Taichi Mukai(向井太一) - 24 Album Thoughts(J-RnB/Pop)

   I'm back at this again bringing you new music from Japan. I never touched on too much of the indie music scene there because I didn't dive into the area myself. Until now that is. A musical artist caught my eye over the past few months by the name of Taichi Mukai.

1	SPEECHLESS / MUKAI TAICHI SPEECHLESS / 向井太一
2	STAY GOLD / MUKAI TAICHI STAY GOLD / 向井太一
3	SALT / MUKAI TAICHI SALT / 向井太一
4	SIN / MUKAI TAICHI SIN / 向井太一
5	KONOMAMA / MUKAI TAICHI KONOMAMA / 向井太一
6	SLOW DOWN / MUKAI TAICHI SLOW DOWN / 向井太一
7	24 / MUKAI TAICHI 24 / 向井太一

   My first time hearing Taich Mukai's music was on a Japanese music video site where I was watching some new PVs that had com out. His PV for Slow Down was in the suggestions box on the page and I clicked on it out of curiosity. I loved what I heard and decided to search up more information on him later. Sadly, nothing much came up about his music other than a few pictures and his Sound cloud page. I don't give up though so I stopped looking and waited till a later date for more information to appear. IT SURELY DID with the release of his new album 24.  He's mainly an indie artists but he signed to the record label TOY'S FACTORY/MIYA TERRANCE, A label that I'm familiar with. The reason it was so hard for me to find his music was because its sold exclusively through Tower Records in Japan. Its also recently became available on iTunes.(I'm guessing only iTunes Japan....) Or you can go listen to his music on his Sound Cloud.

    I had an idea in my mind of what Taichi's musical style could sound like based on the title track, "Slow Down" but boy was I wrong about this guy. People should stop putting people in boxes based on the one piece of information. And yes. I'm taking my own advice. Anyway,  Taichi Mukai uses a lot of edits in the production of his music. Listening to the first track is like walking into Taichi's own personal club where he's the DJ. He doesn't produce his own tracks but he does write all of his lyrics. I'm pretty sure he has complete control of his musical direction too. Tracks take beats and cut them up, bend them and stretch them out so that the listener will want to move their body along with the rhythm. A lot of 24's tracks aren't as smooth as "Slow Down" but you will want the cool down vibe of the song by the time you hit the track. Dance beat numbers mixed with other musical instruments and voice effect samples are half of the album. Not a lot of Japanese artists use voice effect samples like American artists do. I've heard popular J-artists such as Kumi Koda and Amuro Namie use it in a few songs but only their Hip Hop style tracks. Mukai uses them effectively for a more personal sensual sound. Not to mention he does a lot of his music videos in the bed and his "pour out my heart" lyrics. The last two tracks are a pair that goes together well with the style I was expecting. I like when he lets his music have a more smooth clean approach more than the DJ dance style.  However, Its all growing on me the more I listen.

  Taichi Murkai has a good voice but I wish to hear him belt a note in a song once or twice. He seems to me that he's more about the production of his music than the chance to show his vocal range. I don't know how to really describe how his voice sounds but it matches the RnB/pop/dance genre. During the times that he does get louder, his voice has this growl quality to it that I love. Soul singers tend to have this same trait to their voices when they get excited while vocalizing. He sings in English too but he has to work on pronouncing the ending sounds to words. I sometimes feel like I'm listening to incomplete sentences when trying to hear his English lyrics. His English is fine otherwise.

  There's always room for improvement to grow but Taichi Murkai gives me a feeling that he will be huge one day soon. He might not want that kind of fame or he might end up just being a producer for other artists. I just hope he continues to progress in his music career. If you stay indie, you get to create the kind of music you want to. The music he makes has mass appeal to me. A record label that will give him the tools to full bring out his potential will work wonders for him though. Most of his music videos have good quality for an indie artist too. Check him out in your free time everyone.

***Author's note: The track, "Thinking about you" isn't on the tracklist for some reason...***

Wild City(迷城) Chinese Film Thoughts

  Wild City is Ringo Lam's first full length feature film since 2007. Ringo Lam is well known because of his high impact films full of raw action. There's also normally a touch of emotional depth. A cast consisting of Louis Koo, Shawn Yue, and Joseph Chang had me so about seeing this film. I haven't seen a Hong Kong film in awhile and what better way to get back into the swing of things then to watch a film with three of my favorite actors from my younger years.

