Jdorama ramblings 11/2/12

SHIAWASE NO KIROII HANDKERCHIEF 

Watched it some time ago and wanted to write a long post on the dorama special vs the movie but I kept getting sidetracked by other doramas that I wanted to write about. Long story short, not as good as the movie. The writer obviously didn't want to do a direct remake and changed things for the worse. I don't think the movie is that great either but its very watchable. Of note in the original movie is Takakura Ken in Abe's role and Kinpachi sensei as the comedy relief.

Let's just say the first half of the dorama special sucks cause Abe was hardly in it and the writer changed the structure of the first half. As for the second half, anything with Abe and Natsukawa Yui is bound to be good.

TSUKAHARA BUDOKEN

The thing that got me watching was that I wanted to see the story of the guy Japanese think could have beaten Musashi. There's a reason why the story is not as famous and that's because its not a good story. Firstly, its a 'chosen one' story. The kami chose him when he was young and he was destined for greatness blah blah blah. Plus he is a goody two-shoes who fights for his deity and to spread the fame of his sword style and hometown.Secondly, he doesn't have a Kojiro. Musashi's story is nothing without Kojiro. I don't care about Musahi's story after he beats Kojiro.Batman is boring without Joker and there's no 'last boss' for Tsukahara Budoken to face.

The fight scenes are ok except that for some reason, when they do certain actions in slow motion, they literally do it in slow motion. So you have two actors slashing their swords at 5cm/s trying to make something look cool and all I could think of was why couldn't they just use a high speed camera and slow it down? I think even slowing down your usual 23 frames/s video would still look better than telling the actors to slash slowly. It could look choppy but at least it doesn't look funny. Come to think of it, only comedies use people actually moving in slow motion for a reason.

KARE, OTOKO, TOMODACHI

Ok watchable show but I just have to make one comment which is the acting during this scene above is atrocious. The father's anger and everything felt so fake. I would expect a lot more from two veteran actors. Its like they didn't have time and just wrapped after the first take. Watching the first episode of Shokuzai probably magnified it. Slightly better than average because of Maki Yoko and Kaho but ultimately doesn't go above watchable.

Saigo Kara Nibanme no Koi eps 3+4

Saiga Kara is so fun to watch. I just love how shallow Chiaki (Koizumi Kyoko) is. She gets a photo of Iryu sent to her phone as an apology from Uchida Yuki and she tries to innocently get all her staff to notice the picture but does it in such an over the top way that its so funny. Her staff know her game but try their best not to play along.

As I've said before, at its core, Saigo Kara is essential an obasan dorama dealing with your obasan issues but its just done in such an interesting and entertaining way. Chiaki and her two obasan friends remind me of the three sisters in the first season of Shinya Shokudo with their friendship being their support for being single but at the same time they want to leave this support system.

The three obasan scene in ep 4 with the dolled up writer is pure hilarity. (I'm going to run out of synonyms for funny at the end of this review because every scene is just fun.) They feel threatened by the writer and they do not hide it but console themselves by claiming that they used to be like her. Its amusing how self conscious these obasans are. They are always in a competition. There is no other way for them to view a younger woman other than as a threat. The punchline is of course when the writer reveals that she has nothing in common with how the obasan trio were in the past and the obasan trio end up slouching in defeat but quickly recover when Chiaki brings up Iryu.

Saigo Kara pokes fun at obasan issues., highlighting their insecurities as they pine for their lost youth but at the same time are desperate to seek approval and praise from society. At the end it is a sisterhood for consoling each other when things go bad because they can't compete with the younger girls anymore and need to band together. As mentioned earlier, their friendship is based on shared misery and if someone achieves 'happiness', the friendship is over because its going to be a case of rubbing it in the others' face, that is until things go sour and everyone can be miserable together. A misery likes company support group.

I love how Japanese come up with short forms of new terms.

From the obasan three, we go to the amusing 'misery' of Wahei and his mother and daughter problem. Its a problem I'm sure any guy would like to have and while Wahei doesn't embrace this fortuitous conundrum, he is not your boring, generic, faceless harem protagonist who keeps running away ecchi situations. Wahei's problem is the opposite of the obasans'.

