J-pop review- Ai Otsuka Freinger

"Frienger" is Otsuka Ai's eleventh single. The main track was used as the CM song to the "au" mobile service Toshiba MUSIC-HDD W41T, as well as being the theme song to the TV show "SPORTS Uruguzu". "Amai Kimochi Maru Kajiri" was used as the music.jp CM song. The title is a Portmanteau between the English words 'Friend' and 'Ranger', making 'Frienger'. The single was released in two versions: a CD+DVD version and a CD only version, both featuring obi in five different colours. As this single sold 173,115 copies in 2006, it was the #60 single of the year. The single reached #2 position and charted for 19 weeks. It sold a total of 173,115 copies in 2006, becoming the #60 single of 2006.

The song is certified Triple Platinum for the downloading of 750.000 units, and Platinum for the shipment of 250,000 singles.





1.Frienger- It is a happy cheerful song, what Ai Otsuka does best. There are sirens and people shouting "FIGHT" in teh background which adds a little uniqueness. After listening too it a few times, I couldn't stop loving this song. The lyrics are also ver optimistic and talk about how Ai will always be by her friend in times of trouble. It includes some vague references to russian roulette and choco pie.
Rating-4.3

2. Amai kimochi maru kajiri- I simply can't like this song. It is an extremely generic midtempo track with no soul.
Rating-2.5

Overall, not a bad single.

Pros
Unique and strong lead track

Cons
B-side is too generic with nothing special about it

Drama review- Love Shuffle

Love shuffle is a Japanese romantic comedy drama. It is about three neighbors who get stuck together in a lift one day when the power goes out in the whole city. All of them have problems in their love lives. While talking, they come up with the idea of exchanging each other's girlfriends and boyfriends.

Tamaki Hiroshi plays Usa-tan, a hardworking and sincere office worker whose position has been elevated due to his engagement with his boss's daughter Mei-chan. Meii-chan is an eccentric girl who is constantly changing her mind and is not sure whether she loves Usa-tan.

Karina plays a successful translattor who has a rich, dorky boyfriend whom she is fed up of.

Matsuda Shota is a model photographer who is in a love relationship with an older, married woman.

The last one is a psycologist(I don't remember who plays the role)who is particularly having problems with a patient who tries to commit suicide and has no will to live. All these people get together and start exchanging partners at a restaurant. Though Usa-tan is reluctant, he also joins. Every week, a couple is chosen at random. In four weeks, every girl has had a chance to be with every boy, so the cycle is repeated.

The bizzare thing about this drama was that the pairs that finally ended up staying together were the pairs one would never have guessed (except one which was kinda easy to guess)would have any chance of being together.

I liked this drama but it was nothing spectacular. But it was the only drama in recent times, that has not bored me while watching the very first episode.

In Love shuffle, all the characters are unique and lovable. I really liked the way all the actors potrayed their characters. Matsuda Shota's potrayl of the photographer was espeially good. Most of the characters are pretty good-looking which made this drama easy on the eyes. Most of the events take place in the apartment of the four (which looks classy, by the way) and posh restaurants. The settings were eye candy.

The story wasn't bad. If you are in for something casual, love shuffle is your thing. I didn't find it humorous though. One fault with this drama is that it getts to a slow start and takes a long time before everyone meets their right partners.Also, Usa-tan's love is too confusing and slow. Even in the last episode, I wasn't satisfied. Mei's love is totally superficial and seems like there is no real reson behind it other than the fact that the screenwriter wanted it this way. Still, a good watch.



That photo is of Usa-tan and Mei, by the way.

Ratings-

Story-4
Plot-3.7
Characters-4
Acting-4.3
Setting-4
Direction-3.2
Screenplay-3
Openings/insert- 1 Horrible! The songs just didn't fit.


Pros
Lighthearted
Eye candy (actors and settings look goood)

Cons
Too slow
Two out of the four pairs didn't seem to go that well
Love was very last-minute and had no motivation

Highest selling manga

I'm sure everyone will be wondering what the highest selling mangas are. Sometimes, when you don't have anything to read, be sure to try these best selling mangas out.

