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Suteki na Sen Taxi Special
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Nigeru Onna
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Minna Esper Dayo! Movie / The Virgin Psychics
Shometani Shota and Mano Erina are back for more Esper action.
First off, happy belated birthday to Mano Erina!
Is Sono Sion no longer capable of recapturing the past glories of Noriko's Dinner Table and Love Exposure?
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Nipponbashi Street Festa 201 Part 4
Triple chobits?
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Kumamoto Earthquake
I contacted Asami who runs her own bar in Kumamoto yesterday and she had spend the whole morning with her employees at a park after. Shinkansen are not running and the airport and highway are closed so there's no way out. It got me thinking I could have been stuck in Kyushu for a week or two since I go there so often. (Just enter Kumamoto into the search bar for plenty of pictures)
There's suppose to be another aftershock sometime next week so she may close shop for a whole week, not to mention the place is already a mess. No point cleaning up now if everything is just going to fall over again.
Hopefully the aftershock is a mild one and there are no more casualties. Ganbatte Kumamoto! 頑張って熊本！
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Boku Dake ga Inai Machi (Anime) spoilers
I just watched the movie last month and I enjoyed most of it except for the second half which just felt rushed. I wanted to see whether the anime would fix the ending and I found myself being impressed by how much the of the anime of movie managed to cram into its runtime.
SPOILERS
In the movie, Fujinuma gets thrown of the bridge and he somehow survives ending up in the present, running into the killer on a rooftop (not the school, I think it was the bad guy's office or something), getting stabbed and dying. It was very unsatisfying. Not the dying part, just the way there was no build up.
In the movie, he drowns in a car and ends up in a coma for 15 years and wakes up as a kid in an adults body which was the opposite for most of the story. Good thing the memory loss thing didn't last long but they could have done some interesting things with it.
The anime moves very fast to a resolution where the Yashiro is entrap for attempted murder but it was done in a way that doesn't make sense cause Fujinuma wheeled himself off in the first place. How do you prove that in a court of law? Yashiro could have said Fujinuma tried to commit suicide and he tried to save him. It just seems like a cop out ending.
The anime also has this added point about how the Yashiro has not commited any crimes since Fujinuma was in a coma because he needed him to provide motivation. Gee, he never killed any kids before Fujinuma caught his scent? Maybe I'm confusing the anime with the movie because in the movie he had committed similar crimes before. Its just a lame attempt at the Batman and Joker I made you and you made me thing.
The ending should be all the friends who are now adults and who have been buying their time, doing a 20th Century Boys mission to expose this powerful politician with maybe some heavy costs. This story needs that Kenji gathering all this friends to save the world feel.
I had a quick look at Volume 7 of the manga. Looks like the anime and movie had the problems with creating an ending for a manga that had not yet ended and both went the quick, easy and not so satisfying route. In a sense, it can't be helped and they should have waited for the manga to finish first but I'm pretty sure we're going to get an animated movie with the true ending down the line.
Oh yeah, I didn't like how super stereotypical cooldere Kayo was. She felt way too adult compared to the movie.
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Kakko no Tamago Dare no Mono Episodes 1-4
Once, the mystery got going Kakko no Tamago got more interesting and its not as simple as I thought it would be, which is a good thing. After all its a Higashi Keigo story. I just wish the characters were written better.
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Monsterz
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Captain America: Civil War
The airport scene is as good as the reviews say. Pure comicbook joy. I couldn't stop grinning ear to ear. I love how the trailer doesn't spoil the money shots. So weird seeing Spidey interacting with everyone. The only minus is that Vision, being such a powerful character is surprisingly absent for a lot of that fight.
I'm glad we got more Cap and Winter Soldier Jason Bourne action. The fight down the stairs was fun. The thing that left the biggest impression is hot Aunt May played by Marisa Tomei who doesn't look close to 51. You know why Downey is going to be in Spiderman and we all know Tony Stark likes to upgrade.
Also, Cap's mom is not called Martha. Very fun, satisfying almost must watch. The Russo Bros did a good job cramming in so many characters but keeping it a Cap film.
I'm glad we got more Cap and Winter Soldier Jason Bourne action. The fight down the stairs was fun. The thing that left the biggest impression is hot Aunt May played by Marisa Tomei who doesn't look close to 51. You know why Downey is going to be in Spiderman and we all know Tony Stark likes to upgrade.
Also, Cap's mom is not called Martha. Very fun, satisfying almost must watch. The Russo Bros did a good job cramming in so many characters but keeping it a Cap film.