  A retired Police office, runs a bar in the center of downtown Hong Kong. One night he meets a young women thanks to awkward circumstances. He brings her to his home where he gets his brother and Mother involved with the women. Soon they find out that this women had a bounty on her head and some of the most dangerous gangs are after her life. A struggle that will leads all the characters through the dark side of Hong Kong is about to began.

  Ringo Lam's films never take too long to get to the conflict of the matter but this film does linger a little bit. I was more focused on how each character would be introduced and what they would be like. How would they help make this film a good experience? When the brothers are introduced your already have a general idea of the kind of world the film puts you into. Louis Koo narrates the beginning and end of the film and it sets the viewer up like a trigger for things to come. Once the conflict starts, the film moves at a decent speed only stopping for a few important interaction scenes. These scenes add emotional connectivity from the characters to the viewer as you learn about the background of not only the film's heroes but also it's villains. The fact that this film didn't rely on the same old same martial arts stunts to keep the audience engaged was impressive to me. Fights for the film are more real to life with the actors fighting like any normal human being would react in the situations they were in. Hong Kong has always had great car action sequences so watching the action in Wild City was like a trip down memory lane to the times I use to watch films like Internal Affairs.

  None of the characters served as a challenge for either of the actors this time around. I've seen Shawn Yue play a role like the one in this film many times before but he did well. Louis Koo wears the role he had like a second skin. He probably had a hard time pull that character off him after the director yelled cut. He an extremely talented actor and the most highest paid one in Hong Kong. Joseph Chang would still be the rookie of the three actors but he continues to grow with each film. He is most known for the film Eternal Summer where he won two awards and high praise. I made it a point to support him by buying his other films. In fact, I made a post about one of his other film, Keeping Watch.  Chang naturally looks big and intimidating because of his body type so he looks the part of a Gangster. The North American cover also has his face of the cover.(See picture above.) Sensitivity of human emotion for the people you love was brought to each character by the actors. Sometimes I didn't feel like anyone was actually the villain because both parties had something they had to protect. The gang were still criminals but they had a goal where they felt like the only way to reach that goal was to take on jobs having to do with killing others. When you lived a certain way all your life, you might feel like that's the only way to live. Its sad because living a life of crime never ends well. Louis Koo's character did things in his past too but I'm not going to ruin my spoiler free blog by telling you.  His narration also added a strong knowledgeable tone to the film through his point of view.

  Directors always make Hong Kong look like its hot and muggy there. The place looks like its has a lot going on there as well as a lack of space. Did you see how narrow certain streets are?? I think Ringo Lam wanted that edge look for the film though. They take the film out to the water for a few scenes too. It still looked smoky and muggy even though I was looking at islands full of trees. Some shots are dimly lit while the only light used it some coming through a window's curtain. Many scenes are shot at night except for a select few in the middle of the film and at the end. A day scene was needed at the end of the film. It was a LONG night folks.

  Wild City was worth the money I paid for the dvd. I thought the film was going to be predictable at first but it held its own for a spot in the thriller genre. Ringo Lim needs to do more films because the Hong Kong film industry continues to be kind of dry for me. He could be that flow of water they need.

High & Low: The Story of S.W.O.R.D Seasons 1 & 2 Japanese Drama Thoughts

   I avoided High & Low for a year or so because I couldn't get into the concept of Exile tribe acting in a drama about fighting. Its kind of funny because a lot of people were scared of  Exile when they first started becoming popular because they looked like they were in a gang. Most of the boys in Exile Tribe aren't what you would consider traditionally good looking. Some of the guys are really easy on the eyes like Takahiro but they have a tough image over a handsome boy vide. High @ Low's production takes the stereotype that was placed on them and brings it to life for a TV drama that spawned two seasons and three films which I have yet to see and might not ever see unless I go to Japan. Kubo Sigeaki makes his directorial debut by shaping the world of S.W.O.R.D for the cast that consists of mostly actors from Exile, J Soul Brothers, E-girls, Generations etc. Yamada Yuki, and Kubota Masataka are two of the actors that are not affiliated with Exile but are well known in their own right.

