Gouriteki ni Arienai Episodes 1+2

Gouriteki ni Arienai is a detective show starring Amami Yuki as a former lawyer who lost her license to practice and became a detective and Matsushita Kouhei (Saiai) as her assistant who has a very high IQ and is a virgin and uncomfortable around women.

This comedy reminds me of The Confidence Man Jp also made by Fuji TV whereby our main characters will done disguises to infiltrate for information or set their target up. The comedy is kind of meh for me and there is not much chemistry between Amami Yuki and Matsushita Kouhei. On a side note, I remember dropping The Confidence Man Jp really quickly but I can't seem to find a review.

Episode 1 has Amami Yuki trying to get revenge on a swindler. There is this scene in episode one where the swindler's wife is locked in a shed and for some reason Amami Yuki has to bring a bulldozer and bring the shed down to free the woman instead of getting a hammer and knocking out the locks. I was so ready to dump the show then but decided to give it one more episode.

The second episode brings in Shiraishi Sei as the very sheltered daughter of Nakamura Toru who Amami Yuki hates. Shiraishi Sei is missing and Amami Yuki has been tasked to return her safely home. Shiraishi Sei will be a recurring support character I suspect her inclusion might make the Gouriteki ni Arienai bearable.

The story of episode 2 was not anything funny though I enjoyed Amami Yuki going to a club wearing a bubble era disco costume. For people who have played Ryu ga Gotoku 0, her costume will bring up fun memories from the game.

I will give it one or two more episodes for Shiraishi Sei. For a comedy, Gouriteki ni Arienai is not really funny and the cases are not that interesting. It got way too preachy for me at the end of episode 1. Meh from me and maybe Gouriteki ni Arienai will find its legs in the next two episodes. Thanks to monchi for subbing!

Drive My Car Jmovie review

Drive My Car is a Jmovie that won a lot of awards but it has been in my backburner for a long time because of 2 reasons. First is that it is a 3 hour movie. That is huge investment if the movie sucked. Second reason is that I don't trust awards. Manbiki Kazoku deserved a lot of awards and I have seen my share of award winning movies like Koibitotachi and my years of Jmovie watching is making my spider sense tingle.

Drive My Car starts off with a confusing introduction. We are introduced to Nishijima Hidetoshi and Kirishima Reiko as husband and wife. They seem to be reciting a script or making a script up as when they are in bed and driving to work.

We learn that Nishijima is an actor and Kirishima is an writer. Nishijima is acting in a play where the actors are speaking in various languages like those Hong Kong movies where one guy speaks in Cantonese and one in Mandarin and they pretend to understand each other. Artsy movie alert #1. As someone who speaks multiple languages I think it is a stupid and pretentious idea.

We then learn that Nishijima and his Kirishima had a daughter who had passed away and the Kirishima is cheating with an actor and Nishijima knows about it.  Kirishima was about to tell Nishijima something important when she passes away.

Two years later,  Nishijima is directing a multi lingual stage drama in beautiful Hiroshima and he drives his car there. Due to a previous incident, Nishijima is forbidden to drive by theatre management and is assigned a driver played by Miura Toko. It takes bloody 40 minutes before the movie gets to this part.

Drive My Car is so effing slow. If you want to do a 3 hour movie, it is better have the pacing of Love Exposure. Constant stuff happening. The movie could have easily been edited to 2 hours. Various times I wanted to just quit and ended up pausing the movie many times. I can't imagine watching this in the cinema.

It is a movie about loss and guilt dressed up in an artsy sheen. The acting is nothing special. The multi lingual thing is annoying. I don't know why the Taiwanese character speaks in English but acts in Mandarin. She should be acting in English. I see what the movie is going for but I don't feel anything. Miura Toko as the driver is ok and I enjoyed the Hiroshima countryside but this feels like Koibitotachi all over again. Waste of 3 hours of my time.

The director directed Asako 1 & 2 aka Netemo Sametemo which was ok. I'm pretty sure I have Wife of a Spy. Don't bloody trust awards because sometimes they cater to movies that are too artsy for me. Avoid this movie that did not have to be 3 hours.

Okusama wa, toriatsukai chui jmovie review

Look at that poster for Okusama wa, toriatsukai chui or beware of dangerous wife and tell me what it tells you? It looks like a stylish action comedy movie where the wife is also a secret agent. I did not know this was actual a jdorama series and grabbed it from dramahd because I just grab whatever jmovies they have and decided to give it a shot.

The first action scene was too dark, not that Ayase Haruka can do much action and while the main story is the is advertised as a secret agent wife movie, the real main story is about an election in a small country town, the agents being there to uncover corruption and our couple trying to make a life for themselves. In other words, it is pretty much an inaka dorama released as a spy movie.

Main impression was this movie does not have any budget. The story is set in a small rural town because they can't afford to shoot anywhere else. It feels like a jdorama instead of a movie in terms of quality and budget.

