Film review: 告白(Confessions) 2010

Kokuhaku is a 2010 Japanese drama film that centers around the character of Moriguchi Yuka (Matsu Takako) a revenge driven middle school homeroom teacher. Her daughter was murdered by her students and decides to take action on them because her students (14 and under) are protected by the Juvenile Law of Japan. It revolves around the main casts' point of view of the whole situation/incident with lengthy monologues on their justification, reason/alibi or what not told in a "confession".

The acting by whole is superb especially the female leads Moriguchi and Kitahara Mizuki a.k.a Mizuho (Ai Hashimoto); the oblivious but likeable new teacher: Werther, people might find him a miscast but he shines as being the pitiful, trying hard neophyte; and the students bearing the brunt of Moriguchi's vengence, did a very good job bit got little bit annoying at times but something of praise for adolescent actors.

The movie has a slow pace but justifiable and enjoyable. The plot is somewhat simple yet the style on how it unfolds won't bore you. It keeps you entertained, well enough to sit through the lengthy dialogues and some annoying yet funny parts mostly of Werther.

The scoring is good, they've utilized good ambient songs from western rock and JPop though they should really stop using a lot of alternative/indie rock songs for it seems like you're watching an extended music video of Radiohead. None the less it set the mood in the right direction, really clever choices of song and artist.

The movie climaxes into a very thought provoking Big Brother-esque style scene but this one isn't boring, It's a fun chess game between the bluffer and the one with the nuts. Unlike the typical rhetorical mambo-jumbo this one is by far more fun, imaginative and playful than what I've seen so far but none the less does a good job of making you think.

A definite must watch for all Japanophiles and a very good film for film lovers looking for something different.

My personal list of top 10 anime of all time

Here are my personal list of the best anime made (movies and series).

1. 5cm per second (秒速5センチメートル) by  Shinkai Makoto - dubbed as Miyazki Hayao's successor by the west, he stormed in with Voices of a Distant Star (ほしのこえ) back in 2002. His lush amazing background, storytelling and vision makes him a Miyazaki Hayao in the making.

2. Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し) by Miyazaki Hayao - by far Miyazki Hayao's masterpiece. It won him an Oscar and other local and international awards back in 2002. This film was for a long time was the yard stick for all anime: Excellent animation and background, soundtrack, cinematography and direction and storytelling. Most of the west considers this the best anime ever made.

3. Millennium Actress (千年女優) by Kon Satoshi - An amazing anime about an obsessive director and a fan of an actress in her twilight, amazing storytelling and pacing it will leave you to tears at the end of this tour de force. RIP Kon Satoshi.

4. Grave of the Fireflies (火垂るの墓) by Takahata Isao - one of the best anti-war film ever made tells of the tragedy that war brings to all. A definite must see

5. Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro (ルパン三世 カリオストロの城) by Miyazaki Hayao - the Best LUPIN III movie produced is the only thing I can say about this. This cemented the green jacket Lupin's legacy which in my opinion led to the debate of RED vs. GREEN phenomena amongst fans.

6. Cowboy Bebop (カウボーイビバップ) Watanabe Shinichirou - the 90's anime era had a lot of variety from Samurai X, Ranma, El Hazard, Tenchi Muyo, Evangelion, Yuu Yuu Hakusho etc. but the only one that really stands out in terms of animation, story and soundtrack is Cowboy Beboop, not to mention probably the coolest one on one duel in an anime of all time: Spike vs. Vicious.

7. Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫) by Miyazaki Hayao - was Miyazaki's last animated film before he went on hiatus, released in 1997 it soon made huge wave across the world only to be butchered by cuts and horrible editing by Disney.

8. Paprika (パプリカ) Kon Satoshi - Inspired Inception.

9. Akira (アキラ) by Otomo Katsuhiro - the only anime that deals with nihilism perfectly. This is how dark/brooding/psychological anime are to measured.

10. Ghost in the Shell (攻殻機動隊) by Oshii Mamoru - Too bad they couldn't recreate another masterpiece as the first one.

Others of note: Nausicaa, Whisper of the heart, The Cat Returns, Monster, 08th MS Team, Only Yesterday, Ninja Scroll, Voices of a distant star, Azumanga Dai Oh, Read or Die, Scryed, Tokyo Godfathers, Perfect Blue, Serial Experiments Lain, Gunbuster, Spice and Wolf, Beck and My Neighbor Totoro.

Sound Fusion 2011

お久しぶり！That was a long blogging break, I have been busy for the past months but I got to squeeze in this event or concert put together by the Japan Foundation Manila. It was held last November 16, 2011 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium RCBC Plaza. The concert features the groups Trinity, Matsumoto Taiko and Bandang Malaya.

