Ranma 1/2 (2011)

Country: Japan
Genre: comedy, martial arts, romance
Format: Live-action movie
Cast: Aragaki Yui, Kaku Kento, Natsuna, Furuta Arata, Namase Katsuhisa, Hasegawa Kyoko, Nishiyama Maki, Tanihara Shosuke, Nagayama Kento, Kanai Yuta, Tayama Ryosei, 
Synopsis: Made after Takahashi Rumiko same-named manga/anime. Tendo family's dojo is in danger as their last follower quits. Right at that time the family head Tendo Soun receives a postcard from his old friend Saotome Genma, which says that he is bringing his son Ranma to Tokyo. Years ago Soun and Genma made a promise that their children will marry each other in order to inherit the dojo's. However there is a big "BUT" - while training in China, Ranma and Genma fell into Jusenkyo's springs, which now make then transform when their head get wet. Genma turns into Panda with cold water and Ranma into girl. Even though they turn back with hot water, Ranma wants to find a secret spring, which will make him 100% man again for ever and that spring is said to be in Tendo's hold.
Rating: 4/5
I am not a big fan of live-actions as usually they tend to fail at making them and I "Ranma 1/2" my favorite anime ever. I did not hold my expectations high, so the movie actually surprised me. Once again, if someone is to make live-action, please let Japanese do it (because USA live-action of "Dragon Ball" is the worst thing ever!!!!!).

Ranma was played by Kaku Kento. After seeing his martial art skills I understand why he was picked. He made all the moves himself. He was a little bit too skinny from face, but it is not the actor's fault that I imagine Ranma a little bit chubbier from face. I love how Kaku Kento nailed Ranma's attitude and personality. Ranma has rude speaking and uses rude expressions, many times he is full of himself and his so-called "pride" loses its meaning in certain circumstances.

Natsuna in Ranko (Female Ranma) role was on the top. It was enjoying to see how there were similarities to Kaku Kento's face-expressions. Natsuna acting was great. She looked exactly how she supposed to be and she was able to give right attitude to Ranko. I do not think she did her fighting for her, but it seemed that they used a stunt (just be the way the shootings were made).

Most doubts I had for Aragaki Yui. I have seen many dramas by her, so I did not believe that she could pull it off, but she took me by surprise. She was perfect for the role, maybe she had a little bit too feminine and less tom-boyish attitude, but it is forgivable as most of the scenes needed her to be more emotional. I did not liked that they made her to do kendo, Tendo's dojo was just for "anything goes with" martial arts (cannot explain it) with kicks, blocking, jumps etc, not for kendo. I liked that they portrayed AkanaxRanma relationship really well. It was cute and exactly as in manga/anime.

From other characters I most enjoyed Nabiki, because with her attitude it was a great idea to put her into host club and that made seducing Ranma for her own good more funnier. Easily said Nabiki is the daughter who will sell even her own family for certain amount of money. Also believable were Soun and Genma. I did not like the fact that they had made Kasumi's cooking skills to fun - as every time the it took hours for her to finish cooking. Actually she was a great cook, but it was good that they showed how naive Kasumi was.

I understand why they put Kuno's character in it, but I do not understand Gosunkugi role, because he is one of the most unimportant characters! They changed Sasuke's role with Gosunkugi, those fail spying were Sasuke's thing, not Gosunkugi's. Well, Kanai Yuta made a great work as Gosunkugi, especially by appearance. Same goes to Nagayama Kento who made Kuno look hot - in manga/anime he more is just masculine.

The authors of the movie (director, scriptwriter etc) have said that they wanted to make the movie like it is another OVA of anime, so that is the reason why they put in the new villain. I did not like the new villain as he was.. fail? I have nothing against drag queens, but it was a little over the board for me. It was amazing how much drag queens there were! On the other hand, Ranma 1/2 has always had weird, extra-ordinary characters, who have weird reasons for their actions. As they made it as a OVA it does not disturb that they do not have some reaaaaalllly important characters as Ryoga, Shampoo and Ukyo. They do mention Happosai, but in the girls locker room it would have been fun to see him. 

More than everything, I liked that they had put into script some legendary must-needed things like body-comparing, Ranma's first kiss (actually it was another male character who stole his first kiss in the manga), Akane's hair, awkward moments between Akane and Ranma and there even is a hint to Ryoga's joke. ah! one fail what the filmmakers did, is that the computer tricks are horrible. Maybe they did not have enough budget for it, but I find that most live-actions suck at computer effects. The story itself was as great as it would have been written by Takahashi Rumiko herself, but I believe that Yoshihiro Izumi made a great research before writing the script.
I know that for all Ranma 1/2 fans it is a must-see movie and even if you do not know anything about it, the movie itself is so easy to understand. All actors have made a great job to bring out their characters.

