journal In This Issue: Film, Technology, Sports May 2007 Issue THREE MUST-SEE ASIAN FILMS Asian films continue to grow in popularity. IMPRINT recommends you to see these three films. IMPRINT OBSERVATION • The Forbidden Kingdom: pairs Jackie Taiyō Matsumoto. Tekkonkinkreet won Chan and Jet Li for the first time on the the prestigious Best Film Award at the • Trend: The last few years films from Asia big screen. It’s an action adventure with 2006 Mainichi Film Awards. It was also have done well in the box office espe- martial arts fight scenes, and is based on named the #1 film of 2006 in the annual cially in the horror and thriller genre the Chinese legend of the monkey king. "Best of" roundup by the New York sparking remakes which have won In the story, an American teenager dis- MOMA’s Artforum magazine. awards. The Asian American film world, covers the king’s legendary stick weapon is still on the rise, with more feature films in a pawn shop and is transported back • West 32nd: takes the cameras inside being produced than ever. Will they get in time to ancient China, where he joins New York's gritty Korean underworld. the reward of theatrical distribution? a crew of warriors fighting to free the Asian American filmmaker, Michael These films are still far behind the Asian imprisoned king. Kang’s (The Motel), next feature ex- film landscape, however, there are some plores a seedier subject. After hustling stunning achievements including Owl • Tekkonkinkreet: literally a combination his way onto a homicide case, attorney and the Sparrow by LA native Stephane of the Japanese terms for "iron," "con- John Kim (Cho) finds himself thrust into Gauger which won the top prize of the crete," and "muscles", is a 2006 feature- a sordid world of hard realities and moral 2007 San Francisco International Asian length Japanese anime film, directed by compromises after he is taken under the American Film Festival. Michael Arias and animated by Studio wing of a ruthless Korean gangster who 4°C, it’s an adaptation from Black and knows no limits. White, a one-volume manga series by [1] - People are online during long commuting - The fighters are now being respected hours by train makes. as boxers, no longer as wrestlers. JAPANESE - Popularity of blog based social networking - Athletes are being used as pitch “men” site, Mixi. and are also starring in Ultimate Fighter THE #1 BLOGGING - Wide variety of companies offering blog on Spike TV. service as a side service. - Pride fighters will appear more in - They use writing as a means of self- America giving more exposure to Asian LANGUAGE expression. athletes. Blogging is the new tool for news, trend watching, and marketing UFC BUYS PRIDE *small talk IMPRINT OBSERVATION MMA is growing at a rapid pace in T-SHIRT MOVEMENT America and together with PRIDE, it will expand further IMPRINT OBSERVATION • Trend: Japanese Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fever comes to Las Vegas. • MMA: Mixed Martial Arts is a combat sport in which a wide variety of fighting techniques are used, including striking • Trend: According to the 2006 fourth and grappling. MMA gained international UNIQLO T-shirt quarter results of the State of the Live exposure and widespread publicity in the UNIQLO launched UNIQLO US in 1993, when Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Web report issued by by Technorati, a T-Shirt (UT) in Harajuku, Tokyo blog search engine which at last count fighter Royce Gracie dominated the Ulti- tracks over 70 million weblogs, in terms mate Fighting Championship, sparking a of blog posts by language, English and revolution in the martial arts. The USA’s Chinese rank second and third, at 36% largest organization is the UFC (Ultimate and 8%, respectively. Edging out Eng- Fighting Challenge). Japan’s largest or- lish for first place this quarter was Japa- ganization is PRIDE. nese at 37%. • Observation: MMA is growing in the US, • Observation: Here are some reasons and it’s huge in Japan, filling 100,000 seat why Japanese is the number-one blog stadiums. Results are currently making posting language in the world, even with appearances in many major sports news- a population that’s 1/3 of that of the papers. graniph Taiwan United States. - Main audience are 16-35 y.o. Male and The Tokyo-based t-shirt specialty - Many people update their blogs via some Female store graniph will be opening its mobile phone frequently. - The fighters often dress in urban street newest location in Taipei, Taiwan. wear and are conscious about branding. IMPRINT IMPRINT TALK IMPRINT Conference http://imprint-life.com/ http://imprinttalk.com/ http://intertrend.com/imprint/IMPRIN IMPRINT is an interactive program cre- IMPRINT TALK is a forum to discuss T2006/ ated to tap into the growing influence of emerging trends in Asian Youth culture. Save the date Asian Youth. It is an initiative designed Topic include: Anime, Art, Auto, Fashion, Sep 13th, 2007 to voice the interests and motivations of Film, Game, Music, Sports, Technology Little Tokyo, Los Angeles Asian Youth who are at the heart of ur- and Toys. Please visit our site, and sign ban culture today. up! [2].