Romaji lyrics of "Mahou no Kotoba" by Spitz

Here's the lyrics of "Mahou no Kotoba" sung by Spitz which is the theme song for the real-life movie of "Hachimitsu to Clover":

Mahou no Kotoba - Spitz

Afure souna kimochi muri yari kakushite
kyoo mo mata tooku bakari miteita
kimi to katari atta sakaranai are kore
dakishimete dounika ikiteru kedo

mahou no kotoba futari dake ni wa wakaru
yume miru to ka sonna hima mo nai kono koro
omoi dashite okashikute ureshikute
mata aeruyo yakusoku shinakutemo

tooureru you ni nete naki nagara me samete
hito komi no naka de boso boso utau
kimi wa nani shiteru egao ga mitai zo
furi kabutte wagamama sora ni nageta

mahou no kotoba kuchi ni sureba mijikaku
dakedo kouka wa sugoi mono ga arutte koto de
dare mo shiranai de bare te mo iro asenai
sono ato no sutoorii wake aeru hi made

hana wa utsukushiku toge mo utsukushiku
nekko mo utsukushii hazu sa

mahou no kotoba futari dake ni wa wakaru
yume miru toka sonna hima mo nai kono koro
omoi dashite okashikute ureshikute
mata aeruyo yakusoku shinakutemo
aeru yo aeru yo

News updates related to Hachimitsu to Clover II

Hachikuro Cafe and Lohmeyer has worked together to produce the special edition Lohmeyer Pork Jerky to be sold exclusively at Hachikuro Cafe. It is made from pork produced domestically and is sold for 600 yen per packet.

The Hachikuro Megane Matsuri i.e. Hachikuro Spectacles Festival to mark the launch of the DVD releases, will be held on 28 July at 6.30pm in Animate's Ikebukuro Main Store 9th Floor. Guests for the event include Sugita Tomokazu and Hamada Kenji, the voice actors playing Mayama Takumi and Nomiya Takumi who are two of the characters in the series wearing spectacles. During this session, there will be a chat segment and the screening of chapter.F from Hachikuro Part 1's Vol 7 DVD which is the SP featuring the characters from Fujiwara Design. To take part in this event, fans have to order the Hachikuro II Vol 1 DVD which goes on sale from 27 Oct where they can find a coupon to exchange for tickets at Animate stores in Ikebukuro, Shibuya, Tsudanuma and Chiba.

In conjunction with the launch of the anime's second series, there will be posters of Lohmeyer-senpai and the main characters of Hachikuro displayed at the following train stations including Ginza, Yuuracho, Higashi Ginza, Shin Nihonbashi, Mitsukoshi-mae, Nihonbashi, Ueno Hirokoji, Asakusa, Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Niko Tamagawa, Hachioji, Yokohama, Sekiuchi and Shinagawa. For more details on this and Lohmeyer products, you may visit the official website of Lohmeyer here.

The "Hachimitsu to Clover II" DVD series will be released over 4 volumes and the first volume will be sold from 27 Oct. Here are more details on the release schedule:

Vol 1
Catalog Number: ACBA-10409
Release Date: 27 Oct 2006
Special Premium: Hachikuro mascot cell phone strap
Price: 4935 yen

Vol 2
Catalog Number: ACBA-10410
Release Date: 24 Nov 2006
Price: 4935 yen

Vol 3
Catalog Number: ACBA-10411
Release Date: 22 Dec 2006
Price: 4935 yen

Vol 4
Catalog Number: ACBA-10412
Release Date: 26 Jan 2006
Price: 4935 yen

Hachimitsu to Clover Photo-Making Book Cover

Here's the cover of the "Hachimitsu to Clover" Photo-Making Book which is essentially a pictorial book on the production of the real-life movie. I have yet to get this book yet so a proper review of this will only be available once Kinokuniya has it in their stores. Judging from the attire which the five main characters are wearing, I get the impression that they must have gone to a place where they need to wear black formal clothing. Could that be a funeral? However, there's no funeral in the manga/anime so this is purely my conjecture. Otherwise, I don't see why the colour scheme of their clothing is on the dark side where this is too much of a coincidence if there wasn't any special occasion. By the way, Morita i.e. Iseya Yuusuke looks kind of weird in a formal suit although Shinobu does wear flashy ones for his enka performances during the spring hanami sessions.

