Futons' Reviews
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Hello, my name is Alex Speed, and this is my review blog. I hope you enjoy your stay.


Permalink | 1 note Satoru Akahori - Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl [2006] I can’t quite remember how I came across this show, which is strange considering it was less than a week ago from now. I thought the official artwork was beautiful, and the first paragraph of the wikipedia page made me laugh, so I decided to check it out. I went in expecting a slice-of-life comedy, but got a lot more; like FEELINGS. Kashimashi begins with Hazumu Osaragi climbing up a mountain in his town, after being rejected by his crush Yasuna Kamiizumi. Scenes show of his friends, including his childhood friend Tomari Kurusu, convincing him to admit his feelings to Yasuna, and afterwards them worried about him. All of a sudden, Hazumu is killed - by an alien spacecraft landing on him. The alien within the ship, Hitoshi Sora, then brings Hazumu back to life with his technology. But, in an error, he brings Hazumu back as a female, right down to the DNA level, in a process that is irreversible. This sets up the main part of the story, with both Yasuna and Tomari eventually revealing their feelings for Hazumu, which results in a same-sex love triangle between the three girls. When reading through some comments when I was thinking of getting the show, one person was a bit disappointed that the show seemed to go from “lots of comedy with yuri-love” to “less comedy and more drama”. The story does seem to change in tone throughout the run, but I don’t find dramatically; things definitely get more serious by the end, but the comedic elements still remain and pop in at the right times to lighten things up. The series ran for 12 episodes, with an extended ending presented on the DVD release (with a total of 13 episodes overall). The series was changed from the manga to make it easier to understand, and to contain a better flow, but it doesn’t change the overall message of love without gender, which the show plays with delightfully. I’m surprised myself when such short-running shows can hit you with such a lasting impact, which a definite sign of good storytelling. You’ll like this if you like SoL’s, drama, comedy anime, or a mix of them. It’s a sweet show, with lots of nice aspects, and definitely worth checking out.
Permalink | 0 notes Calm - Shadow of the Earth [2000] A while back, I stumbled across a music thread where a guy was posting lots of instrumental hip-hop. I had never heard of most of these artists, but I snatched what I could because of how appealing it sounded; instrumental hip-hop with jazz-influences. This took me down the road and got me hooked to musical magicians such as Nujabes (R.I.P.), and ever since I’ve been building my collection of hip-hop on music I find aesthetically similar to his. Enter: Calm. I can’t really find much information on this guy, except for he’s a Japanese DJ that makes instrumental, beat-orientated ambient and electronica music, which you could just easily say is “hip-hop”. This is the earliest album I’ve found by him, and it’s an amazing trip. You’ve got 13 tracks, rounding off to over 70 minutes, and it’s a very relaxing collection. Personally it reminds me of a more hip-hop flavoured Moby, who I grew up listening to from his early-ambient albums right through his landmark album Play and onwards. I’m not sure how easy or hard it would be to come across this release, but definitely give if it a shot if you like ambient music, hip-hop, or even jazz.
Permalink | 2 notes Fritz Lang - M [1931] Any fan of classic cinema, or the era that transitioned from silent films to talkies, will know or seen one of Fritz Lang’s films. His influence is extremely widespread, with one notable example being from his 1927 film Metropolis (the most expensive silent film made at the time). Fritz had made dozens of movies before M, but with making his first one with sound, he was moving into new and exciting territory, being able to do stuff with his films that weren’t possible without sound. M is centered around a series of child murders, the public’s reaction to no suspect being caught after such a long police investigation, and the eventual manhunt and capture orchestrated by the city’s criminals. The film contains quite a lot of scenic shots, with and without actors, with voice-overs or key plot elements shown that previously wasn’t possible, and done in a very fine manner. One thing that hit me quite hard about this film was some of the raw emotion portrayed by many of the actors, which eventually hits its climax when the murder is brought before a tribunal of underworld leaders (the ones that originally decided to hunt for the murderer themselves). This scene contains a key speech from the murdered, named Hans Beckert, when he gets extremely emotional and speaks out saying he cannot contain his urges to kill, and that he cannot run from them. It’s extremely hard-hitting, and feels as if it’s not actually acting, but a real tribunal meeting instead. Another important part of the film revolves around the chase and his eventual capture, all because a blind man recognised his whistling. I was honestly surprised at small things like this, imagining one of the earliest sound films being rich with sound, opposed to it being used discreetly and more to drive the film than anything else. One of the good things about this film, being as old as it is, is that it’s in the public domain, and actually available to watch on YouTube. But despite being so old, it doesn’t really feel dated, using simple storytelling and imagery which are fantastic aspects. Instead of going overboard, everything was used just right, and I can understand why this film will be set in the stone of film history for, well, “history”.
