JDorama review: Hana Yori Dango

Title (romanji): Hana Yori Dango
Title (english): Boys Over Flowers
Broadcast date: 10/21/05 - 12/16/05
Number of episodes: 9
Genre: romantic comedy
Cast: Inoue Mao, Matsumoto Jun, Oguri Shun, Matsuda Shota, Abe Tsuyoshi, Kaga Mariko
Plot: Makino Tsukushi (Inoue Mao) is a poor girl attending Eitoku Gakuen, the elite high school of the rich and famous. The school is ruled by F4 (aka Flower Four), four boys from extremely powerful families. Their leader is Domyouji Tsukasa (Matsumoto Jun), heir to the Domyouji World Finance Group. Hanazawa Rui (Oguri Shun), Nishikado Soujiro (Matsuda Shota) and Mimasaka Akira (Abe Tsuyoshi) round out the group. Makino hoped to pass through school unnoticed. However, one day stands up against Domyouji's bullying of her friend. As a result, she gets a dreaded red notice, which pits the entire school against her. Instead of giving up, Makino declares war on F4. Doing this not only attracts the attention of her crush, Hanazawa Rui, but it also begins to rouse romantic feelings between Makino and Domyouji.
What is good: The tension between Makino, Domyouji and Hanazawa.
What is bad: Poor Nishikado and Mimasaka get relegated to secondary characters so you don't learn very much about them.
Letter rating: A+

Overall: I'm amazed that this season is only 9 episodes long. So much happens from beginning to end that you barely notice that an entire episode has passed. Before you know it, it's all over. Luckily, there's another season to keep you hooked. Both the acting and the writing in this are very good. Throughout the entire series you are rooting for Makino and Domyouji, even though there are huge differences between them. The only bad thing I can say about the series is that it is way too short. I would have loved to have seen some background into Nishikado and Mimasaka's lives. A "filler" episode or even taking some of the scenes into their houses would have been nice. Though I will admit that you get so wrapped up in the main plot that you completely forget they exist until they pop up for one reason or another. This is definitely a series that I would recommend to anyone. I think there's a little something for everyone here.

JDorama review: Gokusen

Title: Gokusen
Broadcast date: 4/1/02 - 7/3/02
Number of episodes: 12
Genre: comedy
Cast: Nakama Yukie, Matsumoto Jun, Oguri Shun, Waki Tomohiro, Narimiya Hiroki, Ishigaki Yuma, Namase Katsuhisa, Itoh Misaki, Nakazawa Yuko
Plot: Yamaguchi Kumiko (Nakama Yukie) always wanted to be a teacher, like her late parents. However, she is the granddaughter of the third generation Oedo yakuza boss. Kumiko will try her best to keep her family's business secret when she gets a job at Shirokin high school as the homeroom teacher for the worst class of the school - 3D.
What is good: Both Nakama Yukie and Matsumoto Jun's acting.
What is bad: No matter what the situation, Kumiko insists on doing everything herself and refuses help from anyone.
Letter rating: A

Overall: The casting director managed to get a wonderful group of actors together for this series. While I haven't seen any of her dramatic roles yet, Nakama Yukie absolutely shines as a comedic actress. Pairing her with Matsumoto Jun (of the group Arashi) was brilliant. The two of them have a chemistry that pops on the screen and you can see the friendship bloom through the entire show. Add in Namase Katsuhisa as the vice-principal of the school to keep Nakama-san on her toes. There isn't much more you could want in a comedy. Each of the main students of 3D get a background episode so it isn't left to just the leader of the group. While there is a special that follows the end of the series, I would have loved to see more of 'what became of Yankumi's first class.' I suppose I'l have to leave that to my imagination.

JDorama review: News no Onna

Title (romanji): News no Onna
Title (english): Newswoman
Broadcast date: 1/7/98 - 3/18/98
Number of episodes: 11
Genre: drama
Cast: Suzuki Honami, Takizawa Hideaki, Nagatsuka Kyozo, Fukikoshi Mitsuru
Plot: Aso Tamaki (Suzuki Honami) is the anchor for the evening news on Channel 2. When her husband dies in a car accident, she must stonily report the news herself. After the show, her husband's lawyer, Kubata-san (Nagatsuka Kyozo), arrives at her apartment. He asks her to take care of her step-son, Ryu (Takizawa Hideaki), until he can find the boy's only living relative, his aunt. Can a hardened news professional care for a teenage boy?
What is good: The interaction between the characters in the later episodes is quite heart-warming.
What is bad: The early episodes of the show are just plain boring.
Letter rating: C

Overall: Suzuki Honami and Takizawa Hideaki (the Tackey half of the duo Tackey & Tsubasa) perform beautifully. However, they are given very dull material to work with. The 'behind-the-newroom' scenes don't accomplish much beyond setting up where everyone stands in the politics of the workplace. Aso-san talks big in these scenes but she doesn't seem to actually do very much. Poor Ryu is stuck in the 'emotionally tortured teenager' characterization so he barely speaks through the first half of the series. Once the characters break out of their normal routine, everything changes and the series gets pretty interesting. Unfortunately, by that point, there's only 3 or 4 episodes left. I would have a difficult time recommending this series. Mostly because it takes so long to get to the good episodes that is doesn't feel like it was worthwhile overall.

