[Japanese Movie Review] Okuribito / Departures

I know this movie from a friend. He asked me to find this movie for him since he was so interested in it after seeing the review.

This movie is originally called Okuribito (おくりびと). Okuribito literally means someone who sends off. The movie is also known as "Departures".

Kobayashi Daigo (played by Motoki Masahiro) is a cellist. He works in an orchestra, but because there's no audience for a long time, the owner decided to disband the orchestra. He lost his job.

Not knowing what to do, Kobayashi decided to go back to his hometown in Yamagata. He had a house there, inherited from his mother who died several years ago. His father left him and his mother for another woman when he was still a child.

In Yamagata, Kobayashi tried to find a job. Interested with the little working hours and high salary, he came to NT Agent without knowing what kind of job it is.

He met the boss, Sasaki (played by Yamazaki Tsutomu) and the secretary Kamimura Yuriko (played by Yo Kimiko).

Later he found out that his job is to be a Noukanshi. Noukanshi is someone who does a traditional Japanese ritual to cleanse and dress the dead body before it's put inside of the coffin.

He got so many troubles because of his job, people was not respecting him because of they though he had an embarrassing and disgusting job. At first he didn't want to do this job, but later he seemed to be loving his job. He started gaining trust and respect from people around him slowly.

The movie is closed by story of the death of his father. He never wanted to see his father, who has betrayed him, but eventually he got a news that his father died and came to see his father. It's quite sad.

Watching this movie reminds me of my grandma a lot, since my grandma was passed away last month. It was my first time to see a full death ceremony, from the closing of the coffin until the cremation. It was a sad memory, especially when seeing the red fire was burning the coffin. I know it so well.

I don't think jobs related to death are embarrassing. In contrary, I even think the job related to death is so respectable, as I'm a coward and I'm so afraid of the corpse, I respect their bravery.

This movie also reminds us that everyone of us will die. Sometimes it's even harder for the one who is left behind.

It was a short story but the movie explains quite a lot of things. It got so many awards too. You can give a little bit of your time to watch this movie. I gave this movie 7 out of 10 points.

*this movie review is just my personal opinion and made by me who is a newbie reviewer, if there is any mistakes, feel free to make a correction*

[Dorama Review] Bokura no Yuuki: Miman Toushi / Miman City

 

Bokura no Yuuki: Miman Toushi / Miman City. This is a very old dorama, broadcasted in 1997. However I found it quite interesting.

The story starts with a big news in Japan about Makuhara City. The news said a big earthquake hits the Makuhara City. Kiichi (played by Kohara Yuki) lives in Makuhara.

Losing contact with his bestfriend Kiichi, Makoto (played by Domoto Koichi) tries to go to Makuhara. On the way there, he made a friend with someone who also wants to go to Makuhara, Takeru (played by Domoto Tsuyoshi).

Together, they go to Makuhara, and find out it's quite strange. All the soldiers are guarding and no one could enter the city. They sneaking into the city and finally they find out it's not an earthquake...

What I can say about this dorama is unique and different. It's not a mainstream dorama and quite thrilling. The idea of the dorama is absolutely excellent and I personally think the Domoto brothers were so good in acting way back there, especially Koichi (well, yeah, I think he was better in acting back then more than now). Tsuyoshi is just more compatible, or I could say the best with the romance genre dorama, not this kind of dorama. You can see the little Matsumoto Jun and Masaki Aiba here also.

Little MatsuJun

Little Masaki Aiba (left)

I hope I'm not being subjective since I was one of KinKi Kids fans, but overall, this dorama is very good, except the retro quality of the dorama since it was broadcasted long time ago.

This dorama is absolutely a must watch dorama for all the KinKi Kids fans since the Domoto brothers are the two main casts here. For others, I think this dorama is also recommended for its uniqueness dorama plot, a not-so-mainstream dorama. I give this dorama 7.5 out of 10 points.

*This review is just a personal opinion and made by me who is a newbie reviewer, if you find any mistakes, feel free to make a correction*

[Anime Review] Fruits Basket

Didn't even think once that I would write an anime series since I don't watch it often. Well, I don't watch anime often, I don't like it as much as how I love dorama, but this one is one of the must watch anime, I think. Fruits Basket.

Fruits Basket story starts with Honda Tohru, a girl living in a tent because her mother died in an accident. She actually could stay with her grandpa who lives with Tohru's uncle and aunt's family, but because of they are going to remodel the house, Tohru decided to live alone until the renovation finished. Tohru starts her day with the feeling of grateful, happy, and work hard although she lives in a tent. This makes me think that I should be more grateful about my life too... -.-"

She saw a house near the tent and meet her cool classmate there, Sohma Yuki. Later, she found out that she put the tent in the Sohma's land area.

The house belongs to Sohma Yuki's cousin, Sohma Shigeru, who always looks cheerful. Yuki is staying there.

Tohru stays at Shigeru's house because they pity her and need someone to clean the house. Tohru found out that the Sohmas is cursed with the animal zodiac curse and some of the Sohmas will transform into 1 of 12 animals in zodiac mythology when being hugged by their opposite sex. Yuki is a rat and Shigeru is a dog.

Later, another cursed Sohma also join the house. It's Kyo the cat.

They said the cat was being deceived by the rat and didn't become 1 of the 12 animals zodiac, and that's why Yuki and Kyo are fighting all the time.

I love episode 15 the most, "There is no memories it's OK to forget". Sometimes we have a bad memory and wish we could forget it, we should have never done it, or anything. But it's not OK to forget it, we should overcome it. Every episodes give a different good message though.

