#🌙 | 照相机 : flashing lights reflect in their eyes.

[yuelianghua]

𝐍𝐇𝐊 | 𝐙𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐲𝐮𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐆𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐙𝐈𝐏! 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐤𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐢 𝐀𝐭𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢'𝐬 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲

Actress and Singer Zhang Yingyue makes a rare appliance on TV to discuss the passing of BUCK-TICK's vocalist Sakurai Atsushi and his life as a musician in celebration of what would've been his 58th birthday.

For this episode, Yamashita Kenjiro interviews Zhang in ZIP's studio, alongside them visiting Hua Entertainment's newest office in Tokyo to go through the archives and share behind the scenes work with Sakurai.

During the interview, Zhang wore an all black velvet dress, with the same MIKIMOTO pearl necklace Sakurai wore in his photoshoot for GQ Japan, where she helped styled him. At the time of this photoshoot, Zhang was already appointed as creative director and asked by BUCK-TICK's team to style Sakurai.

"That was the one of the last few time we worked together," Zhang states when asked about the necklace, "The final time we worked was when he asked me to design their last album's cover."

Zhang reflects back at the time she and Sakurai first met in 2011, when her film Buddha Mountain was chosen to screen at Tokyo Film Festival, where she won the best actress award.

"We met through mutual friends and we kept contact until I returned to music in 2018."

At the time, Zhang was beginning her career as an international actress rather than a domestic performer in China. Her friend who's a musician happened to be friends with a few Japanese artists and through a visit at venue where BUCK-TICK performed, is where Zhang and Sakura had their encounter.

Although worlds apart, the two continued to talk and Sakurai offered support when Zhang chose to return to making music.

In 2020, Zhang and Sakurai released two singles together, titled Eve/Spring. The EP charted on Billboard Japan's Top 3 stops for March and was featured in Zhang's concerts. The two would interact again by Zhang appearing on Sakurai's radio show in October to discuss music, a month after she announced the birth of her twins.

"Going on his radio show was the best thing to do at the time," Zhang recalls, "I wanted to ease my way back to the public, but with someone I trusted."

Zhang also shared with Yamashita that Sakurai visited her home a few days after the radio show to meet the newest additions to her family. He has also been present at special events like her and her children's birthdays.

In 2023, Zhang collaborated with BUCK-TICK to design their album cover for IZORA. it would be the last time Zhang and Sakurai would collaborate together.

"It still feels surreal," she says, while looking somber staring at the album cover, "There was an idea B-T wanted me to convey and I helped in that aspect. There's now a whole new meaning to it."

The album cover features doves flying in an infinite, and a spiraling staircase with a watery reflection of the moon at the end. Many fans now interpret the cover as Sakurai's presence forever on this earth, even after death.

Zhang returned to collaborate on BUCK-TICK's Live DVD cover, which matches with IZORA's cover. This cover features the moon phase which Sakurai has passed on.

"I look back at the time I had with him as a friend with a lot of fondness, "Zhang says, "There's not a lot of people in the industry I respect, and he was one of the few I saw as a friend and someone to rely on. I have nothing but good memories of him."

When asked about dating rumors or spectulation of Sakurai's daughter signing under Zhang's Entertainment company by other guests on ZIP, she dismissed them and she would rather focus on what's important than the gossip.

Although Sakurai is no longer with us, Zhang hopes to continue working with BUCK-TICK when the opportunity comes.

"There was a lot I learned from Sakurai-san," Zhang says, "I learned to love better, to live my life in my own terms, to express myself and continue making art to heal myself and everyone around. My hope is that we all can learn from how he lived his life despite the odds being against him. I want nothing but his memory to continue on."

[yuelianghua]

The Internet is set Ablaze after a deleted post claims Zhang Yingyue and Xu Lixue are Sisters

After it was announced that artist Xu Lixue was appointed director of Hua Entertainment’s upcoming museum HUA Museum of Film and Fashion, the internet began to speculate on how the two look eerily similar. A netizen claiming to be Xu’s cousin confirms those speculations and shared that Xu and Zhang are actually sisters. Revealing Hua Jianyu’s marriage to Zhang Chuangmei wasn’t his first.

