Thermae Romae 2

No Thermae Romae poster inside Wald9. If it weren't for an Oscar Promotion girl, I would be very excited for this movie.

Long story short, basically a repeat of the first movie except half as funny. First half is basically Abe Hiroshi being tasked with building baths for gladiators, Kitamura Kazuki, kids etc as he flies back and forth between ancient Rome and modern Japan.

Abe trying out modern gadgets is funny like Abe at the women's toilet or at the water slide but the Roman stuff is not. The Roman sets do look impressive though with lots of extras speaking in dubbed Japanese. Unless you absolutely loved the first one, there's nothing newfor it to be worth your time. Be warned that you might leave the cinema with the chant from the song Yusaku in your ear.

I guess the translation of Days of future's Past is Future & Past.

I was so tempted to pulk out my phone and look up words during the movie but I didn't want to get on trouble and had to make mental notes to look things up later. I guess I won't forget what 疫病 means anytime soon.

Consumption Tax increase

The one thing I was scared of, well not really scared but dreading was the consumption tax going up from 5% to 8% and I was told that its going to go up to 10% in 2 or 3 years.

Ramen with the lot/tokusei/zenburi is always 1000円. Breaching that number takes it from normal food to luxury food though to be fair, I usually add another 100円 for kaedama.

The good news is, special ramen prices haven't gone up at least two favourites, tonkatsu ramen ogi and fuunji. Cigarettes have gone up 20円 but I can still easily find vending machines selling 100円 drinks.

Maybe its just a matter of time or maybe the shops are willing to absorb the increase for customer loyalty.

Except for Pepper Lunch. The 300g steak with rice used to be 1000円 but its gone up to 1240円。That is a lot more than a 3% increase.

Day 2 : Shinjuku

Spent whole day in Shinjuku playing Ultra copy and paste fighter 4. I need to figure out how to okizeme delayed standing asap. The only two game centre I know in Tokyo so far with best out of 5 rounds are in Shinjuku: Sega West and Taito. The gyutan can't compare with the one I had in Sendai.

Day 1 Akihabara

Feels good to be back.

Nemo on 24 win streak with Rolento.

Stupid tree blocking rabu raibu.

Taketasu Ayana!

Off to Japan!!!!

Finally! The wait has been torture and for the first time ever, direct flight to Tokyo! w00t! No more 3 hour wait for connecting flights! No plans to fly Skymark cause the timing for the uniform campaign doesn't mesh with my schedule.

First Class eps 1+2

First Class is, as the narrator says in the beginning of episode 1, a super cheesy show about good looking women backstabbing each other. I love backstabbing shows like Game of Thrones but I've never seen backstabbing so boring until First Class.

To dress the lack of story up, the writer gives the bitchy infighting this hip name of mounting; where women compete with each other over their social status based on love life, money etc. It could possibly be a real word and if so, its a very thought provoking word. I suffered through two stupid episodes hoping to see some physical mounting, preferably on the desks to no avail.

To make things worse, whoever wrote First Class decided it would be a good idea for the audience hear the characters' internal bitchy thoughts thereby eliminating any need for any bitchy acting. The problem is, the internal thoughts don't tell us anything new, interesting or contrary. Someone needs to tell the scriptwriter one of the main rules of script writing is if an actor can say with a look what needs two lines to do, you go for the look.

At the end of the day, this show is written solely for those Japanese women who worship Erika-sama for her looks. I should review a show for what it wants to be but it just wants to be pure trash. I love eye candy but this show is not even mediocre. For the love of all good jdoramas, First Class must not be subbed so that it can be forgotten.

If you want to see a good jdorama with great acting and a good script about girls bullying each other, go watch Life starring Kitano Kii and Fukada Saki. If you want to perv on Sasaki Nozomi, watch Tenshi no Koi. Avoid this crap.

Coffee-ya no Hitobito eps 4+5

Edit: Should have mentioned the theme song Tsuzuku by Sasagawa Miwa can be downloaded here. Credit to whoever uploaded it.

