Vivant Episodes 4~10

 

SARS fansub have finished subbing Vivant and the first thing I want to say is that not only does Vivant not suck, it is actually a pretty decent jdorama about uncovering a terrorist organisation. I have seen too many spy/action jdoramas end up bad (Mozu/Taiyo wa Ugokanai) that I kept expecting Vivant to make a bad turn by trying to do too much but luckily it never did.

The 2nd thing I like is that Nogi actually killed people. Japanese shows usually have the main character not kill anyone and anyone deserving death gets offed by someone else seeking redemption so points for offing the spy in episode 4. I was also worried that the writer would say Nogi was innocent because his other personality did the killing. Stories about spies and espionage should have a much higher body count but since this is Japan, I am happy to accept the main character killing 4 people.

I am just happy it did not turn into Mozu. I wish Abe Hiroshi had more to do besides stand around and go exposition but I would rank it watchable. Well done to TBS for spending a lot of money and making Vivant a decent show after DCU's weak and unrealistic terrorist storyline. You can get the subs from drama-otaku.

Kenshirou ni Yoroshiku episodes 1~6

Hokuto no Ken or Fist of the North Star is one of the most famous and often parodied mangas of all time. The Japanese don't even need to have read the manga to know the story and characters because 'you are already dead' is parodied everywhere, you have Hokuto no Ken pachislot machines everywhere. In short every Japanese knows who Kenshirou, Yuria, Raoh, Toki etc are and the 'You are shock' theme song.

When I saw the title, I did not even realise who the Kenshirou in the tile was referring to. Matsuda Ryuhei plays Numakura Koichi who had a really shitty childhood and wants to get revenge against this yakuza guy played by Nakamura Shido who took away his mother. 

To achieve his dream of revenge, Numakura studied the Hokuto no Ken manga and in the process becomes a master of Hokuto Shinken but can only use it to give massages.

The first two episodes of Kenshirou ni Yoroshiku is one of funniest episodes I have ever seen. Just when you thought Hokuto no Ken has been parodied to death, episode one had me in stitches all the way through. I put it up there with Manhattan Love Story.

Matsuda Ryuhei's deadpan delivery is perfect for this type of comedy. In the world of jdorama where everyone overacts, his underacting makes him stand out but he is playing the straight man oblivious to all the Hokuto no Ken jokes.

Episodes 3-6 are not as laugh out funny but still good and also sad with depictions of violence that made me think this is not just a simple comedy, there's a story here.

Loving the addition of Kurashina Kana as the reporter who links Numakura to the yakuza he wants revenge on.

Not ready to give it a must watch but Kenshirou ni Yoroshiku is very, very watchable. Can it sustain the comedy and storytelling for the 2nd half of the series? I can't wait to find out. Very watchable and huge thanks to earthcolors for subbing!

On a side note, I really feel like rewatching Hokuto no Ken. Have to decide between the series which will take forever or the Abe Hiroshi animated movies. Or even the RGG spinoff game which was so so. Its interesting that this old martial arts manga inspired by Bruce Lee and Mad Max would be so influential to Japanese entertainment. 

Also interesting that this dorama is by DMM who I did not realise did a lot more things than AV. They should pay the money so that 'You are shock' will play at the climax of Kenshirou ni Yoroshiku! Also while Bakarythm is the scriptwriter, according to jefftiger the dorama follows the manga closely.

Isoyama Sayaka retiring?

The big news out of Japan is not Johnny's changing their name to Smile-Up or the Unification Church being ordered to disband, it is Isoyama Sayaka saying she is thinking about retiring from gravure while promoting her latest photo book 'and more'! 

The last time I saw here was this 4 second cameo from episode 3 of Kore de Keihi de Ochimasen! I thought she was retiring for good and starting writing this post and then realised that the article was a clickbait to promote the photobook.

Still, its a good excuse to look back at 2nd House, one of the most memorable jdoramas for me besides Shimokita Glory days and Isoyama Sayaka's only major acting role. They don't do these light adult late night comedies with gravure idorus much anymore.

If you have not watched 2nd house, it is a comedy about 4 married men who grouped together to rent a 2nd house so that they have a secret place to do fun activities. Hopefully she'll pop up in another jdorama soon, not that she can act but I have a soft spot for gravure idorus from the old days. Speaking of gravure idorus, I don't know who are popular nowadays. I only know the old ones like Ebihara Yuri and Hashimoto Manami. The only newer one I know is Shinozaki Ai and that is because she is a very good singer!

