Official opening of the Otopuri site

The Otopuri site was up and running yesterday when I checked it. Seems like the official opening was around 4pm Japan time which I missed when I was looking at the announcement. As such, I had the access problem which I mentioned in my previous post. Although this sounds like a great idea of having a one-stop portal to sell Tenipuri CDs, I'm kinda disappointed that they are just going to have future CDs available through this site. Past titles are not listed at all. In addition, going by the FAQ, this site is meant for people who are residing in Japan. It doesn't even mention whether overseas credit cards can be used. As such, overseas fans will not be able to use this unless you have a Japanese address to send the item to or are able to make payment through the designated method (most probably cash on delivery).

The opening of the Otopuri website

A new website, Otopuri which means Music Tenipuri, has been launched to provide a one-stop portal for purchase of Tenipuri-related CDs via the Internet. In celebration of the site's opening, the first 200 fans to purchase the latest Hyotei Eternity single, "Sakamichi no Hate e" will get an original postcard as a present. In addition, the delivery charges will be waived. For more information please visit Otopuri.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I tried to access the site but it was asking for a username and password. I can't even get to the main site so there are no means of getting these items. I don't know whether this is a site problem or if this site is only meant for Japanese mobile phone users but I will keep trying to see if I can access it.

Sakamichi no Hate e by Hyotei Eternity

Title: Sakamichi no Hate e
Artiste: Hyotei Eternity (Atobe, Mukahi, Ootori & Hiyoshi)
Date of release: 1 July 2009
Catalog number: NECM-10128
Price: 800 yen (inclusive of tax)

Tenipuri Hyotei Clear File

Title: Tenipuri Hyotei Clear File
Total number of patterns: 2
A: Atobe, Mukahi, Kabaji & Hiyoshi
B: Oshitari, Shishido, Akutagawa & Ootori
Price: 368 yen (inclusive of tax)
Date of release: Late May 2009

Tenipuri Metal Sticker Set

Title: Tenipuri Metal Sticker Set
Total number of patterns: 4
A: Atobe & Kabaji / B: Oshitari & Ootori / C: Mukahi & Shishido / D: Akutagawa & Hiyoshi
Price: 368 yen (inclusive of tax)
Date of release: Late May 2009
Description: 2 pieces in each set with a shining metallic background

Tenipuri Hyotei Tapestry

Title: Tenipuri Hyotei Tapestry
Price: 1,575 yen (inclusive of tax)
Date of release: End May 2009
Description: 515mm x 364mm / Made of cloth

Tenipuri Mini Mirror (Hyotei)

Title: Tenipuri Mini Mirror
Price: 788 yen (inclusive of tax)
Date of release: Late May 2009
Description: Illustration can be inserted into the interior part of the mirror and displayed when it is opened. 2 illustrations included.

Tenipuri Panel Clock (Hyotei)

Title: Tenipuri Panel Clock (Hyotei)
Price: 2,730 yen (inclusive of tax)
Date of release: Early June 2009
Description: Comes with the string to hang the clock on the wall

Tenipuri Fragrance Sachet

Title: Tenipuri Fragrance Sachet
Total patterns: 2
A: Atobe Keigo (Rose flavour) / B: Hyotei members (Lavender flavour)
Price: 368 yen (inclusive of tax)
Date of release: Early June 09

W-rainbow by Shishido Ryou & Ootori Choutarou

Title: W-rainbow
Artistes: Shishido Ryou & Ootori Choutarou
Date of release: 11 June 2009
Catalog number: NECM-13020
Price: 1,300 yen (inclusive of tax)

Details of theme song CD release from Hyotei Eternity

Hyotei Eternity will be singing the theme song for the episode "Fuun Shounen Atobe" in the new OVA series!

