Starring
Eita as Komoto Takuma
Ueno Juri as Shibata Haruka
Yoza Yoshiaki as Niimi Masaru
Kawaoka Daijiro as Koizumi Shunsuke
Nagano Munenori as Soga Atsushi
Maki Yoko as Ito Yui
Sasaki Kuranosuke as Jose
Muri Tsuyoshi as Ishimatsu Daigo
Honda Riki as Tamura Akira

Summer Time Machine Blues is one of the most fun movies I’ve ever watched that only gets better the more times you watch it. It’s the story of five guys in the sci-fi club (though they’re not really sci-fi fans) and two girls in the photography club that share a clubroom. It’s a hot summer day and in an accident, the remote to their air conditioner breaks. The next day a time machine suddenly appears in their clubroom. At first, the gang is unsure of what they should do with it, but then they have an idea. How about going back to yesterday to prevent the air conditioner remote from breaking?

What’s so enjoyable about this movie it that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. I mean, I love deep movies, but if that was all I watched (or anyone watched for that matter) I may as well become depressed. Plus, isn’t it so great to just have random fun sometimes? And that’s what Summer Time Machine Blues is all about: spontaneous, random silliness.

The first time around is confusing, I admit. But once you watch it twice, three times, etc. you’ll notice something new every time. For other movies, watching it more than once can be a chore, but it’s total fun every time - and doesn’t that make a movie so much more worthwhile? Even though it’s still fun to watch more than once, it’s important to not know everything the first time around, so I won’t say much more.

The cast did a good job, giving a charming and fun-filled representation of a group of friends always playing around with each other. Eita and Ueno Juri are sort of paired up in here as the couple that could be. In the end, this is film is worth your watch and begs the question of whether the future is already determined or if it’s something you take control of.

Buy this movie: Collector’s edition | Standard’s edition

Starring:
Nagasawa Masami as Aida Michiru
Ueno Juri as Kishimoto Ruka
Eita as Mizushima Takeru
Mizukawa Asami as Takigawa Eri
Nishikido Ryo as Oikawa Sosuke
Yamazaki Shigenori as Ogura Tomohiko
Nishihara Aki as Hiratsuka Reina’
Baisho Mitsuko as Aida Chinatsu
Nagashima Mitsuki as Kishimoto Shogo
Shibuya Takeru as Higuchi Naoya
to Yuko as Shirahata Yuko
Tanaka Tetsushi as Hayashida Kazumi
Asaka Mayumi as Kishimoto Yoko
Hirata Mitsuru as Kishimoto Shuji

Last Friends is the story of people who have been hurt and continue to be hurt. They try to escape it, but they can’t. The only thing they can do is try to cope. Michiru is a budding hairdresser with a careless mother and a father she doesn’t ever speak to. She has a kind boyfriend, Sousuke, but when she moves in with him, he begins controlling and abusing her. Ruka is Michiru’s friend from high school and the two coincidentally met again. She’s a motorcross racer but holds a deep secret. Eri is a flight attendant who is friends with Takeru, a hair and make-up artist by day, a bartender by night. Through Eri, Takeru and Ruka become friends, and through Ruka, Michiru and Takeru become friends. Like Ruka, Takeru holds a secret from his childhood.

Last Friends is one of those dramas that evoke so much emotion from you while you’re watching. I think this is because the drama attempts to talk about a lot of serious issues in an up-front, not beating around the bush manner.

If we look at Michiru’s story with Sousuke’s abuse - why does she put up with it for as long as she does? Her father was an alcoholic and abused her mother; she knows what happens, she knows it’s wrong. Sousuke is also the product of an abusive household. By day, he is a kind child welfare worker, but his life is so paradoxical because he goes home and abuses Michiru. But Michiru stays with Sousuke because she says that she has never felt like she was loved until she was with Sousuke. Because she feels loved for once in her life, she continues to stay in this dangerous relationship. Anyone who has learned about basic family sociology knows that the percentage of people from abusive households that become either abusers or victims of abuse is quite high.

