EVOL jdorama review

Superhero jdoramas are not common in Japanese entertainment. It is more of an American thing and Japan has tokusatsu shows like Kamen Rider and Rangers shows with 5 people each representing a different colour. A lot of times superpowers are an allegory for going through puberty and the closest jdorama we got was Sono Sion's Minna Esper Da yo! which was more a sex comedy.

EVOL is a dark superhero movie about 3 teenagers who find themselves in a hospital after attempting suicide and finding out they have powers. The only superheroes in this small town are Lightning Bolt and Thunder Girl who protect the town but are actually thugs for hire for the evil mayor played by Yasuda Ken. Our three protagonists find out that having superpowers does not make your life better.

The first noticeable thing is that EVOL is that it is not a kids show. Besides dealing with heavy issues like suicide and abuse, people get killed and there is a lot of violence. The second thing is that the VFX are pretty good. The first DMM dorama I saw was Kenshirou ni Yoroshiku which had no buget so I was expecting the same but the early collapsing bridge seen and hospital escape was better than anything that I had seen in any tokusatsu show!

I thought episode 1 was alright but as I kept watching, it became very noticeable how much better Evol was visually. Evol does not have the budget of a TBS dorama but by the jdorama gods, the director knows how to use shadows very well and dynamic cameras and it looks better than any TBS dorama could. The second half of the show has some very haunting, scary yet beautiful visuals.

There is  the Hayabusa Shobodan 'Japanese countryside is so beautiful to look at' visual beauty but for Evol it is about the visual composition that is a feast for the eyes. Evol is right up there with Kenja no Ai where I am watching and thinking they must have storyboarded the hell out of the story and spent so much time on colour and shadows and light. Evol maximises every single yen of its budget and I am very impressed.

The writing is very good, especially with regards to the 3 main characters and about being teenagers and forming one's identity. The skateboard episode is really good, especially the visual representation of being an outcast. I effing love that two characters get killed at the end. Too many jdoramas are about understanding and forgiveness blah blah blah but people who deserve to get killed should get killed. The only negative thing about the story is that it ends abruptly but I want season 2.

The only question is, is Evol a must watch? I was going to award a must watch but the abrupt ending kind of put me off. The VFX and visual composition is enough to give it a very watchable rating. I think I will leave it at very watchable for now and see what happens in season 2. Great job by the director Yamagishi Santa who did Video Girl Mai. Is he the new Sato Shinsuke? Huge thanks to HPriest for subbing and providing the raws. You won't regret watching Evol!

Ichiban Sukina Hana 6~11

Finally finished Ichiban Sukina Hana and I did not enjoy the 2nd half of the series as much as the first half of this show about 4 people who who meet up at Tsubaki's house. One thing that bugged me was the lack of detail in regards to Tsubaki's home loan. 

Everyone in the show is super nice and considerate and they love hanging out at Tsubaki's house but no one asked how he was paying for this gigantic house with his single income when he bought it together with his ex-fiance. I have to give points to the writer for giving a reason why the previous owner of the house was able the afford it which was a divorce settlement because I was thinking how does a teacher afford such a big house? On a side note, Tabe Mikako's face looks like she is closed to being mummified.

The other thing about Ichiban Sukina Hana is that it is about four very nice people being friends and there is basically no climax to the series. There are feel good funny moments and probably the most exciting thing was the revelation of this person who had ties to everyone in the group and I liked who they cast as the person but ultimately the ending left me with a meh feeling. The show made me laugh out loud a few times and I really liked the grumpy version of the 5th member but it did not feel worth watching in the end.

Ichiban Sukina Hana is not Quartet and I enjoyed the first half but the lack of anything happening in the second half just makes me want to delete it despite having Tabe Mikako and Imada Mio. Meh from me. Go watch Quartet for a second time if you want a fun show about 4 people living together unless you really want a show about whether guys and girls can be just friends. 7 episodes have been subbed so far and I watched the rest with Jp subs from jptv.

