Dear Doctor movie review

After watching Sway and talking to a friend about it, I was recommended Nishikawa Miwa's other movie Dear Doctor. While Sway's twist didn't work for me, she did direct Dreams for Sale/Yume uru Futari which I love.

Dear Doctor is about a doctor who works in the country, played by rakugo actor Tsurube Shofukutei and Eita is the intern who is doing work placement at the village. The movie begins with the disappearance of the doctor and through flashbacks we slowly see the build up to his disappearance and the secret of this country town.

So the big secret is that the doctor is fake with only the village chief, the experienced nurse and the medical salesman being in on it. I don't consider this a spoiler because Dear Doctor is about how this fake doctor is so crucial to the village. How its less that the villagers need his medical skills and more that they need someone to turn to. It is actually better to know it beforehand so you can enjoy all the knowing/worried glances and facial expressions.

I love the scene in the beginning where this old person is dying and the fake doctor was relieved the old man died so he didn't have to do the intubation and the daughter in law was relieved she no longer had to look after him.

Dear Doctor is about how being a doctor is more than just diagnosing and prescribing medication especially in a rural town where everyone is living far away from each other. One of the police officers said in the end, the villagers were more likely to kill them to keep their doctor. The fake doctor started doing this for money but being put on a pedestal and the heavy responsibilities forced him to try his best. As Eita's character says in the movie, he's glad he finally met a real doctor, not someone like his father who only thinks about business management.


I have to say its wonderfully acted but the pacing was very slow. After watching I thought it was an ok movie but it didn't do anything for me. Then I started thinking about the characters and their motivations and what what they meant and slowly I began to think a lot about the movie.

Dear Doctor is a movie where a lot of things aren't explained. The story on the face of it is very simple it says a lot of interesting about rural and urban life which Sway/Yureru also dealt with. I really recommend it if you're interested in a not explain too much movie. The only place you can get this movie is avistaz.

5 ways Juhan Shuttai! Eps 3-7 got better

1) Kokoro the obnoxiously genki, overacting asadora main character becomes more of the main supporting character.

2) The supporting character take turns being the main character instead.

3) Usually in jdoramas, its the super idealistic character who changes each character's viewpoint per episode or reminds them of what they used to believe in etc but in Juhan Shuttai its the individual characters themselves that solve their own problems and Kokoro does do it for them or lecture them into submission. The best way to describe it is that the world doesn't revolve around the main character but rather Kokoro is the POV character for the audience to experience this world.

4) I love the story about the two aspiring mangakas, one a talented BL doujinshi artist who can draw beautiful pictures but has problems with names and one who has crappy art but has the talent in doing names. Its the type of blood sweat and tears that the Bakuman movie did not have time to do.

5) Yasui the crusher. I was watching his episode thinking what he is saying is not wrong although he is sort of portrayed as the bad guy. I love that its not a story about Kokoro reminding him about his ideals but its a story about Kokoro realising why Yasui does what he does.

SUMMARY

I am bloody glad I stuck around past episode 2. My only complaint is way overuse of the stirring music everytime someone says something cool or emotional. Juhan Shuttai! is not the first jdorama to overuse it but music is suppose to enhance a scene, not be an overly manipulative signal. Overall, Juhan Shuttai! has gotten pretty good. Very watchable for me.

Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress Eps 1-8

WHAT  IS IT?

Attack on Titan with zombies mixed with Snowpiercer.

WHAT I LIKED

+ Beautiful detailed 90s inspired artwork. I'm sick of the moe round face style used by so many light novel adaptations. The characters look like 90s anime stereotypes including Sakura from Sakura Wars.

+ Hero is not a boring nice guy who solves problems by being nice.

+ Train driver chick has muscles. No I'm not a muscle fetish guy but too many strong chicks with slender arms in anime.

+ Its violent and like Attack on Titan people die.

+ Its a zombie anime on a train! As long as its about survival and people doing bad things without being too simplistic, it can't go wrong.

+ Did I mention it looks very pretty?

