High Quality Goodness

Lately I've been watching and downloading the most current drams to keep up with them and have good download rates before they get too old.  Thankfully with video quality and bluray rips, it is so much easier to get high quality videos.  I recently watched the Gokusen movie (subbed by SARS) in HD and it was super amazing!!  Apparently they waited for the bluray disc so they could have a nice quality sub.  It was also really cool to watch the Gokusen movie that encompassed all 3 seasons of characters.  Kind of nostalgic in a way.  :D  It was great to see my old favorite actors show up in something recent.  On the subject of that, one of my favorite Japanese actors, Narimiya Hiroki has played the same kind of character in a lot of things lately.  He was in a movie called Drop, about a "yankee-ish" guy getting put into a public school.  Now there is a spring drama going on called "Yankee-kun to Megane-chan" where he plays a delinquent character.  haha.  I first started to watch out for him after he was in Nana, playing Nobu (my favorite character of the series) and have been able to find him in a lot of things recently.  I'm anxiously awaiting someone to sub Yankee to Megane!!  Just watching the raw, I can tell I will really like it.  :)  That's the sad thing about not being completely fluent in Japanese.  I'm not able to fully understand everything in these dramas as quickly as I want to.  I'm hoping that with my upkeep in Japanese, I will be able to continue with my level and hopefully learn it fluently after I finish up here at Brooks.  :D

 Anyways, there are some pretty crazy formats and subtitle formats floating around out there.  There's even a subtitle file that I dowloaded the other day with the extension .ass  XD  Thankfully, if you're ever in doubt about which player to use, I highly recommend VLC (especially for Mac useres) because it has been compatible with every sort of file I have come across so far.  I notice that the HD formats (720p and higher) are usually in mp4 or mvk formats.  Both are easily playable on many video players.

One of my favorite things is when artists post their music videos in 1080p on Youtube.  It is quite a nice treat to view an amazing music video in top notch quality.  For instance, everyone's favorite Tae Yang...I remember this being one of the first 1080p youtube videos I was able to watch.  :D


CLICK FOR HD

Overall the way that video graphics are going is simply amazing!  Seeing things in high definition and such is really changing the way we watch online.  I can't stand watching a show online and seeing nothing but pixels.  D:  I tend to download different series so I am able to watch it clearly like it was intended.  :)  If you ever need a recommendation on a series to start please don't hesitate to ask!  I have the ever growing collection, but I really should learn how to correctly burn DVD copies so in case I have friends who want to watch ones, without the hassle of downloading.  Anyone else have a favorite drama series?  I also love getting recommendations so please let me know!  :D

Nishino Kana

It's been awhile since I did a music related post, but in the last few months this girl has impressed me so much.  Nishino Kana is a recording artist in Japan with BoA-esque sounding vocals. I remember seeing her first single "I" back in 2008.   I listened to it because it had pretty album art (something I am known to do) and thought it was so-so and just a generic pop singer.  In the course of a year, she has become standout, and I am officially in love with her.  I'm a bit biased though so perhaps it is because she did a duet with Verbal (of m-flo, the best band in the universe).  =P  That song is called Kimi no Koe Wo.





Verbal is definitely THE coolest rapper in the world to me.  But yeah, getting off topic.... XD Her songs are the typical j-pop/soul-ish sounding.  Not super high pitched bubble gum pop, but the kind of voice like Utada or BoA (i'm trying to be more generic for those not really into Japanese music).  Her vocals are nice and sweet and 2009 gave her some nice singles such as "Motto" and the duets with the likes of Wise in "Tokutemo."  I tend to like her duets a lot, such as the lastest release with a guy named Nerdhead.





