December 31, 2008

bah <=/ JE, you fail

山下翔央, Yamashita Shoon, Ya-Ya-yah
I just needed to say that JE fails for leaving Toma, Kazapon, HaseJun, Tôshin, and Shoon out of Countdown this year. It's been a huge disappointment. *grumbles* It's unfair and shocking that they should leave some of their best talents out of such an important event. *grumbles even more*

Oh, well, happy New Year everyone! <3 明けましておめでとう、翔央くん! <3 Thanks for being there and for reading, and please forgive me once again for being such a slow replier with comments and e-mails. m(_ _)m

December 22, 2008

another play for Shoon!!!

山下翔央, Yamashita Shoon, Ya-Ya-yah
While everybody is busy watching the Christmas Shounen Club special... I just got home and found out the most wonderful news: Shoon is going to be in a play again!!!
山下翔央, Yamashita Shoon, Ya-Ya-yah
This time with KAT-TUN's Ueda Tatsuya, who it seems will play the main role, and Hasegawa Jun. I like Jun very much, so it will be interesting to see how they get along. ^____^ The title of the play is... ロミオとジュリエット (Romeo & Juliet)! *_* I wonder what Shoon's role in it will be! This is so exciting! \^0^/
山下翔央, Yamashita Shoon, Ya-Ya-yah
There will be a total of 33 performances, that will be held in March of next year (2009.03.04-2009.03.29) at the Tokyo Globe theater, and in April (2009.04.02-2009.04.05) at the Sankei Hall Breeze (サンケイホールブリーゼ) what a funny name XD in Osaka. ^____^
山下翔央, Yamashita Shoon, Ya-Ya-yah
Congratulations, Shoon!!! <333 This is so wonderful. What a birthday/Christmas present! =D
山下翔央, Yamashita Shoon, Ya-Ya-yah
I'm looking forward to all the interviews, mag articles and... oh, God, this has to be like the busiest year for me, but if I could just manage to squeeze a trip to Japan in March... I finish my internship at the beginning of March... *makes plans and dreams*
山下翔央, Yamashita Shoon, Ya-Ya-yah
PS: the pic on the left is the play's schedule; a screencap taken from Johnny's Net.
山下翔央, Yamashita Shoon, Ya-Ya-yah
PS2: from now on to comment here you'll need to friend this blog's LJ account. Sorry about the inconvenience, but I have my reasons to do this. m(_ _)m If you don't have an LJ account and don't want to get one, you can always leave a comment using the comment box on the side bar (at the bottom, where it says "contact Irea").
山下翔央, Yamashita Shoon, Ya-Ya-yah
山下翔央, Yamashita Shoon, Ya-Ya-yah
山下翔央, Yamashita Shoon, Ya-Ya-yah
山下翔央, Yamashita Shoon, Ya-Ya-yah
山下翔央, Yamashita Shoon, Ya-Ya-yah
山下翔央, Yamashita Shoon, Ya-Ya-yah

December 20, 2008

happy birthday, Shoon!

Dearest Shoon,
山下翔央, Yamashita Shoon, Ya-Ya-yah
I need to apologize for something. ._. Shoon's 20th birthday header Of late I've been complaining and complaining about how I wish JE would give you more screen-time in Shounen Club, and more opportunities, and after reflecting on it, I think it's not quite right. I mean that pestering about the unfairness of the situation doesn't lead anywhere, especially when it's something that doesn't depend on us, does it? Also, you're doing your best and working hard, and even though of course I'll always want more for you, I treasure even the briefest glimpse of you in The Shounen Club and wait eagerly for Tuesdays to watch Hyakushiki.