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

- Feels a lot like Attack on Titan and it takes a while for Kabaneri to find its own voice.

- Some of the adults are a bit simplistic. Like almost everyone on the train saw our hero saving the train but the anime makes it like everyone is against him being on the train. I get the Kabane fear but surely there must be more people not motivated purely by fear.

- Hero is a bit too 90s in that he loves shouting stuff without actually thinking it through.

SUMMARY

I'm not crazy about Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress but its got enough positive things for me to keep watching. Its not Berserk but its not Isekai Seikatsu either. At the very least, lots of pretty animation to look at. Watchable.

Yureru / Sway movie review

This has been on my to be watched list for so long and somehow I thought about watching it and did so. Odagiri Joe and Kagawa Teruyuki are brothers. Odagiri's gone to Tokyo and become a photographer while Kagawa is stuck back in their hometown working for their father at a petrol station.

So you have two brothers who are very different. One very hip and speaks his mind and the other is stoic and filial. Maki Yoko is Odagiri's old flame and works for his brother. The three of them go on a trip together and something happens and Kagawa is arrested.

The second half of the film is about the court case that flows from the incident and there are two things that make this movie fun: first is that we have no idea whether Kagawa is really guilty and secondly, the court case is basically a euphemism for the divide betwen city and rural life and Odagiris desire to run away from his country roots.

I do have big problem with this movie and that is with the big twist which relies on a wound which to me looked very old but was supposed to have been new. I have had my skin scratched badly before and it gets very red and takes time to heal.

Kagawa's scar looked very old and it seemed like he must have gotten the wound when he was a child or something. If the wound actually looked fresh instead of a scar, I don't think the reveal would work cause most people can put 2+2 together and wonder why the police weren't even concerned with it.

Good movie that ultimately stumbled over itself in the end. The devil is in the details and one important detail and undo a movie with good acting and tense moments. Meh.

Kiseki no Hito Eps 1-3

Ladies and gentlemen, I have found my feel good dorama that I like more than I should in Kiseki no Hito. The last jdorama which fit this discription was Coffee-ya no Hitobito, also from NHK BS Premium. Coincidence?

The main character of Kiseki no Hito is yet another loser who's done nothing in life. I was thinking not another freaking Boys on the Run because they usually run the loser character through the stereotype wringer without doing anything interesting.

Then I noticed the dialogue of Ichitaku and his friend whinging about life and how aimless they were to be pretty funny. I have no idea what it is but it is a gift to be able to write characters complaining about the world and make it funny, informative and not stale.

After watching the first three episodes, turns out the writer is non other than Okada Yoshikazu, writer of Boku no Tsuma to Kekkon Shite Kudasai, Watashi to Iu Unmei ni Tsuite, Saigo Kara Nibanme no Koi etc etc.

Ichitaku who does nothing but somehow has a room somewhere in Tokyo meets former yankee Aso Kumiko and their first meeting is gross but funny. Did I mention I love Aso Kumiko who was underutilised in Love & Peace and Haiyu Kameoka Takuji?

Aso Kumiko has a daughter who is both deaf and blind and is being kicked out of her apartment because the daughter is too noisy. Ichitaku wanting to score with Aso Kumiko (who wouldn't) introduces them to his landlady who is unusually kind and Ichitaku begins his journey to finally be useful to someone.

On the face of it, Kiseki no Hito seems like an oversentimental Ashida Mana type show but trust me when I saw its more laid back comedy. The thing that seals it is the writing. I don't know how to describe it when stereotypical characters come alive because their dialogue have just enough nuance and bounce. Nojima Shinji couldn't pull it off with Our House but Okada Yoshikazu is the man!

Very similar in tone to Coffee-ya no Hitobito despite being completely different genres and having different creators. Its as if both shows could exist in the same world. They are not realistic but neither do they have the fakeness of your mainstream shows. I guess they are both stories about humanity dressed in melancholy and joy.

