Jpop: YukaD / Ostooandell

After being part of Ostooandell for 10 years, YukaD went solo in 2010. The new "Kimi wa Dancing Queen" is quite fun, and from the old videos I recommend "Bakyun the everyday".

• YukaD - You are a Dancing Queen (君はDancingQueen)
• Ostooandell - Bakyun the everyday
• Ostooandell - 君はまるでダンスしているみたいに
• Ostooandell - Hero's Hero (audio only)

Kpop: Yoari (요아리)

Yoari, or Kang Mi Jin as is her real name, has a history in kpop that is quite unlucky, basically she was going to be part of now famous group Brown Eyed Girls but got put in a loser group which disbanded almost directly and has been struggling since then. The song "Excuse Me" from 2010 touched many and will most probably be the song she is remembered for, with a video that suits it perfectly in its personal dramatic touch. On the other hand you have the relatively fresh "Do You Like It?" which still showcases the kind of rocky image that was the initial reason for her being moved from BEG. She got some more publicity for her participation in Voice of Korea in 2012.

• Yoari - Excuse Me (저기요)
• Yoari - Do You Like It? (맘에 드니?)

Kpop: Rumble Fish (럼블피쉬)

Rumble Fish was actually a rock band, but since 2010 consists only of the vocalist Choi Jin Yi, who makes a fantastic return with "The Virulent Song".

• Rumble Fish ft Kanto - The Virulent Song (럼블피쉬)
• Rumble Fish - Don't be like that (너 그렇게 살지마)
• Rumble Fish - What if (어쩌지)
• Rumble Fish - Smile Again

Jmovie: Time Traveller (時をかける少女)

Not that it matters much really, but the movie has several tie-ins to the earlier movies and anime based in the same novel, "The girl who leapt through time", with Naka Riisa for example having done the voice in the anime of 2006 now doing the lead role as time-leaping Akari Yoshisama. It is basically a story about her going back in time to the 70's to deliver a somewhat cryptic message on behalf of her hospitalized mother. The story is a low-key romantic drama which has its tears but without wallowing in it. The first 10 minutes doesnt make the rest of the movie justice as it seems a bit to typically Japanese "uppity", but it soon finds its stride and in the end the thing that stayed with me was the general feeling of the movie. It never wallows in the 70s era or the emotional parts, instead it gently eases you into a very special mood and experience. I cant really explain it more than that I afterwards felt sad when it went away. A classic cinematic experience somehow. Please see it. And since as do review mostly music, please watch Naka's very different performance in her own music video for another movie. More reviews here.

Kmovie: Hello Ghost (헬로우 고스트)

On the surface, Hello Ghost (word of advice: don't read about the plot it if you are going to watch it) is a Korean comedy-drama about a man, Sang-man, that grew up in a orphanage without memory of his family, who has failed at everything in his life and now is at roads end. After his latest suicide attempt he begins to see ghosts. This may not sound as the premise of a comedy, but at least in the Korean sense it is obvious that the signals from the start are those of a movie that wants us to laugh about Sang-man's situation, and as much with him as at him. Without telling to much about the story, this is at the same time one of the most impressive storylines I have seen that mixes comedy and drama in such a way that in the end you really have both tears and a smile. And yes, it is a really happy ending, but not in the cheap sense. The story tries to examine how loneliness and family are both poles and interrelated with each other, and how it is complicated by real life, and it does so without straying into the pretentious. Please watch this.