Having Breakfast with HKT48!

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I know … where does Haruppi put it?

“Begin the day / With a friendly voice/ A companion unobtrusive / Plays that song that’s so elusive / And the magic music makes your morning mood …”  

Thanks, Neil, but I know you did not have this genre in mind when you wrote that. Nonetheless, it certainly is inspirational to hear/see the HKT48 girls early in the AM. I like listening/watching HKT48 YouTube playlists on my iPhone during breakfast. They girls are true to the spirit that you wrote about. You know, they would have been good on AM radio. Right up there with the Archies.

I have been so happy and entertained by these lovely young women — my adopted daughters from Hawkstown. I think I like the HKT48 even more than the main AKB group now. These youngsters have so much pep, and they sing and dance with such energy and enthusiasm. This is Idol music the way it is supposed to be … like a milkshake that never ends!

First off — lets hear “12 seconds” while the coffee finishes brewing. This is my song of the summer! … or at least my favorite in the Idol genre. You will not need any sugar in your Breakfast Blend. Aika Ota is sweet enough! Good example: see time 1:39 – 1:42 seconds. Lovetan is not even singing at that point … she just poses … but …

Love-tan you are KILLING me. At least my heart is started.

This next one goes back to HKT48 Dome Concert in 2013. This is probably the CUTEST idol duet I have ever seen. That is Aoi Motomura in the hot pants, and Sakura Miyawaki in the skirt. Musically, I think that one part is stolen from “Be My Baby” by The Ronnettes. The young Sakura-tan is so adorable here so I will not quibble Akimoto’s possible theft.

I could not be more proud (tearing up a bit). Future Anthropologists should study Sakura’s moves in order to define and understand what a Japanese Idol should be. Sakura is pure joy in a bottle. She is like a little piece of God piercing a hole in the fabric of space-time into our universe. Through this teenage girl, we might then be able to comprehend new dimensions … and a higher plane of consciousness. …Um, … Did you put something in my coffee?

Um … Now this next one is lower video quality, but that is OK because I’m dancing while I reheat these eggs anyway. A better quality video is available, but you have to be on YouTube. I grock that heart shape at the end.

Remember when The Beatles used to sing “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah”? Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you added ONE MORE “YEAH”? Find out here. I like this one because this PV features HKT48’s youngest member Yuka Akiyoshi. I own underwear older than her. She’s a little rascal alright!

This next one is from a great mini-concert outside of the HawksTown Mall last year. They cover their big-sister’s hit single “Baby Baby Baby”. Much of the video is down shot at floor level — kind of like a Yasujiro Ozu film. Like the late, great Ozu-sama, the HKT48 kids gave me a great “Late Spring”. The crowd LOVES it!

The next one is “Tenshi no Shippo”. After a introduction by Aika Ota (to time 0:27 seconds), the trio performs this Akihabara Theater favorite.

Warning: Tails are shown in this dance video! (Denny eating too fast and rambling): I like the animated balloon background. The dancing is super cute, and it reminds me of CHAM. Sometimes these performance videos don’t have the greatest sound. It sounds a little like the girls are at the end of a tunnel. The 21-year old Ota-san is a little flirtatious here. Hmmm …

“Angel Tail” you say Love-tan? “MOE! MOE!!”

“Modestly, I love You?”.  Ha Ha, at first Google Translate had it as “Conservative I Love You”.  There are so many performance videos of this out there on so many shows. The dancing is always great. I love how the song mixes some English words in with the Japanese. I think I like the performance videos of this better than the official music video. While that official music video (linked here) is glorious color eye candy, that video is cut so quickly you can hardly get a look at your favorite idol when her cloud passes by. (Forget YOU – Rolling Stones!)

Oh, man, we need to get going. I could watch these all day. Let’s have one more cup of coffee, and watch one more. This is another cover of an older AKB48 song, but it is a perfect match for the younger HKT48. The sound is “muddled dome” because of the distance … but DID YOU SEE THOSE CUTE BOOTS AND HATS!?!?

