astromantic

毎日grind, 毎日rhymes

Author: astromantic

  • MUSIC IS MY THING

    While waiting for my copy of Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild to come in the mail (scumbag Amazon — it was a preorder that should’ve been here on Friday, but all I got was an empty mailbox), today I took it upon myself to explore some of what Spotify has to offer. I’ve had a premium membership for a while now and one of the things I lamented was that Japanese music pickings are so slim. I mean, I have a whole playlist dedicated to just Korean music. It’s so accessible!

    After some successful digging for moderately popular artists that I like (Ohashi Trio, Suiyoubi no Campanella — I’d argue that the latter is becoming a lot more popular though), I found about 99.8% of Koda Kumi and Ayumi Hamasaki’s discography on Spotify! Although other avex artists like m-flo and Namie Amuro aren’t on Spotify US, Spotify Japan is still in its infancy and I’m hopeful that there will be more available internationally at a later date. Maybe.

    Anyway, Creepy Nuts is a group I’ve been listening to and enjoying lately. (They’re also on Spotify.) This is one of those times I really wish I had a better grasp on the Japanese language because I’m watching this music video like “WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?!” and also like “damn this song slaps…” o well.

  • Winter ’17, Part 2

    Winter ’17, Part 2

    Some thoughtssssss: (more…)

  • #FBF = Flashback February!

    #FBF = Flashback February!

    A few days ago I mentioned that I’d be challenging myself to something different, so for this month I’ll be taking it waaaaay back and watching some oldies (5 years and up)! I usually tell myself every year I’ll watch older dramas, but that usually doesn’t happen unless I get fixated on a certain actor (like that one time I watched six Takenouchi Yutaka dramas in a row) or by recommendation/review.

    I actually really love watching old dramas (rewatching the first episode of My Boss My Hero was a TRIP lmfao), so I’m hopeful this is something I can continue on not just for this month but also throughout the year!

    (And now that I’ve mostly finished leftovers from last year, I can finally start new dramas. Yiiiiisssss)

  • RE: Unmei ni, Nita Koi

    RE: Unmei ni, Nita Koi

    Still watching 2016 dramas but I needed to talk about this one ASAP!

    I actually think the premise of this destined romance is pretty sweet. When she was young, a woman named Kasumi made a promise to meet again with a boy she befriended, but not before leaving him with her barrette. Fast forward to the present, and she’s since gotten married, divorced, and is working to raise a high school aged son. The boy she made that promise with (who called himself “Amuro”) STILL has the barrette and always keeps it close by, hoping to be reunited with her again — CUTE, EH?

    It’s probably important for me to mention that she works at a laundromat that also handles deliveries to their rich/busy customers. And here’s where things get interesting…

    [white_box] Spoilers for episodes 1-5. Tread lightly! [/white_box]

    (more…)

  • Winter ’17, Part 1

    Winter ’17, Part 1

    New year, new dramas? Not quite…

    There were a bunch of dramas I wanted to watch last year but didn’t actually get around to watching. So for most of this month, I’ve challenged myself to only watching dramas I missed out on. The “challenge” wasn’t all that difficult considering that there isn’t a lot to watch right now. Subs are trickling in and the recent batch of kdramas seems mostly unimpressive, LOL.

    Completed

    Yuusha Yoshihiko to Michibikareshi 7-nin / I think when I last wrote about it I was at episode 3, but I caught up and it just kept getting better! I’m not sure it’ll be back for a fourth season (ending was kind of ambiguous), but if this is the end I’m glad it went out on a high note.

    Furenaba Ochin / Not the most disappointing drama I’ve watched, but not one I’d recommend any time soon. While the plot itself is so tired (housewives and affairs), the ending made me WTF. In a bad way. With my entire body and soul. It was just so unnecessary, like the amount of time I spent watching this drama. Shoutout to Hasegawa Kyoko’s new lips tho. (more…)

  • Now Playing #2

    Now Playing #2

    Since I last talked about my adventures in gaming, I bought and finished Dual Destinies 2 Ace Attorney 6 – Spirit of Justice. Like Dual Destinies, it didn’t get interesting until the last two cases… which is unfortunate because I personally really loved the subject matter: birth secrets, JUSTICE, occultism… yaaas. The graphics were also more beautiful than I thought they could be and it almost makes me want a remake for the original trilogy… almost. And because I love the Ace Attorney series so much, I bought a Japanese 2DS just for Dai Gyakuten Saiban! When I beat it depends on my dedication to learning Japanese properly, but I hope to make it my summer project. I’d at least like to get it over with before Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2 is released!

