Hirano Aya's first full album comes out on 16 July, and the name of the album will be...Riot Girl.I can't help but compare this with the original Riot Grrrl movement. To quote Wikipedia: "Riot grrrl...is an underground feminist punk movement that started in the early 1990s.... Riot grrrl bands often address issues such as rape, domestic abuse, sexuality, and female empowerment. Some bands associated with the movement are: Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, Le Tigre, Excuse 17, Free Kitten...."Aya's rock can be a little rough around the edges, but nowhere near as rough as, say, Bratmobile (YouTube). Once again, much as I like Aya's music, she seems a bit of a wannabe at this punk stuff -- which, if you watch the Bratmobile video, might be a good thing.In any case, the album will feature a number of Aya's old songs (Breakthrough, Bouken Desho Desho, last year's three singles, etc.), as well as some original material. (click photos to enlarge, mouseover for captions)But this album is far from the only thing Aya is doing these days. She is busier than ever. Besides starring in two current anime -- Nijuumensou no Musume and Zettai Karen Children -- Aaya has been doing live events, appearing on radio and TV, doing PS2 games, has a couple of interesting drama CDs coming up, and is already slated for one fall anime and three summer OVAs. In anime, both Nijuumensou no Musume and Zettai Karen Children will go right through the summer. A Lucky Star OVA will be released sometime this summer. And Aya appears in Macross Frontier as the Indian crew member Mina.She will appear in future episodes of the OVA Amuri in Star Ocean as Femina. The next episode of the show will be released on July 25. She will also appear in the OVA series School Rumble 3 as Sasakura Youko, with an episode scheduled for release on 27 July. She will also play, alongside Miyano Mamoru (Light) and Takeuchi Junko (Naruto), in Eguzamurai, an OVA featuring members of the pop group EXILE. Release date will be sometime in July.In the fall, she will be in the mecha anime Kurogane no Linebarrels, in the supporting role of Mika, alongside an all-star cast including Noto Mamiko, Kakihara Tetsuya, Nakamura Yuuichi, Fukuyama Jun, Sawashiro Miyuki, Ueda Kana, Kugimiya Rie, Nakata Jouji, Ohara Sayaka, Saitou Chiwa, and Shitaya Noriko. In her work as a "personality" and idol there is her second idol DVD, Love Story, which came out last month. She continues to host two radio shows: Animelo Mix and Say Good Luck.And she appears every Friday as host of the hour-long film review and interview corner of the Web TV show Midtown TV. Her segment is called "Cinema Renaissance, Princess Aya's Castle." She dresses in a new outfit each week and is co-host with three guys. Her Moegaku 5 kids' show is over, but the DVD of the entire series will go on sale at the beginning of August. In pure voiceover work, her voice is still heard weekly on the NHK edutainment program Kaitai Shin Show. But I'm not sure if these are new progams or repeats.And having been one of the subjects of NHK's Anime Giga interview show, on 2 June she will get the honor of appearing on the NHK show Top Runner, which broadcasts features on top performers in the arts. The week before will feature the band Acidman, and the week after will do photographer Ume Kayo. The show's feature from a few years ago on singer Onitsuka Chihiro turned me on to this show.In live events, she has already been busy. There was a recent Galaxy Angel live event. And she had a mini-live in March connected with the three singles she released last fall. And another in April for the release of her single unnamed world, the Nijuumensou no Musume ED. There will be an event for the Love Story DVD in Tokyo on 22 June. And she will be in Animelo Summer Live 2008, along with Mizuki Nana, Ali Project, Suara, Savage Genius and a long list of other top anime music acts. Let's hope she can do a better job than last year, when she had microphone problems and then was far from her best singing live. In games, she continues to do only all-ages games. She is in a DS Katekyousha Hitman reborn game that came out at the beginning of May. The PS2 game Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka comes out Thursday in Japan. She will be in a Memories Off PS2 game that comes out in July. A Railway Girls DS game will come out this fall. The PS3 version of Trusty Bell will be out sometime this year. And a Wii version of Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu is in the works.It's one of her two upcoming drama CDs that interests me most. On 24 July, she will appear with Tai Yuuki, Yamamoto Maria, and Kanda Akemi in Gakuen Sousei Nekoten (学園創世猫天). But before that, on June 25, she will appear in a drama CD version of the popular TV dorama Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu with Ishida Akira and Ogata Megumi. In the story, a boy's mother dies, but he remembers the story she wrote for him, about a mother who died but promised to reappear at a certain time and place. The boy and his dad go there and find her, but she has no memory of her life with them. Aya has the lead role of the mother. I certainly hope this becomes an anime, because the story is moving, and the mainly serious role would give Aya another character to really sink her teeth into.So far this year, the two best female lead seiyuu performances I have seen are Koshimizu Ami as Horo in Wolf & Spice, and Aya as Chiko in Nijuumensou no Musume. If this show becomes an anime, I have hopes that Aya could reach similar heights again.
