Sunday, December 26, 2010

A Romantic Christmas -- Kyou, Koi wa Hajimemasu

Hi there! Christmas is just overed. Wish that you had a great Christmas! Well, I have just watched an OVA (Original Video Animation) of a shoujo manga, Kyou, Koi wa Hajimemasu. It is one of my most favourite manga. This OVA contains only 2 episodes.

Well, let me introduce Kyou, Koi wa Hajimemasu to you. Kyō, Koi wo Hajimemasu (今日、恋をはじめます Kyō, Koi wo Hajimemasu, lit. "Today, I'll Start Our Love") is a shōjo manga series created by Kanan Minami. This series is a bestseller in Japan that often appears in the Tohan Comics Charts. This manga is still on -going.

Kyō, Koi wo Hajimemasu originally ran in Shōjo Comic since 2008 and is still ongoing. On April 5, 2010, Shojō Comic announced an original video animation production of Kyō, Koi wo Hajimemasu, which was released directly onto DVD with the ninth volume of the manga on June 25, 2010. It was animated by J.C.Staff and directed by Shigeyasu Yamauchi.


Title      : Kyō, Koi wo Hajimemasu (今日、恋をはじめます Kyō, Koi wo  Hajimemasu, Today, I'll Start Our Love)
Genre   : Romance, School-life
Author  : Kanan Minami
OVA Episodes : 2
Manga Series : On-going
Story    :
Despite Tsubaki Hibino's talent in styling other people's hair, she isn't comfortable with doing the same for herself. On her first day of high school, she is immediately looked down upon her delinquent-like classmates for her old-fashioned taste. When she is teased by the top student, Kyouta Tsubaki, who shares the same name as her, she defiantly cuts his hair. Interested in her actions, Kyouta decides to make her his target.
Kyouta, who is not only a promiscuous playboy but also has control of the class, makes Tsubaki need him during class activities, although Tsubaki attempts to resist his advances. Gradually, the two begin to fall in love with each other until Tsubaki discovers that Kyouta cannot commit himself into a relationship due to his mother and a nurse he trusted. However, after understanding Tsubaki's trust in him, Kyouta begins to heal emotionally as he opens his heart up to Tsubaki. But with both of them having their first experiences in love, troubles start to weigh and test their relationship.

Characters :
Tsubaki Hibino (日比野 つばき Hibino Tsubaki)

Tsubaki suffers from a low self-esteem and is not confident about dressing fashionably. Because of this, she is often teased at school for being old-fashioned. Kyouta makes her his next target, and although she resists his teasing, she begins to fall in love with him. Kyouta initially rejects her after her first confession, but he grows to accept her, and they begin dating officially in chapter 16. They briefly break up because of Kyouta's past where he sexually harassed Hal's girlfriend, Rika, although in reality, Rika forced herself on Kyouta. She also finds out about Kyouta's father and how he abuses him physically. She returns together with Kyouta in the chapter 44.


Kyouta Tsubaki (椿 京汰 Tsubaki Kyōta)

Kyouta is the top student in his class and dreams of becoming an astronaut. His father is a middle school teacher, and his mother walked out on the family when he was six. He used to have long hair, but Tsubaki cut it off in the first chapter while he was bullying her. He is well known around the school for being a huge playboy. At first, Tsubaki is one of his targets to solely play with, but he grows to like her more. Although he slowly falls in love with her, he is afraid of committing himself to her due to both his mother and a nurse he was close to betraying him. Despite his trust in her, they briefly break up after six months into their relationship because he wanted to protect her. However, they reconcile and continue dating in chapter 44.


Miho Ichikura (市倉 深歩 Ichikura Miho)

Tsubaki's first friend at school. She first helps out Tsubaki when she is being bullied at school so she can look good in front of Kyouta, whom she has harbored a crush on since middle school. When Tsubaki starts dating Kyouta, they briefly go through a rough patch until she ends up saving her from almost being raped from two guys who Arisa called to "scare" Tsubaki. She manages to get over Kyouta after and become Tsubaki's true friend. She offers advice to Tsubaki on how to deal with her feelings for Kyouta.