Death Note Shueisha 2007 Calendar

The Death Note Shueisha Comic Calendar 2007 is now available for reservation on Shueisha's shopping site, Mekke! before it can be ordered at other online merchants or bookstores. The release date of the calendar is 20 Oct 2006 (Friday) and is selling for 2000 yen. In Death Note's case, it is an A5-sized tabletop calendar consisting of 6 sheets i.e. 2 months on each sheet with a stand as support. Catalog number is ISBN 4-08-908050-9. For those who are interested to find out more on this title as well as other calendars published by Shueisha under the series including ONE PIECE, BLEACH, NARUTO, Gindama, Tennis no Oujisama and D Gray-man, please go to the website concerned where you will find the corresponding details.

Hachimitsu to Clover Real-Life Movie CM

With the impending launch of the "Hachimitsu to Clover" real-life movie next week, here's a feature of this film along with some screenshots of the 15-sec CM shown on TV. As there are a couple of magazines and websites including Nikkei Entertainment, GyaO and S-women which are promoting this movie, there will be more information on this topic as soon as I have time to post them here. Coupled with the fact that the long-awaited Volume 9 of the manga was released on 14 July and the second season of the anime is now running, this summer can truly be regarded as one belonging to Hachikuro.

The CM begins with the line by Mayama where he says that it's the first time he has ever seen someone falling in love. This is with reference to Takemoto's first meeting with Hagu where Mayama knew right away that Takemoto was attracted to Hagu at first sight even though it took a long time for Takemoto himself to realise how he feels.

With regards to Hagu who's played by Aoi Yu, I mentioned before that after watching a short clip of her and Takemoto played by Sakurai Sho, my first impression was that her saccharine-sweet voice is very close to that we have heard from Kudo Haruka in the anime. Appearance-wise, Aoi's small build, hairstyle and her looks are rather similar to Hagu to a certain extent. However, I cannot comprehend the rationale of having a pair of huge headphones while she is painting. Although I understand that the story in the movie is different from the manga/anime, I would have rather that they stick to the original settings instead of adding little changes here and there especially those pertaining to the characters' unique traits.

This scene featuring Hagu and Morita i.e. Iseya Yuusuke gives the impression that they are comfortable in each other's presence and seem to enjoy being together. That's very different from the original because I don't even remember any scene where Hagu smiles that brightly before Morita. Most of the time, Hagu runs away in fright when Morita chases after her and she's so tense in front of him that she cannot be her usual self. Likewise for Morita who's not the type to show his true thoughts in front of others, he has never spent quality time with Hagu other than the impromptu "date" which left Hagu rather upset. That's why I have mixed feelings about this scene. On one hand, it shows Hagu and Morita behaving so much like a couple made for each other but on the other hand, I keep reminding myself that this has never happened in the manga/anime. Maybe for those who have never watched the anime nor read the manga would be able to appreciate and enjoy this scene better than I do.

Next up, we have Yamada Ayumi played by Seki Megumi. Appearance-wise, I think she does look like Ayu from certain angles especially when she ties up her hair in one of the pictures I saw from a magazine feature. Come to think of it, she looks more like Ayu when she's smiling. In this particular CM's scene, she is facing downwards so it's quite hard to see her face and compare to that of Ayu. However, the tall and slender look plus a tinge of sadness on her face which is especially evident when Ayu is pining for Mayama, seems quite close to the impression I've gotten from the manga/anime. I've not heard Seki's voice yet in the CMs I've watched so far thus I can't judge yet as to whether she can convey the inner world of Ayu convincingly during the voice-overs.

Kase Ryo plays Mayama and the first time I saw pictures of the cast, he was the one whom I felt was closest to the appearance of the original character. Mayama is tall, wear spectacles and always has that brooding look whenever he thinks of Rika. Kase has the basic attributes of Mayama but what strikes me most was how close he looked like the character in terms of his features. Usually, you can do changes to the hairstyle or clothes when you want to look like a character from a manga/anime but to look so close to the character is quite a rare instance. For this particular scene, I'm guessing that this might be the one where he waits outside Rika's apartment like a stalker and looks up at her place with longing. Although this scene is treated with a slight comedy touch because Mayama gets teased for being a stalker, the flip side is that it also shows how much Mayama wants to see Rika but has to suppress his desire so as to fulfil his promise of being someone good enough to be of help to Rika before he meets her again.