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Juhan Shuttai! Episodes 1+2
There is a scene in the beginning of Juhan Shuttai! where the cleaner observes that this young man is going into an interview with a fake posture and smile. That is exactly what the main character is.
As Buck said, she is a one dimensional asadora character who comes from the Tomoya Nagase school of overacting. Juhan Shuttai is already a brightly lit and cheerful show but somehow Kuroki Haru just overdoes it even more.
The first episode was kind of meh cause Kentarou Miura takes breaks everytime a new Idolmaster game comes out.
I am going to keep watching for the manga stuff and hopefully someone sneaks some valium into Kuroki Haru's drink. Only watch if you are interested in manga publishing stuff and don't expect anything else good.
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Our House Episodes 1+2
THE GOOD
+ Lots of funny and witty Nojima Shinji dialogue. How I miss his writing. However, he hasn't done anything good since Love Shuffle, hasn't he?
+ Love the side characters.
THE BAD
- I never liked Ashida Mana except for in Mother. Her characters are always way too smart and it fits her character in this show but she's like an adult in a kid's body. When she does her crying scenes its just gratuitous and I get flashbacks to Beautiful Rain. I don't think I can ever enjoy her acting until she grows up.
- Can't really blame Nojima Shinji but Charlotte's character uses English in the weirdest of places and she knows some really difficult words and sentences. Same problem with Massan, shouldn't Charlotte and Koji be speaking a lot more English?
- I wish it wasn't doing the usual turn one person into Charlotte's ally per episode formula.
- Zero chemistry between Charlotte and Koji.
THE UGLY
- Taking a taxi from Narita? No idea where they live but the taxi went pass Tokyo Tower. The taxi bill would be crazy.
SUMMARY
I just can't stand Ashida Mana. She's been monopolising the little girl roles for too long. Too bad the girl from Shiroi Haru retired. Surely there must be other talented young actresses out in Japan? Its hard to enjoy a show when you like the dialogue but don't like the main actor in the show. If you like her, you'll probably enjoy this. If not, it won't make you like her and you're better off watching Hitotsu Yane no Shita. Meh.
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Bakuman movie review
I've got two problems with Bakuman in that the two main characters aren't very interesting and they are really not underdogs especially with them not having produced a manga before and all of a sudden getting the attention from an editor in Jump.
There was no ganbarre feel for me and I was more interested in the who had already payed their dues to the manga gods. Its as if Sakuragi joined the Shohoku basketball club and he can already shoot and do crossovers from day 1, just not as good.
Its a two hour movie and they had to skip a couple of steps but the fact neither of them are interesting doesn't help. They try to make them underdogs by making their rival a super genius but this super genius has been drawing manga since he was a kid.
Instead, its too concerned with the manga rankings and we're talking about Shonen Jump here, which has LoToveRu where stupid protagonist has his face shoved up girls' crotches every chapter.
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Seirei no Moribito dorama
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Kono Machi no Inochi ni
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Rewatching Civil War
After rewatching Civil War multiple times, (not necessarily legally) I have come to the conclusion not only is this the best comicbook movie ever, its an expertly crafted move. Not just because it expertly juggles so many characters and has so many quotable lines but also there are so many themes that are explored among all the punching and size changing.
First off Zemo. The promotion of the movie was that both sides are right and here we have a 'villain' who is actually right. One could even argue Zemo is the protagonist. This is a movie about his plan for revenge. Zemo is the voice of innocent bystanders given form. He is the tactical genius smart enough to decrypt the Hydra files and realise that there might be skeletons in the Avengers' closet that he could use. Best of all, the twist has been implied in Winter Soldier.
Speaking of revenge, we've got two other characters seeking revenge as well. Black Panther who ultimately comes to different terms with his need for vengeance (thank the Marvel gods that he stopped Zemo cause Zemo is the best villain since Loki) and Stark who is just I don't care Winter Soldier was mind controlled because everything in my life has fallen apart and revenge is the only thing that can make me feel better.
Civil War is great because it pays off the character development from previous movies. The soldier who was used to chain of command who comes to realise that all organisations are easily corruptible and the safest hands are in his. The rebel who has made so many mistakes who realises that he can't keep running away from accountability.
The scary thing is how can Marvel movies get any better? Can the peak get any higher?
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Kakko no Tamago Dare no Mono Eps 5+6
I just can't buy how easily the person who set up the bomb was induced to do so for the money. Really forgettable series by WOWOW. Avoid.
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Dias Police Eps 1-4
I just find the tone all over the place and nothing clicked with me. The only reason I lasted 4 episodes is that they were pretty short. Then I saw the preview for episode 5 and Kaho is in it! Looks like I'll be staying on another 2 episodes. Otherwise, meh. Nothing to see here.