The netizen shared that Hua Jianyu first marriage took place in 1974 to a woman who used to work at the bar he regularly played, before he reached fame. (Other netizens speculated Hua married a hostess at this suspected bar located in Macau). Xu Lixue was born the following year. However, Hua was an absent father as 1975 became the year he reached stardom. He divorced his first wife in 1976 and had abandoned his family to focus on his career. Hua later married Zhang Chuanmei and later had his second daughter, Zhang Yingyue, who he had a much closer and stable relationship until his death.

Xu Lixue tried her hand in acting in her early twenties, but did not see any success beyond the supporting actress role in TV dramas. By the time she entered her thirties, she left the entertainment industry to become a full-time artist, where she found her success in selling commissioned pieces and having her art displayed in museums.

The netizen also shared that Xu attended Hua Entertainment’s private events at Cannes Film Festival and the first Annual Cold Moon Gala, and wore a custom Hua dresses. The two alleged sisters have also been spending time together while Zhang is taking a break from public appearances due to her pregnancy.

Shortly after the netizen’s post went viral, the post was eventually deleted and the account went private. Since the claims, neither Zhang Yingyue or Xu Lixue confirmed the rumor. However, neither of the two make an effort to try to hide from the fact they’ve been spotted in public together. Zhang and Xu were last seen leaving Shanghai International Airport together.

[yuelianghua]

Zhang Yingyue’s YEAR OF THE RABBIT Trends on the Internet with Unreleased Songs

Shortly after the actress, singer and producer announced her retirement from music, Zhang Yingyue then announced and released a music gift box compiling her recent catalogue of albums and singles, and with a new EP of unreleased tracks removed or never finalized into final songs. The reception is overwhelmingly positive, however another side to the response is the controversy surrounding subjects of infidelity and power play in the industry Zhang may had self admitted to.

For nearly three years, it’s been long rumored that Zhang took part in cheating after actor and ex fiancé Li Jianguo had cheated on her multiple times and had two relationships while engaged. In the newly released, unreleased track Jinlian, Zhang seemingly admits to searching for another love while engaged to a bad man. The lyrics discuss sleeping with her close friend, who was in a relationship at the time, to then abandoning their affair for another man. The song clearly states that they both so unhappy with their relationships and that they had each other. She compares their affair to the story of the 2000 film In The Mood For Love. However, Zhang left him for good to leave behind her old life, to enter her new life with her current husband. Netizens recall the rumors of a secret affair going on between Zhang and Taiwanese rock musician and Blood Moon’s frontman, Huang Junjie (Luca Huang). The then deleted Instagram Live and article that addressed this alleged affair by Huang’s partner began to pick up conversation, leading to internet users to wonder if Zhang shut down this story so then she could profit off of it. Some netizens had strong opinions and called Zhang a hypocrite for silencing a person over her bad behavior. However, it was soon discovered the woman in question was discovered to had cheated on her husband for over three years, which resulted into their divorce, finalized last year. 

The following tracks that caused discussion among fans and netizens were Killer and Millennium Actress. Killer continues on the storyline from Jinlian, except it explicitly addresses Li Jianguo’s serial cheating and alleged abuse. Zhang calls him a “killer” of her dreams, career and her self esteem as an actress, and blames him for making the entire film industry turn against her, despite being the victim. Towards the end of the song, Zhang states she will take matters into her own hands and kill him off before he does. Then Millennium Actress concludes the series of events that have recently occurred.