Trinity is composed of Chikudo Takahashi (shamisen), Kei Wada (percussion) and Miki Maruta (koto). Formed in 2006 they released their first album in 2009.

Matsumoto Taiko is a Japanese singer/songwriter over a broad genre ranging from traditional Japanese folk to western jazz.

Bandang Malaya is a local Filipino band whose sound is a mix of ethnic Filipino music with a modern twist. They provided live music for Akeyuku Sora in this year's Manila International Film Festival.

The name of the event or concert is Sound Fusion and it couldn't have been more apt. It was a mix of two cultures: Japanese and Filipino; Old - traditional music and Modern Music; Jazz and Pop... It was an amazing experience that blew my mind. As a musician myself I never expected the mix of traditional Japanese instruments used in western Jazz and Pop and as a Beatles fan the medley was just amazing.

Another big pat on the back to Japan Foundation Manila for organizing this amazing concert. Keep it up and more power to your endeavors.

2011's akb48 24th Single Janken Senbatsu Tournament

 

September 20, 2011 Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, Japan the stage for the AKB48's 24th Single Rock Paper Scissors Tournament Selection ended in such high drama as the oldest member Shinoda Mariko won the Center position *finally* over 50 girls. 2nd runner up goes to Fujie Reina, 3rd Minegishi Minami 4th Kobayashi Marina, 5th Akimoto Sayaka, 6th Sato Sumire, 7th Oya Shizuka, 8th Maeda Ami as Media Senbatsu (Selection).

You might think what's the fuss about this? We'll it was probably the most watched Japanese Idol themed show in Japan that day, it was also shown simultaneously in South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand. They sell over a million *though some fans buy in bulks*, thanks to tie in events and other "clever" marketing strategies. It just feels so weird living in the Philippines with one of the biggest pop acts in Japan and east Asia who has a half-Filipino member (Akimoto Sayaka's mother is Filipino) totally unknown here by the mainstream media. I guess that's for the better. Just shows how much this country is being left behind by its neighbors when it comes to class and trends.

One week

It has been a week already since my last post. There hasn't been much of stuff to talk about though I did go to Cine Europa, I only got to see three films: Little Greek Godfather, Mammoth and How about love. Little Greek Godfather is my personal favorite out of the three, it being funny and somewhat fresh. But compared to Eiga-Sai (Japanese Film Festival) and the Silent film fest, Cine Europa failed to excite me. But that's just me, I know some people who were totally anticipating this Film Fest.

Events to look forward to for the rest of the year: JLPT exams on December and Nihongo Fiesta next year February. There are some "Anime Cons" before the  year ends: U.P AME, Level-Up Games and Cosplay Mania, the problem with these type of cons is that they don't offer much, same old stuff: cosplay, pirated anime merchandise, bands and kpop invaders.

Speaking of JLPT, I really miss studying Nihongo, I already finished my Elementary course and passed JLPT level 4 back in 2008. I hope I will have the time and money to enroll for the Intermediate course soon and get my JLPT certifications asap.

Cine Europa 2011

Yet another Film Festival week ahead, this time European Films! Starting September 9-18 at ShanCineplex in Shangri-La Mall, Edsa cor. Shaw Blvd. from 12nn to 9pm. First come first served basis. For more information check out http://www.shangrila-plaza.com/

Obenkyo

If you have an android smartphone and learning the Japanese language then Obenkyo is a very helpful free software that you can download for free at the Android Market. It has lessons ranging from hiragana to JLPT level 1 kanji, vocabulary and particles. After that you can test what you have learned and they have a very good writing recognition for hiragana to kanji. I'm very impressed with this software, esp. the fact that it comes free, far better than most paid Japanese Language software. Again the name of the software is Obenkyo, just search and download it over at the Android Market. みなさん一緒に日本語を勉強しましょう

Sake Sushi Resto

Sake sushi is a restaurant based on Singapore that serves Japanese cuisine. They have several branches here in the Philippines for two or three years now. The nearest branch to my apartment is in SM North Edsa Anex. Sakae Sushi is famous for their conveyer belt sushi system. Right now they have a P399 buffet for their conveyer that comes with a free miso soup and bottomless cold or hot green tea. The buffet is whole day btw. Come and visit their branches, they have a good crew and nice ambiance.

Nihongo Center Foundation

I suddenly miss my days studying at the Nihongo Center Foundation in Manila. I studied there for two years, from July 2007 up to June 2009. The teachers and the facilities are great. Every year during September they celebrate an Open House, where in fun Japanese related activities like Sumo, tea ceremony and karaoke are held. How I miss those Saturday afternoons.

If you guys are interested, you can visit their webpage Nihongo Center Foundation Manila. I definite guarantee your money's worth.

