Akuryo Byoutou

Once upon a time, I thought I was going to have a heart attack watching this movie called Ju-on. It was basically the last j-horror movie I have ever watched and I promised myself to never watch another one. I had watched It as a kid and that stuff scarred me for life but I still kept watching horror. Ju-on was on a whole other level of scary. However, the lure of Kaho and nurses was too much that I had to check out Akuryo Byoutou for myself, though its taken me a long time to get around to it.

Akuryo Byoutou is basically about cute nurses working nightshift in a hospital where they have to walk around the dark corridors at night with only a small flashlight and there is an old abandoned ward with no electricity.

Akuryo Byoutou is filled with staples of the j-horror genre ranging from woman in white to dead schoolgirls to silent ghosts that just stand there. Its my favourite thing about the j-horror genre,  the camera pans around you see a short glimpse of a head at the window thinking 'wtf was that' and it pans back and its not there. Less is scarier.

I also liked how the early episodes are told as flashback. Something happens to a character at the end of an episode and the next one we find out what actually happened and how they are connected to Kaho's character, Runa. The horror of inevitability.

Unfortunately after the halfway mark, Akuryo Byoutou stops being scary when things start getting explained and the show is forced to show more. Ghosts/monsters are scary when you don't see the whole thing and only see a glimpse. Imagination is scarier than the real thing.

Second half is more of a Blair Witch and zombie movie and the finale is something else entirely. I had fun watching. The horror genre really lends itself to low budget shows and I'm surprised there are not more them being made. I found Akuryo Byoutou fun and watchable.

Doctors : Saikyou no Meii 2 ep 6-9

Doctors 2 was a show that could have been great but ultimately the writer, Fukuda Yasushi did not take the series anywhere exciting. I really enjoyed Moriyama making a conscious effort to be good to great comedic effect but that was only 1 episode. We had Sagara proclaiming he was going for the director position but that did not bring any interesting results.

I can get behind the kuro Sagara idea...

I couldn't believe episode 9 was the last one. There was no time to take the show someplace interesting. The series became another one of Sagara's plans. Nothing wrong with playing safe. Maybe it was the studio directive or Fukuda Yasushi didn't think he could go anywhere new but I'd much rather he tried and failed than rerun season 1 again. Fukuda Yasushi had already spent the enemy of my enemy is my friend bullet in the dorama special.

Sagara needed to get fail and Moriyama needed to win either accidentally or deliberately. Sagara needed to discover that he was trying to be too clever. The only thing I was thinking about during the last episode was how much more exciting the operations in Iryuu were. Hard to believe Doctors 2 averaged an 18% rating which is 4% higher than the much better season 1. Ultimately, its the same thing as season 1. Watchable with a few very funny Moriyama episodes but  I feel let down by its lack of ambition.

Rewatching Lady Joker eps 4-7 with English subs

I take back the one negative thing I had to say about Lady Joker now that incyphe has subbed the whole thing. Watching with English subs has opened my eyes to the story and I am no longer bored with the minimal action at the end. It became even more clear to me that this is a dorama not about Lady Joker but about society and the systems that regulate it and it does it in a non-preachy way.

First there is the company level, represented by the head of Hinode, Shiroyama. As I said previously, I'll take a nice guy character any day as long as he has to make difficult decisions and Shiroyama made them throughout the series. Shiroyama had to weigh his responsibilities to his company, colleagues, shareholders and family.

We can understand the decisions that he made and in the end, the common good trumps the right of the company. It is good to see a boss who would not let his subordinate fall on the sword by himself. It was Shiroyama's sacrifice that allowed the prosecutors to get some of the henchmen of the Okada Association but in the end the none of the bigwigs nor the powers behind Okada Association were prosecuted. Was the cost of his life and legacy worth it for something so futile?

The second system is of course the police. Hesitant to move against one of their own because fear of scandal. They end up applying pressure on the wrong person and the suicide of Lan Evo's superior made the police even more afraid of the truth. Goda, unable to do anything as a policeman can only hound and tail Lan Evo everyday.