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This is my last review in this year. I made some look-ups and found out that during the year 2011 I watched 14 dramas (+3 as I watched both seasons of "Code Blue" and rewatched "Yankee-kun to Megane-chan" and "Nobuta wo Produce") and 26 movies (+6 if you count rewatching) = in total 40 Asian mediaworks (49 all together). I would like to say that I try to watch more and write reviews faster next year, but I cannot. I hope you understand me when I say that I am going to have university entrance exams and high school finals in spring. Hope you all enjoyed last year and HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYBODY!!!

I am Sam (2007)

Also known as: I am your teacher
Country: South-Korea
Genre: school, romance
Format: drama, 16 episodes
Cast: Park Min Young, Yang Dong  Geun, TOP, Lee Min Ho, Son Tae Young, Ryan, Park Jae Jung, Park Chae Kyung, Park Joon Gyu, Jo Hyang Ki,
Synopsis: Yoo Eun Byul is the daughter of a hot-tempered mob leader. Jang Yi San is an incompetent homeroom teacher for the class 8-3 (known for its rude and wild students)  at Myung Moon High high school. Jang Yi San is ordered to teach Yoo Eun Byul for 5 million won while living together underneath the same roof. Soon love, friendship, money and lies pile up into a rather unique mix of comedy and romance.
Rating: 2/5
It took me a lot of time to actually finish it! At first I saw cropped version, where 1 hour episodes where made into half an hour episodes - do you believe how confusing it was?! Well after watching half episodes I searched the real ones. Warning - It is pretty much student-teacher love, but they do not have any inappropriate scenes in it. Maybe people who have had the same kind experience connect to it, but for me it was veeeeery far theme. (My school's male teachers are all too old and too married)

The main character Yoo Eun Byul is the misery and the happiness of the drama. She is the reason why everything goes wrong and why everything goes right again. Even though she is a 18/19 and wants to be independent, grown-up, she is without-exaggeration childish, manipulative, spoiled and selfish. It seems like she thinks up the relationship in her head and truly believes it. At first it is hard to understand, why she falls in love with the teacher - you can see it from the first episode that she is attached to him - later they have tried to explain this affection, but I find it pretty shallow. On the other hand, she has some great moments too - like after messing everything up-side-down for her own fun, she takes the responsibility and tries to make it all good again. She is loyal to her friends and does not let anyone to bring her down. Park Min Young is very beautiful actress too. However, in the end, I tended too hate Eun Byul more than love - her actions might be cute, but she was irrational in my point of view.

Sam aka Jang Yi San was a great teacher - like I have said there are teachers who are great humans, but suck at teaching and vice versa - Jang Yi San was the one who sucked at personality, but was veeery great teacher. He stood up for his students and thought for their future, that's why he deserved the respect from students. Yet all his awesomeness and coolness is only for some minutes on screen and all the other time he is suffering from some mental-disease (saying that he is a country-boy is not an excuse!!!! -.- I feel insulted if someone says so). In the end of the 12th episode he is the coolest, but it was only for that moment - before that and after that I was hoping that he would get a bullet from Mr.Kim. Even though Jang Yi San was literally banned from personal life as he must "treat Eun Byul like his own daughter" (-.-), he had almost-fiancee miss Shin So Ji. They looked actually cute together as they where similarly shy, but you know that two same kind charges do not fit together - in reality the main reason was Jang Yi San's on-going stupid lies and the fact that every time when something was wrong with Eun Byul he totally forgot So Ji's existence!!!

Shin So Ji was the art-teacher and she continued to wait for him and forgave him his mistakes. It is said that the actress Son Tae Young wore a wig for this drama - yeah, luckily! I liked this hair only when she had curled them. You might think that she had a great patience, but she had her times - when she went to Mr.Hottie nr.1 aka Love Doctor Ji Sun Hoo. (I would have taken him right away =P)  Mostly they were drink-buddies as Ji Sun Hoo always took So Ji back to her home after listening for hours how she cursed Jang Yi San. Of course he falls for her, but I like that they kept his personality simple and gentelman-ic (?). One of the beautiful things he says is "People cry 70 litres of tears in their lifetime, if you have cried your litres, I will cry the rest of your tears for you". Well that's romantic!!! not how 18 year old girl is waiting for a drunk 28 year old man to come home... You cannot make unromantic love romantic with love song and shooting settings.

