Woman ep 10

Damn you Sakamoto Yuji!! Why are you so good? Lol. There are a lot of elements in this episode which echo some points he made from his interview from Abiko. I still haven't gotten around to cleaning up the 2nd half of the first part of the interview. Will probably be up by Sunday night. The first half is a beautiful story about Nozomi knowing that her mother is sick and tying it back to the Uggikuku story.

Still don't see the point the welfare department father and Tanimura Mitsuki story. Will it turn out to be a genius sub story like Kaneda from KDO? Suzuki Rio who plays Nozomi is awesome and the script and directing really allow the scenes the breathe. She's the anti-Ashida Mana for me. Not trying too hard to be cute.

From ep 9 eye-opening (for me at least) realisation that Shiori was been trying to escape her guilt this whole time and doesn't know how to atone, we see her come face to face with the guy who pushed Oguri Shun. I was thinking if this is why Oguri Shun wasn't a chikan and something crazy happens, I'll take back everything I said.

Nothing crazy happens but it was more of a Shiori staring into a mirror scene. Its as if her asking the guy to come with her to see Koharu is Shiori telling herself she needs to be honest in her apology and that her previous apology was more of her being wrecked by guilt rather than a desire to atone. The mirror looks back at her and says 'it wasn't my fault'.

The biggest WTF this episode was how did Shiori's mom even knew where she was? From trying to run away from the problem, Shiro's mom has moved to 'you'll never be forgiven' and 'you need to think your life is over'. Big pendulum swing for me. Namakemono's answer is to face it head on while the mother's response went from denial to total surrender. Maybe it was her way of saying Shiori's life is no longer her own and she should go for the test to ensure that Koharu and kids have a chance to be happy.

The second half is a long and great family scene with Koharu coming clean to her kids about her illness. Its when Woman has simple scenes with great dialogue that I forget I'm watching a dorama. The end teaser looks like Shiori's bone marrow is not going to match. Maybe they want us to think that but I don't really care either way. Still not a fan of the leukemia angle and Oguri Shun having such a big role.

I still have my problems with this show but the execution in ep 10 is just beautiful. Whatever happens, I'll be watching for the acting and directing.

Hanzawa Naoki Eps 3-7

With the crazy ratings that Hanzawa Naoki is having, I had to try to continue the series after giving up on ep 3 due to the acting. I gave up on Japanese subs cause it just too difficult. Is this another Kaseifu no Mita, a horribly written and acted dorama that inexplicably managed to get golden era of Jdorama ratings or is it actually good? The answer lies somewhere in between.

THE GOOD

- Classic underdog put so many unfair challenges before him that the audience wants to see him win. Regardless of what I felt about the acting, I wanted to see Hanzawa turn the tables. The story on the whole is quite good.
- Hanzawa using his brains to win and not the believe in doing the right thing and good results will magically happen that we see too much of. More smart protagonists and less self righteous ones please.
- Hanzawa not forgiving his boss. At least it wasn't a straightforward bullshit turn over a new leaf ending.

THE BAD

- The overacting. I said in my previous review this is a banking anime and so many characters act like anime characters. Why???? This isn't a comedy like Doctors. When the mistress had to do some acting, OMFG of all the gravure idols in Japan they could have used.....
- We still have contrivances like Hanzawa's boss at the aquarium and daughter gives him origami crane and says shigoto ganbatte. I know what the writer wants to say but isn't there a less obvious way to do it? Oh wait, I don't think I've seen any subtle acting in this.
- Ueto Aya is a horrible casting choice for a housewife and the less said about her acting the better.

THE UGLY

- Kurosaki showing up at the end of episode 6 with even more overacting.Its as if the director told him to ham it up even more to make his character an even bigger threat or something. Is Kurosaki supposed to be funny because he's making faces all the time? Is this show suppose to be a comedy?

Exactly how I felt when I saw Kurosaki's overacting face.

SUMMARY

I can sort of understand why its so popular. Hanzawa Naoki is the new Salaryman Kintaro, the serious salaryman hero for this new era. I don't find the constant overacting lending itself to a banking dorama that takes itself seriously though. Watchable underdog story and I for one am glad its nowhere as bad as Mita. 