The things that Sousuke does to keep Michiru in line are so ridiculous that I just don’t want to believe that stuff like this happens. For example, when Sousuke sees Michiru cutting a man’s hair at her workplace, he asks her to cut his hair. She agrees, but when they set everything up, he grabs her scissors and attempts to cut off his ear. It’s only when Michiru cries that she won’t cut a man’s hair again that he stops. Most people would just say let him cut off his ear, who cares? But Michiru is so deep in this relationship that she just can’t. So, she suffers at her workplace because of his new rules for her life.

I think one thing drama wanted to express is how difficult it is to get out of this situation. It’s not just getting her away from him; it’s not as simple as that. First off, Michiru has to want to be saved. You can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be saved. Even if Michiru was taken away from Sousuke by her friends, if she still loves him and wants to be with him, she’ll just go back. And then even after knowing that he’s bad for her, she cant help but still feel a connection because of their similar backgrounds and their history together.

Getting away from that, both Nagasawa Masami and Nishikido Ryo were great in their roles. It’s amazing how Ryo can look so kind and second later be beating her up. It’s also interesting that a Johnny’s guy was cast as the wife beater; I suppose this gives him a new depth. There is also a very interesting interview he gave regarding his character.

Onto to Eita’s character, Takeru. His backstory isn’t revealed until over half way into the series, and even then it’s barely ever mentioned or explained. I don’t know what the writers were trying to accomplish with this, especially since everything else doesn’t seem to be hidden to the viewers. Generally, it seems that his story takes a back seat to Michiru and Ruka. I’m not sure I understand the point of making him a main character while his back story is barely discussed. Even at the end when it’s finally explained, it seems like a bit of a cop out. On all the short teasers, it says that Takeru has a phobia of sex. I don’t want to spoil things for people who haven’t watched (even though the nature of reviews makes it impossible to have no spoilers at all), so all I’ll say is that the explanation makes no sense to me.

As for his character, Takeru is the kind of friend that everyone should have. Do people this kind and gentle actually exist? While others are worried about their friend, Takeru goes the extra mile to see how they are doing. I was impressed with Eita’s portrayal, though I have to admit that the stylist choices for his clothes are kind of strange. I can understand why they wanted him to be a little more feminine in his wardrobe, but wouldn’t it actually be more realistic if he were a little better dressed? He is a stylist after all and works in the fashion industry.

As good as Nagasawa Masami and Eita were in their respective roles, I have to say that Ueno Juri blew me away with her portrayal of Ruka. A lot of the time when you see actors and actresses in different roles, it’s not always the character you see but the actor. In Nodame Cantabile, Ueno Juri was perfect as the spacey Nodame. And here, she takes a complete 180 turn with the boyish Ruka. Her voice and mannerisms were completely in synch with this new character. Before this, I didn’t really follow Ueno Juri’s career, but now I think I’ll have to go back and watch some of her previous works, because that’s really how much she impressed me.

It was also a treat to see Mizukawa Asami as Eri, though like Takeru, Eri didn’t seem to have much of a back story. It seems to me that she is type to bottle up her feelings and not always tell people what’s bothering her. She puts on a happy face even though she feels lonely or sad. In the end, I don’t think this was dealt with completely, although her ending is pretty happy.

I also have to talk about the opening theme sequence. Is it amazing or what?? The white backdrop with the red strings of fate whirling around everywhere was really interesting. A couple of other observations: in the promo image, Takeru is the only one with his eyes open. And in the ending images of the opening sequence, everyone is completely in white except for Sousuke’s black tie. It would be nice if the Prisoner of Love PV that followed this same concept. Or if there was a Last Friends version of the PV.

Overall, Last Friends was an amazing series. Not only was the storyline very well written, the acting was also top notch. I was a bit disappointed in how some of the loose ends in the some side stories weren’t tied up properly, but this was definitely the best drama of the season for me.

