1. Kitasanriku doesn't have any attractions besides the Amas but it took them a while to figure out they had Japan's best natural resource - schoolgirls. :)
2. Aki and Yui can't be the only cute shoolgirls in Kitasanriku....
3. Do Aki and Yui get paid for all the selling and promoting that they do? Talk about exploitation of child labour.
4. Since Yui is so determined and knowledgeable, shouldn't she be doing U-18 swimsuit photos like so many actress eg Ayase Haruka and pushing her own blog? Yui can ask questions about VTR checks and make but where's her sense of self promotion?
5. Poor taxi driver dad. Never put a foot wrong (as far as ep 42) and completely disregarded by Koizumi Kyoko and Aki. Aki doesn't doesn't even treat him like her dad and the only reason he's hanging around is so Koizumi Kyoko can have a reverse harem in Kitasanriku.
6. How much does this snack charge per hour anyway and how can those people afford to drink there everyday?
7. Poor Ijyuiin after getting the OK from Koizumi Kyoko. lol.
8. I'm pretty sure grandpa visits certain establishments at every port.
9. Back to taxi dad, wife and daughter treats him like nobody but he's got the whole house to himself and wife is not asking for child support! Why not enjoy his second life in Tokyo instead of going to the sticks and joining the ignored by Koizumi Kyoko club? Its not as if his wife was working and he needed to dual income to pay the mortgage or something?
10. At this point, there is really nothing to really look forward to with the characters except for Yui if Amachan takes her through all the difficulties of getting one's foot in the entertainment industry and navigating its treacherous waters, something Ryu ga Gotoku 5 did well. Looks to me like its going into slice of life dorama territory.
11. So far its a fun, light dorama but there's nothing in Amachan that makes it compelling.
Talk about a Johnny starring vehicle once again featuring a singer who should not be on the tv screen. It may have Miki Satoshi's name on it but its just a third rate Trick/Yabe Kenzo wannabe that's not even half as funny as it thinks it is. I can't believe I watched the second episode after the mind numbing first episode just to see whether Miki Satoshi might have some cool tricks for the interviewing part of the series. Avoid. I don't think I'm going to bother giving Ore Ore a try now.
Love Riron as the name suggests is a dorama about love theory.
Nakamura Shido is the manager of a combini claims his love theory enables any dude to have sex to race queens, models, female announcers and gravure idols.
Normally mild mannered, the manager transforms into an overacting love theory spouting maniac at the sight of his three subordinates' problems with women.
The three are an otaku, a kansai ben guy and an ikemen.
Unfortunately, its not available as a torrent as far as I know.
I'd recommend downloading it with keepvid because the constant ad breaks on dailymotion were irritating.
Anyone know where I can find the raw manga? I know there's a translated one but I'm rebuilding my manga collection in Japanese after my HD died last year.
Why the shake thing to exchange contact details on line was created.
The show is wholly subtitled for some reason, not that I'm complaining so its pretty easy to understand.
The manga is very different though I'd assume the lessons are still the same.
Yes, that is Rio.
Did I mention this dorama has great camera angles?
I'd much rather watch trashy jdoramas than Oscar Promotion dorama. Oscar promotion have got some of the worst and overpushed actresses to ever scar the jdorama screen and yet Fukuda Saki who is also with Oscar Promotion doesn't really get a chance to prove herself. Obviously pushes in that agency are not decided by talent and ability but by willingness to do special favours.
Jadefrost has started writing weekly drama digest news featuring news that the dorama public may not want but certainly need. Not a must watch but a great way to pass 1 hour and 20 minutes.
I finally got started on Amachan, my first asadora after all the recommendations. Its the story of a young girl, Aki who for some reason doesn't enjoy living in Tokyo and begins to fall in love with her mother's rural hometown of Kitasanriku after her mom played by Koizumi Kyoko is called there on the pretense that Aki's grandmother was sick.
The Amachan in the title refers to female divers of the village who Aki's grandmother is the head of. All the divers/ama are in their 50s and 60s and they are a dying breed but Aki thinks that diving for sea urchins is pretty cool and enjoys hanging out with old ladies living without a fibre optic net connection.
Written by Kudo Kankuro (Manhattan Love Story, Tiger & Dragon), Amachan is a breeze to watch. It never feels like its wasting time. I've been rewatching Patlabor and that show is not made to be binged. The story in Amachan is simple and its about country life and the effects of young people leaving but it never feels contrived and the dialogue and people feel real. *cough* Umi no Ue Shinryoko *cough*
The 156 episode count is still pretty intimidating though. Can Kudo Kankuro sustain my interest for another 142 episodes about this cheery girl and the colourful cast of characters? Will the storylines become more complicated soap opera-like or will Amachan maintain its fun innocence? Why didn't the snack's business boom after Koizumi Kyoko became the mama? How the hell did the snack survive without some decent looking women?
