bluelovesorange | oh, pretty. (Reply)

When I came home from work today, my yesasia.com order of the Making of Hanazakari no Kimitachi e and Miss x Match books were waiting for me. Both of them were smaller than I expected, but chock full of pretty pictures. Miss X Match happens to be the sapphilicious photobook Maki did with her friend (and fellow Sweet Power talent) Meisa Kuroki, and it's got a pretty nifty pedigree attached to it - the photographer is Kishin Shinoyama, who's famous for his photobooks/shoots concerning the female form.

When I looked through the photobook, I finally understood how some comic book geeks can get about bagging and sealing up their precious issues, to keep it archive quality - because really, these photographs are beautiful. The paper's a bit thinner than I'm used to for photograph books, but I suppose that's to be expected, it's a paperback after all.

Anyway, because I want to keep my photobook in a book shape and not smash it out all of its binding (unless I decide to buy another copy just for scanning purposes), I scanned the very last image in the book.

Basically, the premise of Miss x Match is that it takes place in an alternate universe not that dissimilar from Modern Tokyo (or anywhere) and it's the Incredibly True Story of Two Girls in love - a day in their life together, basically - the book opens with a picture of Meisa and Maki on separate leaves of the book asleep in bed, and it ends with their wedding ceremony. Only in Japan, man.

Since I'm getting out of FL visits to this post from Hana Kimi finale virgins, here's some white space.

SRLSY, is Yamamoto Yusuke not the hottest thing ever in that picture? And very host-club appropriate?

the pictures Yu Shirota took of himself in his blog are a bit more attractive than the final screen cap, but....me, dead, of laughter. He looks appropriately Bosom-Buddies in that get up. (Bosom Buddies, ooooold American TV show starring a very young Tom Hanks, who has to dress as a woman in order to live in a sweet apartment.)

Erika-chan loves it when Sekime dresses up. And look at Nanba and Kayashima.

Kayashima is just TOO PLEASED with his ruffles.

And introducing.....the debutantes of Ohsaka Gakuen - Nakatsu Shuichi-chan, Ashiya Mizuki-chan, and Sano Izumi-chan. They are holding hands. MY SPARKLY, PINK DRAG OT3.