The Silent Service / Chinmoku no Kantai review

 

WHAT IS THE SILENT SERVICE ABOUT?

The US and Japan secretly co-develop this nuclear sub called Seabat. It is so secret that in order to get a Japanese crew onto the Seabat, they stage a fake accident where a SDF submarine captained by Captain Kaieda sunk and the crew were declared dead but were in fact transferred to Seabat.

Kaieda commits mutiny, does not follow the original plan and declares Seabat to be an independent nation called Yamato which is the old name of Japan and FYI Yamato Nadeshiko refers a perfect woman from old Japan. Yamato is now seen as a terrorist and Kaieda seems to have a plan.

WHAT IS GOOD?

+ When I saw the Silent Service on Prime, I was excited to see what Prime money can do for jdoramas.  Your normal tv stations don't have the money needed to tell a story of this scale.

+  Amazing cast with Osawa Takao as Kaieda and Tamaki Hiroshi as Kaieda's former crewman who is now Captain and does not trust Kaieda. You have Eguchi Yusuke as the Cabinet Secretary, Natsukawa Yui as Defence Minister, Mizukawa Asami as Tamaki Hiroshi's XO and Santamaria Yusuke as the sonar listening expert.

+ The show is about Japan's relationship with the US.

+ We get to see some nice submarine action scenes.

+ The pacing is pretty quick and I was eager to move to the next episode. However..

WHAT IS NOT GOOD

- Took me a while to understand what the hell was happening.

- I don't understand why someone who stole a sub is treated like a hero by this show and I still have no idea what his plan is. Kaieda is cool, calm and collected but what he did was wrong. Just because the Americans are trigger happy does not make him right.

- I just could not buy the story. Why people were acting the way they were. It did not feel real. The world and characters did not feel real. I kept waiting to find out why Kaieda thought stealing a nuclear sub would lead to world peace and how did the convince his whole crew to go along with whatever his plan is?

- I was expecting some great tactical manoeuvres from Captain Kaieda but the sea battles do not hold a candle to LOGH.

- There is political intrigue, commentary on US-Japan relations, the role of superpower nations in the world but the script is just not smart enough and seems to dumb thing down.

SUMMARY

I finished the 8 episodes quickly but I am left with an empty feeling. I love the look and effort they spent on this show but I am not that excited for season 2. Maybe I should watch the anime or read the manga to see what the story is about. It seems to be a popular manga so there must be a good story there. Then the question is what did they get wrong with the adaptation? The Silent Service is between meh and watchable because of the production values and the cast. I don't mind watching season 2 but would not care if season 2 never happened.

Dororo anime review

 

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

Dororo is an anime based on the manga by god of manga Tezuka Osamu. It is about this character called Hyakkimaru who was born without limbs, cannot see, hear nor smell but can fight with his prosthetic limbs and because he can see what is inside people. 

Hyakkimaru's father is the ruler of this land of Daigo that was facing ruin because of famine and natural disasters and the father made a pact with demons that he would give them anything for his land to prosper and what the demons did was take everything from Hyakkimaru when he was born except for his head.

Hyakkimaru is on a quest to kill the demons and for every demon killed, he recovers a part of his body. Dororo is the name of the kid who accompanies Hyakkimaru on his quest.

WHAT IS GOOD ABOUT DORORO?

+ So many 'fantasy' anime today are just MMO wish fulfilment stories. Dororo is not that. My first thought watching Dororo is that this story appeals to so many of my sensibilities. It is dark and depressing but beautiful and kids should not be watching Dororo.

+ It is a story about revenge and what price of vengeance is worth it? It is also a story of sacrificing one for the happiness of many and whether happiness that is not truly earned is worth it in the long run.

+ Love the relationship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo. Hyakkimaru has suffered through so much and is so single minded in his quest and Dororo is the one thing that keeps him grounded. 

+ Gaining a body part back might not be advantages for Hyakkimaru. 

+ Amazing animation especially the action scenes. I love how much love and money was spent on Dororo and Pluto, both based on Tezuka's mangas.

+ I never skip the intro for the first opening. I love how the art looks more similar to Tezuka's. Meh on the second opening although it is from AKFG.

WHAT IS BAD ABOUT DORORO?