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Arechi no Koi
One of my favourite lines is when Kawashima Umika is sitting in a tax near the end and she says (paraphrasing) I can handle the truth because I am the daughter of a poet.
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Utenai Keikan Episode 1
Shibasaki tells the culprit to be his spy in HQ and proclaims that he will work his way back to HQ. This got me excited because Shibasaki is not your nice guy protagonist. Its a dog eat dog world of police politics plus the fact that he is obviously a smart cop having to do non-administrative duties will be interesting.
Utenai Keikan does not have the smell of a family friendly guy learns to be a better person kind of story and I look forward to watching the remaining 4 episodes after a good first episode.
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Can jdorama/jmovies thrive without idorus and talento?
If you're one of the five people who read this blog, you know how much I despise mainstream shows with the main purpose of being vehicles for idorus and so called talentos. *cough* Gouri *cough*. However, compared to Japan, Australian tv is full of reality tv shows and the only dramas are soap operas like Neighbours and Home and Away. There are hardly any home made Australian dramas. The reason isn't just the difference in population between Japan and Australia, although it probably plays a part.
FACT #1: IDORUS AND TALENTO DRAW RATINGS
If you're in charge of greenlighting tv shows for TV Asahi or TBS or Fuji TV, you'll probably have to convince the higher ups that casting this person who can't act can draw X number of eyeballs to the show and increase entertainment news coverage. Can you go the bosses and say I've got this great script and director and we are going to cast the best no names and we are going to draw ratings based on strong reviews.
FACT #2: GOOD ACTING AND SCRIPT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RATINGS IN JAPAN
The two biggest ratings giants in recent years have been Kaseifu no Mita and Hanzawa Naoki, two shows with horrible acting and crappy scripts and both drew ratings producers will die for.
FACT (More like opinion) #3: AVERAGE JAPANESE DON'T CRITICISE SHOWS/DORAMAS
I've talked to many Japanese about their doramas and movies and most conversations don't go beyond whether something is interesting or not. Seriously, its impossible to have in depth conversation about doramas or movies when in Japan unless the other person is hardcore into movies. Compared to the Western world where we're discussing every detail of Game of Thrones or how Sons of Anarchy and House of Cards suck after season 3.
Lots of people hate Gouriki but apparently she's got a lot of female fans for some reason. This producer says that reviewers don't really criticise movies. If reviewers don't criticise movies, that also means they don't criticise performances of people who can't act like that overpushed Mikasa actress in the Attack on Titan movie. If they don't criticise their own movies, then that means the movies that are actually good.
Long story short, I don't think your average Japanese will appreciate a good jdorama like Suzuki Sensei even if it hit them in the face. Its not just the Japanese audience though. You can also see the indifference to quality with shows that get subbed and the number or people downloading the subs from English speaking jdorama fans.
FACT #4: TV STATIONS NEED THESE IDORUS AND TALENTO OR RATHER THEIR AGENCIES FOR THEIR PROGRAMMING
Johnnys are already responsible for a large chunk of TV entertainment shows like Bistro SMAP and that Arashi game show. You want continued support from Johnnys, you better put more of their people in your doramas. Gouriki can't act for fucks? Don't worry, we'll keep giving her her own show.
There is an episode in the anime Shirobako where all the stakeholders from the tv studio and talent agencies give their stupid input on how to make and cast this anime that it derails from what the creators are trying to do. Talent agencies hold more power than producers and directors.
FACT #5: ROBUST TV INDUSTRY ALLOWS GOOD JDORAMAS/JMOVIES TO BE MADE
Granted the good doramas are mostly from WOWOW and NHK but because your major networks continue to make doramas, everyone has to compete in that field as it is much cheaper to create those so called reality shows that are actually faker than wresting.
A robust industry at least guarantees that there is money flowing into the making of doramas and movies. The good WOWOW and NHK shows like Yami no Bansosha may not have the budget of a Getsu 9 dorama but at least they have one.
A robust industry allows good writers and actors and production people to have jobs, pay their bills, hone their craft and hopefully they'll have a chance to work on a dorama with an actual story and vision.
SUMMARY
To answer the question of whether jdoramas/jmovies can thrive without idorus and talento, I would like to think yes but Japanese viewing habits suggest not. If something as great as Lady Joker which is like The Wire of Japanese doramas cannot make a dent in their public consciousness, there is no hope. However, because we continue to have shows featuring people who cannot act and soap opera lighting, we at least can continue to have gems like Arechi no Koi which are unappreciated and unsubbed.
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