Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu jdorama review

In 2019 there was a beautiful jdorama about a female idoru otaku and an idoru called Dakara Watashi wa Oshimashita and it was one of the best shows that year. When I saw that Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu was another show the exact same premise I thought there was no way it can match up, and it doesn't.

Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu or I will die if my favourite idoru goes to Budokan is a much more light hearted and innocent show about underground idoru fandom. While Dakara Watashi wa Oshimashita did not hesitate to get into the dark sides of underground idorus, Oshibudo is exists in a lot cleaned up and flowery world.

It doesn't mean there is no reason to watch Oshibudo. One of the charms is that the story is set in Okayama and there is something about underground idorus set in a small town and the show does not hesitate to show off some touristy spots.

I did not hate OshiBudo, the story about superfan Eripyo who supports Maina, the least popular member of ChamJam. The 20 minute runtime made things breezy and I quickly finished the 10 episodes but it is a pretty forgettable feelgood and my mind kept going back to Dakara Oshimashita. 

If you have not seen Dakara Watashi wa Oshimashita, do it but if you want something light and feel good about idorus then maybe OshiBudo is for you. Bear in mind this show does not touch on the bad sides of idoru fandom and rather glosses over them. It was kind of unsettling when one of the character declared nonchalantly that he is not doing a full time job so has time to support his oshi. But I suppose the main character Eripyo wears a tracksuit all the time because all her money is used to support Maina.

Ultimately, OshiBudo gets a meh from me. Doboz has subbed the show until episode 5 and you can get the subs from twitter.

And, the Baton was Passed jmovie review

And, the Baton was Passed was one of the movies on show during the Japanese Film Festival and I am bloody glad I did not go watch it. Why? If you look at the poster the top line says that the movie is about two families (Nagano Mei and dad and Ishihara Satomi and daughter) and what is the secret that each parent has staked their life on. The bottom right line says you will cry more if you watch it one more time.

Yes, And, the Baton was Passed is unashamed crying porn with the poster basically spoiling the twist. The movie has been engineered to create this uber sad revelation at the end after so many contrived events and the movie asking the audience, "are you not sad? be sadder!"

The movie had the total opposite effect on me. It is a shoujo sob story that I hated because it was bright and colourful even when the family was poor and so many lucky events happened to Ishihara Satomi's daughter that she is basically set for life and I can't feel sorry for her at all.

And, the Baton was Passed is manipulative jmovie at its worst. I am clearly not the target audience so it does not work on me but this is trying way too hard to be moving that I wish to move it from my hard disk. Avoid.

Alice in Borderland S2 review

The first season of Alice in Borderland was one of the best jdoramas of 2020. Sato Shinsuke showed what could happen when Japan's best action director was given Netflix money. As someone who has watched so much jdorama and jmovies and has lamented so often that Japanese action shows are crap, I was so happy that Japan can do world quality action.

WHAT I LIKED

+ The car chase scene in episode 1. So many times in jdoramas car chase scenes are in the dark without any other cars for budget reasons and there is one continuous 10 second shot where I am smiling to myself thinking about how much that would have cost and how long that would have taken to shoot.

+ The red/blue tag action scenes are done very well and the boss lady is good.

+ Love the CG especially the Last of Us look for Tokyo.

+ Tsuchiya Tao can do action unlike Takahashi Maryjun in Avalance. Her casting in Avalance made zero sense.

+ The action scene for the second last boss involving everyone was every exciting and traumatic. The tension of survival stories is when your favourite characters are in danger.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

- Felt like Arisu and Tsuchiya Tao had too much plot armour and it felt like everyone else was just there to die for them. Felt like Arisu does not do enough.

- Some of the wire work was too obvious.

- I didn't understand the ending of the scales (tenbin) game with Chishiya.

- Yamapi needs subtitles for his English singing. I could not understand a single word.

MEH

= The wtf ending made me think what the hell is the story for anyway unless of course we get a twist in S3.

SUMMARY

Great action dorama but story and games were not as exciting as the first season. As I said in my review for S1, it all depends of what the truth is because a bad revelation just nullifies everything. The huh ending of S2 was disappointing but it all depends on whether they will do a S3 and what the truth is. Maybe I should go read the manga. Watchable.

Ryojin no Ono Episodes 3~6

 

WOWOW's Ryojin no Ono is my other watch must show from this season besides Elpis. Luwang has finished subbing the show so I can finally talk about it. The raws can be gotten from drama-otaku and the sub from luwang's discord. It is a very exciting suspense dorama with lots of twists and turns.