I had more fun watching Kiseki no Hito than I should have. You can grab the raws from Avistaz or just google Kiseki-no-Hito-EP01-720p-x265-ER (third link). Make sure you have ad blockers on your browser. Subtitles can be gotten here. The ending song Hone is not available yet but there is a Ando Yuko version out. I can't stop listening to this song. Very watchable.

Re Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu Eps 1-7

Isekai Seikatsu is yet another light novel adaptation with a long name and interesting premise that doesn't take full advantage of the concept and ends up being yet another generic moe harem anime.

This time our generic protagonist is transported to fantasy world and everytime he does, he goes back to the start ala Boku Dake ga Inai Machi. He is aware of the tropes of fantasy alternate world anime and they try to play it for laughs but before long Isekai Sekatsu just becomes full of cliches like our protagonist being a super nice guy to get to girls to his side.

How much more interesting would it be if he just pretended to be nice because that was how characters in moe animes solve their problems and somehow it didn't work? The groundhog day gimmick is interesting but everything else bored me to tears especially the butler and cat maids part.

I'm just so frustrated because the writer could have done so much with the concept. No more stupid light novel animes. They are just shallow shounen fantasy that always end up being the same derivative crap. Episode 7 ends with another cliffhanger but I don't give a crap about the cardboard characters. Isekai Seikatsu seems to have been received favourably by the anime fans but I'm guessing they liked SAO and DanMachi as well. For me its just more of the boring same.

Can jdorama/jmovies thrive without idorus and talento?

I don't even need to watch this show to know how bad it is.

If you're one of the five people who read this blog, you know how much I despise mainstream shows with the main purpose of being vehicles for idorus and so called talentos. *cough* Gouri *cough*. However, compared to Japan, Australian tv is full of reality tv shows and the only dramas are soap operas like Neighbours and Home and Away. There are hardly any home made Australian dramas. The reason isn't just the difference in population between Japan and Australia, although it probably plays a part.

FACT #1: IDORUS AND TALENTO DRAW RATINGS

If you're in charge of greenlighting tv shows for TV Asahi or TBS or Fuji TV, you'll probably have to convince the higher ups that casting this person who can't act can draw X number of eyeballs to the show and increase entertainment news coverage. Can you go the bosses and say I've got this great script and director and we are going to cast the best no names and we are going to draw ratings based on strong reviews.

FACT #2: GOOD ACTING AND SCRIPT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RATINGS IN JAPAN

The two biggest ratings giants in recent years have been Kaseifu no Mita and Hanzawa Naoki, two shows with horrible acting and crappy scripts and both drew ratings producers will die for.

FACT (More like opinion) #3: AVERAGE JAPANESE DON'T CRITICISE SHOWS/DORAMAS

I've talked to many Japanese about their doramas and movies and most conversations don't go beyond whether something is interesting or not. Seriously, its impossible to have in depth conversation about doramas or movies when in Japan unless the other person is hardcore into movies. Compared to the Western world where we're discussing every detail of Game of Thrones or how Sons of Anarchy and House of Cards suck after season 3.

Lots of people hate Gouriki but apparently she's got a lot of female fans for some reason. This producer says that reviewers don't really criticise movies. If reviewers don't criticise movies, that also means they don't criticise performances of people who can't act like that overpushed Mikasa actress in the Attack on Titan movie. If they don't criticise their own movies, then that means the movies that are actually good.

Long story short, I don't think your average Japanese will appreciate a good jdorama like Suzuki Sensei even if it hit them in the face. Its not just the Japanese audience though. You can also see the indifference to quality with shows that get subbed and the number or people downloading the subs from English speaking jdorama fans.

FACT #4: TV STATIONS NEED THESE IDORUS AND TALENTO OR RATHER THEIR AGENCIES FOR THEIR PROGRAMMING

Johnnys are already responsible for a large chunk of TV entertainment shows like Bistro SMAP and that Arashi game show. You want continued support from Johnnys, you better put more of their people in your doramas. Gouriki can't act for fucks? Don't worry, we'll keep giving her her own show.

