Road to Perdition

by Ender’s Girl

The Cast:
Yamada Takayuki, Ayase Haruka, Takeda Tetsuya, Watabe Atsuro, Yo Kimiko, Yachigusa Kaoru, Kashiwabara Takashi, Izumisawa Yuki, Fukuda Mayuko

In a Nutshell:
Two children commit the unthinkable but manage to deceive the police–except for one homicide detective who stays doggedly on their trail. But old sins cast long shadows, and their original crime inevitably leads to the next, and to the next, and to the next…

(SpoilLert: Spoilers right off the bat! Tread carefully.)

[Recommended companion tracks: “Black Hole Sun” by Soundgarden; “Eclipse” by Pink Floyd]

“Long is the way
And hard, that out of Hell leads up to light;”

- John Milton, “Paradise Lost”

These two kids, how they break my heart.

What makes a murderer? Does it really boil down to personal choice? Or is it when circumstances beyond one’s control present both the means and the opportunity to make that choice in the first place? And when a person takes the life of another, what does it do to them? What if this person were just a child?

When a grownup commits murder, it seems almost ordinary by society’s standards, and perhaps the more sensational ones (like crimes of passion) will merit a passing mention in the local news. But when a child commits murder, why do we feel so shaken right down to our very core? We often overlook the fact that children are capable of doing a lot more than we give them credit for. They can fight, they can hurt each other, they can defend themselves or those whom they love, they can think and feel and react, they can lie and steal–they can make moral choices. It is modern society that blithely looks away from this reality, choosing instead to view children with rosy-tinted innocence while denying them of any smidgen of personal accountability.

When an eleven-year-old boy sticks a knife in his own father’s chest, when a girl of the same age plots to gas her own mother to death–what does this do to them? And what does this do to us, as viewers? How do these young killers live with the implications of their crimes? What do they do to survive, and how do they deal with potential obstacles to their freedom?

Byakuyakou is the journey that these two children, Kirihara Ryouji and Nishimoto Yukiho, undertake together as they carry their burden of guilt and fear and shame through uncharted territory, hacking out their own road in this wilderness while leaving a trail of blood and lies and tears. For the story of Byakuyakou is also a journey deep into the human heart, this no man’s land of hidden valleys and dark, endless tunnels. There are more secrets to bury, more crimes to cover up before the statute of limitations expires–and beyond this, freedom.

The drama starts at the very end: a strange young man in a Santa Claus suit lies bleeding on the sidewalk, watching as a young woman in evening finery walks toward him with a stricken look. The young man’s eyes film over while his life flashes before him–and so our story begins. Byakuyakou is this life told in flashbacks, as well as a whodunit told in reverse: it’s like looking at a murder mystery through the negative prints. The crimes that are committed remain a puzzle to be figured out by everyone else in the story–except the two protagonists, and the viewer. For it is the two kids who are the perpetrators of the crimes in this tale, both the old ones as well as the new. This is their story, their true thoughts and actions known to no one but the viewer, who must silently bear their secrets until the very end. But even as Ryouji and Yukiho keep commiting more crimes in their bid for self-preservation, how can the viewer judge them of their wrongdoings, knowing very well that these children were the original victims in the first place? When they scheme and manipulate and murder, when they willfully destroy lives to serve their own purposes, are they not merely fighting for their own survival? After Life has dealt them a most cruel blow, are they not simply making the most of the circumstances given them? But the drama offers no quick and painless answers, no easy way out of the moral quandary it has so cunningly thrust on the viewer.

Byakuyakou may be a riveting suspense drama, but it also presents an excellent character study–in fact one of the best that I’ve seen–of Yukiho (Izumisawa Yuki/Ayase Haruka) and Ryouji (Fukuda Mayuko/Yamada Takayuki). The screenplay (adapted from the bestselling Higashino Keigo novel) is by Morishita Yoshiko, who also penned Yamada Takayuki and Ayase Haruka’s 2004 TBS drama Crying Out Love in the Center of the World. The writing of Byakuyakou delves into Yukiho and Ryouji’s characters with such an acute understanding of the human mind and heart. There are few dramas out there that are as psychologically rich as Byakuyakou, or as thematically provocative. From the start you can already distinguish the divergence in the personalities of the young Ryouji and the young Yukiho: Ryouji kills his father without premeditation, acting entirely on his protective instincts toward Yukiho as he walks in on this perversion caused by his own flesh and blood. Whereas Yukiho approaches the aftermath of Ryouji’s crime (and later, her own as well) more calculatingly, and right away thinks of a plan to turn this situation to their advantage. With this, the victim becomes the mastermind, and the rescued becomes the protector. Yukiho saves Ryouji’s life, but she never ever lets him forget it. Guilt can be a powerful weapon and Yukiho wields it with punitive resolve–on Ryouji as well as the other people she encounters along the way–while feeding off her own persecution complex.

Ryouji and Yukiho’s relationship, which starts out with all the fresh innocence of pre-adolescent friendship, gradually morphs into this sick symbiosis of indebtedness, of ground-in guilt and codependency. And oh, how this destroys them in the end. They really have nobody else to cling to but each other, and you can only watch as they drag each other down through the mire, spiraling deeper and deeper into their own duplicity and despair. Ryouji and Yukiho have vowed to be each other’s sun, a guiding light in a world that has taken away everything and left them nothing. Two killers cast out of Paradise and cursed to wander for all time, denied peace and forgiveness, denied their own place in the sun. Images of this sun are used liberally throughout the drama (though too liberally, I must say; the director didn’t have to overdo the metaphor–more on this later). But instead of a warm, life-giving force, the sun is depicted as this terrible, almost deific presence (like the Egyptian god Ra) who watches Ryouji and Yukiho’s every move, waiting to expose their dark little secrets and burn away all their lies into dust. It’s easy to be haunted by the grimy bleakness of Ryouji and Yukiho’s industrial hometown, with the factory towers belching forth thick black fumes. And above it all, the turgid sun hangs in its blood-red sky, merciless and damning.

But there is a third major player in this story, the drama’s linchpin whose very presence ups the ante almost exponentially. Tirelessly tracking Ryouji and Yukiho is Sasagaki Junzo (Takeda Tetsuya), the veteran homicide detective who picks up their scent even when the trail has long gone cold. Most of the drama’s eleven episodes revolve around The Hunt that takes place after Sasagaki uncovers a fresh lead that puts Ryouji and Yukiho’s exculpation in jeopardy. It’s a deadly cat-and-mouse game fourteen years in the making, and one whose ending can only claim more victims.

As a viewer, part of you wants Ryouji and Yukiho to keep getting away with their crimes even as Sasagaki steadily closes in on them; after all that these two have gone through, they deserve to be happy once the statute of limitations expires. But another part of you wants justice to be served: people’s lives have been destroyed by Ryouji and Yukiho’s schemes, and no matter how extenuating the circumstances of the first two killings, their subsequent crimes–multiple rape and blackmail, prostitution and necrophilia, the credit card fraud and the sending of the bank teller to her death, the killing of Matsuura, the murder of Yukiho’s adoptive mother–are simply indefensible. And so that part of you wishes SO BADLY for Ryouji and Yukiho to finally get caught, if only to stop this descent into utter madness, if only to salvage what little redeemable scrap their souls still possess.

You also find yourself rooting for Sasagaki despite his slightly menacing quality (kindly old gramps he ain’t!), because you understand the paradox of his relationship with Ryouji and Yukiho, acting as both their pursuer and their savior. It is the character of Sasagaki whom I love the most, this aging bloodhound with the doleful face and the bassoon voice. He is no Inspector Javert of Hugo’s “Les Misérables,” whose own misguided convictions and fanatical sense of duty to the law reduce his world to black and white. On the contrary, Sasagaki’s unerring sense of justice is tempered by his immense compassion for Ryouji and Yukiho; he truly wishes to help these young, damaged individuals, and save them from their worst enemies: themselves.

The collective level of talent brought to the table by the Byakuyakou cast is simply tremendous. Fine acting is the keystone of any ensemble drama, and when it comes to this particular company of players, their cup runneth over. The old geinoukai warhorse Takeda Tetsuya (best known for playing the quintessential anti-leading man on the classic 1991 Fuji TV drama, 101st Marriage Proposal) leads this diverse pack of industry veterans, character actors, and new blood–wonderful performers all.

As Kirihara Ryouji. Yamada Takayuki (H2, Waterboys) gives the performance of his life. My goodness, what an actor–possibly the finest of his generation. He could retire tomorrow and go live as a cobbler on the Shiretoko Peninsula or something, and his role on Byakuyakou will stand the test of time. And judging from his diverse film and TV work, Yamada Takayuki seems to enjoy the best of both worlds: star power and bankability on one hand, and a character actor’s range and dramatic chops on the other. He may not have the looks or charisma of a leading man (the thick brows and heavy-lidded almond eyes set in those broad features make up a face that is sometimes attractive and sometimes grotesque, but always arresting). But what’s so mesmerizing about him is the sheer intensity he brings to this role, and that rare ability to dissolve into his character: a true thespian hungry for his Next Big Challenge. You look into Ryouji’s eyes and recoil from what you see: the anguish, the horror, the self-recrimination, the unbearable sadness eating up his soul.

It is Ryouji who’s the more emotionally vulnerable one of the two, although it is he who ends up committing the crimes at Yukiho’s behest. For he belongs to her and no one else–body, mind, heart and soul, and you see how it tortures him beyond relief, how this devotion eventually makes a monster out of him. In the first few years following their reunion as high school students you can still see how the guilt gnaws at Ryouji, you can still sense his ambivalence as he perpetrates these acts for Yukiho. Being the less damaged one of the pair, Ryouji at first serves as the voice of reason and restraint, still not fully convinced that this path is the only one for them. A few times he broaches the idea of the two of them coming clean, if only to stop hiding, to stop running. But as Ryouji’s voice continues to get drowned out by the vindictive squall raging underneath Yukiho’s tranquil exterior, so do his personal convictions change bit by bit, until they are reduced to this desensitized heap of ruthless pragmatism. Ryouji’s own point of no return is his act of intercourse with a dead woman–all being part of Yukiho’s sick game plan–and it is into that corpse that he pours the last drop of his conscience. (And ZOMG Yamada Takayuki, your eyes in that scene, your eyes…….. *shivers*)

So the only way for Ryouji to be truly free of Yukiho is through death. And death is what he finds at the end of this madness. But even with his passing, his bloodline lives on in his son from a brief liaison with the pharmacist, Noriko (Nishida Naomi). In the drama’s heartrending epilogue, we see Yukiho watching the boy from her park bench, while the child and his mother romp on the grass. Yukiho beckons to the boy and he toddles over on his stubby legs and puts his tiny hand in Yukiho’s tapered fingers, while Noriko watches with a quizzical expression–and you realize that even this child belongs to Yukiho still, and will always be hers. In this strange little way, Ryouji and Yukiho get their lifelong wish: to walk hand in hand at last under sun and sky.

Ayase Haruka rises to the challenge of her bloodless character, proving that with a substantially written role and proper direction, she can truly shine. I’m really happy that she holds her own against that bundle of crazy-a$$ talent that is her co-star Yamada Takayuki. But oh, Yukiho. It is a terrible, terrible thing to be emotionally and sexually abused, to be pimped off by your own mother–a thousand times more if it’s done to a child. It is also a terrible thing to kill another human being–a thousand times more if that person is your own family. But what if both the victim and the transgressor were one and the same? And what if this person were a mere child? Byakuyakou takes this unthinkable, unconscionable scenario and flings it in the viewer’s face: you’re thrown into Yukiho’s shoes and made to see her life through her own eyes. So the broken, homeless, motherless girl grows up into this frozen young woman unable to love and receive love, who blames everything from God to her own family to life in general, so embittered by her past and resentful of others who are happy in their own right. And though you cannot hate her, you grieve for her, and for this soulless, conscience-free life that she has chosen. To be this pale and beautiful flower with “grotesque roots,” as Detective Sasagaki describes her… such is her fate. But she’s a born survivor till the very end, and if there’s anything one can admire about her, it’s her persistence, and her willingness to fight tooth and French-manicured nail to stay alive.

