beyond the edge

The holiday season drought is finally over and the new year for J-dramas has begun!

Final Cut
(Kamenashi Kazuya, Kuriyama Chiaki etc) First episode 7.2%
The rumour is this was supposed to be the finally entry to Kusanagi Tsuyoshi’s revenge trilogy (Zeni no Sensou and Uso no Sensou being the first 2) and because of SMAP’s messy dissolution, Kame took over along with a different script-writer. I tried watching Uso no Sensou and had to fast-forward through the first episode…and this is exactly what I did here. The character’s special skill is supposed to be “parkour” but apart from a show-off sequence in the beginning, the parkour does not feature again, which just makes the isolated sequence rather imi-wakanai. I’m not an awfully big fan of Kusanagi’s acting (I think if you have to squint or twitch your eyebrows to show emotion, something’s not done right), but Kame just doesn’t bring the audience into this character. The climax in the first episode was so ludicrous it throws you out of the rhythm (despite it being Kame’s most eye-gripping appearance in the episode). The most appealing thing so far about the series is the two sisters, acted by Kuriyama Chiaki and Hashimoto Kanna. They’re so adorable I can watch them for another 9 episodes…but I really don’t think this drama is for me.

Unnatural
(Ishihara Satomi etc) First episode 12.7%
This is not Ishihara’s first time as a forensic pathologist, if anyone still remember the tonally mild but surprisingly reflective Voice (with Eita and Toma) before she went down the sexy route for a few years. The thought behind this series is that Japan has amongst the lowest referrals to Coroners in the developed world, and a fictional forensic pathology department is created to deal with unnatural deaths. Fortunately it’s fairly light on the visuals of the autopsies and is mostly about case-solving. Ishihara’s character appears to also be harbouring some sort of dark past. The first case, for the premiere episode, was rather unexciting but the pace was good and the characters are easy to relate to. It’s nice (and realistic) for it to show pathologists cracking inappropriate jokes instead of taking a morbid profession too seriously.

Momi Keshite Fuyu
(Yamada Ryosuke, Haru, etc) First episode 13.3%
There’s a lot to like about this drama but the overall direction leaves you scratching your head. At its surface it’s a comedy family drama, and Yama-chan takes to the role with aplomb. Haru and Ozawa Yukiyoshi are also great respectively as the mean sister and self-centered brother. The characters overall are quirky, cute and watchable, and characteristic of the scriptwriter who brought you Sekaiichi Muzukashii Koi. The plot is where it leaves me confused. As a family drama, you’d expect if it were to have a moral message, it would at least be a correct one - but the main character, who is looked down upon by his family for his earnestness, saves the family by doing something unethical and frankly illegal, and yet is rewarded for doing it? In the end it leaves you confused as to what the drama is trying to do or say, and it’s rather worrying when a lawyer successfully convinces a police officer that “family overrules the law”, and a doctor says that it’s okay to steal confidential medical information and use it to blackmail people. It seems like only the bullied main character is “good” but in the end he is forced to compromise on his goodness…it just does not make sense in a comedy.

99.9 Season 2
(Matsumoto Jun, Kagawa Teruyuki, Kimura Fumino, etc) First episode 15.1%
The first episode had the problem that many sequels have, and that’s trying to introduce everyone to new audiences, and trying to appease old audiences with familiar gags, and trying to suggest there are interesting subplots to keep watching for, while trying to fit in a whole story arc in between. There’s more dad jokes in this episode than there was in the whole first season, and they’ve got to pull the reins before it gets ridiculous. MatsuJun and Kagawa are now really comfortable in their roles and with each other, and their banter continues to be the highlight. I do like Kimura, but it feels like this scriptwriter isn’t very good at writing young female regulars - neither Eikura Nana’s role from last season nor Kimura’s this season was particularly interesting especially between 2 quirky men, and Kimura’s role doesn’t delineate from Nana’s role enough to really make you care for the change. Even the female paralegal was more interesting than her… One of the major loose ends last season was Miyama’s father’s story got brought up regularly throughout the show but was never resolved, and it looks likes this season (hopefully) it will get somewhere. Nevertheless, this is the top of my watch list for the season, if only for Kagawa-san trying to terrify MatsuJun in a pink grasshopper bodysuit.

