5 reasons to watch Sukeban Deka codename: Asamiya Saki

1) You just want to watch the short hair girl from Melon Kinenbi get blown up. Personally I'd rather watch Shibata Ayumi blowing something else...

That's what you get for taking up precious PV time from Shibata Ayumi!

2) You want to hear Matsuura Aya say 'fuck'.

I can't believe they fired Kago for smoking and sleeping with an older guy while Ayaya gets paid to curse on the big screen.

3) This is probably the last time we'll see Ayaya in a sailor fukuu.

Ok, not the best shot of her in Sailor Fukuu but goddamn we know who's the man in their relationship.

4) Just to see how well Rika can play a villain.

Hhmm, me like Evil Rika. Good thing she didn't use her ultimate weapon in the movie, her ultra high pitched barely tolerable attempts to be kawaii.

5) Ayaya vs Rika + yoyos = turn on.

Personally they should have put Fujimoto Miki in and made it a HP! threesome.

I know where I would be aiming for if I were in Ayaya's position. :)

That said, this movie is horrible. Even if you're a HP fan, this movie is intolerable. The lame attempts at making a story are lame. FFS, this movie is about a girl who fights with a yoyo! Stop with all that stuff about internet chat groups, bomb, bullying etc. All this movie needed was simple villain plot and interesting villains for Ayaya to fight. Still, its slightly better than the abomination that was Morning Cop or Pinch Runner. On second thought, Pinch Runner is still the most tolerable HP movie just cause of the Maki in the rain scene.

Ohyama Yurika + Toda Erika = th3 w1n!

Excuse me ladies, are you free for a menage a trois?

Haven't updated my jpop stuff in ages and found out that Ohyama Yurika has a new single, Haru Iro. The song's nothing not that great except that this is her second PV with Toda Erika in it. Obviously these two have some sort of friendship going on. I'm guessing its cause they're both from Okinawa or something. Anyway, I'm just happy to see my current favourite singer and one of my fav actresses in the same PV.


Yes, Matsuura Aya is no longer at the top of my list. GAM looks good on paper but their songs aren't memorable and there's no harmony in the singing. While Haru Iro has the PV going for it, the B-side song, Sakura Saku is one addictive song. Before I knew it, I was looping the freaking song singing along to the chorus. This is the first time I've heard of an artist doing a PV for a B side single. Maybe the producer realised that they couldn't fit Toda Erika into the Sakura Saku single and they might as well market both songs.

Just can't get enough of Toda Erika!

IMO, I hope Haru Iro starts a new trend of having two girls in a PV instead of the boy meets girl in park/tower/school etc. More eye candy they can squeeze into a five minute PV means guys like me will want to see it more. For Ayaya's next PV, they could have Nacci come over to her room for some 'playstation'. At the very least, Toda Erika should be in every Ohyama Yurika PV from now on.

You can get the mp3s and PVs from jpopmusic here.

Konshu Tsuma ga Uwaki Shimasu ep 1-4

Ta-su-ke-te! Ta-su-ke-te! Aarrgh, can't get the theme song out of my head!

With a title which translates to 'my wife is having an affair this week', this became a must check out show. And I'm damn grateful to D-fansubs for picking up this show. Yusuke Santamaria is probably the best in playing the bumbling underdog salaryman. One cannot but root for any of the character he potrays. Once again he plays Dodoh Hajime, an assistant editor in a lowly magazine who is happily married to Ishida Yuriko who seems like the perfect wife.

If your wife's having an affair with such a regular looking guy, there must be something wrong with you!

However one day Hajime mistakenly took his wife's phone and discovered some suspicious emails. The first three episodes are about him agonising over the emails, trying to convince himself that he had jumped to the wrong conclusion. What I enjoyed about the 3 episodes was that it was still possible that the wife was not cheating on him. But then, there's no way one could write 11 episodes about a husband mistakenly believing his wife was cheating on him.

