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Tokumei Tantei Season 2 Eps 1-4

August 5, 2014, 3:03 pm
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In season 2 of Tokumei Tantei, the fanservice element has really been stripped down to the point that it feels a lot more like any other generic detective series instead of a hard boiled detective comedy. The comedic fan service running jokes from Tadano Hitoshi were stripped down in season 1 and now they barely exist at all.


Takahashi Katsunori has gone from sleeping with a beautiful woman every episode of Tandano Hitoshi for information complete with dick jokes to getting whipped by Miura Reiko in Tokumei Tantai season 1 and now he doesn't even get close to a love hotel in season 2.


I know fanservice isn't the end all be all but its what separated this series from the rest and was part of the detective's character. Also part of the appeal was that the show could go places where your generic family friendly detective shows would not dare to tread. Now the not funny running jokes are the detective going for a basic massage and visiting the barber.


So far, season 2 of Tokumei Tantei feels tired and generic. Its still watchable, just not as fun. Hopefully it picks up soon.


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Mozu season 2: Maboroshi no Tsubasa

August 9, 2014, 8:34 pm
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It took me up to season two to realise two things about Mozu. Firstly, its set in an alternate reality Japan despite no real signs in the first season that this is not our reality. The second is that this is a superpower show or at least a reality where characters don't blink an eye when other people exhibit special powers.


I'm not talking just about Shingai exhibiting powers to survive multiple gunshots and being pierced by a huge spike through his chest at the end of season 1. I'm talking about the other Shingai being able to teleport and Kuraki not batting an eyelid.


Kuraki himself also exhibits the special power of being able to walk around in broad daylight without a disguise despite being wanted by the police and his face being shown in all medias. Osugi had the power to somehow find Kuraki at an abandoned railway track.


My biggest disappointment was that there was no decent action scene like the chase sequence of Episode 5 in season 1. Its hard for me to hate on Mozu like Saigo no Keikan because the effort is there but whatever possessed TBS and WOWOW to think that this story would make a good series with the talents from Double Face? Did anyone think that the scene with Suzuki sensai exiting a warehouse window by grabbing on a line from a helicopter make sense?


I don't want to think about the story cause its a waste of time. Mozu never had a good foundation to build upon in the first place and there was no decent action to keep me entertained. I can't give it a 'don't watch this crap' because this is one of the very rare big budget doramas which was not created to push some idoru but because they thought they had a good story. Unfortunately, they didn't.
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Wakamonotachi 2014 Eps 1-5

August 14, 2014, 1:33 am
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Wakamonotachi 2014 is basically Under the Same Roof 2014. An old school huge family without parents dorama. I'm guessing Under the Same Roof / Hitotsu Yane no Shita is probably a copy of the original Wakamonotachi series. I love both seasons of Under the Same Roof and Wakamonotachi 2014 has the acting talent to be as good.


WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

- Too much shouting and moral arguments such as the good old money is not everything speech. Tsumabuki Satoshi's Asahi is just irritating and not as fun as Eguchi Yosuke's An-chan. I think he was wrongly cast or they shouldn't have made him shout and overact so much.


- Tries so hard to be heartwarming that everything feels too telegraphed. Convict brother's girfriend story with Hikari's doctor lover just put me to sleep.



- Not enough Mitsushima Hikari. She turns everything into gold and should be involved in all the stories.  


WHAT I LIKE


+ Mitushima Hikari owns the role Hikari. The scene where Tsumabuki Satoshi asks Hikari if she's ok and she suddenly couldn't stop herself cying is crazy good acting.


+ I'll watch anything with Ao Yu and Mitsushima Hikari in it.


SUMMARY

Wakamonotachi 2014 makes me want to rewatch Under the Same Roof cause I'm interesting to see whether it holds up. I think there's something about the writing that makes Wakamonotachi 2014 more soapy and less of a 'pure' family show though Under the Same Roof is essentially a soap opera about two brothers in love with the adopted Sakai Noriko.

I guess you could say Wakamonotachi 2014 is just not as fun. I won't stop watching because of the cast but its very average show.
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Kazokugari Episodes 1-6

August 17, 2014, 8:45 am
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Kazokugari or family hunting is a whodunnit show where a bunch of murder suicides have been happening. Children have been killing their parents and then committing suicide afterwards. Endo Kenichi (Shiroi Haru) is the cop investigating the cases and he has an interesting past and a connection with Mizuno Miki's character.


