Omameda Towako to San-nin no Moto Otto Episodes 1~7

I was excited about Omameda Towako to San-nin no Moto Otto. After all, it is written by Sakamoto Yuji who wrote Soredemo Ikite Yuku, Quartet, Last Christmas etc. Sakamoto Yuji is a national treasure.

Omameda Towako and her 3 former husbands is a comedy about Matsu Takako the president of a housing company and her 3 exes who somehow can't leave her alone. 

The first is the father of her child who doesn't act like a father, the second is a cameraman and the third is a lawyer who still works with Towako.  

I wanted to like this show and I tried for 7 episodes but I bloody dislike the 3 husbands. I find them annoying and don't find them funny at all. I don't see why Towako married any of them and I don't see why she tolerates them at all.

The second thing that bugs me about Omameda Towako is Matsu Takako's cheeks. I know 99.9% of faces in jdoramas are plastic but Matsu Takako's cheeks are approaching Nagoshi Toshihiro's (former Sega executive) level of puffiness.

I didn't really notice it in Quartet but I every time I see Matsu Takako I just look at the cheeks. I don't understand where the beauty is on plastic faces. Its just unrealistic and distracting.

I might try to finish it since there are 3 episodes left but I gave it a shot and it was just meh for me. I know there is more to Sakamoto Yuji's dialogue but my dislike for the characters is blocking me from appreciating them.

Omameda Towako to San-nin no Moto Otto is still worth giving it a shot but meh from me.

Mushoboke Episodes 1~3

Mushoboke is about a former yakuza Jinnai who was released after 14 years in prison and is trying to acclimatise with the outside world. 

 

Jinnai Sousuke had great dreams of what his life would be after prison but now he has to pay for plastic bags, no one is cared of his tattoos anymore and he has discovered smart phones and youtubers.

Jinnai is also prison dumb keeps having conversations with this prison guard who wants to keep him from going back to prison.

The first episode started out slow and the second and third episodes got more interesting especially the end of episode 3.

Mushoboke is a comedy about people about the bottom rung of society struggling to get by and the 3 episodes brought me some laughs and feel good moments. 

Really good start and fingers crossed it keeps up. If you want a comedy that's a bit different, try Mushoboke. Watchable. Thanks to keroro4 for subbing.

Solomon no Gishou Episodes 1+2

In 2015 I watched the 2-parter Solomon's Perjury and didn't really like it. Apparently there is something about the plot I didn't like (can't remember the movies at all) and I wrote that it would have worked better as a 4 part WOWOW dorama.

6 years later and here we are with a WOWOW dorama version of Solomon no Gishou starring Kamishiraishi Moka.

The story is about a boy who the police deemed at committed suicide but an anonymous letter claims that he was actually killed and the show is about Kamishiraishi Moka trying to find out what actually happened while dealing with various parties who are less interest in the truth than their own interests.

Very good WOWOW production as usual, looks very movie-like. I am glad I remember nothing from the movies. 

I also want to say, I can't remember the last time I say a teenager jdorama with featuring someone with pimples. Teenagers are supposed to be awkward and pimply!

I am in all the way and I hope that WOWOW will fix my problems with the movies. Thanks to aoinousagi for subbing. Watchable if you want a dark story about a school incident with a lot of not nice people.

Raise de wa Chanto Shimasu 2

Raise was one of my favourite shows of 2020 because it was a breath of fresh air in the sex comedy genre.

Uchida Rio seems to be on a roll with Bazuru Kazoku and I was eagerly anticipating season 2.

Season 2 starts of Uchira Rio reintroducing her sefures and going to a matchmaking event while yarichin was having some girlfriend problems.

 

Muscle dude has a new neighbour and the boss is in so deep he has no concept of reality.

I started to get a bit tired of the show in the middle because it doesn't seem like it was going anywhere.

Season 2 felt like a retread of season 1. Raise was more a 4-koma slice of life dorama than a character development story.

I guess I can't critisize Raise 2 for being what it is. After all the title means I will be better in my next life so that means the characters never learn.

My favourite thing about season 2 is Kobayashi Ryouko!

Raise 2 feels like the first half of season and the characters only took half a step forward, at least 3 of them. Watchable but feels tired. Stuff better happen in season 3! I don't think English subs are available but I have retimed the Japanese subs at d-addicts.

5 reasons why you should watch Tokkai Episodes 1-10

 

During the bubble era, the ministry of finance and banks created juusen which were housing loan companies targeted for individuals. 

In 1996, the 7 juusen went bankrupt because they went crazy lending their money to everyone and the Japanese government decided to save these private companies with public monies. This story sounds very, very familiar and is still happening today.