And now, we have the lead character Takemoto played by Sakurai Sho. Frankly speaking, I was rather apprehensive about him playing the lead when news of the movie came out. It is partly due to the fact that Sakurai has not done much acting on TV and lacks exposure to various types of roles but if the short clip I introduced before on this blog is a gauge of his performance, I guess I will fall in love with his potrayal of Takemoto. He seems such a sweet guy who will probably get heartbroken because of Hagu's feelings towards Morita. If you are talking about physical appearance, I thought it would have been better for him to cut his hair shorter right at the beginning since that's how Takemoto looked like. However, given the tight schedule of the filming, I guess it's not possible for his hair to grow back that quickly to depict the transition of time so that wasn't taken into consideration when doing character design. Nevertheless, I'm still looking forward to seeing his performance in this movie.

Last but not least, here's Iseya Yuusuke who plays Morita. Personally, Morita is my No.1 favourite character but I'm not too pleased with what I'm seeing here. I don't like that long hair and the pierce on the chin since that deviates from the image of Morita I have based on the manga/anime. I would prefer that there is some deviation on the character behavioural traits than to do changes to the physical appearance of the character. Thus, I will need to see the movie before I can say whether I'm totally displeased with Iseya's handling of the role or I will be convinced by what he has done.

I've already ordered the making-of DVD for this movie which will arrive by the end of the month with other items which I'm also buying. As such, I believe I should be able to give a review of that within one week after I finish watching that DVD.

Jigoku Shoujo Ep 07: Hibiwareta Kamen (The Cracked Mask)

Kurenai Midori, the owner of a theatre group is at a party with her adopted daughter-cum-successor Ayaka when they are greeted by an manager from a talent agency and an upcoming actress Kurushima Kaoruko. Kurushima expresses her interest in Kurenai's new production, "The Actress Detective" before excusing herself. Upon hearing Kurushima's comments, Kurenai reminds Ayaka that she should work harder so as not to disappoint those who are looking forward to the performance.

At night, Kurenai lashes out at Ayaka for being unable to meet her expectations during the practice which leads the other members of the theatre group to wonder if Kurenai adopted Ayaka for the sake of bullying her or to let her be the successor. In the eyes of the onlookers, they pity Ayaka for suffering under the autocratic ways of Kurenai.

Unable to take the torture, Ayaka accesses the Jigoku Tsushin website and types Kurenai's name in it. Ai appears before Ayaka and explains how the system works. Although Ayaka wants to pull the red string on the straw figure, she gets cold feet once she hears that she will go to hell and asks Ai for some time to consider.

Ayaka is sitting at a playground where she thinks over how Kurenai treats her after the adoption and gets so angry that she is prepared to pull the red string. Just then, her friend from the orphanage, Takeshi calls out to her and asks Ayaka for a loan of 100,000 yen. Ayaka gets the idea of getting Takeshi and his gangster friend to kill Kurenai instead of relying on Jigoku Tsushin and sacrifice her afterlife. Ayaka agrees to the loan with a condition which the guys agree readily.

At night when it is raining heavily, Kurenai returns home where Takeshi and his friend barge into the house to ask for money. However, Kurenai knows some self-defence skills and manages to overcome one of them easily. Seeing that the situation will go out of hand, Ayaka steps in and signals at her friends to leave. Unknown to them, Hone-Onna and Ichimoku Ren are sitting on the fence of the house and comment that Ayaka is no simple woman.

Kurenai asks Ayaka bluntly if the robbers are her friends from the orphanage. Ayaka admits that she has been blackmailed by those guys and puts on an act in front of Kurenai. Although Kurenai is sceptical about Ayaka's words, she does not show it and tells the latter to rest since it's very late at night. Meanwhile, Ichimoku Ren says that they have to report this to Ai and Hone-Onna wonders what Ai will do in this case.