Oh. wow I am so late … I don’t think I can finish my melon juice! The kids sing with the Japanese mascot Funassyi – who is actually a “Pear Fairy” not a melon.

(Plus, I have already been blamed for looking at melons when I wasn’t … but that is a rant for another meal).

Starlight: “Off on your way / Hit the open road / There is magic at your fingers / For the spirit ever lingers / Undemanding contact / In your happy solitude …”

You and me both Neil.

KIMONOS ON MONDAY: Please don’t abandon me, Rena Matsui!

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AKB48, SKE48, Nogizaka46 member Rena Matsui has announced that she will graduate from the AKB Family this August!

The 23-year old idol has always been one of my favorites. She debuted in SKE48 in 2008, and quickly became one of the most popular members. Together with Jurina Matsui (no relation) she was the core of that sister group.

Matsui-san is special to me. I have had a special page “Bikini vs Kimono” since the start of my blog. Does Rena look most amazing in her bikini or her kimono? There was also a poll there. Results? WordPress Readers voted Bikini over kimono 54% to 46% !

Rena will pursue an acting career, which is not a big surprise. She has a beautiful, sculpted face. In fact I can’t understand why there are not more statues of Matsui-san!!! She recently had a role as a voice actress in Ultimate Otaku Teacher (as Suzane Kagami). She has also appeared in several  cute commercials.

Please enjoy this YouTube link of “Mujin Eki” (aka “The abandoned train station”. There I was at the train station turned into a ghost town. Alone with only my memories of twirling umbrellas.). This Yasushi Akimoto  song (lyrics here) was actually Iwasa Misaki’s hit single. Other members have also performed it on stage, including Mariko Shinoda. Rena does a great job with the song. It even looks like Rena is wearing Wasamin’s kimono here. (Maybe Misaki-san was out that night?)

I also snagged a few images from the performance here:

I wish Rena well in her new career!

Starlight: Rena Matsui born July 27, 1991. Happy Birthday too!

See more Rena Matsui on my Pinterest board linked here.

Pokémon Nicknames: Spinda

Elaine doing “Teeter Dance” . Confused now?

Spinda (in Japanese: パッチール  “Patcheel”) is a Normal-type Pokémon. Basically, Spinda is a spinning panda, however its ears are long enough for Spinda do be some type of rabbit. Spinda would make an adorable plushie.

I could just squeeze her right now!

Spinda does not evolve from or into any other Pokémon, but perhaps a future game will feature a “Mega-Evolution Spinda” with even more evolved dance moves! 

It is interesting that no two Spinda have the exact same spots!

I suggest the name “Elaine” or “Benes” for female Spinda. You may remember the Elaine Benes character from the 1990s TV series Seinfeld. Elaine is a sophisticated New Yorker, who oddly has terrible dance moves. The joke is that she thinks she is a great dancer, but is clueless as to how awkward and embarrassing she really is. Here is a clip.

The awkward dancing is appropriate, because Spinda’s signature move is “Teeter Dance” which confuses all surrounding Pokémon. The move is great for triple battles, because Spinda will confuse all of the opponents. Be careful however, as your other two Pokémon will also become confused. Make sure your Pokémon have a Lum Berry or have an ability which negates confusion.

I also like the name “Shadowdancer”. I have also used the name “Spice Girl” after the dated British singing group The Spice Girls.

Oddly, I never found them to be the least bit sexy. I think I was just confused …

“Chubby” or “Checker” may also be good for males. The name of the famous 1950s singer with writers block. The story with Chubby Checker was that after he had a big hit with “The Twist”, he could only compose songs which sounded exactly like “The Twist”. His follow-up hit was called “Let’s Twist Again”, which used the same music as the original.  All his music was made for twist-type dancing. I should not be too critical however. If I am ever in an awkward predicament where I must dance to a rock song — guess what I do.

I have also named Spinda “The Twist”. I think it works better if you leave “The” in. “Watusi” or “The Watusi” is another cute name for the 1960s dance.

