s all very… gorgeous.
Here is an example of the gorgeousness. LOL.
This is November/December month. If you get bored mid-month you could turn the page over I guess.
I like this calendar much more than the KAT-TUN one. Also I like NewS better but that’s beside’s the point. The quality is excellent, the photos are well shot - if only the whole group was there =_=
Rating (as a calendar): 3.5/5
Rating (as a novelty): 4.5/5
NOTE: Johnny’s Calendars are the highest quality I’ve seen in a calendar… it’s ridiculous. I’m continually suprised at each new one I see. They don’t make calendars like this in Australia, that’s for sure. If you love your band, the calendar products are a safe bet. I’ve seen the rest of them too, the ARASHI one actually looks like a calendar (with very very nice fold out shots), the Kinki-Kids one looks gorgeous, the Tackey and Tsubasa one comes with high-quality photobooks, and the Kanjani8 one is also excellent. However if you’re hell bent on needing a calendar, ARASHI’s one is the safe way to go… or don’t buy any of the others. But if you want excellent quality photos of your fav Johnny’s, these things wont let you down. If they’re still in print, you can get them here.
This was my first Johnny’s Calendar, and I had decided to purchase it after rave reviews for the products from previous years. When it arrived in the mail, I was quite surprised to what it contained.
Firstly, it came packed in this glossy slipcase/box which featured five-member KAT-TUN in a moody, blue-tinged pose. The box itself opened up into four flaps. The first flap opened to a picture of Koki and another moody blue pic (with Koki sporting this absolutely horrendous spotted leopard hat), the second was Nakamaru, third Ueda, and forth Junnosuke. Where is Kame you might ask? He’s the middle part of the box, hidden under the calendar.
The calendar itself… well… really isn’t a calendar. It’s actually a gorgeous photo book with a matte cover, sporting another moody picture, this time in greyscale. The book is 56 pages, the last 12 containing a month-by-month calendar with the days and tiny little oval boxes for you to write in. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m definitely not writing in this thing. The 44 preceding pages are all photos of the group, and are actually much better shot than KAT-TUN’s other photo album “KAT-TUN in New York”. There’s even one unrecognisable picture with Ueda in it looking like some other member from NewS.
As a calendar, I must say, it’s quite useless. As a photo book, it’s gorgeous. The print and quality of the whole thing is absolutely outstanding. It’s the most well printed novel ‘calendar’ I have ever bought.
Highly recommended for any KAT-TUN fan.
CDJapan stocks these, but for some strange reason the shipping is very high. I recommend getting it at YesAsia, because at least then, the shipping is free.
“Bokura no Machi de” is actually the theme song to the drama “Tatta hitotsu no koi” - it is the first single that KAT-TUN has released as a five-member unit, after the announcement of the hiatus of Akanishi Jin.
So when I had received this single from Yesasia, i had two immeadiate responses.
1) Oh boy, this is really heavy for a single
2) Nooooo there’s no Jin on the cover!!!
However, besides that, i listened to the songs anyways and the reviews are below.
1. Bokura no Machi De
Normally, the lead vocals are done by Akanishi (who has the largest vocal ability and range) whilst the others are used to back him up. However, with him noticeably missing, they have Kamenashi Kazuya leading instead. Kame does have a decent recording voice, and the song has him singing most of the solos, followed by back-up vocals by the rest of the group. KAT-TUN never did sing well in unison, and sometimes their backing vocals do clash with some of them out of tune.
Another difference to this song to their others is this is a ballad - compared to their debut rock single “Real Face” and the pop-y “SIGNAL”. I really do appreciate how well this song is written, however, being a ballad, it’s slow enough to show you the limitations of the member’s voices. That said though, I still enjoy the song. Rating: 3.5/5
2. Way of Love
Way of Love sees KAT-TUN going back to their Jpop, and that being said, it’s very old-school pop KAT-TUN, and very old-school pop Johnny-boys in general. It also does feature the group’s famous Engrish. Rating: 3/5 Stars
Bokura no Machi De PV
Compared to their Real Face and SIGNAL PV’s, I find this one kind of lacking – there’s a lot of sitting, walking towards the camera, staring off into space type singing. That being said, there’s enough close-up’s for fan-girls to swoon over.
Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
You can watch it below here:
In general, I think this is a nice change to KAT-TUN’s regular upbeat tempos (however, if you want you’re upbeat, just listen to the B-side). The single matches well for the drama, although I do think these boys should work on their vocals a bit before they release their next ballad.
Money wise, the single only contained two songs and a DVD, which in turn only contained the PV. I think that if you want better value for money, try and get your hands on the first press normal edition – but for the KAT-TUN fan, you can’t let the limited release slip out of your hands - remember, when this first came out, the DVD edition sold out from cdjapan in a matter of hours.
The version I am reviewing is the First Press Limited Edition, by Gackt.
I was very impressed when I had received this in the mail. The box was heavy, and safely packed by YesAsia. Inside, the whole thing was shrink-wrapped, which I was very careful to remove.
I wasn’t any less impressed when I removed the ribbon to reveal the gorgeous golden box, which slid open to show off a metallic-gold CD-case. After removing the CD I found two lots of postcards, one in silver, and one in gold.
The big white thing taking up all the space was Gackt’s aromatherapy lamp, which is powered by an electric bulb, but has to be plugged in via an 110V (Japanese or American) outlet. Somewhat useless to an Australian, but it still can be used with a regular candle, as the bulb is easily removed
The alabaster (I think that’s what it’s made of) is inscribed with a simple Christmas message from Gackt.
