new season, new dramas~
25 Oct 2011 10:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mayoraaseiFinally, after a drought of good dramas for the past few seasons, a few to watch this season~
And now I don't have exams I can finally watch them.
So far I've only watched 3.5 of this season's dramas Orz No matter how popular KimuTaku is I just can't bring myself to be interested in a really long episode about snow and dogs and...more snow.
There are several high-rating dramas this season (and one of them is a huge surprise, at least to me LOL) so I'm actually feeling motivated to write reviews after a long absence.
Last Money ~ Follows the story of an investigator for a life insurance company, whose job is to determine the most appropriate candidate for life insurance claims.
I admit I only watched this out of curiosity about Maru and hadn't even read the synopsis. It was a pleasant surprise. Maru's character (and acting, sorry Maru) was really irritating, but the drama itself was well-scripted and otherwise well-acted. Unlike more mainstream cop-outs, the stories from episode to episode often provides an unrelentingly frank view on human failings that arise both out of greed and sentimentality. It neither tries to glorify nor villainise any side, and leaves the audience to decide whether they want to sympathise with anyone, if at all. It doesn't try to provide an answer, and it shows that both the "kind way" and the "just way" are capable of causing immense grief. This degree of unembellished realism is something quite unusual in Japanese dramas and it was refreshing to see, almost enough to completely overlook the plotholes. The other thing of course is that suicide is unfortunately a common cause of death in Japan, and in certain circumstances insurance can be claimed. The role of a life insurance company in association with suicide is a subject that undoubtedly invites social debate.
Watashi ga ren'ai dekinai riyuu (My reason for not being in love) ~ the story of three women who for different reasons are unable to find themselves in a romantic relationship.
This was once again a pleasant surprise. Mainstream Japanese romantic dramas can be rather patronising to women who somehow haven't settled themselves with a boyfriend/husband by, apparently, age twenty. If they're not sociopaths, then they're lazy, or they're scary career women who can crush balls with their stilettos (e.g. Nodame Cantabile, Hotaru no Hikari, Kimi wa Pet, roughly respectively).
Unfortunately Ren'ai dekinai doesn't break out of these stereotypes at all. Of the three women we're introduced to at the beginning, one is more manly than a man, another a social butterfly with trust issues, and the last a strange little girl who breaks randomly into poetry. The fact that it was actually enjoyable bears a lot of credit to Karina and Yoshitaka Yuriko, who pull wonderfully convincing and sympathetic performances. This is actually the first time I've seen Yoshitaka play bitchy, and I think every time I see this girl I'm liking her more and more. I honestly don't know what the AKB48 girl is doing...she talks and acts like she's still in high school and every time she's with a guy it makes him look like a paedophile. And I don't know why it was so shocking that she's still a virgin at 21 and why she had to be ashamed of it >_>;;; Her acting is slightly better than Maeda Atsuko's, but half the time she has this glassy look in her eyes when she delivers her lines. Oh...and I don't know why, but somehow both Karina and Yoshitaka look disproportionately gorgeous next to her. The first time I saw her I thought she was some random cameo plain girl until I recognised her face >_>;;;;;
Nazotoki wa dinner no ato de (Mystery-solving takes place after dinner) ~ the crime-solving adventures of an heiress to a multi-million corporation and her butler.
I watched this out of pure morbid curiosity and because my expectations were so low, I was pleasantly surprised, once again LOL. I have poor impressions of Sho and Keiko's acting abilities. I have to say, playing the lofty and slightly spoiled-and-naive princess really suits Keiko, whose face and mannerisms are more cool than amiable. Sho is...weird. I can't exactly put my finger on what's weird, but he just doesn't seem convincing as a butler...not in the way that Hiro or Osamu were in Mei-chan no Shitsuji (which was one crappy drama but at least Hiro was cool). Maybe because he's not unruffled enough? And he always seems slightly patronising and mocking? Other than the acting, the comic strip effects were distracting and clearly an annoying time-filler, and the plot and logic were stretched pretty thin. I don't like crime dramas where people randomly kill someone when there are perfectly adequate ways to make that person's life miserable without having to go to jail for it (oi...). I don't think I will keep this on my watch list...
Youkai ningen bemu (Monsters Humans Bemu) ~ three demons travel the human world in search of their creator and a way to become fully human.
The biggest surprise of the season. 18.9%, really??? I know the kid, Suzuki Fuku, is all the rage right now but he can't be the only reason for the 18.9% rating. So I had to check it out. (Kame: So you weren't planning to watch at all until you saw the ratings? Me: HELL NO. Kame: ......)
