Tokyo DOGS

Synopsis:

Takakura So witnessed his father, who is a detective, being murdered in front of him by a crime lord (Jinno). Vowing to take revenge, So grew up to become a detective in New York. At one failed ambush, a woman (Yuki Matsunaga) who seemed to be related to Jinno survived in amnesic state. Restoring her memory may be a key to reveal more information about Jinno. So was transferred to Tokyo and was partnered with Maruo Kudo to restore Yuki's memory and to follow the lead that Japanese police has on Jinno.

My opinion:

Action drama is not a genre that usually I am interested in. I give this a try due to good reviews but since my interest on this genre is so so, I watched this only in 2016. There is a good mix of comedy here which makes this more bearable to watch although it still took me a few months to complete this because my soft sub for episode 5 was faulty. I waited until end December to get the correct soft sub and then finish the show. Thus it is interesting enough to make me watch episodes back to back but it is not good enough to make me chiong for the faulty soft sub earlier.

The first few episodes which focus on restoring Yuki's memory are rather boring. The excitement starts to build up halfway as more information about Jinno and the conflict with him begins to show a clearer picture. I think the build up towards the climax is pretty good although the investigations and the shoot outs are pretty tame and lame for an action drama.

I enjoy comedy but I think having too much comedy in the middle of the supposedly action-packed investigation or shoot out with criminal scenes make the action scenes lame. The type of comedy here may not be everyone's cup of tea. I personally only like the funny scenes when So act or say things in a 'too serious' manner. For example, when Yuki hugged him from behind, So flip throws her because his fighting reflex. This is repeated at the final episode which I find damn hilarious as Yuki repeats the same comments that she got thrown even though she is a woman. Or when So sleeps next to Maruo on a single bed because ít is common for soldiers at war to share the same bunk bed. Lol. Sadly, funny attempts from Maruo, So's family, and the members of Japanese police department more often fall on the corny side. They are funny initially they tend to repeat the same jokes and slowly become repetitive and no longer funny.

Being used to teenagers/school-themed genre, it is quite interesting to see character development in a more mature or adult genre. These adult characters do not simply 'çhange' as the story progresses and that is something quite realistic. Despite personality mismatch between So and Maruo, So does not lighten up because of Maruo's influence and Maruo's does not become more serious like So. I am also quite surprised that Jinno, despite being a crime lord, actually loves Yuki. It is not a cliche that the antagonist is an arse who just makes use of the main female character bla bla bla. There is a love triangle between Maruo, Yuki, and So but nothing really romantic happens which I think fits into the theme of the drama and the characters.

One disappointment for me is that there are so many characters which are underused. I am referring to the Japanese police departments. In fact, I think there are 2 guys who usually appear during briefing but throughout the whole series, they do not even say anything or even interact with the other characters in the team. Similarly with So's family. These characters seem to be present just for comic relief. I feel that the police departments should have gotten bigger role in the investigation and action aspects of the drama.

My afterthoughts:

It is official, I AM OLD! Dang!! Haha.. I have been looking for a more grown-up drama about working adults bla bla bla. I find Tokyo DOGS pretty okay. I know my younger self would think that the characters are one-dimensional because they remain the same personalities right through the end of the series, I would be disappointed with no romance and how the relationship between the characters are very 'professional' rather than 'personal'. But my current self thinks that the drama is reasonable and realistic enough to show the adult life. We no longer change our personalities overnight and relationships with colleagues, no matter how close we are, always remain business-like rather than personal.

Samurai High School

Synopsis:

Mochizuki Kotaro is a cowardly 17 year old high school student who spends most of his time goofing around. One fateful day, on his way home from school, he came across a mysterious history library. The librarian lent him a history book about a samurai from Edo era who has the same name, Mochizuki Kotaro. Since then, when faced with danger, Kotaro will turn into a samurai. What does the samurai want by travelling 400 years into the future and meet his descendant?

My opinion:

I started watching this in November last year and just finished the last 2 episodes tonight. There are only 9 episodes in total. Lol. So yeah, that is how bad the drama is. I can even watch while playing online games on my phone or tablet.

I am expecting this to be a comedy but the supposed funny parts turn out lame instead of hilarious. It seems that the actors are overacting for the funny scenes and they just turn out not funny at all.

There is no plot at all. Each episode is completely unrelated and the 'conflict' presented in each episode is too trivial and the conflict resolution is always too abrupt and forced. There is no overarching plot to tie the series at all. Kotaro wants to find out what the samurai wants but everything that he does does not have any relevance to this particular purpose. Until the end, the samurai's purpose of 'getting' justice is also lame.

The relationships among the characters are bad. I have never watched a series with a school theme where the main character hardly interacts with the classmates. Kotaro's relationships with Nakamura and Ai are lukewarm at best and Mochizuki family dynamic from an episode to the next is like flipping a pancake. The teachers also do not provide any educational value or learning point to the audience also.

In short, the series has no purpose, no story, and no message to deliver.

The only credit I will give is to Haruma Miura (who plays Kotaro) and Yu Shirota (who plays Nakamura). Haruma Miura plays both lame and samurai Kotaro and it is amazing to see how he plays these 2 characters with completely opposite personality. He can be goofy, can be stern, can be scary, but one thing he cannot do well is to be emotional and tear-inducing. By the way he plays Eren in Attack on Titan movies and I think he is pretty bad as Eren. Lol. Yu Shirota surprised me by playing this wimpy character as usually he plays strong and serious characters like Tezuka (Prince of Tennis Live Action), Shinjo (Rookies), Kagurazaka (the first Hana Kimi). Even when he is being adamant during police interrogation, he still shouts in a wimpy manner instead of being manly type of shouting. So he is always being in his character.

My afterthoughts:

None. This is the first school themed movie that I find disappointing. No moral lessons, no friendship or family tear jerking moments, and nothing memorable. It is actually extremely disappointing because given the themes of samurai and school, they have a great potential to make a great series.

Suikyu Yankees

Synopsis:

Inaba Naoya is a cry baby whose life was changed after he was saved from bullies by a yankee from Kasu High School. He grew up abroad but that did not stop him from aspiring to study in Kasu High School one day -his hero's alma mater. He returns to discover that Kasu High School is frowned upon by the townspeople as school of the hopeless and pales in comparison with Suiran High School which brings good name to the town for being the no 1 water polo teams in Japan. Not wanting the legacy of his yankee hero to be over, Naoya decides to save Kasu High School by bettering Suiran High School in water polo.

My opinion:

As a typical high school sports comedy drama, Suikyu Yankee has plenty of tried and tested formula to follow but in an attempt to differentiate itself from others, it successfully butchers all potential good things which can come from such genre. The title itself is an irony as there is very little water polo actions and the only yankee thing throughout the whole 10 episodes is Naoya's hair.

It is the very first series which feature water polo and they fail to capitalise it. The struggle of forming the team, finding a suitable training location (which obviously ends up in a water tank of sea aquarium), and the summer training camp are too similar too Water Boys which happens to be another Fuji TV drama from a decade ago. The practice scenes do not feel unique to water polo and it seems to be just a fanservice to have the boys in speedos. The matches are so short and not inspiring: they show neither how difficult it is to play water polo nor how intense water polo matches can be. The final match is made worse with the fact that Suiran is playing 'dirty'. I find it disgusting for a no.1 team to resort to such when playing against a bunch of amateurs. No matter how they want to spin the story, having 1 genius + 6 beginners in opposing team should not and cannot be a major threat against a no. 1 team. The most terrible thing is that all Goda's dirty actions are not punished until the end. 