The other characters on Byakuyakou are an interesting assemblage of sinners and saints, each one acting out their role in this twisted morality play. The inimitable Watabe Atsuro (Beautiful Life) astounds us once again with his portrayal of the oily scuzzbag Matsuura Isamu, the Kirihara pawnshop’s employee whose sordid affair with Ryouji’s mother is more out of opportunism than anything else. After the death of Ryouji’s father, Matsuura continues to sponge off their family, and (unsurprisingly) runs the pawnshop business aground within a few years. After sucking the Kirihara finances dry, Matsuura moves on to more ambitious undertakings, using his connections as a petty criminal to expand his operations to credit card fraud and male prostitution. And he takes the now-teenage Ryouji along for the ride, using blackmail as leverage. Matsuura may be a smooth-talking, money-grubbing, bottom-feeding parasite, but dumb he ain’t, having cleverly sussed out right from the start that Ryouji somehow had a hand in his employer’s mysterious death. Matsuura reminds me of Dickens’ Fagin from “Oliver Twist”–well maybe not physically, but in the way they’d both run their rackets while exploiting youths–in the case of Matsuura, Ryouji and his friend Sonomura. Both Fagin and Matsuura are exactly the type of villain you just LOVE to hate: cowardly, contemptible, rotten to the core–the very dregs of the underworld that leech off the weak while truckling to the strong. But Matsuura in a way becomes Ryouji’s surrogate father, his padrone throughout this dark picaresque. It is a strange relationship, for even as Ryouji both hates and fears this man, he realizes that there is much to learn from their illicit exploits. Watabe Atsuro plays Matsuura to smarmy perfection (with the fur coats and rock star glasses!!!). What an actor. So Matsuura later meets a fitting end–“Live by the sword, die by the sword”–but not before giving you a glimpse into his humanness, as all great portrayals of villainy ought to do.

One character that especially tugged at my heartstrings is that of Sonomura Tomohiko (Koide Keisuke, a darn good actor who always gives me something to rave about), the male hooker who becomes Ryouji’s sidekick/gofer/accomplice during their grifter days under Matsuura. Sonomura is the Jiminy Cricket to Ryouji’s Pinocchio, a personification of the conscience. It is Sonomura’s lighthearted optimism and uncomplicated (if simpleminded) nature that moved me so, being one of the few people who still had faith in Ryouji’s innate goodness. Echoing this unstinting trust is another player in the story–Tanigushi Mafumi (Yo Kimiko), the kind librarian who provides the moral core to Ryouji and Yukiho’s story, as well as the nurturing presence that these two children never received at home. To them she acts as lighthouse, repository of their secrets, and (in the more humorous moments) dispenser of love advice–all rolled into one affectionate package. These children have practically grown to be her own flesh and blood, and she loves them with a mother’s unconditional love–even though she is to realize much later how far they have truly strayed. Assuming a less pivotal role is Yukiho’s adoptive mother Karasawa Reiko (Yachigusa Kaoru), the elderly ikebana teacher who, despite her misgivings, chooses in good faith to love this strange, secretive daughter of hers–but later pays for it with her own life.

The subplot that I enjoyed the most (well, as much as you can ever “enjoy” anything about Byakuyakou, lol) is the one involving the cute eligible bachelor Shinozuka Kazunari (Kashiwabara Takashi) who starts dating Yukiho in her college freshman year. Yukiho is flattered by his attention and a part of her (understandably) yearns for a normal relationship outside of this hermetic world she has shared with Ryouji for so long. This new development obviously does not sit well with Ryouiji, and soon it is his turn to fly into a jealous rage. But in a most unusual twist, it is Yukiho’s dumpy, myopic friend Eriko (Otsuka Chihiro) who unintentionally replaces Yukiho in Shinozuka’s budding affections. (I love how Shinozuka is not just another playboy cliché, but can see past appearances and really like Eriko for the warmhearted soul that she is.) This throws a monkey wrench into Yukiho’s mercenary designs (i.e. she needs to hook somebody rich so she can open her boutique, and what better catch than Shinozuka), and soon enough, her spiteful alter ego Psycho Yukiho strikes again. (Oh, Eriko.) I LOVE that Shinozuka begins to sense something off about Yukiho, a niggling suspicion that grows into full-blown distrust over the years–although (as with Detective Sasagaki) it is never fully confirmed until much later. And I love how Shinozuka later joins forces with Sasagaki in the final act of the drama, when they both uncover a telling pattern in the rape+blackmail cases and soon trace the common denominator to Yukiho and Ryouji. Kashiwabara Takashi (Love Letter) has dreamy good looks, and I’d put him in my top 5 classically handsome J-actors–if it weren’t for those snaggy little teeth of his, which could be used to fell a pine tree. (Ever heard of dentists, Kashiwabara my sweet? *nasty grin*)

I could go on and on about the wellspring of talent that is the Byakuyakou cast: Don’t you just love Sasagaki’s junior partner Koga Higashi (Tanaka Koutaro), the stouthearted family man with the chili powder addiction? Granted–he’s a bit of a cliché, the token “Brave Young Lawman Who Dies!” of many a crime thriller, and as soon as I noticed the father-son affection between Sasagaki and Koga, as soon as I saw Koga’s loving young wife and cute little kiddo, I had a baaaad, baaaaad feeling he wasn’t going to survive the story, tsk. But even clichés become real people you can root for when they’re written and portrayed well. After Koga’s death you can see how it devastates Sasagaki to the brink of giving up (that breakdown scene where he dumps chili powder into his ramen in the empty precinct corridor–aaaaahrhghghghgh), how Koga’s memory (OMG that framed family photo–aaaaarghhherhgrhgh) gives Sasagaki the inspiration, the burning drive to soldier on alone and get to the bottom of this deep-rooted mystery that has claimed his young partner’s life. Then there’s Hirata Misturu as Ryouji’s pedophile of a father (hey it’s Teppei’s boss from Love Generation! hehe); and Yukiho’s boozy pimp of a mother (Kawai Michiko); and Ryouji’s emotionally crippled mother (Aso Yumi), who utters what has to the most shattering line of the entire drama before she takes her own life: “The boy is still in the air duct…” And it kills you to know that had she waited a bit longer, she would’ve at least had found something to live for–in Ryouji’s son. And I must mention Matoba Koji who cameos as Enomoto, the Yakuza boss who realizes Ryouji’s potential value to his own operations–with or without Matsuura acting as their broker, and even better without.

And then we have those two kids, Izumisawa Yuki (as Young Ryouji), and Fukuda Mayuko (as Young Yukiho). My goodness. WHERE did they find these little marvels??? I’ve seen dramas with child actors ranging from the insufferably hammy to the insufferably adorable, but never before have I encountered a drama where kids have had to play individuals so damaged, so psychologically f**ked-up, killers for Pete’s sake! The first episode of Byakuyakou is so critical to the rest of the drama: if you don’t root for the characters as kids, you’ll never root for them as adults. And correspondingly, if you can’t see the continuity in the portrayal of the characters from childhood to adulthood, if there’s a disconnect in physical appearance and behavior from the child to the adult, then you won’t find yourself believing in the characters, either. These child actors playing Ryouji and Yukiho winningly provide that character continuity, and never once do they make you feel like they’re acting at all. Such naturally gifted performers are so hard to come by, and I sincerely hope we see more of these two in the coming years.

For all its excellent qualities, Byakuyakou is not without its flaws. Probably the most glaring one of all is the drama’s excessive indulgence in visual symbolism. The “Gone With the Wind” paperbacks and Scarlett O’Hara fixation… The single white snowflake, the single white flower… The ever-watchful sun. These images have immense poetic potential (e.g. the single white snowflake/flower represents the moral purity that Yukiho inwardly yearns for but cannot attain, etc.). But imagery and symbolism work best with subtlety: a few allusions per image ought to be enough for one drama. But when the writer/directors jackhammer them into the viewer’s consciousness every bleeping chance they can use, when they have to spell it out that They! Are! Meaningful! Very! Very! Meaningful! To! The! Story! And! The! Characters!!!–then the constant references become stale right off the bat, not to mention counterproductive as hell. This isn’t emotional spoon-feeding, this is emotional shoveling-down-your-gullet-and-forcing-you-to-swallow (say “ahhh!”). Just let me make those mental linkages on my own, dammit. Case in point: Okay, so Yukiho feels this strange affinity to Scarlett O’Hara, I get it. But to set up a scene where she sees Shinozuka reading the same book at a sidewalk café? Coincidence–or plot contrivance? What–so she wouldn’t be attracted to the guy if the book had been a Tom Clancy spy novel, instead? Durrr. (And since we’re on the topic, I also hated how Ryouji and Yukiho would communicate via letters inserted in copies of “Gone With the Wind” at their hometown library–OH COME ON. It’s a public library. You don’t leave self-incriminating messages (e.g. “Dear Ryo, I killed Mummy. XOXO Yukiho”) when you’re supposedly doing all that you can to stay under the radar and–oh, I don’t know, maybe NOT GET CAUGHT BY THE POLIZEI??? Durrrrrr.) Why do you DO this to us, Jdoramas???? Can you not trust the viewers to think for themselves??!?1!!??#$^$#@?#@??# Don’t treat us like we’re stoooopid, for fraaaak’s sake.

Rant over. But wait–I have another bone to pick with this drama!!! And this time, it’s the direction that’s mostly to blame. I hated the overwrought treatment of two pivotal scenes that could have been brilliantly executed but ended up failing miserably. Scene 1: Yukiho’s iconoclastic hissy fit in the little chapel with a stricken Ryouji looking on, helpless to stop the uncontrollable madness surging through her as she trashes the church interiors while cursing God and the angels and the saints in heaven and organized religion in general. This scene marks a crucial moment for Ryouji, because it’s what finally impels him to go over to the dark side. But aaaaaahhaarghhghgh the scene was just too bloody loooong, and despite the sheer racket it must have made, the guards sure took their sweet time in “rushing over” to accost the two intruders/vandals. So there was no one else in the vicinity (roving guards or priests or churchgoers or passers-by?), no one at all who heard the commotion from outside? COME ON. And there were just too many shots of Ayase Haruka screaming at the stained glass and the giant crucifix, too many shots of her smashing up the religious paraphernalia. The first few seconds of the scene gave me goosebumps, and the expressions on the faces of Ayase and Yamada were spot-on, but apparently the director(s) wanted to spin out the scene to five times longer than it should have been. Stupid, stupid.

Scene 2: This is the most crucial moment of all, but the director(s) messed it up just the same. I’m talking about Ryouji’s death scene at the start and close of the drama. The build-up to his death was terrific, though: Sasagaki finally confronts Ryouji and shows him the way out his personal hell, like a father entreating his prodigal son to come home. This scene breaks your heart because at the end of it all, the prodigal son rejects his last chance at redemption. So Ryouji falls from the bridge, the knife he has used again and again embedded deep in its final resting place: its master’s body (poetic justice, perhaps?). It also happens to be Yukiho’s Big Night, the opening of her R&Y boutique. She sees him gasping on the sidewalk, his lifeblood seeping through his Santa Claus suit. What to do, what to do? Should she go over and try to save him, but risk exposing their closely guarded relationship? Or should she walk away without looking back, knowing that this is exactly what he wants her to do? Now, it is Ryouji’s turn to raise that finger and point the opposite way, towards safety and freedom. This scene could have been great, really it could, but the direction was a disaster. Again, the scene was just so emotionally manipulative and long-drawn-out. Cut to Ryouji’s face as he smiles bravely at Yukiho, willing her to sever their last remaining bond. Cut to Yukiho frozen in her spot, indecision all over her face. (I have to say that Ayase came up wanting in this climactic moment. The only person you’ve ever loved is dying out there in the freezing cold, and you’ll never see him again, and he’s telling you to save yourself instead of trying to help him. What are you going to DO? Ayase’s expression lacked the agonized spasms that should have overlain her incertitude. I felt she should’ve given more.) Cut to Ryouji. Cut to Yukiho. Cut to Ryouji. Cut to Yukiho. Cut to the USELESS PEDESTRIANS who don’t lift a finger to help Ryouji or at least call for an ambulance. –Bad, bad direction, argggh!!!! It just wasn’t believable for the passers-by to look on stupidly while Ryouji lay bleeding on the street, a knife sticking out of his body. But the directors in their infinite wisdom apparently believed that more is more, hence their wonderfully astute decision to milk Ryouji’s protracted death scene of its last drop of sentimentality. Thanks for the melodrama overkill. Not.

The scene would have worked much, much better with a more realistic treatment, tighter editing, and yes–better acting from Mlle. Ayase. Just picture this: Ryouji’s fall causes a commotion on the sidewalk, with several good Samaritans stopping to see what’s wrong amid the crush of Christmas shoppers. And through the blur of strangers milling around him and disjointed voices addressing him in urgent tones, through the haze of blood and pain and falling snow, Ryouji catches sight of Yukiho, a vision in her silvery-white gown and fur coat, diamonds dripping from her ears and neck. She’s standing some distance behind the growing crowd of lookers-on, naked anguish on her ashen face. Their eyes meet. He uses his last ounce of strength to lift a blood-soaked finger and point away from himself, away from them, away from this “riotous madness” they have spawned together. Leave, he is telling her. And LIVE. So she turns away, the shame and self-loathing on her face mingled with–relief. For this is what she really desires, to be free of him at last. And he has just shown her the way out. Somewhere in the distance, Ryouji hears the old detective Sasagaki calling out to him in that plaintive bassoon voice, a sound that is soon drowned out by the roaring in his own ears. Ryouji sees his own life flash before him, the same wasted life we as viewers have witnessed through the course of this drama. Ryouji’s last memory is that of Yukiho’s slim form as she walks away–never looking back, a silvery phantasm gliding underneath a snowy, starlit sky, towards the dark side of the moon. The barest whisper of a smile hovers on Ryouji’s bloodless lips, before his own world fades to black.