The "Family" of Eun Byul... Her dad is crazy in every single way, but he is the first one to discover Eun Byul's feelings.. and after that he is crazy/stupid again. It seems like they do not learn anything! He is not strict when he needs to be and he is wrong-headed in things where he has no right to be. Mr. Kim is another hot male character in the drama - he is the best man of Eun Byul's father, the one who is in charge of the dirty-work and communication with authorities and Eun Byul's future-fiance. There is Ms. Hong too who is like a big sister for Eun Byul, even though she has no sisters. She helps her a lot and seems to be the only one from Mafia, who truly cares about Eun Byul's happiness. (Until the end I hoped that Ms. Hong and Mr. Kim will find each other, but you better do not start to wish for it, it is useless) 
8-3 class is epic! I admit that I would like to be in this class (maybe I even have this kind of class, but opposite of them we only get praised by teachers). They are so unique and every one of them has something special in them.

From side-characters the most important are Min Sa Kang and Chae Moo Shin (Yay! for TOP as he was the reason why I wanted to see it in the first place -.-). They were mostly left out from other class, but in some way they got friends with Eun Byul. TOP will stay being the pearl of the drama in the end (*_*). (I try to stop being enchanted by his face). I hate the detective in the drama, because he induced Moo Shin in every single way. Moo Shin was known for "never losing a fight", although he did not use violence until he found that somebody had crossed the line. Both Min Sa Kang and Moo Shin are very loyal and suffered from the cruel reality of life's dark side. I love that they have so many "awkward" moments xD

Many people know this drama thanks to another great, and now one of the most famous Korean actors Lee Min Ho! Like you can see from my list it was the first drama I have seen from him (I am the worst - I know it! XD) His character Heo Mo Se, Moses, does not have much screen time and as a man he sucks xD Moses is charming, most famous guy at school (and headmaster's son), yet he is total chicken, stupid and hmm-hmm-hmm (watch the end of the drama and you'll know what I mean) I started to understand why Lee Min Ho has so many fans - he is charming and a great actor (but he must impress me with "Boys over flowers" as I do not fan his look there)

It is all for you to decide if you want to watch it or not. I had my way to come over it and watch it until the end (I was able to live without any barf bag, but I cannot guarantee it for you) They did not do anything illegal, but I know the real-life love stories between student and teacher, which actually are romantic, but this drama seemed just too irrational and their so called love was barely a puppy-love from the girl side and teacher had more like brotherly-affection. Sorry, I forgot that I should say good things about it - It has romantic scenes with other characters, there are funny scenes and even  some down-to-earth scenes. It is made after manga, but their super-cool-I-want-to-have school uniforms are from another manga (yeah, those uniforms were the second reason I wanted to watch it). My true-favourite scene was in the end of the 16th episode - well 10 to 15 minutes before the real end of the drama. It showed their lives 4 years later after Eun Byul's graduating. You can read somethings about it from Spoiler-review...

SPOILER-review! For those who just want to know the end without starting to watch it or having no more nerves to continue watching, so to not be surprised if you do not understand everything. First of all Ms.Hong and Mr. Kim do not get together. Mr.Kim leaves the Mafia after Eun Byul as flied to USA, becomes international lawyer and is about to marry, while Ms. Hong has stayed by boss. Moses is in the army-service and is married to Da Bin (one of his loyal fans and the leader of 3 Bins) and they are about to have a second baby. One Bin is famous model/actress and the third one is poetess who is going to Oxford. So Ji dumped Jang Ji Sun and is kind of in love with Sun Hoo, who came back to continue his work as school-doctor. Yay! for one dream-couple for finding each other. Jang Ji San is still a teacher and has not lost any part of his body (Damn, why mr. Kim has a kind heart??? -.-), he is still waiting for Eun Byul to return. Finally she comes back and they live happily ever after (I am not a fan of this couple). Finally my favourites! Min Sa Kang becomes a art teacher and goes to her old-school for practise. Moo Shin and his friend are in important detective company (did not understand, but maybe they are the founders of it)   and the same old detective wants Moo Shin to recruit in forces. and *drums* for MinXChae couple-fans they pretty much are together! (at least it seemed so)  In short way this is the end of the drama - I actually cannot remember anything else from drama contents as all my written-down remarks are about how I hate one or other character, how hot are TOP, Ryan, Lee Min Ho and Park Jae Jung and how NOT-ROMANTIC is this teacher-student love. Wish you luck with watching this!^^ 

