Minna Esper Dayo! eps 3

As mentioned in the previous post, I found another source for this dorama which was pandora tv. The bad news is that you need to pay money to watch it in normal resolution. I don't mind paying money but this doesn't go to Sono Sion's pocket. Maybe Furransu pays for the premium and uploads to d-addicts since it allows HD download of the videos or maybe he gets them Japanese P2P programs. I've been reading up on Japanese P2P programs and the new ones require a 100kb/s upload. If Furransu's uploads haven't caught up by the end, I might consider getting the premium since it lasts for 30 days to get all the episodes. At least Furransu uploaded the Japanese subs for ep 3. :)

I actually started subbing ep 1 but gave up after subbing the first 5 minutes cause its so much work. I found myself translating stuff literally cause trying to translate the meanings is a pain. On the Furransu not uploading doramas unless there are English subs thing, it is sad but beggers can't be choosers. There's an alternate rip by \( -o _ o- )/ but its Chinese hardsubbed which I dislike cause its so distracting. If Furransu's prerogative is to try to get as many Jdoramas subbed that's fine but it disregards people who know Japanese, not that he owes us anything.

So now we have two mind readers and a telekinetic who can only move things when there is a sexual motivation, as we find out in this episode. Kamogawa Yoshio (Sometani Shota) and Hirano Miyuki (Kaho) both being able to mind read leads to a lot of humour, especially in relation to his obsession with Asami (Mano Erina). Who can blame him really.

Screencap of the year and an actual confirmed non-stunt-pantsu Mano Erina shot!

The third episode is about the fourth esper of the group, Enomoto who discovers at the end of the last episode that he can teleport, just that his clothes do not teleport with him. Enomoto sets his sights on Asami and this leads to the most disgusting phone sex scene ever. Can't wait for episode 4 cause everything else this season just screams generic except Kumo no Kaidan. This would be a good chance to start going through my jmovies backlog.

OMG, she said it again.

Sennyu Tantei Tokage ep 1

Matsuda Shota's character dresses like a ninja so he can climb up the air vent in his room and place bugs and cameras all over the ships air vents.

No idea what to watch this season. I think I've caught up with my doramas. Got a long list of movies and games though. Decided to give Sennyu Tantei Tokage a go since it had Matsuda Shota, Renbutsu Misako and Mimura. How bad could it be?

See anything wrong with this picture?

1. Baddy is pointing gun at stairs.
2. Hero is running in a straight line on top of the cars towards the bad guy.

3. Magically all the bullets miss our hero and he leaps at the baddy like so, making himself an even bigger target. Only people without brains and 6 year old boys will say this is so cool.

The answer is very bad. I have no idea what the Japanese audience/tv stations have against realist police shows but its so easy to make fun of this show that its sad. It feels like a police show made to impress 6 year old boys with great dialogue like, "I believe people can be saved with feelings!".

I don't understand the Japanese psyche. Why create a police dorama which is more akin to a sentai show in terms of logic, acting and dialogue? Why have the cliched the everyone hates the main character cause you know its because of stupid misunderstanding. Why is Renbutsu Misako's character a detective when her character is clearly inept and inexperienced? Does everyone in the police force start off as a detective?

This dorama makes me sad. The worst part is the ending where they could have had the ending of the cops stopping the illegal organ sale which could have saved the girl's life. Instead we have a cartoon villain father reveal who didn't want to donate his organs cause it would mean sacrificing his career. First of all, this is such a childish everything must end with a good ending scenario. If I'm not mistaken, Sennyu Tantei Tokage is shown at 9pm. Second of all, if donating one's own organ to dying daughter is career suicide instead of political plus, clearly logic does not exist in this dorama which is basically a superhero/sentai show.

I used to like Matsuoka Masahiro cause of Heaven Cannot Wait and Manhattan Love Story. Then I saw Yasuko to Kenji and now its obvious that like most Johnnys, he is a bad actor.

On a side note, I found out how to get Minna Esper Dayo! ep 3! Its a streaming page called Pandora TV and you can find ep 3 here.

The 848x480 x264 version of episode 3 has yet to be uploaded but I think this is where furransu gets his rips. You can download the videos by using flashget and VID-dl.

Jmovie review: Mahoro Ekimae Tada Benriken

The movie that started it all. Tada Benriken is very much about Tada and Gyouten while most of Bangaichi is more about the residents living in Mahoro. You get to see how Tada and Gyouten meet up, find out about their past and why they stay together. More so than Bangaichi, Tada Benriken features Tada and Gyouten as two wandering souls going out of their way to help people.

In Bangaichi, it was more in the process of their jobs but in the movie, Tada is less reluctant hero and more like this wandering ronin seeking to ease his pain by helping others. Your enjoyment of the movie will depend on whether you find the pairing of Tada and Gyouten entertaining.

