Blanket Cats Episodes 1+2

Blanket Cats is a show about Nishijima Hidetoshi trying or rather being very difficult about giving away the 7 cats left by his late wife. He wants people to adopt the cats for the right reasons and gives them a trial period of 3 days before he gives his approval.

Blanket Cats is a sob story/feel good collection of stories that just happen to have cute cats in them. They also have Renbutsu Misako in episode 1. However at 50 minutes, the stories are way too long and drag on way too much. Imagine if Shinya Shokudo episodes were 50 minutes instead of the usual breezy 25.

Watching episode 1 I was thinking there's so much fat in the story and its trying way too hard to wring out tears from the audience that the only thing I could think of was when would this story end.

It doesn't help that the relationship between Nishijima Hidetoshi and Kichise Michiko is the most boring childhood friend relationship I've ever seen. It goes through the motions of some of the tropes but it falls completely flat and there is nothing to Hidetoshi's character besides being grumpy and stale.

If you want human stories, watch the four seasons of Shinya Shokudo. If you've seen them already, rewatching them is better than watching Blanket Cats. If you really want a show with cats, watch Neko Samurai. Blanket Cats could have been decent if they had cut the runtime in half but otherwise, avoid.

Shinhannin

From the pretty good Eerie Mienai Kao, we go back the to usual WOWOW/jdorama staple; an old murder mystery where every few minutes someone will utter the world the 34 year old murder incident, everyone of the police investigators will have this very concerned face all the time and of course the higher ranking people are always corrupt and incompetent.

The best thing I can say about Shinhannin is that at least its only 5 episodes. As for bad things, well, I've got a lot of bones to pick with this show.

The story is told from two timelines, present day when the father of the kidnapped child is killed and the past when the investigation was reopened. Because we already know what's happening in the present day, its up to the writer to make what happened in the past interesting so we can guess how it affects present day. Best example of this would be 20th Century Boys.

Unfortunately, nothing really surprising happens in the past timeline. All the red herrings seem like very obvious red herrings. The worst crime of all is that at the end of the episodes, I never thought; this piece of information has got me all excited, I can't see what happens next! Shinhannin never gave me any clues or crumbs that got me intrigued like most mystery shows. (See Yami no Bansosha or Kageri Yuku Natsu)

I plodded through 5 episodes just to see the ending and what a disappointment it was. Surely there must be a reason WOWOW adapted this novel. They tried to portray the ending like some great tragedy of misguided family love and I could not believe the words that came out of Tamikawa Takaya's mouth. Very disappointing below average jdorama from WOWOW.

Dele Episodes 4-8

Dele starts off as a show with an interesting concept as its about a company that deletes people's data after they have passed away. Somewhere down the line, Dele turns into a benriya/detective agency type show where the characters are more champions of justice than this secret hush hush company for a world where everyone has huge digital footprints.

The main characters so easily break their client confidentiality by always peeking at the date (so that they can solve the case) and sometimes I just wondered why some people gave them the data to be deleted in the first place? A show about erasing or altering digital footprints would make more sense or even a show where data is to transmitted to certain people upon someone's death.

The chemistry is interesting but Dele fails to make to take advantage of its premise and distinguish itself from our average show. Dele is watchable but it is far from show like River's Edge or Mahoro Ekimae Bangaichi. Watchable but forgettable.

Sachiiro no One Room Episodes 1-4

Most jdoramas are wish fulfillments of some kind. The suburban housewife wish fulfillment, the schoolgirl wish fulfillment. Sachiiro no One Room is basically a loli wish fulfillment that is horribly written.

While I'm watching Sachiiro no One Room, I'm just thinking this show is about thinking all the boxes of how a lolicon could justifiably end up living with a loli in one room. Its like 90% of anime where the set up is just so some stupid generic main character can have relationships with a harem of women without being proactive. (End of rant)

My problem is not really the concept but really the execution. The dialogue is just so bad it was like torture. The stilted dialogue between the two characters was so stiff. Its not shot in a way like a thriller nor does it seem to be about child abuse. The first four episodes did not give me the impression that there is a story worth telling.