First, I will list the highest selling mangas by demographic target and then overall. Only the highest selling fifteen titles are listed in each category.
I do not own any of these datas and stats. They have been compiled from various internet sites.

Many of these lists are old an inaccurate so be sure to read my comments below the list.

Highest selling manga of all time, genres and demographic targets-


More than 160 million -One Piece (shonen)
More than 100 million -Astro Boy (kodomo)
Around 150 milliuon -Dragon Ball (shonen)
120 million -Slam Dunk (shonen)
Over 100 million -Black Jack (seinen)
Over 110 million -Doraemon (kodomo)
Over 100 million -Touch (doubtful)(shonen)
Over 100 million -Fist of the North Star (seinen)
Over 120 million -Detective Conan (shonen)
Over 140 million -Kochikame (shonen)
Over 110 million -Golgo 13 (seinen)
Over 110 million -Oishinbo (general/seinen)

- comipress


Naruto has been included in this list by surpassing 100 million sales.
Detective conan has also made to this list.


Most of the highest selling mangas as you can clearly see are shonen mangas. There are a few seinen mangas in there and one or two children mangas. Don't women read comics?
You must have probably heard of these mangas. They are household names. Doraemon, DBZ, One Piece, Slam Dunk, Detective Conan, NARUTO and Astro boy are popular among boys. Kochikame and Golgo 13 have been running forever and have been read for generations. Kochikame is one of my favourites because it is so hillarious but unfortunately has not been licensed. It is the longest running manga of all time. Golgo 13 and Doraemon missed the top position. Oishinbo is a coooking manga and Black Jack is a medical manga by the legendary Osamu Tezuka.

Highest selling shoujo manga





Copies sold Manga name
54,000,000 Hana Yori Dango (Boys Over Flowers) [complete]
50,000,000 Glass no Kamen (Glass Mask)
36,000,000 Ouke no Monshou
34,500,000 Nana
31,030,000 Chibi Maruko-chan
28,000,000 Tokimeki Tonight [complete]
26,500,000 Asari-chan
22,900,000 Yuukan Kurabu
22,000,000 Patalliro!
21,600,000 Doubutsu no Oishasan [complete]
17,700,000 Akachan to Boku (Baby & Me) [complete]
16,000,000 Sora wa Akai Kawa no Hotori (Red River) [complete]
15,600,000 Boku no Chikyuu wo Mamotte (Please Save My Earth) [complete]
15,000,000 Berusaiyu no Bara (The Rose of Versailles) [complete]
15,000,000 Ace wo Nerae! [complete]

-comipress.com

Hana Yori Dango is my favourite shoujo manga so I think it deserves the #1 spot. It has been adapted into successful dramas in many countries and an anime. It has over 36 volumes are is considerably long. Glass no Kamen has been running for a long time. NANA is one of the most popular ongoing mangas. Japanese are crazy about NANA. A NANA credit card was made a while ago. Many argue it fits into josei and not shoujo but since it runs in a shoujo magazine, it is categorised as shoujo. Chibi Maruko chan is an amusing slice of life manga. Others like Rose of versailles, Red river, baby and me, Please save my earth, Ace wo nerae are shoujo classics. Itazura na kiss, another classic has sold around 13 million and missed this list by a whisker.

Shonen-

Kochikame (1-151) 135,000,000
One Piece (1-45) 130,000,000
Naruto (1-36) 71,000,000
Bleach (1-27) 39,000,000
The Prince of Tennis (1-35) 37,000,000
Hunter X Hunter (1-20) 36,958,000
Gintama (1-17) 16,000,000
Eyeshield 21 (1-19) 12,30,000
D.Gray-man (1-10) 8,000,000
Katekyo Hitman Reborn! (1-14) 7,000,000
Pyu to Fuku! Jaguar (1-11) 5,500,000
Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo (1-15) 4,875,000
Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro (1-6)

-comipress


*All numbers are from sales in Japan only (counting sales in other countries, Dragon Ball would be 300,000,000+, Fist of the North Star would be 100,000,000+, and so on)


These figures are very old. Detective conan has made it to this list. Prince of Tennis has sold over 42 million. One Piece has surpassed Kochikame in sales. Slam Dunk and Dragon Ball have sold 120 mill. and 150 mill. respectively and rank above Kochikame. Bleach too has sold over 50 million and ranks above most manga here. This list is outdated and mostly inaccurate. This is just the base information.
Inuyasha has also sold over 32 milion.