Also rest in peace to Tanimura Shinji most famous for the song Subaru which everyone knows. He also wrote the song Ii hi Tabitachi for Yamaguchi Momoe which is the song you hear when you are travelling on Shinkansen.

Toki wo Kakeruna, Koibitotachi Episodes 1+2

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

Yoshioka Riho is an art director who has not had much luck with romantic relationships. One day, she meets Eita who is from the future and is a time travel agent who has travel back to the past to catch illegal time travellers. 

The title which means "lovers, do not travel through time!" refers to the concept of the show where Eita and Yoshioka Riho catch couples and erase their memories because they are illegal time travellers.

THE GOOD

+ It is not often we get science fiction time travelling comedies.

+ I love how everything from the future looks so retro, kind of like the Jetsons. It is a really good idea to give future tech a distinct look with the limited budget.

+ Yoshioka Riho and Eita are funny. It is not laugh out loud funny but the two episodes are made me smile.

+ 20 minute runtime means there is no ounce of fat in the pacing.

+ Yoshioka Riho vs Lilily is the best feud!

THE BAD

- Nothing bad about this feel good comedy.

THE MEH

= Because they are only catching couples, I am worried there might not be enough variety to the story.

SUMMARY

If you are after a brezzy, time travelling comedy with a retro look, Toki wo Kakeruna, Koibitotachi. Thanks to Madman subs for hardsubbing this. I got it from luwuang's discord. Watchable.

Paripi Komei Episodes 1~2

 

WHAT IS IT ABOUT

Mukai Osamu is Komei aka Zhuge Liang aka Kongming, one of the famous people from Romance of the 3 kingdoms and apparently the smartest man in the story. Komei gets sick and dies and is transported to modern Japan where he becomes the manager to singer Eiko played by Kamishiraishi Moka. Komei uses his stategies from Romance of 3 kingdoms in order to bring Eiko to the top.

WHAT I LIKED

+ Paripi Komei looks very good. The colours pop, lots of shadows and I like the filter that they are using. The indoor sets are so nice to look at. This is the anti TBS like everything with the power of a thousand suns look. I wonder if the director has a background in music videos aka pvs in Japan.

+ Nice music performance videos. 

+ Kamishiraishi Moka is a great casting choice. The only appropriate actresses are her or her sister.

+ Mukai Osamu is good as Komei who is so smart smoke comes out of his head when he is coming up with a plan.

+ Komei using battle strategies from Romance of the 3 kingdoms should be fun for fans who know the stories.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

- For a comedic story, nothing has made me laugh in the first two episodes. I am expecting Saint Young Men level of comedy.

- Non of the music has grabbed me yet but I have a feeling they are saving the best for later in the series.

SUMMARY

I have not read the mange but I think it is well executed in terms of effort, looks and casting. Hopefully it will get funnier as the series goes on. Looking forward to next episode. Thanks to skewed translations for subbing and I got the raws from drama-otaku which unfortunately has been down for the past 2 days. Watchable. For people who like historical people out of time comedies.

The Days jdorama review

 

The Days is another Netflix show on my list. It is a series based on the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant starring some of the best actors in Japan with Yakusho Koji, Takeuchi Yutaka, Kobayashi Kaoru and Kita Yoshio.

I have watched Chernobyl and Fukushima 50 which is a movie about the same subject and the first two episodes could not catch my attention. It left like I had seen everything before and I could not get invested. 

I powered through 2 episodes contemplating dropping The Days and episode 3 woke me up a bit when the men realised that they were all going to die from radiation anyway. Yakusho Koji did his best to alleviate the material as the station chief who worked with no sleep and had to deal with management who were too afraid to back his decisions

I enjoyed Kita Yoshio as the Prime Minister whose advisers cannot even give him advice at a time of national crisis but in the end the script was too dry and the directing was too by the numbers. You sort of have to watch The Days as a sort of blow by blow of what happened but I was bored most of the time and wished that they had done a documentary instead.

I don't know how the writer could have made it better since it was based on the book but definitely better pacing, and visually it needed to look different, especially the camera work. I would have made it more intimate and showed the audience more of what Yukusho Koji was thinking.

Very disappointing and its a shame such a great cast could not produce something better. Please watch Fukushima 50 instead. So much better. Very meh. Yakusho Koji's acting prevents me from giving it a do not watch but unofficially do not watch The Days.

Rakujitsu jdorama review

 

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

Kitagawa Keiko is a new director whose first movie won best picture at an international movie festival. For her next movie, she wants to make a movie Tateishi Rikito who stabbed his sister Sara and burned his parents to death 15 years ago.

