Utsukushiki Wana Eps 1-5

Tanaka Rena plays the mistress of her boss in Utsukushiki Wana who is old enough to be her dad. I can't remember the last time I saw a good Tanaka Rena show. Maybe Ganbatte Ikkimashoi? Anyway, wifey knows about Tanaka Rena and so she sets Tanaka Rena up with her lover who has a thing for older women in a 'I know what's going on and I want you to stop' act without actually saying she knows.

Husband of course gets the hint and pulls out and Tanaka Rena responds to wifey's challenge by going along with the set up instead of choosing to back away. Lover boy who can't get the wife to leave the boss decides to play along and we have a good girl mistress vs scheming wife story.

Bframe recommended Utsukushiki Wana to me with saying that the show is so bad it might be good and it is pretty bad in the afternoon soap opera kind of way. While Hirugao was a tacky drama that tried to be something serious, Utsukushiki Wana revels in its tackiness. The acting is unbashfully bad that its kind of fun, at least for the first two episodes.

The problem is that the main character Tanaka Rena is playing is too nice. I want more backstabbing and manipulation but that character never really dips her toes into that area. First two episodes were interesting but I ended up skimming 3 to 5 waiting for her to do something. Watchable if you like Tanaka Rena and/or you want something soapie. For me the heroine is too nice which is standard for these type of shows and none of the characters are that interesting.

Sambomaster is now Obasan Daite Kudasai!

EDIT: Ooops false alarm. Someone pointed out to me that its a limited time name change. Its just a gimmick thing for the 15th anniversary. They are now 'Sensei! Sokontoko yoroshiku!'

This always happens when I don't read things in Japanese properly. Nothing to see here. Sambomaster is still Sambomaster.

Had a big shock when I went to the sambomaster website and saw that they had changed their name! First of all, happy 15 year anniversary to my absolute favourite band. I've been listening to their music ever since Densha, been to two of their live events and I still don't know their names.

One think I dislike is about the band formerly known as Sambomaster is that their t-shirts suck. I like the new logo. Not sure about the name but all I need is a black shirt with the logo and the list of venues at the back in regular fonts.

Their website says they are going to have two more announcements. One will be a tour. Maybe the third one is that Minmi will join the band. :) I love the two Minmi songs Sekai wo Kaesasete wo Kure yo and Kono yo ga yami dato iwanaidekure. Sambomaster is dead! Long live Obasan Daite Kudasai!

Doctors Saikyou no Meii Season 3 Eps 3-5

Antspace is pretty much right about season 3. As much as I hate Doctors for rehashing the same story again, I must admit that watching Moriyama is still pretty entertaining. There are still a lot of laugh out loud moments in season 3 from Moriyama's origami to to trying to use public transport.

The writer took what I wanted to see happen in season 2 and turned it around. Ie, instead of Sagara getting his way and realising he took it too far, its Moriyama who finally gets what he wants and realising that with great power comes great responsibility.

Its just a shame that the for a series that had a must watch first season has become a merely enjoyable series that has refused to evolve. Frustratingly stale but surprisingly still enjoyable.

Gakkou no Kaidan Eps 1-3

Super normal everyday girl goes to prestigious school because her former school closed down and is forced to become the president of the student council. This is all a plan to make her a scapegoat and together with mysterious speechwriter Kamiki Ryunosuke, she will start a revolution against the school and the Platinum 8.

I should have not watched this crap when I saw the cast cause the plot had potential. Alas, the speech part is super cheesy and not smart at all. Gakkou no Kaidan has got all the shoujo manga cliches but does none of them well. I can't believe I gave it 3 episodes hoping to see something clever. The stupid basketball game was the last draw for me.

Kamiki Ryunosuke is so wasted here and they should have cast someone a lot better for the main girl but I don't think any talent can save the boring script. Avoid, unless you are a 9 year old girl and/or like guys with trimmed eyebrows and lots of makeup.

I don't think I can ever rewatch 101 Proposals without the image of her plastic face in my head.

If you want to watch a good high school bullying/power struggle show, watch Fukuda Saki's Life.

Maru Maru Tsuma Eps 1-5

From the writer that brought us the super lame dialogue filled Kaseifu no Mita comes another jdorama about the perfect housekeeper. Kubota Masazumi is a newscaster which means he is someone who does more than read out the news and he has a contracted housekeeper played by Shibasaki Kou who does everything perfectly for him.

WHAT I LIKED

- The concept of the story is interesting with two people with problems in an unusual and symbiotic relationship.

