The Good Wife Episodes 1-5

One train of thought kept hitting me as I was watching the first episode of The Good Wife; the premise is so great because it instantly creates a sympathetic heroine you want to cheer and this show knows how to play the long game to keep the viewers hooked.

Tokiwa Takako is the housewife Hasumi Kyoko who's prosecutor husband cheated on her and is now being charged for corruption. Instant sympathy points.

To provide for her family, Kyoko has to reenter the workforce after 16 years and juggle looking after her family. Kyoko's employment is only provisional and she has to fight with this annoying, smarmy young lawyer for the position.

There is absolutely no reason for the viewer not to want to see Hasumi Kyoko succeed. She's the ultimate underdog trying to prove herself in working society.  

The second great thing about The Good Wife is the long term story of the husband Karasawa Toshiaki. We know he cheated on Kyoko but is he guilty? Of how guilty is he? There's no way they'll get back together but that doesn't mean Kyoko won't get involved in his conspiracy.

Then there's Koizumi Kotora as the Jorah Mormont of the show aka friendzone. Kyoko takes advantage of his friendship for the job and friendzone keeps her at arms way but everyone can see what he wants. I'm just waiting to see what his bad side is. I never liked Jorah and I don't know about picking Tokiwa Takako over Ashina Sei.

Like Suits, there is a character with a superpower who is the paralegal who can create information when the plot requires it. Speaking of Suits, I find The Good Wife more fun because Kyoko is much easier to root for than a guy with super powers.

The thing I didn't like about the first five episodes was the end of episode 2. The father daughter feud resolved itself way too easily. Yet another very watchable jdorama to add to the list. There are way too many decent shows to watch but I guess I should not be complaining.

Harassment Game Episodes 6-9

I just finished watching Harassment Game and what a great series it is. If I have to compare Harassment Game to another jdorama, it would be Dandarin which was about being a public servant and labour laws.

They are both very similar because they are about upholding certain laws which are normally ignored in the Japanese workforce.

I love how the show says so many things about society. That there is a fine line between perpetrator and victim with harassment accusations. That if we live in constant fear of being accessed of harassing, we will never say what we think.

That one must not be afraid of being disliked in doing one's job and that no one likes hearing bad news but it is always better to be honest. That the most important part of leadership is trusting the people below you and their counsel.

I really enjoyed watching this peek into compliance work.

I was waiting for the story to fall apart but they closed up up with a very exciting finish.

While I enjoyed Harassment Game very much and have absolutely zero complaints, somehow I don't love it enough to give it a must watch. This is as close as a show can get to must watch status without going over the border.

Recommend everyone give it a try.

Switched / Sora wo Kakeru Yodaka

WHAT IS IT?

Switched is a Netflix jdorama about body switching except this time its between the popular and beautiful girl with the 'ugly' girl.

WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT IT?

+ One of the main characters is a girl who does not look like a stick and she's not in the show for comedy purposes.
+  The Johnnys did not suck.
+ I really liked the acting from the girls because the I could tell who was in who's body.
+ Its a show about how beauty may not be skin deep and how blaming everything on one's looks or background may just be an easy excuse.
+ Its only 6 episodes unlike the Marvel Netflix ones that just drag on and on.

WHAT DIDN'T I like

- I kinda skimmed the last two episodes cause I was getting tired of the love triangle.
- I hate the stupid ending. What the hell was the story building up for?

SUMMARY

I think Switched is a pretty well made and watchable shoujo dorama with a fun concept. I got a bit sick with the tropes of the genre towards the end but if you are a shoujo fan definitely check it out and if not give episode 1 a try.

Japan trip 2018/2019 Part 11 : Retrogame Loot

My focus this trip was retrogames. If you look at the prices, Sega Saturn games are generally pretty cheap except for the few rare ones. Most of my games weren't working when I went back home last year so I'm restarting my collection.

Games in picture from top left:
Langrisser V - Aiming to get I-V and finish them all... someday.
Macross - Finished this many times.
Lunar 2 - Finished PSP version last year.
Dragonforce 2 - Going to give it another go.
Feda Remake - Never finished.
Lunar - Finished PSP version last year.
Azel Panzer Dragoon - Never played.
Panzer Dragoon - I played the hell out of 2, can't remember 1.

Wachenroder - Never played. Bought for Range Murata artwork.
Shining Force 2 - One of my favourite games ever. Can't believe battery still working!
Langrisser 1-4 - My Langrisser collection is now complete.

Ryu ga Gotoku/Yakuza jacket with hood from arcade in Kabukicho with Mega Drive pins and Ryu ga Gotoku keychain.

 Very nice pins.

I was hoping these could be used as hand towels but they are pretty cheap and thin. I think I'm going to use them to cover computer screens.

Got this at a Sega arcade in Akiba. We were walking around the arcades trying to find one that had Sega goods.

Magic Knight Rayearth - I remember playing this quite a bit but I look forward to finishing it
Samurai Spirits RPG - I finished it when I was a wee lad and didn't know wny Japanese.
Shining the Holy Ark - I finished this twice in Japanese and I look forward to understanding the story.

Sega Saturn battery. I had to throw away my old battery because my bag was getting heavy. I guess the Saturn was more popular than the Mega Drive was in Japan.

Front Mission 5 - Got it for free.
House of the Dead 2+3 - We are currently trying to finish HoTD2 and have finally reached the last boss.
Biohazard Umbrella Chronicles - Need more Wii gun games.