Sakamoto Yuji - Soredemo Ikite Yuku interview Part 1A

When Chuks posted the link to the Sakamoto Yuji interview in the comments section, I knew I had to translate this thing.  This is only half of the first part of the interview and it took me a couple of days and asking friends to help with bits and pieces. My Japanese is crap so lots of mistakes here and there. Its going to take me a while to translate the whole thing and I can't guarantee I'll do it.

I need to finish Zero no Kiseki so I can get straight on either Sora no Kiseki or Sen no Kiseki, can't decide which. This Eiyuu Densetsu series is the most wordy RPG I have ever played. If anyone's got any corrections, please let me know. If anyone with decent Japanese wants to translate the rest of the interview, even better!

'There is a killer, and then there is his sister'

Ekirebi!  Writer and mystery author Abiko Takemaru says Soredemo Ikite Yuku is as a once in 50 years masterpiece. Just recently the long-awaited DVD was released. Memories of the dorama’s script and actors have resurfaced. I requested to talk to screenwriter Sakamoto Yuji of this drama.  The very rich and interesting dialogue has been split into 4 parts.

Abiko: Last time there was no announcement of the DVD.  I thought this is a dorama that everyone should see.  So I wrote the previous review.

Sakamoto: I was encouraged by the review.

Abiko: Did you think about the bad ratings or small numbers? This time did you plan to do 11 chapters from the beginning?

Sakamoto. Yes. I did not want to do a shortened story.

Abiko:  As one would expect nothing was cut, but did the numbers had any effect at all on the fact there are no deleted scenes/extras and no announcement of the DVD.

Sakamoto: It seems there are no extras.  Extras not are necessarily influenced by ratings. Its an unfortunate consequence and I think the producer was sour about it.

Abiko: But with your previous work "Mother" had a considerable popularity.  Did you think any of the numbers would come out a little better?

Sakamoto: My job is not having to worry about the ratings while writing this and I'm not writing just for that.  Summer doramas are always very difficult in terms of ratings. Because it was summer, I I made a dorama about adventure.

Abiko: Didn't the DVD sell well?

Sakamoto: DVDs don't sell well in this era. Well, what can I do about it?  But there is an impression that sold well in comparison with the ratings for Mother.

Abiko: Eh? Mother had good ratings right?

Sakamoto: No, the ratings were not good. This is a part of the illusion since the ratings went up towards the end, but on average the ratings were low. Mother is an April program and Soredemo Ikite Yuku is a July program. Personally I don’t think there would changes. (in the ratings)

Abiko: There is a mistake putting it in the summer season?

Sakamoto: I can't deny that, it is evident that doramas don't rate well in summer. People are not at home because of the obon festival. Normally the numbers as a whole go down....

PAGE 2

We were prepared to from the very beginning for that.
 
Abiko: Dorama ratings in general have fallen, haven’t they?  Not to mention this time its also a dark dorama. I thought that it couldn’t be helped if I couldn’t get the numbers. Then later Kaseifu no Mita’s last episode got over 40%. I couldn’t believe it. An unbelievable rating appeared. I unexpectedly watched the whole of Kaseifu no Mita. I thought it was an overly simplistic and overly easy to understand dorama and no matter how you think about it, the story is nonsensical. Don’t you feel that compared to the old days, dorama making is about looking down on the viewers? Well, that could simply be my impression because of my old age.

Sakamoto:  I don’t think they treat the audience like idiots .  It is true that not easy to understand doramas and do not get ratings. TV is about ‘explain explain explain’: It’s the Mito Komon predetermined ending. I think Its not about writing for idiots but rather writing in good faith. (not sure about this one)

Akibo: About looking down (on the audience), don’t you think you have to do it or else they won’t understand?

Sakamoto: Even to make something that its very easy to understand requires much effort and devotion. Today’s doing variety and doramas today. Compared to the past, this business is more difficult.  In the past planning and scripts are less detailed, photos were simply taken. Now its ‘ you have come all the way here’ or ‘use that hand or this hand’. There is no doubt that it takes tremendous effort to make a hit dorama.

