If by Japan

Just finished: FAKE Bijutsu Jiken Emaki

2012-02-12T18:46:00.002Z

I'm used to the idea of a detective series being based around a particular thing, such as mathematics (Numb3rs), game theory (Liar Game), science (Galileo), conjuring tricks (Jonathan Creek) or what have you. This detective series is based around the art world and clues leading to the criminal are found in works of art or culture.

It's an interesting idea, but it never really works. The stories seemed quite dry and unexciting. It's hard to say exactly where the show went wrong. It doesn't help that the two main roles were fairly predictable: an eccentric amateur sleuth and a career detective. At first they don't get on but after a while, etc etc. Also, the crimes didn't seem very devious, and were quite ordinary except for some references to high art thrown in.

Perhaps the most notable thing about this detective series was that none of the main characters were under 30. That made a nice change, but it wasn't enough to save a pretty average cop show.

Just watched: Suteki na Kakushidori

2012-02-11T17:44:00.002Z

This film for TV was made as a side-project to Mitani Kuoki's cinema release Suteki na Kanashibari, and it shares a lot of the same cast. In the TV film, Fukatsu Eri plays a concierge at a hotel who finds herself trying to fulfil the wishes of a series of eccentric guests.

It's a simple and light-hearted comedy. The structure is episodic: when one guest's story ends, the next one begins. None of the guests interact, so there's none of the complicated storytelling that Mitani Kouki devised in The Uchoten Hotel. Eri is funny as the concierge trying to help as best she can. Throughout the film she finds herself in situations like trying to help a TV chef who's never cooked, or helping a songwriter overcome his writer's block.

A particular highlight for me was Kusanagi Tsuyoshi as a clueless contortionist who needs advice about his act. But mostly, it Eri's peppy performance that keeps you watching. It also has quite a spontaneous feel, and I wonder how much of this was improvised. This is an amusing and entertaining diversion, and is definitely worth a look.

Just finished: Yasashii Jikan

2012-02-10T21:46:00.000Z

I take my hat off to any drama where the opening episode has a shot lasting forty-five seconds in which nothing happens except a slow zoom in on someone at a window in total silence. In fact, this series (from 2005) is so quiet, I found it difficult to find times to watch it without being interrupted by noise from the neighbours next door or upstairs. But it was worth making an effort for this slow-paced and thoughtful series.

The story tells a tale of a father (played by Terao Akira) who runs a coffee shop in Hokkaido, unaware that in the neighbouring town his son (Ninomiya Kazunari) is an apprentice at a pottery kiln (I have no idea what the right term is for "a place where they make pottery"). The two haven't been in touch for years. This estrangement was caused by the son and mother being in a traffic accident and the mother dying.

During the eleven episodes we see the two of them go about their every day lives while slowly coming together for the final episode. Nagasaw Masami stars as the waitress who befriends the son and discovers the connection. She tries to get them to meet, while struggling with problems of her own.

While all this is going on, other stories weave in and out. Most of these are light-hearted distractions to the deep emotions of the main plot, and are welcome since they're so well written: A snowstorm causes havoc in the area; a customer slips and gives himself amnesia; two people sat looking out of the window don't move for hours so that the staff begin to suspect they've died.

During this time of year in England, when even a dusting of snow can make the news ("City unaffected by light snowfall" was a genuine headline on the BBC site recently), it's instructive to see what real snow looks like. Every exterior shot looked like a Christmas card and thanks to the slow pace, peaceful music and wintry scenery, the series had a dream-like quality. Very restful and relaxing. I'm not sure I'd want to watch it during the summer, though.

Just watched: Hula Girls

2012-02-06T15:50:00.000Z

Continuing on my journey through Aoi Yu's filmography, I arrive at this 2006 film. Hula Girls tells the story of the establishment of a large holiday spa with a Hawaiian theme in the middle of a bleak coal-mining town. The theme is a common one: people facing economic ruin find an escape through entertainment. Brassed Off and The Full Monty sprang to mind when I started watching this, although Hula Girls has the advantage of being based on a true story.

Set during the 1960s, the film begins with the mine owner's grand idea for a new tourist attraction. He is greeting by scepticism from all sides: the mining community and the dance teacher brought in from Tokyo. But as time goes on, and adversities are overcome people slowly begin to accept the idea.

Occasionally, though people seemed to change their attitudes for pretty simple reasons and with little warning. The mother of the lead character is, for most of the film, against her daughter being part of the dance group. But she only has to see her daughter dancing once to change her attitude.

But despite this, its still quite a touching film. And while most of the attention goes to Aoi Yu, I was also impressed by Yamasaki Shizuyo's performance as the shy, bumbling giant of the group. This film is a pleasant way to spend two hours and is made all the more worthwhile by the fact that you know the resort is still going, and the hula girls are still dancing after all these years.

Currently watching: Seinaru Kaibutsutachi

2012-02-04T21:21:00.000Z

This is a medical drama that's not really about medicine. It's set in a hospital, and certain medical things happen, but the main story is about a surrogate pregnancy. This is illegal is Japan, and so the whole pregnancy must be kept a secret.

Nakatani Miki plays the role of a head nurse at a hospital and is coldly beautiful, like diamonds cast across ice. Her performance demands that you watch her when she's on screen. She is a paragon of elegance, but also demonstrates a seething energy just under the surface. When she asks the potential child-bearer to be a surrogate mother, she leans in a little to closely and breathes a little too hard, indicating a certain delight in manipulating people.

Hasegawa Hiroki (Suzuki Sensei) is the husband, who seems to find the situation distasteful. When his wife expresses excitement at the impending birth, even though she isn't carrying the child, he doesn't hide his disdain. Okada Masaki is the eager new surgeon at a fairly average hospital who unwittingly gets on with his job while all this goes on around him. Add to this a flirty nurse with money troubles and a patient who knows more about the staff than he should, and the stage is set for some twisty turny plots.

Three episodes in, and the situation is delicately poised. It's a game of power. Since everyone involved can ruin the whole plan, everyone seems to want it to be run the way they want. And bear in mind that the series began with a scene at the hospital where a mystery woman dies in childbirth, before the story went back a year to explain the events leading up to that evening.

While I can guess who the mystery woman is, I'm interested to see how the story gets to that point, and the consequences that follow.

Avoid: Tamatama

2012-01-31T18:03:00.002Z

After seeing Aoi Yu in episode one of Shokuzai and remembering how great she is, I felt like filling in a few of the gaps in my knowledge of her filmography. But I certainly make a poor choice with this film.

At fifty minutes long, it's the directorial debut of Komatsu Mayumi whose previous work was in commercials and music videos. And if you can image the kind of poor characterisation and weak storytelling that you get in a commercial, but stretched out to almost an hour, then you've got some idea about how bad this film is.

The film is set in Ireland. A sort fantasy version of Ireland where people seem baffled by foreigners or spend their days sitting in fields. And even if you ignore this bizarre version of Ireland, the film's attempts at whimsy or charm just fall flat. There is one bit, where a boy is describing some pebbles he's found that resemble other natural things – that bit is quite nice. But that's about it.

Considering how quickly the scene changes, the film drags. The acting is stiff and unconvincing, and the script doesn't ask Aoi Yu to do anything much except look a bit confused. And to be honest, I couldn't make it to the end. Even at just fifty minutes, this film is a real struggle to get through.

Currently watching: Lucky Seven

2012-01-28T21:43:00.004Z

This series is based around a private detective company that hires one of the people it was previously investigating, impressed by his ability to find out who was investigating him. He joins, even though one of the other detectives doesn't like him. And so begins a difficult relationship between two detectives as they solve various cases.

This does not sound like a very original idea but so far this show has been much better than I was expecting. For a start, they don't actually have to solve the cases. They follow their client's instructions, and then they do a little bit more but then hand it over to the police. This is, at least, realistic and it keeps the story focused on the exciting undercover work. There's not much of that tedious explaining of who did what to who and why.

The directing style is very nice, fast-paced but not too showy. Plus, there are some pretty impressive fight scenes. Nothing like Ong Bak, but certainly the best I've seen in a J-drama, and definitely to a standard that any western TV series can only dream of.

And if that wasn't enough, it has Naka Riisa and Tanihara Shosuke in it, and they've always had decent taste in dramas before so perhaps my early optimism will be rewarded.

But most of all, it has Eita in it. You couldn't ask for a more different role than Soredemo Ikite Yuku, but he seems just as perfect for this role too. This time he has a physical presence that demands your attention. The way he runs, sits down, or looks round a concrete pillar is all in character and everything draws you towards him. His co-star, Matsumoto Jun, is in danger of being acted off the screen, but saves himself with a cocky, assured performance.

There are still things that can go wrong, of course. The whole premise is weak: detectives who don't get on. There's a danger that they'll grow to respect and like each other, and so some of the spark will go. But before that happens, sit back and enjoy the look of the show, the fight scenes, and the performances.

Currently watching: Nazotoki Battle TORE!

2012-01-28T19:42:00.003Z

In the wake of the earthquake in March of 2011, every variety show went off the air and they were slowly brought back as and when TV channels thought it appropriate. But Dasshutsu Game DERO! never came back. Perhaps they thought that escaping from peril in a grey industrial setting was too similar to the nuclear incident at Fukushima.

A few months ago this show arrived to take its place. The format is exactly the same – a bunch of celebrities try and solve puzzles to avoid some pretend danger. Only now it has an Egyptian/Aztec feel to it and contestants have to avoid walls that either try to squash you, or push you into a pit. And instead of scary, cold, concrete grey walls and floors, the show now has a more natural look, mostly browns and earth-tones.

The games are a mix of general knowledge and physical exertion, so it's fairly easy to follow. At least, the aim of each game is pretty obvious even if you don't understand Japanese. I'm glad this format didn't vanish completely and that the time away has given the producers the chance to come up with some more games, since DERO! was starting to get a bit stale and predictable. And the new look means it's now a more light-hearted affair, even if I do worry that someone will do themselves an injury on that tilting floor thing.

Just finished: Youkai Ningen Bem

2012-01-24T19:09:00.002Z

Japanese dramas are usually quite low budget and unimaginatively shot, but throughout this series the director showed some nice touches with scenes framed by dramatic skies and a lovely bit where two people are walking and talking and just as their conversation becomes more positive, they emerge out of a shadow and into sunlight.

So I wonder how he felt when he saw how much talking there was in the last episode. There's only so much you can do, stylistically, with people in a room chatting. About halfway through the last episode, there are a few scenes in other places, but before too long, they're back at the same dusty old room.

I did a bit of research and discovered this story was first adapted for television in the late 1960s. This could explain the long-winded final episode where people chat endlessly but, then again, Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de also suffered from the same fate.

The moral of the story is that people often do not appreciate what they have. And it's true: I did not appreciate the final episode of this show. I mean, I appreciate the hard work of the producers and fansubbers, and I'm still amazed by the technology that allows me to watch dramas from the other side of the world like this, but this show did not need a whole episode for such a lengthy, wordy conclusion.

Currently watching: Shokuzai

2012-01-20T21:13:00.002Z

Now, this is why I watch Japanese dramas. After a run of nice but unremarkable detective shows and historical dramas, it's been a while since anything's really made me sit up and take notice. The publicity for this drama certainly caught my eye with its high quality cast and interiguing storyline. And at least the first episode has justified the hype. Thank God someone subbed it. I did try watching without subs, but halfway in I gave up. This isn't the kind of show you can watch and it's okay if you just get the gist. It's too subtle for that.

The story is about four women who witness a murder of a classmate when they were children, but are unable to remember the murderer's face and so he is never brought to justice. The mother of the victim has promised revenge for this.

Episode one follows one of the women in the present day. She is now a nurse, but still lives under the shadow of the event fifteen years ago. She has difficulty relating to people and when she meets a man who seems to understand her, and he asks her to marry him, she agrees.

Whatever marital bliss she was expecting is short-lived, as things start to go wrong in a most unexpected way. And it all seems to be linked to the murder. But how much influence the victim's mother has is never made clear. Is she deliberately setting things up to fail, or has she just sown the seed of mistrust in the woman's head and waits for it to take its course?

The show looks very nice. It's directed by Kurosawa Kiyoshi, who also made the film Tokyo Sonata, and the two have a very silimar feel. Very thoughtful composition, and very cleanly shot. The acting’s great and the story walks the fine line between unreal and unrealistic, never becoming so odd that it just seems absurd.

It’s still early days, but so far, so perfect.

Just finished: Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de

2012-01-20T09:16:00.002Z

Just watched the last episode and, well, that’s a lot of talking. On the bright side, there’ll be no spoilers in this review, because it would take at least two whole paragraphs to explain the twisty turny solution to the final murder.

In the last episode, the writers give us a lengthy solution to the two murders from the previous episode. There’s a little bit of comedy and investigation, but mostly it concerns endless flashbacks and explanations to every tiny detail. The trouble is, it was far too complicated for such a simple murder.

That was also a problem with episode eight, in which the murderer is revealed halfway through and the rest of the episode was just talking. It was as if the makers of the programme just thought that as long as Kitagawa Keiko and Sakurai Sho were onscreen then that was enough. It didn’t seem to matter that they weren’t saying anything useful.

I enjoyed this show, the comedy was funny and some of the crimes were interesting. But the programme often got the timing wrong on when to change from investigating to explaining, so that there was too much time spent with people sitting in one room discussing the crime.

It ends with the hint of a second series. I’ll be watching it when it comes out, and hoping that they get the mix of words and action right.

Currently watching: Dirty Mama

2012-01-16T21:52:00.002Z

Considering how few Japanese dramas get picked up by English-speaking markets, I suppose they can get away with a title like this, but anyway...

If you really enjoy stories about a jaded detective who doesn't get on with their naive idealistic newbie partner, and you don't live in Japan, you may want to consider moving. This is another drama based along those lines, and I really wasn't going to watch it if it weren't for two things. One, the subs seemed to come out quite quickly and that caught my eye. Two, it stars Nagazaku Hiromi who I remember as being the only good thing in the otherwise godawful Cast Me If You Can.

As it turns out, I found that I really enjoyed this. At first it's very generic sensible cop/rebel cop stuff, but about halfway through I decided I really liked the lead character. Hiromi was great in her role as the bad cop: pretty enough that you can see how she charms people when she wants, but old enough that when she acts rudely she doesn't look like a grumpy teenager. Karina, meanwhile, is relegated to the role of the sensible one, and she does okay.

But to be honest, after Perfect Report I'm a little worried about saying how great a series is after only one episode. But, I will say this: About half an hour after I saw Dirty Mama I was wondering what to watch and I seriously considered watching it again. Now that's got to be a good sign.

Recommended: Rashomon

2012-01-15T16:31:00.002Z

If reputation is anything to go by, saying that a Kurosawa film is recommended is a bit redundant. It's like saying that fire is hot or mountains are big. But reputation or not, it was only when the Special Edition DVD came down in price to six pounds that I considered buying it.

Despite me following Japanese culture for some years, this is actually my first Kurosawa film. He's always been one of those directors who is so universally praised, it actually puts you off watching his films. And here I am, adding to that problem.

The story of Rashomon concerns a murder, and the witness statements of all the people involved. Each recollection of events contradicts the others, and each time the witness describes themselves in the best possible way. It's interesting to see how events change from one moment to the next.

It looks great. Despite only having two locations, the ruined gate at the start of the film is an impressive sight. The acting is very staged, and the booklet that came with the DVD draws parallels to the acting style of silent movies, which makes sense.

Reading too much about this film beforehand could ruin it. It was revolutionary for its time, but this film has influenced so many later works that its impact is going to be diminished. But there's still enough to make this worth watching.

Just finished: Himitsu Chouhouin Erika

2012-01-14T20:01:00.004Z

* spoilers, I suppose, although you should be able to guess how it ends long before you've seen the last episode *

This not-very-serious spy drama came to a predictable end after thirteen episodes, including all the usual clichés such as sudden betrayal by a colleague, protecting the family, and not dying when shot.

Chiaki Kuriyama is endlessly watchable as the spy-turned housewife-turned spy again, but nobody else really made an impact. Her boss(es) were fairly drab and emotionless and the IT whizzkid in the office helped when needed, and then was conveniently absent/useless when Erika was in serious trouble.

