Kazoku ep 6

Another reason I'm sorta enjoying this series is cause I work in family law and its interesting to see how it works in different countries. I'm pretty sure what they show in doramas is not a true representation of what actually happens just like how murder trials are never as exciting as the movies. Sigh, if only Rikon Bengoshi were subbed.


From my understanding, to divorce in Japan, it needs to have the consent of both parties and from the show it seems that children and financial matters need to be settled before it can happen. I'm not going to bore you with why I think fault based divorce is stupid but Japan needs to get on with the times.

Hoshino Mari looking absolutely vampish.

My favourite part of ep 6 has to be Hoshino Mari. She injected much needed humour and babe factor into the show and I'm pissed off that it seems she won't be back. Sigh, from playing the main actress in Hoshi no Kinka 3 to playing a small role to Otsuka Ai to a 3 minute appearance. Kinda reminds me of Tanaka Rena's all too brief role in Overtime. (which was the only good thing about that overrated show)

More Hoshino Mari!!!!!!!!

We've got something going on between Ryohei and Shiori but:

1) Its just a freaking tease
2) She's not been developed enough to make it interesting.

Shiori is basically living the life that Satomi could have had. Wouldn't it be interesting if she were willing to abandon it for Satomi's old life while Satomi wants to discard hers? Instead we get the whole going to foreign country for a few years thingie.


This show hinges on Ryohei and the have not built up Miho sensei or Shiori to make it interesting. They're showing Satomi as an ungrateful bitch and the whole Ryohei and Shin-chan father/son thing is getting boring. This show really needs Hoshino Mari goddammit.

STRESSEMAN'S WORDS OF WISDOM

Oh yeah, forgot to add my favourite piece of dialogue from Nodame 5:

Sake to ka, tabako to ka, onna to ka, tekitonishete nagaikishite kudasai......

Sake to, tabako to, onna nakureba....

Watashi shinimasu.

Nodame Cantabile 4 + 5

4 and 5 are an improvement over 2 and 3. Ep 4 is about S'Oke's first performance and there's no way to mess up a story about underdogs getting together. And it made me want to get a kotatsu for winter, not that I need it since I don't watch tv. Ep is more of a backstory of Stresemann and sets up the 2nd half of the show.

Ueno Juri's performance as Nodame is for naught if she continues to get treated like a supporting character. FFS, this show is called Nodame, not Chiaki!

I've got to say, after watching Teppan Shoujo Akane, I've come to appreciate just how good the acting in this show is. I just love watching Stresemann and his horrible Japanese. Its a damn shame that he'll be out of the story. (hopefully not to long) To me, he is the glue that held the show together because all the physical violence/bondage and Masumi-chan stuff is not funny at all. In short, he's the best supporting character and getting rid of him is stupid. Masumi and Mine are just hopeless as supporting characters.

Stresemann with the MILF richijou...

Its a damn shame that they featured Sakura in ep 3 and now she only gets a line or two here and there. Yes storyline wise, she no longer has a purpose but at least she has a funny backstory.

I just find the Stresemann/Nodame stuff funny. Erojijii + innocent/naive girl = comedy gold

As I've said before, this show is technically pretty good. But something is missing. Chemistry? Better jokes? I'm still planning to continue with the show though. The forst 5 eps have been a slow build up for Nodame. Now it seems the show will get into the meat of the Nodame/Chiaki story. I'm not confident they can make it compelling though.

Hhhmm, nothing turns me on like girls who know how to blow......

My finale big complaint is the show not using the good actors in the show. They got Sakurai from densha and Nishimura Masahiko. You've got two veteran actors who can do comedy well and they're relegated to playing teachers who say like 2 lines an episode??? And seriously, how can Iwasa Mayuko be relegated to background character? Is there no justice in the world?


She had such a small part in Gal Circle and now she's just another KLFA. :(

Uni Days (sung to the tune of Yesterday by the Beatles)

Uni days,
Working life just seemed so far away
Now it seems I've to suffer everyday
Oh I believe in uni days

Suddenly, no more free time like it used to be,
Waking at 7 everyday is not easy
Oh uni days, left suddenly

Why does working life suck
I dun know why weekdays so slow
I said where my weekend go
Now i long for uni days

Uni days, life was cs and sc everyday
Now its so hard to find time to play
Oh I believe in uni days

Why does working life suck
I dun know why weekdays so slow
I said where my weekend go
Now i long for uni days

Uni days, watch dorama and anime everyday
Now I don't even have time to get laid
Oh I believe in uni days

Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm.

Satorare

Telepathy is the ability to read others' thoughts, an ability that anyone would want. A satorare is the direct opposite of a telepath in that anyone within close proximity can hear a satorare's thoughts. Satorares are rare and the only benefit of their (dis)ability is their genius which gives the government incentive to protect them.


I watched this show 2 years ago so my enthusiasm for this show has died down a bit. The most important thing when watching this show is to ignore all the plotholes and gaps in logic. The show has a most unusual concept and the fun is in exploring the storyline possibilities. One inherent flaw/characteristic of Japanese shows is the lack of time spent on exposition/ explanation. I personally don't mind as long as it means the time is spent on telling stories.


And I'm glad that the show takes a light hearted approach to its tone. Main reason I watched the show without subs is Tsurata Mayu. WTF is she not in more jdoramas? She is fucking hot for a woman in her 30s. The only other actress who could have pulled off Hayasaka in KDO would be her. Maybe they should do KDO 2007 with Tsuruta Mayu. Hhhmm.


