Suits Episode 1-7

I am liking this wave of American tv shows being remade in Japan. There are Tropes in Jdoramas that have always annoyed me like police shows always having corrupt and useless bosses, having 100 policemen to investigate one case and trying to hard to be cool but the remake of Cold Case, we have a show emphasizes the case instead of all the unnecessary stuff.

With Suits, we have another show doing something we don't normally see in Jdoramaland, a legal show about office politics. Oda Yuji plays Kai, an arrogant lawyer who will do anything to win and who wants to be made partner. He picks up Suzuki, our main character who's special power is the ability to remember everything. Suzuki however, is not a real lawyer and his secret which could derail his and Kai's career is the source of a lot of Suit's tension.

WHAT I LIKED

+ Oda Yuji and Suzuki Honami reunion.
+ Kai doing crazier and crazier things in order to win.
+ Kai's nonchalance towards the dangers of Suzuki's secret.
+ Araki Yuko and Nakamura Anne.

MEH

= The stories have been hit and miss.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

- Sometimes the dialogue feels like someone translated them from English to Chinese and then to Japanese and dialogue that is supposed to be snappy feels weird.
- Kanie's overacting can be too much. Was it that bad in the American show?

SUMMARY

I enjoyed the 7 episodes so far. No idea how faithful it is to the original but it feels like a breath of fresh air. Don't expect too much and you will enjoy Suits. Watchable.

Kemono ni narenai watashitachi Episodes 1+2

In Kemono ni narenai watashitachi, Aragaki Yui plays a sales assistant who is used and abused by her boss and useless colleagues. She's like this very capable office manager who knows how to do everyone's role better than them (except for the technical jobs) but does not know how to say no.

It bloody pissed me off when she tried telling that bald boss that its not her responsibility everytime he tells to do something outside his job description. I see this type of behaviour in my workplace where lazy people look for any reason not to do work and the hardworking people end up doing everything.

I was really happy when at the end of episode 1, Aragaki Yui changes her clothes and stands up to her boss. All right, I thought. All that suffering through episode 1 will be worth it.

Aragaki Yui is told to take some personal leave while boss goes on business trip. Things start going pear shaped at the office cause her colleagues are incompetent and stupid Aragaki Yui goes back to the office.

FFS, what better way to prove your worth and have leverage on your boss than letting everything go to hell without you? No, Aragaki Yui even goes as far as going to useless guy colleague's place to convince him to do his job.

I don't get this show. Sometimes the victims are equally as guilty because they don't take a stand and enable lazy people to continue being lazy. There's probably some story with Matsuda Ryuhei and Kikuchi Rinko but I'm just too pissed off at Aragaki Yui's character to care.

Not to mention Aragaki Yui's current boyfriend who somehow is unable to kick is ex-girlfriend out of his house. There is no sob story to make it acceptable. Kemono ni narenai watashitachi did not give me a single reason to care for any of the characters in the 1 1/4 episodes I watched. Might give the rest of episode 2 a chance later but for now, I don't even want to go near this show.

Dai Renai Episode 1

I was eager to try Dai Renai out because who doesn't want more Toda Erika in their life and I was intrigued by Merebu from the Yuusha Yoshihiko series being the main male lead.

Anytime someone who always plays supporting roles gets a chance at a main role, it usually means they got cast because they are the best person for the role or they've paid their dues and they deserve a chance.

So anyway, Dai Renai is about this very pragmatic doctor played by Toda Erika who quickly gets engaged to another doctor. The audience immediately knows the doctor is not the right guy for Toda Erika is because he has an immovable forehead. I have no idea why bloody actors want to stop their foreheads from moving because its so important for showing emotion.

Anyways, Toda Erika loves this book written by this once promising writer, Mamiya Shinji played by Merebu. Shinji works as a removalist, things happened, sparks fly and Toda Erika tries to disolve her engagement.

Then we get to the hook of the show which is that Toda Erika is showing early symptoms of alzheimer. After finishing episode 1, I'm not feeling the need to quickly watch episode 2. Not with the soap opera undertones of Toda Erika's mom and unmoving forehead fiance telling her to forget Shinji and go on with the wedding.