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I’m pretty sure the filename for this episode was labeled “Daughter of Twenty Faces - 06″ but it seems like some prankster has swapped an episode of Baccano! for this episode. At any rate, the overwheming promise the series showed from the start, what with the quaint episodes of “aww, look at Chiko grow up to [...]
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I really can't figure out why this show isn't near the top of more people's lists. The show has an amazing story, some fascinating characters, terrific voice-acting, and outstanding animation. The only thing missing is fanservice -- unless you count one bare foot and some petticoats.Watching episode one you might have imagined that this was something like Detective Conan or Lupin III. You won't say that when you see episode six. We're about a quarter of the way through the anime, after giving Chiko a new life and a new "family" of friends. Then suddenly....The overall look is old-fashioned, but the actual animation certainly isn't. There is a scene in episode two where Chiko is lying in bed and wakes up, then realizes someone is sitting next to her and shifts her eyes to see him: it takes six frames to get her eyes from looking straight ahead to looking sideways. Smoooth.In this episode, there is a fight on top of a train, and finally the antagonist is blown backwards, tumbling over the cars and away into a blizzard. Not extreme detail, but the motion is beautiful. And so is the motion of Chiko running to call Nijuu-mensou so quickly and lightly, or diving through a window.In any case, we have two great characters at the very least: Nijuu-mensou himself is so extremely cool and controlled, as well as clever and humane. Chiko is a wonderful work in progress, changing a bit in every episode.Episode summaryThe gang is getting away in their zeppelin. Nijuu-mensou congratulates Chiko on her part in the heist, but she is still down because she feels she has betrayed Angie, her new friend who said she was the daughter of the caretaker of the museum from which the gang stole the ancient stone tablet called "the clock of the Magi."People run after the zeppelin and seem to shoot it down -- but in fact all they have shot down is a smaller model. Nijuu-mensou is so crafty, lol. The gang is at a railway station, ready to make their getaway. Chiko is still depresses and refuses to board the train, going instead to get NJM. NJM is in conference with the mayor of the town: it turns out that the mayor is the one who got NJM to rescue the "clock of the Magi," because plans were to sell it into private hands after the exhibition. In return, besides a get-away rail car, the mayor gives NJM some papers. We don't know what they are, but NJM mentions that he wants to create a second him. Outside the door, Chiko hears, and says to herself that she hopes he means her.As the train eventually pulls out, a dumpy man races up to the train and hauls himself aboard. Then he cowers back when he sees a gang with guns drawn rushing onto the train, too: among them are Tora (the tiger) and Angie, showing herself clearly older than she appeared to Chiko.The plump member of NJM's gang goes down the train corridor to find Chiko, and finds her looking forlornly out a window. As they turn to head back to the gang in their rail car, suddenly he is pierced by a bullet and dies. Chiko looks up to see Angie with a cruel smile, with Tora and his gang. Tora lets Angie handle Chiko, as the rest rush back with guns drawn toward NJM's gang. In a small compartment, Angie expresses her disdain for the "daughter of Twenty-faces," and says the reality doesn't live up to the reputation. Then she takes out an axe and swings at Chiko, who somersaults out of the way several times, before plunging out the window, which Angie has broken with a missing swing.Meanwhile, Tora's gang reaches the rail car and opens fire, killing most of NJM's gang outright. Ken, Muta, and the Skipper get away. But soon the guns catch up to them and the Skipper takes bullets that should have killed him immediately, but he turns on two attackers like a bear, gathers them up in his arms and jumps off the train with them beneath him.Chiko has made her way from the side of the train, which she was hanging from, onto the roof, and crawls forward to get to her friends. But Angie is back with her axe. Chiko someraults away again, but ends up hanging from the lip of the roof. Angie swings the axe at her hand, but Chiko switches hands. Angie tries to pull the axe out of where it is stuck, but ends up losing her balance and being swept away on the wind. Chiko reaches up to save her, but can't. Chiko finds the train car where most of her friends lie dead. Then she finds Muta-san, wounded but alive. But a remnant member of Tora's gang shoots at her, and Muta interposes his body and takes the bullet, saying "I've enjoyed knowing you" to her as he dies.In NJM's compartment, Tora holds a gun on him while he invites him to join with him and take over the world. Eventually, NJM says, "I refuse," as he kicks the gun from Tora's hand and shoots him in the chest. NJM goes out into the corridor and eventually finds Chiko, who bursts into tears as she embraces him. But Tora has a bomb and sets it off, saying he won't die alone. Flames roar through the car toward NJM and Chiko. NJM hurls Chiko across into the next car but stays there himself and is apparently engulfed in the flames as the coupling separates and the burning car recedes from the train. NJM is saying something inaudible to her as Chiko watches the flames surround him. The end.It's not often we get an anime that spends several episodes building up a cast of characters -- and then kills almost all of them off in one fell swoop. Ken and Nijuu-mensou are the only two who may still be alive, as far as I can tell. Chiko has been cast back into the worlkd of epsiode one, where she has no friends, and the person who seemed a friend -- Angie -- turns out to have been an enemy. For all it other virtues, it is this world-view that makes me think of this show as something special.As of now, this is my favorite show of the season, followed by Kurenai and Macross Frontier.