Ai sneaks into the theatre group and tries to find out more on Ayaka's background and relationship with Kurenai. One of the members tells Ai that Kurenai adopted Ayaka for her acting skills and the latter is likely to be selected as one of the leads for the new play and take over the theatre group when Kurenai retires.

Just then, Kurenai calls for a meeting where she announces that the young girl role in the play will be taken on by Kurushima Kaoruko. Ayaka is stunned by this development and hates Kurushima to the core for snatching away what should have belonged to her.

Unable to take this lying down, Ayaka confronts Kurenai about this decision who tells her directly that she's not good enough. In addition, Kurenai points out that she has seen through Ayaka's pretence and tells her to stop making a fool of herself. When Ayaka walks past the dance studio, she gets the idea that the role would come to her once anything happens to Kurushima and hatches a plan to get rid of her rival. She then calls Takeshi for help and promises to give him double the original remuneration.

Kurushima is hurt by the tacks placed in her shoes where Ayaka pretends to stand up for her so as to earn her trust. They head for drinks and then to a game arcade. Kurushima wants to go home as it's getting late but Ayaka would not hear of it. Takeshi and his friend then grab hold of Kurushima while Ayaka walks off without a care for her well-being. The guys drag Kurushima to a deserted building and force her to drink some unknown liquid which causes her to lose her voice.

Ayaka is certain that the role will come to her now that Kurushima is unable to speak. However, Kurenai calls for a meeting and announces that she will cancel the performance and disband the group at the same time. Last but not least, she will sever all ties with Ayaka. Kurenai points out that Ayaka is responsible for what has happened so far and refuses to accept the latter's explanation. Being unable to contain her anger, Ayaka scolds Kurenai who tells her that she is doing this for her own good. Ayaka wouldn't hear Kurenai's rationale for doing this and declares that she won't pretend to be a good daughter if she's not getting Kurenai's inheritance.

Ayaka makes up her mind to kill Kurenai via Jigoku Tsushin but is shocked to see the red string missing from the figurine. Ai appears before Ayaka and reveals that she no longer has the right to take revenge on Kurenai. It turns out that Kurushima had accessed Jigoku Tsushin and pulled the string to exact vengeance on Ayaka instead. Ayaka is horrified to find herself on stage where there's an evil face revealing her true thoughts as she tries hard to conceal that. Ayaka then gives up trying to lie and scolds Ai and her associates instead. In the end, Ai sends Ayaka to hell for the misdeeds that she has done...

The major discovery in this episode about the Jigoku Tsushin system would be the fact that the order of when you get the straw figurine is not the determining factor when it comes to the handling of the revenge requests. In this case, Ayaka got her figurine first but Kurushima pulled the string earlier thus resulting in her being the target of revenge. This leads me to think of another issue though. Ai and her associates are well-aware of Ayaka's evil intentions but they probably won't do anything to her unless someone asks them to do so. If Kurushima had not asked Jigoku Tsushin for help, that would probably have meant that Ayaka will get her way and Kurenai will die as a result. As such, justice doesn't seem to be a consideration factor when accepting such revenge requests since the intention of the applicants is what gets Ai and associates moving.

In this case, Kurenai had kind intentions for Ayaka as it's so obvious that she was putting on an act. Even someone like me who knows nuts about acting could have seen through the unnatural behaviour so to a veteran actress like Kurenai, it's impossible to fool her. It's just too bad that Ayaka wasn't able to appreciate Kurenai's efforts and in turn brought about harm to herself.

Death Note Zenhen's first 10 minutes shown on NTV

As part of the promotional campaign for Part 1 of Death Note's real-life adaptation movie, the first 10 minutes were shown via NTV recently which you may view as below on YouTube. This is definitely a smart move in my opinion because the teaser will tempt many to head for the cinemas and I can't wait for the DVD to be released. However, as the concluding part, "Death Note - the Last Name" will only be shown from Nov, I guess the official DVD will only be available early next year.

In case you are wondering what the title means, it is said to mean whether Light or L will be the last name written in the Death Note. The story will have no connection with the manga so the answer will only be known when the second part is shown in cinemas.

