Kita no Kuni Kara 18-24

24 episodes is a lot and not once during the series did I think uh oh, this show is losing its way. Partly because its more of a character dorama rather than a story driven one. The only end goal that the audience is anticipating is Goro building the new house but even then its not done as a climax but matter-of-factly. Characters remain flawed, some improve but there's no generic I have become stronger generic speech stuff. I finished watching the last episode the day before and had a day to try to organise my thoughts on how to write this review but I have no idea how to structure it because there is so much to say and multiple ways to look at the series.

If this scene happened today, Goro would lose the kids for abusing them with his cigarette smoke.

Let's start by asking the question; who is the heart of the series? Is it Goro, the earnest hard working dad with communication problems and somehow manages to live for a year with his hot sister in law and not lay a hand on her? It is Hotaru, the daddy's girl who is in some ways the most mature one in the household or is it Jun, the annoying brat who keeps making stupid decisions but you just can't hate him because he's just being a kid? I think the answer is that the heart of Kita no Kuni Kara is the journey that this family takes over a year in Furano.

Goro connecting with his children and proving his woth to them the only way he knows how, by teaching his two city kids how to survive and thrive in Furano. Jun getting a different perspective on life which is most evident when he meets his former teacher at the end of the series and asks himself why he doesn't like his teacher anymore. That's because he has had lessons in life that cannot be gained from textbooks and going to cram school. And dear Hotaru, how touching was that scene in ep 23 when she finally confronts her hatred for her mother. When she tells her father she want to remember the bad because there are only good memories and that makes her sad. This little girl surviving on this hate for 23 episodes.

I've not seen Takeshita Keiko in any other doramas except for in Fukada Kyoko's horrible Friends which thankfully I remember nothing about.

One thing I really want to point out is while Kita no Kuni Kara masterfully juggles multiple storylines, it never milks the climaxes more than necessary which is surprising. A nice payoff happens, I go 'wow' and it quickly moves on to the next story. Its as if its saying 'life goes on, let's not dwell on the moment because there are more to be had'. Some of my favourite moments in the series are: (gotta start from the end cause it harder to recall the series from the beginning)

Ep 23 - Seikichi ojisan, the old dude from Golden Bowl giving those bitching mourners a piece of his mind with grace and humility. The courteous way he did it was better than any putdown the Rock could ever do.

Ep 24 - Goro finding out Kogomi was actually who his friends had told me she was. It was so funny and so sad because he had chosen to believe in her and not the rumours. All they needed to sell it was this 1 second look on his face when Goro saw Kogomi. That's it, 1 second WTF look instead of a overacting gestures of despair accompanied by an idoru pop song to close a sub story that had been building up the final quarter of the series.

Ep 20 - To me the purpose of the UFO storyline wasn't about the teacher or the UFOs. It was about Hotaru telling the truth to the whole country who laughed at her and Goro telling her as at the dinner that it didn't matter what other people said because the people that matter believe in her. On the other hand, what was the point of going through with the rest of the UFO story anyway?

Ep 19 - Ginza no koi no monogatari karaoke. Man, that was such a sad and depressing scene as befitting Goro's character. The fact that Kogomi is attracted to Goro type characters just makes it worse. Goro should have gone after Yukiko.

Someone call Mulder and Scully!

Special mention must be given to Sota for being the comedy relief/idiot of the dorama. He spends most of the series unable to make up his mind whether to go for Yukiko or stick with Tsurara. He tries Tsurara like shit, feels guilty about it but doesn't even have the balls to break up with her only with her to run away to work at a Turkish bath. After getting beat down in the worst boxing match ever, Sota decides that as penance, he will not see Yukiko for 2 years and 8 months, the length of time he was with Tsurara. Talk about a self induced tragic hero pretender! In fact, if I had to choose between Yukiko and Tsurara I would .... o for the one who was a better cook.

I don't really see Kita no Kuni Kara as a country values vs city values dorama but rather its about this family of 4 living in a place where the priorities are different Tokyo's. Where people are at the mercy of the weather. Where people actually depend on each other to survive. Where things actually had to be done by hand. Its the type of lifestyle that for a few minutes make urban dwellers like me think, 'wouldn't it be nice' and shamefully dismiss the notion because I'm too scared all the trappings of urban life.