My idea of what Ryojin no Ono was about kept changing with every twist. At the same as every red herring was discarded, I kept wondering whatever could the final twist be? When the final twist was revealed at the end I was shocked. I had no idea how to take it. My first thoughts were negative. I thought this was stupid twist. It made Ryojin no Ono into a super dark tragedy that was comical.

I was writing my review in my head about how the ending did not make sense to me but I decided to wait for the subs and rewatch the final episode again. And after two weeks to process the ending and rewatching the final episode again I am not so negative about the ending twist anymore.

Ryojin no Ono is about tragedy and how people survive after a tragic event. Whether by love or by hate, living on after tragedy is difficult and the Shibasaki's went through tragedy that is just unexplainable. That the wife chose to keep quiet about to preserve the marriage and husband's sanity.

Really good job from WOWOW. They have made one of the most bloody tragic and depressing jdoramas ever.

Shinso wa Mimi no Naka Episodes 1~4

Shinso wa Mimi no Naka is yet another Alibi Kuzushi. The producers want to put a young idoru/tarento in a mystery show but she is too young so the best way is to pair her with a veteran actor playing a detective who is completely useless thus requiring our young idoru to solve the mystery for him.

This time, our main characters are father daughter with Tsuyoshi Ihara playing a really useless detective who gets everything wrong and daughter is a podcaster who likes solving mysteries sent in by listeners. When I read the concept I thought it was disgusting and expected to hate this show right away. Instead its turned out to be a fun show so far.

First reason is the idoru daughter doesn't figure into the show much. She has a breakfast scene in the beginning of each episode and a podcast scene at the end so it doesn't interfere with her idoru activities. The bulk of the show is carried by Tsuyoshi Ihara as the bumbling detective and he is pretty funny because it is pretty difficult to get things so wrong. 

Episode 2 also featured one of my favourite mysteries I have ever seen in jdoramas. Truly one of the most creative crime twists and I think everyone should watch that episode. Also Tsuyoshi Ihara also has good chemistry with his partner and always sullen face forensic lady.

I don't care about the idoru so this has been strangely fun 4 episodes so far. A lot better than Alibi Kuzushi but still not as good as Pure. Thanks to brokensubs for subbing and you can get hardsubs from them. 

Elpis: Kibou, Aruiwa Wazawai Episodes 3~7

Elpis is my favourite show of the season. The audience knows the truth and can see the twists coming and it does not matter because it is so well written and what is so well written are the characters themselves.

Nagasawa Masami's former newscaster turned Friday Bonbon 'reporter', career on the line trying to do the right thing but at the same time having her personal life which she thought she had conquered continue to weigh her down.

Maeda Gordon who grew up overprotected who never did the right thing slowly getting the courage to do what is right but losing his belief of what is right.

I can't remember a mystery suspense dorama where I can say its the character moments that impressed me and not the revelations. I am cheering all the underdog characters in this show as they all have their moments.

I don't want to jinx Elpis before the finish and so much quality over 7 episodes deserves a must watch award from me because it is so good. Please, please stick the landing so I don't regret the must watch award. Thanks to Edwardwong for the subs or you can get the subs and raws from drama-otaku.

Keishicho Kosatsu Ichika Episodes 1+2

Keishicho Kosatsu Ichika is what happens when TV Tokyo needs a 40 minute dorama, has a bunch of veteran actors and has no budget so the whole series or the main actors need to be shot in the same set. Keishicho Kosatsu Ichika is another one of those 'police' shows where people solve crimes without leaving their own office. I guess the correct term is armchair detective?

All the crime information is brought to our veteran group by the young police officers and the show is about them dissecting the information and offering their opinions which in an office set that looks more like a leftover dining room set than a proper place for police work. There is a more comedic bent with Keishicho Kosatsu Ichika especially with the characters.

I really dislike this trend of solve mysteries without going out of office doramas. There was one a few years back with a bunch of veteran actors in a retirement home or something. In terms of maximising the budget it is an ingenious idea because 90% of the show is in the same set and on location shoots are expensive. As a dorama, I just find it annoying, set is a throwaway and I just can't get into it after two episodes. Avoid.

