RedEduGrad

That was a great bottle of rice water btw

Yeah, when it's hot outside and I'm feeling a little parched, nothing like gulping down an isshou of ice cold daiginjo to quench that thirst. 😁

Good luck in your journey! 😄

へぇ～、日本でも売ってるんですね…。見たことないです。売れてるのかなぁ…？まあ、ピリ辛の味付けならビールが進むから買う人もいるのでしょう。

でも、確かにわずかに違うみたいですね。辛ければ辛いほど良いという欧米人も多いからね。繊細なスパイスの風味を好む日本人の舌に合わせたものから、生姜や黒コショウを減らして、外国向けにはただ唐辛子を多くしたのかもしれないですね。

👍👍 Even the salad looks perfect and ready to serve the regulars over at Table 3. Plus beer and a whole bottle of Gazan, Daiginjo? What's there to critique? Nomiya Night indeed... A++

If you tell me there's some type of noodle dish not shown in the picture, I'll add another "+" 😁

今日はトロとヒラメかな？ナイスですね！

でもKirin The Strongとマッカラン水割りですか？！大丈夫でした？

安い訳ありの枝豆にぴったりです。

The movie Bili Gyaru / ビリギャル is similar. Based on a true story about a girl with the poorest grades in school getting into Keio University (Keio is like Yale if Todai is Harvard or Cambridge compared to Oxford).

I'm sure you're well aware but just in case, if you're watching to study, I think you'll get much much more out of the time spent if you watch stuff in your native language. There can be a good bit that's lost due to translation, cultural issues, etc.

You're also probably aware that "what's on the page", isn't necessarily "what gets put on the stage", though Japanese productions are much more respectful of the screenwriters than in Hollywood. What you see on the screen is a collaborative effort of many craftsmen and you probably want to read as much as you watch (but really read much, much more). As far as I know, Japanese dramas and movies do not have English translated scripts available for purchase.

Be aware that a lot of Japanese stories are based on the Kishotenketsu / 起承転結 four act story structure instead of the three act structure (or the essentially the same variants) that's de facto in the West.

Just as it is in the West and everywhere around the world, not every "recognized" screenwriter's works are all great.

Having said all that you might try the following drama series.

• First Love Hatsukoi (2022 Netflix) - Screenplay and direction both by Kanchiku Yuri. It's a complicated work with a story that jumps around between past and present but it's very carefully crafted and is an excellent series. Strong execution on all levels here.

• The Netflix dramas by Japan's currently most awarded/celebrated director, Koreeda Hirokazu, The Makanai and Ashura no Gotoku. Koreeda is frequently the writer, director and editor for his films, though he shares some of that responsibility with his TV dramas with Ashura being a remake from the 1980's. Regarding his films, it's good to see something that has so much control given to a single person. His vision is what you see on screen from written word to final edit. If you could somehow get a copy of the original Ashura TV drama, it would be a good study in comparing the two. As far as I know, Koreeda is working off the same, original screenplay here.

• Hirayasumi (Amazon) - Each episode is only 15 minutes and slice of life story telling, seemingly about nothing, but is somehow comforting to watch. Japanese dramas are particularly good with this type of story telling. It's a good thing to study how it all comes together.

• Tennou no Ryouriban - Based on the real life story of a good hearted but self absorbed, immature kid born in the Meiji era who eventually works his way though hardships to becoming the chef to the Emperor of Japan. It's a good story to watch as the main lead is supported by three crucial characters that actually don't get a lot of screen time. His older brother, his wife and the chef Usami. Without these three characters and without the acting talent of these three, the drama fails. Not to say that the ML and the other characters weren't important though.

• Kyojo (the 2020 and 2021 specials) - A mystery thriller based on a popular series of novels that's a little different than your typical mystery drama. It starts off a little odd, disorienting, perhaps even a bit off putting but it somehow manages to come together and make the unlikable protagonist likable by the end.

• Hanzawa Naoki - Season One was the most watched TV series of the Heisei era. In contrast to something like Hirayasymi, this has a high level of melodrama pushed to the limits with the acting, writing, directing and music operating at level 11. More straight forward protagonists and antagonists and character arcs.

• Doctor-X - This is a good one to study and ask how can a drama that uses the same, simple, over the top formula every episode be one of the most highly rated every season and last for seven seasons and a movie?

