Short Course Asian Pop Music – Korea

Korean popular music, or K-pop, has been booming the last few years. Proof of this was the very successful concert SM Entertainment held in Paris last year. It sold out in just a few hours  and the European fans are already asking when they are coming back. Soon after that they held another concert in New York, which sold out even faster. German magazines write articles about K-pop and Indonesia shows regular K-pop music videos on their music channels.

Awesome stuff I wish I had – Kingdom Hearts 10th anniversary box

Kingdom Hearts is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. This franchise has a special meaning to me. When the first game came out it, I saw the trailer and was entranced by the beautiful song that accompanied it. I looked it up and found it was Simple and Clean from Utada Hikaru. This was my first conscious meeting with the Japanese pop culture. After that I started to watch anime (the ones not shown here), read manga, listen to more Asian songs etc. Without Kingdom Hearts I wouldn’t be who I am today <3 So I wish I had it, I wish I could buy it, and who knows, maybe I will

Whisper of the Heart

Whisper of the Heart

Ghibli Studio’s Whisper of the Heart is my favorite movie. Yes, it’s a children’s movie, animated by the Japanese version of Disney studios, but I can’t help it.

The story revolves about a young girl, Tsukishima Shizuku, who spends her summer vacation reading books instead of studying. All the books she borrows from the local library have one thing in common. A boy called Amagasa Seiji borrowed them before. She reads a lot of fairy tales and imagines Seiji as her prince charming. During her vacation she encounters a ‘jerk’ and she strongly wishes Seiji isn’t like him. At the end of the summer vacation she finds out the two boys are the same and that he isn’t a jerk. She just misunderstood. Seiji tells Shizuku that his dream is to become a great violin builder and that he wants to go to Italy to pursue his dream instead of going to high school.  Shizuku get inspired to find and follow her own dream, writing. I won’t tell you the ending, but I’m sure you can guess.

I love this movie because of its theme, follow your dreams. I think more people need to find their dreams and work to pursue them. I always feel inspired by this movie and it makes me want to work harder to get where I want to be. What makes this movie even more special to me is that my dreams is also writing.

When I’m down or have a writer’s block, I have to watch or read something that inspires that me. Whisper of the Heart is one that never fails to do so. Miyazaki Hayao’s magic is one that keeps enchanting people. His magic is of all ages and never becomes old.  All of his movies have a setting that you can only create when you wonder. You can’t think of something like The Cat Returns or Ponyo without that wonder. Watching any of his movies triggers my wonder ability.

Of course there are other works with themes about passion and dreams. Bakuman is another one in the same category. But I wouldn’t watch Bakuman to get inspired. I would watch it when I need a reminder to work hard. Talent becomes nothing without hard work.

Bakuman

Bakuman

Bakuman is a long running manga in the Japanese weekly magazine Shounen Jump. Last year the anime adaption started running and soon the second season will begin.

Bakuman is about two boys, Moritaka Mashiro and Takagi Akito, two aim to be successful mangaka. Their dream is shared by Takagi’s girlfriend, Miyoshi Kaya, and Mashiro’s fiancee, Azuki Miho, who has promised to marry him when she gives her voice to Mashiro’s heroine. Bakuman follows the four youngsters through their middle school, high school and college years until they become successful. The manga is still ongoing so the end is still not written.

I think it’s very interesting to see how manga is made and how a magazine like Shounen Jump actually works. This manga gives the reader a perfect insight to what the authors of their favorite works have to go through to create what the readers hold in their hands. That’s what I think is beautiful. Fun and some education combined.

But this manga is still close to other Shounen Jump manga, like One Piece, Naruto and Bleach. We learn from Bakuman that most successful manga in Shounen Jump are battle manga and while this manga is about creating manga, there are battles. Mashiro and Akito have to fight for their serialization and they even have to beat their rival and friend Nizuma Eiji.

I read this manga to get inspired to always give my all to get one step closer to my dreams. The support characters in this manga inspire me the most, because they aren’t called ‘geniuses’ and most of them aren’t as talented as Mashiro and Akito. It shows that even when you’re not very talented, hard work can be enough to get where you want to be.