At the beginning of ep 4, I was wondering why I was enjoying Coffee-ya so much? Is it my love for Kurashina Kana? Why does this feel good show make me happy? Is it because I might enjoy screencapping Kurashina Kana more than watching her?

At the beginning of ep 4, the the old lady that Kimura Tae looks after asks her to describe the shopping street. Kimura Tae says that its a shopping street that gives off an old lifestyle vibe and the old lady immediately says, "like the showa-era."

A lightbulb went off in my head. I had found my answer! Its as if the old lady was answering the personal thoughts. The reason why I so enjoyed Coffee-ya no Hitobito is that its a showa era feel good dorama. Generally, I can't stand the more modern feel good shows because they try too hard.

As mentioned in the previous review, Coffee-ya feels more sincere because it doesn't try to over-explain or milk sentimental scenes for all they are worth. Soap opera things still happen but the story quickly moves on. I have no idea whether this equats to showa era dorama but at the end, I don't feel like Coffee-ya is trying too hard to emotionally manipulate me.

I was goin to proclaim it must watch after episode 4 but decided to wait for ep 5. Unfortunately Dan Mitsu is required to act in ep 5. She didn't destroy the episode like in Hanzawa Naoki but Dan Mitsu didn't convince me this was a must watch series.

I really enjoyed Coffee-ya no Hitobito, maybe more than I should. Its a nice and short feel good showa series that even a cynical old bastard like me can enjoy. If you've got basic Japanese, its very easy to watch. Very watchable.

Alice no Toge eps 1-3

Alice no Toge is surprisingly not bad. Its not without its faults with its details like how much time it it take Ueno Juri to stick all those papers in episode one without being found out or why reveal her identity to everyone else besides humpty dumpty and risk her plans being derailed? She could have easily gotten her message through without showing her face.

The thing is, watching a badass Ueno Juri on the trail of vengeance is fun. I can't believe they've got Kuriyama Chiaki playing such a minor role. However, Ueno Juri seems to be running out of people to get revenge on and I'm guessing the second half of Alice no Toge will turn into a different show.

I went in with low expectations because of the writers but Ueno Juri is someone who can elevate mediocre material. She can definitely act rings around those overpushed Oscar agency talento and the supporting cast of Alice no Toge is good. Surprisingly watchable so far.

Black President eps 2-4

Is it a coincidence that Dan Mitsu is appearing in both my two favourite doramas at the moment, Black President and Coffee-ya? lol. Ozaki Masaya is on a roll with his writing.

WHAT I LIKED

+ Mitamura shachou's argument for mini-skirts. lol

 
+ Mitamura's reason for coming to university.

+ The look of horror on Kuninaka Ryoko's face (not pictured) when shachou picked up the pen at the end of ep 2 expecting him to give the pen argument. lol A great example of Ozaki Masaya writing great jokes without punchlines or explanation.

+ Black President vs White President in ep 3. I love that the answer in the end is not so black and white.

+ The Yuri character played by Kadowaki Mugi. She's the go with the flow character who's looking for some direction in life. She's very different from your archetypal characters.

+ The president doing good things for selfish reasons. That's how you keep a progatonist 'bad guy' interesting plus finding out his true motive is fun.

+ The president's people manipulation reminds me of Doctors. In the above shot, he says wearing an apron will make a girl 30% more popular. lol. He forgot to mention hadaka apron is a 100% increase.

+ Mitamura losing control when confronted by things he doesn't like and his entertaining preaching.

+ Black President has plenty of eye candy and brains, the perfect combination. I'm talking about the show of course.

THE BAD

- Still not feeling the chemistry between Kuroki Meisa and Sawamura Ikki.

THE UGLY

- My stomach rumbling like crazy at in ep 4 with all the yakisoba and continuing to do so as I write this.

SUMMARY

Absolutely must watch dorama. Can't believe no one is subbing Black President. This season is so good, I haven't had time to do anything else.