• Kou Kou Kyoushi (1993) - This is a dark story so optional but it might be worth studying how taboo subjects and dark themes were approached in a Prime Time drama.

• Brush Up Life - An interesting and well made take on the Ground Hog Day trope (which is a difficult one to tackle). Screenwriter Bakarhythm has a talent with dialogue (helps if you're Japanese I think) and making kind, gentle characters. There's a certain rhythm in the actors delivery that's also worth noting not unlike what you might see with actors reading lines from David Mamet, Aaron Sorkin etc scripts.

• Quartet - Written by noted screenwriter Sakamoto Yuji, a decent one to watch for character and dialogue. That unique rhythm can even be heard in bits in his earlier works.

• Tiger and Dragon - Written by Kudo Kankuro who is a multi-talented artist who also happens to write screenplays. Honestly not my favorite but he has a strong niche following. He has a quirky, unconventional comedic style and fast paced dialog but somehow creates likeable characters. Worth studying to see how it fits together as that it probably all falls apart with a different cast and director, thus probably making it more challenging to produce.

• Kita no Kuni Kara (1981) - Written by Kuramoto So - A slice of life, fish out of water story about the struggles a divorced father taking his kids from the big city life of Tokyo to the most remote area of Hokkaido where there's nothing but nature and snow. Still holds up well despite it's age and was so popular that it had eight follow up TV specials over the next two decades telling the story of the characters as they grew older, so can be an interesting study from this perspective.

今日はバーベキューとお花見ですか？最高ですね！😀

今回は炭を片方にちょっと寄せたみたいですね！火加減に気を付けながら上手く焼けましたか？

奥に見えるのは生ハム巻きですか？中身が気になります！🤔

Just a quick note about "Rookies", it's a story about an enthusiastic young teacher who comes to a high school where the baseball team was forced to disband due to an incident during a game and the former team mates, who have now lost all their hopes, dreams and self worth, have become the schools violence prone delinquents. The only way they know how to express themselves is through fighting (mostly just punching). That might be a turn off for some but it's actually ultimately a heart warming story about how this teacher slowly restores their dreams and faith in people, each other and themselves through baseball.

Hakone is so widely known that lots of my friends recommended

Yes the Year End and New Year Ekidens are pretty big events that are televised nationwide and the Hakone race is probably the most famous. Hakone is also famous for the onsens.

In case you're interested, "Rookies" and "Roosevelt Game" are two other very good dramas that feature baseball (personally, I liked these better).

"No Side Game" (Rugby) and "Rikuou" (distance running) are two other non-baseball sports dramas that are very, very good.

"Bokutachi no Hakone Ikiden" (long distance relay race) is a highly anticipated upcoming drama to begin airing this fall.

I'm Japanese but I wasn't born there.

お弁当作ってもらえるなんて、お友達ラッキー、うらやましいです！😄

ずいぶん手の込んだおかずでびっくり！さらに、おにぎりとサンドイッチまであってボリュームたっぷりですね！

KimuTaku makes a version of this for his Grand Maison co-star (who was also in Fermat no Ryori) at the Hattori (the food expert from the original Iron Chef) cooking school.

Cooking starts 5 minutes in or so.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teTbZOYKLM4

There's also a poster of Fermat no Ryori which is mentioned.

I wonder if their financial status is that bad

I don't know the numbers off hand but they've been "having issues" for quite some time. Shrinking population, fewer people buying TV's, fewer people willing to pay etc.

It seems that private and public networks are realizing the profit they can get with the international audience.

Yes. Despite the "Japan only cares about domestic" claims that get thrown around in this subreddit, they've had an eye on markets other than Japan for decades. But until Netflix emerged with it's global reach, large scale infrastructure and massive subscriber base, and until Korea opened the eyes of this subscriber base to entertainment media other than from their home country/US/UK/etc, other Asian countries were the only other countries that ever showed enough interest in Japanese content to be profitable (key word being 'profitable').

I think for some companies (ie TBS Holdings), they've been looking at the long game for quite some time. Meaning, looking to make investments to make original productions (either jointly or alone) with the intent of selling to the global market. This doesn't necessarily mean titles in Japanese. It can also mean making titles in English or selling IP (eg: Drops of God, made by several companies including Hulu Japan and French companies but also Legendary Entertainment which is where TBS has a significant investment).

