[Dorama Review] Switched / Sora wo Kakeru Yodaka

Hello guys! I saw that my last post was on July 2019, so it's been more than a half year since my last post. Actually I watched some doramas between those days, and it's quite good too, but I'm just too lazy to write any review and comment.

Also, recently I started to watch netflix, and I found a lot of good doramas there, even though I couldn't finish some of them because it is so boring in the first 2-3 episodes and I decided not to continue watching it.

Well, tonight I want to write a little bit review and comment about the dorama I watched on netflix: Switched. This is a super good dorama for me, even it made the-lazy-me to wake up and write on this blog after ignoring it for more than half a year, lol.

This dorama is about a beautiful-famous-girl named Kohinata Ayumi (played by Kiyohara Kaya), who was super friendly and smart, and also kind-hearted. If you ever imagine a perfect girl ever, then maybe she is the one.

 She had two bestfriends, bestfriends since childhood to be exact, and they were boys. Kaga Shunpei (played by Shigeoka Daiki of Johnny's WEST) and Mizumoto Koshiro (played by Kamiyama Tomohiro of Johnny's WEST). Beautiful girl who has two handsome close boyfriends, what else can you expect? It's just a perfect world for people who see them, isn't it?

Then it turned out that Koshino confessed his feeling to Ayumi, and they were dating. Umine Zenko (played by Tomita Miu) who was believed to be an ugly and fat girl, loved Koshino because Koshino had helped her before and she started to get jealous. Umine found a way to switch body with Ayumi.

Umine which was in Ayumi's body was super satisfied. She would never go back to her old body. On the contrary, Ayumi who was trapped inside Umine's body started to cry. Ayumi experienced being Umine, who was bullied, a broken home kid, and all alone.

But their bestfriends found out about the body's switchover. They were bestfriends after all. Kaga was the one who was beside Ayumi when she was trapped inside Umine's body. On the other hand, Koshino was always beside Umine who was in Ayumi's body.

So many things happened in the search of finding a way to switch the body back. But let me write only some important things that I learn from this dorama.

- Ayumi who was inside Umine's body started to live her life with all her might. She started to shine inside the class, being liked by her classmates and of course by his bestfriend Kaga, despite having an ugly appearance. She was struggling at first, of course, having people bullying her and even her mother was body-shaming her, but in the end, inner-beauty shined the most.

- On the contrary, Umine who was inside Ayumi's body was falling apart. She didn't like the fact that the new-Umine could gain attention from many people. She was even being asked:
"Cute appearance, wonderful friends, kind and caring family, but despite all of that, you don't seem very happy, do you?"
Despite having all of the perfect things in life, she was not satisfied. It's because all were in her own mind, always felt lacking of something.

From those two perspective, I can say that indeed a beautiful girl has advantages at first. I wouldn't deny that we live in this world full of sin where most of the people would judge on the appearance first. And maybe you and I unconsciously do that too, but we just don't spit it out. But believe me, beauty on the appearance only wouldn't last long. Body can rot as we grow old. But a good character only knows how to get better.

It was shown in Ayumi, despite of her appearance which turns ugly, she was still being liked by her friends. Of course, not instantly, need more works than when she was having a beautiful appearance, but she can do that. Showing her good attitude make her more charming, make an ugly one turned to be a cute one in people eyes because of her attitudes.

Umine, despite having a wonderful body, people started to look at her in a suspicious way, probably thinking "What happened with her?" Her beautiful appearance can't cover her bad attitudes of being egoistic. "Looking different on the outside won't change what's inside", that's the remarkable sentence that touched me from this dorama.

To conclude, there are four types of people. Beautiful ones with good attitudes, beautiful ones with bad attitudes, ugly ones with good attitudes, and ugly ones with bad attitudes. It's good if you're blessed with beautiful appearance, but don't be satisfied only with it. Shape your characters that people may say "Wow, she is beautiful outside and inside". Ayumi, Kaga, and Koshino were the three examples for this, actually. They are beautiful and handsome, they don't bully Umine, and they help Umine actually, but because Umine was so deep down in her negative thoughts, she can only think the ones who bullied her.

Well, if you feel so beautiful but having bad attitudes (which I believe a few people - or maybe no people? - would admit it), just be careful. People stay with you maybe only because you have something, and eventually they will leave you when those beauty fades. Start to learn to be better.

If you ever feel ugly, don't worry. First, maybe actually you're not that bad. As how Umine was, she just need a single hairpin, and she looks cuter. Not bad at all. Maybe you just need that 'single hairpin' to make you looks cuter. But second, that's not the most important things. Having good characters will make even a super ugly ones turn into the most beautiful person ever, in other people eyes. That's why people say "Beauty is subjective".

In the end, I would give this dorama 8.5 points out of 10 points. I'd give 10 points for their morale lessons though.

Thank You Johnny-san!

Several days ago there were some news telling that Johnny-san, the founder of Johnny’s Associate as well as the producer of many J-pop talents, had passed away. Well, at first, I was just considering it as an ordinary news. All people someday will leave this world anyway. The death of Johnny-san didn’t really have any specific impact in my life. 

As days go by, I read some of the artists from Johnny’s Entertainment writing their condolences regarding this news. Well, it’s also not something extraordinary since they grow there and have a success life in the entertainment industry, thanks to the company.

