Japanese Drama Review: Anmitsu Hime (Special #1)

Starring: Inoue Mao as Anmitsu Hime
Koide Keisuke as Sembe
Yuki Imai as Amagurino Suke "Amaguri"
Masaki Kyomoto as Kitsubanu Ryu
Morisako Ei as Ohagi-chan

This manga-turned-drama-special is about a young princess in a made up land of Japan that laments her status and the necessity for an arranged marriage. She decides to "escape" out into the streets and explore live and find love. Along the way she meets a group of street kids who help her see the real world and to understand that life isn't just black and white.

I adored this "special." They only ran an hour and half "made for tv movie" of Anmitsu Hime, but it was a very fun and charming show. I have been a fan of Inoue Mao for a long time, so she was what really drew me into the show. Her acting is getting better and better and this role of a "tomboy princess" suited her just fine. I also liked Koide Keisuke in his role as Sembe. I saw him before in Nodame Cantabile and he was hilarious, it was nice to see him in a more serious role. In general this is a comedy and I had a lot of laughs watching it. The names of the characters alone (Anmitsu Hime means "Syrup covered bean jam princess") were enough to send me into a fit of giggles. It's hard to keep a straight face when the characters are named after different foods - kind of like Sorcerer Hunters where the main character is named Carrot. The silliest of shows can sometimes become my favorites. I think that Yuki Imai and Ei Morisato stole the show though. They were charming and amazing as their respective roles. I think that acting at such a young age is amazing and to do it well is quite a challenge. I guess I am a sucker for a pretty man as well because I loved Masaki Kyomoto's character of the playboy "secret guardian." I hope that you can find the time to watch this short gem that SARS-fansubs has distributed kindly. You can always find great things at their website.

Hanazakari no Kimitachi e

Maki Horikata - Mizuki Ashiya
Shun Oguri - Izumi Sano
Ikuta Toma - Shuichi Nakatsu
Too many others - Too many GREAT characters!

The live-action Japanese drama based on the manga by Hisaya Nakajo was AWESOME. I loved the entire cast. I was surprised by the up-staging of Sano (Shun Oguri) by Nakatsu (Ikuta Toma.) I don't know if it was just the acting (quite possibly) or if it was the actor or character. I absolutely loved Nakatsu. I found myself wanting Ashiya to choose Nakatsu instead of Sano. But, I'm getting ahead of myself - aren't I? I really aught to give you a run-down of the plot first, shouldn't I? Ok here goes. The story is about Ashyia Mizuki (Maki Horikata), a female American student who secretly enters an all-boys academy in Japan. The reason for her deception is to help the object of her affection/obsession/whatever return to participating in the high jump. The reason she feels the need to help him varies in all three different tellings of the story (the original manga form, the Taiwanese drama and the Japanese drama) but, nevertheless she goes all the way to Japan to help Izumi Sano (Shun Oguri) return to the competing in the high jump he once loved. Along the way, she befriends Nakatsu Shuichi (Ikuta Toma) and the rest of Ohsaka High School. The Japanese version of this show varied completely from the Taiwanese version, let alone the manga. I've enjoyed all three, but the Japense live-action was very passionate and fun. I laughed really hard at some of the parts, which was refreshing. I think the casting was really good for this show. Dr. Umeda was really great. He was attractive and cold, but compassionate towards Mizuki. The three main characters were wonderful. I still like Shun Oguri as Rui Hanazawa better though. My biggest issue was the casting of Kyo Nobuo as Masao Himejima (Oscar M. Himejima) He looked funny and WAY too old to be a high school student. Don't get me wrong, over time I came to love him, but in the manga he was such a pretty boy and Kyo Nobuo really isn't. One of the biggest differences I noticed was the ending. I don't know how the original story ends (in the manga) because the English version isn't done printing yet. (We're on volume 17 or 18 I think) But the Taiwanese version was left wide-open, while the Japnese version had a definite end. Not that they didn't leave room for a special or season two. It is a company based on ratings after all. But, if you are looking for a laugh and lots of passionate acting check out this drama. It's definitely worth the time to watch it.

Oh - did I mention the yummy factor? The amount of attractive young Japanese men in this show had me swooning like a school girl. If I had been on the set, I probably would have fainted.

