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Something to Stream: Dining with the Chef

The NHK has launched VOD online, and if you love Japanese food you have to watch Dining with the Chef. While the Video On Demand site itself only has links to the last 2 episodes of each of the shows it is carrying, if you go to the main Dining with the Chef web site you can get the final “Let’s Review” portion of the program going back much further. That is where they give you the cliff notes version of the primary recipe for each episode, sometimes including the side dishes like the soups and salads.

You can also Watch NHK Live to see all of their programming from anywhere in the world, and they have a ton of excellent shows they have not yet added to their VOD servers you might want to check out. I have a number of other programs I make sure to never miss each week, including J-Melo for the latest music and Imagine-Nation for news about Anime, Games, Manga, and Otaku Events from all over the world.

One OK Rock yet again

One OK Rock, 6Oct15, Washington, DC, Live
One OK Rock, 6Oct15, Washington, DC, Live

Nothing I can say will help you understand how amazing this band is live unless you have seen them for yourself, but at least a few of the videos should give you the general idea. The first one on tonight’s group is The Way Back, the Japanese Version this time. The next is C.h.a.o.s.m.y.t.h., and the one after that is from their A-Sketch days, Liar. I heard that when they signed with Warner they cut a deal so all their A-Sketch tunes had the rights grandfathered back to that distributor; if true, that indicates an ethical attitude pretty much unmatched these days, and I like it. Finally, the track they still play as their closing song, even after the last decade of changes; No Scared! I will do my best to stop ranting and raving about them now, but I suspect I will not quite succeed. Because they really are that amazing live and in person, as I learned myself this past Tuesday when they played in my town; enjoy!

Attack On Titan on the Big Screen

The Attack on Titan feature films hit the big screen in the US on September 30th and October 20th, giving them just enough time between the two to run the TV episodes. The theatrical run is fairly limited, but not impossibly so; go to the Find Theater interface to see where the closest place is and grab your tickets. I am quite excited that I have a theater within a few miles of my location, and I am going to have to spend the money to make sure I get to see this one. Hope to see you there, even if “there” is a venue on the other side of the country!

Attack On Titan Movie US dates

Funimation has announced the US dates for the live action Attack On Titan movies to be in theaters, with September 30th for the first, and October 20th for the second. They made the announcement a bit over a week ago, I have been trying to find a list of theaters that will be showing it to link here, but I just haven’t found one. The official movie page does have an opt-in email registration where you can sign up to get those announcements as they become available, at least. In the meantime, here is the official US trailer.

Ulfuls yet again: Sporty Party

Another great rock band from Japan are the Ulfuls, and they recently posted a new song, Sporty Party, that I really like. See all the athletic gear folks are wearing in this video? They recorded this as the ASICS “training ware” campaign song, which lead me to believe it might be a commercial. When I did a bit of research, it turned out the campaign was to enter a contest in which you had to answer questions on a survey. They will pull the names of 20 folks who entered and give them each a pair of premium Ulfuls live tour tickets, with a choice of venue of either Tokyo or Osaka. The contest started yesterday and runs until September 18th, so if you live near Japan or are traveling there soon and want to enter the contest go to the Sporty Party Campaign web site and fill out your entry. The tour will be recorded as part of their “Ulfuls tour 2015 Bontsubiatsuatsu (Live House ed)” release coming out later this year. The song Sporty Party will be on their new album Bonn Zwi Wai Wai being released on September 9th.

Previous Ulfuls posts: Ulfuls with Muppets, Ulfuls

ONE OK ROCK: US Release in September, North American tour

Pretty much my favorite band out of Asia for the last few years, ONE OK ROCK has the chops, the attitude, and the skill set to own the rock world while based out of Japan. They started out around 2005, proving yet again that it takes about 10 years to become an overnight sensation in the music business. The first live track is called Decision, the second is Mighty Long Fall, then the official studio version of the latter song follows those. The live tracks are both from their recent Mighty Long Fall at Yokohama Stadium release, their 5th live DVD which they posted to their You Tube Channel. You have been able to get these tracks and others from them on iTunes for your permanent collection for a while now. But they signed with Warner Bros. Records recently, in a deal that includes releasing their work on CD and DVD in the US, starting with “35xxxv Deluxe Edition” in September. All songs will be in English, and the US version of the album will include two bonus tracks not on the Japanese version. They will be doing a North American tour in support of that release, with stops including Chicago, New York, Toronto, Silver Spring, and Houston.

Previous ONE OK ROCK posts, with music embeds: One OK Rock: Cry Out, Against The Current, More One OK Rock, Please!, One OK Rock: Taka!, Still More One OK Rock!, More Alt J-Rock, More J-Rock, and One OK Rock.

Associated: Rurouni Kenshin 3 trailer (movie), My First Story (band), RUROUNI KENSHIN 2 trailer (movie).