Abiko: Sakamoto-san said that you did not care about audience ratings while ago, but what about the other staff?  For example anyone who is depressed?.

Sakamoto: There was no sign of anyone who was depressed on set. There was a sense of accomplishment and everyone was proud of the launch. No matter what the numbers were, everyone was excited for the launch. The producer was mostly ashamed but I can feel that the sense of accomplishment was there from the director, actors and everyone on set.
 
Abiko: Well I’ve rewatched the whole thing on DVD.
 
Sakamoto: Thank you.

Abiko: I want to say it again, in my review I asked whether or not this dorama was an illusion. (laughs) After watching this dorama, I thought I had been cursed because the basis for judging other shows has gone up…

Power Game eps 1-3

Power Game is a very, very bad jdorama. It is set in the world of advertising where two rivals guy Shirosaki and Kuroiwa compete to suck up to the rich and famous and gain advertising contracts.

Things happen that make absolutely no sense and despite Shirosaki being the son of the advertising god, all his success in the three episodes have been due to Shiraishi Miho randomly appearing and helping him out.

At least Power Game is very aware of that its a bad show unlike Gekiryuu and the actors just chew up the scenery especially Hakamada Yoshihiko as Kuroiwa. I find myself laughing at the absurdity of it all instead of the jokes being clever ala Yabe Kenzo.

I like the cast so I'm going to continue watching too see what stupid explanation they have for Shiraishi Miho's character. Unfortunate, Power Game is not a so bad its good dorama. Its just bad.

Woman ep 9

What a great episode! Shiori leaves the house and Woman becomes even better. Maybe they should have called this Mother 2 instead of Woman since its more about mothers and daughters. Mother regains get her estranged daughter back but loses her 2nd one. I still don't get the purpose of the welfare guy's story but whatever.

So many great scenes in this episode. Namakemono finding out about Koharu's illness and what Shiori did in one go. Poor fella. The quiet scene between Namakemono and wife looking at Shiori's photos. Koharu and her mother in the kitchen scene. I was thinking please don't mix up your memories of Koharu with Shiori cause that would be very bad.

The best scene is Namakemono confronting Shiori. Shiori said that Namakemono was the one person she did not want knowing how bad she was. Maybe she knew that her father is the one person who will not baby her and help her hide her head in the sand.

I loved when when Namakemono asked Shiori, "Do you know what atonement is? Whether you can do it is another thing altogether." Suddenly I got the realisation that Shiori's mother is a horrible mother. That she's overcompensating for what she did to Koharu and is enabling Shiori to run from reality. Its obvious from Shiori doing nothing but listen to her mp3 player all series but Namakemono's response as a parent is so different.

Then Namakemono comes up with a great line to sum up Shiori. The worst person in the world is someone who does not realise what they have done. It describes Shiori to a T and why she's such a hateful character. It also tells me that this is what Sakamoto Yuji was going for and that Shiori's pot smoker acting was intentional. Shiori is a character to be hated.

While Shiori and her mother were thinking bury their head in the sand in the sin would go away, Namakemono is already thinking of selling of the house and business to compensate Koharu. As he said, you have to try to atone.

The episode ends with this great scene of Nozomi crying and revealing that she knows. There's this scene in the middle of the episode after Koharu's mom tells Koharu that she is unable to be a donor where you see Nozomi walking up the stairs and acting a bit troubled when she answers her mom. Its gives you a second to think 'was she listening?' before your attention is brought back to Koharu and her mom.

Looks like Shiori is going to be the donor. Fingers crossed crossed Sakamoto Yuji can pull it off and make this compelling tv.

Namonaki Doku eps 1-5

Aren't you playing another boring housewife character in another dorama this season?

Yes, I know I swore never to watch another dorama starring Fukada 'Can't Act' Kyoko but after Gekiryuu is so bad that it even her acting in this is better than anything in Gekiryuu. Plus, she actually looks even more pleasing to the eyes in Namonaki Doku than I can remember. The words 'tight clothing' and 'assets' come to mind.