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 -- 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).

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 -- 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 (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.

Ratings: 6.6-9.6%

The name is a bit of a mouthful, in both Japanese and romaji: ON 異常犯罪捜査官・藤堂比奈子, meaning "unusual crime detective Toudou Hinako".

Another entry in Japan's ample catalogue of police dramas, ON comes with a bit of a twist - the main character, Toudou Hinako, is a detective, but under the cover of her righteous profession is a darkness she's torn between hiding and unveiling. She is "emotionally cold", so whereas most people would react with some degree of horror or sadness to a murder, she has only an intellectual fascination. She is drawn to them because she wonders what it takes to become a murderer - and what it would take for herself to cross that line, to "flip the switch" - and hence the title, "ON".

This is not actually as unusual a premise as the series tries to make it out to be. The police drama genre has no shortage of borderline sociopaths, such as the enduring creation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. What does make it unique is the gender of its lead - in both a genre that is traditionally led by men, and in a character trope that is traditionally assigned to men (at least in main or major characters).

Starring as Toudou Hinako is Haru, in infinitely better make-up than last season's Sekai Ichi Muzukashii Koi. She gives Toudou an innocence that saved the character from being painfully bland. Toudou is fascinating, if only in a metaphysical way. Unlike, say, Sherlock or Kimura's character Tsukumo Ryuusuke in Mr Brain, Toudou is amazingly socially appropriate in spite of her supposed lack of empathy. Perhaps sadly reflective of gender roles in Japan, the highly intellectual Toudou has studied the behaviours of those around her and emulate them in order to "fit in" - as opposed to Tsukumo or even Nakai Masahiro's autistic Ataru, who are allowed to be their unconventional selves and still be considered "great". Apart from her lack of empathy, Toudou does not have the usual characteristics of this trope of being disinhibited and overbearingly egotistic, and if you didn't see her face off with crazy murderers with that excited glint in her eye, you would think that she's just a reserved and smart girl.

The series also takes a slightly aberrant route that does not focus on crime-solving as much as it does on Toudou's quest to define herself and her own motivations. From that end, it's an introspective series that isn't often seen in this drama, and it poses some interesting discussions about the creation of serial killers, and the effect of personal choice versus environmental selection pressures. It was also interesting to see Toudou's perspective turning from "I approach murderers because I want to find out if they can drive me to finally kill, as I am destined to" into "I approach murderers because I want to prove to myself that I will make the right choice and not kill them".

Opposite her is Hayashi Kento, whom I've never watched before but puts up a thought-provoking portrayal of a conflicted, well-meaning forensic psychologist. Many of the deeper philosophical reflections come from him, one of the more interesting and always topical observations being a (rather off-hand) "weapons do kill people" - that the possession of a weapon both enables and psychologically reinforces the intent to kill, and may be what causes people to take that step across the line.

The other major character is Yokoyama Yuu's short-fused policeman, who likes to beat up murderers ever since his own sister was murdered 5 years ago. I've previously enjoyed Yokoyama's portrayals of some odd-balls in various dramas, but he's really quite forced and awkward here. This was especially poignant in a scene in the final episode where he meets with Hayashi Kento's psychologist, as he struts his Johnny's Junior stage walk while Hayashi lowers his head and looks exactly like the self-effacing psychologist he is meant to be.

Rounding out the main cast is Kaname Jun in a surprisingly bland turn as a fellow policeman that likes Toudou but never gets noticed. The older colleagues provide a parental role to Toudou that helps lead her out of her moral quagmire, but in themselves are quite forgettable. Apart from home, crime scenes and work, there are odd intrusions of scenes in a maid cafe, which often come off as cringe-inducing than cute or funny.

