Fumo Chitai eps 1-3

From the writer that wrote Karei Naru Ichizoku, comes Fumo Chitai another period dorama set in the post war era. I love Karei Naru Ichizoku despite KimuTaku nearly fucking it up with the overemphasis on his character. It was the first show that showed me as charismatic as KimuTaku is, he is not a real actor and can never do justice to character doramas. Check out my reviews here and here and I strongly recommend it if you're after a family and politics dorama with good acting.

So Mr Baker and Sachi's aunt were together in a previous life. :)

Fumo Chitai is about Iki Tadashi (Karasawa Toshiaki aka Kenji from 20thCB), a military strategist who was captured by the Russians at the end of WW2 and spent 2 years in a Siberian camp. The first hour of ep 1 is the story of how he survived his imprisonment and how he was released. The second half is about him trying to reenter society. He decides not to rejoin the army and put his family through more worries and joins Kinki Trading Company.

I keep dreaming about a talking deer...

At this point, I was thinking they should have spread the Siberian camp story as flashbacks throughout the series to show how the hard 11 years he had changed him. Perhaps even have him deal with the trauma and learn to come to terms with his lost 11 years. For some reason, the President of Kinki headhunted him and put him into the textile department. Iki struggles to prove himself useful and then the real reason that he was hired is revealed; to help Kinki Trading Co sell the Luckheed F-104 airplane to the Japanese government.

After Boss, it sure is nice to be in a dorama that doesn't defy logic.

However, the Grant Super Dragon plane is in the lead to be Japan's next fighter planes with the Defence Agency's chief having some personal interest in it and backed up by Tokyo Shoji bribing the Prime Minister's group. Iki's former colleague Kawamata Isao backs the Luckheed as it is the best plane for Japan. Having sworn off joining the defence department of Kinki Trading Co, Iki reneges on his promise in order to combat money politics influencing defence decisions. Thus begins the tale of Kinki Trading Co vs Tokyo Shoji lead by Samejima.

The best thing about all the secret meetings is the sushi!

I love stories about politics, power and money. I was a bit worried that Iki seemed to be idealistic but luckily he turned out to be a practical man. There's no way he can fight without resorting to bribery and industrial espionage as well. Iki starts off as the default good guy because Luckheed is superior to the Super Dragon but after ep 3, everyone is shades of grey. There are no innocent guys. Just people pushing their agenda and I love it. Backroom dealings, backstabbing and use of the media. No super idealistic ignorant idiots made to look like heroes like KimuTaku's Manpyo Teppei in Karei Naru Ichizoku.

Not a fan of where the Koyuki side story is heading...

You have the side story of an underling who does all the dirty work for Iki and is unappreciated and later sacrificed. Not to mention the reporter who helps to push Samejima's agendas but values his journalistic responsibilities not to suppress stories. Too often jdoramas look at the world in black and white and its refreshing to see one that has no good or evil. There is no need to give the audience simple answers. Rather it is better to ask difficult questions.

Geronimo, speak Japanese!

The acting in Fumo Chitai is excellent. Lots of big name cameos. Haven't seen Kita Yoshio yet though, lol. Its sad that Fumo Chitai has bad ratings. Its not profitable for them to do adult doramas like this compared to crap like Tokyo Dogs with its juvenile writing. I'm sure that any Japanese actor worth their salt would rather be on a show like Fumo Chitai despite the lack of exposure. Definitely a must watch dorama.

Jmovie review: Oppai Volleyball

Somewhere in Japan during the 70s, Terashima Mikako (Ayase Haruka) starts her job at a new middle school and is immediately assigned to the male volleyball club. Unbeknown to her, the club members are only interested in having fun and dreaming about oppai including thinking about ways to replicate the oppai grabbing sensation. They are so inept that they even got trashed by the girls volleyball team. Mikako faces the arduous task of motivating this group of youngsters.

If I had a teacher like this, my life would have turned out different.

Somehow, Mikako ends up promising the boys that she will show them her oppai if they manage to win a game in the next inter-school volleyball competition which is more than enough motivation for them.Yes, the selling point of Oppai Volleyball is that the underdog protagonists are entering playing to see Ayase Haruka's oppai, which makes me just insanely jealous. I feel like my high school life was incomplete because I never had the fortune of having such a beautiful and dedicated teacher.

Come to think of it, the only shots I've seen of her cleavage are from her gravure days.

The rest of the movie is pretty standard fare. Training montages accompanied by 70s music. Introducing the opponents who of course must wear black to signify that they are the villains who stand between our heroes and their oppai dream. The revelation about Mikako's past and her own personal demons. We've seen it all before, just never with oppai as the main plot.

Ohgo Suzuka has a nice 10 min cameo. Too bad she's in Sakura's alternate costume no.10 for like 5 seconds.

