Utahime

OMFG, I just marathoned the whole series in one go. And to think that I had the audacity to stop watching after the 1st episode when I first got the series months ago. Seriously, this is one of the best written and acted shows. Tight and funny script and I just couldn't stop watching after the 2nd episode. Nagase Tomoya plays Taro, an amnesiac who worked as a projectionist in the 1950s and Aibu Saki plays Suzu, the daughter of the owner. In a nutshell, Utahime is a variation of the childhood friend story while incorporating the older dude younger chick element and actually making it work!

Aaahh, the Taro Suzu dance. I love how its so freaking random and when they finally explain it, it takes on a whole new meaning. Truly great writing.

Nagase Tomoya does his typical overacting but this time he manages to scale it back when needed. After watching big money, its evident that his serious acting only works when its contrasted against his yakuza style overacting. The real star of the show for me is definitely Aibu Saki. She's like the new Sakai Noriko, playing the innocent girl who has everything and the kitchen sink thrown at her in her quest for love except she doesn't come off like an idiot like Noriko in Heaven's Coin.

Aibu Saki showing her sucking skills. :)

SPOILER WARNING

Wonder how many takes they needed for the hoola hoops scene, unless of course they cast the show with it in mind...

Can't talk about the show without mentioning the ending which sorta left a bad taste in my mouth. The show is shown through Suzu's eyes. We see her heartbreak and determination sprinkled with flashback of her childhood with Taro. Basically, one cannot help but empathise with her cause. As I had said concerning Hatachi no Koibito, the writers need to make the audience care about the Taro and Suzu's relationship with the age gap or it would look very awkward.

Suzu chan!!!!! They don't do old fashion heroines as good as her anymore...

Yet, after all that build up we get painful Himitsu ending. Its just that after all the emotional investment in a Taro-Suzu ending I was emotionally gutted. It worked for Himitsu cause both choices were 'right'. In this case... I suppose Taro made the 'right' choice but I didn't care about Miwako (Koike Eiko) . I guess the story being set in the 1950s, Taro didn't really have a choice. Maybe if they had cast someone else as Miwako as I find Koike Eiko's acting weak.


And Suzu ending up with Croissant..... uuuugggghhh. I don't care how many times he gets beat up, he is a mere comedy foil and will never get my approval. Not with so much build up and history between Taro and Suzu. The reincarnation ending is does not erase the bitterness of Taro's choice.


Sigh, maybe I would appreciate the ending better after sleeping. I do see why they wrote it that way but to acknowledge that Suzu's sincerity and purity was defeated by Taro's past....... Probably because Taro did it for Miwako and Sakura, two characters I don't give a shit about. In Himitsu, the husband's bitter choice was out of love for his wife. (If you have not seen Hirosue Ryoko's Himitsu, you NEED to hunt it down. Its one of the best movies ever.)



END SPOILERS



I had blast watching this show. From the retro 50s feel to the jokes to how there was always something interesting happening. I lot of jdoramas suffer from incompetent writing and its just uplifting to see something that's different yet so thoughtfully written. This show deserves high freaking praise and everyone should watch it.

Koshonin eps 1-4

On the heels of SP comes Koshonin aka The Negotiator. Will there finally be an action jdorama that I can rave about? To be honest, I'm not a big fan of Yonekura Ryoko though I've only seen her in Seiken Bijin and Hatachi no Kekkon. I put her in the same category as Fujiwara Norika; good to look at but devoid of acting skills.


In Koshinon, Ryoko plays Usagi Reiko, a new negotiator who finds herself thrust upon the all male Special Investigations Team (SIT). Add to that her mysterious relationship with a murderer in death row a la Clarice and Hannibal Lecter except the murderer is not scary and their conversations yawn inducing. So basically Usagi is this strong female Jodie Foster character who can't get a break from her colleagues or her superiors. Certainly a good way to see whether Yonekura Ryoko has what it takes to be a main actress.


Except the whole Usagi against the world thing feels so forced and unnatural. I would compare it to those Korean tearjerkers that throw all sorts of misery at a character and the director is shouting at your ear "see how sad it is? Now cry!" Basically it boils down to how the camera presents Usagi. A lot of the shots just scream "Look at Yonekura Ryoko! See how long her legs are! Look at her slim waist and nice ass!" The camera makes her look like a million bucks but its just too freaking blatant. Its like they storyboarded all those cool poses for her to do but everything else is not up to same standard. I don't know whether its a Yonekura Ryoko gravure video or a nitty gritty negotiator dorama.