Yoshioka Riho is an aspiring screenwriter who has been working for Kuroki Hitomi who is a popular scriptwriter. Yoshioka Riho is approached by Kitagawa Keiko to write the script for her Rikito movie and to help investigate what really happened 15 years ago.

WHAT IS GOOD ABOUT IT?

+ The dorama is based on a novel by Minato Kanae who wrote Shokuzai, The Snow White Murder Case and Kokuhaku. If those 3 doramas and movies don't ring a bell then you owe it to yourself to watch them because they are very very good.

+ Beautiful WOWOW direction kept me in suspense for the whole 4 episodes. There are some beautiful shots in the last episode.

+ I don't remember Kitagawa Keiko being in a WOWOW show because she is a more mainstream actress. Just realised that she did one with Shibata Kyohei a long time ago called Hippocrates no Chikai.

+ The story teased me with enough interesting possible twists but the real twist is very good and moving. 4 episodes is a good length for mystery doramas because it prevents it from being too twisty and having too many red herrings.

+ The actress playing Tateishi Sara does a very good job despite being an idoru. I like that she does not overact which usually happens in most jdoramas.

+ I really like the office that Kuroki Hitomi and Yoshioka Riho work in. A lot of times jdoramas don't have the budget to dress up a set but when an office looks so beautiful and real it really sells a story.

WHAT IS NOT SO GOOD?

- The final twist felt tacked on in the end. Not really tacked on since that story was also built up during the series but rather I did not have time to digest the Rikito revelation before the final revelation.

SUMMARY

Must watch for me. The acting is good, not great but everything else is very, very well done by WOWOW and big thanks to HPriest for bringing WOWOW goodness to jdorama fans. If you like your murder mystery doramas, Rakujitsu is a must watch.

Keibuho Daimajin Episodes Episodes 4~8

I like it when Miike Takashi doesn't go full Miike. The only time he really goes back to his violent slapstick ways is the final episode. Keibuho Daimajin is a story about our main characters uncovering this mysterious organisation called 44 and it does a sort of ok job with it. It doesn't suck but there is nothing particularly good. The action and acting are so so.

What is evident at the end of the series is that this is all a set up for season 2/movie or whatever they have planned. It was not as bad as the no ending of Sanctuary but I was indifferent. 

Actually that is a lie because I was excited to see Otsuka Akio as the last boss. If you don't know who this person is he is Solid Snake, Batou and Adachi from RGG 7&8.I was very, very surprised at such a godlike seiyuu playing an acting role.

Storylinewise, I don't care anymore because it feels like Keibuho Daimajin doesn't do anything really well and way too many hanging plot points for part 2. I really want to like it because of the cast and Narumi Riko feels wasted but the hunt for the traitor just did not have the tension and suspense required.

I don't dislike Keibuho Daimajin and I am glad because I dislike many Miike movies but I don't particularly care for it either. The very definition of Meh. I will be skipping the follow up whatever it is unless there is a trailer showing action scenes for Tsuchiya Tao.

Burn the House Down / Mitarai ke, Enjou suru

WHAT IS IT ABOUT? 

Burn the house is a revenge jdorama. Nagano Mei used to belong to the rich Mitarai family but is now after revenge because 13 years ago her mother allegedly burned their house down but Nagano Mei believes that someone else was responsible. Nagano Mei's mother played by Kichise Michiko got divorced, lost her memory and her mother's best friend Suzuki Kyoka married her father.

In other words mother and two daughter were cast out and Suzuki Kyoka and two sons became the new Mitarai family. Suzuki Kyoka was friends with Kichise Michiko and is now starting to get famous as a celebrity. Nagano Mei uses Kitano Kii's name and becomes a housekeeper to infiltrate the Mitarai family and uncover the secret of who set the fire and the secrets of the Mitarai family.

WHAT IS GOOD

+ In the beginning I was having doubts about Burn the House Down because Nagano Mei's character while daring was not very smart. Luckily it leads to some good story developments.

+ Good stories are ones where while they are about A, it is really about B. While Burn the House Down is about revenge, it is about celebrity. Presenting oneself as this idealised person for public consumption. My main enjoyment is watching this as an interesting take on celebrity culture.

+ Love the Japanese name which means 'flame the Mitarai family', Enjou (flame) is mostly used to describe online criticism and also a building going up in flames so the double meaning is clever. A direct translation probably does

+ Suzuki Kyoka is awesome as the fame obsessed mother who will do anything for fame and money. She is so good at being bad. 