It's important to note that at the end of the day, companies are looking to make money, not just to make Japanese language dramas and movies. If that means making dramas in English or partnering with a foreign company or selling IP rights to make money from a global audience, then that's what they will do. But more money in turn means better/more Japanese content in the long run and increased mindshare of Japanese media. That's what "having an eye on international markets" means. It's not just about churning out Japanese dramas and hope it sells in a still very niche market.

Speaking of Legendary, Legendary has the rights to Godzilla from Toho which created Godzilla. Toho has several investments in overseas media companies looking to expand it's influence. Other major Japanese media companies like Shueisha, Kodansha, Tsuburaya Holdings and so on have made significant investments in operations outside Japan. There has been ongoing investments from many companies for some years now.

Amazon has the most streaming accounts in Japan because it's included with Prime but clearly Netflix has the dominant share globally and the most popular library so testing the waters first with Amazon probably made sense.

I'm guessing the Netflix deal with NHK is a drop in the bucket (or maybe a cupful in the bucket) financially speaking. I'm sure it's going to help, but certainly nothing's that's going to stop the bleeding and not a viable long term solution so less about profit and more about investment. This is likely more a test, first to see how well certain titles appeal to audiences around the world and if they have lasting appeal. It will also be interesting to see how well the shows that overlapped like Kanbei and Tokyo Salad Bowl do on Netflix. This should be good data from the Netflix side too. The deal should provide valuable data to help both sides decide how they move forward in the future.

no one else captures this "slice of life" vibe better than japanese and koreans. i dont know if its the language or something. its so soothing

I don't know much about Korea so can't speak for them but "Slice of Life" stories have sort of been the norm in modern media since maybe the 1940's (with Sazae-san) if not earlier in manga, anime, movies, TV, literature etc. so there's been a lot of "practice".

Culturally, there might be a stronger philosophy in the Japanese mindset in finding beauty/importance/extraordinary/wonder/ in the most ordinary stemming from ideas like Ichigo Ichie, Wabi Sabi, Mono no Aware etc.

When you say on here, you mean on reddit? Mind linking their username? Thx

Sure. u/bradygrey

Here's one of the posts.

https://old.reddit.com/r/JapaneseFood/comments/1rl34j2/omurice_midnight_diner/

Sure, now that he's solved it for everyone /s

The 1974 version is it's own thing and is unrelated to the other two, it just share the same title name.

Worth mentioning a few things:

• The drama is based on a shojo manga written by a female author (かわかみ じゅんこ / Kawakami Junko)

• The drama's screenplay is written by a female (金子ありさ / Kaneko Arisa)

• The drama is produced by a female (新井順子 / Arai Junko)

• The chief director is a female (塚原あゆ子 / Tsukahara Ayuko)

Worth mentioning, the visuals are from the 1993 version. I believe the song was used in both the 1993 as well as the 2003 versions.

Not an expert but I there was a very brief period when I was much younger when I had a bit of interest.

Generally speaking I think beginner and intermediate books teach pretty universal techniques. Starting off with using geometric shapes to simplify drawings and get proportions right, using perspective lines to be able to draw in three dimensions, using the Loomis method for drawing the human head and starting with stick figures for the body, advancing to gesture drawing to get a more natural flow etc. It's all very methodical and mechanical and less about "self-expression" at this level.

If this is about drawing manga, you would need to master the above first and then it can get fairly advanced and technical with colors, scene composition, the visual flow of panels etc. I think even here though, the more a manga author follows these guidelines, the better their chance of having success.

If this is about a specific art style like sumi-e then I don't know.

Otherwise you'll have to be more specific. I'm sure there are books aimed at casual artists that encourage self-expression and "Just go out there and draw 'something' everyday" but I wouldn't think that self expression is a general philosophy that's encouraged for artists still learning the craft.

My sister (Japanese) has been bumped so I know it does happen but I think it's just unusual to be bumped / have forceful physical contact so many times in such a short period.

I think the probability of being bumped might increase if you're in an area where there are a lot of tourists or just a lot of people in general, even if you're on a less traveled side street. But it's not normal behavior and I can't really explain why you were a victim and it's certainly not excusable whatever the case. I'm very sorry you've had that experience.

