Currently watching: Gokuaku Ganbo

My initial excitement about the new season of Japanese dramas has waned somewhat (mostly due to Smoking Gun, a police drama so bland that I can see no reason for its existence) but it has been re-animated recently by Gokuaku Ganbo.

This drama stars Ono Machiko as the plucky but unlucky girlfriend of a hopeless boyfriend who runs up a huge debt and then runs away, leaving her to deal with the Yakuza types who want their money back.

It's a comedy, but the style ranges from comic-drama to cartoonish Yakuza stereotypes. But once you get used to that, it's not really a problem. And the cast is great. Supporting Ono Machiko is Naka Riisa, Odagiri Joe and also the writer of Amachan, Kudo Kankuro in his first acting role in some years.

The storyline seems pretty solid too. Certainly, it offers up enough opportunities for all kinds of adventures. And the subtitles from Crunchyroll are very good. I applied for a job a subber there and if this was the standard they got, then I'm not surprised I didn't get the job.

Recommended: Moteki

This film is a sequel to the TV drama of the same name. It is set one year after the series, and in that time or hero Fujimoto Yukiyo, played as before by Moriyama Mirai, has not been able to find love. He gets a new job where is boss is his former rival in love Sumi-san (the suave but lecherous older man played perfectly by Lily Franky) and thus begins a new moteki (period when someone is suddenly attractive to the opposite sex).

This time, things are a bit different. Like the TV series there are still four female lead roles, but in the film he only seems serious about one, and so the film is mostly about whether or not he can mess that up. And he's certainly insensitive and confused enough to say the wrong thing at exactly the wrong time.

The film has two main strengths. The first is Nagasawa Masami who puts in the best performance I've seen from her. She's often been in good programmes in the past, but never quite been the best thing about it. This time, however, she absolutely rules. She's funny, sexy and sensitive and quite unlike her previous performances.

The second strength is the music. The TV series was notable for the soundtrack, but this time the music has been pushed forwards such that at times it almost seems like a musical. Falling in love is demonstrated by a three-minute dance performance with Perfume, and a song at the karaoke bar had the lyrics printed on screen so you could, if you wanted, sing along too. Lyrics reflect the mood and the emotions of the scene and sound and vision are woven together so perfectly, I wanted to punch the air and shout "This is what film-making should be like!"

Perhaps that's an over-statement, but I was so impressed with the feel of the movie that I felt a little exaggeration wouldn't hurt. And why haven't I heard of the band N'shukugama Boys before? They supplied the ideal soundtrack to the film's finale.

It's a shame there wasn't more of Naka Riisa, but I enjoyed what few scenes she had. Aso Kumiko is heart-breaking as the romance that never was, and although Yoko Maki is on the posters as if she's a potential love interest, she's really just a co-worker who despairs of Yukiyo's attempts a getting a woman.

So, this is a great film for a wide variety of reasons. You can understand it just fine if you haven't seen the TV series, so there's no reason not to track this down and take a look.

Just finished: Lucky Seven

* spoilers *

I have to admit I stopped watching this until I could check if Eita really did return in the last episode. When I quickly searched the final part and saw that he was in it, I watched the final three episodes together. To be honest, it was a bit of a slog, and not really worth it in the end.

The final story concerns a murder that happened sixteen years ago, that caused the Lucky Seven detective agency to be founded. We discover that Eita's character has been working undercover on this case since he went missing back in episode three.

And the series ends as it began, with lots of fight scenes (this time, almost everyone gets to have a go) and there's also quite a lot of thoughtful reflecting, and realising who your friends really are, and other noble things, too.

But despite all the time and effort that has been spent on this show, it still didn't quite work. The gap without Eita was just too long, and the series could've lost a couple of episodes to speed things along. Or better, if Eita had left in episode five or six, to give the characters more time together before his mysterious disappearance.

But this series was okay, which seems like a very mean thing to say about a show that's clearly had a lot of work put into it. But Naka Riisa was underused, and some of the stories didn't make much sense, and all the pieces didn't quite fit together as I hoped they might.

Actually, I'm surprised by how little I have to say about this show. It was good, and then not so good but still okay, and then it ended.

Still watching: Lucky Seven

Well, this is interesting. A story about two conflicting characters where one of the characters suddenly leaves. I've just watched episode six, and it's been three episodes since Eita's been a central character after he went on the run from the police and then left the company. Of course, the story's been set up so that a return is likely, but while he's away, this show is sorely lacking its central theme.

Not that the show is particularly bad, but the cracks are beginning to show. Matsumoto Jun doesn't have anyone to play against without Eita, and any hope that Naka Riisa might fill that role hasn't been fulfilled. Most of the time, she's carrying around a small dog which kind of limits her involvement.

So, as it stands, we've got a drama in search of a finale. It's as if the series is waiting for Eita to return (and it would be a shame if he didn't) and until that happens, here's some stories to fill the time.