For a series that focuses more on the psychology than crime-solving, its crime scenes is more bloody and confrontational than most other Japanese series I've seen, not for the weak in stomach and definitely not to be watched during dinner. The plot is rather simple but between the philosophical musings and the atmospheric music and camera angles, it's surprisingly easy to digest. Worth a watch when there is nothing else to see.

I don't know if I'm getting jaded with age (although I have to say spending a stint in ED usually makes me more jaded by the week LOL) but it's been a while since I've watched a drama that's really moved me.

And that is to say, Ouroboros wasn't one of them.

Yes, it had 3 of my top favourite Japanese actors and actresses. It had an interesting set up. It had some very likeable supporting characters. It had character development. It had plot. But somewhere, somehow, all these things fell apart.

I think I finished watching the whole thing purely based on how much I adore Toma and Shun and Ueno Juri, as well as the "middle-aged trio".

In the end, it continued to be a much warmer story than Maou - the woman whose death underpinned all this was a living character - unlike the main character's unfortunate brother in Maou. The main girl Hibino wasn't an orphan, and that in itself was important.

In the end, I think this is a far more human story than Maou. The theme of family is the undercurrent that drives everything along, creating little eddies of plot everywhere it turns. Hibino and her father, Ryuuzaki and Danno, Ryuuzaki and Danno and Yuiko-sensei, Konatsu and her father, Nachi and his search for his sister, the middle-aged trio and the way they watch over the younger trio, the final boss...

Everywhere there were broken families, but despite that it was oddly tender the way people tried to form a family out of these broken pieces.

It was what made the drama more sentimental and more human than something more cerebral and focused on blind justice like Maou. The story is driven by sentiment, by yearning, by the human need for warmth and cohesion and family, and I think the moments about family are some of the sweetest and best-written in the series.

The rest of the plot frays upon close inspection. It's the problem with translating something from 20 volumes of manga over to a 10 episode drama. You don't quite give it enough time and space to set up the gravity of the underlying conspiracy - there's not enough horror that goes into the overarching plot about the orphanage being a front for an organ transplant farm. In a time where such human rights issues persists in the world, it feels like the drama has bitten off more than it can chew and as a result feels like it's overly nonchalant about what should be a viscerally (no pun intended) disturbing plot.

I do like Toma and I do think he's generally a good actor, but his performance in the last 2 episodes have been a bit jarring, and I wonder if it's a directorial choice. Especially in the pivotal confrontation against the final big boss, the emotional weight doesn't seem to quite be there. The disbelief and horror is, but there's a lack of sense of betrayal or mortification or sadness that you might expect from someone so connected to him. I feel the whole character of Ryuuzaki might have been written a bit unsteadily, given how much variability he has, and his "secondary personality" was never really explained.

I have nothing bad to say about Shun or Juri, both doing incredible jobs with their rather archetypal characters. The arc with Hibino's father was beautifully acted, managing to keep Hibino's subdued personality while neverthelessly being heartbreaking.

I don't know if the manga will end the same way. I feel it's probably a little unnecessarily morbid, although this final choice might be because the relationship between Ryuuzaki and Hibino never really developed. In the end, Ryuuzaki's choice was his "kazoku"...given how Japanese revenge dramas usually go, I'm not surprised, but I guess I wished I was.


(Aside: DAMN IT SHUN AND TOMA CAN YOU GUYS BE LESS CUTE TOGETHER)

I have less and less patience these days to sit down and go through most of the season's dramas. When I saw the initial ratings for the season I was a bit shocked. Apart from S ~ Saigo no Keikan which is rating consistently well, no other drama managed a pilot rating of above 15%...a fairly dismal outing for the season. I couldn't stomach the inevitable angst of Ashita, mama ga inai (about the troubled journey of a group of young orphans trying to find a place of belonging)...so I ended up watching S ~ Saigo no keikan and Shitsuren Chocolatier.

Let's just say, the ratings are justified.

