Asia, Fantasia  live in Tokoyo =  EXCELLENT
595283
Very well done dvd, sound, clarity of color and sound was perfect, very pleased with the dvd. Is one of my favourites!!  If you like the band Asia, you best get yourself this dvd. I am a drummer and Carl performed like a champ, kind of neat color of drums too. Plus they are celebrating 25 years together, way to go guys !!! Rock on !!!
4144147
I have so much respect for John Wetton after hearing this CD. And that goes for Geoffrey, Carl and Steve as well. This is one of the best CDs I've heard in a long while. As far as my taste is concerned, this is simply great music!.I personally have not had a lstening experience like this in a very long time. I love all the songs. John's voice sounds phenomonal and the instrumentation is perfect. I have so much respect for musicians of this caliber when they play to the songs and not to showcase their abilities. The lyrics are interesting and moving. I feel the passion through John's melodies and his voice quality delivers the message in the songs wonderfully. He is amazing. I believe any Asia fan will enjoy this CD immensley.
4875185
Coming in right at the end of the year this has to be the most impressive Chinese album I've heard all year and one of the best Pop albums from Asia in 2012. The sounds are vivid and the production on this album is first class - hard edged, striking and strong. Singer Sen has a good voice and sings with passion and precision. Listen to the first two tracks and you'll be sold.

Singer Sen, where have you been all my life?
2597176
ARIA is a beautifully crafted piece of anime, brought to life by Junichi Sato (Sailor Moon, Kaliedo Star and others).  His optimistic characters shine through and this "slice of life" series about gondoliers on a foreign idyllic water planet called Aqua has life and substance.  The stories are as light as air, and deal with three girls and their mentors as they train their hardest and most earnestly to become Prima Undines, gondaliers who scull boats through the water canals of a Neo-Venice.

The color and art design are breathtaking, water lapping, gorgeous blues and golds washing the screen to give a cool, soft feel.  There are the typical episodes, such as the one where the girls go on a mission to train, but the training turns out to be different than they expect.  A cat goes missing.  There's a trip back into time to see the past in the present's eyes.  There is the hot springs episode, the holiday episode... but its all well done and has a calm, uplifting feel to it all.

Those who enjoyed series such as Haibane Remnei, Somedays Dreamers and other slow moving, slice of life series will find themselves right at home here.  It's calming, beautiful to watch and has a charming sense to it too.

All 13 episodes are represented from the first season/series.  Japanese language with English subtitles (there is NO dub).  An array of bonus features populate the four discs, including one that shows clips of the director in Venice (with commentary) by Sato, which is quite entertaining.
2075249
Rin' is a female Trio from Japan. They use traditional Japanese instrumentation with electronica backfill in a unique jazzy or pop format that brings the East to meet the West.

The production work of Jimmy Harry gives this CD its wide range of appeal and professional presence. There are a few "pop" pieces featuring Lisa Loeb and Leigh Nash from Sixpense None the Richer. Harry wrote or co-wrote all the sonds on this CD as well as being the producer. The big hit "Anti Hero" featuring Lisa Loeb is also co-penned by Anna Waronker and Greg Kurstin.

"New Day Rising" is the opening track and it gives us a real feel for the group, its sound and feel, and is one of the typical tracks of this CD.  Very jazzy, Japanese influences and lovely vocals with Leigh Nash and harmonies.

The big hit here is the track "Anti Hero", featuring Lisa Loeb. The story is about young lady in Japan in a "hero movie" like situation. Very upbeat, great composition, love the lyrics and Lisa Loeb makes this a winner.

If you like Japanese influences on your music, this is a lovely addition to your collection, or a fine introduction to the genre. Don't miss the Lisa Loeb piece, it is well worth getting the CD for. maf
2564000
Assuming those who are looking at this are fans of the Monogatari series or know someone who is, so I'll skip the part of the review where I rant about the show.

I will start with the product itself. Two CD's in one case that is the same size as a CD case that contains a single CD. (This is a Japanese product so the writing is probably 97% kana/kanji, 3% English) The CD's have a combined 69 songs which the Amazon music player on my phone says is 2 hours and 31 minutes long.
The little booklet that comes inside the case has a list of the track names with their respective number on each CD. It also contains the lyrics (yes, it is in Japanese) for the opening songs for each story arc. These songs are sung by the respective voice actor for each character. For clarification: the first song, staple staple, is sung by the voice actor for Senjyougahara Hitagi; Third song, ambivalent world, sung by the voice actor for Suruga Kanbaru.
That's about it. Very impressed with what I got, very happy with the content. Worth every penny.