Matsuyuki Yasuko is our main character who works in a child care centre and has a senile dad and a mom that goes to line up at the pachinko every morning. Ito Atsushi is the art teacher who is having a bit of trouble with another fellow teacher played by Yamaguchi Sayaka. All three characters somehow get involved with the murder suicides and with each other.


WHAT I LIKED

+ Matsuyuki Yasuko, Endo Kenichi and Mizuno Miki bring the acting talent.
+ This show is about multiple forms of family hunting and troubled characters.
+ After watching Wakamonotachi 2014 where every stupid act has some oversentimental reason, its nice to see a family show where people just act out of anger, frustration and fear and lash out at others.
+ The relationship between the Matsuyuki Yasuko and her mom. Its complicated, depressing and even melancholy at times.
+ Matsuyuki Yasuko's child care character who does so much to help people with dire problems but her own family problems are driving her and her mom to the brink. I love their fight at the end of ep 3 because its uncomfortable and real.


WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

- You can cast Ito Atsushi for comedy but he can't bring it when its time to be very serious (see end of ep 7) and I feel they need a good character actor to make his story arc interesting.
- The last few episodes have been very slow because its just presenting the audience with a red herring that no one will bite on, which is the inherent weakness of a whodunnit show.


SUMMARY

Kazokugari does a lot and does most of it pretty good but as a package, its a bit all over the place. Its definitely not as tightly packaged as Petero no Souretsu but its still entertaining enough.Watchable whodunnit show (so far) that tries to be more than average and I respect that. Episodes 1 and 2 have been English subbed and I've retimed the Japanese subs for 3-7.


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Oyaji no Senaka Eps 1-4

August 20, 2014, 12:55 pm
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Oyaji no Senaka is what happens when you put Japan's best scriptwriters together with the best actors. Its not rocket science but its something that does not happen a lot in the world of jdoramas. Oyaji no Senaka is a collection of short stories about fathers and I went in expecting the worst oversentimental stuff and came out being impressed by the quality and nuance in the writing.


Episode 1 puts Okada Yoshikazu (Saigo Kara Nibanmeno Koi) together with Matsu Takako and Furuhata Ninzaburo in a beautiful story about a father and his daughter that suffers from panic attacks. Matsu Takako is so good it makes me wonder why she not in more jdoramas. The last time I saw her was in Unmei no Hito.


Episode 2 is my favourite so far. Sakamoto Yuji with Yakusho Koji (Shall We Dansu) and Mitsushima Hikari in a story about this sleazy boxing dad. The dialogue and chemistry is just funny as hell and the Matsuura Aya story got a huge pop from me. Sakamoto Yuji is king of writing great dialogue that say important stuff with spelling it out. Mitsushima Hikari is not convincing as a boxer though. lol


Episode 3 is something very different and funny while episode 4 is a more straightforward father son story. I must say the very plastic face of the dad in episode 4 was distracting.


Oyaji no Senaka is a must watch for episodes 1 and 2. I am not looking forward to ep 5 with Horikita Maki. (She clearly does not belong in the same sentence as Matsu Takako and Mitsushima Hikari) The question is of course whether the other writers are as good as the Okada Yoshikazu and Sakamoto Yuji and whether the stories will get repetitive.


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Last Doctor Eps 1-5

August 24, 2014, 8:15 am
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The fourth show in the summer of Ozaki Masaya, we have Last Doctor a medical examiner show. There's three nice things about this show. First is no one wears that stupid see through plastic thing that Haru wears in Border. The second is that the show acknowledges that medical examiners examine a lot of bodies in day and its not like the other cop shows that seem to only do one autopsy a week.


The third is Ozaki Masaya has to keep coming with all sorts of reasons for our main characters to get involved after the autopsy is done. A lot of times its flimsy but its better than cops unnecessarily hating the medical examiner who can solve their crimes for them. In Last Doctor, its cop preferring all deaths be of natural causes because he gets paid the same regardless.


However, Last Doctor is pretty generic. Its got quirky characters and humour but nothing that really stands out. A very standard show. I'll keep watching cause I like the cast but its an easily forgettable show.
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Hakugin Jack jdorama special

August 28, 2014, 5:02 am
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Yet another jdorama based on a Higashino Keigo novel, Hakugin Jack is a disappointment from the beginning. The start of the dorama special is Watanabe Ken's character on skis chasing after a snowboarder. As Watanabe Ken's character jumps a ramp, he does a trick move/pose which totally took me out of what they were trying to sell.