One Piece in 2010, was named the highest selling manga of all time with sales over 160 million.

Most of these mangas are classics and are probably included in the highest selling mangas of all time list.
As for mangas like Bleach and Prince of Tennis that are not included in that list, they are good and worth a try. I think Hajime no Ippo is in this list too but not sure.

Seinen



1 Golgo 13 1 - 86 59,000,000
2 Oishinbo 1 - 38 57,000,000
3 YAWARA! 1 - 26 32,000,000
3 Be Bop High School 1 - 21 32,000,000
5 The Silent Service 1 - 17 15,000,000
6 Kachou Shima Kousaku 1 - 17 13,000,000
6 3 x 3 Eyes 1 - 13 13,000,000
8 Crayon Shinchan 1 - 5 9,000,000
8 Shonen Ashibe 1 - 6 5.000,000
10 AKIRA 1 - 6 3,900,000

Golgo 13 is an endless manga and a seinen classic. Oishinbo is also endless and a famous manga. YAWARA! is by the famous Naoki Urasawa who also wrote Monster and 21st century boys.
This list is again, outdated and a few mangas are not included. Crayon Shin Chan is a legendary slice of life seinen. It is like the seinen version of chibi maruko chan. It has been a popular comedy. AKIRA is again legendary but short. Be bop high school has also been running for a long time. The popular seinen Black Jack has been excluded from this list. It has sold over 100 million and is one of the legendary manga. Monster should also have been included here. Maison Ikkoku will probably be included here since it has sold over 32 million copies. Ranma too has sold around 80 million and should be included in at least one of these lists.



Sorry, but there is no list for josei. I couldn't find it anywhere. Gokusen and Nodame Cantabile are two of the popular joseis. NANA is also considered josei by some and if it is really a josei then, it is the highest selling josei.
Josei mangas are among the least selling demographic targets. Office going women don't read much manga.




Manga that did not make it to any list but deserved to be there according to sales-

Maison Ikkoku- seinen- 32 mill.
Ranma 1/2- shonen- More than 50 mill.
Inuyasha- shonen- over 32 mill.
I am surprised how Rumiko Takahashi's works were excluded.
Sazae san- General- Over 60 mill.
Sazae san was one of the earliest mangas and was credited for promoting feminism.
Yu yu Hakusho- shonen- Around 40 million
This is another shonen classic.

So, that's all. Next time you want to try a new manga, I hope this list will help you. Be sure to read all the highest selling manga. They are really worth the try.

Drama Review- My Boss my Hero

This is Tomoya Nagase's most popular drama. Many j drama fans consider it one of the most hillarious dramas ever made. The story is unique. The drama had around 18% viewership. The drama's theme 'sorafune' became Tokio's best selling single.

Sakaki Makio, also known as "Tornado" is a tough 27-year-old high school drop-out. By academic standards, he's pretty dumb. His father decides to force Makio to return to high school to receive his diploma and he asks an old friend who happens to be the principal of a nearby school to admit Makio. If Makio doesn't graduate, the position of boss will be given to his younger brother, Mikio.


Furthermore, he must pose as a 17-year-old during school hours and in the presence of any classmates or teachers outside of school. If his cover is blown, it would be the end of his high school career as well as his hopes to become boss. Things start out rough and tough as Makio's violent temper is tested. As the lessons and days go by he learns there is much more to school than just tests and studying.