Title: Sakamichi no Hate e
Artiste: Hyotei Eternity (Atobe Keigo, Mukahi Gakuto, Hiyoshi Wakashi & Ootori Choutarou)
Date of release: 1 July 2009
Price: 800 yen (inclusive of tax)
Catalog number: NECM-10128
Produced by: TY Entertainment
Distributed by: King Record

Tennis no Oujisama OVA ANOTHER STORY DVD

Title: Tennis no Oujisama OVA ANOTHER STORY DVD ~ Kako to Mirai no Message Vol.1
Date of release: 26 May 2009
Price: 5,250 yen (inclusive of tax)
Catalog number: BCBA-3468
Total run time: 48 minutes
Contains: "Naniwa no Oujisama Part 1" & "Fuun Shounen Atobe"
First press premium: Special design storage box + ANOTHER STORY's lucky coupon
Special footage: Chibi-character flash animation "A day in Oshitari's life"
Produced by: Tennis no Oujisama Project & Bandai Visual
Distributed by: Bandai Visual

Shishido & Ootori's 2nd single commemorative event

There will be a commemorative event cum talkshow held on 20 June in conjunction with the release of Shishido and Ootori's 2nd duet single.

Date: 20 June 09 (Saturday)
Assembly time: 2pm
Event start time: 2.30pm
Artistes: Kusuda Toshiyuki and Namikawa Daisuke
Venue: Minami Ootsuka Hall (Tokyo)
How to get tickets: Those who buy the duo's single on 11 June at Anibro's stores in Akihabara, Oomiya, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Machida, Tachikawa and Yokohama will be given a ticket each.

Shishido and Ootori to be back with a new single in 6 years!

Hyotei's strongest pair, Shishido & Ootori will be back with a new single in 6 years since their last collaboration!

Title: Undecided
Artiste: Shishido Ryo & Ootori Choutarou
Date of release: 11 June 2009
Catalog number: NECM-13020
Price: 1,300 yen (inclusive of tax)

More details on the new OVA theme songs

Seishun Soda (Echizen, Tezuka, Momoshiro & Kaidou) will be singing the main theme song for the new OVA series, "OVA ANOTHER STORY ~ Kako to Mirai no Message ~".

Title: brand-new HEAVEN
Artiste: Seishun Soda
Date of release: 17 June 2009
Catalog number: NECM-10127
Price: 800 yen (inclusive of tax)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For the ED of the story "Naniwa no Oujisama", this will be sung by STONES i.e. Oishi Shuuichirou, Shiraishi Kuranosuke, Ishida Gin and Kite Eishirou.

Title: Iro asenai no sora e
Artiste: STONES
Date of release: Undecided

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For the ED of the story "Fuu-un Shounen Atobe", this will be sung by Hyotei Eternity!

Title: Sakamichi no Hate e
Artiste: Hyotei Eternity (Atobe, Mukahi, Hiyoshi & Ootori)
Date of release: Undecided

New groups for the new OVA, "ANOTHER STORY"

For the new OVA series, "ANOTHER STORY ~ Kako to Mirai no Message", there will be three new groups who will be singing the OP and EDs.

Echizen Ryoma, Tezuka Kunimitsu, Momoshiro Takeshi and Kaidou Kaoru gets together to form the unit, "Seishun Soda" and will be in charge of the OP. This name was given by Konomi Takeshi-sensei.

The Osaka story's ED will be sung by the unit STONES which comprises of Oishi Shuuichirou, Shiraishi Kuranosuke, Ishida Gin and Kite Eishirou. All 4 members have the pronunciation of "ishi" which means stone, in their names.

As for the Hyotei story's ED, it will be performed by Hyotei Eternity i.e. Atobe Keigo, Mukahi Gakuto, Hiyoshi Wakashi and Ootori Choutarou. This marks their first song in 2 years.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm happy yet sad about this piece of news. Good thing is there are new units coming up but then I am disappointed to see the total omission of Rikkai members. Well, I must admit that on a team basis, Rikkai is my No.1 favourite so you can imagine my disappointment. However, since the OVA stories don't seem to involve them, I can understand why they are not in the lineup. And among the three groups, Hyotei Eternity is not exactly new so I was looking forward to see some new combinations from Hyotei e.g. Atobe and Oshitari forming a duo? STONES is a really interesting group...trust them to assemble those with the pronunciation "ishi" in their names. Seishun Soda doesn't offer much surprises though...

Anyway, I'll be looking forward to their new songs in the upcoming OVA so more news on that if the details for the CD releases are confirmed.

contrail - Ootori Choutarou 鳳長太郎

This single marks the solo debut of Ootori Choutarou.

