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Sakura-con 2012
Sorry for the delay, technical difficulties had to be worked out. Thanks to Daigong getting me a press pass for the events I was able to be front row center for the concerts and the Q&A events not to mention the press meeting with Stereopony. It was another great con experience.
Friday was the Stereopony concert in the evening followed by their first autograph session.
Concert Set List:
1. Introduction
2. Blowin’ in the Wind
3. I am a Hero
MC – AIMI (introductions)
4. Hana Hiraku Oka
5. Chiisana Mahou
6. Super Girl
SHIHO drum solo
7. effective line
8. It’s a Wild World
MC – SHIHO
9. Tsukiakari no Michishirube
10. Hanbunko
11. stand by me
12. Namida no Mukou
MC – AIMI
13. I do it
14. Viva La Viva La
15. Hoshikuzu Kantera
MC – AIMI
16. Hitohira no Hanabira
I met several fans that came from all over. Several members of verygoodays.com were there and helped me out being a noob to the Stereopony world.
Saturday: Q&A, autograph session 2 and press meeting
the Q&A was fun, the bassist got a marrage proposal(she actually said yes jokingly) and someone else challenged her fiance for the right for her hand.
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Friday was the Stereopony concert in the evening followed by their first autograph session.
Concert Set List:
1. Introduction
2. Blowin’ in the Wind
3. I am a Hero
MC – AIMI (introductions)
4. Hana Hiraku Oka
5. Chiisana Mahou
6. Super Girl
SHIHO drum solo
7. effective line
8. It’s a Wild World
MC – SHIHO
9. Tsukiakari no Michishirube
10. Hanbunko
11. stand by me
12. Namida no Mukou
MC – AIMI
13. I do it
14. Viva La Viva La
15. Hoshikuzu Kantera
MC – AIMI
16. Hitohira no Hanabira
I met several fans that came from all over. Several members of verygoodays.com were there and helped me out being a noob to the Stereopony world.
Saturday: Q&A, autograph session 2 and press meeting
the Q&A was fun, the bassist got a marrage proposal(she actually said yes jokingly) and someone else challenged her fiance for the right for her hand.
L'arc~en~Ciel rocks the Madison Square Garden stage at NYC!
As I’ve said a million times since the magical night of March 25, 2012, the L'arc~en~Ciel concert at Madison Square Garden, NY, was FREAKING EPIC!!!!!!!!!!!!! It started with beautiful images on the giant screens, first displaying the band name, followed by the band members’ names. Finally a gorgeous, android-like Hyde appears on the screen, acting like he’s escaping from these tubes holding him, and he breaks free and punches the screen breaking into a million pieces that fly in all directions. Looked SO cool…
Then the band appears! I could not believe that after 15 years of admiring them and dreaming of this moment, L’arc-en-Ciel was finally standing in front of me. I screamed my lungs out lol They kicked off the concert with Ibara no Namida, my favorite Laruku song! They sounded SO FREAKING GREAT! I recall people in the past saying that Hyde’s voice has gotten bad due to his smoking, but whether that’s true or not, it absolutely did NOT show in this concert. He was flawless. They all were. One amazing performance after the next.
They went all out with special effects. During one song, they had fire rocketing up from the floor of the back of the stage. I felt the strong heat from it, so I wonder how Yukihiro felt, since he was right in front of the fire! They also shot fireworks (super loud but awesome), and during one song they shot streamers into the audience and I caught one! It’s a long silver ribbon that says “L’arc~en~Ciel”, “L’Anniversary 20” and has the logo of the tour. I think I’m gonna hang it in my room
At one point they had sparks shooting down like a curtain behind Yukihiro. Poor guy must’ve been HOT between the sparks and the fire!
Their performances were really filled with energy. Hyde jumped and danced all around the stage, mostly showing off his classic hip-swaying dance. I felt SO blessed to see them up close. L'arc~en~Ciel, to me, is one of the greatest bands in the world. Their creativity is impressive.