This tells me two things: either the director had no control over all the stunt/skiing shots or he was more concerned with making this the equivalent of a snowboarding/skiing music video. I'm no skiing expert but you don't do air tricks when pursuing someone or are being pursued. This is an absolute failure from a directing standpoint letting the stunt people do whatever they want, especially when its not in service to the movie. I can feel the director thinking "look at all the cool snowboarding shot" instead of trying to convey desperation.


The rest of the show is about someone who's planted bombs at a ski resort and is holding management hostage. Its a who among these people is the criminal but the director does a piss poor job at building any suspense. Don't waste your time.
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The Legend of Heroes: Ao no Kiseki Evolution

August 31, 2014, 5:23 am
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I finally finished my third The Legend of Heroes game. In this age of where many RPGs play more like action games, there are not many old school style rpgs besides this and the Bravely series, both of which I have mixed opinions on. The Legend of Heroes is a long running series and Ao no Kiseki is the second game of the fourth storyline after Zero no Kiseki and the Evolution part is the fact that its a remake of the PSP original with updated graphics and almost fully voiced for all the main parts of the story.


The stories in The Legend of Heroes series are connected and this game is set in the city of Crossbell about a bunch of young cops who act more like teenagers who play parents with a green haired little girl.


WHAT I LIKED

+ Epic story dealing with politics, immigration, triads etc.
+ The interconnectedness of series with events in Sen no Kiseki, the first game of the fifth storyline being talked about. Not to mention the main characters from the previous Sora no Kiseki series showing up (which I've not played). How awesome is it that a major event in the next game is revealed but players when the game first game out had to wait 3 years to find out why.
+ Old school turn based combat.


WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

- All the characters start of as anime cliches and they stayed the same vanilla boring characters until the very end. The story is good but the execution is so anime wordy and preachy that at times I just skipped whole chucks of boring dialogue.
- Random battles are still way to easy even on hard cause its too easy to backstab an enemy for instant win even when playing on hard. It was only at the end where they had dangerous obstacles that sometimes backstabbing is hard.
- Characters talk in stilted super formal Japanese.


SUMMARY

I appreciate the effort but like so many things in Japanese entertainment, they take an interesting concept and mire it in anime cliche. I had fun for most of it but there are parts that bored me. Big picture-wise, compared to the glut of fan quick cash grab service RPGs that have are so undercooked, this is about as good as it gets at the moment (I'm looking at you Furyu and the Shining Series) unless someone gives Camelot Software Planning money to do an RPG. It took me 140 hours to beat the game on hard spending about a third of it looking up dictionaries.
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Oyaji no Senaka Eps 5-7

September 2, 2014, 7:01 am
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Episode 5: Dobuko

As much as I dislike Horikita Maki (when has she ever shown she could act?), this is a very funny story with Endo Kenichi playing the father who specialises in playing bad guys who die in television doramas. There's also a bit about Horikita Maki's childhood friend played by Hachi One Diver getting married but Endo Keinichi steals the show.

We need a dorama series about the Kita Yoshio actor. Someone who appears in every second dorama playing the exact same character everytime and no one bothers to remember his reak name.


Episode 6: Father's remarriage and daughter's divorce

A more serious short story about a widower father and his daughter (Ono Machiko) who is in a bad marriage. Beautiful and simple. I can't decide whether I like this or Mitsushima Hikari's episode the best.


Episode 7: Yoroshiku, son.

The funny and charming Watanabe Ken episode that had me thinking what does this have to do with being a father but ties it up to the theme in a nice way.

SUMMARY

More than half way in, the quality of the writing continues to be good. No one is settling for mediocrity and everyone is bringing in their game. Must watch.
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Summer 2014 jdoramas at a glance

September 5, 2014, 8:46 am
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KAKOZUGARI Eps 8+9

Wow. What a great two episodes! This is turning out to be a must watch show despite my dislike for Densha's acting. I cannot bloody wait for episode 10. I'll save my words for why this show is awesome for when it finishes.


YOSHIWARA URA DOUSHIN Eps 6-10

I would like to retract my must watch rating for this show, which I shouldn't have given in the first place. The action just continues to disappoint. They continue to have Super Sentai style fighting with bad guys obviously throwing themselves around and worst of all running at our hero without any intention of slashing him.