Buy the boxset: Japan Version

New season, new dramas! Here are my first and pre-impressions for some of the dramas this season.

Last Friends
It’s the story of people who have been hurt and how they are coping with it. It deals with many issues such as domestic violence and sexuality, so needless to say, this series is rather mature and serious. Not only does it have an amazing cast with Nagasawa Manami, Ueno Juri, and Eita, the story is interesting and compelling. Add to that a GREAT OP sequence and I think I’ve already decided that Last Friends is going to be my favorite of the season. And isn’t that promo images so beautiful?

Zettai Kareshi
I was pretty hesitant to pick this up mainly because I have read enough of the manga to know that I don’t really like it. But then they cast Mizushima Hiro and I really like him, so now I’m watching it. And Maya Miki also plays a role in it, which is definitely a nice addition because I have always enjoyed watching her. The writers have changed the setting from high school to a cake company, which was probably smart, considering the nature of the show. Don’t know how long I’m going to keep watching it because it’s kind of bothering me right now.

Around 40
As the title implies, it’s the story of people who around 40. And as series a series with older actors and actress just means that it’s the veterans of the business who are again taking leading roles (as opposed to mother/father to leading roles). Basically the story of three women, one who wants to get married, but has high standards, so she has a lot trouble (also because she is very intelligent). Another is a housewife who is tired of just staying at home and wants to get back into society again. The last is a fashionable magazine editor who vowed never to get married, but did anyway. Stars Fujiki Naohito as the love interest of the main character

Kimi Hannin Janai yo ne?
Every mystery series is pretty similar, but they each have different gimmicks. In Kimi Hannin Janai yo ne? (You’re not a criminal, right?), the leading girl, Morita Sakura, has an amazing memory and can remember the tiniest details. She happens to get caught up with Usagawa Kyosei, an detective who is pretty crappy and falls in love with female suspects. The male lead is played by Kaname Jun, who was the villain in last season’s Ashita no Kita Yoshio. His character here is very comedic, so it’s strange for me to watch him here. Also because, he was also in the Taiyou no Uta drama where he played another very series character. And as I’ve said before, I can never resist a good mystery!

Ryokiteki na Kanojo
Based on the South Korean movie, this drama pretty much follows the same formula of the movie (or at least as far as I’ve watched to far). I’m not really a big fan of the movie…I could never understand why the guy just took all of her abuse. I am interested to see how the writers are going to stretch a movie into an entire drama, though. And how they integrate the change in setting from college students to working people. But actually, I never finished the first episode, so…

Hokaben
A lawyer drama with Ueto Aya starring as a rookie lawyer who wants to help the weak and works for the pro bono section. Her law firm is the largest in the nation, but the pro bono section only has one other lawyer - her boss. So far, it seems like this drama is going to focus on some heavy subjects and the first case is separated into two episodes (which she’ll probably win). Also stars Kato Shigeaki for Johnny’s fans.

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Puzzle
This one is like a mystery, but not exactly. It starts Ishihara Satomi (who I’ve always thought is really beautiful) as an English teacher who isn’t really very proficient at English. She’s selfish and arrogant in front her students, but acts meek and kind in front of her coworkers and the rest of the work. But she’s really smart and can solve puzzles and ends up solving various mysterious things with three of her students. And speaking of her students, is this a HanaKimi reunion or something? Because 2/3 of her students are from the main student cast… So far, though, it’s really fun and Ishihara Satomi is great.

Nodame Cantabile

Starring:
Ueno Juri as Noda Megumi aka Nodame
Tamaki Hiroshi as Chiaki Shinichi
Eita as Mine Ryutaro
Koide Keisuke as Okuyama Masumi
Mizukawa Asami as Miki Kiyora
Saeko as Saku Sakura
Uehara Misa as Tagaya Saiko
Takenaka Naoto as Franz Stresemann
Endo Yuya as Okochi Mamoru
Ibu Masato as Mine Tatsumi
Nishimura Masahiko as Tanioka Hajime
Toyohara Kosuke as Eto Kozo
Kondo Kouen as Tamaki Keiji
Sakamoto Makoto as Hashimoto Yohei
Fukushi Seiji as Kuroki Yasunori
Mukai Osamu as Kikuchi Toru
Hashizume Ryo as Kimura Tomohito

Nodame Cantabile is a Japanese drama that aired in the fall of 2006. It was broadcasted on Monday nights on Fuji TV. Based on the manga of the same name, Nodame Cantabile averaged rating of 18.79%.