The only thing to keep a viewer watching were te stories and, for the most part, they were okay. Thanks to being only half an hour, they were fast moving and compact. The director was certainly trying hard to make the show look slick and mysterious, but I suspect they spent all the budget on choreographing the fight scenes.

Pleasant, but undemanding.

Just finished: Watashi ga Renai Dekinai Riyuu

2012-01-11T13:36:00.002Z

When we first met the three main characters of this series, they were all single and moving into a shared house. As the end, they're all still sort of single, and are moving out of a shared house. But at least they had hope for the future, which they didn't have before. One was just about to enter into a relationship with a single father, and another had finally told the man she loves how she felt about him and discovered that he feels the same way about her. The third one got a job. Not so romantic, but she seemed happy.

However, there was a passiveness to the story that I didn't much care for. Yuko's character, the virgin, just went from one relationship at work to another and then to another. Karina's character, the tomboy, had two opportunities to further her career but didn't take either. She also let her newly acquired boyfriend go to America for work, while she preferred to stay behind.

Finally, Yuriko's character, the hostess, was never going to get a happy ending since she was having an affair with a married man. But at the end, she seemed pleased that she fell in love at all. None of the three women really got what they wanted, but they all ended up satisfied with what they got. Maybe that's realistic – what you want and what you need are two different things – but it was a little dull as a story. They let things happen to them, rather than making things happen.

Currently watching: Doctors Saikyou no Meii

2012-01-04T14:37:00.000Z

I’m not a big fan of medical dramas. Hospitals are, by their very nature, dramatic places with lives being saved and lost while people struggle with their personal lives. To set a drama there almost seems too easy. The characters in these things are usually quite predictable, with the career-minded doctor, the naive newcomer and the well-meaning but otherwise anonymous nurse.

All of these are present and correct in Doctors, so I wasn’t going to bother with it but this guy kept saying how good it was, so I had to give it a try.

Perhaps the biggest difference to the usual medical drama is that the newcomer isn’t naive, but is already an expert surgeon. And an expert manipulator. For the first few episodes, he engineers arguments with his colleagues which in turn makes them do their job better and thus they learn a valuable lesson. If you think that such moralising can only be a turn-off, it is saved by the clever way the situations are set up, and by some winning performances.

The lead (played by Sawamura Ikki) is charming enough to make you believe that he’s able to get these people to do what he wants, but at the same time he has an coldness to him which makes him quite fascinating. His arch-rival in the show (played by Takashima Masanobu) is childish and played for chuckles and doesn’t seem to be much of a threat, yet it’s worth watching the show just for his reactions to the events as he slowly sees his influence slipping away.

A highly enjoyable show so far.

Re-watching: Liar Game

2011-12-28T15:00:00.005Z

Just before Christmas I felt the need for a bit of geeky mathematics-related action, so I dug out Liar Game and watched a few episodes. It quickly captured my interest with its cleverly devised plots and endless double crossing. I started to regret watching it at half past eleven in the evening, because before I knew it, it was one o’clock and I’d seen the first three episodes, and I was eager to see more.

On the down side, a lot of the show's fast-pace is a bit of an illusion. For example, twenty minutes of episode four involves a long explanation of how one person cheated the game. Each revelation was accompanied by crash zooms on each of the competitors. This streches out a scene that could've been done in five minutes.

Apart from the constant stylistic interruptions, the storyline is intriguing. A mysterious organisation sets up a game of chance for randomly selected competitors that will either make them rich or put them into massive debts. As the stakes get higher, the opponents become more and more cunning. Each game involves clever manipulation of people and probabilities to ensure success in what seems like a game of pure luck.

It’s a huge shame, then, that the last episode should be a feature-length recap of the whole series before the final scenes are played. The first time I watched it, I was puzzled at why they started with such a long, detailed flashback until I realised it wasn’t a flashback – they were telling the whole story again. Nevertheless I do recommend this to people, if they like mathematics and if they can sit through the director's endless reliance on the same shots and zooms.

Then, today I discover that a new Liar Game film is being made: Liar Game Reborn, so I thought I should write about it so I look up-to-date and relevant. The last time I wrote about Liar Game, I expressed a wish that the film would be the end of the series. However, now there's a new chapter in the story, I'm quite excited to see what happens next.

Judging by the trailer, it looks like more of the same, despite the lack of Toda Erika. There are a lot of familiar faces in the trailer and the music and directing style seem identical to the original TV series. Plus, Lair Game Reborn also features Ashida Mana, who seems to be in more things than AKB48 these days!

Liar Game Reborn is released on 3rd March 2012

Looking forward

2011-12-23T19:57:00.007Z

Reading the summaries for the dramas starting in January doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. There are a lot of brilliant but unconventional characters who annoy their colleagues but, in time, they grow to respect each other. The other recurring theme is that a death in the family prompts a career change. Either way, it’s pretty grim out there, with only WOWOW seemingly making an effort. Nevertheless, here are the shows which, at the moment, I’m looking forward to.

Shokuzai

Number one on my list of things to watch is this series. An interesting storyline and a very strong cast have caught my attention. The story is about four women who, as children, witnessed a murder but couldn’t remember the man’s face. The mother of the murder victim blamed them for the murderer never being found and now, years later, those events are about to have their consequences...

I’m paraphrasing, but it’s something like that. Aio Yu (Camouflage and lots more besides) and Sakura Ando (Love Exposure, Soredemo Ikite Yuku) head the cast. I’m excited by this. It begins on the 8th.

Lucky Seven

Eita and Matsumoto Jun star in this detective series. Again, the overall theme of the show appears to be a clash in styles of two very different detectives. But the two strong leads (and Naka Riisa too) give me some hope for this.

Honjitsu wa Taian Nari

Of January’s new dramas, this has the best storyline, at first glance. Five wedding ceremonies are to be held at the same venue on the same day. A message arrives demanding that they all be cancelled or receive “punishment from heaven.” Who sent the message and why?

This seems to be a slightly different take on a mystery theme. I shall keep an eye out for this.

Suugaku Joshi Gakuen

A male student with no interest in maths accidentally enrols in a maths class with some high-flying female maths students. I’m being very optimistic by recommending this one. It looks like one of those terrible romances where different women take turns in falling for the male lead, but perhaps there’ll be some maths in there too? I know, it’s crazy, but Liar Game was a success so maybe they'll try and tap that market. I’ll give this one episode to persuade me.

Stranger 6

This Japanese/Korean/Chinese production revolves around three agencies trying to stop a terrorist attack. It’s by WOWOW so hopefully it’ll be more sensible than Bloody Monday.

There are also new dramas for Nakatani Miki and Nagasawa Masami which I’m kind of interested in, but not especially. Nakatani Miki stars in Seinaru Kaibutsutachi a new hospital drama, and I don’t enjoy those due to them usually being staffed entirely by doctors who have piercing eyes and a habit of demanding that they save someone’s life, even if it breaks every rule in the book.

Nagasaw Masami’s drama, Bunshin, has the weakest storyline as far as I can tell. A woman sees another woman on TV who looks just like her. And so begins her journey into her family's murky past. That could go anywhere. It could be brilliant, it could be daft.

Just Finished: Nankyoku Tairiku

2011-12-21T19:13:00.001Z

Dead dogs are sad.

That’s the main lesson I learnt from this epic tale of polar exploration. That, and the fact that everyone in Japan in the 1950s was noble and strong.

Cynicism aside, I did enjoy this. The true story of Japan’s attempt to rebuild some pride and stake a claim for a scientific base in the Antarctic was solid enough. It definitely seemed to be tailor made for Japanese TV, with everyone looking windswept and interesting as they battle the elements. And the star of the show was the location. The wide open vistas of the frozen wastes were put to good use, and looked great, even if they did make the CGI parts look a bit obvious.

And call me sappy, but I thought the scene when Kuramochi returned to the base and looked for the dogs’ remains one by one was quite touching. And the story often dips into sentimentality, even for a story as heart-warming as this. The cut-aways to the dogs’ adventures during that year were a bit silly to be honest. And as with all stories based on truth, I can’t enjoy it completely since I always wonder if a particular bit is true or added in for dramatic effect.

Otherwise, good.

Just watched: Spring Bears Love

2011-12-18T10:34:00.001Z

A woman is sitting on a train reading a book about art that she got from the library. She finds a romantic note written in the margin with a reference to another art book. Later, she reads that and finds another note. She becomes convinced these messages are meant for her, so she tries to work out who the mystery writer is.

Bae Doona (The Host) stars in this lightweight romantic comedy from 2003. It’s enjoyable and Doona is great as the confused optimist trying to find her ideal man. Yoon Jong-sin (the permanently tired/ill singer from Family Outing) pops up as the librarian, which I wasn’t expecting. Of course, there are misunderstandings and lies along the way and she even meets another woman who also thinks the messages are for her.

It’s a romantic notion – a painfully shy lover of art trying to woo a woman with poetic notes written beside classic paintings. It has a mix of curiosity as to who this person might be and also the hope that perhaps he’s the one man she’s been looking for.

But the moral of the story is don’t let an image of a perfect man blind you from the reality of what’s in front of you. It also highlights the many problems with trying to get a girlfriend by leaving notes in a book. There must be easier ways than that.

Currently reading: Make Believe Melodies

2011-12-13T14:18:00.002Z

I found the blog Make Believe Melodies after a long, meandering journey through various websites clicking links as they caught my eye. It started at Sparkplugged and their entry on the excellent new single by YeYe. I can’t remember what I did after that but it certainly involved watching Asobi Seksu videos on YouTube. But that’s not important.

What is important is I’ve found somewhere new to get news about Japanese music which is up-to-date and well-written. Make Believe Melodies covers everything from pop to indie to experimental electro odd-ness which makes it very useful.

Also, tucked away on the twitter feed on the right is a link to a page that links to a page about new indie bands which is all in Japanese, but has plenty of links to Soundcloud and Bandcamp audio clips so you can quickly get an idea of what they’re writing about.

Mmmm... Soundcloud and Bandcamp clips. It’s the new embedded video!

Just finished: Hyena

2011-12-10T17:51:00.001Z

One year and three days after I first wrote about this series, I finally finish it. You may think that, since it took so long, that I didn’t really enjoy it but that wouldn’t be true. For a long time, after the demise of the website Silent Regrets, I couldn’t find it. Then I found it and started watching it again but not regularly. Just now and again I’d treat myself to the next episode of four single men in their thirties and their unlikely adventures with the opposite sex.

In the final episode, out of the five main characters, only one finds their true love. The others are left just as single as at the start. In the last few episodes, the show changed to a more emotional, less comical story. This was a shame, but understandable. If they’d remained humourous and light-hearted while hearts were broken and secrets uncovered they would’ve seemed a bit uncaring and cruel.

One character, though, remained funny until the end: Choi Jin Sang, the expert in one-night-stands who finally meets his match in a woman ten years his junior. He acts as some welcome comic relief from the other blossoming/failing romances that fill the last quarter of the series.

An enjoyable and silly series which was certainly different from my usual choice in dramas.

Just watched: Paco and the Magical Picture Book

2011-12-04T17:32:00.002Z

After writing about Memories of Matsuko the other day, I decided to try more of director Nakashima Tetsuya’s films. I’d already heard good things about Kamikaze Girls, so I was tempted to watch that, but then the title of this film caught my eye.

I almost didn’t finish this film. Watching the first twenty-five minutes of this film is like patiently listening to a hyperactive child make up a story as they go along. While it resembled Memories... with it’s lush colours and carefully arranged scenes, there seemed to be little in the way of character or plot.

I persevered and, around half an hour in, some kind of storyline began. Put simply, this film is about an ill old man who resents being in hospital while his company does so well without him. He meets a girl whose memory is damaged such that she thinks it’s always her birthday, and she cannot remember anything that happened before. The two become friends, and the old man starts to reassess what’s important in life.

All of this happens in a vivid technicolour set with constant interruptions from the supporting cast. Eventually this style begins to make some kind of sense, but it’s hard going until then. In the end, it’s rather a touching film and it certainly tries every cinematic trick to try and make you cry.

This film is even more hyper-manic than Memories of Matsuko as it bombards the senses with images, music, and colours. This means the performances are somewhat swamped beneath all the costumes and make-up, but if you can get past the bumpy opening thirty minutes, you’ll find a film as sentimental and sappy as any you could ever hope to find.

Memories of Matsuko vs Memories of Matsuko: FIGHT!

2011-12-02T17:11:00.008Z

I’m used to there being two versions of each story in Japan (whether it’s anime, drama or film) but I did not expect to discover a TV drama version of Memories of Matsuko. Trying to find it on the internet is impossible since searching for it brings up results for the film version. I did, however, find one user on YouTube who had put up some parts of the early episodes.

The riverside is a recurring theme in both versions (film, left. TV right)

Both were made in 2006, with the film coming out several months before the drama. Watching the TV series is a bit like watching an amateur production of the film. Gone are the dazzling bright colours and cinematography. Instead, we have what is a very mundane retelling of the same story. According to Wikipedia, the TV drama is more faithful to the original novel’s story, and I suppose over eleven episodes, it’s able to go into more detail but at the same time it loses a lot in emotional impact.

The scenes introducing Matsuko as a school teacher (film, left. TV, right)

The big problem with the TV series is that you can’t watch it without comparing it to the film. Nakatani Miki is sorely missed, and there are no musical numbers to illustrate certain scenes. And I think the screengrabs I've posted demonstrate the difference between Nakashima Tetsuya’s directorial vision, and the flat, muted greys of an average television drama.

The same argument (film, left. TV, right)

I do wonder if I had never seen the movie would I like the TV series, and I think I would. But I found it difficult to sit through the drama version without wishing I was watching the film version instead.

Just finished: Last Money – Ai no Nedan

2011-11-29T18:55:00.000Z

I enjoyed this. At seven episodes long, it felt like the right length of time for the story. The first few episodes had one story each, and were a way to introduce the characters and the setting, and the last few episodes focused on the mysterious circumstances of the death of a friend.

* spoilers *

Found dead in his car, it looks like a suicide but we, the audience, know better: he wasn’t alone in his final minutes, he was with his lover. And despite being told that this woman can’t be trusted, I wanted her to be innocent. The sympathetic portrayal of this character by Takashima Reiko had me split between thinking she was an expert manipulator or just a misunderstood soul.

And it is her performance that really turned this drama into one of the highlights of the last few months. With no big names in the cast, this has probably passed many people by, which would be a shame. Definitely worth a look.

Currently watching: Watashi ga Dekinai Riyuu

2011-11-24T17:10:00.003Z

This drama follows the love lives (or lack-of-love lives) of three young single women. There’s the hostess bar worker who’s cynical about love, the bloke-ish lighting technician who’s forever stuck in the friend zone, and an over-serious virginal office worker.

The three of them share a house and give each other advice about their attempts to find love. It’s all quite innocent and naive, but still quite compelling. The three main actresses are well cast in their roles: Karina’s basically playing a less obnoxious version of the character she played in Parade, which is no bad thing. Yoshitaka Yuriko is perfect as the alluring hostess who oozes confidence but can’t actually get what she wants. Meanwhile, perhaps because she’s been in AKB48 for so long, Oshima Yuko makes a very convincing virgin.

There is a fourth main character, if the opening titles are to be believed, although she hasn’t appeared much so far. She’s the wife of a man that almost had a fling with Yuriko’s character. Quite how she’ll fit into this is still not clear, although episode four saw the two of them becoming friends unaware of the link between them.

This is an enjoyable soap opera-type drama, where almost every conversation between a man and a woman has a sub-text and if a woman says "I'm over him," you can expect him to turn up at awkward moments for the next few episodes.

Toki o Kakeru Shoujo vs. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time: FIGHT!

2011-11-20T19:56:00.002Z

These two films are live-action adaptations of the original novel Toki o Kakeru Shojou written by Tsutsui Yasutaka in 1967. I’ve already reviewed the 2010 version starring Naka Riisa, and I was interested to see how the first film adaptation differed.

