Showing posts with label Japanese Drama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japanese Drama. Show all posts

Thursday, March 25, 2021

Midnight Diner

 

Photo from imdb 


Midnight Diner  what a ride. I love these series and all three seasons were very good. Not every story ends with a traditional happy ending (in fact most of them depict hard conditions) but all of them are worth watching and Master is adorable. 

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories Season 2





Photo credit:www.imdb.com

Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories Season 2 ended up being OK. I liked some episodes better than others but that is expected no? 

Monday, August 6, 2018

Switched

Photo credit: www.imdb.com

Switched ok these two in the above photo have only minor parts in this TV show. I chose this one because I liked the plot. A popular girl in high school unwillingly switches bodies with the class loser who is overweight. Anyway it is not that good a show (nowhere near, say Nobuta Wo Produce) but I liked its message and the acting from the two female leads (not the ones above) were very good. I alos liked the fact that the overweight girl ended up being happy without having to lose weight or getting a make over or something like that. I shed many tears during this one and especially felt sad for the secondary male lead and hoped the best for the character in the future. 

Friday, April 28, 2017

Atelier

Photo credit: drama-max.com

Atelier was not really that good but I liked it. It being a female ruled world and the high production values probably the reasons I liked it that much. However it doesn't flow as well as some of my favorite J-Dramas. That is probably why it took me ages to finish 13 episodes. I hope better dramas comes to Netflix. 

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Itazura Na Kiss 2

Photo credit: tr.pinterest.com

Itazura Na Kiss 2 is not nearly as fun as the first one, but I got stuck with it somehow and ended up finishing it. Everything that seemed hillarious in the first one seemed exagerated and ridiculous (not in a good way) here. 

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Osen


Osen turned out to be adorable and caused me a lot of tears (in a good way). I like Japanese food and I love the characters and their motivations and abilities. 

Monday, February 13, 2017

Itazura Na Kiss


Itazura Na Kiss is the last Japanese adaptation of the famous manga. Apparently this story touched many hearts but I have stayed away from all since a dumb but happy go lucky girl to be in love with the smart but socially incompetent boy for years and finally getting him didn't appeal to me. And none of the adaptations actually starred any of the actors I liked so I didn't bother.

This one was on Netflix and I remember it got such a good buzz on the internet so I decided to give the firs episode a try.

And yeah I was hooked right there and then. Sure Kotoko is not very smart but she is very sweet and kind and not really seeking dependence. Naoki is smart and aloof but he is one of those people who can't really open up. And the two actors were so adorable.

Actually this is one of the few shows that managed to get laughs out loud from me. Every episose Kotoko's facial expressions, her disguises and her plans to gain the heart of Naoki are so funny. I also laughed a lot at Sudo San.

Of course it kind of got sad at the two episodes before the final but it ended as cute and fluffy as it was for so long and it ended with a smile.

I actually savoured this instead of bingeing since I wanted to get a laugh each day. Highly recommended if you don't mind silliness, fluff and illogical stuff happening. 

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Zenkai Girl


Zenkai Girl turned out to be a nice little drama with love and values and hard work and family and all that. It was entertaining and I love how J-Dramas don't go on forever. 

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Midnight Diner - Tokyo Stories

Photo credit: japanesefilmfestival.net

Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories is a drama I tried mainly because it promised food related things. It was so but not in an appetising way. It was good because of the human interest stories. A bit like an upscale Chicken Soup series. And I loved it very much, crying during 80% of the episodes.

Recommended if you like human interest stories. 

Monday, July 27, 2015

Great Teacher Onizuka (1998)





Great Teacher Onizuka was a drama I have always wanted to watch. All my online friends loved it and constantly talked about it at the time. Well I have finally given in and started watching dramas on youtube. The ones for which there are not dvds that is. On line viewing is not something I could ignore any longer.

This is one of those lovely Japanese dramas which makes you laugh, cry and generally feel good about being a human.
I also happen to love Nanako Matsushima who is the female lead. And she was great in this one.

The story is how an ex gang member karate black belt guy who barely passed his teaching exams becomes a homeroom teacher to a troubled class of psycos and turn them into human beings while battling with embittered/ambitious co workers, stupid parents etc. Each of the twelve episodes was a gem. I love how full of love and hope and trust Onizuka sensei (or Onichi as called by his students) has and how forgiving he is. It is not possible not to fall in love with him and I did.

