Koyuki and An-chan ready for another round of family troubles.After the completion of the first season, I has in desperate need of the second. I needed more Sakai Noriko. I needed more episodes of an-chan making things worse by being reckless and then doing the right thing in the end. The chances of ever seeing season 2 in English are pretty low so hopefully having watched the first season and very limited Japanese would be able to see me through this series. Went looking for it at my local j/k/hk dorama shop but couldn't find a copy of it so finally bought it online from ebay. It came in 5 dvds with really bad cd quality rips of the show. Not sure how authentic they are since one could easily fit the whole series into 2 dvds.
Koume's blossomed into a bijin. Too bad she doesn't do doramas anymore.The first thing that struck me about season two was the sense of familiarity. They're even using the same theme. The younger siblings are older and Koume looks hot but its still the same MO, lots of fighting laughing and crying. The relationship between Tatsuya and Koyuki is unresolved despite the rooftop ending in the first season. Tatsuya is still as donkan as ever but not yet to the point one would get sick of Koyuki waiting patiently. Masaga concedes to Tatsuya and leaves for the Netherlands or as he told Koyuki, he's only giving up because its Tatsuya.
Sakura ready for a shinkuu hadoken!!!!! Or if you play CVS2 a shoshoshoshosho....They could have possibly put Tatsuya and Koyuki together to start the show but I guess they didn't want to change the character dynamics from the previous show. Sakai Noriko is best when she's playing a character seeking happiness. My only fear is a repeat of Hoshi no Kinka where she is so unhappy that her choices seem idiotic.
Sakura, Ryu would never fight for money!The biggest addition to season two is Matsu Takako who plays Miki, a colleague of Kazuya's. Having her in season two truly makes this the all-star show of the 90s. She wasn't that big yet but she had just done Long Vacation the year before. If anything, I will forever remember season two for Matsu Takako's Sakura cosplay. Before the otaku boom, here we have Matsu Takako cosplaying as a street fighter character in one of the highest rated jdoramas ever! If any jdoramas want to reach 30% ratings again, they just need more cosplay!
Who's this? You'll have to watch to find out.If there's one complaint is that in ep 2, they've added this wimpy dude and I cannot figure out what his purpose is to the story. The show is about the 6 members of the Kashiwagi family and new characters are just for them to interact with. Wimpy guy just makes things way too crowded but since he's not on the cover of the dvd, hopefully he'll disappear soon.
The problem with watching it raw is that I can't understand a thing when they're doing their comedy stuff at the dinner table cause they talk to fast. I'll put a positive spin on it and say not understanding Tatsuya's ramblings can be a good thing. Plot wise and everything else is easily understood. This is not a medical dorama. There are not technical terms to understand. Sadly, I'll miss out on most of the jokes since they're usually part of the rapid-fire dialogue exchange between the Kashiwagis.
A nice chun li cameo. I'll never get tired of posting cosplay pics!Nothing more needs to be said. If you haven't seen season one, it is a must see and if you are crazy about it like me, the second season is worth it.
Do you ever do dvd trades? I have a copy of when it aired on the Nippon Golden Network authored to dvd, 3 discs. The quality is pretty bad but the subs are good.
ReplyDeleteMike... pass me the bong please.
ReplyDeleteI struggled mightily to sit through the entire season 1. In fact, I've had this show for 6 years, and I gave 3-4 tries, but I could never get past the first few episodes. And no, it's not because they do that silly gesture holding their fist by their mouth and say, "shiii...." (although it really didn't help things either)
Recently, I was able to get a hold of a better quality copy. That helped a bit, and finally I was able to finish the show a few weeks ago. (start to finish) But it was still a struggle.
This may have been a good show during its time, but it hasn't held up well over the years compared to some of its peers, like Kou Kou Kyoushi or even Aoi Tori.
I think it's a decent show with a good story. But it is too straightforward and the director did a poor job extracting the depth of each character's emotion.
Count me as another person who can't finish the 1st season. It might be a classic in its time, but IMHO the show is really dated.
ReplyDeleteOT: Just saw the movie version of Galileo (Yougisha X no Kenshin, w/ traditional Chinese hardsub) and I thought it's very entertaining. I like it much more than 20th Century Boys; not only does it have a good mystery but it has a compelling human drama as well. The pacing is a little too deliberate for my taste and with better editing, at least a good 15 minutes can be cut w/o any harmful effect. Highly recommended.
Marspeach, I'd love to trade for English subs for season 2! Email me/add me to msn:
ReplyDeleteakirayuki_ at hotmail.com
Hhm, I wonder how much fun I would have smoking pot and watching Hitotsu Yane no Shita.......
Too straightforward? Dated? The question I would like to ask you two is what to you is the best family jdorama you have seen?
Hi Marspeach,
ReplyDeleteCould you share with us those subtitled eps? I'll be very grateful for them. I have all eps of Part 2 in avi. files without subs. So I cann't understand much.
Please !!!!!!