Japanese Drama – Boss

Boss Japanese Drama

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Country: Japan, 2009
Director: Mitsuno Michio, Ishii Yusuke
Cast:Amami Yuki, Takenouchi Yutaka, Tamayama Tetsuji, Toda Erika, Mizobata Junpei, Kichise Michiko, Kendo Kobayashi, Nukumizu Youichi
Type: Action, Crime
Rating: 4/5

Summary: It starts with the creation of a new division, the Countermeasures Divison and Osawa Eriko (Amami Yuki) is appointed the head of it. She is given recruits from other divisions, however, it seems like the recruits are the misfits of each department. First, we have Katagiri Takuma (Tamayama Tetsuji) who has leadership qualities but can’t fire a gun for beans. He also distrusts the police/justice organization, so does not like to work overtime. Next, we have Kimoto Mami (Toda Erika). She is brilliant with technology stuff and working on the crime scene, however, she lacks enthusiasm and likes to take naps Next is Hanagata Ippei (Mizobata Junpei). He’s more of the rookie in the team and makes up for Kimoto’s lack of enthusiasm. Then we have Iwai Zenji (Kendo Kobayashi) and Yamamura Keisuke (Nukumizu Youichi). These two tend to stick together and investigate leads of potential suspects, etc. However, Iwai is gay and Yamamura-san is a bit absent-minded. The team seems to get along, dispite differences and they are really work well together by the end of the series, especially after some of the group members are endangered (dont want to spoil anything!).

At first, the division is not taken seriously and they are given menial tasks such as putting on safety skits for children. They end up getting some big cases and Osawa Eriko proves that she is an excellent detective. She has the knack and skills for profiling criminals and this, along with her team members, helps her to solve seemingly confusing cases.

Impression: I really liked this drama because I like detective shows and because they have some really good actors in this drama. Each episode is a case (sometimes the case is over 2 episodes) and the way that Osawa Eriko solves them is amazing! So much human psychology going on. Sometimes it was a bit laggy and too action-packed, but that’s just me. A lot of the cases are terrorist-related, but that’s okay, I guess. They were also able to incorporate some personal storylines surrounding Osawa Eriko as well. No romantic parts, but I guess that’s not the focus of the drama. I loved the ending! so surprising.

As for actors, I really admire Toda Erika becuase she can play so many different roles and becuase she’s so cute! hahaha. Another good actor is Nukumizu Youichi (who plays Yamamura). He’s actually the teacher from Lovely Complex (Love Com) a very cute and light-hearted movie. He looks exactly the same with a similar role.

I watched it at mysoju.com. Check it out! I really like it becuase it’s like Sherlock Holmes or Encyclopedia Brown, but Japanese!

Japanese Movie – Koizora (2007)

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Alternative Titles: 恋空, Sky of Love
Country: Japan, 2007
Director: Natsuki Imai
Cast: Yui Aragaki, Haruma Miura
Type: School, Romance, Melodrama
Rating: 1/5

Summary: Hiro Sakurai is the rebel of the school with bleached hair. Mika Tahara is a quiet, sweet girl who’s afraid of Hiro. One day, she loses her cell phone, only to find it again in the library. It turns out that Hiro stole Mika’s phone to get the number and then he calls her at home. Over summer they talk on phone and fall in love. Mika doesn’t know who he is, and is curious to find out his identity. When school starts again, she realizes that the person on the phone is Hiro and is at first apprehensive. Then she decides to trust him (becuase he’s so sweet) and they start to date, despite the fact that his ex-girlfriend and friends plans to break them up. Suddenly, Hiro breaks up with Mika for no apparent reason in their sophmore year of high school and disappears. It’s not until university when she finds out what really happened to Hiro.

Impression: I didn’t care for this movie because I disagree with the morals and it was really sad. Not my cup of tea. First of all, if they really loved each other, they would tell each other the truth…even if it hurts. love doesn’t always feel good/happy, but it’s about being honest. At least she found out the truth at the end. The plot is pretty standard and the characters aren’t special, although there were some really sweet scenes between Hiro and Mika. I wonder if the drama will be different from the movie. I watched the movie on mysoju.com. Check it out if you liked “…ing” (Korean movie) or “Millionaire’s First Love” (Korean movie).

Japanese Movie – Udon

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Country: Japan, 2006
Director: Katsuyuki Motohiro
Cast: Kaname Jun, Katagiri Jin, Kiba Katsumi, Kinishi Manami, Kohinata Fumiyo, Masu Takeshi, Matsumoto Tortoise, Suzuki Kyoka, Yusuke Santamaria
Type: Comedy, drama
Rating: 3.5/5

Summary: Kosuke Matsui (Yusuke Santamaria), a failed-comic returns from New York, to his hometown, Kagawa Prefecture, to his family. His father owns a udon restaurant and his whole family works there. Kosuke starts to work in flailing publishing company and decides to make this company famous by developing a local guide book/magazine/column of his hometown and all the udon restaurants they have there. This instant-hit column brings lots of changes to the little village and also to the Kosuke’s family dynamics.

