Watched: Tsuki no Koibito, General Rouge no Gaisen, Mother, Sunao ni Narenakute, Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge, Tokujo Kabachi!!
Watching: Zettai Reido, Yankee-kun to Megane-chan, Tumbling, Ryoma-den

That said, Summer 2010 is much more promising, as I’m watching quite a few and enjoying them so far.

[Rating: 7/10]

Genre: drama, romance

Five young people meet on Twitter and decided to get together in real life…

You know how big an impact social networking has made on the world today when it becomes the vehicle plot of a show. It is a good attempt of getting younger viewers back to watching tv as nowadays there are so many other forms of entertainment that distract us from the tv, which is rather amusing to think of. I would categorize this series under ’slice-of-life’ and in a way it reminds me of Love Shuffle targeted at a slightly younger crowd (LS’s main cast were in their 30s and 40s whereas SNN’s characters are in their early-mid 20s). As with such shows, this story is about friendship and also the line between being friends and something more, also how far people will go for each other in the name of frienship. Of the characters, my favourites were Peach and Haru. It was interesting to see another jdrama with another foreign cast member as one of the main leads (ie. JaeJoong as Doctor, previously it was Li Chin Ling in Tsuki no Koibito). It was also refreshing seeing these young actors and actresses in roles that were pretty different to what I had seen them in previously. My gripe is how Linda’s character suddenly dropped that surprising revelation only nearer the end of the series, I felt they could have built that up more as it seemed rather random and somewhat unreal. Still I think Tamayama Tetsuji did a good job with what he had. I couldn’t really fell much for Nakaji, even though he was meant to be the ‘hero’ of the show. I would have preferred Haru to end up with Doctor, I feel they could have managed to make it work over time if Nakaji hadn’t shown up at the airport. What is with jdramas and breaking up multicultural relationships…

While the concept of this jdrama is certainly original, I felt it wasn’t very outstanding and could have developed more towards the end events. However, I think many people will easily enjoy it as it isn’t too heavy with the romance and is a nice show about friendship.

[Rating: 7.5/10]

Genre: drama, family

Nao is an elementary schoolteacher who wonders if there is something more to life. She encounters a girl named Reina in one of her classes, who has bruises and marks around her body and is often hungry. Nao, suspecting something decides to intervene and what follows changes her entire life…

This is not your usual family drama where very episode ends giving you the warm fuzzies. It is quite poignant and gripping, albeit rather slow moving at times and I did drop and pick it up rather than watch it consistently due to this flaw. However towards the final few episodes it became much more interesting. I really commend the cast for managing to capture each role beautifully even if I didn’t have strong likings to any character aside from Reina, who was just really cute. The characters were very real and I can imagine something like this happening in real life, even if the story of a teacher spiriting away her own pupil may seem a tad farfetched, but how everyone reacted to the events was very believable. With regards to how things ended, where Reina eventually ended up is common in reality. Nao, despite her good intentions was guilty of kidnapping even if the child went along willingly and to a better, safer environment. Ashida Mana, who played Reina has to be commended on her acting skills for a 6 year old she is very talented, and as I said before, this is not a typical happy family drama. All the women, especially the three mothers (Nao’s two mothers and Reina’s mother) had lots of depth to them and while they had their own faults, I did feel a little sorry for all of them as they did have their own reasons for how they behaved.

If you like slice of life stories, and one that deals mainly with character emotions and don’t mind dramas that are a bit sad and slow, then this is for you. If you’re looking for a family drama to cheer you up after a long day, then I point you elsewhere (ie, try something in the vein of My Girl, Abarenbo Mama or Brother Beat, be warned the first can be sad in parts but is overall very warm and fuzzy)~

[Rating: 7/10]

Genre: drama, romance

A poor chinese factory worker gets entangled with the dealings a Japanese furniture king who is thinks only of expanding his empire. Will she be the one to melt his cold heart?

