Tenshoku no Maou-sama jdorama review

WHAT IS IT?

If you have been on trains in Japan, you might have noticed advertisements for job change companies like MyNavi or en and wondered is it really that difficult to change jobs in Japan that there is a whole industry about helping people do it? In Australia it is normal for people to change jobs every few years especially for higher pay. Japan used to be a work for one company until you retire country during the bubble ear and from what I have read, non regular workers are now 40% of the workforce.

As I have always said I enjoy watching occupational jdoramas because you get to learn about challenges of a job and what more interesting job is there than helping people find new ones?

Tenshoku no Maou-sama or the Devil king of changing jobs runs on the same formula as many occupational jdoramas as Sorette Pakuri jyanai? Koshiba Fuka is the bright main character who quits her job at an advertising agency because of harassment and gets a try out at the job changing agency and is mentored by the Devil King played by Narita Ryo who likes to tell it like it is. Of course Koshiba Fuka and Narita Ryo don't get along as Maou is rude to Koshiba Fuka and is direct with everyone.

WHAT I LIKED

+ A lot better than Soretta Pakuri jyanai. The chemistry between Koshiba Fuka and Narita Ryo is a lot better and stories are a lot more interesting. I think Koshiba was in the live action Kiki which I doubt I will ever watch because Kiki is one of my favourite Ghibli films.

+ Like Pakkuri, they have good support in Ishida Yuriko and Yamaguchi Sayaka.

+ I enjoy stories about problems and challenges of the Japanese workplace and I have heard so many stories over the years.

+ Episode 6 about the customer who kept changing jobs for an interesting reason.

+ Episode 7 is one of my favourites as it is about mothers in the workplace but is really about management not supporting workers with increased workloads.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

- Main character Koshiba Fuka got her job through nepotism. boo. If someone deserves to be a villain in a job search jdorama its the person who got their job through connections.

- Customers happily remarking that the jobs being presented to them are from major companies. Why do you need job searching company to look up jobs in the obvious places when you can google it?

- Episode 5 customer hating Maou for stupidest of reasons.

- Hikkikomori story for episode 9 is solved too easily.

MEH

= The supporting cast comedy is very meh but the comedy attempts are short so I did not mind. Made me realise that I got annoyed with not funny supporting characters when they get too much screen time. Not every attempt can be funny but if you are giving supporting characters too much screen time then they need it is annoying. 

SUMMARY

Overall Tenshoku no Maou-sama was cheesy and flawed but I enjoyed it helped with the chemistry between the two leads. Thanks to fatemasubs for subbing and I got the subs and raws from dorama-otaku who also have the jp subs! 

Isekai Izakaya Nobu season 3

The 3rd season of the izakaya in an fantasy world feel good story has arrived! I was unaware of a 3rd season because it was never uploaded to dramahd but luckily monchi is subbing the series and I managed to get the raws from avistaz.

If you have not watched Isekai Izakaya Nobu, the best way to describe it is Shinya Shokudo/Midnight Diner set in a fantasy world. Feel good human stories with a decent amount of comedy featuring likeable characters. You have to turn off your brain a bit not not worry about how these European characters in a fantasy land played by Japanese can use chopsticks and have not burn Taisho and Shinobu for being witches with their ice cream.

Season 3 brings a lot of returning characters and some joining as staff. The best thing about season 3 is the main story about the princess played by Taira Yuna who sends spies into Aitheria.

The spy who thinks his cover is blow episode 3 is was one funny episode.

I think the Taira Yuna casting is genius and her story definitely gives season 3 the momentum it needs. Of course the main reason for watching is that it is also entertaining food porn. I really feel like flying to Osaka right now for some kushi katsu. I learned from the show why they have cabbage leaves with kushi katsu! lol

It was fun watching. Really got the Shinya Shokudo vibes from season 3. I've never given the series a must watch before but it is such good feel good storytelling and lots of delicious food to look at. Very watchable. Well done by WOWOW. I think the light novel is still going so we can probably expect more seasons in the future? 