- Nothing.

SUMMARY

This is why I love anime. It is all about beautiful visuals and storytelling. If you are like me and sick of the modern MMO style anime, this is for you. Not must watch but I had an great time watching. Very watchable and is on Amazon Prime. The picture is from the PS2 game. Everytime I do an anime screencap, I always get some warning from blogger.

Sky Castle jdorama review

I actually stumbled onto the second last episode of Sky Castle when I was in Japan which spoiled the big twist. However, Sky Castle gave me a strong I have to watch this feeling because it had this entertaining, trashy suburban housewife mystery vibe. I don't know how to explain but you can tell when a jdorama knows what it wants to be and is confident in itself.

Sky Castle is about four super rich doctor families who live in this suburb called Sky Castle. The 4 wives are played by Matsushima Nao, Higa Minami, Maryjun Takahashi and Toda Naho. They live like royalty and their lives are all about sending getting their kids to a prestigious high school. In short, their beds never have to touch the walls because the houses are basically castles.

Toda Naho's son successfully passes the exam and tells them of an exam coordinator played by Koyuki who has a 100% passing rate. Unfortunately, Toda Naho seemingly commits suicide at the end of episode 1 and we find out that not everything is what it seems in Sky Castle. 

There are 3 character that make Sky Castle work for me. First is Matsushima Nao's character. She has a hidden past that she does not want anyone to know and she has clawed her way to Sky Castle because it is the life that she has always dreamed of.

The second character is Yamada Miku played by Tamaki Sora. She is a poor girl studying at a school full of rich people and she will do anything for money because of her sick mother. She is someone who grew up with not much but wants what she never had which is a life in Sky Castle. I love that while she is smart, she is not perfect and still acts like a kid.

The third character is Yokuki's exam coordinator. The parents are so eager to believe in this 100% past rate that they will battle each other for her services while ignoring the bleeding obvious question of how can anyone have a 100% pass rate?

The one character I really dislike is Kimura Fumino's perfect character. Kimura Fumino plays a self righteous character with a link to Matsushima Nao and wants to get the to the truth to the point she is oblivious to the effects of her actions. She is the one 'flawless' who is annoying and I would not care if she got hit by a car.

Everyone else I like because they are trying to survive life in Sky Castle in their own way. Looks like Sky Castle is based on a K-drama and I am glad Japan did not screw up another remake like Roppongi Class. I really like Sky Castle more than I should and would not mind rewatching it or even trying out the Kdrama. Very watchable and it is on Amazon Prime so please watch it there to support jdoramas!

Like a Dragon / Ryu ga Gotoku jdorama Episodes 1~3 review

I am a huge Ryu ga Gotoku fan. I have finished all the games except for Kurohyo 2 and some games more than twice. I love that they have Amazon money to do a RGG jdorama and the problem with jdoramas is always budget because the market is limited but Alice in Borderland has shown what Japan can do with big budgets.

That being said I had low expectations from the trailer. I didn't think Takeuchi Ryoma could do Kiryu justice. I was still going to get Amazon prime to watch and support jdoramas. Funny enough, I just won 3 months of Amazon prime from McDonalds monopoly 2 days before so I did not have to spend any money.

The first episode I was bewildered. Having more backstory is cool for Sawamura Yumi and Nishikiyama's sister Miho is great but a bunch of kids doing a heist on a game centre in Kabukicho? Didn't buy that and the first big change was making Kazama a retired yakuza from the Dojima clan who is now running the orphanage.

Ok, so the whole purpose of the heist was a convoluted way for Kiryu and Nishikiyama to join the Dojima clan? What was wrong with the motivation from the game where they respected Kazama and wanted to follow in his footsteps? 

I liked the fight outside the prison. I liked the violence and Kiryu's arrogance. I thought I could get behind this Kiryu.

I don't like how quickly Kiryu and Nishikiyama went from shining cars to sakazuki or exchanging oaths. WTF did these 2 do to prove their worth to the clan? They writers should have shown that instead of them playing happy families in the abandoned bathhouse in Kamurocho. They need to show more of the bond between Kiryu and Nishikiyama as they prove their worth. Show how Kiryu and Nishikiyama are good at kicking ass and Nishikiyama is more brains.

