Can't believe I watched two seasons of Ushijima-kun in two days! I started watching Sunday night and overslept because it became a case of just watch one episode over and over. Yamikin Ushijima-kun is a story about this loan shark Ushijima played by Yamada Takayuki in his easiest acting role yet. All he has to do is just recite his lines with an expressionless face.
What I like about this loan shark dorama is that its not a fairytale story and has a touch of dark comedy. Its a show that delves into the lives of the desperate. People who are addicted on gambling or want to get rich quickly or work in the water business. You'd have to be pretty desperate to borrow money at 50% interest payable in 10 days.
I really liked Katase Nana as the newbie in the first season. Newbies are often used just to explain things to the audience and be their point of view but I find that making her someone who is smart and not so idealistic really brings a lot to the series. Plus, she has an interesting back story that should have been explored more and provides a lot of humour.
The stories are about Ushijima-kun's clients and are very interesting and things somehow get connected together in the end. Season 1 has pretty good pacing while season 2 just drags its feet because the multiple stories take all 9 episodes to resolve themselves. Season 1 for me was a very watchable show while season 2 just dragged especially with the fashion character's story that just dragged. The lack of Katase Nana's character also hurt season 2 IMO.
If you're after a darker, cynical dorama, I recommend the first season of Yamikin Ushijima-kun. It was a fun, breezy 9 episodes for me while I only finished the second season to see how things would end. Did I mention that there are a couple of JAV actresses in this series? :)
On an unrelated note, No Con Kid is being subbed into English by Akhora. I highly recommend it if you love retro gaming. It was one of my favourite shows from last year but it was such a good year that No Con Kid couldn't make it into my top 5.
2 comments:
I watched all of season 1 when it came out even though I barely could understand any of it. Season 2 seemed much less interesting by comparison with subs, didn't finish watching it. The newbie character was the key for me too. Thanks for the reminder to go pick up subs for season 1, so I can find out what I missed the first time around...
Don't bother with season 2.
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