Samurai's Promise Jmovie review

 

Its been a while since I've watched a jidaigeki movie. Absolutely loved the first two Yamada Yoji samurai trilogy movies but I have been watching a lot more jdoramas compared to movies. Okada Junichi is the main character in Samurai's Promise as a samurai who got kicked out of his clan and left with his wife played by Aso Kumiko.

Unfortunately, Aso Kumiko got sick and died but not before making Okada Junichi to go back and help his old friend Nishijima Hidetoshi who was Okada Junichi's rival for Aso Kumiko. 

If you have seen jidaigeki, you know how it goes. You have the highly skilled but poor samurai going against corruption and useless bosses but no one can do anything because there are so many unwritten rules among the samurai and no one can really speak the truth.

The beginning was confusing for me as I was trying to figure out who was who and what was happening. I am grateful for the English subtitles because I would have been lost otherwise. After all the political talks, the movie slowly ramps and we get a lot of action in the end.

I can't complain about Samurai's Promise except for CG blood but I found it not as good as Twilight Samurai or the Hidden Blade. I can't exactly tell you why because they are all variations of the same formula but Samurai's Promise did not move me as much as the other two movies did.

Watchable but not memorable for me. If you are looking for a samurai movie, keep your expectations low and you might be surprised. Or just watch for Aso Kumiko.

BG Shinpei Keigonin

It has been a very, very long time since Kimutaku has done a watchable jdorama. Every since he became the weak point of Karei naru Ichizoku, he has consistently been in crappy shows like Change, Mr Brain, Tsuki no Koibito and I basically avoided every single one of his shows until the game Judge Eyes came out last year.

Decided to give BG a shot and good news is that it is nowhere as bad as SP another bodyguard show starring Okada Junichi and Tsustumi Shinichi. The action is decent and there's no particular action scene that does not make any sense geography wise. There is a stand up scene at the end in a restaurant that went a bit too long but I am just happy there was nothing stupid in BG.

Like most Kimutaku shows, he has surrounded himself him veterans from Eguchi Yosuke playing his rival to Kamikawa Takaya as his boss. I also particularly enjoy his chemistry with Saito Takumi who plays the colleague who dislikes Kimutaku the most.

The best thing about the show is Ishida Yuriko's character who a former reporter turned minister who has to deal with many policitical problems. 

She starts off as a character with dubious motivations but the more I find out about her character, the more I get invested.

The only negative thing I can say is that Nanao's character feels wasted. I have no idea what she brings to the table but I am just glad they didn't give her any stupid bullshit hacking skills or something.

BG is perhaps Kimutaku's first decent show in forever and a decent choice if you are after a watchable action jdorama.

6 questions I need to ask after Ryuu no Michi Episode 3

1. So Tamaki Hiroshi gets plastic surgery, changes his name and joins the underworld all for revenge. He then kills his boss, runs to Brazil for many years and never thought about at least changing his hairstyle or growing a beard to conceal his identity?

2. Why does the teacher have to go to the head of some IT security company to 'consult' about students using SNS? How about talking to the students themselves or experienced teachers? What makes her think she can pay the consulting fee of a mega corporation? Is consultation a Japanese code word for something else?

3. Why didn't Issey Takashi just borrow another file from his other colleagues. 'Hi, my file is blank, can I borrow yours?'

4. If UD Corporation is now the in house crisis management consultant, what happened to the other consulting firm? Does the son even have the power to make such a unilateral decision?

 

5.  I thought they are supposed to keep this revenge plan secret but they have more leaks than Titanic.

6. How much do you want to see someone put spoiled daughter Matsumoto Marika in her place?

SUMMARY

Ryuu no Michi is a fun absurd show but don't take it too seriously and turn of your brain.

Isekai Izakaya Nobu Episodes 5~10

 

Ah, what a fun series. The concept of Japanese actors playing Western characters was a bit weird in the beginning but really grew on me as the series progressed.   

 If I have to choose between Isekai Izakaya Nobu and Konya Ko no Ji, I would have to choose Nobu because I am a fantasy fan and I enjoyed seeing bits of fantasy brought to life even with their limited budget.

I made the mistake of making my partner watch episode 7 with the promise of food pr0n because that episode was more about paying off various storylines than torturing the audience with food. 

Very fun show that made me smile plenty of times and long for Japan. Very recommended. I probably enjoyed Izakaya Nobu more than I should but it just ticks so many of my boxes.

Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju Episodes 1~3

It has been a very long time since I've seen a rakugo jdorama. The last one I can remember is Tiger and Dragon. Its probably time to do a rewatch because I can't remember anything about it.

Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju is not a comedy. It starts off as the story about an ex convict trying to become a rakugo storyteller and then episodes 2 and 3 are flashback episodes about how the ex-con's master and Narumi Riko's father went up in the post WW2 rakugo world.