JDorama review: Densha Otoko

Title (romanji): Densha Otoko
Title (english): Train Man
Broadcast date: 7/7/05 - 9/22/05
Number of episodes: 11
Genre: romantic comedy
Cast: Itoh Masaki, Itoh Atsushi
Plot: A true love story, borne from the BBS 2chan, that became a best-selling novel and a blockbuster movie. Yamada Tsuyoshi (Itoh Atsushi) is the epitome of the word otaku. Socially inept, he knows nothing about interacting with the opposite sex. On the train ride home one night, he saves Aoyama Saori (Itoh Masaki) from an overly affectionate drunkard. In appreciation, she sends him a set of Hermes teacups. Having fallen in love with the woman, Yamada turns to the BBS for help on how to woo 'Hermes.'
What is good: Just about everything. The writing conveys Yamada's feelings well. The acting is superb. I think even those without any knowledge about Japanese otaku can relate to the story. Also, the way they handled the way the different otaku on the BBS converse helps the story along.
What is bad: Aoyama is a one-dimensional character. While she's not the focus of the story (Yamada is), you don't learn a whole lot about her. She almost seems to be there just because she's pretty.
Letter rating: A

Overall: This is one of my favorite series. I loved watching the various otaku help Yamada. They were possibly the best part of the whole series. (NOTE: Keep an eye out for Oguri Shun, who also stars in Hana Yori Dango and Gokusen!) While it would have been nice to know a bit more about Aoyama, the story is not about her. It's about Yamada overcoming his 'otakuness' to become something more. I would recommend this series to anyone, though it may require some knowledge about Japanese culture and relationships.

JDorama review: Long Love Letter ~ Drifting Classroom

Title (romanji): Rongu Rabureta ~ Hyouryuu Kyoushitsu
Title (english): Long Love Letter ~ Drifting Classroom
Broadcast date: 1/9/02 - 3/20/02
Number of episodes: 11
Genre: Science fiction, romance
Cast: Tokiwa Takako, Kubozuka Yosuke
Plot: Misaki Yuka (Tokiwa Takako) is beginning a new relationship with Asami Akio (Kubozuka Yosuke). After accidentally losing his phone, Asami loses contact with Misaki. One year later, the two meet again. Asami is a high school teacher while Misaki is working at her family's flower shop. Misaki visits the high school to collect a debt from one of the teachers when Asami sees her and the two argue. Suddenly, the ground shakes and the entire school is transported somewhere completely different.
What is good: All of the actors do an amazing job. Considering a majority of the cast are high school students, this says a lot about their ability. Their emotions come across loud and clear. What is bad: Since this is science fiction, the audience is asked to make quite a few leaps of faith. As a result, some of the 'science' part gets a bit muddled when Asami tries to explain what has happened to them. Also, the ending brings up more questions than it answers. You're left with a "wtf just happened" feeling.
Letter rating: B

Overall: I really liked this series. Sure, there were times when I thought that the writing was a bit weird. Some of the science stuff seemed very made up but this didn't detract from the show a whole lot. It was more about what these people were going through and how they were feeling. What actually got them into that situation felt like a sub-plot instead of the main plotline. I just wish the ending answered THE question than ran through the entire series. Instead, it opened up a whole new bucket of questions. This is a series I would recommend to someone a bit more familiar with Japanese culture. Especially since a lot of it deals with how people interact with those around them.

JDorama Review: Five

Title: Five (also known as Five Spies)
Broadcast date: 4/19/97 - 6/28/97
Number of episodes: 11
Genre: Spy
Cast: Tomosaka Rie, Suzuki Sarina, Shinohara Tomoe, Endo Kumiko, Chinen Rina, Karato Ryo
Plot: Five teenage female prisoners break out of prison and become spies for the man who helped them escape.
What is good: Some of the acting wasn't terrible.
What is bad: Everything else. The writing was horrible, the sets looked like someone put them together in their free time and the camera work is jerky at best. Even the opening sequence is difficult to sit through.
Letter rating: F

Overall: There was definitely some potential here. I went into this thinking maybe it was like some Japanese A-Team or something. Far from it. There were a few bright spots with some of the actresses. This was Fukada Kyoko's first series and while she has a very small part, her acting is still much better than some of the main actresses. Tomosaka Rie wasn't too bad either. However, Shinohara Tomoe was just unbearable to watch. The rest of them pretty much blended together to form some rather bland group of girls that I had to force myself to try to remember who was who. This is one of the few series I've watched that I tell people to stay far, far away.

