+ Krooxy +

Matsuyama Kenichi and Koyuki are married!

krooxy — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 01:03:16 +0000

I totally knew this was going to happen ever since it was reported that they met each other’s parents and are living together. It’s been about a year and a half since my post about that.

credits to tokyohive

Anyway, congratulations!!! I’m so happy!

You can read more details here. And there’s a Q&A solo press conference too.

Is Yaotome Hikaru’s family okay?

krooxy — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 06:56:40 +0000

Hey, I was wondering if anyone knew if Hikaru’s family or extended family was okay..

Hikaru moved from Miyagi, which is one of the cities that got affected by the tsunami and earthquake.. I know he himself is okay, but I was just wondering if his family was okay too..

Anyway, pray for Japan <3

[UPDATE]

Hikaru’s family is safe but as for his friends, apparently he still haven’t gotten in contact with them. You can read more here.

Ninkyo Helper Special Episode

krooxy — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 19:59:35 +0000

credits to japan_now

Not sure if you have ever heard of the series, Ninkyo Helper, but you should definitely watch it. It’s about a bunch of yakuza who want to be the head of the yakuza, kumicho. But in order to be considered, they need to train by helping out at a nursing home.

I really liked it because of the interesting take on Japanese life that doesn’t really get talked about. With Japan being the number one country with the most elderly, there is a bigger problem on what to do with them.

Anyway, it’s a drama that was aired last year, and I’m glad they’re having a special. It’ll definitely be interesting to know what happened to everyone.

Oguri Shun cheating on Yamada Yuu?

krooxy — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:22:56 +0000

Usually I don’t really believe FRIDAY, as they’re known to be a tabloid magazine and more than half of their stuff is untrue. However, sometimes they are true, like Ohno’s threesome scandal, and well after reading this article, I think it’s pretty believable that Oguri Shun could be cheating.

They have had problems with their relationship before (which relationship doesn’t?) so I’m not surprised. I wouldn’t be surprised if that only happened because he wanted to hurt her or he wanted a something something at the moment. Not all relationships are great like Miyavi and Melody or Eita and Kimura Kaela. Some just crumble like Leah Dizon and her playboy stylist, who are about to be divorced after having a shotgun wedding because of the kid a year ago.

Haitus

krooxy — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 18:32:51 +0000

If you couldn’t tell already, I have decided to discontinue updating the blog and the archives. I apologize for not notifying you sooner. Although if you knew about this blog before, you probably have realized that I kind of disappeared since end of May 2010.

Anyway, even though I’m not updating, if you have any questions, I will still answer them. It’s just that I am not as interested in HSJ, or JE in general anymore and so I would rather spend my time doing things I’m interested in. I will leave the blog up so that you can still have access to the old archives.

Thank you and sorry.

Oh and if you’re interested in taking over the job as HSJ’s translation and scan archiver, please tell me. Although, I’m sure by now, there is already a new archiver for HSJ community.

Thank you 2PM <3

krooxy — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 17:37:26 +0000

2PM made song just for their fanclub Hottests. <3

Apparently it was sung at their first solo concert, according to Allkpop. I’m really glad they’re making it available to buy.

I could listen to this forever. You can really hear their gratitude for all the fans around the world. Here are the lyrics in case you’re interested.

If I heard this at a concert, I think I’ll cry.

Fanart!

krooxy — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 07:00:34 +0000

It’s been a long time since my last post and a lot has happened. I haven’t been keeping up to date with HSJ and I apologize. To tell you the truth, I’m thinking about giving up my position as the archiver. If you’re interested in taking over, e-mail me or leave a comment.

On another note, I recently got a tablet and to practice using it, I did some fanart. Well actually it’s based off of a shop photo. lol.. guess who it is! (without looking at the tags..)

credit to me! Entirely drawn on Photoshop~

Byakuyako Movie with Horikita Maki

krooxy — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 20:54:05 +0000

credits to Parkminnie @ WP

According to Japan_now, Horikita Maki will play the female lead in the movie adaptation of Byakuyako, based on a famous novel written by Higashino Keigo. Higashino has written many other works that were later turned into drama series adaptations such as Ryusei no Kizuna and Galileo, both of which are some of my favorite Japanese drama series.

Byakuyako is a suspense/thriller about two elementary school kids who killed each other’s parents in order to protect each other. Waiting for the statute of limitations to pass, the two children try to live their lives without being caught. The girl lives in the light while the boy lives in darkness in order to continue their lives by mutually helping each other in various ways. But the more they try to hide and run away from their past in order to live a normal life, the more their lives spiral out of control.

Byakuyako has had an earlier adaptations into a Japanese drama series (2006) and a Korean film, The White Night (2009).

credits to wiki.d-addicts

credits to dramabeans.com

Although I have not seen the Korean film, the Japanese drama was extremely good, well acted and written. It keeps you on the edge of your seat and helpless in finding someone to blame for all the struggles and troubles the two main leads go through. You can blame neither person but at the same time you want to blame everyone. You find yourself not sure what is the “right” thing to do in their situation. You want to pity and sympathize, but you find yourself not sure if they deserve it. You find yourself understanding their underlying reasons and justifications for their reasons, but yet you keep thinking to yourself, that there has to be another way. Hopefully, the movie adaptation will keep the same essence. I like Horikita Maki, but I have yet to see her act a role with this amount of depth.

