Tohoshinki releases PV for “DUET”

Tohoshinki has released the highly anticipated PV for their new track, “DUET“!
With a dark palette of colors, dimly lit settings and, of course, a love story (sealed with a dramatic kiss!), the PV perfectly complements the laidback tones of this track.

Kis-My-Ft2 releases audio for “We Never Give Up”

Pop group Kis-My-Ft2 have broadcasted the full audio for “We Never Give Up” on radio airwaves.
As reported earlier, “We Never Give Up” is their second single and will come in five different versions. The song is described to be an energetic piece that’s sure to make everyone listening “stand up! stand up!”

JYJ’s Junsu praises, “Yoochun, you really are the best actor!”

JYJ’s Junsu thrilled his fans with his warm message of support for groupmate Yoochun.
On July 20th, the idol tweeted, “Yoochun, you’ve done well so far. You really are the best actor! Jaejoong-hyung is now starting to get busy so let’s cheer up a little.”
Yoochun recently wrapped up filming for MBC’s ‘Miss Ripley‘, which ended its run on the 19th. Junsu also added his support for Jaejoong, who is starring in SBS’s ‘Protect the Boss‘, set to air in August.
Netizens commented, “It’s nice to see your close friendship“, “I hope you three all do well in your respective fields“, “I’ll support you well too.”

Big Bang grabs #1 on Taiwanese charts

Big Bang can add another notch onto their victory belt, as they’ve secured a #1 on Taiwanese music charts.
The boys’ 4th mini-album, as well as their special edition album, concert DVDs, and behind-the-scenes concert book, have all been big hits in Taiwan, landing solid spots on the G-MUSIC, FIVE MUSIC, KuangNan Record, & BOOKS.COM charts under the ‘K-POP Album & DVD’ category.
Additionally, the title track for their special edition album, “Love Song“, reached the #1 spot on the Taiwanese MTV chart.
The five members are currently taking a break after they recently concluded their tour concerts in Japan.

Which manga was best adapted into a live action drama?

It has become a recent trend within the past couple of years for popular manga series to be adapted into a live action drama. Manga series have rich story lines, but because most fans have strong impressions of the manga they commonly are disappointed with the result of a live action adaptation. Of course there’s many exceptions to this and ORICON STYLE polled 1,000 people and asked the question, “Which manga was best adapted into a live action drama?”
Popular music manga, ‘Nodame Cantabile‘ starring Ueno Juri and Tamaki Hiroshi ranked number one in the poll. The comical essence of the drama on top of the real orchestra performances was more than people expected.
‘Nodame Cantabile’ is a manga written by Ninomiya Tomoko, and follows the story of a strange yet very talented pianist named “Nodame” as well as the people she associates with in this musical comedy. A poll taker commented, “The acting of the cast members playing these unique characters perfectly matched” proving that the exquisite casting did justice even to a fan of the original manga. However, the performance scenes, which the cast learned and practiced for, was the main thing that impressed everyone. What could not be brought to life in the manga was made a reality through the drama series bringing out the music within the story. Nodame Cantabile brought about the “classical music boom” and changed the impression and stereotype of classical music.
The second manga chosen by fans was the teen love story of  ’Hana Yori Dango‘ by Kamio Yok. The manga itself is very popular internationally and has been adapted into a drama even in the neighboring country of South Korea. In the Japanese adaptation Inoue Mao plays the character of Makino Tsukushi, a strong willed and sturdy young girl, and Arashi’s Matsumoto Jun plays the character of Domyouji Tsukasa, a high and mighty heir to a major corporation. The chemistry between the duo was brilliantly brought to life just like it is in the manga. A poll taker remarks, “There were parts that were slightly different from the manga, but as a drama it was very amusing“. After it’s airtime in 2005, the series came back with a sequel and even released a movie.
The medical history manga series that sold 6,800,000 copies in total, ‘JIN‘,  ranked in third place. JIN follows the story of Dr. Minakata Jin, played by Osawa Takao, who goes back to a time where medical practices were not highly advanced and learns the preciousness of life. This year in May it won the “15th Tezuka Osamu Bunka-sho Manga-sho” and has also received much praise. The realistic surgery scenes and the historical being incorporated into the story “made it exciting to watch the following week.” The series, loved by both men and women, finished it’s final episode with an average viewership rating of 26.1% and was praised with satisfaction.
When it comes to manga series being adapted into live action dramas, fans become very strict and critical. Although the popularity of the manga could mean it’ll become a hot topic, but it could also mean that with one mistake the drama will be referred to as a bad drama. In the midst of that pressure, the top 10 dramas below have been adapted well enough to receive the approval of many fans and may even be considered “masterpieces”. With this increasing trend in bringing manga characters to life, it will be exciting to see which character will be next to appear on the television screen in live action.
Check out the top 10 for “Which manga was best adapted into a live action drama?” and leave a comment below!
1. ‘Nodame Cantabile’ by Ninomiya Tomoko (Starring: Ueno Juri & Tamaki Hiroshi)
2. ‘Hana Yori Dango’ by Kamio Yoko (Starring: Inoue Mao & Matsumoto Jun)
3. ‘JIN’ by Murakami Motoka (Starring: Osawa Takao & Ayase Haruka)
4. ‘Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo’ by Amagi Seimaru, Kanari Youzaburo, and Satou Fumiya (Starring: Doumoto Tsuyoshi, Tomosaka Rie, Matsumoto Jun, and Suzuki Ann)
5. ‘ROOKIES’ by Morita Masanori (Starring: Sato Ryuta & Ichihara Hayato)
6. ‘Gokusen’ by Morimoto Kozueko (Starring: Nakama Yukie)
7. ‘Dr. Koto Shinryoujo’ by Yamada Takatoshi (Starring: Yoshioka Hidetaka & Shibasaki Kou)
8. ‘Umizaru’ by Sato Shuho (Starring: Ito Hideaki & Kato Ai)
9. ‘GTO’ by Fujisawa Toru (Starring: Sorimachi Takashi & Matsushima Nanako)
10. ‘Tokyo Love Story’ by Saimon Fumi (Starring: Suzuki Honami &Oda Yuji)