Party wa owatta (2011)

Country: Japan
Genre: romance, fantasy, life
Format: keitai-drama in 5 or 6 episodes, later made into movie for cinemas
Cast: Naka Riisa, Koide Keisuke, Narimiya Hiroki, Nakayama Kento, Takaoka Sousuke, Hayashi Kento, 
Synopsis: Asakura Toake (Naka Riisa) is a mangaka, whose recent mangas lack of romance. Her friend Takeo dragges her to Onikawa Norihiko's (Koide Keisuke) party - a famous young mangaka, who had just sold 1 million copies of his most famous manga. Asakura sees 4 different men, who make her imagination run.
Rating: 5/5

I so love Naka Riisa. I believe she is my favourite actress - she is just so talented. It is kinda hard drama to review, but I´ll try my best. Toake is one of a kind =D I love her dress and heels so much, but it was clearly seen that Toake was not used to wear high heels (Naka Riisa knows how to walk in high heels actually, that's why she had to walk like she halts) Her imagination is actually all based on logical assumptions, but I like that she draws so quickly and clearly her manuscripts. Onikawa Norihiko (Koide Keisuke) seemed like a selfish, narcissistic bastard. From this point I´ll go with the review as it happens in drama...

"Painted desire" - Here the male-lead is Narimiya Hiroki! (Another favourite actor!) I soooooooo love NarixNaka pairing - they have a great on-screen and off-screen chemistry. Well, Togawa Yuubi is an artist, whose paintings are ahead of his time.  In some way I liked his paintings, but I would not buy them in any cost. It looked like he used the "bad colors", there are one green color and blue (violet) which are called "poison colors". He had so much colors, but he still used only those.

I really wish them good luck with getting that painting off from the clothes and skin - as oil-paint is not soluble in water. Last year I took oil-painting classes so I know it =D Oil-paint just wants strong solvent and time xD (In my first class I tried to wash a spot of green paint of my hands and I ended up with being covered by this paint, so my teacher had to clean my hands as I was unable to touch anything xD) Yeah, playing with expensive colors can be romantic and sweet in movies, but in reality it is foolish thing to do - use acrylic colors instead =D Toake is Yuubi's girlfriend in this episode and she is pushing his back to try new things, but more than Yuubi, Toake is sacrificing her everything. It has an amazing punch-line in the end and even bigger when Toake comes back to reality and Yuubi turns into Yoshinori. 

"Breaking-up desire" - Over-emotional Musashi, who cries about everything. The korean movie they are watching is "Someday, somewhere, I love you", but I cannot find out if it truly exists or not. Still the movie looks epic for me.  Naka Riisa looks even more beautiful in it! I think that Musashi is too manipulative and a real cry-baby. For Gyoza sake, be a man!!  I would to dump a guy like that too, but I wonder why she ever started to date him, when they were this different. I think that she should have talked more, but she thought that Musashi tries to change her or loves the image of Toake which he has had in his head. I liked how they actually changed during the episode and actually started to understand each other more. The toe-scene was disgusting O.o One fact about Hakone - they really sell those eggs that add 7 years to your life, but they sell 5 eggs in one pack. XD

"Dying desire" - it was so scary! I did not see the love-line in it, but it was interesting and I loved how the scenes were made. When she starts to sing this song, at first it is funny, but later it turns scary too! It made me want to know the end faster, but some scenes reminded me USA movie "The house of wax". People, who have seen it know what I mean. It is true that it is not a good idea to be too curious as curiosity can kill. I actually knew the reality of this episode since the start. The man did not have name in it.

"Holding desire" - In three first episodes, Toake was the normal and sweet one, but in it  - I think that Toake has some serious mental issues. It remind "Kimi wa Petto" as she took the man to her house. I wonder if there would be any woman in the world who would take some totally stranger man from the street to her apartment/ house and wash him and starts to live with him? (I understand if it is some kind of ikemen as Jang Geun Suk or Matsuyama Jun, but Hayashi Kento with that long hair looked like a beggar). One more thing - never lie to a person, who has amnesia!  It is not a smart thing to do as most of the times the amnesia goes by after time. It looked like Toake wanted to make him her life-sized doll even though Hayashi Kento really looks like one O.o  At some points it was too scary!

