I was intrigued by this Miike Takashi musical despite the fact Takei Emi is in it. I don't even think I've seen a Japanese musical before. The first thing I think of when I thinking of music and Japanese movies is Sakuran. That was a movie where the music was equally important is making it very good.
Ai to Makoto to me, is just so boring. Musical scenes which just feel unnecessary and long. Its basically Crows Zero with songs thrown in here and there that don't bring anything to the movie. The movie works better when the characters aren't singing. There's something to be mined there in terms of comedy with the violent Makoto and the proper ojousan Ai but there are not laughs and no chemistry.
Watching Ai to Makoto was a labour for me. I kept wishing I was high so I could have at least laughed during the boring musical numbers and the Crows Zero style trading punches fights. Avoid.
I was high on the first two episodes but sadly, some flaws were pretty apparent in the third and final episode. Firstly, I must say the story is pretty good but I have three problems with ep 3. Firstly, way too much descriptive emotional descriptions, ie I'm feeling this because of a,b and c instead of showing the audience. Its always better to show than tell.
Secondly, there is something that happens which is totally against the concepts of doctor-patient confidentiality which I'm pretty sure exists in Japan. I know Kimura Tae's character really likes our homeless hero but it is so wrong how easily she agrees to see the kid and report everything to him.
Third is the directing which is not better than usual but just not up to the standard WOWOW levels. Yes, its an NHK dorama but I can't help comparing the directing to Hitori Shizuka which is definitely better. There is an action scene in the end which should have been very exciting but ends up being pedestrian.
Not hating on Tsugunai, just a bit disappointed with execution in the end. In the end still very watchable thriller. Love the twist, just kind of wished that WOW had made it instead.
We get another interesting main character with Hirofumi Arai, Abe's subordinate from Going My Home playing a public safety cop who seems a bit detached, maybe a bit autistic. He is given menial jobs but he gives as much effort into his public safety work as someone investigating a murder. He's got detailed maps of the town, pictures of graffiti and information on things such as areas where there are insufficient lighting.
Episode starts of with Ito Shizuka's colleague at her combini job getting stalked. It was interesting and I really enjoyed Hirofumi Arai's character but I was wondering where it was leading anyway. There's a shocking reveal at the end which made me think there are some things worse than murder.
EPISODE 3
Not another new character! Not really new, the detective was at the end of episode one but every episode has had an interesting protagonist while Shizuka serves as the villain working behind the scenes. I'm interested to know what happened to the characters from eps 1 and 2 after their encounter with Shizuka.
The beginning of episode 3 is a great example of an efficient way to re-introduce your main character. He's on a stake out outside a love hotel, thus showing his job and then is stopped by two policemen who check his ID and give the audience some information about his past. Just a couple of minutes to establish who the detective is and on with the story.
All I got to say is poor fucker. He's trying to do his job, he is weighed down by his 'sacrifice' for the police force and in the end, he gets played around by Shizuka. This would not happen in your typical dorama. Episode 3 ends with a who the hell are those guys?
EPISODE 4
I love how sloppy the gun fight is. People don't die straight away and apparently its not so easy to shoot people behind cover. There is no main character in episode 4. Its basically Kodoku no Gurume turning out to be a cop investigating the crime scene and we see him piece the events together.
Shizuka changes her final plan when the yakuza's daughter comes out of the room. How good this dorama is depends on the last two episodes because the first 4 have not really been about Shizuka. She is this shadowy figure in the background. This ghost that all 4 characters are chasing but the audience knows little about.
- I love that it is equal parts dark and funny. A good balance between the anime and classic OVA Trust and Betrayal. If you've never seen Kenshin, just watch that OVA.
- The actor playing Kenshin does an awesome job.
- The dad from Hatsukoi did a great job playing Sagara Sonosuke.
- Some of the fighting scenes are kick-ass, especially the knife fight. I like how they use wires to make Kenshin move really fast.
- Probably the best action anime to live action conversion ever.
THE BAD
- Why isn't Aoi Yu Kaoru and an older actress Megumi?
- I wanted Saito vs Kenshin but alas there's only so much time. His little moment in the sun was lame but what can you do?
