2018 Japan New Years trip Part 2 : New Year in Yokosuka

We weren't sure what to do on New Years Day. Yokosuka was one option besides Shibuya, Tokyo Tower and Tokyo Sky Tree.

In the end we decided on Yokosuka because it actually had fireworks.

If the name Yokosuka sounds familiar to you, you might have heard it from Shenmue and they actually had a pamphlet showing the various real life locations in the map that appeared in the game.

Some yuru-kyara (mascot) at Yokosuka train station...

..for Shiki-shima, the luxury train that you have to apply to book a room and costs at least 750000 yen to get on. I'd rather spend that money living it up in an onsen in Hakone and eating all the expensive beef I can find.

There were a lot of yatais (food stalls) and there was even a stage for performances.

Waiting for the ships to launch the fireworks.

The ships blared their horns at midnight and away we go!

The fireworks show was decent but not as spectacular as what we get in Melbourne every year.

To be fair, New Years in Japan is more like Christmas in Australia. A day for people to go home to their families rather than stay up all night and party.

It took us 2 1/2 hours to get back to Shin Koiwa because the last train didn't go straight back for some reason.

Should have done Skytree instead.

At least I can say I've been to the hometown of Shenmue although I did not get to look around the town.

2018 Japan New Year trip part 1: Kamakura and Enoshima

Just came back yesterday from an end of the year Japan trip and would like to share some pictures from the two week trip.

Jdorama fans will be familiar with the name Kamakura. Its the beautiful seaside town often featured in jdoramas like Saigo Kara Nibanme no Koi. Its only about an hours train ride from Tokyo but I recommend anyone to stay the night at a ryokan.

That's the view of Enoshima island which is at the end of the Enoden train line. The Enoden line stars with Kamakura.

If you like to surf, Kamakura is the place for you, even in winter.

Kamakura is also an awesome place to see Fujisan.

Despite being end of December, Kamakura was actually the warmest place we had been during this trip thanks to the abundance of sun.

Kamakura is so beautiful.

We checked into our ryokan and made our way to Enoshima station.

Just a short walk away from Enoshima station is the island.

Plenty of lanterns and hawker food on the way up.

The main attraction is the Shonan no Hoseki Winter Illumination.

Now I've seen quite a few illuminations in but this just makes everything else look small and insignificant.

Pictures cannot do Shonan no Hoseki any justice...

.. because everywhere you turned it was just a field of lights.

It just felt so otherworldly.

Shonan no Hoseki will be on until February 18 so if you are going to be in Japan this time, its a must go!

After Enoshima we went to a local izakaya where we got some interesting information from the locals.

There is a certain crossroad along the Enoden line which is very popular among Taiwanese and Hong Kong tourists. There are always tourists there all day and the train line even has someone to managed the traffic there.

Can you guess why?

Its the crossroad of one of the most famous anime openings ever from Slam Dunk!

I kept hearing the theme song Kimi ga Suki da to Sakebitai in my head.

I would definitely go back to Kamakura again.

Great scenery, lots of temples, plenty of places to eat and of course, onsen!

Keiji Yugami Episodes 7-10

The last two episodes were pretty good. I didn't even realise who the actor playing Yokoshima was until very late. Though the individuals stories just wasn't good enough to make this a must watch, the chemistry between the characters kept me interested.

As for why the individual crime stories seemed lacklustre, I guess its because they sort of had this generic afternoon police drama feel instead of being gritty crime stories.

The ending sets up the sequel to Keiji Yugami though they'll have to think of a different name for season 2. I don't know what's so great about Yokoshima as a villain though. He's just a hack writer who committed rape 20 years ago. I guess its because he's the villain created by Yugami in order to protect a little girl.

Looking forward to season 2 of whatever the sequel will be called for more Yugami and Hanyu banter!

Made in Abyss anime review

Made in Abyss is seemingly child-like anime about a girl and her robot who go on this adventure deep into the abyss. What I mean by seemingly is that while the art style and the songs makes the anime's target audience seem like kids, there are a lot of scary things that happen that would scar any young child for life and would probably require lots of therapy to overcome.

To be honest, most of the first season of Made in Abyss is pretty bland. Riko and the robot boy Regu have aren't that interesting of a pairing. Their adventure felt more suited for an Ico style game and Made in Abyss didn't seem much more than a typical adventure anime.

However, it does two things well; world building as in providing little details about this society of Divers who live around this abyss and juxtaposing the child like feel of the show with the mature contents. I would not have kept watching if someone did not recommend Made in Abyss to me.

Made in Abyss finally hits its stride when you meet the third member of the group Nanachi and she has a lot more chemistry with Regu than Riko has. Riko is just too boring and not very useful.

And then Made in Abyss hit me with the most devastating ending in all of anime, except for the eclipse in Berserk. Made in Abyss is for two types of people; first are people who have too much happiness in life and want to feel what its like to have their heart split in two and people you hate because the ending of Made in Abyss will crush their spirits.

After the soul destroying ending, the question is is it worth continuing with Made in Abyss? Certainly the chemistry between the characters is improved with Nanachi and the show presents so many questions to be answered. Will the gimmick of the anime be emotionally draining revelations?

Made in Abyss is a watchable anime provided you can survive the ho-hum first half. I won't be rushing to watch the second season when it comes out but the first season of Made in Abyss is an anime I will never forget.

Meishi Game Episode 1

Tsustumi Shinichi is a quiz program producer who wakes up in a cage and has to guess the identities of 3 people who hold a grudge against him in order to save his daughter and himself. He was once at the low end of the totem pole but once he got successful, he completely changed into a Harvey Weinstein.

Episode 1 was interesting because it looks at the high pressure world of tv where ratings are king. I whinge a lot about the state of jdoramas and prevalence of idorus and tarentos but in the end its about ratings and ratings determine whether producers and staff get to keep their jobs.

The story for episode 1 was really sad and I'm sure there's more to come. I don't know what twists are coming but its a WOWOW show so I have more faith in the show. The raws can be found on nyaa here and the subs by Monchi at d-addicts here. Watchable.

7 things I like about Keiji Yugami Episodes 1-6

1) Asano Tadanobu, Kamiki Ryunosuke and Inamori Izumi have great chemistry. Asano and Kamiki are constantly trying to one up each other. Kamiki is always teasing Asano about Inamori entering the police force the same year as him yet Inamori is now his boss. Their banter feels very natural.

2) No incompetent police officers scowling and not doing any work. I can't believe a non-WOWOW show has realised that it is so unnecessary!

3) Ohgo Suzuka in episode 1. How many years has it been since Sexy Voice and Robo and why can't she get a major role.

4) Ohgura Yuko in episode 1.  She can't act and she can't sing so she's just right for a small cameo. If only it were the same for every talento.

5) Anyone could see the twist coming in episode 1 but it still made great viewing because of the acting.

6) I like the build up of Asano's hacker girl and how they slowly reveal information about her each episode.

7) Asano and Kamiki's constant game of one-upmanship.

 SUMMARY

 The first episode was the best and the 5 following episodes were a bit up and down but I still kept watching cause of the characters. Kamiki is still too young to be a detective but his chemistry with Asano is great. Surprisingly very watchable series. Thanks to Ra168E and Anon for the recommendation. You can get the series with English subs at nyaa here.