However pitiful Goro is, at least he got some action unlike Jin sensei.

Good news is, looks like Chuks is translating the first special. There are nine SPs in total with the 1995 special already translated. Please do give this dorama a try and recommend it to any d-addict you know. A big thank you to Chuks and Phoenix for subbing 9-24 and xploring for eps 1-8. It is thanks to your efforts that dorama addicts like me could have watched such a classic.

24 episodes and they couldn't even devote some backstory for the dark skinned dude and his moustache friend?

Freeter Ie wo Kau eps 1-4

Decided to check out Freeter when JC Supercop recommended it. I knew only one or two subbed episodes were on d-addicts and to my surprise freeter_ohno subs had done 4 episodes but not seeded eps 2-4 on d-addicts. According to the fansub wiki, Stormy has already finished subbing the series and its probably available for members of their website. Freeter's got Nino, the one actor in Arashi who can actually act and by default the only Johnny I like and of course Karina and Igawa Haruka so there's no reason for me not to check it out.

Nino plays Seiji, your typical apathetic youth who claims to live a live of mediocrity or soko soko and always quits his job within 3 months. He's got no direction in life and he has this overbearing dad who a broken records who likes to proclaim how he is the breadwinner of his family and everyone owes him their souls. Seiji's got a seemingly perfect housewife mom who is constantly being taken for granted by father and son. Finally, Igawa Haruka is the sister who married a hospital director and has to deal with a busybody mother-in-law.

First two episodes plays like on of those indy dysfunctional family movies and it is awesome. From the foreboding rocking of Seiji's mom everytime she is shouted at to Seiji's dad's rantings perhaps hiding some deep troubles, Freeter was a breath of fresh air from the usual set in mangaland doramas. The heart and soul of the story is Seiji and when he does one of the stupidest things ever which is quit his job before finding a new one, he is stuck in freeter hell because of his employment record.

Seiji's father keeps ranting and raving about Seiji's nochalant attitude but frankly I have no empathy for both of them. His father should kick him out of the house if he wants him to pick things up cause nothing motivates more than survival. I've done my share of temp jobs, getting calls early in the morning after an all night gaming session but when you have to pay your own rent and bills, any job will do. At the end of the first episode, something happens to Seiji's mom and I can't wait for the episode 2.

Example of horrible lighting. The house is suppose to be dark but their is this mysterious light pointing directly at only Seiji's mom and the open dining room beside the living room is completely dark. Notice unrealistic fuzzy feel. If the light is supposed to be from a lamp then its suppose to be a soft light that would illuminate the dining area as well.

Episode 2 deal with the indifferent Seiji struggling to work in a road works company and something begins to feel very off. Its not because the road works part with Karina feels so generic. Its because I start to notice how fucking horrible the lighting is. A lot of scenes, especially at Seiji's workplace have this fuzzy glare usually used only for flashback scenes. Its like there are way too many sources of light and it just completely pulls down the more realistic and dramatic tone of the first episode. This is probably the first time ever a lighting in a jmovie/dorama really put me off. The worst lighting I can remember is the Sundome and that was more because it had no budget and it was all natural light. Whoever is responsible for the lighting should be fired and an amateur photographer hired instead.

What Seiji is actually asking: I thought you were a tough tomboy construction chick and you're walking in the riverside in the middle of the night showing off your nice slim legs for the sole purpose of .......?

End of ep 3, we get to the introduction of the main story which is Seiji vowing to build a house by working as a freeter. Temping jobs can pay as well as regular ones except you don't get holidays so I wonder how Seiji will manage to pull it off. So far I find freeter an interesting show but the lighting issue and some elements which pull the show from serious family drama to generic idoru dorama like Karina's dress code in the above screencap get on my nerves. Freeter is better than generic, promises to be a watchable dorama with so many interesting story threads and has good actors but execution will determine whether it rises from watchable to good.

Example two of horrible lighting. Its suppose to be very bright outside and and they've got at least 3 fucking light tubes TURNED ON in the room in the background and it looks like they have at least the same number on above the foreground and maybe a skylight. Is this some alternate reality where having 2 fucking light sources in a room is not enough?

