Waters

Starring: Oguri Shun, Hirayama Hirouki, Morimoto Ryoji, Kirishima Yusuke, Matsuo Toshinobu, Suga Takamasa, Katsurayama Shingo, Narumi Riko

Seven guys who need money start working at a host club. When they all get there, they discover that the manager of the club has run off with all their desposits. But the owner is kind and says that they can stay and work as hosts if they also run the entire venue themselves. With nothing left to lose, they decide to accept his offer. Also in the story are five women who are now successful entrepreneurs. Oguri Shun’s character knows the CEO and they had one of those friendly acquaintances/almost-lovers-but-not relationship.

Waters is your basic friendship story of several people who get thrown together randomly. The host club backdrop gives it a little spice, as well as plenty of humor, since they are all amateurs. It’s a lot of fun and Oguri Shun is really good in this one. I absolutely love the ending, though. It’s just too funny. Waters doesn’t have the most compelling storyline, but it is a definitely a fun watch.

Buy this movie: HK DVD | Korea Limited Edition

Backdancers

Starring: Hirayama Aya, hiro, Sonim, Saeko, Tanaka Kei, Hasebe Yu

The story starts out with Miyu (Hirayama Aya) and Yoshika (hiro) as high school students who love to dance. They always sneak into clubs just to dance, but one night are caught by the police and are forced to quit school. After that, they meet Juri (Hasebe Yu) and the three begin dancing as a trio. Juri is eventually scouted and debuts as the next big pop sensation. Miyu and Yoshika are brought in as back-up dancers along with Tomoe (Sonim) and Aiko (Saeko). Together they are known as the Backdancers. But what are they to do when suddenly Juri decides to retire and get married?

Although Backdancers is a friendship story, it also mixes in a bit of romance, family life, and music industry criticism. I’ve watched this movie like three or four times, but for me it doesn’t get old (or at least, it hasn’t yet). The plot is fun and interesting and the cast is great as well. They all come off as very good friends and get along really well. It’s like in romance stories, one of the most important thing is for the two leads to have good on-screen chemistry, well Backdancers has really good on-screen friendship-chemistry and that’s what makes this movie so good.

Buy this movie: HK DVD

Secret

Starring: Jay Chou, Guey Lun Mei, Anthony Wong, Tseng Kai Xuan

Jay Chou stars as Ye Xiang Lun who transfers to a music school where his father (Anthony Wong) is a teacher at. There he meets Xiao Yu (Guey Lun Mei), a mysterious and charming pianist. The two become very good friends, but everytime Xiang Lun asks anything personal about Xiao Yu, she would only say that it is a secret.

I enjoyed this sweet love story and the entire thing was very pretty to watch. Also being set at a music school, the soundtrack was really good (especially since Jay Chou is a great composer). But this movie has a lot of plot holes and unanswered questions, which if you can ignore them all, it will the movie more entertaining. Guey Lun Mei is really charming and a dream to watch and is definitely the star of the movie.

Buy this movie: HK DVD

Ao to Shiro no Mizuiro

Starring: Miyazaki Aoi, Oguri Shun, Aoi Yuu, Konishi Manami

Actually, this isn’t a movie, but a drama special. So it’s like a movie, right? Anyway, Kaede (Miyazaki Aoi) and Kasumi (Aoi Yuu) used to be best friends. But when they entered high school, Kasumi became more popular than Kaede, causing her to start bullying her ex-friend. One day, she meets new student Takumi (Oguri Shun) who is an expert at picking locks. She asks him to open the door to the school roof, but he refuses, saying that he’ll teach her how to pick locks instead.

Maybe this sounds like a friendship story, but it’s more like a bullying story. It’s rather short, clocking in at a mere 45 minutes, but it definitely accomplishes as much plot-wise as a full-length movie. The leads are all very good, you get to see a young Miyazaki Aoi, Oguri Shun, and Aoi Yuu. It’s interesting to note that they are all accomplished actors/actresses now (including Konishi Manami). There aren’t any subtitles available for this special, but it should be mostly okay, because there isn’t very much dialogue and most of the story is conveyed through body language.