***

The Byakuyakou theme song “Kage” (“Shadow”) by Shibasaki Kou, seems tailor-made for the drama. And the music video used in the end credits of the first and last episodes, featuring just the four actors who played Ryouji and Yukiho from childhood to adulthood, will make you weep all over again.

***

“Black Hole Sun” by Soundgarden (Superunknown, 1994)

In my eyes, in disposed,
In disguise, as no one knows
Hides the face, lies the snake
The sun in my disgrace
Boiling heat, summer stench
‘Neath the black the sky looks dead
Call my name through the cream
And I’ll hear you scream again

Black hole sun
Won’t you come
And wash away the rain

Black hole sun
Won’t you come
Won’t you come

Stuttering, cold and damp
Steal the warm wind tired friend
Times are gone for honest men…

“Eclipse” by Pink Floyd (The Dark Side of the Moon, 1973)

All that you touch / All that you see
All that you taste / All you feel.
All that you love / All that you hate
All you distrust / All you save.
All that you give / All that you deal
All that you buy, beg, borrow or steal.
All you create / All you destroy
All that you do / All that you say.
All that you eat / And everyone you meet
All that you slight / And everyone you fight.
All that is now / All that is gone
All that’s to come
And everything under the sun is in tune
But the sun is eclipsed by the moon.

***
Photo credits: azndream.over-blog.com, dramauniverse.com, dramawiki.com, fizzlex3.wordpress.com, movie.zing.vn, nautiljon.com, vidom.org, sushi-bar-fansub.info, zdoramo.vox.com

Title credit: “Road to Perdition” by M.A. Collins and R.P. Rayner (DC Comics, 1998)

I know I say this about a lot of dramas but this one is seriously one of my top favourites.
The story is about a famous singer who marries into his girlfriend, Sakura’s family. This is when all the problem starts. It’s a big family and not everyone is happy about him marrying Sakura.
To the public he is a big and cool rockstar. But in real life he’s kind of an idiot, always smiling and trying to please everyone. He has to hide the fact that he is married, since his fans thinks he will stay single forever (as part of his image).

Nagase Tomoya plays Sakuraba Yuichiro, the lead. I loved how he changed from this ice-cool rockstar to an complete hyper, airheaded guy. I loved his look in this drama. Shaved “beard” and blonde hair. It is totally different from what he looks now. Please Nagase-san… Shave!! You look so much better when shaved. Anyway…
Takeuchi Yuko plays his girlfriend Arai Sakura. I’ve seen her in one drama before, Lunch no Joou, which I loved. And she didn’t disappoint in this drama either. I think I will have to watch more dramas with her now.
The rest of the cast is also great.
Shinohara Ryoko as Arai Satsuki. She played Noda Naoko in Anego.
I kind of have a love/hate thing going on for Akiyoshi Kumiko’s character, Takeyama Kaede. Because she is really annoying . But at the same time, so funny. Her character is a real idiot. (And I mean that in the nicest way)
Utsui Ken as Arai Masumi, the father. I think most people recognise him from Gokusen.
And then we have my ichiban Aiba Masaki! He plays the son of Takeyama Kaede. Omg. He is so hot. I can’t really tell about his acting since I’m kind of partial. I think everything he does is good.

The insert song in this drama is “Hitoribotchi no Haburashi”. Which is sung by Nagase himself. I love this song. It’s on repeat in my ipod.

Overall this is a really good drama and I highly recommend it.
Grade 5/5

Plot:
Comedy-Drama starring pop group TOKIO’s Nagase Tomoya and rising female actor Takeuchi Yuko. Nagase stars as an icy-cool pop idol, Sakuraba Yuuichiro, who is actually a happy go-lucky smiling guy/idiot. After falling in love with Sakura (Takeuchi), trouble ensues after agreeing to marry into Sakura’s family (she only has 3 sisters). Of course, more trouble follows trying to hide his marriage from his adoring/rabid fans. A light dorama worth watching.

Cast:
Nagase Tomoya as Sakuraba Yuichiro
Takeuchi Yuko as Arai Sakura
Shinohara Ryoko as Arai Satsuki
Suzuki Anju as Arai Azusa
Aiba Masaki as Takeyama Ryo
Koyuki as Tatsuyama Chitsuru (ep1-5)
Tsunku as Komine Takuro
Kamiki Ryunosuke as Arai Tsutomu
Nomura Hironobu as Yajima Masaki
Danta Yasunori as Hakozaki Otohiko
Akiyoshi Kumiko as Takeyama Kaede
Utsui Ken as Arai Masumi

Nagase in Mukodono:
(Hot)
Nagase how he looks now:
(Still hot, but please shave!)

Mr. Brain är ett mysteriedrama där Mizushima Hiro (Hanazakari no Kimitachi E, Gokusen 2, Zettai Kareshi & SP) spelar en av de viktigaste birollerna. Men det är först i seriens gäster som de andra mest intressanta namnen dyker upp: Kyouki (Kimi wa Petto, IWGP), Ishiguro Hideo (Princess Princess D, Gokusen 3, 1 Pound no Fukuin), Aibu Saki (Zettai Kareshi & SP, Buzzer Beat), Sato Takeru (Rookies, Princess Princess D), Kamikawa Takaya (skoldoktorn i Hanazakari no Kimitachi E) och inte minst allas vår Yankumi – Nakama Yukie (Gokusen 1, 2 och 3, Ringu 0, Shinobi: Heart Under Blade).

Men framför allt blev jag överraskad av att Kamenashi Kazuya (Gokusen 2, Nobuta wo Produce, 1 Pound no Fukuin) hade en stor roll i avsnitt 3. På senaste tiden har jag verkligen velat se något med honom, så döm min förvåning när mina böner helt plötsligt blir hörda.

Mr. Brain

Visades: 2009
Sågs av mig: November 2009
Antal avsnitt: 8
Skådespelare: Kimura Takuya, Ayase Haruka, Mizushima Hiro, m.fl.
Genre: Naturvetenskap, mysteriedrama, thriller, komedi.
Öppningslåt: Van Halen – Jump

Handling: Tsukumo Ryusuke är en framstående neurofysiolog som med sitt socialt missanpassade sätt irriterar sina kollegor på det högteknologiska IPS-centret. Tillsammans med polisens resurser försöker han blanda sin högst ovanliga hjärnas snillrika lösningar för att lösa komplicerade brott.

Ayase Haruka, Hiraizumi Sei och Mizushima Hiro.

Kommentar: Jag började se Mr. Brain av en ren slump. Jag var egentligen inte alls på humör för deckare och var därför rätt negativt inställd redan från början. Men redan i avsnitt 2 är jag frälst. Kimura Takuya som huvudrollen Tsukumo är briljant. Jag skrattar så jag kiknar – han charmade mig totalt. Mr. Brain är det ultimata mystiedramat – spännande, komplicerat och förbannat roligt – allt framfört av en mängd härliga karaktärer. I mina öron låter allt som Tsukumo säger om hjärnan rätt och riktigt eftersom jag är analfabet på naturvetenskapliga termer och människokroppens delar, så legitimiteten får någon annan stå för. En extra charmpoäng får serien för sin aspiration att låta IPS vara det ultimata high-tech-mekkat, där formler, fingeravtryck och DNA-sensorer svischar fram på skärmen i sann hacker-anda.

Favoritkaraktärer:
Tsukumo Ryusuke (Kimura Takuya) och Hayashida Toranosuke (Mizushima Hiro): Först trodde jag att det var ett dåligt skämt när jag såg Kimura Takuya och Mizushima Hiro påpälsade med varsin grymt ful peruk. Men det, mina vänner, kallas humoristisk charm. Och nog blir jag charmad allt! Jag faller som en träplanka för Tsukumos gliringar och totalt opassande kommentarer. Varje gång rookie-polisen Hayashida går igång i samma takt som Tsukumo blir jag alldeles hetsigt fnissig inombords. Helt underbar kombination av karaktärer!

Personligt betyg: 

Sub/releasegrupp: GiriGiri Fansubs.
För dig som gillar: bananer, shiritori, hjärngympa och jdramat Galileo.

Fler bilder:

Aibu Saki gästspelade i avsnitt 3.

Kolla vad söt Mizushima Hiro är i sin perukliknande kalufs ^^

Nakama Yukie.

Idag har jag krigat lite med mina två uppsater som snart ska in. Den tredje har lite senare deadline, så det är inte lika mycket panik med den. Jag tycker faktiskt att skriva uppsater kan vara ganska kul, men det kräver att jag tycket om ämnet. Det gör jag inte, när det gäller en av dessa tre uppsater, så jag har inte så mycket vilja att jobba med den. Men måste man så måste man.

Jag ska skriva om Japan, Bernhard av Clairvaux och nyhetsrapportering. En av dessa är det som jag inte gillar. Om ni känner mig borde ni kunna lista ut det. I alla fall vilken det inte är.

Jag ville egentligen inte sitta hemma och skriva uppsatser. Jag var faktiskt bjuden på två fester, men nu så kan jag inte komma på någon, hur gärna jag än vill!

Onda skola! O.o

______________________________________________

Nu har jag bara ett avsnitt kvar innan jag har sett hela The Quiz Show. Jag trodde inte den skulle vara så bra, för jag misstäkte att avsnitten skulle bli tråkiga för upplägget i varje avsnitt var ganska likt. Visst, upplägget var ganska likt, men gud va fel jag hade! Det blev inte ett dugg tråkigt! Den är superbra, och jag vill vekligen se sista avsnittet, så jag vet hur det kommer sluta för Kamiyama (huvudpersonen). Gillar man Maou så gillar man denna!

Och jag börjar verkligen gilla Yokoyama Yu som skådespelare. Han är värsta creepy ibland i The Quiz Show, men i verkligheten påminner han mer om Aiba. ^_~

____________________________________________

Ska jag göra några pages? I såna fall, vad skulle de handla om? Ska jag kanske göra ett index över alla draman som jag babblar om här? Så de läsare som inte är japan-nördar hänger med ändå? Eller ska jag skriva om mig själv? Eller bara ha länkar till andra sidor som jag är mycket på?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Som avslutning idag blir det Jun!

♥

Damn that alarm on Riko’s phone! Hahaah. It ruined the moment, when Naoki overbalanced and Riko fell on him   It got kind of awkward after that, and after Riko had established that Naoki was okay, she decided that she’d better head back. As the training camp was quite far away from home. So Naoki walked Riko to the bus stop and they say their goodbyes .. and as it turns out, Kawasaki just happens to be doing laps and watches them, unnoticed. His heart slowly breaking, I’m sure. Poor guy. Cue lots of flashbacks as he watches JC ARCS practice.

Kawasaki’s fighting spirit is shown when he calls for a practice match .. and puts himself against Naoki. Of course, Kawasaki’s team win by a zillion points, and Naoki’s team have to do 30 laps punishment. Meanwhile, Riko resolves to tell Kawasaki her feelings the night he returns from training camp. There’s another aw-worthy scene with Mai and Shuji. Aw.

Things begin to get messy when Riko tells Kawasaki she likes someone else – of course, when she’s about to tell who that it is Naoki who she likes, Kawasaki’s parents happen to run into them. Kawasaki introduces Riko as his girlfriend who he is going to marry (!) and they all go out for lunch together. Poor guy; he’s doing everything he can to keep this relationship alive. After, at South Park, Naoki and Riko nearly kiss; Riko freaks out and makes excuses to leave. Naoki confesses and Riko makes to kiss him, but pulls away, calling herself an idiot. She runs away.

!!!

Poor Kawasaki, playing with Naoki’s and Riko’s guilt to keep his girlfriend and star player away from each other. It shows he’s only human, and how desperate he is. But sooner or later he’s going to have to accept reality.

POS

• I’m just waiting for the romance to happen between Riko and Naoki
• I think I’ve reached that point where I’m completely biased and unable to say anything back about this show. Even Naoki’s lack of expression I don’t really have an complaints about. I’ve become accustomed to it.

NEGS

• Yamapi seems to mumble alot. I’m not sure if this is a good or a bad thing. It’s kind of cute, I guess. But its also kind of hard to understand him sometimes.
• I’m starting to feel sorry for Natsuki. I guess she’s only human.

I’m learning to cut down my posts, and not ramble so much. So in this summary, I shall only talk about the important aspects of the episode. aka, shuji’s insanely cute … ness. And Naoki breaking up with the wicked witch. Here goes!