+ This is basically good daughter vs evil stepmother as Nagano Mei tries to hide her true identity and find out information while doing her work as housekeeper. It is very easy to cheer on Nagano Mei against the evil Suzuki Kyoka.

+ The various turns that the story makes are quiet interesting.

WHAT IS NOT GOOD

- The turn around to Mitarai getting flame is too sudden that it was not a satisfying payoff. I wanted an escalating series of events not just a bunch of Instagram pictures.

- The father has no balls and should be run over by a truck.

MEH

= I think I enjoyed Burn the House Down partly because I had no expectations and the beginning was not so interesting that I actually considered dropping it.

= Kitano Kii was once the main actress for Life and now she is playing supporting roles. :(

SUMMARY

Good job by Netflix. The story takes its time to get better but I think Suzuki Kyoka is worth watching Burn the House Down for. Very watchable.

Sanctuary: Seiki jdorama review

 

There are not too many sports jdoramas out there. The ones that come to mind are the pretty good No Side Game, Kimutaku's ice hockey dorama Pride and Pro Golfer Hana which I never finished watching. The problem with sports jdoramas is that if the actor does not know how to play the sport, it turns into Buzzer Beater which is a cautionary tale about casting for name instead of ability. 

Sanctuary is what happens when good Japanese directors get Netflix time and money to do what they want and not have to cast Johnnys. The director for Sanctuary is Eguchi Kan who did The Fable movies for Netflix where were fun action movies showing the world that Japan has a very good stunt team and just needed good action actors.

The main character for Sanctuary is Oze/Enno played expertly by Ichinose Wataru. Oze's name changes to Enno when he is given his wrestling name. Oze's family lost their sushi shop to debt, his father does night work directing traffic and his mother gets them into more debt and sleeps around. Oze has no future and the only way out is to train to be a sumo wrestler.

For someone who joined a sumo stable to help out his poor old man, Oze doesn't respect the sumo business. He doesn't take his training seriously and the first few episodes are dealing with his grumpiness and to be fair he is bullied as well.

I love seeing Pierre Taki as the stable master and Koyuki as the wife. I have no idea if Pierre Taki is cancelled in mainstream Japan jdoramas but if you want to cast someone with the Suzuki Minoru aura of don't mess with me, it is Pierre Taki. As for Koyuki, I remember when she was the new IT girl and was cast in Kimutaku's Engine. Now she's playing motherly roles. 

Kutsuna Shioli is a journalist who was kicked out of the political department and assigned to cover sumo.  She is the annoying lived abroad character who complains about everything including how women are not allowed onto the sumo ring. Of course she gets drawn to Oze and slowly comes to appreciate the sport of sumo.

The other two main sumo wrestlers besides Oze are Shizuuchi, a monster wrestler who will become Oze's rival and has a dark past and Ryuki the son of a former yokozuna who is having problems living up to his father's expectations.

I want to say it is so good to see a sports show where you can see the actors really put in the effort to get into sumo shape. You can see it in the training sessions and of course they have real sumo wrestlers as well, at least I think some of them are. Eguchi Kan is great at directing action. There is a great ending to Oze or should I say Enno's match in episode 4 that was beautifully shot. 

Throughout the 8 episodes I kept thinking how well made Sanctuary was. The only problem was there seemed to be a lot of unresolved plotlines and the show just ended abruptly. I was in WTF mode and made sure that there were no more episodes left. End of the day, everything feels like a set up for season 2. All the Koyuki stuff that was alluded to and I am guessing Ryuki will be Enno's rival but bloody hell it was one disappointing ending. I am looking forward to Kutsuna Shioli vs Kyabakura girl battle and will Enno's wallet appear in season 2?

I can't fault everything that came before the ending. If I have one other gripe is that the casting for the bad guy stablemaster Inushima is wrong. He is too scrawny and does not look like someone who was once a sumo wrestler and surely they could have easily found someone. Just cast Makabe Tougi or some wrestler.

I have watched sumo on NHK and it did not interest me but Sanctuary, like all good sports stories made me fall in love with our bunch of underdog wrestlers. I am loving the combination of jdorama talent with Netflix money. World class level of production. Too bad the story is most setting up for season 2 with an unsatisfying ending. Very watchable but not satisfying. Sigh.

I am going to watch as money jdoramas on Netflix as I can in a month and then cancel because it is not cheap.

Rikon Shiyou yo! Let's get divorced jdorama review

Kudo Kankuro is one of the best jdorama writers ever with Manhattan Love Story, Tiger & Dragon, and Ore no Ie no Hanashi and of course Zebraman. I reactivated my Netflix because the new Kengan Ashura is coming of course to watch all the new jdoramas and the first one is Rikon Shiyou yo!

