I had really loved the first season of "Jikou Keisatsu", so it was with pretty high expectations that I watched the second season, aka "Kaette Kita Jikou Keisatsu", which ended up being, alas, a little weaker, at least in my humble opinion.
The cast did very well, once again (and I really appreciated that they added Saori, as I've always had a soft spot for her - too bad she doesn't have many main roles in her filmography! But that's another story...).
The music was as adorable as it was in the first installment, of course - as it was the same, LOL - and the "packaging" was also on par with the previous season (nothing worth calling home about, but at the same time nothing terrible).
Imho what's changed for the worst, even though only slightly, was the script. Some episodes were better than others, and that's to be expected; but I got the feeling that the comedy was not as funny, some scenes tried too hard with mixed results.
Still, it's pretty enjoyable if you don't mind the quirkiness typical of many dramas starring Odagiri! 7/10

Leia Mais

Being the fan of Japanese horror that I am, I couldn't pass on this "Higanjima", for a number of reasons: the tremendously interesting premise and setting (a remote and pictoresque Japanese island taken over by a bunch of vampires!), the fact that it wasn't subbed (more often than not, at least recently, that's kinda proof of a series' potential - the ones getting subbed being more and more often the "westernized", modern ones that copy abundantly from Hollywood and/or South Korea) and last but not least, the cast (I've always been a big fan of Satou Megumi, an actress I really love and can't help but think she's horribly underrated, alas; at the same time, I also really like Suzuki Ryohei).
Upon watching it, I can in all fairness say that I wasn't let down.
True, the series could have been even better (heck, "freaking masterpiece" would be the right definition then) if it had had a more brilliant and conclusive finale. But it's still a very solid 8 in my book!

Leia Mais

Every now and then, Japan offers us a production that leaves you in awe for, like, 90% of its duration, only to suddenly (and awfully!) fail in the final part.
It's been for example the case of movies like "Metro ni Notte" or "Blindly in Love" - while watching them, I seriously thought I was gonna give both a "perfect 10"....until they tried hard to ruin everything in the finale.
It is unfortunately also the case of this "Shiori to Shimiko no Kaiki Jikenbo": until the very last episode, it was a crazily funny run, filled with tremendously original and brilliant ideas...but then the last episode was a complete U-turn, silly, uninspired, annoyingly boring, Now, the problem with stuff like this is it's hard to grade them; were I to consider everything but the last episode, I would seriously give this a 10; if, on the other had, I only considered the last episode, of course it'd be a 1 (and only 'cause we can't give less than that). I'll try to pretend the last episode didn't happen and grade this series as a pretty decent 8.

p.s.
I had some weird fun imagining a possible explanation of how that abominable last episode came to be:

"It was originally supposed to be only 12 episodes, as the last week of the season [Japanese TV annual schedule consisting of four seasons of 13 weeks each] was supposed to be reserved for a SP episode of a different drama. Due to a number of unforeseeable circumstances [a scandal involving the cast? technical problems? whatever...], the SP got canceld within but a few days from airing time. At that point, it was decided to produce a 13th episode of this drama, but by then, as it happens, it was Golden Week so 99% of the staff was not at work; the script was done by an aquaintance's cousin's son who said he could write it, and got greenlighted by the studio's janitor [the closest thing to a person of authority that could be found on such short notice], a foreign national who had actually lied on his being able to read kanji in order to get the job. And the rest is history..."

p.p.s.
If you happen to be a fan of Maeda Atsuko, this is a must watch, as she's absolutely A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E in here! ^___-

Leia Mais

I normally am quite a fan of Japanese horror, of which I tend to really appreciate the atmosphere, the ability to frighten without having to be gory (quite the opposite, actually!) and last but certainly not least the normally nice and ethical message they manage to convey.
It was thusly with pretty high expectations that I've watched this "Akuryo Byoutou", even more so considering my beloved Kaho stars in it (and at least she didn't let me down in the least, gorgeous and brilliant as always, seriously! ^____-).
The rest of the cast provided mixed performances (as is to be expected of this genre, let's face it).
The music and the rest of the "packaging" (direction, editing, photography, etc.) were OK.
Unfortunately, the story ended up being the weak point of the series; way too many flashbacks in the first half of the drama (to the point that you'd watch an episode, think nothing of it, and then appreciate some details only through next episode's flashbacks - rinse & repeat) and way too few good ideas in the second half.