The worst thing this show has done in the 3 episodes is giving Yumi an older sister being played by the actress from the Naked Director, Morita Misato. In the game Yumi disappears and pretends to be her older sister but this new character I do not care about at all and takes away from the Kiryu, Yumi Nishikiyama triangle.

I don't feel like the writers of the game understand what makes the games good. It is the brotherhood between Kiryu and Nishikiyama and they are going out of their way to flesh out their version of Yumi and giving a big role of Aiko, Yumi's sister to Morita Misato. This character of Aiko did not exist in the game. I really do not like how they make the Dragon of Dojima to be a character and they have added the Demon of Kumorocho to the story. Not happy how they put Saejima in the story only to die. 

This series is RGG 0 and 1 and they are not doing a good job of adapting either. Reminds me Miike's Ryu ga Gotoku movie where he mashed elements of 1 and 2 and just did whatever he felt like doing. I just want to play the game right now and erase this bad memory. 

Just adapt the first game and flesh same things out. It feels like these people are not fans of the game and are more of the I can fix this story, we need more Aiko instead of Kiryu and Nishikiyama. It feels like the writers are thinking the characters in the game are not compelling enough. Hire people who are fans, not creators who think they can 'fix' things. They did the same thing Miike did for the movie, sigh. As a dorama, it is merely a meh but as a fan, I dislike it very much.

Mikkoku wa Utau season 2 Episodes 4-8

The first season of Mikkoku wa Utau was a watchable police internal affairs show. Season 2 is about scammer raid that fails because there is a mole in the police and it turns out that there is an internal group in the police called the Gojoukai that wants to dispense their own justice. The scammers' identities are exposed online and they are killed one by one.

Sara (Matsuoka Mashiro) and Minaguchi (Izumi Rika) have to figure out who the mole is and which members of the police are part of this Gojyoukai secret group. There is a lot more action in season 2 and Sara and Imaguchi find out that Gojyoukai have a lot to do with their story in season 1.

The elephant in the room is that the story in season 2 is bigger but they just don't have the budget to do it justice. The tailing scenes are too simple, the action scenes are abandoned warehouses, supermarkets and back alleys. They tried with the budget but you need believability and budget buys that from the audience. Like I mentioned in my review for episodes 1-3, the tailing scenes are too basic compared to Gaiji Keisatsu. 

I didn't enjoy it as much as season 1. Believability took a hit for me. Maybe I didn't care too much for it in season 1 but too many abandoned buildings and while there is technical more action, they aren't every good. I don't think I will ever watch Mikkoku wa Utau again and at 2gb per episode, I think I should delete the two seasons. Meh from me.

Japan trip 2024 day 21+21 : Samurai Time Slipper jmovie review and last days in Tokyo

 

There was one movie that I wanted to watch and that was Samurai Time Slipper. I had seen the trailer in front of Last Mile and I thought it looked like fun. The premise if Samurai Time Slipper is as the name suggests, a samurai goes time slips into modern day Japan. The gag is that he lands on the set where they shoot jidaigeki or samurai tv shows and gets a job as the stunt performer who gets killed in jidaigeki shows.

Samurai Time Slipper is very low budget. They did not even have a big poster being displayed on the wall for it at Toho cinema in Kinshicho. There was not even any poster leaflets and there was only one show at 1pm that Sunday but luckily it was a full house.

Samurai Time Slipper is a feel good comedy. The gags are the usual stuff about the samurai being amazed by modern things and tasting ice-cream for the first time. Everyone assumes that he was an extra who had just lost his memory and was always acting in character. The samurai is skilled at cutting people down but he has to learn fight choreography which goes against his fighting instincts and of course how to get slashed and die,

Samurai Time Slipper is fun because it gives the audience what they want, the story of a character out of time finding his place in life in a story that is a love letter to jidaigeki. It is a very simple story, the jokes are very familiar but it has heart. There is a nice revelation in the middle of the movie that sets up the final battle. Better than It's a Summer Film but not as good as Uzumasa Limelight. Watchable especially if you want a basic, feel good show.

Ichikatsu for dinner. 

Woke up last day 30 September and it was the first day of Asadora Omusubi with Hashimoto Kanna. The story is set in Fukuoka which I miss.

