Mainly Solanin♥

First things first. One, I have a new banner, as you can see. Yes, I am THAT in love with Ayu's new cover that I decided to use it in the banner. I also have an alternate banner:-

^ This image, I shall talk about later! ♥

Today is my brother's 9th birthday. We were planning to have the usual school party for him, but as it turns out, it was field trip day for them. They're going to the museums, and that's when my dad decided to hold the party at the KFC in Yayasan.

I actually had school too, I needed to return the books, but they wanted me to come as well, so after rushing with everything, I finally made it. Dammit, I hate rush modes. XD

This was the best picture I could get of him 0___0 He moves a heck lot.


I love this shot. They actually wanted the group photo to be in front of the fountain, until my dad decided that on the stairs would be better!

And, that's that.

Now, onto Solanin.


What's that? You never heard of Solanin? Well, that's probably because at just one look of the cover, you probably don't see any big-eyed, big-booby lady or pretty, girly-looking boy, or someone with some armor or cool weapon with them. Maybe it's because it's not your typical shoujo manga with weak, some 'ordinary' girl easily falling in love with hot but cold guy, or maybe it's because it's not filled with supernatural weirdness, where someone for whatever reason is more special than those around him, the chosen one---

I could go on forever. This actually frustrates me because it's so hard to find original manga anymore, even in vast sites like mangafox or mangatraders. Don't get me wrong, I used to be a huge fan of shoujo mangas, although not the aforementioned type. Of course, this is not the first time I've read this sort of manga. Before this, there was Nana, Paradise Kiss, Cat Street (I LOVE CAT STREET), etc. I was in one of 'those moods' when I was looking for some Slice of Life genres. Thanks to me wasting my time (in between exams, for that matter) browsing the whole site of mangatrader for something worthwhile, I stumbled upon this jewel.

College graduates struggle to cope with the real world. Music offers refuge in this modern manga with an American attitude.

Meiko Inoue is a recent college grad working as an office lady in a job she hates. Her boyfriend Shigeo is permanently crashing at her apartment because his job as a freelance illustrator doesn't pay enough for rent. And her parents in the country keep sending her boxes of veggies that just rot in her fridge. Straddling the line between her years as a student and the rest of her life, Meiko struggles with the feeling that she's just not cut out to be a part of the real world.

Quoted from Amazon.com. Why was I on Amazon? Because I was wondering if there were any English language versions of this manga. Why was I wondering? Because I'm hoping that I could own a physical copy of this manga. That's how much I love it. Not a big deal to you?

You see, I am a fan of downloads. Not really a fan, but obviously that's the best way to get my entertainment due to the lack of it here in real life. But, I would sometimes go over the boundary, which has happened with Ayumi since last year. So far, I think I've spent $200+ on her, and I intend to spend more. It's just worth it, I felt, and that's exactly what I'm hoping for with this manga.

I'm hoping that I'll be able to buy a copy of this when I go to Singapore, if I can't find it, I will beg with blood and tears with my dad to let me order it on Amazon. Uhm, I disgress.

Admittedly, when I found this manga, the initial genres in the filter were 'romance' and 'slice of life'. Figuring that wasn't enough, and from a past experience that brought me Emma: Victorian Romance (also another manga I looove), I included 'Seinen' in it too. For some reason, the Shonen and Seinen genre, f0r being targeted for the male audience, young and mature respectively, though not strictly, they appear to be more realistic, less mooshiness. The romance, heck, the usual life activities are much more life-like than the Josei and Shoujo.

Anyway, back to Solanin, I don't know how to express my love for it. I love it. I love it a lot. The five characters have just graduated from college, and each one of them with their own issues. The romance in this story wasn't the main thing. This was a couple who's been dating for six years, and lived together for a year. They are way past the honeymoon stage. There was no more need for sweet promises and whatnot. They were beyond that, yet there were still some sweet moments, even without the need to express mooshiness. No love triangle, no intervening of a third party, no more of those usual high school drama. It was a refreshing change for me.

After each chapter, if I wasn't holding back tears, I would contemplate with my own life, especially since I will be graduating soon as well. That fear of entering the adult life, discouragements and demotivations, hopes and expectations, how am I going to face all that?

