JDorama review: Maou

Title: Maou Broadcast date: 7/4/08 - 9/12/08 Genre: Suspense drama Cast: Ohno Satoshi, Ikuta Toma Plot: Eleven years ago, Naoto (Toma) was involved in a fatal accident. Now someone is murdering those around him as revenge. What is good: Everything pieced together perfectly. What is bad: The supernatural parts felt slightly overused. Letter rating: A+ Overall: I wasn't sure what to expect coming into this. Ohno is known as being the Leader of the boy band Arashi. This was his first starring role in a drama so I semi-expected him to be bad. Surprisingly, he is an extremely talented actor and I never once had to suspend my belief in him. At the same time, Toma, who is commonly known as a comedic actor, held his own in the drama setting. This is a show that I feel everyone should watch.

Jdorama review: Hanazakari no Kimitachi e Special

Title: Hanazakari no Kimitachi e Also known as: HanaKimi Translation: For You In Full Blossom Broadcast date: 10/12/08 Genre: Romantic comedy Cast: Horikita Maki, Oguri Shun, Ikuta Toma Plot: Six months have passed since Mizuki has left Japan. During a Valentine's Day contest, Nakatsu tries to figure out exactly when Sano fell in love with Mizuki. What is good: More HanaKimi! What is bad: This isn't the special episode that should have been filmed. Letter rating: C Overall: I really enjoyed the HanaKimi television series. So why did the producers decide to stick us with this? Instead of a special involving the boys' trip out to California to visit Mizuki, we get a slew of flashbacks. A majority of the special is supposed to take place between episodes 7 and 8. However, someone made a decision to introduce a new character, Julia, to try to get Sano to confess his love to Mizuki. Not only is Julia unnecessary but she is also annoying. I would have preferred a special dedicated to more of the hijinks of the various dorms instead of focusing on something that was already determined in the series - Sano loves Mizuki. There is no need to try to figure out the exact moment that it dawned on him.

JDorama review: Honey and Clover (TV)

Title: Honey & Clover Broadcast dates: 1/8/08 - 3/18/08 Genre: Romance, Slice of Life Cast: Narumi Riko, Ikuta Toma, Harada Natsuki, Mukai Osamu, Narimiya Hiroki Plot: A group of art students try to make sense of life and love. What is good: The characters seem a bit more human this time around. What is bad: The first half of the show is still pretty boring plot-wise. Letter rating: B - Overall: I've now watched the anime version, the movie version and the TV version of this franchise. Of those three, the television series is definitely the best version. I believe that is because the writers gave a little more humanity and depth to the characters. Ikuta Toma, who played Takemoto Yuta, is a great comedic actor. As such, he was able to make all the crappy things that happen to his character seem a bit less apocalyptic but the big changes still had a big impact. Also, Narumi Riko's Hagu has a lot less creepy than any of the other versions. I'm not sure how she did it but she took a very creepy, little-girl-looking character and transformed her into a shy woman who is plopped into a strange new world. So, while I'm still not a huge Honey and Clover fan, I'd definitely watch this version more than once.

JDorama review: Hanazakari no Kimitachi e

Title: Hanazakari no Kimitachi e Also known as: HanaKimi Translation: For You In Full Blossom Broadcast date: 7/3/07 - 9/18/07 Genre: Romantic comedy Cast: Horikita Maki, Oguri Shun, Ikuta Toma Plot: Ashiya Mizuki (Horikita Maki) is a Japanese girl living in America. When her idol, athlete Sano Izumi (Oguri Shun), stops competing in the high jump, she moves to Japan to attend his all-boy high school in order to make him jump again. What is good: Ikuta Toma steals absolutely every scene that he is in. What is bad: It seems that Oguri Shun can only play one type of character. Letter rating: A Overall: I really enjoyed watching HanaKimi. While I started watching the show because it starred Oguri Shun, Ikuta Toma stole my heart. He was able to pull off goofy yet heart-warming at the same time. I'd like to see him in a ton of other projects. I was a little disappointed in Oguri Shun's performance. I've seen a couple of his roles now and they all seem to be exactly the same - a cute yet distant loner. It would be nice if we could try something a bit different for once. Sadly, I don't have much to say about Horikita's Ashiya. Sure, the character was determined and charismatic but she just didn't seem to come together totally. It was almost as if we, the audience, were missing something about her.

I would like to see a special episode though. I won't give away the ending for the show but it definitely leaves an opening for an awesome one-shot special. This is definitely a show that everyone should check out.

JDorama review: Akihabara@DEEP

Title: akihabara@DEEP Broadcast date: 6/19/06 Number of episodes: 11 Genre: Action and Adventure Cast: Kazama Shunsuke, Ikuta Toma, Himura Yuuki, Hoshino Gen, Matsushima Hatsune, Kosaka Yuka, Honjou Manami, Kitamura Kazuki Plot: A group of otaku come together to form a troubleshooting company. They try their best to solve the problems of the people in Akihabara. What is good: Kitamura Kazuki is an awesome villian What is bad: Maybe it's because the concept of Japanese otaku is so foreign but they seemed to overreact to just about everything. Letter rating: A+ Overall: I went into this series expecting something along the lines of Densha Otoko. However, I think this is so much better because it doesn't revolve around the life of one person. You have six people, each with some sort of oddity. Each of them turned to a website, Yui's Lifeguard, in order to help them live their daily lives. It's through this website that they come together and become friends. It was really awesome to watch these people grow into something more than just otaku. They really become close friends.

On the other side, you have Nakagomi Takashi (Kitamura Kazuki) as the bad guy. Kitamura played the bad guy in the latest Densha Otoko special. I think he may be getting a little too close to his otaku side! While Nakagomi is a creepy character, Kitamura plays him perfectly. He really was my favorite character here.

I would recommend this series to anyone interested in the otaku culture. You may not understand a lot of things if you don't have at least a tiny grasp of what otaku means to the Japanese people. "Otaku" in America is very different from "otaku" in Japan. If you can make that distinction, I think you would really enjoy the series.