Sunday, August 30, 2009

A Salute to Jun Matsumoto

This has nothing to do with traveling, but I've been sucked headfirst into the world of Japanese television for the past year and a half, and so I wanted to share that in a way that wouldn't be embarrassing (because I usually am about my fangirling). And just in time for the end of my favourite J-actor's birthday, I present thirteen of my favourite Matsujun moments. There were a lot, but I narrowed it down by a. which ones stuck out the most to me b. what represented him most and c. whether or not I could find the clips online XD

The Best of Jun Matsumoto (in no particular order)

1 Yabai Yabai Yabai

Matsujun's solo from "Time," Arashi's 2007 album. This solo marks the birth of the (in?)famous "MJ Walk," in which Jun, suspended by wires, walks upside down on a beam high above the stage in Tokyo Dome (after giving the illusion that he is walking on invisible stairs). Then he drops down a hundred feet, bounces back up and flies around for another minute and a half before touching down onstage and breaking into his song and dance, which includes another famous MJ Walk - namely, the moonwalk. Jun is often compared to Michael Jackson, either lovingly or mockingly, and this performance (among others, especially after Jackson's death) shows that he is definitely in on the joke.




2 Sirius

A song from "Dream A Live," Arashi's 2008 album. A sweet ballad, it is also probably Jun's best vocal performance. To those who say he can't sing, I rebut that he is capable of expelling air from his lungs and through his larynx in the form of tones and words (and thus he is technically able to "sing") and hold this as an example.

... but this is pretty much all I've got.



3 Jun meets Janet

Janet Jackson's appearance on Utawara, a show that Jun used to cohost. Being a huge fan of Michael Jackson, it would make sense that he's a huge fan of MJ's imouto. I love this because it shows that even Jun is capable of fangirling (and fangirl he does, especially after Miss Jackson tells him his eyes look like her nephew's). I'm a huge Jacksons fan so it's awesome that someone I fangirl over regularly has something in common with me.


Watch Matsujun meets Janet Jackson in Entertainment | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

4 Don't make J angry

Throughout their career, Arashi has taken care of animals, senior citizens, the environment, and children (among other things). Jun is famous for being short-tempered... so what does an idol do when he's faced with annoying children and a camera in his face? He's got a reputation to uphold, you know.

Also, I will never not laugh when he gets hit by the ball. There's a longer version where he gets kicked in the face by a little girl, but I can't find it anymore.



5 Jun vs Jin

Jun has a very, very, very sharp tongue, and is one of the more formidable products of the boyband factory Johnny's. One of his favourite targets is his junior (and alleged drinking buddy), Jin "Bakanishi" Akanishi. These two always go head-to-head in popularity polls and it's fun to see Jun dig his perfectly manicured claws into poor Jin.

I'm Team Jun all the way, and I think he won all three rounds.



6 Jun's perfect body

A beautiful figure rising out of the sea; very "Birth of Venus" (or Baywatch, even if Jun's too scrawny to run with Hasselhoff and company). Jun really, really loves the sea - he apparently surfs - and it shows in his lean dancer/swimmer's body. He might be a bit too skinny for Western standards, but I covet his lanky figure. Also, Sho and Ohno choking on their own tongues trying to pronounce "perfect body" is hilarious.



7 Kaze no mukou e (Music Station)

Being Johnnys, Arashi are regular guests on the Japanese program "Music Station" (three guesses as to what the show's about). Their performances on this show are pre-taped, beautifully staged and professionally done (both on the part of Arashi and the show editors) but the boys can't help but have a little fun with the performance. The best part at 1:35-1:45 - pure Jun, given his diva reputation.



8 M no Arashi

A segment in "D no Arashi," one of Arashi's old shows, in which the goal is to get Jun to yell "mendokusai" ("bothersome"). Here, each member harrasses Jun at a concert by forcing him to do tasks. Nothing's particularly strenuous or embarrassing, but the point is to annoy the crap out of Jun because he's the baby of the group and they love him in a twisted way (especially Nino, that little brat).



9 Ideal bad boy

A guest on "Arashi no Shukudai-kun" is asked to provide her ideal guy, and she says "an irritated, wild, white-shirted guy"... which makes up about 80% of all the roles following the name "Jun Matsumoto" in a Japanese film or TV show. (Even when he's playing himself.) But for most J-pop-culture fans, it all boils down to one word: Domyouji.



10 Singing in different styles

Masaki Aiba, one of Jun's bandmates, has a knack for creating hilariously stupid and stupidly hilarious games (a lot of which actually resemble acting or voice exercises that I've done). Here, the object of the game is to sing a mundane Japanese phrase (anything from "I'm sorry" to the narration of a soccer game) in a given style. Jun sings the news operatically at 1:50-2:30, proving that he actually has decent power and pitch if he'd stop being so damned nasal in songs.

But then again, he is in a boyband.





11 A.Ra.Shi with blindfolds

Arashi's very first song, which they have performed for ten years under every circumstance from charity telethons to sold-out audiences at Tokyo's Olympic Stadium. They could do this blindfolded... and that is exactly what they do. I'm sure Jun knows it just as well if not better than the others, but his headphones kept playing the song even when everyone else's were delayed. Whether that was intentional or not, it caused him to stick out painfully (and hilariously).

