Music review: BoA - Rock With You

Artist: BoA Album: Love & Honesty Release date: 1/15/04 Video link: Via YouTube

English translation: Hey, hey get it up You try this Gonna make you hot Yeah, yeah pump it up Do you wanna rock with me?

Hey, hey get it up You try this Taste my rock and roll Stand up get it up...

Uh-huh

Unlock your heart and listen… Ride out these unfair times skilfully It’s against my principles to believe rumours

I’ll walk with you even though no one else believes in you Even though the situation is still serious So that you don’t run away Before you get the message…

Hey, hey give me your love We can never go back! Yeah yeah! We’ll enjoy even the impossible This warmth that is yours without a doubt Makes me love you more Now I’ve found myself

I want to know more about you Gonna rock with you…right now

Hey, hey get it up You try this Taste my rock and roll Stand up get it up...

Turn up the volume on the stereo And when the night eventually comes, turn back time I want to show you That I’m the only one who understands That you’re just pretending not to be sad So that you don’t try to deny the person you are

Hey, hey give me your love I want to keep dancing with you Yeah yeah! Life will always change From this day, that’s totally because of you A totally new history is beginning

I feel like if I don’t pay proper attention to you you’ll go away So I’m gonna rock with you…right now

I’ll walk with you even though no one else believes in you Even though the situation is still serious So that you don’t run away Before you get the message…

Hey, hey give me your love We can never go back! Yeah yeah! We’ll enjoy even the impossible This warmth that is yours without a doubt Makes me love you more Now I’ve found myself

Hey, hey give me your love I want to keep dancing with you Yeah yeah! Life will always change From this day, that’s totally because of you A totally new history is beginning

I want to know more about you Gonna rock with you…right now About the song: BoA got a little more rock and roll with this song. While her songs are almost always good, they frequently have a typical pop sound. Rock With You relies more on drums, synthesizers and a throbbing bass. The result is a great dance song with the added benefit of BoA's strong vocals.

Website of the Week: Japan Zone

I know, I haven't had a Website of the Week for the entire month. Here is the latest edition. I try to keep up to date on various entertainment news coming out of Japan. One of my favorite websites is Japan Zone. The news is generally in small, easy to digest blocks and it's updated once a day. It's just enough to know what's going on without getting too complicated.

Music review: Mini Moni - Minimoni. Kazoe Uta ~Date version~

Artist: Mini MoniMembers: Mika Todd (family name last), Kago Ai, Nozomi Tsuji, Takahashi Ai Album: mini-moni. SONGS 2 Release date: 2/11/04 Video link: On YouTube

English translation: "Let's go! One, two, three, go!"

Going out with that special person Hey! Going out with that special person! Lalala How fun! Lalala, how fun! Hey! It's fun going on a date

One, two, three, four Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten Eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen Twenty

"Did they arrive?" "Not yet!" "All right! Then one more time" "Okay!"

Going out with that special person Hey! Going out with that special person! Lalala How fun! Lalala, how fun! Hey! It's fun going on a date

Coming, not coming, coming Not coming, coming, not coming, coming Not coming, coming, coming, not coming Coming, not coming, not coming, not coming Coming, they're finally here!

"Did they arrive?" "Yup!"

How fun! Lalala, how fun! Hey! Going out with that special person! Lalala How fun! Lalala, how fun! Hey! It's fun going on a date

That person I love is pretty! Hey! That person I love is pretty! Lalala How pretty! Lalala, how pretty! Hey! You're pretty when you're in love!

Love you, love you, love you, really love you Love you, love you, love you Love-love you, love you~ really love you Love you, love you~ really love you, love you I LOVE YOU

"Do we love 'em lots now?" "Not yet!" "All right! Then one more time" "Okay!"

That person I love is pretty! Hey! That person I love is pretty! Lalala How pretty! Lalala, how pretty! Hey! You're pretty when you're in love!

Love you, love you, love you, really love you Love you, love you, love you Love-love you, love you~ really love you Love you, love you~ really love you, love you I LOVE YOU

"Do we love 'em lots now?" "All clean!"

How fun! Lalala, how fun! Hey! Going out with that special person! Lalala How fun! Lalala, how fun! Hey! It's fun going on a date About the song: If you get nothing else out of Mini Moni, you get a little bit of education and a lot of fun. Right there in the beginning of the song are numbers in Japanese! Even you can count to twenty! Unfortunately, like many other Mini Moni songs, it gets old really fast. Most of their songs are aimed at children so there is a lot of repetition involved. The same happens here. I'm ready to turn it off by the third 'suki' if I manage to make it that far. It's cute but a little TOO cute.

Favorite Friday

Jdorama review: Taiho Shichauzo

Title: Taiho Shichauzo Translation: You're Under Arrest Broadcast date: 10/17/02 - 12/12/02 Genre: Police comedy Cast: Ito Misaki, Hara Sachie Plot: Based on the best-selling manga, this is the story of Natsumi (Ito) and Miyuki (Hara), two outrageous female traffic police officers. What is good: The cast had pretty good chemistry with each other. What is bad: Most of the episodes are boring. Letter rating: C- Overall: I watched this show in the hopes that Ito Misaki had the ability to play a character that isn't a shy, submissive Japanese woman. She definitely pulled it off here. Natsumi is the complete opposite of Ito's Aoyama Saori from Densha Otoko. The problem here isn't the acting. It's that the stories are fairly boring. The show starts off well with Natsumi and Miyuki kicking a lot of criminal ass but then it swerves away from that. Yes, they still get into fights once in awhile. They just aren't the same as the fights from the early episodes. And by the end of the series, Natsumi is using guns instead of her fists. Considering there are only nine episodes in the series, the transition from "wild girls" to "sweethearts of the police station" goes quickly.

If you're a fan of the manga or the anime version, you might enjoy this. However, don't expect anything particularly deep to come out of it. We never really get to know the girls beyond their deep friendship for each other. It would have been nice to get into why Natsumi was so violent or why Miyuki likes cars so much. Alas, we are left with the "because this is how they are" type of reasoning for everything. At least the studio didn't try to drag this out for 26 episodes.