"Desire and regrets" - it was fuuuking funny! From one moment I was like "WHAT THE RAMEN??! Vamipire? Hitting trucks? What IS IT??!!". Well my sister told me "Koide Keisuke is the hottest vampire I have ever seen - "Twilight - you suck!" xD Well it is true, as this episode seemed to parody all vampire-movies which were so popular.  It was very theatrical - I had a feeling that I was watching a filmed theatre performance. The dance was the most epic ever! I actually knew from the start why Toake really thought this way xD
The real end of the movie was amazing =) It made me think of what was real in this movie and what was not as sometimes the imagination can surpass the reality. The nub in the end was scary too XD
The movie is a mix of all movies, that's why it has all emotions and moods. It should really suit for everybody and it has truly amazing cast.

Shissou ~ Dead Run~ (2005)

Country: Japan
Genre: human, drama, life&death, violence, ***
Format: movie
Cast: Tegoshi Yuya, Kan Hanae, Nakatani Miki, Toyokawa Etsushi, Osugi Ren, Terajima Susumu, Kase Ryo, Suguta Shun, Takahashi Hitomi, Emoto Tasuku,
Synopsis: In a small city called Hama people are divided into to groups - Shore and off-Shore, that do not get along as off-Shore people tend to be from lower social groups (like criminals). Shuji was 7 when he was impressed by Demon-Ken's kindness, when Demon-Ken gave him a lift to home. But few days later Demon-Ken was found dead in the woods. Years later in junior high Shuji still remembers Demon-Ken and finds some connection with Off-Shore. He and his friend find that a small church is being built there. At the same time his brother Shuichi, who has always been a top-student, is being suspended from school because of a cheating in test. That makes Shuichi's mental state collapse. Shuji finds hope and answers from the church and also he meets there Eri, but yakuza wants to buy the off-Shore area for building there a turism centre. One by one the houses of Off-Shore get destroyed in arsons. Everyones lives are changed by doubts and truth.
Rating: 4/5
It is a SABU movie, so there is everything you can see in "Troubleman" too (but the latter one was more romantic and easier that "Shissou"). It actually is crazy and total mind-******* movie. In the end I felt like I was going insane and that made the movie so great. It definitely is movie with one of the most serious topics (If I leave out based-on-true-life-events movies). The sickest thing is that everything what happens in the movie, is 100% possible in real life, even now!
It has a great scene capturing, but at the same time, many scenes are a little bit hard to understand, but in the end it is a total masterpiece!

Tegoshi Yuya played the main character Shuji. It was his first role in a movie (one of his first acting ever - only Division 1: 15 sai no blues was made some months before). Many times it seemed like Shuji was just a side-viewer in the whole story, getting into those situations because of other people. That´s why I was so furious when classmates started to block him from class. Shuji was not responsible for those things. Mostly I hated the former friend - I know that his hate for Shuji might have been caused by the fact that when the friend was said to be guilty, Shuji stayed away from him too. Shuji does many irresponsible things, I believe that it shows how big the impact all, what had happened, had on him.

I cannot say anything about the church and how he started to be religious (In real life Tegoshi Yuya is not a christian - at least there are no public information about him being it). He found hope and strength from The Bible. As I am not religious, then I do not know how to comment his views and stuff. I know that when he wanted to put his friend and brother to read The Bible and go to church, he kind of a did not thought that not all people find justice in it. I know that there many people who after living through hard things, do not find relief in the religion, but at the same time, some start to devote their life to God.  I liked that back then Tegoshi Yuya had that average Japanese boy look xD Now he is really charismatic and real ikemen-idol.

