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Norwegian Wood

Submitted by Druss on Thu, 2013-04-25 14:24

Another masterful Murakami novel that you can simply immerse yourself in. Props also to the translator, Jay Rubin, who conveys the Japanese atmosphere well. The novel isn't perfect, but fulfilling.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

Submitted by Druss on Fri, 2013-02-22 23:32

A highly interesting look into the life and workings of an award-winning Japanese sushi restaurant. The behind the scenes look is simply fascinating. I would give it another star. However, towards the end, the documentary loses some of its magical quality and begins to come across as something of an advertisement.

1Q84

Submitted by Druss on Thu, 2013-01-24 14:37

Another Haruki Murakami book done and dusted. While 1Q84 certain had its moments, it lacked the cohesive flow that The Wind-up Bird Chronicle had. Barring a couple of sections, it was nevertheless a reasonably riveting read.

Bonus point for writing style :)

Nejimaki-dori Kuronikuru / Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, The

Submitted by Druss on Mon, 2012-10-22 11:09

A weird and wonderful journey by Haruki Murakami, this is now one of my favorite books of all time! The imagination is stunning and the fact that it all starts with a missing cat is beautifully simply :)

The ending is a touch underwhelming. But I highly recommend this book.

P.S. I find it highly annoying that a couple of chapters from the Japanese edition have been excised from the English translation :/

Tasogare Seibei / The Twilight Samurai

Submitted by Druss on Mon, 2012-06-11 04:44

A samurai flick that attempts to provide a realistic portrayal of life as a lowly member of the Samurai class in feudal Japan while retaining the action that the audience looks forward to in such movies. Twilight Samurai weaves action, intrigue, suspense and romance into an excellent tapestry which is both striking and moving at the same time. But it could have been a lot better if some more care had been taken with it. This is especially true of the soundtrack which is woeful thanks to artificial keyboard strings etc.

Marty Friedman interview + band recommendations

Submitted by Druss on Tue, 2009-09-01 13:00
I came across an interview with Marty Friedman (look for edition 18) on the BOSS website. It covers a variety of topics including how he got together with Jason Becker, how he got the Megadeth gig and so on. Towards the end, when asked to recommend bands to listen to, he lists the following (all J-rock bands):

Nodame Cantabile Special BEST! - track listing in english

Submitted by Druss on Sun, 2008-06-08 01:19
For those of you out there, who like me have a copy of the Nodame Cantabile Special Best! OST and can't make sense of all the Japanese titles and tags, here's a translated version retrieved from a variety of sources (fugly HTML and all):

A Nodame Cantabile bounty

Submitted by Druss on Fri, 2008-06-06 03:50

What a wonderful week this has been! I've done fuck-all in terms of work because I discovered that there is a bounty of Nodame Cantabile out there to slake my thirst. Firstly, there appears to be a sequel (set in Paris) in the works set for release in October. This led me to the Manga (which I'd thought had ended along with the anime) where I found that there was an entire archive set in Paris for me to read ...

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