Another dose of Japanese pop culture

Some time back, I was urged to check out the trailer for "Shinobi", a highly-anticipated movie that's coming out in Japan this Saturday (trailers can be found at Shinobi Movie).

Since I'm not typically a trailer person, it was my first time watching an HD-format trailer. Man, it was SO beautiful. More pixels IS better!

Since there were no crazy fans subtitling the trailer, I was only able to pick out limited keywords I learned from years of anime and dorama -- destiny, heart, dream, sadness. Anyway, while it looked like it had the potential to be "epic", something I tend to look for in period pieces that require costumes in the Halloween sense, I was immediately drawn to the song they played during the trailer. (It's kind of like how Robert Miles' "Fable" totally made the "Ever After" trailer 100 times better) It was Ayumi Hamasaki's latest single, "HEAVEN", that wasn't out at the time. Couldn't download it if it wasn't even out. Bummer.

Lo and behold, it came out this week! And I've been in love with it over the past couple of days. It's probably her best ballad, IMHO, though I'd only recommend it if you're familiar with Ayumi's music. The reason is that she has a very "distinct" voice; some people describe it as grating and nasally. Even I can't tolerate her songs all the time. Regardless of what people say, you gotta have some respect for her. She write her own lyrics (they're supposed to be poetic, but I don't understand Japanese), and everything she puts out SELLS (#1 on charts for each of her 5 or 6 albums). That's why she's the queen of jpop.