Fixer Season 3 jdorama review

The first season of Fixer was about the car crash mystery of the Prime Minister, the second season was about how Karasawa Toshiaki would free Watanabe Tatsuya from being framed for a crime he did not commit and the third season is about a kidnapping set during a Tokyo governor election.

The first thing that caught my attention has this line by Kobayashi Kaoru saying only 50% of eligible voters vote for the governor of Tokyo. Half the people don't vote and even if they did, they do not remember the names or the policies of the candidates. The most important thing is to have people remember your name. Hhmm, this is true for mayor voting as well.

Season 3 started off well with the election and kidnapping of the daughter of a construction company, then there is this hostage exchange thing which I don't really buy. Fixer has a lot of great ideas but execution is lacking in details.

I do enjoy having Furuta Arata and Takashima Reiko for season 3. WOWOW casting is usually very good and Fixer is no exception. If you accept Fixer's flaws and turn off your brain, it is a fun whodunnit series set in the political world.

The best part of Fixer season 3 is the ending which made everything click in place because I did not understand why Karasawa Toshiaki did a bunch of things. Is there going to be Fixer season 4~6? Fixer is a 3 season series as far as I know. I really want to see what happens next and how Karasawa Toshiaki will get to his objective. Flawed but watchable for me with an exciting ending. Bring on the next season! Only the first season of Fixer has been subbed but Jp subs are available at avistaz.

Fixer season 2 jdorama review

Fixer season 1 was an ok Karasawa Toshiaki show about a political fixer trying to solve the case of how the Prime Minister of Japan got into a car accident which left the Prime Minister in a coma. It was more of an investigative dorama than political fixing but it was an watchable.

Season 2 of Fixer feels different. A lot of times when there is a season 2, you are wondering if they can replicate the feel for season 1 again or if there is more story to tell. It feels like season 1 set up a bunch of characters and season 2 we are seeing where the story is taking them.

In season 2, the reporter Watanabe Tatsuya is framed for attempted murder of the wife of the Tokyo Governor and Karasawa Toshiaki has to bail him out. Joining the cast for season is Suzuki Honami playing the defence lawyer of Watanabe. She acts the same as she did in Suits and I can't complain because I love every moment she is on screen, especially with Uchida Yuki.

There is a lot more political manoeuvring in season 2 although same as season 1 it is a whodunnit but the criminal is obvious and it is more about the court case and Shitara going up against legendary fixer Goichi Hongo played by Nishida Toshiyuki

Where Fixer lets me down is that the writing is not as sharp. The details aren't as good. The attempted murder frame up was way too flimsy. For someone as powerful as Shitara Kenichi having just one bodyguard is not enough. He needs a team to do what he is doing. I guess my complaint about the writing is that the world of Fixer doesn't feel real enough. Maybe its for budget reasons since Fixer has so many great actors but details help ground a story and make it real for the audience.

It is still fun though. Fixer has so many of my favourite actors including Kaname Jun, Kobayashi Kaoru, Ishiguro Ken and Yasuko Tomita. Kobayashi Kaoru is such a good actor that he can play such a conniving politician in Fixer and the warm master in Shinya Shokudo. Yasuko Tomita I have been a fan of since Suzuki sensei and I really like her as the Prime Minister. As for Kaname Jun, I wish I had time to rewatch Akuma no Bengonin because that was such a fun show.

If you are a fan of the actors in Fixer, you should check it out. Season 2 is better than one. Unfortunately only the first episode of season 2 has been subbed but I managed to get Japanese subs from avistaz which made it easy to watch. After the cliffhanger surprise ending of season 2, it is on to season 3!

Ryomaden Episodes 1~9

The Taiga dorama that I am very, very slowly working my way through is Ryomaden. Main reason I am watching is because there is a game coming up soon by Team Ninja called Rise of the Ronin. I am no Team Ninja fan, I thought Nioh was a meh FromSoft clone with a stupid randomly generated loot system but the game is bloody set in the Bakumatsu period with Sakamoto Ryoma in it so fingers and toes crossed it will be a good game!