The team bonding is also quite poor and each team member's reason for joining the team is weak. These undermines any potential emotional parts about team spirit and camaraderie. The victory over Suiran is rather tasteless and feels ridiculous for a team of amateurs which have only played for few months can win over a no 1 team in Japan. It feels kinda lame as I don't see any struggle or development from Kasu's team to be better in water polo and hence I cannot empathise their joy to finally overcome Suiran. They even fail to incorporate the yankee's never give up spirit and that makes all the inspiring words from Kurosawa (the yankee who inspired chibi Naoya) pretentious.

There is way more romance than usual high school sports comedy J-drama at the expense of the screen time for development of the water polo team. I think it does more harm than good.

The only unique and good thing that Suikyu Yankees handle uniquely is the sports rivalry between Ryuji and Torao. Instead of going the usual pathway of who is better as an ace, Ryuji realises that he won't compete with Torao. Torao is a better floater (i.e ace and scorer of the team) while Ryuji is better as a playmaker to support floater. Instead of competing with Torao to be the better floater, Ryuji decides to focus on his strength as a playmaker and will make Naoya a better floater than Torao. 

The characters are generally very one dimensional and there is very little character development. Most of Kasu water polo team are childish who take turns threatening to quit when something bad happens. Yes, even our main character is also guilty of doing that. Ryuji feels more like a sore loser rather than someone who gives up because of poor self-confidence. We also have the baka trio whose main contribution is providing comic relief and make up the number of the water polo team. Surprisingly, Chiaki is the one with more significant character development and maturation despite the initial outlook of joining the team for childish ulterior motive of impressing the teacher. That is a good surprise there. 

As much as I like Nakajima Yuto as Hey! Say! JUMP member, I think he can't act as a yankee. I mean he has this good boy vibe that he can't shake off., no matter how much he tries. But if you consider his character as a good boy trying to act as a yankee at school, then he acts pretty well. I also find it disturbing how Ohara Sakurako (who plays Nagisa) reminds me of Maeda Atsuko while Yamazaki Kento looks like a hybrid of Sato Shori and Nakajima Kento from Sexy Zone. Lol.

My afterthoughts:

Suikyu Yankees really reminds me of Water Boys albeit it feels like an inferior copycat of Water Boys. Water Boys series are one of the first few J-drama series that I watched -although I never write any blog on them as the drafts are still in a word document in my laptop- and Suikyu Yankees makes me want to rewatch them. I watched Water Boys almost 10 years ago and I feel emo to realise how old I am :( It is quite amazing how my preference still has not changed and after watching sports school drama, I still feel pang of jealousy that I never had the chance to play sports during my school days. Sigh if only I could turn back time...

Hammer Session!

Synopsis:

A con artist, Otowa no 4, escapes from the police after the car transporting them has an accident and falls into a lake. While escaping, he comes across Hikari Gakuen School and sees a teacher who is going to burn the school down. Not long after, police comes to the school to search for missing fugitive. The headmaster strikes a deal with this swindler: he will not surrender him to the police if he is going to be a teacher in this school. He takes over the identity of the teacher who was going to burn the down the school as Hachisuka-sensei and begins to change the lives of his students.

My opinion:

High school comedy drama is my favourite genre and I always have high expectations in terms of both educational value and entertainment/comedy value. The idea of Hammer Session! is to put these naughty students in harsh situations that makes them realise the gravity of their delinquencies and learn their lessons. The first episode hits a high note as the example of given is powerful.

Sadly, things start going downhill from then onwards and I will blame it to the weak character development. When we talk about juvenile delinquencies, we will not run far away from being rude with parents, shoplifting, underage smoking/drinking/clubbing, etc. Thus, there is nothing special with the theme. However, the students are like strangers towards one another at the beginning and the progression to become a united class towards the end totally does not make sense. Not to mention that Kaede -the main female student protagonist- is a kaypoh social butterfly who seems to be close enough to be with anybody who is the focus on each episode. It also does not make a good story telling when we are watching this class together from the beginning but only at the last few episodes we come to know that this student and that student are friends etc.

I was honestly expecting the ending to be something similar to Gokusen, especially since Hachisuka is a criminal. Spoiler alert: he does not get recaptured in the end as the policeman (who happens to be Kaede's father) sees him as a teacher after witnessing how his students look up to him as a teacher. Prior to the ending, it is revealed that Otowa no 4 stole money involved in bribery from a member of the police force. Thus after the accident in the first episode, the police simply considers him dead and close all investigation to prevent further opening cans of worms of the bribery. So is it right for Kaede's father to do what he did? I think the answer is morally debatable.

Otowa no 4 was hired as a teacher to change the school but until the end, I think he only manages to change a class. I guess that means mission failed? Lol..

Anyway the picture above is like totally giving wrong expectations. The movie is not as badass as how they cast appears in the picture. The only thing related to beach is just a few minutes in one episode. With so many school-themed series, I don't think this is something that I will recommend, not even for the comedy alone. Looks like I am running out of good shows as the recent ones I watched have been rather disappointing.

My afterthoughts:

I am passionate about teaching and watching this reignites my wish to seriously start thinking if I have to leave my current job and to do a career switch as a lecturer. I still have 10 more months until I am legitimately free and in the mean time, I really have to think if money and annual leave are more important than purpose of life.

Otomen

Synopsis:
Masamune Asuka is popular high school student who is not only handsome, clever, but also the All Japan champion in kendo. However, beneath all of this, Asuka hides a secret that he loves girly things such as cooking, sewing, sweet food, shoujo manga, soft toys, etc. Conversely, Miyakozuka Ryo, who is recently transferred to Ginyuri High School, is a pretty young lady who is also skillful in martial arts but not in cooking or sewing. They instantly fall for each other but will their story be as rosy as those depicted in shoujo mangas?

My opinion:
Otomen is a Japanese boy who excels in both military and literary arts while hiding his girly hobbies, such as cooking and sewing, his girly way of thinking and and his skills to act as a real man. That is the definition of otomen provided in the live drama.

From the synopsis and the first few minutes of the first episode, I have high expectations that this is going to be a hilarious gender-bender comedy. Unfortunately, this potential is not realised as the story progresses more like a shoujo manga romance with funny scenes as fillers instead of the reverse. The thing is there is not enough "meat" to drive the romance plot. In fact, the story is kinda messy with plenty of sub-plots, such as Asuka and his estranged father, which do not get closure. Even the romance ends up very ambiguous with no couples being explicitly established. There is very little character development as the characters remain the same throughout the show.

The 12 episodes feel rather disjointed with every episode introducing different story with no main plot to connect everything together. The story ends quite abruptly with Ryo deciding to transfer school and the final climax is 'merely' whether the 2 main characters will be honest enough to admit their feelings towards each other. Meh! I was expecting Asuka's being otomen will be revealed and will be accepted by his friends and mother or something along that line. This may be predictable but at least it is something related to the title.

Masamune Asuka is played by Masaki Okada. I think he lacks the presence to be the lead character. Even when he is together with a group of the casts, he just does not have the aura as the lead. For a comedy, he is too serious but this works quite well for Otomen as some of the funny scenes are funny because the characters don't realise that they are being funny. Kaho, who plays Ryo, is very pretty. Kyaaa!! The picture up there does not do justice!! I am surprised that she is not that popular in the sense that she does not play in a lot of popular titles. Quite wasted as I think she plays even better than Masaki Okada, including those serious scenes which are meant to be funny.

While Asuka and Ryo's funny scenes are mostly because their straight faces and serious expressions while doing and saying funny things, the bulk of the comedy is done by the support characters. Funny scenes involving Isono are lame, funny scenes involving Tonomine and Oharida-senpai are pretty hilarious, but the best laughter comes from Tachibana.