Both of these dances are mentioned in The Beatle’s Revolution #9, … but I digress.

A reasonable nickname might just be Spinda’s Japanese name “Patcheel”  which should work for male or female.

Please enjoy this Spinda cosplay slideshow!

“… Denny hurt himself in his confusion …”

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Please comment: What is the name for your confusing spinning panda rabbit?

DENNY RE-BLOGS: ~The Most 「Adorable Girl」 in the World

Thank you to WordPress blogger MorningBerryz48 for posting some images from the new Sakura Miyawaki photo book.

As I write this, it is very difficult to justify why I like the HKT48, or even Idol music in general.
If you kids thought it was hard to explain to non-anime fans “why you like anime” … well multiply that by about a million times and you might understand how I feel when I must justify or explain “why I like the Japanese Idol genre.” It is just one of the musical forms I appreciate.
It might also be hard to explain why I especially think that Miss Sakura Miyawaki is incredibly adorable. HKT48, no … AKB48 would not be the same without this young rising star. Every judgmental ninny wants to call me a “dirty old man”, and assume that I am ogling her in a sexual way. I most certainly am NOT, and I take offense at that. Sakura-tan is a positive, life-affirming young woman. She is probably the best example of what is RIGHT with this world. That she is a person of positive and strong character shines through.

Note, that she is also as ATHLETIC AS I AM, as you may see at time 40 to 50 seconds in the video preview below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBhsAXJ-mu0

I love watching here perform for HKT48. If you look at the bank of HKT live performances, you can watch her grow up, and develop her talents. Perhaps I will post a series of them. (Oh, yeah right, some people like Ms. Dranocrotch will accuse me of being creepy.)

I am probably not in the market for the photobooks. Young guys may like some of the more risqué photos that are in some of them. Really none of them are risqué, they mainly just show how sweet the young idol is. I also loved that the book includes photos from Sakura’s childhood. It helps a fan to see her as a real person, and we can appreciate her even more.

Denny Sinnoh

モーニングBerryz48...the morning after..... "Always wear protection before reading…(^q^)."

Just released on July 8th and already gone missing from Cdjapan’s site is Miyawaki Sakura’s very first shashinshuu! But not to worry as all 144 pages of Sakuratan’s~♡ adorableness is still very much availabe @ both HMV Japan as well as Amazon Japan as far as major online retailers go =).

If you wanna talk momentum or rather a high percentile pick to be heir to the idol throne one day then you really need not look elsewhere as Sakura’s rise to fan favorite as well as media darling has been nothing short of meteoric ~*~~* I’d say ^^! And while shashinshuu won’t typically include much text if any unlike its cousin the “Photo book” which interestingly is pretty much an actual direct translation of the term “shashinshuu” (book~~>album/ small~~>tiny/ fast~~>quick …you get the idea!) =P …. and yet six out of “Sakura”’s final seven pages chronicles this most adorable…

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DENNY RE-BLOGS: Kusabi (single) / 楔 -くさび-

Yes, what he said.

Thoughts on Oku Hanako

Kusabi / 楔: “wedge”, or according to Generasia, “bridge”, or according to J-talk, “linchpin“. The single’s title includes the pronunciation in hiragana (くさび) like it did when the song first appeared on vol.4.

Oku Hanako’s 10th anniversary single is out! Her first release a major artist, Yasashii Hana / やさしい花, was released on July 27, 2005. If you haven’t been following along, in honour of her 10th anniversary as a major artist, she has arranged and re-sung Kusabi / 楔, one of her indies songs released on vol.4, and later vol.best.

The track list of the single is as follows:

Kusabi / 楔 cover art

1. Kusabi / 楔-くさび-
2. Hanabi / 花火
3. Kusabi (Piano Hikigatari Live ver. at Zepp Tokyo 2013.1.19)
4. Kusabi (Instrumental)
5. Hanabi (Instrumental)

I can’t find Hanabi anywhere yet, and it makes it harder that it was another one of her indies…

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Happy Birthday Miss Kashiwagi! / Krazy Kool Kashiwagi Kaptions

Dear Yukirin,

I know that I have not been able to use WordPress much lately, however I wanted to be the first in my time zone to wish you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY on July 15th. Japan is 12 hours ahead of me, so I wanted to time my greeting before you start going out to nightclubs and such tonight. Be careful, young one!