Nodame Cantabile is the drama for all of us orchestra dorks (or more generally, music dorks). It takes places at Momogaoka Music Academy, focusing on the life of Chiaki Shinichi and his strange relationship with Noda Megumi, nicknamed Nodame. Chiaki is the top piano student at the Academy, as well as a talented violinist, but secretly dreams of conducting. He longs to return to Prague, where he spent his childhood, but feeling trapped in Japan because of his phobia of flying and sailing. He wonders what his future in music will be like, since one must study abroad in Europe to truly have a career as a conductor. Soon after, he transfers to the conducting division of the school.

He and Nodame meet coincidentally and she falls head over heels in love. Chiaki, however, is repulsed by Nodame since she is everything he is not - messy, dirty, and very eccentric. She is also a piano student. Though she cannot even read a piano score correctly, she is ridiculously talented and chooses to play by ear.

One day the famous conductor, Franz Stresesmann, comes to Momogaoka and requests to start a new orchestra. The students are surprised to see that the new orchestra is not made up of all the top students, but all the underachievers! Stresesmann takes Chiaki as his one and only pupil and as Chiaki begins to conduct, he realizes that this orchestra is made up of people like Nodame; talented and into the music, but cannot follow a score or the conductor. It’s the story of an up-and-coming conductor and an eccentric but talented girl who loves him.

Nodame Cantibile is one of the most hilarious dramas I’ve watched. All the characters are so full of life and totally exaggerated. A lot of the manga-actions are also translated into live-action. Like when Chiaki hits Nodame, she goes flying across the room, rolling around and everything. At first, it’s weird, but after a few of them, it becomes much more fun and it sticks out less (especially since everything is so wild).

A huge strength in this story in the uniqueness of each character…they are all very different, so there is no getting people mixed up (which is sad but happens to me sometimes). And since they’re all so different, there should be at least one character you will like. The most entertaining part of the show is the interaction between all the characters; it is so fun and energetic…sometimes I can’t understand how the actors and actresses didn’t just break out laughing with all the extremities of the script.

Even though there is a lot of slap stick comedy, there is also a huge amount of character development and two plot arcs included. I thought the cast was excellent; they all fit and looked the part.

There’s almost no reason to not watch Nodame Cantibile. Well, that’s not true. If you don’t like music, Nodame will be hard to watch (and listen!). If you don’t like comedy, there’s way too much in this story to overlook it. But that’s probably it. It’s a super fun drama with an interesting plot and relatively fast pace.

Buy the boxset: Japan Version

Starring:
Miyazaki Aoi as young Yu
Eita as young Yosuke
Nishijima Hidetoshi as older Yosuke
Nagasaku Hiromi as older Yu
Sayuri Oyamada as Yu’s older sister
Ryo Kase
Maho Nonami
Nao Omori

High schooler Yu is in love with her friend Yosuke. He is often at the riverbank playing a song repeatedly, but when Yu comes to sit with him, he always puts his guitar away. Recently, he gave up sports and took up the guitar, deciding to (hopefully) make a living out of music. The two often walk together in a comfortable silence, though sometimes this silence is broken by Yosuke asking simple questions about Yu’s older sister.

One day, Yu kisses Yosuke, but the only response she gets is his departure. Fast forward 17 years and both Yu and Yosuke are leading quiet and lonely lives. They haven’t spoken since high school. They meet by chance in an audition, because they both happen to be working in the music business. The two go out for drinks after and reminisce about times past. They find that the feelings they have left behind are perhaps still very much present.