 

Tokkai is the story about a group of people made up of former juusen employees who are trying to claw back all the debt that was created when the bubble burst. These are the five reasons why you should watch this show.

1. It is the story of Japan trying to pick itself up after the bubble burst. The idea of stable employment and working for one's whole life at one place was dead. The people from juusen and banks at participated in a lot of bad practices during the bubble that cost taxpayers a lot of money and this was their chance to right their wrong, so to speak. On a side note, how great is it to have this view of Osaka Castle from your workplace?

2. Tokkai is an interesting procedural show about all the steps that need to be taken to collect debt. Its not just turning up at a place brandishing an IOU. I really enjoy shows that show all the blood, sweat and tears that go into a job. There is so much information gathering and putting pieces of a puzzle together.

3.Hashizume Isao plays the best boss in the world, Tobo Heizo. He knows what needs to be done to save Japan and he understands the hardship that his staff need to go through to achieve his aim.

4. Great cast with Ito Hideaki, Hirosue Ryoko and Nakamura Yuri. :)

5. Its a story about people trying to do the right thing against very difficult odds and its a story that is very relevant to today's world. When banks and financial institutions lend money without a care to rules, people will suffer and pay for it and nothing will happen to the actual bank people responsible.

SUMMARY

Not must watch but close. So much finance jargon it must have been so difficult to sub for deedlitmurata. Highly recommended and you can get the raws from here.

5 reasons not to watch A Life: Itoshiki Hito Episodes

There was a time I used to like Kimutaku jdoramas. Then he Karei Naru Ichizoku and I thought he was trying to hard to be cool when his character wasn't. Then he did Mr Brain , Change, and Tsuki no Koibito and I stopped watching his stuff.

 

Recently because of Judge Eyes and Lost Judgement I have tried out BG which was ok and I decided to try A Life since it had the late Takeuchi Yuko. After all they had really good chemistry in Pride. Unfortunately I lasted 5 episodes which in hindsight was a few episodes too much. It helped that there was no good acting to pay full attention to so here are my 5 reasons why you should avoid A Life.

1) Kimutaku trying too hard to be cool be leaving all his books open on the floor. Its like a kid trying to tell his mother, siblings, grandmother and next door neighbour that he is reading 20 freaking books at once.

2) Tadanobu Asano stuck with a 2D villain with villain hair. He acts like a bad guy but our main hero Kimutaku is too stupid to notice. He has zero chemistry with Takeuchi Yuko even though they are married. They don't sleep together, no show of affection, nothing. He is supposed to be the mirror to Kimutaku's main character but Asano's character has no nuance.

3) Takeuchi Yuko is supposed to be this pitiful ex girlfriend of Kimutaku who married the wrong guy when Kimutaku thought she was broke up with him. Cry me a river. She is the daughter of hospital boss, doesn't have to work overtime and is too stupid to realise husband is banging the lawyer. Please no chemistry between her and Kimutaku.

4) Takeuchi Yuko is a surgeon which brain tumour and not only do Tadanobu Asano and Kimutaku don't tell her, they allow her to continue seeing and operating on patients. Which part of patient's right to know and patient's right not to have a surgeon who could a seizere at any time does the writer not understand. Everything is so contrived.

5) Waste of acting abilities. They had Tadanobu Asano and Matsuyama Kenichi and it is wasted with the contrived script which feels like a Kimutaku vanity project set in a hospital.

SUMMARY

Do not watch A Life. If you want Kimutaku x Takeuchi Yuko, watch Pride. If you want good hospital drama with great writing and characters, watch Shiroi Kyoto.

Ukiwa: Tomodachi Ijou Furin Miman review

Ukiwa is a jdorama about two affairs and Renbutso Misako is the mistress! Do you need any other reason to watch?

Seriously, Ukiwa is a slow burn story about two couples who live next to each other and the relationship between the housewife Nakayama Maiko and the husband next door Futaba Hajime who also happens to be the boss of Nakayama's husband. 

Ukiwa means float and the subtitle of the show is more than friendship and less than an affair. Its a show about two people living next to each other, supporting each other while their partners are having affairs (not with each other)

Ukiwa is less interested in the shock of affairs and more about the mental state of people. The guilt and why some people stay silent and how an affair can fray the bonds of marriage.

I was drawn by the movie-like aesthetic of Ukiwa and fun of the two characters who can only interact on their balconies and when throwing out their rubbish while going through the worst time of their lives.

While it is a watchable show, because nothing happens in Ukiwa I think it would have been better off as a movie. Thanks to aoiusagi for subbing. 

For people who want a slow paced relationship story and fans of Kadowaki Mugi and of course Renbutsu Misako.