What really matters for every thing you do in life, big or small, is to "wrap it up with love", as a song by Noa says. And that's the essence of the traditional Japanese way of life, isn't it? The tea ceremony, ikebana, calligraphy... Paying attention to the smallest details and doing things with love. If you enjoy what you do, Shoon, care about nothing else. Just enjoy the moment. When you do something and you enjoy doing it, it shows, and the people for whom you do it will enjoy it too. =)

This year we, your foreign fans, put our heart into a very special birthday present for you, a Dreambook. For the no-nonsense that would be a scrapbook; for the romantic like me, and in the words of my friend Hydee, it would be "tickets for a trip around the world" or "the door to another dimension" in which, "as you travel, your guide is your imagination". ;-)

I sent the Dreambook to another wonderful friend called Rachel who's currently living in Tokyo, and she took it to Johnny's Family Club. We were a bit worried that the JFC staff might reject it, but on December 16th I got a message from Rachel that said: "JFC has accepted it. :)", and in that moment I felt all our efforts had been worth.

I wish I could see your face when they give it to you, Shoon. We hope you will like it! ^3^

Happy birthday, Shoon! All the best.

Yours,
Irea

The fans present to Shoon

Dear readers,

Some of you are not members of the Shoon community, so I thought you'd like to see our present to Shoon if you haven't. There's pictures, and a video below. It's made up of messages of fans from different countries, pictures, and inspirational and witty quotations in Japanese. =) Some of the photographs were actually taken by the fans who sent the messages - we have talented photographers in the Shoon community as you can see. ;-)

(note: this video has no audio)



(different pages from the Dreambook)



Also, I included a little something else with the Dreambook, a self-addressed, stamped letter in case Shoon wants to send a message to his foreign fans and asked him ten questions. If you don't speak Japanese you might also be curious to know what kind of questions they were. Well, of course there were thousands of personal questions I would have loved to ask him, about university and stuff like that, but an idol has the right to keep his private life private, and I wanted it to be something original, so I chose ten questions from different memes in Japanese (what the Japanese call "baton"). =)

1. What would you like to be if you were reborn?
2. If you could only ask for one wish to be fulfilled, what wish would it be?
3. If you could meet some person who passed away already, who would it be?
4. Something you always do before going to bed.
5. What do you do to cope with stress?
6. Apart from your current job, what other kind of work would you like to do?
7. If you died, what would you ask God when you get to Heaven's doors?
8. Three things that scare you.
9. What's your best quality?
10. What's your worse defect?


IMG_0995 IMG_0991
IMG_0987 IMG_0988

The typed text in the first picture says: "Dear Shoon, this has been a hard year for you, so we, your fans, wanted to show you our support. This album is a "Dreambook". It contains messages and pictures from us. We hope you will like it. Whatever happens, we will still support you. Keep it up."

PS: The text on the header says: "Take a dandelion, make a wish and blow. If no seeds remain on the stem, your wish will come true".
PS2: I have classes this evening, but I'll try to reply comments tomorrow. m(_ _)m

山下翔央, Yamashita Shoon, Ya-Ya-yahPOST A COMMENT :: READ COMMENTS

December 14, 2008

multipost

山下翔央, Yamashita Shoon, Ya-Ya-yah

There are times when things escape your control and there's simply nothing you can do. I wish I could blog at least once a week, but sometimes life "gets in the way".

I'm doing an internship in the mornings at a publishing company, and then my evenings are busy as well with house chores and such, so I haven't had much time for blogging lately.

So please forgive my long absence and the possible lack of coherence of this blog entry. I've called it a "multipost" because it has three entries in one.

The first one contains my belated congratulations to Hikaru on his 18th birthday.

The second one is about this month's Shounen Club episodes and info about Shoon's bits in the January ones.

The third entry is filled with... yes, Hyakushiki love. ^3^



[+][+][+][+][+][+]Ya-Ya-yah Obse-shoon[+][+][+][+][+][+]


Happy belated birthday, Hikaru!

