Izakaya Shinkansen Episodes 1~5

Izakaya Shinkansen combines two of my favourite things about Japan, food and bullet trains!  It is about a salaryman Takamiya who travels on shinkansens a lot and takes the time to gather the local food from whatever stop he is at.

Back in the pre-covid days I loved getting food from train stations and 551 Horai was my favourite from Shin Osaka. Waiting for shinkansen was never boring because you could walk around the station and look at various local foods.

Takamiya goes a step further and actually runs around the cities looking for the perfect food and drink for his izakaya. OK, Izakaya Shinkansen is basically and advertisement for various food stores but I am not complaining. I love that the first two episodes were about Aomori and Sendai, the last two places I went back in 2019 before the pandemic.

What I don't like is Takamiya spends a lot of time on his phone taking pictures and chatting with his online friends about the food etc. The 22 minute runtime just feels too long compared to Nihon Boro Yado Kiko which was just right.

I feel like Izakaya Shinkansen should be 15 minutes instead of 22. It would have cut out the fat and would have been easier to watch.  I think I will finish Izakaya Shinkansen but it will be slowly. I just zone out every time the sns chats happen. Meh.

Nihon Boro Yado Kiko

 

Nihon Boro Yado Kiko is about two things. First, it is about a one hit wonder singer trying to make a living travelling around the Japanese countryside with his with his manager.

Instantly you are cheering for this underdog character and his manager and be the end you will be hooked on the song Tabibito whether you like it or not.

The second element of Nihon Boro Yado Kiko is of course, the old and run down ryokans or inns that our main characters stay in.

The manager played by Fukagawa Mai loves retro stuff and worn down ryokans and inns.

For me, Nihon Boro Yado Kiko is a very nostalgic show because I have stayed in plenty of places in Japan that look like they were from the 80s.

For someone who grew up on Japanese tokusatsu as a child and travelled all over Japan, this show evokes so many feelings.

 

When I travel to Japan I want to stay in hotels and ryokans that look like it did back in the bubble era and not something new. Can't believe its been more than 2 1/2 years since we were back in Japan!

The best thing about the show is that the run time is about 23 minutes. Not too long to overstay the welcome. The only bad thing is that the files are 1.7gb per episode!

I think this show is not for everyone. If you like retro Japanese buildings and an easy to watch underdog story, then give Nihon Boro Yado Kiko. Huge thanks to HPriest for subbing and uploading the videos. 

Hamsapsukebe jdorama awards 2021

Edit: Had to remove the Journalist since it is a 2022 show and not 2021 and promoted Ore no Ie no Hanashi to top 5 list. Thanks to Anonymous for pointing that out.

Ladies and gentlemen, sorry to keep you waiting as once again we celebrate jdorama excellence from 2021. I meant to do this way earlier but this game called Elden Ring came out and has destroyed whatever free time my partner and I have. 2021 seems like a long time ago but looking back at my posts I really think 2021 might be the greatest year in terms of jdorama quality since I have been the Hamsapsukebe awards. 

There were a lot of good quality shows in 2021 that were near the border of must watch and we have 9 must watch shows! 9 must watch shows for a year is crazy! For the first time ever I had to water that down to 5 best jdoramas of 2021. I think listing all 9 shows is too much and its better to have 5 shows to remember the year with and I really had a difficult time and kept changing my mind.

BEST ACTOR

TAKEUCHI YUTAKA (SAMAYOU YAIBA)

I thought this was Suda Masaki's award for most of the year and then I saw Takeuchi Yutaka's unforgettable performance in Samayou Yaiba.

BEST ACTRESS

ARIMURA KASUMI (Konto ga Hajimaru and Zenkamono)

She deserves the award for both show. Great performances and great shows and her agent deserves kudos for getting her great roles. Hada Michiko was awesome in Cold Game as well.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

HASHIZUME ISAO (Tokkai)

I love him as the boss who knows how difficult his job is what he is asking from his subordinates but does it because it is the right thing to do.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

TODA ERIKA (Ore no Ie no Hanashi)

BEST FEEL GOOD DORAMA

MUSHOBOKE

DORAMA THAT MADE ME LAUGH THE MOST

BANK OVER!