Uncle Denny.

Everyone else: Please enjoy my tribute to Yuki Kashiwagi  柏木 由紀  (Kashiwagi Yuki), born July 15, 1991 in Kagoshima Prefecture of Kyushu, Japan. The delightful Yukirin was born in the shadow of Mount Sakurajima, an active strato-volcano! (Ask a Geology-nerd what that is).

Yukirin is my second-favorite AKB Member … and the subject of my photo tribute for her special day.

You know, except for the salt, this WAS my dream last night, Yukirin.

Yuki-chan … I said TAKE DOWN the drapes not WEAR them!

CLUE:  OK, I have Colonel Mustard … with the Candlestick … in the Library … Or was it all Yukirin ?.

Remember Yukirin: an apple a day …  er … uh … um … er … heh heh .. what was I saying?

Note for future reference: All I had to do was show up at the pool party holding a bag of “Doritos” and Miss Kashiwagi immediately kicked off her shorts!

Kashiwagi-sama: Obama called, he said something about you “getting off your high horse” …

… then Clint Eastwood called. He says you can KEEP the chair now.

(Denny imitating British actor Sir John Gielgud) Yes, I know that you went to “Finishing School” dear girl, I can still smell the varnish!

Help me Yukirin! I think I have scurvey!

Yes, indeed! You did bring my favorite flavor Yukirin!

Aye, Yukirin, I have the same kilt meself.

Are you kidding Yuki? Auto workers in the USA LOVE Schlitz beer!

HA! Well, I will have you know that I made a FORTUNE in weight guessing young lady!

Yuki?  Yuki?  Oh, there you are HONEY  … 

WHAT??? … WHAT??? Wait, let me turn OFF the wind machine Yukirin!

Last time I lend Yukirin my credit card number.

Yes, Miss Kashiwagi, I would be happy to give you my 100,000 mile “bumper-to-bumper” extended warranty !

You are CORRECT Yukirin, this place does need a good set of door-knockers!

Yes, thank you for the recommendation Yukirin, indeed I think I will “stay at the Y” tonight!

Some say the volume is half-full, some say it is half-empty. I say “sit down you morons” I can’t see Yukirin!

What?!?  I will have you people know that I only have “warm and fuzzy” feelings for Kashiwagi-san.

Yes, thank you for explaining how your “two seam fastball” breaks down-and-in on right-handed batters. Oh, and how can I get one of those “milk-fed” mustaches?

Please do not be JEALOUS ladies, Yuki only looks this good because she “does it all with mirrors”.

So much Yuki! … so little room. Enjoy my retrospective Yukirin SlideShow!

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Happy Birthday Miss Kashiwagi!

I wish I could do justice to how talented Ms. Kashiwagi is. She is a trooper. I wanted to link some performance videos of her amazing 3rd solo concert, however Record Industry Weasels have removed every last one! … every last one!

See more Yukirin on my Pinterest board linked here.

 

Denny’s road trip:

I would really love to go on this trip. I would like to ride a BMW touring motorcycle all around each of the Great Lakes, down the St. Lawrence and then back again.

I would like to visit the recreational boating areas, the mining towns, the industrial ghost towns, the small towns, the larger cities.

The trees, the rocks … the aromatic lake water all call to me.

Beech? Or are you Birch? Son-of-a-Beech, my allergy Doctor told me I’m allergic to Maple pollen. What? I grew up with the Maples!!! I loved maple candy.

I will be all hopped up on maple. My teeth would rattle if not for this gum.

I can’t wait to feel the vibration of the road.

Rain or shine — I am riding.

Just look at this place.

Would you like to be my co-rider? (I mean you have to have your own touring bike.)