Sure, the art style isn't your typical kawaii-girl, ikemen-boy type. That's another part of its uniqueness. It doesn't need over-sized eyes (or goddamned boobies) to attract its readers. A simple synopsis was all it needed to make me read it. Art style plays a big deal in my choice of manga, and although this isn't what I would normally be looking for, it's still good. I love the art style. As you can see, I'm loving everything about this manga.


I've read excerpts of Inio Asano's other manga. They were really good too, more slice of life, more, you know, life life. Subarashii Sekai, I want you. Inio Asano, you are the man.

One thing that made me really excited about Solanin is that it's going to have a live-action film in 2010.


Usually, I'm skeptical about these live-actions, but one thing changed my mind. The actress protraying Inoue Meiko is none other thaaaaan...Miyazaki Aoi!!!!!11!!1

Miyazaki Aoi, Miyazaki Aoi, Miyazaki Aoi. I love Miyazaki Aoi, therefore:-

Miyazaki Aoi + Solanin= ULTIMATE WIN

I have no idea who the rest of the cast members are, but I trust Miyazaki Aoi. She's starred in several independent films, which I love as well, and of course mainstream movies too and I'm sure this one is going to be a breeze. She had also portrayed Tensho'in Atsu-hime in the drama Atsu-hime, the wife of the 13th Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Iesada. (Yes, I actually remember all those facts because I loved the taiga drama). In that one series, you could see how she progressed from being a care-free lower branch Samurai family's daughter to basically the highest-ranked lady of the Samurai at that point of time.

Seriously, Miyazaki Aoi has portrayed a vast range of characters. When I heard the news (I was searching for Solanin on Facebook for fun, and found its fanclub XD) I literally squealed in excitement. I don't usually do that, okay, but I did then. Agh, don't ask me why I love her so much, at this stage, I don't even know why anymore, I just know that I do. :D

Okay, I think it's way too long already. Sorry. :/

Dreams come true?

Am I supposed to be glad that my exams are over now?

Actually, for some reason, I already felt liberated a few days ago, even though I know I have one more exam. That might explain why I can't concentrate on Econs since then.

After exams, I went straight to Empire for the Study in UK exhibition with my parents. I think that was when I started to feel depressed all over again. The course I want are all graphic-related. Unfortunately for me, I don't take Art for A levels, and most of the Unis require that. One even suggested I take 'Fashion Marketing' if I'm still interested to do the Arts course. The best reply I could give was a forced smile before I said "Thank you" and went away.

Then, we went to this Scholarships Department booth. My mum and the guy talked about scholarships, and it made me feel like the chances of me taking that course became thinner. After my mum told him my A Levels subjects, Physics, Maths and Econs, he immediately suggested me to take up Accounting, or Engineering or whatever. Apparently, my subjects are "very strong" and those courses would fit me well. I wanted to tear up in laughter at that point. My subjects may be strong, but that doesn't mean I'm not weak in them. I'm just not cut out to be in the subjects I took up, and I only realised this once I got into PU2.

Honestly, throughout the year, most of the time, in class, my thoughts are "what am I doing here?" Not to mention that scholarships require at least 240 tariff points and I'm not even anywhere near the confidence to even have a C in my A Levels. Sometimes, I wish I was as brave as those characters in the movies and make a difference for myself, but that's not how it works in the real life. Or maybe I'm just a coward. God knows what.

For now, I'm just going to have fun with Photoshop for as long as I can, because as of now, I feel like I'm on the right path to become one of those drones who, in 20 years time, might think about how she wished she made the right choice during that one period in her lifetime, which she could have, if not for the many restrictions in reality.

Dreams come true?

Only when you got the right qualifications to even be considered, baby.

Bullshit.

I have faith in you.

I haven't really been following on Ayu this past few weeks. I still go to the forum, but mainly to the Fan Works section only. Anyway, while I was there again today, it turns out her new single's cover is out.