Leia Mais

If you like Japanese horror, give this drama a try!!!
The premise is as interesting and original as they come, *artistic* in the true sense of the word (that is, without ever being the least bit *artsy*). It's a little hard to judge the acting, due to the static quality of the series (it's like a "manga for TV", so as to speak), but anyway I can't find any major fault in it, so it's all good.
As for the stories, as it is to be expected in such cases, alongside little masterpieces, there are also much weaker episodes. Had they kept only the top of the crop, I would've given this a perfect 10, seriously!
As is, it's still a solid 8 in my book! ^____-

Leia Mais

I honestly didn't have high expectations (if any at all!) about this "Crime Family", but it has really surprised me in such a tremendously positive way!
The premise is pretty absurd but still quite interesting, and I'm happy to be able to say that it was very well developed, coming up with a short (heck, TOO short! >____________<) drama that stands out for its originality (LOL, those "quiz" scenes are a) really creative, and b) a nice, witty touch - most of all considering how they contain the key message of the series! ^___-)
The cast did a very good job (with a particular mention for Ohkura Koji who's always brilliant, imho), the music and production value are OK, and all in all it's a cute lil' drama with a wholesome message about the importance of family. Highly recommended! ^___-

Leia Mais

Being a big fan of Japanese baseball (as well as of the "supokon" manga genre so popular in Japan - to name but one author: Adachi Mitsuru!!!), I had really great expectations for this "Yowakutemo Katemasu" aka "Baseball Brainiacs". Unfortunately it couldn't really live up to the tremendously interesting premise (reminiscent of the "Moneyball" story, for those of you familiar with the Oakland Athletics management's "sabermetric" approach to baseball, popularized by Michael Lewis' book, adapted into a movie starring Brad Pitt): how could a weak team, made of students spending a lot more time with books than with bats and gloves, get a chance to win against all those yakyuu clubs competing twice a year to get to the Koushien (the Japanese High School Baseball Tournament, held in the eponimous stadium in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture)?
I was expecting a lot of witty tips and so much strategy to make even your regular chess player pale in comparison, but nope, all we got instead were a bunch of "motivational speeches" filled with, let's be honest, boring bla-bla, and guess what, the obvious "practice your swing a thousand times a day"...duh!
Too bad, 'cause the cast did pretty well, and the characters were mostly interesting; the drama also had OK music and a decent production value, so it could've been much, much better, had the writer had a proper knowledge of baseball and more respect for the game and for the baseball fans among the viewers.
(it didn't help either that the original subber also showed no knowledge of baseball, constantly confusing "strikes" with "hits", *sighs* >__<)

Leia Mais

This "Tsuribaka Nisshi" is adapted from a tremendously successful manga, whose publication started back in 1979 (LOL it's almost as old as me, kudos for that!) and has by now reached the incredible number of 128 volumes (yep, ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT! Not many mangas can get close to that!!!). Not only that; as popular as it it, it's been adapted into more than twenty movies (curious detail, Nishida played Hama-chan in the movies, and Suu-chan in the drama), into an anime and last but not least also into this drama, sporting two seasons and two SP episodes.
It's easy to understand why this story's so popular, watching this first season: the sheer humaneness of the characters, the many hilarious scenes, the overall heartwarming atmosphere and messages conveyed...what's not to like, seriously? Too bad there were a coupla not-so-well written episodes, otherwise it would've been a perfect 10.
The cast was also commendable, they were all absolutely great, a virtual standing ovation for them all!
A very nice and catchy music and a better than average production value complete the package!
p.s.
Unfortunately, the second season saw a terrible drop in quality: everything that here worked as a clockwork, there has been exaggerated to the point of embarrassment - if you pardon the culinary metaphor, it was as a chef who, upon noticing that adding a spoon of vinegar and a pinch of pepper to the sauce made it delicious, decided to add a liter of vinegar and a kg of pepper the next time; unsurprisingly, it ended up being terrible).