This drama was surprisingly short, and the ending kinda threw me off a little. I not sure whether the ending was saying long distance/multi-cultural romances are not worth it and it is better to stick with someone closer to home, or that it was trying to be more realistic in that Cinderella did not get her Prince and as a modern woman found her niche and is happily living with her family. The cast at first glance was a hit and miss for me; Shinohara Ryoko is one of my favourite actresses, and Lin Chi Ling (who I had only seen as Xiao Qiao in the Red Cliff movies) sounded intriguing as it is rare you get non-Japanese cast members play a main role in jdramas. However the lead being Kimura Takuya did not appeal to me despite him being one of the most popular Japanese actors and lots of women fawn over him- personally I don’t find him that attractive and I’ve not been too impressed with the shows of his I’ve seen (Beautiful Life, Hero, Mr. Brain, Wonderful Life)… He was a little better in Tsuki no Koibito though, but it could be because this time the story wasn’t boring and the other characters helped made the show more interesting. One thing I enjoyed was Lin Chi Ling’s character, Xiu Mei, who was the rather cute and fresh element of the show and as a person learning Japanese, she spoke in simple sentences that I could understand with my limited knowledge of the language. I was also quite impressed by Matsuda Shota and Abe Tsuyoshi who spoke pretty decent Chinese, though I am not sure if their chinese lines were dubbed… in any case Abe had to speak Chinese for his entire role, as his character didn’t know any Japanese, and Matsuda for about half his role. Even though the latter’s character turned out to be the bad guy, I actually preferred him to Kimura’s. Ren was rather annoying most of the time, leading the two girls around… not to mention he’s so chauvanistic, which I found was a big letdown with the male characters. Maemi could do so much better than Ren best friend or no. I actually quite liked her with Sai/Cai… Another strong role was Keitagawa Keiko’s, who really developed from a spoilt model to a somewhat wiser and independant lady. She could have spiralled further and become the stereotypical vengeful ex-partner but once she pulled off the jealousy/selfish googles, she was rather likeable and provided a nice contrast to Xiu Mei.

This drama would suit those who like soap opera type romance in a drama rather than romantic comedy, as it does get a little angsty in some parts, but nothing depressing thankfully. And while I felt it could have lasted a little longer, eight episodes is pretty compact for someone wanting a quick jdrama fix and don’t want something too fluffy and happy.

[Rating: 8.5/10]

Genre: josei, drama

Kinue, a plain and totally unfashionable saleswoman in the futon section of a big deparment store suddenly finds herself transferred to work on the women’s fashion floor. Her views on fashion and the people who work in it start to change as she goes on her own clothing journey, mentored by Miki, her new boss and no-nonsense ice queen.

It’s rather amusing how I originally did not have much interest in watching this as it sounded like a clone of Devil Wears Prada and Ugly Betty, but when I gave it a chance it ended up one of my favourite jdramas. What I liked about it was that Kinue’s colleagues and boss were less bitchy and shallow than the fashion workers in abovementioned american productions. In otherwords, the characters were more real and likeable. While Jinbo Miki was portrayed to be an ice queen, Miranda Priestly she is not. She actually showed concern and interest to her subordinate’s well being and understood her personal assistants quite well, often delivering some good advice and insight to both the fashion industry and to life. Kuroki Hitomi played her role with grace and poise, and the moments where Miki was dealing with her long time customers were warm and inviting. Her back story added an extra dimension to the character. Karina, who played Kinue didn’t come across as too stubborn and ignorant, and when as she learned the importance of personal presentation, her own fashion style was quite nice. I also liked when she became a mentor to the new sales assistants later on. I also enjoyed the rivalry between the two male leads, Tabuchi and Hachiya, played by Nishijima Hidetoshi and Koizumi Kotaro. Absolutely loved their dress styles and contrasting personalities, especially how they dealt with clients. Another thing was that while there was a little romance going on, it was played down and did not take up the plot, rather it was a relationship that subtly progressed from being colleagues to friends to mutual attraction but not an all out romance at the end. It made their working relationship more realistic as well.

So strong casting and overall a very enjoyable series. I think it can be appreciated by many types of jdrama fans, and is a safe choice people who are new to the jdrama scene.

[Rating: 7.5/10]

Glee is the story of a highschool show choir made up of an ecclectic crew of students and their journey to the regionals.