The break before the encore was painful. After singing Ready Steady Go, they left without saying anything, so I thought ‘there’s no way this is the end of the concert’. But then time passed… and time passed… and more time passed. The audience screamed and applauded calling for them to come back out. They chanted “L’arc~en~Ciel!” and later “アンコール!“, and Laruku was nowhere to be seen. Staff was going around the stage, so I started wondering, ‘could they be cleaning up coz the concert did end?’. Seriously, it was a ridiculously long wait. Felt like 30 min, don’t know how long it actually was. Eventually the giant screens went on, showing a cartoon representation of an audience doing a wave. So people started to do the wave. All of the audience did the wave together, it was pretty awesome. After about 10 waves and many more chants, the music started! It was the instrumental for one of my favorite songs, Anata, and the lyrics for the chorus appeared on the screens. Everyone sang along, and then finally Hyde appeared and sang with everyone. It was AMAZING. Such a beautiful moment~ *_* <3
The encore songs were a GREAT selection, some of their best in my opinion. I absolutely love that they sang songs as old as Caress of Venus (released in 1996), and not just new ones. It was just beautiful to see them sing songs that I’ve loved for 15 years. I almost cried when Hyde said the last song would be Niji. That’s the song that made me really fall in love with L’arc~en~Ciel in 1997, and it STILL makes gives me butterflies in the stomach when I watch the PV. So imagine the feeling I had seeing them sing this beautiful and powerful song right in front of me as white feathers floated all around us. I cannot find words to express just how magical it was. I kept one of the feathers too~ <3 *_*
It amazes me how after 20 years they are still writing great songs and music. Friends of mine who weren't familiar with their songs were so impressed by the concert that they were talking about getting their CD's! Everyone agreed, it was a beautiful, amazing concert.
The whole thing was recorded for DVD, so I highly recommend everyone to check it out.
Here is the amazing setlist:
Ibara no Namida
CHASE -English version-
GOOD LUCK MY WAY
HONEY
DRINK IT DOWN
REVELATION
Jojoushi
X X X -English version-
fate
forbidden lover
MY HEART DRAWS A DREAM
Caress of Venus
Driver's High
STAY AWAY
READY STEADY GO
Encore:
Anata
winter fall
Blurry Eyes
Niji
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Then the band appears! I could not believe that after 15 years of admiring them and dreaming of this moment, L’arc-en-Ciel was finally standing in front of me. I screamed my lungs out lol They kicked off the concert with Ibara no Namida, my favorite Laruku song! They sounded SO FREAKING GREAT! I recall people in the past saying that Hyde’s voice has gotten bad due to his smoking, but whether that’s true or not, it absolutely did NOT show in this concert. He was flawless. They all were. One amazing performance after the next.
They went all out with special effects. During one song, they had fire rocketing up from the floor of the back of the stage. I felt the strong heat from it, so I wonder how Yukihiro felt, since he was right in front of the fire! They also shot fireworks (super loud but awesome), and during one song they shot streamers into the audience and I caught one! It’s a long silver ribbon that says “L’arc~en~Ciel”, “L’Anniversary 20” and has the logo of the tour. I think I’m gonna hang it in my room
At one point they had sparks shooting down like a curtain behind Yukihiro. Poor guy must’ve been HOT between the sparks and the fire! 
Their performances were really filled with energy. Hyde jumped and danced all around the stage, mostly showing off his classic hip-swaying dance. I felt SO blessed to see them up close. L'arc~en~Ciel, to me, is one of the greatest bands in the world. Their creativity is impressive.