THE UGLY
- The Takei Emi speech that never stops. I keep imagining how her agent must be pressuring the writer to give her some stupid long ass climactic speech at the end. A simple, "Kenshin, you must not kill" by a good actress is enough to get the reasons across instead of this forced speech.
VERDICT
I went in ready to be disappointed after so many failed anime adaptations; *cough* 20th Century Boys, Yamato *cough*. This is one that is very faithful to the original and knows why Kenshin is so popular. I've got nitpicks but generally they did an excellent job. Pretty good movie and I want to give it a must watch but that Takei Emi speech killed the ending for me.
Where do I even begin. I've been thinking about this movie the past hour since I watched it. If you've been reading my blog, I absolutely love dark comedies and Dreams for Sale is a pretty good one. Abe Sadao and Matsu Takako play a couple Kanya and Satako who run a small izakaya. Tragedy happens and the izakaya burns down. Kanya turns into a drunk and Satako is working at a ramen shop.
At this point I'm thinking why is Matsu Takako playing another devoted wife ala Villon's wife? Just to see her finally explode on yet another useless husband? Kanya one night runs into a former customer who happens to be the mistress of a guy who just passed away. Sharing their sorrows, Kanya somehow ends up with the mistress' parting money.
Satako quickly figures things out and we quickly realise that she knows Kanya better than she knows herself. Satako realises that Kanya has a gift for seducing ladies by selling his story and dreams and sets him up with potential victims. Yes, Dreams for Sale is am Abe Sadao as a gigolo movie!
What follows are the couple trying to achieve their dream of owning their own restaurant again by taking advantage of the dreams of women wanting to get married and using Kanya's dedication to his dream to extract money. The husband and wife marriage rip off scam is a hoot but it becomes a movie more about the women that Kanya rips off.
The writer/director does an excellent job with making the heavy lifter character interesting but I just find the Kanya and Satako bits taking a back seat for the second half. Some of their dialogue is just too straightforward and it should be about using the various victims to express the stages in their relationship.
I can see why the writer wanted this to be more than just Kanya and Satako. She wanted it to be a movie about people who would do anything for their dreams to the point of not recognising right from wrong like the scene where the couple are commenting on the news about a couple who burned their kid. That was a great piece of dark comedy.
The writer wanted this to be about people who are quick to believe lies just so they can achieve their dreams of getting married. Dreams for Sale is about people who want to latch onto dreams of others because they want something to believe in. Not just Satako or Kanya's victims but also Kanya with the weight lifter.
However, wanting to explore the bigger picture or send a more direct message to the audience, the pacing of the story suffers. I can't fault the director for wanting Dreams for Sale to be more than a caper movie but I wanted more Abe Sadao and Matsu Takako scenes. It took me a while but I finally figured out the meaning of the finale scene of the movie writing this review.
Acting wise, Dreams for Sale is godlike. Abe Sadao is good but Matsu Takako rules this movie. She's got the Natsukawa Yui ability to express anger, sadness and disgust in the same look. As a piece of entertainment, Dreams for Sale is lacking is pacing but its not lame and boring like your typical pretentious arty movie. Its got great ideas and sometimes does it too clumsily but there are moments of beauty as well. A must watch only if you like dark comedies or would like to see Matsu Takako masturbate.
Key of life is an interesting character study comedy with its premise being an accidental prince and pauper type scenario; hitman and NEET end up switching lives when the hitman slips and gets knocked out at an bathhouse and the NEET steals his key. Added to the mix is a this meticulous and socially awkward editor, Mizushima Kanae played by Hirosue Ryoko.
In the beginning of the movie we see Kanae declare to her subordinates that she is planning to get married in too months and will need their help in finding a suitable husband. I've forgotten how good Hirosue Ryoko can be. Haven't seen her in movies/doramas since Villon's wife and Departures. Good acting is when you're watching a character and you can hear that character think. Hirosue Ryoko does that for the robotic Kanae.
The star of the show is definitely Kagawa Teruyuki as the hitman now believing himself to be an unemployed actor. Talk about layers in acting! This professional hitman, believing who has lost his memory believing himself to be this messy NEET and failed actor while trying to get his life up and running. Kagawa is always playing supporting characters but this time he really gets to show his acting chops.
