[Dorama Review] Itsuka Kono Koi wo Omoidashite Kitto Naite Shimau / Love That Makes You Cry / いつかこの恋を思い出してきっと泣いてしまう

Several years ago, a friend suggested me a dorama "Itsuka Kono Koi wo Omoidashite Kitto Naite Shimau", saying that people around him said it's a good dorama. I tried downloading it, but only finished watching it just recently. 

 

The story is about a Kansai young woman who was adopted by a Hokkaido family since a kid because her mom had passed away. Her name is Sugihara Oto / Hayashida Oto (played by Arimura Kasumi)

 Not being treated well in the family, like being forced to marry an old-rich-man, Oto escaped from home and meet Soda Ren (played by Kora Kengo), who came to Hokkaido to return Oto's bag which was stolen by his friend, Nakajo Haruta (played by Sakaguchi Kentaro)

Soda Ren explaining "I'm not a theft. I'm a mover"

 

Haruta, the culprit behind the loss of Oto's bag

 

Oto rode Ren's truck to Tokyo. Ren himself was from Aizu and he moved to Tokyo due to get some money to buy a land in his hometown. But as soon as they arrived at Tokyo, they were separated, because Ren met his friend from the same hometown, Ichihara Konatsu (played by Morikawa Aoi).

Konatsu, who came to Tokyo, aiming to be a designer. 

 

Later, we know that Konatsu actually loves Ren. Wait, but Ren should be with Oto?! Well, no no, not both of them. Ren has a girlfriend already. Her name is Hinata Kihoko (played by Takahata Mitsuki)

Kiho-chan, met Ren when she was lonely and ended up being a couple.

 

What a complicated love story! Konatsu and Oto love Ren, but Ren is in a relationship with Kiho out of loneliness, when Haruta loves Konatsu and Ibuki loves Oto. Wait, who is Ibuki? Well Ibuki Asahi is the son of the chairman's mistress in the company where Konatsu works.

Ibuki Asahi, always being unfavorable due to being the son of the chairman's mistress

As the love story goes on, there are many conflicts happened which makes the dorama more dramatic but interesting...

Actually, romantic dorama is not really my thing. I usually prefer mystery, crime, or detective dorama, because even though I know it's a fiction, it's thrilling and interesting. Sometimes I thought that romantic dorama only teaches us about fake romantic love which is not going to happen in our real life anyway, but well, no, you can always get some moral lessons indeed, especially from Japanese dorama. 

This dorama becomes really interesting to me, because I can super relate to them, going to the capital city to earn some money, betting on life, and being lonely. That was exactly what I did and felt several years ago when I moved to the capital city to work. The loneliness was super real, and you ended up finding the same person/friend who is lonely as well to accompany you. Maybe that's what happened to Ren and Kihoko as well, so that they end up being in a relationship even though their heart were on someone else... Loneliness is a big problem indeed...

It's quite annoying sometimes seeing the characters in this dorama which are so passive in striving their love.. Too passive... But I also can relate to them... Something like unconditional love... You can love people, but you can't force people to love you back. That's why every time I love someone, I don't expect them to love me back...

This story is a little bit sad, but their choice on the sound track make it even more sad. Even the theme song was sung well by Teshima Aoi "Ashita e no Tegami". Absolutely become one of those J-pop song which I will listen to. 

Overall, I must admit that this dorama is quite good. The story doesn't make you curious but doesn't make you bored either...

I gave this dorama 7.5 points out of 10 point.

[Dorama Review] Toshishita no Otoko / Younger Men / 年下の男

Hello! Since it's corona and we are advised to stay at home, I've been at home all the time except for work purpose... What I do is either reading a book or watching something, and it's somehow awaken my love for Japanese dorama which once disappear...

Tonight I'd review a dorama called "Toshishita no Otoko" or you can translate it into "Younger Men". As you probably know (if you've read my blog before), Takahashi Katsunori is my favourite actor ever and I watch this dorama because of him.

This is the story of a 30-year-old-single-woman, Yamaguchi Chikako (played by Inamori Izumi) who was so desperate to get marry. She felt that she would left behind if she didn't marry soon.