I feel like she is going for a pose in this scene but didn't go through with it.

Anyway, Namonaki Doku is mystery dorama. Koizumi Kotaro once again playing the everyman who marries into a rich family and is tasked by his boss/father in law with dealing with the death of his father in law's driver's death by bicycle. Somehow this office worker gets involved doing police work trying to determine the father's cause of death and unlocking some skeletons in the closet.The story is pretty decent but the performances are nothing special. Still miles better than Gekiryuu though.

Is anything going on in her head?

The story is solved at the end of ep 5 and suddenly we jump into a different story involving random people getting poisoned. Namonaki Doku seems to be two separate stories with Koizumi's character getting involved in both. Problem is, his character is very boring.

Over concentrating deer in headlights look that only Fukada Kyoko can do.

Still can't muster any interest to continue watching although the main suspect is being played by Eguchi Noriko who can act rings around Fukada Kyoko. I'm guessing this is based on a series of novels featuring Koizumi's character. There has to be a hook to make his character interesting in the novels right? In the dorama, he's just a boring generic nice guy.

Pretty much nothing to see here except Fukada Kyoko making stupid faces. There are times where I thought her acting here is OK and then she pulls that stupid overacting deer in the headlights/ there's nothing on top face. Can some director tell her to please act normally. Its as if she's so aware of the camera and she interacting with it instead of being in the scene.

Didn't your father die in another dorama last season?

The 'my body is here but my brain is not' look.

The what ice-cream should I have for supper look.

Yes, I went through five episodes of bad acting to feast my eyes.

Woman eps 7+8

Eps 7 and 8 are two very different episodes. Ep 7 is mainly about Oguri Shun going back to see his mother. There's this contrived plot about how he write a letter to Koharu and left it at the tuckshop for Koharu to find years later. Either Oguri Shun's manager said, "He's not going to be in this dorama unless he's got substantial scenes" or Sakamoto Yuji decided that Woman needed to pad its story. The only plus thing from the Oguri Shun thing is his mom asking him why he hasn't gotten life insurance and he doesn't even have an answer for it.

Woman is the opposite of Going My Home. Going My Home had a simple and beautiful story that needed 6-8 episodes at most but got stretched to 10 but maintained its realistic and quaint feel. Woman has a straightforward story that is filled with needless distractions that as someone put it makes us realise that we're watching a dorama when most of the show is realistic and gripping. Its like a totally dramatic wrestling match where you believe they two wrestlers want to kill each other and then they do some stupid fake-looking spots that remind us oh, this is wrestling.

Poor Nozomi finding her mom on top of her own sister.

Episode 7 though starts with a great scene between Koharu and her mom. Koharu's mom knows she knows and runs through a gamut of responses from being nice to Koharu, to saying how happy she is to be here to pleading for Koharu to hate her.

Mitsushima Hikari and Tanaka Yuko killed this scene.

The ending scene of Koharu's mom zoning out cause Shiori left while Koharu finally tells her about her illness is also great but they should not have been in the same episode. There should have been more time for the anger and emotional confusion to breath. The Koharu vs sister scene was not a strong enough ending for ep 7 IMO and episode 8 should have been more of an exploration of the tension between Koharu and Shiori.

I really liked Shiori's line here which convinces Mr. Shinya Shokudo to continue living in his ignorance.

I'm just so happy that Shiori is out of the house. I didn't care about that throwaway scene with the classmate telling Shiori's mother why she was bullied. More Koharu and her mom is where this dorama should go. Despite my misgivings about two great scenes in one episode, episode 7 was riveting to watch notwithstanding my Oguri Shun should have been a chikan bias.

Woman might not reach the classic must watch status of Seredemo Ikite Yuku but the acting and directing is still better than most shows. I feel sorry for poor Mr Shinya Shokudo aka Namakemono-san. He is in the dark about everything and I want to see his reaction when he finds out. Meh for episode 7 and must watch for ep 8.