Taishi Shoji (Matsuzaka Tori) is the idiot son of a politician family who inherited his father's seat in Ehima and is married to Kurosawa Yui (Naka Riisa) an actress who is famous for playing this jdorama character Mikochan. Politician husband and actress portray a loving couple but their relationship is in shambles because Shoji cheated on Yuri with a female announcer Mimata 3 years ago. However both their careers are dependent on them staying married for their success. Shoji relies on Yuri or rather Mikochan's popularity to get support and Yui relies on being seen as a model wife for her acting roles.

I have the first 4 episodes of Rikon Shiyou yo! are some of the best episodes I have ever seen. Chemistry and pacing were very good and it was so freaking funny. I loved the whole fighting all the time and then pretending to be happy for live streaming and kashikomi kashikomi.

The best was when Furuta Arata appeared as Kurosawa Yui's divorce lawyer Henry. It reminded me that the last time Furuta Arata had a comedy role where he had to say English words was the very funny Gal Circle. I was thinking Naka Riisa's acting was so awesome and everything Taishi Shoji did was funny. I was sure if the rest of the show were this funny Rikon Shiyou yo! would be one of the greatest jdoramas ever.

Unfortunately, the middle got really slow especially with the appearance of Nishikido Ryo as the pachinko artist and the show stopped being funny. Rikon Shiyou yo! became a slow serious show with extremely slow pacing. I perked up everytime Furuta Arata and Itaya Yuka showed up but that was far and few between and I was thinking what happened to the comedy for this show to become some sort of stupid melodrama?

I wished I had written about the first 4 episodes first because it would have been such a happy post but now I mostly remember how freaking slow the middle and end bits were and I just wanted to fast forward through everything. That said there are so many things comedic things that I liked like Yui's drama scenes, Taishi's ability to do the wrong thing all the time and Naka Riisa's angry Mimata voice!

Rikon Shiyou yo! started as an excellent romantic comedy and halfway became a dark comedy that was neither dark nor comedic. I appreciate that Kudo Kankuro went for it and Naka Riisa's acting is amazing but I think he should have went for crowd pleasing all the way. I appreciate the effort but meh from me overall. If you want to watch a good divorce jdorama, watch Saiko no Rikon and stay away from Rikokatsu. Now to see what other jdoramas are on Netflix.

Hayabusa Shoboudan Episodes 6~9

I think the main reason I like Hayabusa Shoboudan so much is that it is basically 20th Century Boys set in a remote village combined with Abe Hiroshi's Trick. 20th Century Boys was a great manga/movie series about a bunch of childhood friends standing against a great conspiracy. While not everyone in the shobodan are childhood friends, there is a deep comradery, where a bunch of regular people band together to protect their village from this conspiracy.

And what a great conspiracy it is. End of the day, all mystery stories depend on the ending and the truth being revealed. The character work and relationships are important of course but it all is for nought if the conspiracy is not interesting. While the reveal is not a surprise seeing as how the show is similar to Trick, the clues and the execution are very well done.

I enjoyed the episode where the shobodan went to Tokyo. It was fun watching inaka people enjoy Tokyo and made me think it is not just foreigners who go to Tokyo or Osaka for a holiday. Its so hard for Japanese to get more than a day off work that they can only do a weekend trip.

I really liked all the characters and the bond between the shobodan members. Love the incredible scenery which makes me want to visit.

I absolutely adore the confrontation at the izakaya between the writer and the last boss where they argue about the definition of what a cult is and the writer makes the point that it is not about control and not saving people. A lot of times especially in anime, two main characters will have a philosophical debate before final battle except most of the time it is usually way too long and boring with a lot of you don't know how I feel. Hayabusa Shobodan has this great and succinct discussion where Last boss tries to convince writer that if people believe there are happy he should let them be.

Great job by TV Asahi after that dumpster fire last year that was Roppongi Class. That show was so special because it was so bad to the point of disbelief. Thanks to Kaizen subs for subbing and ladies and gentlemen, we have our second must watch jdorama of the year! 

GTO REVIVAL

Stolen from jin115, there is going to be a GTO revival special dorama spring next year. 26 years after the legendary 1998 Sorimachi show. The original GTO is one of the greatest jdoramas ever but every special and movie after has reduced in quality. I am not expecting much. Mitsushima Nanako better be in it as Fuyutsuki sensei! Fingers crossed it doesn't suck.