Well, I felt like it was me who leapt through time after I watched the 1983 version. All of the parts of Japanese culture that I’m used to have gone. This is an age where there are no mobile phones, no internet, no mp3 players, and everyone has black hair!

Also, the pace of the story is very slow. The story doesn’t really start to reveal itself until forty-five minutes and, although most of the early part of the film is important for setting up the story, it can be somewhat tiresome to sit through. I don't want to call it “old-fashioned”, because I can remember 1983, and if this film is old-fashioned then what does that make me? On the positive side, the slow pace means you can appreciate the slow dropping of clues along the way before the mystery really begins.

The differences between the two versions are pretty vast. In the 1983 version, the leap in time is only twenty-four hours, where as in the 2010 version it is several decades. Both films have a man from the future manipulating time for research purposes, but the 2010 version has more fun with the idea of time travel. Also, because the girl has leapt further, the 2010 film is somehow more emotional and more involving. The 1983 is quiet and distant. Even the final scene between the girl and the boy she loves is just like an ordinary conversation. The film's style is just too conservative for such an original idea.

I’d say that the 2010 version wins. It’s a more interesting version of the story, with more laughs and more tears along the way.

Currently watching: Youkai Ningen Bem

2011-11-17T17:18:00.000Z

Three monsters (who normally look like people) live a nomadic life, moving from town to town each time their true identity is discovered as they search for a way to become human. We join them in the modern day living in the hull of an abandoned ship, as their search seems to be reaching a conclusion.

In the meantime, they solve crimes. They don’t mean to. They just sort of get caught up in things.

This series is funny and interesting and at least it’s trying to be different. The cast is good and the stories always move along quickly with little chance to be bored. Anne has a commanding screen presence as the female monster, but then she does have a cape, which helps. And the six-year old monster (Suzuki Fuku) falls just on the right side of childlike innocence, so he doesn’t become unbearable. Meanwhile the enigmatic one with the hat (Kamenashi Kazuya) looks suitably mysterious.

The moralising is pretty basic stuff. It’s either (a) why can’t people just be happy with who they are, or (b) just because someone looks like a monster, doesn’t mean they are.

And, er, that’s about it. It’s enjoyable, well-made, and the ratings are good so it’s clearly found an audience. Not much else to say, really.

But I will mention that, with a few scenes they've shot, I can’t tell if that’s CGI in the background or if they’ve just been very lucky with some dramatic-looking skies.

It's the 2nd Annual November The Eighth Awards!

2011-11-08T07:24:00.009Z

It's been two years since I started this blog, so here's my second post in which I highlight the best stuff I've seen in the last twelve months. You know, I spent most of this year thinking that I haven't enjoyed watching J-dramas so much as I did last year. And then I sat down to write this, and remembered all the excellent stuff I'd seen.

And just like before, this is based on things I've seen in the last year, not just things that have been released last year.

Best drama
Furuhata Ninzaburo
Jin & Jin 2
Marks no Yama
Soredemo, Ikite Yuku

Perhaps it's a little unfair to bundle the two series of Jin together, but that's how I watched them: I finished series one just as series two was beginning. And I adored this show. The adventures of a time-travelling doctor in 19th century Japan may not be the most challenging or thoughtful television, but it was done with wit and charm and the ending didn't disappoint. Furuhata Ninzaburo remains agonisingly un-subbed which is a real shame, since the four episodes that I saw made me keen to see more. Marks No Yama was by far the best crime series of the year, and Soredemo, Ikite Yuku was an emotionally-charged drama with some great acting.

Best Drama: Jin and Jin 2

Best comedy
Reinoryokusha Odagiri Kyoko no Uso
Yuusha Yoshihiko to Maou no Shiro
Tiger and Dragon

Yuusha Yoshihiko to Maou no Shiro was a blissful romp through RPG cliches, and Ishihara Satomi once again showed she can do comedy better than drama in Reinryokusha... but the winner of this category was Tiger and Dragon, a sharp, intelligent work that has become my favourite Japanese comedy of all.

Best comedy: Tiger and Dragon

Best film
Parade
Live Tape
Memories of Matsuko
Love Exposure

Do I have to chose between these? Really? We've got four works of genius here. Parade is a perfect example of Generation X slacker film-making – cool, distant but interesting and funny. Live Tape is indie DIY cinema at its best – a cameraman follows a busker around some city streets. Watching Love Exposure is like speed dating at a psychiatric ward. But Memories of Matsuko wins against these excellent competitors by being emotional and romantic and cynical and cruel. But most of all, by being beautiful.

Best film: Memories of Matsuko

Best actor
Kubozuka Yosuke (Long Love Letter)
Keisuke Koide (Parade)
Eita (Soredemo Ikite Yuku)

Eita takes all the plaudits as the guy between two families who've both been destroyed by a motiveless murder that happened years ago, and it's through him that the viewer is expected to view both sides of the story. Without him holding it together, the whole story would quickly fall to pieces. Kubozuka Yosuke's performance in Long Love Letter is a masterclass in understated cool and when he's on the screen, it's hard to look at anything else. Keisuke Koide has a similar energy in the film Parade, in which he effortlessly holds your attention.


Best Actor: Eita (Soredemo, Ikite Yuku)

Best actress
Nakatani Miki (Memories of Matsuko)
Naka Riisa (Cafe Isobe)
Mitsushima Hikari (Love Exposure)

Nakatani Miki's perfect portrayal of the permanently defeated Matsuko was the real hook for that film. She really made you share in Matsuko's optimism, which made it all the harder when things inevitably went wrong. Naka Riisa was great as the schoolgirl who watches in despair as her father make a fool of himself over a woman. Mistushima Hikari's performance in Love Exposure is also a tour de force, a remarkable source of energy that keeps you watching for the whole four hours.

Best actress: Nakatani Miki

Best game show
Running Man
Family Outing
Vs Arashi
Game Center CX

No real competition here. Once I've downloaded an episode of Running Man, I can't have it sitting on my hard drive unwatched. I have to see it immediately, which usually means I'm awake until half past one on a weekday morning. Which is no bad thing. This cross between a game show and a Hollywood blockbuster is always entertaining and at its best, it's the closest that television gets to being a rollercoaster.

Vs Arashi is all bright colours and knockabout fun, and very easy to follow, no matter what your level of Japanese. Family Outing is a glorious example of how a TV show can build a relationship with the viewer. And Game Center CX remains a lot of fun to watch, as Arino struggles through various retro video games. And it's still a perfect analogy of my life – middle-aged man fights battles he should've left behind when he was young.

Best game show: Running Man

Best album
Bump of Chicken "Cosmonaut"
SpecialThanks "Seven Lovers"
Dear Cloud "The Bright Lights"
Organic Stereo "The Moments Linger"
Kokia "moment"

For the second year in a row, my favourite album from Japan is my favourite album full stop. Bump of Chicken's “Cosmonaut” continues their impeccable track record. Perhaps not as immediate as “Orbital Period”, but still a great album which has never been away from my mp3 player for long. At the time of writing, it's also the last time I bought an actual CD.

SpecialThanks are all youthful energy, crashing guitars, female vocals and catchy punkish tunes. It's very hard to find anything wrong with that. Korean music makes an appearance with Dear Cloud offering bright vocals and big choruses that would fill a stadium, if only they had the chance. Organic Stereo's album was a little bit ambient and a little bit pop, with a series of dreamy instrumentals, each one of which sounded like the soundtrack to a happy ending. Lastly, Kokia's album “moment” was a folk-tinged collection of ballads with lush production values and some achingly melancholy harmonies.

Best album: Bump of Chicken "Cosmonaut"

Safe pair of hands award

This award is for people who consistently choose good shows to appear in

Yoo Jae Suk (Running Man, Family Outing)
Nakatani Miki (Memories of Matsuko, Jin, Jin 2, Densha Otoko, Keizoku)
Keisuke Koide (Parade, Jin, Jin 2, Surely Someday)
Mitsushima Hikari (Love Exposure, Moteki, Sawako Decides, Kakera, Villain, Soredemo Ikite Yuku)

I was a bit late in discovering Mitsushima Hikari. I checked her filmography and I saw that she was in Death Note and Shaolin Girl, but I can't say I noticed her in either. But this year I caught up with her recent film work and, by God, she's got good taste. From her minor role in Villain as the obnoxious murder victim to her central role in Love Exposure, it seems she can do no wrong.

She beats some strong opposition: Yoo Jae Suk is a brilliant presenter who's kept me entertained through some tough times this year. Nakatani Miki holds a special place in my heart for her roles in Matsuko and Keizoku. And Keisuke Koide showed me how wasted he was in Nodame Cantabile with some great performances.

Safe pair of hands: Mitsushima Hikari

Mitani Kouki 50th Anniversary Special: Welcome Back, Mr McDonald

2011-11-05T17:43:00.004Z

Or Rajio no Jikan to give it its Japanese name.

This film from 1997 is the earliest work from Mitani Kouki that I’ve seen, but his style is clearly already fully formed. Set in a radio station performing a live drama by a new writer, it follows the series of events caused by one of the actresses insisting that her character’s name is changed. After this, everyone wants their ideas to be included in the show. The writer tries to please everyone and the radio play soon turns into something quite different.

The pacing reminded me of the old screwball comedies from the 1930s, and the setting (a live drama on the radio) adds to the slightly old-fashioned feel. But the stereotypes of pompous actors, producers who only want to keep the sponsors happy and apathetic technicians are timeless so, in that sense at least, it is still relevant.

But at its heart, this is all about the absurdity of performing and writing: how the idealistic writer has to endlessly compromise. Its a funny and charming diversion, and well worth your time if you happen to come across it.

Just finished: Perfect Report

2011-11-04T20:10:00.006Z

Well, don't I feel foolish for suggesting people watch this.

* spoilers *

After several entertaining episodes of journalistic investigation, this show suddenly slams on the brakes and dawdles to a conclusion. After episode seven, the pace of the show and the constant banter and jokes are replaced by flashbacks, people reflecting on their actions, a noble team spirit born from adversity, and remarkable lack of any real stories to investigate. For example, the mysterious suicide of a potential informer just turns out to be a misunderstanding. He wasn't killed by malevolent forces – he just slipped while enjoying the view from the top of a building.

No, I'm not joking.

In the void left by the absence of any investigations, we're left with one scene after another in which the characters look dignified or learn something valuable about themselves. Violins and pianos fill the soundtrack to hammer home how emotional it is, and while all this is happening, nothing actually happens.

The boss, Aoyama-san spends most of the last three episodes talking in a whisper. This is supposed to demonstrate how upset she is about the recent turn of events but it got a bit tedious towards the end.

This series had a promising beginning and while the members of the team disliked each other, it was an entertaining show. But that's the thing about drama: sad people are more interesting than happy people, and once the team became friends, the show lost its main strength.

Currently watching: Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de

2011-11-03T12:19:00.006Z

Perhaps the main thing I noticed about the first two episodes of this series was how glad I was to see that the cast of Yuusha Yoshihiko to Maou no Shiro are still getting work. Kinami Haruka is the murder victim in episode one, while Muro Tsuyoshi is a suspect in the second.

That aside, this series is a murder mystery show with a rather unlikely premise. Kitagawa Keiko plays a rookie detective who also happens to be an heiress to a huge fortune. Her boss is an incompetent, vain buffoon (played by Shiina Kippei), so she relies on help from her butler to solve the cases.

At only two episodes, I can’t really tell how well written the mysteries are. The conclusions to both episodes have been a surprise, but I can’t tell if that’s due to the clues being cleverly hidden, or if it’s because the ending is so unlikely I never even considered it.

But it’s not really about the murders. This is a comedy and most of the humour comes from Keiko’s boss’s inflated self-opinion and from Keiko’s ineptitude. Meanwhile the butler (played by Arashi’s Sakurai Sho) is calm and collected, as he guides his employer to the solution. I feel a bit sorry of Sakurai Sho who has to stand almost perfectly still while Kitagawa Keiko takes up the rest of the screen but then the tables are turned when she’s the newbie detective and she has to play second fiddle to Shiina Kippei’s larger-than-life character.

This is a lot of fun, but I found I had a strange reaction to the show: The moment the murderer is revealed, I lost interest. Instantly. As each story closed with a scene or two about how sad it is that someone died, I was sighing heavily and looking around the room for something to distract me. Odd, that.

Mitani Kouki 50th Anniversary Special: Ai Kotoba wa Yuki

2011-11-02T12:19:00.002Z

This plot for this series from 2000 bears more than a passing resemblance to the plot for his 2008 film The Magic Hour. In both, an out-of-work actor is persuaded to be something he isn't as part of some elaborate hoax. The main difference is that in The Magic Hour, the actor believes he's making a film, while in Ai Kotoba wa Yuki the actor is fully aware of his deceit.

It involves a village trying to stop a big multinational firm from ruining its countryside. But they cannot afford to get a decent lawyer. So one of them goes to Tokyo to find one who'll do it on the cheap. Unable to find that, he convinces an actor to come back to the village and tell everyone it's impossible to win such a case. But instead the actor gets carried away and instead insists they can win and he can help them!

After that, the story mostly involves trying to keep everyone in the dark while trying to find a dignified way out of the mess. It's funny and occasionally quite touching. It's remarkable that an eleven-part series which only has one storyline doesn't seem too long nor does it run out of ideas. Mitani Kouki does an excellent job of coming up with problems and solutions which don't stretch the viewer's suspension of disbelief beyond breaking point.

Mitani Kouki 50th anniversary special: Wagaya no Rekishi

2011-10-31T17:17:00.005Z

As the Japanese TV channel WOWOW celebrates the playwright Mitani Kouki’s 50th birthday, so I thought I’d also do some posts on one of my favourite Japanese writers.

In terms of style, his is a comfortable, easy-to-watch genre. He rarely pushes the boundaries in terms of social commentary or hard-hitting realism. Instead his works are meticulously structured, taking a situation and squeezing out every possibility without it seeming contrived or unlikely. It would not be harsh to call him sentimental. The endings of The University of Laughs, Radio no Jikan (Welcome Back Mr McDonald) and The Magic Hour are all the happiest you could expect given the circumstances.

I've already written about his work before, so now here's the first in a short series of posts about some of his other films and TV series.

Most recently, he wrote Wagaya no Rekishi. This three-part drama follows the adventures of a family in the latter half of the twentieth century, and as the years progress we see them getting caught up in the major events of that era. It’s an interesting idea, and a nice way to learn some recent Japanese history. The cast is full of famous faces, and the various periods of history are carefully recreated.

But for something made with such care and attention, it's a little hollow. The problem is that some of the storylines are pretty convoluted as members of the family suddenly have to go to Hokkaido, for example, just so the story can include a particular historical event. Weaving a family history around the history of an entire country doesn't quite work. But the series has an epic feel to it, and it certainly feels like you've sat through a lot of modern history by the time you get to the end. And I mean that in a good way.

Currently watching: Suzuki Sensei

2011-10-29T15:41:00.000+01:00

I usually steer clear of dramas set in high schools. Perhaps I find it patronising to see adults be taught lessons in life from some schoolkids. I certainly find the morals behind these kinds of stories to be simplistic and glib.

But Suzuki Sensei is a little different. This time, the teacher approaches the problems he faces almost as if he were a detective. I don't mean he walks around questioning suspects and finding clues. That would look absurd, but we can hear his thought processes as he weighs up his options when trying to control a situation before it gets out of hand. This gives an added depth to the drama and helps us to empathise with the teacher.

As well as the usual issues in the classroom, Suzuki sensei also has problems of his own to face. Specifically, his love life – he’s recently met a woman that he’d like to date but can’t get past his obsession with one of the girls in his class.

This is a great drama, well-written and with a good balance of drama and humour. It is shot in muted colours and the schoolchildren do not resemble models or pop stars, so it looks and feels more realistic than most high school dramas.

Currently Watching: Himitsu Chouhouin Erika

2011-10-24T14:03:00.006+01:00

This series follows in the same time slot as Detective Conan - Kudo Shinichi e no Chousenjou and it offers the same format: a mystery or crime to be solved in half an hour without too much reliance on intricate plots or clever deduction. In fact, so far a lot of the crimes have been solved by using a voice manipulator and some martial arts.