Sakamoto Ryoma is one of the famous Japanese historical figures that everyone knows by name but no one really can say why he was famous. He was the main character of Ryu ga Gotoku Ishin! but that was more of a Shinsengumi story. Ryomaden was finally enlightened me on why Sakamoto Ryoma is a great man: he has to make a difficult decision between Hirosue Ryoko or Kanjiya Shihori who are throwing themselves at his feet.

I know what you are thinking. With the recent Hirosue Ryoko scandal, surely the answer should be Kanjiya Shihori but Ryomaden came out in 2010, when Hirosue Ryoko was still at the top of her powers.

Joking aside, Ryomaden is about Japan being this isolated country that realised how backwards they were when Commodore Perry and the black ships appeared threatening Japan to open the country to trade. Sakamoto Ryoma realised that the rest of the world had technology that Japan would not even dream of but most of the country wanted to expel the foreigners instead of learning from them because they were scared of being conquered.

Ryomaden shows how feudal society was in that era. In Sakamoto Ryoma's hometown of Tosa, there is even discrimination between different classes of samurai and anyone could get killed at anyone's whim. Samurai lived for the lord and episode 9 you even have a collective responsibility story which reminded me of the case where a school withdrew from Koshien just because on the the students who was not on the team got into a fight.

The thing I am looking forward to in Ryomaden is to see how Kagawa Teruyuki's character goes from super poor samurai selling bird cages to the founder of Mitsubishi. Can't complain, I hope Hirosue Ryoko and Kanjiya Shihori stay in the story until the end! Watchable.

Black Familia Shindou Ke no Fukushuu review

I like revenge shows because at worst you have fun watching bad guys get what they deserve and once in a blue moon you get something amazing like Samayou Yaiba. Black Familia is a revenge show with a twist: the daughter of the Shindou family Riria falls to her death from her school rooftop and all fingers point to the super rich and powerful Saotome family.

Yes, Black Familia is a family working together to get revenge against a bad family story. It also reminds me of Nagano Mei's Burn the House Down on Netflix which also has the main character work as a maid for revenge as the audience slowly gets to know the bad family. Except of course in Black Familia, you have a hairdresser father, pretending to be a Korean uncle and journalist older sister getting close to the family in their own way.

I really wanted to like Black Familia but the first alarm bell was in episode two when they kidnapped a bad teacher and for some reason all of them decided to interrogate the teacher together. I was watching the scene thinking why not have one person do the talking instead of 4 because the teacher might work out that they are all a family and blow their cover.

After that I skimmed half and watched half of the series to see what happens and I like the ending. I like that Black Familia is about what happens when you stare in the abyss too long. How much would you sacrifice for revenge? Is risking your family worth the price of vengeance for losing your daughter?

The concepts that Black Familia explore are interesting but the execution just wasn't good enough to stop me from fast forwarding here and there. I feel like if Sono Sion had directed it, it would have been much darker and twisted and the ending is just right for him but I am sure he has been cancelled.

Maybe its because I had already seen a much better revenge dorama in Burn the House Down but unfortunately I have to give Black Familia a meh. Really wanted to like it because it is full of supporting actors.

Kaso Girei Episodes 2~8

There are two more episodes left but I am ready to declare Kaso Girei a must watch after the incredible episode 8. If Tokyo Hinkon Joshi is a discourse about how women fall into poverty and get trapped there, Kaso Girei is about the business of religion and why it exists and the good and bad things that people use religion to do.

A jdorama being a discourse about an interesting issue alone does not make an interesting story. A story is nothing without characters and Kaso Girei has a lot of interesting characters. From Shumei who claims to see spirits but has a Madonna complex to Asako who was brainwashed by Eho Sanrinkai and is looking for a place to belong. I really like the line that Hiroe says in the screenshot; the people are the most important part and I really want to see our small band of original Seisen Shinpokai by happy.

