The Asian Entertainment Portal

IRIS

2010-06-24T02:53:00.000-07:00

Iris is the best Korean drama series that I’ve watched last year. It stars Kim Hyun Joon, Jin Sa Woo, and Kim Taehui. This series was filmed in different countries such as Japan, China, Russia, and the US. The production cost of this series is estimated to be around twenty million dollars. It was aired in KBS and consists of twenty episodes.

SYNOPSIS

Kim Hyun Joon and Jin Sa Woo are best friends who were brought into a top secret organization known as NSS by analyst Choi Seung Hee and Park Sang Hyun. Hyun Joon and Sa Woo both fall in love with Seung Hee when she first profiles them. Their lives are changed forever when Hyun Joon is given a solo mission in Hungary. Hyun Joon later tries to find out who set him up and to figure out what IRIS is and wants.

Charice is Joining the Cast of ‘Glee’

2010-06-22T02:31:00.000-07:00

It was a rumor before that Charice will be joining the cast of Glee. Charice even wrote on her twitter account “I just want to let you all know, that it’s not true that I’m going to be on Glee,” Well forget about that because it is true now. She will join the cast as a foreign exchange student whose killer vocals get Rachel (Lea Michele) contemplating murder. Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States.

Source: Entertainment Weekly

Kobukuro covers music for "Dohyo Girl"

2010-06-20T08:54:00.000-07:00

The popular duo Kobukuro will provide the theme song and insert songs for the TBS drama series "Dohyo Girl," which stars fashion model Nozomi Sasaki (22) in a story about sumo wrestling.

All of the songs are being taken from Kobukuro's cover album "ALL COVERS BEST" (on sale August 25). The theme song will be a version of Tetsuro Oda's "Itsumademo Kawaranu Ai wo," while the insert song will be different for each of the show's 10 episodes, starting with Yumi Matsutoya's "Sotsugyou Shashin." The other songs that are planned to be used include Yutaka Ozaki's "I LOVE YOU," Shogo Hamada's "Mou Hitotsu no Doyoubi," and Derek and the Dominos' "Layla."

"Dohyo Girl" premieres on July 13.

Tokyograph

Oricon Weekly Charts 06-21-2010

2010-06-16T03:05:00.000-07:00

SINGLES
1. Kaela Kimura - Ring a Ding Dong = 46197
2. Girls Dead Monster - Little Braver = 38854
3. Morning Musume - Seishun Collection = 34122
4. VAMPS - Angel Trip = 31518
5. BIGBANG - Tell Me Goodbye = 31293
6. Idoling!!! - Me Niha Aoba Yama Hototogisu Hatsukoi = 27707
7. UNICORN - Hadaka no Taiyou = 23439
8. MUCC - Yakusoku = 19485
9. AKB48 - Ponytail to Shou Shou = 17284
10. Arashi - Monster = 14620

ALBUMS
1. EXILE - Fantasy = 302716
2. Oasis - Time Flies. . . 1994-2009 = 59348
3. Eikichi Yazawa - TWIST = 55619
4. ONE OK ROCK - Niche Syndrome = 26180
5. Ayaka Hirahara - my Classics2 = 13826
6. Christina Aguilera - Bionic = 13667
7. Masashi Sada - Yokan = 12045
8. The Chemical Brothers - Further = 11879
9. BENI - Lovebox = 11144
10. Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster = 9382

MUSIC DVDS
1. Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi - 30th Anniversary Box From Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi Premium = 21096
2. THE BLUE HEARTS - THE BLUE HEARTS on TV = 15010
3. Shunsuke Kiyokiba - Nippon Budokan ~2010.1.31 FLYING JET TOUR 2009-2010 Tour Final~ = 8872
4. ORANGE RANGE - Carnival ~Haru no Saiten Special~ At Saitama Super Arena = 6491
5. Arashi - ARASHI Anniversary Tour 5x10 = 5582
6. Miliyah Kato - Ring Tour 2009 = 5137
7. Mr. Children - Mr. Children DOME TOUR 2009 ~SUPERMARKET FANTASY~ IN TOKYO DOME = 2966
8. Pay money To my Pain - Pictures = 2694
9. Arashi - 5x10 All the BEST! CLIPS 1999-2009 = 2591
10. Park Yong Ha - Park Yong Ha 2010 Live In Seoul "Candy Man" = 199