Dark Saviour - Sequel to Landstalker, a game on my I need to finish this league.
Shining the Holy Ark - 2nd copy cause the first copy had a scratch
LoGH - Just because
Sega Rally - played this game so many times
Sega Touring Car - Europop music is too good

Got myself a Mega Drive, Gunstar Heroes and World of Illusion to play with my partner and Aladdin because of the animations. Megadrive games unfortunately are not that cheap.

Sega Rally 2006 - Long easy right, maybe
Binary Domain - Never played this Ryu ga Gotoku Studio game
Folk Soul - Underrated PS3 game and I would not mind replaying in Japanese
Saigo no Yakusoku Monogatari and Sol Trigger - I got both games on my Vita but they are cheap.
Final Fantasy Tactics - One of the greatest strategy RPGs ever but I've yet to play it a second time.

Dragonforce - Took me a while to find this classic!
Shining Wisdom - Love and Shining game pre Tony Taka
Shenmue 1&2 - Need to get ready for Shenmue 3

Zelda Windwaker HD - I did not like BoTW so maybe this is more my taste?
Wii Nunchuck so we can play the shooting games I bought
Mega Drive book - My 3rd MD book and I wish it had more pictures.

 Picture of all my loot from this trip. How am I going to find the time to play all this?

JLPT N2 books. I can't believe how many different speedmasters there were. There are you regular speedmaster books and your exam pattern speedmaster books. They really are milking students. I philosophy is less is more, no point having too many books like I had with N3. Just concentrate on my weakest subject; grammar. The plan was to start studying a little bit every weekend but I have yet to start.

Picture from the Premium Soft display from Surugaya. Anyway, what I learned from this trip was that for retrogames, if you want the best prices go hunting at Book Offs/Hard Offs. The smaller the town, the cheapest the price. You won't get the selection though but even Super Potato did not have a lot of stuff. If you want good quality stuff and properly graded, go to Mandarake although their prices are expensive.

Did not get this phone case because it was too small for my phone. I became crazy about hunting for bargains at Book Offs/Hard Offs during this trip. Retrogame hunting in Japan is very fun. I've stopped buying figures now because there's no space and after buying so many, its hard for something to catch my eye.

Japan trip 2018/2019 Part 10 : Back to Shinjuku and Team Lab Planets in Odaiba

Waiting in the snow at the Fukuchionsen Bus Stop just outside Kakurean so we can go to the Hirayu Onsen bus terminal.

We had to wait an hour plus for the bus to Matsumoto at the Hirayu Onsen bus terminal but luckily there was these foot onsen to keep us warm. I had assumed that there would be a bus to Matsumoto every hour. If I had checked, we would have stayed at Kakurean a bit longer.

View outside the bus terminal. I bloody regret not getting one last Hida beef skewer from the bus terminal but I was a bit stick of beef skewers at that point.

Bus dropped us off a few minutes walk from Matsumoto Station. I've been told that Matsumoto Castle is very beautiful and worth going to but at this point we just wanted to get back to Shinjuku and put our bags down.

We managed to get reserved seats on the Chuo Main Line train back to Shinjuku although they were separate. Should have had a peek at the non-reserved carriage because I have a feeling they weren't that full. Maybe next time Matsumoto.

For dinner, we wanted to try Sushizanmai which a friend of mine had tried not too long ago. Sushizanmai also appears in the Yakuza games. We went to one near Yasukuni street but the line was pretty long and we went to the other one north of Kabukicho near the batting centre.

It took them a bit too long to prepare the sushi and they apologised for it but I prefer my sushi a bit colder and less room temperature. Not but and I would like to try Sushizanmai again.

Judge Eyes and Sushizanmai collaboration poster.

I thought Shinjuku Sportsland closed down? Need to look through my blog.

Trying to play this basketball machine thingie but any basketball player will tell you you are suppose to arc your shot but this machine has a roof.

Went to try Ichiran cause its been years since I've had it. Not as bad as I remember but nowhere near Oreshiki level.

I'm was so tempted to buy these FFIX figures at Nakano Broadway but the price is crazy.

Went to Super Potato in Ikebukuro.

Look at some of the prices of the Mega Drive games!

So our big thing during our last day was this immersive digital art experience called Team Lab Planets in Odaiba. We had booked a ticket online months before.

Outside the Team Lab building.

Our photos can't really do justice to what the experience was.

I would describe it as experiencing what a main character in a trippy movie could only experience.

I was bloody getting headaches from this one whenever I look at the horizon.

New Gundam at Diver City.

Of course I had Tanaka Shoten which did not taste as good as I remember.

We didn't go to Village Vanguard at Shimokitazawa but at least we went to the Odaiba one.

Somehow we ran into another showa themed place!

Momusu, Ayaya, Zone and Otsuka Ai got me through my uni life.

Playing Virtua Cop 2.

Went to this forced perspective art place.

If you look at a picture from a certain perspective, it'll look like its real.

Back to Kabukicho.

The back of Godzilla's head from hotel.

Back to No Meat, No Life which we loved last trip. They have changed the menu so you can't order things separately ie the meat comes in sets which I don't really like.

 New Don Quijote at the east side of Shinjuku. That's pretty much it for this trip. Thanks for reading and hope you got entertained by the pictures. The last two days was spent pretty much shopping so next and final post will be the Japan loot post.