Final Fantasy 14: Daddy of Light Episodes 1-4

My must anticipated jdorama of the season and it does not disappoint. The plot is simple. Son does not have a close relationship with his father, Osugi Ren who just retired but introduces him to Final Fantasy 14 as a means to get close to his father.

My favourite thing in this show is about how problems that Osugi Ren encounters in the game are used to solve real life problems that the son faces. For example, in episode 2, the Osugi Ren declares that he is quitting FF14 and the reason he gives is a hoot but so Japanese and it helps the son solve this problem at work.

Daddy of Light is simple, not preachy because of the runtime and gamers will totally enjoy the Final Fantasy music and real life gaming experiences. Most of all, the characters feel real and relatable compared to stupid shows like Tokyo Tarareba Musume.

Daddy of Light is not available for non-Japanese Netflix at the moment. I've been watching at jplovetv. If you've got basic Japanese, I'd encourage you to give it a go. (Its called Hikari no Otousan) Who knows how long the links will stay up.

On the whole, a very watchable show I would equate to nice, warm chicken soup.

Onna no Naka ni Iru Tanin

Based on a 1966 movie, The Stranger within a Woman is about a wife (Tanuma Yuriko) who finds out her husband has accidentally killed his lover who happens to be the wife of his best friend and instead of leaving him, helps cover up the crime to protect their family.

I was really attracted to the premise of this show. Anything dark and nihilistic is right up my alley. Unfortunately, I did not like the execution very much. Firstly, its very soap opera-ish. Not just the acting but also things like characters doing inner monologues out loud and directing style.

Secondly, the pacing is too slow and 7 episodes is too long for a movie adaptation. They presumably added the subplot about the wife's old best friend but it just distracts from the main story which is the psychological breakdown of the husband and the wife who wants to save her family at all cost.

I still finished Onna no Naka ni iru Tanin. I haven't watched a jdorama with Japanese subs in a while its great for Japanese study. Thanks to keiko1981 for timing the subs. The show can be downloaded from the private tracker AOX. Other than watching a show with Japanese subs, I would not go out of my way to watch it. I just feel WOWOW would have done a much better job with this adaptation. Meh.

Nyaa is dead! Long Live Nyaa!

As everyone on the internet knows by now, the biggest free anime tracker nyaa is gone because a Dutch court ruled that fansubbing is illegal. While nyaa was mostly known as an anime tracker, it was also a great source for jdoramas, jmovies and raw manga.

I had a whole bunch of jdoramas and movies that I was procrastinating on downloading before nyaa got taken down. Where else can I download raws for 100man en no onna tachi?

While this is ruling is for the Netherlands, who knows whether other countries will follow suit? There are so many questions to be answered. If a fansub was created outside the Netherlands but hosted on a server in the country, would the host be liable? What if three different people were involved in the creation of a subtitle; the translator, timer and editor and the timer lived in the Netherlands?

Fansubs are such a grey area of the law that I don't think most courts would want to make a ruling on it. The best way for rights holders to get their money is not going after fans but by making their product cheaper and easier to get. (I'm looking at you amazon.jp and your digital mangas)

Goodbye nyaa. Now that you are gone, I miss you so much. :(

Where to download jdoramas now?

Once upon a time, a jdorama addict could get all the shows from the d-addicts tracker. Unfortunately one day it had to close and we had to download our shows from multiple places:

1) jdramacity - Only 'popular' shows were uploaded and only those which someone was subbing. Looks like its not active for this season.

2) doramax265 - My favourite place because it had a lot of movies as well and I liked the smaller file sizes. Unfortunately inactive since a few months ago.

3) doramax264 - Too many ads attacking you left and right. Tried once, never again.

4) nyaa - Currently the main one. Doesn't have everything and uploads are a bit slow.

5) avistaz - Better for movies and only has mainstream jdoramas.

6) aox.to - The new private tracker that is currently open for registration this weekend only! Make sure to get in! Only place to get Onna no Naka Iru Tannin!

7) Chinese streaming sites like 7tv7dorama.blog - Only place to watch shows like Daddy of Light. I have to physically block the Chinese subs on the screen with a piece of paper as its annoying.

How Crisis Episode 1 completely lost me with its first action scene.

