Hot Spot jdorama review

 

Ever since the funny Suteki na Sen Taxi and Kamoshirenai Joyuutachi, Bakarythm has shown that he is one of the most talented jdorama writers because there is a thoughtfulness in his script that you can't find in most jdoramas.

Hot Spot is a story set in town in Yamanashi where Ichikawa Mikako who works at a hotel discovers that her colleague played by Kakuta Akihiro is an alien with super powers. Mr Alien is very secretive about his identity but the more he helps Ichikawa Mikako, the more people find out about his powers.

Hot Spot is sort of like Minna, Esper Daiyo! except this one has a clean feel good vibe. A sign of a good writer is foreshadowing and Bakarythm knows how to set up some issue in the beginning of the episode and then tie it back to the issue at the end.

Bakarythm also knows how to write character voices. What I mean is they all have their idiosyncrasies and quirks. I love how the Alien wants to keep his secret but at the same time he wants to be accepted. He is reluctant to help but will not hesitate when someone's life is on the line. I also like that he is not a perfect character and is prideful and will tell white lies.

Suffice to say, all the characters from the hotel manager to Kaho's persistant character are all endearing and really grew on me throughout the show. 

Often when watching jdoramas, I would just wish that they had slight more money to do be able to big scenes. With Hot Spot, I marvel at Bakarythm's ability to tell a fun story about multiple characters mostly using a hote, cafe, mountain roads and an onsen in a hotel. Hot Spot is an example of how writing and acting is the most important thing in telling a story and not budget. You can have the biggest budget in the world but without a good script, you have nothing.

Thanks to Robert for recommending Hot Spot! It really is a gem. Bakarthym turned a story about aliens and superpowers into a heatwarming story about friendship and finding one's place in the world. Must watch and is on Netflix. 

I have been recommended Bakathym's Brush up Life which will place in the queue.

Gannibal season 1 jdorama review

 

Faiz Ikari recommended me the first season of Gannibal some time ago. I had it sitting on my HD for a long time because I wasn't in a mood for a cannibal jdorama. I was pessimistic that someone else can do a violent movie to Sono Sion levels. I knew nothing of this show nor what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised and I am glad I waited this long to watch Gannibal.

Gannibal starts off with a police officer accusing a bunch of people in a village for being cannibals before he is killed with a sickle. No point hiding the theme of the story, right. The name of the jdorama already rhymes with cannibal.

The Agawas, played by Yagira Yuya and Yoshioka Riho are a couple who moved to this village of Kuge because of Yagira's job as the village policeman and because of their daughter Mashiro, who is unable to speak after a traumatic event. Usually in stories like this, nothing seems suspicious but alarm bells are ringing pretty loudly from the Agawas first day in Kuge from the villagers behaviour.

Gannibal plays the behaviour off from stereotypical countryside behaviour of neighbours poking their noses into everyone's business and expecting everyone to behave a certain way or else they would be excluded but the most alarming is the threats of violence does not faze the husband Agawa Daigo.

In episode 1, I was thinking I need to watch Hayabusa Shobodan again. I was also thinking any sane person would have at least gotten his wife and kid out of Kuge. It kind of bugged me that because they were clearly in danger and the behaviour of the people was not normal. I guess the daughter loved it there and Yoshioka Riho was trying to fit in but Daigo knew something was rotten.

Agawa Daigo has become one of my favourite jdorama charaters because of one thing, this guy is a police office who has no fear and kicks ass. There are very few characters like this because jdoramas don't have the action budget but also as Kaname Jun said in Oshi no Ko, jdoramas are made for women and kids.

Here we have a police officer not afraid of violence, loving the danger versus the Goto family of Kuge. The fight at the end of episode 1 really woke me up to this show. Gannibal is not Hayabusa Shobodan nor a Sono Sion horror cannibal story. Gannibal is an action horror/thriller with an emphasis on action. This is what I want. Japan's version of the Roundup except the bad guys are cannibalistic villagers who act like gangsters instead of actual gansters.

There is a car shootout scene in episode 2 which was good and Gannibal got better with every episode. Every episode ended with a great cliffhanger and I finished the 7 episodes in no time only to be greated with one crazy cliffhanger.