The break before the encore was painful. After singing Ready Steady Go, they left without saying anything, so I thought ‘there’s no way this is the end of the concert’. But then time passed… and time passed… and more time passed. The audience screamed and applauded calling for them to come back out. They chanted “L’arc~en~Ciel!” and later “アンコール!“, and Laruku was nowhere to be seen. Staff was going around the stage, so I started wondering, ‘could they be cleaning up coz the concert did end?’. Seriously, it was a ridiculously long wait. Felt like 30 min, don’t know how long it actually was. Eventually the giant screens went on, showing a cartoon representation of an audience doing a wave. So people started to do the wave. All of the audience did the wave together, it was pretty awesome. After about 10 waves and many more chants, the music started! It was the instrumental for one of my favorite songs, Anata, and the lyrics for the chorus appeared on the screens. Everyone sang along, and then finally Hyde appeared and sang with everyone. It was AMAZING. Such a beautiful moment~ *_* <3
The encore songs were a GREAT selection, some of their best in my opinion. I absolutely love that they sang songs as old as Caress of Venus (released in 1996), and not just new ones. It was just beautiful to see them sing songs that I’ve loved for 15 years. I almost cried when Hyde said the last song would be Niji. That’s the song that made me really fall in love with L’arc~en~Ciel in 1997, and it STILL makes gives me butterflies in the stomach when I watch the PV. So imagine the feeling I had seeing them sing this beautiful and powerful song right in front of me as white feathers floated all around us. I cannot find words to express just how magical it was. I kept one of the feathers too~ <3 *_*
It amazes me how after 20 years they are still writing great songs and music. Friends of mine who weren't familiar with their songs were so impressed by the concert that they were talking about getting their CD's! Everyone agreed, it was a beautiful, amazing concert.
The whole thing was recorded for DVD, so I highly recommend everyone to check it out.
Here is the amazing setlist:
Ibara no Namida
CHASE -English version-
GOOD LUCK MY WAY
HONEY
DRINK IT DOWN
REVELATION
Jojoushi
X X X -English version-
fate
forbidden lover
MY HEART DRAWS A DREAM
Caress of Venus
Driver's High
STAY AWAY
READY STEADY GO
Encore:
Anata
winter fall
Blurry Eyes
Niji
AKB48 Concert at Lincoln Theatre Video Recap
| AKB48 Concert at Lincoln Theatre in Washington DC!! | |
AKB48 came to the US capital Washington DC to perform two free shows!
Read the report here: http://bit.ly/H6MI89
World Runway 2011
Quote
On the 18th of September, the first ever World Runway was staged in the Singapore Indoor Stadium, and JPHiP got a chance to be in on the historical moment.
Tokyo Girls Collection: Fashion, Music and Cars.
Despite sharing a founder with the renowned street fashion exhibition Tokyo Girls' Collection, Jake f.R, World Runway (WR) has a distinctly different concept. The Fashion Group of 8 - composed of Brazil, France, Italy, Japan, Russia, Singapore, UK and the US - were given a budget of only 500 dollars. Given the shoestring budget, the teams were to satisfy themes given by the judges in 2 days. The prize for the winning team? One hundred thousand dollars, with half going to earthquake efforts in Japan (hence the name Fashionquake Aid 2011). In subsequent years, the winning teams would be allowed to pick the causes that the half went to.
Aiming to exhibit clothes that anyone can buy, the penny pinching nature of the show would enable the girls in Singapore to feel inspired and connected, a departure from the haute couture of most fashion shows. Unlike TGC and other fashion shows, there would be brand mixing, to enable the stylists to really work within the budget. Even the models were said to be 'not perfect', adding to the unpredictability of the show. Mr Sugar, the director of World Runway, said that given the credentials of all the teams involved, the budget and models should have no impact on the quality of fashion presented. Likening them to master chefs, Mr Sugar emphasized that it was not a matter of what was given, but how it was used.
Given the unproven nature of the concept, it was stressed that it was all a trial to see how well it fared, and that the officials did not expect the fanfare and pomp of something as established as TGC.