Impression: I learned how to make udon from this movie! Didn’t turn out too well, but I guess I’ll try again. Now to the movie. I remember watching this one twice and it was very entertaining. I got hungry just by watching the udon chefs making their dishes. This movie speaks a lot about fixing things. Kosuke seems to be the person who always wants to fix things (the publishing company, his family, etc), despite his initial failed attempts. Good and light-hearted movie to watch.

Korean Movie – My Mighty Princess

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Country: South Korea, 2008
Director: Jae-young Kwak
Cast: Ohn Joo Wan , Shin Min Ah, Yoo Gun
Type: Action, Romance, Comedy
Rating: 3.5/5

Summary: Kang So-hwi university student. Although she tries to be normal, she is actually part of a martial arts heritage and her parents are part of a group that exists to protect the Green Destiny (I think that’s what it’s called) a Chinese sword. However, it was stolen by Heuk-bong. Heuk-bong disappears, so no one is worried, but now he decides to come back to destroy stuff. The only person who can stop him is So-hwi becuase she can do a special martial arts move (which she inherited from her mother). However, So-hwi refuses because she wants to hang out with her hockey-playing boyfriend and be “normal”. Ilyoung, So hwi’s childhood martial arts friend is asked by So hwi’s father to persuade her to take up training again in order to fight Heuk-bong. He follows her around her school and is like a pestering little brother. Finally, after her father is hurt by trying to fight Heuk-bong, she decides to train and fight Heuk-bong to save the world…little does she know that Heuk-bong isn’t who she thinks he is.

Impression: I kind of forgot what happens, so the summary is really general. They do some really cool martial arts stuff here. A good movie to relax and for some laughs. I don’t really have anything else to say about it.

Japanese Movie – Hana Yori Dango Final

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Country: Japan, 2008
Director: Yasuharu Ishii
Cast: Inoue Mao, Matsumoto Jun, Matsuda Shota, Nishihara Aki, Shun Oguri, Abe Tsuyoshi
Rating: 4/5

Summary: The ending to the popular Hana Yori Dango tv shows (Hana Yori Dango 1 and 2). If you haven’t watched either, here’s a brief synopsis. Makino is a poor girl and Domyoji is a rich boy. They meet in highschool and after a long bullying episode, they fall in love and have to endure a lot of hardships because of their class differences. In the movie, Domyoji wants to marry Makino, but she’s hesitant. They go through more hardships and at the end, they discover the surprising (but also expected) source behind their hardships.

Impression: I watched HanDan 1 and part of HanDan 2 before watching this movie. It was good… a bit of action, some mystery and lots of pretty scenery. The only thing I didn’t really like was that there was a lot of Makino crying/being depressed and Jun yelling/being angry. I liked the sceneries and Jun speaking English (somewhere in the States! California?). He has such good intonation! I watched it on mysoju.

Japanese Movie – Renai Shashin

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Alternative Title: Collage of our Life, Love Photograph, Picture of Love
Country: Japan, 2003
Director:Yukihiko Tsutsumi
Cast: Hirosue Ryoko, Ryuhei Matsuda, Eiko Koike
Type: Melodrama, Romance
Rating: 4.5/5

Summary: Satonaka Shizuru (Hirosue Ryoko) is an impulsive and energetic girl who lives her life to the fullest. Makoto Segawa (Ryuhei Matsuda) is a serious photographer. He first meets Shizuru when she asks him to take a photo of her punching a guy (?!). They start hanging out a lot and she eventually lives with him. At first, Segawa finds her idiocyncracies strange, but he gradually warms up to her and learns to relax. Shizuru takes up photography (becuase she wants to be a part of Segawa’s world). She turns out to be a better photographer than Segawa, so he makes her leave. She goes to the States to become a photographer and Segawa says that he’ll go and find her once he becomes a professional photographer. A few years pass and he receives an invitation from her saying that she’s going to have a photo exhibition and that he should go to American to attend. Once he goes there, Shizuru is nowhere to be found. Things just keep getting stranger and stranger until Segawa finds out the tragic truth (dun dun dunnn!). I can’t give it away, but you can probably figure it out if you’ve watched Tada Kimi.

