Sunday, June 24, 2007

Watashitachi no Kyokasho eps 1 + 2


I'd thought I'd never see another good high school teacher show again. Nothing can ever top GTO in the cool teacher department. Kinpachi sensei's covered every conceivable student problem. Jyoou no Kyoushitsu looked at the classroom as a reflection of society. Now comes Watashitachi no Kyokasho. What this show does well is to take various genres (bullying/legal/mystery) and combine them with solid cast and script.


Densha plays a substitute teacher who comes to a seemingly nice school but discovers that there's a lot beneath the surface. Shida Mirai plays Asuka, a loner who one day falls to her death and Kanno Miho plays a chain smoking lawyer who has ties to Asuka.

Just give her a leather outfit and a whip...

The first thing I commend this show on is that it shows the point of view of the teachers. Instead of showing teaching as an inspiring occupation, teachers are educational providers who struggle to please everyone. What I hope this show will do is show that a lot of decisions schools have to make are difficult because you can't please everyone all of the time.

I wish I had a teacher like her.....

The driving force behind the story is of course, Kanno Miho's personal quest for redemption. Densha is just the newbie teacher through whom the viewers follow the story. Plus we get a group of teacher with their own personal problems which I assume will be solved by Densha. All I ask is that they play down the melodrama and excuses.

Densha meets 14-sai no haha? Imagine a show where Densha is the father, lol.

And the perv factor is strong in this show. In addition to the lovely Kanno Miho, we have Maki Yoko (Tokyo Friends) as the Ice Queen teacher and Sakai Wakana (Enka no Joou) as the teacher who moonlights as a hostess. Two more reasons to watch this show: no bishounen who can't act in sight and the directing is top notch. It just looks different from all the other high school show out there. I would say that the high school setting in incidental to this story about responsibilities of a public institution.

OMG, I see Sakura, Leo from Warzard, Jin from Cyberbots and Viewtiful Joe! Its pretty obvious who's sponsoring the toys in this show. I want that Leo figure!

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Proposal Daisakusen Ep 1


If these 3 reasons cannot convince you to watch this show, nothing will.

1) Nagasawa Masami

The only reason you need to play sports in Japanese high schools..

2) Sailor Fukuu

Where's the wind when u need it?

3) Sailor Fukuu

Is there some symbolic meaning to this pic? I've never been so jealous of a tetris block before...

And btw, the story's pretty interesting too. Ken and Rei are osananajimi but Rei ends up marrying the cowboy from Galcir. This fairy who looks like Bengoshi no Kuzu shows up and offers him a way to go into the past to win Rei over. Of course with Nagasawa Masami being the no.1 most desired bride in Japan, no sane man will say no.

Embarrassed about her holding something in front of her mouth? :)

The fun thing is of course seeing how Ken attempts to change the past. While Yamashita's acting is not as obviously bad as Kurosagi, with a leading man who can actually act, this show might turn out to be a classic. One simple thing they could have done was to give him different hairstyles for present and past. At least they didn't cast Kame in this show.

OMFG, thank you Mr. Cinematographer!!!

And Nagasawa Masami is fucking good. Almost Hirosue Ryoko good but not quite. Not until she starts to play roles that don't hinge on her kawaiiness. WTF am I complaining about anyways. She had me glued to the screen all the way through. The humour is ok, a bit hit and miss but nowhere as bad as Hanayome no Papa.


The star of ep 1 is definitely the Sailor Fukuus. Its been a while since I watched a high school show and Sailor Fukuus are the Japanese's greatest invention besides Virtua Fighter and JAV.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Liar Game ep 9

Toda Erika with Mop Heads 1+2 while Akiyama looks on in amusement.

The 4th game is really interesting. Basically they're divided into two groups/countries and their mission is to 'smuggle' money from their 'bank accounts' in each other's countries. The catch is someone has to play the role of border inspector and guess the amount of money being smuggled with repercussions depending on guess and amount.

This look perfectly describe's Nao's role in the show.

As fate would have it, Nao-chan, Akiyama and the irritating Fukunaga get grouped together. However, this does not mean the other side is doomed. There's a new player, this dude with horrible white wig who claims be psychic. I like what this show is doing. Putting the villain (Fukunaga) with our heroes for a while and introducing a bigger threat.

Obligatory shot of the hot Liar Game assistant. I love mysterious women in black. :)

Unfortunately, Fukunaga is the same irritating mop head that he is and they even put mop head 2 in to the team, who turns out to be an even bigger arsehole than Fukunaga. Akiyama seems to be observing a lot in this ep and letting the others play the game.

What I'd do to have Toda Erika look at me like that....

I can't even comprehend wtf I would do if I were caught in the game. This is truly a battle of wits and ability to think under immense pressure. And that's why this show rules. Oh yeah, they had Fukunaga change his wadrobe and not Toda Erika? WTF is the logic in that. I was hoping she'd change to something from Galcir. :)

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Top 5 Female Celebrities Japanese men want to marry

Just saw this news link on Mainichi Daily News. Oricon did the same survey last year as well. What's interesting is that we can sort of take it as a popularity poll. So without further ado, lets look at who Japanese men dream about...

1) NAGASAWA MASAMI


After watching Nada Sou Sou, I can't say I blame them. Heck, I'll even settle for a sister like her. :)

2) MANABE KAORI

I believe she was in last year's list as well. (too lazy to look it up) Thing is, she's only in a few doramas so can't really comment. I think she's more active in the variety shows so not much to say.

