Watching again: Camouflage: Aoi Yu x Yottsu no Uso

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.

Re-watching: Camouflage: Aoi Yu x Yottsu no Uso

Since it’s up on Silent Regrets [edit: well, it was while Silent Regrets was there...], why not write about it again?

This show from 2008 is a twelve part series containing four stories based on the theme of Lies. It’s the same concept as Ueno Juri to Itsutsu no Kaban, and perhaps is similar to this year’s Tofu Shimai, starring another upcoming actress, Yoshitaka Yuriko. I don’t know for sure because, despite my efforts, I can’t find it on the web anywhere. Sad face.

The format of each episode is that there's a short drama section which is between some interviews and specially comissioned photos. It’s a bit like watching the DVD extras of something before you’ve watched it.













Story one (episodes one to three) is great. It begins with the death of a boyfriend, and tells three stories based on the events that follow. Episode two, in which Yu’s character keeps herself asleep with pills so she can dream about him, is a favourite of mine and is an episode I keep coming back to. So is episode three, with Nukumizu Youichi as her cat who takes on human form.

While the first two are filmed in a naturalistic style, the third part is performed on a stage and filmed as a theatre piece. It neatly finishes the narrative, with the story explaining, from a cat’s point of view, the basics of being happy. I love these episodes – they’re beautifully shot and acted, and it’s interesting to note in the interview bit afterwards, Aoi Yu says she hasn’t acted in a theatre setting before so she was quite nervous.

 
Story two (eps four to six) has quite a different feel. It concerns itself with unrequited love – the boyfriend being unable to tell Yu how he feels about her. Meanwhile, Yu has a hobby (Is that the right word? How about “fetish” or “compulsion”?) of running as far and as fast as she can for ten minutes while inventing stories about why she’s running. The stories she comes up with are quite funny, and so is the bumbling boyfriend, but after the comedy the story ends on quite a tragic note. Or does it? I’m not sure I understand the ending, so I can’t really say.

Story three (eps seven to nine) is one of those pieces of drama which you don’t really like until you watch it again, and then you remember the good bits about it. The story is about three sisters who share an apartment. Episode seven is shot in the style of a sitcom, episode eight in the style of a daytime soap opera, and episode nine is supposed to be the final episode of a long running series.

It’s difficult to write about this one. The sitcom bit is funny, and the soap opera bit is over-acted (and why do they have such shiny faces in that episode?) which leaves the third part to be the sensible one, and it focuses on a confession about one of the sister’s love life. It doesn’t have much of an identity, and so it’s a bit forgettable. Until you watch it again.

Story four (eps ten to twelve) is almost as good as story one. From the same director as “One Million Yen Girl”, this is a sort of semi-sequel, as we see more of Aoi Yu’s character in the film. The first part is about a college student who is caught out on her constant lying. I really like this, not least because Aoi Yu does a bit of cosplay (as a raccoon).

The second is a real gem, and tells the tale of two of Yu’s co-workers who fall in love and, being poor, both try to sacrifice too much for the other’s happiness. The third is a tale about Aoi Yu splitting up with her unfaithful boyfriend, and not being believed when she tells people she’s not that upset about it. It’s shot in such a style that you can only Yu’s face when she's talking to others - they're shot from behind, or are standing up while she's sitting down, etc. It's quite disconcerting.

This series is certainly among my favourites. So much so that when I went to Japan, picking up a cheap (relatively speaking – it was still about £75!) DVD box set of this was on my list of things to do. By the way, that’s where I got the scans for this review from. This show is inventive and original and it's one that I often come back to, and it never gets old.

J-dramas that should be shown in the UK

I sometimes try to work out which J-dramas would make it onto British screens. Unlikely, since UK television has an aversion to any foreign shows with only Wallander from Sweden having a series on BBC3, although an episode of the Italian detective series Montalbano was shown once in 2008.

Given the nature of British TV, of course, most Japanese stuff simply wouldn't make it. The female characters are often too subservient or girly, or in the case of hard-hitting dramas, the bitter pill of social injustice is smothered by a sweet sub-plot, in which the teenage thug really does love his mother, or the murderer was trying to avenge the honour of his father.

So, here's my list of shows that would comfortably make it onto British screens. Not necessarily prime-time on a major channel, but they could find a home somewhere and not look out of place. I've put them in order from “no changes at all” to “needs quite a bit of work done to it”. And I've added where in the schedule they might fit. Ah, I missed my vocation – I should've been a programme planner.

1. Jikou Keisatsu
I've only recently started watching this, which is why I haven't mentioned it before. This is a detective series in which a policeman has a hobby where he investigates crimes that happened over 15 years ago and so cannot be brought to trial. Directed by Satoshi Miki and starring Odagiri Joe and Aso Kumiko, it's very funny and intelligently written. I'd put this on instead of Atami no Sousakan (same director, same cast) because Atami's constant Twin Peaks references would have people complaining it was just a rip-off, but this stands on its own two feet and I think it needs no changes at all to work abroad.
Channel: BBC2 or Channel 4, around 9 or 10 o'clock

2. Ueno Juri no Itsutsu no Kaban
No need for explanations, since I've written about this before. This series of short dramas is quiet and quirky, and would work fine pretty much as they are.
Channel: BBC2, after Newsnight. 11.15 ish

3. Galileo
I watched this ages ago, and keep meaning to write about it, but never seem to find the time. A scientist genius is used by the police to solve seemingly impossible crimes. The writing is great, and the explanations never disappoint in their ingenuity.
Channel: Late night ITV3, I reckon

4. Ashita no, Kita Yoshio
When people think of the Japanese, they tend to think of high suicide rates so I do wonder if this show (about a man who's decided to commit suicide in eleven days) would only reinforce that stereotype. But the series is so good that I'd take that risk.
Channel: BBC3 or 4 perhaps?