Impression: This is an awesome movie that taught me a bit about the spirit of photography. It’s related to Tada Kimi wo Aishiteru. I think Tada Kimi is based on this story (the link to crunchyroll above explains the connections well). In comparing Tada Kimi and Renai Shashin, the cinematography of Tada Kimi is better, but I liked the plot fo Renai Shashin better. In both, the photography was outstanding. I found that in Tada Kimi, the photography was more naturey and serene, while in Renai Shashin, the photography was more vivid and urban. Both female roles were quirky, but I found in Tada Kimi, she was more introverted.

Japanese Drama – Seigi no Mikata

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Alternative Titles: Ally of Justice, 正義の味方
Country: Japan, 2008
Director: Nakajima Satoru, Abe Yuichi
Cast: Shida Mirai, Yu Yamada, Osamu Mukai, Hongo Kanata, Irie Jingi, Natsui Runa, Takizawa Saori, Sano Shiro, Tanaka Yoshiko, Tokui Yuu
Type: Comedy, Family
Rating: 5/5

Summary:
Nakata Yoko (Shida Mirai) is a 15-year old high school student who has a “devil” older sister, Nakata Makiko (Yu Yamada). Makiko is a really smart government official, but has trouble making friends with her collegues because she is argumentative. She also has trouble finding love because of her attitude. Yoko is made to do whatever Makiko wants her to do (stalk her crushes, exercise with her, buy her lunch etc).

The main task for Yoko is to stalk Makiko’s collegue, Yoshikawa Naoki (Osamu Mukai) and to get him to start dating Makiko. After they start dating, Yoko is determined to have them get married (so that Makiko is out of the house and Yoko can be at peace).

This drama is called “Seigi no Mikata” (Ally of Justice) becuase all the mean things that Makiko says/does ends up being misinterpreted (according to Yoko) to help society. For example, she insults a famous comedian, telling him to do “para para dance” instead, and he ends up becoming even more famous becuase of the dance.

Impression: This drama was really funny and shows the dynamics of Yoko and Makiko’s relationship. It’s all in the point of view of Yoko, so it’s really exaggerated (and skewed to the idea that Makiko is the devil). Some of the things Yoko has to do is hilarious! At the end, it talks about family/sibling relationships. However, the audiences doesn’t actually know if Makiko likes Yoko, but I think she does.

I think Makiko has a good understanding of how things work/problems in society and addresses those needs…be it in an awkward and not-friendly manner. Yoko, on the other hand, is a Nice Girl and is really determined to help her sister…and everyone around her. In the end, I really saw a similarity between Yoko and Makiko because they both are determined and are really energetic when they know what they want…motives, on the other hand, is another story.

All in all, a funny drama to watch. I didn’t really go into detail about WHAT HAPPENS IN THE DRAMA, because a lot of (random) things happen and it’s complicated. You can watch it at mysoju.com and crunchyroll.com

Japanese Movie – Lovely Complex

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Alternative Titles: ラブ★コン, Rabu★Kon, Love Com
Country: Japan, 2006
Director: Kitaji Ishikawa
Cast: Ema Fujisawa, Teppei Koike, Nami Tamaki
Type: Romance, School, Comedy
Rating: 4/5

***spoilers included
Summary: This movie traces the love life of students as they go through high school (from grade 9-grade 11-I think). Risa Koizumi (Ema Fujisawa) is 172cm tall (5′8″) and, as a result of her height, has never had a boyfriend. She was rejected by a boy she liked becuase she was taller than him, and vowed never to date anyone shorter than her. Atshushi Otani is her classmate and is 156cm tall (5′1″). [side note: Risa's name is 小泉リサ meaning "Small Spring" and Otani's name is 大谷敦士 meaning "Big Valley"] Simliar to Risa, he was rejected by a girl taller than him, so he vows never to date a girl taller than him. So, the two of them meet in first year and they immediately hit it off. They are always bickering and arguing, especially about their height differences. Otani calls Risa “Beanstalk, Giraffe, Amazon etc.” (I don’t know how Amazon refers to her height…and maybe that was in the Anime) and she calls him Midget, Shorty…They also like to call each other Idiot. All their friends think that they are perfect for each other, but they refuse to acknowledge this fact. Their classmates and teacher call them Comedy Duo All Hanshin-Kyojin. I think it has something to do with their height, also, their bickering is funny. Throughout their first year, become really good friends, but don’t have romantic feelings for each other.

They are both fans of a rapper Umibouzu (no one else sees why he’s so good), and they go to see his concerts. One Christmas, they were suppose to go see his concert, but Otani’s old girlfriend invited him to a Christmas party. Risa told him to go, but was feeling lonely becuase she had to go to the concert herself. She starts to fall in love with Otani after he ditches his girlfriend becuase he made a promise to Risa first. From that point on, her feelings for Otani become stronger, but she tries to repress it becuase he’s shorter than her. She feels that he wouldn’t want to date her becuase of her height. Her two closest friends discover her crush and pressure her to confess it to Otani, but she is hesitant.