I also love the theme song for this anime, "For Fruits Basket". The lyrics is very deep... I actually start watching this anime because of the song. I was wondering "What kind of anime is it?"  when listening to this good song.

Well, some people criticize me "You're so late", but better late than never right? It's quite an old anime, and I'm so late to have watched this good anime just yesterday. But I believe some of you haven't watched this anime either, so I decided to write this.

Even though this anime is good and teach me a lot of things, I'm not satisfied with the ending. I personally feel that the story is being forced to end. I don't quite get the ending of the story actually.

For me, it's not perfect but it's worth to watch. It helps me to learn how to be positive with our life no matter what happened. So, go and watch this anime!

[Dorama Review] Akutou ~Juuhanzai Sousahan~

Another favourite dorama from me, it's Akutou ~Juuhanzai Sousahan~. It was broadcasted on 2011 and it's a mystery / detective genre dorama with a little bit action in it.

Akutou ~Juuhanzai Sousahan~ story starts with the rumour of 4 detectives from Fourth Section of Minato-cho Police Criminal Affairs Division who often break the rules when working as a detective, even doing illegal activities. The 4 of them are Togashi Masayoshi (played by Takahashi Katsunori), Iinuma Reiko (played by Uchiyama Rina), Shibata Yasuharu (played by Suzuki Kosuke), and Yamashita Manabu (played by Hirayama Hiroyuki). Tokunaga Yasushi, the Fourth Section's chief was investigating the fact and found dead because of an accident when pursuing a criminal. Most of the police doubted that Tokunaga dead because an accident...

Maejima Ryuzo (played by Murakami Hiroaki), the head of police administration, sent Satonaka Keiichiro (played by Koizumi Kotaro) to the Fourth Section as the new chief to replace Tokunaga.

Satonaka is very cautious because of the rumour, but he found that the 4 detectives are excellent. However, they don't obey the chief's order and working on Togashi's command. As time goes by, Satonaka found out that the rumour of the 4 detectives are true... What's the reason behind that?

Akutou ~Juuhanzai Sousahan~ is a very well made dorama. The story of the detectives are great and it's supported with great actors and actresses too, with a little bit action in it which won't make you bored. Takahashi Katsunori, no doubt, he's good at this kind of acting as he acted in this genre of dorama a lot. I don't have much comment on this aspect. 

What I can comment from this dorama is, the 4 detectives seems not satisfied with the rules applied in the country. Sometimes it happens to us too, doesn't it? We heard a news of someone tortured and killed brutally because of a stupid reason, yet the murderer is not punished enough with the reason of human rights, etc. Sometimes me too, would think something like "Why would think the human rights of a murderer who doesn't think other's human rights? It would be good if they're just being killed in the way they killed others". It might raise some pros and contras, but I just have the same opinion as Togashi and the other 3 detectives in this dorama, or rather, the same opinion with the script writer of the dorama.

I personally think that this dorama wants to quip the government and its politics which concern themselves more than to raise the justice.

Well, just watch this dorama, Akutou ~Juuhanzai Sousahan~, if you one of mystery / detective genre film / movie / dorama lover. I gave this dorama 8.5 out of 10 points.

*this review is just a personal opinion and made by me who is a newbie reviewer, if there is any mistakes, feel free to make a correction*

[Dorama Review] Remote

Remote is a dorama about detective which broadcasted on 2002. I decided to write a review about this old dorama because this is one of my favourite dorama.

Kozaburo Himuro (played by Domoto Koichi) is a genius detective, but never step out of his home. He use Kurumi Ayaki (played by Fukada Kyoko), who is actually a traffic cop, to do errands from him. Shortly, Kurumi can be said as Himuro's eyes and ears. So many cases happened, and Kurumi with Himuro's guide try to solve every case happened...

As you should already know from my previous post, I really love to watch detective/mystery genre of dorama. This is also one of my favourite detective dorama. The cases are so thrilling, so interesting. The idea of the story is cool. Besides the quality of the dorama, everything is just so interesting. The quality of how the dorama's taken is not that good since it's an old dorama.

I recommend this dorama for those who like detective/mystery/thriller genre movie. I gave 8 out of 10 points for this dorama.

*this review is just a personal opinion and made by me who is a newbie reviewer, if there are any mistakes, feel free to make a correction*

[Japanese Movie Review] Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler / Kaiji: Jinsei Gyakuten Geemu

Today's review is about a movie released in 2009, Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler / Kaiji: Jinsei Gyakuten Gemu.

Ito Kaiji (played by Fujiwara Tatsuya) had a large debt and couldn't pay for his debt. The debt collector gave two choice, 10 years paying off his loan or one day boarding on a ship and gamble to repay his debt where he could get even more by it. Kaiji chose the second choice and started gambling on the ship. Because he is smart and genius, he should have won the game. However, because of his partner's mistake, he was lost, arrested, and forced to work underground to pay his debt. Kaiji thought that the Teiai Corporation (who held the events) was sly and got angry. Once again, Kaiji was given a choice where he must gamble for his life.

This movie is made based on a manga written by Fukumoto Nobuyuki with title Tobaku Mokushiroku Kaiji (Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji). The story is excellent, and Fujiwara Tatsuya is even making it much better. The movie is quite thrilling and somehow sometimes makes me annoyed, hehe.

I don't really have much comments on this movie as it is quite perfectly made, the effect, the scene, everything is just cool. I recommend this movie to everyone who likes thriller movie and I give 9 out of 10 points for this movie.

