Jotei Ep 1-5

" If you want to be a first-class woman, sleep with a first class man!"


The above quote from the first episode of Jotei illustrates what midnight doramas are all about. Crudely written dialogue that's hilariously bad yet somehow amusing as prime time doramas can never get away with it. What I enjoy about midnight doramas besides the eye candy is that I can expect the worse and will always be pleasantly surprised when they do something well. As ho-hum as Liar Game's ending was, the series as a whole was so much better most of the jdoramas. 2nd House and Shimokita Glory Days were both enjoyable just for the ladies and jokes.

I can't believe the director/make up artist didn't realise that her forehead was too big. Unless there's a new forehead fetish going on in Japan? Someone cast her as Martian Manhunter in the JLA movie...

In Jotei, Kota Rosa plays Tachibana Ayaka, whose aim is to be the empress (Jotei) of hostesses and gain revenge on those who have caused her mother all the hardships. One thing I really hate in doramas/anime is main characters who are always telling everyone 'I want to be the strongest/Jotei/king of the world etc'. Its fine in the beginning to establish a character's motivation but to do it over the course of 3 or 4 episodes? The funny thing is those characters who help her just because she proclaimed that she wants to be Jotei. They should be telling her to learn how to crawl first before telling everyone she wants to fly.

I'm glad I'm free of that baka Kanzaki Nao. I like my women with more brains...

My 2nd big gripe with the show is Kota Rosa's forehead. All she has to do is not tie her hair up. From her other pictures I've seen, she's decent looking with her hair down but her huge just doesn't look pleasing to the eyes. Perhaps she uses her forehead to hypnotise people into helping her.

If only they've cast Maeda Ai as the main Ayaka....

Matsuda Shota looks like he's sleepwalking through his role as the Yakuza guy who for no reason at all decides to help Ayaka. Can't blame him, especially after he did the excellent Liar Game. He's not menacing enough to play a yakuza though. Still, its not as lame as Fujiwara Tatsuya's lame potrayal of a yakuza in Moonlight Jellyfish.

Need any other reason to watch this show?

When watching this show, just be prepared for the very worst. Beer helps a lot. Get ready to cringe/laugh at some of the worst lines ever written. The eye candy sucks in the first 3 episodes. Ozaya Maju who plays Ayaka's 1st rival is so ugly. If they'd cast a decent looking gravure idol without a huge forehead, this show would be so much bearable. Maybe I'm just a sucker for punishment and putting myself through this series will make me appreciate the average jdorama more. Only for dorama-addicts.

hhmmmm :)
EDIT: Ooops, didn't realise that this was not a midnight dorama. It even says on the first pic that its a 9pm show. I think the horrible acting/writing led to assume that it was. That would explain why Kota Rosa was wearing a shirt instead of a bra when Matsuda Shota ripped her dress at the beach. It would also explain why I have not seen any full frontal nudity in 5 episodes. Thanks to whoever pointed out my stupid mistake!