Please don't tell me Ijyuiin becomes Aki's love interest because that is so wrong. I know he looks 18 but after years of playing Ijyuiin in Iryu, I can't imagine Ijyuiin with a high school girl. I enjoyed the 12 episodes but its way too early to give it a must watch considering how much further we have to go.
Wife thinks husband is cheating on her with younger girl but husband is actually helping the girl who is his colleague with her exam to be a full time employee. Wife and girl meet up, get into an argument and some random witch makes them switch bodies. I remember reading about how Otto no Kanojo's ratings were so bad that they cut the episodes short and how the stations do not like publicizing the number of episodes before hand.
Body swapping doramas always pop up every so often and to me its almost a bulletproof concept as long as they hit the right notes and keep both role swaps equally interesting. Unfortunately, in Jdoramaland casting people people who cannot act happens all the time and this time we have Kawaguchi Haruna as the wife in the young body role. She just doesn't give out the feeling that there's a 40 year old woman in that body somewhere.
Out next overpushed Ueto Aya Jr once she gets her lips to Ishihara Satomi size.
Its not really her fault though. While there are funny bits, especially with the continued misunderstanding, Otto no Kanojo feels so boringly by the numbers as if designed to safely appeal to everyone that its a lifeless husk of a comedy wannabee. I basically skimmed through the series after the first two episodes and the only thing keeping the skimming was the continued misunderstanding by the wife about the affair which the writer. Stay away.
I can't believe Fuji TV is making another Iryu after the haphazard 3rd series. Having an original story by the writer of the very boring Zettai Reido series is not a good sign. I think I have Perfect Report sitting on my hd somewhere. Are they trying to destroy my great memories of seasons 1 and 2? Zettai Reido was a sterile Monday afternoon Police series. Have they run out of manga stories to adapt?
As much as I love the cast, I have very little faith its going to be a decent series. Well as long as Hiroyuki Sawano is still doing the music. I'm listening to the awesome Iryu soundtrack and looking up the composer. I knew that he was the same dude who did Triangle but I didn't realise he also did the music of Marks no Yama, Lady Joker, Suitei Yuuzai, Link, Hachi-One Diver and Shingeki no Kyoujin!
Good on WOWOW on getting him to do their jdoramas. Nice to know the composer of the greatest Jdorama soundtrack ever also did two of the best jdoramas ever in Marks no Yama and Lady Joker. I guess anytime a dorama ends with super powerful and exciting music, its probably Hiroyuki Sawano.
OMFG, there is so much I want to write about this dorama. No Con Kid is a story of friendship using the history of gaming in Japan to tell the stories. There are just too many gaming references that make me mark out so I have to confine this post to just episodes 8 and 9 which are the Virtua Fighter 2 episodes.
I was expecting Street Fighter 2 to appear in No Con Kidsince its started the fighting game boom. Arcades were slowly declining to due home consoles but fighting games brought an element that gamers could not get at home. The ability to challenge anyone or be challenged anytime with one's skills determining whether they got to continue playing. I love how they shoot ep 8 like a Western cause fighting games are the modern equivalent of a Western shootout.
I'm happy Virtua Fighter 2 got to feature in No Con Kid cause I was a huge VF fan and VF2 was to my knowledge actually incredibly popular in Japan. The story in episode 8 is that Watanabe game center has a strong VF2 player called Riman and people from other arcades come to challenge him to no avail. It was the start of a revolution because before then, games were about high scores or co-operative play. Then the 3 Heavenly Kings come to challenge to top player and they kicked his ass.
The 3 Heavenly Gods are based on the Tetsujins back in the VF2 days. I was not in Japan but I knew the names of Bunbunmaru, Shinjuku Jacky and Ikebukuro Sarah. VF2 was so popular and these players so good that I remembered reading Sega had them do 100 people kumites. This was back in the day before the idea of a professional gamer even existed. I remember reading online that Sega even made Shinjuku Jacky a replica of the Jacky's jacket. There were little or no videos at this time. The only thing available was information from the net and it made me love VF2 that much more.
The above youtube clip is legendary story of Bunbunmaru vs Daimon Lau. The Tetsujins from Tokyo had heard of this strong player in Kyoto called Daimon Lau and they went down to challenge him and got their asses kicked. Bunbunmaru wins the first match but apparently they Tetsujins lose the next 60 matches. Compared to nowadays where videos of top players were readily available and information sharing (and whinging) is easily done online.