Yamikin Saihara-san Episodes 1~4

Yamikin Saihara-san is a spin off of the popular Yamiking Ushijima series about loan sharking and collecting money from all sorts of people. I loved the first series with Katase Nana but I lost interest with each subsequent series and spin off when she left the show. bframe said that the side stories were interesting and I put it on my list and I noticed on drama-otaku that Sars fansub was subbing! Sars run by amrayu was really big back in the early days of jdoramas and it is good to see them back.

I was expecting to get bored but Yamikin Saihara-san has been ok.I think the most important thing is the supporting character Yuto is the lackey of Saihara-san. He is the one 'normal' person in this world of loan-sharking. I don't care about Takahashi Maryjun's Saihara-san because like Ushijima, she is just a force of nature character with no personality anyway. I do care about normal characters who are just trying to get by.

The stories so far are interesting from old man slowly getting hooked into the underground idol scene and guy married to guy married to Kinami Haruka trying to run a ramen place. I can definitely get behind a ramen  and idoru jdorama.

Only watch if you are a fan of the Ushijima series. bframe did remark that Saihara-san doesn't have the charm of  Ushijima. I am more into the human stories than the main characters. OK series so far. Thanks to Sars for subbing!

JFF 2022: Lesson in Murder

Lesson in Murder is my last movie for the Japanese film festival. This Japanese version of Silence of the Lambs has Abe Sadao as a serial killer on trial for committing many high school students. Fair warning that the movie starts off with a very graphic torture scene so it is not a movie to watch with food.

Abe Sadao sends a letter to Masaya, a law student who used to frequent Abe Sadao's bakery when he was a middle school student asking to meet. Masaya meets Abe Sadao in prison and Abe tells him that although he admits to all the crimes, he did not kill the last victim which was a 20+ year old woman and asks Masaya to find the real killer.

Lesson in Murder is a psychological thriller with a person who was a potential victim of a serial killer trying to find someone who pinned their crime on Abe Sadao. As Masaya starts to look into Abe Sadao's crimes and gets more nuggets of information, we get clues about his past and how and why he has befriended and killed so many high school students.

It has been a few days since I watched Lesson in Murder and I am still not sure what to make of it. The chemistry is nowhere as good as Silence of the Lambs but is ok. There are a lot of gruesome scenes but Abe Sadao is not as scary. I was never bored of the movie and the twists and turns are great but I feel meh about the final reveal. 

I don't regret watching it but I don't know how to rate it. I am glad it is not a bad movie like Creepy but I cannot say it is a good movie. Ok movie. Watch if the idea of Abe Sadao playing a serial killer excites you.

JFF 2022: Anime Supremacy movie review

 

I chose this movie because Yoshioka Riho and Ono Machiko were in it and it is a movie about anime.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

Yoshioka Riho plays Saito Hitomi who is a newbie director directing her first anime series Soundback. She quit her government job to be involved in the anime industry because she watched this anime by this director Oji Chiharu. Hitomi's anime Soundback is going to go up against Oji's anime Liddel Light.

Anime Supremacy is a movie about two directors Saito and Oji who are going up against each other for ratings supremacy and trying to create the best anime they can. If you enjoy watching a team of people work together to achieve something beautiful ala The Great Passage than this show is for you.

THE GOOD

+ Anime Supremacy is a love letter to anime. While Atom no Ko is a too mainstream jdorama with gaming elements, Anime Supremacy feels like it was made for anime fans first.

+ Love the hidden jokes for anime fans such as 'my father never hit me' line which I don't think anyone got.

+ Anime Supremacy is a feel good movie about the magic and wonder of anime and plenty of emotional payoffs in the story.

+ I love all the behind the scenes stuff from promotions to seiyuu to storyboards and lighting. I like shows about jobs that we don't normally see when they get all the little details right. Its the little details that make the story and characters feel real.

+ The sub story of this famous animator and her quest for reajuu is a nice distraction from the two main characters but ties back to the themes of the main story which is is there a difference between otaku and reajuu?

THE BAD

- The only bad thing is Nakamura Tomoya is a bit too young to be the director Oji but he is the right person in terms of acting. Can't think of should play it but a young Furuta Arata would perfect.

SUMMARY

Very satisfying and must watch love letter to anime. Very well done and I love all the emotional payoffs. Looks like someone just uploaded a rip to avistaz.

