Media consumption

So a K-pop band releases an album, and you buy that.

Then you find that they've released the same album plus some of their old songs in Japanese, and you hesitate, but it has a Madonna cover, so you set out to buy that. Then you fail at buying it, but get it anyway.

Then you find that they have an English album set for release in late 2012, and you set your watch for that, even though it's produced by will.i.am, and you actually listened to Cheryl Cole's album and know what that portends.

In conclusion, aside from the many ways Korean entertainment companies exploit their artists, the apparent refusal to give them holidays EVER is really bad for your wallet.

ALSO, switching country and medium, J-drama SPEC is apparently up for an American remake. piecesofalice is in China at the moment, so our side-eye is international. Reasons why this won't end well:

- SPEC seems to be part of the wider universe of Tsutsumi Yukihiko's eccentric brilliant woman with superpowers/repressed angsty man with a past universe, ie, Keizoku, Trick, Keizoku 2: SPEC.
- Oh yeah, it's also a sequel to Keizoku.
- Seriously, how can you replace that cast? Everyone is perfect.
- But the cast will inevitably be replaced mostly by white people.
- Even though Ryo Kase speaks better English than, well, me, and should totally reprise the role of Sebumi. Even though it would mean sacrificing his luxurious hipster locks. Again.
- I can't even imagine how it would work without the Japanese context.
- "Quirky" shows get cancelled really fast in America.
- It would probably wind up with Fringe's place in the schedule, and much as we like to joke that SPEC and Fringe exist in the same universe, that's kind of ... glib.
- The best case scenario is that the original series gets an official DVD release in the English-speaking world, with professional subtitles and stuff. (Though I have to say, the new subs are amazing in that suddenly it ALL MAKES SO MUCH MORE SENSE! I mean, aside from the stuff that isn't meant to make sense, like why do the angels of death have vuvezulas, and why are Sebumi's teeth numbered?)
- After a while I start to worry that I sound like Sherlock fandom freaking out because Lucy Liu is wearing a jumper, and Martin Freeman invented jumpers, and how dare people remake a classic story that has been in the public domain for years? But then I remember it's slightly different.

We, with selvage, started playing the fancasting game, but we got as far as Jasika Nicole for Toma Saya and Sonja Sohn for a genderswapped Tsuda, and then selvage and I got distracted casting AtLA from Asian dramas. Which mostly involved Ryunosuke Kamiki as the world's bishiest Zuko and Tsutomu Yamazaki as Iroh. Then we got stuck on Ozai, because I kind of like Cha Seung-won -- THAT MAN IS IN HIS FORTIES, BTW -- for Ozai, but I'm not sure if it's acceptable to cross nationalities for one family, and also piecesofalice might return from China and punch me if I spend too long staring at her future husband.

And then I went to bed, and my subconscious switched streams entirely:

The Hunger Game of Thrones: you win or you get mauled to death by direwolf muttations. Nobody suggest that to King Joffrey, because he would actually think it was a good idea.

I still don't see how this show would work in an American context

Watched the SPEC special. I cheered, wept, lolled and wept again in approximately that order.

I was about to get all excited about the movie, which is out in Japan now, but then I remembered it won't get fansubs until the DVD is out. Which was the whole reason for piecesofalice going to Japan to see the movie sans subs in the first place! (We're hoping it will feature the universal language of making out.)

I still have questions, like why is [CHARACTER] a robot now? And what, exactly, are the vuvezula salarymen if not angels of death (or some kind of psychopomp anyway)? Is there really much money in being a rapping removalist? At which point will David Lynch give up and admit he can only dream of being equally surreal?

I also have thoughts about Toma's SPEC and the outcome thereof, but I can't quite articulate them yet. STAY TUNED.

I realised partway through that I should probably avoid gyoza until after my stomach problems are fixed. This is a problem, because SPEC always leaves me craving gyoza, and delayed gratification makes me pout.