Enka no Joou ep 1+2

The Good

Amami Yuki: Damn good acting as Himawari. Unfortunately, good acting + crap story does not equal watchable show

Sakai Wakana: hotness. Last saw recurring role I saw her in was Koi Seyo otome. I'm interested in seeing what she can do besides the uber kawaii woman.


The bad

Storywise, this show is boring. Basically its about the dumbest woman in Japan who happens to have a thing for a loser who's screwed her life too many times to count. Seriously, how the fuck do they expect the audience to get behind her? Compare this with the initial idea of 101 Proposals. 101 was suppose to be a dark comedy about a guy who screws up his life in pursuit of a woman. (They changed the story to a happy ending after it became too popular)

Fukuda Mayuko just doesn't look comfortable playing a happy character. Someone write her another dark and depressing role.

My point is, to get behind a character they need to have a goal and they can't be too stupid. Himawari wants to get to Kouhaku but is she working to that goal? No. She's still getting involved with Hitoshi's business. Basically, I don't give a fuck about any of the characters in the show.

Humour? What humour. Its not funny. Unless you find an idiotic enka singer ruining what's left of her life to be funny. There's no drama. There's no humour. What's the freaking point of the show?



The ugly

Only in Japan can a show have a married man go to a love hotel with a joshi kousei and not get arrested for statutary rape. Or have right wing groups boycotting the show for promoting enjokousai. Wait.... that's not a bad thing... is it?

Yes, I know Narumi Riko has lotsa potential but for gods sake, just wait til she's 18. On a side note, I believe the legal age in Japan is 13 or something. Don't quote me on that but I think I have the link in my bookmark somewhere...

The ratings. This story needs to go somewhere interesting quick.

2006 Jdorama ramblings (special OL edition)

I'm too lazy to look for pics/make caps so I hope you'll enjoy these OL pics. The only thing hotter than joshi kousei are OLs... and CAs.... and maids..... So let the rambling begin!

14 SAI NO HAHA

Not gritty or realistic enough which was the same problem with Ichi Litre no Namida. Except in Ichi Litre I had Sawajiri Erika to perv at. Its too easy for Miki to say she was going to have the baby. The ones who are going to suffer are going to be the parents. Its more their decision than hers. They're the ones who are going to have to work hard for the next 20 years to raise their grandchild on top of their two kids. Miki is going to be more of a sister than mother and she can just live of her parents, child support and gov assistance for the rest of her life.

My problem is not the direction of the story but how its told. Somehow the fact that Miki and her family are so well dressed and made up doesn't make them to be the struggling middle class family. I just find the script dialogue too fantastical. Yeah I know doramas are not realistic but the complete lack of realism has prevented me from having apathy with the characters. This needs to be done in a more 'Daremo Shiranai' style.


AKIHABARA@DEEP

I just like the kick arse girl. I just find the stereotypical potrayal of the Otakus boring. Still watchable though its not on my list of priorities to finish.

BYAKUYAKOU

Love the misery. Unfortunately this show slowly losing the momentum from the 1st episode. After going to a fast pace start, the show shifted down to 3 gear for too long. Still its better than most shows.



DANCE DRILL

How can a show about cheerleaders be this boring........ I doubt watching the subbed version will change my mind.

KAZOKU

What a big waste of potential. I thought the writer had some grand plan but in the end, it ended too easily with lots of potential storylines unexplored. And they basically made Shin-chan completely useless to the story. WTF is the ending for his characters arc? Did someone not go to writing schoool.



KUROSAGI

Horribly written. I thought all the scams would at least get better and more complex instead they got boring. The main charactert is fucking horribly miscast. The disguises are so fucking lame and unconvincing. Not to mention really horrible ending which was my main reason for sticking with the show until the end. I just loved the having to work with my sworn enemy in order to get revenge against him bit.

NODAME

Very well done show. Just somehow didn't have the 'heart' that Swing Girls did. Can't fault them for excellent effort. Still a very watchable show, just not the classic it could have been. Now where did I put my Swing Girls dvd?



SUPPLI

Horrible show. Itoh Misaki should never be main actress again and that Kame needs to be shot. Can you say completely no chemistry whatsoever? And Itoh Misaki tried her best but she can't complex characters. Wanted to continue watching just for Shiraishi Miho and Shida Mirai but its not worth it. Maybe I should hire someone to edit out the main storyline. It had a very interesting side story.... sigh. Lame attempt to mix Long Vacation + Love Generation.

TATTA HITOTSU NO KOI

Someone shoot/hang/strangle that Kame fucker now. In the name of all that is good, get him the fuck away from jdoramas. At the very least, let him show he can act in supporting roles b4 pushing him. The 1st episode is too horribly written to speak off. Even Toda Erika could not make me watch ep 2.

HamsapSukebe Jdorama awards 2006

I was going to do one last year but I kept waiting for the last ep of Jyou no Kyoshitsu to come out and by the time it did, it was too late to do one. I did not watch every series out there and some series are not completely subbed yet, eg Byakuyakou but its still fun to look back and try to remember all the shows I watched.

BEST ACTOR: Abe Hiroshi (KDO)


Fucking no brainer of the year. Abe Hiroshi is most remembered as Ueda from Trick series and for playing numerous supporting characters. His magnificant acting in KDO gave life to one of the most memorable characters in Jdorama. His performance is a joy to watch.

Runner ups: Toyokawa Etsushi (Bengoshi no Kuzu), Kusanagi Tsuyoshi (Boku no Aruku Michi), Nagase Tomoya (My Boss My Hero)

BEST ACTRESS: Natsukawa Yui (KDO)

What, I actually beat all those skanky hos?