Every year I tend to neglect poor Hikaru because his birthday is the first one to come. =_= Isn't it a curious thing that the birthdays of our Ya-Ya-yah boys all come in a row? First Hikaru, on December 2nd, then Shoon, on the 20th, later Taiyô on January 18th, and finally Yabu, on the 31st. Two Sagittarius and two Capricorns. =)

Anyway, even though many days have passed, I still wanted to wish Hikaru the best in this 18th year of his life. I miss him and I miss Yabu, which may sound illogical when they're on TV every week, but I only follow their activities through other blogs and such now, so for me it's as if they had parted on a long journey to a distant coast. That's why I'm so happy whenever they appear as guests on Shounen Club. Shounen Club still feels like home because Shoon is in it, and when Yabu and Hikaru visit it's like a reunion. =)

One of the last times Hikaru and Yabu were on SC though, it was a bit of a disappointment that Hikaru missed the chance to do what all of us were hoping he'd do. He was standing right next to Shoon, but Hikaru didn't put his arm around Shoon's shoulders, or even looked at him. He looked awkward and nervous, and let himself be distracted by Kawai. =( *smacks Fumi-kyun on the head* Shoon kept on looking at him in the most loving way, waiting, but Hikaru was utterly oblivious. =_=;;;

So I have a message for you, Hikaru: Please don't feel guilty about what happened. We know you loved Ya-Ya-yah, and it was not your decision. We loved the Hikaru from the old, Ya-Ya-yah times, but we love HSJ's Hikaru just as much. You and Yabu deserved to debut, and we're happy to see you shine and grow even if somebody decided you had to part ways with Taiyô and Shoon. Please keep true to yourself always and be happy. =) Next time you're standing next to Shoon on Shounen Club you better not miss the chance again, though. =p

[+][+][+][+][+][+]Ya-Ya-yah Obse-shoon[+][+][+][+][+][+]


Shounen Club

I want to believe it was because of the after-effects of the EbiKisu concerts that Shoon got so little screentime again this month. U__U You know, all those Kisumai members solos and such. Oh, well, at least he gets plenty of screentime in Hyakushiki every Tuesday -and there will be a 2 hour special at the end of this month!!-, but I was still hoping for a little more. In the January SCs (which were recorded yesterday) he doesn't get a lot more, but he seems to have achieved a solo part in the theme medley on a regular basis:

+ Opening of the first episode: はつうた - Hatsu Uta (First Song) This is a song that was sung last year at the CountDown concert, in which Shoon took part - watch clip below (the song starts at about 1:20) Shoon wore his white suit for this one.


+ Medley of the first episode (未来メドレー Mirai medley - Future medley): Shoon sang solo a bit from NEWS song きらめきの彼方へ (Kirameki no kanata e) (YouTube clip)
+ Opening of the second episode: Shoon wears a black suit and if I understood correctly the Japanese blog entry I read, he wears a blue cloth tied around the waist like that outfit he wore in the Daibouken concerts (the one that was like a pirate costume)?
+ Theme medley: Favourite Song medley: Shoon sang フレンズ (Furenzu - Friends) with someone else I think.
+ Ending: キ・セ・キ (Ki·Se·Ki)

Anyway, back to this month's Shounen Club... Shoon is still fighting, but being a group-less junior doesn't make things easy for him.

This is my Xmas wish list:
1) New clothes for Shoon: add two or three new outfits and store away the older ones (i.e. the blue-white one and the Sgt. Pepper one too). I want him to keep the white one, the black one (my favourite), the black and orange one, the red one, and the pink, white and silver one.
2) A full solo per show for Shoon, because he deserves it, dammit. ABC-Z, Kisumai and Question all get their own performance, don't they? Well, then why on earth can't they give Shoon at least 3 minutes? Before HSJ debuted, there was always one Ya-Ya-yah performance per show, so why not allot that time to Shoon?
3) I want Shoon to be present in every opening and ending song, and I want him to have a solo line now and then like others do.
4) During the ending song, I want Shoon to stand at the center of the stage because he deserves it too and I want the camera to focus on Shoon more than just once.
5) Give Shoon an ear microphone now and then so he can have better choreographies in his performances.
6) I want to see Shoon in the junior league more often.
7) A role in a drama/stage play for Shoon in 2009.
8) I want Shoon back in Myojo. Popolo too, why not?