Key scene: Shuji doing a kind of ‘leg strength building’ exercise with mai supervising. Oh my. Oh my. Oh my. Insert 230854972093 minutes of swooning here. He’s such a wonderful character. He’s like their pet dog, really. Aw.

wheeeeeeee

NAOKI SLEPT ON THE BENCH AT SOUTH PARK. After his fight/confrontation with Natsuki, he spends the night with his basketball at South Park. Missing every shot due to his heartbroken state. Riko didn’t hear the music of the baseketball sounds as she was too busy entertaining Kawasaki, Mai, Utsonomiya and Shuji upstairs. But she ventures out the next morning and finds Naoki alsleep on the beach, looking adorably pitiful. And Riko takes a photo on her phone, in another wonderfully stalkerish act. She’s definitely in love.

Naoki, as expected, is very disheartened and upset and sad. However, most of his sadness is intergrated in his constant basketball practice, which is gooood. He and Natsuki break up officially, and Naoki tells Yoyogi Ren to take care of her. Yoyogi Ren just looks at Naoki incredulously. It appears that Naoki wasn’t aware of Natsuki’s smoking habit either. Keeping secrets was she?

it's break up time

Meanwhile, Naoki is fighting back tears as he reminisces, to sad melancholy music. She was really cute though, I must admit. The flashbacks definitely brought out the best of her. Her returns to his dorm at the training camp in time for Riko to call; she plays her violin over the phone, and Naoki cries. Riko asks him what’s wrong, and Naoki says the phone is out of battery and hangs up hastily. Of course, Riko catches the night bus and runs the remainder of the way to see if Naoki is okay. She finds him shooting hoops at the basketball court, and she falls to the ground, relieved and out of breath. Naoki denies crying (what a man! ha) and then, suddenly. they’re in each others arms, and the theme song cuts in at the perfect time. Wow.

What an episode.

POS.

• Riko and Naoki at the end. It was just perfect, the way it happened.
• Naoki and Natsuki are overrrrr.
• Naoki crying, aw.

NEGS.

• Poor Kawasaki … is he beginning to realise he is not the one Riko loves? Eeeek. I hope he finds a lovely girl
• Utsonomoyi – being more comfortable around guys? WHY DO YOU KEEP SAYING THAT? ARE YOU GAY?
• Naoki never has any expression on his face. That is a definite neg.

High School Farcical
Part One

by Ender’s Girl

With a precious few exceptions (like Nobuta wo Produce), high school-based J-dramas seem to be nothing but an endless wasteland of sheer inanity, where people are one-dimensional buffoons and situational plausibility gets pimped out for cheap laughs. In this world, school IS a joke. Literally.

I give you Exhibit A:

Groundhog Day with the Gokusens

The Cast:
Nakama Yukie, Utsui Ken, Namase Katsuhisa, and a truckload of Johnnies, Johnny-types, Johnny wannabes, and Johnny rejects… plus the seasonal posse of Angry Young Rebels aka Yankumi’s Core Group

In a Nutshell:
Young math teacher Yankumi + her homeroom class of toughies and teenage dirtbags = Too much violence, waaaaaay too much playing hooky, but not enough algebra. (Stand and Deliver this ain’t.)

(SpoilLert: Ehhhh… the whole damn nutshell IS the plot.)

[Recommended companion track: “Teenage Dirtbag” by Wheatus]

I finally gave Gokusen a try because of all the hype surrounding the series/franchise/commercial juggernaut. And I suppose anyone would’ve found the story *marginally* enjoyable… if they were FIVE years old, that is. Sitting through the Gokusens I kept feeling like frikkin’ Bill Murray in Groundhog Day: You’re forced to relive the same episode over and over and over again, watching various permutations of the same rehashed situations: The baaad, baaaad boys of Class 3-D are mean to Yankumi! Yankumi gets tough on them! The boys get into various scrapes/fisticuffs with the Criminal Elements of Society! Yankumi saves her “precious students”–because Yankumi is really… a Yakuza scion trained in the age-old art of a$$-kicking! So the boys inevitably end up learning Valuable Life Lessons! Like… Obey your elders! Choose your battles wisely! Learn to appreciate your teachers! Finish high school, and reach!your!potential! Follow your heart! (Hahaha)

Really, they could’ve done ALL OF THIS with just one SP and achieved the same result–instead of 3 seasons, 2 SPs and a feature film.

But for purposes of comparison: Gokusen 1 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Gokusen 2.

Gokusen 1 is definitely less frenetic and less cartoonish than G2, and loads more enjoyable. (And the 3-D classroom of G1 looks so… normal, unlike that pigsty from G2. *shudders*) I actually found myself emotionally involved at some level–the Kumai boy’s (Waki Tomohiro) story in particular. And Nakama Yukie has great chemistry with Matsumoto Jun as Sawada Shin, G1’s Alpha Male of the Angry Young Rebels. Nothing sexual or anything (she’s his frikkin’ teacher, duh), but their scenes make the viewer wish for some post-graduation romance, haha. NOW I understand why there are like, 1 million YankumixShin shippers out there (…and why the Kame haters increased by 1 million when the movie came out this year, lol).

And it’s interesting to see MatsuJun and Oguri Shun in their career-making roles (this was way back in 2002, after all)… even more interesting to see how they looked before the advent of eyebrow threading and orthodontia, lol.

<Now this is the part where my three regular readers get whittled down to two. (Run away!!! Run away!!!)>

Yes, I watched Gokusen 2 for Kamenashi Kazuya, yes Kame that sick little skank from KAT-TUN, because I’m a Kame Kompletist, and that’s what you DO when you’re a Kompletist, you watch all his dramas no matter how Krappy, and don’t even get me started on the Krappiest of them all, Gokusen is decent compared to the other things I’ve seen Kame in, oh my eyes, my eyes… /end of run-on sentence. Well, the only thing I liked about Gokusen 2 was… Kame. (Surprise, surprise.)

But was it just me, or did he actually have some chemistry with Nakama Yukie, as well? Heh heh heh… Not in a YankumixShin way, of course, but… Kame’s character (Odagiri Ryu, this season’s Alpha Male of the Angry Young Rebels) is the only one in his class who doesn’t treat Yankumi like she’s their teacher/buddy/bodyguard/knight in shining armor. I actually like how the Yankumi-Ryu dynamic is developed in this drama.

Oh, and I liked the music of the second season, particularly that horribly infectious “No More Cry” by D-51 as the theme song, and “Kizuna” (hehehe) by Kame as the insert track.

Awwww, looky, someone’s feeling left out ‘coz E.G. didn’t mention him, not even once…

I think the best thing about the Gokusens would be Yankumi’s interaction with her granddad (Utsui Ken) and their Yakuza homies (Anan Kenji, Uchiyama Shinji, Kaneko Ken–hilarious, all). Entertaining stuff, if hardly realistic. The producers/writers obviously wanted to make the Yakuza angle as benign as possible, considering the school kids and tweeners who (presumably) made up the lion’s share of the TV audience. Yankumi’s gramps is portrayed as this kindly old man who couldn’t hurt a fly, but all the time I was thinking, “He’s a frickin’ MOB BOSS… how many people has he had killed, anyway?” But then pretty much everything else in the Gokusens is trivialized, so it’s easy to see why the writers glossed over this, er, little detail (Yakuza! = Organized! Crime! Syndicate!). Durrrr…

And as for Gokusen 3… hahahahahahha I’m not THAT shtooopidddd…

(But I’ll be watching Gokusen the Movie once the DVD is released, so I guess I AM. Doh!)

Exhibit B:

Hanazakari no Kimitachi e / For You in Full Bloom

The Cast:
Horikita Maki, Oguri Shun, Ikuta Toma, Mizushima Hiro, a dog, and more truckloads of Johnnies, Johnny-types, Johnny wannabes, and Johnny rejects

In a Nutshell:
Girl travels halfway across the globe to help Serious Sporty Guy “find himself,” but first needs to pose as a guy to get into Serious Sporty Guy’s all-boys school. This other dude, Funny Dorky Guy, completes the requisite love triangle.

(SpoilLert: None!!! Because I am Kind and Generous…)

But first, let’s sing…

The Hana Kimi Tiny Toon Adventures!

We’re tiny, we’re toony,
We’re all a little looney,
And in this cartoony,
We’re invading your TV!

We’re comic dispensers,
We crack up all the censors,
On tiny toon adventures
Get a dose of comedy!

I really don’t have to continue writing about Hana Kimi because that song from the Warner Bros. animated series sums it up beauuuutifully. But I will anyway, hahaha.

So why did I slog through this high school farce-o-rama? Because Oguri Shun is Love.

Repeat after me: Oguri Shun is L-O-V-E. Love. Okay, so maybe he isn’t classically handsome–but then this is Japan, so who is, right? Lol. (The only classically handsome J-actors I know would be Karasawa Toshiaki, Fujiki Naohito, Tsumabuki Satoshi, and (a pre-anorexic) Tamaki Hiroshi… Yep, that’s about it… Oh no, not you, KimuTaku, I never found you classically handsome, sorry… Nope, not even in Good Luck!… Back of the line, buddy! Lol) Back to non-classically handsome Shun: But there’s something about good acting that makes a character (and the actor playing him) so… compelling to watch. Towering over everyone else, Shun may look a bit too… mature to be playing a high school student on Hana Kimi (*ka-ching!* understatement of the year! hahahahaha), but but BUT I never would’ve found this drama tolerable without him in it. Yep, without him as Sano Izumi aka The Serious Sporty Guy, I would’ve chucked my DVD out the window right after Episode One.

Amid the crazy, meandering stupidity of Hana Kimi, Shun brings a certain… gravitas, and a core of believability to the story. I’ve seen him in pretty good productions (Hana Yori Dango, Stand Up!) as well as pretty awful ones (the abortion that was Yuuki, and now, Hana Kimi), but I was blown away by his performance in each one. He really seems to understand, as in really understand what each character is about–no matter how well, or how poorly written that role is–and he has that gift (yeah, the one soooo few actors have, lol) of inhabiting a character and making it his own, despite crappy writing/direction or mediocre co-stars. Shun can make whatever character he’s playing feel like a real person, whether the material is hardcore comedy, or more serious fare.

It also helps that his character on Hana Kimi is (writing-wise) the meatiest of the lot: the whole character arc of Sano Izumi is developed (i.e. his internal conflict, his motivation, his worries and insecurities, his family baggage) and so you really get to witness his personal journey throughout the drama. But then this is Shun, so even with the character of Sano being the best-written on the entire drama, a lesser actor may have messed it all up just the same, lol. And yeah, I’d totally believe his character was this record-breaking track star–with that super athletic body of his? *wolf-whistles, lol* Baby baby baby. You can (high)jump me anytime, lolz. (PLUS, sporting that jet-black hair, and walking around in those to-die-for Nike track suits, Shun certainly looks his cutest among all the dramas I’ve seen him in. Oooh-la-la!!!)

Then there’s Ikuta Toma aka “The Johnny That, er, Johnny Forgot” (lol), as Nakatsu Shuichi, the Funny Dorky Guy who develops feelings for Horikita Maki’s character–which naturally convinces him that he’s gay, which naturally generates more laughs for the story. I thought that Toma’s “dark” (lol) turn on Hana Yori Dango 2 was rather laughable, but he really surprised me on Hana Kimi. Providing the comedic foil to Shun’s straight-arrow character, Toma is freaking hilarious as Nakatsu Shuichi–typically J-com, but never completely over the top. And I like that as an actor, Toma doesn’t balk at making fun of himself, and is refreshingly unselfconscious despite all the outrageous situations his character finds himself in. Nakatsu doesn’t realize right away that Horikita Maki is a SHE, and it is this (erroneously based) Gay Awakening of his that provides the drama’s funniest moments. (Nakatsu’s 5,866 nosebleed scenes were highly amusing, and I was LMAO during the scene when he goes all moony over Ashiya Mizuki (Horikita Maki) at the okonomiyaki parlor, and the camera zooms in on his expression, with water dribbling from his mouth and love cataracts glowing in his eyes.) At least I had fun watching Toma, even if the rest of the comic acting from the cast felt so fake.