My afterthoughts:
I am half otomen too okay! Lol.. I don't do martial arts but I can't cook or sew too. Haha.. I just enjoy reading shoujo manga, eating sweet food, and collecting cute collectibles. So ya, I can sort of relate to what the otomen in the story is going through, from the friends who don't approve and from fellow otomen who approve. But seriously, in real life, girls are pretty okay with otomen.

I missed buying the manga when it was released by Elex Media Komputindo. Before watching the dorama, I was prepared that I would be hooked and would be hunting for the manga after watching. Well, I dorama just kills whatever interest I initially had for the manga. Ooops..

I am actually quite shocked to realise that the last time I wrote about J-dramas was in 2013!! That means I did not watch any in 2014.. Omg.. What happened to my 2014 T_T I had no life..

Ouran High School Host Club + Movie

Synopsis:

Fujioka Haruhi is a commoner who enrolls to the prestigious Ouran High School by a scholarship. In her attempt to find a quiet room to study, she ended up in the Ouran High School Host Club room and broke an 8,000,000 yen vase. In order to repay her debt, she is forced to join the club as a host.

My opinion:

This is one title which starts slow and rather boring but gets more interesting as the story progresses. In fact, by the end of it, I feel it is quite a waste that each episode only lasts 20+ minutes instead of the usual 45-minute duration for a J-dorama. 

Despite its popularity, I never read the manga or watch the anime prior to watching this. I thought this would be typical reverse-harem+cross-dress story with Haruhi busy helping each of the guys with their personal conflicts/secrets, Haruhi falling in love with one of the guys, internal fighting among the guys as they all like her,  and the ending will be her secret that she is a female being revealed to the whole school. After watching all, I am quite wrong. There isn't much story, there isn't much drama, there isn't much romance, it is mostly comedy and thus there is nothing much that I can comment on.

Kudos to the cast who makes the drama really enjoyable to watch. It is quite amazing to see in real life the lame and corny things/effects that we usually see only in manga or anime. Special mention to Yusuke Yamamoto. He may not be considered "handsome" and seeing how he often plays delinquent roles, it is quite amazing to see him as a super narcist and shameless guy. I think it is very embarrassing and it takes a lot of guts to act like he did here. The twins are also damn good with their yaoi moments. I have to say that the twins are the only ones with believable personalities. Nothing really remarkable with the rest.

My afterthoughts:

Due to the nature of the dorama, it is not really thought-provoking. It is fun to watch and to have a good laugh and that's it. There isn't much story here but I still enjoy it nonetheless. I guess I am a bigger sucker for comedy than for a tear-jerking drama. Haha.. Usually I like those stories that can make me cry.

I don't have a brother and thus always wish for one. Now seeing a pair of twins, perhaps it will be more fun than having a brother eh?? But wait, if the twin has similar personality like me, I think just one of me is enough wor :p Haha..

Let's move on to the movie now..

Synopsis:

Ouran High School is having its annual festival and the Host Club will be joining the competition in order to win the Central Saloon for their new club room. In the midst of the preparation, an exchange student from Singapore arrives and is attracted to Tamaki. What secrets does this girl hide? How will her presence affect Ouran High School and its annual festival?

My opinion:

The movie keeps both the goods and the bads from the TV series. Comedy is still the driving force but comedy alone is not good enough to form a 100-minute movie. An element of romance is introduced but unfortunately ends up as jokes and nothing conclusive about Tamaki-Haruhi relationship. The drama element is quite interesting up to the mid-point where Michelle's plan is revealed. However, the resolution falls flat and is rather anti-climatic. I can't see how "political marriage" and "meals with brother" are connected in anyway. Thus as much as I like the comedy elements, overall, the movie is rather below average with failed drama for the second half.

Mariko Shinoda is one of my favourite AKB48 girls but she is rather unimpressive here as Michelle. It isn't entirely her fault as her personality/story/plot is confusing and weird. She pulls of the "princessy" air well and that's it. Not even her presence can make me think that this movie is worth watching more than once.

Since Michelle and her brother, Lawrence (played by Nichkhun), are based in Singapore, they are depicted to speak English in their conversation. Their conversation sounds weird in English. Both speak very slowly, emotionlessly, and unnaturally. Hey, we don't speak like that in Singapore, okay :p

My afterthoughts:

As a commoner, sometimes I dream of being rich and lead an elite lifestyle. It does not mean that being wealthy does not come with problems too: lack of family time, internal rife over family wealth, keep thinking on how to keep and grow the wealth, as well as "political" marriage are just a few things that the elites face. Honestly, I don't think I can choose which are better: those things I mention or the problems that I face as commoners: how am I going to get money tomorrow, how am I going to afford a house in the future, and so on. The bottom lines are: life is never a bed of roses and the grass is always greener at the other side.

Last Friends + SP

Synopsis:

Last Friends tackles issues that afflict the current generation. Michiru's mother has brought a man back to their home and she is bullied at her workplace. She starts cohabiting with her boyfriend who turns out abusive and violent at home. Michiru met Ruka who was her classmate before she left Tokyo many years ago. Ruka is an aspiring motocross racer who has gender identity disorder and is secretly in love with Michiru. Takeru is a hair and make-up artist at day time and a bartender at night time who is attracted to Ruka but hides a childhood trauma of female body. Eri is a air stewardess who does not believe in true love but is in constant search of finding her own love. She provides support to Ogurin, her superior, a timid man troubled with his wife's extramarital affairs. The five of them live together in shared house and provide one another with emotional support and friendship.

The special episode is set 1 year after the main dorama. Eri and Ogurin returned from overseas and decided to visit the share house.

My opinion:

This type of thing is not my cup of tea. I bought this more than 2 years ago but only watched it now in 2013. Haha.. I was interested in this dorama because of Nodame Cantabile. Ueno Juri (who plays as Nodame), Eita (who plays as Mine), and Mizukawa Asami (who plays as Kiyora) star in this dorama as Ruka, Takeru, and Eri respectively. After watching Nodame, I developed a liking towards Mizukawa Asami too. Haha.. The dorama also shared a high rating (close to ~20) so usually it is a good sign.

Anyway, the promo picture and the story do not exactly tally. Nishikido Ryo plays as Michiru's abusive boyfriend while Ogurin who stays together in the share house is not shown in the promo picture.

As I mention earlier, this is not my cup of tea. So while the story and characters are not bad per se, I don't quite enjoy it because the pace is too slow. Everyone has a problem but the focus is largely on Michiru. I mean it is okay because Michiru is the main character but I was hoping that the issues of the other characters are addressed too. 

In the end, it is not clear whether Ruka did a sex change operation and it is still not clear what happened to Takeru (was it sexual grooming by his step sister?) which resulted in his trauma and whether he overcomes that trauma. The resolution of Sousuke (Michiru's boyfriend who is played by Nishikido Ryo) is akward. After raping Michiru and then saw Michiru's happy pictures at the share house, he decided to kill himself. Hmm.. how convenient. There is no telling on why he is so possesive and abusive too.

At least Eri and Ogurin have good ending. It is obvious that Eri is slowly developing feelings towards Ogurin while Ogurin is the "slow one". Good to see that he dumped his wife for Eri. And I think it is a nice touch that Eri accepts Ogurin despite his weaknesses. It is a rare thing in the modern world that a strong, pretty, capable womam will setlle for a nice but "perceived weak" family man.