Buy this movie: Japan DVD

Starring:
Narumi Riko as Hanamoto Hagumi
Ikuta Toma as Takemoto Yuta
Harada Natsuki as Yamada Ayumi
Mukai Osamu as Mayama Takumi
Narimiya Hiroki as Morita Shinobu
Murakami Jun as Hanamoto Shuji
Seto Asaka as Harada Rika
Takizawa Saori as Teshigawara Miwako
Kimura Yuichi as Lohmeyer-senpai
Matsushige Yutaka as Professor Shoda
Maekawa Yasuyuki as Teranobori Yasuhiko
Kashiwabara Takashi as Nomiya Takumi
Izumiya Shigeru as Yamada Daigoro

Hachimitsu to Kuroba is a Japanese drama that aired on the winter of 2008. Even though it was based off of a super popular manga and anime of the same name, the drama failed to live up to that popularity, averaging ratings of only 8.9%.

The drama follows the lives of five art school students. Hanamoto Hagumi is a young naive girl form the countryside, but she is an amazing artists. Takemoto Yuta is an architecture student who is a bit lost in life, not knowing what he wants to do. Yamada Ayumi is a talented ceramics student. She’s in love with Mayama Takumi, an experienced architecture student. The last member of their group is Morita Shinobu, an eclectic young man, who despite being an amazing artist in all sorts of forms, doesn’t want to graduate. Right off the bat, many love triangles are introduced. Takemoto likes Hagu and Yamada likes Mayama, but he’s too busy falling over his boss, Harada Rika. She and Hagu’s cousin, Hanamoto Shuji, a professor at their school, were friends back when they were in art school together. One nice change that HachiKuro has is that although there is romance in the story, it’s not a strict romance story. It tells the tale of five students as they find their way in life and as always, life brings elements of romance into it.

I have read part of the manga and have watched all of the anime, so I was expecting something a bit more from the drama. And I’m sad to say that the drama really doesn’t live up to the manga and anime. With the transition from animanga to live-action, a lot of things are lost, especially the way artists can over-exaggerate anything without looking too outrageous. Unfortunately, that is not the case for the drama and much of HachiKuro’s slapstick humor is cut from the series and replaced with other attempts at humor (which doesn’t work as well). Like Lohmeyer-senpai….whose role here was 1000 times greater than in the original storyline. I think it was supposed to be funny, but it was just stupid. And not even the type of stupid that you can laugh at.

The fact that many plot elements were changed made the drama’s storyline less touching than the manga. Not to mention how some of the character’s traits were altered, making you wonder, “is this person really the same character?” (just think Morita…). And not to mention they took out the entire character of Kaoru…which makes Morita lose a ton of depth to his character.

Despite that, I enjoyed Ikuta Toma’s portrayal of Takemoto and his monologues are well done. And I have always really liked the Yamada-Mayama storyline; I find it so touching and real and pure. I love the character of Yamada Ayumi, actually. And Hirai Ken’s Canvas as the theme song was really great as well.

HachiKuro is probably a good drama for those who aren’t too familiar with the original storyline. But for the rest of us who had some expectations, they definitely weren’t met. It wasn’t even like Hana Kimi, where the drama was still good, even though there were changes made to the storyline. Okay, so HachiKuro’s not bad, but it’s not good and that’s bad enough, right?

Buy the boxset: Japan Version

New season, new dramas, and a renewed spirit! This’ll be my first drama preview post as just my first impressions on the dramas I’m planning on watching and reviewing.

First Impressions

Shikaotoko Aoiniyoshi

A very unlucky man is forced to move his post at a university lab to a girl’s high school in Nara, where the deer roam around freely. Ogawa Takanobu moves into an apartment/inn of some sorts with a bunch of his co-workers. Life in Nara is quite different from Tokyo and Ogawa has probalem adjusting, including a student who seems to hate him. And not to mention that there seems to be someone tailing him and writing telltale notes on his classroom blackboard. So far, I’ve found Shikaotoko Aoiniyoshi to be quite interesting. Even though, it takes place in Nara that’s depicted as mostly slow-paced and not very exciting, the drama is full of life. I also love that the humor is very dry; there doesn’t seem to be any slapstick to be seen. I also have to mention that Tamaki Hiroshi and Ayase Haruka have pretty unflattering hair compared to their previous hairstyles. Maybe it’s supposed to be reflect on their location.