*this review is just a personal opinion and made by me who is a newbie reviewer,if there are any mistakes, feel free to make a correction*

[Japanese Movie Review] Kiseijuu / Parasyte Part 1

Kiseijuu / Parasyte is a live action movie based on a manga written by Iwaaki Hitoshi. It's parted into several parts, and I will write a review about the part 1 which was released on 2014. The part 2 has already been released on April 2015 on the cinema, I haven't watched it thought, hehe...

The story start when the worms fall from the sky as parasites. They get into human's head through ears and eat human brains. The victim will be a worm monster in a human shape which can change in some different shape. A worm wanted to eat Izumi Shinichi's (played by Sometani Shota) brain. It failed because Shinichi wore an earphone. Instead, the worm ate Shinichi's hand and that's how the monster started to be Shinichi's right hand. Later, the monster is called Migi (voice by Sadao Abe), and the journey to find its identity starts...

Well, I don't have much to say for this movie, but I love the CG of the movie because it's so good that it doesn't look like a fake to me. The story is good, and the actors, actress, and everything in the movie are also good. I don't read the manga, so I don't really know if there is any difference between the movie and the manga, but with just watching the movie, I'm quite satisfied with the movie, and looking forward to watch the next part!

I recommend this movie to those who likes manga or fantasy/fiction movie genre. I give 8 out of 10 points for this movie.

*this review is a personal opinion and made by me who is a newbie reviewer, if there are any mistakes, feel free to make a correction*

[SP Dorama Review] Tensai Tantei Mitarai ~Nankai Jiken File~ Kasa wo Oru Onna

This time I'm gonna write a review of a detective special dorama which was broadcasted on March, 2015:Tensai Tantei Mitarai ~Nankai Jiken File~ Kasa wo Oru Onna.

Mitarai Kiyoshi (played by Tamaki Hiroshi) is a brain scientist and a very genius man. He has a bestfriend named Ishioka Kazuki (played by Domoto Koichi), who is a novelist. Together, they live in the same house and often talk about mysteries. One day, Ishioka told a story about a mystery he heard from a radio. It's about a woman in a white dress who is walking in the midst of the rain, holding a plastic bag. Strangely, she closed her umbrella and threw the umbrella into the road until it's broken; crashed by a car. With just the description, Mitarai took a conclusion that she is involved in a murder case which is likely that she is a murderer. The day after, it's true that there is a murder case in the area; a woman dead, along with the woman in the white dress. So depressed because his assumption was wrong, Mitarai tried to find the truth with the help of Ishioka.

I watched this dorama at first because I'm one of Domoto Koichi's fan.

I like the story that Mitarai was so genius to guess what happened to the whole story only with a short description (even though it was a little bit wrong, or not complete I guess, hehe). However, I don't know why but just the quite talkative novelist doesn't suit for Domoto Koichi's role. Koichi is more suitable for a cold role like Mitarai, and vice versa for Tamaki Hiroshi. In conclusion, I love the dorama, but the actors just not suitable with the roles, and it makes things quite awkward, in my opinion.

I gave this dorama 7 points out of 10 points.

*this review is a personal opinion and made by me who is a newbie reviewer, if there is any mistakes, please feel free to make a correction*

[Dorama Review] Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo N (neo)

Today I’m going to write a review about a detective-genre dorama. It’s Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo N (neo) which was broadcasted on 2014. This dorama is adapted from a famous manga Kindaichi written by Yozaburo Kanari and Seimaru Amagi, illustrated by Fumiya Sato.

The story is about a high-school student whose grandpa is a famous private detective. His name is Hajime Kindaichi (played by Yamada Ryosuke). Kindaichi often help to solve a lot of case with skills inherited from his grandpa. He has a childhood friend who is also his classmate and believed to have a crush on him, named Nanase Miyuki (played by Kawaguchi Haruna). There is also a kouhai (junior) who adores Kindaichi and follow him around with a video camera, named Saki Ryuuji (played by Arioka Daiki). A lot of cases happened and Kindaichi managed to solve the problem with the help of his friends.

This dorama is made really similar to the manga that I notice no difference between them. The character, the story, the case, everything are just the same! The cast are from Johnny’s Entertainment (again), which specifically from Hey! Say! JUMP group member, Yamada Ryosuke and Arioka Daiki. As for Yamada Ryosuke, I’ve seen a lot of his dorama, and no doubt for his acting skill. For the other main cast, this is my first time seeing them and it’s OK. In conclusion, I can say Johnny’s Entertainment is really producing good actors, musicians, dancers, singers, everything. Multi talents star.

The OST of the song is Weekender by Hey! Say! JUMP, as expected since the main casts are monopolized by them. The song is good even though I don’t think it matches the dorama well.

I give 8.5 out of 10 points for this dorama.

*this review is a personal opinion and made by me who is a newbie reviewer, if there is any mistakes, please feel free to make a correction*

[Dorama Review] Summer Nude

I’m going to review another romance dorama, Summer Nude which was aired on 2013.

The dorama consist of some love story in a summer, in a beach area. Mikuriya Asahi (played by Yamashita Tomohisa) is a photographer who works in the beach area. One day, he took a shoot of a wedding from a bride named Chiyohara Natsuki (played by Karina). However, at the end, the groom left her and the wedding was cancelled. She lost both her husband-to-be and her job. Pity her, Asahi sent a photo to cheer her up, and Natsuki was very thankful to him. In short, Asahi could get her helps for a restaurant beside the beach which is usually managed by Shimojima Setsuko (played by Itaya Yuka) who is on a maternity leave. A lot of love story is starting from that summer…

I’m actually quite confused to write a review about this dorama. The several first episodes are quite boring for me that I need to force myself to watch the dorama. I usually finish one dorama in a day or two, because I’m so curious with the continuation of the story. However, for this dorama, I even watch another movie in the middle of watching the series, means I’m so bored with the dorama. Starting in the middle, I’m a little bit more interested in the dorama, and there is also a sad scene that makes me nearly cried. It’s a scene when someone moved to Tokyo to pursue his dream. Well, I’m so touched because I feel the same. Seven months ago I did the same thing, moving from my hometown to the capital city just because to pursue my career.