The show on Sunday got off to a rocky start, with entry to the general public delayed by almost half an hour. As everyone settled down into their seats, there was a short performance by Ren Kido (it suspiciously looked like a time wasting tactic) as last minute preparations were done. Two local celebrities walked down the runway, parading local stylist Jen Su's clothes.
Catering to meganekko fans everywhere
A short VTR followed, with MTV VJ Utt coming out to address the show at the end. After a short explanation of the show's concept and introducing the teams, it got on the road.
Each team sent out a selection of models, each to satisfy the theme of street-chic:
The French team
The Brazilian team's models were fun and interacted well with the crowd
During the interlude, Korean singer NARE came out to perform. Her powerful vocals were more than enough to entertain the crowd, as the judges debated on their picks for the second round. The eventual winners to go on to the next round were picked - Japan, Singapore, UK and France.
NARE killing the crowd softly, with her song
Sugar reading out the results of the first round from his iPhone
The UK and Singapore teams celebrate getting to the next round
Mr Sugar pulled another trick out of his hat, annoucing that each of the advancing teams had to pick one of the losing teams to assist them in the next round.
Jen Su announces Singapore's pick: Brazil
With eyes on the prize, the pairs of teams pulled out all the stops.
Singapore's entries
The Japanese had huge props
The British team gave one of their models a train
The French playing it safe
As the last teams came out to present their models, it led up to the most anticipated moment of the night (at least, for most of the crowd). Korean pop idol SE7EN came out to rapturous applause and screams. Performing a setlist of 4 songs, he captivated even the media present as they were reduced to fangirls.
Digital Bounce
SE7EN reducing fangirls to mush
Disappointingly, many of the crowd started walking out after SE7EN was done performing, presumably to catch him leaving the stadium in a van. However, the end of the performance also signalled that it was time to announce the winner. This time, the scores were made public with teams being evaluated according to a few criteria.
In the end, the sophisticated styling of the UK team won over the judges, and they took home the crown.
UK winning with 79 points
The team rejoicing on their win
Taking a group photo amid the confetti and fanfare
At the post-event interview, the organizers deemed the event a success, emphasizing that it can only get better as more events are carried out. Ending it, they highlighted that many more WR events were to come, and hinted at the possibility of many other locations to stage it.
The UK team fielding questions from the media
All in all, the event was a resounding success. Audience numbers were decently high (around 4500 people attended), although it raises the question of how many were there to see SE7EN, and how many were actually there to look at the fashion show. It was rather disappointing to see that the concept of the show was not held to, although the absence of Evan Czar might have been a significant contributor to it. The aim of 'fashion you can buy' was obviously disregarded, as stylists went for pomp and high fashion instead. The high price of the ticket entry was also called into question, as there were not many girls in Singapore (whom the organizers specifically said they were catering to) who would pay that amount to watch a fashion show.
However, as had been emphasized many times prior, this was just a trial event, and there can only be greater things to be expected from the team that built up Tokyo Girls' Collection to the huge event that it is now.
Check out the rest of the photos from this event in the gallery (warning, some shots are a little risque): http://events.jphip.com/worldrunway2011/World%20Runway%202011/
Special thanks to Supermerlion for providing some photos.
AM2 Convention Presents Stylish Take on Puppet Theatre: Bunraku
On July 3rd, fledgling anime convention Anime, Music and Manga, otherwise known as AM2, was able to give their attendees quite a treat. The convention, in conjuction with JRock Revolution, put on a screening of ARC Entertainment's Spaghetti-Samurai flick Bunraku, starring Josh Hartnett and Vampiric J-Rock god Gackt.
Named for the traditional Japanese theatre style involving wooden puppets, Bunraku is a supremely stylish stranger-with-no-name revenge film along the lines of spaghetti westerns ala Sergio Leone with that touch of Samurai drama akin to Kurosawa that inspired them. Western and martial arts enthusiast Guy Moshe directs big names such as Woody Harrelson, Ron Perlman, Demi Moore, and Kevin McKidd against a slick, eye popping backdrop created with a mix of CGI and practical sets. The film reminded me visually of a mash-up between Tim Burton and Zack Snyder, with dialog trying very hard to be written by Tarantino.
