JDorama review: Hanazakari no Kimitachi e

Title: Hanazakari no Kimitachi e Also known as: HanaKimi Translation: For You In Full Blossom Broadcast date: 7/3/07 - 9/18/07 Genre: Romantic comedy Cast: Horikita Maki, Oguri Shun, Ikuta Toma Plot: Ashiya Mizuki (Horikita Maki) is a Japanese girl living in America. When her idol, athlete Sano Izumi (Oguri Shun), stops competing in the high jump, she moves to Japan to attend his all-boy high school in order to make him jump again. What is good: Ikuta Toma steals absolutely every scene that he is in. What is bad: It seems that Oguri Shun can only play one type of character. Letter rating: A Overall: I really enjoyed watching HanaKimi. While I started watching the show because it starred Oguri Shun, Ikuta Toma stole my heart. He was able to pull off goofy yet heart-warming at the same time. I'd like to see him in a ton of other projects. I was a little disappointed in Oguri Shun's performance. I've seen a couple of his roles now and they all seem to be exactly the same - a cute yet distant loner. It would be nice if we could try something a bit different for once. Sadly, I don't have much to say about Horikita's Ashiya. Sure, the character was determined and charismatic but she just didn't seem to come together totally. It was almost as if we, the audience, were missing something about her.

I would like to see a special episode though. I won't give away the ending for the show but it definitely leaves an opening for an awesome one-shot special. This is definitely a show that everyone should check out.

Game review: Fashion Fits!

I wasn't planning on playing Fashion Fits! based on just the name. It sounds like some sort of fashion designer game. Well, it's not. I decided that I had to jump into the game and if it turned out to be terrible, I'd at least be able to warn you about it. Fashion Fits! is a time management game based on the exciting world of retail. Your heroine, Francie, gets a job selling clothes at a big box store. You get to do thrilling things like stock the floor, empty the fitting rooms of leftover merchandise and ring up customer purchases on the register. Unlike a normal retail peon, you do get to make choices on upgrades for the store. However, some of the upgrades seem to give you more work to do.

While this isn't a bad game, it isn't particularly exciting either. It's basically the same annoying jobs you can get in real life without getting money in your pocket. There are different types of customers which, obviously, require various levels of service. A lot of the customers leave clothes in the dressing room for you to clean up while a few of the customers pick what they want and try to get out as soon as possible. It's your job to try to make sure that you, as the only employee of the store, can make everyone happy while keeping the floor stocked with product. I found it rather difficult to juggle absolutely everything. You can upgrade the floor displays to hold more stock and you can add more fitting rooms but that really just leaves you with more displays to fill and fitting rooms to clean. None of the upgrades I was offered included hiring an extra employee. You can make Francine walk faster but that doesn't accomplish a whole lot when the sales floor is filled with demanding customers.

You might want to give the game a try if you like time management games. It is possible that I just hate retail so much that it has seeped into my opinion of it. However, I don't think I've ever had to work a busy sales floor on my own without any help from anyone. That would completely suck and this game proves it.

America's Most Smartest Model - episode 6

There weren't a lot of surprises this week. I was completely shocked at the end of the episode but we'll talk about that in a bit. The Edge Challenge was deceptively difficult. Our eight models had to split into four teams of two. Extremely intelligent Daniel made a huge mistake by taking on extremely stupid American!Rachel, Pickle paired up with Brett, Angela agreed to work with dominant Andre and Australian!Rachael went with VJ. The teams had to draw six shapes using specific angles and lengths and whatnot. Not very difficult, right? Neither American!Rachel nor Andre were able to create any shapes. (Andre blamed the metric system for his problems. Rachel is just dumb.) VJ came very close to winning but when guest judge Santos (from the second season of Project Runway) told him that one of his measurements was incorrect, Pickle snuck in and nabbed the win.

For the Call-Back Challenge, the models had to design some clothes. The winning team, Pickle and Brett, got to dole out shapes to the other teams while they were able to use the entire six-shape arsenal. They gave Australian!Rachael and VJ a circle, Andre and Angela got a triangle and a rectangle while they took pity on Daniel and American!Rachel by giving them the rhombus, pentagon and trapezoid. Overall, I didn't think any of the designs were absolutely terrible. None of these people are fashion designers. Pickle and Brett took the win for this challenge with a boxer-themed sporty trunks/skirt with a hooded robe.