Korean Movie – Ditto

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Alternative Titles: Donggam
Country: South Korea, 2000
Director: Kim Jong-Kwon
Cast: Kim Ha-Neul, Yoo Ji-Tae, Ha Ji-Won, Park Young-Woo
Type: Romance, Drama, Fantasy, School
Rating: 2/5

Summary: So-Eun (Kim Ha-Neul) is a college student in the year 1979. She has a crush on Dong-Woo (Park Young-Woo), a senior student in the same college. However, she finds it difficult to talk to hem. Somehow, she acquires broken broadcasting radio. She is contacted by Ji-In (Yoo Ji-Tae) who turns out to be another student in the same university. Through conversation, they find out that they are living 21 years apart. Ji-In is a sophomore in the year 2000. At first none of the believe it, but, slowly, they convince each other. They start telling each other about their lives and what’s it like to live in 1979/2000 time period. It turns out that Ji-In’s parents also went to the same university as So-Eun and are in the same year. His father turns out to be Dong-Woo…but who is his mother? Is So-Eun his mother? That’s where the twist happens and why this movie is a melodramatic movie. So, I can’t go into furthur detail without ruining it.

Review: This movie was pretty interesting. With the time travel, it reminds me of “Secret” (Taiwanese movie with Jay Chou) or “The Lake House” (American movie with Sandra Bullock). But it’s different from those movies because it’s much simpler. So-Eun and Ji-In don’t cross time dimentions and meet each other. They only meet each other in their respective realities. I think the main focus is about destiny and also romance. I’m pretty sure Ji-In falls in love with So-Eun, but he never actually says it out loud…to her. I liked the bittersweetness of the movie, but felt that the movie was really “safe”. The relationships are very uneventful and the viewer doesn’t get a sense of the character’s motivations. The only character that shares their true feelings is Ji-In’s “girlfriend”…or stalker, if you will.

So, this movie was sweet and I found the ending satisfying…to an extent. It’s not a movie I would watch again, and it’s not very memorable. The twist in the movie was unexpected and bittersweet, which made the movie interesting. Yup, that’s it. You can watch it on crunchyroll.com or mysoju.com.

Japanese Movie – Say Hello for Me

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Alternative Titles: When you See Him, Say Hello for Me, Sono toki wa kare ni yoroshiku
Country: Japan, 2007
Director: Yuichiro Hirakawa
Cast: Takayuki Yamada, Masami Nagasawa, Takashi Tsukamoto
Type: Comedy, Romance, Drama
Rating: 4/5

Summary: Satoshi Toyama, Karin Takigawa and Yuji Igarashi are best friends since childhood. They have a secret place with their own run down bus where they like to hang out. Each of them have their own quirks. Karin and Yuji are orphans or abandoned children who live at the orphanage. Karin’s parents died when she was young and has had trouble finding love. She finds it with Satoshi’s parents, who are very kind to Satoshi’s two friends. Yuji was abandoned by his mother and he is an aspiring artist. Satoshi has no special abilities, but he is very loyal (and a bit slow, too). They enjoy a good childhood at their secret bus location. However, Satoshi has to move becuase his mother is sick. Years later, the three of them have lost touch with each other. Satoshi has opened his own aquatic shop (called Aquatic Shop Trash) becuase of a promise to his two friends. He is on the verge of bankrupcy when he a stranger approaches him to work as his assistant. She turns out to be Karin/famous model Suzune Morikawa, but it takes days for Satoshi to figure it out because she’s changed a lot and because he’s slow The two of them live happily together until they receive news that Yuji (who has now become an artist) has been in an accident and is in a coma. Karin, also, turns out to have a very serious sickness that might cause her her life.

Impression: Eiji from Kekkon Dekinai Otoko is in it. He’s the artist with glasses. I liked how it dealt subject of death. So positive, and light, but also serious….really beautiful. It has a similar ring to “Tada Kimi wo Aishiteru”, but this is no surprise, since the book version was written by the same author. The girl always has an illness that’s really sad. I can’t explain it without ruining the movie…well…in Tada Kimi wo Aishiteru, she can’s grow up. This movie also talks about childhood love and the sweetness of it.

I loved how they depicted family in this movie. The father was the best character, always positive, encouraing and wise. Even after he loses his wife, he can still continue and live a good life. He and his son (and Karin) continue their close relationship even after losing touch for so many years. Cute movie, kind of vague at times, but likeable. You can watch it at crunchyroll.com or mysoju.com.