 Chikako, so beautiful in her 30s. Why bother just because you're a not-yet-married?

She seemed to have a good family. Her younger brother Taku (played by Yamazaki Yuta) which was 8 years younger than her, with a lovely mom, Hanae, and dad, Mr. Yamaguchi (played by Fubuki Jun and Hirata Mitsuru, respectively)

The Yamaguchi family. The parents want their son to be a lawyer and 

want their daughter to marry someone and be happy.

Well, Chikako did have someone. She went to a gym, and meet Izaki Shun (played by the one and only Takahashi Katsunori („• ֊ •„)).
In short, Chikako confessed to Shun, but Shun rejected, saying he was seeing someone else.

Izaki Shun, somehow I respect him because he doesn't play with women's heart 

and give them false hope, but he rejects them directly.

Later, it turned out that Shun was seeing Chikako's mom, Hanae. Shun was a regular in a bento shop where Hanae worked. Both Hanae and Chikako didn't know it though.

 Shun with Hanae having an affair. Hanae was trying hard to break up with Shun, but cannot.

 Mr. Yamaguchi, start to be suspicious about his wife. But he didn't really care.

Mr Yamaguchi didn't care about his wife having an affair. I wonder if it might happen 

when love turns into an obligation only. An obligation to always stick with the family.

On the other hand, Chikako started to date her brother's best friend, Kengo (played by Kashu Toshiki). At first, Kengo was chasing her only for fun because he was a playboy. But he turned up to get serious about Chikako.

Kengo, once said, "I'll make you forget Izaki"

But Taku ex-girlfriend, Asami (played by Hoshino Mari), started to fall in love with Kengo for real.

Asami always looks for Kengo due to loneliness after breaking up with Taku, at first.

It's so complicated right?
Not to mention, Azusa (played by Aso Yumi), Chikako's coworker who was super evil. She was older than Chikako, and also a not-yet-married evil woman. Afraid of being left alone, she looked for many ways to destroy Chikako's relationship, even other people's family.

Azusa, having dinner (or lunch?) with Chikako. Back then, Chikako had no idea that she was so evil.

Azusa tried to attract Izaki by getting close to Izaki's adoptive father, Jiro-san (played by Takahashi Masaya). She wanted to marry Izaki so she could feel she won the 'game'. Crazy girl indeed.

Jiro-san always follows Izaki Shun. He was so afraid of being left alone, and sometimes made Shun fed up.

A melancholic side of me always appears every time I watch a good Japanese dorama. They always wrap up some moral lessons behind all of these dramatic scenes, and it always amuses me.
A 30-year-old-beautiful-woman who desperately wants to marry a 40-something guy, but that guy wants to marry an 50-year-old-aunty... Youth and beauty are not everything for some people after all... If they are comfortable with each other, then physical attraction is not a matter anymore... Wish I can find a love that won't see a physical appearance only as a criteria, but see what's deep inside me...

A father who doesn't have jealousy over his wife and wants to 'graduate' from the family... A mother with an affair... A daughter who wants to marry a young kid... And a son who abandons his law school to pursue his dream as a gardener. Well, I don't see much mistakes from the daughter and the son, but maybe from the parents' point of view, it can kill them inside, too... But the most important is the father and the mother part. It really broke my heart to see that the parents are happier when they are not with each other... What's the meaning of their marriage then?

Actually I don't see the urgency of a marriage even for women who have reached their 30s. But loneliness is something else... It does scary to be lonely, don't you think? Jiro, Azusa, Asumi even Chikako... I think they all are afraid to be alone... That's why the girls are so desperately want to marry... And probably they won't realize that it would be even lonelier to be in a fake marriage, without love... That's usually where an affair starts... Like what Hanae did.
I wonder, would I have an affair too, if one day my husband doesn't care about me anymore, and someone like Izuki Shun chases me? Maybe I would too... But a drama is always too good to be true, right? If we assume that Shun and Hanae will marry each other and live together, there are possibilities that their marriage, too, will fall off. Then once again, what's the meaning of those kind of marriage....?
But the drama really portrays a beautiful, lovely relationship between Shun and Hanae. Just if it's not an affair, just if it's happening from the start, it would seems like a perfect love story... I almost forget if Chikako is actually the real main character here.

