Rewatching Rinjo seasons 1+2+The Last Answer

Whenever I review a police jdorama, I usually say at the end that it can't compare with the holy trinity of Gaiji Keisatsu, Gonzo and Rinjo.

A few weeks ago, I decided to rewatch the whole Rinjo series because it has been a while since I've seen it. I did a rereview of Episode 1 of Gaiji Keisatsu a few years ago and I feel like I should do it for every episode because it does so many things well that police jdoramas don't do.

As for Rinjo, it has been a long time since I saw it and I wondered whether it was as good as I remembered it?

The answer is yes. Season 1 is still must watch police/forensic dorama. The writing for season 1 is so solid and well done. Season 2 is not bad but bloody hell they should not have done a crappy movie to finish the story off. 

Rinjo The Last Answer feels like The Last of Us Part 2. Why ruin a great first season by doing a bad ending that tried to be too smart?

If you still have not seen Rinjo, I recommend you seek it out. First season is still must watch jdorama. Great cast, great acting and great writing.

Just stay away from the bloody The Last Answer movie. If only I could erase it from my memory. Maybe one day soon I will do a rewatch of Gonzo.

35-sai no shoujo episode 5 makes me uncomfortable

 

35-sai no shoujo is about a 10 year old girl Nozomi in the body of a 35 year old because she was in a coma for 25 years. I thought it was an interesting premise because it was about having to grow up mentally while in a mature body.

Nozomi used to have a crush on Yuto when she was back in primary school pre-coma and Nozomi continues to have feelings for him and episode 5 ends with 35 year old Yuto taking 10 year old Nozomi away from her mother because they want to be together.

It just feels so wrong. In anime they would often have a loli looking character but say that the character is creature who is 1000 years old so everything is legal. This is what is happening in 35-sai no shoujo. Nozomi is not legal just because her body is 35 years old. The 35 year old man is taking a 10 year old girl from her mother because he has groomed her in the belief that are should be together.

For argument's sake let's say Nozomi character has mentally matured two years in the space of a few months. Even then, she is way too immature to be consenting to anything. Yes because of her childishness/straightforwardness Nozomi can say and see things that adult's cannot but that does not make her mature enought to be in a consenting relationship with an adult.

This issue of Nozomi's mental age would be more interesting if her relationship with Yuto got deeper in a few years. How would one decide what her mental age was? However, as of episode 5, is clear from the dorama that Nozomi is very far from mature and more towards primary school than middle school and the balance of power between Nozomi and Yuto just screams child grooming.

Plage jdorama review

WOWOW has done it again. Plage (pronounced puraajyu) is show about people with criminal records. Hoshino Gen is the main character who through bad luck finds himself taking drugs. Having a criminal records means he loses his job and friends and has to move to a share house called Plage because people with priors have nowhere to go.

Hoshino Gen's character can be annoying with his naivety but it is through his eyes that we meet the other residents of Plage and also it gives him more room to grow.

WOWOW has assembled a great cast of actors with Ishida Yuriko, Naka Riisa, Nakamura Yuri and Shibukawa Kiyohiko. Just top notch acting and you will laugh and cry and be shocked and angry with these characters.

Plage deals with the questions of do people with criminal records deserve to be happy and have a chance at life? Should they be exposed or left alone after they have done their time and what of the family of victims?

You will fall in love with the characters in Plage and when the last episode happens you will be sitting on the edge of your seats in suspence. 

Word of warning,  Plage is very harsh and confronting and there are scenes that will make you wince and mainstream Japanese tv will never do.

I will have to redo my Hamsapsukebe Jdorama Awards 2017 because this show is a must watch and deserves to be in the top 5 for 2017. Thanks to aoinousagi for subbing 2-5. If you like dark doramas that will put you through the emotional wringer, Plage is the show for you. Must watch.

Shichinin no Hisho Episodes 1~3

 

When I started episode 1 of Shichinin no Hisho, I got very excited when I found out the concept: seven secretaries working for various important people in Tokyo working together for whatever reason.

My mind was racing imagining all sorts of information sharing and behind the scenes conspiracies.

Alas, Shichinin no Hisho is very different from what I imagined. Its about seven secretaries who despite their busy jobs have the time to go undercover for long periods and actually work together in the open to bring justice to very bad people.

This tells you that you have to turn of your brain completely to watch this show. If you want to leave your brain on, go watch Siren no Zange.

However, Shichinin no Hisho has two things going for it. First is that Hirose Arisu is pretty funny as the dumb secretary who gets helped by the group and just invites herself to their activities.

Second is that the bad people are really bad and you want to see them get taken down. I've probably said this before but what separates overacting bad guys from shows like Shichinin no Hisho and Hanzawa Naoki is that Shichinin no Hisho does not take itself too seriously.

The gimmick is that Eguchi Yosuke aka An-chan from Under the Same Roof is the boss of the secretaries who all owe him money and he runs a ramen shop. Its not a good show by any stretch but I kind of enjoyed episode 3 because it dealt with racism in Japan without spelling things out. Barely watchable in my book but some people might enjoy this a lot more.

Shinya Shokudo season 5 aka Midnight Diner Tokyo Stories 2

I did not realise that Netflix had released season 5 last year until someone asked for where to download season 4. I looked for season 5 on a whim and lo and behold, there it was. Thank you anonymous for asking the about season 4. 2019 was a packed year for great jdoramas and Shinya Shokudo 5 makes it even better.

