Jmovie review: Death Note - The Last Name

Title: Death Note - The Last Name Release date: 11/3/06 Genre: Supernatural drama Cast: Fujiwara Tatsuya, Matsuyama Kenichi, Nakamura Shido (voice only), Kaga Takashi, Toda Erika Plot: In the sequel to the first Death Note movie, the game between Light/Kira (Fujiwara Tatsuya) and L (Matsuyama Kenichi) continues. This time Kira finds himself a partner in idol Amane Misa (Toda Erika). With two Death Notes on earth, will L be able to prove the connection between Light and Kira? What is good: It is enjoyable watching Light and L trying to outwit each other. What is bad: Since this is mostly psychological, there isn't a lot of action going on. Overall rating: A Overall: I really enjoyed the first Death Note movie yet I was disappointed that there wasn't more interaction between Light and L. This movie definitely delivers that. While lot of the first movie was familiar to me since I watched part of the anime, I knew almost nothing about the sequel as it takes place in the episodes I haven't seen yet. I love watching Matsuyama as L. In my opinion, he was the absolute perfect choice in casting. I can't say too much else about the movie without giving away big spoilers. If you are a Death Note fan, you definitely have to watch this.

Jmusic Review: OLIVIA - Wish

Artist: OLIVIA Album: OLIVIA inspi' REIRA (TRAPNEST) Release date: 2/28/07 Video link: Via Veoh

English translation: The twinkling of the stars calls to the wind Your smile erases the noise The angel in your eyes is whispering That everything is starting now

Can you feel it now Can you feel it now Like being swallowed up by a wave Pulling on my heart Pulling on my heart I hold my breath and reach out your hand

Baby, this world is different From yesterday I can't see anyone but you Baby my wish on a wing Tears through the sky In one overwhelming word

My eyes follow the light Running without hesitation to you My petrified heart breathes a sigh It’s like a long journey

Can you feel it now Can you feel it now The time goes by mercilessly Pulling on my heart Pulling on my heart I set my love free

Baby, I don't need a future Or promises As long as you're here Baby my wish on a wing Send out this voice And let it break through the flickering stars

Do you feel me? Do you feel me now?

Baby, this world is different From yesterday I can't see anyone but you Baby my wish on a wing Tears through the sky In one overwhelming word

Baby, I don't need a future Or promises As long as you're here Baby my wish on a wing Send out this voice And let it break through the flickering stars About the song: Wish was the second opening theme for the anime NANA. OLIVIA provides the singing voice for Osaki Nana's rival, Serizawa Reira. (Reira's actual name is Layla, after the Eric Clapton song.) The song starts out with a hard guitar riff, which Olivia's higher vocal range compliments nicely.

Lyrically the song decribes a lot of Reira's emotions. I won't go into it too much since it would spoil anyone who hasn't seen the series. Needless to say, it's mostly about an unrequited love that Reira holds close to her heart. I think she knows deep down that her love for this man can never be returned but as long as he is by her side, she is OK with that. It's a sad story because Reira is surrounded by people that want to love her if she would only let them into her heart.

J-actor mini bio: Nakama Yukie

Name: Nakama Yukie Birthday: 10/30/79 Height: 5'2" (160 cm) Weight: 101 lbs (46 kg)

Where do I know her from? Gokusen, Trick, Tokyo Wankei, Ringu 0: Basudei

Tell me some more! Nakama-san is also a singer. She has performed the theme songs for the anime Haunted Junction and the video game Megaman X4. Along with the Tokyo governor, Shintaro Ishihara, she was voted the most viewed personality on Japanese television.

What is your opinion of her? I think Nakama-san is a great comedic actress. I've often watched a series just because she was in it. While I haven't watched any of her dramatic roles yet, I believe that she could pull off a dramatic role just as well as she does her comedic ones.

Married Johnnys and Melty Bananas

On Friday, September 28, Inohara Yoshihiko of V6 announced his engagement to actress Seto Asaka. At a V6 concert the very next say, Inohara announced that they couldn't wait to get married and registered their marriage that day. Rumor has it that they had been carrying around a filled-in registration form and once they saw the reaction to the engagement announcement, they decided the time was right. Japanese rock band Melt Banana has announced their US tour. They will be performing just about every day from October 17 through December 8. You can find their schedule on their official website.