Azusa and Asami are so evil, they are really sick... They thought they lose to older women, and they try hard to ruin everything... But is that really the matter? It's not about young or old, it's all about their attitude, that's why the man didn't choose them...I remember Izaki Shun whispered to Azusa "A woman who talks bad about another woman only degrade herself"
I do agree with him. I don't mean every single woman are mean, but some of them might be single because they are mean. And it's super real, even in my circle. I found lots of woman who hate another woman whom their crush like. I wonder what's so wrong when that man is the one who choose, love, and want to be with that particular girl?

And I remember Taku was saying this to her Nee-chan, Chikako, "If I were to choose, I will choose Asami since she is young, but the second choice would be mom, because you're too desperate to marry". I don't agree with his choice, because he chooses only based on age, but I do agree that someone who is desperately want to marry and willing to do anything for a marriage, is super unattractive. I really hate it, to be chased by someone who desperately wants to marry, thinking anyone is fine as long as it's their opposite sex.

In the end, Chikako start to accept for what she has, her parents, her self-being, and she starts to be happy even though everything stay the same. I think it's a good moral lesson. We can't change the world, but we can change ourselves, and change how we see the world.

This dorama reminds me of a dorama called "Dosokai", where Takahashi Katsunori was also playing as someone who has an affair. I wonder why every time he plays in a dorama, it's either a manager, a policeman/detective, or an affair? Is he so suitable to be in an affair? lol ヽ(>∀<☆)ノ
You can read my review about Dosokai dorama here, it's one of my favourite.

A lot of people prefer a dorama with young-handsome-actors and pretty-sexy-actress. You absolutely won't find it here. It's more to an old man and old woman relationship, probably it can be gross for some particular people. But for me, I find it super interesting, the unique story line but also feels so real, and all the moral lesson behind this, I could say this dorama is one of my favourite.

The ending is a bit ambiguous, it's not a happy ending, not a sad one either... It's not clear but it's not hanging either... But I can say I'm super satisfied... Super worth it!

I gave this dorama 9 points out of 10 points.

[Dorama Review] Watashi Kekkon Dekinain Janakute, Shinain Desu / 私 結婚できないんじゃなくて, しないんです

Today I'm gonna review a dorama, Watashi Kekkon Dekinain Janakute, Shinain Desu, which literally means It's Not That I Can't Marry I Don't Marry.

At first I was just browsing and found out this title of dorama accidentally. Since I somehow relate to the title, I got interested in watching this dorama, and it was worth it! So much to talk about!

Well, as always, let's start with a brief synopsis first...

Tachibana Miyabi (played by Nakatani Miki) is a doctor who owns a beauty clinic. She is 39 years old, still beautiful, rich, smart, and said to have a perfect life, except... not yet married, no boyfriend. When people start to pity her, she said "It's not that I can't marry, I dont!"

 In a high school reunion, she is reminded with a man she fell in love with back then. Sakurai Yousuke (played by Tokui Yoshimi), which was absent on that day, but later they met each other. Unlike Tachibana who secretly still has feeling for him, Sakurai just wants to be friends with her, even though he is still single too.

Tachibana and Sakurai in Tokura's Restaurant

The owner of the restaurant, Tokura Seiji (played by Fujiki Naohito) criticized Tachibana because she looked like a cheap woman, and there's no way that Sakurai would fall for her. In the end, Tokura started to give Tachibana lessons how to conquer Mr. Mt. Everest - which is Sakurai.
Well, watching this, I'd think "Yappari, a dorama...". In reality, no restaurant owner will ever interfere with their customer's private life, right? <(￢0￢)>

Tokura Seiji, probably lecturing Tachibana

Tachibana learns a lot of things from Tokura, and even got into a relationship with a part-time boy from a restaurant near her clinic, Ryotaro (played by Seto Koji), who is sooo much younger than her.

