Burn the House Down / Mitarai ke, Enjou suru

WHAT IS IT ABOUT? 

Burn the house is a revenge jdorama. Nagano Mei used to belong to the rich Mitarai family but is now after revenge because 13 years ago her mother allegedly burned their house down but Nagano Mei believes that someone else was responsible. Nagano Mei's mother played by Kichise Michiko got divorced, lost her memory and her mother's best friend Suzuki Kyoka married her father.

In other words mother and two daughter were cast out and Suzuki Kyoka and two sons became the new Mitarai family. Suzuki Kyoka was friends with Kichise Michiko and is now starting to get famous as a celebrity. Nagano Mei uses Kitano Kii's name and becomes a housekeeper to infiltrate the Mitarai family and uncover the secret of who set the fire and the secrets of the Mitarai family.

WHAT IS GOOD

+ In the beginning I was having doubts about Burn the House Down because Nagano Mei's character while daring was not very smart. Luckily it leads to some good story developments.

+ Good stories are ones where while they are about A, it is really about B. While Burn the House Down is about revenge, it is about celebrity. Presenting oneself as this idealised person for public consumption. My main enjoyment is watching this as an interesting take on celebrity culture.

+ Love the Japanese name which means 'flame the Mitarai family', Enjou (flame) is mostly used to describe online criticism and also a building going up in flames so the double meaning is clever. A direct translation probably does

+ Suzuki Kyoka is awesome as the fame obsessed mother who will do anything for fame and money. She is so good at being bad. 

+ This is basically good daughter vs evil stepmother as Nagano Mei tries to hide her true identity and find out information while doing her work as housekeeper. It is very easy to cheer on Nagano Mei against the evil Suzuki Kyoka.

+ The various turns that the story makes are quiet interesting.

WHAT IS NOT GOOD

- The turn around to Mitarai getting flame is too sudden that it was not a satisfying payoff. I wanted an escalating series of events not just a bunch of Instagram pictures.

- The father has no balls and should be run over by a truck.

MEH

= I think I enjoyed Burn the House Down partly because I had no expectations and the beginning was not so interesting that I actually considered dropping it.

= Kitano Kii was once the main actress for Life and now she is playing supporting roles. :(

SUMMARY

Good job by Netflix. The story takes its time to get better but I think Suzuki Kyoka is worth watching Burn the House Down for. Very watchable.

Sanctuary: Seiki jdorama review

 

There are not too many sports jdoramas out there. The ones that come to mind are the pretty good No Side Game, Kimutaku's ice hockey dorama Pride and Pro Golfer Hana which I never finished watching. The problem with sports jdoramas is that if the actor does not know how to play the sport, it turns into Buzzer Beater which is a cautionary tale about casting for name instead of ability. 

Sanctuary is what happens when good Japanese directors get Netflix time and money to do what they want and not have to cast Johnnys. The director for Sanctuary is Eguchi Kan who did The Fable movies for Netflix where were fun action movies showing the world that Japan has a very good stunt team and just needed good action actors.

The main character for Sanctuary is Oze/Enno played expertly by Ichinose Wataru. Oze's name changes to Enno when he is given his wrestling name. Oze's family lost their sushi shop to debt, his father does night work directing traffic and his mother gets them into more debt and sleeps around. Oze has no future and the only way out is to train to be a sumo wrestler.

For someone who joined a sumo stable to help out his poor old man, Oze doesn't respect the sumo business. He doesn't take his training seriously and the first few episodes are dealing with his grumpiness and to be fair he is bullied as well.

I love seeing Pierre Taki as the stable master and Koyuki as the wife. I have no idea if Pierre Taki is cancelled in mainstream Japan jdoramas but if you want to cast someone with the Suzuki Minoru aura of don't mess with me, it is Pierre Taki. As for Koyuki, I remember when she was the new IT girl and was cast in Kimutaku's Engine. Now she's playing motherly roles. 

Kutsuna Shioli is a journalist who was kicked out of the political department and assigned to cover sumo.  She is the annoying lived abroad character who complains about everything including how women are not allowed onto the sumo ring. Of course she gets drawn to Oze and slowly comes to appreciate the sport of sumo.