The beginning of the story can be so boring but from the middle to the end, I could say it’s rather special. I don’t expect the story to end up like that. I thought when the summer ends, all of the people in the beach area will be together and some couple will be made, that’s what I thought for the end of the story. However it came out differently. I’m quite entertained with the unexpected story.

The cast consist of, again, some of Johnny’s Entertainment artist: Yamashita Tomohisa and Sato Shori from Sexy Zone. Those two people is enough to make Johnny’s fans to watch this dorama.

For those who is a Johnny’s fan, you should watch this dorama. For the others, you can try to watch this dorama if you want. I gave 6.5 out of 10 points for this dorama.

*this review is a personal opinion and made by me who is a newbie reviewer, if there is any mistakes, please feel free to make a correction*

[Japanese Film / Movie Review] Battle Royale

Battle Royale is a famous Japanese film which was released on 2000. It’s adapted from a novel with the same name by Koushun Takami.

The story is about a class of junior high school student which is claimed to be a rotten class that is chosen to be destroyed on a game called Battle Royale, an annual event to kill each other on an island until one remains. The main character is Nanahara Shuya (played by Fujiwara Tatsuya) who is trying to survive with his girlfriend Nakagawa Noriko (played by Maeda Aki). They tried to cooperate with the other classmate, but due to panic and fear, most of them tried to kill them.

This film has so many controversies, as expected since it’s a really cruel movie and claimed to harm the teenagers. I also felt this film is a little bit crazy, so cruel and psycho, as I don’t like this kind of movie genre, actually. However, this film can be entertaining for those who likes thrilling movie. I found that most of Japanese film, movie, and dorama always give us a good message. Even though this film is cruel, we can see what is a ‘true friends’ meaning from this film.

The idea itself is very great, however, I can explain this film with two word; Hunger Games. Why Hunger Games? It’s because maybe most of you would know Hunger Games more than Battle Royale, as Hunger Games is a Hollywood movie. However, Battle Royale came out first before Hunger Games, and the one who is criticized to copy the idea is the author of The Hunger Games. The author of The Hunger Games herself claimed that she never heard of Battle Royale before and it was mentioned to her that there were huge similarities between the two. The difference between the two is only the continuation of the story. I love Battle Royale more than Hunger Games (I don’t know if this is because I watch Battle Royale first before Hunger Games), but for the continuation story, I love Hunger Games series more. I start loving the Hunger Games series after watching the 2^nd movie, Catching Fire, and as for Battle Royale, I don’t quite like the Battle Royale II which was released on 2003, so I don’t want to talk about Battle Royale II: Requiem. 
The bad thing about this film is the quality of how the film is taken. I can't really explain it too much, but just when you watch the film, you will get the feeling "This is indeed an old film, a film from 2000".

As for the cast, I'm actually not a fan of Fujiwara Tatsuya, but I couldn't agree more that most of his film, movie, and dorama are the best; Death Note, Kaiji the Gambling Apocalypse, and many more.

This film is recommended only for those who likes thriller, bloody movie. I gave 9 out of 10 points for this fim.

*this review is a personal opinion and made by me who is a newbie reviewer, if there is any mistakes, please feel free to make a correction*

[Dorama Review] Team Medical Dragon ~ Iryu Season 2

Reviewed the first season, now I’m going to review Team Medical Dragon ~Iryu~ dorama season 2 which was aired on 2007.

For those who doesn't read my review yet about Iryu 1 before, you can find it here:

Team Medical Dragon - Iryu 1

Doesn’t like the reputation of Asada Ryutaro (played by Sakaguchi Kenji) as a genius-troublemaker surgeon, Noguchi Keno (played by Kishibe Ittoku) moved Asada and Ijyuuin Noboru (played by Koike Teppei) to a small hospital along with the other troublemakers, thinking that even a surgeon who is as genius as Asada couldn’t do anything without a help of the team. However, it turns out that the troublemakers are actually genius surgeons who had bad incidents and changed into a ‘trash’. Being with Asada, one by one started to do their best once again of being a surgeon.

It’s been a long time since I read the manga so I don’t fully remember, but as I recall, the season 2’s story is not in the manga and it started to deviate from the manga (correct me if I’m wrong). As I’ve said in the season 1’s review, the actors are great, the setting is so real that you can’t differ the difference between fake heart and real heart. It’s still applied for the season 2; however, the story of the season 1 is more interesting than this season 2. I personally love the 1^st season more. The thing I hate most in this season 2 is the disappearance of Katou Akira. Katou Akira is one of the main characters in Team Medical Dragon, she shouldn’t have disappeared no matter what the reason is. “If anyone leaves we can continue running, that’s a real team”, this famous word from Asada is the best for describing this season 2.

I give 7 out of 10 points for this dorama.

*this review is a personal opinion and made by me who is a newbie reviewer, if there is any mistakes, please feel free to make a correction*

[TV Show Review] Gaki no Tsukai - No Laughing Batsu Game

This time I will write a review about something different. If usually I wrote a review about dorama or Japanese movie, now I will write a review about a TV show that I like. It’s Gaki no Tsukai - No Laughing Batsu Game.

