umechan | Entries tagged with maru

quick recomen 2016.03.10 thoughts

So, the kuro rekishi corner is hilarity. Because I like hearing about things people are embarrassed about. ^^; I can relate, after all.

One girl wrote in about how how she used to have this poster/picture? of hina that she'd talk to/greet/say bye to and kiss his fangs XD;; Hina: EH? Me: LOL
But apparently she sent this to a friend who was feeling down and it cheered them up. ...so then Maru & Hina are like... this isn't really a kuro rekishi (direct trans: black history, ie some hidden past you don't want to see the light of day?) does this even count? etc.

Then at some point they were asked about any hairstyles they regretted, etc in the past and Hina's like I have no kuro rekishi - my past is all shiro rekishi. White History. (yes he says it in english).. and Maru's like wtf, why in english? I guess he's noticed he's been speaking more english? ...and Hina says something about how folks think his english sucks. XD;;; ...and Maru's like ..oh. cause of the show? (ie. chronicle. the english telephone game thing XD;) ....and I die laughing.

Oh an apparently at some point Maru had blonde hair - which he said didn't look good at all on him. But I think Hina or staff is like, what? no big deal, it's like something everyone tries, etc. I'd love to see pics of him with blond hair. I can't imagine. XD; His hairstyles changes have been pretty subtle for the most part. I did like the long permed hair thing he went through for a bit. I love the half up/half down style on him when he was younger. The current fluffy wave is super cute too. Anyhow, sidetracked there.

Then there was the girl who apparently liked to wear no underwear in gradeschool. XD;;

So Maru-chan's like reading the letter - and it's talking about how she felt like it made regular school into something thrilling, and how when she's standing (in a high place? on a balcony? school rooftop?) she can like feel the breeze...

Hina (...and me): (!) with a skirt? LOLWUT
Maru: continues on about how it made her feel excited like she has some secret from the people around her, etc. And how it was particularly hard (...and I guess exciting?) when she had to change into her gym shorts, etc.

Hina: ...this like porn or something?!
Maru/Staff/Me: Hahahaha.

.. anyhow the whole time Maru's like chuckling. And I die many deaths because his chuckling voice is SO CUTE. ...and they're both like: what?! o_O and laughing.

So as part of their news segment, they talk about some juniors ranking grand prix thing. It's like the 22nd time this ranking has happened. I'm guessing it's something like the myojo ranking thing I talked about in the post before.

( random notes on them reminiscing on the rankings etc )

I also loved the bit where they're talking about cassette tapes/mix tapes, etc. Because it totally IS nostalgic ....and I can identify. But they talk about cassette tapes and making mixed tapes for people and Maru says he's never made a mixed tape for a girl he liked, but he's apparently made some kind of hora? (is this horror?) tape for a friend of his .... which was like 4 hours long or something. lol. Not exactly sure what kind of tape that is but I had the same reaction that Hina and staff had, which was like (?! XD;; )

But Hina supposedly made one of those mixed tapes where somewhere within the tape he tells the girl that he likes her. ^^; I can't remember if it was because he was moving soon or something or maybe she was moving? and so he decided to do it. But that's so cute!

....and then Maru's like, probably the listeners are like, wtf are these ossans talking about? ...cause they're being all reminiscent of stuff which a younger generation doesn't get or care about. XD; ...and so I have to wonder if the makeup/distribution of their fans/listeners really are a lot younger?

Anyhow, I usually listen to these during my commute so when I finally get around to writing stuff down, sometimes I forget stuff. >_>;; But I'm really going to miss having these to look forward to. ...although I'll probably go try and find older ones to listen to. I'm not likely to listen to the newer JWest ones sadly. I have mixed feelings towards them and honestly I'd rather focus what little fannish time I have on the group/idols I'm most interested in, even if it is watching/listening to their old stuff. After all, I survived for years scrounging around for old V6 stuff :P And Kanjani8 has plenty of activity to consume (way more than V6 did when I was really into them)

btw I am so so sad that they don't put out dvds for butai. How the heck am I supposed to watch Maru's Macbeth? *sob*

Looks like Ryo-chan's back to a longer jweb this week. And not only is the subject matter interesting, but it's got a ton of personality in it lol.

Looks like he likes to make his own versions of songs he likes on his laptop and he talks about how he goes about doing it - like which tracks he lays down first etc. I'd love to know what kind of software and equipment he uses. I'd also love to hear the actual arrangements and what songs he does pick too. Stuff like this really interests me, and if I had more time on my hands I'd love to try my hand at it.

I totally feel for him though cause that sounds like a lot of work to have lost over a sudden reboot. But yeah, I totally feel his pain, apple products and QA have definitely declined since steve jobs passed. CMD+s XD;;

I wish they all would post more stuff like this. XD;

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Heh, I can totally imagine Maru-chan relaxing in the bath with his aromatherapy and candles. Gotta wonder if he's actually writing from the bathtub. lol.