Kaso Girei works because Kiryu Ekai is a good guy at heart. Seisen Shinpokai is a sham religion started by two religious otaku for money but Kiryu Ekai has created a place where people can belong. He is a good guy doing a bad thing which produces good results for people.

Makoto is kind of the enigma character of Kaso Girei because the audience is not really sure about his true motives but episode 8 was sad and beautiful. The final two lines by Kiryu Ekai to Makoto's revelation are absolutely beautiful. All the arguments and discourses about religion can be summed up beautifully by those two lines. I can imagine the writers/producers reading the novel and thinking these are the two magic lines we need to put on tv.

Kaso Girei explores the relationship between religion and politics. Politicians need the manpower and votes from religion and recognition from politicians gives a religion legitimacy aka the former Unification Church scandal. Japan has a very low voting rate, 51% at 2021. That means that politicians don't need to appeal to the average joe who doesn't vote and can just rely on votes from certain hardcore or religious groups to stay in power.

SUMMARY

Two more episodes to go. Can't wait. Happy to declare Kaso Girei must watch and I will join Seisen Shinpokai if the last two episodes are good! Maybe.  

Sexy Tanaka Episodes 5-10

The big news from Japan recently besides the LDP fundraising scandal where people actually think dissolving of factions will fix corruption, is the unfortunate passing of Ashihara Hinako from suicide, the mangaka of Sexy Tanaka which I have been enjoying.

I have not read the mangas but apparently she was not happy with the differences with the manga and wrote the scripts of the last two episodes of the dorama. This is very sad because Sexy Tanaka is a positive, feel good show about hope and finding your own things to live for. 

As for the dorama, I enjoyed it and liked the characters but Akari and Konishi had no chemistry and the ending was very abrupt. Kinami Haruka really did a bang up job as Tanaka as she went on this journey. 

I wonder about how often mangakas are not happy with live action adaptations of their work? Attack of Titan movie was horrible but I loved the I"s dorama because it was so faithful to the manga. Sometimes things have to be changed for budget reasons and turn out fine like Gantz and Koi wa Ameagari no You ni should have been a dorama and not a movie. Rest in peace Ashihara Hinako. Thanks for Luwang for release the hardsubs.

Video in Japanese talking about the situation and talking to a lawyer about writer's rights when talking about adaptations.

Tokyo Hinkon Joshi Ep 6 out!

 

Finally finished all 6 episodes! I nearly burnt myself out doing 3 episodes in a week. Luckily there was more action in the second half of episode 6 and translating debates is a chore! I always wanted good jdoramas on poverty and religion and I am happy I got Tokyo Hinkon Joshi and Kaso Girei this season. Fukakyon did Silent Poor years ago and I even tried to give it a second chance but that show was so bad.

!!SPOILER ALERT!!

What is interesting about Tokyo Hinkon Joshi is that it looks at causes of poverty especially for women. There are people who think everyone who is poor is just lazy because I know someone who came from nothing and got rich and there are people who do not work but working for a minimum wage in Japan is not really surviving. If you go out drinking in Japan, you will meet women who are hairdressers by day and work 3 night shifts a week to survive. Their work ethic is crazy and not to mention unpaid overtime etc etc.

One of my favourite bits of the show is Kariya not wanting to admit that she needs help and that she is on the edge of poverty and her realisation that she is being reflected in the women she interviews. The similarities with her mother putting up with the abuse and Karita not wanting Mone to turn out like her mother.

I also liked that Sakita did not find his ex in the end. I was very worried when his story started happening because I thought it would overshadow the main theme but him not finding her and her seeing his book is a great last image for the show. Sakita is an interesting character who has been eaten by all the guilt, wallowing in all the misery as penance.  