A WORD OF WARNING:
Because this is the soundtrack for the monogatari series, it has the music FROM the series. Which means every one of these songs, with the exception of the opening songs and the ending song, were played with there was either a monologue or dialog going on. The music itself is quite simple, because for the most part it's BACKGROUND music. And really good background music at that.

Post script. Please excuse any and all misspellings. Thank you.
1510888
I love it from beginning to end. It is a must have if you love Fantasia! A must have to add to your collection.
4389010
Haunting and nostalgic.  The music is lovely to hear, mixing Asian themes with contemporary sounds.  The story is something quite remarkable as well.
4150502
- It is Zamfir done right?
Well, its definitely more than that.  I could imagine this gracing the aural side of an Akira Kurosawa film.  Too bad we're not going to see that. :(
I have to admit that it was "Reminiscences II" that initially grabbed my attention and shut my eyes in tranquility when I first previewed this cd at a local Borders bookstore. (after a tedious search of cd misses)
There's something so beautiful about coupling traditional Asian music with lush orchestration and strings and this is done well on "The Gate".
Check out the Three Seasons soundtrack or David Parsons' Ngaio Gamelan cd for more of this sort of bliss.  Maybe you'd get into Putomayo's "Music from the Tea Lands" as well.
I rated this cd 3 stars because contrary to the publicist's opinion, I feel that the drum tracks in the middle break the trance.  They would have sounded better near the end.
But considering how penetrating the other tracks are, the flow of the journey would have been most tranquil without them.
After getting beyond the first track, I found the real gem to be "Esashi Oiwake". I say this because it touches me in the same way that vocals on the Three Seasons soundtrack manage to command humility and serenity.
Overall, this is a very nice addition to my collection of alleviating music.
2250919
As others have, I first became acquainted with Akino Arai through her work on "Outlaw Star."  She recorded both end themes, "Hiru no Tsuki" (Melfina's Theme) and "Tsuki no Ie."  This is truly an album in the artistic sense.  The theme is an exploration of the offerings on the radio dial, thus the selections are eclectic.  However, whatever the musical style, all the cuts are done with the virtuosity, humor, refreshing intelligence, and enchantingly understated style for which Miss Arai is known.  The entertainment value of this very enjoyable album has changed my perception of pop music.  As performed by Akino Arai, "Koseki Radio" is a rare treat.  (BTW, the tenth track is "Riskcaution Corporation.")
3076048
My neighbor totoro is the most magical film I have ever seen. Written and directed by my role model, Hayao miyazaki. My Neighbor Totoro is the story of two children and their father who move to a house full of mystical sprits.(That are cute beyond all reason).
 This movie is full of the cutest and fuzziest characters you could possibly come across, including three different kinds of totoros, billions of dustballs with eyes, and a catbus. All of which are animated with beauty beyond compare, which is expected seeing as how it's a studio ghibli production. The english dub is very good compared too most anime.
 I've seen the VHS version and I can not wait until the DVD comes out.  I'm definitely getting it. Hopefully it will come with the japanese audio as well as the english!
 Thanks for reading.
1951952
Like many of the Ghibli films, this is a true gift of creativity.  Easy enough for children 3+ to watch and being a Westerner very intriguing how the East side of the world is so vastly different.  With a strong voice cast and beautifully drawn backdrops I recommend this to anyone who is willing to embark on a voyage of magic and love.
2028886
Fortune Cookie Chronicles is just terrific. I read it in two sittings (I did get up to use the toilet, so I don't know if that is really two sittings or not).

Jennifer 8. Lee tracked down so much cool information. My wife is Japanese and we lived in Japan for 7 years and Hong Kong for two. We've lived in the Boston area for more than ten years and eat Chinese a few times a month. I thought I knew about Chinese food. Ha! I didn't know squat.

What's so great about the book is that it is an entertaining and well written romp into a world we are all familiar with, but until now nobody really knew that well.
3009773
It's hard to take "Samurai Champloo" too seriously. The series features a breakdancing samurai, hip-hop music, beatboxing and rapping.

But "Samurai Champloo" is a masterpiece in light comedy, action and even a compelling story involving a daughter of a samurai who smells of sunflowers.

As the two samurai heroes say in episode two, there's something silly about a samurai who smells of sunflowers. However, this series truly shows off some of the best battles ever seen in an anime, embellished with the gorgeous environment of ancient Japan. There's a wide variety of stories, from a complex episode about a dying mother, an episode about the origins of Japanese manga and even an episode about a traveling geisha.

