(This was originally typed in MS Word, August 31, 2009)
(Any similarities are just coincidental, please don't sue me XD)
I have just finished watching Riyu Kosaka’s live performance of “Himawari” last 2007 in a BeforU concert that happened somewhere in Japan (Zepp Tokyo, I think?), thanks to YouTube. Now I’m typing this to keep my brain cogs in place. Why? Good question. I’d say it’s because of a “something” that keeps on nagging me every time I see Kosaka-san in videos or pictures.
Hi, I won’t be telling my name for now (unless, of course, you can help me). I’m a 17-year old college student, male, living in Manila, Philippines, and I’m proud to say that I am a fan of Riyu Kosaka. Well, it sure is easy to say that you’re a fan, but I think there’s something missing…
_-_-_-_
It was on August 10, 2009 that I decided to listen to some songs of a J-Pop girl group named BeForU. I first heard of them back when I was still in elementary. It was around the time of the Dance Dance Revolution fever. Some songs featured on that game were performed by their group.
Their group name appeared so many times in the continuation of the Dance Dance Revolution series and other rhythm games, so I thought to see how they were progressing. Upon hearing some of their songs thru free audio-streaming available on the internet, I got very addicted and quickly fell in love with their style of music. When I go to internet café’s, the first thing I would do was open a site where there is a free audio-streaming of their songs. Until it came to a point where I told myself “I had enough of the free streaming, I have to buy original copies of their albums!!!”
Easy for me to say, but unfortunately, searching for an original album of a J-Pop group here in the Philippines would be like finding human beings living in other galaxies (but I find it intriguing, since Japan is one of our country’s neighbors). Even my friends gave up hope when I asked them to help me. But not me!!! I definitely won’t give up!!!
So, what exactly happened? Well, I tried visiting the largest market available, the Internet. I tried E-Bay, Amazon, etc., heck; I even looked it up in search engines. There were quite a few hits and the price range was quite huge. One album was being sold for 13$ (shipment not included) and another same album was being sold for almost 50$ (which still doesn’t include shipment). Looks cheap eh? Not for me, people. I’m just a student. It would take me more than one (or two) months just to pull off that amount (not to mention, I don’t even have a credit card). Hard as it may seem, I’d gladly do anything just to get a hold of even ONE ORIGINAL COPY of any album of theirs.
_-_-_
Since I was still saving money, and I’ve got nothing better to do, I decided to gather some information about my favorite J-Pop group, BeForU (in case you forgot), thru the World Wide Web. In just a week, I learned lots of info about them. I knew their biography, how they were formed, how some members were replaced, how their group ALMOST disband last 2008 (or was it 2007? Luckily they didn’t), and how they managed to fix it the same year. Sadly, only one member held out from beginning to the current generation (it was Riyu Kosaka).
(Short History: Originally, BeForU was formed to produce songs for rhythm games. Their producer was Naoki Maeda *which for me, is a very lucky guy*. They were formed in the year 2000, and they originally had four members. After sometime, a member left, and a contest was held for two positions in the group, but because of a tie, the result brought out three new members instead. The new group members were named BeForU NEXT, and became original members. Last 2007, a “Graduation” was prepared for two of their members who were leaving in preparation for their solo careers. Sadly, for personal and health reasons, two other members left in the same year, leaving only two original members, it was the time that they almost disbanded. Last 2008, three new members joined the group. Not long after, the other original member left because of an illness. Currently, the group has four members, and only one original member remained. If you want better details, do search for their biography in the web. If you also find something wrong with my info, do tell me, I’ll correct it. J)
At first it was quite a shock, since I need to absorb almost 9 years of information. But then I have to get used to it.
Okay, so I got the bios, now what? … That period of time was so stagnant; I have nothing left to do. Or…
_-_-_
August 28, 2009. I woke up with a realization (which is, should I say, stupid since I realized it 2 weeks after). BeForU is a J-Pop group, the lyrics of their songs are in Japanese, and I don’t understand that language yet. Ah-hah!! I need to learn the Japanese language!!
I think that’s fine, since I’ve been dreaming to go Japan since I was a kid. So why not give it a try? The internet could be of some help. So on that same day, I ventured out to the nearest internet café, and started my search…
1 hour passed…
There are modules for learning the language, but it only contains the “Beginner” part. What I’m looking for is a complete guide, from beginner to expert, from reading to writing (and understanding). Complete guides were available on the web, yes, but they cost way too much. ^^
And so I thought that everything went down the drain. I’m stuck with such small info about my favorite J-Pop group. I want to learn more. If only I was in Japan…
_-_-_
So there I was again, staring at the official BeForU webpage…
…suddenly, somebody hit my head and told me about “Babel Fish”…
…
Alright!! Babel Fish worked!! At least I can make some sense of what’s written on that page. I tried it for some pages that need translation, and so I gained bits of information. I switched back and forth to different pages, viewed their group’s pictures and noticed that my attention was constantly focused on one member…
Riyu Kosaka…
(Sorry people, I have to cut this part out, if by any chance you’re still interested in reading this, just watch out for part 2. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Earlier, I mentioned that I needed help. Below is the list which I need helping…)
1) I’m looking for BeForU albums; do you know where I can find some?