I was really excited with the appearance of Sakaguchi Taku (Versus, Why don't you play in Hell?) in episode 8 but the action is too PG even for him to save it. I still like Yoshiwara Ura Doushin but the disappointing action and the fact that it has become a generic cop show just makes it just a watchable series.


PETERO NO SOURETSU Eps 5-9

The best and most consistent show this season. I'm pretty sure the ending is going to be good. Will do write up when it is finished. Surprisingly no subber has picked this up.


TOKUMEI TANTEI 2 Ep 8

The good news is that they have been rapidly increasing the PG-13 fanservice. The bad news is we get a Dan Mitsu episode overfilled with fanservice that's more stupid than titillating. The most horrible, nonsensical Tokumei Tantei episode ever to the point where Hara Mikie the masseuse randomly knows kung fu.


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Seijo Eps 1+2

September 8, 2014, 7:44 am
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Seijo is a story where 10 years ago, a college student/home tutor, Ozawa Maria (Hirosue Ryoyo) statutorily rapes this lucky high school played by Mr Riichi from Mosaic Japan. High school kid falls head over hells for this tutor and studies like crazy. Ozawa Maria disappears from his life and the kid finds out that she is not who she says she was.


Fast forward to present day and the kid is now a lawyer and is engaged to Renbutso Misako. From Mosaic Japan to Seijo, this Nagayama Kento fella is on a lucky streak. Ozawa Maria is caught by the police and is accused of being a serial murderer with two of her lovers dead and one in a coma. Her case becomes a big headline and her former pupil's law firm gets involved in her defence.


Seijo looks like an 'is she an evil person' story with Hirosue Ryoko's character always dressed immaculately in white, always acting proper but having been proven as a serial liar.


I have no idea where this show is going besides our main character having a hikikomori brother who was accepted to Todai, Ozawa Maria probably having a sob story childhood which could be all lies and this ultimately being a choose between Renbutsu Misako and Hirosue Ryoko story.


Best case scenario, Seiko is a tight thriller where truths and half truths aren't clear until the end. Worst case scenario is the procedural elements of a legal investigative dorama are sacrificed for over-sentimentality. I like the cast and according to the dramawiki, Seijo is going to be 7 episodes which is a good length. Could be interesting. Watchable so far.
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Kazokugari Ep 10

September 11, 2014, 9:13 am
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Wow. Kazokugari has turned out to be the surprise good show of this season for me. There were moments in the middle where I thought it was trying to hard to be something else but it all comes together in Ep 8 and 9 to a furious finish in 10. Kazokugari gets so close to being a must watch dorama but it does so many things that well that whodunnit jdoramas tend to not get right. Anyone waiting for English subs, keep watching cause its worth it. If you can't wait, try it with Japanese subs. There's hardly any difficult investigation lingo and the story and dialogue are straightforward. There are no specific spoilers in my review, only general points on why Kazokugari rocks.


WHAT KAZOKUGARI DOES WELL

1. Its a whodunnit that aims to make sense rather than pull something from left field that makes you go huh or has too many twists that you just don't care.

2. All the stories are thematically linked kind of similar to Lady Joker.

3. The villain is the hero who's gone on a different path and I love that the writer spent time to show that our hero could have easily gone that route and makes our cop suspecting her less of a red herring.

4. The villain did not go into crazy overacting and laughing mode when revealed. So many jdoramas fall into this category including Mozu.

5. The villain actually believes he is right and based on what we've seen in this show, he's right in a twisted way.

6. The acting by everyone except Densha is good.

7.  You can count the number of doramas that are not afraid to go dark and realistic on one hand.


WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE BESIDES DENSHA

1. There's this fire scene at the beginning of Ep 10 where the villain is standing in front of someone and all of a sudden the villain has moved a couple of meters. Jdoramas always screw up their geography in 'action' scenes (Shiroi Haru) but this marred the last episode a bit for me.

2. A bit too much explanation for the audience in Ep 10. Not as bad as most doramas but no need to spell things out for the audince.


SUMMARY

I am pretty happy with Kazokugari. Its a dark murder mystery with brains and it makes me want to check out the novel. I can see why they wanted to adapt this story unlike Mozu. Kazokugari does most things right and while I can't call it a must watch, its one of the most memorable jdormas I've seen. If only they had replaced Densha with someone who can do decent serious scenes.

GUESS WHO'S IN RYU GA GOTOKU ZERO?