Ryotaro and Tachibana on a date

This dorama is really interesting. I will absolutely bored if it's a normal romance drama, but not for this dorama. Romance comedy, made me laugh lots of time and curious in the same time. Despite the actors and the actress are not someone I know well, I really really fall in love with this dorama. I'll write a lot about this dorama, hopefully it won't make you bored reading this.

There is one scene when Tachibana on a matchmaking party, and she met a male doctor there. They got into a fight, and Tachibana was so upset, and she talked to Tokura, the restaurant owner, more or less like this:
“I went through everything to be a doctor, even opened my own clinic, but why if it’s a man, they can talk about it, and if it’s me, a woman, I have to hide it?”

Somehow sometimes I think it’s true. Women do their best with their work, but lots of times it ends up to burden them in terms of finding a boyfriend. Well, not every time of course, but you may have heard that kind of story, don’t you? For me, for example, I worked in a big 4 company before, it’s a public accounting company. Most of the woman partners (partner is the highest position in the company and there are several partners in a company) are single. Even a lot of the woman managers there who are also single. They are single not because they don't want to marry, but because they can't find someone to marry. How sad. (シ_ _)シ

There are times when Tachibana wanted to give up on marriage. “I’m okay being alone”, she said. Well I can totally relate. When people don't feel they can get married, sometimes they discouragingly said that sentence, when it’s actually only a denial.
I think for most of people, even to the ones who decided not to marry, there are times in their life too when they were thinking of marriage, they wanted a marriage, but ended up not married because of a particular reason.

What I like from this dorama is, there are some ideas that I agree with. The whole idea of this dorama for example, about an old beautiful woman who is not yet married, wants to marry, but of course not just marrying everyone. I totally agree with this. Have you ever heard people say “Ah, just don’t be picky, just marry anyone who wants with you, because you’re already this old”
I really hate that, you know? What I mean is, everyone is special, you have your own value, so you have to choose your partner. You don’t just marry anyone only because you’re old. It’s even said better not to get married rather than marrying the wrong person.
But of course, it also means you have to choose the type of person you want to marry wisely.

Tachibana and Ishida, someone she met on a climbing indoor event

Another scene I like, when Ishida was interested in Tachibana and proposed to Tachibana, but Tachibana didn’t have any feelings for him. Heard the rumour that Sakurai was getting back with his ex-gf, Tachibana mentioned Ishida was her fiance in her speech. Knowing this, Tokura acted on his own, talking to Sakurai to help Tachibana. Tachibana was like “What are you doing?”, but Tokura replied something like this: “You can get married with Ishida. No one can guarantee you’ll get something in return if you pursue your love, Sakurai. But if you marry Ishida, you may grow used to not loving him forever”
Somehow there are pros n cons in this statement, I wouldn’t say it’s 100% true, but for me, I’d think the same too. If I don’t love someone, then a marriage won’t change me to love that someone. Marrying someone we love is already a difficult thing, now, how about marrying someone we don’t love? It might be a disaster.

A quote from Tokura that I remember “Marriage is heavy, but it’s heartwarming”
I can’t relate to this since I’m not yet married, but it seems true and somehow I start to wish I’d get married one day too... (｡-人-｡)

Tachibana's mom. Worrying and comforting her daughter in the same time.

I also like it how Tachibana’s mom comforts her daughter, well she might be worried because her daughter hasn’t married yet, but she doesn’t push her daughter too hard, yet encouraging her.
She once said “Marriage is not something you work hard for. It’s something which comes naturally”. I can’t say if it’s true or false, but if it’s me, I want it to be natural too. Interested in each other, comfort each other, sharing the same values, then think “Ah, I want to be with him/her for the rest of my life” and get married.
I somehow believe love is a fate, it doesn't mean that you don't work for it and it'll come in an instant, but even if you work hard for it, if he/she doesn't mean to be the one for you, and it'll be nothing.

Now that I think about it, there are also some ideas that I don’t agree with, and usually it would lessen my interest of the dorama, but in this dorama, despite of those disagreements, it is still super interesting and funny. I gave this dorama 9 points out of 10 points. What a super worth watching dorama... Must watch!

[Dorama Review] Juuyou Sankounin Tantei / 重要参考人探偵

Okay, my first dorama review in 2019 is Juuyou Sankounin Tantei. As usual, mystery/detective dorama as it is one of my favourite genre of dorama.