Some days we will stop and visit art galleries. Other days we will wrestle with the wildlife in the woods. (Just FYI BTW: The bears do not fight fair.) “Remember the time you bought that ridiculous T-shirt?” I will say. Some nights we will stay in hotels and drink aged Scotch Whiskey at a bar. Other nights we will camp out and drink instant coffee out of Styrofoam cups.

I need to get lost in order to find myself. I know that it is not a new thought, but I’m open to ideas.

Pokémon Nicknames: Petilil and Lilligant

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The Cowsills: “I love the Flower Girl …”

Petilil (in Japanese: チュリネ  “Churine” ) is a Grass-type Pokémon. Petilil evolves into Lilligant (in Japanese: ドレディア  “Dredear”) when exposed to a Sun Stone. It thus remains a Grass type.

I sometimes name a Petlil “Pantene” after the brand of shampoo. If I intend on evolving the little flower I name it accordingly for the next form.

This young lady is pretty as a flower, but growing like a weed!

I name a Lilligant “Hanako” or “Hana” or “Hana-chan” after my favorite singing Flower Girl Hanako Oku!

“Hanako” is a common Japanese girl name! 華子 (華 is the kanji symbol which may mean – ‘splendor’, ‘flower’, ‘petal’, ‘shine’, ‘luster’, ‘ostentatious’, ‘showy’.  子 ‘ko’ is the second kanji, meaning ‘girl (child)’).

There 1960s pop group The Cowsills recorded a song most people refer to as “I Love the Flower Girl”, but which is actually titled “The Rain, the Park, and Other Things”. Please enjoy this nice YouTube post which complies multiple Cowsills performances. I’m singing it while I compose this post, as you can see by my notes in green. You can find the lyrics linked here.

It is a pretty good 1960s pop song. I must have heard it 1,000,000 times on AM radio, but I never really listened to the story until now. A guy is at a park. It has just stopped raining. Then there she is … The Flower Girl. The song says “the Sun broke through”.  (Coincidentally you need a SunStone in order to make the Petilil evolve into a Liligant!) He goes off with this girl, WHO HE HAS JUST MET BY THE WAY … they engage in some activity, which is not clear in the song, but what they do strews “FLOWERS EVERWHERE …”. All of a sudden – the Flower Girl is gone. Did he imagine the whole thing?

Hmmmm … well, here is a brief slideshow of some  “elegant flower girls” in Lilligant cosplay.

“I knew, I knew, I knew, I knew … she could make me happy …”

Some other names for Liligant?

I like “Lilith” which is a nice proper Anglo-sounding name. (Also the name of the wife of Dr. Frasier Crane.)

“PrettyFlower” will just fit in 12 letters. My idea for this name is “For Your Clothes Here’s a Pretty Flower” which is what Hare Krishna’s say when they pin a flower on you and ask for a donation. Which reminds me of the time I met this Hare Krishna chick at the mall. I was about 18 years old, and horny as hell, walking along, minding my own business. All of a sudden this great looking blond girl with flowers in a headband comes up to me and starts asking how I am doing. One thing did not lead to another, and … oh, crap … I wasn’t getting anything, she was just after a donation for her cult. There was probably some ape-shit ugly dude out in a van in the mall parking lot, putting her up to it … and er … huh huh … I digress once again.

The Netherlands grow and sell a lot of flower bulbs, so Holland-inspired names are appropriate: “Bulbs” or “Holland” or “Hollandyke” — for example.  “Tiptoes” if you remember the “Tip Toe Through The Tulips” song.

“Lillium” is the genus name for the flower Lilly. It is the Latin word used for the genus, and is also the name of the FANTASTIC operatic opening song sung in Latin for the landmark anime Elfen Lied. Perhaps pretty flowers would grow in an “Elf Field“. Listen to the music linked here in another window. … Gulp … It was one of the most profound anime’s ever … how can you say you are an anime fan if you have never been on this? I get lost remembering the haunting theme …

Another suggestion is “McGill” as in the line from The Beatles song “Rocky Raccoon” — “Her name was McGill, but she called herself ‘Lil, but everyone knew her as Nancy.”