Leia Mais

I wanted to watch this "Million Joe" for a coupla reasons: on the one hand, I've been reading manga since my late 20s (I'm close to 50 now, so feel free to do the math, LOL) so I'm always interested in watching dramas that portray manga artists and the harsh reality of their job; on the other hand (and I'll be honest, this was an even stronger motive!), the lovely Imaizumi Yui (who's been my first "oshimen" when I got into idol groups) stars in it.
And man, her amazing acting talent (shown in all its glory mostly in the next to last episode where she really steals the scene!!!) make me even more outraged at the sad fact that she decided to retire from the scenes due to a paparazzi persecution (BTW, imho paparazzi share with pimps and banksters the dubious "honor" of deserving the title of "scum of the earth" - but that's another story).
Anyway Zuumin ain't the only one acting well here, the whole cast was really good, also thanks to a pretty well-written script that managed to keep the viewer's attention till the end. Add a nice production value and some equally nice music, and the result is a tremendously interesting drama that might not be absolutely perfect, but gets really close to it! Highly recommended!

Leia Mais

"Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo" was originally a novel, first published between 1965 and 1966, from which sprang a plethora of different adaptations: four dramas (including this one), four movies, a stage play, a manga and a world-acclaimed and überfamous animated movie, ten years older than this drama.
Now, the big problem with doing the Nth adaptation of such a famous story is that you risk either being too faithful to the original (and/or to a previous adaptation which got even more famous than the original, as it might've been the case here), thus resulting bland, unoriginal etc....or else doing just the opposite, that is, adapting it too freely, changing too much and therefore ending up enraging the fans.
That's why taking up such a challenge ain't no easy task, and I'm sorry to say that imho the screenwriter didn't do such a good job. The story manages to be more faithful to the original book than to the anime in some parts, and that's kinda nice...but then the too many new elements felt unnecessary and detrimental to the overall quality of the script. A coupla side stories showed potential, but were way too short due to the drama having only five episodes (which begs the question: why bother with side stories then?). All in all, I'd say it felt as if the author tried too hard to please the modern public's tastes (real or perceived).
The cast did well, and the "packaging" is the best aspect of the drama: great direction, editing and photography, lovely scenery, nice music.
You'll probably appreciate this more if you've never read or seen the original or one (or more) of its many adaptations, imho.

Leia Mais

In my reviews, I've often criticized this or that director for being "the Nth victim of the nefarious influence of the French 'nouvelle vague' and 'Cahiers du Cinéma'...", but I wouldn't want to give off the wrong idea that I have a beef with French cinematography altogether. Nothing like that. I only dislike pretentious and "artsy" stuff like "À bout de souffle", whereas I *adore* the *real* art of directors like, for example, Jacques Tati...whom I'd bet has been of inspiration to this tremendously nice "Kaito Ruby"! ^___-
The relaxed and funny atmosphere, the light romance, the splendid cinematography, the lovely music...it's a great watch, wholeheartedly recommended to all those who can appreciate such "oldies but goldies"!
The only reason why I don't give it a perfect 10 is that imho the plot is a bit too flimsy...had they gone a little deeper with that, it would've been absolutely perfect...still, it's very close! 9/10

