Title: Kagen no Tsuki Also known as: Last Quarter Release date: 2004 Genre: Supernatural romance Cast: Kuriyama Chiaki, Narimiya Hiroki, Kurokawa Tomoka, Ochiai Motoki, Hyde Plot: As Mizuki (Kuriyama) turns 19, she finds out that her boyfriend, Tomoki (Narimiya), has been cheating on her. Running away from her heartache, she comes upon an abandoned estate. Inside she finds a mysterious guitar player named Adam (Hyde), who claims to know her. During the last quarter of the moon, Adam tells Mizuki that he must leave. Desperate to stay with him, Mizuki races to find him, only to be hit by a car. Two schoolchildren (Kurokawa and Ochiai) soon find the estate with a mysterious girl who cannot leave. What is the connection between the house, Adam, and Mizuki? What is good: Kuriyama is a very good actress. What is bad: The story dragged a lot. Letter rating: C Overall: I mostly rented this movie because Hyde is in it. I didn't realize that both Kuriyama and Narimiya were in it as well. Despite all of the talent in the film, it was still very difficult to watch. The pacing was extremely slow. It takes a long time for the characters to come to relatively easy conclusions and some things that don't need to explained are over explained. If you are a fan of the actors, it's a nice way to spend a couple of hours. Otherwise, feel free to overlook this without a second thought.

Title: Tokkyu Tanaka San Go Also known as: Tanaka Express 3 Broadcast date: 4/13/07 - 6/22/07 Number of episodes: 11 Genre: Romantic comedy Cast: Tanaka Koki, Kuriyama Chiaki, Tsukamoto Takashi, Akiyama Ryuji, Kato Rosa, Hiraiwa Kami Plot: Tanaka Ichiro (Tanaka Koki) is a big talker. While he claims to be a "big shot," he is, in fact, a ronin-turned-freshman at a third-rate university. He accidentally meets Meguro Terumi (Kuriyama Chiaki) and declares her his "personal heroine." After befriending two tetsu (train fanatics), the three men find themselves trying their best to romance Terumi and her friends while finding their way in life. What is good: The writing was excellent. You learn a bit about the tetsu way without going completely overboard. What is bad: The first episode is pretty terrible. Letter rating: B+ Overall: This show was recommended to me by a friend. After watching the first episode, I thought maybe she had lost her mind or something. However, from the second episode on, I fell in love with the characters and their personalities. At first, Ichiro is extremely annoying but once you learn why he acts the way he does, it's difficult to dislike the guy. I'd love to really talk more about the show and why I enjoyed it but that really requires a lot of spoilers since the show revolves around the relationships of the three main characters. All I can say is watch it. Don't let the first episode fool you. This really is a great series.