[Anime Movie Review] Weathering with You / Tenki no Ko / 天気の子

Another animated movie review... Another popular animated movie directed by Makoto Shinkai which is said to be the next Hayao Miyazaki...

Well, I don't mean to be offensive, but in my opinion it's way too overrated. Of course this is super subjective, but for me who actually don't like animated things, Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli could make me interested with their film, while it's not happening with Makoto Shinkai. Let me explain in detail on the review below...

The story start from a high school boy named Hodaka who ran away from home to Tokyo.

 When a rainstorm struck the ferry he was riding, he is saved by Suga. Suga sensed that Hodaka was on a runaway and gave him his name card, in case Hodaka needed helps.

Searching jobs in the capital city of course without graduating from high school of course not easy. Hodaka ended up searching Suga for help. Suga lived with his niece, Natsumi, and they worked as some kind of publisher, and Suga hired Hodaka to help him with his work.

As they were working on some weather article, Hodaka met Hina, a girl who is actually a Sunshine Girl. She could make the weather sunny if she prayed.

 Hina and her little brother were orphans. As they needed money, Hodaka suggest to use Hina's power to make money. And they did it.

 But as Hina prayed and prayed, she started to lose her body... A sacrifice had to be made for the weather to be sunny again...

To tell you the truth, the animation is actually super good. It is super detailed and feels so real. I don't doubt the animation at all, it's perfect... However, the problem is the story... It is quite boring for me. I'm not sure which one making it a little boring, but maybe the pace of the story sometimes is too detailed and too slow.

While a too detailed animation makes it perfect, a too detailed story makes it boring. The big picture of the story was actually not bad, but how they wrap it into the +- 2 hours movie making it so boring.

Japanese movie, anime, film, anything, usually give us a good morale lesson, but in this movie... Of course, there are always something to learn, but just... I barely feel it. Maybe because I can't relate to it? Or maybe because they don't show it significantly? I wonder...

Well, I'd gave this anime movie thing 6 points out of 10 points.

[Anime Movie Review] Kiki's Delivery Service / Majo no Takkyuubin 魔女の宅急便

Another review on Studio Ghibli's movie, Kiki's Delivery Service. It was released on 1989.

Kiki is a daughter from a witch family. In the witch's tradition, when children turned into 13 years old, they must leave the house for a year for training. Kiki has turned into 13 years old, so it's her turn to do the training. She left the house with her black cat, named Jiji.

Kiki decided to find a city near the sea because she liked the sea. She found one which was quite a big city and Kiki was flustered at first.

When Kiki tried to find a place to stay, she met a woman who had a bakery. One of her customer forgot something on her store, and Kiki helped her to bring the item to the customer. Later, Kiki was allowed to stay in her place.

Kiki decided to work because she needed money to live alone. Realizing that her only talent was to fly with a broomstick, she opened a delivery service, while trying to get along with the people in the town.

To sum up, it's really a simple story but super entertaining. It's easy to understand, really compatible for both children and adults. You don't need to think hard, it's simply entertaining, easy to watch (easier than any other Studio Ghibli's movie I've watched so far). I think it's really one of the best movie produced by Studio Ghibli. I like this movie a lot!

I can give this movie 8 out of 10 points.

[Anime Movie Review] Howl's Moving Castle / Hauru no Ugoku Shiro ハウルの動く城

Another writing about one of Studio Ghibli's film, Howl's Moving Castle. This film was released on 2004 based on a novel written by Diana Wynne Jones. Well, let's get started!

The film setting was on a war period. Sophie, a girl who lived in a small town, was a hatter who tried to make the best hat. One day, on her way home, Sophie met some soldiers who tried to tease her.

In danger, suddenly there was an unknown blonde man who helped her. Later, she would know that the man is Howl, a witch who lived in a moving castle near her town.

While in other hand, a witch of waste, who had a one side love with Howl, started to get jealous and put a curse on Sophie. Sophie became an old grandmother, and because of that condition, she left her town to find a place for her to stay.

On her way to find a place, she met a moving turnip. That moving turnip helped her in finding a place to stay, which was Howl's Moving Castle.

Old Sophie met the Turnip

Howl's Moving Castle

In that castle, Sophie met Markl, a little boy who lived with Howl, and Calcifer, a fire demon who was the source of energy to move the castle.

Together, they faced problems related to the war. Sophie helped Howl in many ways.

Based on what I watch, the animation of this film is no doubt. Studio Ghibli, as always, is stunning and amazing. However, it's quite hard to understand the line of the story. The story is a little bit abstract and hard to understand. I could say that this is the worst Studio Ghibli movie I've watched so far. Even though the story is not so clear, especially from the middle to the end of the story, but it's still entertaining and not bored to be watched, as expected from Studio Ghibli.

Well, I still could give this film 6.5 out of 10 points.

[Dorama Review] Siren

Today I’m going to write a review about a mystery Japanese dorama. The title of the dorama is Siren, a beautiful yet dangerous creature in Greek mythology. It was aired in 2015.

Murder cases keep happening in Tokyo. The murderer is suspected to be a psycho since the murder is being gruesomely done.

Satomi Shinobu (played by Matsuzaka Tori) and Inokuma Yuki (played by Kimura Fumino) are a detective couple from Mobile Investigation Unit of The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department who dated secretly due to their job. Satomi and Inokuma are working together to find the truth behind these murder cases.

Strangely, a beautiful woman named Tachibana Kara (played by Nanao) often appears in the murder scene. Satomi suspected that Tachibana is behind all of these murder cases, while Inokuma considered Tachibana as a helper to the detectives. What’s the relationship between Tachibana and the murder case?

                                                              

While trying to find the truth, Hayami Sho (played by Kitayama Hiromitsu of Kis-My-Ft2), Satomi and Inokuma’s rival, is also trying to find the truth to win the rivalry.

Even though you can guess some of the storyline, some of the story came out unexpectedly. This kind of unexpected story is the one which makes me interested in this dorama the most. The story of finding the murderer is also thrilling, it could make me so impatient and sometimes so scared. The way how the dorama is shot is as good as the other top Japanese doramas, as always. Not to mention, the Japanese actors and actresses are also as good as it is always be.

For those who likes thriller genre of dorama, I recommended this dorama. I gave 8 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] 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*

[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*

[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*

[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*

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!! ^^