I stayed for four episodes hoping for some turn that would make it interesting but ultimately Sachiiro no One Room feels like an amateurish lolicon wish fulfillment show not worth anyone's time. Avoid.

Eerie Mienai Kao

Its been a while since I can remember WOWOW doing a show that was outside their usual police show with corrupt bosses or the cover up conspiracy story. Eerie Mienai Kao is more of a suburban suspense show with three main characters, a University lecturer played by Odagiri Joe, a nurse played by Kuroshina Yuina and this schoolgirl who gets involved with this bullying problem at school.

From the first episode, what stands out for Eerie Mienai Kao is the mood. The director who also did Miss Sherlock is very good at creating little moments of tension where something just feels a little off.

We find out quickly that the recently widowed Odagiri has been doing the deed with his sister-in-law played by Naka Riisa, Kuroshina Yuina can't say no to anyone and the high school bullying problem is getting worse. What makes Eerie Mienai Kao intriguing besides the suspense is how all three storylines will intersect and what the hell is actually going on.

There is a discourse about human behaviour going on in the story. There are some things in the ending that puzzled me especially the chikan part. I would probably need to do a rewatch of the show to fully appreciate it and see if the writer left any obvious clues that I missed.

I can't call it must watch but Eerie Mienai Kao is a very well done 5 episode series which I enjoyed very much. No subtitles are out for it as far as I know.

Gibo to Musume no Blues 7-9

It took me a bit of time to continue watching this series because I was very afraid my biggest fears about the character that Kenshin aka Satou Takeru was playing would come true.

Happy to report that it did not happen. Kenshin continued to be the comedy relief of the story and to juxtapose the stepmother stepdaughter story with his own father son story. Loved the final episode and Gibo to Musume no Blues is the best mother daughter show I can remember in recent memory.

My only complaint about the show is that they did not even try to make Ayase Haruka look 10 years older after the time jump even tough everyone did. Does she have something in her contracts with make up companies that she must never be made to look older? Its a small thing but it would have made a huge difference in making her more 'motherly'.

Otherwise, I can't really fault Gibo to Musume no Blues. Very watchable, not must watch but you won't regret watching.

Kenkou de Bunkatekina Saitei Gendo no Seikatsu Episode 7

Episode 7 is my favourite episode of the series for a couple of reasons. Firstly Yoshitsune is not the main character of this episode. Kurihashi is a much better character to tell stories through because she has her own 'disability' which is her inability to smile and connect with people.

The second reason is the issue of illiteracy. I remember the feeling of being in Japan my first time and being unable to read anything including the menus. Seriously though in my line of work, I've sometimes come across people who don't have strong language skills that becomes a barrier for them to get things done.

Third reason I love this episode is Keda Tetsuhiro aka Akiba from Yabe Kenzo. Normally he usually plays slapstick characters but this time he does a great job bringing this down to earth, human quality as the illiterate person who can't get a job.

Fourth reason is Kurihashi and Akiba have great chemistry and synergy between their characters. I feel Saitei Gendo no Sekatsu could have been Juhan Shuutai and episode 7 is proof that it can be. Giving it a must watch rating for episode 7 but watchable for the series thus far. I thought episode 4-6 had interesting topics but the execution was lacking. As far as I know, Kenkou de Bunkatekina Saitei Gendo no Seikatsu only has Japanese subs.

Kenkou de Bunkatekina Saitei Gendo no Seikatsu Episode 1-3

Once upon a time, Fukakyon was in a jdorama about welfare workers called Silent Poor and it was so bad I could not even find the words to describe it. Since then, I don't think we're had another welfare dorama. We've had one thousand doramas about middle class housewives, single, struggling women who can somehow afford to wear a new outfit everyday but its not often we see jdoramas about people on struggle street.