Is that too much? Okay, I'll settle for one or two things from my wish list then, but the new outfits are not negotiable. =p Damn, I will design them if necessary. XD

So yeah, December SCs didn't have a lot of Shoon in them, but I've squeezed it all in the following video:
1) The opening of the first episode, in which Shoon put his arm around Takada's shoulder -I'm getting fond of Takada; he has something Taiyô-ish about him.
2) Miracle Starter, which Shoon sang very nicely, with a very cute, Japlish pronunciation of "surprise". XD Oh, and whoever types the lyrics... "Marry Marry Starter"? Hello? XDDD
3) Junior League segment of the first episode. This particular game consisted in embarrassing the boys by making them utter cheesy phrases. The phrase for Shoon and Miyata would translate as "Wipe your tears; let's run towards that sunset!". Shoon got Tamamori to help him. In their skit Tama-chan pretends to be speaking on his cell phone, and Shoon thinks he's crying and tries to cheer him up. When he tells Tama "wipe your tears and let's tun towards that sunset!", Tama gets up and Shoon realizes he wasn't crying. Okay, so maybe it wasn't the funniest thing ever, but Shoon was really cute, and much though I like Miyata, his sketch was a lot more elaborate. Hm, not fair, and Shoon looked a little down when they declared Miyata was the winner. =(
4) A cute moment from the junior league of the second episode in which Shoon comforted an embarrassed Kitayama. XD I felt so jealous! I wonder if these two are good friends, because I can recall another time Kitayama went to Shoon to be comforted, and a few days ago I found this old screencap in which Kitayama is hugging Shoon: click here Any idea which episode that is from? Perhaps from the one in which Shoon declared his "love" for Massu?
5) Two bits from the junior league of the second episode. Would somebody translate for me what Shoon says when he remains lying on the floor? XD
6) The brief instant during which the camera focused on Shoon in the closing song of the second episode - he looked sooo handsome!


Oh, and I just had to take a few screencaps, because... well, just because. =)

He looks so handsome when he frowns *_* Isn't he cute with his hair tousled like that? X) Shoon looks like an Indian with that bandana XD - a very sexy Indian ^.~ I never thought I'd want to be Kitayama XD;;; So jealous! The most perfect profile and that lovely shy smile Seriously, how can you be so beautiful? *_* I love it when he gives the camera that wide-eyed look. ^^ just one of his lovely smiles


[+][+][+][+][+][+]Ya-Ya-yah Obse-shoon[+][+][+][+][+][+]


Hyakushiki love

Of late some people leave comments or send me e-mails telling me they miss Shoon, and I kept on wondering how could that be. Then it occurred to me that perhaps they don't watch Hyakushiki, and if that's the case, it's a shame! Here are a few clips from the latest episodes so you can see what you're missing. ^__~ Come join us at the Shoon community. =) I upload each episode every Tuesday right after it airs. ^_^v

In this episode, Shoon and Takada took a lesson in capoeira. =) Shoon was really impressive! He's a fast learner. =D


In this other one they took a lesson in Soul Dance, and it was soooo funny!! They wore afro wigs and 70s clothes and danced to 70s songs. Hilarious.



This one was even funnier because Shoon, Sanada, and Keito cosplayed as girls! XD Who knew Shoon could be such a sexy girl? LOL



And this show was from last week, about magic, and they learned some magic tricks. =) Shoon is a very cute magician, isn't he?



P.S.: I swear I will try to answer the comments from the previous entry tomorrow. m(_ _)m

山下翔央, Yamashita Shoon, Ya-Ya-yahPOST A COMMENT :: READ COMMENTS

December 11, 2008

Not dead

Nope, this blog is not dead. I've just been horribly busy lately, and I'm exhausted @__@ , but also very happy and I feel accomplished. ^__^ (more about this is a post to come, hopefully tomorrow) That's also the reason why I wasn't able to make any post on Hikaru's birthday. ;_; For now I'm changing the header to wish our very own Hachibee a happy belated birthday. =)

hika18bday