1. Kitasanriku doesn't have any attractions besides the Amas but it took them a while to figure out they had Japan's best natural resource - schoolgirls. :)
2. Aki and Yui can't be the only cute shoolgirls in Kitasanriku....
3. Do Aki and Yui get paid for all the selling and promoting that they do? Talk about exploitation of child labour.
4. Since Yui is so determined and knowledgeable, shouldn't she be doing U-18 swimsuit photos like so many actress eg Ayase Haruka and pushing her own blog? Yui can ask questions about VTR checks and make but where's her sense of self promotion?
5. Poor taxi driver dad. Never put a foot wrong (as far as ep 42) and completely disregarded by Koizumi Kyoko and Aki. Aki doesn't doesn't even treat him like her dad and the only reason he's hanging around is so Koizumi Kyoko can have a reverse harem in Kitasanriku.
6. How much does this snack charge per hour anyway and how can those people afford to drink there everyday?
7. Poor Ijyuiin after getting the OK from Koizumi Kyoko. lol.
8. I'm pretty sure grandpa visits certain establishments at every port.
9. Back to taxi dad, wife and daughter treats him like nobody but he's got the whole house to himself and wife is not asking for child support! Why not enjoy his second life in Tokyo instead of going to the sticks and joining the ignored by Koizumi Kyoko club? Its not as if his wife was working and he needed to dual income to pay the mortgage or something?
10. At this point, there is really nothing to really look forward to with the characters except for Yui if Amachan takes her through all the difficulties of getting one's foot in the entertainment industry and navigating its treacherous waters, something Ryu ga Gotoku 5 did well. Looks to me like its going into slice of life dorama territory.
11. So far its a fun, light dorama but there's nothing in Amachan that makes it compelling.
I find Amachan compelling. I get sick of Dramas with relentless plot twists and mysteries...you can normally see them coming a mile away! Slice of life provides a break from all the other shows desperately trying to shock you and hook you into plot lines. This show is very watchable and enjoyable due to the characters, location and atmosphere created. Highly recommended.
ReplyDeleteDidn't expect the lukewarm tone this early, cuz the strengths of this one mainly lie in Kudokan's witty script. And it only takes a stagnant turn much later into the story.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing that shined in the drama was the (older) supporting cast, so yeah. Yui was eyecandy and Aki was Nodame, no bias.
Don't follow all Asadoras but they're mostly slice of life type dramas, I think. But before you give up on Asadoras, I recommend watching Carnation before fortifying any decisions to permanently steer clear of lengthy dramas.
Well all asadoras are basically slice of life stories, and I would have been happy if it stayed in kitasanriku, but the story arc actually gets better once it goes to Tokyo, interesting behind the scenes look at idol type groups...and I loved the story of "kagemusha"...
ReplyDeletei guess asadoras arent for you then. pretty much all of them are slice of life dramas. i think all of peoples good recommendation for amachan might have made you expect too much out of it :P
ReplyDeletesaw the 20 min skit for amachan on kouhaku it was great. you can find it on dailymotion once your done with the main series. its a continuation of the story of the series, and could be considered an sp.
Shane/4545/Dgundam - But slice of life stories are usually witty self contained ones like Patlabor whereas Amachan is more long running story and I can't help but compare it to plot doramas because of the way its presented.
ReplyDeleteFor me when watching slice of life stories, I just want the stories to be consistantly entertaining with stand out short stories here and there.
Nomuramai - The story is going to Tokyo? Sounds good.
I was kind of excited for the drama at the beginning but it then started taking many missteps and having some stupid plot twists and unrealistic situations. I mean the whole diving thing (one of the main reason I started watching the drama) takes less than 1/10th the total length of the drama. Nevertheless, I kept watching just to see what's gonna happen next. The mother's story is more interesting than the main one (plus Arimura Kasumi is cute and can actually sing) but in a whole, it's an average drama.
ReplyDeleteNounen Rena is nowhere as talented or funny as Ueno Juri was in Nodame Cantabile.
Rootabega sez:
ReplyDeleteA half a year of 15-minute episodes featuring Nodame's gawping/gaping crazy face framed by the world's fugliest hairdo ..... yeah, sounds like a good time to me;).
Ueno Juri has demonstrated talent (see the delightful "Turtles Swim Faster than Expected" and possibly her "Five Suitcases" omnibus dorama), but I think I'd be hard pressed to find a sadder case of a Japanese actress not fulfilling her potential in recent memory.
Here's hoping this won't happen to Rena-chan.
Yeah, it's such a shame that UENO Juri isn't in more dramas/films seeing how she won best actress award for Nodame Cantabile and best supporting actresses awards for Last Friends. She did appear in a film last year (Hidamari no Kanojo) which I didn't go to see because I didn't feel the chemistry between her and MATSUMOTO Jun was right. Let us hope she gets/accepts more work.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, I have started watching Oshin. I have seen parts of it as a child but don't remember much. Let us see what the drama with the highest ever average viewership rating (52.6%) is all about. With 297 15-minute episodes, it will take me around 100 days to finish!
Finally I realized that I am not the only one who think Nounen and Ueno share the same acting style. Hope Ueno bounces back from her recent downturn, it would be a huge waste of talent if she never reaches that potential. Perhaps shifting to stage acting at least will return her to an acting level just prior to Sunao Nareikutte (gosh, forgot how to spell it)
ReplyDeleteAnyway Mike, do you still want to continue watching Amachan? I know this is a show for those who are too technically-centric audiences like you, but the rests are still worth a shot
I'm up to the point she's gone to Tokyo and left her friend behind. I don't really care about Aki because to me, she's doing something she doesn't really care about unlike Yui.
ReplyDelete