Maneki Kei (played by Tamamori Yuta) is a model. He has a strange ability, which is to be the first one to find a corpse. It is happened since when he was 7 years old, the first time he found a corpse in a forest.

20 years has passed since then. Now, together with Suou Itsuki (played by Koyama Keiichiro) and Shimon Toma (played by Furukawa Yuki), Kei works as a model.

However, their works are always disturbed because they found a corpse. And as always, Kei is the one who found the corpse first, and always suspected as the culprit.

Forced by being suspected, Kei ended up analyzed the situation and solve every murder case he met.

To conclude, this is my first time I watched a dorama with a genre that I like most and the main star that I love too, but so disappointed. The overall story line is good, but the way they make it, it is so boring. The stars are acting well, but the character they played are just making it way too lame. It is so hard for me just to finish a 7-episode-dorama, like several months. The ending of the dorama is quite absurd as well.

Well, in conclusion I don't want to recommend this dorama and I would just give this dorama 4 points out of 10 points.

[Dorama Review] Miss Sherlock / ミス・シャーロック

The dorama I want to review now is a dorama recommended by one of my friends. It was aired in HBO Asia on 2018.

Let's get started!

As always I will start from making a short synopsis about the dorama.
A woman called Sherlock (played by Takeuchi Yuko) is a detective who works for the police department. She is a genius and very smart, but somehow she has a weird attitude and a straight-forward, impolite character. She said "I can't think when my aesthetic sense is disturbed" when she saw someone who has an old sense of fashion lol.

Well, that's what she said to Tachibana Wato (played by Kanjiya Shihori), a doctor who just came back from Syria, and accidentally met Sherlock due to a case happened to her. Later, she would stay with Sherlock, and is the only friend Sherlock has, even though Sherlock didn't want to admit it.

Reimon Gentaro (played by Takito Kenichi) is a police who always asks for Sherlock's help. He believed in Sherlock's ability. He has a sub-ordinate named Shibata Tatsuya (played by Nakamura Tomoya).

In short, Sherlock solved so many cases, requested from Inspector Reimon, and with the help of Wato too.

I don't know much, but I can say it's like a parody of Sherlock Holmes. A woman Sherlock which accompanied by a doctor, Wato, a parody of Watson. You can see the similarity of the characters and the big story plot between the real Sherlock Holmes and this Miss Sherlock. However, I think the cases are different. It's wrapped in Japanese style, where you can always learn some good moral and find some comedy inside of the dorama.

I personally love it when Sherlock plays the cello. Prelude. Such a good song to always start the dorama.

Even though overall, it's a super good dorama, again it's one of those dorama which the ending is a little bit unexpected. I'm quite disappointed with the ending of this dorama. I wonder if there will be the next season? Well, let's just wait.

Anyway I will give this dorama 8 out of 10 points. It's so good that no wonder the HBO is the TV Station to broadcast this dorama. I recommend it so much!

[Dorama Review] Kakuho no Onna ~ Kanagawakenke Tokumei Sosa カクホの女～神奈川県警・特命捜査～

I was desperately waiting for this dorama to finish 😂 And at last, around last week, candy lemon as this dorama's subber finished subbing the last episode.
Now that I've finished watching, I will write about this dorama, Kakuho no Onna, which was aired in the beginning of this year.

A woman who previously worked in the HR Department of Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department was transferred to Kanagawa Prefectural Police. Her name was Hojo Yuriko (played by Natori Yuko).

Of course it was unusual. Someone near retirement from Headquarter moved to the Prefectural Police Station, moreover, from office work to field work. Everyone in the Kanagawa Prefectural Police Station was questioning about this transfer.

Well, it turned out that Yuriko-san wanted to know the real truth behind the death of her fiancee, Kariya Shinsaku (played by Tsurumi Shingo), who was said to die because of suicide. She believed that Kariya Shinsaku would never commit suicide.

And the leader of Kanagawa Prefecture Police division 1, Miura Aya (played by Asou Yumi) was said to have a relation with the death of Kariya Shinsaku. That's the reason why Yuriko-san wanted to be transferred there before her retirement.

