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.

Dakara Korosenakatta jdorama review

WOWOW has done it again with the exciting 5 episode series Dakara Korosenakatta (Therefore I could not kill). Tamaki Hiroshi stars as the newspaper journalist Ippongi who one day write an article about a painful incident in his past under instruction of his boss played by Watabe Atsuro.

Some time later, a letter is posted to Ippongi, purportedly from a serial killer who has already committed a bunch of crimes. The serial killer wants his letters published on the threat of more murders and wants Ippongi to debate the killer in the newspaper.

So begins an exciting mystery thriller as we are introduced to a bunch of potential villains. One can never trust a Watabe Atsuro since Gaiji Keisatsu and the newspaper gained a lot from the letters and publicity.

Dakara Korosenakatta  has a bunch of people who could potentially have motive for murder without trying to hard to make everyone look guilty like Shinhanin Flag and I enjoyed the tight pace of the story.

Newspapers have the duty to report the truth but do they have the obligation to publish the writings of a serial murderer? Is it in the public interest to publicize a killer's writings and give him the audience he wants? Is it ok for the newspaper to profit from death and what responsibility to they have if the exchanges incite more murders? 

I saw some twists coming but I definitely did not see the final twist. It really doesn't matter if you as the audience as guessed the truth as the steps that the main character gets to the truth and reaction are more important.

Great job by WOWOW. Nearly must watch for me but definitely very watchable with great productions values as usual. Thanks to ryuchi for subbing!

Harekon episodes 1~4

Harems are the staple of Japanese anime. What if the main character of a harem is not the generic guy but the third wife?

That is the story of Harekon about a town where polygamy is allowed. 

Shimazaki Haruka leaves Tokyo and moves back home only to discover that her parents are heavily in debt.

This guy with possibly the worst wig in all of jdoramaland offers to pay her debt but Shimazaki Haruka has to become his 3rd wife.

I was not expecting much from Harekon but there is an obvious lack of fan service and humour.

Harekon is based on a manga and I would expect at least Shimokita Glory days sexual innuendo and humour or least some exciting stuff but Harekon is just sterile and unexciting. What is the point of a midnight dorama being so tame?

There are hints of sensuality from the manga but the dorama is so tame it is boring. What happened to funny midnight doramas like 2nd house?

My expectations were so low and I wanted Harekon to be ok but its soooo boring. Avoid.

Soredemo Ai wo Chikaimasu ka? Episodes 6~10.

 

I really wanted to like Soredemo Ai wo Chikaimasu ka? very much because of the cast. The story had some interesting elements but it was neither funny nor exciting and the half arse no ending just killed it for me.

Since this is base on a manga, surely it did not end in the same way? It feels like someone sprinkled all the elements of an affair dorama but did not know how to write an exciting second half and just did nothing.

I really like it when supporting actors get their chance to shine but Soredemo Ai wo Chikaimasu ka? ends up being a bore and I urge you to stay away. 

Shimobee Episodes 1~4

Shimobee is what happens when you turn Doraemon into Yasuda Ken and Nobita into Shiraishi Sei.

If you are not familiar with Doraemon, its an anime about a magic cat from the future who gives young lad Nobita a bunch gadgets. Nobita always ends up taking shorcuts with the gadgets and learning life lessons by the end of an episode. 

Shimobee is similar to Doraemon with Yasuda Ken being a non verbal guy who gets summoned by an app on Shiraishi Sei's phone who can do some super human stuff. Just like Nobita, Shiraishi Sei learns life lessons about not taking shortcuts, not giving up etc etc as well as your assortment of high school problems.

Shimobee is not particularly funny but I am enjoying the cast, especially with Akiko Yada as Shiraishi's mom. I feel so old now that Akiko Yada is playing mum roles. It seemed like only a few years ago when she was in Yamato Nadeshiko and Last Christmas.

Yasuda Ken is the perfect actor to play the non verbal Shimobee. If there is someone in jdorama land who can emote without talking, it is him.