Crisis starts off with terrorists wanting to kill a minister on a shinkansen. First off, I like that they've gone with a more Jason Bourne fighting style instead of the usual tokusatsu style where bad guys just throw themselves on the ground left and right.

Very happy to see an armbar and someone's arm getting snapped.

So bad guy still has the bomb set to a timer that is going to blow. Oguri Shun presses the emergency stop button on the Shinkansen and open the door overlooking a river.

He takes the terrorist and bag with bomb and jumps into the river TOGETHER!!!!

There's a freaking explosion followed by stirring music.....

.... and Oguri Shun is alive!!!!! WTF????? Do they not learn physics in Japan or have any common sense? No freaking human being can survive a blast next to a bomb underwater! The freaking shockwave should have destroy all four of their the lungs. Seriously, Oguri Shun should have just thrown the bomb out.

But no. Action jdoramas priorities trying to look cool at all costs to the point of stupidity. I couldn't even be bothered continuing. I just cannot effing stand this! I feel like rewatching Gaiji Keisatsu to wash off this stupidity.

What jdoramas should I watch next? (Spring 2017)

FINAL FANTASY XIV: DADDY OF LIGHT

I'm going to pay for one month of Netflix to watch this. Osugi Ren plays MMO with son without knowing its his son. As someone once told me, its better to keep your expectations low so you won't be disappointed but as long as its not too cheesy, Osugi Ren can carry this show.

CRISIS

Oguri Shun and Nishijima Hidetoshi by the writer of the incredible jdorama Border. Unfortunately, he also wrote the very boring SP. I'm not expecting Border level must watch quality but as long as its not SP level try to hard to be cool, I'll be happy.

REVERSE

FujiTatsu and Toda Erika with FujiTatsu playing a character who might be a murderer. How much you want to bet every character in this show has something to hide? Worth giving a try I guess.

HANZAI SHOKUGUN

Could this be the must watch show of the season?

KONO YO NI TAYASUI SHIGOTO GA NAI

ManoEri's first starring role. She doesn't have it but as a fan of her odoru days, I'll give it a shot.

CHIISANA KYOJIN

Yet another cop show about how ineffective the police organisation is and I'm guessing Hasegawa Hiroki's character is disliked by everyone. I would normally avoid it but I'll give it a go just for the cast. I have completely no expectations for this show.

Jdorama ramblings 14/4/2017

OKAASAN, MUSUME WO YAMETE II DESU KA? Eps 7+8

Surprisingly watchable series that I saw through the end and I didn't even mind Haru who was not miscast unlike in Border. Ho-hum ending but I did not skip any scenes. Good show for watching with Japanese subs.

SHIKAOTOKO AONIYOSHI

This show has been on my rewatch list for a long time and I finally rewatched the whole thing. I wanted to see whether it would stand the test of time and I stand by my review back in 2008! I enjoyed watching Shikaotoko a second time because I still remembered the ending and I could pick up on all the clues. If you have not seen this show, its a must watch and worth putting up with the slow pace of the first half.

YUUSHA YOSHIHIKO TO MICHIBIKARESHI SHICHININ Ep 6.

Zzzzzzzz. I give up. It just feels so repetitive and I don't even give a crap about the Lupin parody.

SUPER SALARYMAN SANAE-SHI Ep 5 

I give up as well and its by the same writer as Yuusha Yoshihiko. His brand of humour is very hit and miss for me. If you want to watch a truly fun salaryman comedy, watch Salaryman Kintaro.

THRILL! AKA AND KURO NO SHO Eps 3

Give up. Its got none of the charm of Trick and I lasted so far just for Mano Erina. Speaking of Mano Erina, she got to no.1 on the LINE blog rankings or something and now she's just spamming way too many updates on her LINE account. I am so close to deleting her.

A Silent Voice / Koe no Katachi jmovie review

I first heard about Koe no Katachi last year because it won a whole bunch of manga awards. Intrigued, I read through the whole manga a deaf girl Shoko and her tormentor in primary school Shoya. I wasn't impressed with the manga because it felt like a typical teen angst, everyone has a secret burden style typical story.