Chiaki Kuriyama stars as the ex-spy who is persuaded by her ex-boss to work for her as an undercover agent investigating criminal activity. All the while, she's trying to keep this a secret from her husband and child who have no idea that she's anything other than a doting housewife.

As you'd expect from a J-drama, the main story is just being hinted at in the first few episodes. There are occasional references to her boss having a hidden motive for hiring her again, and that she is being targeted by some dark, mysterious organisation. And perhaps even her family is under threat.

Chiaki adds a bit of big-screen glamour to a fun but otherwise unremarkable series. She's certainly very watchable and she handles the martial arts sections very well. The trouble is that everyone else seems a bit anonymous next to her. Since she's the one that looks after the family/goes undercover/solves the crime, no one else has much screen-time to establish a character.

I'll be honest, I don't expect this series to surprise me. I'm pretty sure that somebody will try to kidnap her son. Similarly, her boss will double-cross her before he sees the error of his ways and helps her right at the end. If this show can avoid either of these two cliches, it will have done better than my expectations. In the meantime, I'm enjoying watching it for what it is: some lightweight crime-solving with a little action sprinkled on top.

Currently watching: Nankyoku Tairiku

2011-10-22T14:30:00.003+01:00

Okay, okay, I get it. Japan isn’t shit!

This series is basically a big-budget boost to the Japanese psyche. It's set in 1957, and it tells the story of Japan’s first trip to the Antarctic since 1912, and its importance to the self-esteem of the Japanese nation at the time. In telling the tale, the programme possibly exaggerates the extent of Japan’s international isolation and instead focuses on the hard work of the Japanese people in achieving this apparently impossible mission.

It looks good and the acting’s okay. But I found myself worn down by the selfless nobility shown by almost every character in the story. Even the dogs. It seemed like every five minutes, somebody did something heart-warming, complete with a sweeping orchestral soundtrack.

However, I will be watching the next episodes because in searching for the news article to illustrate this blog post, I discovered what happened to them once they reached Antarctica, and it gets pretty interesting.

Currently watching: Maybe Lee Jaram Band

2011-10-21T12:13:00.006+01:00

For a while I’ve been keeping an eye on a Korean folk-indie act called The Maybe Lee Jaram Band. I saw them first on indie2go’s YouTube channel and I found them interesting enough to search for some more of their songs. Their style is a laid back, almost lazy, kind of folky blues with catchy choruses and Lee Jaram’s strong vocals. It seems that her background in Pansori has left her well equipped to deal with Western pop songs.

The other day I found a set of videos on from a concert they did in August, and then I found this page with some photos and commentary from the same gig. I almost feel as if I’d been there! Except I don’t understand a word of the commentary, and the sound on the videos is such that if I was there, I must’ve been wearing earmuffs. But I think enough of the songs’ quality comes through regardless. There’s another video with better sound but shakier visuals here.

I’ve pretty much exhausted all the search engines in trying to find more stuff by the band. I did read a blog that talked about an album to be released last October, but I can’t find anything like that so far but I did see some footage of them in a recording studio on YouTube. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Meanwhile, I shall keep looking for new things now and then, and I shall take pride in being one of the four people who like her page on facebook.

Still watching: Hyena

2011-10-13T16:11:00.005+01:00

I first wrote about this Korean series from 2006 almost a year ago. For most of the time since then it had disappeared from the internet, but I found it again recently and have started watching it once more. It follows the love lives of four men who are single and apparently surrounded by desirable people and ex-lovers they never got over, as they attempt to find their one true love. Or someone who’ll sleep with them that night. Whichever is easier. The fifth main character is a woman who’s fallen for one of the guys. Unfortunately, he’s hiding his true sexuality from her. Or is he hiding it from his gay friends?

The show is more silly than sexy, and it is a lot of fun watching them panic as yet another beautiful woman crosses their path. And, judging by this series, it does look as if Korea is full of beautiful women.

I’m eight episodes in, and I think the long-term stories for a couple of the characters are just starting up, but it’s hard to tell. It wouldn’t be out of character for them to do something stupid or selfish to ruin it all so they’d have to move on. It's refreshingly bawdy and saucy and doesn't take itself seriously. At least, not yet.

Currently watching: Last Money – Ai no Nedan

2011-10-10T18:22:00.007+01:00

Recently, I've been thinking that J-drama wasn't as good as it used to be, but suddenly I find myself watching three series that (despite being very formulaic in their stories and settings) I’m enjoying a lot. I’ve already written about Perfect Report, and soon I'll write about Suzuki Sensei but for now I’ll concentrate on this series set in an insurance company.

In Last Money we have a fairly typical set-up: cynical old professional who hides a heart of gold who works with an idealistic young newcomer. Together they investigate potential insurance fraud. Despite the clichés, I’ve found myself drawn into this series. The cases are cleverly written and entertaining and there’s a great sub-plot about a friend who is having an affair with a woman who perhaps is not all that she seems.

But most of all, I like the look of the show. For once, the rather anonymous directing style of most J-dramas actually works. The office has a pretty shitty open-plan layout and it feels cramped and soulless and the people claiming for money look plain and unexceptional. Apart from the private investigator, who is the only flash of colour in the show, the overall feeling is of looking at something very mundane: something that happens every day.

Perhaps the story relies too much on sentimentality at the end. After all, it is often dealing with the last wishes of the deceased, so of course people are going to cry. But I can forgive that. This series has made a good start and I'm already impatient to learn what happens next.

Just finished: Quiz Hexagon II

2011-10-08T14:16:00.005+01:00

After six years, this popular quiz show recently came to an end after its presenter was linked to the Yakuza and retired from showbiz in August. After he left, the show carried on with some of the regulars sharing the role of presenter but before long it was decided to finish the show completely at the end of September.

I only watched this show infrequently. It was never that easy to find, so when I did come across an episode it was a bit of a treat. The show never changed that much, although there was a lengthy period when the middle of the show was taken up by a section with all the regulars sitting at school desks, listening to a lecture about some subject. I suppose the TV show wanted to educate as well as entertain, but I always found myself skipping those parts. Apart from the episode where misono sat at the front in a short skirt with her legs crossed. That one was more interesting than usual.

I watched the final show with mixed feelings. This was the first Japanese show I could watch without subs and still have a good idea what was going on (especially once I’d worked out what “o-mae” meant). But I never connected with the regulars in the same way I’ve done with Running Man or Vs Arashi. It also didn’t help that I found the show’s attempts at creating musical units fairly unsuccessful.

But I have a lot of affection for the programme, and I think it’s a shame that it finished in those circumstances. But it’s over, and the bit at the end where they all said how grateful they were to the show was quite touching.

And then they ended on a song. It ruined the moment slightly but... never mind.

Currently watching: Eri Fukatsu's Black Comedy

2011-10-07T11:43:00.002+01:00

This is a series of short surreal dramas made in 2007 with Fukatsu Eri appearing in each one. Although I don't know if "appearing" is the right word – in one episode her "appearance" is a photo of her face taped to a mannequin's head. The length of each episode varies between a couple of minutes and quarter of an hour, and the genre changes each time, too. About half are animated (with Eri supplying the voice-over) and the other half are live action.

They're all fairly odd. For example, a taxi-driver mistakes Eri for his long-lost daughter; or an assistant at a convenience store keeps asking a customer if he wants the things he's buying heated up. Because they are short, they don't get boring and even if one episode may not entertain, you certainly can't say they're not original. And because no two are the same, if one is a bit tedious, you can be sure that the next one will be completely different. So this is definitely worth a look if you're in the mood for something that's a bit experimental, but also a bit light and easy to watch.

I've stopped putting links to programs, since they never seem to last very long, but since this is fairly obscure, the subbers' site is here: http://unsolvedcases.livejournal.com/526.html

Currently watching: Perfect Report

2011-10-06T09:21:00.000+01:00

From a distance, this is just like a number of other J-dramas. A strong female boss who leads a ramshackle group of misfits in a department that no one takes seriously. Also, this boss has a dark secret in her early career that explains her unusual managerial style and her lack of progress in the organisation.

In this case, the setting is a newsroom, and the boss is a no-nonsense, free spirit who ignores the showbiz stories that she is supposed to follow and instead sends her staff out to cover more hard-hitting stuff like politics and crime. However, her bosses tolerate her because she gets results.

Reading back what I've just written, I admit it doesn't seem so great. I've just described a pretty ordinary J-drama, with nothing in particular to make it stand out from the crowd. Also, the ratings were poor and it remained unsubbed for about a year before someone finally picked it up. None of these things inspire confidence.

But instead I find myself enjoying this quite a lot. Matsuyuki Yasuko is good in the lead role, and Koide Keisuke impresses as the new member on the team – a career-centred reporter who works almost as a spy, letting his bosses know what is going on in the team. Kohinata Fumiyo pops up in his usual role as genial elder, but this time he is a little cynical and bitter. But Aibu Saki really makes an impression as the image-obsessed failed TV presenter who's been relegated to the team after an on-screen mistake over a famous politician's name.

The comedy is kept low-key, and the stories are interesting. I'm not sure why this drama has been forgotten. It does itself no favours by looking exactly like a lot of other dramas, but just because it's made according to a formula that doesn't mean it has to be bad. Sometimes when you follow a recipe, you end up cooking something delicious. And I think that's what's happened here.

Recommended: Yuusha Yoshihiko to Maou no Shiro

2011-09-30T19:23:00.001+01:00

* spoilers *

* if you can spoil the end of a story that deliberately uses cliches, that is *

After 12 half-hour episodes, we have finally come to the end of this epic trail. So, at six hours long, this is quite a bit shorter than the average 60+ hours of levelling up and side quests that you get in a genuine Japanese RPG. Excellent value for those in a hurry.

The final level is set in modern-day Japan, which has the added effect of making the show look even more low budget. But the humour is still the same, with silly jokes at the expense of role-playing cliches.

The last episode has some nice special effects and a typical boss battle that involves first getting past his henchman (secretary, in this case) and once they do, they fight and beat Maou. However, like most final bosses, once he’s defeated, he comes back to life revealing his true, terrifying form.

I loved this show. The cast were great, playing even the most absurd situations completely straight, which is how video gamers are expected to react to the most predictable storylines in RPGs. But at least the hero in this adventure didn’t have amnesia.

By the way, as for my own JRPG activities I’m currently playing Grandia II. I’m so retro.

I’ve got a feeling this might be genius

2011-09-27T10:07:00.001+01:00

Pop Punk Mania Japan, by various artists. Available at a very reasonable price from Amazon (and, I suppose, iTunes too) on the 5th of October. You can get a taste here. I am yet to find a track I don’t like.

Just watched: Christmas on 24th July Avenue

2011-09-25T21:14:00.006+01:00

With a title like this, I wondered what time was best to watch this film from 2006. At Christmas? In July? Well, since September is inbetween the two, I guessed that now was as good a time as any.

This film is a romantic comedy in which a socially inept woman gets the man of her dreams. It stars Nakatani Miki and Osawa Takao in the two lead roles and, since they starred together in Jin, this was the main reason I chose to watch this film. Also Ueno Juri appears in a minor role. I wasn’t expecting to see her and it made me realise that I miss her. While she’s been off making a year-long historical epic that doesn’t really interest me, she hasn’t done anything else. Seeing her again, even if it was only for a few short scenes, was a pleasant surprise.

The story, though, is the usual rom-com by numbers. Girl meets boy, girl loses boy, girl gets boy back. This is fine, but the way she loses the boy is a bit trivial, and the way she gets him back again is also fairly mundane. Meanwhile, the comedy mostly involves Miki bumping into things or dropping things or both.

But Nakatani Miki is great in her role as the hopeless dreamer, and she and Osawa Takao do have something of a chemistry together. And if I made the film sound bad, then I’ve overdone the criticism since it has a lot of charm. It’s a nice, lightweight comedy that should entertain you as sit in a comfy armchair and digest your Christmas dinner. Because this film should definitely be seen during the festive season, not in the heat of July.

In the meantime: Merry Christmas!

K-pop, J-pop and the South Sea Bubble

2011-09-21T11:02:00.009+01:00

Back in the 90s, it looked inevitable that J-pop would break into mainstream western charts. The catchy songs and slick production of Utada Hikaru, Yaida Hitomi, and Shiina Ringo, as well as the visual impact of bands like Dir En Grey or L’Arc En Ciel made it seem like only a matter of time before one of them made it big. At the time, I was working for EMI so I was able to listen to the CDs and it was clear that J-pop now had a quality that would work on the international stage, and I kept an eye on the industry magazines looking for the first signs of a breakthrough.

Of course, nothing happened. A few singles were released and a few tours were arranged but Japanese acts didn’t seem to have a desire for, or an understanding of, the European market. For example, Yaida Hitomi turned her pop-punk anthem My Sweet Darling into a jazz funk workout and it barely scraped the top 50. Considering that everyone I played it to loved the original, I still wonder what she was thinking.

Even the singer who most understood the West, Utada Hikaru, couldn’t translate her success in Japan to success in America. Perhaps the problem being that she was so busy with Japan that she couldn’t follow-up her first (moderately successful) US album until four years later. Nobody who was seriously trying to break the US market would leave that kind of gap between releases, no matter how famous they were somewhere else.

I’m not saying there were no successful Japanese acts in the West (Shonen Knife and Pizzicato Five spring to mind) but there was nothing like the impact that some people were expecting. For several years, J-pop was going to be the next big thing, but no artist was able to deliver the breakthrough single to start it all off.

The South Sea Bubble, meanwhile, was a stock company in the 1700s that raised its stock value by speculating on the value of its potential trade in the New World. Its stock price rose and rose, despite it not having any real collateral, until it collapsed, taking many people's fortunes with it. In many ways, it’s a template for all future stock booms/collapses. It’s a classic model of expectation of success fuelled by the promise of future return on your investment.

Which brings me to K-pop and the news that, in 2011 so far, a staggering 27 girl bands have debuted. That’s insane. And a little worrying. Given the estimated cost of running a K-pop band, I wonder how sustainable that is, when you consider that K-pop artists are yet to even try to break into the West. While the East Asian market is big, K-pop can’t expand forever without finding new markets.

Of course, it’s different now with the internet allowing artists to promote worldwide much more easily, without the need to be physically present in the country you’re focusing on. In the past, breaking the US market meant a gruelling tour schedule which has defeated many artists from the UK who perhaps didn’t appreciate the amount of work they’d have to put in.

But despite these changes, I can’t stop thinking that all this buzz and hype about K-pop looks very familiar. The recent K-pop concerts in Paris are a good sign, but bear in mind that both GACKT and Miyavi have had successful European tours recently, and you couldn’t call them famous in the West. How to translate YouTube hits into people paying money for your album is a tricky situation to handle.

I hope they succeed because there are definitely Korean pop bands who deserve a wider stage. And I recognise that the Korean music industry is trying to do something that no one has tried before: to really use the internet as a promotional tool in a territory long before an act has performed there. But unless something happens soon, I wonder how long K-pop can sustain itself by speculating on the potential value of its trade with Europe and America.

Just finished: Bull Doctor

2011-09-19T17:45:00.003+01:00

There was a point in the final episode when I realised that the final crime has just been solved, but there was still fifteen minutes left before the credits roll. It was then that I mentally prepared myself for a series of happy endings as the writers finished off each unresolved sub-plot, one by one, cliché by cliché.

The show wasn’t terrible, and in the end I liked the storyline about Dr Takeda’s blackmail, and the initial event that started the whole situation was believable and original. I kind of wish they’d kept that as the big storyline, but instead they went for the corrupt politician and his evil, manipulative ways.

But the show lacked any real spark. As I’ve written about before, I don’t think any of the roles were particularly well cast, the mysteries were fairly obvious to solve and the directing was as flat as a pancake. When I finally finished, I felt somewhat tired and lethargic, like I'd walked up a very boring hill and looked across a very grey landscape.

Just watched: Gantz Perfect Answer

2011-09-16T20:54:00.004+01:00

Actually, this film is pretty short on answers. Perhaps the manga it is based on has more detail about the hows and whys, but the film remains tight-lipped as to any possible explanations.