Gekokujou Kyuuji Episodes 1~5

Underdog sports jdoramas are the hardest ones to stuff up. That is because viewer empathy is already built in. The characters are not expected to win easily gains audience empathy by trying hard. However, underdog sports jdoramas are not fullproof with Buzzer Beater being the no.1 example. If you can't get the sports part right, you lose all credibility.

Gekokujou Kyuuji or giant killing high school baseball players is about the Etsuzan high school baseball team somewhere in Mie's inaka dreaming of koshien, the big Japanese high school tournament. Rather, they dream about winning one game in the qualification because their team in weak. You have a student who has to travel two hours one way just to get to school and baseball practice and typical high school fighting problems.

Kuroki Haru is the teacher who transferred over from Yokohama to be the baseball team's manager and Suzuki Ryohei is club's adviser who is very reluctant to get involved because he harbours a big secret which has nothing to do with being married to Igawa Haruka. Kita Yoshio is also in the story as this very rich landowner who will do anything for his grandson who is the pitcher and wants to stick his nose into everything.

While there are plenty of the underdog sports tropes, Gekokujou Kyuuji does them pretty well and Suzuki Ryohei's secret does play a huge part of the storyline for the first 5 episodes. His character has a really empathetic back story.

Gekokujou Kyuuji is a surprisingly enjoyable baseball dorama. It hasn't gotten too cheesy yet and all the students are likeable. Surprisingly watchable. Big thanks for subie06 for subbing!

News Sokuho wa Nagareta episodes 1+2

 

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

News Sokuho wa Nagareta is a 2009 Fuji TV dorama about a tv station where part timer Narimiya Hiroki receives a tip sms from a friend that a nuclear missile had fallen in Muroran Hokkaido. The people working late night at the station attempt to verify the facts but are unable to reach anyone to confirm the facts. (This is of course before the advent of social media)

The TV station had previously failed to cover an important news event and staff were feeling the pressure to be the first to break the news. The deputy chief Iura Arata readied the news to be broadcast and luckily did not press the button before they received confirmation that the tip off was indeed a prank and the failure to contact anyone was because telephone lines were down, not because of a missile. However someone in the staff press the button and the fake news was broadcast....

WHAT IS GOOD?

+ This is one stacked cast with many of my favourite actors. Iura Arata, Toyohara Kosuke, Kobayashi Kaoru, Narimiya Hiroki (who was in RGG4 and has left the industry), Wakana Sakai and Satsukawa Aimi.

+ A relevant show about the power and responsibility of news media.

+ The show is presented in real time and is mostly set in one set which is the television station. 

+ News Sokuho wa Nagareta is basically a who pushed the button mystery and very sure everyone has a secret to hide. It reminds me of classic jmovie Kisaragi which was a mystery story set in one room. Fingers crossed the rest of the episodes will be just as fun.

+ Makes fun of things like female announcers fighting for popularity.

WHAT IS BAD?

- Nothing so far.

SUMMARY

I am trying to keep my expectations low. Watchable first 2 episodes. If you look the cast and would like to watch a mystery dorama set in one place then give it a go. Thanks to evasive for subbing this oldie and the raws are available from sinflix.

My Home Hero Episodes 1+2

Kuranosuke Sasaki plays a father who is an aspiring mystery writer who dotes over his daughter. One day he notices bruising on her face caused by her boyfriend. He visits her apartment when she is not there and hides in the closet when the boyfriend appears. Dad learns that yakuza boyfriend intends to harm his daughter and ends up killing him. 

The mum Kimura Tae appears and helps dad to get rid of the body. Unfortunately for the parents, the boyfriend is son of a yakuza boss who is desperate to find his missing son.

My Home Hero is a parent nightmare dorama with two of my favourite actors and it has plenty of violence and dicing of bodies. However, I just can't get into it after 2 episodes. The daughter seems like a freaking idiot dating the obvious yakuza boyfriend and the parents doing all that stuff for the stupid oblivious idiot.

2nd thing is that the Johnny bad buy is annoying instead of scary. Maybe its the directing. Despite the violence and the presence of the Kuranosuke Sasaki and Kimura Tae, this feels like a Johnny show with the idoru as the daughter.