However, the movie is a different animal because it does one important thing to the manga's story; it had to distill the 7 volume movie into 2 hours and cut out all the fat and concentrated the story on Shoko and Shoya instead of everyone's sob story. A Silent Voice is one of those rare times when an adaptation has truly improved on the original source material.

With all the unnecessary stuff trimmed out, I found myself having a greater appreciation of the two main characters. Shoko who wants so hard to be accepted that she blames herself for everything and Shoya who is burdened by his sins and cannot face the world.

Its easy to compare A Silent Voice to Your Name / Kimi no na wa with both being high school movies about a boy and a girl and both being released close to each other but A Silent Voice is a lot heavier and more psychological.

An interesting note about the sound design, during the movie I was thinking about how the music throughout the movie seemed muted and how it would have benefited from a more jpop soundtrack but when the last scene came, I understood that the muted music was intentional and it was a brave sacrifice in order to tell the story better.

Bravo to the people who did the adaptation and they've certainly turned an ok manga into a must watch movie. A Silent Voice is now showing in Australian cinemas.

Ubai Ai, Fuyu Episodes 1+2

Ubai Ai, Fuyu is the trashy 'adult' show of the season and man is it trashy. The acting is horrible, there is no chemistry between the leads whatsoever and the dialogue is cringeworthy.

I think I might be developing a megane fetish.

Mizuno Miki's protrayal of the evil, crippled woman who entrapped Kurashina Kana's ex in a marriage is so over the top its almost comedic.

I love yaeba!

There are basically no redeeming qualities to this show unless you want to watch something so bad its almost comical. Ubai Ai Fuyu is a soap opera so soapy you'll feel like taking a bath after watching it. Avoid.

Quartet Episodes 9+10

1) Matsu Takako has basically guaranteed herself the best actress award from 2017 The only way she would lose is if Mitsushima Hikari or Ando Sakura played the lead role in another Sakamoto Yuji dorama this year.

2) Its nice to see Sakamoto Yuji return to form after that oversentimental Itsuka Kono Koi wo Omoidashite kitto Naite Shimau. While we're on that subject, can some Japanese politician please pass a law restricting the number words possible in a jdorama title?

3) While Quartet is a masterpiece, its still not in the rarified stratosphere of instant classic titles like Soredemo Ikite Yuku or KDO.

4) I would rank Quartet among Sakamoto Yuji's best works below Soredemo Ikite Yuku and Mosaic Japan and above everything else including Last Christmas, Woman, Mother, Chase, Itoshi Kimi E, Saikou no Rikon and Tokyo Love Story. That is a crazy good body of work that any writer would kill to have. Maybe I should give Mondai no Aru restaurant another go? Nah.

5) I love how Suzume shrugs her shoulders after getting a hug from Arisu as if to nulify it.

6) The humour in Quartet is perfect. Its not dumb anime humour but rather smart wordplay jokes that reveal so much about the characters and I love how the jokes always come full circle. Takahashi Issei's deadpan expressions are gold.

7) I love how the ending doesn't give closure to the romantic storylines because Quartet is ultimately about friendship.

8) I do not want a second season or a stupid dorama special. Please! Don't ruin is prefect jdorama!

9) I will never look at karaage with lemon and parsley the same way again.

10) How I hate that backstabbing, thieving Arisu who works at the restaurant. I can't believe the ending that Sakamoto Yuji gave her!

11) 10 episodes is just the magic number of episodes to spend time with these 4 wonderful people.

11) Quartet is a magical show about people trying to find their place in the world and do something meaningful and their friendship as they help and accept each other for who they are. If you are not watching Quartet, you don't deserve to be watching jdoramas.

Gantz : 0

I have been waiting for this for a long time and its finally here! As a Gantz manga fan, this CG movie scratches the Gantz itch for ordinary people being placed in crazy situations and doing extraordinary things. I was grinning ear to ear watching this movie based on the Osaka arc of the manga.

The important question is of course, can someone who has not read Gantz enjoy this movie? The answer is maybe as there are certain things which might be off putting to some people such as the portrayal of women in the movie. On the other hand, isn't it nice to have a movie where people don't just suddenly know how to fight just because they have super powers?