Very crowded field but end of the day, no woman captured my heart more than Hayasaka sensei. Her performance was nuanced yet spoke loudly. While she may not be able to carry a show, her acting had something that all the gravure idols turned actresses don't have: depth.

Runner ups: Ueno Juri (Nodame), Aya Euto (Attention Please)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Furata Arata (Galcir)


He really carried this show from so-so to really good. Brilliant comedic actor and most memorable supporting character besides Ken and Stresemann.

Runner ups: Abe Sadao (Iryu) Ken-chan (KDO, yes I know he's a dog)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Aragaki Yui (My Boss, My Hero)


There is no character who is more a paragon of innocence and joushi-kousei kawainess than Umemura-san.

Runner ups: Kuninaka Ryoko (KDO)

BEST GUEST ACTOR: Mitsuya Yoko (KDO & Bengoshi no Kuzu)


She appeared in just one episode in both series and she made the eps so much better. She may not be main actress material (yet) but her short lived appearances in both series were certainly very memorable.

BEST SOUNDTRACK: Iryu

No show comes close to how fucking excellent the music was in this show. There's a lot of moments which could have been lough out corny and lame but the music just made it so... cool.

Runner up: Nodame

BEST DORAMAS of 2006:

3) Iryu



Doesn't win any awards in the acting department except for Abe Sadao as the alcoholic anesthetian but its a bloody solid show. Damn good pacing, excellent music and gripping story.

2) Boku no Aruku Michi



Didn't really like it at first but the characters really grew on me it just kept getting better by the episode. Excellent acting, memorable characters and beautiful ending. What more could a d-addict ask for?

1) Kekkon Dekinai Otoko


One of the greatest jdoramas ever. This is one show where the characters have so much depth that they practically wrote the story themselves. Best writing and dialogue I've ever seen in Jdoramas ever. Hate to say it, but they'll never be another show like it. (Though I'd love to be proven wrong)

Sailor Fuku to Kikanjuu ep 3

This could be a great series, instead its bloody let down by shoddy writing. Take ep 3 for example which dwells on Sakuma's past. Yakuza with dead girlfriend story is cliched but works for sympathy, especially if the girl is really hot. The viewer will be pissed off that they can't perv at her for the rest of the series. Besides empathy, having a dead gf gives the yakuza license to do acts of extreme violence but still remain the 'face' of the show.

Hoshi Izumi surveying her WMDs.

The problem here is the brother of dead gf wanting to get revenge on Sakuma. OMG, it is one of the lamest plotlines ever. Hello, your sis died protecting Sakuma. Its not like he fucking shot her. And they try to justify Yuji's desire for revenge by saying that Sakuma is not remorseful cause he continued as a Yakuza.

Of course this all lead to the enevitable showdown with Hoshi Izumi crying that the sis died for Sakuma, he hasn't forgotten her blah blah blah. Someone should have fired the writer(s) and hired me. I can't believe the writer wrote Mukodono.

Real nice shot of Kyoizumi Kyoko and Nagasawa Masami. IMO They should have more screen time together...

What I would have done is spend more time making Yuji's blame on Sakuma more plausible. Say the gf wanted Sakuma to quit and he couldn't because of loyalty so they broke up. Then he changes his mind, goes see her and she gets shot. That would make more sense for Yuji to be pissed off. Or he gets shot and he comes crawling to her and his assailant follows and kills her.

Sailor fuku wo, nugasanaide, ima wa dare....

The other weak point is that they never said whether he or Yuji avenged her. Maybe they'll use it later in the series but its lame that they didn't even address it. Even if they bring it up later, how many freaking years has it been since she died?

The humour in this show is not funny; its stupid. The whole lame protecting Hoshi Izumi skit just makes the Medaka gumi seem like idiots. Not to mention that bald head on fire part. How much money did they spend on the lame smoke CG?

This exactly what I want to see in this show! Love this cap...

The high point of the episode is Hoshi Izumi getting pissed off and ready to kill. The whole draw of this show is wanting to see her transform from innocent joushi kousei to arse-kicking kumicho which is why I'll still follow this series. Its a damn shame that the writing sucks. Still, there's signs that the series is kicking into high gear. There's going to be lots of fighting and people are going to die. And I'm intrigued by Kyoizumi Kyoko's character. As long as they cut down on the failed attempts at humour, this show still can be saved.

Preview of ep 4. Goddam I'm excited, although I'm not into SM bondage......

Ohyama Yurika - Kind of Blue

Best album of the year. To be fair, I haven't been listening to many albums, mostly singles. However, I've been listening to Kind of Blue everyday for the past month and I've yet to get bored. If you haven't heard of her, its because she's not a jpop idol but rather a folk song singer. My exposure to Japanese Okinawa folk music has been limited to Begin, Natsukawa Rimi and of course Hello Project's Folk song series.



Generally they're like most of Kiroro's songs. Easy listening, catchy but you can't listen to them for long. Somehow I find myself addicted to Ohyama Yurika. Yes, its only been a month but goddamit, the most of the songs are fucking excellent and varied.

The best song is Chiisana Koi no Uta. It has a quick beat, very catchy and shows her singing range well. Good song for walking to work in the morning. Big thanks to Yui-Tokyo on jpopmusic for uploading the album. Special mention for the song Erabu no Komoriuta. I just love this line: 'Saiki no kodomo no dejinadon, anime mita sugu famicom.' Kinda describes my life. :)



Unfortunately the mediafire link for the album has been deleted but I highly recommend getting it if you can find the album. You can get the PV for Chisana Koi no Uta from http://ladyteruki.free.fr/.