Source: Oricon

AVEX New Idol Group SUPER GiRLS

2010-06-14T00:47:00.000-07:00

Avex Idol Audition 2010 final round was jeld on Saturday at Nakano Sun Plaza. There were 12 girls chosen from the 24 finalists and those 12 girls will form a new group called SUPER GiRLS. Approximately 7,00 hopefuls applied for the audition and the twelve winners are:

• Saori Yasaka (21)
• Kaede Kano (17)
• Eri Akita (17)
• Rina Miyazaki (16)
• Mirei Tanaka (13)
• Ruka Mizote (13)
• Hikaru Watanabe (16)
• Aya Goto (13)
• Reira Arai (15)
• Ami Maeshima (12)
• Rika Shimura (17)
• Rino Katsuta (15)

The will make their stage debut on August 7 at this year's a-nation event. You can find more information about the group at the audition website.

Huayi Brothers and IHQ Collaboration features Rain, Lee Dahae, Jang Keunsuk

2010-06-12T14:41:00.000-07:00

Two of the biggest entertainment empires from China and Korea – Huayi Brothers and IHQ – have recently announced a collaboration effort in TV drama production.

“This co-production won’t just be Korean actors filming in China, but really tell the story between Koreans and Chinese. We will film in both countries, and complete post-production in Korea,” said Hao Lin, head of Hao Lin Studios of Huayi Brothers.

Two series are currently in production – spy series “Kung Fu” and modern love story “Autumn Rhapsody.” From the Korean side, “Kong Fu” will star Rain (IHQ), Lee Dahae(IHQ) and Jang Keunsuk (Huayi) and will tell the tale of a Korean-Chinese spy war against Japanese imperialism during WWII (Benji: Ah, yes, if there’s anything to unite China and Korea, it’s anti-Japanese sentiment~). The series is co-produced by the Hao Lin Studios and the Korean Studio that brought you “Iris.”

“Autumn Rhapsody” is a modern love story of two couples, one in Korea and one in China. The Korean couple will be Kim Taehee (IHQ) and Song Seungheon (IHQ). No Chinese actors have been announced yet, though Huayi Brothers CEO said “We will choose the best artists to join the cast. Huayi has a lot of acting resources, and we’ll find the right artists to join the filming. That doesn’t exclude big names like Li Bingbing (Huayi) and Deng Chao (Huayi) as long as the roles are right.”

In recent years, Huayi has been increasingly collaborating with foreign companies, including “Hot Summer Days” with Fox and “High School Musical” with Disney this year. Last year, Huayi and Shanghai Media Group also collaborated with Korea to remake the comedy “Nonstop.” IHQ, too, has been eyeing outside Korea with projects such as film “Blood Vampire” starring Jun Ji-yun.

Source: cfensi

Won Bin in The Man from Nowhere

2010-06-10T01:15:00.000-07:00

Good news to all fans of Won Bin out there. The 32 year-old actor returns in the new film “Ajeossi” (The Man from Nowhere). He plays the role of Cha Tae-sik a desolate man whi has cutt himself off from the world. He decides to end his isolation and return to the real world when his only friend (So-mi) is kidnapped. Kim Saeron (A Brand New Life) will also appear in this film and it is directed by Lee Jeong-beom. This film is set to release in August.

My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox

2010-06-07T12:32:00.000-07:00

Lee Seung Ki plays the lead role in the upcoming series in SBS titled “My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox”. The said series will be aired in August of this year (no exact date yet). Shih Min Ah will also be on the said series.

SYNOPSIS: Lee Seung Ki is a man who meets a girl and falls in love with her. The girl is actually a gumiho, a legendary fox with nine tails that eats the livers of humans. When he finds out that she is a gumiho, he ends up doing crazy things to prevent the girl from eating his liver.

