pash
Italy
OK, in all fairness, I'm really NOT a fan of the "tokusatsu" genre, so the premise was *completely* wasted on me.
That said, the script wasn't too bad, all things considered; but at the same time, it's not like they could've come up with a masterpiece, either. More like, "some decently written dialogues" and "a coupla surprisingly good scenes" drowned in a sea of silliness.
The acting was much better, particularly thanks to Shiraishi Sei and Ohara Yuno (who are, incidentally, two of the three reasons why I've watched this in the first place - the third one being Tanabe Momoko, whose role is, alas, a very minor one with tremendously little screentime).
If you're a tokusatsu fan (or an action figure otaku) you might appreciate this much more than I did.
If you're a fan of the afore-mentioned actresses, like I am, it might be still worth a watch after all.
Otherwise, I'd humbly suggest you steer clear of this and invest your precious time more proficuously...^__^;
All imho, of course! ^___-
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
River’s Edge Okawabata Tanteisha
1 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
But it was a good type of quirkiness (heck, for the most part, the best type - more on that in a jiff), and it made the watch a very pleasant one.
The cast did very well, not only the leads (Odagiri as the weird detective, Ishibashi Renji as the old boss of the agency, and the voluptuos Koizumi Maya as the secretary providing, at the same time, comic relief and eye candy), but also the guest stars and supporting cast.
The music was, imho, the best part of the drama; opening and closing credits songs by the great EGO-WRAPPIN'...need I say more? ^____-
Direction, editing and photography were also very nice and contributed as well to the great atmosphere.
The only problem I have with this dorama is that, story-wise, not all episodes were at the same, tremendously high level; some were absolute masterpieces, seriously (I'll name #3, 6, 8, 11 and the first half of #10 - it's the only episode containing two different stories), but a coupla episodes were just so-and-so, and a coupla more were actually quite bad, imho. Had they avoided those, I might have given this a perfect 10. All things considered, it's more like a solid 8.5 though; not using half grades, I'll be generous and rate it a 9. ^___-
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Love Stories from Fukuoka 13
1 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Just as good, if not honestly even better, than the first one!
It doesn't happen too often that a second season (second installment, sequel or anything of that kind) ends up being just as good, if not honestly even better, than the first one. As a matter of fact, a lot more frequently it's just the other way around and the quality declines (more or less drastically, depending on the case) with time.Luckily, though, there *are* exceptions, and this is exactly one of those, since "Yappari Oshii Keiji" was, imvho, even better than the original "Oshii Keiji".
Having twice the number of episodes as the original series might have had something to do with that feeling, since the tremendously good writer, Uda Manabu, had more room to have fun with continuity, inside jokes etc. etc....whatever the reason, it was a true viewing pleasure from the first to the last minute.
A great script with nicely intricate mystery plots and lots of seriously hilarious comedy, a very convincing performance by the whole cast (with particular praises for the brilliant Kazama Shunsuke, for the lovely Shiraishi Sei and - although she guest-starred only in one episode - for the simply wonderful Kurosaki Reina ^___-), a nice and catchy score, good direction and photography...well, what's not to like?
Perfect 10! ^___-
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Why have I chosen NMB48, of all the gazillion 48 groups?
In all honesty, I was drawn by Watanabe Miyuki, whom I already knew for her photobooks.
And then, being a cat person, the leopard patch in their logo also caught my eye, I'll admit it, LOL!
Anyway, I can say I'm quite glad about the choice! ^__^
Googling a bit, I noticed they're, like, the only major female idol group not produced by the ubiquitous Aki-P, but rather by Yoshimoto (at least, so it was at the time of this show) and that explains the strong focus on comedy - something I particularly appreciated, given how I'm much more interested in the variety aspects of the idols' world, rather than in songs and choreographies...^_^;;;
The show itself is a quirky-and-funny mix of idol variety, sitcom, and comedy show. Ogiri, manzai, boke, tsukkomi...if you already know these terms, you'll know what to expect. If not, try watching it just the same, chances are you might like it. True, some parts are funnier than others, but the girls did a decent job overall, and some of them did very well indeed! (Honorable mentions for Ogasawara Mayu, Yamamoto Sayaka, Yamada Nana...but also Watanabe did well enough - she's a good "tennen"....and as gorgeous as they come! ^___^;;;
The music is ok, particularly the catchy OP song, "Mousou Girlfriend".
I'm gonna watch the two following seasons for sure! ^___-
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Deze recentie kan spoilers bevatten
I'm normally wary of specials originating from a previous series, as in my experience, more often than not, they tend to be a complete let-down. It wasn't the case here, luckily! ^__^Instead, this SP of "Zetsumeshi Road" managed to bring back on screen all the aspects that had made me give such a high grade to the original series: the ML's weird-but-deep hobby (searching for "endangered dishes" on the roads of Japan, sleeping in his car during his salaryman's short week-ends), some nice scenery from Japan's countryside, and last but not least, the portrayal of real restaurants with their real problems and the real stories of the people behind them.