Well, don't forget about Kisaragi Kotaro (played by Takahashi Katsunori, the one and only, lol 😂), a Police Chief from Tokyo MPD, who was Yuriko-san's back up and helped her to be transferred to Kanagawa.

Okay, that's the end of my synopsis.
Now, what I want to comment is that the story of this dorama is really the best... until I watched the ending which is quite disappointing for me. It somehow was... like being forced to end quickly in the last episode. But anyway, the episode 1 - 6 is good enough for me to recommend this dorama.

The dorama is also filled with a little bit comedy, which makes it funny. Now that I think, many Japanese dorama is wrapped with a little bit comedy. It's somehow mainstream but always make the dorama better.

The main casts are old actors and actresses, I don't know much except Takahashi Katsunori, who is always so cool and has charisma every time he acts as a police officer. Since they are old, people might know them but it doesn't mean they are popular... how to say it... you know, like usually someone young and handsome would be popular amongst the nation and helps to make a higher rating, doesn't it? So, in my opinion, it means that the rating they got was purely because of the story, not because of the casts.

A scene that I like most is in the end of episode 5, where Miura was asked, who is the one she trusts the most? And she said "No one, but there is someone I want to trust". If I cut it only this scene, it somehow reminds me of myself. I hardly believe in people but I do want to trust someone. I think many people is also like me, hard to believe in human. But believe me, there are still many people who is actually kind, even they still, of course, have flaws, and might disappoint you one day. But when you realize that everyone is not perfect, you can face the disappointment and continue to still believe in them.

Another quote that I remember got from this dorama is "There is no one in this world it would be better to kill", means no matter how bad the person is, we shouldn't kill, we should forgive them instead, I guess.

The song "Unmei no Hito" by Hayashibe Satoshi is so perfect. I'm really really moved with the lyrics of the song, and this song is super suited to the dorama. His voice was so soft, I thought that the singer was a female, before I found out that he was the one who sang the song. I always nearly cry every time I listen to it lol. I also made the translation of the song, it might be not so perfect due to my limited Japanese language but you can go check it out:
http://jpopenthusiast.blogspot.com/2018/04/kanji-romaji-unmei-no-hito-by-hayashibe.html

So, overall I would give this dorama 7.5 out of 10 points. Just if the ending didn't disappoint me, I could give this dorama like around 9 points, maybe.

[Dorama Review] Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatte Iru

Hello, back to another dorama review!
Surprisingly I watched some doramas non stop recently. When I watched those doramas, I can't wait to write a review since those doramas are really good. Let's start by talking about a dorama called "Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatte Iru".

Tatewaki Shotaro (played by Fujigaya Taisuke of Kis-My-Ft2) worked in a museum. He didn't know what to do after graduating from graduate school and ended up working in Shizen no Mori Museum.

Kujou Sakurako (played by Mizuki Alisa) is an osteologist. She constructed animal skeleton for the museum. She is a bone freak, thinking that bone is beautiful.

Everyone in the museum avoided Sakurako-san. However, in short, Shotaro met Sakurako-san and somehow forced to go hunting for the bones.

Well, it's not animals' bones, but human's bones was found instead. Shotaro contacted the police and with the help of Sakurako-san' bones knowledge, they could solve every mystery.

I like this dorama from the opening. The opening was presented in a nice way, with some good words. From the first second of the dorama, it already made me fall in love with this dorama.
The story is unique and strange, I think. An osteologist, someone who is good at bones, should not related with murderer, should it?? An osteologist became a detective instead?? It is somehow strange to relate an osteologist with a murder case and detective things, but the dorama is really interesting. I'm always impressed with all the ideas those Japanese writers got. Unique, strange, but always interesting.
This dorama is not only about mystery and murder, but there is a comedy in it too. It's quite funny and make this dorama more colorful and not monotonous.

I really love this dorama and I highly recommend it. I gave 8.5 out of 10 points.

[Dorama Review] Tsubaki Bunguten / Tsubaki Stationary Store

It's been a while since I watched a dorama because recently I feel like I want to just watch a movie which end quickly in just 1,5 - 2 hours. Well, I managed to watch a 8-episode-dorama this time though.