I'm the last one to complain about fanservice. Its one of the most enjoyable parts of watching jdoramas. But it in a show that is supposed to be dark and serious? Imagine gratuitous shots of policewomen posing in NYPD Blue. It just doesn't fit the real world feel that they are going for? I mean she's supposed to be fighting against discrimination in the police force but its as if she's continuously showing the viewer how sexy she is. A more 'impartial' camera view would help and she should stop posing every time she's in full frame.


And Jinnai Takanori is seriously miscast as her Chief. As much as I enjoy his acting in comedies, his overacting and stupid facial expressions just doesn't work. Even when he slaps Usagi, I couldn't take him seriously, not with his eyes looking like they're going to pop out of their sockets all the time.


I remember reading this interview with one of the makers of Dynasty Warriors game series who said not to judge the games by what they aren't but what they are. Maybe I should judge jdoramas as idol driven, poorly written shows where acting skills are not required. Well, in the scheme of jdorama cop shows, this is probably the first one I've seen that at least tries to be nitty gritty. Its just too bad they didn't get rid of stupid jdorama conventions like the whole SIT team walking in a straight line trying to look cool. It works in a more fantasy dorama like Iryu but not a supposedly dark cop show, especially not when the freaking cops didn't do any noteworthy work.


I feel like Charley Rosen for criticizing the show so much. Its not that I like complaining. Ok, maybe I do. Its just that I perceive several critical flaws that could have made this show a classic. End of the day, its watchable show and kudos to the makers for doing something different. Its still better than most jdorama shows due to the subject matter and budget and I would recommend it over SP, so far.

Security Police eps 1-6

One weak genre in jdoramas is the action/cop shows. This stems from too much anime/manga influence. Odoru Daisousasen was too light and the less said about Rondo the better. Toubousha might be good but only 2 eps are subbed. Is SP the action dorama I've been waiting for?



First thing SP has going for it is casting. Okada Junichi + Tsutsumi Shinichi = must watch. Okada plays Inoue Kaoru who's heightened senses allows him to detect danger. While having a bit of sci-fi element is OK, the show stretches it too far by giving him the ability to foresee the future. Like in ep 6 where he can somehow see how the whole assassination was going to happen. There is a huge gap in logic between heightened senses and ability to bend time.



Second good point about the show is the fighting. I'm glad they didn't use sentai fight choreographers. They actually use a lot of wrestling/jujitsu stuff to disable their opponents which is so freaking refreshing to see. Maybe they got an shoot fighter to choreograph. Case in point the fight scene in the elevator in ep 6. Complicated fight scene where one could actually follow the action. Only complaint would be that they pull the punches/elbows too much.



Biggest negative for the show would be the pacing. 3 episodes for every case is too much, particularly because a lot of the scenes are unnecessarily long and redundant. Maybe its just budget constraints. The second negative would be the whole SP should be human shields and not detectives background story. I know jdorama cop shows must have some element of corrupt and inefficient bureaucracy but its just too freaking lame. They should have more powers to act and clearance than the average cop. After all, they're protecting VIPs and there is never time to second guess decisions in the field. It makes their superiors worse than corrupt. It makes them super inept and stupid.


Still I'm impressed by this show. Nowhere as good as Western cop shows but a huge improvement over typical Japanese ones.

Big Money eps 1-8

Its nice to see Nagase Tomoyo not have to overact in a dorama. It only works with well written and well cast shows like Mukodono and Tiger & Dragon. With shows that are not paced well, his act can get irritating quickly. I'd always wanted to see what he can do with a more serious role. IMO, Masahiro Matsuoka, the drummer from TOKIO is the better actor based on Heaven Cannot Wait.

Hasegawa Kyoko in another boring role. Her character has the best chance to spice up the series, especially the conflict between job and ethics part but alas....

Big Money starts off as a dorama about stock trading. If you've watched as much jdorama as I have, you'll probably expect that the script will oversimplify everything, and it does. Big Money shows the basic stuff that people do to in stock trading but doesn't get deeper than that. While I am not really disappointed at its simplicity, it does pose a problem for the show.