The film follows Hartnett as the mythical Stranger-With-No-Name as he blows into town to take on and take down Perlman, the most powerful man east of the Atlantic. Through his schemes and attempts on Perlman's life, the stranger picks up a samurai robed Gackt and bartending Harrelson for support. You can pretty much guess where it goes from there.
While a treat for the eyes, Bunraku does fall short elsewhere. The plot is seemingly original at first, but after 20 minutes any movie fan can call out the rest of the big points. That is not to say that the film isn't entertaining, it does have it's well choreographed moments of action and well placed spots of comedy, but many of the main actors seem to be overshadowed by the film's stuning visuals. Josh Hartnett just seems squinty and out of place, almost like he's lost and blinded by the CGI sun. Ron Perlman can play a convincing small town villain in his sleep, which might be exactly what he did here. Demi Moore seems tacked on as the Hollywood big named heroine of the group, and only made me aware that I haven't seen her on screen in quite some time. On the other hand, Harrelson did quietly well as the smooth talking bartender sidekick to Hartnett and Gackt, the latter of whom also did well with the position he was given. For me, though, the show was stolen by McKidd who I believed for every second.
Bunraku is a generally well put together movie and can be enjoyed at home in your underwear with a nice bowl of popcorn. The couch critics (such as myself) will enjoy the style of it, until they realize that it is starting to drown out the rest of the movie. Casual fans may appreciate the film for its quirks, but I wouldn't run out to line up for the movie just yet.
Bunraku is slated for theatrical release on September 30th, 2011.
2 of 4 stars.
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Named for the traditional Japanese theatre style involving wooden puppets, Bunraku is a supremely stylish stranger-with-no-name revenge film along the lines of spaghetti westerns ala Sergio Leone with that touch of Samurai drama akin to Kurosawa that inspired them. Western and martial arts enthusiast Guy Moshe directs big names such as Woody Harrelson, Ron Perlman, Demi Moore, and Kevin McKidd against a slick, eye popping backdrop created with a mix of CGI and practical sets. The film reminded me visually of a mash-up between Tim Burton and Zack Snyder, with dialog trying very hard to be written by Tarantino.
The film follows Hartnett as the mythical Stranger-With-No-Name as he blows into town to take on and take down Perlman, the most powerful man east of the Atlantic. Through his schemes and attempts on Perlman's life, the stranger picks up a samurai robed Gackt and bartending Harrelson for support. You can pretty much guess where it goes from there.
While a treat for the eyes, Bunraku does fall short elsewhere. The plot is seemingly original at first, but after 20 minutes any movie fan can call out the rest of the big points. That is not to say that the film isn't entertaining, it does have it's well choreographed moments of action and well placed spots of comedy, but many of the main actors seem to be overshadowed by the film's stuning visuals. Josh Hartnett just seems squinty and out of place, almost like he's lost and blinded by the CGI sun. Ron Perlman can play a convincing small town villain in his sleep, which might be exactly what he did here. Demi Moore seems tacked on as the Hollywood big named heroine of the group, and only made me aware that I haven't seen her on screen in quite some time. On the other hand, Harrelson did quietly well as the smooth talking bartender sidekick to Hartnett and Gackt, the latter of whom also did well with the position he was given. For me, though, the show was stolen by McKidd who I believed for every second.
Bunraku is a generally well put together movie and can be enjoyed at home in your underwear with a nice bowl of popcorn. The couch critics (such as myself) will enjoy the style of it, until they realize that it is starting to drown out the rest of the movie. Casual fans may appreciate the film for its quirks, but I wouldn't run out to line up for the movie just yet.
Bunraku is slated for theatrical release on September 30th, 2011.
2 of 4 stars.