Anyway, in case you were wondering, the Japanese drama series starred Ayase Haruka and Yamada Takayuki. I haven’t seen Ayase’s dramas besides Byakuyako but she was also in Mr. Brain and ROOKIES. As for Yamada, he was in Water Boys and Long Love Letter, both of which I would recommend watching.

SMAP will be performing at Shanghai Expo 2010

krooxy — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 23:35:29 +0000

credits to Official Shanghai Expo Website

According to the official Shanghai Expo website, SMAP will be performing at the Expo Culture Center on June 13. Tickets are free and can be reserved at the center on the day of the concert. It will start at 1pm.

Exciting isn’t it? I actually didn’t know that SMAP was still performing. Lately, it’s all about Arashi and KAT-TUN, so I was a bit surprised that SMAP was chosen to perform at the world expo in Shanghai. Are they even still doing group activities right now? I feel like they’ve been doing solo stuff for a couple of years already…

Anyway, if you haven’t heard about the Expo, watch this video and be amazed by the architecture. You can think of the event as the Olympics for technology, culture, ideas, etc. except there aren’t any winners.

Then plan your trip to Shanghai and go see it with your own eyes in the summer. Tickets for opening day are already sold out, but the Expo will be from May 1st to October 31st, 2010. So go!

…and then tell me about it because I can’t go.

Concerts in the US! Excited?

krooxy — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 01:59:18 +0000

So far, there are two concerts that I know of where Asian pop stars are coming to the US to perform this summer!!

First,

Akanishi Jin!

credits to kojaproductions@WP

He’ll be in LA at Club Nokia for three shows and rumor has it that he might even perform at some clubs during his time there. He’ll be singing in both Japanese and English.

Saturday June 19th: 6PM
Sunday June 20th: 1PM and 6PM

You can get tickets starting on April 15th on Ticketmaster or AllAmericanTickets

With such a big new move for JE, think Johnny himself will be there? He was at the show Jin did for international fans in Japan… so maybe? After all, according to Japan_now, the concert IS Johnny’s brainchild. Maybe if it goes well, JE will consider bringing Arashi and NEWS to the US! After all, it only took the success of that one concert in Japan to accept United Television Broadcasting (UTB)’s invitation to have Jin perform in LA. Maybe Jin’s concerts will open the road for other JE idols to come. Exciting don’t you think? They’re expanding outside of Asia too!

I think the question right now is , do you think he’ll make it? Will he manage to fill most of the 2,300 seats? Well, he definitely has a higher chance than the other JE idols considering that he can speak English more fluently than the others since he spent time here. He already has a fanbase from his roles in Gokusen 2 and other works… And considering that there are plenty of JE fans that were able to go to the press release for Matsujun in LA for his movie two years ago, I think there will be enough people that will fill the place. He has friends from his time studying abroad in LA too.

Second,

Wonder Girls with 2PM as opening act!

credits to allkpop.com

At times, I wish I wasn’t such an Allkpop avid reader as they had my hopes up when they mentioned 2AM might be opening as well, but they aren’t. They’re already busy with their recent hit single and need to keep strengthening their fanbase in Korea. Plus, I’m sure JoKwon has a contract with We Got Married and likewise with JinWoon with Mankae Rebellion.. so they wouldn’t be able to prepare to go overseas for multiple months. But, 2PM is still opening, which will be awesome and I can’t wait! I already got my ticket for the concert! Did you? You can get it at Live Nation or Ticketmaster! Better hurry, they might have already been sold out. VIP tickets allow you for a meet and greet too!

Anyway according to their official website, WG so far will be hitting 9 cities.

“Wonder Girls World Tour 2010” – 9 confirmed cities

Fri, 04-June-2010: Washington DC / Warner Theater
Sat,05-June-2010: Atlanta / Tabernacle
Sun,06-June-2010: New York / Hammerstein
Tue, 08-June-2010: Chicago / House of Blues
Wed, 09-June-2010: Houston / House of Blues
Thr, 10-June-2010: Dallas / House of Blues
Fri, 11-June-2010: Los Angeles / Palladium
Sat, 12-June-2010: Anaheim, CA / House of Blues
Sun, 13-June-2010: San Francisco / The Fillmore

I’m really glad that JYP is having this world tour. I don’t actually know how popular WG is in America… but I’m sure they got lots of love from during the time as opening act for Jonas Brothers. With 2PM as opening act for WG, they’ll be able to recover from the whole scandal and gain lots of support internationally. I think it’s a great move for JYP.

Anyway, I can’t wait to see the Wonder Girls again! And this time, I will be able to hear them sing live for more than one song!! Although, paying $20 and going to the Jonas Brothers Concert to see them wasn’t that bad since I got to take pics with WG and JYP. Hopefully this concert this summer will be a better venue too…