Unfair na no wa dareka? The Special!

So, I watched Unfair: The Special: Code Breaking. It was just as good as the series. Andou even popped up because Yukihira was so distraught she had "visions" of him talking to her about the case. The only bad part is that they ended it in a cliff-hanger that continues in the movie. And, seeing as how it only released in theaters in March I am going to have to wait and wait for it to come out with sub-titles. ((I'm STILL waiting for a version of Trick: The Movie 2 to have sub's)) But, if you want to make sure that you catch it all in one go, you should wait. But don't forget about it because it's a really excellent series. It's a nice change from the bubblegum sweet stories that I usually catch.
For an actual "summary" of the special: The special takes place nine months after Andou's death and starts out focusing on a series of deaths of older Japanese men, dying of apparent natural causes. Yukihira believes that they are murders based purely on instinct. After a lot of digging it turns out that they are in face, murders and they are somehow connected to Yukihira, the batsu-site and Yukihira's father. She must find the murderer before they get away with killing the last member of the group - only she has to figure out who it is first! Oh - did I mention that Mio-chan is talking now? SO KAWAI! Lot's of movies portray Japanese children as being UBER-creepy (The Ring, Ju-On, etc) so it's amazing I find her so cute. Except when she whispers. Whispering kids are super sKary.

アンフェア na no wa dareka? (Drama Review: Unfair)

Ryoko Shinohara as Natsumi Yukihira

Eita Nagayama as Kazuyuki Andou

Mion Mukaichi as Mio Satou

Teruyuki Kagawa as Kazuo Sato

What is unfair? (Unfair na no wa dareka?) is the question of the entire series. Ryoko Shinohara plays tough cop Natsumi Yukihira, the top murder detective in Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department. A series of murders begin to surround her, and as suspiscion begins to creep around every corner of her life, she begins to fight for her family and her life.

I really enjoyed this series. I am excited to watch the special tonight, as I own it already. The movie looks amazing too, but I have to wait for that to be released on DVD. I was pretty impressed with the level of acting in this series too. Usually with series that are a little quieter in mass appeal, the acting is lack-luster. I was blown away with each plot twist and the acting ability of some of the more minor characters. Mion Mukaichi was adorable. Her roll as Mio-chan was great. She plays as an eight year old, but I think in looks she is about four! It must have been tough for her to act without speaking at all. (Don't worry, it's not really a spoiler since you know right off the bat why Mio-chan doesn't speak.) I'm glad that in the snipets I've caught of the Unfair - The Movie she is back in the action. Eita did a good job too. I think that he's been growing as an actor, after Waterboys, this is a good grown-up roll for him to take on. Watch this series if you have time and like mystery and good acting. As a bonus - Yuna Ito sings the theme - Truth.

Five Stars - *****

Japanese Drama Review: Hana Yori Dango 2

Mao Inoue stars as Tsukushi Makino
Jun Matsumoto stars as Tsukasa Domyoji
Shun Oguri stars as Rui Hanazawa
Shota Matsuda stars as Sojiro Nishikado
Tsuyoshi Abe stars as Akira Mimasaka

This continuation of Hana Yori Dango is a wonderful conclusion of the Japanese version of this drama. If you don't know the basic story it's about a young Japanese girl who by her own stroke of (mis?)fortune manages to get into one of the most exclusive High Schools in Japan. There, she encounters the F4. A group of well-to-do rich boys that have nothing better to do with there time than mess with the "common folk." Tsukushi Makino won't stand for this and fights back when her friend is targeted. She then becomes the main target for the rage of F4 leader; Tsukasa Domyoji. After months of struggling against him, they start to realize their feelings for one another. The second season finds them struggling against all new odds, with Domyoji in New York, and Tsukushi trying to find her way in her senior year of High School.

I found that this season was just as enjoyable as the first one. I have watched the anime and read the manga, and I found this series to be fairly true to the original story. Of course, the story had to have some cutting and pasting, as the live-action couldn't run as long as the anime or manga. I found that I cried a lot during this season. I think that the battles Tsukushi had to endure for this season where even tougher than last year and the final result was satisfying. If you watched the first season - be sure not to miss the second!


Note*-I know the image is from Season 1, but I couldn't find decent Season 2 pictures...

Five Stars *****