Arashi member Sakurai Sho has been chosen as the main announcer for Fuji TV's broadcast of the 2007 Volleyball World Cup. The competition will last from November 2 through December 2.

Game Review: Escape from Paradise

While browsing around Yahoo Games, I came across Escape from Paradise. The description on Yahoo is: "A luxury cruise ship crashes on an uncharted island in the Pacific Ocean. Lead the survivors of the shipwreck, set up camp on the island, and build a rescue object to get your friends off the island. Escape from Paradise is packed full of different games to play. Explore the five islands surrounding the main island and unlock new games that will help you gather resources and aid you in your quest."

This is pretty much a Sims game. First you design your character then you are tossed onto a deserted island with one other character. After a bit of instruction from the Tiki Man, you are given some goals to complete. The first goal is "Gather 50 pieces of wood." So between your character and the computer-generated character, you must cut 50 pieces of wood as well as gather enough food so the two of you don't starve. The goals gradually get more difficult but it isn't anything you can't accomplish with a little bit of time. In between the main goals, you'll have the chance to play mini-games such as marbles. (Well, it's not called marbles but it's the same concept.) In my opinion, the mini-games aren't really necessary and end up being more difficult than the reward is worth. I'd rather just stick to the main goals of building houses and wells.

Overall, this game is just OK. It's not extremely difficult so a casual player would probably like it. However, it's rather tedious until you get a few more people in your village. I don't think too many people would stick with this beyond the 60-minute demo.

Music Review: L'arc~en~Ciel - Driver's High

Artist:L'arc~en~CielMembers: Hyde (vocals, guitar), Tetsu (background vocals, bass), Ken (guitar), Yukihiro (drums) Album: Ark Release date: 7/1/99 Video link: Via YouTube

English translation: A silver metallic heart that's gotten hot I'll light the fuse A mysterious feeling of a high Let's kick up a cloud of sand

A reckless heartbeat that stirs a scream Before my eyes is rain drops like missiles

Keeping adrenaline forever flowing I feel ready to overheat Even if I explode and become ashes I'll probably still be just like this, laughing

Outrunning the town, until the ends of the earth Let's let if fly and die together, so give me your hand!

To reach the horizon Let's cut loose until we reach our limit Woh! Clash! Into the rolling morning Flash! I'm in the coolest driver's high Towards the best finale! Yeah!

As far as I can count Disappearing, a pitch black morning will come Those clothes that you're fond of After you change into them, let's get going!

Let's raise our voices impossibly high And break through the atmosphere Woh! Clash! Into the rolling morning Flash! I'm in the coolest driver's high With steel wings

Let's keep racing, until time limit expires The speed is insane Woh! Clash! Into the rolling morning Flash! I'm in the coolest driver's high Let's meet again in the next world, Yeah! About the song: When you think of great songs about cars, you generally think about songs from the 60s by the Beach Boys or Jan and Dean. L'arc~en~Ciel's Driver's High starts out with a revving engine and it only gets better. The only bad thing about this song is the difficulty you may have staying under the speed limit if you happen to be driving when it comes on.

Game Review: The Scruffs

While I was fairly busy this weekend, I did take some time out to play The Scruffs, a hidden object game available exclusively at Big Fish Games. Here is the description from the website: "The Scruffs have enlisted your help to save their beloved family home from being sold. Grandpa Scruff has come up with a solution - an elaborate scavenger hunt to recover valuable artifacts, he's hidden around the house. But in a surprising twist, Grandpa Scruff also reveals that he's been hiding something else - a shocking family secret. Help the Scruffs stave off this looming family crisis and uncover the secret that will change their lives forever."

This was a really fun game. Not only is there the typical hidden object game where you are given a list of things to find in a picture but there are two other mini-games to play as well. In each level, there is a family picture hidden among the other objects. Once you find it, you can play a mini-game where you have to identify 20 'scribbles' on each picture. These 'scribbles' are really easy to find as they are bright and colorful in comparison to the picture. Also, every time you complete a level, you have to piece together an old photograph. Within that photograph is a picture of a special object you'll have to find in one of the rooms in the hidden object level.

Sounds difficult, doesn't it? It's not that hard; it's just not easy to explain. I had a ton of fun playing it and I was sad when the demo ended. Once I have a bit more free time, I think I'll purchase this one.

