NKDS

これは良い知らせだよ～

Amazon is being “friendly” again with all their recommendations whenever you go on their front page. This time they recommend me this. This is good news for all Nana fans out there. There will be a character insert song for both of the precures. Nana’s character, Tsubomi, will be singing her insert song 「つ.ぼ.み 〜Future Flower〜」 in episode 4 which will be the next upcoming episode this Sunday. Fumie’s character, Erika, will sing hers 「スペシャル＊カラフル」 in episode 8. Original information to be found at TV Asahi’s precure page here.

Looking forward to Shin Sonic Cure Blossom. 

You know its bad when two writers on this blog wrote about the same episode twice. You know its doubly bad when it happened despite one of the writers having zero prior affinity or liking towards the Precure series. You know its REALLY bad when said writer starts liking Precure… if only because of his devotion to Nana Mizuki.

Welcome to Heartcatch Precure, where two different groups of audience from two wildly differing age groups are watching the series for two totally different reasons. This series will have children going crazy over the fight scenes, while Nana fans will simply gush “NANANANANANANANANANA” whenever Tsubomi speaks. Of course, both demographics will like Tsubomi’s transformation scene and Cure Blossom’s costume, though once again for two entirely different reasons…

I mean, look at Cure Blossom’s figure and nice legs. And her short skirt. Yummy.

*ahem* Anyway, I strongly urge all Nana fans to start this series. If you like Nana, you owe it to yourself to at least give the first episode a spin. Just put away the fact that you are watching a children’s show, and you may be pleasantly surprised. Nana’s performance as Tsubomi was awesome, that much had to be said. I haven’t heard Nana like this for a long time, and Tsubomi nearly moe-ed me to death with her loli megane-ko antics.  

See the number 7 on Tsubomi’s shirt? Yeah, that’s about it. Its all about Nana.

At the end of the episode I had the distinct impression that the rest of the series would be good in its own right, so I will continue watching this, if only for my weekly moe Nana fix. I am still refusing to admit that I have become a Precure fan, but I feel my willpower slipping away each time I watch Tsubomi’s transformation sequence and the ending sequence. Whoever casted Nana as Tsubomi and Cure Blossom is a freaking genius.

And yes, we need character singles for Tsubomi. Having that missing out from the franchise would be a terrible, terrible waste.

 This is Julius Firefocht, signing off.

 Seven flavours of schoolgirl Nana to choose from. 

The webpage for the Live Academy concert goods is up here. Me? I’m only getting the school calendar, seen in the above picture. There is enough fantasy material in the calendar for the most exacting Nana fan out there.

A 17 year old girl should act her age by cosplaying in various school uniforms. Nana-chan gets my intense approval for this series of pictures.

This is Julius Firefocht, signing off.

Its finally here!!! The start of the 7th season of プリキュア

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Nana-chan and her PV production team has always made good PVs, but its been a while since they made something that really blew my mind away. That drought has ended now; Nana’s Silent Bible PV is probably her most impressive PV to date. My favourite Nana PV was DISCOTHEQUE, but I think Silent Bible might have seized the throne, at least for now.  

 I have no idea how much King Records spent on this PV, but damn it looks good. And I like Silent Bible. Time to learn how to sing it at the karaoke…

This is Julius Firefocht, signing off.

The Eternal Diva, now younger!

Happy birthday to Nana-chan, the light and love of our lives! Now that she has turned 17 years old, she has joined the exclusive clique of eternally 17 year old ladies, a sacred sisterhood which includes luminaries such as Kikuko Inoue and Yukari Tamura. Though one can argue Yukarin is eternally 7 years old rather than 17…

Nana is now of the same age as Alexander the Great when he conquered pretty damn near the entirety of the known world in his days. Similarly, Nana has achieved all that she could conceivably achieve in Japan; she has performed in the Dome to an audience of more than 30 thousand, she has performed in Kohaku, and she has achieved Oricon #1 in singles, albums, music DVDs and Music Blurays. Anison-wise, there is really not much else that she can achieve in Japan, except for the expansion of her legions of fans. However, any artiste will have an upper limit in the number of fans she can draw in her home country, which is an unpleasant fact that her and her management must face. So what is the solution?