As far as Kame dramas are concerned, this is probably one of the best-written ones since...oh, I don't know, since Tatta hitotsu no koi maybe. I had expected something more like Kaibutsu-kun, but it's actually a lot more dark and thoughtful (although the special effects are just as rudimentary). It calls to mind of Frankenstein and perhaps of Edward Scissorshands. The scene where the three of them sit around eating tree leaves (because they couldn't afford anything else) and then laughing optimistically that their verbal exchange sounded like that of a real human family was both sweet and sad. Bemu's self-ordained code that he would not leave a human to their own demise because "if I did, I would be nothing more than a mere monster" is more profound than I'd expect from what on the surface looked like a mere children's show about funny-looking kind-hearted monsters.
Kame's acting has improved, but somehow he still manages to hold incredible chemistry with guys =__=;;; I am not talking about a one-way street either. Watching him leap off buildings and bounce off metal railings is still very painful though =/ Anne's acting has improved a lot as well. Despite coming from modelling she's actually proved herself quite a versatile actress, and she's far more expressive and does fierce with attitude much better than some of the popular lead girls. Suzuki Fuku is amazingly adorable and apparently without effort, I can totally see why their singles are selling non-stop. I hope the second episode holds up *crosses fingers*
In other news, this week's Gintama is that crazy story where their favourite restaurateur died. I think his humour is getting a bit repetitive...I'm starting to find I prefer his serious stories a lot more. I dislike the new opening song but it's stuck in my head DD= I like the drawings for the ending song though.
And now I don't have exams I can finally watch them.
So far I've only watched 3.5 of this season's dramas Orz No matter how popular KimuTaku is I just can't bring myself to be interested in a really long episode about snow and dogs and...more snow.
There are several high-rating dramas this season (and one of them is a huge surprise, at least to me LOL) so I'm actually feeling motivated to write reviews after a long absence.
Last Money ~ Follows the story of an investigator for a life insurance company, whose job is to determine the most appropriate candidate for life insurance claims.
I admit I only watched this out of curiosity about Maru and hadn't even read the synopsis. It was a pleasant surprise. Maru's character (and acting, sorry Maru) was really irritating, but the drama itself was well-scripted and otherwise well-acted. Unlike more mainstream cop-outs, the stories from episode to episode often provides an unrelentingly frank view on human failings that arise both out of greed and sentimentality. It neither tries to glorify nor villainise any side, and leaves the audience to decide whether they want to sympathise with anyone, if at all. It doesn't try to provide an answer, and it shows that both the "kind way" and the "just way" are capable of causing immense grief. This degree of unembellished realism is something quite unusual in Japanese dramas and it was refreshing to see, almost enough to completely overlook the plotholes. The other thing of course is that suicide is unfortunately a common cause of death in Japan, and in certain circumstances insurance can be claimed. The role of a life insurance company in association with suicide is a subject that undoubtedly invites social debate.
Watashi ga ren'ai dekinai riyuu (My reason for not being in love) ~ the story of three women who for different reasons are unable to find themselves in a romantic relationship.
This was once again a pleasant surprise. Mainstream Japanese romantic dramas can be rather patronising to women who somehow haven't settled themselves with a boyfriend/husband by, apparently, age twenty. If they're not sociopaths, then they're lazy, or they're scary career women who can crush balls with their stilettos (e.g. Nodame Cantabile, Hotaru no Hikari, Kimi wa Pet, roughly respectively).
Unfortunately Ren'ai dekinai doesn't break out of these stereotypes at all. Of the three women we're introduced to at the beginning, one is more manly than a man, another a social butterfly with trust issues, and the last a strange little girl who breaks randomly into poetry. The fact that it was actually enjoyable bears a lot of credit to Karina and Yoshitaka Yuriko, who pull wonderfully convincing and sympathetic performances. This is actually the first time I've seen Yoshitaka play bitchy, and I think every time I see this girl I'm liking her more and more. I honestly don't know what the AKB48 girl is doing...she talks and acts like she's still in high school and every time she's with a guy it makes him look like a paedophile. And I don't know why it was so shocking that she's still a virgin at 21 and why she had to be ashamed of it >_>;;; Her acting is slightly better than Maeda Atsuko's, but half the time she has this glassy look in her eyes when she delivers her lines. Oh...and I don't know why, but somehow both Karina and Yoshitaka look disproportionately gorgeous next to her. The first time I saw her I thought she was some random cameo plain girl until I recognised her face >_>;;;;;
Nazotoki wa dinner no ato de (Mystery-solving takes place after dinner) ~ the crime-solving adventures of an heiress to a multi-million corporation and her butler.
I watched this out of pure morbid curiosity and because my expectations were so low, I was pleasantly surprised, once again LOL. I have poor impressions of Sho and Keiko's acting abilities. I have to say, playing the lofty and slightly spoiled-and-naive princess really suits Keiko, whose face and mannerisms are more cool than amiable. Sho is...weird. I can't exactly put my finger on what's weird, but he just doesn't seem convincing as a butler...not in the way that Hiro or Osamu were in Mei-chan no Shitsuji (which was one crappy drama but at least Hiro was cool). Maybe because he's not unruffled enough? And he always seems slightly patronising and mocking? Other than the acting, the comic strip effects were distracting and clearly an annoying time-filler, and the plot and logic were stretched pretty thin. I don't like crime dramas where people randomly kill someone when there are perfectly adequate ways to make that person's life miserable without having to go to jail for it (oi...). I don't think I will keep this on my watch list...
Youkai ningen bemu (Monsters Humans Bemu) ~ three demons travel the human world in search of their creator and a way to become fully human.
The biggest surprise of the season. 18.9%, really??? I know the kid, Suzuki Fuku, is all the rage right now but he can't be the only reason for the 18.9% rating. So I had to check it out. (Kame: So you weren't planning to watch at all until you saw the ratings? Me: HELL NO. Kame: ......)
As far as Kame dramas are concerned, this is probably one of the best-written ones since...oh, I don't know, since Tatta hitotsu no koi maybe. I had expected something more like Kaibutsu-kun, but it's actually a lot more dark and thoughtful (although the special effects are just as rudimentary). It calls to mind of Frankenstein and perhaps of Edward Scissorshands. The scene where the three of them sit around eating tree leaves (because they couldn't afford anything else) and then laughing optimistically that their verbal exchange sounded like that of a real human family was both sweet and sad. Bemu's self-ordained code that he would not leave a human to their own demise because "if I did, I would be nothing more than a mere monster" is more profound than I'd expect from what on the surface looked like a mere children's show about funny-looking kind-hearted monsters.
Kame's acting has improved, but somehow he still manages to hold incredible chemistry with guys =__=;;; I am not talking about a one-way street either. Watching him leap off buildings and bounce off metal railings is still very painful though =/ Anne's acting has improved a lot as well. Despite coming from modelling she's actually proved herself quite a versatile actress, and she's far more expressive and does fierce with attitude much better than some of the popular lead girls. Suzuki Fuku is amazingly adorable and apparently without effort, I can totally see why their singles are selling non-stop. I hope the second episode holds up *crosses fingers*
In other news, this week's Gintama is that crazy story where their favourite restaurateur died. I think his humour is getting a bit repetitive...I'm starting to find I prefer his serious stories a lot more. I dislike the new opening song but it's stuck in my head DD= I like the drawings for the ending song though.
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no subject
Date: 2011-10-25 11:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-25 12:36 pm (UTC)I watch on Chinese sites, unfortunately ^^;;
no subject
Date: 2011-10-25 01:48 pm (UTC)THE KID IS SO CUTE I CANNOT SLKFJSKJF.
...and my stream just decides to jam. Shit tudou.no subject
Date: 2011-10-26 08:34 am (UTC)Lemme know how you feel about the whole thing afterwards. Seriously the umbrella scene. I'M SURE IT'S NOT JUST ME. Other than that it's just an okay drama, but the pace is fast enough that you can keep watching haha.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-26 12:05 pm (UTC)I liked the first episode, and will definitely watch episode 2 XD and hopefully the whole series? The pacing was great yes, I generally shun jdoramas because the pacing's so SLOW.
Umbrella scene pffthahahaha. Have a chocolate, cheer up ;D
no subject
Date: 2011-10-29 11:18 am (UTC)The umbrella scene is too full of love Orz
no subject
Date: 2011-10-29 12:01 am (UTC)"Nazotoki" was blah. :/ It felt too forced sometimes, and stretched out for no reason. Hope it picks up.
I was stunned with Bemu, tbh. Not only because of the 'no one would have ever dreamt of' ratings, more like 'cause it's actually very well-made (as far as premieres go at least). I was all "=___=" when it was announced, but it shut me up for good and I couldn't be happier about it! <3
Suzuki Fuku is adorable and still keeping it real, but I doubt even Ashida Mana herself -who's undoubtedly more popular- could have brought in such a number on her own. Let's pray it keeps it up! \o/
no subject
Date: 2011-10-29 11:22 am (UTC)Yeah Nazotoki had too much filler effects.
Hahaha I think practically every KT fan was =0=f| (that's holding unsteadily onto a wall LOL) when the drama was first announced. I can't say I'm that impressed with it yet, but it is a lot more together than any of his recent stuff. That, and for once the girl is kickass and CAN ACT. I don't like Anne much but at least I'll admit that LOL