3) YUKA


Wow, where did this come from? Only show I remember her from is Hatachi no Kekkon which was pedestrian. IMO, there are better gravure idols turned actresses but what do I know?

4) YASU MEGUMI

Can't remember her from Bengoshi no Kuzu but I can see her appeal.

5) AIBU SAKI


Who heartedly agreed. She's sorta like the new Yada Akiko. The supporting actress you want to marry after you've fucked the main actress. She had that homely, innocent girl going in Attention Please. And I'm happy to provide her with white milk to drink. :)

And finally here's my top 5 actresses/idols/singers I don't mind losing half of my money for:

1) ISOYAMA SAYAKA


Imagine waking up to that angelic face everyday. Plus she apparently can speak some English. :) I mean, she's so fucking hot no matter what she wears/do. Take a look at her in her OL outfit above. Totally hotness. If your're not convinced. Watch 2nd house.

2) TAKEUCHI YUKO


Yes, she's divorced and that's a good thing. The sleaze of a husband has to pay child support so that's less of a burden. If she's anything like her roles in Mukodono and Pride....

3) NAGASAWA MASAMI

See above.

4) OHYAMA YURIKA


Just cause she's my favourite singer right now and she's from Okinawa. IMO, Okinawan accent is sexy. Not to mention she's friends with Toda Erika. And I can't get Sakura Saku out of my head.

5) MATSUURA AYA


With Fujimoto Miki's new BF scandal, it seems that Ayaya is finally free of her grasp. Plus her past experiences with Miki will sure spice up her marriage. :)

Monday, June 11, 2007

Liar Game eps 5-8

Deer-in-headlights Nao-chan.

So Nao-chan finally gets to escape the clutches of Liar Game with the help of Akiyama and what does she do? Attempt to get back into the game and 'help' him! WTF is she thinking. How much fucking help can she be. Does she not realise the stakes involved? However, I am willing to overlook this because its necessary for the show to continue. Plus, they have established that Nao is kinda simple minded so its not that far fetched.


So in order to get back into the game, she enters the resurrection round and has to compete against all the people who she defeated in the previous round. Of course, without Akiyama, what happens is already a foregone conclusion. The game this time is a ristora game where everyone votes on who they want fired. Fukunaga quickly turns everyone against Nao and she is fucked. (not literally)

Akirayama gets wind of this, rushes to her aid and the fun part of the show is seeing how he turns everything around. For some reason they allow him to be present at the game and even act and speak on Nao's behalf. I was thinking they would have him hiding in a room somewhere and giving Nao some advice.


But it was great finally seeing Nao cheat Fukunaga. She seems to be very good at lying. Hhmmm. The one character arc in this show is to see whether the trusting and simple minded Nao will slowly be changed by her participation in Liar Game and maybe in the end save Akiyama.

Is this the beginning of evil Nao?

Judging from the ending of ep 8, I'm not sure. I'm pretty sure everyone watching wanted her to give it to Fukunaga. He is one of the most irritating villains ever. I know every story needs a villain but he should be sacrificed to show show that Nao has finally gained a level in her Liar Game skills. Of course, one can argue that she wanted to save the guy who talked to her more than she hated Fukunaga.

Lucky bastard trying to look up Nao's skirt? Yurusanai!

And I was hoping for a half episode breather at least before they story went to the next round. Maybe some character backstory and see Nao and Akiyama in normal surroundings. But I guess there's always budgetary reasons. But FFS, she needs a wardrobe change!

OMFG. Cho-kawaii!!!!~~~~~~

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Konshu Tsuma ga Uwaki Shimasu ep 7


I couldn't stand the wait for subs any longer. I suppose that's why some people prefer to wait til a series is completely subbed before watching. But that leaves like a huge backlog and waste of bandwidth if a series is not to one's liking. I really need my fix of Dodoh Hajime's marital problems and that tasukete song.

Is this the new okairi-nasai?

And what a great episode it turned out to be. Every good series needs at least one really hot guest star. Yamaguchi Sayaka guests stars as a really popular novelist who was Dodoh's kouhai. It really reminds me of Mitsuya Yoko in ep 9 of KDO. Basically, Yamaguchi Sayaka plays her the opposite of her boring teacher in 14 sai no Haha. She's like this hyper genki person who has Dodoh bowing to her every whim.

Hello legs!

And lets not forget her legs. In the first scene she's wearing hot pants and showing of her incredible sexy legs. No one would have blamed Dodoh if he had jumped her. Sadly, the length of her pants got longer as the episode went on. Perhaps to signify that she seemed to be hiding a lot of unsaid feelings.

Hello cleavage!

And for the first time this series, they managed to make me pity Tohko, especially with the revelation in the end. She finally had her talk with Dodoh and finally things were looking up. The viewer has been set up to welcome a reconciliation. And Dodoh had to ruin it all by saying 'sono mama'. Oh well, its kinda like how KDO fucks everything up except its not funny.

Yamaguchi Sayaka looking very foxy...

Can't blame the writers though. They need material for another 4 episodes. Its just that it really makes Dodoh look like a dickhead. I suppose that its been a traumatic 7 episodes for him and the trivialness of her reason just seemed disproportionate to the troubles he's been through. I suppose the show could have ended right there if the reason had been Dodoh's affair 6 years ago but she just gave him a free pass on his affair! Hello?

Ooops, caught by his tsuma..

End of they day, the show can't go against its concept which is Dodoh getting into trouble with the tasukete look in his face and the music in the background. Its just that the show no longer works if Dodoh is no longer a sympathetic character.