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wStuff You Don't Wanna Know But Are Reading Anyway |
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I dunno how you found this, but alas, here you are. So enjoy the frightening fruits of my troubled little brain.
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wFriday, February 23, 2007 |
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feeling: irritated
listening to: Fushigi Yuugi - Kaze no Uta (Song of the Wind)
Arg. People on Subeta are ticking me off right now. My favoritest favorite pet species on that site, the Demi, is about to get a revamp that makes it look like a blob of melting plastic that's been rolling in mud, and it looks terrible and if my Thaeus turns into that thing I have no idea what to do with him because I created his look and name and personality all together for specific reasons and the people who do like the revamp are being all snotty about it and GAH. Don't want to think about that right now. There'll be time to dig a grave for my pretty fluffy emo baby later.
So, wow. People actually read my last post? Nanka kandou shichatta... Anyway, yeah. I figured I'd write up a couple more reviews, if I can get my mind out of this aggravated mindset long enough. *turns on music to drown it out* Oh, I also thought I'd add a little note in response to Adion's comment comparing J-dramas and soap operas. Very common impression, believe me, but quite untrue. J-dramas are almost always 10-12 episodes long, and sometimes they aren't even "drama"; there are comedies, typical sappy love stories, tragedies, cop series, even school dramas like the live action GTO. Really, the only way to describe them is just... stories. Just like the stories in anime or manga or movies, only in yet another format.
Anyway, so... review, review...
Long-winded J-drama babble ahead... read on if you dare
I guess I'll start with Summer Snow this time. Ah, Summer Snow. Widely regarded as one of the top few saddest dramas ever created, and surely one of the most engaging, in no small part due to the EXCELLENT acting. Honestly, all of the main characters are no less than stellar in this series. Especially Dohmoto Tsuyoshi, who plays the lead male Natsuo, and Oguri Shun, who plays his partially deaf younger brother Jun. It's hard not to get into a drama with such engaging and perfectly played characters. The story keeps you involved too, always changing and adding new elements to each character's individual story as well as the overall story they all play a part in.
So what is the story? It centers around Natsuo, a young man who has been taking care of his younger brother and sister since their parents died in an accident. The younger two are still in high school, and he runs the family business left behind by their father, a bicycle shop. Though they're all constantly busy trying to make ends meet, Natsuo and his deaf brother Jun make it a point to go diving together every Sunday, and Natsuo's dream is to see the "summer snow," a rain of snow-like white particles that occasionally falls deep in the sea. Anyway, one day while he's out running business errands, Natsuo bumps into Yuki, a young woman suffering from a heart condition but, at the moment, still able to live a relatively normal (yet cautious) life. They become friends and later a couple, and eventually she picks up on Natsuo's interest in diving, so they promise to one day view the "summer snow" in the deep sea together. But over time, her heart condition grows worse, and Natsuo learns of its gravity when she collapses in front of him in a diving specialty store. Meanwhile, the young doctor who has been overseeing Yuki's care for years is trying to worm his way closer to her, believing that he's the only one with the ability to give her the care she needs (love or lack thereof notwithstanding), and soon he starts pushing her to go to America for heart transplant surgery.
And that is where the one part of this drama that I could not agree with sets in. For some reason, apparently, having a transplant means marrying your doctor. And nobody seems to question this. >.> And yeah, I won't go into that any further because it would spoil the ending... but let's just say that if not for that strange little condition, this drama would not have ended the way it did.
So, yes. I highly recommend this drama, but only for people who have already seen a few other, less heavy series before it. This one tends to run pretty deep, and it can either be overwhelming or just leave inexperienced drama viewers with unrealistic expectations about the rest of the J-drama universe. And I just sounded really elitist there, didn't I? >.> Seriously though. This one wraps you up and doesn't let go.
And next... hmmm... all right, since I could use the mood perker-upper tonight, I shall now launch into what may become my gushiest review ever, because I'm more biased toward this series than any other and have watched it, like, a dozen times. Yes, it's time for Kimi wa Petto. Sort of a guilty pleasure. It's cute and it's fluffy and darnit, the male lead is played by a Japanese boyband idol. And the story is... I dunno, it's just charming. As I've said about it before, I was personally able to relate very well to both of the lead characters. And as I've also said before, it put me in something resembling a good mood in the weeks after my grandma passed away. So it'll always be a fond memory for me, I suppose... but really, it's quite a cute story for those who can handle that sort of thing. Twisted, yes, but in a cute way.