Unexpectedly, the condolence messages come from the outside of the company too, especially those trainee (or we call it Juniors) who quit the company due to no chance of debuting, or even the debuted artist who got into scandal and forced to leave the company. Well, for those who got into the scandal, they had no choice since it was their wrong-doing and they had to be responsible for it. But imagine, those who practice hard everyday for years, for dozen years, or even decades, they had the talent, they were even quite famous as a Junior, but they still couldn’t make it. It was even more heartbreaking when the young infamous newbie Juniors, which people didn’t know who and why, suddenly make a debut in the same time with the resignation of the other talented Juniors. 

Never heard the exact explanation, but I always assume, the talented Juniors were tiredly waiting for their debut, and they resigned because it ended up the newbie ones were the chosen one. And I somehow believe, more or less, it’s a true story. Because life sometimes seems not fair, doesn’t it?

Don’t know what were the reasons behind those Johnny-san and the management’s decision, however, they had their own wisdom, I guess. One thing that I’m quite sure is that Johnny-san cared about each of the Juniors, each of their talents. Even after those heartbreaking incidents, the ex-Johnny’s still can send those heartwarming messages, even telling that they won’t be there if it’s not because of Johnny-san. I wonder how Johnny-san touched each of the Juniors they raised.

This story of Johnny-san, somehow makes me think a little bit. When we put our hearts into our works, maybe we can deliver loves into others. They might not feel it right now, they might hate it right now, but one day, they might thank us because of our sincerity.

Lastly, I just want to thank you for those good moments, those fandom experience I got in the high school and university, in my teenage days. Thank you for raising KinKi Kids and Kis-My-Ft2, my favorite J-pop artists ever. Thank you for raising Question?, my favorite not-yet-debut-then-disbanded Juniors which I always regret it. Thank you, Johnny-san!

[Anime Movie Review] My Neighbors the Yamadas / Houhokekyo Tonari no Yamada-kun / ホーホケキョとなりの山田く

Tonight I will write a little bit review of Studio Ghibli's My Neighbors the Yamadas.

The story is super simple. It is about a family, Yamada family, which consists of 5 persons; a dad, a mom, a son, a daughter, and a grandma.

I could say it is more like to a short story which is compiled together and it becomes a 2-hour-movie. However, it is not bad. It's actually super good. Telling us about some daily life stories from the Yamada family, bringing a topic which might be around us too.

For me, I personally like the story where their son, Noboru, said something like this "It would be good if I have a better parents". His mom and dad replied with something like this: if they hadn't been there, then probably Noboru won't exist too.

Another story I like, is when they tell us what a marriage is. As long as a family sticks to each other, they somehow can face the wildest sea, but not for a calm water. We relax, loosening our hold, and we might not realize that we are actually in danger.

Well, if you really watch and think about it, there are actually some good messages that you can get from this anime movie.

As expected from Studio Ghibli, another amazing movie. The concept is totally different with another Studio Ghibli's movie, and the drawing is also nice, which is more like a manga rather than the usual movie, and it's not even lessen the value of the movie.

I would give this movie 9 out of 10 points. I love it so much!

[Japanese Movie Review] Kimi no Suizo wo Tabetai / I want to eat your pancreas / 君の膵臓をたべたい

This will be the next Japanese movie I'll review. Kimi no Suizo wo Tabetai or literally you can translate it to I want to eat your pancreas.
Just as usual, I will start with a brief synopsis of the movie [Please beware of spoiler!]

Shiga Haruki (played with Oguri Shun - present, Kitamura Takumi - past) was a quiet high school student. He rarely interacted with people, he had no friend, and all he did was staying at the library and organizing the books there, since he was the library committee.

One day, he accidentally picked up Yamauchi Sakura's (played by Hamabe Minami) diary in the hospital. She was Shiga's classmate who was quite popular. It turned out that Sakura had a pancreas disease and her life was estimated only a year left. Shiga was the first and the only one who knew this secret beside Sakura's family.

Sakura wanted to be friends with Shiga, and she tricked him to go to a trip together with her. They became closer and closer.

One day, Sakura was hospitalized. Two-weeks-hospitalized-check up, she said. However, she didn't get better and she needed to be hospitalized longer. They promised to watch Sakura blossom together once Sakura discharged.

The day came. She was discharged, not forever but only for a while, because it seemed like her life was not long anymore. She was given a chance to do anything she wanted to do. Shiga planned the trip, they promised to meet each other at a cafe. However, Sakura never came to the cafe. She died on the way to the cafe. Moreover, she died not because of the disease but because of a criminal who stabbed her with a knife.

Okay,
I saw this movie because there was a movie playing in the cinema with a title "I want to eat your pancreas". I was thinking like what the heck? what kind of title is that? it must be a strange movie. However, those catchy title made me curious. I searched the whole internet, and found this live action movie. I guess the one playing in the cinema was the anime one, but since I'm more to dorama and real people, I decided to watch the live action.

Well, I could say this is the best movie I watched recently. The story was truly touching and I was so teary even in the middle of the story, even before anything happened. After watching it, I can totally relate, why the title of the movie is like that. There might be no special things about the theme of the movie; I mean, you can always find someone sick and die in many of Japanese movies or doramas. However, this one is super good with a quite plot twist in the end of the movie. Never even once I thought that Sakura would die not because of the disease =____=

Lesson learned from this movie: We never know when we will die. We can die tonight, we can die tomorrow, or maybe a year later. Even when we are sentenced to die because of our disease, we still have the same chance to live as the healthy one. It might be the healthy one who died first because of an accident, or anything. So, live your life to the fullest, everyday. Cherish the one you love while you still can.

You really need to watch this movie and find out yourself why this movie is called "I want to eat your pancreas". I superrrrrr recommend this movie and give this movie 9 out of 10 points.

[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.