[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] 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*

[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] 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*