As I said, I gave the dorama a must watch cause of the stories and didn't find the Benri brothers interesting. The movie gave me a better appreciation of the last four episodes and why those two do what they do. I would recommend watching the movie before the series but by itself the movie was just ok because the characters were not that interesting.

Minna Esper Dayo! eps 1+2

I worship at the alter of Sono Sion. He is my favourite jmovie director right now. Sadly I've not met one Japanese person who knows his movies. I wasn't so excited when I first heard of Sono Sion taking on Minna Esper Dayo! because it did not sound like a dark story, which is what he specialises in.

How wrong I was. I had forgotten about the playfulness and humour of Love Exposure and he uses it to full effect in this dorama which is a mix of Stand Up!! and super powers. Sometani Shota (Himizu) plays your typical virgin high school kid Yoshio who one day gets the power to read people's thoughts and hilarity ensues.

Mano Erina is Asami, the transfer student from Tokyo and the object of Yoshio's erections. I'm sad that Mano Erina has stopped singing to be an actress but she couldn't have picked a better director to work with post graduation. Maybe her management is thinking that Sono Sion can do for her what he did for Mitsuhima Hikari but Mano Erina is nowhere at her level. Still a good start.

Kaho is Miyuki, Yoshio's childhood friend and she willingly displays her pantsu for all to see unlike Mano Erina. You can tell cause whenever there's a Mano Erina pantsu shot, the scene will cut to a view from behind but we cannot see her face which suggests a pantsu double. There is a scene where Kaho's breasts get groped and it looks like a breast double but hats off to Kaho for not using a double for pantsu shots. Her management knows how to pick good shows for her.

Mano Erina's no longer an idol. No need to 'protect' her image. However, its must be said that hearing her say the words onani twice is shocking. I'm sure her Japanese fans are going, "I can't believe our pure idol said that!". Hope Mano Erina can be a regular on Sono Sion projects like Kagurazaka Megumi.

Lots of weird, perverted and funny usage of psychic powers in Minna Esper Dayo! Thank the dorama gods its a late night dorama so we can have all sorts of thoughts when Yoshio reads people's minds. Huge thanks to Furransu for uploading the Japanese subs. Makes watching so much easier. I do not hesitate to recommend this, especially if you like Stand Up!! Can't wait for the next episode.

I nearly fell off the bed, lol. Not your typical heroine.

Why did these type of things never happened to me in high school?

ROFL.

Shades of Love Exposure.

Can't we have ichigo or shimapan?

Poor Kaho.

Too many ROFL moments in this show.

Mahoro Ekimae Bangaichi eps 2-12

Watched the rest of the series in one shot. Its a much better version of Shinzanmono. The benri-ya angle makes it easier to tell stories about people who live in a small town without trying to tie it into a crime. My favourite bit is that it doesn't always try to end it with a cheesy moral ending. Actually, I would say its very similar to Shinya Shokudo.

WHAT I LIKED

- Episode 2 about the woman in the karaoke video. Funny with a simple and sweet ending.

- Episode 3 - Kawamura Yukie!!! Besides the large amount of cleavage shots, this is one funny episode. Love Gyoten's use of the stun gun. Very Shinya Shokudo like with stuff from previous episodes appearing to be of use in later ones.

- Did I mention Kawamura Yukie?

- Episode 4 is awesome. The creepy mannequin and the son who could have set the fire and the simple ending. Simple stories about deep emotional scars without trying to preach to the audience.

- Episode 5 is a nice episode about the two adopted brothers.

- Episode 6 is my favourite episode. The ending is just awesome when Usuda Asami goes off. I like Tada saying, "I don't know if she's right and I don't know if she's wrong either". She knows its wrong but who can blame her? Anytime a dorama is able to go to morally gray areas and not try to talk at the audience is a great thing. Speaking of Usuda Asami, I can't wait for the Suzuki Sensei movie which is coming out on DVD on 5th of July!

- Kora Kengo as a yakuza.

- Maki Yoko!!! The Eita-Maki Yoko chemistry lives again!

- The gun episode coming to play at the end.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

- Episode 8 wasn't that funny nor the girl interesting.

- Did the 'samishii-yo' story need 2 episodes to tell? I understand the writer wanted to parallel Samishii girl's relationship with her friend with the Benri brothers and it was hard to squeeze everything into one episode.

- Maki Yoko story being kind of meh. Probably cause it took another 2 episodes. It felt like a forced two-parter just cause it was the last story.

SUMMARY

I really love Mahoro Ekimae Bangaichi when its about the characters that show up and the story takes one episode.  When it its more than 1 episode and becomes a lot about more Tada and Gyoten than other people, it just drags for me. Though I wasn't that enamored with the last four episodes, on the whole its on par with the first season of Shinya Shokudo and has a few must watch stories so I have to give it a must watch. I didn't watch the movie and generally the stories are stand alone so I don't think its necessary.