Hachimitsu to Kuroba (Honey and Clover)

Probably one of the more anticipated drama for overseas watches would be Hachimistsu to Kuroba, more commonly known as Honey and Clover. It’s a story of five college students in art school and the drama and comedy that ensues from college life. The story starts when Hanamoto Hagumi, an amazingly talented painter among other things, starts school. It centers around Takemoto Yuta, though, who is mostly the narrator and falls in love with Hagu. There’s a lot of love triangles, random fun, and all sorts of art. I was really looking forward to this drama, but I was disappointed in the first episode. Some parts were funny, but other parts were just on the boring side and all in all I was not impressed. Fortunately, the second episode redeemed it a bit for me, but it’s still not as good as I had hoped. I have read a few chapters of the manga, and I’ve never watched the anime. I did watch the the movie and thought it was rather boring, though I found the manga to be pretty enjoyable. I just hope the drama will get better soon. But since the third episode’s rating is now below 10%, maybe all there is is hope.

Ashita no Kita Yoshio

I found this story synopsis to be quite intriguing. A man, Kita Yoshio, has always had a strange connection to the number 11. He has lead a life that he regrets and is sad about. He feel that the world hates him and there is nothing left for him to live. He had a wife, but she divorced him 11 years ago. He had one good friend, but he also died. Kita Yoshio decides to end his life 11 days from then, on the anniversary of his one friend’s death. However, fatefully, he meets Yashiro Heita who pulls him into a world he never knew about. This is the start Kita Yoshio’s most eventful 11 days. After being disappointed with Hachimitsu to Kuroba, I watched the first episode of Ashita no Kita Yoshio and was pleasantly surprised. The story is kind of trippy, but is really enjoyable. There’s a morbid side to it, yet it is very funny. Kohinata Fumiyo who plays the titular “hero,” Kita Yoshio is, so far, amazing. His character is really pathetic but at the time can relate to many people. I’m looking forward to watching the rest of this drama.

1 Pound no Fukuin

This is the story of a boxer who absolutely loves to eat. However this always gets into trouble since he needs to keep a close watch on his weight to stay in his weight class. One day, he meets a fledging nun, Sister Angela, and feels a strange pull towards her. I don’t know. The nun thing is really weird, but the juxtaposition of a nun and boxer is quite interesting. It’s weird, though, having Kame as the boxer cause he’s so skinny. Generally, it’s a little cheesy and dramatic (but what sports drama isn’t?). But Kame is nice to look at and Kuroki Meisa is really pretty.

Koshonin

I cannot resist a crime drama. Seriously. Koshonin is about the Special Investigation Team unit of the police. This team goes directly to the front line of a crime to negotiate with the criminals. The story focuses on Usagi Reiko, a new trainee in the SIT. She is the only woman on the team and the leader of the team lets her know straight up that she is not welcome. After watching the first episode, it seems that this drama is not about the crimes, but really mostly about police hierarchies and internal politics. Actually, I don’t find the actual case to be very interesting or engaging; what is interesting is the internal politics, perhaps the drama is a commentary on the rigidness of the system?

Still to start

Binbo Danshi

Two words: Oguri Shun! It’s the story of a poor college student who always lends a helping hand with other people’s debts, even though it always lands him into trouble (and he’s already dirt poor). This drama is either really good or really cheesy. I think I’ll watch it no matter what. That promo image is gold. Plus, it’ll also be an interesting ride to see him in a purely comedic role (a nice departure from Hanazawa Rui and Sano Izumi).

4 Shimai Tantei Dan

Yeah, just can’t resist mystery. It revolves around a team of 4 sisters who solves crimes. I’m interested to see what kind of mysteries the sisters will solve….Yukan Club-esque mysteries? (please, no more of those) or Galileo-esque mysteries? Hopefully this won’t disappoint. Also interesting to note that the abbreviation is 4STD.

Bara no nai Hanaya

I’m still not sure if I want to watch this drama. But it does have rather high ratings, I think the highest of the season so far. I dunno. Maybe. I do want to watch Matsuda Shota in a lighter role, though, since his recent leads have been rather dark characters (though he’s not the leading role in this one). What I gather about the story is that it’s about a single father running a flower shop and the people that he meets.