I have a more mixed feeling regarding Michiru-Ruka-Takeru's ending of forming a dysfunctional family. So errrm.. Takeru likes Ruka but he is afraid of woman's body. Ruka loves Michiru and she stated that she won't marry a man. Michiru develops feeling towards Takeru but again she has Sousuke's child and Takeru likes Ruka anyway. Since none of the relationship will work, they decide to just stay together as friends-family-husband-wife in the share house. Haha it's too early too judge since there is a special episode which I have not watched yet.

The SP is an utter rubbish as it is 99% recap of the main dorama. Ruka only appeared in the last 30s -__-". There is not much going on except perhaps Takeru's reconciliation. Ogurin went to Michiru's ex-workplace and it was revealed that Michiru's ex-colleague, who used to bully her, is also abused by his boyfriend. Sadly, it stops there. No reconcilliation between Michiru and her ex-colleague. Really a waste of 1 hour 10 minutes.

My afterthoughts:

This dorama really presents current issues in family lives such as domestic violence, homosexuality (although it is more of a gender identity disorder rather than a straight lesbianism), rape, extra marital affairs, etc. I personally have no biased against the lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transexuals, etc. I mean I try to understand perhaps they are born that way and it is not their choice. It is a struggle to live that way. However, on the other side of the coin, when they "threaten" traditional family life with gay marriage or adoption, the impact can be scary too. Perhaps it is easy to take the shortcut to live like Takeru-Ruka-Michiru's ending the series to live together as friends or whatever you want to call it. But imagine a few years down the road, what will happen to the child? Imagine many years down the road, what will happen to them when they are old. It is indeed a scary thought.

In the midst of all these issues, one may easily miss out that eventually, the there of the dorama is about love. Or perhaps more accurately summed up by the OST "Prisoner of Love". Love despite extra-marital affairs, love despite domestic violence, love despite gender issues, love among friends, love in a family and so on. It is ironic that love can be something beautiful as well as something so painful.

Atashinchi no Danshi

Synopsis:

Mineta Chisato is a 20-year-old girl who lost her mother at a young age. Unknowingly, her father left her with a huge debt and she has to live as a "homeless" to escape from the debt colectors. Her life changed after meeting one man, Okura Shinzo, who will pay her debt if she is willing to be his wife for the last month of his life. Shinzo is a bachelor and has adopted six good-looking sons with the hope of one becoming his successor. After his death, Chisato realised that there were additional terms and conditions for her contract: to be a mother of these six sons. Will these seven strangers be able to live as a "family"?

My opinion:

From the synopsis alone, several cliches come into my mind. First, this is likely going to be a romantic comedy with multi-sided love among the six guys and one girl. Secondly, it looks like the funny parts will likely stem from the girl catching the guys in various states of undress.. And thirdly, the plot will most likely go on like this: each guy has their own dirty secrets or troubling background and the girl will solve each guy's issues one episode at a time until we reach the part where all the guys realise how "special" this girl and feelings develop.

Thank goodness the dorama turns out to be great and avoids all these cliches. Yes, there is some romantic comedy but the romance is more for comedy purpose, rather than the main plot. The main theme still focuses on "family". There are plenty half-naked scenes which I believe are for fan-service for the fan girls. I just think it is quite weird for these people not to take a shower but to spend time together in the sauna. Haha..

The plot development also does not follow the formula: one guy - one problem - one episode at a time. It is quite nice that all the characters and their problems are sort of mixed together in every episode. In addition, it is quite surprising that there is no really "central" guy character here. All six are equally represented with the same amount of screentime as well as with their own strong unique characteristics. It is not a case of 1 main guy and 5 supporting casts but rather 6 guys and 1 girl. In fact, even the supporting casts provide sufficient laughing materials.

Everything goes on well until the final 2-3 episodes. The portion on the corporate takeover and the closing of the story seem to be too "forced" to "gel" these people as a family. The actors are doing good job but I think they are not good enough to immerse into the RPG-like plot near the end to find the treasure.

My afterthoughts:

Honestly, I am feeling quite mixed and confused about the values being highlighted here. If these 7 strangers can be a "family" even without being blood-related, how is it going to be different as compared to families which are blood-related? Is blood-relation really that important? It also leaves a very good reflection: if strangers can live as a "family", what is actually wrong with families who have constant arguing and fighting?

Sigh I don't know but I think I favour the view that blood-relation is not important to constitute a "family". I mean, just put any random people to stay together, live together, they will grow close enough and bonds/relationships will form. Similarly, love is a bullshit. I don't believe in marrying someone that you love bla bla bla.. It takes commitment, responsibility, etc for a marriage to last. Similarly, sex is over-rated. You don't need love to have sex. Just put 2 people and if they grow close enough to have sex, they will soon admit that they are in "love". And for couples who are in love vs couples who are in "love", sooner or later, sex will get boring too. Ultimately, it takes commitment and responsibility right?? Haha.. Of course love may help but I think "love" can also become love. Okay perhaps can ignore this since I have never experienced love before. Haha..

I notice something interesting. The mansion in this series (they call it Trick Heart Castle) looks a like to the mansion in Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge. What a coincidence to watch these back to back! Haha.. Anyway my suspicion is confirmed when I googled. Many people also realise the same thing. Lol.. Actually it is also the same place as Yukan Club which I watched years ago so I can't recall. Haha.. The actual place is called Lockheart Castle (it's true!!). Here is the website for more information about it.

I also find that one of the supporting cast very familiar. However, when I read the cast list on wiki-addicts, there is no familiar name. After randomly clicking on the Japanese names, I discovered that there is this person who is the brother of Eita. No wonder he somehow looks and sounds very familiar. Haha.. Anyway, his brother is much more famous lah. He plays in in famous series like Waterboys, Nodame Cantabile, etc. Okay, I think my last 2 paragraphs are quite random haha..

Yamato Nadeshiko Shinchi Henge

Synopsis:

Blessed with good looks, Takano Kyohei is always suffering from the unreasonable behaviour of customers who want him and the sexual harassment of his store manager. Because of his hot temper, he loses his head on this occasion and is fired from his part time job. Then one day, the glamorous house owner, Ms Nakahara proposes, "I'll give you free board and lodging if you can turn my niece, Sunako, into a lady!". Kyohei, and Toyama Yukinojo, Oda Takenaga, and Morii Ranmaru, the other guys living together in the same boarding house, are enthusiastic, but the person who appears before the four of them is a spooky girl whose hair covers her face and who loves horror and vampires. And so, their tumultuous communal life begins..

My opinion:

On the surface, the story looks "usual" with typical shoujo manga elements such as: an ugly and antisocial girl who stay with 4 uber handsome and popular guys, school/dormitory life, conflicts with family, etc. The personalities of the 4 guys are also typical: the hot-headed one, the "girly" one, the cool and quiet one, and the womaniser. But hey, this is the best dorama of 2010. There have to be plenty of reasons.

First reason is the humour. Being another dorama based on manga, the humour and jokes can be over the top. So it is cool when these over-the-top things can be made realistic, believable, and still hilarious on screen. And this is closely tied-in with the actors who play their roles well. And the actors are the second reason. Well, perhaps the more accurate one is the acting. They can switch modes from being lame, funny, serious, angry, frustrated, sad, touched etc easily. This applies not only to the main 5 people but also to the supporting casts. Basically, that makes the dorama very watchable. The supporting casts are not mere decorations as there are few subplots which centre about them.

Third reason is the plot. The theme of "don't judge book by its cover" is a common thing. But people tend to relate it to someone ugly or stupid. Has anybody thought that good looks can also bring problem? I would say that it is a genius to think that way. While on one side we see Sunako's problems with her peculiarity, on the other side, we are also presented with the problems from the ikemens due to their good looks: stalking, sexual harrassment, just to name a few.