Also, for you old school fans, the boys wore their infamous see-through plastic suits for this song at Kokuritsu. Because there's no better way to spend Matsujun's birthday than singing and dancing A.Ra.Shi in the same see-through plastic suits worn for the official debut. During a storm.


12 Storm on the Seven Seas of Rhye

Another vintage Arashi show, "G no Arashi," in which the boys take on all sorts of high jinks. Here, they create an "air band" - instead of jamming to just air guitar like most people, they add air keyboards, air drums, and a lipsyncing Freddie Mercury (the perennially funny Satoshi Ohno) and proceed to perform - costumes, lights and all - in front of an audience.

Can I just add that Jun shredding on Brian May's blistering solos is really, really sexy? Even with the tragic Domyouji outfit (permed hair, leather pants, leopard-print coat and no shirt) and an imaginary guitar.


This clip disabled embedding, but it's worth checking out because it

begins with Matsujun's "audition" - love his O guitar

face. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCcRVi2LJq4

13 Kimi Wa Petto, episode 8 (part five)

This was the role that endeared me to Jun; although everyone who watches Gokusen (and ends up a Jun fan) crushes on him, I didn't really fall for him till watching this show. I've been trained in dance since the age of seven, so Momo's dance scenes always strike a special place in my heart. Also, he's adorable as Momo - who wouldn't want those beautiful puppy-dog eyes staring at them all the time? - and the marked difference between Momo and Takeshi attests to Jun's potential as an actor (he was nineteen when he did this, and it was his second real lead role).

Being that he is a dancer, his sometimes unnerving thinness actually works to his advantage here - he is ethereal and beautiful as Perseus, and his angular body is suited to modern dance. As is my own less-than-angular body, which is why modern dance is AWESOME.



Bonus: Smile episode 1 - Vito's arrest

Embedding is disabled here, but I wanted to stick this in at the end to give a different side of Jun - some people didn't like his performance as Vito, especially with all the crying involved, but I thought he did really well, and I am proud that he took on the role of a Filipino guy (one of us!!) and had the balls to appear in a show that faced the issue of Japanese racism head-on even when he is one of the most heavily marketed faces of modern Japan himself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoDgfyIwv4g

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Paalam President Cory

I am watching the funeral procession for Corazon Aquino, the former president of the Philippines. They are alternating between shots of Makati, EDSA, and Manila Cathedral. The Cathedral, to which the procession has yet to arrive, is empty, in stark contrast to the thousands of people that line the streets of Makati. This is one of those events that I would've liked to be a personal witness at - you can feel the spirit of the people through the screen, even from half a world away.

I wasn't old enough to "know" Cory the way Filipino adults do - indeed, I was born during her administration - but I have much, much respect for her. For the non-Filipinos reading this (and the Filipinos who just need to revisit their histories), she was the first female president of the Philippines. Her term ran from 1986, when Ferdinand Marcos was overthrown by the People Power movement, to 1992, the year that I left for America (I was born in 1987, a year into her term). The dates are just for reference; while I may not play a part in Philippine history, hey, you're reading my blog. XD Anyway, she was renowned worldwide as an icon of democracy and truly loved in the Philippines as a mother of sorts for the country. She had immense humility, always considering herself a simple housewife who just wanted to further her dead husband's wishes for the country's freedom. Funnily enough, even with my Philippine birth and all her publicity in the late 80s and throughout the 90s, my first memory of Cory is from a Women's History Month presentation in elementary school. I think they chose her because she was an important female political figure, but in retrospect it's a lot more special because I grew up in Daly City and thus my school was about 80% Filipino. I feel honoured to know that such an important modern historical figure was one of us.

While I may have a tenuous connection to Cory, only knowing her through textbooks and news programs and her annoyingly ubiquitous and high-voiced daughter Kris I will always admire her. She did the best she could in the times that she had; she had to deal with seven coup attempts, a massive earthquake, a volcano going off, the deadliest typhoon in Philippine history and a vast deficit left by her predecessor, who spirited the money away in untouchable Swiss banks. Even though she couldn't completely pull the Philippines out of third world status (if it wasn't Third World by the time she was in office, it would get there soon enough anyway, to no fault of her own), she still did quite a bit for her country. For her work she got thirteen honorary degrees, armfuls of awards, was Time's 1986 (wo)Man of the Year, and just narrowly missed getting a Nobel Peace Prize. She was a brilliant orator and a courageous person. A devoted wife (seriously, running for president in your dead husband's memory) and good mother (no matter how annoying you find Kris), she was a world-class leader, and an inspiration to Filipino women everywhere.

Oh, and she had a degree in French. I would've liked to have talked with her, from the standpoint of both a sociologist and a Filipino woman. She would be full of fascinating stories and insights, I think, and our conversations would have been interesting both in the subject matter and the languages used. We would've been able to understand each other in four languages: Tagalog, English, French, and our regional dialect, Kapampangan.

... I would've been most interested in the French and Kapampangan.