Kanakana Episodes 1~6 jdorama review

Kanakana is about a little girl Kana who can read the thoughts of other and a former yankee Masa who takes her in.

The good thing about Masa is that he is not too smart or rather straightforward that Kana feels safe with him unlike her uncle who wants to use her to win at gambling.

I am pretty sure if the evil uncle had split the winnings with Kana and brought her presents, she would have been happy to continue helping him with her powers.

Kanakana is a feel good dorama series with each episode clocking in at 15 minutes. Its easy and breezy to watch but sadly  I just don't feel anything from it.

The only feeling I get from Kanakana is the feeling of watching the Abe Hiroshi masterpiece Shiroi Haru about a little girl and a yakuza. I actually wrote 4 posts about Shiroi Haru and if I wrote more than 2 posts about a show, that means it is very very good.

Maybe its the runtime of Kanakana or the lack of chemistry but I don't feel invested in the characters and its not funny enough to keep my interest. If are after a super light and breezy show to watch Kanakana might be for you but I decided to drop it because I have way too many shows to watch. Very meh from me.

5 reasons to watch Cinekon e Ikou! Episodes 1~3

1. Cinekon e Ikou! is a workplace dorama actually set in an actual cinema. There's something special about location shooting instead of a studio. I could tell the camera was different and felt more like a movie which I like. It also made me wonder were they only shooting at night after closing and which inaka cinema did they shoot this at. I miss Japan inaka....

2. It is a good workplace dorama about working in a cinema with all sorts of fun details. If you are like me and you are sick of how 99% of jobs in jdoramaland are marketing/fashion magazines/photography with no actual details about the intricacies of the job, then Cinekon e Ikou is for you. 

This show is a guide on the challenges of working at a cinema from managing concession stands to looking out for people trying to sneak food in to dealing with all sorts of complaints. I just love learning about the challenges that other jobs have and how people deal with them. 

3. Its stars Watanabe Dai and Kitano Kie. I feel like I have not seen Kitano Kie forever. Was the last thing I saw her in School!? There was a time it felt like she was everywhere.

4. Its pretty funny and the characters are likable and everyone has their idiosyncrasies. I am going to have fun knowing the characters. You have the full time staff who this for a living and the part time students who are doing the job just to get by.

5. Cinekon e Ikou has this nostalgic feeling to it. I think most movies and shows about cinema do. There's something about the magic of cinema and movies. The best thing about cinemas in Japan is that you can grab small promotional posters for upcoming movies. They are not big and the size of a manga but its something that we don't have in Australia.

SUMMARY

Watch it. Not must watch but very watchable and fun. Big thanks to GEO9875 for subbing.

Nanba MG5 jdorama review

Nanba MG5 is a high school yankee dorama that is similar to a reverse superman. Nanba was born in a yankee family and is basically invincible in battle but wants to be an ordinary student and do art.

His family thinks that Nanba is going to a bad yankee school but every morning he leaves home in his topukku aka super hero costume and changes into regular school uniform and black hair.

My main problem with Nanba is that the main girl is annoying and I had no desire to see her on screen.

Best girl is Nanba's sister.

Best girl not his sister is completely useless.

Nanba's two best friends are pure shonen supporting characters with no other reason for existing besides to support the main character.

While there are things that bug me and I barely finished it, there are some funny moments and I really like the energy and the manga scribbles at the end credits.

Meh from me. Some might like it as its a high school fighting comedy about finding yourself but ultimately I didn't find it to be that funny and my mind kept thinking about Angel Densetsu, one of my favourite high school comedy fighting mangas.

Isekai Izakaya Nobu Season 2 Episodes 1~6

One of my favourite shows of 2020 is back. Thank the jdorama gods for shows like Izakaya Nobu and Konya Ko ni Ji for getting me through the lockdowns of 2020. 

Isekai has become such a bad word for anime because they are all stupid wish fulfilment shows that we tend to forget isekai existed before light novels were around and can be used to tell interesting stories.

The best thing about Isekai Izakaya Nobu is that it puts an interesting spin on food porn by setting it up in a middle ages city and playing that for laughs. The main characters are the owner of Nobu and Shinobu the waitress so its about them service nice food to customers. Luckily someone wasn't dumb enough to set it Nobu an online game or give the owner a harem of women.

I have to admit, Isekai Izakaya Nobu is not as funny the second time around. The first season went through so many jokes for an Izakaya set in a middle ages city nothing seems fresh in season 2. 