The other two main sumo wrestlers besides Oze are Shizuuchi, a monster wrestler who will become Oze's rival and has a dark past and Ryuki the son of a former yokozuna who is having problems living up to his father's expectations.

I want to say it is so good to see a sports show where you can see the actors really put in the effort to get into sumo shape. You can see it in the training sessions and of course they have real sumo wrestlers as well, at least I think some of them are. Eguchi Kan is great at directing action. There is a great ending to Oze or should I say Enno's match in episode 4 that was beautifully shot. 

Throughout the 8 episodes I kept thinking how well made Sanctuary was. The only problem was there seemed to be a lot of unresolved plotlines and the show just ended abruptly. I was in WTF mode and made sure that there were no more episodes left. End of the day, everything feels like a set up for season 2. All the Koyuki stuff that was alluded to and I am guessing Ryuki will be Enno's rival but bloody hell it was one disappointing ending. I am looking forward to Kutsuna Shioli vs Kyabakura girl battle and will Enno's wallet appear in season 2?

I can't fault everything that came before the ending. If I have one other gripe is that the casting for the bad guy stablemaster Inushima is wrong. He is too scrawny and does not look like someone who was once a sumo wrestler and surely they could have easily found someone. Just cast Makabe Tougi or some wrestler.

I have watched sumo on NHK and it did not interest me but Sanctuary, like all good sports stories made me fall in love with our bunch of underdog wrestlers. I am loving the combination of jdorama talent with Netflix money. World class level of production. Too bad the story is most setting up for season 2 with an unsatisfying ending. Very watchable but not satisfying. Sigh.

I am going to watch as money jdoramas on Netflix as I can in a month and then cancel because it is not cheap.

Rikon Shiyou yo! Let's get divorced jdorama review

Kudo Kankuro is one of the best jdorama writers ever with Manhattan Love Story, Tiger & Dragon, and Ore no Ie no Hanashi and of course Zebraman. I reactivated my Netflix because the new Kengan Ashura is coming of course to watch all the new jdoramas and the first one is Rikon Shiyou yo!

Taishi Shoji (Matsuzaka Tori) is the idiot son of a politician family who inherited his father's seat in Ehima and is married to Kurosawa Yui (Naka Riisa) an actress who is famous for playing this jdorama character Mikochan. Politician husband and actress portray a loving couple but their relationship is in shambles because Shoji cheated on Yuri with a female announcer Mimata 3 years ago. However both their careers are dependent on them staying married for their success. Shoji relies on Yuri or rather Mikochan's popularity to get support and Yui relies on being seen as a model wife for her acting roles.

I have the first 4 episodes of Rikon Shiyou yo! are some of the best episodes I have ever seen. Chemistry and pacing were very good and it was so freaking funny. I loved the whole fighting all the time and then pretending to be happy for live streaming and kashikomi kashikomi.

The best was when Furuta Arata appeared as Kurosawa Yui's divorce lawyer Henry. It reminded me that the last time Furuta Arata had a comedy role where he had to say English words was the very funny Gal Circle. I was thinking Naka Riisa's acting was so awesome and everything Taishi Shoji did was funny. I was sure if the rest of the show were this funny Rikon Shiyou yo! would be one of the greatest jdoramas ever.

Unfortunately, the middle got really slow especially with the appearance of Nishikido Ryo as the pachinko artist and the show stopped being funny. Rikon Shiyou yo! became a slow serious show with extremely slow pacing. I perked up everytime Furuta Arata and Itaya Yuka showed up but that was far and few between and I was thinking what happened to the comedy for this show to become some sort of stupid melodrama?

I wished I had written about the first 4 episodes first because it would have been such a happy post but now I mostly remember how freaking slow the middle and end bits were and I just wanted to fast forward through everything. That said there are so many things comedic things that I liked like Yui's drama scenes, Taishi's ability to do the wrong thing all the time and Naka Riisa's angry Mimata voice!