This is not a bad thing, though. The film is not about good versus bad, more like A versus B. In the second film, the story introduces the idea that the people we have been following may not be the protectors of humanity at all. Are the aliens really the aggressors, or Gantz and his followers? It hardly matters, because by now enough blood has been spilt (or splashed dramatically against walls) that there’s no chance of forgiveness.

Instead we are thrown into an hour-long fight scene that only pauses long enough for people to get their breath back. While I’m no expert of Japanese action movies, it’s the most physical and kinetic film I’ve seen since Versus. Beautifully acted, shot and choreographed, it carries you along with all the momentum of a roundhouse kick to the face.

The ending is good and wraps everything up neatly. While I think it’s perhaps a little idealistic, it is at least in keeping with the rest of the film. For what it is – a blistering action movie with occasional hints at something deeper – it’s difficult to fault.

Still watching: Soredemo Ikite Yuku

2011-09-14T21:01:00.003+01:00

After two recent deaths in my family, I was a bit apprehensive about watching this again. I was worried that the storyline of how families cope with the loss of a loved one might be a bit too close to the bone for me.

As it was, mid-way through the series and the focus has shifted from endless displays of grief to something more like a murder mystery. Only in this case, the mystery is the motive. Now both the brother of the deceased, Fukami Hiroki (Eita) and the father of the murderer, Mizaki Shunsuke (Tokito Saburo) have decided to find the murderer. They’re working independantly, and have different reasons for wanting to find him, and it’s certainly added some life to a storyline that could’ve become too self-pitying.

The acting is great. Eita and Mitsushima Hikari head a strong cast, and Ando Sakura (Love Exposure) adds some real spice to every scene she’s in. All in all, this is a fascinating series and although I can’t say it’s fun to watch, it’s certainly worth the effort.

Still watching: Running Man

2011-09-06T17:47:00.001+01:00

Thanks to the internet, watching TV no longer means sitting in front of a television set at a specific time. The iPlayer, Catch-up TV and torrenting now mean you can watch what you want when you want, as long as you know where to look. But Running Man is only direct download, and my internet connection is pretty useless between 5 o’clock and 10 (in fact, I’m writing this at 5.34pm and a download has just failed). This means I always end up watching this show at around midnight.

But instead of resenting this, I’m almost glad that I have to watch it at night. It seems to add to the show. Running Man is all about mock thrills, film references and silly physical games. When it gets it right, it’s a real roller coaster of excitement, and even when it gets it wrong, it’s still pretty funny.

In episode 52 – perhaps the best since episode 7 – the show’s regulars are hunted down one at a time by the guest, Choi Min Soo. This episode is structured almost like a horror movie: it starts humorous and enjoyable before the cast are picked off one by one. Choi Min Soo really enjoys his role and plays his part to the full.

And the series as a whole is one of the highlights of my week. When it becomes available, all other downloading and internet activity stops, since I hope that’ll help it download quicker. The seven regulars are all comfortable in their roles and they work together really well. Sometimes, you can tell that a certain bit is staged to take advantage of the location, or to make the game more exciting, but that’s fine.

After 50+ episodes, Running Man is still a great big dollop of fun, and I’m amazed that this format hasn’t been bought by a UK channel. On the other hand, I’m glad it hasn’t since I doubt a British version could match this for its mix of excitement and comedy.

Just watched: Crying Out Love in the Centre of the World

2011-08-31T12:00:00.001+01:00

Because my computer has gone to be repaired, I’m relying on my non-internet old laptop for my entertainment. And since it still only has USB 1.0 (and the DVD drive is broken) it means I have to plan ahead if I want to watch anything over 700MB or so because it takes so long to transfer across.

Luckily, there were still a few things left on the hard drive from when I regularly used it to watch TV. In particular was a film called Crying Out Love in the Centre of the World. I couldn’t remember why I downloaded it, but I thought I’d try it.

In short, the film is about a man, about to be married, who returns to the town where he grew up and fell in love with a girl who later died of leukaemia while still a teenager. The flashbacks are introduced by him listening to messages on cassette tapes she made when they were a couple. Meanwhile, his wife – who also knew this girl – also returns to the town.

It has a strong cast and is nicely acted. Nagasawa Masami (Last Friends), Osawa Takao (Jin), Shibasaki Kou (Galileo) and Moriyama Mirai (Moteki) are all excellent. And for the first two hours, there’s not much wrong with the film either. The stories are funny/sad/entertaining and although the film is slow and long, it’s not dreary.

But as the film draws to a close, some parts didn’t work for me. The film tries too hard to draw parallels between the past and the present, and the final scene in Australia seemed a bit rushed. But it’s a good film. At times, very good. Finding this film is perhaps the one benefit to my computer breaking down.

Watching again: Camouflage: Aoi Yu x Yottsu no Uso

2011-08-25T17:38:00.007+01:00

There comes a point in life when funerals start to outnumber weddings. A recent death in the family is, I think, the point in my life when that begins to become true.

The evening when I heard the news was strange. It was too late in the day to get a train to go to my family and so I was rattling around in my flat, not knowing what to do. I needed some background noise to distract myself, and I returned to the first story (eps 1-3) of Camouflage.

The story is about how a woman deals with the sudden death of her boyfriend. It’s always been a favourite, and this time it seemed especially appropriate and comforting. That evening I watched it all the way through twice.

Episode three especially caught my attention. In this her cat turns into a middle aged man. She is appalled about how un-catlike he is in human form, and somewhat surprised about his simple way of thinking. While cat owners like to think of their pets as enigmatic and wise, this episode portrays them as a bit frumpy and dumb.

It’s touching and funny, especially her appalled reactions to the cat/old man who she used to pet and cuddle. But despite this, they start talking and as they do, he shows how his owner can overcome her grieving.

Strictly speaking, the episode is just a story written by the boyfriend who dies in episode one so it never really happens, but the meaning is clear: it’s okay to go for a day without recalling their memory - that doesn't make you a bad person. It’s a sweet little tale, and is (as I’ve said before) my most-watched piece of drama. It never gets old and, as I move through life, it seems to teach me something new every time.

Recommended: Mr Brain

2011-08-21T19:45:00.003+01:00

The two screenwriters behind this high-budget, star-studded crime series have a history that includes Jin, Trick, Puzzle, and Bloody Monday. As such, you can feel fairly sure that this is going to be entertaining.

The story follows an eccentric genius, Tsukumo Ryusuke, who joins an elite police department who solve seemingly unsolvable crimes. Kimura Takuya takes the lead role and his performance certainly holds your attention. He’s a ball of nervous energy and curious outbursts, and is very funny. Ayase Haruka is his assistant, and is effectively the straight man in this double-act but her performance is strong enough that she isn’t acted off the screen. The show also features Mizushima Hiro in one of his last roles before he quit acting to be a writer.

The series does its best to look expensive. The headquarters of the police department have a sleek, futuristic feel, with perspex walls, holographic projections and TV screens everywhere. Especially in tables. No expense has been spared in guest stars, and Gackt seems to have a lot of fun in his role as a deranged killer, and Nakama Yukie is great as the murderer who you hope is innocent.

One strange thing, though. It seems that two of the stories were an odd length, and instead of cutting them down or extending them, there are two stories that last one and a half episodes. I should be happy that they didn't muck about with the story just to fit it into an hour, but having a crime solved and explained when there’s twenty-five minutes to go is fairly confusing at first.

The crimes themselves are fun and the solutions are clever, even if I have no idea how realistic they are. But the dialogue is witty and the cast is strong. Despite its high ratings, no sign of any sequel. I can only hope.

Just watched: Elevator to the Gallows (2010)

2011-08-20T10:29:00.000+01:00

This is a remake of a 1958 French film (which I haven’t seen but it has 8 out of ten on IMDB) and while it tries to be sophisticated and intelligent, it’s a fairly empty tale.

A man (Abe Hiroshi) kills his lover’s husband. But a minor mistake quickly escalates, and he finds himself stuck in an elevator. Meanwhile, his car is stolen by a cop who is following a crime boss and... well, it’s all very complicated.

At first, it does feel a lot like the two stories are entirely unconnected, which makes it quite frustrating to watch. Then the lover (Kichise Michiko) has some sort of dream sequence halfway through, and I turned off.

The next day, I gave it another try and the second half does get better once the murder(s) are discovered and the police slowly tie the two crimes together but even at its best, this is a fairly mundane film. The acting is okay (Kitagawa Keiko makes a good impression as the cop’s girlfriend) but the directing is slow and ponderous. Shots are held for too long – far longer than necessary. The photography isn’t interesting enough that you appreciate the chance to linger over the lighting or composition etc, so I found myself getting quite impatient.

That’s the second crime thriller I've seen this week that was all style and no substance. And, frankly, not much style. Pity.

Just watched: Brutus no Shinzou

2011-08-17T20:21:00.002+01:00

This is the second of three recent crime thrillers from the pen of Keigo Higashino (Galileo, Shinzanmono) and, as far as I can tell, the only one to be subbed.

It’s a story of two halves, with the first part neatly setting up the murder and the unexpected twist, and the second half being a bit vague and unexciting as the story never really goes anywhere. It all gets a bit complicated as clues from an old murder from two years ago come to light. Meanwhile, those people connected to the murder are found dead one by one.

If it sounds like a deep and involving story, well, in many ways it is. It’s full of nice touches and style. The trouble is, the police aren’t interesting or clever enough to be a threat. The only one who suspects the truth seems to be the enigmatic one who’s killing those involved in the original murder. This means there’s no clever detective logic, no clues to discover, no battle of wits between cop and criminal. We’re just expected to accept that someone already knows.

As such, it’s fairly flat and boring. And the final explanation is kind of disappointing after the cleverly devised opening half hour.

Not bad, but not great.

Currently watching: Yuusha Yoshihiko to Maou no Shiro

2011-08-13T11:17:00.001+01:00

This comedy series describes the story of a village boy (Yoshihiko) who is chosen as the one hero who can defeat the villainous Maou. And so he sets off, quickly acquires a band of three others to help him in his quest, and together they fight various fights, or seek treasures.

In other words, it’s an RPG. In this show the conventions and clichés of role playing games are constantly parodied. It references Dragon Quest in particular, but you only need a passing knowledge of Japanese RPGs to get the jokes.

The jokes come thick and fast, so there’s no danger of being bored. It’s cheap and cheerful, and full of energy. It’s clearly written and made by people with a lot of affection for RPGs and watching our heroes face inept enemies or get distracted by side quests for absurd magical items is great fun.

If you've ever played an RPG and wished that, just once, one of the characters would remark on how predictable it all seems then this is the show for you.

Still watching: Bull Doctor

2011-08-08T18:59:00.003+01:00

... but, you may ask yourself, why?

This series is quickly becoming a parade of bad casting decisions. Esumi Makiko is good as the working mother trying to balance work and family, but that’s about all the show has going for it.

And while I like Ishihara Satomi as a comedy actress, she doesn't have the gravitas to pull of some of the more emotional scenes here. Shida Mirai is one of the more promising young Japanese actresses I’ve seen, but you wouldn't know it from this show, in which she barely appears. Kohinata Fumiyo is similarly unremarkable as the boss with a terrible secret.

But it’s Inagaki Goro's performance that really demands your attention. His performance passed "so bad it’s good" a long time ago and it's now the main reason I watch the programme, as he refuses to show any acting talent whatsoever. It's quite bemusing and, frankly, very funny. This, for example, is his expression when he hears the shocking news that a friend of his is dead, and that he's one of the suspects...

In his defence, he doesn't have much to work with. His character is one of the more uninteresting Japanese archetypes – the strong, silent, emotionless hero. Unfortunately, he's taken the lack of emotion to such extremes that his part could be played just as well by a balloon tied to a chair.

Perhaps it's wrong to take such pleasure in someone else's misfortune. But as long as this show is entertaining – for whatever reason – I'll keep watching it.

Recommended: Goodbye CP

2011-08-04T21:57:00.002+01:00

This documentary from 1972 focuses on a group of people with cerebral palsy. The film focuses mostly on one, a poet, but also spends time with the others especially a photographer in the group.

The techniques of making the film are interesting. It’s shot in harsh black and white and the soundtrack is almost always out of sync, so it’s not the easiest documentary to watch. Close-ups and shots are held for longer than usual, asking the viewer to look at these people for longer than necessary, in contrast to the usual reaction of not looking at them at all. The narrative of the documentary, too, is interesting as Yokoto Hiroshi (the poet) expresses his increasing dissatisfaction with the way the film-making process is going.

The abiding memory is how ordinary these people are. The film walks a fine line between highlighting their physical disability and their characters. Perhaps the perfect example of this is right at the beginning when Hiroshi says he can cross the road faster on his knees (which is how he usually walks) than in his wheelchair, and he demonstrates this. But after a short while, he drops his glasses. He stops to pick them up and then tries to go faster, which causes him to stumble. It’s quite difficult to watch, but when he gets to the other side, he laughs and talks about how scared he was.

It’s a remarkable film, and definitely educational. It starts by being about cerebral palsy, but it ends by being about people with cerebral palsy.

Just watched: Gantz

2011-07-31T22:08:00.003+01:00

Gantz started off as an manga, became an anime and is now a live-action film. People who’ve died are taken instantly to white room where they wake up alive and healthy and then a large black globe tells them to go and kill aliens.

Perhaps when I put it like that, it doesn’t seem like much, but it is an exciting and engaging film. Ninomiya Kazunari, Matsuyama Kenichi and Natsune Watanabe are all good in the three lead roles, and Yoshitaka Yuriko pops up in a minor role as a student with a crush on the hero.

The special effects-laden sections where the team fight aliens of various shapes and sizes are tightly directed. The team has no choice but to fight, and there are always newcomers in the team who aren’t very well prepared. As a result, few make it back alive. This keeps things interesting.

Away from the action, the film is more sedate as our heroes are sent back to their homes when they’re not fighting aliens. They try to live a normal life while they piece together what is happening, and wait for the next time they’re suddenly taken to the white room to do battle.

It’s difficult to describe Gantz, because going into detail about a film as dynamic and physical and also enigmatic as this seems a bit pointless. The film doesn’t concern itself with explanations, you simply have to accept things and see what happens. Which is more or less the situation our heroes are in. A sequel is promised, with a tantalising last scene which leaves many questions unanswered.

I’m already looking forward to it.

Currently Watching: Detective Conan

2011-07-29T18:42:00.006+01:00

Or Detective Conan - Kudo Shinichi e no Chousenjou, to give it its full name. I was recently looking for something to watch and tried this purely based on the fansubbers: Heiwa Fansubs usually choose good shows to sub, so I gave this a try knowing nothing about it.

And, frankly, if you don’t know anything about it, the opening minutes can be pretty confusing. No characters are introduced since the programme-makers assume you’re either read the manga or seen the previous TV specials. If you're new then you just have to try and work out things for yourself.

The story follows the adventures of a schoolboy detective played by Mizobata Junpei (BOSS 2) and he’s clearly too old for the part. But this makes a change from the usual habit of J-dramas casting people who are far too young. It did add to my confusion, though, as I watched it and thought to myself "He goes to school? Has he been held back a few years?"

The murders he investigates are simple and this is actually to its advantage. After watching Bull Doctor, Zettai Reido and BOSS 2, to have a crime that happens and is solved in half an hour and all in one location is a huge relief. It has moments of comedy to lighten the way and although the crimes are a bit unlikely, the explanations are never so stupid that it ruins the episode.

I’m enjoying this, so thanks to Heiwa Fansubs for bringing it to my attention. It’s half as long but twice as good as most other detective shows right now.

At least one Japanese band understands the internet

2011-07-28T07:46:00.000+01:00

Veltpunch have a new single out and an album coming soon. Since they made my favourite album of last year, I felt I couldn't just download it illegally, so I checked the usual sites for the CD but was put off by the high price. Then I looked on Amazon, hoping a kindly importer would have it.

Imagine my surprise and delight when I saw that the album will be available for download! Finally, I can show my love for this band in the only way I know how: money.