Gotta mention that guy on the left cannot fucking act at all which means he must be a Johnny.

Cleanest looking construction workers in the world wearing very new clothes. Its pretty obvious that the costume department has no budget to for dirt and water to put some wrinkles to the clothes.

Jin season 2 eps 1+2

Jin is back, or rather the story of Jin's time-slip adventures in Edo continues! Jin puts a nice spin on the Dr Blackjack/Iryu super surgeon formula by making him more of a MacGuyver in feudal Japan. It was fun watching him try to perform surgeries with limited tools and cure diseases that we take for granted today. The endearing triangle love story with Saki (Ayase Haruka) and Nokaze (Mizuno Miki) was fun to watch as well. The guy who stole the show was of course Uchino Masaaki as Sakamoto Ryoma. Jin is one of those rare jdoramas that took an interesting concept and managed not to fuck it up by miring itself in mediocrity. It probably helps that all the characters had passed puberty so they could cast people who could actually act. Thank the jdorama gods that they didn't decide to make Jin some 18 year old looking kid who had somehow done his medical degree and years of practical training to become a surgeon. *cough* Code Blue *cough*.

Season 2 is more of a continuation of the story, rather than a sequel. The mystery of how Jin got into the time slip, the connection with the baby fetus and the identity of the man in bandages have yet to be solved. The one storyline that I am most looking forward to is whether Jin will be able to save Sakamoto Ryoma from his demise. I love the Shinsengumi taiga dorama and am looking forward to see the story from Ryoma and Jin's perspective.

Episode brings us up to speed with Jin's story and he is presented with a new problem to tackle in Edo; beriberi caused by eating only rice and thus the lack of vitamin B1. Jin's solution was the introduction of donuts into Japan! Its a shame that meat was scarce in those days of he could have introduced Burger King or even better, KFC! He starts selling donuts which apparently sold like hotcakes but his clinic Jinyu-do was still broke. Were they selling the donuts without making profits or were the ingredients so expensive that the regular people would be priced out? How are the other doctors of Jinyu-do surviving without a salary? Jin clearly said that Jinyu-do would make money from selling donuts to the imperial house, is it because they could then charge them a premium?

The above question don't really bother me because the whole purpose of the story about Jinyu-do's financial troubles is basically to have Saki pawn of all her valuable to keep the clinic afloat, thus giving her a role and purpose early in the series. I'm happy to see Nokaze back in the series but at the same time, she needs something to do since she's no longer flirting with Jin.

When the idea that Jin would present the donuts to the Imperial Princess and he might become doctor to the Ooku came up, I saw brilliant flashes of how Jin could be the greates harem jdorama set in the Edo era! He's already got the innocent but disowned daughter of a samurai family living with him as well as a former Oiran. Now he might possibly be getting access to the Shogun's own personal harem!? Could Jin be on the beck and call of several thousand women who live in the Ooku and the only guy they probably have contact to would be the Shogun? The infinite story possibilities.

At least it will make up for Jin not having relations with either Saki or Nokaze. He's been there two years and he has not done it with either of them which is just completely illogical. Unless of course he's worried about STDs and is unable to make condoms. I am pretty sure having sex with other women in a time period where his girfriend has not existed does not constitute cheating. Plus the only way to ensure Miki exists in the future is for Jin to be her great x 6 grandfather.

There is also this question of how long Jin would remain in this Era. After the end of episode one, I think the answer is clear as long as he stays away for climbing trees and falling down stairs. If he had been smart, he should have dragged Shozan sensei's body from the fire and done and cut open his brain to see if he had the fetus tumour.

On a serious note, the first two episodes have been awesome. Jin gets to interact more with history and season two doesn't feel like a mere rehash of the original series. They've kept up the standard from the first season and how good Jin will ultimately be rests in the ending. I have not read the manga since there is no scanlation so hopefully it is a good one. Please excuse me while I go throw myself off the stairs. On second though, Australia in the 1800s won't be fun place to be.