So this series of Gaki no Tsukai is made once a year, every year end. The rule of the game is no laughing allowed. If they can’t hold their laugh, they’ll be slapped on their ass. The theme for this show is different each year. For example, there are No-Laughing Hospital (2007), No-Laughing Airport (2011), No-Laughing Enthusiastic Teacher (2012), and so many more. The last one is No-Laughing Prison (2014).

This show is hosted by 5 persons, two of them are from Downtown which consist of Hamada Masatoshi and Matsumoto Hitoshi, the other two are from Cocorico which consist of Tanaka Naoki and Endo Shouzo, and the last one is a solo comedian Tsukitei Hosei (previously known as Yamasaki Hosei).

Every show they made is very funny. Even though the pattern for each year is more or less the same, the story for each year is various. It makes Gaki no Tsukai – No Laughing Batsu Game as one of the most favourite TV show I always wait. Sometimes, it has a joke that I can’t understand, or rather, only them can understand maybe, but overall, the show is very funny. My favourite part is the appearance of Jimmy Onishi, even though I’m quite disappointed of his disappearance in the last Batsu Game.

I give 9 out of 10 points for this show.

*this review is a personal opinion and made by me who is a newbie reviewer, if there is any mistakes, please feel free to make a correction*

[Movie / Dorama Review] Jiken Kyumeii ~IMAT no Kiseki~ 2

Last time, I’ve reviewed Jiken Kyumeii ~IMAT no Kiseki~ movie, now I’m going to review the next sequel of the movie, Jiken Kyumeii ~IMAT no Kiseki~ 2 which was aired on 2014.

For those who doesn't read my review yet about Jiken Kyumeii ~IMAT no Kiseki~ 1 before, you can find it here:
Jiken Kyumeii ~IMAT no Kiseki~ 1

So the plot now is one and a half year after Hyuga Akira (played by Tamaki Hiroshi) and Kageura Takuma (played by Tanaka Kei) met and worked together for the first time. Kageura realized to shoot and kill people are not as easy as he thought. Kageura was being moved to security department since he couldn’t follow the chief’s order, while Akira is working at a University Hospital and taking care of a patient named Tachibana Aki (played by Sugisaki Hana) who is waiting for a heart transplant. On the day when Aki got a heart transplant, there is an incident of a hijacked bus, and the heart for transplant exploded on the operation room. Now they only have 4 hours left to do the alternative procedure, but there is an interference in every alternative they though. What actually happened? Are all of these related or just a coincidence?

As I love the first movie, I continue to watch the second movie. The 2^nd movie also not bad and still amusing, but compared to the first one, I can say it’s quite disappointing. The story is good but I like the first movie’s story better. The good thing about the second movie is, there is more action scene here. After all, it’s worth to watch. I can’t wait to watch the continuation of this movie.

I give 7 out of 10 points for  Jiken Kyumeii ~IMAT no Kiseki~ 2.

*this review is a personal opinion and made by me who is a newbie reviewer, if there is any mistakes, please feel free to make a correction*

[Dorama Review] Ikemen Desu Ne!

Ikemen Desu Ne is a dorama which was aired in 2011. It’s a remake of a Korean TV drama, You’re Beautiful.

The dorama told us about a nun, Sakuraba Miko (played by Takimoto Miori) whose twin brother is going to be a singer, Sakuraba Mio. However, due to the circumstances, Sakuraba Miko must take place of her brother. Miko who pretends to be Mio, join a band named A.N. Jell which is consist of Katsuragi Ren (played by Tamamori Yuta) as the guitarist/vocalist, Fujishiro Shu (played by Fujigaya Taisuke) as the bassist, and Hongo Yuki (played by Yaotome Hikaru) as the drummer. As time goes by, Mio start to be trapped in a triangle love.

I don’t watch the Korean version, so I can’t compare both of them, but I heard from a friend that the original version is much better than this Japanese version. Well, it could be, because for me, most of the remake is worse than the original version. However, for me who doesn’t watch the original version, this dorama is quite entertaining, even though sometimes you can feel that this dorama is so dramatic, which is in reality it could never happened.

This dorama is just another Johnny’s dorama, the main male casts are all Johnny’s. It’s a dorama which makes me be a fan of Kis-My-Ft2. Their debut song, Everybody Go is the theme song for this dorama.

I recommend this dorama for those who haven’t watched the original version. For those who have watched the Korean version, it might be disappointing for you, I don’t know, but if you still want to watch it, just be prepared. After all, I gave this dorama 7 out of 10 points.

*this review is a personal opinion and made by me who is a newbie reviewer, if there is any mistakes, please feel free to make a correction*

[Dorama Review] Coffee-ya no Hitobito

 

Another dorama I watched because of Takahashi Katsunori. Coffee-ya no Hitobito which was aired on 2014.

In a town, in a shopping district, there is a small coffee shop. The owner of the coffee shop, Soda Kousuke (played by Takahashi Katsunori), was jailed for 13 years because of killing someone. His father died when he was in the prison and he continued to brew coffee everyday after being released. People around the shopping district were so closed to one another and often gathered at the coffee shop to drink coffee. A lot of different incident happened in the coffee shop, including the visit of the murdered person's wife. What kind of person is Soda Kousuke actually?

In summary, I can say this dorama is about a coffee shop, the owner, and the neighbour around it. The story is just about the daily life around the coffee shop with its dilemma. It's just an ordinary life story, but it gives me a lot of good message. Every episode gives a different good message, a different story of an ordinary life.
It's only a personal opinion but I really love the setting of this dorama. An old Japan yet seem so cozy for me, a place that I'd love to live on one day, if I can... A place which is far from luxurious things, a place which is still consist of love between the neighbourhood. Don't you think it's lovely? Maybe because I live in a big-fast-paced city with those individualistic human being, it's quite tiring. Hehe.
Somehow, the motto of the coffee shop owner "One cup of coffee can change a life", maybe something that I couldn't understand because I don't really enjoy coffee that much.