Just watched: Zettai Reido SP

2011-07-27T20:05:00.003+01:00

I don’t know what to make of Zettai Reido. It’s slow pace makes you think it’s thoughtful and serious, but the crime solving is mostly helped by discovering a piece of evidence they’d previously missed or thanks to a suspect conveniently being killed, meaning they have to look elsewhere for the murderer.

It’s not all bad, though. The way they explained how the two murders (fourteen years apart) were linked was clever and did give me some hope for the rest of the episode. However, any good ideas about the crime were lost as it got stretched out to two hours. So every suspect got their own emotional story to tell, but the writing was never up to the job. It reminded me of Shinzanmono a bit, with people hiding secrets to protect a loved one, which made them look like a suspect.

The last scene, which was supposed to be the big emotional kick, didn’t exactly take my breath away. And then the credits rolled and I thought “well, that’s that, then.” I don’t think I’ll stick around for the second series.

Currently watching: Soredemo, Ikite Yuku

2011-07-20T20:08:00.004+01:00

This series caught my eye because the lead roles were taken by two of my favourites actors, Eita and Mitsushima Hikari. Without them, I would have probably passed this by, since the storyline isn’t my usual choice.

It concerns two families who, in their own way, lost a child fifteen years ago. But one was a murder victim, and the other was the murderer. Eita is the older brother of the six-year old victim who has had to live with the guilt and sorrow ever since, and Hikari is the younger daughter of the high-school boy who committed the murder, and so she's been part of a family shunned by society for years.

One day, these two meet and begin to fall in love which, considering what’s happened between the families in the past, isn’t easy. There’s been lots of crying, emotions and angst and we’re only up to episode two. This show is not afraid to overdo it, and sometimes it’s trying too hard to engage my sympathy.

On the plus side, and it’s a big plus, there’s the chemistry between Eita and Hikari. Once they stop talking about the past and talk about more ordinary things, they become more interesting. They’re still fragile, and you can sense the hurt beneath the surface, but there’s some room for humour. The scene when they first meet is surprisingly funny and touching.

The story is beginning to set up the return of the older brother, which will no doubt be emotional for everyone concerned. Then again, almost anything seems to be emotional just now.

Just watched: Japan vs. USA

2011-07-17T22:46:00.003+01:00

COME ON, JAPAN!

After a season which began with the England's men's team wobble about and fall over in last year's World Cup, followed by my team Arsenal huffing and puffing to a glorious fourth, and then England getting knocked out of this Women's World Cup tournament, I'm glad that a squad I have some emotional attachment to has finally won something. And it was a great game. Compliments to both sides but, yeah, COME ON JAPAN!

Recommended: Marks no Yama

2011-07-14T22:15:00.005+01:00

Reading what others, including myself, have said about this series, you’d be forgiven for thinking that this was the Japanese equivalent of The Wire. That’s how fulsome the praise has been. It’s not quite at that level, but since quality Japanese dramas seem to have dried up recently, this stood out from the rest.

The story followed the attempt of one lone murderer (played by Kora Kengo) to blackmail five powerful men. Their secret revolved around the events on a mountain twenty years ago. The police begin by investigating the murder, but are soon drawn into the web of lies covering the earlier mystery. Add to this a journalist (Konishi Manami on fine form) who has also found out about the story behind the story, and things can get complicated.

Certainly, I found myself re-watching previous episodes whenever the subs for this came out, to remind myself of the twists and turns. This series managed to pack more story in one episode then others can in ten, but even so it never seemed rushed or confused.

It’s nice to watch something that’s made with such care, with the writers, directors and actors all producing quality work. It felt like a proper story, and it didn’t try and patronise us with flashbacks to a childhood incident which made people want to be a police officer, journalist or corrupt politician. Well, okay, the murderer got a flashback or two, but it was part of the story.

If I had to point out a flaw, I’d say the ending for the character played by Kohinata Fumiyo was pretty convenient. But it was nice to see him playing a bad guy for a change. In the end, it’s a bit of a relief that J-dramas like this are still being made.

Currently watching: Bull Doctor

2011-07-13T20:37:00.002+01:00

This new series stars Ishihara Satomi as a career-minded police detective and Esumi Makiko as a no-nonsense forensic scientist. Despite not getting along, they work together to solve crimes.

The first episode followed two cases to their end and yet it seemed like nothing was really happening. There was little time for police work, amongst all the side-stories being introduced, such as families and bottles of gin hidden in desk drawers and a calligraphy class where, by coincidence, Satomi’s character and Makiko’s son both go. Although they don’t know who each other are. I hope this doesn't turn into a major plot device, because it's just absurd.

The acting of the two female leads is fine, and the supporting cast are okay too, if somewhat uneven. Shida Mirai is sorely underused as a first-year medical student, while Inagaki Goro (from SMAP) doesn’t convince at all. In fact, he went through the entire first episode using only one expression.

The writing and directing lack any subtlety. In a scene where a mother and her daughter learn the true reason for the death of her husband, the imagery, music and dialogue were so cliched, it was like someone poking you in the chest, saying “This is sad! This is sad, isn’t it?”

And they really don't credit the viewer with any intelligence. In one scene near the beginning, Makiko begins an autopsy without putting her hands together in prayer first. This is mentioned during the show and then, when she mentions why she doesn't do that, the scene is repeated as a flashback. Just in case you couldn't remember what happened half an hour ago.

A poor start, which is a shame. We’ll see how it goes.

Just finished: BOSS 2

2011-07-06T22:23:00.005+01:00

*spoilers, in a manner of speaking... *

It couldn’t last, I suppose. The early promise lasted up until episode ten, but in the extended finale BOSS ran out of steam. One of the team is shot and seriously wounded, yet no one seems very upset by this. Certainly not the writers, who only give him a couple of thirty-second scenes to finish off his story.

Episode ten ended on high drama with everyone arrested on a variety of charges, but by the end of the first ten minutes of episode eleven, our heroes were set free thanks to a friendly superior. After that it was business as usual.

The last episode felt most like first series of BOSS, with a lot of mock drama but no real sense that anyone was in danger. The sudden appearance of another enemy to be defeated was fairly predictable once I’d realised they’d caught everybody but there were still fifteen minutes left to go.

The team discuss the case. Meanwhile, that's a very nice-looking screensaver

So, a bit of a disappointment at the end. And the final scene has Amami Yuki striding purposefully through an airport again. Only this time she is interrupted by a character from another drama. I have no idea what all that was about.

The final caption seemed to promise further episodes. Well, I suppose I'll watch them, but I'm not holding my breath.

Just Watched: Index Finger

2011-07-06T19:48:00.002+01:00

I got back from work today after a day in which I barely spoke to anyone, but that was fine, and I was feeling a bit lifeless, as if I was made out of wet cardboard. I couldn’t be bothered to cook, so I made rice and poured cold curry sauce on top and ate that. Not exactly graceful living.

Then I found that Raspberry Field have released a new single, accompanied by a short film on YouTube. And it had English subtitles! Maybe this’ll cheer me up, I thought.

The film is barely ten minutes long, and is set on a flat rooftop. Two people, a man and a woman, have an unremarkable conversation about each others’ relationships, and then one of them leaves. The important part seemed to be the low concrete wall the divides the roof in half. She can’t bring herself to step across it, although she wants to. Meanwhile he can cross it, but only when she’s gone.

It’s not the most original metaphor ever, but it fits in naturally with the location, and it isn’t overdone. The acting is fine, and the dialogue is exactly the kind of sweet teasing you get from two people who ought to be in a relationship but don’t know it.

And it did cheer me up. At least, I felt like I was made of slightly drier cardboard. And the single is lovely.

Currently watching: Gallery Maggot’s photostream

2011-07-04T20:42:00.001+01:00

A couple of weeks ago I found the sketchbook I used to keep a diary when I went to Japan. I read it, and was reminded about the art gallery in Osaka I’d been to where I’d seen an excellent photography exhibition.

I did a little searching and found the site of the gallery itself, and also their photstream on flickr. Here you can find a lot of evocative and interesting photos of urban Japan (Osaka, I presume). Now I check it every few days, for the latest views of Japanese cityscapes which are quite different from the clean shiny version I see in Jdramas. Fascinating, often quite beautiful, and always worth watching.

Just watched: Cold Fish

2011-07-03T09:06:00.004+01:00

This film from 2010 is based on a true story about an unremarkable man, Shamoto, who ends up involved with a husband and wife team of serial killers. Shamoto lives with his new wife and his daughter who don’t get on with each other, and he runs a smallish shop that sells tropical fish. Then he meets the charismatic owner of a rival shop, Murata, who charms his family and convinces him to become a business partner. But when one of the people present at their first meeting, so begins a tale in which Murata finds himself partners in an entirely different business.

The quotes from reviews on the cover make it seem like a gore fest, but it’s not really. There are some bloody scenes, but nothing very shocking. The film is very sensual. The women are all attractive and are available to the men who are, frankly, not attractive. This film is all about power: the lack that Shamoto has at home, the abundance of it that Murata has over everyone he meets and the power that woman want from the men in their lives.

There's an interview on disc two from a journalist who covered the original killings which is pretty informative. It's definitely useful to know what in the film was true and what was the result of Sion Sono’s over-active imagination. Amazingly, most of it is true* apart from the change of the real killers' profession of dog-breeders to tropical fish sellers. This makes no difference to the story. I guess Sion Sono thought that fish are easier to deal with on a film set.

It’s a good film, and certainly worth watching. Watching Shamoto's helplessness in the face of increasing danger and being unable to trust anyone else, not even his family, is fairly grim. But fascinating.

* for those who don’t have the interview, it’s mostly true until the second scene on the bridge.

Recommended: Jin 2

2011-06-30T22:35:00.006+01:00

About a week ago, I was walking into a video game shop when, just as I was going in, an eight year old boy was coming out. He was clutching a game to his chest, and when he saw me he looked up in fear, as if I was going to take this precious game away from him. Afterwards, I felt quite jealous since it had been a long time since I’d felt that excited about getting anything.

Well, I think I came close when I saw that Heiwa Fansubs had put up the subs for the last episode of Jin 2.

* spoilers *

The final episode is a triumph. As indeed are the episodes leading up to it. No one is forgotten and everyone has their story finished and nothing seems rushed. Certainly, there's no last-minute dash to fit all the explaining into the last ten minutes, which often happens with J-dramas. Our hero, the doctor returns to the present and slowly has to work out what happened. As it is, the waves of time wash over his adventures in the past and memories fade as much as the photographs of his colleagues in Edo had faded.

That part was especially touching – when he finds old photographs of the people he worked with in the 1800s. Then I really got a sense of the distance he’d travelled and, sadly, the impossibility of him ever returning. Plus I had a feeling of pleasure of learning how they all turned out (and of seeing Kyoutarou in Western clothes!)

The reason behind why he went back in time was also very satisfying, and had clearly been planned from the beginning. And this really made me happy. The writer clearly had the idea fully formed in her head, and wasn’t just making it up as she went along. (edit: actually this is based on a manga written by Morota Murakami)

I started watching the first series back in April, so I’ve been lucky enough to have almost four months in which I haven’t had to wait long for the next episode of Jin. Now that is no longer the case, I’m at a bit of a loss. But I’ll find something else, I’m sure. I’ll certainly try and track down more of writer Morishita Yoshiko’s work.

And on a personal note, I finished watching this at 10pm. Then I noticed that the sky outside was still very bright. Far too bright for ten o’clock in the evening, I thought, and I had to check three clocks and the television before I was satisfied that I hadn’t fallen through a tiny time-slip of my own.

Currently watching: Japanese indie bands on YouTube

2011-06-30T18:35:00.005+01:00

Just in case you should get the idea that I don’t listen to Japanese music in favour of bands from Korea, I thought I'd do a quick post to balance things out. While music in Japan isn’t as interesting as the Korean scene is right now (I can’t remember the last time a song I liked got into the top ten in Japan. Probably one by Bump of Chicken) there’s still a lot of good stuff out there.

I only recently found the site Sparkplugged, but it’s quickly become one of my most visited sites. Every couple of days, they post up a new music video from YouTube, with a brief introduction of the band. It couldn’t be simpler, and their taste in music is pretty top-notch. As I write, on the first page alone there are two bands who’ve already become my new favourite band(s).

Much as I enjoy clicking on videos at random, looking for a lost classic, it is nice to have someone that does it for you. And this site does it very well indeed.

One Missed Call vs One Missed Call: FIGHT!

2011-06-26T22:19:00.008+01:00

The TV and film versions share the same premise (a message is left on a mobile phone, dated several days in the future and apparently from the person’s own mobile, and the message is a recording of their final seconds) and a scene or two, but other than that, there’s not much similarity.

The film can be split into two halves. The first half is full of jumps and brief scares, while the second half cranks up the tension as the heroin Nakamura Yumi searches through a deserted hospital for clues as to the source of the murders. Director Takashi Miike keeps the shocks coming fast, so there’s little space to recover before the next.

Meanwhile, the TV series had eleven episodes to fill, and so there are more deaths along the way to the ending. It changes the character of Nakamura Yuki from being a student to being a journalist, thus giving us a light-hearted side-story about how badly her career is going.

Comparing the two Yumis: the film version, played by Shibasaki Kou, wins hands down. While there’s nothing wrong with Kukakawa Rei’s performance, it lacks Shibasaki’s screen presence. As for the amount of blood on show, bearing in mind the restrictions of television, the TV version of One Missed Call can get pretty unpleasant. On the other hand, Takashi Miike keeps the gore down to a minimum in the cinematic version.

I enjoyed both, and found them different enough so that one didn’t feel like a pale copy of the other. Also, the two versions have similar endings which mean different things, which impressed me. The film has the performances and production standards to give it the edge. The TV version is more comedic, but not afraid to throw some scares into the mix too. I’m giving this battle to the film version but, perhaps surprisingly, not by much.

Just watched: Sawako Decides

2011-06-25T18:31:00.008+01:00

I suppose in my ideal world, Mitsushima Hikari would remain the elfin-faced queen of downbeat characters in oddball films like Love Exposure or Kakera. Of course, this isn’t going to happen: people change and actors want new challenges. Recently I saw her as a giggly schoolgirl in the morning drama Ohisama, which was a bit odd. I expected her to suddenly punch a window or something. But she didn’t.

However, this film from 2010 fits into the little Mitsushima-shaped hole in my mind perfectly. In it she plays a frustrated underachiever, Sawako, leading an unremarkable life in Tokyo. She gets a call from her uncle saying her father is dying and she has to take over the business based in a town in the country. She is convinced to go by her boyfriend, who thinks it’ll be good to get closer to nature.

As a comedy, it’s very deadpan, but still amusing. People seem to drift through the film, nobody’s actions have any long-lasting effect and the storyline is something of a mess. The fundamental message is about honouring your family, but lots of other things are thrown into the pot: the gossip about Sawako from the locals, the state of the business, and Sawako’s boyfriend’s daughter who is an enigmatic, wordless observer of the actions around her.

The trouble about films with this kind of cold, distant atmosphere is that they may be enjoyable, but it’s hard to get too excited about it. Compared to most other comedies, this is pretty bleak and hopeless, but it is funny and if you watch it in the right mood, who knows, it may become a favourite.

The Professor’s Beloved Equation: Book vs Film: FIGHT!

2011-06-18T17:44:00.007+01:00

I don’t read many novels, so it’s still a peculiar experience when I see a film of a book I’ve previously read, not unlike deja vu: I can remember the events but I’ve never seen them before. Also, thinking things like "That house is bigger than I imagined it," is kind of distracting. As such, I tend to avoid watching films of books I already know.

But I was curious as to how the film version of "The Professor’s Beloved Equation" (or "The Housekeeper and the Professor", as the English translation is called) turned out. The story is about a mathematics professor who, through an accident in the 1970s, has a memory that only lasts eighty minutes. A housekeeper (played in the film by Fukatsu Eri) is hired to look after him during the day, and she has to get used to his curious observations about numbers and the fact that he always asks her the same questions each day since it is, for him, the first time they’ve met.

The novel has the luxury of talking about numbers at length. It covers far more topics than the film, and in more playful detail. The film struggles with the uncinematic nature of perfect and imaginary numbers, although the idea of cutting away to an adult version of Root (the housekeeper’s son) explaining some of the theories to a mathematics class was a clever way of getting around this to some extent.