It it totally gorgeous, and way, way, and I mean waaaaay better than her recent pictures. I've been having low expectations on her covers lately, which is probably why I am actually really impressed with this one. My last favourite cover from her was Blue Bird, and that was a single from 3-4 years ago. After that, her singles covers were gradually getting worse. I'm not sure if it's the airbrushing, or the poses, her facial expression, maybe all of them.

It all started when Kazuyoshi Shimomura (some fans have lovingly dubbed him Kazuyoshit Shitmomura) shot her Mirrorcle World cover. No, actually he also shot her A BEST 2 covers before, but those were too horrible and I couldn't be bothered to actually save them and show them here.

Some actually like the cover, but I don't. I just don't. Not really much of a reason. ARMPIT POSE WOOHOO. First time I saw it, I was like, "Oh. Bleh." The cover was forgettable to me (the songs on it still rock though). I was hoping for a more rockin' cover, because the Mirrorcle WOrld the song is awesome rock. Sure, the B-side was a rock ballad, but seriously? Anyone who doesn't know how the song sounds like would just assume that it's a ballad single.



And then, eight months later, her new single, Days/GREEN is released. I was hoping for a good cover. Good here means that's it's nice for me to play around in Photoshop with, beautiful enough to display on my cupboard if I ever plan on buying it, and also also good so that I don't cringe in horror every time it pops up in my music player. It's a good thing that there were four versions, so at least one cover would be gorgeous. Here I am, showing you two of the covers, the worst two, as a matter of fact. The other two didn't fare that much better, but seriously. Days/GREEN cd-only (left) is the worst. Dead eyes, weird mouth, protruding forehead. The position of all her facial features look distorted. Instead of butterflies, she now has flowers in her hair. This is a winter single, so why use flowers? Doesn't that normally represent spring? I'm not expecting any stereotypical winter covers, but...eh. I just don't like the covers.

Next up, Rule/Sparkle in February 2009. Rule was used as the world-wide theme song for the live adaptation of Dragon Ball, called Dragon Ball Evolution (wtf). I never watched the movie, but I expected it to suck when Hollywood decided on the all-white cast, except for Master Yoshi, I think. I dunno, I dun care. Thank goodness the song is really powerful on its own. I lovelove Rule, but not so much the cover. When we saw the making of pictures, we thought it would be reminiscent of her 2003 Because of You PV, but we were far off. The hair is so messy, the facial expression tried too hard at "FIERCE". I like the colours though, when almost every one else doesn't. Ayu herself is a fan of Dragon Ball, and I guess she was trying to imitate Bulma's "sense of fashion". But the poses of the CD-only versions, ah mai gad.

You got the colours right, Ayu.

She announced her next album will be released just a month after Rule/Sparkle, NEXT LEVEL. I don't know why, but I was expecting a different cover, something unique, something new to correspond with its title. Ayumi Hamasaki, going up the next level sort of feel, you know. I guess, we sort of got the 'new and different'. Kids, I am here to warn you, be careful what you with for. You might end up with an unrecognisable woman with bushy hair, dishwasher gloves (which by the way, you can't see here, also have frickin' nails on them. I know you're the nail queen, Ayu, but seriously, sparkly nails on rubber gloves?!) and some sort of multi-coloured dress. Yeah. Weird. Not to mention the continuation of weird poses she did.

Oh, my back.

Sometimes, you gotta wonder, how many dead, innocent squirrels are probably stuck in her hair, strangled? None, actually, there's no reason for squirrels to be there. But imagine that hair-- Okay, stop.

By the time her next single was announced, there was no hope left for me. Sunrise/Sunset, two songs with similar arrangements, one a summer pop, the other one a summer ballad. Your typical Ayu summer cheer crowd song, and this time she also included her dancers' vocals for the chorus (including Shuya, teehee) So yeah, again, good songs, bad covers. Unfortunately, bad doesn't really describe it. Ayu totally hit rock bottom with this one. Introducing, Sunrise/Sunset cover, drum rolls please.

OH HAI, I AM AYUMI.

Noooo, really? LIES, YOU IMPOSTOR D:

AAAGGHHH, ZE HORROR. STOP GLARING AT ME AYUUUU

Lets repost the You Were.../BALLAD cover.

Ah, splendid.