The only thing that's dampening my anticipation is the free grinding/mini game app for Vita, similar to Ishin. Besides the stupid Ishin ending, I hated the grindfest nature of the game. If I complete all the sub stories and complete all the hostess missions, I expect to have all or at least 99% of the moves and not feel like I'm playing a half baked character for most of the game.


I thought this was Hashimoto Ai and found out its going to be Sawashiro Miyuki. Zero is going to be the first game without Haruka. :(
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Sword Art Online Season 1

September 15, 2014, 8:26 am
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I was happy to read that dgundam tried out LoGH and loved it. I was going to reply that in this age of Sword Art Online, epic non harem anime like LoGH can never be made. They tried with Guin Saga and it didn't get popular enough for a second season. Then I realised that I've had the review of SAO sitting in my head since I watched it long time ago and I'd better write it down.

So anyway, SAO starts off with an interesting premise. There is an online fantasy RPG where people wear a VR headset and somehow no one is allowed to leave the game on pain of death and the catch is that death in SOA will result in death in the real world. In other words, SOA is a fantasy anime with MMO rules. As I've said many times, I will accept any premise as long as it takes me somewhere interesting and the first half of SOA does that.

There is an awesome episode where a player is killed inside a town the mystery is how that happened cause in SOA, no one can be killed in a town. That episode is a perfect example of taking an unusual concept and running with it.

Unfortunately, the second half of SOA takes place in another MMO where death is no longer permanent, thereby getting rid of all the tension. MMOs are inherent a game of numbers when there are no stakes except for the rescuing this girl who's stuck in the game, there is no excitement.

Instead of making full use of the concept, SOA turns into a moe harem, main characters playing fake family in MMO story. SOA goes from clever story to pandering to the lowest common denominator otaku. I've seen this shit happen to so many anime and doramas that I always expect any show with an unusual setting to go down that path. Its as if the more high concept a show is, the more it will try to be normal to pander to the average viewer. The fact that Border had the balls to somewhere interesting is probably the biggest and most pleasant surprise this year.

SOA is a crappy anime with a good first half that has somehow continued to be popular and it has led to a second season. What this tells publishers and tv stations is that, execution of a story does not matter. A clever story with interesting characters. You just need a hook, throw in lots of moe and a harem and an anime will become popular.

Like jdoramas, there are probably good anime which most probably lack the viewership and ratings, I can't be stuffed cause anime are generally a lot longer than jdoramas and thus its harder to tell if something is worth watching. I don't have any screencaps cause I deleted the damn show for wasting my time. I guess the same rules apply to anime and jdoramas; avoid anything popular cause most of the time, its popular not because its good and good Japanese shows hardly get public recognition.
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Why Petero no Souretsu is a must watch jdorama

September 19, 2014, 9:07 am
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1. Its a mystery dorama that's more concerned with making sense than creating too many swerves.

2. Very even keel in terms of pacing. Every episode leaves me wanting the see what happens next and I never felt they stretched the story too far. I never felt the urge to fast forward and was hanging on every word.


3. Its a mystery story where the more they find out about their busjacker, the more the discover about themselves. People reveal their true nature when faced with difficulties or in this case, a boatload of free money.

4. Sugimura is a Mr Nice guy who is faced with difficult decisions and unlike most shows which are black and white, we get to see him struggle and think through his decisions which creates more empathy and made me think what I would have done in his place.


5. I like how the stories ties everything to a theme ala Kozokugari which in this case is the painting of Peter when he realises what he has done.

6. Not a happy tie, bow-tied ending.


7. The whole series is a slow build up to small but important character moments where the minimum is said but has a much stronger effect than most doramas where there would be a lot of preaching and explaining.

8. Makes me want to see the third dorama in this series.


RYU GA GOTOKU ZERO AT TGS

My body is ready for this game. Someone uploaded a 6 minute long 360p trailer but that's been taken down.

Bloody wish I were in Tokyo right now for this.

Can't wait for the game next year!!!!!

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Jmovie review: The Snow White Murder Case / Shiroyukihime Satsujin Jiken

September 22, 2014, 9:21 am
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Wow. It is not often that jmovies come up with a gem like this; a tight murder mystery movie with social commentary and great acting. This girl from a cosmetics company is killed and is dubbed Snow White. Ayano Gou plays the audience's POV character and he works for a television station and is very active on twitter talking about ramen.


