Kare Naru Ichizoku 2021 Episode 6-10 spoiler review

 

WOWOW has done it again! Better than the Kimutaku one. I was hooked from beginning until the end. I will be talking storyline spoilers so don't read until you have watched it. If you haven't, please get it from windflows here.

SPOILER PAST THIS POINT

MANPYO DAISUKE

The cold hearted father of the Manpyo family. You have to respect his businesslike approach to everything including his family but so much stems from his hatred of his father and him thinking that Teppei is not his son and his wife betrayed him. 

Despite Daisuke's best efforts, his kids actually love him and want his approval. He could have had a decent family but he let his jealousy and anger manifest in bad ways and the shot at the end of him at the dinner table and Aiko leaving shows that he last lost everything to gain what he wanted.

 

AIKO

Aiko is the character I think everyone hates because she seems so cold and calculating. Her human side is that he loves Daisuki and she's basically the stranger trying to survive in this family by taking it over.

TEPPEI

Ah Teppei, the good guy of the family. The one Manpyo child with a partner who actually loves him and he wants to get it on with his sister. I guess Teppei could blame his granfather's genes!

In 99% of jdoramas/anime etc the nice guy wins by being nice which does not work in the real world. Teppei was earnest but he was foolish and was not ready for his role. He only got his role because he was Daisuke's son and not because he had years of experience managing companies and making sure that your main bank does not screw you over.

His fate is so sad because in the end I think he could never hate his father.

GINPEI

Ah Ginpei, so like his dad. Had a wife who was willing to have a go at marriage but no, he had to act like a dick and blame it on his family, he can't make her happy blah blah blah. Excuses and doesn't even try to do anything. Got a cushy job cause of his dad so no empathy from me. Looks up to his brother Teppei though. I think that's the best part of Ginpei.

YASUKO

The poor mom from a bygone era who still likes Daisuke even though he treats her so bad and loves her kids. She is with the Manpyo family and she learned to accept her fate and live with it,

MIMI

Kaname Jun wins in the end! Slimy character that got married to Mimura and can't even treat her right. He claims he is the same as Aiko but he has got no love for anyone else.

At the end, Kare Naru Ichizoku is a father son story. The father who hates the son and sacrifices him for the 'family' and in the end loses family. Great job by WOWOW and thanks to windflows for subbing. My only complaint about this show is the gwahahaha by the Finance Minister at the end which was way too cartoony.

Karei Naru Ichizoku 2021 Episodes 1-5

 

A long time ago, there was a jdorama called Karei Naru Ichizoku about this very rich family and it was good except for Kimutaku who tried to make his character Manpyo Teppei the main character and look too cool when he was an idiot.

Now WOWOW has stepped up to the plate with their 2021 version of the show to commemorate its 30th anniversary with a crazy all star cast and rightfully so the main charcter is the father, Manpyo Daisuki played by Nakai Kiichi.

Manpyo is ruthless head of the family and head Hanshin bank with  a wife and a mistress and a family secret that threatens to tear the family apart. Nakai Kiichi plays Daisuki with pure ruthlessness with barely a glimmer of humanity may peeking through. Daisuki is not a likeable main character but he is an interesting one as he attempts to ensure Hanshin bank's survival in the coming merger storm.

Uchida Yuki plays the mistress Aiko who was hired as the tutor and butler but now basically runs the family and is charge of marrying the children off to expand the family ties. She is as ruthless as Daisuki and I immediately felt sorry for the poor mother. Then we find out what the mother had done and that she could not do a lot of things. 

Karei Naru Ichizoki 2021 is a fascinating series about a screwed up family that has everything that regular people want but are never happy. It is a story about complex characters with plenty of shades of grey and I enjoyed the first five episode and I had to stop myself from continuing to write this review.

The 11 episodes have been subbed by windflows here and I recommend everyone check it out. This is turning out to be a really great year for jdoramas and fingers crossed the rest of the series is equally as good. Must watch!

Meiji Kaika Shinjuurou Tanteichou

Me like jidai geki shows and stories set during the meiji era ie after the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Plus, Meiji Kaika Shinjuurou Tanteichou is a detective show that reminds me of Dai Gyakuten Saiban/Ace Attorney series from Capcom and I have both 3DS games and ashamed to say I have not played them yet.