Shuichi's (I know, they really similar names) story is so sad. I believe that in real life it might happen too, that top student might lose his head after getting suspended. But it is so sad - no-one can really understand later and that makes hard for others to help. I loved how Shuichi's and Shuji's relationship was and how Shuji tired to help Shuichi. 
The leadgirl was Eri (Kan Hanae). She was really confident and smart girl, a little bit rebellious. I liked that she was able to live on (okey it was because she was unable to commit suicide, but still). Her story is sad too - it shows how some people just do not have luck in their lives. She reminded my one book, where a woman had lived through fire in her childhood (Not sure, but I think she lost her family in it), anyway it made a big impact on her, but she saw flames as red horses and then when she is older, she starts to set houses on fire to see horses again. Eri's situation is not like that, but it just reminded me the trauma. For me, the highlight of the movie was Eri's and Shuji's relationship. There was no emotions, just young first fonding (is there such word? okey, I could use words as devoting, attaching, fancying too, but "fond" seems to be more accurate for them, but I am not sure how the noun is) Eri and Shuji were similar to each other as well as different.
The whole movie is great mind-rape. It has so many changing-points were you just do not know what happens next, but in the end when you know so clearly what is going to happen, you wish from the bottom of your heart that something would happen and would go differently. I screamed "NOOOOO!! NOOO!! IT CANNOT HAPPEN!!" in the end like lunatic xD The movie is really disgusting and there is so much violence and (nicely said) sexual interests. It is said that sometimes something can be so sick and horrible, that it is beautiful. It is totally right for "Shissou ~ Dead run~". I recommend it to those who have strong nerves, want to be aghast and who want to blow up their emotional balance. 

Division 1: 15 sai no blues (2005)

Country: Japan
Genre: human, life, school, violence
Format: mini-drama (~20 minutes X 4 episodes; Division 1 series 13th stage)
Cast: Zeebra, Tegoshi Yuya, Iwasa Mayuko, Higashi Ayu, Chiyo Shota,
Synopsis: Shunsaku (Zeebra) start to work as a tutor for a junior high school boy Sanada Kohei. Kohei has had 10 tutors before him, sucks at studying, at communicating with people and is bullied by his classmates - only joy for him are his flowers and love for Sakie, a girl in his class. But Kohei is not the only one who seems to have problems in this house. Shunsaku tries to show to the family the meaning of blues.

Rating: 3/5
For the first thing - the family is totally wacko!! Mentally it is really hard drama to stand - there are too possibilities - you love it or you hate it.

Tegoshi Yuya is the highlight of the drama and most of the people watch it because of him (true, even I xD). Kohei's character is actually disgusting and gives me creeps, but he still is the highlight. Believe me or not, but he actually screams more than talks in drama - and his screaming is funny, because Tegoshi Yuya had kind of a different voice back then (I think he was going trough voice-change then xD  He was 17 when the drama was filmed). He is isolated, depressed  and he bites nails - but you can see that Tegoshi Yuya in real life did not bite nails, because the way he did it was just hilarious and totally fake. Even though it did not look like biting, it was gross and made me sick O.o More than that, the creepiest thing was "The Blanket". I find it absolutely insane and grotty. Kohei actually reminded me Tegoshi's character Tommy in "Gekidan Engimono - Ie ga tooi", but Kohei is  more repulsive. In the end, I hated the bullies more than Kohei. He had just some issues, but bullies were unforgivable. In my country some years ago one bullying led to suicide, bullying does not have to be physical and even mental bullying is a school violence! It is not a funny thing and I hate it so much.  (About school violence I recommend you a movies called "The Class" (2007)- it is Estonian movie, it actually had drama sequel in 2010 "The Class - life after", but I do not know if the drama is available in English, and "Hold me tight" (2010) Denmark movie. Both of them are absolutely brilliant movies) 

You can see how far the school violence goes in "Division 1: 15 sai no blues". I really understood that he actually was in big pain and wanted somebody to stop him. At the same time, when Shunsake hit Kohei (and it is not for only once), then I yelled "YES!!!!". Kohei was a crybaby and had no self respect or confidence. Sakie role was really imporant in drama, but the actress did not have much screentime. I do not know who is the actress, so I would appreciate if somebody would tell me, if they know. She is really beautiful. Drama does not show her side of the story, so it divides the thoughts apart - how does she feel, what she really meant etc.

And when you took a a first glance at his sister Yukari, you understood that the problem lays in the family. How can one girl let herself down to this low? I am not going to write a long post about "how to be confident in your own body?" (If someone really wants I may write a special page about it - I am the best person to talk about this kind of thing xD)  And then comes the most utopian part of the drama - NO woman changes so quickly from nerd to babe (I do not insult nerds! I mean the stereotypical American thinking of nerds as unpopular glass-wearing science freak - I actually find nerds amusing and very interesting people, especially I like their smartness =D ). This kind of changes take at least months and years! I did not understand why Yukari and Kohei did not talk to each other much, but I guess they just followed their parents patterns.