This is where the surprises started. Immediately after the winners of the Call-Back Challenge were announced, Mary Alice calls American!Rachel up to the runway. After a bit of scolding, Mary Alice throws the dumb blonde out of the house. She didn't even make it to the very end of the episode where they are supposed to get rid of people! So Mary Alice dismisses everyone with the promise to see them later.

Would Mary Alice toss another model out of the house? If she does, who would be the next to go? At the elimination, she calls up Australian!Rachael, VJ and Daniel. Daniel gets a scolding for being a nice guy and picking the dumbest person in the house to pair up with. However, he refuses to put his integrity on the line and Mary Alice sends him back to the fold. VJ was called up for....I'm not really sure why he was called up. Mary Alice basically praised him for playing the game well and asked him if he really wanted to win. It's obviously a bad thing to come in second place in Mary Alice's book. Finally, she gets to Australian!Rachael. She gets Mary Alice's wrath for not having her heart in the game or something? Mary Alice doesn't think Rachael "wants it enough." If this is the case, why isn't Angela up there? Angela seems to have the personality of a brick wall despite having some book smarts. Anyway, no one else gets kicked off and they all go back to worrying about the next challenge.

Music review: Madonna - You Must Love Me

Artist: MadonnaAlbum: Evita: Music From The Motion Picture Release date: 10/25/96 Video link: via YouTube

Lyrics: Where do we go from here? This isn't where we intended to be We had it all, you believed in me I believed in you

Certainties disappear What do we do for our dream to survive? How do we keep all our passions alive, As we used to do?

[Bridge:]

Deep in my heart I'm concealing Things that I'm longing to say Scared to confess what I'm feeling Frightened you'll slip away

[Chorus:]

You must love me You must love me

Why are you at my side? How can I be any use to you now? Give me a chance and I'll let you see how Nothing has changed

[bridge] [chorus]

You must love me About the song: Evita is a stage musical written by Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice about the life of Eva Peron. This song was specifically written for the movie version of the play. It had been thirteen years since Weber and Rice wrote anything together.

Lyrically, this is a heart-wrenching song. It comes at a point in the movie when Eva is at her lowest yet she finds out that her husband truly does love her. Throughout their entire relationship, Eva believed herself to be nothing more than a political tool to get her husband, Juan Peron, into the Argentinian presidency. It is only when she is on her deathbed that she realizes how wrong she has been.

You Must Love Me is a great emotional song but it's not something I'd recommend listening to if you are sad or depressed.

The Mist

My husband is a big fan of Stephen King's novels. Thanks to him, I've watched quite a few King movies. (I'm a big scaredy cat so I never tried to watch his movies on my own.) One of our favorite King films is The Stand. OK, OK, that's a television mini-series and not a feature film but it was still really good. The pacing of the story and the characterizations came together to produce a chilling story. My husband also liked the science behind the virus. He was a biology major in college after all. A couple of days ago, we saw the trailer for The Mist by Stephen King. At first, we weren't sure if this was a King movie or not. However, once the title card crossed the screen, my husband started shouting with joy. It turns out that The Mist was his very favorite novel and now he can't wait to see the film adaptation.

You really do have to watch the trailer. I was a little confused since I haven't read the book but after talking to my husband a bit, it turned out that I saw what I thought I saw. Creepy things come out of The Mist! I have to admit that even though I don't like scary movies, I am looking forward to this one. It must be a side-effect of being married to a horror fan.

Game review: Diner Dash: Hometown Hero

Everyone's favorite waitress, Flo, has gone back to her hometown for some rest and relaxation. While driving around with her grandmother, they find out that the places from Flo's childhood are falling apart due to lack of funds. It's up to Flo and her grandmother to save the day! Diner Dash was my first time management game so it has a special place in my heart. This sequel doesn't disappoint. There are some changes to the gameplay to make it a bit more difficult than the earlier editions but the changes are good. Now you are able to slide two 2-seat tables together to make a 4-seat table. I absolutely love this. Before, you always got screwed when you had a lot of parties of 4 coming in. Moving tables together alleviates the problem.