2) I’m looking for Riyu Kosaka’s albums; do you know where I can find some?
3) If you’re not from the Philippines, do you know some websites where I can search for BeForU merchandise?
4) I need to learn the Japanese language, could you recommend something?
Thanks a lot!! Take care!!
Hi, I won’t be telling my name for now (unless, of course, you can help me). I’m a 17-year old college student, male, living in Manila, Philippines, and I’m proud to say that I am a fan of Riyu Kosaka. Well, it sure is easy to say that you’re a fan, but I think there’s something missing…
_-_-_-_
It was on August 10, 2009 that I decided to listen to some songs of a J-Pop girl group named BeForU. I first heard of them back when I was still in elementary. It was around the time of the Dance Dance Revolution fever. Some songs featured on that game were performed by their group.
Their group name appeared so many times in the continuation of the Dance Dance Revolution series and other rhythm games, so I thought to see how they were progressing. Upon hearing some of their songs thru free audio-streaming available on the internet, I got very addicted and quickly fell in love with their style of music. When I go to internet café’s, the first thing I would do was open a site where there is a free audio-streaming of their songs. Until it came to a point where I told myself “I had enough of the free streaming, I have to buy original copies of their albums!!!”
Easy for me to say, but unfortunately, searching for an original album of a J-Pop group here in the Philippines would be like finding human beings living in other galaxies (but I find it intriguing, since Japan is one of our country’s neighbors). Even my friends gave up hope when I asked them to help me. But not me!!! I definitely won’t give up!!!
So, what exactly happened? Well, I tried visiting the largest market available, the Internet. I tried E-Bay, Amazon, etc., heck; I even looked it up in search engines. There were quite a few hits and the price range was quite huge. One album was being sold for 13$ (shipment not included) and another same album was being sold for almost 50$ (which still doesn’t include shipment). Looks cheap eh? Not for me, people. I’m just a student. It would take me more than one (or two) months just to pull off that amount (not to mention, I don’t even have a credit card). Hard as it may seem, I’d gladly do anything just to get a hold of even ONE ORIGINAL COPY of any album of theirs.
_-_-_
Since I was still saving money, and I’ve got nothing better to do, I decided to gather some information about my favorite J-Pop group, BeForU (in case you forgot), thru the World Wide Web. In just a week, I learned lots of info about them. I knew their biography, how they were formed, how some members were replaced, how their group ALMOST disband last 2008 (or was it 2007? Luckily they didn’t), and how they managed to fix it the same year. Sadly, only one member held out from beginning to the current generation (it was Riyu Kosaka).
(Short History: Originally, BeForU was formed to produce songs for rhythm games. Their producer was Naoki Maeda *which for me, is a very lucky guy*. They were formed in the year 2000, and they originally had four members. After sometime, a member left, and a contest was held for two positions in the group, but because of a tie, the result brought out three new members instead. The new group members were named BeForU NEXT, and became original members. Last 2007, a “Graduation” was prepared for two of their members who were leaving in preparation for their solo careers. Sadly, for personal and health reasons, two other members left in the same year, leaving only two original members, it was the time that they almost disbanded. Last 2008, three new members joined the group. Not long after, the other original member left because of an illness. Currently, the group has four members, and only one original member remained. If you want better details, do search for their biography in the web. If you also find something wrong with my info, do tell me, I’ll correct it. J)
At first it was quite a shock, since I need to absorb almost 9 years of information. But then I have to get used to it.
Okay, so I got the bios, now what? … That period of time was so stagnant; I have nothing left to do. Or…
_-_-_
August 28, 2009. I woke up with a realization (which is, should I say, stupid since I realized it 2 weeks after). BeForU is a J-Pop group, the lyrics of their songs are in Japanese, and I don’t understand that language yet. Ah-hah!! I need to learn the Japanese language!!
I think that’s fine, since I’ve been dreaming to go Japan since I was a kid. So why not give it a try? The internet could be of some help. So on that same day, I ventured out to the nearest internet café, and started my search…
1 hour passed…
There are modules for learning the language, but it only contains the “Beginner” part. What I’m looking for is a complete guide, from beginner to expert, from reading to writing (and understanding). Complete guides were available on the web, yes, but they cost way too much. ^^
And so I thought that everything went down the drain. I’m stuck with such small info about my favorite J-Pop group. I want to learn more. If only I was in Japan…
_-_-_
So there I was again, staring at the official BeForU webpage…
…suddenly, somebody hit my head and told me about “Babel Fish”…
…
Alright!! Babel Fish worked!! At least I can make some sense of what’s written on that page. I tried it for some pages that need translation, and so I gained bits of information. I switched back and forth to different pages, viewed their group’s pictures and noticed that my attention was constantly focused on one member…
Riyu Kosaka…
(Sorry people, I have to cut this part out, if by any chance you’re still interested in reading this, just watch out for part 2. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Earlier, I mentioned that I needed help. Below is the list which I need helping…)
1) I’m looking for BeForU albums; do you know where I can find some?
2) I’m looking for Riyu Kosaka’s albums; do you know where I can find some?
3) If you’re not from the Philippines, do you know some websites where I can search for BeForU merchandise?
4) I need to learn the Japanese language, could you recommend something?
Thanks a lot!! Take care!!
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