There is also the story of the new member of the team, Jo who happens to be the only one who has experience in the sport but it turns out to be the weakest part of the movie. Its almost like a throwaway plot line that they were forced to add in order to pad it out.


The writer was probably ticking the box of all sports underdog cliches and felt that having a new ace in the team is necessary. Except Jo was never shown to be an ace and the only plot that couldn't have been done without his presence was the train yard fight which is probably the weakest part of the movie.

Things I never achieved in high school.

I find the writing a bit unfocused. Too much of trying to please everyone and thus having a movie that doesn't flow well. However, I still had fun watching Oppai Volleyball. The music was great and its fun to watch a movie about teenagers that doesn't resort to crude homour. The novelty of oppai didn't wear off but if the movie were about something else it would have been pretty boring. If the concept of the movie strikes your fancy, I'd recommend it. Just lower your expectations and you'll have fun.

The 70s are presented as such an innocent time and I find the low level fanservice very fun.

Tokyo Dogs eps 1+2

Tokyo Dogs opens with a police operation in New York. Oguri Shun's character, Takara So is suppose to be some super cop with horrible English. One has to wonder whether the American police actually understand his orders. The Japanese audience may find it kakoii everytime a Japanese actor butchers the freaking English language but it only goes to show how useless English is in Japanese education. In all my years of watching Japanese movies and dorama, only two actors have demonstrated proficiency in English pronunciation: Watanabe Ken and Sanada Hiroyuki who are coincidentally two of the best Japanese actors. Even Jacky Chan made better attempt when he started doing American movies.

Sadly, the best reason to watch this show.

Anyway, So is tracking is arch enemy, with two policemen from Tokyo who look and act more like college kids. Why Japan would send Kudo Maruo (Mizushima Hiro) and generic and useless supporting guy to some big police sting is beyond me. Their deer in the headlights act is suppose to be comedy but all it does is make them and the Japanese police look like incompetent fools. Fighting ensues and then they discover Yuki (Yoshitaka Yuriko) who is somehow linked to the mysterious organisation where members wear a badge of a bee. Yes, the face of evil is a bee. Turns out Yuki suffers from amnesia and unlocking her memory is the key to the evil bee organisation. So returns to Japan is partnered up with Maruo and thus begins the main story of Tokyo Dogs.

This is for all the bullying in GTO!

In a nutshell, Tokyo Dogs is a buddy cop movie. So is the very serious 'American-style' police officer while Maruo acts like a college student and is utterly unprofessional. Fortunately, this combi can prove to be pretty funny. There were quite a few parts in ep 1 where I was laughing out loud. Oguri Shun does a pretty good job as So is the source of most of the humour. The Doraemon scene in ep 2 is utterly hilarious if you are familiar with it. Its a shame that with his short hair, he looks like someone in his early 20s and it makes it hard to accept him as an experienced cop.

Nakamura Yuri, the best thing about episode 2 besides the Doraemon scene.

The good thing about Tokyo Dogs is that there are a lot of guns. Usually in Japanese cop shows, they don't carry a gun and near the end of the series everyone will arms themselves from the vault that can only be accessed once per season and then you'll have a scene of 100 policemen storming a house and pointing 100 pistols at the suspect. In Tokyo Dogs, So and Maruo actually carry guns around and are not afraid to use it. So's judicious use of his gun is suppose to be a source of comedy with Maruo referring to him as 'American-yarou' everytime he uses it but to me its just proper police procedure.

Otsuka Nene is completely wasted in an unfunny supporting role.

Actually I'm impressed with some police stuff in this show from So. Before he storms a house, he taps the windows from the outside. He shoots enemies through doors and actually has a plan. After watching so many incompetent Japanese police shows, I have to ask this question: is the only reason why So actually gets police procedures and thinking right because the writers have smartened up or because such behaviour is expected of American police but not Japanese?

At least there's plenty of gun action.

While episode 1 was pretty decent, episode two becomes a lame jdorama cliche. Father who spends too much time working and neglects his son. Boo hoo. Not to mention Maruo chasing an armed gunman and kicking him in the back. Hello? You think he's not going to turn around and shoot? Maybe the Japanese police manual has nothing on shooting feeling armed gunmen after telling them to surrender? How about shooting the leg? If you are close enough to kick him from behind, why not do a takedown into a disarm?

On 2nd glance, they don't look kawaii at all...

The end of ep 2 sees Tokyo Dogs going more of a traditional jdorama sitcom route. I would have been able to accept the faults of Tokyo Dogs if they had kept the humour up and let So do his 'American' police skills but I forsee the series devolving into another typical kiddish cop show. Its still better than Boss but I've had my fill of subpar Japanese police doramas. Its better to save myself more pain and suffering and just rewatch Gonzo and Rinjo.