It may not close all doors but it will definitely close some and leave others only half open.

Unless Japan fully accepts tattoos nationwide in all places (highly unlikely), it will forever be something that might hold you back. But then again, some people have managed to have tattoos and live their lives just fine so it's up to you.

But I have a Mislim friend, I just make jokes against him and he make jokes against me. It's friendship...🥹👍

Violence, mistreatment, misunderstandings, irrational and unwarranted anger rarely come from the friends you already have. The Muslims living in Japan seem to be more progressive and keep to themselves but it's not like I personally know them and there are a good number who come in as tourists. I doubt any of them are looking to start something while on vacation but I'm sure you don't need to be told how certain people/countries are viewed at the moment from around the world.

• It's nice to see the effort that you put into hand writing the letter but it does give off some creepy vibes and a dinner invite from out of the blue as a "first date" from someone she's only met nine times in three years, maybe 5-10 minutes each time, is a little strong in my opinion. Though I suppose the creepy bit might get excused away with "translation problems"

• Since you live in America and only travel to Japan every few months, where do you see this relationship going? You should give this some serious thought and not do anything until you have a clear short and long term answer as I don't think this would be fair to her.

• If you get the opportunity, and if you think there's a pretty close working relationship there, perhaps you should ask the older woman what her thoughts are regarding the matter.

• For what it's worth, there are people I only see once in a blue moon who I've become friendly with and react in a similar way and I'm convinced they are just being who they are but also convinced there is absolutely nothing romantic in their actions. But you miss 100% of the chances you don't take so I suppose it's better to know for sure then to forever be asking yourself "what if".

• This is just something I'm curious about in general regarding foreigners who go out with Japanese people, but since you don't really speak Japanese and I'm assuming she doesn't speak any English are you just going to be using Google Translate the entire time?

Getting bumped into can happen but six times in two weeks seems highly unusual. Where were you specifically (or what where you near) when it happened? Maybe that might give some needed context.

I think there are three possibilities.

• There might have been something that you were doing without realizing it that annoyed someone ( eg: had a lot of luggage/bags and taking up space, walking very, very slowly in a limited space forcing people to go around you, staring at your phone not being aware of what's going on around you, doing something other than walking that would be annoying)

• There might have been something wrong with the people who bumped into you ( eg: mentally unstable people, the "butsukari" idiots, they were drunk, they were other tourists, people staring at their phone and not being aware of what going on around them etc).

• It was all just an accident.

Most people have a near phobia against any sort of physical confrontation, especially with foreigners and will go out of their way to not interact with anyone. Of course there are exceptions but to repeat what I stated earlier, six times in two weeks is very unusual. You being a foreigner shouldn't cause it, nor having tattoos or anything else you've described.

It's not my intention to point fingers at you but are you sure there was nothing in your behavior/actions that might have caused some idiots to do this? Still not an excuse for anyone to intentionally bump into you.

I haven't seen the show yet but the clips that I've seen seem like it's very well made and it looks like Toda Erika is giving a fantastic performance.

One point that I noticed (and I could be wrong because I've only seen clips) is that Toda Erika seems to give the character a lot more "class" than the Hosoki I remember watching on TV. Of course physically she looks nothing like her but I'm talking more about the way she carries herself, moves, talks, etc. The Hosoki I watched was much more of a crude, uncouth obasan type. I always assumed that it was this unprocessed, crass, "frankness" which is what made Hosoki interesting, almost fascinating, because that's what made her completely different from the norm.

I do think that Toda re-interpreting the character for the series is perfectly fine though and probably even helps make the entire show more palatable to the viewer.

大の甘党でしたね！😀

• That song is in English.

• It doesn't sound like any member of Tenblank and no one on Tenblank speaks perfect English like what you hear in the song although some of them actually do have some ability to speak/converse.

• No mention of the song on Warner Music Japan's official Tenblank Artist Page

• No mention of it from Netflix Japan

• No mention of the song on Sato Takeru's (who was also a producer) Youtube page or any of his social media that I've seen

• No mention of it in Japanese media

• The music in Glass Heart is actually a collaboration effort with several actual/real Japanese artists composing the songs and while I'm not a music expert, this song sounds nothing like what any of them might compose.

