The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji jmovie review

Its been a while since I have watched a Miike Takashi movie. Laplace's Witch is one of the worst movies ever and the last third of First Love was crap. Undercover Agent Reiji is the first movie in the Mole Song Trilogy. Its a Trilogy series which means that it was successful enough to have two sequels which means it has a chance to be decent right?

The main reason I took a chance on Undercover Agent Reiji is that it was written by Kudo Kankuro. In the jdorama world, everything Kudo Kankuro touches turns into gold. Even when I don't like everything, I can see purpose in his writing. I thought there is no way Miike Takashi can fuck this up.

Turns out I was wrong. Undercover Agent Reiji is the exact same yakuza slapstick schtick that he did for the Ryu ga Gotoku movie, Yakuza Apocalypse and the last third of First Love. Crazy yakuza doing crazy slapstick violence with story barely held together. This time the story is a policeman Reiji is fired so that he can a mole in the Sukiyakai.

I did not find anything remotely funny in Agent Reiji. Except for the mole song which are the rules about being an undercover mole. It is the best thing about the movie and everything else is boring craziness. Everything feels so tired and I could not feel any Kudo Kankuroness from the script and wish they had made a musical instead.

Maybe I have gotten too old since I became a fan of Miike all those years ago watching Ichi the Killer it he feels like a director who keeps recycling old material but can't make a decent movie anymore. No more Zebraman, Audition and Taiyo no Kizu. The last good Miike movie was Gyakuten Saiben/Ace Attorney and Shield of Straw.

But what do I know? Undercover Agent Reiji must have done well in the Japanese box office and many big names are in this movie so lots of people must like it. If you like unhinged Miike doing whatever he wants, The Mole Song is for you. For me it is sad that a director who has made at least 5 must watch Japanese movies can make so many bad ones. Do no watch unless you are a Miike aficionado.

Unlucky Girl! jdorama review

Unlucky Girl! is kind of different from your usual jdoramas. It is a story of 3 of the most unlucky girls in Japan whose lives become entwined by fate and become friends.

Yabe Kenzo is the fortune teller who goes to the same cafe that the girls frequent and is fascinated but the gathering of 3 people of such bad luck and introduces the audience to some sort of fortune telling every episode.

The humour of the show is can be summed up as what can go wrong will go wrong. The humour is dry and the first few episodes were hard for me to get into. I persisted and I started to find the characters appealing and there is a certain charm to watching the 3 girls try their best when things don't go well all the time.

Things really pick up in the middle of the series when we are introduced to a lucky girl, someone who good things just happen to and the incidents that the 3 unlucky girls get involved with get funnier. I started to understand that this was a show about 3 girls who were underdogs in life whereas the lucky girl was someone who has plenty of advantages in life. That's my working class reading of what Unlucky Girl! is about.

Ultimately I think Unlucky Girl! is watchable because it is a show about friendship and trying even when the odds are against you. Definitely not for everyone but if you like dry humour and characters going from one misfortune to another, Unlucky Girl! is a watchable series. Thanks to karaihabu for subbing!

5 reasons to watch Fukushuu no Miboujin Episodes 1~5

Fukushuu no Miboujin is revenge jdorama about a widow played by Matsumoto Wakana getting revenge for her husband's death and here are 5 reasons you should watch it:

1. It is fun and trashy.

2. It is a workplace revenge show against the deceased husband's colleagues who are bullies and useless at their jobs. Who doesn't want to watch a show where useless workers are disposed off without HR?

3. There are plenty of sex scenes. 

4. And eye candy including Adachi Rika and Kobayashi Ryoko.

5. It hasn't gone full trashy/stupid like Black Scandal/Black Revenge, two other female revenge jdoramas.

SUMMARY

If you enjoy female revenge shows and watching bad people getting their just deserts, Fukushuu no Miboujin is for made for you. Thanks to blitzfansubs for subbing!

Ishiko to Haneo Episodes 1~3 jdorama review

Ishiko to Haneo uses the Trick formula; put two flawed people who don't like each other but can form a perfect team together to solve cases and add in a dash of humour.

Arimura Kasumi is Ishiko, a paralegal who is smart but cannot pass the bar exam. Haneo (Nakamura Tomoya) is not a good lawyer but possesses a photographic memory so he easily passed the exam on the first try. Ishiko to Haneo sounds like a slam dunk with the acting talent and concept but there are two problems.

First is no chemistry between the two leads. Not even half the chemistry that Abe Hiroshi and Nakama Yukie had. Which is made worse because of a third wheel joins the team at the end of episode 1. Way too crowded and just destroys any chance of building some chemistry. I think Nakamura Tomoya is the wrong guy to put next to Arimura Kasumi.

Second problem is that first two stories are meh and there was nothing in the first two episodes that showed any promising signs for me. Looks like Arimura Kasumi's amazing run of good jdoramas has ended at the hands of TBS.  Avoid unless you have trouble falling sleep. 

Ame ni Kieta Himawari Episodes 1+2

It is time for dark and depressing WOWOW jdorama after the fun and feelgood of Isekai Izakaya Nobu. I am most excited by Muro Tsuyoshi in the lead role as the police investigator. Usually when comedians play serious roles, it leads to good things. 

Ame ni Kieta Himawari is about a primary school girl Aoi who disappears on her way home from school. Her father played by Sato Ryuta has been separated from the mother for two years and the older sister is getting bullied at school.

The police are having problems locating Aoi's whereabouts and as Nara (Muro Tsuyoshi) tries to find more clues about Aoi's disappearance, we also learn more about why Nara became a police officer for his sister.

One thing that struck me about Ame ni Kieta Himawari is that the directing is not to your usual WOWOW standards. Usually the framing and camera movements in WOWOW shows more cinematic instead of giving off a shot in studio feel. Of course its all WOWOW doramas have the same director but they always have a certain movie feel and quality. Ame ni Kieta Himawari looks like someone who was trained to shoot doramas like in other stations. 

Its hard to explain but the directing just looks cheap. I find myself trying to analyse the framing and camera movement asking myself what is the difference between what I am watching and the usual WOWOW directing I am accustomed to. I am not expecting Samayoi Yaiba quality directing but its not up to the usual WOWOW quality.

Story I can't really comment only that there are a couple of angry scenes which felt meh. Not sure whether it was the directing or writing. The first two episodes are nothing special. I will keep watching but my feeling is it will be a subpar WOWOW show.

I hope I get proven wrong and the next three episodes kick the story into high gear. Thanks to taabou for subbing and raw can be gotten from jraws.

Pandora no Kajitsu Episode 1

I have no idea why Dean Fujioka keeps getting main roles. Nothing that I have seen him in has made me think 'hey, this guy can act'. In fact its the opposite, I just keep wondering why this guy keeps getting pushed all the time.

Pandora no Kajitsu is a science based investigation series about a division to investigate crimes using cutting edge technology. Santamaria Yusuke is your everyman cop and Dean Fujioka is his wooden partner.

There is also a genius super young scientist who I feel gets too involved and is too young. Episode 1 was felt completely flat. No chemistry at all between the characters despite Santamaria Yusuke's best efforts. 

Despite the appearance of Uchida Rio, there was nothing positive about this show to convince me to give episode 2 a try. IPandora no Kajita was trying to be cool and funny and intriguing but ended up being bland and dry. Avoid.