Slowly Lan Evo cracked under the pressure. At first relieved that the police won't be coming after him, its even worst when he is overcome with guilt and realises that the police won't even catch him even if he confesses. Lan Evo hated the system so much that he wanted to humiliate the police and in the end he cannot even pay for his crimes the police always protects its face and its own.

The Lady Joker case made both Hinode Beer and the police look bad and only Hinode Beer was willing to come clean. The publicly traded company that has no obligation to law and order takes and extra step while the police cower and don't even offer protection to Shiroyama because he has violated the unwritten rules.

The third party is the mass media and prosecution. Charged with uncovering the truth, reporting against those in power will only result in physical harm and after the sacrifices throughout the series, the puppet masters do not flinch as order is restored to society.

Lady Joker is a bleak story with many players and watching with subs has made me realise their importance in their roles and how they have to soldier on, despite the unwritten rules of society. I'm glad Lady Joker was subbed cause now I think its a jdorama masterpiece. I'd put Lady Joker up there with the flawless classic jdoramas like Hagetaka and KDO. Well, except for the overacting dude police dude who furrows his eyebrows all the time like he's trying to turn into a super saiyan. Pimp this show to every jdorama fan you know cause it should have had a 40% rating.

Nanatsu no Kaigi

Can't stand the overacting and the unbelievable ratings of Hanzawa Naoki? Want your business doramas to be realistic and less black and white? Then Nanatsu no Kaigi is the one for you. Higashiyama Noriyuki is Harashima, the chief of sales division four at a electronics company and your average joe salaryman. One day, the chief of division one is ousted and Harashima promoted in his place. Its not a huge spoiler to say that Harashima's promotion is not because of his performance but to cover something up.

Yup, Nanatsu no Kaigi is a cover-up dorama from the perspective of the company doing the cover-up. Higashiyama Noriyuki does an excellent job playing Harashima. I've only seen him overacting in comedies like Kuitan and GM Odore Doctor but he really pulls through as the average salaryman worker forced into a difficult position by his company.

There's no stupid idealistic character in Nanatsu no Kaigi screaming every 5 minutes that cover-ups are absolutely wrong. This is a show about investigating what went wrong and looking at the potential losses of a product recall. Nanatsu no Kaigi is about being told by your bosses to do certain things that will have huge repercussions not just on your company but also other companies along the manufacturing chain.

The story is very straightforward. At the beginning we already know that everything gets exposed at the end. The interesting part is how Harashima slowly uncovers the truth and how he struggles with it and the various colleagues who help or hinder with him along the way. The various characters are interesting such as Lan Evo as the politician salaryman of the company. I'm happy to say non of the arguments get too long to become preachy.

Thanks to Arthur for recommending this one. Not sure about best dorama this year but definitely one of the best. Hats off to NHK for making this and Meoto Zenzai. Its unfortunate that these two great doramas are not English subbed cause these are the shows that make jdoramas good and not the summer nudes. Suffice to say Nanatsu no Kaigi is a great character and procedural cover up dorama and is a must watch.

Unfortunately, there's no Japanese sub for the last episode. The subs at jpsubbers are actually from a baseball game. The one thing I noticed while watching the last episode raw is that while I learned to recognise certain words by reading the subs, I never learned to recognise them by hearing. Maybe watching with Japanese subtitles is more detrimental to my Japanese because I never really remember the words and only the shape of the kanji. On the other hand looking up the dictionary can be a pain cause I'm not always sure whether I've got the right word.

Meoto Zenzai eps 2-4

First thing I want to say is that I'm glad Avallac'h uploaded the 720p version cause Meoto Zenzai is a visually exquisite dorama. From costumes to the lighting and camera, its so beautiful to look at. After episode 1, I was approaching this show with trepidation. Can they keep a show where this geisha turned mistress who sticks by her lazy and spoilt lover interesting? 

Watching episode 2, I was thinking the cycle of Moteki's character screwing things up and Ono Machiko's forgiving him is just going to continue. Why am I watching this? Cause of the acting the atmosphere. The heartbreaking scene where stupid Moteki tells Ono Machiko to choose between him and her dying mother was painful to watch. 