• Makes no sense to just release a single out of the blue so many months later with no other Tenblank or Glass Heart projects on the horizon

落ち込んでいる時に特にこれが食べたいというものはないかな…どちらかというと食欲がなくなるほうかもしれないです。ただ、いざ食べるとなれば、栄養バランスなんて無視して体に悪いものだろうと何でも食べちゃうこともあります。ポテチとか他のおつまみ系、カップ麺を順番に試し食い、寿司をバカ食いしたりと、まあ～色々ですね。😁

It was rumored at one point that this was going to be the drama where Nagase Tomoya was going to make his return to acting because there are a bunch of people involved with this that he's worked with before that he likes/is loyal to. As far as I know nothing's been confirmed but it's looking less likely.

美味しかった？正直「超極太」を売りにしてるのって、実は細く切るのが面倒なだけで本当はただの手抜きなんじゃないの？って疑っちゃう。

Are you asking if we have rice dishes that aren't just plain white rice? If so then the answer is yes. We have dishes like takikomi gohan which can take many forms but typically has root vegetables, mushrooms, mild flavorings and maybe some type of protein put into the rice cooker and is cooked along with the rice. There's also okayu and zosui which are more like porridge, and there's also ochazuke, cha-han etc, etc.

If you're asking if I would be willing to permanently replace Japanese rice with another country's rice dish, my answer would be no. While I love dishes like risotto, paella, biriyani, pilaf etc they wouldn't really pair well with Japanese dishes.

What I like about Japanese rice is that it can be enjoyed simply on it's own because of the sweet aroma and taste, but it's also incredibly versatile and can be served with almost any Japanese meal and blend in with perfect harmony with those dishes. There's no Japanese dish that I can think of off hand that couldn't be served and enjoyed with Japanese rice. Even serving other carbs with rice (eg: ramen + fried rice) is possible.

一人で悩みを抱えるのはとてもストレスがかかるし、ますます心が重くなっちゃうから、落ち込んで元気がない時は、遠慮せずに友達に頼ってくださいね。今は無理せず、ゆっくり休んでください。一日も早く、心が軽くなることを願っています。

ちなみに、今日はとてもかわいい猫ちゃんのお皿を使ってますね！😊

Small piece of trivia, the violinist that was selected by and who toured with Celine Dion and who can be heard playing in this piece is Hakase Taro. Hakase is most famous in Japan for writing and performing the theme music to the long running, documentary format TV show, "Jounetsu Tairiku" and is a very famous song that just about any person in Japan would instantly recognize.

Here he is with Celine Dion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4doPxUBDL9M

Here's a super long, jazzed up version of the Jounetsu Tairiku theme he plays at his concerts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53B3ZrhfnOA

Why does Japan still use the traditional East Asian reading direction in books?

To answer your question with a question and to echo the other comments here, why does anything need to change? I've never once heard any Japanese person bring this up as being an issue.

カレーは天が遣わした至高の逸品だ。

Personally for me, the taste would be too strong. Especially the ramps, and the amount of it will overwhelm the Dashi. I love the idea of using the rest of the fish, but I’d regrill the bones after taking off the meat, grill the shallots, make a smokey Dashi.

うん、これ。せっかくスズキのアラがあるから、それを使って出汁を取るのかと思った。ちょっと残念だったな。でも、まあ出汁を取るのも手間がかかるし、これも十分美味しかったでしょう。

確かに、写真に写っている海苔の料理は見たことないな。でもチーズとのりのおせんべいとか、チーズちくわの磯辺焼きもあるから、きっとおいしいと思う。

チーズを海苔で巻いて、パン粉か天ぷら粉をつけて揚げるのもいいんじゃないかな

That too with AI, this is such a downer.

The original music is usually chosen with care so it is a shame that licensing alters the original content, but I wouldn't assume that the music that replaces it is going to be AI.

It's always been the case (well before AI) that "generic" music that "gets the job done" is used in these cases so that the show can be distributed anywhere without additional licensing concerns. That "generic-ness" might give AI vibes but what's actually used is not known.

I've never seen or heard of it before but recipes exist so people have thought of it and eaten it.

https://cookpad.com/jp/search/%E3%82%B3%E3%83%BC%E3%83%B3%E3%83%9D%E3%82%BF%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A5%E3%83%A9%E3%83%BC%E3%83%A1%E3%83%B3

You can also do a search using the following and then use a translation service.