In No Con Kid, Kid defeats the best player of the 3 Heavenly Kings so that his young friend can play Xevious cause everyone was placing their belongings on the game table. With the VF2 boom at Watanabe game center, the other customers' are unable to enjoy the other games because of the huge number of onlookers. Kid's only intention was to clear space around the Xevious machine so he could teach the kid but he ends up becoming the default best VF2 player in the country by defeating the 3 Heavenly Kings. Sniff, such a beautiful story.
In episode 9, Reiji does a tournament where the winner gets to challenge Kid. This is similar to the above youtube clip from a Japanese tv show where players fight for to challenge Bunbunmaru. Think about how popular VF2 must have been to get tv airtime. At least Taiko Drum Master seems to be a staple of Japanese variety shows. Nowadays even Daigo can only get a documentary on tv. There's no way a Street Fighter tournament will be shown on free to air although its the most popular game in the world. Starcraft and Korea are another thing altogether.
Kid no shows the tournament, and he and Reiji end up fighting over the direction of the Watanabe game center. Reiji realises that fighting games are the money makers and an the arcade needs strong players to attract people. Kid says that Reiji is doing this at the expense of their core customers, people who love retro games as Reiji has gotten rid of Xevious. Its keep the core customers happy because they will be loyal versus try to get as popular as possible.
Fumi can see both sides of the argument and can only watch on as Reiji challenges Kid at VF for Kid's name. Kid throws the game and Reiji tries to take Kid's place as the top VF2 player but the 3 Heavenly Kings don't acknowledge him and walk away. For a 1am dorama, No Con Kid is one of the most lovingly crafted jdoramas I've ever seen. The Bunbunmaru vs Daimon Lau info was taken from this post at VFDC.
While Yuusha Yoshihiko was a great love letter to Japanese RPGs, No Con Kid is a love letter to Japanese gaming in the 80s. While I did not grow up in Japan, Japanese games and 80s anime and tv shows like Ultraman were such an influencial part of my childhood and this child is pure nostalgia for me. While there's no anime and tokusatsu in No Con Kid, its the whole pop culture vibe that permeates this show that makes it so nostalgic.
Hottest thing a girl can say to a gamer in the 80s.
Haru says, "Then I will level up while you guys study."
" Don't worry, I won't move the story forward." RPGs back in the day require a lot of grinding. I remember my cousin taping a button down to auto grind in Phantasy Star 2. Nowadays I find grinding stupid and one should be able to finish RPGs with just the correct tactics.
No Con Kid which is short for No Continue Kid, tells the story of three friends; Kid the best player at this game center, Reiji the son of the owner of the game center played by Hotoke from Yuusha Yoshihiko and Haru, a girl who is the second best Xevious player at the game center. It was a time when games were about high scores and no internet to share hints and tips. A time where fellow arcade gamers shared tips in a notebook at the game center.
The Xevious face off.
I love how they use actual games in this dorama not just as a backdrop but also to tell stories with a couple of game face offs. Street Fighter 2 better be in future episodes because that game really changed arcade gaming. Episode three with the line about the pacman safe spot is so kokoii! Watching this show is just 80s nostalgia porn.
I look at all the games and props and think how much fun it must have been being the set decorator in this dorama. They even managed to procure the manual for Pole Position. I like how No Con Kid talks about the advent of the Famicom and whether it would threaten the arcade business as people could play Xevious in the comfort of their own home.
Episode 4 is about DragonQuest II being on sale with our two dudes having exams coming out. Best episode so far and I just want to blog about this series before I continue watching. I can talk more about the story after I finish watching.
No Con Kid is a dorama for people who grew up in a time when politicians used Game Centers as an easy target to get in the news. Its a show for people who have marathoned RPGs at a friend's place by taking turns because games are not cheap. Its a show for people who've played games again and again until they got good enough to easy clear the game. No Con Kid is a show for gamers who look back with fondness at a time when unlimited continues and regen health did not exist.
What is your Dorakue (DragonQuest) command?
Reiji has leveled up!
I have no idea how No Con Kid would play to people who aren't old school gamers. There are so many gaming references that make this story about 3 friends so enjoyable for me. If you think Game Center CX is one of Japan's greatest programs, this dorama is for you. I think basic Japanese is enough to watch this show so I encourage everyone to give it a try.
PATLABOR: THE NEXT GENERATION
Mano Erina + Patlabor = Wet Dream. Teaser trailer is out. So far so good. Hopefully it doesn't turn into another Yamato. Hopefully Oshii Mamoru will keep the CG shots to a minimum like Gantz since it only has a budget of $20 million.
Mano Erina + Sono Sion didn't turn out as good as I hoped but it feels like a godsend with my favourite idoru first working with my favourite director and now acting in a movie sequel to one of my favourite old school animes directed by the dude who directed GiTS. Its coming out in Japan as a seven part movie series starting in April. I'm sad Mano-chan quit singing but its worth it for Sono Sion and now Patlabor!
