Yes, people, you read that right. Damn hot Jason Dohring will be gracing our TV again very soon.

I woke up very late today and thank God that after I had my breakfast, I immediately went online. I opened my email and received the best.news.ever. After the long wait, Jason Dohring is finally back! Too bad it’s not for a Veronica Mars movie and not together with our favorite feisty blonde. But he will be with another feisty blonde, this time, it’s Buffy. Yes, Jason Dohring will join the cast of Ringer with no other than Sarah Michelle Gellar.

According to cwtv.com, Ringer is about a woman who, after witnessing a murder, goes on the run, hiding out by assuming the life of her wealthy identical twin sister – only to learn that her sister’s seemingly idyllic life is just as complicated and dangerous as the one she’s trying to leave behind.

Jason is not one of the main cast but it’s not only a guest spot, either. He will be a recurring character, playing Mr Carpenter (I know, I know, after Logan Echolls, he should’ve been given a better name),  a high school teacher to Julie, Siobhan’s troubled daughter. Siobhan is the rich one of the twins played by Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Jason Dohring is famous for two roles, as the rich, abused bad boy Logan Echolls in Veronica Mars and as the rich, bad boy vampire Josef Kostan in Moonlight. Both shows are shortlived but his roles in them, definitely memorable.

Buffy meets Logan, my fandom is, once again, colliding.

 

 

 

Back in 2003, after years of only patronizing telenovelas coming from South America, the Philippines opened its doors to Asian dramas. ABS-CBN, a major tv network, decided to buy rights to air Meteor Garden in the country. Despite it being placed in an afternoon time slot, its ratings were so high, everyone talked about it. Needless to say, Meteor Garden became a huge hit – it became a phenomenon. It also opened my eyes to Asian dramas in general.

I watched any Asian drama that I can get my hands on. Be it Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean or Japanese. I have a special love for Japanese dramas because not only it reminds me of animes (which are a long time obsession of mine) but because they are shorter and always a lot funnier.

One day, I decided to watch Gokusen. I like the premise of the series. A young woman coming from a Yakuza family becomes a teacher of the most notorious and rebellious students of a private school. And then I saw Sawada Shin and I was a goner. He’s the hottest and coolest guy I’ve ever seen and all I can think of is how can I make this person my husband. I’d like to dedicate my whole life to him. But then Gokusen 1 ended and I was majorly disappointed that Gokusen II didn’t have him as one of the casts.

If I can’t get more of Sawada Shin then I’ll get more of the actor who played him. I’ve found Kimi wa Petto and although he doesn’t look like the Sawada Shin I knew, I was taken in by him nonetheless. Momo is the cutest ever. I’d like to have him as a pet too.

After watching Kimi wa Petto, I was even more determined to know all about Matsumoto Jun. I learned he is a part of this group called, Arashi, but I didn’t pay too much attention to that. More than anything, I just wanted another drama of him.

And then, voila! I heard the news that he will be playing Doumyoji Tsukasa in the Japanese live action adaptation of Hana Yori Dango. I am a huge fan of the Hana Yori Dango franchise, I’ve started with Meteor Garden then the anime then the manga itself. So just imagine my surprise at that news. My fandom is colliding. (And that is like a dream come true for any fan).

As soon as it was available online, I ordered a DVD of the series. I enjoyed and loved it so much. I didn’t expect Matsujun to act like that, he was so good! He was amazing! Sawada Shin will be just my lover, Momo will still be my pet and Tsukasa will now become my husband. Haha.

While I was watching the series, I was taken in by the theme song. I was like, “wow, this is pretty cool. I need to have an MP3 of this song.” So I researched for it and found out that it was “Wish” and it was sung by Matsujun’s group, “Arashi.”

I downloaded the promotional video and it was so cute. So Christmas-y however, I couldn’t decipher very much the other members. Not only I was focusing on Jun too much, the PV was a bit blurred too. Then I proceed on looking for their other videos and stumbled upon their very first video, A-RA-SHI. They were young, vibrant and I really like the song. Next up, I found Jun’s solo in their 2004 concert, “La Familia.” This video did it for me. This is Jun’s best performance not to mention, best song that (as I found out later) he wrote himself. The other members showed up near the end of his performance and he pointed at them while singing the line “my friends…” I find that really sweet and when I look at the other members, I realized that they’re cute too.

I started listening to their songs, started to get to know the members, memorize the lyrics of their songs. I even spent 2 days listening to one song and getting their voices ingrained to my brain. So that when I listen, I will know who sang this line and that line. I watch their variety programs and was forever trapped in the fandom.

