karened - Livejournal

I didn't manage to join my dear fellow fangirls at the GANTZ screening today, but I caught it with my lovelies at night.

Boy, how surreal it was to see Nino and Matsuken on the posters just before my eyes (yeah, a far cry from the Arashi-fied world of Tokyo, but still...).

The movie was much better than expected, my expectations having been affected by the many modest reviews on the movie.

Exciting fight scenes, interesting aliens everytime, hilarious moments scattered around, and of course, two of my favourite actors on the screen. Chemistry-wise, I felt that they have to work a bit harder to tug at our heartstrings for the buddies. Pacing-wise, I felt at several point a drag, but those moments don't last too long, fortunately.

I never found Nino hot in the GANTZ suit...until today, when I see him/it in action. His character was bordering annoying with his "I'm the hero so move aside and let me do my work" attitude, so I hope he can redeem himself somehow, like he did towards the very end.

My only complaint isn't towards the movie, but towards the couple behind me, who kept commenting throughout the movie.

"Is that person (Kanata Hongo) male or female?"
"He hasn't died yet, he'll die later..."

How rude.

One very very pleasant surprise was Yamada Takayuki appearing at the very last scene! I was more curious about his role than Matsuken's Kato's reappearance onscreen in spite being declared dead by GANTZ. kekekekeke....I think I've read about him being in GANTZ 2, but that was too long ago so I didn't recall at all! In fact, after looking at the movie poster again, I realised that he's in the poster too! Haha, for just a 2 minute appearance!

I wonder if the cinema goers in Singapore find it weird that the more well-known (to them, due to the more viral Death Note movie series) Matsuken appeared to be second lead while the who-is-that-small-guy Nino took up so much screentime. I wonder if Matsuken will get more screentime/character development in part 2 because while the official movie poster features both equally prominent, the movie made it seem otherwise.

And I'm human.

First, it was Jun.

Now, it's Nino.

Oh my gosh. I'm so very glad that I downloaded this show!! I had refrained from watching Gantz promo clips, but this one sounded interesting so I risked getting spoilt any further. I'm glad I did.

NinoMatsu in LA SP.



Why not a screencap of Nino/Matsuken?

BECAUSE IT'S THE HOTEL THAT'S MAKING ME EXCITED.

Grand Hyatt!!!

The hotel I always stay at!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

<3 Jun, Nino. kyaaaaaa. Who's next?

Maybe Nino stayed at the hotel room I stayed at before!

LOL. I kid myself. He's a Tokyolite for goodness sake. *knocks some sense into myself*

In any case, I'm exhilarated! I guess Hyatt's the only option if they want a place to stay at before the premier at Toho.

ARGH but why wasn't I in Japan during this period!!!? =(

[EDIT]
I'm barely 10 mins into the show and I'm already feeling sorry for Matsuken. All I hear from fangirls there is "NINO~~~"

It's ok, Matsuken, I LOVE YOU TOO.

[EDIT 2]
Why does Nino look so tired. T.T Why why why.


Deep, prolonged frown.


Watery, bloodshot eyes.



I'll be editing this post as I watch...

Had actually arranged to meet 2 fans on lj today...but one didn't turn up (strange enough, she emailed later saying that she was waiting for hours but we didn't turn up...what exactly happened??) so I went ahead with the other to the JE shop. My first time with someone at the JE shop since Rika a few years back! We met at 9, waited till slightly after 930 before giving up and heading to the JE shop. Surprisingly (since I've been reaching the shop at around 10 each time and never had to queue) there was already a queue. But we were quite front and managed to enter the shop at around 1005.

Good for us. Or rather, for me since she (let's cal her K-chan) didn't buy much. It soon got crowded but as the crowd started building up at the Arashi corner, I was already near the end of the ordeal. Photos for myself, Angel, Yen and other fan friends amounted to a 3-digit number, but I had already controlled myself a lot! Still, Jun in Hatenai Sora was too irresistable! I bought almost all of his individuals. A few great Juntoshi and Ohmiya ones too, of course.

Then it was a bit of shopping at the unofficial shops where I became a happy fangirl.

I finally found the In A Rush photobook, completing my photobook collection!



Also bought a lot of live photos with precious moments. K-chan was amazing, remembering which costume came from what performance and what incident happened at which performance, such as the Jun-randomly-eating-banana-during-MC photos below.

( Live photos under a cut because I regreted looking at them and spoiling my concert surprise. Don't want to spoil yours! )

It was quite inconvenient today because of the rain...and really cold since I didn't bring my gloves along. Hopefully it won'train on Friday!

I just watched Kaiji!

It's one of the best movie I've watched in recent years. In fact, I like it better than Sherlock Holmes.

Plot-wise, taking the ridiculous premises (of a corporation's cult-like employees following their president's instructions to build an underground empire by tricking hopeful, follish people into great debts and then enslaving them underground) for granted, is excellent. There was not a single point during the 2hr 5 min movie that was slow moving. Everything was fast, but well explored. And this is one of the very very very few movies which made me go "Oh no, don't end so soon. More more more" as I watched.

There were times when my heart went doki-doki, and it really felt so nerve wrecking that I was clenching my chest! Especially the scene at the bridge, just before the people started to get onto the bridge. It was sooooo tensed! I felt so afraid for the people! And just a while later, I started crying, because the middle age man for whom Kaiji went to the underground site with decided to give up. He decided to commit suicide. But before doing that, he cheered Kaiji on, saying that Kaiji would definitely be able to cross over safely. He trusted him, and even gave Kaiji his coupon, entrusting him to pass the money to his daughter. He's not just trusting that Kaiji will be able to make it out of that hell, but also that Kaiji will not covet the money. And then...Kaiji, after deciding that it was futile trying to persuade the man, turned away and started inching forward. But he continued to tell the man that the man's life isn't nothing. It isn't....and then...he turns back, only to see nothing behind.

That was also wthe part where I loveeeeee the cinematography. Beautifully done! When Kaiji turned around and starting talking to the man, the camera was filming from his back. But when he turned back to look at the man, the camera switched angles and filmed from his front, slowly drawing into a wide angle to include the area behind Kaiji, where the man was supposed to be standing. Yet...he was gone, without a word. So beautiful. There were many other scenes that be really beautifully shot, but I can't really remember.

Characters were not exaggerated either. The bad guy isn't pure evil. He's just very elitist and full of himself. But he's not the crazy pyscopath kind of villian. He is fallable too.

And of course, Kaiji. He's a simple guy, a loser maybe. But he's not the male version of mary jane. He falls to temptations too. He trusts others too easily sometimes. But when he wants to, he can cheat others without caring about the consequences his actions have on them (well, they deserved it anyway). In the end, he's just another person trying to live. And when he survives, he indulges in good food, feeding his humna desires. No big talk about what he has learnt from the ordeal. Just...enjoying his freedom. 

A great movie, and I'm going to get the dvd. Loved it!

The only waste was that Kenichi-kun didn't appear much, and he had to die so suddenly. But...I'm really glad for him, and his acting. Yappari an experienced actor! Tatsuya-kun is pretty good, though not as polished as Kenichi. Still, he totally owned the character and will most likely be my favourite character this year. =)

[EDIT] I was browsing the Kaiji wiki and saw this---> 編の製作が決定し、2011年に公開が予定されている。

YATTA! I hope it's the same people, coz Kaiji has escaped already right? =/ Don't give me some other random people....but if it's called Kaiji, it should still have him ne.

So, let's continue!! First, let m share a picture!

This is what I see from my hotel room window!! I got quite excited, for my Kenichi-kun, but I didn't know what's coming