Met up with Micchan and Gran Bleu's mama for my farewell lunch at yayoi sushi. This is the first time I have noticed this kanji 鮨 which is a super fancy way of writing sushi.

Mama ordered the set for both of us.

And finished off with some maguro and I think it was iwashi. Thanks to mama for paying for Micchan and I. Those two really took care of me. The chef was hyping up the iwashi saying it was better than maguro. It was still pretty good but nothing beats maguro. He said it was better in terms of costpa, lol.

I still had time to kill so mama said she knows a place with a nice view and took me to Tower Hall Funabori in Edogawa City.

This place actually had elevator girls and you get great views!

You can see the sky tree straight away which I still haven't gone up.

That is the area where they have the boat races. So many places that I have never been to like Edogawa. I have still not been to Takanawa Gateway, the new station on Yamanote. Didn't get to go Tachikawa, Koenji, Saitama etc. 

Last meal was karubi teishoku from Matsuya at the airport. Should have had the double. It was such a stressful trip to plan but everything went better than expected and nothing bad happened. The 3 concerts and catching up with people were the highlight of the trip. It was a busy trip that was to much gogogo for the first two weeks. Next one is going to be no plans and super slow.

Japan trip 2024 day 20: Tokyo Game Show part 2 cosplay

IGN Japan had a store?! I listen to their podcast shaberisugi gamerall the time. Good listening practice to learn Japanese gaming terms.
 

Tokyo Stories game looks interesting because of the pixel art.

Long queues for konbinis and food has run out.

After buying everything I wanted, it was back to the main halls.

New Layton game. I have not played a Layton game yet.

I really wanted to get showbags but you have to queue to play the games to get them and a lot of the queues were closed by this time.

Crows were getting crazier. 

Fatal Fury cosplay event and by the gaming gods, it is Enako!!!!!! She is a very famous cosplayer doing Futaba from Garou MOTW.

They had a female cosplayer do Rock, lol.

Mai is the hardest character to do I think.

Terry did the best job with the fighting stance and doing Terry's moves.

Everyone did a great job and the Terry was good. definitely did not expect to see Enako in the flesh.

Hello, Samsung. 

Monster Hunter.

Playstation 30th anniversary wall.

Crowds are just too big. So difficult to move.

Stage event for Metaphor at the Sega stage.

Shiver me timbers. I think I want to be a pirate when I grow up.

From the MSI stage.

Went to the cosplay section.

I had to line up must be at least 20 minutes for these two. The old dudes with the crazy big cameras really take their time and want 20 different poses. Worth the wait because they are so good.

Hello nurse. 

2B or not 2B? That is the question.

This is quite a recent figure.

Juri.

You can see everyone lining up to take a picture in the back. There was a black dude sneakily taking zoom pictures on his phone without lining up. Sigh. Just line up like everyone.

Yuna!

Lastly Kiryu-chan!

Very good cosplay.

Went to Oreshiki at Tokyo station for very late lunch/early dinner.

The teriyaki chasyu was good but the men and soup just not as good as it was 8 years ago. This used to be one of the best tonkotsu ramen places in Tokyo.

Mega Drive goods. This new jacket has made my old one obsolete. Oh well.

Metal Gear solid jacket. Favourite thing I got from TGS.

RGG studio shirt and Kasuga digsta figure. I think the dragons should have been at the back of shirt instead of front and the digsta figure is the same size as Popup Parade but details are better. If I could do it again I would not get these two things.

I like the Majima Acrylic stand. The Majima and Nishiki pins are too big to pin to a bag. Not too sure what to do with them.

10 street passes from TGS! I love Japan because I can still find 3DS carrying comrades!

Went to Ittou again for dinner. Ordered large which was a mistake because it was twice the volume of noodles. The soup/tsuke ran out in the middle and they gave me a new bowl.

Went to Gran Bleu. It was on of the girl's birthday celebrations that day so full house. Was talking to this girl Suzu who was from another store and was helping out. Turns out she's into music as well, goes to lives etc so had a lot to talk about. Then found out she was into vocaloids and we sang a Megurine Luka song. Then I asked do you know Lion from Macross? Got to duet that song after so many years. It is one of the most fun duet songs.