This time I want to write about a daily life genre dorama. Tsubaki Bunguten, or in English it means Tsubaki Stationary Store. Seems like the owner made that name because she likes Tsubaki (Camellia) flower, and even there is a huge Tsubaki flower in front of the shop. The store didn't only sell stationary things, but also opened a service to write a letter on the customer's behalf.

The owner of the store, Amemiya Kashiko (played by Baisho Mitsuko) is an old grandma. The store was located in Kamakura. When Amemiya Kashiko passed away, and her granddaughter, Amemiya Hatoko (played by Tabe Mikako), who has left Kamakura since 8 years ago, at last came back to her house.

It seems that Hatoko was receiving strict lesson from her grandma to succeed the store since she was little. It made her left the house and never contacted her grandma. She had no mother as well, the being about her mother was unknown.

The house was about to be sold as Hatoko won't succeed the store. However, after talking to her neighbor, Madam Barbara (played by Enami Kyoko), somehow Hatoko seemed to think and change her mind.

Well, that's how the new journey of Hatoko began. She got requests from customers, and she wrote letters on their behalf.

Actually, in my opinion, this dorama's theme is a little bit boring. I was like "Only write a letter?" Hmm, I wonder, maybe a daily-life dorama is like that, not so much climax nor anti-climax... But it is not bad... Really really not bad! It might be a strange remark, the theme is boring but the dorama is quite good!

It was a little bit sleepy at first but as the episodes continue it is getting more interesting. It's hard for me to watch this dorama until around the third episode, where I can't stop watching this dorama.

As how a Japanese dorama usually be, this dorama also teaches us some good morals. There are, of course, many things that you can learn from this dorama, but what get into me the most is:
There is no one who doesn't have regret, but the most important is how we react to it; we learn from it, leave it, and live with what is in our hand now.

Well, as I was so down several days ago, I was lazy to do anything, and I decided to watch this dorama for several days, and I'm getting better now! I mean, time absolutely makes me better, but this dorama also help me to recover. Hopefully, this dorama and also my writing here can be my motivation when I'm down again.

Overall, I gave this dorama 6 out of 10 points. It's actually a mixed feeling. The score is not that high, but somehow I recommend you to check that out!

[Dorama Review] Medical Team: Lady da Vinci no Shindan メディカルチーム レディ・ダ・ヴィンチの診断

It's been a while since the last time I watched dorama. Well, I was so busy with work, watching something like a 10-episodes-drama will sure take a long time. But at last, I could find a drama which is quite good to watch, Medical Team: Lady da Vinci no Shindan which was broadcasted on 2016.

The story is about a genius neurosurgeon named Tachibana Shiho (played by Yoshida Yo). Due to having hallucination, she decided to quit being a neurosurgeon, since it could be dangerous if the hallucination appeared in the middle of the surgery.

Then, Kitabatake Masayuki (played by Takahashi Katsunori) which is her former professor and the director of Toko University Hospital came to offer Tachibana-sensei to be one of the team doctor in the newly-built Analysis and Diagnosis Department.
I somehow reminded of Iryu 4 since the role of Takahashi Katsunori here is similar with Iryu 4. I think they made it similar on purpose though.

Rather than doing surgery, the department is used to analyze and identify unknown illnesses. If General Medicine is the first step of the treatment, Analysis and Diagnosis is the last bastion. The member of this department is 7 female doctors with various background.

The one who often accompany Tachibana-sensei is the intern in the department, Tamaru Ayaka (played by Yoshioka Riho). She is more to the clumsy character which makes the dorama quite funny.

Another one who often accompany Tachibana-sensei is a former genius Cardio-surgeon, Nitta Yukino (played by Aibu Saki).

Don't forget the leader of the A&D Department, Iwakura Yoko (played by Ito Ran). She has a TV show called "Doctor SOS", and in that TV show she always do her catchphrase "Even if the gods lie, these eyes of mine will never lie" which is quite funny to me because of its absurdity.