There's just one catch--the series is chock full of hip-hop references. Episode 8 alone is a goofy comedy tidbit about a samurai traveling the world with a beatboxing companion. Episode 16 features three samurai travelers rapping rumors they've heard on the road. Episode 18 gives us a closer look at the dangerous life of taggers in ancient Japan.

Okay, maybe this isn't the most realistic period piece series ever made. However, this series has so much fun with blending hip-hop, Christian missionaries and samurai fighting together that one can't resist loving this series.

It's no surprise that this is one of the most accessible action anime series around. Director Shinichiro Watanabe, responsible for the excellent series "Cowboy Bebop," has a flair for creating some of the slickest battle sequences ever made. His storylines might be more simplistic than, say, "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex." However, this is exactly why American audiences enjoy his anime series the most. They are simple stories of men who fight for something they care for.

There's no better time to buy the box set of "Samurai Champloo." The box set is $30 cheaper than the Geneon set, so anime fans have to get this collection. Hands down, this is one of my absolute favorites.
4063570
My company is currently working on producing "Animal Crossing: The Movie" in America, and we bought this CD, which is a Movie Soundtrack for the Japanese Original Film, "Doubutsu No Mori". I have to say that the group that recomposed these songs and made them fit for the movie did an absolutely excellent job. They stay true to the original music tracks of the GameCube game, but have an added magic that could be best described as a "Disney" touch. I bought the CD expecting it to be merely a tool of remaking the movie in English, but I ended up really enjoying what the Japanese group did with the music. I now find myself popping this CD into my computer whenever I want to listen to something relaxing. All of the tracks have a soothing feel with nice beats behind them, and if you play Animal Crossing, again, I strongly recommend this game. My company is also hoping for an English released soundtrack to come with the release of the English movie, but if you have no problem with ordering this from a Japanese worldwide distributor (which I did, and it was delivered in GREAT condition and with great speed) or finding an import CD store to buy it from, then I'd say "Buy it now!"
487372
Overall I was very pleased with this album... some people who purchase it might fall into the same category I did - people who either watch anime movies, play anime games, or both and who enjoyed the japanese songs (or "j-pop") from the soundtracks so much that they decided to do a little bit more digging on j-pop music. Track 13 "Flavor of Life" was the number two most downloaded track - worldwide, I believe - and Utada was the only non-American artist to hold that distinction. I'd recommend inputting "Flavor of Life" as a search on utube DOT com and listening to it - if you like it then more than likely you'll like most of the other songs on this album. While Flavor of Life's my favorite there are several other strong contenders on this track that give Flavor a run for it's money... I really didn't like tracks 8, 12 and 13 and track 4 was only interesting the first few times (ballad version of track 13) but you can always burn a second copy on your PC leaving out those 4 tracks and be left with an album that's quite a treat.

I was extremely surprised that they didn't include the english translation of the lyrics in the little booklet that comes with the CD, although a diligent enough search on google will turn these up. Then again when an artist is singing in Japanese and you STILL like it even though you don't have a clue what she's saying most of the time that tells you something about just how appealing the music is. Needless to say looking up the translated lyrics will give the song even more of an impact once you're listening to it.

Again, it goes without saying that different people have different tastes in music - follow my advice and give Flavor of Life a listen on utube first before buying this. And quite honestly I think sixty two dollars for an album (plus shipping and handling to boot!) is beyond outrageous for an album no matter how good it is... do some shopping around online, I bought a copy (brand new) for fourteen dollars including shipping and handling and I was quite happy with my purchase.

Also as an FYI - track number 10 abruptly cuts off. I was scratching my head in puzzlement given my CD arrived brand new in it's original shrink wrap, wondering if there had been some sort of mistake at the factory. I did some research on google - from what I'm seeing it looks like they deliberately gave track 10 an abrupt ending for emotional impact, an artistic license sort of thing. I mention this mainly so you're not stuck thinking you got a flawed copy of the CD.
4285744
Beautifully animated.  Story moves along.  A joy to watch.  All main characters evolve considerably.  Teaches profound lessons of love, loyalty, independence, tolerance, self-acceptance and personal growth.  Very healthy story line but may not hold the interest of the youngest children all the way through, and begins with a tragic death.  I laughed and cried.
Themes are similar to Totoro but aimed at a more mature audience.  There is more dramatic tension and conflict between characters.  Conflicts are resolved peacefully.
Highly recommended; this is a keeper on my wish list for a hard copy.
It may not be Mamoru Hosado's most original work; it may just be his best.
I watched in Japanese with English subtitles.