Wahei is comfortable in his own skin. He has accepted who he is and is not clinging to whatever shred of his lost youth he can get. He also does not have any friends to confide in because he doesn't have any problems. Wahei also does not have any dreams and expectations and is unable to believe his luck when the mother daughter situation happened. Personally, I hope to see the mother daughter competition heat up because there's so much potential for comical situations.

Letcher just doesn't have the same ring as sukebe. Some words should never be translated.

Why not both?

I enjoyed the conversation between Wahei and Chiaki in ep 3 when he went to visit Chiaki at her workplace. For the first time they were able to have a polite conversation and I think Chiaki remarked how different Wahei is at home and outside. He automatically acts as society wants him to and it is only at home where he can say what he wants. The witty part of the conversation is watching these two try not to get into a fight again.

Hai, Uchida Yuki-san!

Love the husband's answer in this scene.

I have absolutely no complaints about Saigo Kara. There are plenty of other positives about this show and I'm continually surprised at how consistently funny and clever the writing is. The supporting characters are also coming into their own but I think I've  been typing long enough. Do not miss this.

Strawberry Night eps 1-3

WHAT I LIKED

Pissed off Takeuchi Yuko.

Yabe Kenzo without the wig.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

Superior who acts like a spoiled child; angry overacting for no reason all the time at our protagonist for the misguided purpose of creating more obstacles for our heroine. ZZZzzzzzzz. Someone needs to tell non Wowow and NHK writers that police shows are about procedures.

The Japanese definition of cool: whole bunch of cops surrounding one lone suspect armed with a knife. Words cannot describe how lame this scene was.

Strawberry Night does ok police procedure but it is nowhere near the holy trinity of Rinjo/Gonzo/Gaiji Keisatsu because it tries to do too much and feels too superficial. If its supposed to be a show about heads of sections backstabbing each other for glory then make it so instead of leaving the job up to Kinpachi sensei and not making him interesting. Have everyone spying on each other and leaving false information instead of spending more time on Takeuchi Yuko's personal story, team Himekawa and the old forensic dude. Its sort of watchable and easily better than your usual crap like Boss but not good enough. I'm dropping this and may take a peak later for Takeuchi Yuko.

Seinaru Kaibutsutachi eps 1 and 2

Seinaru Kaibutsutachi is similar to Saigo Kara in the sense that it fees like a hodgepodge of genres.Its your underdog medical drama with Okada Masaki as Shiba Kengo, your typical young, nice guy protagonist who is transferred to a rural hospital that is understaffed and in the red. There he meets head nurse Kasugai Yuka (Nakatani Miki), a very dedicated and intense person.

Seinaru Kaibutsutachi is also one of those rich people political dramas. Fuga Keiko (Kato Ai) is married to Suzuki sensei, the son and heir of a major group that runs a lot of schools. While Suzuki sensei is divorced, the daughter lives with him and the ex wife is still an important member of the organisation. Kato Ai suffers a miscarriage during the wedding and as a result is unable to have children. Basically normal daughter in law married to rich family and for some reason filthy rich people in doramas have to speak and act like aristocrats from the 17th century complete with sneering mother-in-law. Perhaps Japanese think people buried in money have lost all sense of normal conversation and only think in terms of duty to the company and family.

Finally Seinaru Kaibutsutachi is a mystery thriller with the first episode starting with a unknown pregnant woman dropped in front of a hospital and the young protagonist Shiba sensei proclaiming that it was all part of a plot. By the end of episode 2, we can pretty much guess who the mystery pregnant woman and the plot was, which is not a bad thing. The important thing is how well it is executed.

To be honest, Seinaru Kaibutsutachi feels very disjointed. The tone of the dorama is inconsistent. The way scenes from the three genres are shot are very different. I think they director made a mistake in not establishing a consistent look for all the scenes instead of playing with different tones for each scene depending on what is was about. For example, the scenes involving Suzuki sensei's aristocratic like family are so brightly lit like an afternoon soap opera. There is a surgery in episode 2 with the music trying to imitate Iryu. Shiba sensei's story with his patient feels like your generic feel good doctor story. Lastly, Nakatani Miki and Suzuki sensei's scenes in episode 2 were like from a realistic and serious dorama where the dialogue meant something.