I did not like the mom at all. She had annoying variable voice and no parent, aware or not, should not prefer one child to other. It was so easy to see that she was much more concerned about Kohei than Yukari, I understand that Kohei had had problems since childhood, but showing the preference in front of everybody makes the other child feel just abandoned and pushed aside. The father of the family was just selfish and did not think clearly. The family did not speak to each other much, mostly only mother was panicky talking, but others even did not listen to her. For many times I wanted to make a big wake up call to the family, so they could wake up from their sleep. Luckily, I was not the one who had to do it.

Shunsaku actually was not a tutor, but he had knowledge and motivation. I must admit, that even I did not understand the whole "blues" thing in the end, but otherwise he told pretty smart things. Shunsaku was real pervert, but at the same time he did not to anything illegal. I loved how he actually fitted into this family and was there like at his own home and he was the most normal person in the house!  It was cute how he connected with mom and how children bonded with him in the end. He had extreme tips for everybody, but I loved his enthusiasm and that he had his limits too. (Now he reminded me "Gachi baka" Gondo, but Gondo did not seem to have the limit where he just wanted to leave. That's why Shunsaku looks more human to me than Gondo). NB! Zeebra acted as Shusaku and also the themesong of the drama, "Wildin" is his song.
It takes much nerves to watch it, but I must admit that I loved it! It has so many minuses, as you see in this review, and I do not know what were the real pluses of the drama, but it had something sweet and hopeful in it.

Chonmage Purin (2010)

Also known as: A boy and his Samurai
Country: Japan
Genre: family, food, historic
Format: movie
Cast: Nishikido Ryo, Fuku Suzuki, Tomosaka Rie, Sato Hitomi, Kutsuna Shiori, Horibe Keisuke, Inoue Jun, Nakamura Yuji, Konno Hiroki
Synopsis: Kijima Yasube is a samurai from Edo Period. He goes through time-slip and ends up in nowadays Tokyo. He meets Hiroko and her son Tomoya. Yasube finds it hard to manage by himself in Tokyo and he starts to live with Hiroko and Tomoya, in return he does the housework as Hiroko is divorced and has a stressful work, which makes her unable to do the housework at the same time. Yasube starts to make pastries, which are new to him. The 3 of them grow really close, but everything has its end.
Rating: 4/5
 A really really great movie. Actually I did not hope much from it, so it definitely beat my expectations.

Nishikido Ryo played the part of Kijima Yasube. He suited for that role perfectly! Nishikido Ryo was  like Yasube had to be - tough by appearance and words, but sweet and gentle inside. What is amazing, is that Nishikido-san actually took 2 months of baking classes just for this role. He himself has said that in reality he hates all kind of sweets. Besides, seeing Nishikido Ryo with children makes me fall for him =D  I loved Yasube's character - he had amazing learning ability and Gyoza sake! he was soooo good! His learning ability kinda looked too amazing, so that it already crossed the line - the movie does not show much of his failures or hard times (oke, there was the one time with vacuum cleaner, but still) - I believe that even I won't get used to living in Tokyo with that time as he did (I know - he still was Japanese and stuff) and I am living in 21st century! His adaption with year 2010 was too quick.

His hair looked hilarious when it was apart, but thank Gyoza, it was just a wig for all the movie. Still it looked funny. Especially the "Kappa-scene" lol. I liked how Yasube kept his old manners too - all this samurai's respect and acts. It looked cool and confident. May be he was a little bit too confident in himself at times, so I loved 100% when for a second he gets a rebound and then achieves the same confidence again.
Hiroko, at the same time, was totally 21st century woman - direct opposite to Edo Period beliefs, which seemed normal to Yasube. I liked that Hiroko was more work-oriented and very confident in herself even though she was a single mother. I do not think that she was a bad mother, because it must be hard to bring up a son alone. With her lifestyle I understand why she was unable to make proper food or house works. She was 8 years older than Yasube. I liked that she put Yasube into awkward positions with her acts and words. I did not see much emotions of love. Same goes to Yasube, but it more looked like they did not even had that kind of scene to show these! (That's the reason why it did not get 5 stars) In Hiroko role was Tomosaka Rie  and I liked her pretty much - she is not like the classic beauty and that works for her. She really looked like a woman who tries to succeed in life, has had very difficult situations in her life etc.

The little dude was cute =D (I know - all little children are adorable, but still). It was amazing how he was able to cry. It looked believable. Tomoya character seemed like a normal child for that age - all this Pokemon stuff and so on. The thing that is most common for children is to cry and laugh on and off - it might look like he gets over things really fast, but actually that is how the children of that age are. I think that Tomoya was the character, who brings the movie down to earth, when the time slip is abnormal.