• コーンポタージュ ラーメン Corn Potage Ramen

• コーンポタージュ Corn Potage

• ラーメン Ramen

Also just a few samples to show that people have tried and written about it...

• https://note.com/unamu_shokudo/n/nfb9fa76b6d7e

• https://gyoumuyou.ebarafoods.com/recipe/detail/001233.html

• https://cancam.jp/archives/827903

• https://www.excite.co.jp/news/article/NichinichiMagazine_ID0013541/

• etc.

There's also a place that served it

• https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1313/A131307/13247211/dtlrvwlst/B433482545/?type=0

公式の訳語はないですし、誰もが知っているような知名度が高い食べ物でもありませんね。まあ、このサブレに来るような、料理に詳しくてこだわりが強い食通の方々であれば、「Hiyashi Chuka」と呼んだりするかもしれませんけどね。

例えば明星は、パッケージとウェブサイトで「Cold Ramen」と「Hiyashi Chuka」という二つの呼称を使い分けています。また、アメリカの大手製麺会社であるサンヌードルは、「Hiyashi Ramen」という言葉を使っています。さらに、レストランによっても「Cold Noodles」や「Chilled Chinese Noodles」、「Cold Ramen」など、呼び方はバラバラです。

ですので、英語で何と言ったらいいのかと困っているんだったら、一番しっくりくる名前で呼んで、あとは料理の内容を簡単に説明するのがいいと思います。

I'm curious if this line of thinking is common among Japanese people. I assume the answers may be skewed since most of the Japanese people here are used to hearing stuff like this. But like among friends or families, is this sentiment shared?

I would say this is not shared at all. That Japanese people are saying foreigners make up 20-30% is pretty wild to me. Maybe in a very specific area like Ginza Cho-dori or right around Kaminarimon where there are a lot of tourists, sure. But even Japanese people working in Tokyo and Osaka know what it's like elsewhere and I can't believe they would say numbers that high unless they are completely out of touch.

You're leaving out some important information in order to get an accurate picture.

• How many teachers participated?

• Of that total, how many are 社会?

• I'm assuming all teachers in the school participated?

• What was the total range of the other answers the teachers gave and how many teachers answered from 0-5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20 etc

• How many students participated?

• How many students said 40-50?

• What was the total range and the number of students in each range?

Out of curiosity, I would also be interested in knowing the following.

• Who was conducting the seminar?

• What was the purpose?

• What other questions were asked?

Some additional info.

This is a reboot of Honda Ishiro's (Godzilla) 1960 movie ガス人間第一号/Gas Man Dai Ichi Go/Human Vapor No. 1. This is an original story about an man who is able to turn into vapor and evade authorities while committing horrible crimes and spreading fear.

Japanese Title: ガス人間 / Gasu Ningen

Starring: Oguri Shun (detective), Aoi Yu (reporter), Hirose Suzu (streamer), Hayashi Kento (streamer), Takenouchi Yutaka (former yakuza member, now president of a company), UTA (the human vapor)

Director: Katayama Shinzo (Gannibal, Samayou Yaiba)

Screenplay: Yeon Sang-ho (Train to Bussan, Hellbound) and Ryu Yong-jae

Show Runner: Yeon Sang-ho

Studios: Toho Studios (Japan) and Wow Point (South Korea). This is the first collaboration between Toho (one of the major Japanese studios, famous in the west for the Godzilla franchise) and Netflix

VFX: By the team that worked on Godzilla -1.0, which won the Academy Award for visual effects

Number of Episodes: Eight

It's also easier to keep track of how many servings (half, normal, large, etc) they're giving out/you're eating. And a restaurant only needs to buy one size instead of a bowl for each amount.

採れたての貴重な山菜を送ってくださった山形のお友達は、とても温かくて良さそうな人たちですね。新鮮な山菜を食べられて、ちょっと羨ましいです。🙂

今日の夕食もとても栄養たっぷりで美味しそうです。

ゼンマイとワラビはわかるんですけど、天ぷらにしたのは何でしょう？長めのタラノ芽かな？

山菜の天ぷらを塩で食べるの最高ですね！

Yeah, I'm a klutz and not a gamer so I don't know what's involved getting to pro level but I've seen videos of some of the games they play so I imagine it's crazy difficult, otherwise all the kids would be pros. .