S ~ Saigo no keikan (The final police)
Every season there's 1 or 2 or 5 police/detective dramas, each with a different quirk. Affiliation with a professor in neurology (Mr Brain), or a professor in physics (Galileo), specialising in antiterrorism computer espionage (Bloody Monday), solving "psychic" cases (Kiina), solving "psychic" cases until it looks like X-men in Japan (SPEC), department headed by a strong female (Boss), department headed by strong female with tragic past (Strawberry Night). Like medical dramas, the other staple of J-dora, they guarantee ratings of above 10% and frequently above 15%.

As is usual with police dramas headed by two male characters (curious that - never happens in female-led police dramas, but this is Japan), we are given two opposing personalities standing on the same frontline. Kamikura Ichigo, the hot-blooded naive idealistic passionate policeman who, in an RPG, would be a melee fighter. He is offset against Soga Iori, an cool-headed pragmatist who is an elite sniper. They end up on two different squads with separate ideals: SAT, whose role is to dissipate an acute situation swiftly and efficiently with whatever force necessary, and NPS, which seeks to preserve the life of everyone involved in the situation, including hostages and criminals.

Call me heartless, but I find it hard to agree with NPS's noble ideals in the sort of time-critical and stressful situations they come across. Is it really worth it to put hostages or other innocent bystanders at risk to keep the criminal alive? I understand the reasoning Kamikura gives, though some of it is full of so much vengefulness you wonder if that's even what the scriptwriter intended. He says that once the criminals die, the victims' loved ones will never get an answer. Yes, an answer would be nice, but sometimes you never get an answer even if they stay alive, and is it really worth risking other lives for an answer?? The second reason he states is that once criminals die, they will never repay their crimes and repent...which just sounds full of anger and unfulfilled vengeance. I actually find this a more acceptable motivation especially given how much passion Kamikura puts behind his actions - but you would not expect such anger from someone who was just a bystander and not directly a victim.

It's nice to see Mukai Osamu in a role like this. I don't know why people say they weren't sure if he'd suit the role given that he always has colder/effeminate roles. I don't know why people say he has effeminate roles =___=;;;;;; He's one of the few popular Japanese actors/idols who looks convincing as hot-blooded and brash. I always find him less convincing in some of his more "effeminate" roles, e.g. in Mei-chan no Shitsuji. I sort of find his aura a bit similar to Tamaki Hiroshi...there's a more...hmm, "straight" feel to them than a lot of the other Japanese idols, which was why I found Tamaki so disturbing in Ooku.

Ayano Go is growing on me. I don't know why for years I thought I disliked him >___> I mean I saw him in Gantz and liked him, and the only thing earlier than that I might have seen him in was Gold, but I can't even find his character on the chart for GOLD. I managed to dislike everything in that drama, including the usually gorgeous Amami Yuki. But Masami and Takei Emi kinda killed it for me...and I must've associated Ayano Go with that >__>

Anyway, I've really diverted from topic. The point is, the drama itself is very well constructed, with some solid action interspersed with light-hearted humour. Both Mukai and Ayano are excellent in their roles, and it's nice to see Ayano get something meatier to emote with after the insipid Saikou no Rikon. Kamikura is easy to like and Mukai plays him convincingly, but I don't know how many people agree with his ideals, and so far he's been VERY lucky not to have any casualties. I mean, dude, even Kenshin fought with a reverse-blade sword! And even Kira fought with a super powerful GUNDAM that just manages to disable suits instead of blow them up! Like, I'm not against your peace-loving spiel but do you really have to charge into a gunfight with nothing but your fists?? Disbelief is getting harder to suspend, man.

Shitsuren Chocolatier (Heart-break chocolatier)
A teenage boy trips over a beautiful girl on the way to school one day and falls irresistibly in love. But she's the queen bee of the high school, and her goal is to date every hot guy in every year...and obviously our main character isn't on the list - never mind that he's played by Matsumoto Jun from the ever popular boy band Arashi. In order to get close to the goddess of his dreams, Sota sucks up to her boyfriends instead (where is the logic?), goes to domestic classes and learns to make chocolate, because that's what she likes. Finally! One week before a Christmas several years later, she agrees to going out with him. They even share a kiss! But she can't see him for Valentines...but that's okay, she'll see him the day before!