The rest is, as what they say, history. Arashi sank their claws into me and I’ve never been more glad and proud and happy to get to know such an amazing group. Because of them, I also got to meet a lot of people. Strangers who eventually became real life friends.

I may never get to meet them in real life but their influence on me was so great, I’ll carry it for the rest of my life.

I found the Roswell clip where Jason Dohring was a guest. It’s in Season 2, “Cry Your Name.”

He looks soooo young. And my gosh, his voice was so different from his voice when he was Logan from Veronica Mars. It was weird. If I don’t see that it was his face doing the talking, I will never associate that voice with him. I think I’ve listened to Logan talked a thousand times so yeah, it was that different. But I guess they have a term for that: it’s puberty.

You gonna have to play the video for a while before reaching his scenes.

Check out 2:13

Check out 2:30, 5:20, 6:17.

Check out 10:46

Yeah. Realistically, I wouldn’t want a guy like that either.

But you know what,

Love trumps common sense.

That being said, I’m happy to say that I’m still a hardcore Veronica/Logan shipper. And that they are my ultimate OTP. The Ship of all ships.

For me, they’re made of EPIC and definitely meant to be together.

After all, there’s a reason why the first two letters of their names spell LoVe.

It will always be Veronica and Logan.  -Rob Thomas

And psst, KB, since you claimed you didn’t watch the show before (and only check the script for plot points), you might have not noticed the amazing chemistry you have with Jason Dohring. That was a definite deal breaker, you know?

And hey, props to Jason Dohring for making such a jackass like Logan, adorable.

-originally posted in my Tumblr account. 

Kristen Bell is back on TV!!!

Okay, you can go and argue with me that she never really left TV because after the awesome Veronica Mars was canceled, she moved to Heroes and after they killed her character there, she is now in Gossip Girl as Gossip Girl – the voiceover character. But you know what, I don’t count her stint on Gossip Girl because even if she gives great voiceover in that show, that’s just what she is there – a voiceover. I want to see her acting. So, this news made me so excited.

I’m not really familiar with Don Cheadle’s works but I’m sure I know him from somewhere. I’m sure I’ve seen some of his shows. (Sorry, I’m too lazy to go check his Wikipedia page.) I hope he’ll have great chemistry with Kristen Bell. Not that chemistry – the other one, the great partnership kind of chemistry.

According to Showtime, the new comedy is a scathing look at Marty (Cheadle), a self-loathing management consultant from a top-tier firm who is never above using any means necessary to get his way with and for his clients. Bell will play Jeannie Van Der Hooven, a razor-sharp, Ivy-League graduate who works at Marty’s firm. Sounds really interesting and looks like I’ll be hearing snarky, witty dialogues from Kristen. I miss that so much.

I’m so looking forward to this. Please, House of Lies, don’t disappoint me. Be amazing.

If only I get some news that Jason Dohring will also have a new show, that would make my day really complete.

Have I told you how much I LOVE Veronica Mars???

Not yet?

Oh well, now you know.

Okay, seriously, I was thinking of writing a sort-of review for this show but Im having a hard time doing so. First, it’s because I am so damn late in the game that, what is there I can say that hasn’t been said already by the others? You see, Veronica Mars ran for 3 seasons from 2004-2007.  That’s more than 4 years ago already! Actually, I knew about Veronica Mars way before. I know it was shown in the local cable channel here in my country. I distinctively remember catching a scene from the show that got me really interested but since school life was hectic then (and I was following Charmed and Smallville), I wasn’t able to pick the show up.

Fast forward to 4 years later and I just finished watching the 3rd season DVD of Psych (which I also really love, by the way) and find myself looking for another show to watch. I have lots of DVDs waiting to be watched (American, Japanese, Chinese and Korean series) but since I just finished Psych which has a detective theme on it, I was craving for some more detective stuff (or sorta kinda like it). I watched the first episode of The Mentalist (heard so much about it – how it has some similarities with Psych, etc.), but the pilot didn’t grip me the way Psych’s first episode did so I dropped it – for now. Of course, I will give it another go some other time.

Then I remembered Veronica Mars. So there I went, bought all DVDs, curled up in my bed one night and started watching.

The pilot episode blew me away. I would love to tell you why and how it did but I think this guy, Dan, had explained it better when he called it the “Greatest Pilot Ever.”

So being just recently watched Veronica Mars is my first reason. The second one and definitely the bigger reason why I’m having a hard time writing a review about it, is because I can NEVER give this show justice – no matter how much I want to. I want to write a review that will make the reader see what an amazing show Veronica Mars is but I’m no where near good enough to be able to pull that off. So yeah, I don’t know if I’ll write a review – maybe not, but I will definitely talk about it (more like gush about it, I think).