Well, the story is ordinary, but it can give a good lesson for you. It's wrapped into 5 episodes, so it doesn't really take a long time to watch this dorama. I recommend this light dorama when you have nothing else to watch. I give this dorama 7.5 out of 10 points.

*this review is a personal opinion and made by me who is a newbie reviewer, if there is any mistakes, please feel free to make a correction*

[Dorama Review] Nobuta wo Produce

This time I’m gonna write a review about a school genre dorama, Nobuta wo Produce. It was also a popular dorama back then, in 2005 when it was aired.

Well, the cast itself is already very interesting, as the male main casts are Yamashita Tomohisa (also known as Yamapi) and Kamenashi Kazuya, two of the famous idols from Johnny’s Entertainment. For the female cast, there are Horikita Maki and Toda Erika who is not less famous.

The story starts from Kiritani Suji (played by Kamenashi Kazuya), a very popular guy who gets along well with everyone. He has a classmate whose name is Kusano Akira (played by Yamashita Tomohisa) who is a little bit strange, likes to laugh and act funny. One day, a new transferred girl came, she is Kotani Nobuko (played by Horikita Maki). Kotani Nobuko is a shy girl which is often bullied at school. After a long story, Shuji and Akira decided to make Nobuta (Nobuko’s nickname) a famous girl in the school.

Usually in a school genre dorama, there will be a problem and the teacher will help to solve that problem. In this dorama, the unique thing is that the popular classmate and the strange classmate are the one who help the bullied one. Other than that, I found this dorama is just another ordinary dorama which using the casts as the main attraction. Well, as Johnny’s Entertainment is very famous, two male casts from the entertainment is enough to make this dorama well known. I can say this dorama is just ordinary but it’s also entertaining. The message I got from this dorama is also just an ordinary message, no bullying at school!

The soundtrack of the dorama is also good, Seishun Amigo which is sang by Shuji and Akira (Yamashita Tomohisa and Kamenashi Kazuya), as expected from the Johnny’s.

For those who is a Johnny’s Entertainment lover, of course this dorama is a must-watch-dorama. If you don’t have any other things to watch, this dorama also can be quite entertaining. I gave 7 out of 10 points for this dorama.

*this review is a personal opinion and made by me who is a newbie reviewer, if there is any mistakes, please feel free to make a correction*

[Dorama / Movie Review] Jiken Kyumeii ~ IMAT no Kiseki ~ 1

Today I’m going to write a review about a Japanese movie. The title is Jiken Kyumeii ~IMAT no Kiseki~, and for now, I’m going to write a review about the movie 1 only which was aired on 2013 (there is already 2 movies available out there, and it’s still to be continued).

A long time ago, a bomb exploded in the Tokyo Sky Land which caused the death of two different boys’ father. The two boys were Hyuga Akira (played by Tamaki Hiroshi), who is currently working as a member of IMAT (Incident Medical Assistance Team, a medical team who helps wounded people in an incident), and Kageura Takuma (played by Tanaka Kei), who is currently a SIT (Special Investigation Team of Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department) member. One day, Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department held a joint training between IMAT and SIT members, and that was the first time Hyuga met Kageura. They seemed to grow up in a different personality after the bombing incident, but are they really different? Several days later, a real incident happened and they must working together for the first time. That’s where the journey starts.

Recently, I love this genre of dorama/movie, medical, detective/police, mystery, genres that makes you thrill or anxious. The collaboration between medical and police story is quite fascinating, as it’s rare to be found. Well, I can’t give a lot of comments for this movie, but this movie is really worth to watch! And as it’s only a movie, you don’t have to spend a lot of time watching. So, for those who is currently busy, you can spare just 2 hours of your time to be excited with the movie!

I give 9 out of 10 points for Jiken Kyumeii ~IMAT no Kiseki~ movie 1.

*this review is a personal opinion and made by me who is a newbie reviewer, if there is any mistakes, please feel free to make a correction*

[Dorama Review] 1 Litre no Namida / 1 Litre of Tears

Several years ago, this dorama was soooo popular. However, some of you might haven’t watched this dorama yet, so I’ll give a little bit review about this dorama, 1 Litre no Namida or also known as 1 Litre of Tears, which was aired on 2005.

The dorama I’m going to review is more to a family-genre-dorama, even though there’s also some romance inside it. This dorama is made based on a real story, a diary written by Aya, a girl who suffered Spinocerebellar Ataxia, a rare inherited neurological disease, which degenerate a certain part of brain, Cerebellum. It is said that this disease is cruel since it takes someone’s motoric function to the point where they can’t walk, speak, write, or eat, but it doesn’t take their consciousness. Until now, there’s no treatment known to cure this disease. Rehabilitation can help to minimize the growth of this disease.

The story starts when a-fifteen-year-old-girl Ikeuchi Aya (played by Sawajiri Erika) is going to be a senior high school student. Aya is an ordinary girl, a daughter of a tofu shop. Lately, there was something strange happened to Aya: had no reflect, fell down often, etc. Her mother, Ikeuchi Shioka (played by Yakushimaru Hiroko) realized that there was something wrong with her daughter. After Aya fell down, instead of only taking care of her wound, her mom took her for a medical checkup, and that was the beginning of this cruel-sad story until her death came on 25 years old.