Track list:
1) contrail
2) contrail (Original Karaoke)
Bonus track 3: Talk time ~ Ootori, Aru hi no asa ~




Release date: 2 July 2008
Price: 777 yen
Catalog number: NECM-10108
Produced by: Index Music
Released by: King Record

Fujori by Hyotei Eternity

The new ending theme for the Nationals Arc, "Fujori" will be sung by a new unit from Hyotei named Hyotei Eternity consisting of Atobe Keigo, Mukahi Gakuto, Ootori Choutarou and Hiyoshi Wakashi.

Track List:
1) Fujori
2) Fujori (Original Karaoke)

Date of release: 21 February 2007
Price: 780 yen
Type: Maxi Single
Catalog number: NECM-10060
Produced by: Index Music
Distributed by: King Record

Otanjoubi Omedetou, Namikawa Daisuke-san!

Last but not least, we have Namikawa Daisuke-san who plays Ootori Choutarou from Hyotei celebrating his 30th birthday today! Well, although he may be only 30, he actually started out as a voice actor from the age of 9 when he joined the theatre group Gekidan Komadori. Besides being a seiyuu, he also does dubbing work for foreign language movies especially Hollywood productions. As seen from the Wikipedia profile, he has such a long list of works to his name that it would be impossible for me to list everything. However, I'll just mention some of his anime works which includes Okusama wa Joushikousei, Garasu no Kamen, Kyou kara Maou, Saiyuki RELOAD, NARUTO, Hachimitsu to Clover, BECK, Boukaku no Sora, Black Lagoon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Sailormoon, Tsubasa Chronicle, GANTZ, Gundam, Utawareru Mono, Fullmetal Panic and he will appear in the upcoming spring anime, RAY THE ANIMATION. Currently, he is in Haikyo which he joined in 2003 and his fellow colleagues who also appear in Tenipuri include Suwabe Junichi and Minagawa Junko.

Namikawa-san has the nickname of "Oscar seiyuu" because many of the films he has done dubbing for won many titles in the Academy Awards. If you are interested to hear a voice sample of him, you can access his official website which has a voice sample facility. It also appears as if Namikawa-san does not think he has good vocals so he tries very hard to reject singing assignments. There was once when his manager accepted one such project for him and he got so angry about it. Well, personally, I think he sings pretty well judging from his duet with Kusuda Toshiyuki in the single of Shishido & Ootori.

As for his personal details, his height is 173cm and weight is 60.5kg. He comes from Tokyo and has a 10-year-older brother and a 8-year-older sister. His hobbies include Japanese chess, table tennis and snowboarding. Namikawa-san had attained titles like the Best 8 title for the national table-tennis tournament, elementary level for aikido and took part in the national contest for handball. Last but not least, he is already married.

For those who are interested in finding out more on Namikawa-san, you can visit the following fansite.

Otanjoubi Omedetou, Ootori Choutarou!

Today's the birthday of the kind and down-to-earth guy from Hyotei, Ootori Choutarou and it also happens to be Valentine's Day! Among his teammates, Ootori-kun can be considered to be the most humble guy in the Hyotei squad where everyone is full of confidence of the abilities they possess and they even bring this air of superiority outside the courts. However, in Ootori's case, no doubt he may know that his Scud Serve is strong, he doesn't flaunt it and only shows his faith in this technique on the court. Besides that, he is very courteous to the people around him and seems like the type to blush easily if the opposite sex showers attention on him. That is probably why he is very well-liked by fans as the epitome of kindness and humility. Personally, I also like Choutarou but not in the same sense and intensity as I feel for my top 3. ^__^ That means I treat him like a younger brother-type of figure instead of a romantic interest although he would have towered over me in real-life with his height of 185 cm.

Ootori is played by Namikawa Daisuke who has been a seiyuu since he was 9. Although Namikawa-san is only approaching 30 in April, given his early headstart, he can be considered a senior among his peers. I guess I will post another feature for Namikawa when his birthday is near so I won't go into much details of him in this post. By the way, the picture I posted was from the Shueisha calendar and Ootori happens to be featured for this week.

For all who's reading this post, happy Valentine's Day to you!