The only thing I don't like about Gannibal is the way the story treats the traumatic event in Agawa Daigo's past. The characters react to it like it is a shameful secret when he should be seen as a hero. It is not like he had a choice which is really weird.

The reason I am happy that it has taken me so long to watch Gannibal is that season 2 is coming out on the 19th next month on Disney+. Wait, Gannibal is a Disney+ show? Wtf. Disney is responsible for this violence horror jdorama? Amazing! That's where they got the money for that car scene. The more companies invest in jdoramas, the happier I am, especially shows that are not made for the women and children demographic. Disney are getting my money next month. I can't imagine how long Faiz and people who watched it much earlier have been waiting for season 2. I would have devoured the manga while waiting.

Amazing show. I need to add this to my jdorama awards 2022. Must watch first season. It could come apart in season 2 but I love the action and the violence. Must watch. Bring on season 2!

Dareka ga Kono Machi de jdorama review

 

WOWOW has done it again! Dareka ga Kono Machi de is small town crime thriller about a little boy who was murdered in Yokuna town 23 years ago and the disappearance of a family. Eguchi Yusuke is an investigator who works for Tsuruta Mayu who is a lawyer. 

One day, Aju Makita visits Tsuruta Mayu's office claiming that she is Mochizuki Maki, the daughter of the family who disappeared from the town and the mother was Tsuruta Mayu's family. Eguchi Yusuke investigates the disappearance of the Mochizuki family and starts to discover the dark secretes of the town.

First of Dareka Ga Kono Machi de is a very good crime thriller shot very well by Sato Yuichi who did directed Rokunin no Usotsuki Daigakusei which I just saw in Japan as well as Strawberry Night and my absolute favourite Kisaragi. It has a much more earthy, movie look and Sato Yuichi makes good use of bokeh to accentuate scenes.

If you like dark crimes stories watching Dareka Ga Kono Machi de is no brainer. It is difficult to talk about the series without spoiler so come back after you have finished!

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

Dareka ga Kono Machi de is about what happens when a community is so fearful of crime that they allow those in power to control everything and justify anything in the name peace and safety. In tge beginning of the show, Eguchi Yusuke's daughter died because of the bullying and when the teachers accused her of being a bully, he said that she had no choice but to join or else she would be bullied herself.

This describes the people of Yokuna town. The death of the boy 23 years ago, allowed the security committee to run amoke and bully outsiders in the name of peace and safety. No one tried to stop the stoning of foreigners lest they be stoned and everyone became a bully lest they be bullied. We learn that over time other people get bullied and this bullying or creating enemies for the townspeople to unite against keeps the people in power.

One of the scariest scenes is when Eguchi Yusuke catches a boy shoplifting and the whole town backs the boy because no one in the town is capable of committing crimes and only outsiders can commit crimes. Hhmm, this people getting riled up with righteous anger against outsider sounds awfully familiar.....

I enjoyed the performance of Otsuka Nene's husband. He has no one to turn his anger to except foreigners and enjoys the privilege of being in the security committee but he also realises that being in it is what is keeping him and Otsuka Nene safe. He is basically a character in a difficult situation and ended up being brainwashed and I would argue that the town people were basically hostages to the committee experiencing Stockholm syndrome. 

Great performances all around especially Otsuka Nene as the mother to a dead son trapped in a small town. So great to see Tsuruta Mayu who did Cheap Love, Seigi wa Katsu and Satorare. On a side note, I need to find a good copy of Good News since I only have a bad VHS rip of the first 3 episodes.

The one bad thing I did not like about Dareka ga Kono Machi de is when Mochizuki Maki's mother played by Hyunri so easily let members of the security committee into her house and Otsuka Nene shaking her head telling her don't do it. The fact Mochizuki Ryoko can solve the murder mystery so easily but cannot sense the danger from these people late at night is shocking.

The Mochizuki family murder scene was hard to watch and everyone is so effed up in the head justifying their actions.

Besides that, I have no complaints. Good to see Eguchi Yusuke in a leading role and I love the scene where he stands up against the stone throwing mob. Dareka ga Kono Machi de shows why WOWOW is still the best. Thanks to furritsu for subbing and you can get the raws and subs here. Must watch. Well done WOWOW.