Yes, this show is worth watching for Maki-Michuru!

The main character for a show needs to be a certain type of character in order to arouse empathy. He either has to be the poor underdog character or a gifted character who has to beat unsurmountable odds to learn the game. Tomoyo Nagase's character Shirato is neither. His characters just lucked into getting chosen to be Kozuka-san's apprentice and the stuff that he is taught is so rudimentary that there is no excitement, no challenge. He just walks around in a daze following Kosaka's orders. He does not go through hellfire and brimstone. In order words, character wise, he has not paid his dues to deserve the audience's support. Its like Tommy Dreamer getting the singapore cane back in ECW. A character has the earn the audience's support.

Okamoto Aya is so underused, its a crime. Loved her in Metro ni Notte.

Like the end of ep 7 where he just walks in and issues an empty challenge to Yamazaki. He comes across as naive and stupid because he does not have a plan and it establishes nothing. Basically he does nothing to fight Matsuba ginko. WTF is the mountain the main protagonist is suppose to climb. Yes, we know his final destination but why hasn't Shirato started his ascent? He has only set up his base camp and is just wandering around.

Finally, I get to see Manabe Kaori in a dorama! She's ok as long as she's in a supporting role. :)

That said, I still enjoy this show, primarily because of the Maki-Michiru side story. The part in ep 7 where he follows her is poor gold. She leaves the house and he's standing on the balcony stoicly like a statue. And the side shot under the bridge as he tails her just stands out so much from the pedestrian camera work of the series, evoking a melancholy Koi ga Shitai feel.


Forgot to mention Shirato basically abondoning Michiru as well. It would OK if he were busy doing something or it was really dangerous for her to be involved. But all the moping around just makes him look like an idiot. The two pitfalls of main characters are too idealistic or not empathic enough. I'm not sure which one I'd rather suffer through.

Feel so tempted to get Samba de Amigo for my DC.....

What makes this show watchable is the rest of the characters. Kozuka has the motivation and Yamazaki is a fun villain. Yamazaki's not exactly operating outside the boundaries of the law and he's not making life difficult or Shirato. Every hero needs a great villain. In Big Money's case, the interesting villain needs a hero. Just because Shirato issued an empty challenge does not make him one.

Tokumei Kakarichou Tadano Hitoshi season3 ep1

Turtleae86 recommended this show to me and from his description, it sounded like it was my type of show. No johnnys who can't act, lots of chicks with nudity and a bit of action. Managed to find season 3 with crappy HK english subs and decided to take the plunge and buy it. And it was worth the money!

Miura Reiko plays a reporter who Tadano Hitoshi's gf.

Notice the pose of the chick in the background, mmmmmmm

Salaryman Kintaro is one of my fabourite series ever and here Takahashi Katsunori plays Tadano Hitoshi, a seemingly blumbling Clark Kent at work but at night he's real identity is some investigator who does special jobs for the CEO of the company. Yes, its a superhero salaryman dorama! Its got what guys want from jdroamas, cool main character and lots of hot chicks!

Note to self, look for Nagasawa Tsugumi JAVS.


With a face and body like that, she is more than welcome to swindle my money. :)

I can't stress how much fun I had watching the first episode. Tadano Hitoshi follows this IT guy who is being swindled by a girl played by gravure idol turned AV actress Nagasawa Tsugumi. The IT dude has sensitive information and him getting into debt over girl might endanger the company. Its just so freaking refreshing to see a darker jdorama after a year of too many shows that try to cater to everyone and end up doing nothing well. This show knows its audience, knows what they want and does it well.

Ebihara Yuri plays an OL who's in love with Tadano Hitoshi's Clark Kent persona. :)


Hhhmm, me like OLs.

Unlike many midnight doramas, its surprisingly very well written and the acting is decent. Credit goes to the script which moves very fast without boring and pretentious dialogue. If the standard of the rest of series is as good as the 1st episode of the 3rd season, Tadano Hitoshi might be even better than Kintaro. Seriously, they should cast more gravure and JAV actresses in jdoramas. No one can act as badly as Fukada Kyoko and Ito Misaki.

So that's how you get upskirt pics. :)

For all you sukebes out there, this show has tons of eye candy. I started blogging straight away after the 1st episode cause there's just so many lovely screencaps I wanted to take. I'll need to watch the rest of the series before I can be certain this is a good series but based on one episode I'd recommend that ppl get it. Yes, the english subs which are horribly translated from chinese are bad but that's better than no subs at all.