Jyouou virgin eps 1-4

WARNING: This post contains lots of fanservice pictures and some nudity.


Jyouou virgin is the sequal to the 2005 midnight dorama Jyouou which I didn't review because it was really bad. The only thing worth watching it for was Sora Aoi. In terms of fanservice, it was so boring that it did not warrant the midnight slot. There are so many hot gravure and JAV actresses that they could have used but Jyouou was completely devoid of beauty besides Sora Aoi.


I want to be the cinematographer in a midnight jdorama when I grow up.

Good thing that the second season is a huge upgrade. Firstly, we have the lovely 22 year old Hara Mikie who was in the first two episodes of Giragira playing the usual idealistic and uber nice 18 year old, Ando Mai. Hara Mikie's acting talents consist of opening her eyes to anime-like proportions and hypnotising the audience with her other set of 'eyes'. Being the main character, Mai dreams of winning the second Jyouou competition so that she won't have to depend on her mother. To create some depth for her character, she has a history of being bullied in school because of the size of her oppai. The first episode even opens with a scene of her crying in school while taking her clothes off.

Asakawa Ran?


Like Teioh and every other kyabakura dorama in existence, Mai is nice and ignorant to the point of stupidity. Of course, she wins because of her ernest and her feelings reach her customers, blah blah blah. Like I said in my review of Teioh, the more I watch other kyabakura/host doramas, the more I appreciate Giragira where the key to the success of the main character was not just by being nice.

Sara-sama!

How nice of them to help Mai take her clothes off.

Mai joins the competition and we are introduced to our collection of stereotypical girls. We have JAV actress Hara Soari as Izumi Yuika as the loner who was previously a dancer in New York. I am ashamed to say that I have not seen her before but shall endeavor to familiarise myself with her body... of work. Suffice to say, she was a great body, reminds me of Asakawa Ran and I hope she doesn't leave this show too soon. I can pretty much guarantee Yuika will get back to dancing and Mai with a crappy speech with plenty of words like yume, akiramenaide and ganbatte.

That cleavage looks familiar...

An all girl jdorama would not be complete without some steamy yuri innuendo.

Kurokawa Mei plays Kinoshita Tomo, the most interesting character in Jyouou and probably the only hope this show has a chance of being interesting story-wise. She's the quiet one of the bunch. The girl next door who becomes Mai's ally with a history of attempted suicide. Ep 4 hints that she might be more than just supporting friend for Mai. Being a non JAV actress, she does not strip. Boo.

Changing room politics are not for the faint hearted.

Akiba girl looks better without her clothes on..

In addition to our three main girls, we have the trio of bad girls. Shibuya girl Erina, S&M chick, Mizuki Sara-sama and lastly Akiba girl Haruna Mio. Erina is ugly. Her fake tan and overly done face may be indicative of Shibuya fashion trends but I wouldn't pay money for her. Mio does the squeky maid voice but unfortunately her face does not match with her sound. Ogura Yuko, she is not. Its like someone else is dubbing over her voice. Sara-sama is the best of the bunch though she hasn't had her time in the spotlight yet.

If this shot doesn't sell this dorama, nothing will.

What took you so long to get into jdoramas?

I'm most excited about Kadena Reon in this show. She's hardly featured in the few episodes of Maid Deka that have been translated and I'm eager to see what she can do. I'm disappointed that her character is confined to wheelchair so we probably won't get any scenes similar to her famous ipod dancing. Rounding is up is JAV veteran Asami Yuma, who was also in Shimokita Glory Days which I encourage every sukebe to check out.

Star of the greatest gravure video ever, along with the Sabra Isoyama Sayaka and Kawamura Yukie photoshoot.

Workplace accidents do happen.

As evident from the screenshots, Jyouou virgin is laden with fanservice. Plenty of nudity, upskirt shots and changing of clothing. We even have scenes where characters take off their top mid conversation for no reason whatsoever. If you want to make people watch a show with bad script and acting, you have to make it worth their time. One thing I have learned from this show is that overly gratuitous upskirt shots are not exciting.

Boring....

Now this is an exicting shot.

There are sadly no subs for Jyouou virgin but its not necessary. The story and dialogue is predictably like every other kyabakura show. The characters are cliched and every episode ends with Hara Mikie screaming yamete!

Mano Erina 2010 Calender

I could stare at this all day.

My Mano Erina calender just arrived from yesasia. The Toda Erika calender is not out yet. Its sad that there's probably never going to be another Abe Natsumi or Matsuura Aya calender again. I really like the Nacchi 2009 calender. I never heard of Mano Erina until I started looking up calenders to buy for next year. Hers was the only one besides Toda Erika that caught my attention.

Sorry about bad focus but anything with Mano Erina and piano is good.