-dramawiki

Makio is the heir of the Tornado Sharp Fang, a violent Yakuza. He doesn't believe in thinking too much or using his brain. He directly gets down to fist fighting. In the beginning of the series, Makio screws up a yakuza deal because of lack of mathematical knowledge. His father considering this and other factors, decides to enroll him in high school.

At first, Makio is crazy about smoking and cannot survive without smoking for six hours but he adapts. He saves Sakurakoji from bullies and leads to a string of hillarious situations. His fight for Agnes pudding, agnes dance and lack of academic knowledge are some amusing parts of this drama.

Makio learns to fight for agnes pudding, makes friends, learns many things from iron face, becomes a loved class leader and brings about a change is everyone's as well as his life.

However, Mikio's appearance is a threat. Things get tense and finally, Mikio puts pressure on his father to decide the next heir. Makio is chosen after a hopeless election.
However, Makio reconsiders love and his feelings. Mikio tells him to continue his normal and happy life and leave the yakuza to him. After lots of thinking and advice, Makio finally decides to become the boss.

However, not all is good. The rival Yakuza comes to school and looks for Makio. His secret is exposed leading his friends to lose trust. He is imprisoned and expelled from school.

His teacher (iron face) comes to visit him and Makio has a tearful conversation with her. He thanks her for teaching him many important things and never giving up.

Tomoya Nagase fits perfectly into the character. He looks old and violent like yakuza and acts well. Aragaki Yui's acting was pretty average and the others in the class did not act too well but their roles were minor so, it didn't matter.

The school events like culture festival, sports festival, exams, agnes road, pudding fight, supplementary lessons, summer vacation also add to comedic relief.
The series has a light tone and is good overall.

There are some tear jerking scenes in every episodes as well as some hillarious scenes. The experience of high school, youth and friendship is refreshing.

This drama is all about the spirit of high school, friendship and love. It teaches us the importance of high school in making a person's character and development.

This will appeal to all the nobuta wo produce fans. It is better than Nobuta wo produce.

I would recommend this series for anyone looking for inspiration, meaning of youth, teenage students and anyone interested in high school stories.

Acting-4.2/5
Story-4/5
Script-4/5
Characters-4/5
Overall- 4.1/5

Pros

Story
Tomoya Nagase's acting
Comedy
St. Agnes events

Cons

Monotonous
Not a very good ending

Drama review- Majo no jouken

Majo no jouken is a famous Japanese drama about a high school teacher Michi who falls in love with her own student. Because of the conservative nature of society, their love is not accepted by anyone. Throughout the dreama, they have to overcome many obstacles.

The drama begins with showing the life of Michi, who is an ordinary Japanese school teacher. Her father is a very strict man who is a principal. The very first day, she meets Kurosawa Hikaru- a seventeen year old buy who is also her student. She slowly begins to fall in love with him.

Hikaru's mother, however, catches the signs of love early and tries to distance her from Hikaru. Hikaru is the heir to a hospital which was started by his father and his mother wants him to take it over. She is extremely possessive and doesn't want Michi 'stealing' away her son from her.

However, even she isn't able to stop her son from falling in love with Michi and soon their love blooms into something serious. When others begin to hear rumours about Michi's love, the school management forces her to resign. Her father submits a resignation for her but at the school-leaving speech, she decides not to leave school and publicly announces that she loves Hikaru. This sparks a large-scale controversy and Michi is scolded at home by her parents and looked down at by society. Hikaru also faces very bad treatment in school, but despite it all they keep on going.

Throughout the series, they come across many obstacles and run away together but are found. Michi is arrested by teh police because Hikaru's mother has accused her of kidnapping. Michi also discovers that she is pregnant with Hikaru's child. She leaves her parents' house and lives on her own to support the child. Due to overwork, she has a threat of miscarriage and many other events follow this.

Overall, the story started out very well and I had tears in my eyes in every episode. Their romance is very realistic and the obstacles are realistic too. Their love is able to grow and both of them develop as people during the series. The ending however, completely changed my opinion of the story. It is so ambigious that it was impossible to understand. The fatalistic turn of events towards the end completely ruined the whole drama. Why did the ending have to be so sad? I coouldn;t understand. After so many struggles, it was only fair that they have a happy ending.