People will expect that in the end, the ugly duckling will change into a beautiful swan. I don't know about the manga but in the dorama, it does not happen. So words like "What matters most is your heart, not your face" or "Be yourself" said by the characters are not empty words. That is another bonus point for me. Having said that, it means that throughout the series, there are very few opportunities to show the pretty side of Oomasa Aya (who plays Sunako). I love her bad-ass side especially during the fights in episode 1 when she is wearing kimono. Yea...

Afterthoughts:

My life is not perfect. At times, I hate my job and I hate my life. There are times when I wish that I were born to a rich family.. Or that I were born damn handsome or talented so that I can make a living from being a movie star or something. But hey, the grass is always greener at the other side although in reality the greener side may have more shit as the fertilizer.. After watching this, I don't think it is a perfect life to have strangers stalking you or to have parents forcing you to take over family business and maintain family status. Which is better or which is worse? I don't know.. What's best is to make the best out of what I currently have and who I currently am.

And at my current age, it is kinda horror to challenges in love lives that guys commonly face: scared to commit, worried of being rejected, scared that other people see our weaknesses. And the most horrific thing is to watch Ranmaru's love story. While I am NOT a womaniser, I see some resemblence with him: my friends are mostly females but yet I am still single. Other than the common horros that guys face, I have to admit that I am still selfish and I love myself so much that perhaps I am unable to love another person yet. Gosh.. looks like an arranged marriage or even a matchmaking is fine with me at this stage of life sia =x

Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou

Synopsis:

Bakada High School is an all-boys school whose students are mostly delinquents and are only interested in fighting. Cattleya High School is an elite all-girls school whose students are rich and well-mannered. One day, it is announced that the two schools will merge to form Cattleya High School Second Branch. Conflicts and friction are unavoidable due to the vast difference in background. However, students from both school gradually learn to accept one another and grow to love their new school.

My opinion:

This is the very first collaboration between Johnny's Entertainment and AKB48, perhaps the biggest male and female entertainment agency in Japan respectively. That fact alone caught my interest to see how the series will go. Unfortunately, this turns out to be a pure crap.

The story is crap. There isn't really story here. It seems that the scriptwriter is only thinking "themes" for each episode and proceed to write whatever he can think of to fulfill these "themes". As other school-themed dramas, the themes will not run far from friendship, loyalty, romance, betrayal, rivalries, family problems, etc. However, the story fails to convey the messages from these themes.

Character development is non-existent and is worsened by poor acting. I have to admit that the guys act better than the girls. After all, there is not much acting needed to portray "cool delinquent" image as I think all guys can naturally behave this way. The boys also have differing personalities. The girls, unfortunately, look robotic. All the girls seem to behave, talk, act similarly. No differentiation whatsoever. -_- Basically it is an agony to watch this atrocious series. Thank goodness each episode is only about 20 minutes long. I don't know whether that is a good thing or that is the reason why the story is so underdeveloped.

Anyway, I think the guy actors are the more famous ones. Or perhaps it is because I watch more Shounen Club which is a Johnny's Entertainment TV show for the pre-debuted groups a.k.a Johnny's Juniors. The main guy (Shintaro Momotaro) previously acted in Snow Prince movie. Yup he was still very young then. Haha.. Kinda interesting to see him grow older and play a completely different character now. Another 2 guys (Koiichi Yugo and Hokuto Matsumura) were members of the now-defunct B.I. Shadow. And perhaps the most famous one is Takaki Yuya who is a member of Hey!Say!JUMP.

I have no idea about all the AKB girls. Except for the main 3 girls, I think the rest is rather ugly. Haha.. Perhaps that is why they are not in the main team, eh? Haha.. ok that is quite bad. Anyway, the main girl (Haruka Shimazaki) will be the center for AKB48's next single to be released on 5th December. Of course she got it not via fans voting but via jankenpo tournament, which is AKB's way to provide opportunities for the less prominent members to get a spot for AKB single. I will be looking forward to the single and to her performance in the single. Although I find her acting robotic initially, I grow to love her expressionless smile. Contradicting but oh well.. Haha..

My afterthoughts:

I think I wasted my time watching this. Haha.. I am amazed that a movie sequel was made for this drama. I will try to look for it to see whether it is better. Lol..

Dragon Zakura

Synopsis:

Sakuragi Kenji is a struggling lawyer due to his past as an ex-motorcycle racing gang leader. He is tasked to settle Ryuzan High School which is going to be declared bankrupt due to debt issues. Ryuzan High School is the lousiest high school in the country with students' average score of 36 and only 2% of the students can enter university. With such record, it is difficult to guarantee that there will be students for the coming academic years. When informed by his supervisor that this could be a model case of school closure due to Japan's falling birth rate, Sakuragi Kenji had a brilliant idea to make this a model case if he can save this struggling school. Thus he starts a special education class with the aim of having 5 students from Ryuzan to enter Tokyo University (Todai) in the following year to boost the image of the school and prevent the school from closing down.

My opinion:

I am a sucker for school-themed drama, especially one with high rating :p However, Dragon Zakura turns out to be something quite unique. It does not follow the typical group of high school delinquents who are reformed by inspirational and exemplary teacher as a role model. Ryuzan High School teachers are depicted as useless and selfish, while Sakuragi Kenji and the teachers of his special class seem to be more interested in results than in students' well being. High school friendship and romance are also very minimal here.

Sakuragi-sensei is a very unique character. He can be said heartless, ruthless, frank, and brutally honest. Throughout the series, he constantly reminds the students and paints the image of cruel reality of working life. This is in contrast to idealistic approach of many school-themed stories. I actually agree with many of the ideas presented by this drama. 

For example, as long as you get into a university and graduate with a degree, people do not care about your past or about how bad you did in your high school. Just like Sakuragi-sensei himself, he might be a useless motorcycle racing gang leader in the past but it all means nothing that he is a lawyer now. People are "scared" and respect lawyers. They do not even know whether he is a good or a bad lawyer, the fact that he is a lawyer, it already suggests that he is better than a large majority of the population. 

Sakuragi-sensei also emphasises on being exam-smart. Of course, some people think that education should not be focused on exam and grades but reality demands otherwise. It really does not matter how much you know or what you know. What really matters is that you can answer the exam questions and get the marks. Period. Brainless mugging and cramming is just useless. Some exam tips which he shared (and I agree with) are:

1) Focus on sciences because these are factual: right is right and wrong is wrong. With enough practice, everyone can master sciences. Do not even bother about social sciences as grading of essay can be subjective and practice may not always translate to better outcome.

2) He shared how English exam to enter Todai is marked uniquely: marks are deducted for any wrong spelling, grammar mistakes, etc. Marks are not determined by whether sophisticated vocabs and sentence structures are used. Knowing how the exam is marked, his suggestion is: just use simple English words and sentences and make sure as few errors as possible. No point trying to impress with "cheemology" attempts and end up getting penalised for so many errors.

3) Skip questions when you cannot understand or cannot answer it after trying once or twice. Move on and find those which you can secure marks first and then go back to those you have difficulties. No point spending time to attempt harder questions (with no guarantee you get them correct) by sacrificing easier questions.