You know, there is a reason why this show is critically acclaimed, why LA Weekly, Chicago Sun Times, The Phoenix, The Village Voice, Time, The Seattle Times, Salon.com and others gave positive reviews about it.

There’s also a reason why Joss Whedon (screenwriter, director, Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator) called it the “Best.Show.Ever,” and saying that “These guys know what they’re doing on a level that intimidates me. It’s the Harry Potter of shows.”; why Kevin Smith (screenwriter, film producer, director) loved it and wrote about it on his blog saying that Veronica Mars is “hands-down, the best show on television right now, and proof that TV can be far better than cinema.“; why Stephen King (multi-awarded author) went asking on his EW article, “why is Veronica Mars so good? It bears little resemblance to life as I know it, but I can’t take my eyes off the damn thing.“

As much as I would love to enumerate the reasons why, I’d like it better if you just watch the series. I read one reviewer said, “If you’ve never watched Veronica Mars, then you are missing out on a very important part of television history.” And I agree with her (or him, I don’t exactly know).

And since good television is hard to come by these days, just do yourself a favor and try watching season 1.

____________________________________________________________

As a bonus, I’m embedding this awesome tribute video for Veronica Mars that was recently posted on Youtube. It’s EPIC.

He is his school’s “obligatory psychotic jackass.” Yes, he can be a good friend but once you crossed over his bad side, be warned, for he will torment you every single day. He’s a freakin’ asshole that he will not think twice of swinging a crowbar and bashing your headlights. Yeah, he is like that.

“And let’s not forget Logan Echolls.
Every school has an obligatory psychotic jackass.
He’s ours.”

But what exactly drives this person to be this kind of jackass? People may think he is living a privileged life but if you look closely, this seemingly perfect life is full of cracks – cracks so huge that it can crash anybody’s world. His girlfriend died. His mother jumped off a bridge and took her own life. His long abusive father is an adulterer and a murderer. Now, he is Logan, a tormented and tortured soul. Yes, he is damaged, but is he damaged beyond repair? Is he an un-reformable bad boy?

“And you know what? I’m not built to stand on the sidelines. And I think we have a choice.

I think we can take a tough, but survivable amount of pain now…or stay together and deal with unbearable pain later. So I vote for the pain now.
But I’m always here… if you need anything.
But you never need anything.”
-Logan

They get together and have a few months of contentment but once the veil is lifted, reality smacks them hard in the face and they break up. Too jaded for each other, too broken for anyone else. Can’t trust each other, can’t love anyone else, can’t be alone. How can you even begin to describe a relationship like this? I have no idea.

But one thing’s for sure , their relationship is EPIC.

Logan: I thought our story was epic, you know, you and me.

Veronica: Epic how?
Logan: Spanning years and continents. Lives ruined, bloodshed. Epic.
Veronica: Come on. Ruined lives? Bloodshed? You really think a relationship should be that hard?
Logan: No one writes songs about the ones that come easy.

____________________________________________________

A shout-out to the adorable, charming, gorgeous and talented Jason Dohring – the person who brought us Logan Echolls and the person who made “psychotic jackass” looked so appealing.

BELATED HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Okay, so as a “sort-of” comeback I’m posting Arashi’s PV for their latest single, “Lotus.” In here, they did a lot of dancing which is definitely better than standing and just emoting in front of the camera. Plus, they’re wearing white which I find very cool.

Don’t forget the Ohmiya wails which are one of the highlights of this PV and actually, this song. Check out the video below.

Just in case, the video from Youtube gets taken down, you can view the video in this link. http://bit.ly/hPgFTC

So, what do you guys think about this PV? An improvement from the “standing and looking pretty” PVs of last year? Or same old, same old?

In case you were wondering why he was chosen and maybe thinking because he belongs to one of Japan’s popular idol groups is the reason why he was chosen, then you’re wrong. Actually, Sho is really a newscaster. He is a newscaster for News Zero.

Well, I must admit that being a part of Arashi must have something to do too.

He may not be present physically, but he was still able to perform… as a HOLOGRAM! Seriously, how cool is that? Creative and amazing as always.

The hologram at the end was the best!!!

This next song is the theme song of NTV’s coverage of the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Video credits to MiiSSHACHiiKO

▼ Closeness between all five

It is the night of the 21st at a live house in Kabukicho of the Shibuya district in Tokyo. With “My Girl”, one of Arashi’s hit songs, playing, there was a cake decorated with a design in the form of Sakurai Sho (28)’s face, who was welcoming his 28th birthday on the 25th. The reason these 60 or so people – including men – have gathered is to hold a live talk about Arashi.

Making his appearance on the stage was Takeuchi Yoshikazu (54), who had been moved by their performances when he watched their concert DVD four years ago. Having also been attracted by the glimpses of their closeness on variety programs, he had become a fan without even noticing.