If you've never seen this series, stop reading and start watching! For those who have seen the previous five seasons and two movies, it is more of the same which is heart warming chicken soup for the soul with lots of recurring characters.

You will laugh and you will cry and I can't believe they put the very best episode as the first one. My favourite episodes are the first one about the red jacket guy and the episode about the seiyuus. 

I can't give season 5 a must watch cause there are not enough very good episodes but the quality is still better than most. Very, very watchable and out on Netflix.

Hohoemu Hito

Hohoemu Hito is a jdorama special that came out this year that had been sitting in hard disk for a long time until I was randomly looking for something to watch and gave it a go. I only remembered that I downloaded it for Ono Machiko.

The dorama special is about Nito played by Matsuzaka Tori, a father who is accused of killing his wife and daughter next to a river and Ono Machiko is the reporter Kamoi who takes an interest in a case. 

The beginning of the dorama special is a bit weird in that we are dropped straight into the court case before we are told who our two main characters are.

However as Kamoi gets deeper into her investigation of Nito, the tension really ramps up and I remember thinking the writing of this psychological thriller is really good. 

This script deserves a movie budget and it could have been a must watch movie. The script is tight and goes into the mind of a person who could be a killer and I shall say no more because its best to watch Hohoemu Hito without any knowledge.

I think its still a pretty good jdorama special and very much worth watching. Almost must watch level IMHO. The subs are available at d-addicts and raw at nyaa.

Gokushufudo Episodes 1~3

 

Tamaki Hiroshi was getting beat up by yakuza in Ryuu no Michi, now he plays an ex-yakuza in Gokushufudo. 

The catch is that he is now a house husband who is very good at his work.

The concept kind of reminds me of one of my favourite mangas, Angel Densetsu where high school kid with the face of a demon is always mistaken for a yankee. The question is how many interesting ways can Gokushufudo milk this househusband concept.

Gokushufudo certainly made me laugh here and there but half the time I was pretty restless watching the 3 episodes. Reason no.1 is that I couldn't give a damn about the 3 people in the above picture who make up Tamaki Hiroshi's former useless clan.

No.2 is that 45 minute episodes are too long for a gag jdorama. The pacing is too slow between jokes.

Gokushufudo should be much funnier but I could not finish episode 3 and I don't feel like watching the next one.

Maybe it gets better later but I don't feel like hanging around to find out. Tamaki Hiroshi does a great job but it feels like something is missing. Gokushufudo is not as fun as it should be. Meh. I got the show hardsubbed from Blitz but I believe someone on d-addicts is subbing as well.

Siren no Zange Episode 1

Wow. It has been a while that a first episode has gotten me really excited. Siren no Zange is of course a WOWOW production Araki Yuko from Suits. More importantly, the writer Shinozaki Eriko wrote Hanzai Shokogun, Good Wife and Saka no Tochu no Ie. On the other hand she also did Ryu no Michi so temper your expectations a bit.

Araki Yuko plays a report for Afternoon Japan and the show is in dire straits because they have broken the journalistic rules twice. A kidnapping of a female high school student happens and the police asks all the media to hold off doing anything to not interfere and protect lives. Unfortunately Araki Yuko and Afternoon Japan do not do so and there are consequences to pay.

Love the script of episode 1. It is basically a discussion about the role of journalist vs police trying to do their job. From the police perspective, media would do minimal reporting until an investigation is complete because releasing of information might interfere with an investigation, particularly when information is wrong.

On the other hand, the mass media believe that people have the right to know. They have the right to be outraged and put pressure on the police to be swift. The world of ratings is cutthroat and just reading aloud police news briefings will not bring in the bread.

I love shows where there are no easy answers and shows that show why rules are there in the first place. I can feel the confidence in the script and the execution for Siren no Zange. WOWOW have also surrounded Araki Yuko with a bunch of good actors including of course Takashima Masanobu aka Moriyama sensei from Doctors.

Fingers crossed my WOWOW senses are correct and Siren no Zange will end up a very good show. The raw from Siren no Zange is up on nyaa and the subs are by HPriest at d-addicts.

35-sai no Shoujo Episodes 1+2

I don't normally go for Shibasaki Kou doramas but she did a great job with Saka no Tochuu no Ie that she is no longer in my actresses to avoid list. If you have not seen, Saka no Tochuu no Ie, I strongly recommend you seek it out as the writing is ace.

35-sai no Shoujo is the story of a 10 year old girl Nozomi waking out of a coma and finding herself in a 35 year old body. Her parents are old and divorced and her sister is in her 30s and her crush is a former school teacher.

I rather enjoyed the first two episodes and I feel the concept has many elements to explore such as Shibasaki Kou's character Nozomi has to grow up a lot in a short amount of time. Normally we would measure that in years and that is by going to school and interacting with similar aged kids but what can a 10 year old in an adult body do?

How long will it take Nozomi to integrate into society? Is having the mental ability of a 10 year old mean that she is disabled? How much longer are her parents obligated to care for her? She would need to finish her middle school degree to get jobs.

I like the character of Hirose Yuto, Nozomi's crush. He is a character who is a nice person but has become disillusioned with society and Nozomi's innocence reminds Yuto of the hope that he once had.

So far, the first two episodes are watchable and it has the potential to be a fun series. 35-sai no Shoujo has a kind of early 2000s jdorama flavour. Forgot to mention, love seeing Suzuki Honami as the mom.