One thing which I find commendable is how the story depicts that these students are not stupid. With effort, success is within their grasp. And it is not showing the typical "effort", "hardwork", yada yada. To get the success, these students literally sacrificed their final year of their high school life for only mugging. Yep, no shortcut in real life. And I like how the realism is maintained right to the end when (spoiler alert!) not all students successfully passed the exam to enter Todai. Yup, it's cruel to see how their hardwork is not being rewarded etc but that's real life. Just by putting effort does not always guarantee success. However, I am slightly disappointed with the resolution for those which failed the exam. You know, Todai is the number 1 university. Failing to enter number 1 does not mean you cannot enter a number 2 university. I will still regard it as a success to enter another university, nonetheless.

I don't really have comments regarding the casts as the drama is rather "mechanical" than being "emotional". There is not much character development so I think the rating is pretty high simply because Yamapi is here. Lol. But I am still a human after all and thus for drama, I still prefer something more "emotional" than "mechanical". Thus overall, I still prefer the typical school-themed drama where friendship, camaraderie and high school romance predominate. Lol. But for those students struggling for exams or for their future, I think this drama should be quite an eye opener.

My afterthoughts:

My job is not too bad but I just hate it because it is not according to my aspiration. I know that getting higher degree will be an express ticket to a better future. Just the thought of having to study again, having to have residency programme in hospital settings, having exams bla bla bla is always discouraging. So similar to how these high school students gotta suck it up to be able to enter university for better future, I think I should also suck it up for a higher degree. The pain will be for 2-3 years but the rewards last until the day I stop working.

Lastly, complaining and being envious to other people are useless. I can't help it but often think "Gosh, these people were dumber than me in school. I can't believe that he/she is a doctor or a whatever now. Just the thought of having to see him/her as a doctor or a whatever makes me shudder". But who cares about your opinion when the rest of the people will think "Wow this person is a doctor or a whatever. He/she is definitely better than a lousy shit like you". So yeah, the only way is to study some more, get a higher position of higher profile than the people I dislike and then it is my turn to trample them like shit again XD

My Boss My Hero

Synopsis:

Sakaki Makio, also known as "Tornado Makio", is a 27-year-old Yakuza from the Sharp Kantou Fang group. He is expected to be the next boss, succeeding his father. Despite his strength, he is also well known for his dumbness. He cannot even think for any longer than 90 seconds. After failing a multi-million transaction due to his inability in counting, his father forces him to attend a St. Agnes high school as a 17-year-old boy. He will be only elected as the next boss if he is able to graduate from high school. Otherwise, his brother Mikio will take over as the next boss. And graduation means that he has to succeed academically and prevent his cover from being blown.

My opinion:

I had no interest whatsoever initially because the title suggests a story which revolves around love story in the office, which is totally untrue. What got me eventually interested, other than the fact that it is another high school drama, was the rating which averaged slightly below 20. That means that the show was popular and there must be something worth watching.

I got hooked from the first episode as I could not stop laughing. The comedy was entertaining. It was lame, ridiculous and hilarious at the same time, especially the chaos over the limited St. Agnes pudding. Subsequently, just like other high school stories, there are stories about exam, sports competition, cultural festival, love and friendship, and eventually graduation. Gotta admit that after the first episode, the comedy somehow "died" down, except for the 6th episode which was about the "doomsday" scenario when the St. Agnes pudding maker went missing for 3 days. Again, it is lame and impossible to happen in real life, it was funny to watch nonetheless.

Unlike Gokusen (in which the teacher is actually a Yakuza), the Yakuza storyline has a bigger portion this. The school portion does not cause Makio's Yakuza background to be neglected. Other than facing school issues, Makio has to settle about the possibility of his brother taking over the Yakuza clan. Although near the end, it is kinda expected that somehow the Yakuza thingy will blow his cover. Still, it is interesting to note that there is no antagonists here. There are some Yakuza fights and arguments but they are more like "business" rather than personal hatred or something. There is no evil/bad teachers/discipilne masters here. And the supposed rivalry between the brothers turns out to be pretty sweet. The brothers are not really fighting for the boss position. Makio, after experiencing "real life" not as a Yakuza, realises that it will be better for his brother (who is not really involved into the Yakuza thingy) to remain in his legit life. Similarly, seeing how Makio seems to enjoy real life, Mikio feels that it is best for his brother to be out of Yakuza business and continue to lead legit life.

Casts-wise, I think Nagase Tomoya rocks as a near-30 year old guy acting and mingling with 17 year olds. His roll-eyes expression and his "Hanya?" expression are just 2 out of the so many stupid faces he can make. He is a secret recipe to make any show a success: a shameless main cast. Lol. While initialy I did not see any familiar names, after seeing the faces, there are actually faces which I know. I am happy to see Kashii Yuu (she plays in the first Water Boys, Yukan Club, and the first Death Note) and Murakawa Eri (the girl in Rookies). I think they are better than the supposedly main girl character, Aragaki Yui. She is pretty but a bit expressionless. Haha.. Kashii Yuu is the teacher here and it is good that she is able to portray someone more mature than her real age. Too bad Makio's good friend (Tegoshi Yuya) is kinda bad. I think there are other students who act better than him.

Anyway, I have one huge disappointment with the series: the ENDING! No spoiler but I think the ending fails to end the series on a high note. The last episode is actually quite boring and does not leave a good conclusion of graduation feeling like other high school series. I am also disappointed with the lack of love here =x I was expecting that something will happen between Makio and the sensei.. but there is none. Not fun to see Makio to date Umemura-san because right from the start, I sort of expect that it will not continue. Come on.. an adult and a teenager? No way! And although there are hints that Sakurakoji likes Umemura-san, nothing happens too!! Grrrah..

My afterthoughts:

I am 25 years old and perhaps I view school life differently. I agree that school life is the best times ^^ It is unfortunate that for most people, school life is "wasted" just for studying. Studying is important but truthfully, after you graduate and enter adulthood, nobody cares about how good you were in your school days. But you carry the memories of your high school days forever. Still studying is very important to ensure a good future.

I also felt school life sucked when I was a student. But looking back, I think school time is one of the most difficult ones. It is not easy to be disciplined to mug all the notes, to do all the homework, to remember things which sometimes you don't even understand, and to excel the exams. But I think it really teaches people how to persevere, to work hard, and not to give up. On top of it, students still have to respect and listen to the teachers and abide to school rules. Wew.. compare all these to the wild working adult life, where there are no defined rules and boundaries. This is why people who have gone through different stages of studies will mature differently. This is why educated and uneducated people behave and think differently too.

And school life is really the best time to forge friendships. As what Makio said "In adulthood, there are no more classmates. Only cheat, be cheated, manipulate, be manipulated and false friendship". No wonder I have many friends who get together with their high school friends. Well, that only applies to my Indonesian friends of course. In Singapore, haha, I think even in school people are already fake. Lol.. I did not have a good school memories here leh.. Always get picked on and outcasted. Perhaps that is the most regretful thing for me coming here. After all, I was a pretty smart, respected, and well known person in my high school in Indonesia :( I wonder what my life will be know if I had chosen to stay.. Oh well :(

1 Litre of Tears/1 Litre no Namida

Synopsis:

This is based on the true story of a Japanese girl named Kito Aya who was diagnosed with a disease called Spinocerebellar Degeneration when she was 15 years old. Initially, the purpose of diary was to keep track the disease progression. However, as the disease worsened and she lost the abilities to function, the diary became a proof of her life until her death at 25 years old. The story encompasses how Aya dealed with the disease and how the love and support from her family carried her through.

The special is set 6 months after Aya's death. Aya's sister is a now a nurse-in-training and she joined the neurology department where she met Haruto Asou, Aya's ex-boyfriend. She noticed how he still seemed troubled and unable to accept things after Aya's death. Now he is in charge of a 14 year-old-girl who is having the same disease as Aya. The special is mostly recap on Aya's life as told by Asou to the 14 year-old-girl.