  A great quality about this series is that they episodes are a half and hour each. My friend was raving about this drama a few months ago and I though it was strange because my friend can't watch J-drama where each episode is an hour or so long. He never finishes them but High & Low goes by fairly quickly if you marathon watch it. I didn't do this because I like to take me time. The storyline can be as simple to understand as sweet potato pie. A city called S.W.O.R.D was ruled by a gang called Mugen but they disband so the city is split into different parts. These parts are ruled by a different gang. The rest is just them fighting for honor and pride. You see the reason the episodes are only a half and hour because the plot doesn't have enough material to fill up an hour time slot. So they chopped up the content they did have into half and hour episodes. The films are basically background stories and a continuation of season 2. I couldn't help but to think while watching that this series was fan service for fans. From the soundtrack to the way Exile is presented seemed like a big music video with fight scenes and dialogue. What I did love about the drama was the attempt to give the character's some type of emotional depth so they didn't appear too secular. Every character had reasons for fighting outside of just doing it to protect their turf. One gang was protecting women from men who tried to sexually assault them by creating a safe haven for them to come too.( It was a club but we not going into that....) Another had a guy who wanted to preserve a place for his friend to come back to even though his friend has let him down time and time again. Watching this relationship unfold really teaches the viewer about the basis of friendship when its gone sour. A friendship can't be saved if the other person isn't trying to save it no matter how much you reach out to them and try to hold on. The character never gave up though because he knew that the other guy still wanted to be friends deep down. Their circumstances that led to the destruction of their friendship also was very unfortunate. I think of the series Crows Zero when I see High & Low because its very close in similarities. The difference being that Crows Zero takes place in a school(High & Low uses a school too but not for the entire drama.) and High & Low deals with a whole city.

   Back to the emotional depth of the characters. I felt the relationship of the Hoodlum Squad and Rude Boys the most out of all the gangs. It takes a  lot of flashbacks to really put you in the right state of mind where you feel like you know the characters. Once you get the a feeling connection for each gang you understand why they act the way that they do. Kubota Masataka  plays the cool and collected smoky who didn't look like he wants to fight anyone unless provoked. Rude Boys basically consists of people thrown out on the street. I feel their situation and how they all came together to help each other under the leadership of Smoky. Suzuki Nobuyuki plays the leader or co leader of the Hoodlum Squad and he just wants things to come back to the way things were when Mugen was in rule and he had his friend. Too much is going on in the shadows for that to happen though and we the viewers are forced to watch as his character tries to protect the balance of S.W.O.R.D and restore a his friendship with someone who is into some pretty shady activities. They all act well together because they have a strong bond formed over the years in real life. I laughed and cried with Hoodlum Squad during their ups and downs. This experience beat the over the top fighting scenes any day. They weren't bad but predictable at times. Shit went down during the last episode of season one. I had to clutch my pillow while I watched.

    I have to wonder if this drama was shot in Yokohama because a lot of the area looked ghetto as hell. I don't know how anyone learned anything at the nearby High School. That place was a reck with the smashed windows and graffiti all over the building. The business district(?) where Hoodlum Squad had their bar looked like a slum area too. A perfect place for our Idol gangsters eh? The fighting scenes were shot in a stylish fashion using up and overhead shots so the viewer can witness the action like they are watching from the top of a building. The camera man also runs beside them to make you think your watching one of this discovery channel specials about animals running in a group only its humans not animals.... With the way they fight at times, you can't tell the difference though. I mean this in a non judgmental way of course. Do what you gotta to do. My attention began to wane while watching them fight if it happened too often and as a result, I caught major ADHD and started singing or typing on my second computer. High & Low has the kind of story line where you can look away for a few minutes then look back and still know whats going on. Every scene is beautifully filmed overall.

  High & Low can be defined as a good drama but i'm not jumping out of my seat for this one either. I'm not sure I would even recommend it to people who aren't fans of Exile tribe's music because the whole drama is like a promotion spot for their music since they did the soundtrack which sounds good and fits the drama perfectly. A person might become a new fan of them by watching this drama as well. I liked it as a time waster but Crows Zero does the concept way better in my opinion.