If you've seen those variety shows where celebrities hand draw a pie chart on how they spend their day, it's probably just 99.999% gaming, work and barely visible, very tiny, faint slivers of eating and sleeping (optional).

I can understand how some people might have issues with those dramas but out of curiosity, which J-dramas do you like?

今日は根菜とキノコたっぷりで、すごくヘルシーですね！豚汁も、なめこおろしも、卵焼きも、炊き込みご飯も好きなものばかりです。

箸置きはタコさんですか？

I imagine they would have to look to see if the entire power grid itself is capable of handling a load where there's suddenly millions of people trying to fast charge their cars. Not to mention the power plants themselves.

I think some people just focus on a foreign language and believe it feels "louder" than other people's conversations, even if it isn't.

I think it has to do more with hearing a conversation but not understanding what's being said. Kind of similar to the "half conversation" thing on cell phones that people have explained elsewhere on here.

There probably is an element of a foreign language "sticking out from the crowd more" too.

Hey thanks, nice find!

Separately, sort of weird seeing Matsumoto now having been absent for so long.

That's hardly a thing that needs to be tested, though. I would say, his acting VS music ouputs had been pretty even since at least 2011. It's true, though, that he has never gotten a lead role in a TV series before, but there were a few significant supporting ones, like in Akumu-chan and Time Spiral.

Gackt had very serious health concerns around 2022, to the point where he almost retired. He was apparently cured (though I don't know if it's back to full health) using some cutting edge medical technology but I think that and maybe the world coming out of Covid and him still being recognizable but not being as successful as he once was as a singer, caused him to consider re-evaluating things.

Also, before his tour this year, he'd been out on TV promoting it and had mentioned how much he prepares physically months and months before hand just so that he can perform the way he wants to in front of the fans and he has mentioned how much of a toll it takes.

Now that he is coming up on being 53 soon, no longer a "spring chicken" as they say, coupled with his past health issues and his music career going into his late 50's and beyond being less certain (looking at other music artists in his age bracket and beyond too), I would guess that he's thinking of opportunities which might be better suited for his age and health.

"Testing", in this case, means several things.

Having a supporting role in a drama, especially back when he was still in his 30's and 40's, is not nearly the same as being the lead in a drama. And being the lead in a Fuji Getsu-9 means a whole lot more than being the lead in other dramas in most other time slots (except for TBS's Nichiyo Gekijo and maybe Asahi's Thursday 9pm, though that's not quite what it used to be either).

I think Gackt wanted the opportunity to "test" himself in a Fuji Getsu-9 to see how much he's going to be accepted as a lead by the public in a high profile drama. There's actually a ton of responsibility that he is going to have to carry as the lead of a Getsu-9.

Also keep in mind that Fuji already has Sorimachi lined up in the Monday 10pm time slot with the return of the well loved, classic drama, GTO. So in effect, Fuji is gambling on two men in their 50's to carry their main Monday night line up. Gackt as the lead in the more important time slot might feel like he has some responsibility in making sure his drama's good ratings carry over to lead into Sorimachi's. And he might feel a lot of pressure if Sorimachi's drama does better than his.

Add to this that he knows Fuji as a company has been struggling because of many different issues and their prized Getsu-9 time slot has been struggling for quite a number of years now.

So there is tremendous pressure on him as the Getsu-9 lead and it is a good way to test himself to see if he can carry all that responsibility. It would be a good sign for him if he can.

He can shed the Gackt persona, you can see it, for example, in the Bunraku movie.

I'm not sure I would count his role in Bunraku as quite shedding his Gackt persona.

Actor's ideally need to become the person that the role calls for. And actors looking to be the lead in a drama especially need to be believable in their role or the whole thing risks failing. If he's serious about doing more acting and being the lead in a major drama, I think he needs to be ready to completely shed his Gackt persona. There aren't going to be too many roles for men in their 50's+ and it's already pretty stacked with popular, experienced people so he won't exactly be first, second or even fifth choice unless he steps up his game.

in many cases it is that persona that gets him the roles

I agree. And I guess my point is, if there happens to be a role where that works out, great and he can always fall back on that if necessary. But moving forward he wants to show producers, directors and the general public that he is much more capable as an actual actor.