Source: Dramawiki

Hirosue, Nagase co-star in "24 Hour Television" Drama Special

2010-06-05T07:39:00.000-07:00

The drama special for this year's "24 Hour Television" telethon has been revealed. The drama is titled "Miporin no Ekubo" and will star Ryoko Hirosue (29) with TOKIO's Tomoya Nagase (31).

Hirosue and Nagase will play a married couple in this tearjerker, based on a true story of two parents who are told that their daughter Miho (played by Manatsu Kimura) has one year left to live due to a brain tumor. The drama depicts the family's remaining time together, including the 359 letters that Miho drew before her death.

NTV will air the drama on the night of August 28. The "24 Hour Television" program will start earlier that day.

Source: Tokyograph

GACKT ‘s European Tour in July

2010-06-01T02:03:00.000-07:00

For all GACKT fans out there, GACKT will have a European tour in July for the first time. GACKT will perform in selective clubs in Paris, London, Barcelona, Bonchum, and Munich. Tickets will be available on sale on June 7th. This will be an exciting event for this is another change to experience live a true JROCK legend.

GACKT has released thirty-four singles and nine albums. His music has been used as theme song for various anime, TV dramas, and video games such as Dirge of the Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, New First of the North Star, Bujingai, and Kamen Rider Decade.

July 16, 2010 - O2 Academy Islington / London / UK - www.ticketweb.co.uk

July 18, 2010 - Alhambra / Paris / France - www.fnac.com, www.digitick.com, www.ticketnet.fr

July 20, 2010 - Salamandra 1 / Barcelona / Spain - www.ticketmaster.es

July 22, 2010 - Theaterfabrik / Munich / Germany - www.neotokyo.de

July 24, 2010 - Zeche / Bochum / Germany - www.neotokyo.de

Running Shirt

2010-05-31T14:07:00.001-07:00

Running Shirt or Nan Ning Goo is a sports drama that will be aired in MBC starting June 9, 2010 to July 17, 2010. It is a drama that tells the story of Dae Gu which played by Baek Sung Hyun who gave up sports because of a painful past. However, he discovers passion for running and begins competing in marathons. This drama will definitely be an exciting drama. Aside from Baek Sung Hyun, the cast are Park Min Young, Song Joong Ki, Baek Jin Hee, Joo Won, and Kim Mi Kyung. The series producer is Yoon Jae Moon and it was directed by Lee Dong Yoon. I personally like this type of drama because you can learn a lot from it and it makes me feel good. Now I’m excited to watch this series. The said series is consists of four episodes.

Perfume’s Tokyo Dome Concert on November

2010-05-31T02:29:00.000-07:00

Japanese technopop Perfume will held their first concert at Tokyo Dome on November. They’ll become the second technopop group after YMO and second female idol group after SPEED to havea concert at the said venue. The concert will be titled “1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11,” which is in reference to the three members preparing for their 11th year together as a group.

Perfume is a female technopop group from Hiroshima and the group members are Ayano Omoto, Yuka Kashino, and Ayaka Nishiwaki. They debuted in 2001 and made their transition to a major label in 2005. The group has released nine major label singles to great sucess as of June 2009.

Arashi and Super Junior in Global Charts

2010-05-29T16:48:00.000-07:00

Here’s the ranking of the most popular tracks according to global paid downloads, single sales, and air play.

SINGLES

1. Arashi - Monster = 388.000
2. Usher feat. Will.I.Am - OMG = 331.000
3. B.o.B. feat. Bruno Mars - Nothin' On You = 304.000
4. Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg - California Gurls = 260.000
5. Train - Hey, Soul Sister = 236.000
6. B.o.B. feat. Hayley Williams - Airplanes = 234.000
7. Lady GaGa feat. Beyoncé - Telephone = 225.000
8. Taio Cruz (feat. Ludacris) - Break Your Heart = 218.000
9. Lady GaGa - Alejandro = 198.000
10. Eminem - Not Afraid = 188.000