Talking about the teaser, it's mainly about the Kira phenomenon with four deaths illustrated as examples while Fujiwara Tatsuya only appears as Light towards the end of the clip. As far as I can see, there is one subtle difference in one of the cases where a criminal held people hostage at a finance company instead of a kindergarten as shown in the manga. Personally, I would have wanted to catch a glimpse of L although it's impossible to see him within the first 10 minutes.



As a result of this real-life adaptation, I am now besotted with the actor, Matsuyama Kenichi who plays L. ^__^ Even though I've not seen the movie in full, the trailers and clips that I've watched have already convinced me that he's really suitable to play this character. Other than the appearance factor, his mannerisms are identical to what is featured in the manga and I must say that he's so cute when he took part in the surprise appearance at one of the cinemas unannounced with Fujiwara Tatsuya. That event was meant to commemorate the movie breaking the 1 million viewer mark and he was seen hugging a huge spiral of Chupa-Chups while sucking one in his mouth. You've got to watch the clip of the event below to see why I'm gushing about him in this manner!



There was also an announcement that Katase Nana will play Takada Kiyomi in "Death Note - the Last Name". I haven't come to that stage in the manga where she is introduced since I'm going to start on Vol 7 only. I'm a bit reluctant to start reading that because I know a favourite character of mine will say goodbye in this particular volume and I'm definitely reluctant to see that. The final volume of the manga i.e. Vol 12 is released today and I wonder when Kinokuniya will have it in their stores. This month is packed with releases of my favourites as Tenipuri, Death Note and Hachimitsu to Clover have new volumes coming up together. There goes my money again...

Ray The Animation Ep 01: Kami no Me (Eyes of the God)

On a dark and stormy night, a little girl with her eyes bandaged, by the name of Kasugano Rei lies quietly in an operating theatre at a house situated on top of a cliff. When a man dressed in a white robe enters the room, he assures the girl that everything will be over once she undergoes the operation. The girl asks if she will be able to see again which the man replies in the affirmative. However, he reminds her that with the restoration of her eyesight, she will have to make her own choices when it comes to the path she will take in future...

Years later, a nurse by the name of Misato is struggling with her spoils from a shopping trip and laments that it will be nice to have a guy to carry them for her. Just then, she sees a couple quarrelling on the opposite end of the street where the guy leaves his girlfriend behind and tells her that she's better off dead. This makes Misato feel that it's also equally tiring to date someone and is thinking of dropping the idea.

Suddenly, an explosion occurs which causes the girlfriend to sustain injuries as she was standing before the construction site. Misato rushes to the woman's aid where the latter vomits blood. At the same time, the construction workers ask for help as some of them are also injured. Misato is pondering over what to do in this case when a stranger i.e. Rei comes along and tells her that the injured woman has two broken ribs. One of the ribs has pierced her lungs thus resulting in bleeding and swelling. Rei tells Misato to attend to the construction workers and leave the injured girl to her but Misato is unconvinced since Rei did not even examine the injured before arriving at her conclusion. Misato tries to convince Rei to wait for the ambulance but the latter is adamant that the circumstances do not allow for it and prepares to do an emergency operation on the spot...

In an apartment located by the sea, Rei is taking a shower and a series of numbers "075-1-74" can be seen from her right shoulder. After relaxing for a moment, Rei then heads for her new workplace.

Meanwhile, Misato is telling her colleagues Rumi and Rie at Sawa Hospital about what happened on the street and remarks how incredible Rei is since she administered emergency treatment for the 6 injured people at the site. However, another colleague, Mami is sceptical about Rei's abilities despite Misato's belief that what Rei managed to do wasn't by luck or guesswork. To Misato's surprise, she sees Rei asking for directions at the nurse station and is thrilled to know that Rei has joined this hospital as a surgeon.

Misato brings Rei around the hospital as the chief Sawa is out at the moment. Although Misato tries hard to break the ice, Rei's nonchalant responses dampens her enthusiasm. They head for one of the wards where there's a boy, Edogawa Kenji who's living under sterillized conditions. Due to some unknown reason, Rei and Kenji look at each other for a while before she leaves with Misato.