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

DCU

5 BEST JDORAMAS OF 2021

Special mention: Iribito, Mikoku wa Utau, Hakozume, Mushoboke, Tokkai, Cold Game, Dragon Zakura S2, Zenkamono and Nile Perch no Joshikai

5. ORE NO IE NO HANASHI

4. KONTO GA HAJIMARU

3. KAREI NARU ICHIZOKU

2. SHITTERU WIFE

1. SAMAYOU YAIBA

Shimobee Episodes 4~8

Shimobee turned out to be more enjoyable than I had expected. I was a bit worried about the Shimobee's true identity and how they would make it work.

I think the show did a great thing by not trying to explain everything about Shimobee and just concentrated about the ending which was pretty decent.

After all, this is a show about a Doraemon who can be summoned with a smartphone application. Accepting the premise is part of watching the show.

I love it when a show has a cast that I like doesn't suck. *cough DCU cough*

Watchable show if you are after a feel good Doraemon show with how school characters. If you are after something light and fluffy, Shimobee is for you. Thanks to Monchi for subbing.

Mukou no Hate jdorama review

First off, big thanks to Anonymous who commented in Soredemo Ai wo Chikaimasu ka? post about Mukou no Hate. I didn't know Mukou no Hate existed because I don't visit Jdrama Weblog much anymore and rely mostly on the subbing forum at d-addicts and and dramahd to keep me informed.

Mukou no Hate is classic WOWOW. Dark and moody with great acting. Matsumoto Marika plays Ikematsu Ritsuko who is charged with killing her childhood friend Kouhei with a knife to the stomach and she claims it was for insurance moey.

Prosecutor starts investigating Ritsuko and the men in her life and finds out that everyone has a different opinion on what sort of woman Ritsuko is. 

Matsumoto Marika is perfectly cast at Ritsuko. This mysterious and seemingly mad woman who has done a heinous crime, She is a riddle character as every man in her life that the prosecutor interviews slowly pulls back a curtain on who she really is.

The story goes back to Ritsuko's childhood in Aoimori where her father was a tsugaru singer and her friendship with two other boys. I enjoy the Aoimori-ben because it is different from the usual kansai-ben we see in jdoramas.

I had to get all the raws from JPTVT club and luckily they came with Japanese subs which made it easy to watch. Avistaz and dramahd only had episode one. Looks like luwuang has hardsubbed the whole series but you have to join the discord to get the links. Very watchable show for me with the caveat that its a pretty dark and depressing story so might no be to everyone's taste. 

Lover or Not season 2 jdorama review

The first seasons of Love or Not was an entertaining rom com because of its brevity and despite being cliched.

The second season continues after the happy ending of the first season and Motokariya Yuika wants to break up because of a stupid reason.

Love or Not season 2 feels like a sequel that was made for the sake of making one without having a compelling or funny story to tell.

Both main characters get new prospective partners but I was so bored with only the supporting characters to entertain me.

There was no need to break the main couple up in the first place and they could have done almost the same story while keeping the main characters together IMHO.

If you loved the first season or are curios keep your expectations low but for everyone else, meh and unnecessary sequel.

DCU jdorama review

The good news about DCU: Deep Crime Unit is that Abe Hiroshi and Nakamura Anne in a in big budget coast guard show. The bad news is its on TBS so the best we can hope for is Japan Sinks level which is watchable but nowhere near WOWOW quality.

There's a lot of diving in DCU which is great because normally in jdoramas its always abandoned warehouses so something different is nice. Abe's good friend who happens to be Nakamura Anne's older brother died mysterious years ago and Seno was rescued by Abe during the same incident is now in the DCU.

THE GOOD

+ DCU has a good cast and they try.

THE BAD

- I hate this guy playing the police officer overacting like an anime character.

- DCU has a very weak and unrealistic terrorist storyline. Everything Gaiji Keisatsu does right, DCU does wrong.

- I get confused about DCU jurisdictional boundaries. They can just do whatever they want.

- Idiot Seno character keeps suspecting Abe for stupid reasons and doesn't arrest terrorist on sight. I get that writer needs to create tension between characters but there are levels of stupidity that I cannot tolerate.

- Feels like they are writing the show around the locations like aquariums and onsens because they want some sort of diving in every episode. Since they are coast guards, how about more maritime incidents and crimes?

SUMMARY

I really wanted DCU to be Japan Sinks level of flawed but doesn't suck. Instead DCU is just boring and bad and falls flat on its ambitions. I don't know why I finished it but I there were parts that I skimmed especially the last episode. Avoid.