Don't watch this drama until you are prepared for heart-wrenching tragedy.

Story-4
Plot-3
Acting-4
Script-4.3
Direction-3.6

Pros
Great start
Heart breaking and realistic romance

Cons
Ending ruined it all

Drama Review- Aishiteru to itte kure

Aishiteru to itte kure(say you love me) is a hit romance dramam starring Tokiwa Takako and Toyokawa Etsushi with script by Eriko Kitagawa. Eriko Kitagawa is an immensely popular scriptwriter who has won numerous awards for scriptwriting. Her dramas are usually romantic and sentimental.

Aishiteru to itte kure was aired in 1995 and was the drama with the highest viewership that year. It led to a brief sign language craze. The theme song is 'love love love' by Drams come true, one of Japan's most popular bands. This single sold over two million and is the tenth best selling single in Japan.

In the middle of a bustling metropolis, how could it be that there is only one apple tree? No matter how much Hiroko jumps to try to pluck the apple, she cannot reach it. Fortunately, Kohji passes by and plucks the apple for her. Kohji is a rising young artist who because he lost his hearing at the age of 7, lives by only expressing himself through paintings. Furthermore, Hiroko is a young actress who practices acting with a drama troupe while holding a part-time job.

The two meet again and again in the park until one day, she learns that Kohji is deaf. Through their initial attraction, Hiroko begins to learn Japanese sign language in order to communicate with Kohji and as their relationship develops, several obstacles arise as well.

-dramawiki

The story is much like Beautiful Life. However, in this drama the man is handicapped. It follows the format of every other Keiko Kitagawa drama. It has twelve episodes of one hour each.

Tokiwa Takako and Toyokawa Etsushi act very well. Their expressions relate to the character.
It gives a very emotional and nostalgic feeling much like Beautiful Life but inferior. The scenes are average but the love develops very well.

It is not rushed and the first few episodes are very good. The drama is interseprsed with romantic and sentimental scenes.
There is a conflict in the first few episodes in the form of 'Shiori'. It leads to character development.

However, I was disappointed by the ending. It was much like Beautiful Life but inferior. I find it very strange that Tokiwa Takako switches between men and it spoils the mood of the drama. Also, when she attemps to get back or breaks up, it seems very fake. She is not serious about her dream and keeps going back and forth. She is quite suspicious but this quality doesn't lead anywhere. It only worsens the problem.

It was all right till the ninth episode much like Beautiful Life. After that, she broke up and created problems. When she gets back in the end, it seems very unrealistic.
The last scene though good was ambiguous. I felt that it was useless watching this drama. Tokiwa Takako's character also, is not very strong or good. It is much like any other Eriko Kitagawa story.

The sign language was good but sometimes it gets tiring. Also, there was not much monologue so, the characters' feelings were unknown.
The music score was average. The song 'love love love' was played in sad as well as happy scenes. It seemed as though there was no other song in the drama.

Overall, I would recommend Beautiful Life over this. It is a much inferior version of Beautiful Life. The end is also not very satisfying. If you're an Eriko Kitagawa or Tokiwa Takako fan, you might find this good.

3.6/5

Pros

Initial episodes
Idea
Emotion

Cons

Ending
Later episodes
Break/ forced love with Ken chan
Misunderstanding over trivial things
Weak characterization

Drama Review- Bijo ka yajuu

Bijo ka yajuu popularly known as Kiss or Fight or Beauty or Beast is a work, romance, comedy drama starring beautiful Nanako Matsushima and Japan's most popular bachelor Fukuyama Masaharu. When I read the actors' names and the genre, I was excited. I was eager to see this drama. let me give you the synopsis first.

After graduating from the Tokyo University School of Law, Makoto Tamiya goes on to Harvard University where she earns an MBA. She later works at one of the "big three" networks in the United States as a news reporter. While covering a story on an international symposium in Paris, Makoto is scouted to work for JBC Television in Japan. The news producer at JBC wants to use Makoto to help raise low viewer ratings. He persuades her to work for him for an absurdly high salary, and also gives her the right to hire who she needs.