The basic storyline is simple. The very serious and somewhat cold-hearted working lady, Sumire, has just been through a messy breakup and is ready to give up on her own heart forever and dedicate herself to her career. Then one night, after a particularly headache-inducing day, she returns home to find a cardboard box outside her apartment building. Inside the box is a young man, covered with blood and unconscious. On top of all that, he's getting rained on. Seeing no other options, Sumire drags him into her apartment, where she becomes fascinated by the way he shivers and sneezes in his sleep just like a stray dog. So she tends to his wounds, and in the morning leaves him asleep on her couch while she goes to work. When she returns, he's up and about, healed and happy... but not ready to leave yet. Of course, Sumire does not like where that idea is heading, but he really has nowhere else to go, and tells her he'll do ANYthing if she'll let him stay a while. So she allows him to stay - under the condition that he must be her pet. No personal rights, must obey everything she says and live by her standards. His response? "Woof."
Soooo Sumire now has a 20 year old boy as a pet. She even names him Momo after her beloved childhood dog. Soon we learn that Momo's real name is Takeshi, and that Momo and Takeshi are two very different personalities with two very different lives. Momo is the always smiling, somewhat childlike, happy-go-lucky puppy boy, and Takeshi is the moody homeless guy who's aiming to be a professional dancer and always finding new ways to be on the outs with his friends and family. Gradually Sumire begins to experience both of those personalities... and she also enters into a relationship with her senpai, Hasumi. Which, of course, inspires jealousy in Momo - and in Takeshi as well. Sumire never seems quite content either; she's admired Hasumi for years, but she's also intimidated by him (LOL, sorry, the theme song for this drama just popped up on my 1532-song playlist... awesome... ahem, anyway), and Momo becomes the only one in the world that she can really be herself with. He's the only one who sees her at her best and her worst, the only one who sees her cry, the only one she feels truly comfortable with. And eventually she is forced to rethink whether she really still sees him as just a pet dog.
See? I knew this would turn out gushy. Need to stop there before I spoil things.
Anyway... yeah. For obvious reasons there's a lot of controversy around this drama. Some people find it light and cute and charming, others think the central relationship in it is too far-fetched to be enjoyable, and others think it's just repulsive. I suppose that's one similarity Kimi wa Petto bears to Majo no Jouken - both are best enjoyed when viewed with an open mind. Maybe I'm weird, but I can totally see the idea of someone being treated with the affection of a pet by another and then eventually developing feelings for them. Yes, the concept is a bit exaggerated in this drama, but that's what dramas are for, right? They're stories, not reality. Besides, Matsumoto Jun was perfect for the role of Momo, and he got to portray some of his finest acting skills as Momo/Takeshi, with the dual personalities and the dancing hobby and etc. Sumire's actress, Koyuki, also did a good job as the hard-hearted career woman with a surprising weak side. And for some reason I really liked the lady who played Sumire's friend Yuri too. She has this sort of rough yet sophisticated air about her. Great casting always adds some extra strength to a drama, especially when the story itself is rather simple compared to things like Majo no Jouken and Summer Snow. Sometimes simple and lighthearted is just a nice change of pace, you know?
Ok... I think that's enough reviewing for tonight. Back to brooding over the loss of my precious Demi and whatever else I can think of to brood over.
comment! (3)
dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 2/23/2007 08:48:00 PM
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feeling: meh
listening to: BLOOD - Morphine (1st period version)
Yamauchi Nana.
There. Saving that name was pretty much my only reason for posting here. Just finished watching a J-drama that I didn't really care much for, and I'm thinking of making it the first drama I've ever downloaded that I actually delete straightaway instead of saving on discs. Only thing I can honestly say I liked about it was the character played by Yamauchi Nana, a little girl about 7 or 8 years old who was absolutely adorable. Seriously, she's going to grow up BEAUTIFUL, and I intend to remember her name so I can someday see it.
So. Yamauchi Nana.
...ok, so Narimiya Hiroki was nice to watch too. But he was too out of his element. That little girl though... bloody adorable. Add her to the list of Japan's cutest child actors, right alongside Kamiki Ryuunosuke. I MISS HIM. What has he been up to lately... *tempted to watch Mukodono again now*
Bleh, I need to decide whether or not I want to save that drama before I run out of drive space again...
Oh well. First I believe I'll rewatch Nobuta o Produce. Because Yamashita Tomohisa was ridiculously funny in it. Akira SHOCK!
And someday I need to find the Kimi wa Petto manga. I know it's been picked up in the states, but no idea where to find it. Especially with the stupid English title they gave it. Tramps Like Us? What the HECK does that have to do with "you are my pet"? Bluh. Dips.
Ha, that's convenient. First Love by Utada Hikaru just came up on my playlist. This was the theme song to Majo no Jouken, which I watched a month or so ago. Funny thing was I had this song for years before I knew it was a drama theme. Can't remember why I got it, but I did, back in... 2001 or 2002 or something. Never was my favorite Hikki song, but for some reason after seeing the drama I appreciate it a little more.
