Octo: Kanjo Sosakan Shinno Akari Episodes 1+2

Time to get back into more jdoramas. The first one I decided to try is Otco, a Iitoyo Marie dorama from 2022. After she killed it in Nanyobi ni Umareta, I am ready to give any of her shows a try. I want to find out whether she really is that good or was it just the Nojima Shinji magic. (My bet is on the latter)

In Otco Iitoyo Marie plays Shinno Akari, a detective who can see the colours of anyone's feelings in their eyes. It is not an automatic lie detective ability because she still has to decipher how the colour matches their answer. 

Asaka Kodai plays her partner, Kazehaya who distrusts her ability and is on a secret mission at that particular police station from someone high up. Shinno is not good with people as using her powers too much makes her tired so she relies on Kazehaya to interview witnesses while she lurks suspiciously with her hoodie on.

My first impression of Octo is that this is such a useless gimmick. The pattern seems to be Shinno sees a particular colour on a suspect, asks a few questions and has to figure out why the suspect felt that way during the questioning.

For the first episode I would rather your usual police procedural, looking at the suspect's face and answers rather than watching someone sketch colours while suspect is being interviewed. I was already contemplating dropping the series.

Then episode 2 happened. with Hashimoto Manami and the Shinno was trying to find out why the suspect was so happy and it was not for the reason that everyone thought. I effing love the ending of episode 2 because it is creepy but also makes sense and I think everyone can understand this character that Hashimoto Manami is playing. This has got to be one of the most memorable episodes I can remember!

Now Octo has my attention. I still think that the first season of Octo is going to end up being a run of the mill jdorama. Everything feels generic from Shinno's past to Kazehaya's true mission. 

I don't believe that the emotional colour gimmick can work for 10 episodes but I would love to be proven wrong. Will definitely keep watching.

Hashimoto Manami needs to be the main villain! Too bad she is a one and done villain of the week. Let's see if the writers have more tricks up their sleeves. Watchable second episode. Will continue watching the first season and keeping my hopes low.

The Great Passage / Fune wo Amu anime review

I first watch The Great Passage movie a very long time ago and gave it a must watch. I did not feel the need to watch the anime but since I have 2 more months of Amazon Prime, it was finally time to give it a watch.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

The Great Passage is about the herculean job or making a dictionary. A job that no one would ever think about. The main character of the show Majime, as his name suggests is straightforward but socially awkward person moves from sales to the dictionary department of Genbu Publishing because he was headhunted as being a perfect person for the job of creating a dictionary. 

Creating a dictionary is a very labour intensive job taking many years and does not bring in that much money. The Great Passage is an underdog story about the blood, sweat and tears of a small team who dedicate their lives to making dictionaries.

THE GOOD

+ The Great Passage is for people who enjoy shows about the intricacies of other jobs. From compiling and figuring out definitions of new words to the politics of working in a department that is not bringing much money to a company, The Great Passage lets you peek into not so glamourous section of publishing.

+ The characters are really good especially Nishioka who is the opposite of Majime and they both become a good combi and Kishibe who comes kicking and screaming from fashion magazines and then realizes that she can take all her skills and knowledge from fashion and apply it to dictionaries.

+ The ultimate feel good anime and will warm your heat. This is chicken soup anime. This is a story about interesting people working together for a common goal.

+ 11 episodes fly by like nothing. The pacing is excellent.

THE BAD

Nothing.

SUMMARY

The Great Passage is anime perfection. Makes me want to rewatch the movie.  I will definitely watch the jdorama as I believe it is from the perspective from the Kishibe character. The feeling I got when watching The Great Passage was, this is what anime should be. Must watch.

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!