But oh dear, Horikita Maki: the weakest link of the three. I was HOPING to see a Girl acting like a Boy (same kind of role that Amanda Bynes NAILED!!! in the 2006 film She’s the Man–aka Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” for the MTV Generation, heh), but it was sooooo frustrating to watch Maki Not. Even. Trying. Or. Acting. Like. She. Was. Trying. What we have instead is a Girl who still acts like a Girl but has everyone thinking she’s a Boy because: 1) the boys at Osaka High are THAT dumb, and 2) the writing decreed that nobody would ever find her out until the last episode. Durrr. Maki doesn’t even lower her voice, or walk like a dude, or adopt other mannish mannerisms–things Amanda Bynes did in She’s the Man, with delightfully hilarious results. She’s the Man was so entertaining (despite being–yessss, another high school rom-com) because Bynes attacked her role with an almost gleeful gusto, and wasn’t afraid her Disney/Nickelodeon-weaned image would take a beating by appearing in a gender-bending role, or by deglamorizing herself to the point of being unrecognizable. The whole film is really about the comedy of errors that ensues as Viola (Amanda Bynes) tries her darnedest to fit into the all-boys school, despite getting into a lot of hairy near-scrapes, compounded even more by the maddening proximity to her super-stud of a roommate, Duke Orsino (Channing Tatum).

On the surface it may not seem fair to pit Hana Kimi against She’s the Man. “Comparisons are odious,” as the saying goes. But they ARE inevitable. And cultural differences aside, the only valid point for comparison between Maki’s turn on Hana Kimi and other gender-bender roles would lie in the believability of the performance: did the actress play a girl playing a guy to a convincing degree? Horikita Maki = not in my book. What made me want to tear my hair out was watching this insipid, half-a$$ed effort from her that would’ve been pleasantly watchable–if her character hadn’t pretended to be a guy from the start. She’s SUCH a girl here, and what astounds me even more is how the writing loves to make her character dress up in ladies’ formalwear (e.g. the pageant, then later the dance contest), then later makes a big deal of her being outed as a girl, when everything about the drama (the writing, Maki’s unconvincing acting) somehow conveniently forgets how bloody important it is for Ashiya to act as boyishly as possible, and not give even the barest hint that she’s actually a girl!!! Argh!!! *self-destructs*

Granted, Japan is crawling with bishounen types, so mannishness (even in men) may not be as idealized as in other cultures. But Maki didn’t even play androgynous convincingly, IMO. She obviously got poor direction from The Director, who (with The Writer) ought to take the brunt of the blame for the whole phony treatment of Hana Kimi. The effectivity of a performance (or lack thereof) is really the net effect of the writing, the direction, and the actor’s own interpretation of the role. Which is why it’s SO important for actors (especially those serious about TEH CRAFT!) to view their portrayal as a collaborative process. And this can only be achieved if the actor and director truly understand how the character was written and share in the same creative vision. But if all the lead star ever does is mouth her lines and hop when the director says “hop,” and never really goes deep into her character, then that’s another story altogether, heh.

What’s best about Hana Kimi: Oguri Shun, Ikuta Toma, the Nike track suits, and the dog.

And the worst? Everything and everyone else. Especially YOU, Maki, you… GIRL.

***
Photo credits: crunchyroll.com, dramawiki.com, hallyudorama.com, kitine.wordpress.com, soompi.com, ampf.vox.com

Varning: Läs inte detta om du inte sett serien Proposal Daisakusen, då spoilers kan förekomma.

Proposal Daisakusen SP

Originaltitel: プロポーズ大作戦 SP
Också känd som: Operation Love, 14nen-goshi no Koi ni Eien wo Chikau Shunkan wa Otozuremasu ka?, 14年越しの恋に永遠を誓う瞬間は訪れますか?
Visades: 2008
Sågs av mig: November 2009
Avsnitt: 1
Skådespelare: Yamashita Tomohisa, Nagasawa Masami, Eikura Nana, Hiraoka Yuta, Hamada Gaku m.fl.
Genre: Romantik, tidsresa.
Temalåt: Mongol 800 – Chiisana Koi no Uta
Slutlåt: Keisuke Kuwata – Ashita Hareru Kana

Nagsawa Masami och Yamashita Tomohisa.

Handling: Ken och Rei befinner sig på Hawaii för att bevittna bröllopet mellan Tsuru och Eri. Men i sista stunden backar Eri ur, och åker tillbaka hem till Japan utan ett ord till någon. Tsuru blir helt ställd, och hans vänner lider av att se honom så olycklig. Ken blir bekymrad över vad som kan ha hänt i den till synes så rena och ärliga kärleken mellan Eri och Tsuru, och önskar att han kunde åka tillbaka i tiden för att ställa allt till rätta…

Mikio (Hiroaka Yuta), Eri (Eikura Nana), Ken (Yamapi), Tsuru (Hamada Gaku) samt Rei (Nagasawa Masami) samlade igen.

Kommentar: Till skillnad från Zettai Kareshis specialavsnitt, så känns den här uppföljningen befogad. Det sista avsnittet lämnade ju minst sagt mycket åt fantasin, och det här avsnittet reder upp en del frågor och knyter ihop säcken på ett tillfredsställande sätt. Detta är dock inte det tårdrypande Proposal Daisakusen vi är vana vid – om ångesten ens existerar, så är den mycket mild och i små doser. Istället lämnar den tillträde för värme och humor. Det är fantastiskt att se hur Yamashita Tomohisa verkligen kommer till sin rätt i den här rollen. Han känns piggare än vanligt, och lyckas verkligen förmedla sina tankar och känslor utåt. För att kort sammanfatta, så är detta ett värdigt avslut på en underbar serie.

Personligt betyg:

Sub/release-grupp: Love Song.
För dig som gillar: hula-hula-dansare, goda féer och kärlekssagor.

When I first heard about this drama, I will admit my thoughts were a little like this:

Yamapi + basketball + violin playing love interest = boring boring boring.

Basketball is a sport that bores me (I’ll admit, most sports bore me) and I’ve never been a Yamapi fan. Always more of a Toma girl. Yamapi always seems to lifeless and … lifeless, I guess. Plus I wasn’t really familiar with any of the other cast, so I was slightly skeptical.

But after watching the first episode out of pure curiosity – and then watching the second, and third because it was so good – my thoughts are more like this:

Lots of attractive Japanese basketball players + two intriguing ‘artists’ +  insanely hot Yamapi + a fantastic opening theme = pure obsession.

So basically, Buzzer Beat is the story of Kamiya Naoki  from a professional basketball team, JC ARCS. He doesn’t deal well with pressure and consequently is never able to show his full potential on court. His girlfriend Natsuki is the head cheerleader and has a terrible smoking habit. She’s not that wonderful, really. Shirakawa Riko is a music college graduate, aiming to become a professional violinist. Through a serious of chance encounters including a lost mobile phone and sharing the same neighbourhood basketball court, Riko and her best friend Mai become acquainted with JC ARCS’ coach Kawasaki and Naoki … and then, its the beginning of almost quite a complicated love … shape. Ha.

yamapi/naoki *swoooooon*

The series starts off with Naoki (an amazing Yamapi) showing off his ability to crack under pressure during the semi finals; he misses the crucial shot. Fortunately, his teammate Utsonomiya comes to the rescue by scoring a ‘buzzer beat’ and they win. Still, Naoki is hard on himself and he seems quite depressed the whole bus ride home. Also on the bus is Riko (played by Kitagawa Keiko), who is also in low spirits after breaking a string during her violin audition. Yamapi – sorry, Naoki – accidently leaves his mobile phone on the bus, Riko picks it up and they organise for Naoki to collect his phone. Naoki sends his coach Kawasaki (Ito Hideaki – even the coach is attractive! oh my) to get the phone from Riko .. and he falls in love at first sight.

riko and mai, beachin' it up

The next few episodes consist of a lot of drama, humour, love, deceit, attractive people and a little basketball and violin on the side, of course. As I’m lazy, I think I’ll just dot-point the events in .. dot points. Yeah.

• Naoki asks Natsuki to marry him at the company party … if he wins the next basketball game.
• Riko’s idol Nakaishi-sensei offers her an audition for a quartet he’s intent on producing. It turns out he isn’t interested in her violin. He just wants her to take her clothes off.
• Kawasaki visits Riko at her part time job at a bookstore, and asks her out.
• JC ARCS lose their next play-off game.
• JC ARCS gain a new player; Yoyogi Ren. He challenges Naoki to a play off and Naoki loses.
• Natsuki sleeps with Yoyogi Ren, cheating on the adorably pitiful Naoki. She is a horrible person and smokes alot. This contributes to her awfulness.
• Naoki and Riko finally meet, at South Park (the basketball court where Naoki practices and where Riko lives nearby). He hears her playing piano and applauds. She watches him practice basketball, finding his form and shot beautiful.
• Riko and Mai go on a double date with Kawasaki and his star player, Utsonomiya. Mai falls head over heels for Utsumomiya (wow, what a mouthful of a name).
• Riko goes to a practice game between JC ARCS and another team. She’s kind of dating the coach, Kawasaki. She sees the talented player she watched now in terrible form and out of synch with the rest of the team. Of course, its Naoki. She yells at him mid-game that he’s better than that. Of course, with Riko’s encouraging words Naoki leads the team into victory.
• Naoki and Riko meet yet again at South Park. They become friends and find out each other’s name etc, as friends do.
• Riko and Naoki meet by chance at the supermarket, and end up chillin’ at South Park that night, drinking and talking. Riko gets slightly drunk and chases after some guys who dump rubbish on the court. She is a mess, and Naoki carries her home and looks after her.
• After Mai’s flute performace, Kawasaki announces that Riko is his girlfriend. Riko becomes uncomfortable at the proclamation, and Kawaski promises he will take things slower.
• Natsuki attempts to avoid Yoyogi Ren.
• Natsuki and Naoki have a fight; she tells him to grow up, and stop being so immature and scared.
• They all go to the beach! Excluding Natsuki, who is too busy having sex with Yoyogi Ren.
• Naoki sends an apology text to Natsuki.
• Naoki and Riko exchange numbers on a ’strictly friends’ basis.
• Shuji (cuuuuuuuute Mizubata Junpei) move in with Riko and Mai. He’s obviously in love with Mai, aw.

why helllooo there, boys

I’m lovin’ this series so far. I’ll provide better summaries of episodes now that I’ve caught up to where I am up to. Yeeee. Seriously, it’s the best jdrama I’ve come across in a while.

POS.

• Yamapi is ‘babin” as my friends would say. I think I’ll stick to amazing, for now. Babin’ is a ridiculous word. Yet in this context is could be true, perhaps. I have to say, I am very impressive by his acting in this drama. Past times I’ve seen his acting its seemed slightly wooden and half hearted … or maybe it was just the characters he played, who knows. Maybe I’m biased, as in my opinion Ikuta Toma outshines him anyway. Anyway, the point of this ramble is, my perception of his has completely been altered. Wheeee.
• All of the characters are wonderful actually, all of them I love. Even the wicked witch Natsuki and Yoyogi Ren. He has a cool name, kind of like ‘yoyo’.  The actos play their parts wonderfully.
• I think I’m raving too much, so I’ll stop there

NEGS.

• Yoyogi Ren’s hair.
• Natsuki is a wicked evil person. But she’s cute. And I’ve heard she’s going to get worse? Oh yay. Drama.
• I feel as if poor Kawasaki is going to end up alone.

• Title: 東京DOGS / Tokyo DOGS
• Genre: Police
• Broadcast network: Fuji TV
• Broadcast period: 2009-Oct-19 to 2009-Dec

Synopsis: Takakura So witnessed his father’s murder at a young age. Pledging to catch the killer, he grows up to become an elite cop in New York City, where the criminal lives. His character is cool-headed and disciplined, yet adapts well. Because of major drug dealings, he gets sent to Tokyo to conduct a joint investigation with the Japanese police. There, he gets teamed up with, Kudo Maruo, a detective from a special investigative division. Kudo is a hot-blooded fighting expert due to his earlier days as a delinquent, but he makes a strong impression with his stylish appearance and is always interested in going on group dates. His personality, interests, and investigation methods are completely mismatched with Takakura’s, but the two somehow work together to crack the case they’ve been given. –Tokyograph

This is definitely the top Japanese drama this season.  And no, I’m not just saying this because Oguri Shun (Takakura So) and Mizushima Hiro (Kudo Maruo) star in it although it makes it even more awesome.  The two make a great duo.  I think it’s safe to say that Oguri Shun has gotten out of the quiet guy type roles that he’s been stuck with ever since he acted as Rui in Hana Yori Dango.

I love the comedy in this Jdrama.  If I had to describe the in one word, I’d say it was dorky.  Takakura So is serious detective, while Kudo Maruo is a goofy one.  Yet, somehow both detectives come off as goofy (perhaps the goofiness rubs off from Maruo to So).  The plot is pretty decent as well.  It always leave you curious since there is this whole mystery element.  Basically the female lead is  an important lead to the case the detectives are working on, yet she has amnesia.  Throughout the drama the girl recovers her memory bit by bit until (I’m assuming) the mystery is solved.