I like watching rakugo shows because of the stories but Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju doesn't really give you the whole stories and they are no that funny. The main hook of the story is Narumi Riko accussing the master of killing her father but I can't get myself to care about the characters who feel a bit asadora. 

Not going to move past episode 3 and doubt I will touch it again. Its based and a manga and since they made an anime the story must be good but the 3 episodes did nothing to convince me to continue. Meh.

Rest in Peace Watari Tetsuya

 

Just when you thought 2020 could not get any worse, Watari Tetsuya has passed away. 

Jdorama fans probably have not seen him much these past few years but to me, he will always be Kazama Shintarou from the Ryu ga Gotoku/Yakuza series; the father figure to main protagonist, Kazuma Kiryu.

Rest in peace Watari Tetsuya and may I should rewatch Jukunen Rikon where these screencaps are from.

Ryu no Michi Episodes 1+2

 Ryu no Michi is a story about twin brothers taking revenge on transport company boss Endo Kenichi. Tamaki Hiroshi fakes his own death, changes his face and joins the criminal world while Takahashi Issey joins the Ministry of Land and Transport. 

Add in a younger sister who is not a real sister and Endo Kenichi's son who wants to do good and you have plenty of material of twists and turns.

 Ryu no Michi is like a soap opera thriller. You need to turn off your brain before watching and for me they need to limit the unbelievable things to 1 per episode which they have done. There has to be a limit to suspension of disbelief.

 In the beginning of the show, we get teased that the brother's will turn against each other in the end. I am very certain it has to do with the sister.

The only thing that I am not buying is how did Endo Kenichi cheat their parents and cause them to commit suicide. I know he is portrayed as an evil person but did he get the parents to sign a one sided contract without the parents getting legal advice? Shouldn't the parents get some of the blame also?

Ryu no Michi is not a good jdorama but it is a brain dead entertaining one so far and I need some of that to distract me from the bad things happening in the world. Thanks to eveychooey for subbing the first two episodes.

Konya wa kono ji de Episodes 3 to 12

Its been a hard slog to finish Konya wa Kono ji de but I finally finished!

When I say hard slog, I mean watching it has been painful for various reasons. Its going to be a very long time before we will be able to go back to Japan enjoy the izakayas and watching this show reminds me of how life used to be before corona and social distancing.

As food pr0n, Konya wa kono ji is easy and breezy, much better than Shinya Shokudo.

The relationship of the two main characters is entertaining and provides enough story to keep things interesting without overshadowing the food.

Only the first two episodes have been subbed but I think its a pretty easy watch if you have basic Japanese.

Very watchable show and remember not to watch on an empty stomach!

I hope they will do a season 2 but it will be very difficult in today's climate.

Taiyou wa Ugokanai Episodes 1+2

Taiyou wa Ugokanai is an action dorama by WOWOW starring Fujiwara Tatsuya and Takeuchi Ryoma as two agents from a spy agency called ANN Tsushin who have bomb embeded in their chests that will explode if they do not log in every 24 hours.

So in the middle of episode 1, we see the bad guy drive a van into a construction area and we are told the bad guy will plant a bomb. Notice the back of van looks empty. There could possibly be stuff in the back but nothing too big.

Bad guy takes out two guards, ties them takes off jacket and presumably goes to plant bomb. All good so far.

FujiTatsu and partner arrive at site and somehow he has detected explosives! Does he have the ability to smell explosives from far away?

He has got some super bullshit explosive detection phone! Wow. My mind is boggled. Someone must have been high when they thought of this. This smells like another WOWOW show Mozu.

Then we see this mega huge bullshit bomb thing that was somehow at the back of the van. Maybe the bomb was already there in the first place because there is no way it was in the van and you are telling me he hoisted this thing up there by himself?

Whoever wrote this crap just wanted some stupid mission impossible wannabe scene without thinking.

I can smell Mozu all over this crap. For some reason, they cannot do a simple action show like Gaiji Keisatsu and have to anime everything with unreal situations, repetitive dialogue and stupidity.

I will say the same thing I said with Mozu 1 and 2. I want to like this show so much because they clearly put a lot of time and money into this but the Mandarin scenes are so stupid and fake and its just so Mozu.

Like Mozu, they've got a movie after this but I can't go on after episode 2. I'd rather watch Ishi no Mayu.

I need to cleanse my pallet and rewatch Gaiji Keisatsu and Gonzo. If you want something recent, I recommend Hanzai Shokogun.

I have to give Taiyou wa Ugokanai a do not watch. I acknowledge that there is an audience for show like this and Mozu but my taste for action is clearly not in synch with mainstream Japan that prefers a hightened sense of unreality.