Alexander tried to solve his problem by expanding the boundaries of the known world, literally entering the unknown in order to conquer it. Therein lies the solution… Nana and King Records need to recognize that there is a ready market for her outside of Japan, and people WILL pay good money to attend her concerts if she performs overseas.  Long story short, like Alexander, Nana needs to take the plunge into the unknown, to go forth and try her hand in other countries. Besides, what’s the risk? The support of cities like Shanghai, and countries like Taiwan and Hong Kong are practically confirmed. Hold a concert in Singapore and it is guaranteed that fans from all around Asia will flock here like bees to honey, thanks to the ease of travelling to Singapore. Not to mention Singapore is building an excellent track record of hosting anison artistes, as proven in the past two years of AFA and last year’s EOY. Plus we have the infrastructure and logistics in place to hold a truly memorable concert for Nana, something that May’N, Yoshiki Fukuyama, Shoko-tan and Ichirou Mizuki can readily attest to.

If Singapore can achieve this much for anison in a space of two years, it goes without saying that Shanghai, Taipei and Hong Kong will be much better equipped for Nana. After all, they had a decade ahead of us, literally. JAM Project regularly holds concert tours in these countries, and I believe that fact speaks for itself.

Nana can retire now and already be considered an anison legend in her home country, but I am certain that is not what she wants. She would not reach such heights without ambition, drive and sheer capability. If only Nana and her management would turn that ambition overseas… she may be the biggest seiyuu-singer in Japan right now, but she has the potential to make anison history in an entire continent. After that.. well, lets cross that bridge when we reach it.   

So once again, Happy 17th Birthday, Nana-chan. Have a good one, and may your star shine ever brighter.

This is Julius Firefocht, signing off.

History being made.

The title of this post says it all.

I…. dammit. I have not felt so emotional for a while. Happiness and pride are what I feel, and I am drinking up the last of my plum wine in honour of Nana-chan’s achievement right now. This is probably the best birthday present that she can receive. The ultimate Oricon glory for the ultimate seiyuu-singer. The cherished dream of Oricon #1 in the weekly singles chart achieved. The curse of being #2 finally broken.

A seiyuu seizing #1 in the Oricon weekly charts for singles. I bet the old farts at those mainstream J-pop companies are spinning in their seats right now.   

Damn, it feels good to support Nana. It feels good to support a winner.

Ok, that’s it for now. I shall continue my rampant Nana fanboyism in Nana’s birthday post, which is coming soon. Very soon.

This is Julius Firefocht, signing off.

Source: ANN, Oricon

This album is ownage. Pure, unadulterated ownage.

If you like Nana, you should… nay, you NEED to go out and buy a copy of this. This album is beautiful, refreshing and epic in its musical arrangement, featuring Nana as you have never heard her before. This album made me shiver in bliss at the epic musical arrangement, and made my spirits soar as Nana’s voice took flight. 

Above all, this album proves why Nana is the Eternal Diva. 

Get it.

For our Singaporean readers out there who are fans of Nana, you will be pleased to know that Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva will be coming to Singapore’s cinemas, thanks to Encore Films. Links here. And yes, Nana-chan is credited in that link. So yeah, we should all go watch it.

This is Julius Firefocht, signing off.

It finally happened. Nana Mizuki is to voice Cure Blossom in the latest series of precure. Now, you all cant ignore precure ^^

Official pic from TV Asahi.

*Note: Coincidentally this is the 7th year of precure

Credits to Danie for bringing this to our attention.

 When it rains, it pours… I did not intend to write another post for the next few days, but as a loyal Nana fan, I HAVE to do this. 

This clip is a digest of Nana’s Live Diamond concert that was held at the Dome. The digest includes clips from songs such as Eternal Blaze, DISCOTHEQUE, MARIA&JOKER and Gimmick Game.

I just gotta say that I looped the clip from MARIA&JOKER for an indecent number of times. You will know what I mean when you see it for yourself, at around 2:05 to 2:07. And the legs that Nana showed in Gimmick Game… wow. Just wow.

So, go order the Live Diamond x Fever BD or DVD if you are a Nana fan. Seriously, just go and do it. You will not regret it.

This is Julius Firefocht, signing off.