Starlight: I’m old enough to remember when my sister bought the Cowsills album in 1966. 

Hanako Oku and the Record Industry Weasels

How long is this one going to last?

As I wrote in my previous post … I have a special talent I had no idea that I had! When I share a YouTube video on my Pinterest pages or on WordPress, etc. it gets taken down right away by “Record Industry Weasels” — sometimes in less than an hour.

I am a YouTube video sharing jinx!

Yes, I know what you will reply, “Denny, these things are always getting taken down due to copywrong violations”.  True they often do. However I have shared videos originally POSTED WAY BACK IN 2007 which as soon as I shared them — GET TAKEN DOWN.

This has been especially true of so many of the Hanako Oku videos I loved. My YouTube playlist for her is now all grey boxes.

For example … There was this one video where she was on a TV talk show early in her career (about 2008). She is wearing her famous Ford Mustang jacket on this show – I do not know what the name was – but the comedic host looked exactly like a Japanese Soupy Sales. She is talking to him, joking and laughing uncontrollably, covering her face the way Japanese women do when they laugh, and completely endearing herself to me. She then plays “Kaette Oide”, which the host also tries to sing along with. There are a lot of great, funny moments. The RIW took it down to their Copywrongs. NOW THIS WONDERFUL MOMENT IS GONE FOREVER!!!

WHO THE HELL WAS THIS VIDEO CLIP HURTING?  What, someone will not buy Kaette Oide  because they can just watch a little bit of it on the clip? The TV station was getting a good plug as well.  Did they just not want it shown because “Dammit we own it“. 

Record Industry Weasels want to protect their property of course, but they can go too far. If I could talk to those weasels in the legal department at PonyCanyon Records I might say this:

Look, I found out how much I like Hanako Oku by watching her various video performances on YouTube. I loved her music, so I sent for and bought all of her CDs from Japan! Had I not seen these videos – which have now been taken down – I probably would not have been inspired to purchase all of her CDs. (“…You idiots”, I might add if I were face-to-face with the weasels .)

Ok, if the studio song is removed, that is one thing I understand – but not the unique TV appearances and shopping mall concerts. So, by removing these unique videos – which are basically ads for your product anyway – you may be making LESS money. Weasels, please think again.  Maybe someone wants to compile a history of Hanako Oku. These hard to find videos are a unique way to appreciate the artists.

I have now lost so many adorable Hanako Oku videos where she is creating a unique performance, and is just being herself, and …. AAARRRGHHH … I’m an idiot.

I know, you readers are saying — I should have downloaded those videos as soon as they were posted. You are correct, I should have snagged them. My thinking was that since the videos had been there for years that they would be there next week when I have time to do it – then AAARRRGGHH.

Now look, I thought that rock stars (at least from my generation) expected music to be wild and free and to really stick it to big business and “the Man” who keeps us down.  Today’s rock stars and their Record Industry Weasels are way too hypocritical. Music companies sell music which glorify independence and revolution, yet get very territorial if the French revolutionaries actually show up at their Bastille.

I will not criticize Miss Oku. I am sure that she does not want her music stolen. However, I have to believe that she would come to understand that these “promotional videos” of her appearances  on TV shows and the like, are actually good for driving up sales, because they increase interest in the artist. Even grainy out-of-focus fan cams increase my interest, but these do not replace my CD buying choices.

I do not create illegal videos. Actually that is mostly because I’m a tech idiot. I actually own Hanako Oku DVDs, but I would be too stupid to figure out how to convert a Japan-only disc to a file that would work on my computer, much less uploaded to YouTube.

Full disclosure: I did not coin the term “Record Industry Weasels”. The concept was named by TV talk show host David Letterman. I can remember that one time Dave wanted to get The Go-Gos on his show, but due to music publication legalities, he could only have two of the five members on stage. Letterman also told stories that he talked to a “weasely guy” from the record company about booking musicians on the show.