I hated Ono Machiko's character for choosing him then Moteki's insecurity. Ono Machiko works like crazy for Moteki when he gets sick and in the end of episode 2, she catches him spending her and his sister's money on women. I hated the story but everything else was good.

I didn't feel like continuing on. This was an award winning movie back in the day, so there must be something good to the story. Surely, it won't turn into Enka no Jouou? Ep 3 was where the story really became interesting for me and perhaps I had been watching the first two through the wrong lens. The story and character suddenly clicked for me and I realised my preconceived notions and fears had been clouding my judgement.

Meoto Zenzai is not your typical hardworking woman in love with useless guy. Its about the mistress snatching away a rich married useless son who was disowned because of her and their inability to get married Moteki's father did not approve of their relationship. Its about Moteki losing, not only his station in life and society but also his fortune and his daughter for this former geisha.

It certainly put that hospital scene with Ono Machiko's mom dying scene in a slightly different context and Moteki while spoilt was not a useless character nor was he one dimensional. He was a character with flaws and emotions being pulled multiple ways. 

Ono Machiko's relentless drive for Moteki and her to be the best couple in Japan is the heart of the show. Actually the heart of the show is their hardship and suffering to stay together and be together. Its what makes this story great. This is not good looking guy with lots of gel in hair meets girl with surgically enlarged eyes dorama and they must be together because they are the most attractive people in the show.

Meoto Zenzai is about paying the price to be together in a relationship that is frowned upon. It is through their hardship that we come to know these two characters and learn to enjoy watching them. The became more than just the archetypes I feard they would be. Brilliant dorama and must watch for me. The old kansai-ben and business stuff was really difficult for me, but it got easier once I started getting used it. 

Hats off to NHK for this brilliant production. You can tell the people who made this really put their heart and soul into it and there's no stunt casting. Ono Machiko and Moteki show why they are two of the best actors in Japan today. Why NHK decided to use the no talent A-chan as the main actor in a jidaigeki is beyond me. Anyways, contender for dorama of the year IMHO.

Forgot to mention the 'sold the rights to the cafe' scene at the end of ep 3. That was a huge 'wtf not again' moment.

Namonaki Doku eps 6-11

I continued watching Namonaki Doku based on  Rootabega's comments and it is such a weird dorama. We've got Mr Nice Guy Sugimuro who's not at all connected to the incidents but who gets himself involved cause he's too nice. He's not an everyman hero because he's too nice to be real and he finally showed himself to be human at the last episode with the wall slamming scene but then he quickly feels guilty about it.

I do get what the writer is trying to say here. I would have preferred a bit less preaching at the end but the story worked for me. I get the nameless poison topic. I could not agree with any character who felt sorry for the crazy woman Harada Izumi played by Eguchi Noriko. She clearly has some chemical imbalance issues in the brain and treating her like a sane person is just stupid.

Namonaki Doku kept me entertained especially when the two girls entered the company, I mean when the coffee scene happened. The highlight was the kitchen window scene. When Maya Miki's character turned up I was like 'WTF, you're going to get the girl killed!' Speaking of Maya Miki, I never liked her acting. There's something about the way she acts that feels insincere but in this case, it works because we are suppose to doubt her character.

The strength of Namonaki Doku is the directing and writing, except for the devoid of personality Sugimura dude. I get that he to be a nice girl for the story but he doesn't need to be that nice. 'I feel so bad cause I had murderous intent when my child was threatened' straddles the border of too nice and stupid. Acting wise, its up and down but on the whole watchable series that's slightly different.

Meoto Zenzai ep 1

I was really looking forward to this. No one is subbing so furransu has only uploaded the first episode. Avallac'h has just uploaded the first episode as well but its 5 freaking gigs! Hopefully its a typo and its actually 500 megs. Anyway, Meoto Zenzai is a story in the 'useless guy and good woman who can't break up with him' dark comedy genre.

Its a difficult type of story to make cause while the guy has to be unlikeable the story and their disfunctional relationship has to be entertaining enough that we don't get bored thinking he's an idiot, she's an even bigger idiot for sticking with him and why do I even care? Meoto Zenzai seems to be on the lighter side of the dark comedy scale though with this type of story, there is no escaping  the darkness.