Millennium Actress is a reference to the animated Japanese film that Zhang once sited as a source of inspiration. She takes this source material, and turns it into its own identity. While Zhang reflects her own career as an international actress with many awards and accolades throughout her career, she decides to leave that life behind to become something bigger and make the entire film industry her identity. Last year, it was rumored that her family from both her mother and father’s sides, and her in-laws are monopolizing the film industry by opening entertainment companies and slowly buying shares into well established studios. There isn’t much evidence to back up the rumor, but it’s clearly an aspiration Zhang desires. She desires control and money to take back the power and status she lost. Fans speculate that it’s a scrapped single meant to debut in 2020, as it was the year Zhang look a major backseat from public appearances and participating in film roles. Netizens have concluded for themselves that Zhang has already achieved this aspiration, due to the expansion of Flower Moon Entertainment (formally ZYY Studio) and being declared a billionaire by FORBES. Besides aspiring to take ownership of the film industry, Zhang seemingly calls out the actresses who blatantly take credit for the many opportunities she has created for other actresses. Zhang addresses the fact that there are many actresses, but none will be a star like her, and that her rise to fame and cultural impact is of her own making.

Netizens have called Millennium Actress a vanity song and some have decided to lose sympathy over Zhang’s situation. Some have concluded that Zhang has climbed the social ladder as an act of revenge for Li Jianguo derailing her career and called YEAR OF THE RABBIT an audacious project for Zhang to brag. While others and fans see this compilation as a work of art and took whatever Zhang sings about with a grain of salt, and sees it as an extension of Zhang’s I, Persona album. 

Since the release of YEAR OF THE RABBIT, Zhang Yingyue has not addressed any of the cheating allegations, nor anything regarding her turmoil relationship with Li Jianguo. Some actresses like Zanilia Lau seemingly responded to track Millennium Actress with “I’m on my own path. Don’t compare to me.” Although Lau has been accused of copying other actresses’ looks and mannerisms for her own gain, and even went on to date Will Feng when it has been long rumored that Feng and Zhang have dated in the past. Netizens openly mocked Lau’s post in the comments and called out her own hypocrisy. 

Despite the critical reception, YEAR OF THE RABBIt earned its first place in music charts in China, Japan and other countries in Asia. Zhang was last seen visiting Qingdao and is expected to attend Berlin International Film Festival for her new film Green Night. 

[yuelianghua]

𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓: 𝐙𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐲𝐮𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐤𝐚 𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐢 𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐑… 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐫

𝐴𝑡 𝑇𝑜𝑠𝑎𝑘𝑎 𝐻𝑖𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚𝑖’𝑠 𝐴𝑁𝑆𝑊𝐸𝑅… 𝑇𝑜𝑢𝑟, 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑔𝑢𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑍ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑌𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑦𝑢𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑔𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑖𝑟𝑜𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑚𝑎 𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠.

𝑫𝑨𝒀 𝑶𝑵𝑬

𝐴𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑇𝑜𝑠𝑎𝑘𝑎 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑠𝑢𝑛𝑔 𝐵𝐿𝑈𝐸 𝑆𝐴𝑃𝑃𝐻𝐼𝑅𝐸, 𝑍ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑌𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑦𝑢𝑒 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒, 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛 𝑎 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝐷𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑍ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔’𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝐿𝑢𝑛𝑒 𝑀𝑜𝑛 𝐴𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝐴𝑙𝑙 𝑁𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑑𝑢𝑒𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒, 𝑊𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟. 𝑇𝑜𝑠𝑎𝑘𝑎 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 “𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑑𝑜𝑤 𝐴𝑐𝑡” 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝐶𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑑. 𝑂𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑎𝑦, 𝑍ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑓𝑎𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑀𝑖𝑘𝑖𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑜 1907 𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑟𝑎, 𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑛 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐽𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑅𝑜𝑦𝑎𝑙 𝐹𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦, 𝑑𝑢𝑒 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑢𝑠𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑊𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝐾𝑢𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐸𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑟 𝐻𝑖𝑟𝑜ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑜’𝑠 𝑑𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑎 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐻𝑢𝑎’𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒.

𝑫𝑨𝒀 𝑻𝑾𝑶

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡, 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑤 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑍ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑌𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑦𝑢𝑒’𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒. 𝑈𝑛𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝐷𝑎𝑦 𝑂𝑛𝑒, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝, 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑎𝑦, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑆𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑠𝑢𝑖𝑡, 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑢𝑠𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑜𝑛𝑒.

𝑁𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑛𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑍ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔’𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠, 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑝 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑝ℎ𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑣𝑖𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑣𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑠. 𝐻𝑒𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑇𝑜𝑠𝑎𝑘𝑎 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑑𝑎𝑦’𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑠.

𝑍ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑇𝑜𝑠𝑎𝑘𝑎, 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑓𝑓 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎.