mayoraasei: (Gintama)
I had to look up what kawaraban (瓦版) meant, which is the Japanese equivalent of a Roman bulletin that's published when a major announcement needs to be made or a major event has occurred.

A couple of weeks ago, Gintama anime stopped updating and went back to re-reuns to allow the manga to progress. Since then, every week at the end of the episode, one actor from the Gintama live action movie is invited to a brief interview. These clips have been pretty hard to find, so I'll post them here, and I'm going to set this post on top until the movie's release date.

Also, if this was the picture they posted of Okada Masaki playing Katsura, I would have been much happier (he looks girly, but Katsura looks girly, so it's all good LOL)




Week 1 - Oguri Shun / Gintoki: YouTube or here | BiliBiliTV
"The atmosphere during the shoot is very nice, you can feel everyone's enjoying themselves. The two of them [Shinpachi and Kagura] are always so high, I get a lot of energy from them."
[While watching themselves do the New Year's dance clip] "What the heck did I just do...I think I must have become an actor all for the sake of this..."
Suda/Shinpachi: "No you didn't."
"It's a work with quite strong contrasts. Sometimes you feel like you're going to finish on a cool note, but it suddenly turns into a joke again. I think that's the most interesting attraction."
小栗桑,現在才開始擔心你的節操已經太晚了……

Week 2 - Hashimoto Kanna / Kagura: BiliBiliTV
"I'm looking forward to the results. I told myself to give it my all and not do anything halfway. The most memorable part about being Kagura? After I shot the nose-picking scene, everyone started applauding. After the director called 'Cut!' everyone just clapped....I think I tried my best."

Week 3 - Nagasawa Masami / Otae: BiliBiliTV
"Tae is a girl with two facets to her personality. I don't know if anyone in real life is as extreme, but she displays a feminine charisma, with both her gentleness and her strength. I've never really done a role that needs making weird faces, but I'm glad I get to do that in Gintama."

Week 4 - Okada Masaki / Katsura: BiliBiliTV
“I’ve always been a big fan of Gintama, and it’s unbelievable that I’m actually in it, so I really must do my best.”
On acting with Oguri Shun, with whom he’s friends (they’ve appeared in HanaKimi and Space Brothers together), “This time the cast and staff are revolving around Oguri-san, and I want to become one of them to support him. At the same time I want to do my best portraying Katsura and enjoy acting together with him.”
(First person to publicly admit they like the original work, good job Masaki! Kid is such a dork on variety programs it's amazing he hasn't been eaten alive yet. Still, he's not quite the same sort of dork as Katsura, so we'll see how that pans out.)

Week 5 - Muro Tsuyoshi / Gengai: Twitter | BiliBiliTV
"When I read the script I was wondering what to do. Should I adjust my acting to reflect the real age of the character? Director Fukuda said just act as my own age. Even though we might get into strife with the fans of the original work. But this is completely not my fault. It's Director Fukuda's fault."
"The one rule that Director Fukuda and I have at heart is that we will seriously be funny. Please be assured everyone, that I will as Gengai be committed to being ridiculous."

Next week - Nakamura Kanzaburo / Gorilla Kondou Isao
mayoraasei: There is no such thing as coincidence (Default)

I know a lot of people may not have watched this, so I tried to limit any spoilers in my review to what's been revealed in trailers. If you have chosen to stay away even from trailers, you should stop reading right now.


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THERE MAY BE SPOILERS


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The good
- The lead actors: in particular Tom Holland's energetic Spidey and Keaton's menacing presence, but also some heartfelt cameos by RDJ and Marisa Tomei
- The pace: the energy never let up but also didn't drag out its peak action moments for too long that it gives you fatigue
- The scope: while not quite as miniscule-scaled as Ant-Man, it certainly befits Spidey's title of "your friendly neighbourhood superhero". No aliens, no otherworldly beings, no Infinity Stones, not even an international diplomatic crisis. Just a bit of brick work off the Washington monument (oi) and a climax that is more or less confined to an unidentifiable abandoned...beach?
- Tony Stark: for once he's the highlight for playing the straight guy. The few scenes he share with Spidey have a nice dynamic that brings out a whole new facet to Tony's character
- The humour: it gets the tone just right between witty, awkward and self-effacing

The bad
- The sum is less than its parts
-- I can't remember a single iconic heroic moment in this movie - e.g. Wonder Woman climbing out of the trenches to gunfire, or Stephen Strange using the Eye of Agamotto to reverse the damage to Hong Kong. The Staten Island ferry scene was hardly the climax it seemed in the trailers.
-- The character arc for Peter is vague and muddled, and I can't confidently say that he's learned any significant lessons by its conclusion
-- It's missing the core value of its 2 previous incarnations "with great power comes great responsibility" by avoiding Uncle Ben too much. In fact, previous MCU stories have always been good with its key messages that is conveyed through their character growths (e.g. Thor and humility, Iron Man and empathy, Cap and remaining true to ideals), but lately, in particular in Dr Strange and Ant Man and certainly here, these "life lessons" haven't come through
- Some really weak plot devices: come on Tony, surely you don't write your code to be cracked within seconds by a high school sophomore
- Karen: ARGH I'm so sick of chirpy intrusive AI's that sound like too much like real people (i.e. have emotions). The only AI that deserves to have lines in MCU is JARVIS.

The usual Marvel weaknesses
- A paper thin villain - that's thankfully saved by Keaton's very scary air. Some father-child moments could have really elevated this character
- The utter lack of stakes and ramifications
- Lots of seemingly important side characters not doing much at all
- The lack of emotional continuity
- Lack of character/emotional building: again, Spidey is one of those universes where family could have been a big emotional anchor and there's plenty of missed opportunities with Peter but also with several of the side characters

The verdict
In a way, this movie is perfectly timed to debut with this tone, having just come off 2 heavy The Amazing Spider-man movies and an Avengers universe that is starting to get darker and splintered, having this light-hearted and energetic outing is like a return to the good ol' times. The actors turn in wonderful performances, and with the quick pace and light-footed humour, it keeps you engaged until the end, but you really only have to dip your fingers beneath the surface to notice the usual MCU shortcomings and a somewhat uncharacteristically incohesive plotline.

mayoraasei: There is no such thing as coincidence (Default)
After a long deliberation, I watched Bakuman and now I wish I didn't.

I do like Satou Takeru and Kamiki Ryuunosuke, who are reasonable actors of their age cohort, and have made some iconic roles very memorable. Kamiki started off a child star but in the last few years he's really challenged himself to break the cast, and despite (or because of) his pretty good-boy image, he plays some interesting villains.

But I digress. Bakuman was probably the last manga series I read from beginning to end, and part of its cleverness was the story-within-a-story. To me, the logistics and competition at Shounen Jump was a curiosity, but the really fascinating bits in the manga came from some very clever story drafts thrown around by the various characters within it.

As you may know, Ohba Tsugumi as a writer and Obata Takeshi as an illustrator have as a combination not only penned this manga, they were also behind the riveting Death Note. There's a lot of speculation as to who Ohba Tsugumi is, but it's not hard to see some parallels between them and "Ashirogi Muto". Even Ashirogi Muto's breakout stories have that streak of cerebral darkness that characterised Death Note.

I don't know where to go with the movie. For a start, Bakuman would have better suited a series than a movie, and the problem is quickly clear as the film had no idea how to judge its pace. At times it's excruciating slow, like a music video with an angsty ballad, as Komatsu swans around in soft focus. At other times it skips ahead in a snap, like it realised it needed to get to the end of an arc by 2 hours.

It focused too much on the drawing as "drawings" rather than the creative process, which is where the real gem lies. The decision to nerf Takagi and make him someone "who isn't good at studying" is bewildering. While it might be a bit unrealistic for someone to be both getting good grades while running a manga circus on the side, the stories that Takagi came up with needed someone who was interested in intellect and psychology, not to mention the strategies he had with improving readership. Mashiro's story is important but also ridiculously fairytale-like, but Takagi's is a much more realistic arc of working hard, failing, improving and succeeding.

I'm not sure why the choice was made to make Mashiro's uncle's story feature so prominently. Yes, Mashiro had two motivations for succeeding - being in the same world as the girl he liked, and also to resolve the regrets his uncle left behind. The movie tried to turn it into some half-hearted unresolved grief and misplaced anger, which nevertheless didn't really play out.

Unsurprisingly it couldn't decide what to do with Eiji's character, who hung menacingly in a darkened room and appeared intermittently to sneer at the main pair. I've never seen Sometani Shota so aggravating.

The movie did no justice to anyone, not to the wit of the series, the energy of the actors, or to the onus of the profession itself. Fitting a good story arc from a 20 volume manga in 2 hours is a hard ask to start with but not necessarily impossible - this was done with reasonable success with Rurouni Kenshin and GANTZ. Unlike the battle-heavy stories of those two, the storyline of Bakuman probably leant itself better to a TV adaptation where there's time and space to build the plot and characters. As last year's Jimi ni Sugoi and Juhan Shuttai have proven, stories based around print media don't necessarily have to be slow and boring. To really bring out the merit of Bakuman though, which was the storytelling within the story, it will need a less literal hand and a cleverer touch.

mayoraasei: (Kaoru)
Probably nothing speaks louder (at least to the studios) than money, so you can see how the movies have ranked in terms of grosses at Box Office Mojo.

Initially this was a MCU only ranking, but as the DCEU franchise grows, I've also added that in. Rottentomatoes and Metacritic are both critic-based scores. IMDB and Cinemascore are indicative of general audience response, which tend to be less-discerning and skewed towards the positive as - well, most people come back to a franchise because they already like it.

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Rotten Tomatos Tomatometer

Metacritic Metascore
94% Iron Man
92% The Avengers
91% Guardians of the Galaxy
90% Captain America: Civil War
90% Doctor Strange
89% Captain America: The Winter Soldier
81% Guardians of the Galaxy 2
81% Ant-Man
80% Captain America: The First Avenger
79% Iron Man 3
77% Thor
75% Avengers: Age of Ultron
72% Iron Man 2
67% The Incredible Hulk
66% Thor: The Dark World
79 Iron Man
76 Guardians of the Galaxy
75 Captain America: Civil War
72 Doctor Strange
70 Captain America: The Winter Soldier
69 The Avengers
67 Guardians of the Galaxy 2
66 Captain America: The First Avenger
66 Avengers: Age of Ultron
64 Ant-Man
62 Iron Man 3
61 The Incredible Hulk
57 Iron Man 2
57 Thor
54 Thor: The Dark World

IMDB User Ratings

Cinemascore
8.1 The Avengers
8.1 Guardians of the Galaxy
8.1 Guardians of the Galaxy 2
7.9 Captain America: Civil War
7.9 Iron Man
7.8 Avengers: Age of Ultron
7.8 Captain America: The Winter Soldier
7.6 Doctor Strange
7.4 Ant-Man
7.2 Iron Man 3
7.1 Thor: The Dark World
7.0 Thor
7.0 Iron Man 2
6.9 Captain America: The First Avenger
6.8 The Incredible Hulk
A+ The Avengers
A Ant-Man
A Avengers: Age of Ultron
A Captain America: Civil War
A Captain America: Winter Soldier
A Doctor Strange
A Guardians of the Galaxy
A Guardians of the Galaxy 2
A Iron Man
A Iron Man 2
A Iron Man 3
A- Captain America: The First Avenger
A- Thor: The Dark World
A- The Incredible Hulk
B+ Thor


DC Extended Universe

Rotten Tomatos Tomatometer

Metacritic Metascore
93% Wonder Woman
55% Man of Steel
27% Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
26% Suicide Squad
76 Wonder Woman
55 Man of Steel
44 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
40 Suicide Squad

IMDB User Ratings

Cinemascore
8.2 Wonder Woman
7.1 Man of Steel
6.8 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
6.6 Suicide Squad
A Wonder Woman
A- Man of Steel
B+ Suicide Squad
B Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice


Last updated June 2017: Wonder Woman is newly released and scores may shift.
Last updated May 2017: Guardians of the Galaxy is new in theatres, so scores (particularly IMDB) may shift.
Last updated Nov 2016: note Doctor Strange has only just been released so these are very preliminary scores.
Last Update Aug 2016: Hulk removed as it does not appear to count in the MCU. Cinemascore added.
mayoraasei: There is no such thing as coincidence (Default)


Chiisana Kyojin (Little giants) -- Hasegawa Hiroki, Okada Masaki, Kagawa Teruyuki, Yasuda Ken
Synposis: as the protege of the serving director of the "first division", Kosaka thought he had the director position in his pocket until he was all of a sudden demoted for a small mistake. The more he tries to find out why, the deeper he seems to become entangled in the web of corruption and lies.

The police version of Hanazawa Naoki? )


Kizoku Tantei (Aristocratic detective) -- Aiba Masaki, Takei Emi
Synposis: an aristocratic man moonlights as a free PI because he likes it, and he is helped along by his 3 servants. He goes up against a female PI in her cases.

That was about how much I understood from the first episode )


Kinkyu Torishirabeshitsu 2 (Emergency Interrogation Room 2) -- Amami Yuki
Synposis: Amami Yuki returns to her best as a no-nonsense policewoman in a small group specialising in interrogation.

Almost like BOSS )

(PS: I kept getting very confused because Tanaka Tetsushi appears in both CRISIS and this one)
mayoraasei: There is no such thing as coincidence (Default)
In contrast to last season dreary selection, there's a host of more interesting dramas out this season, starting from CRISIS, which has screened at Cannes, and Kizoku Tantei starring half a dozen "main character level" actors. Will it save the Jdrama world from its seemingly unstoppable decline?

"CRISIS" Poster

CRISIS -- Oguri Shun, Nishijima Hidetoshi
Synopsis: A group of people with troubled pasts are assembled in a new team of anti-terrorism specialists.

Much of the drama's promotions have centered around the fact it has screened at Cannes. It stars none other than Oguri Shun in probably his last serious role before ruining his image forever in Gintama (ひどい).

CRISIS Screencaps
被毀型之前當然要追悼(不要亂用詞啊喂)一下小栗旬的英姿

It also has Nishijima Hidetoshi, who has the dubious honour of being the first ossan I liked even though I think I've only seen him in Strawberry Night. Even though he has a playboyish role in that one, I somehow have it imprinted in my memory that he's a 憂鬱型帥大叔....why.

Apart from the girl, the other 2 team members are all reliable actors who play side roles regularly.

So far, the first episode was...good but disappointing. I think the expectations given it keeps pushing the "we've been to Cannes!" slogan was too high. The episode does not break out of the usual Japanese police drama mold. It drops you straight into the action to introduce the 5 main characters, then without a pause, goes onto another case. The sum is you get a vague idea of each person's specialty, a hint of their quirks, but nothing you can get your teeth into about their personalities or back stories. As far as introductions go, it's good but not as memorable as the tight, tense and occasionally quirky first episode of BOSS, which gave a much stronger impression of each of the weirdos that made up the team.

Almost every Japanese police drama these days seems to open with a (literal) bomb so I'm getting pretty immune to it. Where this first case is concerned, there was not a lot of deduction involved, nor was there much sympathy for the Victim-of-the-Week. When you take those two elements away, you need a villain with a strong presence to really rack up the tension (because to be honest, I would have totally not felt sorry if the guy died, and neither would the main character judging by his own words) but the series has decided to keep the antagonist as a nebulous force or group behind the scenes.

It was an otherwise well-written and well-produced episode, with some good action (fairly rare in J-dramas), good natural acting (except for the guest victim...seriously kiddo) and good pacing that didn't let up until the end. But in a way, as a series pilot that is supposed to draw audiences in, I feel it just scraped past because the case of the week wasn't able to give the audience any emotional connection, either to the victim or even to the main characters. Presumably there is some big conspiracy overarching all of this but the episode doesn't give enough away to really build up the suspense. If it weren't for the quality of actors and the fact I know the production team have come up with some solid works, I don't think I would continue watching.

"Reverse" Poster

Reverse -- Fujiwara Tatsuya, Toda Erika, Koike Teppei
Synopsis: Based on the eponymous novel, Fukase is an ordinary man without much luck or excitement in his life, until he meets the girl of his dreams. Just as he begins to enjoy this blossoming romance, an anonymous note arrives in his girlfriend's hands: "Fukase is a murderer". 10 years ago, Fukase had gone on a car trip with his best friend Hirose Yuki and 3 other mates. Hirose never returned and they promised between themselves to take the secrets of that night into their graves. What happened to Hirose? What are they hiding? Who is hunting them down now?

So...I don't know if anyone else does this, but I'm the kind of person who always reads the beginning, the end, before reading the middle....

So obviously, after watching the first episode, I rushed onto Google to find out "what happened to Hirose?!" "Who killed Hirose?!" "What is the meaning of Reverse?!"

I confess the answer will be much less underwhelming if you read/watch the story for what it is.

This drama was promoted as "a 11 year reunion of Death Note actors Raito and Misa-chan!" which...I didn't know that was a thing until this season (see below and the up and coming Code Blue 3). Fujiwara was first known - and probably best known to western audiences - as the protagonist of the somewhat uniquely Japanese dystopian bloodfest known as Battle Royale. Both he and Erika (and Matsuyama Kenichi who was L) have gone on to forge fulfilling careers spanning a rich library of interesting and varied characters. Koike Teppei I have not seen onscreen for so long that I didn't realise how much I miss his cute ageless face. Every time he smiles it makes me sad at knowing this heart-warming character already died. Apparently in the original story, Hirose is supposed to be a big burly bear-like man who is a sweet and gentle giant. But Koike just screams 暖男暖男 in every scene that I don't think the difference will bother fans of the original work.

Minato Kanae's novels are known for their rational but cutting expositions on the failings of humans and the innate selfishness in all of us. The tone of this particular novel is said to be much warmer than her other works, and will probably be more palatable to the audiences. Fujiwara manages to make the clumsy, ordinary and painfully submissive character into someone for whom we can have some sympathy. Definitely worth watching for anyone interested in the interplay of human selfishness.


"Boku, Unmei no Hito desu" poster

Boku, Unmei no Hito desu (I am the destined one) - Kamenashi Kazuya, Yamashita Tomohisa, Kimura Fumino
Synopsis: Masaki is a guy without much luck with girlfriends. Kogetsu is a girl without much luck with boyfriends. One day, a mysterious man appears in front of Masaki and proclaims he is God, and the reason that Masaki has been failing in his relationships is because he is destined to marry Kogetsu so that their child, 30 years later, can save the Earth from a meteor. Thus starts Masaki's arduous task of wooing Kogetsu for the future of Earth...!

是一部腦洞開很大的日劇……

So this one is touted as "a 12 year reunion between Nobuta actors Shinji and Akira!" A lot of politics and arguments came following this casting, which I won't go over here, except that Yamapi is noted down more as a special guest rather than a "secondary main character" judging by the way his name is arranged on the official cast page.

I thought it was joking about the "God" bit, but he does appear out of and disappear into thin air, so...

How do I put it, it's hard not to think about the ugly politics that runs on in Johnny's Entertainment when you see Kame and Yamapi appear together. To their credit, both Kame and Yamapi are much more mature actors compared to their Nobuta days, and the scenes where they appear together were surprisingly impressive by how much presence both of them have.

The role is fairly natural for Kame, and he's always been pretty good at these clumsy but cute characters much more than he is at extroverted or expansive characters like Yamaneko (which I'm still impressed he pulled off). Yamapi, on the other hand, is much closer to what he's like in Nobuta than his more recent 面癱 main characters. I know a lot of people call him 死魚眼 (dead fish eyes) and 面癱 (facial paralysis) and 木頭君 (Mr Wooden), and I'd agree with most of them in his usual roles. I think a lot of people say that he's more suited to the cool roles, but personally I find him much more likable in these expressive roles where he makes use of his surprising sense of comic timing. With introspective roles, he's really not able to emote a lot with his eyes, but here his eyes are twinkling and his smirks are endearing, and there's a strange sense of camaraderie in his scenes with Kame. I have a fondness for Kimura, who I think is amongst the few in her generation who puts a lot of effort into her roles and holds her characters well.

The script is light, humorous and self-aware, which is perfect for the ridiculous premise and the tone of this series. It's one of the few rare romances that actually makes me want to keep watching, at least for the laughs.
mayoraasei: (Gintama)
武士道とは一秒後に死ぬ事と見つけたり
「なんも心配いらん
 いつ滅んでもおかしくなかった星が いつ滅ぶかハッキリしただけぜよ」
「武士道とは死ぬ事と見つけたりとはよう言うたもんぜよ」
「喜べ侍ども 我等(わしら)はまだ戦える 悔いなど一片も残らぬまで戦い切る事ができるのだから」

Lesson 630: The art of Bushido is to recognise that death is but a second away.

Souyou: What does he mean that the Earth is about to disappear?

Sakamoto: There's nothing to worry about.
For a planet that could be destroyed at any moment anyway
The only thing that's changed is we now know when
It doesn't change what we need to do

People say that Bushido is to stare death in its face
Even if in one second's time death will be upon us
We will fight to our last breath so that we may leave no regrets
This is what it means to be a samurai
If this one second can last until dawn
Then what have we to sigh about?
Rejoice, samurai
For we can still fight
We can still fight until there is no regret left behind


-- From, every now and then you get some cool lines Gintama
===================================================================

番外:
So I was pilfering the Japanese quotes from a Japanese blog, then I saw the blogger was freaking out because she/he was worried that Katsura looks like he'll do something worrying.
It's okay, he can pull an Athrun and self-detonate a Gundam in there. Worked before =P /不負責任
我覺得桂基本上有保障啦,畢竟歷史上他和齊籐算是比較幸運的兩位,不但活下來了,好像還在新政府下任職了。
空知猩猩要是敢讓桂領便當,我覺得他會收到很多刀片啦。
不過以高杉and真選組的人氣,如果這些人真的符合歷史走向領便當,空知猩猩還是會收到刀片啊……
所以還是犧牲坂本辰馬吧 (喂!)
mayoraasei: (Gintama)
To finish off the casting round, we have the Murata siblings and the Shinsengumi.

Gintama live action 2017 - Murata Tetsuya and Murata Testuko
Click for original size


The Murata siblings )

Gintama live action 2017 - Hijikata, Kondou, Okita
Click for original size


Cut for the long-awaited Shinsengumi trio )

And that's a wrap!

I think it's a good mix of people who are reliable at acting, and a few unknowns cast in roles that won't require a huge amount of acting. Will that make it a success? Who knows. Japan has gone full steam with live adaptations of manga works in the past few years, and there's been a very small handful that's really struck gold with audiences (Rurouni Kenshin being the only one I can think of).

Just in the next few months, from the ones I've heard of, there's going to be Sangatsu no Lion, Blade of the Immortal, Full Metal Alchemist - not to mention at least another half a dozen romances coming to either the big or small screen. Generally Japan has better results with small screen adaptations of shoujo manga, but has traditionally struggled with shounen due to the scope, often the much darker themes, and the occasional leaps in suspension of belief required of the audience.

Possibly a good comparison will be the Oguri Shun-led Nobunaga Concerto, another historical fiction that has its comical and serious moments. It managed a respectable result at the box office and became the first film to squeeze Star Wars out of its top spot.

It will depend very much on the script and even at the best of times Gintama is not an easy material to convert into live action. Even just converting from manga to anime, given some of the crazy premises and the dependence on comedy, is no mean feat and speaks volumes about the professionalism of the writers and actors, and the maturity of the animation industry in Japan.

I have some carefully measured hopes, but given some recent failures in translation of popular manga onto the silver screen, I'm also carefully preparing myself for a disappointment.
mayoraasei: (Gintama)
Moving onto the rest of the team today, starting with the antagonists in Kiheitai.

Gintama live action 2017 - Takasugi, Okada, Takechi, Kijima
Click for original size


Read about the Kiheitai cast )
mayoraasei: There is no such thing as coincidence (Default)
Late last month, the Gintama twitter team had finally finished releasing photos of the whole cast, starting with Yorozuya in December and unsurprisingly ending with the ridiculously popular Shinsengumi team. The rumour mill is fairly quiet, unlike *cough* Marvel movies. Judging by the presence of the Murata siblings though, this is going to rehash the Benizakura arc once again, which is a real shame given how far Gintama has come and the other wonderful stories ripe for retelling - but, I suppose, it's the first big serious arc of the series and a good way to introduce the characters.

Fans of the series will recall that the Shinsengumi actually play a negligible role in the Benizakura arc, which was the first proper hint at the complex love-hate/respect-disdain relationships between Gintoki, Takasugi and Katsura. One of the recently released set photos shows what looks like the Yorozuya trio hunting for crickets, which I suppose would be the quickest way to involve the Shinsengumi.

Glaring omissions from the photos so far include Sadaharu (not surprised, and the amount of money they can save by not doing CG for the mascot they can spend on other effects), Otose (it would be nice even if she had a cameo) and Yamazaki (how can you have the Shinsengumi without jimi Yamazaki?)

Before I start discussing the live action cast, I just wanted to say briefly that Gintama anime has been blessed with some amazing casting and after so long in their roles, their voices have become so much of the experience - the joys and sadness and reflective scenes the viewers live through with them every week, so the live action cast will always have that tremendous hurdle to climb over.

Gintama live action 2017 - Shinpachi, Gintoki, Kagura, Katsura, Otae, Gengai
Click for full size


Read about the main round of actors and actresses )
mayoraasei: (Gintama)
今天中午吃飯的時候,不小心點到銀魂2016晴天祭,結果回過神來已經把昼篇和夜篇都看完了 <-- 這人真的是在複習的節奏嗎

I'm revising my seiyuu-con roots LOL

The most amazing thing about the Gintama matsuris is the amount and quality of amazing afureco (live dubbing) by amazing seiyuus. I just used amazing 3 times in that sentence.

Both the noon and night sessions featured the Shogun Assassination Arc as its main story, which I skipped because I couldn't bear sitting through one of the saddest arcs in the whole series.

The night session used Saitou to voice the event opening...initially I LOL'ed at all the viewer comments going "OMG SUCH A NICE VOICE" until I became "OMG SUCH A NICE VOICE", then I googled and realised it was (of course) Sakurai Takahiro. GAH SUCH A NICE VOICE WHY YOU PLAY SOMEONE WHO DOESN'T SPEAK. Then I realised there's a lot of new characters that have amazing voices which I had skipped (I really can't bring myself to watch the 4th season because of the Shogun arc T-T) like Morikawa Toshiyuki and Hirano Aya (*__*) and Inoue Kazuhiko (!!!) and Namikawa Daisuke (OMGGG)

The confession series were hilarious, and it's always hilarious to hear droolworthy voices ruin themselves screeching as one would in Gintama. Though I don't like Sarutobi as a character, the voice actress is absolutely riveting the way she gets totally into her do-M and jealous character and cannonballs her way through the lines. It always amazes me how different and gravelly Chiba (Kondou) sounds compared to his usual smooth and genteel voice.

Nakai-ossan always has this inexplicable 反差萌 about him, like even though Hijikata is the oni-fukuchou, Nakai always acts more like Tosshi during live events and is a bit of a pushover XDDD Suzumura (Okita) has always been a fan-favourite and though it feels like he's speaking less in recent years, he's usually pretty easy-going and fun-natured, and the character he plays allows him to be coolly judgemental towards everyone else XDDD

Sugita (Gintoki) has the same 死魚眼 as the character he plays but he's a lot more unflappable - though he'll pop out with the weirdest stuff at the most inappropriate times to hilarious effect. Similarly Ishida (Katsura) is usually pretty quiet and hangs in the periphery but would occasionally pop out with some surprising retorts at the least expected times.

I can't tell if Yamazaki and Shinpachi's seiyuus are like a heightened version of themselves or just playing their parts, but they certainly do the whole 地味 and 吐槽 gig to a tee.

I have no feelings towards Kugimiya (Kagura) or the girl who plays Otsu...they seem pretty popular with fans but the whole cutesy thing doesn't really appeal to me. There's no 月咏 this time, which is a pity.

Now, in case anyone hasn't seen it, here's the live action Gintama main cast cameo-ing as their anime counterparts. Sorry Sugita...I still think Oguri has a better voice (even though he's trying to rough it up a bit here). Shinpachi's voice doesn't sound different at all, yappari the megane is the main point ne (whut). Actually Suda Masaki has grown on me a bit in the last couple of months, and I think he'd do a really good job with Shinpachi (not sure it's a compliment LOL).



Ayeee~~~~I just watched a trailer of Oguri Shun kicking ass in his new drama CRISIS. I don't know how I'm going to deal with seeing him as Gintoki...........

It's going to sooooooooo ruin my fond memories of gentlemanly Hanazawa Rui (HanaDan), cool Sano Izumi (HanaKimi), straight-man Takakura Sou (Tokyo Dogs), imposing Danno Tatsuya (Ouroboros) TT_____TT

At least, with a CV like that, I hope it'll be very hard for him to ruin Gintoki.

Also glanced at something with Yoshizawa Ryo in it - I think he'd make a good Okita. 顏值到位 XD <-- 這是重點嗎?


PS: I loved how the bit where the actor for Itou was reminiscing about his recording days, and he said, "When I got the part I didn't know anything about Gintama, and when I recorded the first episode I thought, wow, this is actually really touching. When I said this aloud, all the cast members were like, 'No, no, no, this is not normal, normally it's about pee and poop and nothing much happening.'" All the cast members immediately start nodding XDDD

PPS: Also the number of tweets saying "Thank you Gintama, you have acclimatised me to dirty jokes." to the point the cast members were like, "Are dirty jokes the only thing people remember about this show?" LOL

defendant

10 Apr 2017 03:52 pm
mayoraasei: (Jdrama)
"Pigoin", or "the defendant".

I should be studying for exams and obviously I'm here posting about K-dramas...

The Defendant is one of those shining examples of Korean script-writing that in part explains why, while Japanese dramas in general is in a decline, the new Korean dramas continually break records in ratings and audience response.

That is not to say that it's without flaw (though I haven't watched the whole thing yet), because if you take a step back, some parts of it isn't really consistent with what a character might do. For example, Park Jung-woo choosing to avoid authorities instead of trying to enlist the help of either his colleagues (though understandably he may not trust all of them) or his family, despite being previously a law enforcer himself. Or the odd choices by Cha Min-Ho to kill or not kill people - especially his "wife" when she "betrayed" him multiple times.

The script does something that both Japanese and Korean dramas are good at - the exploration of human nature, of the effect society (especially in a much more conformative society as would exist in Asia compared to the western world) has on the actions of an individual, and the drivers behind a crime and a kind act.

What it adds to that, and is something that recent good Korean dramas have been able to achieve that Japanese dramas struggle with, is the wholeness of a story. Japanese dramas have been very good at suspense and crime procedurals, but they have very rarely done a good job with a story arc that is paced across the entire series. They also have this inexplicable penchant for explaining away plot points with some mind-boggling conspiracy that feels more like a badly written hyperbole.

Pigoin is about a well-respected prosecutor who (conveniently - Korean drama staple #1) is struck by amnesia, and can't remember exactly why or how he came to be on death row for the murder of his own wife and young daughter. What unravels as he slowly regains pieces of his memories is an intriguingly complex web of ruthless petty vengeance, jealousy, greed, personal ambition, loyalty, obligation, integrity and love.

If Descendants of the Sun painted soldiers and doctors in a romantically unblemished light, Pigoin comes across as an ode to the faithful barristers and prosecutors who respect and uphold the moral demands of their jobs. It also reminds us that the world, especially where the law is entangled, is grey: that while most criminals are not framed like Park, many despite their crimes usually has some goodness in them.

It's nice to see the despicable factory owner in Descendants of the Sun get somewhat of a good part this time - though he starts out a gangster angry at the main character for putting him in jail, he eventually becomes an ally and then a friend.

But let me get to exactly why this post came to be. Kim Minseok - the cute little spark in Descendants of the Sun, the runaway thief who became everyone's little brother. Despite staying in side parts, his roles are getting meatier and meatier, last year playing a neurosurgical intern diagnosed with brain cancer (of course - it's amazing how many hospital staff get sick in the correct specialty in medical dramas). This role is his best yet.

***** SPOILER ALERT *******

He is an accomplice in the murders, but after he kidnaps Park's daughter he finds he couldn't bring himself to murder her. He was rorted into this because the bad guys promised they would pay for his ill sister's operation, but his sister died in the operation anyway. Struck by guilt, he then spends 10 episode looking after Park's daughter and hiding from the bad guys, who have told him that if he dares to go to the police then they are able to pin Park's wife's death on him. He was forced to turn himself in later on and had hoped to provide the evidence to convict the man who instructed him to abduct Park's daughter, but ends up being killed for it.

This is one of those roles that can really make an actor, and Kim is helped along by his baby face that makes him look more like the kid's older brother than (almost) 20 years her senior.
The interactions between him and the girl are some of the sweetest things on TV and is in fact cuter than the father-daughter interaction (I'm guessing Shin Rina spends a lot more time on/off screen with Kim Minseok than she does with Ji Sung, and the level of comfort shows because of her young age).

His character stands as the symbol (one of many in this series) of what a single selfish action can bring and what a singular kind thought can achieve. And (I can't seem to emphasise this enough XDD) his baby face really helps his case as the young and immature kid who made the wrong choice in life, and throughout the series grows enough to accept retribution for his wrongdoings.

In fact, if anything, his character has a more complete character development arc than anyone else in the series. The main characters have had a lot happen to them, but they've pretty much stayed consistently themselves, with their fixed world views, from beginning to end.

His is only one character in the throng of interesting character motivations - take Park's friend, who turns from upright prosecutor to protecting his selfish interests; or Cha's wife, who initially stays silent but surrenders to her moral misgivings at a crucial moment. It's a fascinating web of humans being driven by their flawed or virtuous humanness, the flaws that put the noose neatly around Park's neck, or the kindness that slowly weathered away until those traditional heroic virtues - kindness and justice - won the day.

It is a good script, if flawed and slow at times, and it is the type of script that explains (above and beyond the pretty faces that adorn it) the good ratings that accompany a drama of this calibre.

It is the contrast that you see with a terrible script like A Life ~ Itoshiki Hito that explains why Japanese dramas are struggling to obtain ratings above 15% these days despite being stuffed full of well-known names.

Japanese literature and film have traditionally been great at its incisive comments on the human condition, and it's getting more and more technically mature at doing police procedurals, but the formula is getting tired. I'm waiting for the day where it can put together something that fits together as well as Pigoin does - and it has the luxury of doing this in only 12 episodes instead of dragging it out over 18 (for Pigoin, sadly a victim of its own popularity).

Like in the heyday of Hanazawa Naoki, I think we would see something that's more deserving of a high rating than the brain-numbingly silly Doctor X.
mayoraasei: There is no such thing as coincidence (Squeak?)
Maybe it's my stuffed nose or my week of sleep deprivation, but it was quite possibly the most unexciting 2 hours of entertainment I've sat through in the last year.

I've been fond of Eddie Redmayne since Les Miserables and the rather stunning (?mouth-gaping) The Danish Girl, but he managed to hit the awkward and anti-social Newt on the nail...because he's just as forgettable and charmless.

The two women are equally forgettable yet also manage to be grating in addition. The main girl (whose name I swiftly banished out of my short term memory as soon as I finished watching, might have been Louise or Tina or something) must be one of the most annoyingly useless female inspectors in a major role to grace the big screen.

The only one who had any real charm was the Muggle. The fantastic beasts and the fantastical world in question took too long to appear. Newt's suitcase reveal should have happened at least 30 minutes earlier, and not after a 1 hour trawl through an exposition-heavy introduction.

Because of how long the movie was, it hadn't been clear from the outset that the orphans were going to be a major plot point, I failed to develop any sympathy for the kids, who managed more creepiness than innocence.

Without wishing to waste any more words on this movie, it was a decent optical spectacle but the fantasy came too late and the emotional core was curiously absent. And there's Johnny Depp being Johnny Depp...
mayoraasei: (Gakuen Alice)
You know you're getting on in age when the purchase of an expensive pot makes you happy.

The fact that I'm posting about this is in tribute to every student's favourite pastime...procrastination.

Myer was having a 50% off if you purchase 2 items sale last weekend (which is also on this weekend), and since I've been wanting a smaller pot than my 24cm Le Creuset casserole for ages, I made the snap purchase ($150 instead of the RRP$300). The second item was an unexciting Maxwell & Williams ceramic pot which will probably barely get used.

But! I now have a 18cm Staub cocotte! It's so cute! Even if it's a rather monochromatic shade of grey. It's just the right size for 1.5 person's worth of soup noodles, or 2 person's worth of soup! And probably just a bit on the small side when I tried making the Vietnamese tomato beef stew (Bo Kho).

And now I'm eyeing a 20cm pot +/- a 22cm pot..................................

Who would have thought that pots could be a sinkhole of doom?

Random gems of research
- Le Creuset has the widest range of colours and Staub a particularly limited range in Australia. Both brands have some specialty pots (tomato and pumpkin). Le Creuset in particular has some nice Asia-only colours and styles.
- Both Le Creuset and Staub import smaller pots only to Asian countries. For example, you'll find east Asian outlets all selling 14, 16, 18 and 20cm pots. I am yet to find an Australian outlet that sells a Staub 20cm, or a Le Creuset in anything smaller than 20cm (i.e. 14-18). In the same vein, maybe because Asian wives go for the whole cutesy thing, you get the brighter colours and the girly flower-shaped or heart-shaped pots...only in Asia. Sigh.
- What exactly qualifies as Australian cuisine anyway? How come we only get the boring round/oval casseroles? Le Creuset has some nice pot shapes overseas, including the popular-in-east-Asia Marmite/Chef's pan style, which has a sloped bottom to make stirfrying a bit more amenable while also being a versatile soup saucepan; and the American website also has a "Balti dish" for Indian cuisine.
- Staub is heavier than Le Creuset, though with my 24cm pot you probably won't care about the difference (your wrists get sore pretty quickly!) The 18cm is just the right sort of heft, a bit heavier than my Scanpan saucepan which has a pretty heavy base and long heavy handles. The only visible benefit is that - what they say is true - Staub is less likely to spill over on simmering. I need to recheck this with Le Creuset as I have had experiences of it spilling over and also of it not spilling when I expect it to. However, I was very impressed while making the Bo Kho that I had the Staub pot filled to the brim and it didn't spill despite it being on a higher setting than what my stainless steel saucepan can tolerate without spilling.
- Does it retain flavour better? Possibly. Previously I've always needed to add sugar to balance the sourness in the tomatos, but this time it was fine just with the sweetness it apparently extracted from the carrots and turnip. I don't know if that's the pot or the turnip, though XD
- The black enamel of Staub needs a bit of seasoning to start with, but the white enamel of Le Creuset has a problem with staining, so they both need to be looked after.
- As with all enamelled cast iron pots, the caring instructions is extensive - slow and patient seems to be the buzz here, from the cooking to the cleaning.
- Sizes: everyone is different, but a 14cm is probably just enough for a child's meal. 16cm would be okay for a one person portion of noodles (but will be a bit cramped trying to cook). 18cm would be for 1-3 people. The 24cm I rarely use because of how heavy it is and how rare that I need to stew something that big. Might be about right for a whole chicken, or about 4-5 person's worth of congee.

So what am I looking forward to now? Well, either a 20cm (more practical) or a 22cm (more accessible). There's also a Japanese brand called Vermicular that has apparently been doing the rounds in Asia and is very well-reviewed. It has some nice pearly pastels that appeal to the Asian palate, and some nice design quirks courtesy of Japanese attention to detail. Price-wise it is actually more expensive than the French traditional factories, and as a new brand it remains to be seen whether the quality will hold up (although these days artisan stuff "Made in Japan" is a pretty solid brand in itself).

I need to recheck to see if the difference between spillage is true for Le Creuset vs Staub...I've been wanting a 20cm Le Creuset (the colours!) but will definitely get a Staub if the spillage is a real problem since oven-cooking is pretty low on my priorities and it's mainly stovetop simmering that I need to do.

I've also been lemming some cute Le Creuset ramekins...might stimulate my itch to make cakes again...
mayoraasei: (Reflective)
From the director and scriptwriter who brought you the phenomenon Descendants of the Sun, comes another phenomenon, The Lonely and Great God ~ Goblin.

900 years ago, a general returned victorious from war, only to be accused of treason by his king and killed. As he lay dying, his own blood dripping from his sword, awoken by the prayers of the people he had protected, he turned into a "goblin". His immortality is a curse, a punishment to bear for the thousands of lives he had killed with his sword. The only one who can release him from this curse is "the goblin's wife", someone who can see the invisible sword in his chest and pull it out. 900 years later...he saves the life of a pregnant mother who was meant to die in a hit-and-run accident. A child who should not have been born comes into this world and grows up, able to see supernatural beings...and the sword.


If this was a *cough* novella, it would be encapsulated with 大叔年上x陽光少女,副CP重生

And I think therein lies its problem, for me.

A large age gap is a bit of a landmine for me, even more so if the younger character starts off in high school. I mean technically it shouldn't matter, right, because we've had Twilight tell the world that it's okay for centuries old vampires to hover outside (or inside?) the bedroom of a 16 year old girl. Fortunately the ahjussi is the more passive one in the relationship, so it doesn't feel like something illegal is happening...

But because of my personal taste, I can't get into the romance between the two main characters, and I ended up skipping almost all of their scenes after the first few episodes.

The more interesting story comes in the middle and is courtesy of the two side characters, the "grim reaper" (or one of) and the boss of a fried chicken shop.

The thing about 重生 (rebirth) stories is that it provides the perfect background and atmosphere to 虐 and 騙眼淚. It really is the highlight of the story - the love between a sister and brother, a husband and wife, and a general and his liege.

其實我的淚點不算低(有看到悲慘世界最後一幕才落淚的光榮?成績),但是11到13集那段莫名地一直戳我的淚點。金善和金信相認的時刻(覺得這倆兄妹好慘,雖然都是心甘情願地被利用),王黎想起記憶的時候,以及最後王黎和金善雙雙投生的時候。話説第一次金信跟地獄使者對質的時候,使者滿臉流淚地嗚咽“我是王黎嗎”,我也在一邊同情淚一邊想鬼怪叔能衝著這可憐鬼下手才怪,只是陰陰那一集哭得實在太頻,到最後鬼怪叔跟他道別消失的時候,他又開啓淒美人落淚模式,我直接出戯翻了個白眼。

雖然我最心疼的是堅強溫柔的金善,但編劇還是成功地把王黎洗白了。他是不適合作君王,過於懦弱,也過於多情。由於一直被灌輸他的身份低賤,由於沒有得到父王的愛,他太過自卑,明知道是錯的也不敢跟奸臣說不,直到這份懦弱和自卑蒙蔽了他的眼睛,讓他真的以爲金家會對他不利。然而在他認爲會威脅他的人死去后,真正的威脅才顯露了出來,他卻又無力掌權,僅僅沉溺在自己的悔恨和哀悼中,選擇自殺死去。而真相就像金信說的,王黎並不是他自以爲得那麽沒人愛(好中二的思維?),他的父王、妻子和大將軍都曾因爲愛著他而守護著他,最有也都為他而死。

最後吐槽一下:金大將軍您說您當時走過來其實只是想跟王上轉達他父王的遺言順便把奸臣砍了,這事您當時打一下招呼啊,不然您手握長劍面帶殺意地走過來不嚇壞小孩子才怪…………

There's some undeniable holes in the plot, like why random people kept saying the main girl will die if the guy doesn't but in the end the girl dies anyway...and the guy stays immortal anyway??? In fact the plot holes detract so much from the main romance that the side story, being more emotionally piquant to start with, stood out a lot more.

It's a bit of a shame that the main girl had no role in the past. I don't think it is a flaw per se, but somehow her lack of involvement and the way her character is construed makes her seem really bland in the face of the cruel star-crossed destinies that the other 3 people went through.

The cinematography is gorgeous, and the plot is pretty good for about 7 episodes...and that would be episodes 1-3 and 10-13. I personally skipped the rest, but your taste will vary.

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