Leia Mais

Amidst the plethora of high-school related dramas featuring the "inspiring teacher" trope, this "Dragon Zakura" stands out for a few reasons: first of all, that the "teacher" in question is actually not a teacher, but a lawyer (and there your "suspension of disbelief" superpowers will need to strongly assist you, 'cause the guy doesn't do anything even remotely related to a lawyer's job throughout the whole drama, LOL); secondly, because as an experienced teacher myself, I must say that some of the tips given by Sakuragi-sensei and his talented colleagues (I'm referring of course to the teachers he brings with him, not to the ones already in the school - those and the moronic principal should jump off a cliff and the cosmos wouldn't be any worse for that, quite the opposite, ehm), I was saying, some of the tips Sakuragi&Friends give are not only extremely accurate, but also denote, at least imho, that they originated from someone (I suppose, the manga author, right?) with both teaching experience and wits. And that, by itself, would deserve a 10.
Unfortunately, there are a few details I couldn't help but frown upon; I've already named a coupla (the school's "teachers" + why a *lawyer* as ML, for crying out loud?!? Pardon me, but I'm afraid I'm a true Shakespearean there - LOL some of you will get what I mean, otherwise google "Shakespeare" and "lawyers" ^__-), but there are more, for example the hairstyle of most characters (basically all but Sakuragi, Okuno and Mizuno - why all those yankee/gyaru-looking characters? Thus perpetuating the typical living oxymoron of youngsters thinking that they're being rebels while all they're actually doing is to follow the musical system's dictates - which means, establishmentarianism at its worst...), the obnoxious evil twin (who would deserve to end up like the villain in Kusturica's "Black Cat, White Cat"!!!), and most of all (don't worry, no spoilers, I promise) an ending which I actually found a bit unsatisfying.
All things considered, it's still a very solid drama. 8/10

Leia Mais

Hidden gem, highly recommended!

This dorama is yet another example of how many Japanese masterpieces are out there, vastly ignored by the Western audience.
Now, since it's unsubbed, I've watched this by helping my little more than basic knowledge of Japanese with self-made machine-translated subs (nothing too complicated: you just take the Japanese subs, run them through a machine-translation site, and then retime them to the RAWs by removing the commercial breaks gaps).
And I'm so happy I did, 'cause this is the very definition of "hidden gem", seriously!

A marvelous script, mixing quirky and lovable characters with hilarious comedy elements and deeply humane moments.
A great performance by the main cast (kudos to all four of them! I wanted to watch it 'cause my beloved Moririn and Sakai Wakana are in it - the former is not only such a marvelous actress, but also at the top of her beauty in this; and the latter is always a pleasure to watch, period. But both Mikami Hiroshi and Toyohara Kosuke were *absolutely* great too! Well done, guys!).
Some *fantastic* music (some of the OST reminds a lot the best Goran Bregovic tunes from Kusturica's movies!), great direction/editing/photography complete the package.
Perfect 10!

Leia Mais

A refreshingly light approach

The "FL with a terminal illness" trope is one that has been used (and sometimes, abused) over and over in Japanese cinematography, be it in movies or in dramas. It would therefore be quite understandable that viewers might feel a bit wary of the Nth tale featuring said trope. But if they were to shy away from this movie because of that, well, they'd make a terrible mistake, imho. This one is a fresh take on the old trope, graced by some nice writing, by a fantastic performance from both leads (Nagasaku Hiromi and Sasaki Kuranosuke), and last but not least, by a light approach on this tough topic which gives it a somehow original flavor.

Leia Mais

Great mystery part, a bit lacking action-wise and in the comedy

A bit weaker than the first movie, this "Detective Chinatown 2" is imho extremely good in the mystery part, where it manages to be interesting and quite gripping, while it lacks a little action-wise, particularly if compared to the previous movie (I suppose that setting it in New York City didn't help with that - I hope the Tokyo setting will provide better action opportunities in the third chapter!). The comedy is also definitely not as effective as it was in the original movie: Tang Ren's character is often way over the top and sometimes even borderline annoying; also the supporting characters left me with mixed feelings, a few of them are a nice touch (like the cute hacker), but most of the others are little more than extras and don't add much at all.

Leia Mais