I don't really like the main girl Yoshitsune played by Yoshioka Riho. She's a bit too asadora, cares too deeply and goes way out of her way to solve her clients' problems instead of enabling them to solve it themselves.

I just want to say, I can't believe this guy has gone from playing supporting roles to kacho roles. I feel old.

Case in point, the single mother family in episodes 2 and 3 where the son is working part time. Yoshitsune beats herself up way too much for making a possibility sound like a fact when anyone with a brain knows that if you receive welfare money, you better make sure you declare any income. I really couldn't get the family playing this victim card and Yoshitsune being way to nice. I'm pretty sure she's got plenty of other people to look into.

However, the bright spot of the show besides all the welfare stuff is Endo Kenichi as this dude who has hit rock bottom and all Yoshitsune had to do to help him was convince him to get some legal advice on his debts. I have zero empathy for the other characters but Endo Kenichi's scene about the beer at the konbini in so simple and pure. I hope to see an episode where Yoshitsune has to match wits with someone who is cheating the welfare system and knows how to get away with it.

I am going to continue watching because I want to see the ins and outs of the Japanese welfare system and because Endo Kenichi makes everything watchable. Saitei Gendo no Seikatsu might not be the next Juhan Shuutai but as long as it doesn't become sob story of the week, I'll be satisfied. Watchable. Thanks to Shane for recommending.

87% My 5 Year Survival Rate Episode 1-4

When I first saw that keiko1981 had uploaded this to nyaa, I was intrigued by the cast of Natsukawa Yui (KDO), Motoki Masahiro (Departures) and Furuta Arata (Yami no Bansosha). What fun to watch these three before their prime, I thought. Unfortunately, there are times when even talent cannot save a show.

87% is breast cancer dorama with Natsukawa Yui as a cancer insurance salesperson who gets cancer and Motoki Masahiro as this expressionless doctor who's is tortured by his failure to save his wife from the disease. They both meet and completely no sparks fly between those two characters but somehow the dorama is oblivious to that.

To confound the fact that both leads have no chemistry, neither characters are interesting and the only time 87% had my attention was the story in episode 4 where Natsukawa Yui got in trouble because she had not told a client that there is a 3 month waiting period before an insurance policy kicks in and the boss made her sign a statement.

The best way to describe 87% is dull. I wish the show were really bad so I could have at least laughed at it. Avoid.

The Apocalypse has been cancelled!

Great news! Jdorama god Ruroshin has decided to cancel the apocalypse and not destroy the the d-addicts subtitle forum (and fansub map?) thereby destroying the English speaking jdorama fandom. As the 5 people who read this blog might have noticed, the subtitle forum will only be accessible if you are logged in. Hopefully this will keep those pesky emails at bay.

Subtitles for Mosaic Japan Episode 1+2 are out!

Once, there was a great jdorama written by Sakamoto Yuji called Mosaic Japan. It was a brilliant show where he got to explore the Japanese porn industry and its many contradictions.

However, it was a WOWOW show and there were no Japanese subs so no one subbed it at all. Everytime I mentioned Mosaic Japan, I would always say that if Japanese subs were available, I would sub the show.

Then one day, Dark_Schneider_Py wrote in the comments that he had access to the Japanese subs and would we work on the subs together. It was time for me to walk the walk and finally sub something.

So Dark_SChneider_Py subbed episode 1 and I did a crappy job on episode 2 and since the end of the world is coming aka the closing of the d-addicts subtitle forum, we are releasing subs for the first two episodes.

Although I did a sub par job with episode 2, it still took a lot of time to do it. (I still translated things too literally) I won't be able to work on the rest of the series this year with JLPT N3 coming up soon but this is the first time I've contributed to the jdorama community besides retiming Japanese subs. You can get the subtitles from the d-addicts forum here. You need to be logged in to access it.