Rewatching Takane no Hana

 

I sat down to rewatch Takane no Hana on prime and could not stop watching. Nojima Shinji's dialogue is amazing. The dialogue literally sings. It not only looks beautiful, but I am captivated by every single spoken word in Takane no Hana. It is the type of dialogue you'd imagine every actor in Japan would kill to be able to speak the words on tv.

Mineta Kazunobu was at the peak of his powers after Kiseki no Hito. Nojima Shinji was a genius naming the main character Pooh and talking about how girls would have a teddy bear covered with saliva only to be tossed aside once they grow up. All teddy bear allegories correspond with Pooh's role as the bear to heal Momo's heart.

Is this Ishihara Satomi's best acting job ever? Was this her career defining role? Tsukishima Momo, the untouchable flower recovering from being left at the altar is a character that is not easily forgotten. 

I think Yoshine Kyoko is perfectly cast as the younger sister who is a lot more innocent. Kohinata Fumiyo did an excellent job as the evil dad. I finished 10 episodes in no time. 

My only complaint is Karina was a waste of space and time. Her being a test for Pooh after he had been dumped was stupid. Karina was a time wasting side trip that messed up an otherwise immaculate pacing of the show. If she were that important of a friend, Karina would have been in the story since the beginning.

I did not give Takane no Hana a must watch last time but on a second rewatch, Takane no Hana is an amazing show. My copy of the show is only a 480p so I am going to go look for a quality rip after this. Must watch! Interesting to note the prime version is missing the ending song that was present in the original Japan version. On a side note, maybe it is time to download at least 720p version of jdoramas that I really like instead of watching new ones.

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.

Futekisetsu ni mo Hodo ga Aru / Extremely inappropriate episode 1

By the jdorama gods, I have just 1 hour laughing non-stop and I just want to put my thoughts to paper before I watch episode 2. Kudo Kankuro is one of the greatest and funniest writers in jdorama history and episode 1 of Futekisetsu ni mo hodo ga Aru might be one of the funniest episodes I have ever seen. Forget about whatever you think you want to watch, get on Netflix and watch the first episode and prepare to laugh all the way through.

Extremely Inappropriate is a time travel story. Abe Sadawo is a strict teacher from the 80s who travels to 2024 using a bus and goes back to his time though a wall in the washroom behind a Kyonkyon poster. What I love about this show is that Kudo Kankuro shows all the inappropriate behaviour from the 80s. All the swearing, sexism and bullying and I love it. 

Some shows set their story in the past like the1940s but they don't include all the things going on in society at the time like smoking and try to supplant modern sensibilities instead. Stories should show how society acted and perceived things at that time and not try to scrub it out.

Futekisetsu ni mo hodo ga Aru, at least for the first episode is a conversation about the clash of values from the 80s and values and expected behaviour from today and it culminates in the greatest Japanese musical I have ever seen. Every freaking line in the song killed me especially the 'this is my 13th year and my mental health is long gone!'.

There are so many levels to the jokes especially the guy who says 'that goes for all organizations'. So many things in the song are funny because they are true. Someone once said if you want to tell the truth, make them laugh and the first episode of Futekisetsu ni mo Hodo ga Aru does it so well.

My favourite line from the show is the time traveling mom played by Yoshida Yo asking the son why he prefers showa to reiwa. He gave the above answer that made absolute sense.

Episode 1 is so perfect I have to give it a must watch. It is also so scarily good I am afraid the next episodes won't be as funny. Fingers crossed this will be the next Tiger & Dragon. Must watch. Thanks to notpenk for recommending this because I did not know it was a Kudo Kankuro show. On to episode 2!

Edit: Kudo Kankuro's Rikon shiyou yo / Let's get Divorced also started out really amazing and had a meh second half with pacing problems. Hopefully this doesn't happen again.

WARAU MATROYSHKA EP 8

Episode 8 didn't get uploaded to nyaa but then I realised that I could watch it from the tver link from the official homepage. Everytime at the end jdoramas they always say you can rewatch on tver but I never took it up. The only catch is that I needed to set my VPN to Japan but I quickly turned my VPN off after the video start loading. And the video came with Japanese subs! You just have to provide a random year and month of birth and Japanese postcode to watch. I think I am going to watch more Jdoramas on tver to support them and because they come out first. As for the episode, we get more info about the grandmother but it all depends on what the plan is and what will happen at the end.

Warau Matryoshka Episode 2 spoilers

Don't read on if you have not seen episode 2 of Warau Matryoshka! 