There is an episode in the anime Shirobako where all the stakeholders from the tv studio and talent agencies give their stupid input on how to make and cast this anime that it derails from what the creators are trying to do. Talent agencies hold more power than producers and directors.

FACT #5: ROBUST TV INDUSTRY ALLOWS GOOD JDORAMAS/JMOVIES TO BE MADE

Granted the good doramas are mostly from WOWOW and NHK but because your major networks continue to make doramas, everyone has to compete in that field as it is much cheaper to create those so called reality shows that are actually faker than wresting.

A robust industry at least guarantees that there is money flowing into the making of doramas and movies. The good WOWOW and NHK shows like Yami no Bansosha may not have the budget of a Getsu 9 dorama but at least they have one.

A robust industry allows good writers and actors and production people to have jobs, pay their bills, hone their craft and hopefully they'll have a chance to work on a dorama with an actual story and vision.

SUMMARY

To answer the question of whether jdoramas/jmovies can thrive without idorus and talento, I would like to think yes but Japanese viewing habits suggest not. If something as great as Lady Joker which is like The Wire of Japanese doramas cannot make a dent in their public consciousness, there is no hope. However, because we continue to have shows featuring people who cannot act and soap opera lighting, we at least can continue to have gems like Arechi no Koi which are unappreciated and unsubbed.

Utenai Keikan Episode 1

Utenai Keikan or the policeman who cannot shoot is an interesting show about a career policeman Shibasaki who is forced to take sole responsibility when a policeman who has mental problems commits suicide.

Shibasaki's boss leaves him out to dry and Shibasaki's father, a former policeman gives him advice and tells him to investigate the matter more. Shibasaki is under a lot of stress not just from his workplace but also his family with plans to buy a home next year with his dad providing the deposit.

So at the mid point I'm thinking this is your everyman uncovering a conspiracy show. Shibasaki is transferred away from the main HQ as he continues his investigation. By the end of the episode, Shibasaki finds out who the main culprit is and I'm wondering where the story was going.

Shibasaki tells the culprit to be his spy in HQ and proclaims that he will work his way back to HQ. This got me excited because Shibasaki is not your nice guy protagonist. Its a dog eat dog world of police politics plus the fact that he is obviously a smart cop having to do non-administrative duties will be interesting.

Utenai Keikan does not have the smell of a family friendly guy learns to be a better person kind of story and I look forward to watching the remaining 4 episodes after a good first episode.

Arechi no Koi

After a string of crappy jdoramas, it was time to reach back into my unsubbed jdorama backlog and watch WOWOW Arechi no Koi.

Arechi no Koi is a reflective story about life centered around this poet Kitazawa Taro played by Toyokawa Etsushi who has slaved for 20 plus years as a salaryman and begins to have an affair with Suzuki Kyoka, the wife of poet friend

Arechi no Koi is not your typical salaryman  affair jdorama.

Its a show about the meaning of life and the approach the different characters take to it and what they each hold dear.

The relationships between people who are comrades, family members, lovers and how people need each other to survive.

As it is a story about poets, there's a lot of poetry in Arechi no Koi which means a lot of freaking difficult Japanese with words no one uses in real life. :(

Aside from that the story is pretty straightforward and there are plenty of beautiful and funny lines.

One of my favourite lines is when Kawashima Umika is sitting in a tax near the end and she says (paraphrasing) I can handle the truth because I am the daughter of a poet.

Arechi no Koi looks awesome and has a movie-like soundtrack. You know someone really spent a lot of time working on the look and feel of this dorama.

Performances are good though Kawashima Umika is a bit too young for the role but since the story stretches from the 70s to the 80s it can't be helped.

Its hard to write about Arechi no Koi not just because there's a lot of poetry but its show that says a lot of things similar to Lady Joker but with a lot less suspense.

Very watchable show for me. Never once did I feel like skipping a scene and I really enjoyed watching all the characters and their complicated relationships. Arechi no Koi deserves to be subbed. If the poetry stuff ever gets subbed then I might be able to really say whether Arechi no Koi deserves to be labelled must watch.