It's about "Time"

The new Arashi album is out! I received it this morning via Fed-Ex from YesAsia. (Being the crazy die-hard fan that I am, I pre-ordered it so it shipped quickly.) Now, it’s not as revolutionary as the new Edison Chen album, but it’s still wonderful. To me, Arashi represents a different side of my musical tastes. It’s the left over remnants of being an N’Sync fan that allows me to love them so whole-heartedly. I don’t have a favorite song on the album yet. I love the single “We Can Make It” that’s from Matsu-Jun’s Bambino drama. But, I have a tendency to over-play my current favorites, so I’m a bit burnt out on that track. The rest of the album flows nicely and has the traditional perfect harmonies and Sho-raps. I bought the limited edition with solos from each member. I’ll admit, I don’t particularly like any of their voices separately. I love their harmonies and the songs they sing together so much more than when they sing solo. It’s funny, because most of the time I’m the opposite. But, I digress. Once I’ve listened a few times, I’ll update further, for now, check this album out in all of it’s J-Pop glory!

1 – Oh Yeah!
2 – Love So Sweet (Hana Yori Dango Season 2 Opening Theme)
3 – WAVE
4 – We Can Make It (Bambino Theme)
5 – Firefly
6 – Taiyou no Sekai
7 – Carry On
8 – ROCK YOU
9 – Cry For You (I really like this track)
10 – Love Situation
11 – Kaze
12 – Be With You
13 – Life
14 – Aozora Pedal
(15 – Everybody Zenshin is only on the normal edition CD)

Bonus Tracks (Limited Edition only)
1 – Song for me (Satoshi Ohno solo) (Fun - techno beat)
2 – Friendship (Masaki Aiba solo)
3 – Niji (Kazunori Ninomiya solo)
4 – Can’t Let You Go (Sho Sakurai solo)
5 – Yabai-Yabai-Yabai (Matsumoto Jun solo) ((Hey - I actually really like this one))

Japanese Drama Review: Hana Yori Dango 2

Mao Inoue stars as Tsukushi Makino
Jun Matsumoto stars as Tsukasa Domyoji
Shun Oguri stars as Rui Hanazawa
Shota Matsuda stars as Sojiro Nishikado
Tsuyoshi Abe stars as Akira Mimasaka

This continuation of Hana Yori Dango is a wonderful conclusion of the Japanese version of this drama. If you don't know the basic story it's about a young Japanese girl who by her own stroke of (mis?)fortune manages to get into one of the most exclusive High Schools in Japan. There, she encounters the F4. A group of well-to-do rich boys that have nothing better to do with there time than mess with the "common folk." Tsukushi Makino won't stand for this and fights back when her friend is targeted. She then becomes the main target for the rage of F4 leader; Tsukasa Domyoji. After months of struggling against him, they start to realize their feelings for one another. The second season finds them struggling against all new odds, with Domyoji in New York, and Tsukushi trying to find her way in her senior year of High School.

I found that this season was just as enjoyable as the first one. I have watched the anime and read the manga, and I found this series to be fairly true to the original story. Of course, the story had to have some cutting and pasting, as the live-action couldn't run as long as the anime or manga. I found that I cried a lot during this season. I think that the battles Tsukushi had to endure for this season where even tougher than last year and the final result was satisfying. If you watched the first season - be sure not to miss the second!


Note*-I know the image is from Season 1, but I couldn't find decent Season 2 pictures...

Five Stars *****