The first few episodes were a bit slow but its gotten better. Season 2 is subtitled the witch and archbishop chapter. We've been introduced to the witch and the show has taken great pains to explain the church hierarchy so I expect the story to pick up in the second half with some religious politics!

Isekai Izakaya Nobu is entertaining food porn, just not as fresh as the first season which I almost gave a must watch. There's still a chance the second half will be very good. I am happy Nobu is back because it is such a relaxing show to watch. Watchable. Big thanks to monchi for subbing!

Shinsengumi Keppuuroku jdorama review

Its been a long time since I've seen the Mitani Koki Shinsengumi! series. The last time I saw it was in 2014 in preperation for  playing Ryu ga Gotoku Ishin! Its definitely a must watch show and one of my favourite Jidaigeki.

Keppuuroku is 2011 show starring Nagai Masaru as Hijikata. I will always remember Nagai Masaru as the one actor in Buzzer Beater who actually looked like he could play basketball. In Keppuuroku, he's got the meaty part of Hijikata, probably the most memorable character of the Shinsengumi story. FYI there are two other versions of Keppuuroku; 1965 and 1998.

I don't really know how to judge Keppuuroku. I think the casting is very good. I dare say as good as the Mitani Koki one. I really liked Toyohara Kousuke as Serizawa Kamo, the best 'bad guy' role of the story. If I were an actor and couldn't play Hijikata, I would want the Kamo role. I prefer the Kondou Isami actor compared to Katori Shingo although his role is not as meaty.

Compared to Shinsengumi!, Keppuuroku does not have as many episodes and feels like its a collection of best of stories and the timelines jump here and there. The swordfights are ok. Unfortunately no blood. I'd rather no blood than CG blood any day.

Around halfway I started wondering if Japan would ever do a non romanticized version of the story. All the things they did was crazy and so many people were killed. It was a bunch of killers in an organization where someone was committing seppuku every other day for breaking some rule. They were undisciplined killers bound by crazy strict rules.

In the end I enjoyed it, especially the ending song Bojou by Yoshida Takurou. Not too often I would sit through all the ending credits of a jdorama. If you enjoy jidaigeki like me, I think Shinsengumi is worth your time. 

If you don't really watch them, Keppuuroku is not good enough to be worth your while and you should try the Mitani Koki one. A huge thanks to evasive for subbing!

Uketsuke no Jo Episodes 1~3

The premise of Uketsuke no Jo sounds like something I wound enjoy very much. Jo works for an advertising agency and is put in charge of automating and restructuring the reception team at his workplace. He joins the reception team and learns that the job is not so simple.

At a time where many jobs are being lost due to technology and automation, the story of Uketsuke no Jo is very relevant. Just because management decides to get rid of a job does not mean the work magically disappears.

Uketsuke no Joe also has a great caset for the reception team including Triendl Reina, Nishihara Aki and Miyama Karen. Its so easy to root for the ladies as their job is on the line and they do their work well.

My problem with the show is the main character Jo. He just bloody annoys me and if I have to say why its because he is written in such a way to appeal to the Johnny fangirls. Not the fault of the show of course. It knows who its audience is but I have no desire to continue watching and have decided to drop it. If the concept sounds like your cup of tea and you can stomach an annoying Johnny, you might enjoy it but meh from me.

Ubai ai, Koukou Kyoushi jdorama review

When I watch really bad jdoramas, I often think how do they not know how bad the show they are making is. Ubai Ai, Koukou Kyoushi does not have this problem. You can tell they know how bad the show is but they look like they are having a great time making it!

The cook from Isekai Izakaya Nobu Ohtani Ryohei is the high school teacher who one days meets single mom Mizuki Arisa at a cafe where people can perform music together.  Unbeknown to her, Ohtani Ryohei is living with Matsumoto Marika. It is practically an iron clad jdorama rule that anyone who starts of a jdorama together with Matsumoto Marika is going to experience a lot of suffering.

To make matters worse, Mizuki Arisa's daughter is also Ohtani Ryohei's student and I won't spoil things further except to say if you can think it, Ubai ai, Koukou Kyoushi has it. The acting and story is purposefully bad. It has a runtime of around 20 minutes per episodes so its almost like a so bad its kind of fun movie.

If you want a trashy, ridiculous dorama to waste an hour and 20 minutes of your time, then Ubai ai, Koukou Kyoushi  might be for me. There are some images from the final episodes featuring Mizuki Arisa I will never forget lol. Do not watch this show but I mean it in a good way. So bad it might be entertaining. Thanks to masssterchief for subbing and you can get the raws from the link as well.