I have to admit I am not very up to date with english tv series. Glee is probably one of the few exceptions and I mainly watched it as I love musicals and hearing remixes of songs. One of the strong and weak points I found were the characters. I enjoyed how the glee club was made up of all sorts of students who came to be there due to different circumstances, and their camaderies was great. It was nice that the producers took the time to assemble a cast of actors with actual stage experience. However, I didn’t particularly like many of the characters. For example, the ‘main’ girl Rachel was very egoistic and annoyed me most of the time. However Lea Michels is indeed a very talented singer and I would love to see her sing in person. Finn reminded me of Zac Efron’s character in Highschool Musical (which was very cliche and campy, I just don’t enjoy teen movies as much anymore), the misunderstood nice guy jock but did not have much personality. My favourite characters were Will Schuester, Kurt Hummel and Quinn Fabray. Matthew Morrison has a really nice smooth voice, and I warmed up to Kurt and Quinn slowly as the series went. Will’s wife, Terri, put up a tight competition with Sue Sylvester as ‘villanesses’. The other staff members weren’t very likeable either. Still on the whole the acting was really good, as I think it takes good acting to make you like and dislike characters. The remixes of songs too were often better than the originals I found. For example, the Lady Gaga episode. I am not the singer’s biggest fan and think her videos just don’t make sense and are over the top, plus her singing is just ok for me, but you know the ballad rendition of Poker Face that people complained about? I actually thought it sounded good, and that episode made me like Bad Romance a little better too. I have to admit that one reason Lady Gaga does not appeal to me so much is because I don’t really connect with her lyrics either, and lyrics are a big element that make me like an artiste. I also like how they weaved in real issues such as teenage pregnancy and while exagerrated, the relationship problems the characters faced were very real. Life can be pretty warped up.

Favourite Glee songs:
Keep Going On (I love Avril’s music and thought this was just as good as the original)
No Air (a song that I liked the more I listened to though I wasn’t too impressed at first)
Halo (love the harmonization)
Don’t Rain On My Parade (Rachel’s best, better than On My Own which was a bit overused and I am biased to Les Mis)
Over the Rainbow (very melo and relaxing renditions)
I Could’ve Danced All Night (too bad Emma did not have more songs), I Wanna Sex You Up, Imagine (very moving~ love the incoporation of the sign language)
Single Lady (probably one of the most epic episodes in the season)
Piano Man (Matt Morrison and Neil Patrick Harris is a very deadly combination~)

If you love music and musicals, I’d definitely recommend Glee for it’s fun soundtrack and the dance choreography was really good as well. I would say it’s a highschool show for grown ups~

[Rating: 8/10]

Based on the blog ‘Belle de Jour’, this tv series tells the story of Belle (or Hannah), a high class call girl and the ups and downs of her profession and how it affects her personal life.

This series plesantly surprised me, and I found myself marathoning the first two seasons, and was happy when I found out there was a third recently. It wasn’t hard as catching up with other series as each season was neat and compact, at less than ten episodes, which was one of the major selling points for me. I have read a little of the actual blog that it was based on, but I found the tv show much more entertaining and the script less wordy and to the point. Hannah/Belle is a very real and practical woman, and her job aside, it is easy to relate to and sympathize with her. I commend Billie Piper bringing the role to life, and Hannah is definitely a character I will remember. I think one thing that I like about Belle is that she is game for most things, but sensible enough to know her limits and does not do just anything. She is also very independant and witty, though one might say it is part of her job, I like how she is adaptable to different situations and is able to relax people. The secondary storyline with Bambi, her ‘mentee’ and Bambi’s relationship with Byron (introduced in season 3) was cute. I found Bambi a bit annoying at first but she did grow and mature in the series. I think it was a pity the editor, Duncan, turned out to be such a prick because he and Hannah really looked like they would go far. I preferred the two of them together than Hannah and Ben (Ben was a nice guy but I didn’t really feel much for him, aside from his concerns for Hannah).

While the adult themes in this series does not make it family entertainment, I think it is very enjoyable and tastefully done. The show did not glorify being an escort but tried to portray it as a job. It has a nice balance of drama, humour and romance that would sit down with many people well, if they can get pass the somewhat controversial topic.

[Rating: 6.5/10]

Throw in and mix a messianic prophecy, an age old war between light and dark, and a bunch of people in a diner in the middle of nowhere and you get Legion.

The main reason I went to watch this movie is because I have an interest in angel/demon lore. I had read extremely mixed reviews on it, most of them were not very good I must admit, but I’m not one for turning down a movie just based on reviews so I decided to give it a go. After watching it, I have to say the premise actually had a lot of potential and there were some memorable bits, some good and not so (the old woman in the trailer was the creepiest thing in the whole film, do not like…). Okay, so let’s start with the positive: I liked the character of Michael, who was probably the saving grace of them film, that and his epic battle with Gabriel, who in contrast was rather disappointingly portrayed. I also like the image of archangels being war hardened soldiers who are still beautiful at the same time but in the chiseled, powerful way. I mean, while pretty boys are not a bad thing, in reality I think god’s army would be pretty well-formed from constantly fighting over the centuries. The bullet proof wings were very awesome. So in that aspect I think the producers were on track.