- I loath to say it but Shibasaki Kou does a pretty good job. She pulls off the fake smile well. Hhmm. Maybe its more she's right for this role. I like her monologue at the end of episode 5. I guess her roles should be limited to disturbed characters like her role in One Million Stars.

- Kuroki Hitomi is hilarious as Shibasaki Kou's mom.

- Renbutsu Misako!!! (Once again playing a thankless supporting role but supporting role Renbutsu Misako is better than no Renbutsu Misako.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

- The writer Yukawa Kazuhiko (GTO, Oyaji etc) chose the wrong job for the husband Masazumi and/or the portrayal of it. The husband character serves two purpose. He is one half of the flawed couple making each other's lives work and he is the shining light for Shibasaki Kou's character.

However, as a newscaster, all he see him do is anything but read the news. The writer tries to sell that Masazumi is greatly respected by his colleagues and an inspiration for Renbutso Misako but Masazumi's only concern is spouting empty words and the dorama treats it like its a great thing. Its not like he is the one doing the investigative reporting. Take for example the abused children speech. Am I supposed to feel moved with that phony speech? When Masazumi is at his best, he is supposed to be this shining light but he comes across as self serving spouting his kireigoto nonsense.

- All the episodes run for 51 minutes which is 5 minutes more than usual and that's way too long in terms of pacing.

SUMMARY

The only reason to watch is Shibasaki Kou's character. Besides that, I basically forwarded half the four episodes. If you enjoyed Kaseifu no Mita, Maru Maru Tsuma is the show for you. For me, its got an interesting story but execution is all over the place. Give the script to Sakamoto Yuji and it would be a much better show.  Frustratingly interesting in places.

The Light Shines Only There

The Light Shines Only There was Japan's entry for the Academy Awards. No idea why they chose this over Snow White Murder Case. Anyway, its a dark movie about three people who live in a small town in Hokkaido; Ayano Gou playing a unemployed bum and chanelling his inner Eita, Ikewaki Chizuru playing a prostitue and her former felon brother who Ayano Gou runs into at a pachinko parlour.

I like depressing movies and the story here is great. However there are a few problems. Firstly, its 20 minutes too long. I spent most of the first hour thinking about whether I should stop watching. Ayano Gou does his usual walk around in daze acting which fits his character but he cannot hold my attention the way someone like Ikewaki Chizuru can. The second problem is that there is barely any chemistry between Ayano Gou and Ikewaki Chizuru. This is not a romantic movie but there is no sexual tension between the two leads besides the numerous sex scenes.

So are there any reasons to watch this besides those who enjoy depressing shows? Ikewaki Chizuru is awesome. No, I'm not saying that because there is a lot of nudity in this movie. She is an awesome actress ever since I saw her in Summer Snow and Josee, the Tiger and the Fish so many years ago and she knows how to portray the desperation and despair of a person who is stuck in a no hope life. Why the hell isn't she in more doramas. The last thing I remember seeing her in was Shokuzai. Her character is the most complicated and interesting one in this movie and without her, it would completely fall apart.

I think The Light Shines Only There is an ok movie with a great performance from Ikewaki Chizuru but if you want something similar ie dark and raw, The Ravine of Goodbye is a much better movie.

Ryuusei Wagon Eps 1-3

Once upon a time, someone saw Nishijima Hidetoshi and Kagawa Teruyuki together in Double Face or Mozu and decided they would make a good father-son time travel duo. If I were to describe Ryuusei Wagon in one sentence, it would be an inferior version of Tonbi mashed with an weaker version of Suteki na Sen Taxi.

Hidetoshi's father is dying, he has been jobless for a year, his wife has left him for another man and he lets himself get beat up by his son. One day, another father son duo who passed away 5 years ago appear in a time travelling wagon appear and take Hidetoshi back in time to important stages of his life leading to his current predicament along with his dad from the past.

Ryuusei Wagon is not working for me. Hidetoshi's acting is just off, the script explains everything too much all the resentment that Hidetoshi feels for his dad turns out to be sappy misunderstand. Plus, the only person who's having fun with the time travel bits it the dad. I just don't have empathy for the Hidetoshi character.

The time travelling also has very limit effect, ie Hidestoshi's actions have very little effect so it looks like its more about Hidetoshi learning about his mistakes than seeing where different decisions in life leads Hidetoshi. The only fun thing for me is watching Teruyuki play the dad out of time who is the same age as his son. Besides that, I basically skimmed half the show. I find Ryuusei Wagon to be a meh show.

