Hulu is bringing Japanese TV goodness to the US by partnering with NTV (Nippon TV).

Hulu will be streaming the Japanese game show, Gaki. Gaki is popular for is comedy team Downtown who do various stunts like Golf Club Assault Battle and Chili Bean Paste Smearing Battle. You can watch various Gaki episodes here.

In addition, you can watch the entire Nasubi series from Denpa Shonen, another show filled with Japanese humor.

Source: TokyoMango

Tags: comedy, denpa shonen, gaki, hulu, japan, japanese, nasubi, nippon tv, ntv, show

Plot/Synopsis
In “North Korea Kidnapped My Daughter”, Sakie Yokota recollects the past thirty of her life without her daughter, Megumi who had abruptly disappeared while walking home from school on the streets of Niigata, Japan. Without any trace of her whereabouts, she and her family were left to fill an empty void.

Twenty five years later, Sakie and her family are told that Megumi had been kidnapped by North Korean spies. With the relief of an answer, Sakie is also filled with pain after realizing the situation in its entirety; she becomes fully aware of the difficult living circumstances in North Korea and that saving Megumi is beyond her reach. Regardless, she continues today in full effort and hope to bring her daughter, as well as other victims, back home to Japan.
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Tags: book, japan, megumi yokota, north korea, north korea kidnapped my daughter, sakie yokota, true story

The much hyped and highly anticipated drama remake, Boys Over Flowers (Hana Yori Dango), turned out to be a disappointment for everyone that tuned in including myself.

After watching two episodes, I find myself in disbelief. But then again were my standards too high? No because I just watched the Hana Yori Dango movie and it was bad ass as a romantic girl’s manga can get. Obviously Korea has a lot to make up for in the next few episodes.

For everyone who didn’t catch it, you can read the recap for episode one and two by Dramabeans. It’s the same story more or less with some bad Korean fashion (cough Jan-Di’s crappy military boots).

Tags: boys over flowers, hana yori dango, japan, korea, remake

Bad boy Bahamut of the Final Fantasy series will make his debut on the NDS screen.

After a week of a mysterious time clock, Square Enix officially announced the Blood of Bahamut. The game will feature a 3D RPG that can be played as a co-op with 1 – 4 players. It will be presented at Jump Festa expo in Japan at the end of this year.

The story will surround two characters, Ibuki and Yui who live in a fortified city build on a giant (who I assume is Bahamut but looks more like Alexander from FFIX). The giant wakes up during an enemy attack and the heroes must fight to defend the city.

I love Square Enix but why would anyone build a city on a giant?

Official Website
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Tags: blood of bahamut, japan, nds, nintendo, square enix

The Hana Yori Dango craze is spreading like wildfire with China the next to join in.

It is reported that Chinese network Hunan TV will be doing a remake based on the storyline of Meteor Garden (Taiwan). The producers are hoping to bring on the Taiwanese band F4 in addition to pop stars Hankyung of Super Junior and Yu Haoming in addition to Ariel Lin to play the role of Makino.

While it is all talks, part of me is hoping they’ll do it whereas the other half is like that’s a lot of HYD. The Japanese movie just came only over the summer and Korea has already gone into production with their version. A lot of fans feel the same way but even if they do pull through, it’s not like everyone won’t watch it.

Source: Seoulbeats

Tags: ariel lin, china, f4, hana yori dango, hankyung, japan, korea, super junior, taiwan, tv series, yu haoming

Okay so they’ve finally casted the lead female for Hana Yori Dango, unfortunately it’s not some sexy boy toy who can pass off as a girl. It’s Gu Hye Seon.

Never seen her in anything before but she’s won a few big awards: 2007 SBS Acting Awards (New Star Award) and 2006 KBS Acting Awards (New Actress Award). Not only that but she’s sang the theme song for her drama Pure 19 and been in a few music videos. She’s got to be good right?

Honestly she’s a little too mature looking for me. While she does embody the innocent girl look, she’s not quite the perfect fit for me. I would have definitely gone for a bigger star or at least a cuter one like Kim Tae Hee. If you’ve seen the Japanese Hana Yori Dango, Kim Tae Hee and Mao Inoue might as well be twins.

Again I’m disappointed with the cast but hopefully the show will still be good. I’m still praying for them to boot Gu Hye Seon for a boy toy.

Tags: cast, drama, gu hye seon, hana yori dango, japan, kim tae hee, korea, mao inoue

TVXQ has officially released their fourth album, Mirotic, only a few days ago but even before then it has hit number 1 on the charts. I’m glad they’re back in Korea again so they can put these fake talentless boy bands to shame.

The new album is title Mirotic which is the combination of a coined Korean word “miro” and the English word “tic”. The word “miro” means “lost or maze” which has lead people to believe the definition is the feeling of being wrapped in love with no way out.

Listening to the entire album, I was more of a fan of the slow songs (especially Jae Joong’s solo) over the upbeat ones although “Wrong Number” and “Crazy Love” were one of my favorites. I really enjoyed the entire album with its techno pop feel; definitely a hit for a comeback album.
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Tags: album, boy band, comeback, dbsk, jae joong, japan, korea, mirotic, new, sexy, single, tvxq

The long awaited Korean version of drama hit series Hana Yori Dango will air on KBS 2TV in the last week of December. Finally! Honestly, I can’t believe I had to wait so damn long for Korea to catch up. Aren’t they the melodrama gods?

So far there’s been a lot of hype for the show as it is one of the most popular series in all of Asian due to predecessors Meteor Garden (Taiwan) and Hana Yori Dango (Japan; creator of the series). With so much pressure, they’ve gathered some big names to help record the mini series like renowned director Jeon Gi-Sang (Sassy Girl Chuhyang, My Girl) and writer Yoon Ji-Ryeon (Sharp #3). However, they’ve got Group 8 to produce the film even though they failed with Goong S.
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Tags: big bang, boys before flowers, boys over flowers, dbsk, dongbangshinki, hana yori dango, hanazawa rui, jae joong, japan, kim hyun joong, kim ki bum, korea, lee junki, makino tsukushi, meteor garden, ss501, super junior, t.o.p., taiwan, tvxq