I'm getting bored by Ishida Yuriko's 'acting'. There's plenty of 30+ actresses who are better. Hada Michiko, Moriguchi Yoko or Tsurata Mayu. hhhmmm

Ep 4 sees Hajime finally confront his wife and her lover and its nice to see Santamaria Yusuke play an angry character. Usually when the characters he portrays gets angry, it always ends up in a comedic situation. Now that Hajime has discovered his wife's treachery, what is left for the remaining 7 episodes? Well, we've yet to hear his wife's 'explaination' for her adultery and we'll see who gets the kid, house and money.

Hhmm, she's certainly grown up since Kimi ga Oshiete Kureta koto.

And there's the interesting part of Tamako, Hajime's colleague played by Tomosaka Rie. Taking a cue out of Densha Otoko, Hajime turns to a bbs to seek advice on his troubles and Pudding being a divorcee has been giving him advice. Somehow he finds out that Pudding is Tamako but doesn't reveal himself as the poster which would make for some interesting stuff in the next episodes.


Shows on adultery are always fun to watch, its just that the endings are always boring. If this show has one weakness, its the lack of a strong side story or two. We have Nishimaru Masahiko (and toupee) playing a cheating lawyer who offers Hajime advise but its more to create some comedic moments. The IMO show hinges too much on Hajime's character which can be a little tiring. Nevertheless, its been a very entertaining 4 episodes and I'm looking forward to see what happens next. As long as they keep up the comedy, the show should be very watchable.

Which is better, supporting actor in big name dorama or main actor in low budget one?

Jmovie review: Nada Sou Sou

Warning: spoilers below. If you're into Nagasawa Masami (who isn't), you owe it to yourself to watch this movie!

If you're not familiar with the Natsukawa Rimi song, then you've abviously not been watching Kouhaku the past few years. The song lasted for more than a year (or something like that) in Japan's top 100 not to mention it was on Kouhaku 3 years in a row. Basically the song's so famous that they've made a movie based on the lyrics.


And I've got to say, its a bloody good movie. Tsubamaki Satoshi, the dude from Orange Days plays Yotaro, a high school drop out who works as a waiter, dreaming of one day opening his own restaurant. Nagasawa Masami plays Kaoru, Yotaro's half sister who he has been taking care of since her father ran off and his mother died. Yes, I know this sounds like one of those Korean shows but fear not, its done the Japanese way: subtle and not melodramatic.

Luckiest bastard in the world....

The first hour is fucking brilliant. Somehow, they've managed to cram like 5 jdorama episodes worth of stuff into an hour. We've got Kaoru coming to live with Yotaro after a few years apart, flashbacks on their history, setting up characters and Yotaro getting scammed. The second hour slows down a bit too much compared to the 1st hour but its still good. The only complaint I have is the show should have ended with Yotaro's death. As I have said, this show is subtle and the whole talk on the beach and kimono scene is too melodramatic and just doesn't fit with the movie.

What I wouldn't do be in his position.

I have to say, the real star of the show is Tsubamaki Satoshi. His acting as Yotaro is great. He's this stubborn underdog who's been screwed by life and only lives for the happiness of his sister. I really can't imagine any other young actor playing his role as well. Maybe that has something to do with him not being a Johnny?

With a sister like Nagasawa Masami, Asou Kumiko doesn't stand a chance.

Of course, the main attraction is Nagasa Masami. Fuck, she is so kawaii. She basically spends the whole show shouting 'Nii nii' (okinawan dialect for onichan) but she looks too goddamn adorable. After the train wreck that was Sailor Fukuu, its great to see a show that maximises her potential. Love the way how she plays Satomi as very cheerful girl yet she has a serious side that she does not want to show Yotaro. Its like the adorable sister bit is all an act to hide her true feelings. And in a way, her exaggerated act is her way of showing her emotions while masking them.


I highly recommend the movie. At the very least, its a good 2 hour music video for the song with Nagasawa Masami for eye candy. Now, who's going to make a movie based on Love Machine?

Enka no Joou and HYD2

Enka no Joou


Well, I stuck around the show until the end. Mostly due the fact that the writer wrote Jyouu no Kyoushitsu, one of the best written jdoramas ever. The 1st half bored me to tears with the lack of humour and characters I don't care about. So the important question here is, do I regret sticking with the show until the end?