Rikon Shiyou yo! started as an excellent romantic comedy and halfway became a dark comedy that was neither dark nor comedic. I appreciate that Kudo Kankuro went for it and Naka Riisa's acting is amazing but I think he should have went for crowd pleasing all the way. I appreciate the effort but meh from me overall. If you want to watch a good divorce jdorama, watch Saiko no Rikon and stay away from Rikokatsu. Now to see what other jdoramas are on Netflix.

Hayabusa Shoboudan Episodes 6~9

I think the main reason I like Hayabusa Shoboudan so much is that it is basically 20th Century Boys set in a remote village combined with Abe Hiroshi's Trick. 20th Century Boys was a great manga/movie series about a bunch of childhood friends standing against a great conspiracy. While not everyone in the shobodan are childhood friends, there is a deep comradery, where a bunch of regular people band together to protect their village from this conspiracy.

And what a great conspiracy it is. End of the day, all mystery stories depend on the ending and the truth being revealed. The character work and relationships are important of course but it all is for nought if the conspiracy is not interesting. While the reveal is not a surprise seeing as how the show is similar to Trick, the clues and the execution are very well done.

I enjoyed the episode where the shobodan went to Tokyo. It was fun watching inaka people enjoy Tokyo and made me think it is not just foreigners who go to Tokyo or Osaka for a holiday. Its so hard for Japanese to get more than a day off work that they can only do a weekend trip.

I really liked all the characters and the bond between the shobodan members. Love the incredible scenery which makes me want to visit.

I absolutely adore the confrontation at the izakaya between the writer and the last boss where they argue about the definition of what a cult is and the writer makes the point that it is not about control and not saving people. A lot of times especially in anime, two main characters will have a philosophical debate before final battle except most of the time it is usually way too long and boring with a lot of you don't know how I feel. Hayabusa Shobodan has this great and succinct discussion where Last boss tries to convince writer that if people believe there are happy he should let them be.

Great job by TV Asahi after that dumpster fire last year that was Roppongi Class. That show was so special because it was so bad to the point of disbelief. Thanks to Kaizen subs for subbing and ladies and gentlemen, we have our second must watch jdorama of the year! 

GTO REVIVAL

Stolen from jin115, there is going to be a GTO revival special dorama spring next year. 26 years after the legendary 1998 Sorimachi show. The original GTO is one of the greatest jdoramas ever but every special and movie after has reduced in quality. I am not expecting much. Mitsushima Nanako better be in it as Fuyutsuki sensei! Fingers crossed it doesn't suck.

Black Postman Episodes 1~3 jdorama review

10 years ago Tanaka Kei was a postman. The reason he quit was that he colleague turned out to be the Devil of Neverland. 10 years ago there was a rumour that if children who were suffering because of adults placed a letter in a certain mailbox,  

The Devil of Neverland would grant the child's wish. Tanaka Kei receives a letter saying that the Devil of Neverland is not over and he goes back to his old job to find out the truth.

Black Postman is 2 things. First it is a who is the real Devil of Neverland show with a few main suspects. My bet is the doctor is the new Devil. Unfortunately after 3 episodes it seems like there more copycat Devils of Neverland which kills the suspense for me.

The second thing is that Black Postman is about really bad people getting their comeuppance from the Devil of Neverland. Maryjun plays the detective chasing the Devil and Tanaka Kei is the childhood friend who keeps appearing whenever the Devil is involved.

I am not impressed by the 3 episodes so far because the mystery does not feel focused like Hayabusa Shoboudan and my years of jdorama experience tell me that Black Postman is going to twist too many times and not be satisfying.

I am going to give Black Postman one more try to see whether the revelation at the end of episode 3 does anything for the story. Meh from me. Watch Hayabusa Shoboudan which is much better if you want a mystery jdorama.

Hayabusa Shobodan Episodes 1~5

I didn't even want to try Hayabusa Shobodan because the idea of an inaka fire fighting dorama did not sound interesting to me. However I tried it out and now I am seriously hooked into this story about a mystery writer who movies to the countryside, joins the firefighting group and tries to solve the mystery of the serial arson attacks.