The two then go to another ward where a male patient Toda is in critical condition. He's actually a drug dealer who was stopped from seeking treatment by his partners for fear of bungling a deal thus resulting in his current state. There is a tumour near his heart which is growing bigger and exerting pressure on the heart at the same time. Rei asks why they have not removed the tumour but Misato reveals that this is beyond their control. As the tumour would disappear from sight temporarily when the anesthesia drug is administered, that is why they have not done the operation to date. At the same time, Sawa is on the line with someone and screaming at the person to hang on until he/she becomes the professor.

Rei goes to the rooftop of the hospital for a moment of silence and can't help but wonder if she has made the right choice in coming here to find out what she wants to know. Nevertheless, she tries to encourage herself by saying that this is the path she has chosen so she won't back out now.

Misato brings a bottle of a new anesthesia drug developed by Sawa and asks Rei to do the operation as per the orders of Sawa. However, Rei has her reservations because this drug has never been subjected to tests and thinks that it is morally wrong to use a criminal as a guinea pig. Even when Toda suffers a relapse again, Rei is adamant about not doing the operation. Just then, a big group of gangsters barge into the hospital and forces Misato to reveal where Toda is. However, Misato tries to put on an act which leads the men to show their weapons. Misato remains undisturbed and even tells these men to rest assured that Toda will not live to spill the beans on them as Rei is not going to do the operation.

Sawa appears to take on the gangsters and orders Rei to do the operation which she refuses. Sawa tells Rei to show him what her eyes are capable of and she is finally convinced to do the operation as long as he believes that she can do it. Misato then goes on the offensive so that these gangsters will not obstruct Rei from going to the operating theatre.

Rei manages to see through the body with her special eyes and locate where the tumour is. Everyone is amazed by her ability and fast movements in removing the tumour. All would have gone well until the effects of the anesthesia wear off and the tumour looks as if it has blended into the heart which makes it unable to be seen. As it is dangerous to use more anesthesia and the tumour has shifted to the left of the heart, Rei decides to rely on her eyesight to continue with the operation. Meanwhile, Misato, Rumi and Rie are having problems trying to fend off those gangsters where Sawa appears in the form of a tornado to beat them easily.

Rei completes the operation successfully where Misato asks her what exactly is the power which her eyes possess. Rei then sees through Misato's clothes and identifies the type of bra she is wearing which makes the latter amazed.

Sawa tells Rei that the head of the drug trafficking organisation which Toda belonged to was also the police officer in charge of eliminating such criminal activities thus explaining why he had to wait till Rei's arrival at the hospital before doing the operation. Otherwise, Toda would be killed once he was handed over to the police. Sawa explains that he didn't let Rei do the operation for money which makes her unwittingly recall an unhappy incident in her childhood. Rei reveals that she knew from her mother about Sawa saving her 10 years ago but Sawa doesn't want to take credit for that and claims that he has forgotten about it.

Rei sees through the wall and finds her saviour, Black Jack who gave her the eyes she has today. Black Jack asks about Rei's current state which she assures him that she's fine. However, she laments that she can see through everything except people's hearts. With response to this, Black Jack consoles Rei that if she could see through how people feel, life will not be interesting anymore. With this as his parting words, Rei watches as Black Jack disappears before her...

What caught my eye and made me watch this anime is purely my interest in suspense stories. Seems like there is an underlying mystery which will unravel over time relating to Rei's background and why she has these special eyes given to her by Black Jack. Based on my impression of the first episode, the pace of the story is acceptable enough to hold my interest. However, the visuals leave much to be desired especially with regards to character movements which aren't smooth enough. In addition, I found it quite disturbing to see the female lead wear one outfit throughout the whole episode (which also happens to be an outfit I dislike)and it seems like this trend will continue at least from what I see from the next episode's trailer.

The OP is not played in this episode while the ED doesn't leave much of an impression on me. As for the seiyuus, I'm more interested in waiting for Takahashi Hiroki and Namikawa Daisuke's appearances. The heroine's voice wasn't to my liking ( a bit high-pitched) and seemed so bland without any tinge of emotion. Well, given the fact that Rei seems like a cold person, this could be why this is happening. In that sense, you can also say that the seiyuu was able to convey the inner world of Rei accurately so far.