Track chart

ALBUM
1. Rolling Stones - Exile On Main Street = 164.000
2. Justin Bieber - My Worlds (My World+My World 2.0) = 160.000
3. Glee Cast - Glee: The Music, Volume 3 = 150.000
4. Lady GaGa - The Fame (Monster) = 115.000
5. AC/DC - Iron Man 2 (Soundtrack) = 106.000
6. Black Keys - Brothers = 92.000
7. Super Junior - The Fourth Album = 75.000
8. Nas & Damian Marley - Distant Relatives = 75.000
9. Ligabue - Arrivederci, Mostro! = 66.000
10. Band Of Horses - Infinite Arms = 64.000

Album chart

My Ex แฟนเก่า (Fan Kao)

2010-05-29T02:45:00.000-07:00

My Ex is a Thai horror movie which was released last year. That movie is a typical horror movie but there are scenes that I found quite scary on this film. The story is quite good too but I guess they could have done something different in the film which will make it more interesting (that is just my opinion).

PLOT:

Ken (Chakrit) is a heartthrob actor who has a bad boy reputation of loving beautiful girls and dumping them when he finds a new girl. His complicated relationship always leads to many gossips. When Ken's wedding is announced, the public curiously take more focus on him and his life never be the same again. Soon, Ken is convinced that he is threatened by his fan club and paparazzi. But when the threats getting more deadly, Ken begins to realize that an envious ghost of one of his ex-girlfriend never wants to let him go.

Girls' Generation Dominating Music Charts in Asian Countries

2010-05-28T01:08:00.000-07:00

Kpop girl band Girls’ Generation seems to be making a good job to be popular in Asia. The said group has been on music charts in several countries including here in the Philippines. I also read that in Thailand, "Run Devil Run" has maintained its position atop record distribution chart B2S TOP 20 for three consecutive weeks starting May 3. Here in the Philippines, the girls' repackaged second album which went on sale in the country last Saturday topped the weekly charts of the major music store chains Music On and Astroplus for the week of May 17 to 23. The girls have been one most popular female idol in Korea since their debut in 2007.

The group’s members are Yoona, Tiffany, Yuri, Hyoyeon, Sooyoung, Seohyun, Taeyeon (leader), Jessica, and Sunny. Their single “Gee” is the longest running number one song on KBS’s Music Bank which lasted for 9 weeks. Their latest music video is “Run Devil Run” released March of this year and they performed it first in KBS’s Music Bank.

Big Bang to Perform in Japan’s Summer Sonic Festival 2010

2010-05-26T07:37:00.000-07:00

Summer Sonic Festival is an annual two-day rock festival which is held simultaneously in Osaka and Tokyo. It is a big event where many Japanese rock musicians and international acts are joining. Korean boy band Big Bang will be the first Korean dance group who will be joining this event in August. YG announced in a press release that the group is set to perform on the Ocean Stage of the Maishima Summer Sonic site in Osaka on August 7 and on the Marine Stage of the Chiba Marine Stadium in Tokyo the following day. International artists such as Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift, A Tribe Called Quest, and Sum 41 will also perform. This will be an exciting event and it is good that Big Bang will be joining because it shows that they are good artists and that they have many fans in Japan. Big Bang made their debut in 2006 with their single "Bigbang" and is known as one of the biggest cultural icons in Korea. They have released numerous singles and albums featuring their biggest hits "Dirty Cash," With U," "Lies" and "Haru Haru." The group officially launched their singing career in Japan in June last year and is currently promoting themselves in the country for two weeks.

Yu Yamada’s First Lead Role

2010-05-25T02:22:00.000-07:00

Twenty-five year old actress Yu Yamada has been given her first lead role in a drama series "Gakeppuchi no Eri ~ Kono Yo de Ichiban Daiji na 'Kane' no Hanashi," in TV Asahi. The said series is based on a semi-autobiographical essat by mangaka Rieko Saibara (“Bokunchi”, “Mainaichi Kaasan”).

"Gakeppuchi no Eri" describes the turbulent life of Eriko (Yamada), who has been extremely poor since childhood, due to the debt left by her parents. Despite constant misfortune, she aims to achieve happiness and money by moving to Tokyo to pursue life as a manga artist. The cast includes Takanori Jinnai, Eri Watanabe, Muga Tsukaji, Kotaro Koizumi, Yoji Tanaka, and Ren Osugi. The writer Rielo Saibara herself will make a guest appearance on the show. The show premieres in July and will air on Friday nights at 9:00pm.