Mishima Taro once won the newcomer award for his debut work 5 years ago but his other works since then have not sold and he is in a slump. Taro inherits his father's house in the rural village of Hayabusa and decides to move there because Kawaguchi Haruna lives there and he feels really alive living in the same village with her.

Taro is invited to join the firefighting group and after a fire incident burns down the house of a friend of his father's he realises he was a part to play in protecting Hayabusa. So he has to juggle his work, firefighting, mystery solving and of course navigating all the difficult people relationships living in a village.

The first thing that came to my mind watching Hayabusa Shobodan is how beautiful Kawaguchi I mean the countryside is. There is this sweeping view in the beginning of episode 1 that took my breath away. 

I would move to the middle of nowhere in Hayabusa for Kawaguchi Haruna and the views.

Hayabusa Shobodan is your standard make everyone a freaking suspect because everyone has something to hide show. However it does not have that feeling of Anata no Ban where the writer is just pulling on twist after another until I did not care what happened anymore.

The other I thing I noticed besides how beautifully shot it was, was that the writing was very good. Its hard to explain but it feels like the opposite of Anata no Ban where it is just empty calories. Hayabusa Shobodan does not feel like a convoluted puzzle box with no character work. I could be wrong but I can feel this intense concentration in the writing like the writer has a every confidence in the story. I care more about the Shobodan characters more than anyone in Anata no Ban.

I just want to say I really feel like eating Unaju right now.

At half way point this feels and looks like a possible must watch but I don't want to get too excited because I thought Anata no Ban would have been good as well. What I want to say is it is easy to set up mystery doramas but making it pay off is the difficult bit.

I love episode 5 but won't spoil what it is about. This final shot is so good.

Give Hayabusa Shobodan a go if you like mysteries set in beautiful countryside. Big thanks to Kaizensubs for subbing. I got the subs and raws from drama-otaku. I don't want to get ahead of myself but you look at those screenshots and you know that TV Asahi have put a lot of effort into the visuals of this show and the writing is good so far but ultimately will depend on the ending like all mystery doramas. Very watchable so far and fingers crossed it doesn't end up like Love Complex which had one of the weirdest jdorama endings ever.

Fence jdorama review

Ladies and gentlemen, Fence is the must watch jdorama of the season and probably of the year. Word of warning, Fence is not the feel good show you want to watch after a hard day's work. Fence covers a lot of heavy subject matters such as rape, racial discrimination, Okinawa politics and glosses over nothing and will linger in your mind long after watching.

In Fence, Matsuoka Mayu is Ki, a former hostess turned writer for magazine Gekkan BOWOW reviewing and rating kyabakuras for a male audience. There is this scene in the beginning of episode 1 where a client tells Ki that to be grateful that only in Japan women can make money from being a hostess and you can see her reaction clearly on her face lol.

Ki's boss sends her to Okinawa because Sakura, a person of mixed race has claimed that she was sexually assaulted by an American soldier. Ki is sent to find out the truth behind the allegation and comes to know Sakura and Okinawa through her investigation.

Kii also has an acquaintance in Okinawa, Isa Kenji or as she calls him I-san (pronounced Ee), a police officer who she slept with once when she was a hostess. Kii uses I-san to get some dirt on the case and it is through him that we learn how the police have doubts about Sakura's case and the politics of policing Okinawa. That it is like having a sovereign nation inside Okinawa where the soldiers committing crimes outside their base can get away with it through various ways. 

It is not all doom and gloom in Fence. We also get to learn a lot about the history of Okinawa and its culture like adults buying Okinawan taco rice tickets for kids and leaving them at the shop. It is called Moai and it sounds something like what we call buying a round in Australia except in this case it is a group of people pooling money for the person most in need. 

I need to say Okinawa looks very beautiful in Fence. Makes me want to hop on a plan right now and go eat Okinawa taco rice. I remember bframe bringing me to an Okinawan restaurant many years ago in Yokkaichi and there was a lot of seafood. The most memorable Okinawan movie is probably Nada Sousou starring Nagasawa Masami.