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I really really liked Okura's this week. It's him being introspective and thoughtful, and reminds me of the kind of conversations you have with people at 2 in the morning when you're discovering yourself, etc. I don't think anything he's saying is particularly profound, but it feels like a real piece of what he's thinking and I can understand where he's coming from. I am curious though about how a younger fan might read this.

As an aside - I think that normally, people don't at heart change, but age does change you in some ways. I think once you're past your highschool/early college years, your core personality is well established. It's like age adds an extra tone or layer. One of the things I really like about kanjani8 is that I'm able to watch them mature. I like how they're more confident, less desperate (although I love watching the young and desperate them too)

I liked this entry so much I spent time trying to read the whole thing first in japanese. Normally, I don't read okura's in japanese first unless it's rather short - I skip straight to his english version... (sorry tacchon!) Oh and random pet peeve? Why do they make it such a pain to change the language? you have to go to the top then change the languange then go back to the page you were on. Pain in the ass much?! I imagine I'm not the only person to subscribe to multiple languages, right?

So, I braved Kinokinuya in hopes of picking up Myojo issues for the Girlfriends articles and thankfully made it out with the November and Decemner 2015 issues. The last time I went into a brick and mortar japanese bookstore to buy such overtly fannish things was about 10 years ago. So this was definitely an exercise in overcoming extreme embarassment. I couldn't find any of the more recent issues so maybe they're out. Or maybe they're in a different area. *sigh*

These are filled with huge pinups and glossy photos of groups I'm sadly not interested in. I wish I knew fans who lived nearby that I could pass them on to. Anyhow, random thoughts on the November issue -

- there's this ranking smaller pamphlet? thing where as far as I can tell, a bunch of johnnys (and johnny's jrs) ranked other johnnys on a bunch of categories. I think k8 only makes 3 appearances, none of which are in top 3. I am super surprised that 2 of those are Maru, and one of the two is for 6th place in the category for person they'd most want as a lover/sweetheart. 　The other one is 4th place for being good at taking care of people. Yoko also takes 7th for someone they'd be happy to have as a big brother
- I think I can now recognize 3 of the Johnny's WEST kids.
- MatsuJun's hairstyle is cute on him, it's that butt part where the bangs in front are a tad longer.
- I can't believe I bought a whole magazine for a two page article >_<;;
- did not know that yamapi had a recent drama called 5 -> 9. Worth looking into? It still weirds me out a little that Yamapi's lost his chubby cheeks. and apparently has muscles now.
- Nakamaru has some really nice photo shots towards the end of the magazine in an article. The coloring is really nice. If I was at all a fan, I'd be flailing.

Ok and on to the scattered girl friends thoughts - Girl Friends #43
( more )

So I went back and listened to it
Recomen 2016.02.18

And per Hina, staff doesn't count and neither do people who are regulars on the shows you're on.

So Maru is left with Nishikawa Ayako-sensei. And hina's like that's definitely giri Choco XD; ...and Maru's like chuckling and comes up with a story about how on Saturday plus, you know how they do those "personality tests" where they ask something and have them write someone's name on the board. And they they tell you what the answer really says about you? Apparently Ayako-sensei did one which translated to meaning she wanted to get to know him more of something. Lol. Nice save? maru-chan. ^^;

Then Hina's like... I got an honest to goodness honmei choco. Me: you totally just set this whole conversation up so you could tell us this. Lol.

So Maru's like guessing.
Me: omg guys, you're doing this on air?! *feels sorry for the girl*
Maru: Kaba-chan?
Hina: nope.
Me: argh why does my Japanese suck so much? What does gachiya mean?!
... More talk, half of which I don't understand
Maru: who is it? *said playfully*
Maru(actually is it Hina who says this?): Aiba (aiban?)
... So apparently she's gone to their show an was supposedly a ryochan fan. XD;;

So now I'm super curious about who they're talking about. XD;;

So, I dunno what to think of the fact that in the next week or so Maru is leaving Recomen, and Hina is leaving Hirunandesu. And both those spots are being replaced by Johnny’s WEST members. It’s definitely worrisome for me as a kanjani8 fan. .__. This all is probably not helped by the fact that I’m trolling for info at japanese sites/fans twitters/tumblrs/etc …and my japanese comprehension rate is probably at best 50-60%. I really hope too that this is all prompted by new opportunities for them, but I haven’t heard anything yet. I mean I know Maru is doing the Macbeth butai which should be a good opportunity for him to grow/learn. But but but. >___< I dunno. it just makes me nervous this whole thing what with stuff happening so quickly in succession. lol.

Anyways, thought snippets on Maru & Hina’s Recomen 2016.02.11 & 2016.02.18

( recomen thoughts )

And thoughts on Japanese valentines day customs + the concept of kokuhaku

( more thoughts cut )

Anyhow, just my 2 cents.