Of course, the mystery of the show is who is Shimobee's true identity and what is his connection with Shiraishi Sei. Watchable if you like the cast and thanks to Monchi for subbing!

Iribito jdorama review

Iribito is the most beautiful jdorama I can remember the last few years, probably since Kenja no Ai. 

Watching Iribito I am impressed by how much effort has gone into the stunning visuals. 

I must be sad that Kyoto is already beautiful so that's half the work done but the director's use of shadows and some of his camera work were very good, especially making the sinister undertones in the story.

Takahata Mitsuki (Kahogo no Kahoko) plays Naho who is a pregnant deputy director of an art gallery. She leaves Tokyo for Kyoto and there sees a painting by an unknown artist Shirane Tatsuru who turns out to be the only student of the influential Shozan sensei and is drawn to this artist.

Naho wants to help Shirane debut but she soon finds out that people have a way of doing things in Kyoto and the price might be very steep. Naho's husband who runs his own gallery might no be so supportive.

Iribito is a very slow dorama. The visuals kept me entertained until the revelations started happening in the second half of the show.

I like Iribito but I don't really love it. Feels like they could have easily chopped it into a 2 hour movie.

I also didn't really care about the story especially the final twist. I guess that was the whole point of the story but I don't know. I felt like the story didn't need it.

The visuals of Iribito are top class but the storyline is just decent and I am a bit indifferent to it. 

It all adds up to a very watchable WOWOW dorama. Thanks to aoinousagi for subbing! Iribito is a jdorama about paintings that has visuals like a painting.

Mikkoku wa Utau jdorama review

 

The first episode is very confusing. I know its a police show but there is a lot of standing around and stalking people and conversations that I was not sure about. Matsuoka Masahiro's acting also seemed a bit wooden and I thought this might the first meh WOWOW show in a long time.

Anyway, got to episode 2 and the story was clearer. Mikkoku wa Utau is an infernal affairs show. The tension of the show is who can you really trust and who is telling the truth. The only character we know is clean is Sara played by Matsuoka Masahiro.

There's this story about how everyone blames Sara for his colleague's death blah blah but because no one says why you know its your typical Japanese bullying storyline. Even when the truth was revealed I kept thinking why would anyone think it is Sara's fault anyway?

I enjoyed the tension as Sara's investigation got deeper and watching him slowly put all the clues together.

Another thing I enjoyed was Ikeda Tetsuhiro as Suga, Sara's partner in internal affairs. We always see him play silly characters and it fun to see him play a completely serious one. I also enjoyed how we are slowly feed Suga's backstory without any confirmation whether they are true.

Internal affair stories are not that common in jdoramas and I enjoyed the tension of this whodunnit and the pacing of the revelations as opposed to something like Shinhannin Flag which just drags on and on and gets sillier by the episode.

Mikkoku wa Utau starts of confusing but by the end I enjoyed the ending and hope WOWOW can do a sequel. Watchable and thanks to HPriest for subbing and uploading the raws!

13 (Thirteen) Jdorama review

Need more Sakuraba Nanami jdoramas but she doesn't seem the be in many shows. Last show I saw her in was the meh Dream Team. 13 is a remake of a BBC show about a girl who was kidnapped and then turns up 13 years later with lots of unanswered questions about her disappearance. I have not seen the BBC original so I can't comment how good it is.

Subject matter wise, 13 an interesting show. How does a family reintegrate someone who was taken from them as a child and is now an adult. How does a woman who has PTSD and respond to her family and normal life? The police are unable to get much information from Sakuraba Nanami and is it PTSD or is she hiding something?

Execution-wise, 13 is a big flat. Acting quality is up and down. Directing is pedestrian. I can't help thinking WOWOW would have done a much better job. I also didn't like that the police seemed too incompetant.

Thanks to Irozuku fansubs for subbing and you can get the hardsubs from their website here. Meh from me and only for fans of Sakuraba Nanami. The four episodes pass pretty quick so if you want a quick mini series to watch that doesn't suck, 13 might just be for you.