Gotta love when Youtube videos are in 1080p!!  :D  (the best 1080p video I've seen so far is Tae Yang's Wedding Dress.  I love that song and video)

Kana has one album and 9 singles.  Her latest one is called "Best Friend" and a very nice release from her.  I highly suggest her to you guys and hope you find love in her songs too.  :D

First Single- "I"

Seventh Single- "Motto"

Eigth Single- "Dear.../Maybe"

Ninth Single- "Best Friend" 

First Album- "Love One"

The Perfect Kiss

Didn't want to post too many pictures in case you are wanting to see any REALLY good dramas!  Check out the earlier blog post about some of my favorites!

I noticed that in Japanese dramas, kisses are sparse and when they do happen they are much more subtle than ones we see in movies in America.  Maybe we've gotten so used to the passionate kissing in movies and shows that it doesn't really phase us.  But I think that in Japanese and Korean dramas, the passionate kiss is still something that they save for the end of the series.

Japanese dramas might not have the most amazing kiss scenes, but when they do happen, it's super sweet.  In Korean dramas, there is definitely more kissing, but each of them are just as sweet as the last.  One of my favorites is from the Boys Over Flowers (korean version) in Episode 9.  I found the video on youtube to share with those of you who have watched it.  :D 

For the big fans of Hana Yori Dango or Boys Over Flowers or Meteor Garden you 

MUST see this video.  It is no doubt in my mind the BEST fanvid I have EVER seen.  She chose "My Life Would Suck Without You" by Kelly Clarkson which perfectly personifies Tsukushi/Tsukasa or Jan Di/Jun Pyo's relationship (I haven't watched the Chinese version, cause I don't like Chinese dramas).  There might be a few spoilers, so you're warned when watching this, but I do suggest that you MUST watch this sometime in your life if you're a big Hana Yori Dango fan.  :)  

~This next section will be about my favorite one, so if you haven't seen Hana Yori Dango Final (the movie) stop here to not be spoiled!~

I noticed that in Hana Yori Dango, they kiss about once per season and each kiss is kinda just a cute peck that's held out a bit longer.  I had some of my non-asian friends watch it and they were complaining about how they rarely kiss even though they're supposed to be in love.  But of course, at the end of the Hana Yori Dango Final (movie) they have this nice tune by Arashi and at the swell of the song, Tsukushi and Tsukasa have this amazing kiss!  The way he pulled her in was just about the sweetest way to kiss someone.  :)  It makes me smile every time, because even though I know that these characters are just acting, it is still really sweet to see love between two people.

~End spoiler~

I'm such a sucker for a sweet kiss.  XD  A hopeless romantic who is still waiting for her kiss in the rain.  =P  Though if it was like the one from Boys Over Flowers like the one here, I wouldn't mind that either.  ^_~

Singing

I love singing.  I sing everywhere I am.  My family remembers me singing a lot when I was younger too.  I'm  no professional, and I might not have the greatest and most projecting voice, but I really do enjoy singing.  Back in my junior year of high school I met a guy who has now become my singing buddy.  :)  Keo and I have been singing m-flo and various other duets for awhile now.  We used to always sing The Love Bug by m-flo & BoA, and have been recently singing a lot of english stuff.  So far, he's the only guy that I have that wants to sing with me and do duets, which is nice, cause I love singing in the style of duets.  I was finally able to get him to record videos and tracks with me today, so I wanted to post a few and share them with you guys.  :D  So I hope you enjoy!  And I am hoping to get some m-flo covers on youtube very VERY soon.  Who knows, we might even end up being youtube rockstars for awesome m-flo covers.  haha.  (for those of you who don't know m-flo, you can refer here...)  I also have my own set of youtube videos of just me singing, so check them out if you so please. :D

shout-out to steph for making the beautiful necklace featured in the vid.  ^_~

In Progress

Currently working on a DSK jewelry haul blog.  But I gotta figure out how to use my new camera to take pictures to do the work justice.  :)  In the meantime, enjoy some of my current favorite songs from youtube!

A good song to duet with.



Not my favorite version, but youtube doesn't have the one I have.



Electric Six just makes me want to get up and dance.  


Upbeat is my thing lately.