Meiji Kaika Shinjuurou Tanteichou is about a special detective Shinjuro Yuki who like to use English words because Japan. The show also has a great cast with Uchida Rio (Mukai no Bazuru kazoku) as the female lead, Takahashi Katsunori and Inamori Izumi as the couple who take the detective in.

Its got a bezy of guest stars including Ohgo Suzuka (who I have not seen in ages) and Ito Ayumi! Its got great costumes, wonderful sets but something is off.

I really want to like Meiji Kaika Shinjuurou Tanteichou but something is missing. There's something about the main character I can't get into or maybe its just the mysteries haven't been that exciting or maybe just the bad action scenes. 

The main character is Sherlock Holmsey standoffish and so was Furuhata Ninzaburo so maybe they just cast the wrong guy. I think episode two was the best one but the quality of the stories has been meh.

The two characters I do care about in the show are Mr & Mrs Katsu and the scene at the end of the series with Mrs Katsu and the samurai was great!

I would not mind a second season. I don't dislike Meiji Kaika Shinjuurou Tanteichou but I expected to love it because it ticked so many boxes but I just found it watchable. I'm pretty sure there are plenty of people who enjoyed it a lot more than me. Watchable but keep your expectations low.

Nile Perch no Joshikai jdorama review

Wow. What a show. I can't believe Nile Perch no Joshikai was made by TV Tokyo and not WOWOW. 

Mizukawa Asami plays Shimura Eriko, a career women who works at a trading company and seems to have the world at her feet. However she still lives with her mother and does not have any female friends. Eriko likes to read the diary of a housewife Maruo Shoko and one day they meet in a cafe and become friends.

Nile Perch no Joshikai was a difficult for me to watch in the beginning because the character of Shimura Eriko is very unlikeable. There is something not quite right about her but there is a depth to her character and I had a feeling the story would go somewhere interesting.

There are so many layers to Nile Perch no Joshikai. It is about the line between celebrity worship and friendship. It is about two women who do not have female friends and whether women can actually be friends? 

It is about people never being satisfied and needing validation or looking down on people to feel better about themselves.

It is not often that we can find such complex characters as Shimura Eriko and Maruo Shoko. Their relationship is scary yet fascinating and when I finished Nile Perch no Joshikai I thought this is one of the rare times when jdoramas rise above being vehicles for boybands and talentos and just becomes telling interesting stories about complex characters.

Without a doubt a must watch dorama and contender for best show of the year. Huge thanks to Gabrielmpf for subbing! 

I think not everyone will like Nile Perch no Joshikai can be uncomfortable to watch but I guarantee there is lots of depth for you.

Dragon Zakura Season 2 Episodes 2~10

I am happy to declare that the second Dragon Zakura is must watch! Enough time has passed since the first season that this glorified study tips jdorama wrapped up in a GTO coat of paint seems fresh and new again! 

We get the same teaching tips and guest teachers from the first season. Well not the same teachers but similar. Except the English teacher is very cringey. TBC should hire me as a consultant anytime they have English in jdoramas.

Every element is working very well. You want to root for the underdog students and Nagasawa Masami does her job to connect all the characters together and do the expositions. The students are all likable and Dragon Zakura knows how to create plenty of feel good moments and character arcs. The main story of if 5 students pass the school gets sold does create a interesting rock and hard place conundrum for Sakuragi sensei.

Abe Hiroshi has been on a roll two two consecutive jdoramas sequels that have turned out to be good in KDO and now Dragon Zakura. Absolutely must watch and if you have not seen the first season get it first but don't marathon both seasons in a roll. A big thank you to miamaw subs for subbing!

Tenshi ni Request wo jdorama review

Eguchi Yosuke stars in Tenshi ni Request wo as a detective turned private eye who gets hired by an old lady into helping out with her last wish.

Kamishiraishi Mone's younger sister is the detective's assistant.

Tenshi ni Request wo is a NHK produced 5 episodes feel good series about helping some old people out and of course uncovering the truth about their past.

Its a common trope of so many detective shows but the twist is they are operating a van to transport the elderly as well.

It has slightly jarring moments where the old people will request a song and Kamishiraishi Mone will sing it but I enjoy the soundtrack of showa songs and if you hire a Kamishiraishi, might as well get her to sing!

If you want a decent feel good show with human stories that doesn't overstay its welcome, try out Tenshi ni Request wo. A big thank you to subie06 for subbing! Watchable.