Newbies might find the characters a tad on the shallow side but for fans like me, I know the characters so well from the manga and its so good to see them in action. A lot of the characters' backstories are hinted at and its up to the uninitiated audience to pick up on it.

For fans like me, Gantz: 0 is a must watch. I enjoyed the movies but it did not have the dubget to bring to life all the crazy stuff we read in the manga. For the uninitiated, keep your expectations really low and hopefully you'll enjoy it enough to seek the manga. If you're not into beautiful women in tight leather outfits and crazy violent action, Gantz : 0 is not for you. Please excuse lack of screenshots as I often get in trouble with google copyright with anime stuff.

Thrill!! Aka no Sho and Kuro no Sho Eps 1+2

Thrill!! feels like the spiritual successor to Trick with its dry humour and similar characters. First, we have Komatsu Nana (Yume wo Ataereru) in the Nakama Yukie role an OL who works in the general department for the police. She's the smart character of the show and was raised by a swindler father so she is skilled in picking pockets and stuff like that.

Koide Keisuke is the Abe Hiroshi of the show as the not so smart but not so dumb cop who teams up with Komatsu Nana to solve the crimes. There chemistry is not really there for the four episodes so far but they are the central characters for the aka or red episodes.

In the Yabe Kenzo role is Yamamoto Koji as struggling lawyer with no scruples who is not that smart but knows how to run away. He is the highlight of the show for me because he is constantly being used by bad guys to commit crimes and in the end gets rejected by said bad guys when he offers to defend them.

The four episodes so far have been watchable but I'm not feeling the show because it needs more humour and chemistry between the two mains. I don't really remember the mysteries that got solved in Trick but I certainly remember all the bickering that Abe Hiroshi did with Nakama Yukie. I kind of feel the pacing is a bit slow and the episodes could have been trimmed by 5 minutes.

Watchable but I was doing other stuff while watching at the same time.

Why Quartet episodes 6 and 7 are must watch

1) Sakamoto Yuji might be the greatest jdorama writer ever. He bloody gets character.How the hell did he managed to think of these four quirky characters put them together and make them so fun.

2) Episode 6 with the story of Maki's marriage is just so beautiful and sad and completely fits her character.

3) Episode 7 dinner table scene. Very, very few people can create those excruciating scenes like in Soredemo Ikite Yuku and Woman where you are holding your breath, feeling tension emanating from the screen except this time, its a melancholic climax where the only thing that happens is acceptance and it is beautiful.

4) Matsu Takako is almost a shoo in for the Hamsapsukebe best actress award. I would love to see someone beat her though.

5) Everyone ignoring Beppu's pun at the end of episode 7.

6) Matsu Takako imitating Mitsushima Hikari.

If you're not watching Quartet, something is wrong with you!

Okaasan, Musume wo Yamete ii desu ka? Episodes 1-6

I was going to ignore 'Mom, May I quit being your daughter' because of Haru. I hated her casting in Border as she was way too young to be playing a coroner. I just hate the way jdoramas always age down their characters to the point of unbelievability and it told me that Haru is just another overpushed actress. Bframe told me that Musume wo yamete was not bad and I gave it a shot.

WHAT I LIKED

+ Its a psychological show about a mom and daughter who are too relient on each other. Daughter lives to please mother and looks at her mom's face before making decisions while mom encourages such behaviour and treats her like a doll.

+ Its an analogy of Japanese society in that its about trying to hard to please other people and putting up with things to the point of putting on too much stress on oneself.

+ The father's company wants to get rid of him and puts him in a room with other colleagues doing menial jobs, trying to get them to quit out of boredom. I've read about such things in the news but its the first time I've seen it in jdoramas that I can remember.

+ The parallel between Haru's story and her student's.
.
+ The acting is not bad. Nothing to complain about.

+ Get to see how Japanese actually learn English in class and it explains a lot of things. lol

Can't believe Japanese students are learning what Australia Day is for (question 3). I'm pretty sure most Aussies don't even know.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

- This 'wall' appears in episode 6 and I did not buy the build up.

- Not confident in the ending despite liking the characters.

THE UGLY

= They managed to make the Smurfs Lullaby into such an ominous song. :)

VERDICT

Surprisingly watchable. Let's see where the last two episodes go.