Limit eps 1-6

I was hoping for a Battle Royale lite dorama but Limit is less survival dorama and more about character archetypes and delving into their problems as the series progresses. You got Sakuraba Nanami as the former nice girl who was once betrayed and doesn't want to be betrayed again, Ogawa from Suzuki sensei playing Ogawa, bullied girl who overacts and turns crazy when she turns the tables etc.

Could have been better if execution were improved. You've gotta turn off your brain for some things but the dorama hasn't gone anywhere interesting though the ending of episode 6 did stir my interest. I can't even say it s watchable dorama. I'm only watching for Sakuraba Nanami and Ogawa but neither do anything interesting with their characters. Doesn't suck but not much to see here.

Keibuho Yabe Kenzo 2 eps 1-5

After Woman crashing and burning and Doctors 2 not reaching the heights of the first season, Yabe Kenzo 2 is turning out to the best dorama this season for me. Its kind of rare for a second season to be better than the first. I don't really remember how good the first season was. I only wrote a review for eps 1-3 and I don't think I considered it must watch in the end.

When I read that Kanjiya Shihori and the glasses dude were going to be replaced by a little girl, I was very skeptical. I think it worked out great. There are a few running jokes involving the girl, her dad the police chief and Yabe Kenzo every episode.

Leon? Lol.

The little girl still solves the cases but Yabe Kenzo's blind luck still plays an important role. In a way without Kanjiya Shihori and glasses dude, this feels more like Yabe Kenzo's dorama although the girl plays the same role that they did. I guess she doesn't have as much screen time as Yabe Kenzo does the information gathering and she pops up at the end to tell him the conclusion.

Episode 5 is just brilliantly funny. There's a comedic multiple assignation scene that was executed just brilliantly especially in terms of logistics. Jdoramas always have problems in terms spacing and making sense during actions scenes such as the ending of Sennyu Tantei Tokage and especially when there is stabbing involved. Kind of sad that I'm praising a jdorama for getting small things right though that was really an complicated sequence of events.

I was waiting for the quality of the episodes before passing judgement and so far, for the five episodes I declare Keibuho Yabe Kenzo 2 a must watch. The ending of ep 3 was really educational. Quality could drop or I may get tired of the running jokes but at least Yabe Kenzo won't do a Woman and try to be too many things. It knows what it is; a stupid comedy with a bumbling detective and does it very well.

On a gaming note, Ryu ga Gotoku Ishin's been announced. Yes, Kiryuu Kazuma is going to be Sakamoto Ryuma, lol. I love Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan which was a retelling of Miyamoto Musashi's story. It was so fun cause I read Vagabond and have seen the dorama series. Sakamoto Ryomo, I know more as a supporting character from Jin. Its not like he has an epic rivalry with Sasaki Kojiro to look forward to. Kiryuu, I mean Ryuma is definitely going to fight some Shinsengumi. Can't bloody wait! Maybe he'll survive his assassination attempt and go on a Shinsengumi hunting spree. :)

Doctors: Saikyou no Meii 2 Ep 2 - 5

THE GOOD

- Moriyama trying to be a good guy is funny. Watching his true nature trying to come out every time is a hoot. And Ghandi of all people? Lol.

- Moriyama trying to hide his cat secret.

- Sagara's plan which starts happening in ep 5. Season 2 needed a main story and it's been hinted throughout the first 4 episodes and its finally happening. I'll like to see Sagara fail though. Could we see some opposition from Minagawa sensei? 

- Sagara letting nurse Miyabe in on his plan.

THE BAD

- Sagara sensei doing nothing clever in the first 4 episodes. He was basically blackmailing Moriyama. (to great effect I might add) Watching Sagara subtlely manipulate people using their emotions is what made the first season and the SP must watch shows. However, I like how he made the anesthetist his ally by appealing to his potential for good in ep 5.

THE UGLY

- The horrible acting from a lot of the young women playing patients or their family members. Obviously the casting director is not recruiting professionals.

SUMMARY

Moriyama single handedly kept the first four episodes afloat. Let's see what Fukuda Yasushi has in store with Sagara's plan this this time. I'll actually like to see Sagara fail in the end. Watchable with potential to be good.