    I also bought Pokemon Moon which remains unfinished. Don’t get me wrong, it’s cute and fun but my interest just kind of petered out after a few weeks… because I bought a PS4! I’m currently “playing” Final Fantasy XV and having a fun time with it so far even though I’m SHIT at battles and feel like I only understand what’s happening 65% of the time. If you asked me what the story’s about I honestly couldn’t tell ya. 💁💁💁

    Around the time I bought Pokemon and a PS4, Persona 5 was delayed from February to April. At first I was pissed (there goes my romantic Valentine’s Day plans!), but then I realized that this is the perfect opportunity for me to beat some CONSOLE games for once. The plan is to play through/finish FFXV all February long, finally (FINALLY) finish P4 in March, take spring break to play a bit of new Zelda, then drop everything for P5! I’M GONNA DO IT

    And a fun story about the featured image (at PAX West 2016): (more…)

  • A year in dramas (2016).

    A year in dramas (2016).

    JAPANESE

    Boku no Yabai Tsuma
    Dias Police
    Cold Case
    Fragile
    Good Partner
    Juhan Shuttai
    Kyouhansha (SP)*
    Love Revolution*
    Love Song
    Nietzsche-sensei
    Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu
    ON

    Seirei no Moribito (Season 1)
    Slow Dance*
    Totto Terebi
    Watashi Kekkon Dekinain Janakute, Shinain desu
    Yume wo Ataeru*
    Kono Machi no Inochi ni (SP)
    Gou Gou Datte Neko de Aru
    Kuroi 10-nin mo Onna
    Kenja no Ai
    Suishou no Kodou

    KOREAN

    Age of Youth
    Baek Hee Has Returned
    Beautiful Mind
    Entourage
    Ms. Temper & Nam Jung-gi
    Oh My Venus
    One More Happy Ending
    Page Turner
    Signal
    The Good Wife

    The King 2 Hearts*
    Moonlight Drawn By Clouds
    My Wife Is Having An Affair This Week

    * = did not air in 2016

    TOTAL: 34

    Not too bad. Maybe this’ll be the year I break 40? Right now I’m still watching Doctor X 4 and Yuusha Yoshihiko to Michibikareshi 7-nin, which I’ll probably just include in my count for 2017. My undisputed favorites this year were Juhan Shuttai! and Signal; the former made me really optimistic about j-dramas again, whereas the latter ruined me and I just had no patience for tired old formulas in k-dramas. Here’s to another year in dramas! I guess my continuing resolution is to try more “classics”, haha.

  • Best of 2016: everything else

    Best of 2016: everything else

    Happy new year! I think the only album I 100% (heh) loved in 2016 was KAYTRANADA‘s 99.9%. There were other albums that came close but none of them had the replay value I felt this album did. Anyway, I added links for only the more “obscure” songs on the list. Enjoy! (more…)

  • Best of 2016: Japan

    Best of 2016: Japan

    WHO KNEW that a song commissioned by Yamato Transport would be the song of the year? Amazing. I’m kidding (sort of), but NEKO FUNJATTA is genius and visually stunning in every way. Meow!

    I listened to a lot less Japanese music than I should have and the only real release I looked forward to this year was Utada Hikaru‘s Fantôme (featuring my personal favorites, 俺の彼女 and 真夏の通り雨). I was looking forward to Gesu no Kiwami Otome.‘s album, but Kawatani Enon sucks and we can’t have nice things!! A few days ago I took it upon myself to listen to some new-to-me acts (chay, WONK, G.RINA) and old favorites (Nobuchika Eri, Superfly, the pillows) who also dropped new material this year. Some recent favorites:

    1. chay – “12月の雨”
    2. Gesu no Kiwami Otome. – “無垢な季節”
    3. TRY TRY NIICHE – “Cガール”
    4. 1983 – “文化の日”
    5. DAOKO – “FASHION”
    6. Uyama Hiroto – “Yin and Yang”
  • Best of 2016: Korea

    Best of 2016: Korea

    pictured: Red Velvet, “7월7일 (One of These Nights)”

    A post inspired by Melissa Johnson’s wonderful blog (The Mind Reels). But before I get into what I liked in k-pop this year:

    Over the past few months I’ve had a Red Velvet reversal. Being a big fan of f(x), I was convinced RV were the harbingers of doom when Sulli announced her hiatus (2014, RV debut) and withdrawal (2015, debut album). I couldn’t help but think that SME was putting my favorite group on the backburner! MY FAVES!! You know, irrational fangirl feelings and what not.

    Then “7월7일” dropped and I was shocked by the generally negative responses it got. Maybe because it was a slow R&B ballad and not completely suited for INSTANT popularity, something destined to be a b-side. For me though, it was perfect. It felt like Red Velvet found their niche (the “velvet” concept). Unfortunately they went back to a crowd pleasing poppier sound for Russian Roulette just as I started listening to more of the velvet themed stuff… at any rate, I hope they’re not scared to be experimental in the future because in the end, the music is what makes them interesting to me. If they’re like everyone else, it’s just boring! (more…)