Nishiki Hasegawa (長谷川 西希 Hasegawa Nishiki)

Nishiki is a close friend of Kyouta and works with him at a karaoke place. He greatly respects Kyouta because he "owes him a lot." He instantly falls for Tsubaki's sister, Sakura, and is dating her.

Sakura Hibino (日比野 さくら Hibino Sakura)

Tsubaki's younger sister by one year, albeit more fashionable and outgoing. She meets Kyouta at Hibino's school festival and falls harbors a crush on him, but is rejected during a summer trip. She is dating Nishiki, Kyouta's best friend. It is implied that they have had sex on many occasions. She is a huge supporter of Tsubaki's relationship with Kyouta, and often advises her on what to do.

Mao Halstead (ハルステッド 万央 Harusuteddo Mao)

Nicknamed "Hal", he is a half-Japanese boy and Kyouta's good friend from America. When they were in middle school, he began dating a girl named Rika, but they break up after she was allegedly harassed by Kyouta. Because of this, he targets Tsubaki, as he had sworn to ruin any future love of Kyouta's. Eventually, Hal finds out Rika's deception after the school festival. He reconciles with Kyouta, and lets go of his feelings for Rika.

I like the OVA of this story very much, especially for the episode 2. It is story about the 1st Christmas celebration that celebrated by the couple, Kyouta and Hibino. I think it is amazing for such episode and very romantic, especially they go to the candle lighting. Then they kissed at last for the ending!!! ^o^

But I think OVA with 2 episodes are not enough, I think the fans of Kyou, Koi wa Hajimemasu also agree with me. I wish this manga would make into anime series as this story is really very beautiful.

OK, let us take a sneak preview of this romantic OVA.
























I am highly recommend for you to read and watch Kyou, Koi wa Hajimemasu. This is because the story is interesting and the main male character, Kyouta-kun is my no.1 HOT guy. He sure is HOT!!! I LOVE him very, very much!!! :P

Well, if you would like to catch the romantic Christmas, please click the links below. FYI,  I have watched the OVA via 2 websites.
Kyou, Koi wa Hajimemasu 1
Kyou, Koi wa Hajimemasu 2

If you would like to read the manga, please click here.

Enjoy watching and/or reading!!! :)

Friday, December 24, 2010

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year !!! ^.^

Konnichiwa Minasan! Hello there! It is going to be Christmas in less than 6 hours time. Let me wish all of you to have a Happy & Merry Christmas!!! Happy New Year and HAPPY 2011!!!
















MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

HAPPY 2011 !!!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

He's Beautiful!

I am watching a Korean TV-series lately which is airing on 8TV of Malaysian TV Channel at 8:30pm on every Monday to Friday. I think this series is interesting and a bit hilarious, but I still would like to recommend it to you all. It is called "He's Beautiful!"


The story is about a girl named Go Mi Nyu is a sister-in-training. Her twin brother Go Mi Nam successfully auditions for the musical band A.N.JELL but is forced to leave for the United States to correct a botched plastic surgery. Mi Nyu is approached by Mi Nam's manager to pose as Mi Nam while he recovers. She is against it at first but agrees in order to fulfill her dream of finding their mother. Now, posing as Mi Nam, Mi Nyu enters the group A.N.JELL and meets its members: Hwang Tae Kyung, Kang Shin Woo and Jeremy. Tae Kyung and Mi Nam have a rough start as band members. In the very first episode, Kang Shin Woo discovers that Mi Nam is a girl, but he keeps quiet because he is curious about what might happen. He discreetly helps her keep the secret and nobody realizes that he knows her true gender. Soon after that, due to an incident, Tae Kyung also discovers that Mi Nam is a girl, and confronts her about it. He actively takes on the responsibility of protecting her real identity from others (partly due to Mi Nam's manager begging him), which brings him and Mi Nam closer together. From here a love story starts...