I can take a 2 hour movie but the prospect of a 10 episodes of alzheimer crying stuff? I don't know. Normally I don't mind your old school disability jdoramas but alzheimer is kind of way too manipulative and unappealing to me. I'll still watch this cause I like the actors except unmoving forehead fiance. Its just I might take my time sweet time with this.

Too early to rate Dai Renai but so far it seems more for people who like the more soap opera style jdoramas. Thanks to Keiko1981 for the Japanese subs.

Tabloid Episodes 1+2

With so many jdoramas to watch after being freed from JLPT, I was drawn to Tabloid for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it had been sitting unwatched in my HD for a very long time and secondly, PannenkoekenNL was very kind to upload a good copy of the show at Avistaz because the previous copy I had was of very bad quality.

Tabloid is a star studded jdorama about the world of investigative reporting and trying to keep a tabloid magazine afloat with the most salacious news. On paper, Tabloid has everything; Tokiwa Takako as this idealistic journalist who was demoted from the main paper for asking the right questions, Tomosaka Rie as the pragmatic opposite, Sato Koichi as the enigmatic boss and Hiroyuki Sanada as this murderer who might be innocent.

However, Tokiwa Takako is just annoying. The chemistry between the characters just doesn't work, the dialogue feels stiff and the stories too ham fisted. Worst, there's nothing intriguing about Sanada Hiroyuki's character after two episodes.

The best thing Tabloid has going for it is watching all the actors looking so young including Mizukawa Asami aka Nurse Miki from Iryu!

While the 90s was known as the golden era of jdoramas, not everything during that era was gold and I'd even wager most of it was meh stuff like it is now. Tabloid is a show with right intentions that doesn't flow together really well. Meh.

Inuyashiki movie review

Finally, my JLPT N3 is over so I can finally get back to catching up on my gaming, jdoramas and movies. First off the bat is Inuyashiki which I really enjoyed as a manga and anime. I tried not to keep my hopes up but the director is Sato Shinsuke who did the Gantz movies so he knows how to maximise budget while keeping a movie true to its core concept.

Inuyashiki is a show about what happens when superpowers are given to two very different people: a meek old man who is looked down upon by everyone including his family and this teenager who is angry at the world and his dad and how this power ends up being used differently.

What I liked about the manga was that it was a high concept that produced a lot of cool moments and it never dragged on too long. Some of the moments could not be in the movie such as Inuyashiki saving the homeless man or fighting the yakuza due to time and budgetary reasons.

Director Sato Shinsuke did the same thing as he did in Gantz, save most of the special effects money for crazy ending. Wish they had the money to do the planes.

Inuyashiki has plenty of good actors playing very minor roles like Nikaido Fumi and Iseya Yusuke it feels like a waste their roles are so short. I wish they could have done the story in two parts.There are definitely enough material to make it two movies and they could let the scenes breath more.

Speaking of two movies, the ending is different from the manga and seems like it could continue. They completely missed on the asteroid ending though.

I wasn't too impressed in the beginning of the movie because I felt too much was skipped and the Inuyashiki trying to lose Hachiko scene is weird not to mention the Inuyashiki finding Ando at the same park scene screamed we're doing a couple of scenes here to save money! And one final thing I didn't like, how am I suppose to feel for the underdog Inuyashiki if he is portrayed as someone who can't even do his job properly?

I still enjoyed it because the movie still had the heart of the manga. Watchable movie that needs some polish.

Koi wa Amearari no you ni movie review

I rather enjoyed the Koi wa Ameagari no You ni anime. It was a light and fluffy show about a high school girl Akira, who falls in love with her middle aged workplace boss. In other words, Japanese male fantasy through the lens of a shoujo manga.

The movie meanwhile, does go through the story beats of the anime but just fails to capture that spark by maybe being a bit too safe. For example, while things happen in the scene where Akira visits the sick Tenchou as the anime, the way they executed it gives off a completely different vibe.