Yu Yamada is best known for her modeling work with CanCam magazine.

TOKYOGRAPH

I Live Without Incident

2010-05-23T19:05:00.001-07:00

I Live without Incident is a new drama that will be aired on MBC starting May 26 to June 03, 2010. It stars Shin Shung Il and Ha Hee Ra. It consists of four episodes and it is directed by Im Hwa Min (Sisters of the Sea, Confession)

SYNOPSIS: Shin Jung Il is a retired senior official who maintains a positive outlook and accepts everything life throws at him. Although others dismiss him as old, he thinks of himself as young because he believes people should be valued according to their attitude rather than number of years. Because he lives his life to the fullest, he embraces even the idea of death as a friend, understanding it to be part of the essence of life. He finds love when he meets Hwang Se Ri, a woman 29 years his junior, twice-divorced and running a sushi restaurant.

Asian Remake of Film "Ghost"

2010-05-13T06:02:00.001-07:00

We all know the Demi Moore and the late Patrick Swayze’s film “Ghost” but what is exciting is that there will be an Asian remake of that smash hit film. Nanako Matsushima and Seung-heon Song are both set to take the lead roles which were originally played by Demi Moore and the late Patrick Swayze. Nanako Matsushima is popular for her role in NTV drama “Toshii and Matsu” where she played the role of Matsu. Her co-star, Seung-heon Song, has enjoyed resurgence in popularity over the past few years following an embarrassing scandal which threatened to derail his career when it was revealed that he had lied about his health to avoid compulsory military service. In 2008, he starred in the big-budget MBC drama “East of Eden” which was watched by nearly 30% of the South Korean television viewing audience. His dramas have also been broadcast in Japan, making him a big star in both countries. The filming of the said film will begin in June.

SOURCE: nipponcinema

Animax Changed

2010-05-03T13:41:00.001-07:00

My schedule changed this week so I had to go to work late today because my shift starts at 10:00PM. I love to watch anime so my TV is always tuned to anime channels such as Animax or Hero. It was 8:00PM when I noticed that they are airing something different. I saw 2PM singing “Heartbeat” and I was like “Wait, wait, wait, 2PM is a Korean boyband?” Then I realized that Animax is advertising some sort of changes that will take effect starting May. My sister was so happy to watch Super Junior sing “Sorry Sorry” Actually, at first I thout that it is Animax Musix but then I realized that the upcoming Animax Musix event will be on May 10th. I can’t say anything about this change with Animax. I mean I watch Korean entertainment shows as well but I think it lowers the value of Japanese anime by mixing Korean shows on their channel. They could have produced another channel for Korean entertainment shows because I always watch Korean TV shows in KBS world and I think it’s okay that way. I guess it’s too early to provide any feedback (and I can’t do anything about it anyway) so I’ll just have to deal with it.

Rain’s Performance in Music Bank

2010-04-30T23:14:00.000-07:00

I watched Music Bank on KBS World yesterday and I was amazed by Rain’s performance. He really is a true entertainer. I remember when he was interviewed for his movie “Ninja Assasin” he was asked if he prefer to be on stage or on the big screen and I believe he answered that he loves both acting and singing but he preferred to be performing onstage. Now I know that he really is a good singer because I he was really great yesterday. I must say that he is a good actor too (and I love him in FullHouse) but he definitely look good on stage and he’s a great singer.

KARA’s Japanese Debut

2010-04-29T01:50:00.000-07:00

KARA is said to have signed up with Universal Music Japan ahead of their official Japanese debut and they will be selling their Korean repackaged album on April 28th. On May 7, they will be heading to Japan for a fan handshake session which will be held at Grand Prince Hotel on May 8th. The girls will be having their official fanclub establishment ceremony with over 3000 fans in Yokohama. KARA will definitely be busy and I know their Japanese fans will be very happy about it.