...How did this turn into a J-drama-only ramble post? Apologies to those who have no idea what I'm babbling about. Which is... everyone, I'm sure. Heh, if I'm gonna shoot off like this all the time every time I open a blog post form, I might as well go ahead and write up my pointless J-drama reviews. Hey, should I start now? Don't really have anything better to do. Well, I do, but I haven't procrastinated enough yet.
J-drama stuff that no one cares about below! Be warned!
So. Guess I'll start with Ai no Uta since I just finished it tonight. Ai no Uta, or Love Song, is about a young woman who live her entire life unloved and unwanted in the most melodramatic and extreme of ways, starting from the day when her mother tried to leave the hospital without her after she was born. Eventually she decided to commit suicide, so she ran off to Tokyo alone and jumped off a bridge into a river. But then she ended up swimming ashore, very much alive, and dragging herself into a restaurant where she passed out in front of three police detectives, who took her to a hospital. When she awoke she realized that she was in a place where nobody knew her name or anything about her, so she decided to start a new life and faked amnesia. She tried to escape from the hospital, but with nowhere to go, she was immediately found by one of the detectives who had brought her there, Kataoka, who took her to his home to stay. Now, Kataoka is one of those aggravatingly cheerful and gentle-looking middle-aged guys, who looks old enough to be the girl's father. He does in fact have three young kids of his own (the middle one being Yamauchi Nana's character), and is a widower. So basically this drama follows this very cold, abrasive, unfriendly (to put it nicely) young woman who has never been loved in her life, who suddenly finds herself in a household full of love and family and all that sappy heartwarming stuff and learns that even she is capable of finding happiness. But of course there are a couple twists in the whole story that add the necessary layers of weepy melodrama. For example, after she falls for Kataoka, she learns that he's dying. Honestly, there's more crying and sobbing in this series than any other I've seen to date. It sort of got old. Or maybe I'm just heartless?
Why didn't I like this drama much? Mainly because the male lead, Kataoka, just came across as sort of creepy to me. I have a hard time believing characters (or real people for that matter) who are CONSTANTLY smiling as this man is. Plus he looked about 10 years too old to be the father of kids that young, and about 20 years old to end up in a romantic relationship with "Ai-chan." The other principal female character, Fusako, was just plain annoying... even Narimiya Hiroki was disappointing, not because of poor acting, but because the role of the totally serious and determined police detective did NOT suit him. More power to him for attempting such versatility, but honestly... a guy who's as naturally... twitchy as him is best suited for spazzy, goofy characters. Or at least regular-guy college buddy roles like his character in Orange Days.
So in sum... Ai no Uta was meant to be all heartwarming and full of love and happiness and sadness all at once, but it all came together in a melodramatic and mismatched jumble. None of the main characters were very convincing, or were just plain annoying (except the three little kids, who were admittedly cute). It was also totally predictable, and the ending felt sadly incomplete. Can't see myself ever watching this one again.
So shall I move on to Orange Days next? Orange Days was pretty enjoyable and even refreshing, for some reason I still can't identify. It's about a group of friends in their last year of university, dealing with that awkward stage in between being kids and being good reliable working grown-ups. Everything sort of revolves around Sae, who excels in playing the violin and piano... and happens to be deaf. Her character is really interesting... she's frustrated by her disability, but whereas I sort of expected her to be withdrawn and sad because of it, she was actually quite animated and lively. Even if pretty much everything she ever said was caustic and a little offensive.
Anyway... so Sae was standing in the middle of campus playing her violin when Kai saw her from afar, was drawn to her music, and tried to talk to her, not realizing she was deaf. Later, somehow, his buddy Keita was set up for a blind date with Sae, but when he learned she was deaf he backed out and sent Kai in his place, and from there everything began. Kai befriended Sae, and it helped that he happened to know sign language, and he brought her into their group of friends, who later called themselves the Orange Society. The members: Kai, Shouhei, Keita, Akane, and Sae. Kai is the fairly straightforward kinda guy who just wants to do well in his last year of college and find a good job. Shouhei is the playboy who'll sleep with any girl once (or once per hour), and sort of a jerk on the outside, but actually a pretty nice guy who looks out for his friends and cares for his disabled younger sister. Keita is the typical "nice guy" (think of the famous "nice guys finish last" saying). Akane is Sae's best friend, who knows sign language well and has helped her through college in many ways, and her connection with the three guys is her... interesting relationship with Shouhei.
So that's the setup, pretty much. I'm still not really sure why I liked this drama as much as I did. All the characters were definitely well suited to their roles and wholly believable, which is pretty rare for a drama with so many central characters. Sae's personality was unexpected and oddly engaging. And Narimiya Hiroki is always fun >.>... ahem... And yeah, things just played out in really interesting ways. Not too rushed, not too draggy, not too cheerful, not too depressing or frustrating or melodramatic. Just a nice, smooth, balanced ride.