My opinion:

A few friends recommended this to me and many friends had very good feedback about this dorama. I bought the DVD a few years back but only managed to watch it during my last holiday. I was initially a bit skeptical because I hate it when producers add something to a supposedly real-life-story just to make things interesting. Aya's boyfriend in the dorama is purely fictional. In addition, I thought the first few episodes were rather slow, boring, and nothing extraordinary. However, after the disease started to show its fang, the show was just too demanding for my tear ducts.

I agree with my friends. This is not only a good or great show, this is excellent. Not to disappoint, Aya's boyfriend fictional character is an addition to make the whole story more humane and more poignant. I am glad that it is not just a plot to make things messy. And more importantly, the character remains believable. So that is a nice addition. Overall, the plot seems believable. People can find some of the things which happen also happen in their own life. So nothing is over-dramatised here and that makes all the touching things remain that way.

It is great that the producers are not fully in money-making mode but to fully respect the original Aya and her life story. It is a nice touch that at the end of every episode, some photographs of real Aya were shown. And apparently, they consult medical practitioners regarding the medical aspects mentioned in the dorama.

Real life Aya Kito

The casts also gave a stellar performance. Two thumbs up for Erika Sawajiri who played as Aya. I am amazed that she never won any award for the show. After all she manage to show a wide range of emotion throughout the series: from a bubbly healthy girl at the start of the disease to a vulnerable girl struggling to accept her conditions and finally to a dying girl who finally embrace her life. I am sure it is certainly not easy to portray the motor disabilities and speech impairment. Nishikido Ryo (as the boyfriend) is good too. Actually I never really like him but I think he plays his character well. Aya's family members are also amazing. The acting is belivable and it is easy to feel as if they were a real family struggling together to support Aya. I think that just depicts the traditional values of Japanese families from the 1980s.

Of course I don't think the series is perfect. I am just wondering what happened to Aya's ex-classmates in the end. Wouldn't they feel ashamed or something? And for those few who supported her, did they just end contact like that? I also have a big question regarding her roommate in the school for disabled. What happened to her in the end?

The special was rather disappointing because it is just a recap afterall. I actually watched it because a promise of "new scenes". The "new" scene with Aya is only at the end, though. So that is quite disappointing. I also wonder how come her brother just 'disappeared' completely. Afterall, they still show Aya's youngest sister becoming a high school student. Anyway, I think the special allows Aya's sister to "shine" a bit. Haha.. She was so bitchy at the start of the show. Then it came to her sense to be a responsible daughter and sister in the middle of the show. In the special, she has matured further.

My afterthoughts:

Treasure your family more than your friends. Many years ago, I disagree with my parents on this. Looks like they are correct and I am wrong. No matter in what shit you are in, your family members are the only ones who will bail you out. Friends are just~~ useless, a gathering of a group of people happen to be on the same circumstances. In her school, Aya still has some friends who support her (including her fictional boyfriend), although most of them are fake friends anyway. Just imagine that perhaps in her real life, she really has nobody to support her at school. It really took a great courage from her to survive that all. And not condemning any of them, it is sad that it is human nature to be selfish, self-centred bastards, especially in fast-paced modern world. Just like the words of some of Aya's friends "Can't we just wait for additional 5-10mins for her to reach the class?"

The drama also reminds me what ultimately is the most important things that matter in life. In the pursuit of career and material needs, I tend to forget that ultimately, God's greatest gifts are good health and good family. I should be grateful as I have these. Other things will be a bonus from God. After all what's the point of having everything but not health and loved ones?

I decided to write this before I watch the movie version. That one seems to be true-r to the original story because there is no "boyfriend" character. Lets see how it fares compared to the dorama version. Btw, the girl who played as Aya in the movie version actually also played in the TV series as Aya's roomate in the disability school.

Tumbling

 

Synopsis:

Azuma Wataru is a fearsome gang leader from Karasumori High School who spends most of his schooldays fighting. Due to lack of credit from his second year, he has the option between attending extra lessons or joining a club activity. Taking a fancy towards a new transfer student who is joining the female rhythmic gymastic team, Wataru decides to join the boys team which is lacking of member to join the team competition. Despite initial friction with the rest of the team, Wataru realises that this is the first time he is truly working hard for something. His presence draws his other gangmates, allowing the team to have enough member to compete.

My opinion:

GAY! I think that is the most common impression when you see the cover: boys dressed in pink doing some gymnastics. Read the title, Tumbling, and one will ask what the heck is tumbling? Reading the synopsis, it becomes obvious that this will be something like Waterboys + Rookies + Gokusen mashed up together. This can mean a good thing if they manage to mix everything well but this also can mean a boring show since it will rehash the themes used elsewhere.

A bit of background info first, tumbling is actually an acrobatic sports discipline. Unlike Waterboys which explore the unusual theme of males doing a female sports, male rhythmic gymnastic is actually something popularised in Japan. One group consists of 6 members and the item involves a bit of dancing and lots of acrobats. The dancing part may be a bit gay. But there is nothing gay about the acrobatic parts with all the backflips (we are talking about consecutive flips here), handstands, forward and back rolls, etc. Heard that the actors preparing at least 6 months to do all this so that is something with amazing because I don't think it can be easily done by normal people.

Story-wise, there is nothing much new. Typical of high school dramas, with all the gang fights (Gokusen, Rookies anyone?), building a sports team with others looking down on you (Waterboys), internal rivalry for team selection (Rookies). The teacher, however, is mostly a supportive sideliner here, rather than joining the students in their fights and personal life etc. And I think some of the plot is a bit weird and out of place. For example is the gay episode, where one guy actually takes a liking to another team member. That was a bit of "huh?" and there is no follow up in further episodes. The arc on Wataru's dad who suddenly appeared and died is also something they can do without.

Overall, nothing is really original to make this stands out from other similarly-themed dorama. I was expecting the final gymnastic showcase to be something breathtaking (Waterboys sequels have up to half an hour routine as the finale). All the flips, and jumps, and throws seem to be promising and exciting. Unfortunately, most of the special movements have been shown in previous episodes and there is nothing much suprising in the end. The attempt to insert some novelty to breakaway from classical/traditional type of routine is also not very successful due to poor choice of songs. Not to mention that it is very short!

My afterthoughts:

It is good to learn something new from watching dorama. And seeing the behind the scenes makes my back hurt! Ouch.. Really no stunt eh?

And don't judge a book by its cover. Still think that this is girly or gay? Haha..

Proposal Daisakusen + SP

 

Synopsis:

Iwase Ken and Yoshida Rei are childhood friends who falls in love with each other. Unfortunately, neither is being honest. Rei is about to get married to another man. As the slides showing various photos from their older times together, Ken is hit with great sense of regret and disappointment. A fairy suddenly appeared and took pity of Ken. He gave Ken a chance to re-visit his past for a second chance to capture the heart of the girl he loves.

The SP took place 1 year after the TV series. Ken and friends are in Hawaii to for Tsuru and Eri's wedding. At the last minute, Eri disappears because she feels that Tsuru is growing distant for the past few months. The Fairy suddenly appeared to let Ken travel back to the past one more time to help his friends' marriage... as well as to fix his relationship with Rei and her parents.

My opinion:

The English title is "Operation Love" which I think is very cute and unique. To be honest, I was bored for the first few episodes. The same scenario keeps being repeated with Ken promising to declare his love (before travelling to the past), Ken failing to declare his love (while in the past), Ken noticing only slight changes in the present (when returning to the present), and there you go. It was only mid-way when changes (from what Ken did while travelling to past) are felt in the present, that things start to get interesting. It is a good plot that Mikio (Ken's friend) actually realised that Ken could travel to the past. And it can become confusing when both present and past Mikio could actually help Ken in his "mission". The usual "rule" for time travel stories is not to let anybody know that you come from the past or future or else it will result in the present being messed up. And this "rule" is not followed here.

