It’s been too long since we had a decent show from Hello! Project. Hello!Pro Time was just enough to tide us over for Hello! Project’s new drama “Suugaku Joshi Gakuen” (Math Girls School).

Almost all Hello! Project members have been casted: Tanaka Reina, Michishige Sayumi (Morning Musume.) / Sakurada Dori, Niigaki Risa, Fukumura Mizuki, Ikuta Erina, Sayashi Riho, Suzuki Kanon, Iikubo Haruna, Ishida Ayumi, Satou Masaki, Kudou Haruka (Morning Musume.), Shimizu Saki, Tsugunaga Momoko, Tokunaga Chinami, Sudou Maasa (Berryz Koubou) / Yajima Maimi, Nakajima Saki, Suzuki Airi, Okai Chisato, Hagiwara Mai (C-ute), Mano Erina / Wada Ayaka, Fukuda Kanon, Tamura Meimi (S/mileage), Kikkawa Yuu, Saho Akari, Miyamoto Karin, Takagi Sayuki, Tanabe Nanami, Yoshihashi Kurumi.

Sadly, Mitsui Aika (Morning Musume), Natsuyaki Miyabi, Kumai Yurina, Sugaya Risako (Berryz Kobou) and S/mileage’s newest members Nakanishi Kana, Takeuchi Akari, Katsuta Rina are so far not known to be involved.

Here’s a short preview,

“Suugaku Joshi Gakuen”  begins airing on Wednesday, January 11th, 2012. Even though my favourite Hello! Project member (Natsuyaki Miyabi) isn’t in it, I will still be checking ”Suugaku Joshi Gakuen” out. What about you?

What?! Watanabe Mayu is getting her own drama as a leading actress? What?! It’s about

“An unattractive teacher who’s 38 years old, but has a double identity as “Watanabe Mayu”, a much-beloved 17-year-old idol?”
Tokyohive

That sounds like one interesting concept! ”Saba-dol” begins airing on January 13th, 2012. Check out the preview below!

Source: Tokyohive

On November 30th, comedians Downtown held a press conference for their year-end “no-laughing” show, “Downtown no Gaki no Tsukaiya Arahende!! No Laughing Airport 24 Hours!“. This will be the 6th time that the “No-laughing series” will air as a New Year’s Eve special.

At the press conference, Matsumoto Hitoshi reported that he had fractured his left knee a week before filming. “During the penalty games, I kept getting kicked even though I reminded them about my knee,” he said.

True to form, the comedians caused everyone to laugh at the press conference, as Hamada Masatoshi pointed out that their event was on the same day as the ‘Kohaku Uta Gassen‘ lineup announcement. “Is it okay for you to be here?“, he joked.

Last year’s “SPY” episode received a viewership rating of 15.3% in the first half and 14.3% in the second half. Matsumoto declared, “We want to somehow surpass Kohaku this year“.

Filming for their New Year’s Eve special already took place in mid-November at Ibaraki Airport.

Source: tokyohive.com

Momoiro Clover Z began streaming their very own web-drama “Momodora” on December 1st, 2011.

A new episode of the 5 part web-drama will go live every Monday until Christmas Eve, December 24th, 2011. Each episode is about 15~20 minutes long and will feature 1 member of Momoiro Clover Z per-episode.

The episodes which are available for viewing for Japanese audiences only can be found here.

We first got to see Momoiro Clover Z’s acting skills in horror-documentary “Shirome” back in 2010. A lot has changed for Momoiro Clover Z since then. Their progression as idols is clearly shown by their acting skills in ”Momodora”.

Perhaps a member of Momoiro Clover Z will land an acting role in a prime-time drama on television in the near future. Here’s hoping!

Source: natalile

For an upcoming television special on TV Asahi, Michishige Sayumi will live off of ¥10,000 for 1 month.

“Celebrity Saving Battle, Living For a Month With Only ¥10,000″ will begin airing on November 17th, 2011 and continue every Thursday for a month. Her opponent, a comedian known as Robert Akiyama.

According to sources, Sayumi’s rent and electricity will be paid for but will only have ¥10,000 for food and fun. Let’s hope Sayumi is a good cook!

Source: Walkerplus

Japanese advertisements are my favourite. When I sit down to watch some TV in Japan, I  just flick through the channels to watch the commercials. Almost everything is endorsed by celebrities.

Recent Nintendo commercials in the UK have started featuring popular British singers and actress/actors. Although they’re our own celebrities, Japan has borrowed numerous Western celebrities such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis to star in many different types of commercials.

As I can spend countless hours watching them on YouTube I thought I’d share some of my favourites. Enjoy!

I know it’s fake but I still love it :-)

]]> http://yonasu.com/western-celebrities-in-japanese-commercials/feed/ 6 http://yonasu.com/danish-otaku-interviewed-on-japanese-tv/ http://yonasu.com/danish-otaku-interviewed-on-japanese-tv/#comments Wed, 05 Oct 2011 16:43:44 +0000 kiMi67 http://yonasu.com/?p=17828

One of the most viewed videos on Youtube Japan today shows a Danish otaku interviewed by a Japanese announcer in the streets of Akihabara.

The announcer asks him where is he from and why he came to Japan, and he tells her that he is here to study Japanese so he can better understand anime and manga. His favorite anime is “Ore no Imōto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai” (My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute). She asks him what would give him a “moe” feeling, so he asks her to please call him “onii-chan” (big brother).

She does it, and he gives an appropriate “moe” reaction. He says it warms his heart.

Source: Japan Probe

Missed the first episodes? Start here »

In episode 7 of Takashi’s Great Journey, Takashi is still in Sendai, although doing much more skating than fooling around. He meets some great guys like Shinnosuke Yonesaka (aka SHINNOSK8) from Gate Japan and Noboru from Transworld Japan. Quite a different episode from the rest and great for those who actually enjoy the skateboarding part of his journey.

« Takashi’s Great Journey 06 —

Missed the first episodes? Start here »

In episode six of Takashi’s Great Journey, Takashi goes to Sendai where he stayed for nine days. It’s almost 300 kilometers from Hachinohe, Aomori to Sendai and he had to skate at night because the Japanese summer is simply too hot. In Sendai he meets up with Matai Miyadate, a cameraman filming for the web magazine GOOD DEAL. He also meets a crazy hilarious guy who likes to skate, in his birthday suit.

« Takashi’s Great Journey 05 — Takashi’s Great Journey 07 »

Missed the first episodes? Start here »

In this episode Takashi continues his journey in Hachinohe, Aomori where he gets some part time jobs, gets a long and funny call from his friends Macchan and Hanai, goes to see Hachinohe Sansha-taisai festival and gives us a more in-depth introduction of LOFT-X.

« Takashi’s Great Journey 04 — Takashi’s Great Journey 06 »