Ayano Gou gets a phone call from his old university friend Renbutso Misako who also works at the same company with information on Snow White. Ayano Gou grabs his camera and starts interviewing people connected to the case as he gets closer to the truth.


I like how The Snow White Murder Case takes a look at mass media in Japan. I remember there was a murder case while I was in Japan and every freaking day and seemingly all the time, they would talk endlessly about the case to the point of reporting about trivial things and I'm not talking about your 6 o'clock news.


To me, it went pass news reporting to padding content to television and The Snow White Murder Case looks at the power of media and how it can be abused. Why not report on just the confirmed facts and let the police to their job? Its partly due to the 24 hour news cycle and the need for people consume new information every hour.


Its very similar to sports reporting. Even mundane information becomes news and false reporting is forgotten because there is a new batch of news/rumours/speculation to look forward to. The truth does not matter as much as content creation.


Connected to the power of media is twitter. Ayano Gou's character uses twitter throughout the movie, not just as a way to voice his thoughts to the audience but also to disseminate and receive intel. I love how The Snow White Murder Case looks at the power and danger of social media without being preachy. I thought about giving up at the beginning of the movie cause trying to listen to the dialogue and reading the twitter comments at the same time was so difficult that's only in the beginning.


Lastly the movie also uses the tried and true everyone's got their own version of the story to tell and its up to the audience and Ayano Gou's character to try and piece everything together before the end.


Must watch movie. I haven't seen a Japanese movie this good in quite some time.
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Gokuaku Ganbo

September 25, 2014, 9:48 am
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I started watching this a long time ago and have only recently completed the series. Ono Machiko gets into debt trouble because of her deadbeat boyfriend and ends up owing Koshimizu Management Consultants, a bunch of fixers a lot of money. She somehow joins the group in order to work and pay off her debt. In short Gukuaku Ganbo is a show about Ono Machiko learning to survive in a world where people try to scam each other all the time.


WHAT I LIKED

- Ono Machiko!

- The main attraction for me is just learning about the scams. Its part of why I enjoy Ryu ga Gotoku, most of the side missions are just Kiryuu uncovering scams.

 
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

- As a dorama, Gokuaku Ganbo not really funny nor is it very exciting. I don't really care about anyone, and no one is really in danger.

- The 'good guys' always win and Ono Machiko never scams any innocent person to their detriment throughout the series.

- Even when someone 'wins', there is a whole other question of enforcement like the stock certificate episode. A bit hard to believe this Koshimizu Agency running scams without any muscle.


SUMMARY

Its not a memorable show except learning the often repeated phrase kata ni hameru which has no application in real life. Meh from me.
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Risou no Joushi

September 28, 2014, 8:21 am
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Risou no Joushi, as the title suggests, is about Nagatsuka Kyozo (Petero no Souretsu) who plays the perfect middle management boss, Sakamoto in a travel agency. Sakamoto has just been transferred back from Thailand and he has been given the unenviable task of firing three of his subordinates played by Matsuyuki Yasuko (Kazouku Gari), Ishida Yuriko (Gaiji Keisatsu) and Kimura Yoshino (Hatsukoi). Sakamoto of course doesn't want to fire them and has to battle upper management to keep the three ladies.


I've said this before and I'll say it until it becomes a golden rule in jdoramas, Mr Nice Guy main character only work when they are between a rock and a hard place and there are no easy answers and Risou no Joushi does this well. As middle management, Sakamoto is beholden to his boss yet he tries to do right by his subordinates.


I am so happy Sakomoto is not some idealistic idiot screaming his impractical views while miracles happen so that the main character's unrealistic view is justified like some shows I have been watching lately. We know how things are going to turn out but its fun to watch him struggle with the demands of his job.


The other fun thing is of course watching all the talent that I like when they were young including playing supporting roles including Black President himself as Sakamoto's former underling with a grudge. Ok, Black President's part of the story is kind of lame but I can accept the need to create an antagonist in this case. A fun, feel-good watchable show about the perfect middle management boss.
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Yamikin Ushijima-kun the movie

October 1, 2014, 8:33 am
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I liked the first season, the second season was boring and this is the movie that bridges the two seasons. Ushijima the series was never really about the main character, who is more a force of nature. Its about the characters that inhabit this dark world and in this case its Hayashi Kento (Arakawa Under the Bridge) how is the manager of a dancing group trying to stage a huge dance part and Oshima Yuko who plays the daughter of a prostitute who owes Ushijima money.