Sources: Drama Wiki, Tokyograph

My Rating: (4/5) so far

This series revolves around a group of peculiar detectives in a new division created to fight against an increase in atrocious crimes. Osawa Eriko is a beautiful career woman who has just returned from training in the U.S. and is appointed as the “boss” of this division. But despite her intelligence and capabilities, she can never understand a man’s heart, so she remains unable to find a husband. In fact, her assignment in the U.S. was really a demotion after she ruined her career track over a man. So why was she chosen as the boss of the new division? Even though the detectives are talented, they all have some kind of issue or flaw, and they are considered to be the “problem children” of the police force. In the end, the division’s true purpose is just to isolate these problematic detectives

Credit : http://wiki.d-addicts.com/BOSS

Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magick

by Ender’s Girl

The Cast:
Akashiya Sanma, Kimura Takuya, Fukatsu Eri, Shibasaki Kou, Igawa Haruka, Morishita Aiko

In a Nutshell:
Homicide detective Dojima Kanzo investigates the mysterious death of a female college student, while his sister Yuko grapples with her growing attraction to Katase Ryo, an apprentice cook who has started dating Yuko’s heiress friend Miwa.

(SpoilLert: Land mines up ahead!!! Proceed at your own risk!!!)

[Recommended companion track: “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” by U2]

“O the mind, mind has mountains; cliffs of fall
Frightful, sheer, no-man-fathomed.”

-Gerard Manley Hopkins, “No Worst, There Is None”

Paradise Lost

You would expect a drama bearing the title A Million Stars Falling From the Sky (The Smile Has Left Your Eyes) to be nothing short of epic. Images both great and terrible spring to mind, a tragic vision of Miltonian proportions. So you steel yourself for the onslaught, ready to be swept away by the darkness and the doom. (Don’t watch Sora Kara Furu Ichioku no Hoshi if you’re in the mood for light, breezy fluff, obviously.) The drama’s overall tone is sordid and depressing, and the denouement does NOT go down smoothly. You’re in for a helluva ride down the homestretch, so buckle up and brace for impact. The whole thing has the atmosphere of a Greek tragedy, and you come away feeling dirty, as in deep-down dirty, right after watching it. Where do you even begin to make sense of this morass of malice, manipulation and murder? Everybody here is tainted, a gray area, deeply flawed and complex. When push comes to shove, nobody is above moral compromise. Nobody. “No worst, there is none.”

The jigsaw puzzle is a recurrent theme in this drama, from the opening credits down to the final moments. The college student’s death that prefaces the story is but one piece in this puzzle, with the Big Picture gradually materializing as each (seemingly unrelated) fragment falls into place. Despite the story kicking off with a homicide investigation, and despite one of the main characters being a detective, Sora Kara Furu… is not your action-packed whodunit or garden-variety police drama. It is something else altogether, and you get the feeling that whoever is assembling this puzzle is doing so at a very deliberate and measured pace. This drama is a slow burn for the first ten episodes, and you can only watch and wait in mingled fascination and dread as the story makes its inexorable climb to that unforgettable climax.

Criminal Minds

You wonder what the two parallel storylines–the homicide investigation and the Yuko-Ryo-Miwa love triangle–have to do with each other, but you realize soon enough that these arcs aren’t parallel at all, but crisscrossing threads in a growing web of lies and lust and secrets, of past sins and new crimes, of suspicion and cover-ups. And at the center of it all is Katase Ryo, with the face of an angel (and the body of, well, something else, heh heh heh) but possessing the deadened eyes of one who has fallen from grace long before the story unfolds, who charms with his smile while ever so subtly ensnaring people in his own machinations—until they are all dead, or broken.

Ryo is arguably Kimura Takuya’s darkest role to date. Like Shakespeare’s Iago, Ryo is the perfect criminal because he never gets his hands bloodied. Both masters at string-pulling and button-pushing, Iago and Ryo play god without a second thought, moving people around like willing pawns to play out the crimes they have masterminded, disposable pieces in their sick little games. Othello‘s Iago is described by Samuel Taylor Coleridge as this “motiveless malignity,” though one can argue that there IS a motive behind Iago’s (and Ryo’s) sociopathy, and that is POWER–over people’s lives and destinies. The lust for power is a potent drug that creates a false patina of invincibility—and even immortality. For in Ryo’s illusory world, blinded by his own hubris, he really becomes a god, vowing to make the stars “fall from the sky” through sheer cunning and will–while spitting in the face of Fate. But nothing lasts forever, and these stars that Ryo has willed to fall from the heavens—these beautiful, unattainable stars that mock him in their splendor—plummet to earth in a deadly firestorm that leaves Ryo’s world in ashes. Trapped in his own endgame, the master of destiny becomes the prisoner of doom.

Original Sin

Nippon’s National Tarento Akashiya Sanma essays the role of Dojima Kanzo, the world-weary detective whose newest homicide case inadvertently unlocks the rusty wheels of a Past binding him and his sister Yuko (Fukatsu Eri) to the mysterious Ryo. Despite his comedic roots, Sanma fits this role to a T, and after watching him on Sora Kara Furu… you’ll never guess that this guy’s bread and butter for decades have been his one million comedy and variety shows. Sanma exudes this folksy, avuncular quality that makes his character Kanzo so believable, and so easy to root for.

I was riveted to Kanzo from the moment the drama opens with him in his car, a defeated look on that careworn face. Here is a middle-aged man already burned out by the everyday tenor of life. Kanzo sees himself as a “worn-out rag”–and so do his colleagues, who (with the exception of his partner, Kotoko) treat him like an outcast because of his countrified ways and halfhearted approach to his job. To them he’s just this klutzy, underachieving bloke who’s only good for making udon and lame puns, and so they tolerate him at the precinct but exclude him from the salient points in their investigations. They don’t even take Kanzo seriously when he’s the only one who points out the odd coincidence of the DVDs on the dead student’s shelf being in the exact same order as they were before her death–despite evidence of a scuffle that left the room in disarray.

As more and more clues point to Ryo, the enigmatic kitchen assistant gifted with a photographic memory, a gnawing suspicion also starts to grow on Kanzo that Ryo may be that boy from his own buried past, the Boy with the Scar, who as a child watched an overzealous rookie cop gun his father down in their own home. At the same time Kanzo can only look on helplessly as Ryo insinuates himself into the lives of both Yuko and her friend Miwa (Igawa Haruka), and he realizes with mounting dread how dangerous this young man truly is. After a shocking turn of events confirms his initial gut feel, Kanzo vows to protect Yuko at all costs–but we soon learn that he is not above resorting to his own reprehensible tactics just to keep Ryo at bay.

But Kanzo turns out to be a puzzle within a puzzle: just like Ryo, he is not all that he seems to be, either. For the better part of the drama, Kanzo is the one out to dispense justice, the lawman who doggedly works to expose Ryo as the mastermind of this deadly game, while trying to shield those dear to him from the wiles of the devil. But you learn later on that this drama’s epic tragedy is actually rooted in Kanzo, and that stupid, senseless act of violence by his own hand 25 years ago. You realize with a sickening thud that it is Kanzo–affable, self-effacing Kanzo–who is the story’s Ground Zero, and that the bullet he fired in that forgotten past has somehow ricocheted–and is hurtling back to his world with deadly, vindictive speed.

Nemesis

What I looked forward to the most in this drama were the face-off scenes between Kanzo and Ryo. (And what an unlikely pair they make, Sanma and Kimura. They seem so mismatched on paper–the Aging Comedian and the Hot Young Idol–but together their on-screen chemistry pulsates with a wonderful synergy.) In Episode 2, Kanzo and Ryo share a smoke outside a neighborhood convenience store; after a brief encounter in the first episode, this is the first time they get to size each other up. The gloves have not yet come off, but you can already sense something dark simmering beneath the pleasantries: for what you really have are two dangerous beasts circling each other before a fight. As their conversation innocuously turns to Kanzo’s detective work, Ryo asks what it feels like to kill a person, and Kanzo candidly answers, “It feels as if you’re dying yourself.” Ryo muses aloud, “Isn’t it strange? No matter how bad the opponent is, no mater how corrupt, even if you’re just defending yourself, a human being killing another is wrong. Humans aren’t gods.” Kanzo counters with a rhetorical question: “But with guns, don’t they become gods?” “The wrong kind of gods,” Ryo retorts. You don’t realize right away how this little scene slyly portends the story’s main unraveling at the drama’s close. It is only much later that you see all the different layers embedded in this short exchange, and the twisted, ironic symmetry in their words when viewed in light of their shared past. (Take a bow, Kitagawa Eriko.) There are other scenes in the drama that play out Kanzo and Ryo’s epic battle of wills as more plot kinks get unsnarled and more puzzle pieces fall into place, but this moment was one of the best for me.

Kanzo and Ryo’s last two scenes together are equally outstanding, for they mark that critical moment of truth in their relationship, the single beam of starlight that dispels all the cobwebs and shadows obfuscating their past. Their emotionally charged confrontation in the empty precinct in Episode 10 is a reversal of roles for Kanzo the Lawman and Ryo the Villain, and the dialogue grimly echoes their first moment together. This time it is Ryo with the gun, and it is Ryo who, having recently regained most of his childhood memories, lays the terrible charges against Kanzo. And although Kanzo minces no words in disabusing Ryo of his own disembodied version of the incident, the indictment rings home. (The BGM used was ALL WRONG for this scene, though. Totally inappropriate, and bloody distracting to boot. No BGM would’ve been better.) Kanzo and Ryo’s final scene together in Episode 11 (a reprise of their cigarette break nine episodes ago) is less nerve-racking, but far more devastating–and the absence of shouting or any form of violence makes it even more so. The matter-of-fact tone of their conversation belies the earth-shattering implications of the words spoken: for the last shred of truth is ripped from its hiding place, the final rivet that unmakes Ryo’s world.

The Talented Mr. Ryo, or When the Baddie Is Also the Hottie

The tragedy of Ryo’s life is not so much the cruel twist of fate he suffers as a child (witnessing his father’s killing, his own disfigurement, and thinking his sister dead), but rather it’s WHAT this stroke of misfortune turns him INTO. The real tragedy is that even as a child, he allows the traumatic experience to poison his soul, and so he grows into an adult consumed with hatred and bitterness and envy. The writing takes such pains to account for Child Ryo’s heartbreaking past, but at the same time the drama makes him too irredeemable a monster to elicit much sympathy from the viewer. The world is full of people who have seen and experienced unspeakable things, yet have managed to rise above their circumstances and lead normal (read: CRIME-FREE) lives. You can’t live your life holding your past accountable for your own wrongdoing, no matter how terrible this past may have been.

It’s interesting that the one time Ryo personally commits a crime is when he does it for someone other than himself. The paradox of Ryo as a tragic figure is that it is his love for Yuko that brings about his own undoing; by fully embracing his humanity, it destroys him in the end. Only when he has learned what it is like to love, to feel, to be vulnerable to joy and pain, to become a REAL person, that he perpetrates this act—the one crime among his litany of sins. Ryo finally learns to love, but this love is not enough to redeem him in the end. True, the healing power of redemptive love has restored many a wrongdoer on the path to wholeness, but not so for Ryo, who is too far gone to receive any absolution for his transgressions. And yet in its own quiet way, Love still succeeds in humanizing this monster, though it does not save his soul.

Kimura’s performance is solid and compelling, and props to him for embracing the dark side. It isn’t every day (or every drama) that he gets to sink his teeth into a character so… depraved, lol. His portrayal of Ryo is truly a double-edged sword: as the viewer you’re repelled by the privy knowledge of his villainous nature–but at the same time beguiled by all that mind-blowing sensuality, heh heh. This is his most blatantly sexual role to date–and maybe for the rest of his career. (Dammit!) As Ryo, Kimura makes my blood curdle AND my toes curl all at the same time, heh heh. Damn, but that man simply oozes carnality–clothed, or not (but better–not! better not!!! lol). And did I say that this drama could also have been titled “A Million Sex Scenes Falling from the Kimura Sky”? Heh heh heh. With such a predator on the prowl, I guess you can’t really blame all those poor women for dropping like flies before Ryo’s wiles, ne?

Sora Kara Furu… definitely counts among Kimura’s best work, although (admittedly) it will hardly stand out in the spectrum of Great Drama Villains. Nevertheless I still thought Kimura did his role justice, and those moments immediately following the Big Revelations in Episodes 10 and 11 (“Kanzo! Killed! Your! Father!” and “Your! Lover! Is! Your! Sister!” respectively) showed an actor at the top of his game. <Gun + refrigerator + a child’s family portrait + The Truth = Ryo’s world implodes, sucking you in with it. And all you can really do is go, “My God, how terrible…. how terrible.”> I was also impressed by Kimura’s range, having seen him switch from melodrama lead (Beautiful Life) to quirky (Hero) to Angry Young Samurai (Chuushingura 1/47) in just two years, before doing Sora Kara Furu… Then he turns around and does breezy rom-com fluff a year later (well, hello-ooo, Co-Pilot Shinkai on Good Luck!).