The film is also shot in quite a flat style. The director, for the most part, seems happy to point the camera at the actors and let them tell the story. While there’s nothing wrong with that, I found it lacked the intimacy and emotions that the book had. And although the novel is not long, the film couldn’t fit all the story in, and the poignant last days of the professor are reduced to a single scene of him and the grown-up Root playing catch on the beach.

So the book defeats its well-meaning but distant cinematic version. It displays more love for the characters and the mathematics they discuss than the film does.

Just watched: The darker side of Kpop

2011-06-15T10:33:00.007+01:00

Perhaps prompted by the two sell-out concerts in Paris recently, the BBC ran a story on the Kpop wave. From the title, I was expecting the worse. Like most entertainment industries, Kpop has enough skeletons in the cupboard that any journalist could portray it as a centre for plagiarism, over-bearing fans, shady deals between management companies and the media, and the endless obssession with physical perfection. This would give quite an unfair image of kpop as it makes its first steps into the West, since the same accusations apply anywhere.

Watching the news report, you can tell the journalist doesn’t take the Kpop scene seriously. Describing the extensive training that Kpop acts go through as “a couple of years of singing lessons” is a bit of an understatement, but it’s hard to tell if that’s because she can’t imagine Kpop taking hold in Western markets, or if she’s just dismissive of pop music in general.

Having said that, I was quite relieved that the story focused on contractual problems. This is undoubtedly a problem in Korea, to the extent that falling out with your manager can end or seriously damage your career, so I think it’s a valid story. It also covered the pricing policy of digital downloads and how cheap they are. All of this pointed to some performers not earning much at all. Certainly, I remember seeing a survey on allkpop which said the average wage of a singer was some way below that of an office worker.

And it ends by saying that the industry is changing. How could it not? As it spreads into more lucrative markets and artists see more sales coming in, management contracts will have to keep pace.

All in all a fairly balanced piece, and not as sensationalist as I feared from the title. I do wonder, though, how long the BBC is going to keep reporting on the Kpop music industry without actually playing the music itself.

Just watched: Jam Films

2011-06-13T21:44:00.008+01:00

Well, you certainly get value for money. This set of short films from 2002 is packed with seven quirky and interesting stories. For something that tries to have an indie sensibility, there’s a lot of famous faces from TV dramas involved. Listing the actors who make appearances would take too long, but the directors are notable and they include Kitamura Ryuhei (Versus, Azumi), Yukisada Isao (Parade) and Iwai Shunji (All About Lily Chou Chou). And to top it all off, it’s produced by Sega!

What could go wrong?

Luckily, nothing. It looks great, and the stories are always clever and original with some twist to keep you paying attention. For example, one segment begins with what looks like a family sitting down to dinner together, until you realise that the man is holding the others hostage.

Each part has its own feel and style, and they all have something worthwhile. Because they’re so short, when most parts finish, they leave you wanting more. It’s a smart collection of vignettes, and if you fancy something a bit different from the norm, but not so different that you’re left scratching your head, then this is for you.

Still watching: BOSS 2

2011-06-09T22:22:00.004+01:00

A sudden but welcome return to work means my opportunities to watch J-dramas have decreased. And so has my chance to learn Japanese, since I can no longer get to the lesson on time (boo). But I need the money more than anything else, so I’ll just have to take the rough with the smooth.

However, I can be cheered up by the second series of BOSS, which has surprised me by being far better than I was expecting. From Amami Yuki’s sexy roundhouse kick during the opening credits to the solution to the crime which usually makes some kind of sense, this show is smarter and more assured than previously. Perhaps my expectations were so low that anything would’ve impressed me, but I am enjoying this a lot more than the first series.

Occasionally it slips back into it’s bad old habits. A couple of scenes with the K-pop band 2PM had nothing to do with the story at all and was nothing more than an attempt at boosting the ratings (which it didn’t, by the way) and the criminals still aren’t very threatening. But the comedy and crime-solving mix together with more confidence than last year.

Just watched: Welcome to the Quiet Room

2011-06-02T22:23:00.006+01:00

This film from 2007 first got my interest through the title alone. It seemed so menacing, yet so peaceful. What could it mean?

The synopsis is a woman leads a stressful yet apparently successful life, until one day she wakes up in a psychiatric hospital, strapped to a table. She spends the next couple of weeks trying to piece together the events of the last day that she can remember, and trying to connect with the other patients in the ward. At first it seems like a fairly predictable story in which a sane person is trapped in a mental institute, but before long her memories start to unravel and the story changes direction.

The lead role (Sakura Asuka) is played with the right mix of arrogance and weakness by Uchida Yuki, as she tries to find her feet in her new world. And to my surprise, the cast held two familiar faces. Or at least, two familiar names. The first is Aoi Yu as Miki, the first patient to befriend Asuka, and the second is a great performance by Kudo Kankuro (better known as the writer of Tiger and Dragon and Unubore Deka) as Asuka’s boyfriend. He’s perfect as the wiry nervous TV writer.

Checking on Asianmediawiki, I noticed that the writer, Matsuo Suzuki was also responsible for Koi no Mon. This is certainly much more thoughtful than that enjoyable comedy, and quite different in tone and style although there is the occasional moment of cartoonish humour. This film is smartly written, and nicely structured as Asuka’s memories slowly bubble to the surface, threatening to ruin her recovery.

Currently watching: Korean indie bands on Youtube

2011-05-28T11:39:00.003+01:00

When I was a student, I’d read Melody Maker looking for any new unknown bands I might like and I’d look through the CD singles on sale at the local record shop for any b-sides that seemed like they might be a lost great song. It was a hit and miss affair, but when I did find a forgotten piece of musical joy it was all worth it.

With the internet, of course, finding obscure songs has never been easier and recently I’ve been wandering through youtube, clicking on the suggestions at the side of the screen, and I’ve found a few channels that have videos of Korean indie bands playing live/acoustic versions of their songs. They have the right mix of lo-fi charm and good production standards, and Indie 2 Go’s videos in particular are very nicely shot (screengrabs for this post come from their videos for Mystery Curtain and Soran).

The other two channels I keep an eye on are Dark Tranquillity and cppark’s. Obviously there’s going to be some dross among the decent stuff, but that’s music for you. I admit it’s nice to watch a video that’s only had a few hundred hits but you can still be confident it’ll be well-made and worth watching. It feels a bit exclusive. I’ve already discovered Raspberry Field and Haein Yoo as well as the two acts I mentioned before, and I get the feeling there’s more to come.

Just watched: Surely Someday

2011-05-27T21:45:00.003+01:00

Oguri Shun’s 2010 directorial début is a interesting example of how to mix comedy with organised crime without lessening the impact of either. The storyline is that five schoolboys threaten to blow up a schoolroom (or two) unless the school changes its decision about not holding a cultural event that year. The school agrees, but they are unable to stop the bomb from going off.

Three years later, a chance occurrence throws four of the five back together as they find themselves caught up in a mystery of disappearing people, yakuza bosses, and 300 million yen - all of which had something to do with a woman in a magazine ten years ago. The story could be a shocking mess, but it’s to the writer’s credit that it makes sense. Oguri Shun makes sure that the three time periods (now, three years ago, and ten years ago) can be recognised quickly, and the acting is great.

Koide Keisuke takes the lead role with confidence. By chance, I’ve been watching a lot of his stuff recently and he’s pretty good. It makes me wonder what he was thinking when he took his role in Nodame Cantabile, but I guess it made him some money. Also worth mentioning is Konishi Manami. She’s perfect in this film as the woman at the heart of the mystery. But then, she’s always at her best when she’s playing the role of the intelligent, beautiful, but unattainable femme fatale.

The film succeeds because when it’s trying to be funny, it’s funny and when it wants to be threatening, it is. It’s also shot in a very unpretentious style, often making good use of boring locations. In all, this is a cleverly written and well-made film which is harder than your average comedy (or softer than the usual yakuza film) but is no worse for that.

Recommended: Shinzanmono: Akai Yubi

2011-05-26T22:53:00.007+01:00

Since a new film based on this popular detective series has been announced, I thought I'd write about the first film special that followed the original TV series.

The cast remains the same from the TV show, and they’re all accomplished in their acting. As they should be, having played the same characters before. And perhaps that’s this film’s strength. Everyone is so comfortable in their roles that the story can flourish without any backstory or introductions. This may be a bit off-putting for anyone who’s not seen the TV series, and the relationship between the two detectives (the younger officer who outranks his older, smarter cousin) may be a bit confusing, but it’s a minor distraction.

This film is perhaps what the ten-part TV series should have been. With just two hours to tell the story instead of ten hours, the film has a much tighter storyline with few distractions from the central crime. There are no side stories about other suspects, just a much clearer detective story with the added advantage of Abe Hiroshi’s charm and dry humour. With this in mind, I'm looking forward to the new film much more than I would a new series.

Looking forward

2011-05-23T10:45:00.002+01:00

A quick note about forthcoming j-dramas that have caught my eye.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is the announcement of a second series of Zettai Reido. I don’t remember hearing that the first series got great ratings, and I found it quite a slow, pedestrian police drama. Still, I’ll watch this new series to see where they take the idea next.

Most interesing drama is from the channel WOWOW, who offer up Ningen Konchuki. The mix of ARATA as a lead actor, the midnight time-slot and WOWOW’s previous good record with dramas means I’m definitely anticipating something special. The synopsis tells us it’s about a woman with an ability to effortlessly pretend to be something she’s not, such as an actress, doctor, novelist. An intriguing idea.

Bull Doctor is a series about a pathologist and a detective who don’t get on, but work together to solve crimes. It seems a bit like Voice in that it has a pathologist sloving crimes, and it even has Ishihara Satomi in it. This one could go either way. Ishihara Satomi may have been in some good stuff over the years (Voice, Puzzle, Reinonryoshuka...) but she’s also starred in some real clunkers (Tobo Bengoshi, Hidarime Tantei EYE). Nevertheless, it’s definitely on my list of things to watch.

Lastly is a drama I’m looking forward to mostly due to the cast. Eita and Mitsushima Hikari star in Soredemo, Ikete Yuku. I don’t know much about the storyline at the moment, apart from it involves a death in the family some years ago and a chance meeting brings up the old memories. It’s probably going to be one of those dramas that tries to make you cry in every episode, but with those two actors in the lead roles it should still be worth watching.

Currently watching: Asuko March

2011-05-22T12:29:00.002+01:00

Well, I’m enjoying this more than I thought I would. Then again, I didn’t think I’d enjoy this at all, so that’s not saying much. In this series a schoolgirl (played by Takei Emi) fails her entrance exams and has to go to a technical college full of uncouth boys. So this is a typical fish-out-of-water story in which the plucky schoolgirl has to overcome many difficulties before she can be accepted. Mind you, most of these difficulties are caused by her rough, tough classmates being offended at the tiniest things and if they’d stop being so sensitive, life would go a lot smoother. But then it wouldn’t be much of a drama, I suppose.

Takei Emi is fine in the lead role, and since she’s the only female most of the time, she can’t help but draw your attention. The cast of unruly boys are okay, but nothing special in terms of acting. It’s all fairly stereotypical butch posturing, with the occasional quiet bit to make them look emotional. But no one really stands out at the moment.

It’s certainly formulaic. The moral is that bad behaviour stems from troubles in the past or in the family, while hard work is rewarding and offers redemption from your failings. But that message comes across in the first episode, so unless the rest of the series can offer some kind of story to keep me watching, I wonder how long I’m going to follow this show.

Currently watching: Lie To Me

2011-05-17T23:34:00.008+01:00

I don’t have much experience with Korean dramas, but am I right in thinking that they often include a wedding/engagement being ruined by someone’s infidelity? Usually at the last minute? This drama starts with such a scene, even though it has nothing do with the rest of the episode. It’s as if the writers handed in the script, and then the producer said “It’s good, but where’s the wedding? Can’t we have a marriage that gets ruined? People love that stuff!” And so the writers just squeezed it in before the actual story begins.

The storyline is: ditzy woman falls in love with sophisticated, rich, powerful man. They’re thrown together in a great big misunderstanding and it’s all “will-they, won’t-they” for the rest of the series. So it’s not the most original storyline, and the show reminds me of My Name Is Kim Sam-Soon, especially with the lead actress Yoon Eun Hye having a similar style of comedy to Kim Sun Ah.

Despite the lack of originality, I’m two episodes into the series and this is a lot of fun. Yoon Eun Hye is pretty funny and has energy to spare, but the male lead (played by Kang Ji Hwan) hasn’t had to do anything so far except look rich and/or annoyed.

The problem is that I don’t think the basic story can last for the whole length of the series. Even My Name Is Kim Sam-Soon ran out of steam after around twelve episodes. So the success of this show probably relies on the sub-plots, which haven’t even started yet. There’s something about an ex-fiancée and a trouble-making brother of the rich family, but nothing definite yet. In the meantime, I’ll watch it for the chuckles and I'll try to ignore the feeling of deja vu.

Currently watching: Jin 2 and Marks no Yama

2011-05-14T10:01:00.005+01:00

Oh my goodness! I wasn’t going to write about either of these high-quality dramas until I’d finished watching them, but they’ve both ended episodes on such exciting cliff hangers that I have to say something!

Marks no Yama is a dark, tense police drama in which a series of influential people are being killed one by one, and the only link between them is a university mountaineering club. It’s well written, well acted and steers clear of cliché (apart from the bad guy laughing over the phone as he blackmails his victims). The storyline moves at a slow pace, compared to other Japanese cop shows, but that just shows how detailed and satisfying the writing is. And now, at the end of episode 3... well, I can’t say anything without spoiling it, but I was not expecting that.

Meanwhile, Jin 2 continues on from the previous series – modern doctor is transported back to mid-1800s Japan – and it remains an exciting and cleverly-written show. It looks like the whole question about why he was sent back in time is going to be answered this series. In episode four, the doctor meets a young girl who seems to have an effect on the time-travelling medic. Later he has to operate on her, which has severe consequences for him.

These two shows are quite above anything else recently in terms of quality, and to have them both end on cliff hangers like that... well, it’s almost cruel. How am I supposed to sleep tonight?

Currently watching: Ushi ni Negai wo: Love & Farm

2011-05-13T19:57:00.007+01:00

When you’ve been watching Jdramas for a while, you notice quite quickly that the same faces keep cropping up. I mention this because I feel like I’ve reached a bit of a milestone with this drama because it’s the first in which I recognised every single member of the cast. Apart from a couple of people in minor roles, I know everyone who’s in this show, which was quite distracting at first. The cast list boasts Toda Erika (Keizoku 2), Aibu Saki (Rebound), Karina (Parade), Keisuke Koide (also Parade, Nodame Cantabile), Kohinata Fumiyo (Marks no Yama, Ashita no Kita Yoshio) and I could go on.

In this drama from 2007, some students spend three months working on a farm as part of their sutdies (I wonder if I chose it because I miss Family Outing). It is a pretty typical fish-out-of-water story about city types having difficulty with the simple country ways. The regular stereotypes are all represented, including a moody sullen man, a superficial fashionable woman, a couple of perky eager types and... er... a guy who can draw. Not sure what his story is.

It’s not the greatest series, by any means, but what’s interesting about this is not the physical humour as they try to work on the farm, nor is it the clumsy attempt at a family drama. Instead what caught my interest is that there’s a light out in the fields at night. A couple of the students have seen it but no one’s gone to investigate, and it’s this tiny mystery that’s keeping me watching.

Jdramas do that a lot. An average comedy drama will throw in a little hint of something deeper going on, just to keep you watching. It probably won't be anything too exciting, but it's working. I'll keep watching. For now.

Just watched: Departing Osaka Station at 0:00

2011-05-10T16:07:00.005+01:00

There’s a train that leaves Osaka station at midnight to an unknown destination. Among the passengers on this train are several people using this trip as a means to escape. Either they're unlucky in love, or suicidal or dissatisfied with their life, the main characters in this film all start their journey pessimistic and bitter. Will they find what they’re looking for at the end of the line?