While taking screencaps I noticed something else; she pouts a lot which doubles the kawaii factor. Someone please put her on prime time jdoramas. I can definitely see her taking Ishida Yuriko's role in Kazoku. And if someone has Good News, pls upload it to d-addicts. I only managed to get 2 eps off streamload years ago.


Long story short, Satorare is guaranteed to give you hours of fun provided you don't overanalyse things. I'm having fun watching it again, wishing I had more Tsuruta Mayu doramas. :(

Kazoku: ~Tsuma no Fuzai, Oto no Sonzai~ ep 1-4

Not another family dorama. And I never thought Takenouchi Yutaka as a great actor. He's above average but his characters have never been compelling. Well its got Ishida Yuriko so I gave it a shot. And after 4 episodes, I must confess that I'm bloody enjoying this show.

Although I'm hating Ishida Yuriko's character(Satomi). Actually a woman who will not bleed her husband dry from spousal and child maintenance does not exist. Its kinda hard to symphatize with Satomi. She just comes off as too stubborn.

Portait of a happy kazoku, not.

To be fair to Satomi, this show is about Ryohei and Saeki's pseudo father son relationship so I guess you can't go showing everyone in a sensitive light. Kimura Tae plays the poorly written Shiori. She's Satomi confidant but somehow you get the feeling that she's a bit cold blooded and sometimes she's awkwardly sensitive. In order words, its hard to work out her agenda. One minute she's telling Satomi to bleed Ryohei dry and the next that Ryohei's not as bad as she sad. Or perhaps she's conflicted between acting as Satomi's friend and lawyer.

Yes, anyone would be so happy in the morning if they could bonk Ishida Yuriko every night.

The lack of time for Shiori is irritating, given that her story is interesting. The biggest mystery is why I enjoy this show. Its not different from other kazoku doramas yet I'm hooked. Maybe its the pacing. The show is about divorce and family life in general but so far every episode has tackled the issue from different angles.

Gotta get me one of those bengoshi pins........

The main problem is the ending. If this is one of those ones where in the end everyone says, 'I've gotten stronger, blah blah', and go their separate way aka the no-ending I'm going to feel so ripped off. And most likely that's the way its going to go with them not giving enough time to the kindergarden teacher, played by Eiji's kanojo from KDO.


I think ultimately the fun of the show is watching Ryohei cope with life. He is probably the most symphathetic father ever in jdoramas. Or maybe just the very low expectations I had with this show. But do give this a try. Sometimes, simple doramas are best.

Nodame Cantabile ep 3

Didn't really enjoy ep 2. That Masumi-chan is super irritating. Perhaps it has more to do with the shoujoness of the show. All the of characters are basically 2d shoujo stereotypes; the proud, ambitious driven hero, the klutzy heroine, etc. Not every jdorama can feature well fleshed out characters but as long as there's eye candy/enough jokes, then I'm happy.


Ep 3 is one such episode. with the story concentrating on Sakura-chan. She's just sooooo kawaii. And she plays your typical very poor (bimbo) girl struggling to make ends meet. I like that they did not milk her story but went straight for the jokes.


Stresemann is a hoot. Sukebe jijis are always fun to watch. I can't complain about the acting. What's missing is the element of story. Nodame just seems to be a side character and everything just revolves around Chiaki. However, it seems that ep 4 will go back to the main story instead of introducing characters. Maybe the story will start picking up speed then.


Hard to discribe how I feel about the show. Its well done, well acted, music's great and all but I'm just not excited. I enjoyed ep 3 but I just feel like something's missing. Maybe its just a shoujo dorama thing. But I still recommend ep 3, if only for Saeko. :)

Sailor Fuku to Kikanjuu ep 1

My most anticipated dorama this season. The title translates to Sailar Suit and Machine Gun. With a name like that, what's not to love? As I've said before girls + anything cool make good movies/dorama. Eg: girls + swords, girls + cars or girls + girls. Anyways, the lovely Nagasawa Masami plays the character of Hoshi Izumi, the last remaining heir of the Medaka yakuza clan.

Kicking arse and taking names...

I like how the show starts by showing the end, with Izumi and Sakuma, her no.2 kicking down a door and shooting people. Gives you the incentive to sit through all the character development stuff. The first episode basically introduces the characters and lays out the story for the series: Izumi's quest for revenge and the survival of the Medaka-gumi.

The lovely Koizumi Kyoko looking more her age. Hope her role is decent in this show.

There's subtle humour in this show and it doesn't take itself too seriously. High school girl whose the head of a yakuza clan isn't that realistic but I'm happy they didn't go totaly crazy like MBMH. Nagasawa Masami clearly shows that she deserves to be a leading actress. She's got screen presence. Taking screencaps, I kinda noticed that she doesn't look that hot yet watching the show, I couldn't take my eyes of her. Acting wise, she is brilliant and in some ways reminds me of Hirose Ryoko without the neko smile. I can't decide who is better, her or Ueno Juri.


Tsutsumi Shinichi plays Makoto Sakuma, the man who supposed to be head of Medaka. Like all characters named Makoto, he's your straight shooting, honest fella. I'm just glad he's in the show cause he's a damn good actor.


Still too early to judge the series. I had fun, didn't fast forward and am damn looking forward to watching ep 2.

verdict: Highly watchable.