In my opinion, the way this dorama taken is just ordinary, but the story of this dorama is motivating us to live our life to the fullest. When some of us is depressed with study, work, money, or love and wants to end our life, there is a lot of people who suffered incurable disease but fighting hard to live their life. Life can be fun, if you really want to. Don’t only focus on what you don’t have but be grateful with what you have while still moving forward for a better tomorrow.

Another message I could get from this dorama is family. Without the support of her family, I don’t think Aya could live her life to the fullest. Aya's family is not a rich family but a very supportive family, especially her parents. Well, if you don’t have a supportive family, you could just make one and be the one someday…^^

I recommend this dorama for all people over the world so they could be more grateful about being alive. I gave 8 out of 10 points for this dorama. There is also SP episode which was aired on 2007, but I don’t find anything special inside it as the episode only shows how the condition is half a year after Aya’s death.

*this review is a personal opinion and made by me who is a newbie reviewer, if there is any mistakes, please feel free to make a correction*

[Dorama Review] Tokumei Kakarichou Tadano Hitoshi Season 1

I was just finished watching dorama Tokumei Kakarichou Tadano Hitoshi season 1 which was aired on 2003.

Tokumei Kakarichou Tadano Hitoshi is another dorama which is adapted from a manga, written by Kimio Yanagisawa.

Tadano Hitoshi (played by Takahashi Katsunori) is the CEO’s right hand to solve so many problems happened in the Denoudo company while disguising as a stupid-looking incapable assistant manager who is often being mocked by other employees. We can say Tadano is a detective and works with a help from an assistant named Muriwaki Koichi (played by Nagai Masaru) who is also working for the company. Tadano also often got information from a news broadcaster named Shinmizu Mayuko (played by Miura Rieko).

I only watch the dorama and I don’t read the manga, so I can’t compare the dorama with the manga, but I read somewhere that they said, at first, in the manga, Tadano Hitoshi doesn’t have any assistant where in the movie Tadano Hitoshi worked with an assistant. After the dorama was aired, the assistant, Muriwaki Koichi was written into the manga.

Like I said on my previous post, I personally like Takahashi Katsunori as his acting skill is so amazing. The one which makes me amazed most is in episode 10 where he needs to act as a transgender, and it’s just too similar!

The story itself is not too extraordinary, but I like the way this dorama was taken. This dorama is wrapped with comedy, romance, mystery which makes you wonder who is the culprit, and also it has a lot of nudity scene inside the dorama. I haven’t watched the rest of the seasons yet, so with only the season 1, I can say I’m quite satisfied with this dorama.

As there is a lot of nudity on this dorama, Tokumei Kakarichou Tadano Hitoshi is only recommended for those who is 18+. I give 8.5 out of 10 points for this dorama.

*this review is a personal opinion and made by me who is a newbie reviewer, if there is any mistakes, please feel free to make a correction*

[Dorama Review] Dosokai ~ Love Again Shokogun ~

Today, I’m going to review one of my favourite romance dorama which is aired on 2010. It’s Dosokai ~Love Again Shokogun~. Dosokai literally means a class reunion. Love Again Shokogun means Love Again Syndrome.

The story starts from a housewife named Miyazawa Tomomi (real name Aikawa Tomomi, played by Kuroki Hitomi) who had to move from a big house to a small house with her family, because her husband, Miyazawa Seiichiro (played by Fukikoshi Mitsuru), had been laid off and didn’t have any job for a year already. Tomomi worked part time in order to fulfill the family’s needs.

Right after moving, she went to a class reunion where she met her junior high school friends, Nishikawa Yoko (played by Saito Yuki), Okubo Shinichi (played by Mikami Hiroshi), Fukushima Kazuhiko (played by Omi Toshinori), Itakura Mariko (played by Miyaji Masako), and Sugiyama Kousuke (played by Takahashi Katsunori).

Back in the school life, Tomomi and Sugiyama once loved each other but they never confessed. They lived their own life and made their own family. Starting from the class reunion, they started to have feelings for each other once again. Would they choose their love or their own family?

This dorama is brought with a unique point of view I think. The story itself is quite complicated. Naturally we (or at least, I) would think that divorce is a bad thing, but how if it’s the best way to solve all the problems? But still, of course it’s better if there’s no divorce in a marriage, cause divorce is not just about you and your partner, it’s about your children and your family too (if you have any). Divorce should be the very very last way to solve the problems.

Another thing that I note is that a class reunion is indeed quite a big problem. Like the dorama said, it's a time to show off of how rich you are, how successful you are, and how happy you are. It also can lure people to have an affair with someone they used to be friends (even though you already have your own family) if you are not satisfied enough with your condition now. Another version, it could also be that you actually only remember some nostalgic stories in your teens, end up making your partner so jealous, and lead your family to be a broken one (and in the end, having an affair). Well, this dorama has so many version of story which can be used as a sample in the real life, depends on your point of view.

This dorama made me think a little bit more about marriage. Marriage is not an easy thing; you should carefully choose your partner and carefully build your family. Marriage is bound by love, that’s why we should grow our love in a marriage. The hard thing in life is not how to love, but how to retain our love. (What was I talking about? I don’t know anything, I’m still young and not yet married lol, but well, that’s the message I got from this dorama)

I love the cast, Kuroki Hitomi who was really get into the character in this dorama. I think this is my first time watching her dorama and I love the way her acted (well, of course, she is the lead cast, hoho). I also personally love Takahashi Katsunori, I watched a lot of his dorama and movies (I’m going to write a lot of review about his dorama and movie later), and in every dorama, he is never failed to make me amazed of his acting skill!!