JDorama Reviews

I am planning on moving my Japanese drama reviews to TheGeekWithin.com. As a starter, I'd like to explain what JDorama is. JDorama is a (live action) Japanese drama television series. J is for Japanese and Dorama is a Japanese pronunciation of 'drama.' All of the major TV stations in Japan produce a variety of series. The series tend to run for three months per season. New dramas debut every season. There are morning/afternoon dramas that are broadcast daily and tend to run longer than the 'standard' three month season. A majority of dramas are evening dramas, which are broadcast weekday evenings between 8PM and 10PM with a new episode being shown once a week. If a drama is extremely popular, it will likely have a special episode after the run is over. Dramas cover every genre - comedy, horror, romance, detective series, spy series, historical - you name it, there's probably a jdorama for it.

I hope you will enjoy reading my reviews.

Simpsons movie opens this weekend

In case you are living under a rock, The Simpsons movie opens this Friday. With all of the marketing surrounding this, you'd think it was the biggest movie ever. A handful of 7-11s turned into Kwik-E-Marts, commercials have been blaring across the TV every 10-15 minutes and it is mentioned on almost every entertainment website out there. Personally, I'm not too excited about this. I haven't watched the Simpsons in years. It's gotten boring. I remember when it was nothing but 30-second shorts on the Tracy Ullman Show. Back then it was edgy. Now it's overdone. You figure, the show has been on the air for 18 years. Maybe it's time the show was retired. On the plus side, I will say that some of the commercials are funny. Though I don't know how that will translate to an hour and a half movie. The clip where Homer is holding the pig up to the ceiling while singing "Spider Pig, Spider Pig, does whatever a Spider Pig does" is funny but I can see the writers taking that too far and letting it go on for 10 minutes instead of ending the joke there.

There aren't any movies opening this weekend that would be good competition for The Simpsons so I imagine it will take the box office. I'll be waiting until next weekend when The Bourne Ultimatum opens.

Drew Carey Hosts The Price Is Right

It was announced last night that Drew Carey will be replacing Bob Barker as the host of The Price is Right. I'm a bit mixed on this. On one hand, he is a pretty good comedian. On the other hand, he really screwed up Who's Line Is It Anyway. I was a huge fan of the original British version of the show and I cringed whenever I saw the American version on the TV line-up. I also have a problem with him laughing at his own jokes all the time. It wasn't so bad when he was scripted but in both his stand-up and in Who's Line, he would tell a joke then laugh at it. It's not funny to laugh at your own jokes. Maybe once in awhile if you say something absolutely hysterical or if you get a funny reaction from the audience. Not every single time though. Well, at least it wasn't Rosie O'Donnell. I think she is too self-involved to host something like this. She can be a really funny comedian but that can't overcome her current narcissism.

I hope Drew Carey does a good job with The Price is Right. It would be sad to see a show that has been on the air for so many years get ruined.

Return of Reboot

I'm pretty sure everyone remembers the cartoon "Reboot" that aired from 1994-2001. Just in case you have no idea what I'm talking about, the show was about a guardian sprite named Bob and his friends that lived inside a computer world called Mainframe. Bob's job was to defend the Mainframe (and the User) from virus attacks. He was helped by Dot and her little brother Enzo. The baddies were, of course, Megabyte and Hexadecimal. It really was an awesome show and the plotlines got really dark toward the end of the series. Rainmaker, the company that currently owns the Reboot property, chose five undiscovered writers to work with the production team to prepare a pitch for a new Reboot storyline. They will be posted on the Zeroes 2 Heroes website on Thursday, July 26, which happens to be the first day of the San Diego Comic-Con International. When you visit the website, you'll be able to work with the production team to refine the ideas. Later, you'll be able to vote for your favorite pitch. From these pitches, we'll get a web-based comic then production will start on a trilogy of feature-length films.

I'm really excited to see where this goes. I loved Reboot back in the day and it would be really awesome if they got a great storyline to run with. I wonder if the "undiscovered writers" Rainmaker found know anything about the Reboot property. Are they going to be able to stay with how the characters were originally written? Are they going to start over at the beginning for the kids of this generation that haven't seen the original series? I hope they don't do anything to ruin the memories of the older Reboot fans.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070723/film_nm/reboot_dc;_ylt=Akpkt4HADv6UqpPqjerWtEBxFb8C