Title        : He's Beautiful! / You're Beautiful / 原來是美男
Genre      : Drama, Romance, Comedy, Music
Episodes : 16
Story       :
Ko Mi-Nyeo & Ko Mi-Nam are twin brother and sisters. They grew up in an orphanage and never knew their parents.
As a young adult, Ko Mi-Nyeo is set to become a nun. On her way to pick up a ticket for Rome a strange man catches up to her. The man's name is Ma Hoon-Lee and he explains that he's the manager for popular boy band "A.N.JELL". He also explains that her twin brother Ko Min-Nam, who just joined the band, was seriously injured and sent to America to recover. Ma Hoon-Lee then pleads to Ko Mi-Nyeo to impersonate her brother until he recovers. For her brother's sake, Ko Mi-Nyeo reluctantly agrees to play her brother.
A.N.JELL band member Kang Shin-Woo first discovers Ko Mi-Nyeo's secret, but he keeps it to himself. Kang Shin-Woo also tries to help her out without Ko Mi-Nyeo knowing. He also starts to develop feelings for her.
Meanwhile, A.N.JELL's singer/songwriter/vocalist Hwang Tae-Kyeong discovers Ko Mi-Nyeo's secret. Hwang Tae-Kyeong is an extremely gifted musician, but his personality is cold and he is a control freak. At first Hwang Tae-Kyeong tries to kick Ko Mi-Nyeo out of the band, but he becomes sympathetic to her plight when he discovers that she hoped to find her mother by appearing on television with the band. Ko Mi-Nyeo's secret is then discovered by pop singer Yu Hee-Yi by chance. When the media falsely reports that Yu Hee-Yi and A.N.JELL band member Hwang Tae-Kyeong are dating she uses Ko Mi-Nyeo's secret to make Hwang Tae-Kyeong pretend they are dating in front of the press. At the right moment Yu Hee-Yi will announce to the press that they have broken up and that she dumped Hwang Tae-Kyeong. In return Yu Hee-Yi will keep Ko Mi-Nyeo's secret. Hwang Tae-Kyeong agrees to this arrangement to protect Ko Mi-Nyeo. Meanwhile Yu Hee-Yi starts to develops feelings for Hwang Tae-Kyeong ...

Casts :
Ko Mi-Nyeo & Ko Mi-Nam (both played by Park Shin-Hye)
Hwang Tae-Kyeong (Jang Geun-Seok)
Kang Shin-Woo (Jeong Yong-Hwa)
Jeremy (Lee Hongki)
Yu Hee-Yi (Uee)
Ma Hoon-Lee (Kim In-Kwon)

Park Shin-Hye
Jang Geun-Suk

Jeong Yong-Hwa


Lee Hong-ki
All the actors and actresses in this TV series are very young. FYI, the actress Park Shin-Hye is from the TV series "Goong-S". Please do not mix up the TV series of "Princess Hour - Goong" and "Goong - S" They are 2 different series. As for the actor Jang Guen-Seok, he is from the TV series "Beethoven Virus".


"He's Beautiful!" has won many wards in year 2009 and it is one of the popular series of the year. The winning awards are as below :-
  • 2009 SBS Drama Awards: Top Ten Star Award (Jang Geun Suk)
  • 2009 SBS Drama Awards: Netizen Highest Popularity Award (Jang Geun Suk)
  • 2009 SBS Drama Awards: New Star Award (Park Shin Hye)
  • 2009 SBS Drama Awards: New Star Award (Lee Hong Ki)
  • 2009 SBS Drama Awards: New Star Award (Jung Yong Hwa)
I also like the theme song of this TV series. It is very lively and nice. Jang Geun Suk and Park Shin Hye were both cast first and director Hong Sung Chang stated that the two are well-suited to convey “fresh” idol stars. Lee Hongki, who was a child actor, has made his acting comeback after a break of 5 years (his last being Kkangsoon” in 2005) by being cast as Jeremy. An SBS spokesperson stated that because Hong Ki is actually a part of an idol group FT Island , the "role will suit him very well." The role of Shin-woo marks Jung Yong Hwa's acting debut, which he auditioned for whilst preparing to debut with his band C.N.Blue in Japan.

OK, let us take a preview of "He's Beautiful!" scenes.
























OK, if you would like to glimpse all those beautiful people, click He's Beautiful!

Enjoy the watching!!! ^.^