Ryu ga Gotoku 0 demo and signing Softmap Nagoya Station

bframe5 with producer of the Ryu ga Gotoku series Nagoshi Toshihiro. No, I'm not in Japan but bframe5 lives there and yesterday he went to Nagoya to get his Ryu ga Gotoku 1&2 HD signed and to make me insanely jealous. Luckily there were no JAV actresses there or my jealousy would have been over 9000.

This is how Nagoshi used to look like when he was still a human being.

Ryu ga Gotoku is Akiramike's most anticipated game of 2015.

I can't wait for the 52 page Hot Dog magazine and the mouse pad. Got the game preordered from AmiAmi.

People who went to the meet got a Ryu ga Gotoku bandanna as can be seen at the top of the picture.

I'm guessing bframe is in line waiting for the demo stations. No idea when the demo will drop on PS4 but I think the free app on PSV drops on the 26th of this month so its probably gonna be the same time.

HMV JAPAN LOOT

THE LEGEND OF LEGACY

After playing a few hours, I regretting getting this game. Too much grinding, not enough story and the lack of budget is so obvious.

There is no voice acting except for the narrator. I like the battle system. You heal after every battle but some enemies do huge damage and your maximum HP is reduced after after every death. Should have been priced lower.

GAGAGA SP - GAGAGA WO KIITARA SAYONARA

The sucky thing about being a fan of unpopular bands is that its hard to find their newer stuff on the interwebs so I have to actually buy their CDs. Not a good album IMO. I like their latest single Konchikishoume but for the album as a whole, there's nothing memorable here.

SAMBOMASTER - AISHITERU AISHITE HOSHI

It took me too long to decide whether to buy The Legend of Legacy that the limited edition with a lot live recordings sold out at HMV Japan. The normal edition only has a live version of Rock and Roll is not dead where the singer is super out of tune.

Doctors Saikyou no Meii Special 2015 and Season 3 Episodes 1+2

The dorama special and season 3 have something in common. In the special, Sagara tricks Moriyama to go to the university hospital where he finds that people there care about their patients even less as he runs into an old friend. While its fun to watch Moriyama try to do good, we've seen this before.

In season 3, Moriyama's aunt and hospital director goes on a around the world one week holiday (as many Japanese can only take one week off at most) and Moriyama becomes the acting director. Sagara aggravates Moriyama even more and Moriyama goes on a power trip before realising that director's chair is not an easy one to sit in. (Despite the fact we never see her do anything in this show)

Someone looks very malnourished.

Sagara's plan is to break Moriyama down, perhaps to build him up again? The thing is, a lot of this is old hat. Sagara's trick of reverse psychology was original in season 1, got old in season 2, and boring in season 3. It stops being clever when the antagonists are too stupid, or rather continue to be stupid.

What I want to see is what Fukuda Yasushi should have done in season 2. Sagara to win but for his victory to backfire and Moriyama being able to solve problems in the end by doing very Moriyama things. Sagara is the boring constant in this show and its the supporting characters who are suppose to keep things interesting but unfortunately they have regressed since season 1.

Will season 3 be the same as season 2 and dilute the greatness of the first season or does Fukuda Yasushi have something up his sleeve? Should you watch season 3? If you liked season 2 a lot more than I did. It might turn out to be smart and I enjoyed the 50 year old grudge story in Episode 2 but the high ratings in season might mean everything turns out according to Sagara's plans again.

6 things I learned from Ouroboros Episodes 2 & 3

1. Japanese cops get to go kyabakura for free! I want to be Japanese policeman when I grow up.

2. Oguri Shun and cop not concerned about people finding out their connection by going to sento.

3. Do not wear your regular perfume when committing a crime. Hopefully there will be an episode where a serial killer puts on different perfumes for each kill thereby confusing our cop with too much hair product.

4. Two people are able to sit this far apart and talk audibly while not getting eavesdropped. They took care of the eavesdropping part by making all other patrons non-Japanese cause all non-Japanese don't speak English. The regulars at this bar are probably wondering why these two Japanese dudes always talk to each other facing away.

5. The real reason why Oguri Shun and cop don't really care about hiding their alliance is that everyone who finds out about them is guaranteed to end up dead. Someone should tell them it might be in their interest to wear masks to cover their face.

 6. When trying to avenge the death Hirosue Ryoko by mysterious assailants, concentrate on the watches instead of looking into why she was killed in the first place.

Summary: My brain cannot take more of this show. I cannot stand what little intelligence I have being insulted so much. Ouroboros is a house painted with bright colours to appeal to a certain demographic while the shaky foundation it is built on is ignored. Maybe I should rewatch Gaiji Keisatsu......