GACKT sets new singles record with his latest single, “Episode.0″!

GACKT’s first single in nearly a year, “Episode.0“, has sold approximately 29,000 units since it hit shelves on July 13th, landing solidly in third place and setting a new record for male soloists!

“Episode.0″ is GACKT’s 39th single, and it’s continued his tradition of landing in the top 10. This puts GACKT one single ahead of the previous record-holder, Tahara Toshihiko, whose 1992 single “Ame ga Sakende’ru” gave him his 38th ‘top ten singles’ distinction.
“I don’t mean that I’ve been aware of the record while I was promoting up until now, but since there are so many fans who will enjoy (hearing about this), in that case I’m happy about it,” said GACKT delightedly about holding the new record.
As we previously reported, the single “Episode.0″ was part of a special contest, in which Niconico Douga users could see their Gackpoid songs sung by GACKT himself. The winner was “Episode.0″, along with the second place winner “Paranoid Doll”.
Check out the top five male soloists below!
-
< Male Soloists with the Most Top 10 Singles >
01. GACKT – 39 singles
02. Tahara Toshihiko – 38 singles
03. Go Hiromi – 34 singles
04. Saijou Hideki – 33 singles
05. Sawada Genji – 30 singles

Drama Prime Time Report – July 15th~18th

Lots of naked ikemen in "Ikemen desu ne", desu ne?!

It was a long weekend in Japan thanks to ‘Marine Day’ on Monday and people had other distractions to keep them away from the small tube, except for sport events like the World Cup or certain music and variety specials. When looking at the dramas, there were two big losers with “Zenkai Girl” that almost lost 5% and “Hana Kimi 2011” that is now down to ratings that are usually only reserved for late-night dramas.
Let’s start with Friday, because it featured one of the two new starts this weekend. “Ikemen desu ne“, starring Takimoto Miori, Tamamori Yuta (Kis-My-Ft.2), Fujigaya Taisuke (Kis-My-Ft.2), and Yaotome Hikaru (Hey! Say! JUMP), started with a two-hour-long episode and achieved a rating of 10.9%. It’s bad compared to last week’s variety special, but it’s actually okay for such a long episode. Compared to previous Friday dramas it doesn’t have to be ashamed either. The ratings of the next two episode will be important, especially when looking at other dramas and their huge drops.

Watch out for koala ambushes! ("Yuusha Yoshihiko")

On Saturday, “Don Quixote” managed to withstand the mega music special on TBS and only lost 0.7% compared to last week. Its ratings might even be able to increase again next week, without such a strong competition.
Now onto the problematic Sunday that started with the worst rating for “Gou” since it started airing. Here you could use the variety special on TV Asahi as an excuse, but the ratings have been gradually decrease over the past weeks again anyway, despite the appearance of Mukai Osamu and more screen-time for AKIRA.
However, nobody really cared about the ratings of “Gou”, because “Hanazakari no Kimitachi e” surprised everyone with a huge nose dive by 4.1%, down to miserable 6.0%. Of course, many people expected it to lose viewers, but that’s a lot. Several tabloids and self-proclaimed critics are already pointing out all the faults, but let’s hope the cast and team don’t get discouraged by those and the miserable ratings. Maybe it will already recover next week? Meanwhile “Hanawake no Yon Shimai” only lost 1.0% compared to last week.

After looking at the ratings... ("Hana Kimi 2011")

Today’s report also includes the Monday ratings due to the long-weekend and unfortunately I have to continue with another drama that lost even more percentage than “Hana Kimi 2011″. I’m talking about Fuji TV’s ‘Getsu 9′ drama “Zenkai Girl” that lost 4.8% and is now already below 10% with a viewer rating of only 9.8%. The drama actually received a lot of positive responses after its first episode, so this might be an even bigger surprise for many viewers and fans. Unlike “Hana Kimi 2011″, it had to compete against a very strong variety special, but on the other hand it also had quite a decent lead-in with the “Hey!Hey!Hey” music special that gained 13.2%.
Anyway, in the end everyone only looks at the figure and has to realize that it’s the first drama in the history of Fuji TV’s ‘Getsu 9′ time slot to already reach a single-digit rating with the second episode. Let’s hope it won’t continue to make history, especially since it’s the first starring role for Aragaki Yui and the Nishkido Ryo’s first ‘Getsu 9′ drama. The bad ratings could easily hurt their market value.
Meanwhile TV Tokyo started airing their Monday drama “IS“, starring Fukuda Saki and Gouriki Ayame, but sadly it’s a bit difficult to obtain ratings from TV Tokyo; not that it could compete with other dramas anyway.