Oh, and finally, my beloved Sakai Wakana got a little bit more screentime, as this SP focused on the theme "marriage" and most of all, on how to make it work. The "endangered restaurants" the ML visited this time (oh, yeah, two of them in this double-length SP, yay!) presented him with two possible (albeit quite different!) answers...and inspired him on how to mend things up with his wife.
Once again, the cherry on top is when they showed pics of the real restaurants' owners, alongside the actors who had portrayed them.
And once again, the fact they have left Kaburagi's subplot hanging prevented me from giving this a "perfect 10", just as for the original drama, LOL! I promise that if they ever make another SP wrapping that up nicely too, I'm gonna correct their grades right away! Until then, it's another (very) solid "9"...^___^
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Tsumari Sukitte Iitaindakedo
1 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
I honestly thought I was gonna drop it after one or two episodes, annoyed as I was probably gonna be by the Nth "romance" (or how I actually call it, "what passes for romance these days", ehm...) drama with the Nth "cold/arrogant male lead" (which, sorry to sound so harsh, I interpret, more often than not, as "the ML couldn't show an emotion even if his life depended on it, so they had to write his character like that", LOL)...but man, was I wrong!!! ^__^;;;
The truth is, this little drama got a beautifully written script, with a nice message, the proper amount of romance (please note, no quotation marks this time!) and comedy (some of the comic relief scenes were honestly hilarious!), with wholesome, clean characters and an extremely interesting "behind the scenes" look at the acting world...and in addition to all that, the drama manages to shine also thanks to the very convincing performances by the whole cast (BRAVO, everybody!), and last but not least to some nice music.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Alibi Kuzushi Uketamawarimasu
1 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
But whereas I had quite liked "Pure", I'm not gonna be able to give this the passing grade, sorry.
Apart from a coupla episodes, the mystery plots weren't really interesting nor very well done; the characters felt horribly bidimensional and neither particularly endearing nor actually that funny (imho the comic relief moments in this were only weird, without being at the same time hilarious, as it had been the case in "Pure"); despite having a pretty remarkable cast (with also Narita Ryo and Emoto Tokio in supporting roles), the actors couldn't shine, due to the dull script they had to work with; direction and photography were okay, and the music pretty good, but that's way too little to get anything more than a five, at least from me.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
It's a bit hard to explain why this SP is so good, without giving away any detail, but that'd be a real pity 'cause it'd rob you of the lovely experience of finding out by yourselves...so let's just say that it's a romantic but at the same time realistic tale, set in a beautiful rural scenery and graced by an extremely good performance by Tokiwa Takako and by some nice music on top of that.
(Of course, if your ideal of "romantic" story is something like "rich and arrogant CEO with a Ferrari + young and naive secretary with long eyelashes", you might disagree...)
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Having changed their name (and separated from the sister group), the Hinatazaka46 girls got their own "Bingo", of which this was the first season.
Except for the V-tubers episode (which, personally, I think nobody older than 10 will find enjoyable, LOL), it was a solid variety show, the cherry-on-top of which was the new MC: I must confess I didn't know Koyabu Kazutoyo at all, so at first I was taken aback by his gruff, borderline rude approach...but it didn't take me long to realize that, behind that curt façade, there's a very nice person - he honestly reminded me a lot of my old Latin & Ancient Greek high school teacher, back at the end of the 80s / beginning of the 90s: he always acted all tough and grumpy, but he had a really great heart and we all missed him dearly, after we graduated!)
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Takeuchi Ryoma no Satsukyu
1 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
I've noticed that the next sequel, "Kamiki Ryunosuke no Satsukyu", is coming soon, and I'm looking forward to watching that one as well - and while we're at it, if then they feel like continuing with another season, please allow me to hope for a "Morikawa Aoi / Fukuhara Haruka / Ohara Sakurako / Okada Yui no Satsukyu" (any of those four would make my day! ^___-)
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Although I still find the idols' "core business" (pop music and choreographies) unappealing (so much so that I won't hide the fact that, with very few exceptions, whenever they showed a song's performance at the end of the episodes, I'd just fast forward it, sorry), I'll still admit that these idols' variety shows are, a) pretty well done, and b) obviously quite addictive!
The MCs are to be praised (BTW: Tsuchida, Sawabe, Wakabayashi, Kasuga...all from Saitama! Does that prefecture produce a particularly high percentage of comedians, or is this a mere coincidence? >__<), but so are the authors who mostly kept the things interesting and lively, and last but certainly not least so are the girls themselves, many of whom are indeed quite talented.
BTW, whereas with the "Kanji Keyaki" I really liked a few of the members but at the same time really disliked some of the rest (from whom I kept getting some really evil vibes) and overall the group's dark aura, with these "Hiragana/Hinatazaka" I'll have to say they seem all nice to me, and the group's aura feels also much more uplifting and sunnier (no surprise their fans are called "ohisama", LOL). All imho so please take no offense if you happen to think otherwise...^__-
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Deze recentie kan spoilers bevatten
Another SP that is...nothing special!
And here I am, once again commenting on a SP episode with the (by now, I'll admit, a bit trite) pun "another SP that is...nothing special!" ^_^;;;The premise seemed like it could be developed into one of those quirky comedies Japan is quite good at, but imho what we have here is just a load of quirkiness without anything else, so it ends up being weird but neither funny nor particularly entertaining.
