Currently watching: Maybe Lee Jaram Band

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

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

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

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

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

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

* 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.