Su-Ki-Da is a very slow-paced film and those who rely on quick dialogue and a lot going on will be bored very quickly in. The movie is so beautiful, though; clear blue skies, riverbanks, quiet streets, just so pretty to look at. Miyazaki Aoi and Eita are able to capture the tension and uncertainty in the little dialogue and subtle expressions and actions. And then their older counterparts did just as well in showing the burdens that they carried from their youth.

What I liked about this film was how uncertain things were. Of course we know that Yu likes Yosuke. Maybe we can figure out that Yosuke likes Yu’s sister, but we can’t be quite as sure. And does he like Yu back? This same uncertainty is brought up later and as we often find ourselves, there aren’t always clear answers as to why things happen or are the way they are

For those who can look past the slow pacing and enjoy the purity of the emotions of the characters, Su-Ki-Da is a must see film.

Buy this movie: K DVD (Eng subs)

Starring:
Ito Misaki as Fujii Minami
Kamenashi Kazuya as Ishida Yuya
Eita as Ogiwara Satoshi
Shiraishi Miho as Yugi Yoko
Ryo as Tanaka Mizuho
Sato Koichi as Imaoka Kyotaro
Aijima Kazuyuki as Sakuragi Kunio
Asami Reina as Watanabe Yuri
Haraguchi Akimasa as Matsui Yoshihide
Sato Shigeyuki as Mita Keisuke
Shida Mirai as Konno Natsuki

Sapuri is a Japanese dorama that aired during the summer of 2006. It was broadcasted on Fuji TV on Monday at 9:00 PM and was 11 episodes long. It enjoyed ratings of 14.2%, though the highest rated episode was the first with a rating of 17.9%. The opening theme is YOU by KAT-TUN and the ending theme is Real voice by ayaka.

Fujii Minami is napping while riding the train to work when she is woken by a cellphone ringing. Since it was just left on the seat, she answers it. It’s some guy who says that he left it on the train and wants her to deliver it to him because he has an important interview very soon. Minami also has an important meeting to attend, so she just leaves it at the lost and found at the next station.

She works for a company that produces commercials. One of the leading creative minds, she is the leader of many projects. At work, she meets with her boss, Imaoka Kyotaro, and her co-worker. They are introduced to a new worker who transferred from Osaka, Ogiwara Satoshi. Though he is young, he is popular and does excellent work. They say he is “striking Tokyo.”

The guy who lost his phone is now at his work place. He is Ishida Yuya, a new part-timer at Create Agency, Minami’s company. Ishida is a family friend of Imaoka and since he needed a job, he started working there-for the time being anyway. He delivers mail to Minami; she doesn’t notice right away, but after 15 seconds she realizes it’s him - the guy whose phone she picked up.

This dorama is chock full or office relationships. Ishida soon falls for Minami, but she has her eyes set on Ogiwara. Though Ogiwara has some feelings for her, he is still dealing with a college almost-sweetheart, Tanaka Mizuho, who is married to Ogiwara’s senpai. Another young office worker, Watanabe Yuri is also aiming for Ishida. On the side, there’s a secret relationship between Imaoka and Yugi Yoko. Their relationship is a bit more rocky, though, because Imaoka’s ex-wife has asked him to take in their daughter, Natsuki, for awhile.

While Sapuri will never be on my favorite dramas list, it was pretty enjoyable. All the office relationships are seriously complex! But sometimes I thought that it was just over the top - like, how can there be so many relationships in just one office?

The acting was pretty good, though. I liked a lot of the side characters, especially Eita and Ryo’s characters. Ryo was gorgeous in this role! I also really liked Eita’s character. I didn’t care much for the character of Watanabe; she didn’t really have any good points.

Kamenashi Kazuya’s acting was not bad, but not particularly good either. I thought Ito Misaki’s acting was good, though. Actually separately, I like them both, but they’re not so good together. The chemistry just isn’t there. Like you want to believe them when they say they want to be together, but you just can’t. The acting is fine, but the two people don’t feel right together. Because of that, it made the main storyline not as strong as it should have been.