Jmovie review: 13 Assassins / Jusannin no Shikaku

Takashi Miike is probably the most famous of Japanese directors among western Jmovie fans like me but at the same time probably the most polarizing. Yatterman was crap, Crows Zero 2 was boring and Zebraman 2 parodied all that was good in the first movie. On the other hand he made Ichi the Killer, Gozu, Zebraman, Sun Scarred and Audition, 5 movies I really enjoyed. Watching a Miike movie is like high stakes gambling, either you're gonna get a classic or you just end up wishing some producer would be powerful enough to rein him in.

13 Assassins received a lot of good reviews from festival screenings the world over. Phrases like Miike's best movie and Miike's Kurosawa got me really excited. Ater all, I think Miike works best when he is constrained by a script and not allowed to run loose. What better way to limit Miike than a remake of samurai movie?

The first half of the movie is fucking awesome. Koji Yakusho probably most well known from Shall we Dansu? plays Shinzaemon, a samurai who is tasked with getting rid of the half brother of the Shogun played wonderfully by Inagaki Goro. I would never have thought that guy could play a decent villain after watching his horrible performance in Nagareboshi. This is a revenge movie and like Sun Scarred Miike does a masterful job of making the audience want to see Goro get his comeuppance. It helps that Goro is happy to get his hands dirty and truly make his portrayal of Lord Naritsuga such a despicable character. Miike limits his reputable use of gore and blood in the first half to good effect. I've always said less is more and when you use less at the best time, it has a much stronger effect.

First half is about Shinzaemon gathering his 13 Assassin to kill Goro and Miike does an admirable job of letting the audience know them with of course the main characters getting more screen time. What drives this first half is mostly the desire to see them succeed and the difficulty of killing the Shogun's half brother who is guarded by 70 men.

Shinzaemon and co make a stand at a village and I'm getting ready for what reviews call 40 minutes of superb non-stop action. Then we find out Goro called for reinforcements and now our 13 Assassins have to kill 200 people in order to get to him. 200 people? Really? 70 I can buy. One assassin just needs to kill 5.4 baddies. With 200, its 15.4 people per assassin. Numerical, its not that tall of an order for action movie heroes accept this is 200 people at the same time. Of course, they set traps such as setting crappy cg bulls on fire and huge sliding gates which can magically shut. Not to mention wasting explosives on blowing up a house when they can easily bury it in the ground and blow the legs of 50 people after herding the baddies to the spot. Still, the good guys manage to reduce 200 baddies to 130 after shooting at them with arrows from the roof. Somehow, it never occurred to the Assassins to prepare at least a couple of thousand arrows so they don't need to fight the 130 in hand to hand combat. Still, I can still accept 13 excellent swordsman taking out 10 unskilled peons before they die.

The second half is bloody, violent but way too incoherent. 7 samurai worked because it was 7 guys against a small band of bandits. To tell the story of a fight between 13 dudes against 130 that makes sense requires masterful visual story telling such as a sweeping eagle's view of the village fight to see how the forces are divided and conquered. They've got a built in explanation in that most people in that peaceful era don't really know how to fight with swords but the execution of the fight just felt so haphazard and quickly went downhill after the excellent 'minna koroshi' scene which reminds the audience what the 13 Assassins was fighting for.

To make matters worse, the 13 would need to kill 10 people each to finish off the remaining 130. There are fight scenes where it seems like one dude would kill at least that number so shouldn't the fight have been over in 10 minutes since it took some time before the first assassin feel? Unless of course the guy who mentioned that there were 130 baddies left purposely threw a smaller to give his mates some courage and there are actually 500 which it looked like there were 500 during the final battle. We should have seen quickly dwindling numbers and baddies in great fear 3 minutes into the fight as the 13 Assassins have divided the main force. If you were 1 of 130 baddies, sure you would be confident but if 13 assassins took out 5 people each in the first 3 minutes, 65 people less would be very noticeable especially with the baddies split up and fighting the 13 on separate fronts.

To me, the greatest sin that Miike did in 13 Assassins is the same for all his crap movies; over indulging himself in whatever he wanted to do. In Ryu ga gotoku, he loved the Majima character so much that the main story was a forgotten footnote. In Zebraman 2, he decided instead of continuing to be a homage to tokusatsu, he decided to parody the homage and reduce it to meaningless crap. In 13 Assassins, he got so caught up with making it an uphill battle of 13 vs 200 people that he turned it into a repetitive fight of 13 vs 500. I actually just realised why the fight sequence didn't work for me while skimming it while writing this review. Editing even 5 minutes out of it would have done wonders. The overlong death scenes didn't help either.