This is as good as it gets and it deserves all the love.



Great Teacher Onizuka youtube link

Friday, March 6, 2015

Liar Game

Liar Game interested me only because S.Korea remade it and there was a good buzz around it. Then my sister also recommended it so I bought it to give it a try. Well I need to remember my sister and my tastes are different. This drama is all about battle of wits after battle of wits staged as a game where you can win or lose money based on how smart you are. We have the "angel" female who is pretty, very honest and well intentioned. And we have the mysterious hero a moody ex-con with a golden heart but intent on revenge. Will our heroine's angelic light be able to save our hero from the darkness that revenge inevitably will bring? On the paper it sounds like my thing but despite loving "the angel" type this one just annoyed me. I do not care for the male lead either and all the convoluted calculations on how to win each stupid game left me with boredom rather than suspense. Anyway I think I fell asleep for about 10 minutes towards the end but still managed to see that ( SPOILER) angel conquered the stony heart of game master and his side kick, managed to save everyone from being bad people, turned hero to the right path and still ran after him like a little puppy.

Anyway I can see how it entertained lots of people but this definitely is not my thing and I don't even want to watch Korean remake now. 

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Villiage Doctor Jumbo

Villiage Doctor Jumbo

Now what's with me and low brow entertainment. This Japanese drama doesn't have good performances (in fact it is full of bad ones), it has low production values, a generic story (which was the hook in this purchase) and piles of melodrama acted in a silly manner. And I loved it. Cried, smiled and generally entertained despite the fact that it is not good at all.

Jumbo is the nickname of an unusual, highly skilled doctor who comes to a villiage clinic that is about to be shut down due to the old owner being deceased. He left his daughter, an inexperienced but good hearted nurse who knew Jumbo when he was young and a nice person. Now he is rude, money obsessed and strange. So is the nurse who happens to be a first class operating nurse who has arrived upon his invitation. They must endeavour to keep the clinic alive fighting the evil genius surgeon who just wants the clinic to merge with the fancy hospital he works in and also destroy Jumbo because of a personal vendetta.

Oh my God as I type this all of its faults grin at me and I still like it. I won't recommend this one but I enjoyed it very very much.   

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Saki


Saki is a drama I have chosen because there was not much else and because the story of an evil woman destroying everyone around her seemed attractive. Nakama Yukie is not a favorite actor but I thought she'll be able to handle the part and I was not wrong.

First off I was pleasantly surprised with the art direction. Especiall Saki's apartment was so good. I love looking at food and Saki cooks a special food item after completing one of her evil tasks. And her go to dish after destroying yet another enemy is a slice of deliciously marbled Kobe beef. Her cutlary and her china (I loved the tea cups especially) are first rate and everything she cooked looked delicious. I also loved her room full of books. I want that apartment.

I liked the three major songs and their repetition never bothered me.


SPOILERS:

It is revealed towards the later episodes that the whole thing is an eleborate revenge on people who Saki thought caused her mother's death. The ending to me was ambigious since Saki ended up being pregnant with a boy but I don't understand whose baby that was. The only one she had sex with was the lawyer.

I had a better time with this than I thought I would have.



Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Border



Border is a Japanese TV show I have only chosen to purchase because Oguri Shun is starring. Unfortunately it turned out to be a procedural centering around a detective who avoided getting killed but stuck to live with a bullet in his head. This gave him abilities to see and talk to dead people who are murder victims. It was episodic and ended badly. Only 9 episodes and I was very emotional during two of them but overall this show was mediocre.

As for Oguri Shun, I think he never looked better. Also mastering "the single tear" he was a delight to watch. Just not enough to save the show. 

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Legal High





Legal High was purchased upon my sister's recommendation. Trying to stay away from spoilers I thought it was some sort of high school show but it isn't. It is about an idealist lawyer working for a genius lawyer who is not really an idealist but not as mean as he initially seems to be. Not really romantic but it entertained me a lot. I actually laughed out loud during which is not a common occurance. Even so, I'm not in love with it and don't plan on getting Legal High 2


Friday, June 6, 2014

Limit


Limit  is a Japanese TV show that I have watched sometime ago but never found the time to write about. I liked the premise (schoolbus accident, five different girls ending up at a forest waiting for rescue) and it was a decent show but didn't leave much of an impact in the end. 