As with season 2, my main complaint is Katase Nana is not there to provide the viewer perspective between the force of nature Ushijima and his clients who are not likable and Hayashi Kento's three mobile phone wielding manager is certainly very unlikeable and he does a great job at it. Katase Nana does make a cameo and her character gets to say goodbye but her appearance just reinforces how her being the main character in season 1 made it so fun for me.


Oshima Yuko's role feels like a movie audition featuring her making doe eyes. It doesn't help that she doesn't do anything dirty as to not tarnish her idol image. The Nikumamushi story is shoehorned in as to give someone for Ushijima to fight against, which I didn't mind but they did a better job of it in season 2.


Its not all bad though. I liked loli entrapment story and Ushijima versus the police. In the end, it was forgettable and can't compare with the first season. Since they made a second movie, the first movie and second season must appealed to a lot of people but I just don't get it cause what I enjoyed in the first season like the comedy isn't there anymore.
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Nakuna Hara-chan

October 3, 2014, 1:27 am
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Nakuna Hara-chan is an interesting dorama by Okada Yoshikazu (Saigo Kara Nibanme no Koi). Echizen-san (Aso Kumiko) draws manga as a hobby and one day Hara-chan, one of the characters in her manga manages to enter the real world in pursuit of God/Echizen-san.


WHAT I LIKED

+ Its basically a reverse Video Girl Ai/Chobits/Name any regular dude summon magical girl anime without the harem.
+ A lot of effort went into this dorama.
+ Nagase Tomoya's brand of overacting suits this type of story, or rather he is not exposed too much...
+ Similar to Haruhi, I love the god interacting with her creations bit of it. A lot of parallels with religion to explore not to mention falling in love with (literally) 2D characters.


WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

- I grew very tired of the over overacting by the middle of the show.
- I felt Nakuna Hara-chan could have gone to darker and more interesting places. For eg, Echizen-san should have 'erased' the fake boss after his resurrection because he was making the manga unbalanced.
- I really didn't care about any of the characters and basically skimmed the last few episodes.


SUMMARY

Watchable dorama with a rare premise that doesn't fulfill its potential but doesn't stuff it up either. Watch it for something different but keep your expectations low.
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The End of Summer / Natsu no Owari

October 6, 2014, 6:10 am
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A year ago, I had to chose between The Apology King and Natsu no Owari during the Japanese Film Festival and I regretted choosing The Apology King. After a long wait, I finally got to watch this Mitsushima Hikari and Kobayashi Kaoru movie.


Mitsushima Hikari plays the mistress of a writer played by Kobayashi Kaoru. Ayano Go is her ex-lover and that's pretty much the plot of the movie cause there is not plot. Its basically a very, very slow movie that indulges in the misery of the characters and their dissatisfaction with their situations.


To be honest, I got pretty restless after the halfway mark. I can see the mistress is not happy but can't leave. Ayano Go's character playing the lover to the mistress is even more miserable but its nothing I've never seen before.


I kept watching in the faint hope that there is some sort of revelation that will turn this story around and make it work. Alas, Natsu no Owari is a study of a mistress trying to free herself from a life that bores her and unfortunately I was dragged into that boredom as well.


The acting was good, movie looks great but I think Mitsushima Hikari was terribly miscast as she looks way too young for the role. I won't call it crap but its not watchable either. The way I would recommend this movie is if you have trouble falling asleep. If you want a great movie about misery, watch The Ravine of Goodbye.

EIYUU DENSETSU: SEN NO KISEKI II

Finally got it today. It arrived in Australia on Thursday and I was supposed to get it on Friday but Australia Post did the fake 'attempted delivery' on Friday. I hate it when they bullshit fake delivery. I'd rather see a 'we're too busy to deliver today but you'll get it tomorrow' when tracking a parcel. I did not pay $20 for delivery to take a week. At least I got to finish Ryu ga Gotoku 1 HD over the weekend I guess.

Surprise, surprise, it came with an instruction manual, albeit a thin one! I hate opening a game case only to find it empty except for the game. The best way to combat piracy is to give people incentive to buy originals, not rip fans off with overpriced special editions. I miss the old thick, instruction manuals with lots of information and artwork.

Its time to kill that bloody traitor but knowing Falcom and anime RPGs in general, there's gonna be a lot of stupid arguments.
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