Yup, Geronimo plays a spear wielding dude with a funny reason for joining the band.

If you like the Lone Wolf and cub movies where its just 1 man killing 50, 13 Assassins is for you. The manga on the other hand is more about the story and the fight is just an afterthought. If you like fight scenes that have to make a bit of sense and tell a good story, prepare to be bored. I can't fault Miike for lack of effort but he got too enthusiastic about the final fight and didn't realise his 13 men had actually killed 500 in the movie. I'm actually interested to watch the original to see whether they succeeded in doing the fight. Despite the brilliance of the first half, 13 Assassins is not even close to the classic 7 samurai.

Jdorama ramblings 18/4/11

School!! eps 8+9

I've already said my piece about why this show is the surprise of last season and deserves to be seen here and here. All that is left is the ending and does the writing deliver for the last episode! It is a succession of climaxes for all the stories built up during the course of the series with of course set backs to the main story; a formula that few doramas do properly. Doramas are all about payoffs for (usually) 10 episode build-ups and the final episode is most satisfying. The only complaint I have is that Eguchi Yosuke's final speech is way too long but it doesn't detract from the fact that the finish of School!! is exciting and well done.

Bravo to Hata Takehiko, the writer of Dragon Zakura. Out of all his doramas that I have seen, this is only his second one that I have liked. I dropped Joshi Deka, Hanayome no Yakudoshi and Unfair really quickly so I might be tempted to try them if I can finish all my movies and games. Definitely check it out.

Kita no Kuni Kara

I'm going to save my thoughts until the subbing of the series has ended with 3 more episodes to gobecause I'm going to run out of superlatives to describe this dorama. However, I am saddened by the fact that not enough people are watching this! The latest subs are sitting at less than 100 downloads which means that people have dropped the series! How can the subs for Lady have 3k downloads and Kita no Kuni Kara less than 100? As d-addicts, we have a responsibility to pimp shows like this to the masses who somehow enjoy watching doramas featuring 'beautiful' people in horrible stories.

853 eps 1+2

Low budget police show featuring renegade cop vs his stick by the rules superior. Like 99% of Japanese cop shows, its got a slight comedic and unrealistic bent but the thing that really gets to me is this police computer system that spits of information as if its an A.I. complete with cute voice. I know that Japanese like their police shows set in an anime world but surely a line must be drawn at realistic information gathering? Low budget means low expectations but some things cannot be overlooked.

Kurohyo

Surprisingly, this dorama is being subbed and I did a review of it here. Long story short, its a very fun action dorama that manages to look more than its budget but is ultimately killed by its trying to be too smart twist. I still had fun and its recommended if you're looking for something different.

Marks no Yama ep 2

Its so good that the excruciating wait is pure torture! I am so tempted to watch it raw but I don't want to miss out on the investigation details! Wait for the subbing to finish before watching and you'll have one of the most glorious 5 hours of your life.

Spring 2011 Jdoramas

The jdorama subs are slowing down so lets look ahead at what shows await us.

JIN SEASON 2

Part two of the big budget dorama from 2009 that actually met expectations. Of course it helps that Jin had a cast who could actually act with Osawa Takao, Ayase Haruka, Nakatani Miki and of course Uchino Masaaki as Sakamoto Ryoma. Masaaki's Ryoma was so good that I just couldn't bear watching Fukuyama Masaharu's stilted portrayal of Ryoma in Ryoma den. The first season left many questions unanswered so while the doctor from future in Edo part is still going to be fun, they better have a good explanation for that baby.

SHIAWASE NI NAROU YO

Katagori Shingo, Kuroki Meisa and Fujiki Naohito in a dorama about a marriage consultant who falls for the girl he sets up. In terms of acting ability, this show doesn't have it but its by the writer of Dosokai, Pandora and Good Luck! so my prediction is it'll probably be a watchable show.

