Ero-guro fans rejoice! Jun Hayami's work is finally to be published in English by Creation Books in a collection entitled Beauty Labyrinth of Razors! This work was originally supposed to be released in 2005, but was pulled back for.... obvious reasons. Now it is finally being released on hardback with only 69 copies being made. It compiles 12 of Jun Hayami's stories. The only downside is that the book is on quite the pricey end, being $79 before shipping. Personally, I really wish I could own such a work of art, but I don't think I can be spending that kind of money.

"Graphic art by Jun Hayami in the Japanese “erotic-grotesque” (ero-guro) style of manga, a unique fusion of sex, violence and philosophy unlike anything seen in Western comics. Deranged killers, innocent young women and leering perverts collide in some of the most feverishly lurid fantasies ever committed to paper.

Beauty Labyrinth Of Razors is a compendium of Jun Hayami’s most challenging work, containing 12 stories selected from his books and never before translated and published in English. With a translation by James Havoc and Takako Shinkado, and an introduction by Jack Hunter (author, Eros In Hell)."

While it may be easy to justify other works of ero-guro, Hayami's is a difficult one to present to others. Is it an effort at humor that only the most senile and depraved of us can truly derive laughter from? Or is it simply art for the sake of showing the grotesque and perverse reality that we often shun from our everyday thoughts? Are the works of Jun Hayami to even be considered art?

Whether Hayami's work is really something to be interpreted or not, if you have not read him before you definitely should. Even if it is something that may not particularly pique your interest, to just fathom the mere existence of his work is something that will forever change you.






More information/scans/etc. can be found here:
Creation Books: http://www.creationbooks.com/creation-pages/creationhome.html
Flying Teapot: http://flying-teapot.blogspot.com/
Same Hat!: http://samehat.blogspot.com/

-Garrett

This name will most likely strike a sense of unfamiliarity among most people, but chances are you more than likely know his music. If you were anything like me (and I mean that in the sense of you being a kid of the 90s) you were most likely caught up in the Pokemon craze. The one thing in particular that stands out in Pokemon that many may have not appreciated when they were younger is the music, and Junichi Masuda is the man to thank for that.

Junichi Masuda was one of the main founders of the company, Game Freak, and has composed the music for a large majority of the Pokemon video game series and television shows. He himself was the sole composer of the original Red & Green versions of Pokemon and was even responsible for the cries of the Pokemon used within the game, all thanks to a program he created called the "Sound Driver."

Unless the last.fm trolls just got to his profile, apparently some of his favorite music includes Stravinsky, Linkin Park, Slipknot, The Prodigy, and Rotterdam hardcore. Who ever thought that 'Smack My Bitch Up' was an important influence on Pokemon?


Nowadays Pokemon still seems to be relatively prevalent in Japan, but has had severely decreased popularity in the states, it's core following now grown up. Pokemon seems to be something held on for nostalgia's sake, and only for that reason, as if Pokemon is a kind of novelty to be treated purely as a childhood memory and to like it beyond those reasons is well... childish. Personally, I do like Pokemon for those reasons, it does indeed bring back memories, however, still to this day I believe that Pokemon is a damn good game, "childish" or not, and I am not embarrassed at all to admit that.


If you are ever wondering who to thank for the flood of nostalgia and tears that overcome you when playing your version of Red or Blue on Gameboy, you have Junichi Masuda to thank.



-Garrett

Miki Sawaguchi is a fairly well known AV idol from Japan (although, personally I have yet to see any of her films yet), she is perhaps most well known for her, well... as the album title goes, Big Boobs. Aside from being just an AV idol though, she has branched out towards many other projects, appearing as a regular cast member on shows like YOUNG and Gilgamesh Night and focusing on musical endeavors such as this one.

Besides being a busty porn star, why should the Japan-obsessed, seedy and strange of us care even the slightest about her outside of that career? Well, for experimental music fans, the words Alchemy Records and Jojo Hiroshige may spark a considerable amount of interest. Sawaguchi has on many times collaborated with the legendary Hijokaidan.

Tampon Tango was a Japanese film released in 1975, blurring the line between porn and cult flick. I'm actually not sure what it is trying to be as the plotline and visuals are too bizarre to be a straight porn, but the actual sex scenes are too vanilla to actually turn someone on.

The film revolves around a pornographer and several of his actors and actresses. One of the women mentions interest in setting up a scene where tampons are forcibly inserted into a girl's vagina as this kind of scene has 'never been done before.'


From there the film delves into a blurry of oddball scenes consisting of penis guitar playing and women placing explosives in their lower regions. I don't want to spoil all the scenes, so I'll keep it at that.


Now from all of this, you must think that this is the greatest film ever. Well, while there are no doubt some amazing and unique scenes in this film, the consistency of them is where this movie falls a little flat. In between some of the more memorable scenes are some flat-out boring and not to mention, extremely long sex scenes. A true test of endurance. Even for those of you nipponphiles with an extreme case of the yellow fever will most likely be bored to sexual numbness watching these people go at it. It is almost as if they were a pair of awkward virgins going at it for the first time. Prepare to be flaccid.


However, we are at least allowed to exit on a good note. An absolutely outlandish group sex scene that never seems to end until we see a release of confetti and topless middle-aged Japanese men waving batons. Fucking punk rock.


To be completely honest, I really didn't care for this film as much as I thought I would, only for the sake of one's curiosity did I upload this film, and don't we all want to satisfy those curiosities? I don't think anyone has bothered to upload Tampon Tango in the past (besides a few elitist torrent sites) so I thought I would save anyone the trouble of trying to track this one down.

The scenes that are memorable are extremely so, but the consistency is what kills it. The actual sex scenes are way too long and drawn out, and if those were shortened just a bit I think Tampon Tango would be a flawless cult classic. Most likely there will be more who enjoy this than I did, although I have to say, I don't think I have ever seen anything quite like Tampon Tango.... ever.

Peace,
Garrett

I believe I posted an EP of their's earlier, but I thought this album deserved a post as well, so to reintroduce this group....

group_inou consists of two people, imai (track producer) and cp (vocals). group_inou combines video-game like instrumentation with an almost punk-like approach to hip-hop. The groups' music is extremely feel good, but also rings in with a sort of nostalgia in their chiptune sound that makes guys like me weep bittersweetly.

I never really cared for much Japanese rap before, most of it I feel is an embodiment of Western culture, most of it being typified by people who are influenced by white youth who in turn themselves are trying to embody black culture. So basically, Japanese people trying to act like white guys who are trying to act like black guys. This may be a bit generalized, yes, but I feel that group_inou is one of the few rap groups I have heard from Japan that actually sound purely Japanese. I mean, how many cheesy Engrish hooks can you hear in group_inou's music? Not any really.


With that being said, group_inou is something unique, something amazing, but something that may not be appreciated among everyone due to it being quite unorthodox, especially in comparison to Western rap. But for those who are open to something a little different, perhaps even challenging to your current perception of rap, then group_inou will more than likely win a place in your heart. FAN has become one of my favorite albums from Japan.


Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/groupinou
Official Site: http://g-a-l.jp/group_inou/

-Garrett