Phantom of the Theatre(魔宫魅影) Chinese Film Thoughts

  I'm currently trying to find good Chinese films to post about here. I can't tell you how long its been since Ive seen a masterpiece come out of Hong Kong or Taiwan. At least things are steadily improving with the new releases of this year. One of those releases is known as Phantom of the Theatre.

   Phantom of the Theatre was directed by Raymond Yip followed by the cast Ruby Lin, Tony Yang, Simon Yam, and Huang Lei. The film is listed as a thriller but the way it was promoted stateside would make one believe the film is a horror. I even found the dvd in the horror section at my local store. So because of this my mind had a premature image of what this film was going to be and it affected my overall thoughts but I'm going to try to change them as if I was looking at the film as a thriller.

   In 1930 Shanghai China,  There's a theatre that has said to be haunted. Everyone stays away from its doors but one day a director decides that he wants to use the theatre to make a movie using an up and coming raising star actress and a full crew of people. They start production and mysterious accidents start to occur. Now the director must survive the attacks by the theatre and get down to the truth behind the haunting.

   Shanghai is highlighted in great detail to show how the city looked in the 1930s. Women are wearing slim fitted dress along with a hat to match. Men wear damper suits and hair slicked back to pull off a look of money and prestige. The streets are paved with stones as the wooden drawn carriage  ride on them. A lot of foreign influence had swept over China at this time because of trade and imports. I didn't know what time this film was going to be set in when I first watched but I knew right away that it wasn't in modern time. They still used those camera's that needed a person to roll it in order for the camera to record. Also so who uses a theatre to make a film in this day and age anyway? The setting was kind of confusing in using the theatre to make to make a film. I'm guessing Chinese culture must have done this back then. when I think theatre, I think of a play that you go sit in the theatre to see. Not a theatre used as a set for a film that will be shown in movie theaters. Whatever floats your boat in different cultures..... I guess. Honestly, The whole city of Shanghai looks like a set to me. It looks real but it looks like a set made for a movie too. Sometimes during the film, the shot shows a view from the outside of the city of Shanghai. I don't know if it really looked like that back then but I saw the city on an island during the night. Rocks were sticking out of the water along with rocks that had broken off of the island Shanghai was located on. I also noticed to absence of daytime scenes but being indoors much of the film doesn't help either. Some of Phantom's special effects are  impressive and may be one of the best qualities in the film. I was watching going "Wow, that was nicely done!".

  Performances were good in a broadway or showtime kind of way. I wasn't specifically impressed with the leads acting abilities however, they didn't bring down the film either. They all  just acted out the scripts they were given. Everything about their acting seemed very straight laced to me. None of the actors or actresses brought a quality to the characters outside of what the script asked for. I was more interested in the ghosts then I was them at times. Some of the older veteran actors/actresses acted really well for their scenes but they aren't necessary to the film until a certain point in the plot. The lead actress and actor had great chemistry as well but I couldn't help but feel like certain romantic scenes weren't needed. Trying to have a relationship with someone while people are dying is down right weird to me.  Continuing to make a film when you see people being burned to a crisp is crazy to me.

   You can see that once again a director tries to mix different genres in one film. Asia loves their love centered plot so much that they can't get away from them. Like I mentioned above,  I thought this was a horror film but the more I watched, the more less scared i got and the more I realized this was a thriller. The plot does a good job developing the main characters by showing their past and relations to other characters. Social Status plays a huge role in how a person is treated by others. Women are also still seen as beings that can be bought into some alone time in the dressing room. I felt awkward because Phantom of the Theatre deals with conflicts such as cheating on your supposed loved one with a girl half the man's age. A mini drama was seriously going on with the character's feelings while a haunted theatre burns people to death. Everything is happening at the wrong time. All I will say is blood is thicker than water. End of story.

  This was such a cute little film. I mean that in the best way possible. It kept me entertained for about two hours and the mystery is interesting. You might figure out whats going on before the answer is given to you but the plot twist is still fun to see. Watch without much expectations and you'll be fine. I don't see this film winning an Oscar anytime soon though. Leave the title comparison to Phantom of the Opera alone please.