So, shall I move on to Majo no Jouken (Witch's Requirement)? Ah, where do I begin... this one sort of bounced me all over the place. I really got into the first few episodes, then I started to get a little annoyed, then just plain ticked off by the way things continued, and by the end I was just depressed and felt like I'd been thrown around and ricocheted between parallel brick walls for about 3 hours. But you know what? I would recommend it. But only if the viewer has an open mind, because it focuses on a relationship that's... a bit on the taboo side.
So first we meet Hirose Michi, a 26 year old high school teacher who's engaged to a guy she's not sure she really loves. One morning on her way to school she's nearly run over by a young guy on a motorcycle, who draws her interest as he shrugs off his own wounds to help her find the engagement ring she lost in the near-wreck before continuing on his way. Later, she learns that she'll be getting a new student at school... and lo and behold, it's motorbike boy, 17 year old Hikaru. Turns out he's the troubled type and has been moved around between several different schools, and his rich mother has paid this one not to expel him if he ever misbehaves (secret to him, of course). So of course, teacher and new student immediately recognize each other from the near-wreck, and from then on become more and more drawn to each other. Yes, this is the story of a high school student and a teacher who fall in love.
Honestly, though, that's not the horrifying part of this drama. Their relationship is actually quite sincere, and they truly care for each other and are serious about staying together. But of course, NO ONE is going to give them an easy time of it. The school wants to fire Michi for being involved with a student. Michi's father, who is conveniently one of the higher-ups on the school board or whatever, is absolutely livid when he learns of his daughter's exploits, and is ready to kick her out of the family. Michi's fiance turns into the possessive and obsessive (and even drunk) ex. Michi's best friend turns out to be a backstabber. And Hikaru's mother... ugh, lord, that woman is messed up. Her obsession with keeping her son to herself borders on not only madness, but incest. There's plenty of other drama going on around them too, like Hikaru's mother getting into some precarious situations with her otherwise cushy job, one of Michi's other students who is regularly abused by her father, and... ahem... won't go into the rest. Spoilers.
So as I said, this drama went from lovey and sweet and enjoyable to annoying to infuriating to depressing in a mere 11 episodes. You can't help but root for the lead couple in the beginning (if you have an mind open enough to overlook the age difference, that is), but then they do some really stupid things for the sake of defying everyone around them and staying together. At first you can feel for them, because they're perfectly sweet and sincere and simply in love, but just surrounded by close-minded people who can't accept that at all. But then... um, yeah. They make stupid, stupid choices that end up getting them in way deeper sludge than they should have been. And I won't go into why it ends up depressing as that would spoil the story, but yeah. A lot goes on in this drama, far more than just a teacher and student in love. Their story turns into one big, nasty mess. Their ending isn't a very happy one. And Michi's character is disappointingly hollow considering she's such a well-loved actress.
Anyway... I think that's enough reviewing for now. I'm getting sleepy. Might work on more later. Just for my own amusement of course, since I can't imagine anyone else being interested enough to read all this.
comment! (2)
dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 2/23/2007 01:42:00 AM
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wMonday, February 05, 2007 |
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feeling: ...
listening to: FFX battle theme is in my head
I guess I should try to post something?
Last night sucked. I went to bed dead tired as I had been all day, just like every Sunday, but then I laid there awake for an hour because it hurt to hold my eyes closed. And when I finally got to sleep I woke up at least once every hour, and each time I did, the pain in my head and eyes was worse. And the brief times I actually did spend asleep were crammed with freaky dreams, mostly entailing running for my life or having guns pointed at me or whatnot. Stupid night.
I was thinking about writing little mini-reviews of the J-dramas I'm watching/have watched, but I dunno. Wouldn't be very entertaining to anyone but me, I'm sure. Guess they could add a little substance to my profile at Jdorama.com, if nothing else. But oh well.
I'm still obsessed with translating D no Arashi episodes. Finished episode 43 today. The good thing is that I'm finally getting into the really amusing episodes that I've been looking forward to for weeks and weeks, but the flipside is that they're getting more difficult now too. Starting in the 50s or so they change the format for the show and it becomes more hectic and complicated, which means I might not be keeping up this project much longer. And there are still 9 or 10 episodes out of the 43 I've done so far that I couldn't completely finish due to insufficient Japanese comprehension, and I have a feeling before long there's going to be more episodes I can't finish than ones I can. Oh well, if I'm forced to quit maybe that'll leave me time to make actual subtitle files of these, maybe even encode them into hardsubs, so I can start distributing them.
Anyway, obviously nothing's really going on in my everyday life that anyone probably cares to read about here. Just thought I'd post something to keep this 5+ year old blog from dying completely, I guess. So I'll stop now.
comment! (1)
dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 2/05/2007 10:38:00 PM
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