Looked her up and was surprised to see that she was from HP! Looked up some of her videos on youtube and I was instantly hooked. Look up her concert, Prologue Otome no Inori on youtube. Tsunku has always been searching for the next Goto Maki. Kusumi Koharu is not the miracle member but I haven't been excited about a HP! singer in a long time.

Don't like her look in this one.

First thing is that she plays the piano. Instant credibility. Not to mention that she went with an indy label when she debuted. This gives her the ability to appeal beyond the otaku fanbase which is what HP! and AKB48 are stuck with. Down the line, she really needs to do a real live concert. No backing tracks. Just her piano and two guitars or something.

This one makes her look younger than her 18 years which kind of makes me feel dirty...

Her songs are pretty good except the latest one which just sounds like a generic HP! song. I like that most of her songs are mid tempo. Her voice is probably not good enough yet for ballads and there's no point doing fast songs on piano. I think Sekai wa Summer Party could have been a sakuranbo if it had a huge promotion behind it.

You can never go wrong with seifuku.

Mano Erina is just so different from the other cookie cutter HP! girls. Maybe its just that I've stopped listening to HP! stuff for so long that it all seems fresh again. Watching her facial expressions when she sings Nakimushi Yowamushi during her concert just makes me.... happy. She's got the Sakai Noriko frown! Gaaaaahhh!!!! She's already got facial expressions than Fukada Kyoko.

Seen too many HP! girls with this look. ZZzzzz.


J.P Room should issue a directive for Mano Erina never to tie her hair up.

Proof that Mano Erina looks best with her hair down.

Jin eps 1+2

A new jdorama season brings new promises of good jdoramas and of course bad shows that defy expectations. After last season's lackluster offerings, I'm hoping that this season will have a good show and Jin seems to be the best candidate. Jin tells the story of a brain surgeon, Manakata Jin (Osawa Takao) who has an accident and mysteriously transported back to the Edo era. Its good to see Osawa Takao back to doing jdoramas. I'm more of a fan of his movie works, especially Gege and just recently watched him in Goemon.

Kono sekai, ai wa aru no?

Yes, Jin is basically fish out of water dorama, in this case a surgeon in the Edo era. It doesn't even take 10 minutes before Jin faces his first medical problem in Edo, brain hemorrhage! Luckily he has some surgical tools and medicine with him. Its a bit like watching McGuyver with Jin having to make do with carpentry tools. The other fun part is watching Jin perform surgery in an era and country where such things are unheard of. Watching him trying to crack open his patient's head while the mother is crying in horror is both funny and sickening at the same time. This is one show that knows it has a good concept and knows how to milk it for all its worth. If only they had Iryu's music.

Pen light vs katana!

Ayase Haruka is Saki, the sister of his first patient. She sees something in his skills and sort of unofficially becomes his nurse/assistant. She's your strong willed, go against her family for her beliefs type girl. Its improbably such a girl exists in Edo who can easily pick up medical terms but lets not let it get in the way of a good story. I think this time, Haruka should forgive her agent for wasting her time and placing her in that piece of crap show, Mr Brain.

Sooner or later Jin will run out of latex gloves...

Uchino Masaaki aka Gonzo is also in this show and I won't spoil his identity. Fans of Shinsengumi, Kenshin and other pre Meiji stories are in for a trteat. I would expect Shinsengumi to show up later and would Jin cure Okita Soji? The casting in this show is great. No freaking Johnny's in sight. We've got Nakatani Miki as the oiran and Kinpachi sensei as the western medicine expert in Edo. This show is like the freaking all stars of jdorama wih a fun concept to boot.

As gross as it was, I was laughing all the way through this surgery.

Like all time travel shows, Jin does ponder about how he would affect the future and has to make some very hard decisions. Usually with time travel, its about killing people while in Jin its about saving lives. Saving people who are not suppose to live. Bringing the knowledge of modern medicine to the past. Should a doctor who has sworn the Hippocratic oath disregard the needs of a patient in front of him for the sake of the time space continuum? Has pandora's box truly been opened?

Makes me to replay Ryuga gotoku kenzan and visit an oiran and play games with her.

There's also the mystery of the bandaged man in the hospital and the fetus. How does the fetus induce time travel and is the bandaged man from the past or the future? I've got my own theory on who the man is but I'm just going to enjoy the ride and not think too much. So many angles to the main story that 10 to 12 episodes might not be enough. I'm just so glad that for once, they didn't fuck up a concept that is foolproof. Too many times you see a rare and interesting concept and the dorama is ruined because the makers cannot think outside their cliched and unimaginative ideas.

Yup, Kita Yoshio has to show up in 5% of all jdoramas.

Jin is the first must watch jdorama I've seen in a long time and I'm already excited for the third episode. Its great to see a show about medicine and politics that is not set in a hospital. Hope the ratings get better. Jin deserves to be getting 20+%.