Monday 10 October 2011

Video Subbing (REQUEST): Matsuura Aya on Sekai Dangan Traveller

Here's the requested English subbbing of Mastuura Aya on Sekai Dangan Traveller. She goes to Andalucia in Spain, to check out the Alhumbra Palace. For those who don't know, Matsuura Aya is/was one of the biggest Japanese idol singers. She burst onto the scene at the start of the 2000's and found huge success through to around half way of the decade before suffering from health problems. This forced her career to slow down but she is still remembered as an 'Idol genius' or a person born to be an idol.

*EDIT* For High Quality video download from here

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FD67WLTJ 
(Password: Spain)




If you've been checking this blog for a while and reading the little text that I write about of my opinions, you may have gathered that I'm not fan of idols. I really don't like AKB45 (or 48? (-_-)) or all those Johnny's groups that are supposedly good looking (well some of them are but only like 1~3 in each group....). Sorry if I offend any fans about this but I just don't like them, mainly for their overrated, soulless music that keep getting churned out of a machine and topping charts.

Well kinda got off topic.....but what I wanted to say is that I don't feel that way about Matsuura Aya. I think that she genuinely has talent. You can tell her voice is good without help of machines. Also, although she may seem like the typical cute idol, it's not annoying like most others and is a genuine cuteness which is something you don't usually see in the robotic clone world of agency puppets aka Japanese idols.

I don't want to seem like an idol hater because I'm not. I don't like who I don't like, and I like who I like. Regardless of whether they're idols or not. Anyway it's getting long and off sort of off topic so I'll try and write a post just for my opinion on this sometime..

10 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for translating this video!

    Aya didn't look tired after 16 flying hours, I wonder what is her secret.

    I couldn't stop smiling each time her guide wanted to take a picture with Aya (pretext to have skinship with Aya lol), especially when they were at the beach because they really looked like a couple and I can understand her funny reaction because some Japanese couples don't even do that in front of public haha!

    I didn't know that Cristiano Ronaldo was also popular towards Japanese women. Not long ago, some sports commentators said Cristiano Ronaldo lacks of personality as footballer, I don't know if it's true though.

    It would have been fun if the tv programm would have allowed Aya to bring her mother with her because it seems like her mother was even more excited than Aya to go to Spain lol

    The price of the paella she ate, so expensive!
    By the way, I was very surprised to see Aya eating so much and she even brought umeboshi with her!

    I learnt some things about the Alhumbra Palace that I didn't know before. After watching this video, it makes me want to go to Andalucia now.
    Aya's song Omoi Afurete matched well with the moment when they showed us the last spot.
    Very beautiful.

    Once again, thanks a lot for subbing this video!

    About your comment related to Idols, you have totally the right to express your opinion with honesty (after all this is your blog!). This is normal to have preferences.

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  2. That was certainly an immensily nice surprise.
    Thank you so much :-)

    For those who haven't followed Aya's career: She has tried very hard in the last few years to get rid of the idol image as she is indeed a very good singer who doesn't deserve to be put in the "idol" drawer. Unfortunately a "stigma" like that is hard to shed (especially after being the super-idol), so she lost a big chunk of her former fanbase without being able to get accepted by the non-idol audience. Which is a shame and will hopefully change in the years to come.

    Again many thanks for this wonderful sub!

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  3. @Tako: No problem glad you liked it. Haha yeah I'd say that Cristiano Ronaldo would be popular among girls that know him in Japan. He's not as famous as David Beckham but he would be very well known. As for his personality I wouldn't know as I don't know him personally. He's probably an okay person but the media treats him badly.

    It was indeed very surprising how much she ate lol Especially since she's so small.

    I agree with you on wanting to go to Alhumbra Palace and Andalucia. It looks like a beautiful place!

    @Matthecat
    Ahh I see. Although I like her I'm not really a close 'fan' so yeah I don't know a lot about what she's doing. That's quite unfortunate/unfair for her.....Well at least true fans have remained with her and she's trying her best

    Glad you liked the video:)

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  4. I'm a big Matsuura Aya fan, so I would like to thank you for taking the time to sub this.

    Also, I have a sneaking suspicion the program's staff might have helped finishing off all that food... :D

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  5. By the way, is paella popular in Japan?

    I wanted to ask you, what is the difference between oishii and umai? Both are related when food is tasty but is there a difference between these two words? Maybe in term of intensity or maybe one is more informal?

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  6. To nights4saturn: Haha yeah you're probably right.

    To Tako: Ummm well I'd say it's moderately popular. Oishii and umai mean the same thing but umai is a less refined way of saying it. Like....it's a more casual or rough way of saying it and not as polite/proper. So you tend to hear males say that word more than females.

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  7. Thanks for your explanation!

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  8. Thank you so much for this video you don't see much of this series subbed and I am very thankful for you sharing it with us are you planning on doing any more episodes?

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  9. Ummm well someone else has asked me to do more but I haven't got around to it. They didn't really specify any particular episode so if you want to choose then you can.

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  10. are you kidding me, you dislike idol but matsura aya is every bit a typical cute japanese puppet idol who cant really sing the soul less bubblegum pop songs

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