However, the main thing that griped me about the angelic host… why are only the archangels human-like and the rest of the army like some demonic spawn with no form of their own, not to mention horribly ugly and shrieky. They more reminded me of one of those zombie hoardes more than anything else, especially how they attacked their victims and their vacant walk and expressions. Also what was with the expandable limbs… I guess the people who made this film wanted a somewhat shock-and-awe-bending-convention thing going on but it just did not work for me at all. Also with regards to Gabriel and Michael, it would make more sense if their positions had been reversed. Another this that irked me was the overuse of the story of Jesus and the portrayal of God… While I consider myself a fairly religious person, poorly adapted plotlines of religious stories that don’t show any research are what make people get the wrong impressions of the religion, no matter what religion it may be. I quote this review that sums up how I feel about this aspect
Here’s the thing about God. He either needs to be treated with reverence or lampooned without mercy. Either he’s entirely responsible for all we hold dear or a goofy figment of fairy tale bamboozlement. There’s no middle ground. There can‘t be a middle ground. Legion‘s attempts to be both a goofy, foul-mouthed, cliché-ridden horror film and a judgmental, humanity-has-ruined-itself-with-free-will epic. Legion’s portrayal of a God who has totally given up hope and wants to destroy everything he has created is rather unbelievable. I also don’t like portrayals where God is all angry and wrathful. The show seemed confused as to whether it was horror or fantasy as the trailer made it look more horror.

Another reeding feature would have to be the secondary cast, as to tell the truth, Jeep had totally no personality, even his father, Bob was more developed, as well as the other patrons of the diner. Charlie, the heroine was a little better a but she didn’t do much as everyone was more or less just protecting her. I also quite liked the relationship between the Anderson family, in particular between the mother and daughter. They gave the show some psychological depth at least. I was sad at Audrey’s death. I don’t believe that they needed to kill off everyone just to get the obvious story’s point across.

Anyway, this show had quite a bit of potential but too bad it didn’t deliver as I hoped. Still, it wasn’t as bad as to sink into my list of movies I wish I didn’t spend my time on. My wallet just cries a little at paying full movie admission as I would not have minded watching this on rental dvd or as flight entertainment.

[Rating: 7/10]

Dastan is an orphan whose courageousness leads the king of the Persian Empire to adopt him into the royal family, raising him as a prince. Fifteen years later, Dastan and his brothers attack the holy city of Alamut, believed to be arms dealing with Persia’s enemies. This sets of a series of disastrous events, all seemingly linked to a mysterious dagger said to have magical powers.

This movie is one that has had quite a bit of hype to it from when it was announced. Not only because it was a film adaptation of a popular console game, but also that the cast was not ethnically authentic. The latter is an issue surrounding most movies that have ethnic groups, such as Memoirs of a Geisha, Dragonball and The Last Airbender. Admittedly in many to most cases, the cast chosen for the movie tends to fail rather spectacularly, but for Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, I felt it was one of the better attempts. One area this movie really delivered in for me were the stunning backdrops and sets. The music score was also fairly decent and costumes were appropriate for the theme. The characters were actually likeable and had bits of personality in them that kept them from being cookie cutter hollywood fantasy characters. I was also plesantly surprised the script did not suffer from annoyingly cheesy lines as with the Dragonball movie. Gemma Arterton put up a good and spunky performance as Princess Tamina, and there are all these little elements that made the show more interesting and quirky, like the epic ostrich race – Alfred Molina’s character, Amar brought some nice comedy into the story and Amar’s bodyguard/friend, Seso was rather intriguing, being an assassin/knife thrower with a conscience. While I have not actually played the original games, I rather enjoyed this film and thought it was a good piece of family fun, certainly not as terrific as Pirates of the Caribbean but probably one of the better fantasy films I’ve seen since that trilogy.

GOLD
HAMMER SESSION!
Hotaru no Hikari 2
JOKER Yurusarezaru Sosakan
Kasouken no Onna
Mioka
Tobo Bengoshi