Not really. At least I sorta get what the writer was trying to do with the show. Basically the writer is saying that its not about the dumb choices that Himawari makes but that she sees her choices through and does not regret making them. I get the point except that Himawari's choices spell idiocy rather than determination.

How the fuck some loser like Hitoshi end up with Sakai Wakana?!

And Hitoshi is a fuckwit. I don't care how many times he cries, gets down on his knees and says he wants to cure his mom. Actions speak louder than words and he is neither sympathetic nor funny. Its sort of a parable featuring not so 'flawed' characters except their flaws are too exagerrated to the point that on one would want to be friends with Himawari or Hitoshi in real life. The only character I was rooting for was Masami, and it had nothing to do with wanting to root Sakai Wakana.

I know what you're thinking: can't wait til Fukuda Mayuko turns 18!

That said I don't regret watching this show. Why? Cause the show had ambition. That's better than a lot of generic doramas out there. At leastthe writer tried something different. Not every show can be KDO or Long Vacation. At least this show made a failed attempt at black humour. I got the message (at the end)of what message of the show was but the way they were trying say it bored the hell out of me.

Hana Yori Dango 2

Can you say extreme hotness?

Wheeeeeeee! Toda Erika! I think somehow subconsciously I knew she was going to come in. That's the only possible explanation for me finishing this show. Before we get back to her, I've gotta say two things: Hanazawa Rui giving up killed whatever momentum the second season had. The 'hero' is only as good as the 'bad guy'. Hanazawa Rui is the best 'villain' for Domyouji to fight cause I think most people could see Makino with either and the possibility is the best thing this series has going for it.

Is the shot of her getting up going to be on the DVD?

I can't believe someone dusted out the lose memory plot to basically add one more episode in. As much as I love seeing Toda Erika on screen her character and plotline is basically reduntant. That said she positively shines as the last minute challenger to Makino and doesn't have the supporting character feel no matter how crap her character's motivation is. At least she provided me with motivation not to fast forward all her parts, unlike the rest of the series.

I'm always happy to give Toda Erika more than seconds. :)

My Wife is a Gangster 3

The hallmark of a martial artist - having an invisible hair blowing machine.

The first movie was a classic, the second an incoherent mess and the third one, well it has Hsu Chi which should be reason enough to watch as long as its not as bad as your typical HK movie. The first movie worked because of humour. A typical everyman gets married to a female gangster and hilarity ensues. The writers clearly had no idea what to sequel and it was made just to cash in on the success of the 1st.


In the third movie, Hsu Chi plays Ah Ryoung, the daughter of a HK triad boss who runs to Korea after being framed for murder. Her father is friends with a Korean mafia boss who arranges a bumbling underling, Ki Chul to be her host. Hsu Chi spends the whole film speaking mandarin which is great for me but couldn't they have made her the daughter of a Taiwanese triad boss instead?


Anyway, this makes for great comedy in the form of a mandarin translator who is hired to help facilitate communication between Hsu Chi and Ki Chul. The translator at first starts off as a timid country girl who intentionally mistranslates in order to prevent any flare ups between the two. Its funny how as she gets bolder, she starts mistranslating to her own advantage.

Words cannot describe how hilarious the above scene is.

2nd best thing about the movie is the car-dry humping scene. I'm pretty sure the main actor had a hell of a time shooting. Car sex in movies will never be the same again. The biggest flaw of the movie is no closure for Ki Chul's two henchmen and the translator. After Hsu Chi leaves Korea, they are quickly forgotten. Those three practically saved the movie with the comedy for 1 1/2 hours and it makes the movie incomplete. They could have trimed the fight scenes a lot.

And chemistry is really lacking between Hsu Chi and Ki Chul. Plus the fact that they can't even converse makes their mutual attraction puzzling. I mean language is no barrier, for example my love for Matsuura Aya but FFS, they should have made her speak some basic Korean or something.

I love how her old fashion underwear always gets exposed, lol.

Speaking of fight scenes, theres a lot of cool imagery but everything just feels flat and not put together well. Someone needs to learn that less is better. Too much unconvincing wire-fu is not entertaining. Overall, the movie had me laughing and Hsu Chi is hot enough to distract me during the boring bits. Decent comedy.