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| lol almost exact same pose as Nana on my blog banner, just facing the other way xD |
The release is a sort of mash up of her concert in NYC and 2nd day of London, of which the latter I attended. And thank god I did, because at the time I really needed exactly something like this. I was going through a hard time and this magical evening given to me by Hikki helped me get back on my feet. And I don't think it was very long after this concert that I conceived my dream of continuing my studies in Japan after finishing my undergrad. It's a bit of a shame that I cannot pinpoint the exact moment when it became my dream and goal.
So anyways, here's where the mixed feelings come in. Now that attending Nana lives has changed my world, I am unable to appreciate In The Flesh as much as I did four years ago when I went. It was the first concert of a Japanese artist I ever attended, and back then I was more into Hikki than into Nana so the night was the best one I had ever had in my life. Thus it greatly frustrates me that I can't seem to appreciate this concert now as much as I think I should, since it does deserves all of my appreciation and adoration due to being such an important event in my life. But even if I can't feel about it the same way I did that night, the fact of how much that night meant to me will never change. That is something I will always carry with me. So thank you Hikki for giving me an eternal memento, this footage, of that special night so that I will never forget. Not that I could in any case. And that all being said it still is, and always will be, one of the best nights of my life.
Daisuki dakara zutto.
Daisuki dakara zutto.
On a related side note, I really really love Hikki's awkward humor. I mean, it seriously is so awkward at some points (okay, most points lol). I guess it hits a chord in me because I am quite an awkward person myself. I greatly enjoy it and find it oh so amusing.
So thank you for finally releasing In The Flesh Hikki!
Kore kara mo yoroshiku, please come back from your hiatus soon.
as with the pose of the picture... weirdly hikaru and nana is just separated by 2 days by their birth date and a 3 year age gap between them... and they both reached no.1 statuses respectively as a artist.. utada as a mainstream singer songwriter, nana as coming from a seiyuu background
ReplyDeleteIndeed! I have always find these "similarities" between them to be quite fun. Also their differences. Like how Hikki reached no.1 quite effortlessly while Nana worked hard to get there, and how Hikki is very awkward on stage (clearly preferring song writing to performing) while Nana is right at home in front of an audience. But then again, she has had many more concerts compared to Hikki.
DeleteI always occasionally wish there would eventually come a day when they would perform and sing something together somewhere, but that is very highly improbable. orz
You'll never know... Nana is so flexible with different genre of songs and hikki is very experimentative.
ReplyDeleteI think she has been aching to do some rock based songs (show me love (not a dream)) before she left for her hiatus and Nana has done quite well with both her TMR collaborations. There might be chance (fingers crossed). Just send some tweets to teruzane to suggest it and see what happens. Haha.
I do get the feeling that Nana used to be rather reserved on stage (costumes, dance routines) and has only become more open on stage since a couple of years back. Somehow, i get the feeling that she is going down the sexy route to bolster her popularity with a different group of fans.
Not to say that i don't like it at all (by all means bring on more). But, it just feels a bit weird watching the Nana in her late 20s compared to the Nana in her early 30's now. Anyways, i like the changes a lot. It shows progression.
That is very true.
DeleteI should totally send some tweets to both Teruzane and Hikki herself! Haha. Though I do wonder, if Nana and Hikki know each other. I feel collabs are more like to happen if the artists are buddies to begin with. :3
I think that Nana used to be quite awkward on stage before, just like Hikki is... probably due to such things as the fact that she was very uncomfortable with dancing and felt silly moving around a lot. I remember hearing her say somewhere that even though she felt it was stupid to move around a lot (like moving her arms or swaying her body etc) while performing, she came to realize that to the audience it looks quite alright and is more interesting. Perhaps she has gone a bit down the sexy route as you say, but I get the feeling that Nana has a very clear view on where her limits are and what she will do and what she won't. I think that is pretty admirable, since you should always do what feels comfortable to you and not go too far and show it all off to please others for example.
I do also find it quite interesting that Nana just seems to get prettier and prettier the older she gets (I hope that happens to me too haha). And I very much agree with you, I like the changes a lot too. Nana has really come a long way along the years and it shows. Once Live Circus comes out, I want to make a video of an old song with a choreograph, like Suichuu no Aozora, with an old live performance of it and the Live Circus one side by side.. just to show how much she has developed during the years. xD
Oops.. this comment became very long. orz
Hikki is buddies with Kyoko Fukada and they never collaborated... but she had stopped singing anyways (focusing more on acting) and her style of songs doesn't seem to be suited to hikki. Nana on the other hand has more chances, but looking at how she has to juggle her schedule. I wonder how they can work together as you know hikki is kind of an off beat slacker at times and takes her own sweet time to get her creations out.
DeleteYup, i do not doubt Nana's judgement on where she draws the line. Looking at multiple times where how she puts one hand up front to hold down her short dresses when she jumps (like POP MASTER in the live castle's snow white dress & live union punk dress although we know she wears some tights or something under it) really shows that she is quite self conscious in that sense.
Another scene i remember was the making of lovely fruit where she had to do that close up tongue out wink thing right after she fell when the cute kid pushes her. They had her do multiple takes to get that shot right and right after each shot, i am not sure if she felt shy, embarrassed or something else, she giggled and covered her face after the director shouts cut.
She indeed has change a lot in the past few years. Not sure if it is all by her will or because there was some stern criticisms on her on stage performances like dance routines and costume selections on some other blogs and sites. Either way shows her dedication to her work while all still preserving her own ethics. And if her fans from both ends likes it, all the better.
As for her looks... the younger nana does look very thin and her shoulder length hair actually looks pretty on her as well. Her hair now is longer and she has grown a bit more meaty (is that the right term for girls?) generally in most areas making her look a bit more healthy looking in my opinion while still staying pretty all at the same time. I do realize that in recent years her costumes is more revealing though like her shorts and dresses seems to be getting shorter with each live performance (or it's just me). That being said, some signs of aging can be seen on her face when her makeup is not that much and the cameras are up close on her as i think her work schedule is putting a toll on her after so many years.
Dang!!! sounded like a total stalker after re-reading what i wrote myself :P
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