Another change is the 'competition level.' In the demo that I played, there was one level where Flo got to hire a new waitress. To "train" the newbie, you had to beat their score by at least ten points. This wasn't difficult at all since the new waitress seemed to just hang around waiting for you to miss something. She was really good at handing out drinks though.

The restaurant design part of the game is still there too. I think the design part makes the game just a little bit different from other time management games. And, of course, you can still upgrade just about everything.

Diner Dash: Hometown Hero should be a hit with any Diner Dash fan. Let's tie on our aprons and get to work saving Flo's home town!

Music review: Lauryn Hill - Doo Wop (That Thing)

Artist: Lauryn Hill Album: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill Release date: 8/25/98 Video link: on You Tube

Lyrics: It's been three weeks since you've been looking for your friend The one you let hit it and never called you again 'Member when he told you he was 'bout the Benjamins You act like you ain't hear him then gave him a little trim To begin, how you think you really gon' pretend Like you wasn't down then you called him again Plus when you give it up so easy you ain't even fooling him If you did it then, then you probably fuck again Talking out your neck sayin' you're a Christian A Muslim sleeping with the gin Now that was the sin that did Jezebel in Who you gon' tell when the repercussions spin Showing off your ass 'cause you're thinking it's a trend Girlfriend, let me break it down for you again You know I only say it 'cause I'm truly genuine Don't be a hardrock when you're really a gem Babygirl, respect is just a minimum Niggas fucked up and you still defending them Now Lauryn is only human Don't think I haven't been through the same predicament Let it sit inside your head like a million women in Philly, Penn. It's silly when girls sell their soul because it's in Look at where you be in hair weaves like Europeans Fake nails done by Koreans Come again Come again, come again, come again, come again

Guys you know you better watch out Some girls, some girls are only about That thing, that thing, that thing

The second verse is dedicated to the men More concerned with his rims and his Timbs than his women Him and his men come in the club like hooligans Don't care who they offend popping yang like you got yen Let's not pretend, they wanna pack pistol by they waist men Cristal by the case men, still in they mother's basement The pretty face, men claiming that they did a bid men Need to take care of their three and four kids men They facing a court case when the child's support late Money taking, heart breaking now you wonder why women hate men The sneaky silent men the punk domestic violence men The quick to shoot the semen stop acting like boys and be men How you gon' win when you ain't right within How you gon' win when you ain't right within How you gon' win when you ain't right within Come again Come again, come again, come again, come again

Girls you know you better watch out Some guys, some guys are only about That thing, that thing, that thing About the song: I love the video to this song. For those of you that don't remember, the entire video is a split screen of two concerts. One is 1968 Lauryn and one is 1998 Lauryn. It really goes well with the song's lyrics and overall sound.

This should probably be the theme song to Bill Cosby's "Don't Be Stupid Black People" rants. It's a warning to not sleep around and stop paying attention to trivial things like sneakers and bling and money. Take care of yourself and your family and be a good person. It's a message that needs to get out to more people. Too bad most of those people probably don't listen to Lauryn Hill songs, which is a shame.

Game review: Mystery Case Files: Madame Fate

The Mystery Case Files series is what got me into hidden object games. My daughter and I frequently play Ravenhearst together. So I was ecstatic when I saw a new MCF game called Madame Fate. In this version of the game, you are helping Madame Fate, a fortune teller at a carnival, who has foreseen her own death. You have to figure out which of the quirky carnival workers is slated to kill her and stop them. All in a day's work, right?

This game was a little more difficult than the other MCF games. In some levels, there are objects you need to put together to form a whole object on your list. For example, you might be searching for an ice cream cone. In order to get one, you need to put the scoop of ice cream on an empty cone. There are also hidden areas in some areas of the carnival. They are usually easy to find as the "hidden door" does this glowy-blinky thing. The final puzzle of each level is a different form of hidden object puzzle. Instead of having an entire list of things to find, you are given a multitude of two objects. For example, you may need to find 10 letter Ms and 10 musical notes in one scene.