First off, I have to say what is holding this dorama together is Nakatani Miki's Kasugai Yuka. She is so fucking awesome. She's like Koizumi Kyoko, able to play a character with depth that draws the viewers attention everytime she is on the screen. It also helps that her character Yuka gets more and more intriguing. Let's just say that the title is not called The Holy Monsters for nothing. I love characters that we can see thinking and know what they want and what they have to do.

Contrast with Kato Ai's acting. I know she's not playing the most well developed character in the show but its like she's playing a character in an overacting afternoon soap and Nakatani Miki is playing in a Wowow dorama. I probably should put more blame on the directing and the fact that there's probably some clause in Kato Ai's contract which states that every time she is on screen, warm fuzzy lighting must be used.

Anyway back to my two favourite scenes in the series and they are between Suzuki sensei and Nakatani Miki in episode 2. All I can say is wow.  Its like suddenly all the crappy generic dialogue disappears and we get two scenes where what was not said is as important as what was said. I love the smug way Suzuki sensei defends his actions. He knows that he does not have to appeal to Yuka emotionally. Yuka tries to use emotion but Suzuki sensei cuts her off by defending the difficulties and risks his actions pose to his position.

Yuka then plays on his battlefield of logic and asks some pertinent questions that Suzuki has no answer for before showing him how serious she is and how much she is willing to do for Kato Ai. The second scene is Yuka using the allegory of the sea to convince Suzuki that her plan can be done with little risk to his position and company. I just love how Nakatani Miki can put on a different mask for Yuka depending on the situation.

I hope Suzuki sensei's character gets to play a big role. I want to see him engaged in a battle of manipulations but I have a feeling he's going to be just along for the ride. Suzuki Anne shows up in episode 2 as a tool of Yuka's plan. Haven't seen her in ages but I expect good acting from her. Seinaru Kaibutsutachi has potential and Nakatani Miki is worth watching for.

Shokuzai ep 2 and 3

Episode 2

First thing that struck me about episodes 2 and 3 was that they didn't draw me in as much as episode 1. I think that the main reason is both episodes are solo stories whereas episode 1 had two main 'damaged' protagonists interacting with each other while the viewer tries to decipher what they are about and what is going to happen. Episode 2 is more straightforward.

Koike Eiko is Shinohara Maki, the 2nd of the four girls. Maki was the class president and you have a flashback of her trying to find a teacher after discovering Emiri's body. However, she could not find anyone and afterwards decided to no longer run for class president and say that she could not remember anything about the incident.

Maki was the responsible student of the bunch but she blames herself for not being able to get a teacher and has repressed her memories of the incident. However, she continues to live with the promise to Emiri's mother and has become a primary school teacher. Maki has become an overly strict teacher and we find out that it has to do with her search for right and wrong. As a responsible student, she always knew the difference between right and wrong but Emiri's incident has caused her to question her actions.

There is a superb action scene at a pool which is the highlight of this episode. I'm a sucker for one take action scenes. Its not the Old Boy corridor fight but its still fun. Maki finally gets affirmation that her actions are right from society but deep down her search for right and wrong and her strictness only serves to bottle up her feelings from the incident.

One thing I don't understand is why the teacher would punch Maki at the end?  She defended his actions and despite her reasons, she did save the students and him. Its not like she threw him under a bus? The punch is a comical scene that seemed out of place with its only purpose to tease to audience at the end.

Episode 3

From the emotionless Maki, episode 3 is about Akiko, played by Sakura Ando (Love Exposure). Akiko was gifted a beautiful dress which she wore on the day of the incident. Akiko's mother blamed the dress for getting her involved in the incident. Her reasoning is that the dress was too good for Akiko and that the killer was after Akiko but luckily Emiri was there. Akiko's parents see themselves as lower class people and forbade Akiko from wearing 'luxurious clothes'.