There's nothing really wrong with the show and the subject matter should appeal to me but I keep thinking how much I wanted Sono Sion to direct this lol. There's something lacking in My Home Hero that keeps me from getting invested in the story. Meh.

Sorette pakuri jyanai? Episodes 1~5

I like jdoramas about jobs in Japan because it is the fun details that make a jdorama interesting. The one that comes to mind is Isharyou Bengoshi about a lawyer who specialises in getting compensation for divorces. It is something that is so Japanese and unique that regardless of the quality of the show it is worth watching for educational purposes.

Sorette pakuri jyanai? or 'Isn't that a rip off?' is a show about intellectual properties and patents, two things that 99% of people do not deal with but is so important in today's society. It has Yoshine Kyoko (Old Rookie) playing a person who worked in drinks development who is moved into the legal department after she is suspected of leaking information.

Yoshine Kyoko knows how to play the shoujo hero well. She has an incredible backup cast including Tomosaka Rie, Tokiwa Takako and Asakura Aki and Hidekazu Akai who are both criminally underused!

Yet it was rough getting through the first 5 episodes of Sorette Pakuri Jyanai. I really wanted to like it but something is missing from the relationship of the two main characters. Its the typical grumpy guy being mean to girl he likes but the chemistry isn't there. I think mostly this show lacks humour and the episodes are too long at 51 minutes! 

Normally jdoramas are 46 minutes long but the extra 5 minutes just pads the dorama as there are not much twists and turns in regards to intellectual properties and patents. There's interesting stuff like when is something a parody or an imitation and not using people's pictures without permission but there is not enough meat to the bones.

I don't want to drop Sorette pakuri jyanai but the fact that I am not compelled to continue watching probably means I should drop it. It is good seeing Tokiwa Takako and Tomosaka Rie. Why couldn't it have been funnier? Meh.

Uchi no Bengoshi wa Te ga Kakaru Episodes 1+2

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

Kuramae has worked for 30 years as manager for successful actress Kichise Michiko. She fires him out of the blue and somehow he ends up getting a job as a paralegal for youngest lawyer ever played by sour faced Hirate Yurina who has a very good legal brain but no people skills. 

Uchi No Bengoshi wa Te ga Kakaru is your typical two flawed people who team up and make up for each other's weaknesses legal dorama.

WHAT DON'T I LIKE ABOUT IT

- Kuramae whining about how for 30 years he took minimum wage for Kichise Michiko's sake. This is the stupidest line the writer can write trying to force sympathy for the manager who got fired. 30 years managing a successful actress doing CMs and movies and you are only taking minimum. There's a difference between empathy for characters facing unfortunate events and stupid idiots who deserved what they got and Kuramae deserves no sympathy. 

What sort of logic is it paying yourself the bare minimum when you actress is making money hand over first? Where is the producer smart enough to tell the writer that this is the worst line ever written? This is like those woe is me clickbait 'news' articles where if you actually read it until the end, the subject of the article actually deserves no sympathy.

- Just like the writer tried to hard to force empathy for Kuramae, Uchi no Bengoshi wa Te ga Kakaru is vehicle to promote idoru Hirate Yurina who was also in contender for worst jdorama ever Roppongi class. Her character is smart lawyer who does not have people skills but I just find her chemistry with Kurame just meh and I just finder her annoying instead of endearing.

Idorus should be playing supporting roles and they have surrounded her with so many veterans from Toda Keiko to Adachi Yumi but she is the main character of the story and is not the right person to carry this show. Is Hirate Yurina the new Gouriki Ayame/ Ueto Aya, another overpushed talento who does not deserve the spot?

Shinso wa Mimi no Naka was suprisingly watchable because the idoru Tsutsui Ayame did not have to carry the dorama and her dad played by Ihara Tsuyoshi did all the heavy lifting. Tsuyoshi Muro tries very hard but doesn't work for me.

SUMMARY

Uchi no Bengoshi wa Ta ga Kakaru is an example of the two worst things about jdoramas: Overpushing idorus and trying too hard to make everything so tragic. Not bad enough to get a do not watch because all the veteran actors are trying but very meh from me and dropping it straight away. Only for fans of Hirate Yurina.