Starlight: 33 years since Mr. Letterman introduced the concept.

See more Hanako Oku on my Pinterest page linked here.

The sad face of Kashiwagi-san

“The sad face of Kashiwagi-san”

This weekend I will be celebrating a little “AKB History”. I am planning a special Krazy Kashiwagi Kaptions post in honor of her birthday in two weeks. Until then, please enjoy AKB48’s Yuki Kashiwagi in her solo music video “Chinmoku” (“Silent”).  (Sorry only 360p available.)

It is heartbreaking whenever something like this occurs?  A beautiful and sweet-natured girl falls in love with a complete jerk.   What do you do when a lovely young woman falls for the wrong guy?  How tragic is it when the mean dude leaves the nice girl, breaking her heart?  … or breaks it over and over?   These themes and more are explored in the “Chinmoku” music video by Yuki Kashiwagi of AKB48.  Lyrics are by Yasushi Akimoto.  Many thanks to user 11Chocolate7 for providing the fan subs/lyrics in English, Romanji and Japanese on her YouTube post.  I think that this is a beautiful music video.   Critics have pointed out technical “flaws” but I believe that the lighting methods and photography are intentional.  There is no sloppiness in the filming, I see it as intuitive.  I believe that the over-exposures (overly bright scenes) represent Yuki’s memories and daydreams.  There are many beautiful moments in which to live mindfully in here.

Some people cried during “Bridges of Madison County”. Well, I like this.

The video tells the story of a girl (Yuki Kashiwagi) deeply in love with a man.  He leaves her.  He returns surprisingly, and much to her delight.  This is short-lived, as he leaves her again.  Much of the video is the Yuki character pining for this guy to come back to her.

An interesting and telling aspect is how she is treated by her lover.  He is obviously in total control of their relationship.  He does not hold her hand when they walk.  He grabs and jerks her arm, then leads her by the arm.   (See time 1:40 and 3:20.)   He grabs her, and holds her in a manner without affection …  yet she gladly accepts her fate, and still loves him.

Even though the lyrics have been directly translated from Japanese, they still hold their meaning even when translated as English that may not be correct grammatically.  (Future blog topic: The problem with translating Japanese lyrical order to English!)

For example, at time 0.49  “the distance that my hand doesn’t reach you makes a pain to me”  sounds stilted when translated directly into English.

The brain may read that as grammatically incorrect, but believe me, the heart fully understands.  The lyrics are heartbreaking, but also endearing.

There is great moment when we see what it is like to sit across the table from Yuki on a date.  She has a heartwarming expression in those brightly shot memories.  This is the innocent Yuki.  She recalls what life was like when she was together with her man.  She is happy and pretty in these moments .   She is also unaware that she is about to have her heart broken.

All the young lady thinks about is the ex-lover:   “ … the reality that you are not here, my puzzled figure is reflected in the glass.”  She cannot make sense of the world without him.

She always dreams of the happy day he might return to her.  She even looks around for him in crowds.  Have you ever been in public, but looked for someone, even if you know it does not make any sense?  This is what the heartbroken do.   Every time a door opens —  she looks up in hopes that it will be her ex that walks in.

Yuki still is functional in her everyday life.  Near the end of the video, she completes her studies, and sits alone in her apartment.  “I wonder what does time teach me”    Very soon however, she slumps down in her loneliness,  as she misses him and begins to cry.

“I who found the length of eternity unmanageable …order coffee …Silent”

The video ends with Yuki in a reverie about how happy she would be if only the man would return to her …

Then the reality rthat she is sitting all alone.

She is such a beauty.  The Yuki character radiates warmth.  What type of terrible man would treat such a loving woman in this manner?

Why is the story tragic? Yes  it has an unhappy ending.  However the tragedy is NOT that the guy left the girl,

the real tragedy is that she loved him.

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Starlight: It took this starlight eighteen months to reach my world. It reflected off of Earth and came back fourteen months later.