Well, if you have read by previous dorama review, you could find out that actually I'm a real big fan of Team Medical Dragon~Iryu~ series. Ever since I watched that dorama, I'm so into the medical world. I've tried watching several medical dorama before, but I didn't finish it because I think it's boring compared to Iryu series.

If Iryu series is all about surgery, Lady da Vinci told us that the medical world is not just surgery, but it's also important how to diagnose accurately and giving the right treatment. Iryu also focused on the politics of the medical world story, the rivalry between antagonist and protagonist, where in Lady da Vinci is purely more to the medical treatment story with a little bit sense of humor. You barely feel the sense of rivalry in Lady da Vinci, because even if they got a little bit of rivalry, they have the same vision and mission to save patients with all their might.

The theme song is "Miracle" by AI, how it once again reminds me of Iryu, because Iryu 1 and 2 theme songs are also AI's songs.

I could say this medical dorama is quite different from Iryu, and reveal a different story from Iryu. I love how they make the dorama with some sense of humor which make the dorama not boring.
I recommend this dorama and I give 7 points out of 10 points for this dorama.

[Dorama Review] MARS ~ ただ, 君を愛してる~ / MARS ~ Tada, Kimi wo Aishiteru

Just finished watching this dorama today, so let me write some review when it's still hot in my mind: 

MARS ~ Just, I love you

This dorama was aired in 2016, and in additional, a movie was also made as the sequence of this dorama.

In every episodes of the dorama, you will eventually see a brief introduction of this main characters:

Kashino Rei, a boy who holds light and shadow (played by Fujigaya Taisuke of Kis-My-Ft2).
Kashino is a violent playboy who seems to not afraid of anything and will eventually beat someone who is in his way. All woman would fall for his handsome look with a cool Ducati motorbike.

Asou Kira, high school girl who closed her heart (played by Iitoyo Marie). Kira is a strange and introvert girl with a great talent of being an artist. One day, Kashino saw her drawing and amazed with it. From that on, their start to know each other,

Guess, what? A violent handsome boy with an ugly strange introvert girl starts dating? So impossible! Well, Iitoyo Marie is absolutely not ugly, but I think they are trying to make an impression as if she is nerd, strange, and ugly (；￢_￢) There's no way the producer would use a real ugly woman as an actress, right!? Even though I think everyone is actually beautiful in their own way, only some people got their beauty hidden.

Another classic story, all the girls got jealous because that ugly introvert girl is dating 'their' handsome man, and Kira starts to be bullied. If it were me, then I will kick and punch the girls and said "Hey, it's him who loves me first!" (ꐦ°᷄д°᷅)

And another character came, Kirishima Makio, exchange student who holds the fate (played by Kubota Masataka). He was in the same school with Kashino before, so, he knows all the Kashino's past story. Kirishima who seems to be an introvert also, join the same art club with Kira.
While I don't want to be a spoiler, Kirishima played the mysterious important part in this dorama.

The three of the main characters are battling over the fate for love, or that's what the movie said at least.

This dorama is actually based on the manga MARS by Souryo Furumi. The Taiwanese version of live action drama has also been made before.

When I watch the first few episodes, it was quite annoying for me. A classic standard story. Handsome cool boy who likes introvert strange girl, where the girl will be bullied later on. Well, that's impossible to happen in the real life, isn't it?? Even though I always think it would be nice if I could be either the handsome boy side or the introvert girl side like in those story.

However, starting in the middle of the dorama, I'm quite curious. Well, it's still a classic story where the handsome boy actually has some secret about his past, but it somehow make the dorama more colorful, more interesting. And Kirishima is the one who knows his past.

The end of the dorama is the climax, I guess? The dorama ended up in full of mystery, full of curiosity, and likely to be continued in the movie. However, starting from that the end of the dorama, I could realize that this dorama is worth to watch. Unexpected story, not a really mainstream dorama, not like what I though at first.

Other than its story, I think the way this dorama is taken is unique. Sometimes, it feels like a kind of short story, being put on together and there it is, this dorama, and I still can understand it well because it's connected.

It's been a while since I watch a quite interesting dorama, since the last few doramas I watch is just so so, or even bad.

I gave this dorama 7.5 out of 10 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*