The fault lies with the script, which feels both tremendously shallow and terribly incomplete (things happens without the least explanation, the story is totally unresolved, the very quirkiness of the FL doesn't get a background story, we're just supposed to accept that she behaves like a robot without ever getting to know *why*!)
Takahata Mitsuki is beautiful and also a good actress, but here the lousy script compells her not to show the least emotion for, like 95% of the story - only in the final scene, when her character is finally allowed to open up, can she show her (remarkable) acting skills! Such a waste of her talent....T____T
Last note about the food: way too simple and unappealing.
4/10 (and I feel like I'm being generous! >__<)
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Tokyo Sentimental SP - Senju no Koi
1 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
Deze recentie kan spoilers bevatten
This SP is very good, but the following one isn't!
WARNING: this review won't only contain some spoilers about this SP episode of "Tokyo Sentimental" ("Senju no Koi"), but also about the following one (Ochanomizu no Koi").Continue reading only if that doesn't bother you!!!
"Tokyo Sentimental" had started with a very nice SP, then came the equally brilliant drama, and finally these two further SPs.
I could sum up my feelings about them by saying "I really wish there had been only one instead of two!" >___<
Elaborating a bit more on that: this "Senju no Koi" is beautifully scripted and acted (Kuroki Hitomi is such a perfectly chosen guest star, and such a lovely match for Kururi-san!), and I loved every single minute of it...except for the unresolved, bittersweet "ending"!
I really wished the writer(s) had shipped those two together, as it would've been THE perfect way to end this "Tokyo Sentimental" franchise.
Instead, they went for that "ending" so that they could later add another SP ("Ochanomizu no Koi") which I found, in all honestly, so weak that it didn't even reach the passing grade. Such a sad way to make the audience part from this endearing character! T____T
9/10 to "Senju no Koi" (it would've been a perfect 10 with an appropriate ending!) and 5/10 to "Ochanmizu no Koi".
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
It can be appreciated also by those who aren't "idol-wotas" ^_^
First things first: I've never been into idols.Matter of fact, as I've written in another review while discussing why, despite being generally speaking a japanophile, I am a bit of a rare specimen since I really don't care for anime (nor for sushi, but that's another story ^_^;...): "...the whole concept of 'moe' gives me the creeps..." - and adding insult to injury, the few times I had happened to see an idol group's MV I was in all honesty bothered both by the (to me - please take no offense!) unappealing music, and by the (again, to me - really, no offense meant!) unappealing choreographies.
Dammit, I had even dropped the asadora "Amachan" halfway, when the idol story arc began - so little interest I had in the whole thing! >___<
So, how the hell have I ended up watching this show (and, on top of that, liking it too!)? ^__^;
It all started with Imaizumi Yui.
Totally by chance, I saw some pictures of her, and that adorable face got my attention right away. I then searched her on YT, found a solo ballad of hers (日が昇るまで - pretty nice song, BTW! ^__-) and really loved her voice too!
At that point it came natural to me to look for her dramas/movies, but I couldn't find her only main role (at least so far - the movie "Korogaru Bidama") and the rest are either the two dramas done with the rest of her idol group (only one subbed - "Tokuyama Daigoro wo Dare ga Koroshita ka"; watched a coupla episodes; found it terrible...) or else very minor roles in dramas I'm not particularly interested in anyway ("Hidarikiki no Eren", "The Good Wife", etc....).
Finally, I decided to give a try to one of the variety shows she took part in, together with the rest of the group, and here I am.
I've watched the first two seasons of this "KeyaBingo!" (by the time the third one started, she'd already left the group - "graduated", as I've found out they say in this, for me, still quite mysterious - though a little bit less than before - world) and honestly, it was a whole lot better than I had imagined it would be!
The MCs are funny, some of the guests were positively *hilarious*, and some of the girls are tremendously cute and/or talented and/or funny (in addition to "Zuumin", I'll name at least Nagahama Neru and Sato Shiori!).
On the other hand I must confess I got really evil vibes from some of the other girls (for those who'll know what I'm talking about: like real-life versions of Choko from Urasawa Naoki's "Happy!" manga, URGH!!! >__<), so much so that I wasn't very surprised when I read about the alleged bullying episodes that possibly had a role not only in Imaizumi's - and others' - "graduation", but also in the group changing its name later on (disgusted, yes; surprised, not really - but once again, that's another story completely).
Back to the good aspects of this show: the cherry on top is the last episode of the 1st season, featuring an überfunny "battle" between Keyakizaka46 and Ito Asako (46) - LOL, that Japanese female comedian is really *hilarious*!!! ^_______^
Now, I'm not gonna become an "idol wota" any time soon, LOL...but I can man up enough as to publicly confess that I've found this variety show to be a surpisingly pleasant and entertaining watch.
Therefore, believe me, even people who aren't big fans of the whole idol thingy can totally appreciate this. Why not give it a try? If anything, you should all be able to enjoy at least that episode I referred to, LOL! ^______^
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