While Makoto is being brought in to be the savior of the News Department, one man gets transferred from the Variety Department. His name is Hiromi Nagase. Since joining JBC Television, all he has done is variety programs.

So now the News Department has Makoto who thinks high ratings are the meaning of life, and Hiromi who values the success of a program as just a tool for the full enjoyment of life. These two totally different personalities mix it up and somehow reach a mutual understanding, creating a delightful "light comedy".

Fuji TV

So, that's the synopsis.
It starts with Nanako Matsushima's obsession with work, her hard rules and craze of TV ratings. She meets Fukuyama Masaharu, a useless slacker who wastes most of his time eating junk and browsing adult magazines.

In the first episode, she interviews everyone in the Office and asks them who needs to be removed from the department. They all agree that it should be Nagase Hiromi.
Later, he makes some changes in the weather programme and increases the viewership. He talks about his past relation with Nanako Matsushima but she tells him not to talk about it.

Most episodes follow the format of Gokusen. They start with comedy and end in sentimental scenes. The drama dissapointingly focuses on work. Nanako Matsushima shows no feelings for Fukuyama Masaharu until the very last scene in the very last episode and it seems fake or forced at that point. I started seeing this drama expecting the two to fall in love but nothing of that sort happened. Most of the episodes are wasted on reforms in the news division and some even on personal problems. Nanako Matsushima and Fukuyama Masaharu act well but I felt that the script wasn't too good and did not live upto expectations. The drama was aired promising that it would be a romantic comedy. The comedy was very less and there was hardly any romance which, I again emphasize is very dissappointing.

Whenever Fukuyama Masaharu would go looking for her or even try to trigger some romantic scene, Nanako Matsushima avoided it. I always kept my fingers crossed and expected that their love would take off but it didn't happen. They talk about their past relationship in some episodes but categorize them as 'past' and do not take the relationship furthur.
The drama is far too work oriented to have any entertainment value. The sentimental scenes are good and some dialogues are good too but the drama does not head in the right direction (at least that was what I felt).

Towards the end, the misunderstanding is cleared but Nanako Matsushima goes back to America. Fukuyama goes to the airport and the one and only romantic scene in this drama takes place there. I am talking about the last episode.

The drama was still, good overall if I minus the romance part. The sentimental scenes were good and themes were relevant. I did not find too much comedy in the drama but it was enough to keep it going.

The couple had great chemistry but unfortunately, the romance was not developed. A drama starring the ultimate good lookers could have been better with more focus on romance. When Fukuyama rused to the airport in the last scene, I felt like strangling him for not doing it earlier. There was no romance except the last few minutes of the last episode in the drama.

Rating-

4/5

Pros

Cast
Theme
outfits

Cons

No romance
Easily forgotten

Utada Hikaru Heart Station

"HEART STATION / Stay Gold" is Utada Hikaru's 20th single and fifth double A-side single. "Stay Gold" was used as the Kao "Asience" CM song and is described as a lighthearted, piano-driven midtempo song. It's title was taken from the Stevie Wonder song of the same name. "HEART STATION" is described as a standard pop song using lots of expression, with the lyrics using an analogy of frequencies to the communication between hearts. First Pressing of the physical single included an original "HEART STATION" sticker. The single peaked at #3 on the Weekly Oricon charts, and charted for 11 weeks selling 80,762 copies.




1. Heart Station- Initially I was very disappointed with this track. It was very midtempo and had nothing special about it. It is a mixture of electronic and mellow much like perfume's recent stuff (Negai, Macaroni). However, Utada's voice is not cute and catchy enough to make this song stand out. The melody was average at best. This song sounds more like a b-side than an a-side.
Rating-4




2. Stay Gold- It is a ballad that has heavy focus on piano with strings and some electronic sounds. It was a lot better than Heart Station. But it was still not as good as the ballads Utada usually does.
Rating-4

Utada has experimented a lot in this single, and not with the best results.