There are two shows that immediately come to mind in this genre. First is Yume uru Futari which I saw last year. Decent movie with great performances marred by clumsy writing. (Sakamoto Yuji would have turned it into a must watch movie if he could rewrite the script). I still recommend it for and I believe its out with English subs on the internet. The second is Enko no Joou which really tried hard but lacked a certain something. I could see what they were trying to do but its such a hard genre to pull off.

Couldn't understand the jokes and since its set in the old days, quite a bit of difficult dialogue though following the story is not hard. Directing is good and Meoto Zenzai cannot fail in the acting department. The question is whether they can keep the characters and their relationship interesting. This a dorama I can't really judge until its finished.

SAKURABA NANAMI IN RYU GA GOTOKU ISHIN!

TGS is here and I'm so excited with the RGG press conference footage. Sakuraba Nanami is playing, Oryou Sakamoto Ryoma's wife. The first thing that comes to mind is won't Kiryuu, I mean Ryoma look like a pedo when they have lovey dovey scenes with her? Lol. Especially when I think of Kiryuu in RGG5 who looks like he's 50 and Sega's not going back to the RGG1+2 20+ year old look. She's like the youngest love interest he's ever had, not including the hostesses.

Its funny reading comments at jin115.com. No one knows who Sakuraba Nanami is. So bloody excited for the game. Makes me want to replay Kenzan. The PS4 version can't be that much better than the PS3 version, can it? None of the other next gen games excite me. Sony better announce The Last Guardian this weekend.......

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magic movies 1+2

IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED MADOKA, STOP READING AND WATCH THE SERIES NOW!

2 years ago, this anime called Madoka blew my freaking mind.Years after Sailormoon, Magic Knight Rayearth and Cardcaptor Sakura someone finally decided to deconstruct the genre and what was created was the Watchmen of the Mahou Shoujo genre. Deconstruct meaning pulling apart all the magical girl conventions to see how they work and putting them back together in a way that had never been done before. I would like to think Madoka scared millions of Japanese girls from wishing they were Mahou Shoujos but I guess with the popularity of Pretty Cure, I don't think its happened. At the very least, this generation of parents will teach their daughters to say no to strangers and cute talking animals.

When I heard about the movies, it sounded like a cash grab, similar to the Eva movies. Granted, I've only seen the first Eva movie which was basically the TV show with some new scenes but if its the price for having the third movie continue the story, so be it. Whether or not the third movie will be worth it remains to be seen. It comes out in Japan end of October. Not going to try the Eva movies unless I hear that Shinji actually grows a pair.

The two Madoka movies are basically the edited version of the 12 episode series. With each episode running at 20+ minutes, it wasn't that difficult to refit it into two movies. I have to say unlike the first two Berserk movies, its doesn't feel like anything was left out. Of course we can't really compare the two since the Berserk movies were 25 episodes crammed into 3 movies but basically there's nothing really new to see here. If there were, they was nothing that stood out.

However, it was really fun watching the story a second time because now that I knew the truth, it becomes a different experience. I know that Homura is the main character and not the uber nice but seemingly boring Madoka. Its like Homura is the only sane person in a psychiatric ward and she can't tell everyone that they are crazy because they would never believe her. Instead of being an enjoyable groundhog day experience for Homura, its a never ending fight for her against the inevitable and that is what makes her interesting.

If you've only seen the series once, I recommend watching the movie. If you've watched the series more than once, there's nothing new to see here. Fingers crossed the movie will be good but I can't see how they could continue from a pretty good happy end with a deus ex machina that is connected with the story. Do they want to do a happier ending cause that would suck. Do they want to go darker? What new twist can they add to the truth?

I'm happy to see Homura kick ass in the third movie but since its a movie and not say an OVA, they can't simply do adventures of Homura in new reality. Its got to have a new and proper ending for the series. I'm excited about the upcoming Vita game though. I didn't get the PSP one cause it looked like a cheap tie in.