MUSCLE GIRL

I love wrestling and the last time Ichikawa Yui showed she had something was in H2. Don't know why the fuck they have a Korean dude in this show, but he's playing a referee. I'll definitely give it a shot though. Daughter taking over dad's puroresu organisation has potential for lots of funny and interesting stories involving different personalities and wrestlers trying to put a match together. I expect to see stories involving wrestlers refusing to job, calling a match on the fly and of course working a match injured.

GOOD LIFE ~ARIGATO PAPA. SAYONARA~

Based on a Korean novel about a workaholic dad who connects with his son only to learn that his son has leukemia, something 50% of characters in Kdramas have. I want to see GTO be in a good show, something that can make use of his charisma but this is not it. Solely aimed at viewers who love crying at crude and over-sentimental storylines.

KAZOKU HOTEI

Nagatsuka Kyozo as a judge who now has to deal with his family problems as his wife as passed away. Its got the lovely Mimura and most importantly, its by Ozaki Masaya, the writer of Shiroi Haru, Love Generation, Tadano Hitoshi and the classic KDO!! No other spring dorama deserves to be subbed more than this! Expect lots of witty conversations and interesting characters. This dorama needs to be subbed!

BOSS SEASON 2

WTF are they making a sequel to such a horrible make believe cop show which could have had a good ending had they the balls to go dark. If you like police shows that don't make sense and characters that act like they are in an anime, this show is for you. The fact that Boss won so many awards is a testament to how pathetic the critics of jdorama are.

NAMAE O NAKUSHITA MEGAMI

A dorama about the lives of 5 hot moms. The only negative thing I can say is that I hate watching the anorexic Kimura Yoshino on screen. There's a 99% chance this show is going to be about all their lives in upheaval, they'll all get stronger, nothing really dark and serious happens and we get a meh ending.

MADONNA VERDE

Daughter gets mom to be surrogate mother. Interesting concept and its got Kuninaka Ryoko who will hopefully get to stretch her acting ability. Should be worth checking out but sadly its not going to subbed.

I know there are a few more doramas but they don't deserve your attention for very obvious reasons. My excitement is mostly for Jin and if Kozoku Hotei is not subbed then I'll have to make do with a HK subbed dvd.

Youkame no semi ep 5

As I said in my review of eps 1-5, my biggest problem with Youkame no semi is that there can be no justification for child-napping unless its like Mother where the kid was getting abused and the authorities are slow to act. No matter how nice Kiwako is and how much she bonds with Kaoru/Erina, it is a relationship born of deception.

Ep 5 starts off by delving into an interesting part of the story, the difficulty of Kaoru/Erina integrating back into her family that she never really knew. Its like someone who was raised by society of zealots having to learn to live in modern society. This of course creates a lot of tension for Erina's mother who missed out on 5 years of her daughters life and now had to learn to connect with her daughter who had been raised by someone else.

Kaoru's mom is the interesting character here because she has been yearning for her daughter but in front of her stands a stranger. A child speaking with an island accent who has no bond with her beyond blood. Ultimately, the show is about Erina as she slowly regains her memories of her five years with Kiwako. Her happy childhood that she suppressed because she needed to hate Kiwako in order to make sense of her life.

Kiwako meanwhile is just a delusional woman who is so hung up about her five years with Erina. She has nothing to live for and her only source of happiness is found in her past. I thought the ending was appropriate but at the same time I just wonder what the point of Youkame no semi is? Erina coming to terms with her hatred for Kiwako? To show the audience how pitiful Kiwako is? Erina's mother doesn't get enough screen time to be called a major player. I just cannot see what the build up and purpose of Youkame no Semi is.

At the same time, I can't really hate it. Usually when something is as horrible as Taisetsu na koto, I watch with a lot of fast forwarding. With Youkame no semi, I paid attention to the whole show probably cause the acting was good but also trying to figure out how to appreciate the story. Storyline wise, its kidnapping dorama where the villain is portrayed as the heroine of a run away show. The only real tension and build up in the dorama is the anticipated 'reunion' of Erina and Kiwako which didn't give any real closure.

At the end of 5 episodes, I just could not find anything about Youkame no semi to latch onto. I think its some sort of emotional connection that probably only women can feel towards Kiwako. I'm interested to know what others have gotten out of this dorama.