Currently watching: Lucky Seven

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.

Looking forward

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.

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

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.

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

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

Just watched: Café Isobe

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 watched: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

This is the latest in what seems to be a long line of drama/anime adaptations of the original novel from 1967 (interestingly, now the novel is so old that in this version the girl leaps back in time to the 1970s, after the novel was written). I’ve not seen any of the other versions, so I can’t compare them.

Naka Riisa stars in the lead role as the girl who drinks an elixir that would take her back to a time if she speaks the date out loud. This is so she can give a message to a schoolboy friend of her mother, but she misremembers the date and arrives two years too late.

This story then turns into a mystery (the boy she’s looking for doesn’t seem to exist) and a romance (with the film-making student who helps her) with a bit of science fiction thrown in. But these different genres all fit together well and the story is strong enough to keep everything together.

I can only guess at how accurately it recreates Japan in the 70s, but the from what I remember of my own childhood, the clothes seem spot on. The final scene, with the girl back in the present time watching the film made back in the 70s is quite a tearjerker. There’s something about 8mm film that seems to evoke the idea of memory and nostalgia. Perhaps that’s just because I’m old. Maybe people born in the 80s feel the same way about VHS.

Just finished: Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo

* spoilers, mmmkay? *

 

And so this series ends on an uplifting note after problems with the law meant that Haruko-sensei was unable to complete the course along with her students. But, luckily, she comes back for the next term and so do her class. So, despite nobody getting what they wanted at the start of the series, it all ends happily.

I'm still not sure about this show, though. It never seemed to know what it was about: the Japanese language, being foreign in Japan, or a straight comedy. The storylines were hard to believe, and so was some of the acting, but despite that I kept coming back. It must've had something to recommend it... but I can't quite put my finger on it just now...

One thing I will say: while I was watching this, I started thinking that there's a gap in the market for a sort of Japanese QI, which talks about all the quirks of Japanese culture in an intelligent and funny way. Sometimes Nihonjin no... is informative but then a few seconds later it tries too hard to be funny. Meanwhile Japanology is interesting, but too serious. If there was something in the middle, I'd be very happy.

Continuing: Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo

Okay, I'll admit it. I'm confused. Episode seven has cleared up a few things regarding various students' nationalities, with a couple of unexpected twists. Paul, the suave Mediterranean type, turns out to be English and not a suave Mediterranean type, as I first assumed. Meanwhile the stone-faced businessman turns out to be American, but I thought he was English. And the otaku is Italian, not French. Although the black guy is American, as I first guessed, so I got one right at least.

Meanwhile, the show remains an oddity. I still don't know what to make of it. The most recent episode touches upon the Japanese tendency to be disappointed when foreigners become too... well... too Japanese. It doesn't explain why, though. I'd guess it's something to do with living in such a culturally homogeneous country, meeting a foreigner is a chance to experience something different. Or maybe not.

But this isn't the program to go into these problems, as the storyline stays light and humourous, and it tries to pack everything into half an hour. Asking it to do a thesis every week on Japanese attitudes to other cultures is probably asking a bit much.

That stuff about why "aoi" means blue and green was pretty interesting, though.

Still Watching: Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo

So, episode two is subbed and I'm pleased to say I'm starting to warm to the characters. Plus it does teach you a bit about Japanese. And it looks like each student will get an episode to themselves, so I'm interested to see what happens with English guy or the (French?) otaku.

Although the programme does highlight a problem I've noticed in other shows – getting foreign actors who can act in Japanese. For example, I can't tell if the student in this episode is supposed to be a cold Russian ice queen, or simply cannot act (although bless her for doing her best when singing enka). But I guess the pool of bi-lingual acting talent isn't that huge.

Currently watching: Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo

British people of a certain age will remember a sitcom called Mind Your Language, set in an English As A Foreign Language class, full of ethnic minorities recently arrived on the shores of the UK. Given the same premise, this show ("Japanese Words that the Japanese Don't Know", more or less) could bring back some odd memories of racial stereotypes from the 1970s, a time when saying things like "I tolerate coloured people" was considered the height of sophisticated multiculturalism. It's an unfortunate connection and perhaps a little unfair, but it's one I can't shake.

On the other hand, watching it did also bring back memories of when I was an English teacher, and being stumped when someone asked why a particular phrase is worded in such a way. Also, the idea that foreigners can't wash up properly reminded me of when my Italian ex-girlfriend explained how odd it looked to her when we English don't rinse our plates after washing, and just leave them on the draining board covered in soap-suds.

So, clearly, this show is well-observed and it struck a chord with me. But despite that, I found myself waiting for it to get better. I didn't really like any of the characters and some of the acting is a bit wobbly. I'll watch a couple, just to see if it just needs a while to get going but as it stands, this is pretty missable.