I won't be subbing anything else for a while because Like a Dragon 8 is out but there is one show that I will definitely sub one day. I have a list of shows I would like to sub and of course most of them are WOWOW but I have a favourite show that I will definitely do. 

Fun fact: I tried to sub Ai Nante Irane Yo, Natsu back in the day but there were no Japanese subs and timing your own subs is such a painfully slow process. Glad to see someone subbed it.

Respect everyone subbing jdoramas because subbing takes so much time and stamina I'd rather watch more jdoramas and jmovies.

I passed my JLPT N2!

 

Woot! JLPT results just came out today and I managed to pass JLPT N2 with one week of doing practice exams! N2 is the second hardest level so only N1 left. I barely passed my comprehension which is the biggest jump from N3. FYI if you fail any section of the JLPT, you fail the whole exam. N2 makes N3 look like cakewalk because there was not enough time and you have to speedread like crazy and learn to extract points from skimming

Glad I got perfect for listening which is my strongest point. I need to get my hands on some N1 practice exams and see whether I want to do N1 this year. For reference I don't study, I just watch lots of doramas and play games in Japanese so this was a let's see why far watching Japanese entertainment can take me and I cbf studying.

I think N1 comprehension is going to be killer since the jump from N3 to N2 is huge and the paragraphs are going to be even confusing and dense. Plenty of time to decide. It doesn't help that they moved the exam venue to 1 hour away. 

One thing I learned from the N2 exam is trust your first instinct and do not second guess because there is not enough time for the reading section.

5 things about Nanyoubi ni Umareta no? Episodes 4~9

1. As Hpriest did each episode, I was so scared to declare Nanyoubi ni Umareta a must watch because I did not want to jinx it and am happy to finally to say that Nojima Shinji has once again created a must watch show. 

!!SPOILERS BELOW!!

2. If I were an actor, I would do anything to be in a Nojima Shinji jdorama because the dialogue just sings. Its Nojima Shinji and Sakamoto Yuji who can just create the best dialogue that can be so entertaining and convey so much to the audience. Nanyoubi ni Umareta no? does not reinvent the wheel but the dialogue and writing is so good every episode I am smiling and marveling at the dialogue and how the show so easily flows from comedy to serious talk. Definitely a show worth watching a second time.

3. Iitoyo Marie is perfect as Sui and a strong candidate for Hamsapsukebe 2023 awards. The question is, is this her role of a lifetime or is she that good of an actress?

4. Perfect supporting characters with the editor, Jinnai Takanori and Hayami Akari. I normally dislike Jinnai Takanori because he overacts in everything but his chemistry with Sui is good and he does his job well as the punch line guy. Hayami Akari steals her scenes with her energy as Kumon Ryuen's cat.

4. If there is one thing that bugs me about Nanyoubi ni Umareta no? its the whole gain fame and fortune without breaking a sweat by being a model. This is a shoujo-esque dorama and this is the equivalent of me complaining about the main character in a shonen anime beating everyone with ease but as much as I enjoyed the characters, it takes the show out of reality a bit for me.

5. Am I the only one who thought about Love Exposure minus Ando Sakura while watching Nanyoubi ni Umareta no? There are many similarities with both main characters having trauma, the guy saving the girl only to be saved by the girl to even a car being involved in the final scene?

Subs for Tokyo Hinkon Joshi Episodes 3+4 are out and thank you

Subs are out for 3+4. Thanks for all the words of support. Really means a lot to me because it made me question my subs and it made think why do I want to contribute to a community that is toxic to relatively new subbers? Subbing when I am very angry is not a good feeling. Its a fuel that feeds of itself but it is better to sub because I enjoy the show and I think people should watch it. Thanks again for the support because I don't want to hate jdoramas which have given me much enjoyment.

From what jeff-tiger is saying this thing is continuing on twitter. I wonder if amrayu is the person who posted the hateful comment in the sub post? Good thing I am ignorant of jdorama twitter and live mostly in the d-addicts fansub forum. 2 more episodes to go!