Except when she gets the box of lovingly hand-made chocolates, she rejects him, because she realises he actually loved her. "But...we've been going out!" he cries, and she cocks her pretty head and says, "Going out? But we haven't even had sex."

Ummmmmmmmm..............that was about the part where the awkward long silence came between my mum and me.

Shitsuren Chocolatier's failure is that it's not really suited to be in Gekku, during the Valentine season.

The plot leaps and bounds ahead without regard to logic or reason or any sense of propriety. Sota goes to Paris on a whim and buys his way into an apprenticeship at a famous chocolatier shop with...a manga magazine. 6 years later he comes home, and Saeko, the girl he's still pining for after all these years, pays him a visit, which turns into a date at the cafe...at which she tells him she's getting married...and would like him to make her wedding cake.

He was heart-broken for all of 30 seconds, and then he decides to jump right into it. After all, what is marriage to another man but just a small obstacle on the path to true love!! Never mind that she's a taken woman now, she's always been someone else's woman but still flirted with him! He's always had a chance, and it's now closer than ever! A wedding band is nothing but a thin string of metal! Oh...but just while he's still waiting to get that dream girl, a man's gotta deal with his needs, so think nothing of having a sex-buddy on the side while pining for true love.

Can you see the WTF written all over this? As a manga, this is probably okay, to be read and seen as a joke. But as a drama, I can't see this being acceptable in a country that is still largely conservative and pro-monogamy. I'm surprised by reviews saying that people should stop complaining about Saeko because "at least she's enthusiastic in seeking love". That's not the point. The point is that she is a married woman, and she is still flirting with a guy who is still clearly hung up about her! The fault isn't her entirely, because Sota is the one who thinks "so what if she's married? We can be adulterers!" But Saeko is also the one who purposely wears a tiny dress that barely covers her legs when she turns up to his house, and is disappointed when Sota doesn't copulate with her then and there. Not that he didn't fantasise about it in detail.

My issue isn't that these things are portrayed, but that it's portrayed in such an ambiguous way as to say that adultery isn't a bad thing, that it was okay to be married and pursue an old flame.

The series is gorgeous. Ishihara Satomi is more gorgeous than she's every been. Most of the major characters are gorgeous eye candy...but watching it just gives me the greasy unclean feeling of soured mayonnaise...rather than the elegant bittersweet of dark chocolate.

Rewatched How to Train Your Dragon.

Toothless is so adorable ♥ ♥ ♥

He's like the perfect pet: with the pride of a cat, the sweetness of a dog and the coolness of actually being a flying dragon ♥

And I liked how the final ending wasn't all happy, and Hiccup's heroism came at a cost. It's nice when cartoons aren't all looking at the world through oversized soap bubbles.

And I love this song~ Powell almost won an Oscar for it. It's just a pity that it has the same name as a song by the Douchebag of the Month.



I love the sequence the song came from, too, the first proper lengthy flight that Hiccup took Toothless on. It was awesome to see on the big screen. Probably more awesome than the flight in Avatar, because Hiccup actually had to do some work.




Speaking of Douchebag of the Month... Let's just say that this saga is getting more and more ridiculous by the day.

Suffice to say this:



Aka one of the hottest semi-actresses out of Japan...(I say semi because she can't act for crap but hey, she's hot LOL)

Got married to this:



Moral of the story: always use protection. And/Or don't get drunk.

I come, bearing horrible news (and the 3rd day of the meme).

This summer, for the first time ever, three dramas are coming to Japanese TV...

Three dramas, all about a girl crossdressing and a horde of supposed bishounen.

Three dramas that will bring ruin upon us all...well, at least upon themselves.

Three dramas that unfortunately take their roots from very popular source material.

WHY, JAPAN, WHY???!?!

Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (aka "HanaKimi")
Coinciding with Maeda Atsuko's (AKB48 front girl) solo debut. The original production team has been brought back to redo this drama, which simply does not make sense. The script for the series that screened, what, 4 years ago absolutely sucked, and that is one role I'm sure Oguri Shun wish he never did. That said, the stars for the original series (Maki, Shun and Toma) are still very current and famous, so remaking it almost seems like biting their thumb at these guys. Maeda's performance in Q10 was so atrocious that I can already foresee myself not being able to sit through the first episode. Besides, no one can take Toma's place, he alone made the original series watchable.

Ouran Koukou Host Club
YES, you read that clearly. YES, after years and years of fans concommittantly fantasising about and dreading this happening...it is happening. Tamaki is going to be Yamamoto Yusuke, who was the psychic guy in HanaKimi and I can't say I'm going to like him, although I can rather imagine him doing a cringeworthy representation of Tamaki's exuberant narcissism. Haruhi is not going to be Maki, thank god, but Kawaguchi Haruna, who for one thing is at least still in high school, and though she wasn't a good actress from the last two dramas I've seen with her, at least she tries to act. That said...she's not a good actress. Ugh.

You're Beautiful
People who watch Korean dramas would know what I'm talking about. YES. THAT ONE. This is going to be a Johnny's fare with two Kis-Mai-Ft 2 boys fronting the band and Yaotome Hikaru (HSJ) to round off the third, and supposedly with "cameos of real stars" (i.e. this is going to be Shounen Club). Presumably this is to coincide with KMF2's delayed CD release. I've never watched KMF2 performances but my friend assures me that they can't sing. On the other hand, while Hikaru isn't the best singer in HSJ I believe he can sing AND act (IMO he stole the show in Orthros no Inu), which might just even things out. Especially since the only thing I remember about Tamamori's appearance in Gokusen the Movie is that it is utterly immemorable, even though he was supposedly a major character. I have never heard of the girl, Takimoto Miori, but she looks kinda spunky.

So there you go...some crossdressing fun (or bad camp) to look forward to.

OMG What am I gonna do with my time for the next three months DDDDDD=

( Day 3 ~ Character you'd date )

I'm nearly 3 days late, but at least it's here...LOL

Still have a month or so to go, but once CNY passes it'll be our year~ 2 rounds of zodiacs will have passed since the year I was born...wow, what a depressing thought.

Of course, that means Kame was on this year's Johnny's Countdown as 年男...along with Uchi~! (There are probably others, probably in NEWS, but since I don't know them......meh)

Apparently your own zodiac year is meant to be the worst year...but what? I loved year 7! It was the peak of my life! (Not really LOL)

まあ…今年も、よろしくお願いします！



Watching Best Artist 2009...yappa none of the Johnny's groups can sing Orz Kanjani8 made me cringe, V6 was pretty bad, NEWS was surprisingly horribly off-tune, and KAT-TUN was just as off-tune as expected Orz

Kame was surprisingly on-tune during "Seishun Amigo" (even though he missed half of the first line LOL) but once "One Drop" started he was so high it was just =0=;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; Kid...settle down and stay on tune please |||||Orz

Thank you Jin for being the only one on-tune and normal, if only you'd stop looking like an African-American wannabe and at least show your pretty face to your fans =___=;;;;;;;;

青春阿米歌最後還對視說 “彰♥~ 修二♥~” 小心你回家被人吃了 =___= 這小子多少年都沒變，一心虛就變得超嗨的 ==;;;;;;; One Drop時就差沒從舞臺上蹦出去

Ayaka's live singing is so nice and ON TUNE (I'm sorry...people going off tune really creeps me out Orz) 實力歌手果然不一樣 *望天*

So Exile has 14 members now...2 singers and 12 backup dancers ||||Orz One of the guys sing better than the other in live performances, but I like the other guy's voice better...=T

Arashi sounded like they were synching for "One Love" and "Truth", because they suddenly went off-tune in "Happiness". Not that it really mattered because they sung most of it in a group and you can't usually tell with groups going off-tune, and the solo bits were carried by Ohno, who is rarely off tune =v=