5. Akihabara@Deep
Definitely not prime time, but would easily fill a gap for cult movie-watchers and otaku. Some of the jokes may not make any sense to the British, but what the hell. Put it all on. Its energy and originality should be enough.
Channel: E4... or perhaps it could just make it onto Channel 4

6. Camouflage
While this show is excellent, I can't se your average UK viewer sitting through the intro and outro of every episode. So with a bit of editing, I think you've got a very strong four part series.
Channel: similar to Itsutsu no Kaban, so again BBC2, after Newsnight. 11.15 ish

7. Lost Time Life
The first J-drama I ever watched and still one of my favourites. But let's be honest, not all of the ten episodes are great and the one about food is simply too Japanese. People will ask themselves: what's so great about sukiyaki? Cut it down to a six-parter and you've got something special.
Channel: late night BBC3

8. Anego
Another series I haven't written about yet. Hmmm, I feel like I should apologise. Anyway, this show is about an office lady who hits 30 and has no husband and no sign of any coming soon. A sort of Japanese Bridget Jones. Shinohara Ryoko is fantastic in the lead role, and while the storyline may be a bit wobbly in places, this could work. Just about. A bit of editing, maybe?
Channel: Hmm... E4?

9. Puzzle
This series is great. Funny and mysterious. Unfortunately, episode one relies on a word puzzle that most British people would get in seconds, thus making the audience wonder what all the fuss is about. Not sure how you'd get round that. It'd need a lot of editing. After that, though, this would work fine.
Channel: E4

10. Liar Game
This would need a complete remake. The female lead is too passive for British audiences, and the number of crash zooms in an average scene is ridiculous. But if they do make it for British audiences, I think it would work well. Geeky things are in vogue just now.
Channel: Hey, if you give it to Steven Moffat, BBC1!

I am success

Wow, has it really been a week since I last posted? Since then I've been to and come back from Tokyo, where I found a second hand (but pristine) Camouflage for around seventy five pounds. I can't see it getting any cheaper than that.

And I went to Akihabara, as if the rest of Tokyo wasn't enough of a sensory overload, and found the little shrine that they use in episode one of Akihabara@Deep.

But perhaps most surprising of all was when I was sitting in a park, when I realised that a reflection of a crane in a building looked like Godzilla!

Recommended: One Million Yen Girl

I’m on a bit of an Aoi Yu trip at the moment, what with Dr Koto’s Clinic, Osen and now this film, One Million Yen Girl and the Nigamushi Woman. In this, Yu plays a woman who gets a criminal record after she’d removed all of her flatmates possessions in revenge for him throwing a cat out of the flat, which then died.

Rather than put up with all the local gossip about her, she decides to travel from town to town, looking for work so she can save one million yen to get her own place. So the film is episodic in that each of the three jobs she does has its own little story. During her travels she writes cheerful letters to her younger brother, unaware that he’s being bullied at school.

While the central theme is at first appealing – no ties, free to wander, the horizon is your next destination etc, by the end the film is clear which of the two lives it considers more worthy: the brother’s inability to leave his problems behind lead to him facing them square on. When Aoi Yu’s character receives a letter from her brother and learns about the troubles he’s had, she decides to return to her family.

It’s a low-key drama or, if you prefer, an even more low-key comedy. It’s similar to Camouflage (and the TV channel WOWOW had a hand in producing both) and in fact, Aoi Yu’s character in this film makes an appearance the TV show too. I really enjoyed it - the episodic nature meant that no story outstayed its welcome, and the ambiguous ending (was her last line meant for her ex or for the audience?) left me pondering for some time.

Recommended: Camouflage: Aoi Yu x Yottsu no Uso

This post is a lesson in why it's not a good idea to put things off. I meant to write about this sometime ago - indeed, the sole commentator on this blog to date mentioned it, so it's been in my mind for a while. However, I never did, and then I learnt that Viikii (the site currently hosting it) is about to go legit and carry only shows it has a licence for, so I figured any second now it'd disappear from the internet.

However, that was some weeks ago, and it's still up on Viikii (EDIT: no it isn't) so I thought I'd write about it, even though I'm quite sure that any day now it'll be taken down. Especially now I've posted about it.

Camouflage is basically a vehicle for Aoi Yu, in the same way that Ueno Juri to Itsutsu no kaban was for Ueno Juri. A TV station, WOWOW, takes a new acting talent and films a series of short dramas with them in the lead. Camouflage has the recurring theme of lies through its four stories filmed by four directors, and all are of such a high standard that it stands alongside Lost Time Life as one of my favourite pieces of Japanese TV.

Especially fine is episode two (the four stories are split across twelve episodes) which is a fantastic piece of drama. Aoi Yu's late boyfriend comes back to her in dreams, so she starts taking sleeping pills to spend more time with him while they slowly realise that hanging on to the relationship is unhealthy and they have to say goodbye. Obviously shot on a cheap budget, it still looks good and the performances are perfect. By some distance, this episode is my most-watched piece of japanese drama, and episodes one and three (which complete the first story) are also of the highest quality.



The rest of the series never quite reaches the heights of the first story, but they're all excellent and all quite different. Indeed, the directors often change styles from episode to episode - in particular one story begins as a sitcom and is then shot as a soap opera in the next.

Inventive and touching, this series is a must-see for anyone with a heart.