Just want to say the new annoying staple of jdoramas is the youtuber harassing people. I guess it is the same thing as what the media and scoop magazines do in jdoramas but being youtubers just makes it worst.

In episode 1, Michiura figured out that Suzuki was the brains behind the operation and that Seike had the ability to absorb and be whatever Suzuki needed him to be. In episode 2 we finally get to see their partnership in action and it is entertaining. I love the flashbacks to Seiki running for student president cut with scenes of his media speech. 

The question is what is behind the fake smiling face? Is Seike truly a person without will and does whatever Suzuki wants? Michiura believes he is asking for her help by sending her his thesis and wants to escape from Suzuki's control. Jdorama watchers know that the first supposition is always false.

Then the question is what does Seike hope to achieve by giving Michiura access? It is then that Michiura discovers that Seike is able to achive his dream at 27 because of a car accident and her father's death was also from a car accident. 

She tries to warn Seike about Suzuki but we cannot discern anything from his face. Is he really sending Michiura an SOS or is Seike playing her like a fiddle?

I want to say, so happy to see Watanabe Dai in this show. He better have a big role and I suspect he does later in the series.

Bloody exciting finding out the identity of the mystery woman. I love how Michiura pieces together her clues with information from Seike's autobiography. It reminds me of Yami no Bansosha where Furuta Arata and Matsushita Nao try to solve a mystery from clues in a manga. I need to rewatch it someday because it is one of my absolute favourites. Anything with manga in it, I love.

I am excited for the revelation of the 3rd party. The whole dying the same age as Hanussen's is brilliant. I thought Suzuki was going to be a scary character, Takaoka Saki (Kenja no Ai) is going to be even better. After two excellent episodes, I have to give Warau Matryoshka a must watch. As soon as episode 3 hits nyaa, I am watching straight away. Sooner or later we are going to run out of revelations and how good the show will be will depend on what the characters do. Warau Matroyshka does not smell like your typical TBS show, so fingers crossed!

Mondays: See you this week! jmovie review

I have been watching a lot of time travel shows recently with Tokyo Girl, Summer Time Machine Blues and Toki wo Kakeruna, Koibitotachi so I felt compelled to watch Mondays when anonymous recommended it in the comments section. What compelled me was that Mondays was a time loop movie set in an office.

Wan Marui who was also in Toki wo Kakeruna, Koibitotachi is the main character Yoshikawa who is unaware that she is stuck in a time loop that goes from Monday to Sunday and back again starting with a pigeon crashing into the window of the office. However, two of her colleagues have become aware of the time loop and it takes considerable effort for them to convince Yoshikawa of this.

Mondays has a lot of the tropes of the time loop genre such as learning new skills, continuing to fail until succeeding and generally becoming a better person. The thing is Mondays does everything very well. Once the story starts going, it is very funny watching our main characters try to convince people of the time loop and to ultimately stop it.

Time loop stories are easy to shoot because you mostly only need one major set that you can reuse for the majority of the movie, so you can spend your budget and make it look like a real office. I thought that the office setting was refreshing for a science fiction story though I wish they had the budget to do the dance sequence and the mystery of who or what is responsible for trapping them in the time loop. I thought it was very Japanese-like for the people stuck in the time loop to still feel the need to do the work in case their week did not loop. I guess there is no such thing as calling sick for the week in Japan.

Mondays: See you this week! is a wholesome and feel good time loop movie without any flaws and a lot of heart. It kind of reminds me of Kisaragi, another movie set in one location except without the time travel. The question is do I give it a must watch like Kisaragi? It is certainly the best time travel jmovie I have ever seen and I think that deserves a must watch. I think the director managed to squeeze every drop of blood from the stone for this low budget movie. I am also a sucker because the final part of the movie is about a storytelling medium that I love very much. Flawless, with a lot of heart. My one regret is that I wish I had seen it at JFF 2023. 

On a related note, the Japanese Film Festival Online is going on now until 31 July. Looks like you can watch it from anywhere in the world. Support Japanese movies without paying a cent! I definitely recommend Anime Supremacy if you have not seen it. I need to activate my Netflix soon to watch Godzilla Minus 1 but I just don't have time for Netflix on top of my usual stuff. Thanks to anon for the recommendation!