OMFG, its Maria Ozawa!!!!! If there is a jdorama god, please put Takako Kitahara into a dorama as well!

Her JAV acting doesn't really turn me on, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the view. :)

If you're in Melbourne, you can get it from the asian DVD shop opposite hungry jacks near the corner of Russell and Bourke. Why did I have to start watching this show on a Sunday night? I have half a mind to marathon the series until morning but I'll be dead at work. Sigh.

Koori no Sekai/ Ice World

Its unfortunate they don't make mystery doramas any more. I really enjoyed One Million Stars, Midnight Rain and Sleeping Forest so I was looking forward to this one. I think I watched an old vhs rip of this show before but wasn't able to finish it cause I couldn't find the rest of the series on streamload or something.


Its kinda hard to talk about mystery doramas without spoiling stuff so I'll try to be vague. Basically, mystery doramas boil down to two things, pacing of red herrings and ending. The basis of mystery shows is to slowly reveal some important information every episode that will hopefully make the audience rethink who the villain actually is. At the beginning everyone will have their own suspect.

What this show really needed were leggy shots of Uchida Yuki in her uniform. :)

Personally, I don't try to think too much during doramas cause flaws in logic diminish my enjoyment, unless of course the flaw is too big to ignore. The biggest pitfall for writers of mystery doramas to avoid are too many red herrings that don't provide clues to the identity of the villain and characters spending too much time looking for stuff the audience already knows.


I like the way the series stars, showing what people are willing to do to get insurance money and how difficult Eiki's (Takenouchi Yukata) job is. Matsushima Nanako plays the part of the mysterious Egi Toko to perfection. This stoic, serial black widow who attracts any man who comes into contact with her. I can see why Eiki is drawn to her despite this aura of danger around her.

Unfortunately, the show gets pretty slow in the middle. I was hoping they would avoid what they did with KimuTaku in sleeping forest. The fun is keeping the audience guessing on the motivations of an enigmatic character. Once the cloud of mystery is dispelled, there is only the revelation to look forward to which took quite a while and the revelation was kind of meh. The fact that there are no clues as to the identity of the villain just brings apathy. Actually, there was one clue but it was more of a why a certain character who had no more of a role to play was still there.


As Midnight Rain showed, the truth doesn't need to be some twisty and turning story from left field. It can be something simple. The important thing is how the clues are presented. When you have the villain doing a 30 minute monologue in order to link it with the mystery, you know you're in trouble. When the villain is revealed the audience should be already piecing everything together and thinking 'oh, so this is what happened'. Instead we have a villain who could have been any random character. Matsushima Nanako's performance makes it watchable but Koori no Sekai cannot match the three shows I mentioned in the first paragraph.

Chocolate trailer

Chocolate is a new Thai movie coming out this year by the director of Ong Bak/Tom Yum Goong. Best thing about it is Abe Hiroshi as a yakuza! I'm really looking forward to see Abe Hiroshi in a kick ass fight scene. Fingers crossed that he's not the villain who just stands back and lets his henchmen fight.




Probably the selling point for the movie is that the main character is a chick. I was watching her doing all those Ong Bak stunts thinking the mopy hair makes it easy for a stuntman to hide his face until the trailer showed some horrific accidents that happened in shooting. They really wanted to show that it was here doing all those stunts.




While the Bourne Ultimatum has changed the way I view action movies, I'm sold on a chick who puts her body on the line to do real painful fight scenes. Plus Abe Hiroshi! Can't wait! You can watch the trailer here.

Toda Erika - Note

Had this sitting on my HD for a long time but didn't notice. Its a DVD that came out in May last year but its more documentary rather than a gravure vid. Basically Note follows Toda Erika as she goes around promoting Death Note and doing photoshoots. The DVD has a running time of 53 minutes and unfortunately is not in widescreen.

OMG, who is this normal looking girl on my screen?! Masaka?

Yatta! The impostor has disappeared and Toda Erika is back! Kawaii~~~~!

IMO, she looks good with glasses.

Erika doing the Nacchi pout. :)

Gaaahhh! Toda Erika without makeup! My eyes are burning! Seriously, someone needs to do a series on which idol looks best without makeup.