DBSK/TVXQ member Jae Joong will star in a Korean-Japan joint drama called “Heaven’s Postal Delivery Man” with female counter part by Han Hyo Joo (Iljimae).

Jae Joong’s will play a mysterious postman (from Heaven) that delivers the messages from dead relatives/friends’ to the living. Han Hyo Joo will be a pure, innocent girl who has recently lost her lover, but hasn’t forgotten him. The two end up working together at the same job and slowly fall in love. How cliché.

There is a kissing scene where one of them (it’s not said who) says to the other “I want to kiss you” which is then followed by a romantic kissing scene. Sounds cheesy but I’m excited to see it since Jae Joong has rehearsed the drama seven times and his acting has been said to have improved significantly.

The series will be a “telecinema” (tv series and movie) made up of 7 different stories with “Heaven’s Postal Delivery Man” as the first. It will officially air in May 2009 on SBS.

7 Comments

Okay so they’ve finally casted the lead female for Hana Yori Dango, unfortunately it’s not some sexy boy toy who can pass off as a girl. It’s Gu Hye Seon.

Never seen her in anything before but she’s won a few big awards: 2007 SBS Acting Awards (New Star Award) and 2006 KBS Acting Awards (New Actress Award). Not only that but she’s sang the theme song for her drama Pure 19 and been in a few music videos. She’s got to be good right?

Honestly she’s a little too mature looking for me. While she does embody the innocent girl look, she’s not quite the perfect fit for me. I would have definitely gone for a bigger star or at least a cuter one like Kim Tae Hee. If you’ve seen the Japanese Hana Yori Dango, Kim Tae Hee and Mao Inoue might as well be twins.

Again I’m disappointed with the cast but hopefully the show will still be good. I’m still praying for them to boot Gu Hye Seon for a boy toy.

15 Comments

So they finally announced the official cast which I’m hoping is a really bad joke. Honestly I knew all the supposed cast members before were just rumors but it gave me a little hope.

The cast for the Korean version of Hana Yori Dango (Boys Over Flowers) are: Actor Lee Min Ho as Goo Joon Pyo (Domyouji Tsukasa) SS501’s Kim Hyun Joong as Yoon Ji Hoon (Hanazawa Rui) Actor Kim Bum as So Lee Jung (Nishikado Sojiroh) T-Max’s Kim Joon as Song Yu Bin (Mimasaka Akira)

Urgh it breaks my heart but I guess Kim Hyun Joong isn’t a complete loss. He’s probably the biggest and the cutest star out of the 4 but I rather have Jae Joong~! There is no mention of who will play the lead female, Makino Tsukushi (go figure). I’m still hoping they’ll cast Lee Junki or Jae Joong so we can get some yaoi action, of course that’s just me being hopeful.

The 24 episode TV series will air on Mon – Tues after the drama “The World That They Live In” during the end of December. More »

13 Comments

As a newcomer to anime, it was suggested that I watch a couple of different styles as well as formats. There’s so much to choose from, but here’s where I began…

Ghost In A Shell: So, I’m gonna start off by simply saying: “Wow.” I know this an oldie but goodie, but I think that seeing this movie first really set the bar high. I was consistently impressed by not only the animation, but maybe even more so by the storyline. While following the covert ops team in a techno-crime thriller sounds like it could be complex enough, I was often caught off guard by all of the existential subtext. Motoko Kusanagi’s “construction” lends itself to major philosophical issues; by having a human brain and spinal cord while the rest of her body is mechanized she is constantly reminded of her duality. To me, this added another level of depth to “The Major” as she forged ahead in her fight against the Puppet Master. More »

12 Comments

Since the rise of anime during the 1980s and 1990s, we have not only seen the creation of some great series, but also have witness the growth of a very strong and united anime community. While we may not all agree on what is the best series ever created, we do share the love of great anime. The anime community plays a crucial role in success of the anime industries both here in America as well as in Japan.

While the American and Japanese anime industries share a lot of similarities, the advantage that the Japanese anime industry possesses is that they have had longer to mature. Anime has been on American shores long before the 1990s. However, it wasn’t till around that time till we saw the explosive growth that we are still witnessing today. The 1990s brought us many great anime series like Evangelion and the rise of Dragonball Z here in America. Japan on the other hand, had their anime surge almost 20 years earlier in the 1970s and 1980s. What this boils down to is that the Japanese anime community is not only larger, but also older. Fans have more disposable income to keep the anime industry strong, and have been doing so a lot longer. Sadly, America isn’t as lucky.

The 1990s also brought us the Internet. Fledging anime companies in America had a new tool to help advertise their stores and products. They were also presented with a very tough problem that no one could have predicted. While I am sure everyone is aware of the piracy problem that plagues the entire anime industry in the states and abroad, I don’t want to spend time debating that. What’s interesting about the problem is how it affects both America and Japan differently. More »

25 Comments