There's these scene in episode 1 where Sakura goes to the market and she has to prove to this old lady that she is a real Okinawan just because she looks a bit different and Sakura is just so patient because she is so used to it.

The more Kii investigates the rape case the more she find that things are not so black and white in Okinawa. That being a young girl in a small island where everyone knows each other is a bit different and that the military bases bring a whole new dimension to law enforcement.

My favourite scene is this scene between Kii and Sakura in episode 4 where Sakura tells her off for reasons I won't spoil here. That was a bloody good scene because there Sakura finally puts Kii in her place.

Big surprise is Aragaki Yui as a psychiatrist who works with rape survivors and works this helpline for victims of sexual violence. She doesn't do much but she is involved in some intense scenes. It seemed only yesterday she was in My Boss My Hero.

If I have to say something bad about Fence is that sometimes it can get a bit too preachy and it feels like the dorama talking to the audience instead of characters actually talking to each other.

If you can only watch one jdorama this year, make it Fence. WOWOW have done such an amazing job on this. Must watch and giant thank you to GEO9875 for subbing Fence because I might not have watched it otherwise. Forgot the mention the ending song Tsubasa by Awich is killer because I just left it on at the end of every episode.

Genya Episodes 1~4

I know I promised I would not watch any more Fukakyon doramas due to her acting but I had several reasons to break my vow when I saw that IrozukuSubs had started subbing the show. First is that it is a WOWOW show. If WOWOW can get a decent acting job out of Kame in Shoutai, maybe WOWOW can do the impossible with Fukakyon.

Secondly Genya has Tsukamoto Takashi and Shibata Kyohei in it. Tsukamoto Takashi is the ultimate supporting actor and of course most remembered as Murakami Eiji from KDO. My third reason is that Genya is one of my favourite genre which is anti-hero story aka main character doing some not so good things to even worse people so you are cheering on the main character. 

Genya reminds me of Byakuyako, a dark drama about two people bound by trauma. In Genya, Tsukamoto Takashi plays a mechanic Masaya whose father has committed suicide after his factory fails. People attend the wake for free alcohol and the sleazy uncle is there to claim part of the insurance money as debt. An earthquake strikes and the uncle is buried underneath some rubble and Masaya take the opportunity to smash his uncle's head in.

Masaya's crime is witnessed by Shinkai Mifuyu (Fukakyon) but she does not breath a word to anyone. Masaya keeps a close eye on her and saves her from being raped and they band together to survive. Shibata Kyohei is a detective from Tokyo in pursuit of suspect who dies in the earthquake but he meets Shinkai Mifuyu and something about her eyes troubles him.

The elephant in the room is Fukakyon's acting and I must say I don't mind her acting in this and would say that she was well cast in this role. The reason is that Fukakyon is playing a manipulative person who will say or do anything to get what she wants and is really good at using men. That fakeness works in her favour as men ignore the red lights and are charmed by her looks.

In episode 1 Genya is sort of a survival dorama set in a camp for survivors from an earthquake as both characters as we see the limits of what Masaya and Mifuyu will do to survive. In episode 2 they both move to Tokyo Mifuyu is working at a high end jewellery store trying to move up while Masaya is her muscle that she uses to further her ambitions.

The fun thing about Genya is that it is a dark dorama and you get to see Fukakyon take care of not so nice people like relatives who are only after money or a manager who uses his power to sleep with his staff. A lot of Japanese dorama is about good over evil or kanzenchouaku and a lot of times bad people get caught instead of getting their just desserts in a not legal way.

Forgot to mention that Genya is another Higashino Keigo dorama. I feel like he is probably responsible for at least 5% of all jdoramas. The number is of course a lot lower since there are so many jdoramas every season but surely nearly 100% of his works must have been adapted by now.

Ultimate question is, is Genya is good jdorama. I like the first 4 episodes and this is the first Fukakyon show where I have no complaints about her acting. Plus any dark story with WOWOW branding and I am there. Watchable.