True to its form, I did enjoy Madame Fate. The end-of-level puzzles were rather difficult as many items are hidden in shadows but it wasn't a deal breaker for me. I hope that I'll get some time to play through it more to see how the higher levels are.

Game review: Hawaiian Explorer: Pearl Harbor

While the website was down late last week, I gave Hawaiian Explorer: Pearl Harbor a try. Yet another hidden object game, I was expecting something along the lines of Hidden Expedition: Titanic, which was an extremely enjoyable game. However, Hawaiian Explorer was nothing but a disappointment. The typical list of objects to find is often times confusing. When you find something from your list, you need to click on a specific spot on the object or you will lose time. This, of course, makes you think that isn't the object you are looking for when, in fact, it is and you just didn't click on the special spot. If you run out of time, you have to start the level over again with a slightly different list.

In between levels, there is a map piece puzzle. Basically, there is a ripped up map and you have to piece it back together. If you fail to do accomplish this within the time limit, you get tossed back to the previous hidden object level. It is frustrating to say the least.

Hawaiian Explorer: Pearl Harbor is probably the worst hidden object game I have ever played. While some of the graphics are pretty, the gameplay is atrocious.

Music review: Mini Moni - Rock n Roll Kenchoushozaichi

Artist: Mini Moni Members: Mika Todd (family name last), Kago Ai, Nozomi Tsuji, Takahashi Ai Album: Minimoni Songs 2 Release date: 2/11/04 (single was released 4/9/03) Video link: on Veoh

Lyrics: (Sorry, no translation) "Baby ROKKUNROORU kenchoushozaichi MINIMONI. oboechaina SHIRII~ZU! saa minasan harikitte ikimasu yo~!"

hokkaidou wa sapporo otsugi wa ( sapporo RAAMEN ) aomori akita ni iwate no morioka ( wankosoba wankosoba ) fukushima yamagata miyagi wa sendai ( sasakama sasakama )

ibaraki no mito ni tochigi wa utsunomiya ( shimotsukare shimotsukare) saitama saitama yamanashi wa koufu ( houtou houtou ) gunma no maebashi kanagawa no yokohama ( shuumai shuumai )

chiba ni toukyou nagano ni shizuoka niigata touyama ishikawa no kanazawa aichi wa nagoya gifu to fukui

"tokoro de anta kenchoushozaichi tte nanden non?" "AHO ya na anta,, kenchou no shozaichi ya ga na" "he~"

kenchoushozaichi...

mie wa tsu ni shiga wa ootsu ( funazushi funazushi ) wakayama kyoto ni nara ni oosaka ( takoyaki takoyaki ) hyougo wa kobe de okayama hiroshima ( nama GAKI nama GAKI )

shimane no matsue ni tottori yamaguchi ( fugusashi fugusashi ) kagawa no takamatsu ehime no matsuyama ( iyokan iyokan ) kagoshima kouchi ni fukuoka ooita ( shiroshita karei )

saga ni nagasaki kumamoto miyazaki soshite kagoshima okinawa no naha ROKKUNROORU kenchoushozaichi About the song: Ah. Mini Moni! Mini Moni was a subgroup of Morning Musume. The original idea for the group was that all the members had to be under 4'11" tall. (Hence the mini part.) However, Takahashi Ai was slightly taller than that when she joined the group after Yaguchi Mari's departure. Mini Moni was mostly aimed at younger children in the beginning, though the group took on a more mature sound after Mari left.

While I don't have a translation for this song, I can tell you that it is about the capitals of the Japanese prefectures. Mostly it's about the food each area is famous for. The video plays along showing the girls in a classroom setting studying for an exam.

You'll notice in the video that poor Mika is singled out as different from the rest of the group. She is the only American-born member of the group. As such, she is always dressed differently from the other girls and, for some strange reason, she is always given random English phrases to say. I always felt bad for her since the Japanese girls get to wear cute little outfits and Mika is always in the ugliest costumes.

Anyway, the song is cute and educational. What more could you ask for?