JDorama Review: Omiai Kekkon

Title: Omiai Kekkon Also known as: Arranged Marriage Broadcast date: 1/11/00 to 3/21/00 Number of episodes: 11 Genre: Romantic comedy Cast: Matsu Takako, Yusuke Santamaria, Sato Tamao, Kubozuka Yosuke, Kawahara Ayako, Imai Masayuki Plot: Nakatani Setsuko (Matsu Takako) is terrible at choosing a man for herself. Shortly after she quits her job as a flight attendant to marry her boyfriend, she finds out that he has gotten another girl pregnant. Depressed, she reluctantly agrees to go to a marriage meeting arranged by her parents. Hirose Koutaro (Yusuke Santamaria), pressured by his boss, meets with Setsuko. Can love truly form from a marriage meeting? What is good: The love square between Tanuma (Imai Masayuki), Mika (Sato Tamao), Ohata (Kubozuka Yosuke) and Kyoko (Kawahara Ayako) is frustrating but interesting to watch. What is bad: Both Setsuko and Koutaro are extremely annoying. Letter rating: D+ Overall: Yet another show that I randomly picked from a list of titles. While Omiai Kekkon wasn't a terrible show, it wasn't particularly good either. I found myself more interested in the secondary characters than I did in the primary. After watching the first few episodes, you can pretty much guess how the show will end for them. However, the secondary characters leave you guessing for awhile. Even in the last couple of episodes, you weren't sure which couples you'd end up with. Sure, there are some good moments for Setsuko and Koutaro but there aren't a lot of them. As for the ending of the show, they should have stopped at the credits instead of doing the little bit after the names finished rolling.

I can't recommend this series to anyone and still stay honest with myself. Perhaps, if you are a fan of one of the actors, you might find a little bit of enjoyment in it but you'd probably do better with a different series.

Music Review: Green Day - Jaded

Artist: Green Day Members: Billie Joe Armstrong (vocals, guitar), Mike Dirnt (bass, vocals), Tre Cool (drums) Album: Insomniac Release date: 10/10/95 Video link: live performance from 1998

Lyrics: Somebody keep my balance I think I'm falling off Into a state of regression The expiration date Rapidly coming up It's leaving me behind to rank Always move forward Going "straight" will get you nowhere There is no progress Evolution killed it all I found my place in nowhere I'm taking one step sideways Leading with my crutch Got a fucked up equilibrium Count down from 9 to 5 Hooray! We're gonna die! Blessed into our extinction Always move forward Going "straight" will get you nowhere There is no progress Evolution killed it all I found my place in nowhere

About the song: Jaded is the companion song to Brain Stew. (See the music video for both here.) On both the album and the music video, Brain Stew goes right into Jaded without missing a beat. As a result, it'll be difficult for me to discuss Jaded without referring to Brain Stew.

Billie Joe wrote Brain Stew when he was being kept up all hours of the night by his newborn son. That song (and the accompanying music video) is about exhaustion and the hallucinations that go along with it. Jaded, on the other hand, is more about the rush of adrenaline you get when you are completely exhausted. It's a lot faster and Billie Joe slams through the lyrics at a frantic pace. The two songs are perfect compliments for each other.

Game Review: Jane's Hotel

Jane's Hotel is another time management game I downloaded from Big Fish Games. You play Jane, a woman with big dreams of owning a five-star hotel. In order to accomplish this, you start out with a two-star hotel and work your way up. Of all of the time management games I have played, this is the worst. Everything is extremely linear and there is no way to change that. You can upgrade your hotel but you are not given any choices about how to do it. Upgrades are unlocked by gaining more experience then you have to earn enough money to purchase it. Luckily, you generally get enough experience and money in each level to buy the next upgrade. While the upgrades tend to change what your customers want/need, that's all they change. You don't get a "Jane moves faster" upgrade or an "Additional Chamber Maid" upgrade. As a result, both your character and the maid character end up running around like lunatics just to make the hotel guests happy. Personally, I think the guests should be able to turn the TV on by themselves. There isn't a need for ME to do it for them.

If you are into time management games, stay away from this one. I recommend you go with Cake Mania 2 or Paradise Pet Salon.