So Akiko grew up with the idea that she is a bear and a bear should wear bear clothing. While Maki seemed detached because she repressed all her rage and frustration, Maki pacifies her feeling of guilt by not living her life. She lies around at home, playing retro games and her Wii and doesn't have a job. The story picks up when her brother returns home with a wife and step daughter.

I really like the tension of episode 3 with questions about Akiko's brother. I think that a lot of her discovery about her brother was all in her mind. That she was seeing things that were not there. That she was so desperate to escape from her imprisonment like Emiri's mother said. That the niece not wanting to go back was more to do with the warehouse being a cold and scary place to live. That the niece not wanting her head patted was more to do her not yet accepting Akiko's brother as her father.

Ok the one with the brother at the game center is a bit harder to explain. Maybe it was something innocent like the brother at the vending machine and somehow her mind created certain actions and a sense of dread for her. Akiko basically has no contact with the outside world and maybe she seized on her brother as a manifestation of the killer but there was no one else.

Shokuzai eps 2 and 3 are still good, just not as brilliant as the first one. Can't wait for the last two because its going to have Ikewaki Chizuru (Summer Snow/Josee, Tiger and the Fish) and Ito Ayumi!

Saigo Kara Nibanme no Koi eps 1+2

With a name like second last love, Saigo Kara Nibanme no Koi seems like yet another obasan dorama. The lovely Koizumi Kyoko playing playing a single career woman who works as a jdorama producer. I am getting sick of obasan doramas because they always stick to conventions and the characters never get past stereotypes. A lot of them look the same and sound the same.

Not so with Saigo Kara. First off, Koizumi Kyoko really infuses her character Chiaki with a lot of personality. She's passionate of her job, wears her emotions on her sleeve and the scene where she admonishes this young writer about her script is so funny. I would say the big difference between Saigo Kara and other obasan doramas is the energy that Chiaki gives out. I feel like the plot is not driving Chiaki, she is the plot.

Saiga Kara is not your prototypical obasan dorama because its a KDO-ish love story with Chiaki running into Nagakura Wahei (Nakai Kiichi), a widower working for the Kamakura city council. Its KDO-ish in that they argue all the time and it is very entertaining. You know the drill, boy meets girl, they fight all the time, hate each other's guts and of course fall in love. The important thing is chemistry and whether the barb trading is entertaining, which Saigo Kara is. The most important thing that KDO did was of course make the two character really interesting and complement each other.

Saigo Kara is also a family drama. Chiaki moves next door to the Nagakura family and gets involved with them. Asada Ryutaro is the free spirited brother of Wahei, with a secret that is pretty obvious in the 2nd episode. Uchida Yuki is Iryu's twin sister who is very strange and seems to have communication problems. Lastly, Ijima Naoko is the oldest sister who is married and is prime canditate for the obasan drama role of wife who gets cheated on.

Acting wise, we've the awesome foursome of Koizumi Kyoko, Nakai Kiichi (Kaze no Garden), Iryuu and Uchida Yuki. That is some serious acting chops. Ok, Sakaguchi Kenji is not that great of an actor and certainly not in the class of the other 3 but he's better than most.

While Saigo Kara looks like an amalgam of genre's, it is very funny and very well written. Even the dialogue between Chiaki and her two friends talking about middle age female problems is funny and entertaining. When was the last obasan dorama that was funny? From the way they compete and console each other to Chiaki calling them traitors 1 and 2 I can't remember when a dorama where obasan discussions did not sound like a dry commentary on mid life crisis issues.

There's a lot of humour in the first two episodes and they are set up by situational humour, not slapstick which is hard to do. Like this old man complaining of Chiaki taking photos of houses and giving Wahei this gravure magazine which created some funny situations in ep 1 and 2. Or like the Nagakura family overhearing Chiaki's phone call.

The writer is Okada Yoshikazu who has written a lot of doramas and movies, Muri na Renai an entertaining drama about a middle age not famous actress and old dude. That show had some pretty good dialogue as well. He also wrote the Ima Ai ni Yukimasu movie, Mada Koi wa Hajimaranai and Flowers of Algernon. Pretty impressive though the above shows weren't notable for great dialogue. He seems to be channeling Nojima Shinji level of entertaining dialogue.