Back to the character study comment. My favourite type of comedy is one where characters don't act like they are in a comedy. A seriousish show which is funny because people are put in absurd situations. The character study is about people pretending to be other people and by doing that actually peel off a layer of themselves. The best two scenes are when the three characters get together in a room and while the conversation is plot based, it doubles as commentary on the characters.
The one thing that fell flat for me was the ending. I can't really pinpoint why. I just had this not a generic useless guy saves the day feeling but that didn't happen and the ending was accidental. Can't really explain why I wasn't enamoured with it. Don't like the English title as well. The Japanese title Kagi no dorobo no method/Key Thief's method is a much fitting name because it has mutiple meanings in regards to the characters.
Very well written and acted comedy close in spirit to the classic Mitani Koki comedies. Can't say why I didn't like the ending but it straddles the boundary of good and must watch. I'll give it a nudge to must watch because its rare to see such well written comedies nowadays.
The raw came out a couple of weeks ago but I have already bought my ticket for Thermae Romae and its more fun watching movies in cinemas with fans. The Festival Director made a very interesting point in that the Japanese Film Festival is the only place outside of Japan where one can catch so many Japanese movies at one place and I have to agree as a fan of Japanese cinema. This year's line up is awesome and I guess I'm living in the right country outside of Japan for Japanese movies.
Anyways, Thermae Romae is a very funny movie, especially the first half and humour is basically the reverse of Jin. Instead of modern doctor going to the past, its an bathhouse architect Lucius, played magnificently by Abe Hiroshi going to the modern era and marveling at all our bath and toilet inventions. You can't go wrong with fish out of water comedy.
Lucius's trips to the future are short and he always runs into Ueto Aya who plays an aspiring mangaka. Everytime Lucius time travels, he goes back with new ideas and we see him trying to transplant modern stuff into ancient Rome to great comedy effect.
The movie slows down for me when it becomes about Ueto Aya's character traveling back to ancient Rome with Lucius. The relationship just does not work. Ueto Aya still looks like an 18 year old girl and all she does is try to act cute. I know its a comedy but they really need someone who can act and sell the relationship with what little screen time they share.
It could have worked better as a dorama series but getting the budget to do the Roman scenes would be tough. I love the Rome scenes. I was thinking where in Japan did they got so many gaijin extras until I released that it was shot in Italy. I like how the Romans get dubbed over in Japanese like a cheesy B grade movie and the director must have watched quite a few of those old Roman/Greek movies from the 70s and 80s cause its got that feel.
Thermae Romae is a very funny, if uneven movie which is hard to avoid given that there is not much time to develop the characters but someone needs to realise that Ueto Aya is not a good actress. You put Ueno Juri in there it becomes a better film. Lucius moping after Kitamura Kazuki told him he was a hack just felt so disjointed. Thermae Romae is a watchable comedy that tries to please too many people to the point that the narrative takes a back seat.
Need Abe Hiroshi kickass WOWOW action dorama.
Love the Bilingual sign as a funny way to get past the language barrier.
Who would have thought that my two favourite doramas at the moment are similar in that they are both serial murder thrillers with a young killer? I thought the end of episode 1 underplayed the confirmation that Makoto was the killer but but I think it works in that it mirrors Eisuke's suspicion and his hope that it was not true.
The soap opera angle of this woman who looks exactly like Eisuke's dead wife works as well because she is put in a situation of desperation like his wife and this time he has the chance to do something about it or atone for his past sins and not to mention that he is indirectly responsible for her suffering. I'm happy that something I feared would be a weak point turned out good because I had no idea how they would work her into the story.
My favourite bit is when the other homeless dude was killed. My first thought was Makoto killed the guy cause he stole Eisuke's shirt and then Eisuke's horror at the realisation that the other homeless dude was killed in his place. The episode wraps up with a chilling conversation between Eisuke and Makoto where his suspicions are confirmed. That scene gave me a chill down my spine.
Reminds me of that scene in Hitori Shizuka when Kaho is shown pushing the bullet in and that unforgettable look on her face. One more episode of Tsugunai left and I can't wait to see how child molester dude figures into the finale. Definite must watch for me and I love the triumvant of Double Face, Tsugunai and Hitori Shizuka this season. Huge thank you to \( -o _ o- )/ for uploading ep 2!