What really impressed me is the quality of the CD. I didn’t realize until I received this one the difference in sound quality between an Australian single, compared to a Japanese one – they really know what they’re doing over there, the sound is absolutely amazing.
The CD tracklist is as follows:
1. 12Gatsu no Love Song (2004 Edition)
2. December Love (New Recording)
3. 12Gatsu no Love Song (Chinese Version feat. Leehom Wang)
4. 12Gatsu no Love Song (New Korean Version)
5. December Love Song (New Version)
6. 12Gatsu no Love Song (With Background Chorus)
7. 12Gatsu no Love Song (Chinese With Background Chorus)
8. 12Gatsu no Love Song (Korean With Background Chorus)
Track 1 - 12Gatsu no Love Song (2004 Edition)
This is the original version of Gackt’s song. It was written for the people of New York – Gackt was distraught at what happened on 9/11. On the PV you can see him filming it in New York itself, with it’s people holding up signs of hope and piece. You can view it below:
I still love this song, after all this time. The violins are wonderfully balanced with the percussion and light guitar in the background. I love the bells also, they do set the Christmassy mood, although it is no way a generic Christmas tune – Gackt’s enormous range does away with that.
Track Rating: 4/5 Stars
Track 2 - December Love (New Recording)
This is the English version of the 12Gatsu no Love Song, but an updated version (I think it’s a little bit shorter). His English has improved somewhat (although at some points still illegible – which does lose some marks – fans have loving dubbed his English “Gacktese”), although I found that I liked the old lyrics much better e.g.
“As Lovers pass me by” became “As couples pass me by”
The background music is the same as before, there’s more emphases on the chorus and I found I enjoyed the balance of this song much better than the older version.
Track 3 - 12Gatsu no Love Song (Chinese Version feat. Leehom Wang)
The Chinese version has always been my favorite version of the song, I just love the way the song was arranged better (I do believe its in a higher key compared to the others). I don’t know Chinese myself but my friends assure me that his Chinese is not too bad. Gackt’s dynamic vocal coupled with Leehom Wang’s honey-dipped voice is something to be admired. I love the way Leehom Wang’s vocals are perfectly suited to Gackt’s song, and they sing very well in unison. There is quite a contrast in both voices, Gackt’s being more powerful, whilst Leehom’s remains gentle.
Track 4 – 12Gatsu no Love Song (New Korean Version)
This version is somewhat longer than the others, and features gorgeous chimes and a fuller string sound – otherwise there’s not much difference from the Japanese version.
Gackt still has powerful vocals, the arrangement is still gorgeous.
Track Rating: 4/5
Track 5 – December Love Song
This is another Korean version of the song, sung in duet, although I’m not sure who with (it does say the lyricist is Pang Chang Hark). If anyone can tell me who is, I’d much appreciate it, because whoever it is, has a beautiful voice… and I’m positive I’ve heard it somewhere before. I enjoyed this version much more than the one above, the background music is somewhat the same.
Track Rating 4.5/5
Tracks 6-8 are all instrumentals of the song, with the backup vocals (mostly by Gackt) still intact. So, listening to all these, I do realize that there are subtle differences in all the songs… interesting…
Okay, so overall rating. This thing was EXPENSIVE. I had to save up a long time to get it. I was, and still am very impressed with the quality of everything. I wish a DVD with the PV had been included also, and for that price it really should have been. Because this item is limited release, and really is a must-have for a Gackt fanatic – it won’t be long before they’re all gone (CDJapan are already out) – plus everything is just so beautiful.
Today bought me to the cinemas to view one of my favourite novels-turned film - Eragon (written by Christopher Paolini). I had read the novel long ago enough to have it not cloud my views so much - however, I was still somewhat disappointed by the movie.
The movie opens with a voice-over, Lord of the Rings style, but with much lesser effect. I actually found it very annoying. It followed through to tell some of the background, and then finally we meet the elf Arya scrambling for her life, and in several minutes, we are introduced to Eragon himself.
There are several inaccuracies within the film – and die-hard novel fans would be quite disappointed, however, as a general movie goer, I also found the film lacking. It seemed like
The main problem, I think, lies in the fact that the script was quite mediocre. There wasn’t much left for the actors to work with – I found the script filled with clichéd lines – or many lines that could have been worded more realistically, but were written that way to make a for a good trailer moment. The director seemed to have tried cram a 600+ page novel into a short film, wanting to touch on everything, and leaving no time for character development. They turned Murtagh’s character into a sort of cameo, bringing down his importance, and increasing the importance of Arya. I could deal with that, however, what I found truly annoying is that in order to connect events, the director found it a good idea to have the two main characters on horses travelling. There was an unbelievable amount of shots of horses cantering across the screen in scenic landscapes. This was originally okay, but after a while, it sure got annoying.
However, I did find baby Saphira adorable. The fact that she made the transition from baby to adult in a second only disturbed me slightly.
Another thing that annoyed me were the costumes and make up for Durza, at some stage, I found the black sequins tacky, and the makeup distracting. The whole fanning-wind-in-your-face thing didn’t seem too cool either, leaving the whole look of the movie somewhat amateurish.
In conclusion, I think the younger ones would enjoy this better - and also others that aren’t so judgmental, because you would find this lacking.
Edition: 