“I’m a man in his 50s, so I’m an oddity even based on appearance. I’ve overcome many difficulties.”

He has also established a blog on which he openly discusses Arashi with other fans. He has even received letters from older women with such contents as “So it’s fine to like Arashi too”.

A 50 year old woman from Kawagoe of the Saitama prefecture who had attended the live talk with her 23 year old daughter said with a laugh, “I like how close they seem when they’re together, like people on a school trip. The fact that they don’t brush others aside is also appealing.” An unemployed 61 year old woman from Osaka-shi who had attended the live talk in Osaka said: “The five of them are like family. They make me think ‘what nice kids’.” ( We never get tired of hearing people commenting about Arashi like this coz’ this is certainly what they are and more.)

“I used to hate Johnny’s. Then I noticed how good Arashi was and became less prejudiced towards everything,” said a 53 year old woman from the Nakano district of Tokyo. ( As for me, I like Johnny’s because I like Arashi.)

Takeuchi-san analyzes the “closeness” which everyone speaks of as such: “Our society is worn out by the recession. Perhaps we’re looking for something or other to pick us back up.” He sees it as “they’re well-behaved but not top students, with good settlement skills”. (It’s so cool how they’re so ordinary yet extraordinary.)

◆ Words from Matsumoto Jun, a member of Arashi: To be honest, there isn’t an impression of us as a social phenomenon. It makes us extremely happy just to have all sorts of different people listening to our music and watching our television shows. The number of incidents where people actually call out to me when I’m walking down a street have also increased. We get excited when we see all-male groups talking animatedly about Arashi lately too. We’re doing what we do because we want to put together concerts where the people who come to see us can genuinely enjoy themselves, so it makes us extremely happy to have so many people watching regardless of how many years it’s been.

▼ Laid-back and leisurely

There has also been a sharp increase of people bringing their children along to concerts. “It’s relieving that the concerts are fun and enjoyable like something akin to Disneyland,” says a housewife in her 40s who resides in Ichikawa-shi of the Chiba prefecture. Including children from the neighborhood ranging from grade 4 to grade 8 for a total of six people, they had their “first ever experience” last December at the Tokyo Dome concert. The children were extremely excited too, with calls of “So cool!” and “Oh man!”.

On the other hand, their long-time fans seem to have lost their bearings as well. “I’m happy to see them on so many programs, and Kouhaku was just indescribable too.” A female acupuncture specialist in her 40s from the Suginami district in Tokyo expresses joy towards their activities, but she also sighs, “I was sad that I couldn’t get tickets to their concerts. Maybe they’ve grown too hot now.” ( I know what you mean. Their tickets are so so so damn expensive. For overseas fans, Yahoo auction is the easiest solution to get tickets. Easiest being the operative word. That is if you’re willing to shell out around $400 – $1000 for the ticket. Then you have to worry about plane tickets and accommodation. Japan fans aren’t any better off, tickets sell in a couple of minutes to an hour. Oh, for the love!)

Naito Mika-san, a writer who calls herself an ikemen critic, has been a fan of Johnny’s for a very long time. “With SMAP as the first examples, other idols tend to try to look cool, but even when they make mistakes Arashi would laugh it off without taking things to heart. Their fans also feel comforted with a sense of ‘I’m fine the way I am right now’,” she says. ( Yes, they are so damn real. That’s why it’s always fun to watch them in their variety shows. They’re not afraid to make mistakes, to come off as fools and dorks. They’re idols but they can really be your best friends.)

Naito-san is currently publishing a novel on “Twitter”, a social site based upon short text submissions. “This is an era where easy to use media that allows one to go at their own leisurely pace is all the rage. Being able to offer support how they want without going overboard matches this era quite well, don’t you think?”

◆ Arashi is a male idol group belonging to the Johnny & Associates agency. Its five members include Ohno Satoshi (29), Aiba Masaki (27), Sakurai Sho (28), Ninomiya Kazunari (26), and Matsumoto Jun (26). Their CD debut took place in 1999. They took the top spots for the three categories of CD singls, albums, and music DVDs in the yearly rankings for the year of 2009 as gathered by Oricon, a music statistics company, and shone at the top with total accumulated sales as well. They also held concerts for three consecutive days at the Kokuritsu Kyogijo for the first time ever in history last year. Including individual activities, they currently have 6 regular television programs a week and 9 CM endorsements. their new song has also been chosen as a theme song in a commercial broadcast program for the Vancouver Olympics, of which Sakurai will act as one of the casters.

From Sponichi Annex – 01/30/2010

Translated by: say-it-again