The second impression is that there is a distinct lack of humour. It looks like the drama was more comedy about a secret agent trying to be a housewife aka Gokushufudou aka Way of the househusband. This movie had me thinking who in their right mind would think this would be an entertaining movie? You need humour and that spy movie coolness but this movie has non of that.

The action scenes are bad, action is bad. There is nothing absolutely fun about the movie. No chemistry, nothing. It feels like a cheap movie to take more money from fans of the dorama which I can't be stuffed trying out now. Maybe I would have enjoyed the movie more if I had seen the dorama but I seriously doubt it. Okusama wa, toriatsukai chui is basically a boring inaka dorama. Avoid.

Kanojo, okarishimasu jdorama review

Kanojo, okarishimasu is harem jdorama based on a shounen manga ala I"s and I have not read the manga before. 

The hook of the show is that main character gets dumped by girlfriend played by Akita Shiori after a month. 

Main character then gets a rental girlfriend played by Sakurada Hiyori who turns out to be his next door neighbour and goes to the same university. In other words, Kanojo, okarishimasu is an enjo kousai/papa katsu harem without the sex. 

And since this is a harem jdorama, main character gets involved with two other rental kanojos with the first played by Kudo Mio.

And the second by Sawaguchi Aika. I watched this show last year raw so its not that fresh in my memory but I'll just write down my thoughts on it. 

The main Johnny is annoying and wears more makeup than the ladies. This show would not have been possible without the power and influence of Johnny and associates so can't complain too much.

Second is that Sakurada Hiyori does an ok job as the main girl Mizuhara Chizuru. Not sure how accurate her portrayal is but she can act and I have a feeling the other two rental kanojos are manga accurate.

The show should have had a bit more fanservice and comedy. You can't tell me the shounen harem manga did not have fanservice? And the series was more like a setup for the harem instead of telling a story from beginning to end. That's why I"s is one of my favourites. It has actual relationship development and doesn't stall the story while making the harem larger and larger.

Is Kanjo, okarishimasu as good as I"s? Not even close. Is it entertaining to watch? Its your standard harem show but does not suck. Judging it purely as a harem setup drama, Kanojo, okarishimasu does its job but does not do anything very well and we don't get them so often nowadays compared to the old days of Shimokita Glory Days and 2nd House. For fans of the harem genre not expecting an ending. I was happy when I"s was made into a dorama. I wonder if fans of the anime enjoyed this dorama as well? You can get soft and hardsubs from donsubbers.

Kurosagi 2022 Episodes 1+2

One upon a time, there was a Kurosagi jdorama was bad. Not only did it have YamaP, it also had Horikita Maki to the acting level was already 2x in the negative. Actually I can't remember anything in the original Kurosagi except YamaP's dusguises were bad but I just cannot watch this show. This is a pure Johnny show for Johnny fans because there are no redeeming features for everyone else.

Kurosagi is about a Kurosaki who is a kurosago (black swindler) because he cons other swindlers (shirosagi). The gets his information from the king of swindlers who operates a Japanese sweets shop and his ultimate aim to get revenge on this swindler Mikimoto who conned his father which lead to his family tragedy.

I like stories about scams in Japan. For a society build on trust and honour, they have some of the most elaborate scams going around. (see Scams on Netflix) If there is a scam jdorama that doesn't suck I generally don't mind watching. The fact that TBS is remaking this show so soon means the old show must have been very successful.

My problem with Kurosagi is believability. I don't buy the character and how easily the scams the bad guys. The Johnny looks way too young to believably be taken seriously in any business talks but then I think the manga character is pretty boyish as well so what do I know. I tried to enjoy it for Nakamura Yuri but her role is very limited. Kurosagi is not exciting not interesting. I'd rather watch Sagideka or Scams again. Nothing about the first two scams made me think 'Oh, that interesting!' Meh from me and only for Johnny fans. I think I am incapable of enjoying any TBS doramas.

Informa episodes 7~10

In the beginning of episode 8 of Informa, there is a 2 minute non stop cut of the camera going around a kyabakura before it stops at the mastermind after he makes his entrace. It caught my reaction immediately because long cuts with camera movement are very rare in jdoramas. It takes a lot more time and money to film long cuts and I was wondering if it was filmed that way for a reason.

The reason appeared towards the end of episode 8 with an almost 10 minute long action scene in an abandoned building. (of course) Keiji 7-nin usually tries to do one decent action scene every season but this is Japan's attempt at something like Ong Bak stairs scene or Oldboy's corridor fight. Of course Informa's action scene does not match the two iconic movies but they did a pretty stellar good job. I eas enjoying the scene thinking if anyone stuffed up anywhere they would have to restart again and I wonder how many takes did they do?

Despite the great fight scene of episode 8, there are two disappointing things about Informa besides original Ponkura's back story in episode 6. Firstly, the final revelation gave me a wtf stupid reaction. The reason  for the stupid old man's master plan was what? I could not believe it his master plan was just about getting two childhood orphans to kill each other.