JFF 2022 Intolerance / Kuuhaku movie review

Intolerance is out at dramahd and avistaz but I wanted to watch it at a cinema to support this Furuta Arata movie.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

Furuta Arata is a stubborn fisherman who is divorced and has care of his daughter while his ex-wife is pregnant to her new husband. Matsuzaka Tori the boss of a small supermarket and catches Furuta Arata's daughter stealing. He drags her to the supermarket office but the daughter runs off and boss gives chase. As Matsuzaka Tori is about to catch her, the daughter crosses the road and gets hit by a car. So now we have a very angry father of dead daughter and boss of struggling supermarket.

From the director Yoshida Keisuke who made the must watch Himeanole, Intolerance is a movie about people finding blame when tragedy strikes. It is about tragedy being made for consumption by the media and public while people involved are just trying to make sense of it all. 

THE GOOD

+ This is the type of angry but entertaining ojisan that Furuta Arata excels at. He just has that screen presence and nothing he does is boring. 

+ Matsuzaka Tori is well cast as the supermarket boss who is under just incredible pressure.

+ There is a 'disgusting scene' near the end that has been building up that made everyone in the cinema go eww.

+ The directing is good and you feel like a fly on the wall watching the tense scenes.

+ While it is a serious movie, luckily there are some funny scenes.

THE BAD

- Nothing bad about the movie

THE MEH

= Script is nothing that we have not seen in so many jdoramas before. I would say the script is decent but if not for Furuta Arata, this would be an average movie.

SUMMARY

Very watchable movie carried by Furuta Arata. He needs to get nominated for his acting by all Japanese movie awards. I need to watch more Yoshida Keisuke movies because clearly he is a very good director. 

JFF 2022: Dreaming of the Meridian Arc review

 

The Japanese Film Festival is back! Actually it never left and went online after the pandemic started but I never bothered with online. The opening night movie is Nakai Kiichi's Dreaming of the Meridian Arc or Taiga e no Michi which is a more suitable and funny name.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

In Dreaming of the Meridian Arc, Nakai Kiichi works for Katori City where the famous Ino Tadataka who made the first accurate map of Japan lived and proposes they idea that they should get a taiga dorama made about Tadataka to increase tourism. Nakai Kiichi tries hard to get this famous screenwriter who has not written anything in 20 years to do the synopsis of the show but on the way they discover that Tadataka may not have actually made the map! The movie jumps back to the past to show what actually happened with the modern cast playing the characters in the time of Tadataka.

THE GOOD

+ Very good cast of Nakai Kiichi, Matsuyama Kenichi, Kitagawa Keiko and Nishimura Masahiko.

+ Matsuyama Kenichi was the source of most of the laughs

+ It is a feel good movie about people coming together to do an impossible task much like The Great Passage.

THE BAD

- The directing is very pedestrian. It feels more like a tv movie than a movie made for cinema. There isn't much budget despite the incredible cast but it makes it feel more like a movie paid for by Katori City about Katori city trying to get a taiga dorama up and running.

THE MEH

= Feels like a  weaker version of The Great Passage with more humour. 

SUMMARY

Dreaming of the Meridian Arc did its job. They were funny bits and touching bits and it made me think about visiting Kotori city to see Tadataka but it was more like a tv movie or 2 part tv dorama. Between meh and watchable. There's nothing to dislike about it.

Akunin/ Villain 2010 jmovie review

I came across a poster of this movie on yahoo auctions and I thought I am pretty sure I watched this movie. Searched on my blog a few times to make sure. I vaguely remember watching it but for some reason I never got around to reviewing it. After watching Akunin, I have no idea why I did not do that straight away because it is one of the most unforgettable jmovies I have ever seen.

Tsumabuki Satoshi is this blue collar worker Yuichi who lives near Nagasaki and takes care of his grandparents. His only hobby is his car and he meets Yoshino played Mitsushima Hikari who lives in Fukuoka and he drives all the way down from Nagasaki to meet her.

Yoshino who is in insurance sales is a bit of a bimbo and she is playing Yuichi while having her eyes on Masuo, this rich student whose parents run a high class ryokan. Mitsushima Hikari is supposed to meet Yuichi but ditches him when she accidentally runs into Masuo and gets into his car. The next day Mitsushima Hikari is dead and Masuo is on the run.

It is hard to talk about Akunin without spoilers. Akunin is a movie about loneliness and what desperate lengths people will to to find something to live for and what lengths people will go to for the ones they live for. Acting is superb especially Fukatsu Eri as the suites saleslady who gets involved with Yuichi. I won't say its a must watch but if you want a serious and dark movie that pulls no punches, then Akunin is for you. You won't be feeling happy after watching this movie.