Permalink | 2 notes Fishmans - 空中キャンプ (Aerial Camp) [1996]  The original incarnation with their vocalist Shinji Sato broke up in 1998. Four months later in 1999, Shinji died of heart problems he had suffered from birth. In 2007, Kawasaki Daisuke produced a list for Rolling Stone Japan of the Top 100 Japanese Rock Albums of All Time. This album came in at number 8. Fishmans were a group that mixed elements of jazz, rock, and dub music into a nice calming blend, which combined with Shinji Sato’s vocals, produced a beautiful mix of music. The band had produced 4 albums before the release of this one, but none stand up in the amount of power this one contains; and we’re not talking about “heavy power”. Aerial Camp contains 8 tracks, clocking in at nearly 50 minutes, and contains probably their most well-known song, ナイトクルージング (Night Cruising). But what really hooked me about this album was the opening track, ずっと前 (Long Before). It starts off with a guitar hook that instantly, well, “hooks” you, and surges into a beautiful dub rhythm section, with echo and reverb in considerate amounts. Some tracks are more “dubby” than others, but the overall feel of the music is never lost throughout a listen. The band would go on to record two more albums after this, one being a 35-minute long piece entitled Long Season. The influence of this band in Japan is not hard to miss, and it’s not hard to see why this album (and this band) is so highly regarded.
Permalink | 1 note Chu-Bra!! - Anime Series [2010] When I was growing up, I was used to watching shows like Astro Boy, Dragon Ball, and Sailor Moon, which had lots of seasons and lots and lots of episodes. I’ve still never got the hang of shows with 12 episodes, then extended for another 12-episode season, then nothing. Or even just a 12-episode run then nothing. Depending on the story, the characters, plot devices, etc it can be hard to watch a show with such a short run because either you fall in love with it, and don’t want it to end so soon, or you can’t get into it because it doesn’t develop certain points well enough. I’m still on the fence with this one; I loved it, but parts of it still fell short for me. Chu-Bra!! is the story of Nayu Hayama, who embarrasses herself on the first day of middle school after falling at a school assembly and revealing very adult underwear (in context of the show, “panties” would be more correct, but I feel weird writing that, lol). She eventually makes friends with two other girls, Yako Jingūji and Haruka Shiraishi, and they find out she’s an “underwear monitor”, testing underwear products her step-brother designs. Due to Nayu being a monitor, she has great insight on how women should properly wear underwear, and helps the others who obviously have no clue. Nayu then decides to start an underwear club to educate other girls at her school on underwear, but when things go pear-shaped she makes it an appreciation society instead. Two other members eventually join, quiet girl Kiyono Amahara and hilariously-serious boy Hiroki Komachi. Along with one of their teachers Tamaki Mizuno (who also happens to be a classmate of Nayu’s stepbrother and still harbours a crush on him), they have some whacky adventures, and by the end of this short series, you learn how important proper underwear actually is for a woman. Like I said earlier, I thought this show was great; it had simple yet effective relationships between the characters, great character designs and animation, and extremely catchy theme songs. The manga continued for another year after the anime series was made, and I don’t know how much was taken or condensed from the manga (which started its run in 2007), but these girls and their underwear give you enough to sink your teeth into to have an enjoyable time which is well-worth the emotional ride. Plus, I now have a PhD in Girls’ Underwear.
Permalink | 4 notes Django Reinhardt - Django’s Blues [1947] Another big name in jazz, in his prime long before Miles Davis became known, was Django Reinhardt. Django came from gypsy family, and at the age of 18, was injured in a fire he shared with his first wife. Due to this, he received first and second degree burns over more than half of his body, and had his left hand badly burnt. This resulted in his ring and pinky fingers becoming paralyzed, with doctor’s believing he would never play guitar again. But, being the complete badass he was, he taught himself to play the guitar again, with completely amazing results. He could eventually play again, using only his pointer and middle fingers, and would sometimes use his paralyzed digits for chord work. Considering the era he was from, including the fact he was a Jew living in Paris during the Nazi occupation, recordings are of somewhat varied quality, but this release is definitely a good one. It contains 15 tracks (it includes various takes of two tracks), and has that warm, fuzzy feeling from old recording equipment. The album also contains a wonderful version of the jazz standard Brazil, a personal favourite composition of mine, and gives us other versions of tracks from after a very bleak time in history, with a very upbeat and possible sound and feel. For music historians, die-hard fans, or even just a casual jazz listener, Django’s Blues is a must-have, and will make a great conversational piece when played at parties and gatherings.
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