Beauty and Madness

And oh, the women in Ryo’s world…

Nishihara Miwa (Igawa Haruka) starts out with the viewer’s sympathy on her side, Miwa being the resident Poor Little Rich Girl, the proverbial Bird in a Gilded Cage. Though born into privilege, Miwa’s restlessness and dissatisfaction with her lot in life (which is to marry this rich cad her parents have foisted on her) provide the impetus for her romantic entanglement with Ryo. And being the perfect opportunist, Ryo seizes this chance meeting to add another victim to his portfolio. So he plays his cards well and she falls for him almost immediately–but she is no ditz, and realizes soon enough that he is not all he claims to be. The consummate con artist, Ryo ever so deftly reels her back by leeching off her vulnerability and fueling the… winter of her discontent. And this time, you want to kick Miwa for falling prey to this fork-tongued charmer while that truism keeps playing in your head: “Shame on him if he fools you once, shame on YOU if he fools you twice.”

And so, like a hackneyed refrain, Miwa becomes yet another willing pawn in Ryo’s bid to play god—until her own desperation to be with him at all costs drives her to do the unthinkable. Although by now, she has outlived her usefulness to him, while he in turn has calculated with chilling accuracy the lengths to which she is willing to go for his sake. Miwa’s downward spiral meets its own horrific conclusion in an act that is just as much Ryo’s doing as it is her own, but no judgment awaits her in the eyes of the viewer—just an overwhelming sense of sadness and regret.

In contrast to her sorely miscast turn on Good Luck!, Shibasaki Kou is perfect for the role of Mizashita Yuki, that deeply troubled girl blinded by her misguided love for Ryo and her own feelings of inadequacy and self-loathing. A large part of it may have been due to Shibasaki’s (stunning!!!) physical attributes and her own acting mannerisms (i.e. sullen expression, mumbles her lines), but her portrayal of the child-woman Yuki–a contradiction of maddening sexuality and heartbreaking innocence–was highly satisfying and spot-on. Ironically enough, it is Yuki who is left standing tall in the end, the only character who finds true redemption and healing as she gradually (but painfully) weans herself off Ryo, owns up to her crime, and takes stock of her life before it careens completely out of control.

In Yuki there is the hope of a fresh beginning, which sadly is a luxury not everyone gets to enjoy in this story. Her character emerges from the psychological carnage bloodied, yet unbowed. You learn that she is more resilient than she seems at first, and it is her unlikely friendship with Detective Kanzo that further bolsters her resolve to piece her life back together. For it is Kanzo’s unrelenting kindness that helps set Yuki’s perspective aright, and it is only when she sees herself through his eyes that she realizes her true worth as a person—and not as an object of sexual gratification, or an embarrassing anomaly in her family’s gene pool. Kanzo and Yuki’s few moments together are both tender and bittersweet, and it comes as a mild surprise that it is she who falls for him first, and not the other way around. In this sense, Love succeeds where it could not with Ryo, because it redeems and liberates Yuki from a life lived in filth and shame and condemnation. In Love, Yuki finally finds her absolution.

Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me

And so we come to Dojima Yuko.

(Fukatsu Eri, you ROCK.)

There’s something about Yuko that melts the heart right from the start. She’s nothing like your conventional heroine: both the viewer and Ryo first meet her as this twitchy young woman self-consciously trying on wigs and clothes at Miwa’s birthday bash. Yuko is a strange little creature, a bundle of nervous energy and red eyeliner, and with an air of cheerful desperation about her that serves to mask her deep-seated insecurity. She reminds you of a string pulled taut, or a wild animal ready to take flight.

Yuko’s attraction to Ryo is from the get-go, but ever the loyal friend, she acts as both messenger and go-between for Miwa and her hot new boyfriend. Her instinct warns her that Ryo spells danger!–both for Miwa and more importantly, for herself–but such is her overpowering fascination with this man (nothing like that Bad Boy allure, tsk) that it is she who actively seeks Ryo out, irresistibly drawn to him like a moth to a dark flame. And strangely enough, for all of Ryo’s liaisons, it is Yuko who catches his eye–yet she is no mere passing fancy, and is in fact the only person who can make him lose his composure, make him feel like a real person. As Ryo tells Yuko in Episode 3: “Being with you somehow… it speeds me up. I lose my cool, I’m thrown off rhythm. And I have a feeling I can’t turn back.” True enough, this episode is the turning point in their relationship, the slippery slope leading to their doomed romance. Yuko is also the only woman whom Ryo ever lets into his digs (frightfully ugly as the place is–more like a hutch with giant ventilator fans and an armchair, heh), and the only one he lets into his own heart, blackened as it is.

So goes this ill-fated love story between a soulless monster and a woman who turns out to be his own sister… An aberrant coupling, yes, but a love story nonetheless–and one that is only intensified by the exigent circumstances swirling around the lovers: the murder investigation, Miwa’s death, Kanzo’s patent disapproval of their liaison, even Ryo’s personal quest to unlock his childhood memories. And their matching burn marks provide the single clue to a long-concealed truth, fitting together like grotesque puzzle pieces. “It’s like we’re connected,” Yuko murmurs thoughtfully to Ryo while viewing their reflections in the mirror. “Sort of like a map…” Indeed, the contiguous contours of their scars point the way to their own terra incognita, although Ryo and Yuko learn too late that this so-called dreamland is the realm of their worst nightmares.

But oh my stars, that chemistry. Kimura and Fukatsu Eri scorch up the screen no matter where the scene is set–whether it’s a neighborhood diner, or a convenience store, or the sultry cocoon of Ryo’s bed. This drama would not have worked the way it did given a different set of actors: Kimura and Eri’s individual qualities render them perfect for their roles, and together… DY-NA-MITE. You just can’t duplicate the kind of chemistry they bring to Ryo and Yuko’s romance, or the immediacy–and the desperation permeating this forbidden love. Ryo and Yuko throw themselves completely off the cliff–and into their love, just as Kimura and Eri throw themselves utterly into their characters with all the intensity and unbridled passion they can summon, holding nothing back.

Fukatsu Eri’s performance is a tour de force in every way. Of the Sanma-Kimura-Eri trifecta, it is Eri’s masterful interpretation that stays with you the longest: a portrayal that is not only gripping, but one that shows a character fully developed in all aspects. As the story unravels, so does Dojima Yuko, and her acute sense of betrayal in the final episode, caused by her own misinterpretation of Ryo’s motives, is what precipitates the drama’s climax. For Yuko, the scales have fallen from her red-rimmed eyes, and so she makes a final stand to protect the man she calls her brother–with her life, if need be. And oh, Yuko and Kanzo… I really have to hand it to Kitagawa Eriko for writing brother-sister dynamics so damn well (Long Vacation, Beautiful Life, and now, Sora Kara Furu…). Kanzo and Yuko’s relationship is so wonderfully complex, and their chemistry as siblings so well-utilized, with genuine affection mixed in with the darker elements that now threaten their home–such as the deception (on both sides) and Yuko’s willful refusal to give Ryo up.

Murder, She Wrote

Romantic Drama Hall of Famer Kitagawa Eriko boasts an impressive oeuvre with far more gems (Long Vacation, Beautiful Life, Tatta Hitotsu no Koi) than lemons (the unfortunate Asunaro Hakusho, a mistake in every way). Sora Kara Furu… is the one deviation from her renzoku ren’ai norm, and although her screenplay often glows with the beauty and sadness that are trademark Kitagawa Eriko, there are weak points in the narrative that give away her limitations as a ren’ai writer. For one, she flounders in the murder investigation story arc, which is poorly developed and just flatlines toward the middle. The detectives don’t seem to be doing much sleuthing; sure, they pace around the precinct spouting snide comments in Kanzo’s direction, but the investigation never really gets under way–it’s like nobody puts in an effort, even for appearances’ sake. Why didn’t the investigators follow all leads and exhaust all angles before writing the case off as unsolvable? It would have seemed more believable that they kept shooting down Kanzo’s theory because they had their own premise that they wished to pursue. Their shabby treatment of Kanzo would have made more sense if their investigative work had been carried out more assiduously. Nobody was putting in an effort–probably because Kitagawa Eriko as a writer wasn’t, either.

Perhaps an even more gaping hole in the plot is how quickly Miwa’s character is forgotten after her suicide. The first episode clearly shows Miwa to be chummy with both Yuko and Kanzo (who is even secretly infatuated with her): why else would Yuko be in Miwa’s room, trying on wigs and clothes, and why else would Kanzo be invited to Miwa’s birthday shindig in the first place? But if this were the case, then why were there not enough scenes showing the aftermath of Miwa’s death? Why didn’t it create a significant impact on Kanzo and Yuko, other than one or two moments when they first learn of the shocking news? The two seemed to recover from this loss too quickly to be believable, despite the drama having played up their closeness.

My third bone to pick with the writing is the heavy-handed use of the caged bird leitmotif. Unlike the jigsaw puzzle or the “million stars” reference (which is first mentioned in Ryo’s letter as a child, and later echoed in the drama’s gripping finale), the bird-in-a-cage metaphor (which applies not only to Miwa, but more significantly to Ryo, as we later learn) is as overused as… Ryo’s tweed baker boy cap (but, okay, I loved that cap, lol). After about the second time that danged bird was alluded to, I felt like screaming, “I get it already, you don’t have to bludgeon me to death with the avian analogy!!!” I also felt like singing a la Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins: “Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a caaaaaage!!!” Er, I mean bird in a cage. But even the dialogue belabors the point: in Episode 5, Ryo tells Yuko, “It’s like putting a bird in a cage (*ka-ching!* there ya go!), then locking up its heart. Not being able to come out, not happy, not sad, not hoping, not trusting, not loving… so I can’t be hurt.” He’s obviously referring to his own desolation, and that line was moving enough to work by itself, but the excessive use of this same trope throughout the drama just dulled the impact for me.

Curtain

As a tragedy, Sora Kara Furu… feels more Greek than Shakespearean. Although both sub-genres chart the main characters’ downfall amid the storm and stress of life, Greek tragedy (Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, for instance) emphasizes man’s epic struggle against Fate–and Fate (or the will of the gods) is often portrayed as capricious. Greek tragedy also draws heavily from Greek myth, which has no qualms about depicting the sordidness of the human condition, rife with taboo elements such as incest and parricide. But such is the human condition as it wavers between two extremes: man as god and the apex of Creation, and man as beast. The noble and the depraved—we are always a mix of both. It is the choices that we make through life that determine which side will win out in the end.

In the drama’s final act, the players in this puzzle make choices that ultimately seal their own fate. Ryo and Yuko’s tragic story–which has simmered steadily for the first ten episodes–now reaches boiling point, a scalding tempest of ruinous consequences. Only this time the heat does not merely scar the lovers; it consumes them. But the climax is no less than perfect in light of how the situations and the characters’ own actions have panned out. Ryo’s demise by the hand of his lover/sister is the judgment long due him for having lived so dishonorably–and NOT because he unwittingly fell in love with his own sibling. Pain, desolation, heartbreak, death–these are Katase Ryo’s… or I should say, Sawada Shougo’s just deserts.

And so the curtain closes on Ryo and Yuko as they lie stiff and cold in each other’s arms. With that, night falls on the accursed House of Sawada. The police and crime scene investigators swarm over the riverbank, their flurry of activity in stark contrast to the quietude covering the dead in that little boat, which has become their own funeral bier. Dojima Kanzo can feel the last jigsaw piece falling into place, the final death blow hammering home. The puzzle’s tragic vision is complete, and he has not been spared his judgment. “God has turned His back on me,” he tells his partner Kotoko. “Koto-chan, take a look… At a time like this, on a night like this, the stars falling from the sky are so beautiful.” And just as he says, the night sky is ablaze with a million, billion, trillion stars: immeasurable, eternal, and unfathomable as the human heart.

“Smile, though your heart is aching…”

Our story comes full circle with Dojima Kanzo back in his car, playing an old cassette tape he found by the river that (somehow) went unnoticed that fateful night. On the long, lonely drive back to Tokyo, the strains of the Japanese ballad fill his car–just as memories of the dead wash over him in a tsunami of grief and remorse. There is no rest for the weary, and Kanzo has many miles to go. He stops before a traffic light, oblivious of the impatient honks from the vehicles behind him as the light turns green. Finally roused from his abstraction, Kanzo drives off under a sunless, starless sky. But what is he thinking of at that very moment, when that cryptic smile (or grimace?) passes over his face? Only then do you realize the significance of the Elvis Costello song, which will be the theme of Kanzo’s life for the rest of his days. And you wonder if he will truly find, upon reaching the end of his own road, that “Life is still worthwhile,” as promised by the song. That is something we will never know, the story does not say. One can only hope.