For addition, I love the ost of this dorama, Ayumi Sakai's Ex-lover, it matches the dorama very well!!

The dorama is very recommended for those who wants to watch romance dorama and I think I’d give 9 out of 10 points for this dorama! ^^

*this review is a personal opinion and made by me who is a newbie reviewer, if there is any mistakes, please feel free to make a correction*

[Dorama Review] Liar Game

Okay, this time I want to write a review about one of the best dorama also, Liar Game!

This dorama is also adapted from a manga written by Shinobu Kaitani. I don't really know the manga and only watch the dorama, so I can't compare the dorama with the manga.

This dorama is a story about Kanzaki Nao (played by Erika Toda) which is very "baka shoujiki". I don't really know the exact word to explain "baka shoujiki", but I think it is best explained to be someone who is too honest until you look so stupid. Because Nao is very honest and stupid, she is easily fell for a lie or a trap, such as she got caught into a pitfall for 42 times, or when she nearly fell for a phone fraud which the caller is claiming to be her younger brother, when she is actually the only child in her house (I laughed so hard for this one, you can see this story in the introduction of the dorama in the episode 1).
One day, Nao is chosen to be a part of the liar game, a game where you need to trick other people to win. Desperately rejected when she went to the police for a help, she met Akiyama Shinichi (played by Matsuda Shota), a genius swindler who is just released from a prison. Reminded of his belated mother, Akiyama agreed to help Nao.

The dorama is parted in several season. Season 1 is aired on 2007 and season 2 is aired in 2009. Season 2 is the continuation of season 1, and it lasted until the semi-final game. The final game is aired on 2010 which is made into a movie. Several special episode like Liar Game Reborn, Fukunaga vs Yokoya, and Alice in Liar Game are also made afterwards.

I personally think the idea of the story itself is very genius. It's a really good story plot with a unique and extraordinary theme which is brought by the writer. You can see a lot of dorama about school life, about detective, or about love, but it's rarely to find this kind of dorama. It's kind of refreshing and brand new dorama theme.

The dorama is very recommended and I give 10 out of 10 points for this dorama! (again) ^^


*this review is a personal opinion and made by me who is a newbie reviewer, if there is any mistakes, please feel free to make a correction*

[Dorama Review] Team Medical Dragon ~ Iryu Season 1

So today I'm going to review Iryu ~Team Medical Dragon~ season 1 which is aired on 2006.

This dorama is made based on a famous anime/manga written by Akira Nagai, illustrated by Taro Nogizaka.

Iryu is a story about a genius surgeon, Asada Ryutaro (played by Sakaguchi Kenji) which is expelled from Higashi Nihon University Hospital because being framed for a misdiagnosis. An assistant professor from Meishin Hospital University Cardiac Department, Katou Akira (played by Inamori Izumi), once saw Asada's skill at MSAP, a non-governmental organization in medical field in a war torn countries, and wants Asada to be a part of her team to complete her thesis to be a professor, Batista Procedure. Asada agreed to help Akira and starts to find his own team to complete Batista surgery.

I personally love this dorama very much. I think this is one of the best dorama I've ever watched. The setting of the dorama is so real that makes you really get into the dorama! You really can't tell that it's a fake heart (even though I never saw a real one actually, hehe), and the actors and actresses are so great that you would think they are real surgeons!

Because I read and watch both the manga and the dorama, there are several differences between the two of them.
- Asada's character in the dorama is quite different from the one in the manga I think. Asada's character in the dorama is more serious where Asada's character is more cheerful and not so serious, even though both character are still troubling and annoying for Akira.
- In the manga, Miki, a great surgical nurse who followed Asada, is Asada's lover. In the dorama, Miki (played by Mizukawa Asami) is still following Asada, but it's hardly to be seen that they are actually a lover, nor there is a love story between both of them.
- Fujiyoshi Keisuke's image between the dorama and the manga is very different. In the manga, Fujiyoshi Keisuke is portrayed to be big and tall where in the dorama, Fujiyoshi Keisuke is played by Sasaki Kuranosuke who is quite thin and small. I mean, you can't match a real person exactly with a person in manga, but just I think the difference is too big.

Well, in summary, the difference between the dorama and manga is not a big problem. You can't expect all those story in the manga to be portrayed in a 11-episode-dorama anyway. Other than the difference I realize above, I'm also quite amazed with the so-similar-characteristic I found in Ijyuuin Noboru (played by Koike Teppei), Arase Monji (played by Abe Sadao), Noguchi Keno (played by Kishibe Ittoku), and Kihara Takehiko (played by Ikeda Tetsuhiro).

The dorama is very recommended and I give 10 out of 10 points for this dorama! ^^


*this review is a personal opinion and made by me who is a newbie reviewer, if there is any mistakes, please feel free to make a correction*

Introduction

Hello everyone, let me introduce myself.

I'm Koji and I'm a dorama enthusiast! I love dorama very much fufufu ^^

So, in this my new blog, I will write some reviews about the doramas (and Japanese movies, films) I've watched! I'm trying to write without giving a spoiler, or at least only a little bit spoiler.

I'm looking forward to it!!

And also, I want to be friends with all of you who likes dorama, j-pop, j-music, anime, and all those Japanese things hohoho ^^

So, for those who also wants to be my friend, you can contact me via:
Twitter: @kojidomoto
Facebook: Koji Domoto (kojiro_hyuga50@yahoo.com)
Youtube: www.youtube.com/kojidomoto51244
Ameblo: http://ameblo.jp/kojidomoto

Let's be friends all!! Bye!! ^^