The second disappointment is that Informa has been building Morita Go as the ultimate badass but we never really see him in action. He just stood around whole series not needing to act while everyone acted scared around him. His underlings like the big guy had good action scenes but Morita Go didn't have any so I was wondering for the 10 episodes what would Morita Go's action scenes be like.

In the end we get this sloppy, can't see anything muddy fight scene between Morita Go and Kiritani Kenta. After the epic episode 8 fight, we get the ultimate letdown.

I really wanted to like Informa. I like the cast and yakuza action jdoramas with violence are rare and the cinematography is pretty good but it doesn't come together quite well. Meh for me. 

Predator The Secret Scandal of J Pop

 

Just watched the BBC documentary on Johnny Kitagawa. If you have been watching jdoramas for years, you would have heard of the Johnny Kitagawa rumours and how it was covered up and lawsuit with Shukan Bunshun. Nothing in the documentary is new information except watching the survivors/victims talk about their experience and their shocking responses to it and how people use super polite language to describe the allegations.

The reverence to Johnny Kitagawa and complete refusal to be angry or willing to pay the price for fame. It got me thinking about all the parents who wanted their kids to be Johnnys knowing what would happen to their kids. I guess its parents using their kids to lift them out of poverty.

I was amazed the reporter managed to get 3 people to speak on record and it was so confronting. I encourage everyone to watch it and its the youtube video on the top. Clips are up on BBC news Japan and I am just reading the comments on the video. As the comments say, Japanese media is not really free and there is a lot of collusion between news and entertainment companies. You can read an article on ABC here.

Edit: Looks like another Johnny has spoken out:

Broker 2022 kmovie review

It has been a long time since I have watched a Korean movie but Broker is no ordinary Korean movie. It was directed by Koreeda Hirokazu one of Japan's greatest directors who did Shoplifters, Dare mo Shiranai etc. Shoplifters or Manbiki Kazoku is one of my favourite Japanese movies ever. I could rewatch it every year. 

While Shoplifters was about a family living in poverty trying to survive, Broker is about two friends, a laundry worker played by Song Kang-Ho and a part timer who works for a church that has a baby box for mothers to leave their unwanted babies.

Their gig is to erase the surveillance video when a baby is put in the box and sell the baby on the black market. On day a very young mother puts her baby in front of the box during a rainy day with a note saying that she will be back for the baby. A policewoman who has been tailing our brokers puts the baby in the box. The next day the young mother comes back asking for her baby back and the brokers are forced to let her into their plan to sell their baby.

I enjoyed Broker because it asks a lot of questions about people giving babies as it is not something we normally and whether its better to abort or give birth and give them out. Broker looks at orphans who cannot escape the feeling that they are discarded. 

There is this interesting dichotomy between the cops who want the baby to be sold so that they can catch the brokers in the act and the brokers who actually want to do what's right for the baby.

I don't think Koreeda intended to do this but he has recreated the Shoplifters and replaced shoplifting with selling babies. He has created another show about people on the fringe coming together as a family and the beats are so similar. I am not complaining because it is a great formula and I enjoy his movies because he explores characters who don't normally main characters in cinemas and doramas.

Broker is not as good as Shoplifters. The pacing is a bit slow and should have had more humour but it has heart and that is most important. Very watchable and available in the high seas.

Shoumonai Bokura no Renairon

Shoumonai Bokura no Renairon is a show about life and regrets starring Izakaya Shinkansen, Yada Akiko and Nakata Seina. Izakaya Shinkansen aka Mashima Hidekazu plays Takuro, a middle age single designer who has as all Japanese do this one childhood friend that he has been hanging out with for over 20 years in Yada Akiko.

One day Takuro gets a message on SNS from his old flame Anna. After worrying about whether to respond, he arranges a meeting and meets Anna's daughter Kurumi and finds out that Anna has passed away. Kurumi has found Takuro's things amongst her mother's belongings and wants to find out what her mother ever saw in Takuro.

Yada Akiko has been keeping her feelings from Takuro to not ruin their friendship and now a new rival appears.  

I rather enjoyed the feel good atmosphere of Shoumonai Bokura no Renairon. Its got that laid back light comedy style as our 3 protagonist figure out what to do with their life. Its kind of sold as a love triangle and it is a fun one but at the heart of it is about deciding on one's next step.

Takuro is worried that he would lose his jobs to newer people and does not want to be more of a mentor in his company. Kurumi is worrying about what to study in her future and the future of her grandmother's cafe. Yada Akiko life is and career has been on hold for Takumi. A lot of the story is about Takuro's job as a designer which I find interesting such as designers don't do any drawings but rather designs a cover from available art.

Main reason I watched this is Yada Akiko. To me she is a legendary supporting actress and so many shows are memorable because of her. She has this ability to make the audience root for whatever character she plays.

Unfortunately the ending is very ugh. It almost nullifies the whole series. The ending does make the most sense when I think about it but it is not a fun nor satisfying ending to a feel good show. Watchable show with a bad ending. Watch if you are a fan of Yada Akiko or want a love story that is not really a love story. Shin subs has hardsubbed the series but I got the softsubs from drama-otaku,