Highly recommend you watch this, I believe raws are available from avistaz and big thanks to Dark_Schneider_Py for making this possible!

D-addicts subtitles are going down!

Just saw on @keiko1981's twitter that d-addicts will be removing subtitles due to always getting DMCA notices. We got two weeks to download all subtitles so download all subtitles for all series that you might want to check out in the future.

The question is where do we go from here? If the fansub map is still around then maybe we can still have a point from which to look for subtitles. Would another forum be willing to host subtitles? There has to be a central source for which subbers can all upload their work or else its going to be very hard for the already niche jdorama audience to get their subtitles.

Hopefully jdorama fansubbing will survive and not be relegated to locked threads in livejournal. Need my Japanese subs for Takane no Hana.

Takane no Hana Episodes 5+6

After 6 episodes I still don't get Takane no Hana. So Kazunobu Mineta loses his virginity to Ishihara Satomi and the next thing we know they are getting married? Did I somehow skipped a couple of episodes where both people learned more about each other and went on dates and maybe an overseas trip?

We get some distractions like Ishihara Satomi finding out that her father was responsible for her fiancee leaving her and us viewers finding out who the dad was. Personally, if Ishihara Satomi's ex-fiancee was stupid enough to get caught then its on him. I find it difficult to care about the politics of this family that somehow has lots of money and followers by sticking flowers into pots.

Then at the end of episode 5 we have the evil father who Ishihara Satomi had told people not to trust tells her some story about her mother and how he did everything because of this promise to her mother and she buys it hook, line and sinker.

It is then we find out the whole point of this story which is that in order to fulfill her destiny and become a greater artist she must cause someone the same pain that she felt and the guilt will propel her to further artistic greatness or something like that.

Somehow, Kazunobu Mineta is aware of this and is happy to play the sacrificial lamb. To me, the relationship between Kazunobu and Ishihara did not develop to a point that it felt real and I could care. He at this point just feels like some self sacrificing idiot who I don't care about.

You know what's the worst thing? Kazanobu's character is playing along with this charade and at the very end when he is suppose to give Ishihara this look of anguish that will propel her to greater heights, he gives her a goofy grin so that she will spend the rest of her days wondering if he actually knew and why the hell he didn't do anything about it.

Maybe Kazunobu is not such a self sacrificing idiot after all. Maybe this is his reverse way to get Ishihara to think about him more. And now, she'll really never be able to forget him. I don't know. I still love Nojima Shinji's dialogue. Takane no Hana feels more like a play than a dorama series. I'm confused but I'll keep watching.

Gibo to Musume no Blues Episodes 1-6

WHAT IS IT?

Its a family dorama about this career woman played by Ayase Haruka who gets married to Takenouchi Yutaka who has a daughter and the story is about the relationship between stepmother and stepdaughter.

THE GOOD

+ I really liked Ayase Haruka's career women using her skills to try to navigate being a mother. She does a much better job of showing her 'salaryman-ness' compared to the main character in Youjo Senki who did not act much like a salaryman anyway. Anyway, its a fun spin on the housewife genre.

+ I really liked the Ayase Haruka vs PTA episode.


+ The daughter's relationship with Hiroki-kun is fun.

+ Daughter doesn't act like an adult in a kid's body.

+ Watching the influence that Ayase Haruka has on her daughter.

THE BAD

- No chemistry at all between Takenouchi Yutaka and Ayase Haruka.

- Ayase Haruka vs PTA was too short.

- Takenouchi Yutaka's character is too bland.

- Ayase Haruka still looks the same after the time jump.

THE UGLY

= Kenshin playing the stupid character who keeps screwing up his job. After 6 episodes, I am sick of him and do not like the fact he seems to play a big role in episode 7 and in the future. Is he going to be the one pop Ayase Haruka's cherry? Ugh. No thanks.

SUMMARY

Watchable show but I'm not too excited about its future.