***
Photo credits: ginkovn.wordpress.com, cranberrysheep.livejournal.com, mapenzi01.cowblog.fr

Title credit: “Blood Sugar Sex Magik” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers (1991)

Kamiya Naoki is a young player from a professional basketball team. But due to his relatively smaller size and his tendency to crack under pressure, he is unable to show his true skills on the court. Meanwhile, Shirakawa Riko is a cheerful, strong-spirited music college graduate aiming to become a professional violinist. One day, Riko finds Naoki’s lost cell phone on a bus, and their meeting begins a friendship that eventually turns into love. However, Naoki was already considering marriage with his current girlfriend. And it doesn’t help matters that Naoki’s coach has fallen in love at first sight with Riko

Credit : http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Buzzer_Beat

“Buzzer Beat is when a ball that’s been thrown just before the last buzzer of the game goes through the hoop,  Its the name of the shot that just beat the buzzer”    -Kamiya Noaki, Buzzer Beat(2009)

On friday it’s the premiere of New Moon.
I’m getting pretty excited. I’m gonna take my mom with me and before the movie I’m going to force her to eat sushi. We’ll see how it goes.
This is going to be a great weekend!! I got my essay back. It was just some tiny errors that I need to fix. But overall it was pretty good. Yay!

Got Clover omnibus edition, Hot Gimmick (big edition with the 3 first books in it), Socrates in Love (I’ve been wanting to read this book for so long), Long Vacation and Konkatsu.

I’ve started to watch Konkatsu. I think I’m on episode 8 or something. Pretty good so far. Also started to read Clover, I’ve read half. I don’t really have and opinion on it yet. I think the story needs to sink in. ^^

Finally, the new season of Liar Game is on! Toda Erika and Matsuda Shota is back as the antagonists Kanzaki Nao and Akiyama Shinichi. And what a pair! The ever naive, innocent Nao, and the intelligent, mysterious Shinichi haven’t heard anything from the Liar Game people for the last two years. Finally, they’re free of this evil scheme, right? Or..?

Hah! Not by a long shot! Liar Game’s Eri, portrayed by the wonderful Kichise Michiko has still got some black envelopes to deliver. And, if you think you’ve gotten rid of the insanely hilarious Fukunaga (Suzuki Kosuke), think again!

The first episode is, in true Liar Game style; nothing short of a masterpiece. The suspence is…well. Electric! So, don’t go missing the second season of this incredibly cool drama!

Go watch!

The Japanese drama Liar Game is back for a second season and it is more intense than ever.  Honestly, I completely forgot there was going to be a second season, which I guess was a good thing for me since I would have gone insane waiting for it to start.  After watching the first episode of season 2, I was reminded again of how much I was addicted to this series.  I even wrote a detailed summary of the first episode (of season 1) because I was obsessed with the show when it first aired.

And naturally, there are a lot of similarities between the style of the first and second seasons.  I’m mostly talking about cinematography and an incredible OST.  The techno-ish tunes playing in the background kept me tuned in if the plot wasn’t.  But believe me, the plot is pretty fast paced and there’s nothing like a show about lies and deception to get your attention.

The first episode basically summarizes what happened in season 1, but I highly recommend watching the first season before you watch the second. In season 2 the players verse each other in 4 games and 1 semifinal round.  The final will take place in a movie (Liar Game: The Final Stage), which is set to be released on February 6, 2010.

Season 2 Details:

• Episodes: 11
• Broadcast period: 2009-Nov-10 start
• Broadcast network: Fuji TV
• Air time: Tuesday 21:00

Synopsis

The naïve Kanzaki Nao and expert swindler Akiyama Shinichi have not heard anything from the LIAR GAME organization since the end of the previous game, so it seems they may have actually escaped. But Nao suddenly gets another invitation and is once again caught up in the game. This time, she has to team up with Shinichi and one of their previous rivals named Fukunaga, facing off against three more opponents in new games of deception, such as “24 Rensou Russian Roulette” and “17 Poker.” –Tokyograph

Sources: Drama Wiki, Tokyograph

Denna version av Byakkotai är en remake på ett drama från 1986. Den här versionen är dock mer intressant (åtminstone för min del), främst på grund av Yamashita Tomohisa (Ikebukuro West Gate Park, Stand Up!!, Proposal Daisakusen, Long Love Letter, Kurosagi, Dragon Zakura, Nobuta wo Produce, Code Blue & SP och Buzzer Beat).

Exempel på andra skådisar, mer eller mindre synliga, i detta drama:

• Tanaka Koki, medlem i jpopgruppen KAT-TUN. Har spelat i Neverland och My Boss My Hero.
• Tochihara Rakuto hade en av huvudrollerna i RH Plus.
• Gokusen 3-stjärnan Ishiguro Hideo har också synts i Princess Princess D och 1 Pound no Fukuin.
• Yakushimaru Hiroko har spelat i Kisarazu Cat’s Eye.
• Kuroki Meisa spelade nunnan i 1 Pound no Fukuin, och har också en roll i filmerna Crows Zero I och II.

Byakkotai

Originaltitel: 白虎隊 （びゃっこたい）
Visades: 2007
Sågs av mig: September 2009
Antal avsnitt: 2
Skådespelare: Yamashita Tomohisa, Tanaka Koki, Fujigaya Taisuke, Kuroki Meisa, Yakushimaru Hiroko m.fl.
Genre: Historisk, samuraj, familj.
Temalåt: Celtic Woman – You Raise Me Up.

Handling: Yamashita Tomohisa spelar den slöa och upproriske Shintaro Sakai, som till sin familjs stora förtvivlan inte bryr sig ett skvatt om släktens stolta samurajhistoria. Men när han besöker Byakkotais Memorial Hall sugs han in i atmosfären av sina förfäders stordåd, och befinner sig snart några hundra år tillbaka i tiden…

Kommentar: I tron att detta skulle vara ett intressant historiskt drama (som dessutom hade Yamapi i huvudrollen) såg jag fram emot den här två avsnitt långa serien. Så här i efterhand ångrar jag att jag slösade bort 290 värdefulla minuter. Historien är tråkig och extremt långdragen, dialogen och sidospåren får ögonlocken att sakta falla mot kinden. När det väl blir lite action, blir man besviken på att allt är så jävla taffligt. När minuterna till slut har passerat, känner jag mig helt nollställd. Missade jag ett långt parti? Vad var det för stordåd de utförde? Varför är det så mycket fokus på gnällande mödrar? Jag blir arg över hur kass den är – jag hade hellre sett Princess Princess D på repeat i ett dygn.

Personligt betyg:
Personligt betyg temalåt:

Sub/releasegrupp: Love Song.
För dig som gillar: samurajfrillor, krångliga karaktärer och besvikelser.

Hoppas att ingen tog illa upp av det här inlägget. Jag blev så himla besviken eftersom jag hade höga förväntningar, men jag har sett att det är många som gillar Byakkotai. Så kom ihåg att det bara är mina personliga åsikter ^^

Sunt cateva stiri in luna asta pe care am ratat sa vi le spun. Ma gandesc insa ca poate le-ati ratat si voi asa ca hai sa va fac un sumar:

# Incep cu cea mai importatnta dintre ele si anume noul teaser-trailer pentru cele doua filme Eden of the East ce vor avea premiera in Decembrie, respectiv Ianuarie 2010.

# Peace Maker Kurogane o sa fie si live-action. Personal mi-a placut foarte mult seria anime si aceasta veste nu poate decat sa ma bucure. Seria este programata sa aiba premiera in Ianuarie anul viitor.
Tetsunosuke este decis sa se alature grupui de samurai cunoscuti sub numele de Shinsengumi, pentru a razbuna moartea parintilor lui. Doar ca, pentru a face asta, trebuie sa se schimbe complet si sa devina un “demon” capabil sa ucida fara sa clipeasca.
Dar de ce cei care erau asemenea “demoni” fac tot posibilul ca Tetsunosuke sa nu ajunga asemenea lor?
Va las un fan-made trailer din galeria mea de “Requiem for a Dream“.

# Franciza D.C. ~Da Capo~ se mai imbogateste cu o serie anime. Avand in vedere ca n-am vazut decat primul sezon, ma gandesc ca trebuie sa recuperez pana la data premierei, desi inca nu-mi este clar daca va fi o continuare sau un spinoff.

# Si franciza Saiyuki se imbogateste cu un anuntat OVA pentru manga Saiyuki Gaiden. Cate episoade si data premierei sunt inca necunoscute dar va voi tine la curent cu noutatile.

#In primavara anului viitor o sa avem un film Gintama. Filmul va fi un side story pentru seria anime si va numi Gintama: Benizakura Arc — A New Retelling.

# Marvel a confirmat datele de difuzare ale celor doua serii anime realizate in colaborare cu studioul Madhouse, din seria de patru anuntate. Iron Man anime va avea premiera in luna aprilie 2010 si va fi difuzat pana in iunie, urmand ca in luna iulie sa aiba premiera Wolverine anime.
Cele doua companii planuiesc sa mai faca inca doua serii anime pe francizele Blade si X-Men.

# Si ultima, dar nu cea din urma (as zice chiar contrariul), stire se refera la adaptarea live-action pentru The Wallflower. Chiar mi se pare o super veste si ard de nerabdare sa vad care va fi distributia. Ma astept totusi la schimbari destul de mari in scenariu (obicei prost) putine fiind francizele manga/anime care n-au avut parte de asta atunci cand a venit vorba de live-action. Premiera va avea loc in luna Ianuarie a anului viitor si nu-mi ramane decat sa astept sa vad ce grup se va ocupa de subtitare.

Stirile au venit via ANN

En este film de antología centrado en el tema del erotismo, se presentan cinco historias ditigidas por los 5 directores más importantes de Corea. El personaje principal de cada historia está vinculado con los otros 4 de una forma u otra…

“His Concern” – Por Byeon Hyeok

• Un hombre es atraído por la mujer que estaba sentada frente a él en un viaje en tren a Busan. Luego se baja del tren después de ella, a pesar de no ser su parada. Entonces obtiene su número de teléfono. Pocos días después, el hombre planea reunirse con la mujer por segunda vez.

“I’m Here” Por Jin-ho Heo

• Ahn Hye-rim espera a su marido, al tiempo que se oculta, para darle una sorpresa. Kang Hyeon-Woo  siempre se preocupa de que su mujer lo deje solo. Hye-rim se preocupa por Hyeon-Woo, porque pronto se quedará solo.

“33rd Man” Por Yeong-sik Yu

• En el set de una película, la nueva actriz Mi-jin Kim y su carismática actriz superior. Hwa Park están teniendo dificultades a causa de su tenaz y exigente director Jan Bong-woon. Al final, la actriz principal Hwa-ran hace que Mi-jin se transforme en una zorra sexy para seducir al director.

In My End is My Beginning Por Kyu-dong Min

• Lee Jeong-ha se entera de que su marido Jae Min acaba de morir en un accidente de auto en un viaje por carretera. Entonces descubre que su marido estaba teniendo una aventura con su vieja amiga de secundaria Na-ru-Kang. Después del accidente de auto Na-ru viene a Jeong-ha, y le pide vivir con ella bajo la promesa de su devoción incondicional.

“Believe in the Moment” Por Ki-hwanOh

• Tres parejas, todos estudiantes de secundaria y amigos cercanos. Ninguna de las parejas tienen fuertes convicciones acerca de su relación. Entonces, deciden intercambiarse durante 24 horas.

Año: 2009

Género: drama, fantasía, erotismo, omnibus.

Reparto:

“His Concern”
* Jang Hyuk – Hombre (Min-su Jeong)
* Hyeon-jeon Mujer – Woman (Ji-won Han)
* Su-ro Kim – Hermano

“I’m Here”
* Kang-woo Kim – Hyeon-woo Kang
* Su-yeon Cha – Hye-rim Ahn

“33rd Man”
* Su-ro Kim – Jan-woon Bong
* Chong-ok Bae – Hwa-ran Park
* Min-sun Kim – Mi-jin Kim
* Si-yeong Lee – Se-eun Jeong
* Ui-cheol Jeong – Sang-min Seo
* Su-yeon Cha – Hye-rim Ahn

“In My End is My Beginning”
* Jeong-hwa Eom – Jeong-ha Lee
* Jeong-min Hwang – Jae-in Min
* Hyo-jin Kim – Na-ru Kang
* Whee-hyang Lee – mamá de Jeong-ha
* Kang-woo Kim – hermano de Jeong-ha

“Believe in the Moment”
* Dong-wook Kim – Ji-woon Han
* Se-kyeong Shin – Su-jeong Shin
* Jung-ki Song – Jae-hyeok Yu
* Si-yeong Lee – Se-eun Jeong
* Ui-cheol Jeong – Sang-min Seo
* Seong-min Lee – Yun-jeong Lee