SPOILERS AHEAD

The obvious spoiler is that Yuichi is the villain. As Fukatsu Eri says at the end of the movie, Yuichi killed someone and must be a bad person. The movie shows that it is not so simple because he takes care of his grandparents and his loneliness and naiveness allowed him to be played by Mitsushima Hikari and it was when she threatens to accuse him of rape that Yuichi loses it.

Does it excuse what Yuichi did? No. As the movie shows us, Yoshino has parents who deeply care for her and she may be a bitch but she did not deserve to die. I think Yuichi ultimately did it because he had nothing to lose and he found Fukatsu Eri too late. The question is was he really trying to choke her to death in the end or was he trying to get her to leave him?

SUMMARY

One of the most memorable and well acted jmovies I have seen. A must watch in my book but only for fans of dark and depressing jmovies. The raw is available from dramahd and I got the subs from avistaz.

Where to download jdoramas and subs in 2022

Once upon a time, there was a d-addicts tracker and all the shows were uploaded onto the tracker and life was good. You just needed one site to keep track of everything. Nowadays, everything is different and I remember someone saying recently that you basically need a spreadsheet to keep track of everything.

Someone asked in the comments if I could make a mini guide with essential sites to follow. The good news is keiko1981 has already made a where to find doramas and subs guide which I encourage everyone to read through as it is the best starting point.

The most useful site for keep track of everything is the jdorama fansub map. This is the most important page because it is basically the spreadsheet to keep track of who is subbing what and where to get it. Big thanks to the people who maintain the fansub map because I would be lost without it. Looking at the map, it is encouraging that although jdoramas are such a niche hobby, so many shows are being subbed.

Just adding to keiko1981's guide I just want to mention where I get my shows. First one is dramahd. My no.1 reason for liking them are the smaller file sizes and that they upload jmovies as well. All the pages come with a quick synopsis and if I like a show I like up the subs on the fansub map. Smaller file sizes is important to me because some jdorama file sizes can get really huge and unless a jdorama looks like Kenja no Ai, I am not so particular about resolution and detail. I think keiko1981 said on twitter that someone was hacked from using dramahd but so far so good for me. Can't guarantee dramahd is safe but it is my most used site.

For private trackers, I am on avistaz, jptv.club and jptvts.us. I use avistaz the most and sometimes you can find some from those invite only places at avistaz. I remember getting some invite only subs recently from avistaz and in the past I have avoided those invite only 

Recently I have joined luwuang's discord server and drama-otaku. With luwuang, you get access to 4 subbers; donsubbers, edwardwong and madman and lilac so its worth joining. Unfortunately madman have been uploading their hardsubs onto terabox lately and you cannot download the file from the website and need to download the app which will show ads on your pc. I am rather suspicious of terabox and am staying away for the moment. 

There are a few hardsub websites around such as brokensubs, irozoku and blitzfansub. While keeping up with jdoramas is difficult, there are a lot more shows being subbed today then back in the early days of d-addicts, jem and getting jdoramas from Kiku TV in Hawaii and there are too many shows for me to keep up. 

Subete Wasurete Shimau Kara episodes 1~3 jdorama review

Now I have access to drama-otaku, I decided to check what other shows they had and Subete Wasurete Shimau Kara caught my eye since it had Abe Hiroshi! Abe Hiroshi has been hit and miss recently. The Sniffer and DCU were crap but KDO2 and Dragon Zakura 2 were good. Plus Ono Machiko and Kudo Kankuro are in it!

Subete Wasurete Shimau Kara is about this not so famous but published mystery writer played by Abe Hiroshi who frequents bars in order to find inspiration for this stories. He has been in a relationship with Ono Machiko but on Halloween, she disappeared and he has not heard from her since.

Subete Wasurete Shimau Kara is a slow mystery/ slice of life about this mystery writer who does not seem to know much about his partner who has disappeared and who does not seem that desperate to find out. There is also this funny thing about his narration being down by a female voice hinting that Abe may no be who we are seeing?

The humour is very dry and the 3 episodes has not gotten me excited one single bit despite the appearance of Oshima Yuko at the end. Ono Machiko's sister is annoying and Abe Hiroshi letting her run all over him makes me dislike his character more.

I might take a peek at episode 4 at a later date but if a jdorama cannot even remotely pique my interest after 3 episodes, I think its time to drop it. IMO, 20 minute doramas need to have enough humour or be a feel good show and Subete Wasurete Shimau Kara has neither. Meh.