I really disliked how they left out most of Akira's relationship with Tenchou's son Yuto and wasted time with this rival girl at the cost of exploring Akira and Tencho's relationship.

With a two hour runtime, sacrifices had to be made but I felt the wrong sacrifices were done. It ended up sort of at the same place as the anime but the movie just feels flat and forgettable for me. Ignore and watch the anime instead.

Kareshi wo Ron de Kaimashita Episodes 1-5

Kareshi wo Ron de Kaimashita is an interesting show not because its an OL wish fulfillment show about getting an ikemen slave aka Kimi wa Petto but because this is a satire about receptionist doing everything they can to get an elite husband and become a housewife.

Yes, even to the point of putting up with the boyfriend cheating. I love how Mano Erina keeps running into her boyfriend with his mistresses and she's the one troubled because she has to accept his flimsy excuses to keep her dreams alive.

The other funny thing about this show is Hasegawa Kyoko as the former legendary centre who managed to achieve the dream and literally wrote the book on how to catch an elite but is now divorced and working at a konbini.

I just enjoy the political incorrectness of Kareshi wo Ron de Kaimashita because it is through that this show explores society's views on social class, happiness and Japanese refer to as kotobuki taisha (resigning to get married).

Nothing really stands out from this show. After watching Mano Erina for years, she doesn't have the ability to really carry a show but she doesn't suck either.

Watchable if you keep your expectations in check. As far as I know, no one is subbing it.

Champon Tabetaka

Its taken me quite a while to get around to watching Champon Tabetaka. Nothing about the poster makes me want to watch this show. Not the guy from Dele nor the guy with the most punchable faced in all of jdorama sitting on the right of the poster.

In fact, the only appealing thing that Champon Tabetaka is that Ozaki Masaya, the writer of KDO adapted the novel written by Sada Masashi who sang Kanpaku Sengen.

Champon Tabetaka is a story about being young and not knowing what to do with life from the perspective of a young man who went all the way from Nagasaki to Tokyo just to study the violin.

From the first episode with one of the characters trying to woo this tsundere girl with a guiter, Champon Tabetaka took hold my attention and never let go because there was such an authenticity to it. Its got the feel good element and innocence of an asadora flavoured with the realism of Sada Masashi's experience.

I got to know the characters and could emphatise with all their worries. I enjoyed watching them grow and navigate real life and meeting a host of interesting characters who helped them grow.

One thing I really liked about Champon Tabetake was that it was set in a world where one could put in a mountain load of effort and still not succeed because the chances of success was that low compared with jdoramas where characters put in a tiny bit of effort and somehow everything falls into place.

If you want a feel good and fun jdorama with a 60s and 70s vibe, Champon Tabetaka is for you. Almost a must watch show for me. Very well made and very watchable.

One more month to JLPT N3!

The end is near! Winter is coming! Last year I chickened out and went for the much easier N4. This year I am doing the much harder N3. Harder as in I actually need to study.

My initial strategy was the same as what i was doing last year, do sample exam questions, reverse engineer and try to figure out the formula to the question but that proved very difficult because I do not know so many basic Japanese grammar things.

I can usually whittle down the four answers to two but the two always sound right to me which is my main problem. I do not know why things are right or wrong, only that they sound right. Plus, I find googling for reasons why doesn't really work.

I've ditched reverse engineering the answers and I'm slowly working my way through the grammar speedmaster book. Things are starting to make my sense now and there are things that I couldn't believe and things that are so simple that I never even realised.

Its do or die time. Don't want to waste $90 exam fee to go to waste. Once I finish my first grammar book, I'll try to finish a second one before jumping into the mock exam book. I'm not going to do vocabulary because hopefully years of jdorama and manga and gaming will have provided me with enough vocabulary knowledge.

I signed up for JLPT to force me to study grammar. I have no idea if it will get any better after this. (I doubt it but its opened my eyes to a lot of basic things I never realised) I've got no choice but to put in the effort this final month.