Of course they do. It’s a stupid question, really. Even early on, this film starts to fall into the usual feel-good clichés. One woman meets a local doctor by chance and takes an instant dislike to him. This inevitably turns into something romantic. And it’s no surprise to see how the simple country life has an effect on the jaded city types.

The film (released in 2006) contains several short stories told at the same time. The basic concept – of a train journey – is a nice way of getting together several people who normally would never meet which means some interesting relationships begin. On the downside, the stories are a bit disjointed, as if each character is taking it in turns to tell their story.

The moral is that life would probably be more fulfilling if you stopped to smell the flowers once in a while. And the director is certainly true to that, as this film glides serenely to its happy conclusion. It’s nice, but unremarkable.

Currently watching: Rebound

2011-05-05T14:39:00.010+01:00

Now here’s a weird one. A woman called Obu Nobuko (played by Aibu Saki), who grew up fat, has lost a lot of weight in adulthood and currently works for a fashionable magazine. She writes a bad review for a successful patissier, and then feels guilty when it closes down after a fall in customers. So she helps the chef Imai Taichi (played by Hayami Mokomichi) by tasting his new creations. In the face of all these calories, her body quickly puts on weight again, “rebounding” back to its previous shape.

At least, that’s what happened in episode one. What happens next is anyone’s guess. Nobuko wants to keep her weight-gain a secret, and so far she's done that by people luckily going on business trips or forgetting their glasses. I wonder if her weight is going to veer back and forth from fat to thin every episode and, if so, how long before that starts getting tedious.

On the plus side, it’s nice to see Aibu Saki and Hayami Mokomichi back together again (they were previously in Zettai Kareshi) and Kuriyama Chiaki adds a bit of cynical glamour as Nobuko’s friend. But as I said, how this story will unfold is a mystery to me. Perhaps that’s a good thing. Perhaps it’ll be an Ugly Betty-style tale of how appearances aren’t everything, or perhaps the whole show could be just an excuse to talk about dieting while having lots of close-ups of cakes.

Recommended: The Magic Hour

2011-04-29T10:38:00.011+01:00

This film from 2008, written by Mitani Kouki, tells an unlikely story of a man who gets in trouble with the local yakuza. To get himself out of this fix, he hires an actor to pretend to be a top assassin and uses that to gain favour with the gang again. But he doesn’t tell the actor the real situation. Instead, the actor thinks he’s ad libbing a film that uses hidden cameras and all-natural lighting.

The setting is almost as confusing as the storyline. In a Japanese city there is a little neighbourhood of 1930’s style buildings where everyone dresses and acts according to that same period. It’s a bit of a stretch that this little island of pre-war Japan should remain untouched, but once you accept it, the film works fine.

At least it allows Mitani Kouki to work in this period that he seems to adore. And it gives the story a less-threatening feel. Each time the actor (played by Koichi Sato) unwittingly gets into more life-threatening situations, he impresses the other yakuza with his bravery. Except, of course, he doesn’t know he’s in any real danger. And it’s very funny when he slips out of character and talks to the other mobsters about "the biz". He’s talking about showbusiness, while they think he’s talking about organised crime.

It stars Tsumabuki Satoshi and Sato Koichi in the two lead roles. Sato Koichi is especially good as the actor who unwittingly puts his life at risk for what he thinks may be his big break. Also noteworthy is Fukatsu Eri (Kabachitare, Akunin) who really suits the 1930's style of the film. This is a great old-fashioned screwball comedy and definitely more gold from Mitani Kouki.

Am I really going to watch: BOSS 2?

2011-04-26T18:36:00.000+01:00

That’s the question I’m asking myself. BOSS is a comedy show and a detective show rolled into one, and I'm not convinced it's very good at either. But I like the cast and because I finished the first series I watched the first episode of BOSS 2 just to see how they continue the story of this group of hopeless yet apparently brilliant detectives.

Two years have passed since the first season, and in that time Osawa Eriko (Amami Yuki) has been to America and back. The opening two episodes deals with Kimoto Mami (Toda Erika’s character), and her departure from the show. She leaves the force in disgrace, then comes back, only to be kidnapped by a serial killer and then finally saved.

The rest of the team use clever new policing techniques to track the criminal, and the humour seems to be more obvious this time around. Perhaps that’s this shows greatest weakness: the silly jokes don’t really go with the idea of intelligent crime-solving. But there’s no reason why they shouldn’t. For example, shows like Keizoku 1 and 2, Trick, and Puzzle had some very stupid jokes in, but they also gave the characters a chance to be clever. For most of the first season of BOSS, the stories were solved by a last minute revelation or lucky discovery rather than any detective work. However, in the first two episodes of BOSS 2 there are a couple of nice ideas that makes me wonder if the writers have decided to make an effort this time.

Then again, the opening story of any series is usually its strongest, so I'm not getting my hopes up too much. It’s like when you've bought a cheap bottle of wine, and you don’t dislike it enough to stop completely, and you think maybe you'll get used to it after the next glass. That's how I feel about BOSS 2. I'll give it two more episodes... And then perhaps two more...

Just watched: Café Isobe

2011-04-21T18:34:00.002+01:00

Ah, the sun. As the UK basks in a surprise Easter heatwave, I find I'm less attracted to dark, tense thrillers and am drawn towards lighter, more summer-y material. Apart from anything else, trying to watch dimly-lit scenes while I'm sitting in a room with the sun coming in through the window often ruins the atmosphere.

This film from 2008 tells the tale of a divorced man (Miyasako Hiroyuki) who decides to open a café one summer and he gets his daughter (Naka Riisa) to help as a waitress. One day, an attractive woman comes in looking for a job and the appalled daughter watches as her father falls in love.

The comedy arises naturally from the situations and doesn't feel forced, and Naka Riisa never puts a foot wrong in her portrayal of a high school student forced to stand by as her dad makes a fool of himself. I think I’ve underestimated her acting skills, since this is now the second film I’ve seen in which she’s been great. Perhaps Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo wasn’t the best place to start my assessment of her career.

Another part of the film I enjoyed was the mother (Hamada Mari). In a lesser film, this would have been the source of loud arguments but in this film, the resentment is more in the background, and they never shout at each other when they meet, only bicker endlessly about the same things.

Kudos, too, go to Miyasako Hiroyuki (Zettai Reido, At Home Dad) as a the father and Aso Kumiko as the waitress that causes all his anguish. This is a fairly gentle film, despite the rather pessimistic message it gives about love. It's well-written and sensitively acted, with an engaging storyline and as the film progresses and feelings get hurt, it never loses its sense of humour nor does it fall into cliché.

Just finished: We Got Married

2011-04-17T23:10:00.005+01:00

So it’s over. After 51 episodes, the goguma couple have gone their separate ways. I only started watching this by accident because Ueno Juri appeared in a couple of episodes, but then I found myself drawn in and, after it comforted me through a bad illness, I became very fond of this show. Its endless canned laughter and odd use of repeating edits was difficult to get used to at first, but I slowly did and at least when I saw other Korean variety shows like Running Man and Family Outing, the same style of editing wasn’t such a shock.

I didn’t watch all the episodes. There were a few of the earliest that I never got round to finding, which I sort of regret. It would’ve been nice to see the whole story from awkward hello to difficult goodbye. But it’s too late now. I can’t watch “new” episodes knowing they’ve already split up! It wouldn’t be right!

It’s sad to see the end to this series. I know there are other couples in the same show, but I don’t seem to have the same interest in them as I did with this. I don’t know why. Maybe it was just the time. A change in the seasons. A fleeting moment, never to be repeated. A summer romance that’s blown away with the autumn winds. Whatever it was, I think my relationship with this particular series is over.

It’s been fun.

Recommended: Linda Linda Linda

2011-04-16T19:50:00.007+01:00

I first watched this ages ago. Then, the other day, I was going through an old hard drive when I saw it and thought “I’d like to watch that again.” Not sure why. I just did. I hadn’t thought about the film much in the past year or so, except for sometimes listening to the soundtrack.

In this film, three schoolgirls form a band for the school’s cultural festival. They choose some songs by the old Japanese punk band The Blue Hearts and a Korean class-mate as their lead singer and then it's just a case of learning the songs in time for the big day. The synopsis might have you thinking this is a peppy feel-good knockabout comedy. But the film has a quite different feel than, say, Swing Girls. There’s a strange quality to it, where it feels like time seems to hang in the air, perhaps thanks to James Iha’s fantastic soundtrack and the director Nobuhiro Yamashita’s sense of composition and pacing, which is perfect.

It has a more realistic idea about school life than most dramas. At least, I recognise it more than the usual portrayal of school as full of wisecracking students falling in and out of love. These students are awkward once they’re outside their circle of friends. Doona Bae is great as the gawky lead singer, perfectly capturing that slight lack of coordination that teenagers have, even though she was in her mid-20s when she made the film. Kashii Yuu also excels as the band leader and guitarist.

Perhaps the ending is a bit disappointing, with a fairly unlikely dash to the venue at the last minute, but then again, you’ve got to end on some kind of excitement.

In conclusion, this is a great film and I’m a little surprised that I’d forgotten how good this is, and I’m glad that I stumbled upon it again while looking for something else. Something that, by the way, I never found. There's a moral in there somewhere.

Currently Watching: Jin

2011-04-16T17:57:00.001+01:00

Since the second series of this popular drama is coming out soon, I thought I’d watch the first series so I can properly enjoy the new episodes. Basically, it’s a medical drama and a historical drama mixed together. These are two elements that usually put me off but the overall idea is intriguing: a doctor somehow falls backwards in time to a point in Japanese history, during the mid-1800s.

His medical knowledge is almost miraculous in that day and age, and his fame quickly spreads. Meanwhile, he has to work out what happened to him, and he watches how his actions effect the future by how a photograph of himself and his girlfriend changes.

There’s a lot of ideas flying around. Most interesting is that if you had a modern-day knowledge of medicine, how much of it would be useful in feudal Japan? Also the story covers the political aspects of his work – at a time when Japan was slowly coming out of seclusion, his non-Japanese methods make other doctors suspicious. Add to this the usual difficulties caused by going back in time and the life-saving surgery (often with friends or family crying in the corner of the room, which you don’t see much in modern operating theatres) and every episode is packed with exciting events.

I’m halfway through at the moment, and so far the stories are entertaining, while the questions about the time-slip remain tantalisingly unanswered. It has a strong cast, including Osawa Takao in the lead role, ably supported by Ayase Haruka (Hotaru no Hikari) and Nakatani Miki. Special mention has to go to Uchino Masaaki as the wandering samurai with an interesting future, Sakamoto Ryoma. I can totally see how this was a success and I’m now one of the millions impatiently waiting for series two.

Just finished: At Home Dad

2011-04-11T17:24:00.005+01:00

This show (broadcast in 2004) was one of the first J-dramas that I watched and Sars fansubs have just finished off the end-of-season special so I thought I’d mark it’s ending with a post. The story involves two men who have to look after the house and family while their wives go out to work. One of them has been doing this for a few years, while his neighbour has only recently lost his job and is new to all this housework.

Most of the comedy comes from amusing attempts by the reluctant newcomer Yamamura Kazuyuki (played by Abe Hiroshi (Trick, Shinzanmono)) to cook, clean and prepare his daughter’s things for school. The story also covers how house-husbands are viewed by the wider community, and Kazuyuki often gets reactions of disappointment, pity and amusement from other people when he tells them what he’s doing these days.

It's got a good cast: as well as Abe, it has Shinohara Ryoko, and Miyasako Hiroyuki (Zettai Reido) and the first few episodes set up the situation well, with Abe Hiroshi nicely portraying Kazuyuki's difficulty accepting the situation. But the script is somewhat aimless and after twelve episodes and a special the writers don't have much to do except make the wife work too much so she (almost) misses something important.

Since I'm not Japanese nor live there, I can't say how accurate it is as a social commentary on the changing roles in parenting, but it is pretty funny which is all I can really ask from a comedy.

Just finished: Long Love Letter

2011-04-07T21:19:00.002+01:00

I have a theory. If, amongst all the dramas from the past few years listed on a jdrama site, you find one dating from before 2006, it’s probably going to be good. Because it’s from a time before getting raws off the TV was easy, so someone had to muck about with buying/renting and then ripping the DVDs. And if they go to all that trouble, then it’s probably worth it.

I haven’t checked this theory, but it was definitely in my mind when I chose this series from 2002. The synopsis helped. After a lot of crime/mysteries/rom-coms, I needed something a bit different.

The first episode is mostly about the characters. The schoolkids and their friends, but mostly about the two lead characters – the former teacher Misaki Yuka (played to perfection by Tokiwa Takako (Kabachitare!)) and new teacher Asami Akio (Kubozuka Yosuke (Ping Pong, Ikebukuro West Gate Park) at his charismatic best) – and the romance between the two.

During this first episode, small things keep happening that point to something big. Such as part of a scene that repeats, or the way people’s image ripples when they walk past a certain point. All this is leading up to the end of the first episode, when the entire school disappears. They slowly discover that it's been sent into the near future, in a post-war, post-desertification landscape. The schoolkids who were inside (it was out of term time, so there are only twenty or so who were doing a catch-up class) have to learn to survive.

It’s very entertaining, and quite unusual for a jdrama to be so brave in killing off major characters. This does make things more tense, of course, so I’m not complaining. The cast, too, is very good and even if you’re a newcomer to jdrama, you’ll be surprised how many familiar faces appear as students.

But the science-fiction bits aren’t really explained properly and I kind of wish they hadn’t even tried. On the whole, though, I really enjoyed this and it certainly made a change from what I’ve been watching recently.

Just Finished: Control – Hanzai Shinri Souza

2011-04-04T21:28:00.005+01:00

* spoilers, etc... *

So this detective story ends without ruining the promise it had built up in the episodes leading to the series final. Part ten ended with the ransom money still undiscovered, and the professor walking purposefully across a footbridge. I did have hopes that this meant his involvement in the crime wasn’t over yet. Perhaps there'd be more psychological manipulation of the psychology professor? Alas, that didn’t happen, but the way the crime was solved was still pretty entertaining.

At the very end, though, was one last case to solve, which was all wrapped up in fifteen minutes. It was the case of who murdered Segawa's father eight years ago. This is the case that made her want to be a police office in the first place, so it was a bit odd that it should be left as an epilogue that the end of the story.

However, I enjoyed this series. It certainly got better as it went along, and the last four episodes (two two-part stories) were pretty exciting. I liked the characters and the overall style of the show. There were no romantic sub-plots, no cute children, no clumsy-but-keen new members on the team. Also the storyline in the first episode of Segawa and the professor somehow being outcasts from the rest of the team was soon dropped in favour of some proper crimes to be solved.

So it started a bit average, and I was only downloading it when I had nothing better to watch, but soon it built up tension until I was actively looking forward to the next episode to be subbed. Good work.

Recommended: Memories of Matsuko

2011-03-29T16:04:00.009+01:00

There's probably a whole book you can write about inappropriate or inaccurate comparisons of films on the backs of DVDs. You know the sort - “if Danny Boyle worked with Hitchcock!” or “like The Matrix remade by Terry Gilliam!” Well, I think on the first page of this book, there should be a mention of this film. On the back on my DVD it's described as “an Amelie-esque fairytale” which makes me think that whoever wrote that hadn't seen Amelie. Or heard a fairytale.

The only thing the two films have in common is, perhaps, a sense of heightened realism. Memories of Matsuko is carefully shot, with vivid colours and constant changes in the time period (from the 50's to 2001) meaning that no two scenes look the same.

It tells the story of Matsuko, whose life is slowly ruined by the failures of the men she relies upon. And as she stumbles from one hopeless relationship to the next, the film is quite bleak in showing her decline. The film begins after she's been found dead, and a relative (played by Eita) wants to know more about this aunt who he barely knew about.

Nakatani Miki is incredible in the title role, and really makes you care for Matsuko and hope that her optimism is justified, even though you've seen how she ends up. Eita, too, is great in his role as the slacker who discovers this side of the family that he never knew about.

Despite some of the grim scenes, it's a very sentimental film and often very beautiful and moving. If you don't like crying in front of other people, you might want to watch this on your own.