Popular Fil-Jap in Japan that our mainstream media doesn't report

If you are currently eating up whatever mainstream media feeds you, chances are you don't know about these two popular Japanese-Filipino making it big in the Japanese Pop scene. 

I can't blame you, being fed with relentless slew of Charice Pempengco, Arnel Pineda and that Canadian kid that does Lady Gaga. The current local K-pop fad doesn't help also, and for the record Sandara Park is 100% South Korean.

First we have Akimoto Sayaka

 

Team K Captain of the idol group AKB48 as well as DiVA. Her mother is Filipino. She's can speak a little English and Filipino. She also has a 2nd degree black belt in Aikido. She currently plays Sonoko of Detective Conan live action series.

Next is Nakajima Megumi

She is a voice actress (seiyuu) who rose to fame back in 2008 for voicing Ranka Lee of Macross Frontier. Like Sayaka, her morther is Filipino. She currently has different anime projects as well as a singing career.

5th International Silent Film Festival

This year I got the chance to see three of the six films which are my original choices: Nosferatu Germany(1922), Akeyuku Sora *Dawning Sky*Japan(1929) and L'Inferno Itally(1911).

Where to start, Nosferatu as a film itself is just amazing, and of course Marx Schreck's Graf Orlok is just legendary, they even made a fiction and a film about him being a real vampire back in 2000 with The Shadow of the Vampire which is another magnificent film but that is a different story. Goethe Institut flew in Stephan Von Bothmer from Berlin the man who's been doing the score for Nosferatu, a truly amazing musician.

Akeyuku Sora is just a darling of a movie, I finally understand the reason behind the love for melodrama by the Japanese film makers. Bandang Malaya brought in a captivating and unique sound to the whole movie.

Finally L'Inferno, the 100 year old film one of  a few surviving film from the early silent film period *and my oldest film that I've seen to date*. Ever since in 2nd year high school I've been a fan of Dante Alighieri's Divina Comedia. . The film is truly a landmark of film, a very important part of not only film history but of human culture as well. The accompanying music was done by the band Razorback. I was quite impressed on how they brought modern, pulsating, intense hard rock to make the film more interesting, unique and worthwhile. The Italian team clearly had done so much justice to the classic film with a modern day twist.

Sadly I cannot participate for tomorrow's films, I hope my dear readers/followers will be able to attend tomorrow, this is a truly once in a lifetime experience worth of your time and effort.

And now Razorback:

5th International Silent Film Festival

 

This will be tomorrow and it's going to be free!

I miss playing Japanese music

The last time I played in a Japanese cover/themed band was last year during Ongaku production's return and U.P AME event in M.O.A. Time really flies.

Blogging through my htc desire s and some update on the silent film festival this weekend

Another test post here but this time through my smartphone. So far so good, this will be very beneficial for quick updates/editing for future posts.

Now got some info about this year's silent film festival over at Shangri-la, it's going to be free and the time is 5pm and one film per day. I'll try to get more info these couple of days to thin out false information.

2011 Eiga-Sai

 

This is a late post. July is Philippine - Japan Friendship month, Japan Foundation Manila organizes different activities and events such as concerts, workshops, exhibits and film showing which are usually free.

This year's Eiga Sai (Japanese for Film Festival) film selection: Departures(Okuribito)*AMPAS 2009 Best Foreign Language Film*, Your Friend(Kimi no Tomodachi), Feel The Wind(Kaze ga tsuyoku fuiteiru), The Chef of South Polar(Nankyoku Ryourinin), Climber's High, The Summit: A Chronicle of Stones(Tsurugidake: Ten no ki), One Million Yen Girl(Hyaku man en to nigamushi onna), Yunagi City - Sakura Country(Yunagi no machi Sakura no kuni), Summer days with Coo(Kappa no Ku to natsu yasumi) and Villion's Wife(Viyon no Tsuma).

I got to see The Summit: A Chronicle of stones, Departures, Feel the Wind, Your Friend and One Million Yen Girl during Eiga Sai's Shangri-La leg.

These said movies are my top choices, I didn't get to see Yunagi City and Chef of South Polar but I've downloaded them and they are amazing as well. I'd like to discuss more of these movies but I might spoil it to viewers who haven't seen them yet.

Departures is a magnificent film and I hope people will get to see it someday. But my personal favorite for this year's Eiga Sai has got to be Feel the Wind. I never had high expectations about the film but it got me good, a very well done film with a simple story yet the acting and direction is amazing.

That's all for now, see you all next year's Eiga Sai!

Hello Blogging World

This is my first official blog post.


Still looking around and studying how to improve the blog's appearance and overall appeal.

Expect new entries from last month's Philippine-Japan friendship month's Eiga Sai and the Aki and Kuniko concert!