Personally, I prefer the side relationship of Imaoka and Yugi with Imaoka’s daughter, Natsuki. Shiida Mirai was rather good as Natsuki and the actual character is so likable. And though I didn’t really like Imaoka at first, I eventually came to appreciate his character.

The backdrop of the story is pretty interesting, though. The various projects the CM production company goes through is fun to watch.

Sapuri’s not a bad drama. It’s enjoyable, but it doesn’t really go past that. The plot isn’t so compelling that you need to know what happens next; it’s more like you just want to know, but you don’t care one way or the other. It’s really only worth watching if you really like any of the leads or if you like stories about younger guy with older woman.

Buy the boxset: Japan Version

Starring:
Shinohara Ryoko as Yukihira Natsumi
Eita as Ando Kazuyuki
Kimura Tae as Makimura Kiyoko
Kato Masaya as Mikami Kaoru
Terajima Susumu as Yamaji Tetsuo
Kagawa Teruyuki as Sato Kazuo
Mukaichi Mion as Sato Mio
Abe Sadayo as Kokubo Yuji
Hamada Mari as Hasumi Anna
Nishijima Hidetoshi as Sezaki Ichiro
Kobayashi Mao as Mastumoto Rieko

I’ve been a fan of Eita since the Tokyo Friends drama and I love a good mystery, so watching Unfair was a given. And it definitely did not disappoint.

Shinohara Ryoko plays Yukihira Natsumi, an inspector in the Murder Investigation Department. She has an extreme sense of justice, but her methods (though successful) aren’t always appreciated by her coworkers or the public. Yukihira won’t allow others to commit homicide in front of her; if it comes to that case, she’ll shoot the murder herself. Five years ago, she came across this very situation and shot the murderer. He was only 17 years old. After this, she was ostracized by the public and her three year old daughter, Mio ceased to talk. She and her husband began arguing and approximately a year and a half later, they divorced.

Back in the present time, Yukihira is assigned a new partner, Ando (Eita). She has yet to meet him, though. Later, presumably that evening, she is awakened from her sleep by her new partner, who has come to pick her up to go to a crime scene. This is the first in a series of murder connected by a mysterious bookmark that reads “Who is really unfair?” The next day, Yukihira and a few other inspectors receive a manuscript. It reads of a detective novel, outlining a series of murders in the perspective of the murderer.

Murders continue and Yukihira keeps investigating. After the case has been solved, Yukihira’s daughter, Sato Mio (Mukaichi Mion) and her housekeeper/nanny Makimura Kiyoko (Kimura Tae) have been kidnapped. As the police investigate, there seems to be a connection to the previous detective novel murders. The end of this investigation continues into a new series of murders that possibly have a connection to the kidnapping case. This drama keeps you guessing as to what’s true and what’s only in your imagination. Very gripping. You’ll never see the end coming.

Characters
Yukihira Natsumi: detective, doesn’t believe in fairness
Ando Kazuyuki: new detective, Yukihira’s partner, kind of a pushover
Makimura Kiyoko: kind and gentle, Mio’s nanny
Mikami Kaoru: crime scene investigator, good friend of Yukihira
Yamaji Tetsuo: department chief, always knows what the other officers are doing, even if he isn’t looking
Sato Kazuo: Yukihira’s ex-husband and father of Mio, daily chief editor of the newspaper
Sato Mio: Yukihira and Sato Kazuo’s daughter, due to trauma she cannot speak
Kokubo Yuji: supervisor or something like that of the homicide department
Hasumi Anna: computer specialist (I presume) of the homicide department, Yukihira’s good friend
Sezaki Ichiro: publishing editor of the company that printed the “Who is really unfair” bookmarks
Mastumoto Rieko: Sezaki’s assistant, Yukihira’s good friend

If you enjoy a good mystery with a twist of drama on the side, this drama is for you.

Buy the boxset: Japan Version