The end may be cliche/boring as it involves the bride running away on the wedding day. However, I guess there is no other choice. After all, Ken decides to change the present rather than changing the past. Although it results in the same old endings, it is a good message for many of us: do not dwell in the past, live in the present and change your future. Do not wait until tomorrow what you can do today.

One thing I find lame is that as the episode progresses, Yamapi's acting for the "Hallelujah Chance!" and for the parts where he is blinded by the spotlight as the fairy appears feel less and less sincere. Looks like the jokes are getting old.

The SP is surprisingly good too! Initially, my thought was "What The Hell!". How come the focus of the story is not the main couple? But again, it is a good plot that Ken somehow is able to solve his own problem through helping his friend's problem. One thing I am disappointed is that it does not end with Ken and Rei's wedding. Aaauu... Oh ya, I was expecting something between Tada-sensei and his childhood friend. What is the point of introducing "her" character if eventually nothing is built up on that? Nah nah..

One more praise for the storywriter is about the absence of antagonist characters here. Even the love rivalry is not as typical of other love stories with jealousy, stab-in-the-back, lies, or dirty tricks. It shows that you can still write a good story with all good characters. Thumbs up for that. The actors are also belivable. Their personality also matures as they progress from high school students, university students, and ultimately working adults. It is of course heartening to see that when they are together, they can always act as if they are still high school students. And that's what friendship is all about, there is no need to be fake.

My afterthoughts:

As much as I am frustrated with Ken from watching this, I thought I am no different from him. I find it very hard to tell someone that I like her. At this rate, how am I ever gonna get a girlfriend? :( I really admire couples, you know. I guess it is not easy to be honest with each other, especially at the beginning. Sigh.. I am still not ready with possible changes that come along with changes from being friends to being a couple. Rrraaah!

I still to learn how to let go of the past and try to change the future by changing the present. Sigh.. Sometimes I still wish that I can still travel to the past, to do things differently, although I wonder what things I would change.

Zettai Kareshi + SP

 

Synopsis:

Robot maker, Kronos Heaven, finally develops "Tenjo Night", the perfect male humanoid programmed to be devoted and completely loyal to his lover. The company chooses temp worker Izawa Riko to take part in a 5-day free trial. At first, Riko only sees Night as a household appliance. But when she finds out how deep Night's devotion to herself is, Riko finds herself falling in love with him. Joining the love triangle is Asamoto Soshi, a distinguished young executive at her company who has feelings for her. --Fuji TV

The SP took place 3 years after the TV series. Riko and Soshi completed their Paris studies and were summoned back to aid the declining Asamoto group. Unexpectedly, Tenjo Night came back alive after previously declared irrepairable by its creator.

My opinion:

It is a very (bitter) sweet romance comedy. My friends told me that I would cry buckets watching this and I expected good stuff. I was disappointed initally. The first part where it really touched me was when Riko decided to purchase Night as she realised that he was special. The next touching part is the episode with Riko's parents. Oh well, parent-child relationship is always a good tear-jerker for me. Still there is no major "cry me a river" moment. 

I like the way they add in Riko's culinary dream as well as Asamoto and Kronos Heaven business goals to provide the backbone of the storyline and major conflict plots. I expected the conflicts to resolve around Night-Riko-Soshi love triangle. And when they introduced Soshi's ex-girlfriend, I expected another love triangle. However, it is not the case. The love story presented here is really touch and sacrificial. The characters here mostly hide their feelings because they continuously think that the other party is together with someone else. It is very nice everyone can work together and get along despite this complicated relationship. And this is the reason I hate Mika. She is the seemingly only "villainous" character here out of her jealousy towards Riko. It is old and cheesy to use 'my enemy is my best friend' kind of plot. Even though in the end she sorted things out with Riko, I still think it was unnecessary to make her bad initially just to introduce some conflicts.

Hayami Mokomichi played his robotic character very very excellently. His movement, his facial expresison, and the way he speaks are very robot-like. I am amazed that he can keep a straight face while doing stupid things and saying stupid words. Riko is an unbelievably nice and positive girl: something good to see in TV but something non-existant in real life. Lol. Unfortunately, I came across the actress from Buzzer Beater first and overthere she played as the cheating and jealous ex-girlfriend. So it is just hard for me to see her acting all good here :p Soshi's role is just too serious and restrictive for Mizushima Hiro. I am entertained by his carefree and crazy roles in other series. Even though he is good here, I just think Soshi's character does not allow him to really use his crazy charms haha.. Unexpectedly, Soshi's ex-girlfriend is a very like-able character (which ex-girlfriends have been portrayed good on TV?). While she still wants him, she realised that she missed her chance. Now Soshi loves Riko and hence she gave him support not to repeat her mistake: to miss the chance. And despite being cooking rival with Riko, she is all good and friendly towards her. Another unexpected character is Namikiri-san, the creator to the robot. He adds into the hilarity and has a suprisingly important portion in the story. Lastly, I love Maya Miki as the motherly figure for Riko here. Hehe..

The ending is perfect. A bit spoiler here but Night realised that he is a robot and for the sake of his Riko, he knows that it is best for her to be with another human a.k.a Soshi. It is still sad to see him "dead" in the end but it is a good ending for Riko to get over her love over a machine for a real human. 

However, near the ending, the idea about the robot gaining emotion and becoming more human-like, the idea about a human is loving a robot, and the ethical question whether it is okay to dismantle the robot after he gains his own free will are just getting too bizarre.

Unfortunately, the SP screws everything up. It is a big mess. I have no idea how this Dr Kamiya suddenly comes into the picture. For no reason she is damn smart and can 'repair' Night whom even the creator cannot do anything about it. It is also crazy to throw in the US military secret as her sub-plot. Utter rubbish and nonsense. Apparently Dr Kamiya tried to replace his dead boyfriend with a robot who looks exactly like him. Eventually the robot told her to move on bla bla bla. So the whole thing about Dr Kamiya is just to give Night the inspiration from that other robot: should let human with human. Bleah.. There are other unfinished plot such as Asamoto's new shop under Soshi and Riko. The idea about the food and the business are just like thrown out of the window. So yeah, it looks like Japanese dorama SPs always screw up the good ground produced by the preceeding TV doramas sia..

My afterthoughts:

As much as I thought it was weird for Riko to fall for a robot, I actually would not mid to have one if such robot exists in the future. I mean come on, the robot is so nice and can be your second source of income. It looks and acts just like other human minus away all the negatives. And it is a scary thought! I am at an age in which I should start thinking about having a relationship and start a family. But how and when :( People tell me that I am thinking too much. Sometimes I do think too much that people deserve someone better other than me :( Or what to talk about if I have to talk everyday to this girlfriend? And what if after sometime then I got bored.. Sigh.. at this rate, perhaps I need someone to matchmake me or I need the girl to actually take the first step.. Aaargh...

And thinking about passion, after start working, I really think that I like to teach :( Haiz.. If really cannot, I hope I can be as "lucky" as Riko. She is initially working as office lady but thanks to her boss, she had the chance to bake cakes and eventually had a go at her dream of being a Pattisier. I hope that even though I am stuck doing what I don't really like to do now, perhaps someone would offer me to teach/lecture as a part-time initially and after that going full-time there.. With God, there is nothing impossible!!! Lol..