from here to here

First off two of Marcello's gifs for which there wasn't enough webspace the last time: . rnwc brought us the next softsub (for episode 3 of "Aijou Ippon), again available in the RS folders.

Matt then posted some pics: First an image from that drug campaign mentioned last week: Nights4Saturn correctly commented: Ahh, administrations may come and go, but there will always be only one Aya Matsuura! I do think its really great that she does contribute to the over-all health of society like that. Good stuff all-round.

Next was a promo pic from her upcoming stageplay "Sukedachi" which Matt headlined: And if you think that Aya with a Yo-yo is mayhem-on-two-legs...... To answer WyldKat's question what Sukedachi is, here's some info:This is from the stage production "Sukedachi" in which she plays an alien hunter or sumthin. Starts in August. I've upped three torrents on the topic (about the press conference) over the last couple of days. Here's the link to the show

And finally some vidcaps from the new "Meringue no kimochi"

Alienpyon found the link to a subtitled and dubbed -yikes- version of "Sukeban Deka" on Amazon and Cotton Cloth served this youtube video
(which is of course available in the RS folder - as a HQ version)

Quintaxos' signature showing Yasuda hetting hit with a ball in the head during a Utaban episode brought forth a heated and lengthy discussion about the show and the humor shown on it. Many didn't like the respect the hosts had for the girls, others mentioned that it made their names (self-admittedly) even more popular, others hinted at the difference between more physical Japanese and Western humor. Interestingly enough Aya was always treated respectfully by Nakai and Ishibashi. Fumi thinks that Matsuura cannot be abused in this way because she takes nothing too much seriously, her responses to such things reflect them away, sometimes her responses make attackers appear very silly. I won't go into detail of the discussion as it's a bit off-topic (and you can of course read it yourself :-), but since I am the editor Falc and myself will have the last word here. Lol: As for Utaban, the rough climate there is to a great extent the success of the show. And I think Ishibashi and Nakai know quite well who can take it and who can't. Yasuda always has had a good sense of (self-)humor. It's a game of give and take. Aside from that you shouldn't always take everything on TV at face value. Plus if you can't take the heat in show business you should get the hell out of it anyways. - The girls seem to be taking everything pretty well. I never noticed much anger from any of the members. And when it did appear, it usually faded away in seconds. And like the girls themselves say "We come to Utaban to be made fun off" - Exactly. As I said: Don't take everything on that show at face value. It IS an entertainment program, and everyone there does play a role that fits the script so to speak. They all know what's expected of them and what makes viewers come back, and everyone acts accordingly. The whole attire will look totally different once the cameras are turned off.

Back to Ayayan things: sville1999 mentioned that gEkOh had reopened his HDTV thread on jposuki and posted a link to an interview by Aya on "Sukedachi" (alas in Japanese) (these two pics from that site, not in the thread).

rnwc posted a worked-over sub for "Aijou Ippon" episode 1 and later completed the one for episode 4. Thanks for your hard work!!!!

  This 2002-12-12 Utaban appearance came courtesy of mixedmedia and can be found in the
RS folder as well.

moralar then came up with a unique request: He fell in love with the peach puppets from the Momoiro Kataomoi video and was wondering if they could be purchased somewhere. N4S could confirm their existence but his suspicion that I would have them unfortunately is bare of all truths, admitting that Pilika is a much greater Ayaxpert than me :-))) kitamurafan added that they also show up in her "Yeah Meccha Holiday" PV.

Then japanese_boy suggested that it was pics time again and followed his words with action:

blackwin had kindly provided me with half a dozen of Aya PV Making ofs, most of which have found their way into the RS folder by now (eventually all of them will)

Matt then posted three GAM pics

WabukiSensei asked the interesting question what the thread members thought of the acting in the Aijou Ippon dramas to which Matt replied (though in this case the acting is rather subdued and okay): I must admit that I have my problems with acting in Japanese TV dramas. Especially the male actors have a tendency to "ham it up" (in other words: Overacting for the balcony seats :-), sometimes to the point of being almost unwatchably ludicruous. I don't know if the audience like it that way, but I guess so - why allow it otherwise. But I have a hard time not falling off my chair laughing when I see/hear those over-the-top facial expressions and dense voices :-)

Marcello again brought up the similarity of Aya to Maria Takagi:

Leaving you alone with this thought I say: Cya next wwek :-)))