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It’s Nijuu Mensou no Musume Episode 4, and Chiko has been with Twenty Faces’ group for a year now and has learned quite a bit. However, has she learned enough to go on her first mission? Ken seems to think so, and Chiko wants to try it. Go Straight to the Screenshots | Go [...]
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Spoilers up ahead! Let me repeat: spoilers up ahead! This is one of these episodes you need to have seen before reading such an entry about it, so this sentence is meant to fill up the blurb that appears on the blog aggregators with. I am SO glad that I decided to blog Nijuu Mensou [...]
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Oh, just great. I’m losing interest in this series, as much as I hate to admit it. It’s not the only series that started out rather unbelievable this season. Heck, Nijuu Mensou no Musume had a far worse start, but at least that one has been showing potential. At this point, the sense of adventure [...]
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Anyone out there following Nijuu Mensou no Musume? It started pretty slow but it’s picked up since the 3rd episode and things are getting pretty interesting. Or maybe it’s just me being a fanboy of mystery-detective-phantom-theif and Hirano Aya. The ED-Unnamed World sang by Hirano Aya is pretty good:- Speaking of Hirano Aya, do you love [...]
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I do wish that the creators would show more of Chiko, improving her 1337-skills. Walking on a tight rope isn’t something you just learn overnight, and while I can understand that it’s perfectly possible for Chiko to learn this within a year, I’d much rather see her gradually mastering this skill, instead of vaguely hinting [...]
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Population: you, Aya Hirano, and the manliest thief ever. Thieves are already pretty manly anyway (see: Kokoro Library and Funny Tortoise the Thief), but they are especially manly when they send advance notice of their thieving intent and still manage to fool everyone anyway. Granted, thief shows tend to have this standard plot-generating mechanism, but [...]
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This is Aya's second idol DVD. I guess the first one last fall sold well enough that Spacecraft and Pony Canyon went ahead and made a second. At the moment, a week after its release, it is sitting seventh in sales in the idol DVD category on 7 and Y, and tenth on amazon.co.jp. (click photos to enlarge) There are several separate sequences, each featuring Aya in a different outfit, two of which are bikinis. More flesh is on view than in the first DVD. There is a loose story, with Aya's voiceover, of her meeting someone and going out with him. She sometimes faces the camera as if the viewer were her date.But the most interesting parts of the DVD show Aya playing UNO with some girlfriends. The girls sit around playing cards and talking "girl talk" of various kinds with Aya: about what kind of boys attract her, etc. The camera is on Aya the whole time. Several-minute-long segments of this are used to divide the various sequences. If you've always wondered what her normal voice sounds like (if a seiyuu has a "normal voice"), this may be the place to find out. It isn't the high, speedy cute-girl voice she displays in TV appearances, but the voice of a normal Japanese college student and society girl, it seems to me.These bits are quite informal, and evidently unscripted -- although they probably had the basic direction of the conversation planned out ahead of time. But you see her thinking, and hear spur-of-the moment jokes from her and others. You never see any of the other girls, who may be her manager and stylist, etc.In any case, as usual, Aya comes across to me as a fairly smart, natural, and attractive person. Not a quick-thinking, sophisticated entertainer, but more like an ordinary college student (even though she did drop out in first year, probably due to work pressure). The topics are somewhat interesting and amusing, but nothing deep at all. My ability to understand rapid colloquial Japanese is highly imperfect, though, so I'd be glad to hear from others what impression they got from the talk. I enjoyed the whole DVD, including the bikini pics, but I admit to feeling a bit uncomfortable with the progressive uncovering. Some people on 2channel keep saying she will end up in adult videos. That won't happen, but I hope commercial pressures don't move her too close to it. The idol videos selling more than hers tend to be more uncovered, too. As in her blog, she is determined to show us that she is now an adult. One sequence has her as a stylish woman drinking at a bar -- and also as the bartender. The shooting was done in Guam. They flew her there for a weekend last winter.The region-free 41-minute DVD is available from Amazon Japan (US$28 + shipping) and other sources. But if you just want to hear her work as a seiyuu, I can't recommend too highly the current anime Nijuu-mensou no Musume (it's also called Chico, Daughter of the Phantom Thief, or The Daughter of Twenty-Faces). For me, this is among her best seiyuu work, especially from episode 3 on. Nothing could be more different from Konata. If anything, it's more like a young version of her voice as Layla in NANA.
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