Friday, April 11, 2014

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
Ok I went in to this one without any prior information. Audible had it and I just didn't have a particular preference at the time. And I like Jim Broadbent (who did a fine job). 

This one ended up being something similar but also different to British chick lit novels (and I like many of them). I loved it despite the small flaws (I'd have edited some repetitive description of scenery, and some of those were really good and inventive but too much). There is a twist in the novel which I started to see coming probably when the author wanted me to. But knowing it wouldn't lessen the reading experience.

This one is very English (you know the type of novel I'm talking about), uplifting and well written. I recommend if you are into this kind of book. 

But it is not a must read if you are into the genre(?).

Monday, January 20, 2014

Hanzawa Naoki


Hanzawa Naoki This Japanese ratings champion started real good. I was completely into it by halfway and had a huge crush on the title character. Alas the happy times stopped after that. Firstly the second half was not as good. There were some good stories and conflicts there but there also was a "been there done that" feel to everything. But I was still enjoying myself even though it lost that special sparkle.

But the ending was one of the rare times I'm completely and utterly surprised. Oh I woke up to it at the last minute before the big revelation but still it sort of put me in a bad mood.

This one is highly recommended especially the first half. Actually you may even stop watching after that.  

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Last Cinderella

Aşağıdaki yazının her tarafı spoiler dolu, bilginize.






Bu Japon dizisini sadece diğer bloglarda çok beğenildiği için seçmiştim. Basit ve eğlendirici bir rom com isteğiyle izlemeye başladım. Beklenileni verdi ama öyle derinden etkilemedi beni. Kahramanımız 40 yaşına merdiven dayamış bir kadın kuaförü Sakura (Ryoko Shinohara). İki tane yakın arkadaşı var biri Charlotte figürü diğeri Samantha figürü (Miranda'yı atlamışlar :) ). Neyse bu kadıncağız çalıştığı kuaförde (bir zincir firmanın şubesi) hak ettiği Şube Müdürlüğü'ne bir türlü getirilmemektedir. Bunun nedeni dizide tam açıklanmasa da kendisinin tamamen müşteri memnuniyeti odaklı çalışması, olayın finansal boyutunu fazla dikkate almaması olabilir. Derken şubeye bunun çok yakın bir erkek arkadaşı olan Tachibana (Fujiki Naohito) müdür olarak atanır. Aynı yaşlarda ve aynı hayat tarzında oldukları için güzel anlaşırlar ve hatta komşu olurlar. Neyse bu arada kuaför salonunun devamlı müşterilerinden bir kız Tachibana'ya sağlıksız ve saplatılı bir sevgi duymaktadır ve Sakura ve Tachibana'nın rahat ve eğlenceli iletişimini kıskanır ve üvey kardeşi Hiroto (Miura Haruma)'dan Sakura'yı baştan çıkarmasını ister. Hiroto 24 yaşında pro biker bir genç olup küçükken bu deli üvey kardeşin sırtını kazara yaktığından ve iz bıraktığından dolayı, deli kardeşe karşı kendini sorumlu hissetmekte ve hemen hemen ne derse yapmaktadır.

Tabii bu baştan çıkarma sürecinde Hiroto Sakura'nın güzel ve temiz kalbinden ve iyiliğinden çok etkilenir, iş sahtekarlıktan çıkar ve gerçek aşka dönüşür. Yani Sakura doğursaydı Hiroto kadar çocuğu olacaktı neredeyse ama o da kendini bu yakışıklı (Allah için güzel çocuktu bu aktör) ve sorunlu gence kaptırır. Bu arada Tachibana ile gayet iyi bir ilişkisi vardır ve Tachibana da aslında Sakura'ya aşık olduğunu farketmiştir.
Şimdi Sakura'nın prensi kim olacak? Benim oyum yaş ve uyumdan dolayı Tachibana'ya gitti zira gayet güzel anlaşıyorlar ve birbirlerinin yanında çok rahatlardı. Ancak beklediğim olmadı ve Sakura Hiroto'yu tercih etti ve mutluluğa yelken açtılar.

Bu dizi beni ilk izlediğim (ve genellikle Kimu Taku'nun başrolde olduğu) diziler kadar sarmadı. Hatta bu dizinin son bölümünü izler izlemez hemen bir Long Vacation izleyesim geldi. Her taraf dağınık ve toplanmak için dolapların yapılmasını bekliyor olmasaydı bulup izlerdim bile belki.