Are You Alice?(アー・ユー・アリス) Japanese Manga Vol 1-12 Thoughts

 

   The manga called "Are You Alice" had its final run by ending on it's twelfth volume.  Katagiri Ikumi created the manga while the original story was written by Ninomiya Ai. I believe a game for playstation portable, visual novel, and drama CD were made for the series but not much is known about "Are You Alice?" state side. There's so many Alice in Wonderland inspired manga out there that its easy to over look this one. My reasons for picking this up had to do with the same reasons I pick up most manga. Visuals first then I look at the plot line. Plus I had run across this manga a few times in the local bookstore but $13 is a lot of money to spend for each volume especially if the series turned out not to be good.

   Welcome to Wonderland where there are many different versions of Alice, The heroine of the original Alice in Wonderland. The real true Alice must be found and when she is found, she is to kill the white rabbit in order to end the game of finding Alice. Then everyone can return to the real world. But a problem arises when a man with no name appears in Wonderland and is named the new Alice. A mission to catch and kill the White rabbit begins. Who is this man? Will killing the white rabbit get everyone home again.

  The plot of this manga can be super confusing if you don't know how to read in-between the lines. You will be introduced to many colorful characters as you read each volume such as, The Mad Hatter,  The Chester Cat, and the Queen of Hearts etc. Most of the characters are male(yes even the Queen of Hearts.) and I think this is due to the creator being a women. It brings a new flavor to a story we know but don't let the pretenses that Alice in Wonderland was under fool you. This manga got a crazy stride about it and each character with their mysterious personalities hold keys to the flow of the world they come to be trapped in. The story's flow has restrictions for everyone in Wonderland of what they can and can not do according to their role in the story. New Alice then comes in and throws the story's flow off balance. I liked all the character's because they all seemed like they went through moments of self discovery when they thought they knew themselves already. Alice is very defiant like a child who acts like he doesn't need his parents but reaching out for his parents hands all at the same time. He grows the most out of everyone and the other characters grow from watching him grow. Another quality about this manga is that the story kept reveling new characters until the end but it was done in a a way that wasn't overbearing. You want to know this characters because they progress the story with more answers that you as the reader are all so thirsty to find.

  Manga can't be great if the art isn't good in my opinion but "Are You Alice" used the art to encourage the text. Each character model is drawn to look mature with boyish good looks. Kind of like how Alice looked like a pure cuteness to her when she enters Wonderland. Eyes and face shapes are drawn with a roundness that shows youth but the beginning of maturity. Some characters are older than others so these charters have leaner facial structure. During times that the characters show dark facial expressions, a pointed sketch pen is used to draw lines that scratch out a character's face or darken a side of the face for a spooky effect that can only mean the character is thinking evil thoughts. The panels are also created for the showcase of a page out of a book. You will notice that some panels have a design to them like they were ripped out of a book. Other panels either use beautiful scenery of a city that looks like London England or an emptiness and nothing else but the character's face/profile.(A lot of black coloring too.) Even though this manga has a lot of serious events that happen, Comedy also sneaks in there at the most unlikely times. The characters shown during these times are drawn with simple shapes like circles for eyes and square shape for the mouth. This is a formula that most manga use to express comedic moments.  I love manga's ability to pull this off.

  My biggest problem wasn't with the series itself but the release dates for each volume. It would take so long for a new volume to come out that I would forget the story. Going to the bookstore and seeing that a new volume magically came out wasn't fun either. Especially when you went planning to buy something else then BOOM!!! THERE IT IS!!! Readers might be turned off by the story because its mind bending and the conclusion also makes you think. I think the creator wants you to use your mind without handing the answer to you on a silver spoon. Some of you might have trouble wondering what if this means this or what if this happened but I'm always expanding my horizons with what if questions. Ask questions for yourself because you never know the answer you'll come to.

  "Are You Alice" looks great visual and the story line is so weird that its attractive. Just be happy that your in a better position than I was. The series is officially finished so you can go buy with out worrying about waiting for a new volume or you can read online. Thats not my thing. I like the feel of a book in my hands.