I don’t watch anime so much these days. The exception was Vision of Escaflowne, which I watched after hearing the synopsis at an anime soundtrack concert. It was a pretty good anime, but didn’t quite live up to my expectations.

The other day I got Attack on Titan (進撃の巨人/Shingeki no Kyojin) recommended to me on Twitter (thanks Stephane). It seemed cool based on the single screen I had seen. I started watching it, and it’s very good. It’s different in a deceptive way. When you think you have the story figured out, it makes a sharp turn in another direction. That’s the impression I’ve gotten from the episodes that have aired so far.

The anime series is based on a manga by Hajime Isayama. It takes place in a world where … Continue reading

I was a bit sceptical about the drama series Gu Family Book judging by its first couple of episodes, which consisted of the back story for the main plot. However, I stuck with it to see when Suzy’s character would appear and after a few episodes the drama has really taken off. The main characters (Kang-chi, Yeo-wool and Chung-jo) are much more relatable.

Besides Suzy (the reason for my watching the drama in the first place), another beauty is Lee Yoo-bi, who plays Chung-jo … Continue reading

Nearly two weeks ago I attended UFC Sweden for the second time (UFC on Fuel TV 9). It was fun. Some great fights, even though the main event had been changed since Alexander Gustafsson wasn’t allowed to fight due to a cut (split eyebrow, I think). I was really impressed with the Irish fighter Conor McGregor. Many Swedish fighters performed well too. Tor Troeng owned fellow TUF contender Adam Cella.

The audience was really supportive of the Swedish fighters. Except one. Chris Spång, who looked extremely nervous and tentative. People were cheering when he walked in with the Swedish flag and when the fight started, but after a couple minutes without action the cheers died down. A guy behind me shouted out his frustration “Men slååå-råååå!!” (”Punch FFS!!”).

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I started watching another Korean drama series the other day. It’s called Gu Family Book (구가의 서). The reason I checked it out is because Suzy (Miss A, Dream High) plays one of the main parts, which the teaser suggests is a pretty bad-ass martial artist. The main character is played by Lee Seung-ki (The King 2 Hearts), but I haven’t gotten that far yet.

Gu Family Book is a period/fantasy drama. I generally have a hard time taking these seriously, since … Continue reading

Last night I started watching the Korean drama series You’re the best, Lee Soon-shin (최고다 이순신). The main character is played by IU, which I admit is the reason I checked this drama out. She’s very adorable as Soon-shin, but the drama seems to be very good as well.

I’ve only watched two episodes, but the impression I’ve gotten so far is that the drama is about being brave when handling adversity, even though no one else believes in you and that “when a door closes, a window opens”.

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I wrote a little about women’s MMA a few years ago. Since then I’ve been loosely following the women’s divisions in Strikeforce. Other than that I’ve watched Invicta once, I think.

The first time I saw Ronda Rousey fight in MMA was when she captured the Strikeforce title, no wait, it was her first title defence (I had missed some shows). I was really impressed with her crisp technique. For those who don’t know her, she comes from a Judo background where she got the bronze medal at the Olympics back in ‘08. She was undefeated in MMA before her UFC title defence and had won all her fights via first round armbar submission. Even when her opponents knew what was coming, they didn’t stand a chance. Those were fights that I showed my buddies youtube clips of (viewer discretion advised, though).

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I was spazzing so hard when I first heard that Tae-yeon was going to sing a song on the soundtrack for To the Beautiful you (아름다운 그대에게). I kind of like Tae-yeon (fun game: try to locate the biggest understatement in this post ) and I like all of her drama soundtrack songs. She really is the queen of drama soundtracks. The song is called Closer (가까이) and was first heard at the end of episode 5. It’s a really nice ballad. I like the whole soundtrack, but Closer and Stand Up are the best songs, imo.

Tae-yeon ~ Closer Live@Inkigayo 20120916

31MB 3:45 H.264/AVC 480×272 PSP Ready

(download | thm | preview)

The video clip is from Tae-yeon’s performance of the song at Inkigayo. I wish I were there! >_< Look how close to the stage everyone is standing.

As for the drama, I’ve watched 12 episodes so far. While the plot is a bit uneven, I like this drama a lot. I’ve been rooting for Eun-gyeol since the beginning, but I’ve had the feeling from the start that it won’t end the way I would like. I’m glad he decided to do what he did in episode 11, though (차은결 파이팅!). The last episodes will air next week. How will it end?!

I don’t know if you’ve picked up on it by now, but I’m currently watching the Korean drama adaptation of Hana-Kimi, To the Beautiful You. The theme song for that drama is sung by singer-songwriter J-Min. It’s called Stand Up (일어나). I really like this song. It suits the drama very well.

J-Min ~ Stand Up Live@Inkigayo 20120826

29MB 2:48 H.264/AVC 480×272 PSP Ready

(download | thm | preview)

I haven’t heard of J-Min before. She’s an SM Entertainment artist, but it seems like she has mostly been active in Japan prior to this drama.

The sound track for the drama is being released bit by bit. Since SM is producing the drama, it’s all SM artists. There’s one duet with Krystal and Jessica Jung and one with Sunny and Luna, for example. In the latest episode, which aired today, Tae-yeon is singing a really nice ballad. I’m fighting hard to resist watching the episode before I have the fansub. I saw a clip with Tae-yeon’s song and the scene seems really emotional too. Gaaa. It’s too late to watch it tonight, so maybe I can resist another day.

I just finished watching episode 4 of To the Beautiful You (or “For You in Full Blossom” (Bloom), which is the official English title — yuck). It’s only been two weeks, but I’m feeling that watching this drama will be a part of my weekend routine the coming few weeks. The community fansubs are made quickly, so I can watch the Wednesday episode with subtitles on Saturday morning and the Thursday episode on Sunday evening. Check my previous post for links to where to get it.

I’m continually impressed with Sulli’s acting. … Continue reading

I finished rewatching the anime Death Note the other day. I haven’t watched it since it first aired back in 2007. I tried reading the manga after having watched the anime the first time, but it was a bit boring since I knew what would happen. By the time I rewatched the anime, I had forgotten a lot of things. I still remembered the story in big strokes, but there were still details that surprised me (again).

For those who haven’t watched it, it’s about an intelligent but bored guy who finds a note book that has been dropped into the human world by a death god. He discovers that if he writes the someone’s name in the book, they die. He decides to rid the world of “rotten” people, starting with violent criminals. He envisions a perfect new world, where he’ll be the god. When it becomes known that criminals are dropping dead like flies, the police and international security agencies try to track down the one behind the deaths (named Kira by the people). They bring in a super intelligent investigator going by the name “L”, to help in the search for Kira.

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