Nam Sang Mi

2010-04-21T02:22:00.000-07:00

Nam Sang Mi is a South Korean actress and model. She becamse famous as the corky police office in ‘Sweet Spy’. She was discoved posting her pictures on the internet. She was very beautiful and I’ve watched her in quite a few kdramas and I can say that she’s done a great job in all her roles.

Dramas

• Invincible Lee Pyung Kang (KBS2, 2009)
• Gourmet (SBS, 2008)
• Time Between Dog And Wolf (MBC, 2007)
• Bad Family (SBS, 2006)
• Drama City (KBS, 2005)
• Sweet Spy (MBC, 2005)
• My Sweetheart My Darling (KBS, 2005)
• Not Alone (SBS, 2004)
• Escape from Unemployment (SBS, 2004)
• Drama (SBS, 2003)
• Love Letter (MBC, 2003)

Films

• Living Death (2009)
• Never to Lose (2005)
• She's On Duty (잠복근무) (2005)
• Dead Friend (2004)
• Spy Girl (그녀를 모르면 간첩 )(2004)
• Too Beautiful to Lie (2004)

TV Appearances

• MC - SBS Live Broadcast TV Entertainment (2006)
• A Shim Man Man (2005)
• Sang Sang Plus (2005)
• X-Man (2004)

Music Videos

• Words That are Hard to Say - Lee Seung Gi (2006)
• Love Is - Vintage Blue (2005)
• She's Laughing - Kim Hyung Jung (2004)
• Christmas Miracle - Shin Seung Hun (2002)

Becoming a Billionaire

2010-04-21T01:36:00.000-07:00

This series has started to air in KBS world last week. It is an interesting series because I want to know if the main character Choi Suk Bong will be able to find his father.

SYNOPSIS

The drama follows the story of a man, Choi Suk Bong, who believes that he is actually the son of a rich father and heir to a chaebol group. He meets Lee Shin Mi, who is actually a chaebol heir but acts nothing like one, with her scrimping and frugal ways. Although they get off to a rocky start, with her help, he struggles towards his goal of attaining wealth.

CAST

Ji Hyun Woo as Choi Suk Bong
Lee Bo Young as Lee Shin Mi
Lee Si Young as Boo Tae Hee
Nam Goong Min as Choo Woon Suk
Shin Da Eun as Han So Jung
Jung Joo Eun (정주은) as Secretary Yoon
Yoon Joo Sang as Lee Joong Hun
Kim Eung Soo as Boo Kwi Ho
Park Young Ji as Choo Young Dal
Kim Dong Kyoon as Team Leader Yoo
Ok Ji Young as Bang Soo Jin
Sung Ji Roo as Woo Byung Do
Kim Ki Bang as Park Kang Woo
Park Min Ji as Kang Sook
Kim Mi Kyung as (Kang Woo's mother)
Jung Han Yong as (Kang Woo's father)
Lee Han Wie as Teriah Park
Park Chul Min as Hotel Captain
Jang Tae Sung as Hotel bellman
Son Ho Young as Suk Bong's chaebol father (cameo)
Lee Won Jong as Suk Bong's middle school maths teacher (cameo)
Choi Song Hyun as Suk Bong's mother (cameo)

Super Junior Expressed Interest to Star in a Philippine Drama

2010-04-18T08:18:00.001-07:00

Super Junior had a succesful concert here in the Philippines on April 10th and they had a prescon which was held at EDSA Plaza Hotel last Saturday. Donghae expressed interest in starring in a pinoy drama. I’m sure Super Junior fans will be so happy to see one of the Super Junior on TV everyday. They were so happy because of the large crowd that showed up in NAIA airport to greet them when the came in the Philippines. The co-producer of the Super Junior concert, MYX is also airing a special titled “Asia MYX: Super Junior Special” today, April 19, Monday, at 8 p.m. The feature showcases exclusive footage from the Super Junior press conference and the group’s sold out three-hour show, along with an interview conducted by VJ Iya Villania. Repeat airings are scheduled on April 21 (9:30 a.m.), April 22 (4 p.m.), and April 25 (12 m.n. and 11 a.m.).