The thing I loved most about the movie, was that it showed the differences of older generations and nowadays one (If I may say so). Even though many of old beliefs do not take place in 21th century big countries (I mean developed North countries - I have no idea what is the right word for that in the economical concept), like women must stay at home and raise children, while men bring in the money. (Even though I would like to be a house-mom in future, I still would like to remain some of my own financial resources) - no woman likes to spend her husband's money for her shopping and beauty treatments and if the married couple divorces, then the woman has still her income to manage with life. But I think that old rules like showing respect to others who are older, especially to your parents, and that parents have to call to order their children and must make then clear how to act - should be in nowadays life too. I feel like there are so many young people and even small children, who are really rude and have no social ability to act normal - maybe it is rude of me, but I mostly think that the problems lay in their upbringing. 

The thing I did not liked at all was that I did not understand the time flow - it definitely did not seem that he had been there for months when it came out that he had. I really thought til then that it was maybe 3 weeks! And the thing that they actually took it really easily that he came from Edo Period through time slip - things like that happen everyday, ne? Beside, no-one ever thought of his ID?? He had no proves to identify himself - no birth certificate or ID etc. and even when he became famous, no-one really thought who he is? where he is from? Weird, but I hope that normal viewers do not start to think about this stuff.
The end of the movie is pretty good =D In some way it is totally neutral end, but it works for this movie.
It is a very sweet movie mixed with beliefs of different time periods and people (not to mention those super yummy cakes shown in the scenes!!!). I strongly recommend it, you can even get some little knowing of Edo Period - who knows, may be someone gets a strong interest for Edo Period from this.

SPOILER review: I hope you noticed this, but towards end Yasube asks the same thing from Hiroko, what asked Hiroko's ex-husband - to give up on working and stay at home. This was the reason why Hiroko told him to leave. There are women who worhship their work and feel that working gives them a measure of indepentency - that does not mean that they love their family less than home-mothers. I find that disappearing point very wierd - I mean the outcome of the scene was weird. You could totally see how it was made with computer! At first, it more looks like he **** on ground, so the ground gets wetter. Sorry, but it really looked so for a minute xD I just did not like that fake computer effect and their poses, but it still was a sad scene, even though it was a little bit predictable thing to happen. But the kiss-scene was rather unpretictable, but on the other hand it was quick and there did not seem to be much emotions. Yasube was not an enchanted frog, who you kiss when you want to break the curse. But it seemed like it was exactly what Hiroko thought when she kissed him in this kind of situation. (but at the same time - we all would have done it :D )
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Sorry for being away for so long. Last three weeks have been really hectic and I went to holidays too - which btw was amazing. I actually felt that I am going crazy, because I had not watched anything for a while. So I have not had any time to write reviews too. For last days I have been studying for like 24/7 and my sleep time has been 4-6 hours per night. I am afraid that my crazy time might stay until 17th December O.o, but I really try to end with it this weekend. I hope you can forgive me just a long break and not fulfilling my promise to write sooner.

Hanawake no yon shimai (2011)

Country: Japan
Genre: family, romance, drama
Format: drama 11 episode
Cast: Mizuki Alisa, Kanjiya Shihori, Kawashima Umiko, Kichise Mischiko, Kato Shigeaki, Miyazaki Yoshiko, Endo Kenichi, Kawashima Ririka, Ono Rento, Kato Kenshiro, Tanaka Tetsushi, Katsunobu, Neko Hiroshi, Tanaka Miho 
Synopsis: Story of four Hanawa sisters. They all have different personalities and different problems in life. When second daughter Takemi moves back to home with her children, all kind of troubles start to occur, as Takemi is known as "devil" and "man-eater". But whole family life is turned up-side-down when it comes out that father has cheated on mom, even though they had been married to each other for almost 33 years.
Rating: 5/5
I absolutely love this drama. I think it is the most unpredictable drama I have ever seen - each episode brings something new. I do not suggest you watching it, if you are as over-emotional person as I am, because I ended up crying all in every episode (Weird, I know O.o It did not matter if it was a happy scene or sad one), but it is NOT A SAD DRAMA, it is a family drama. I believe that other people watch it without any tears. It was in my 5 STAR list from the first episode til the last one, but I just understood that all 5 STAR dramas/movies have been great since start. Drama is made after Saimon Fumi same-named manga. Now from the oldest sister to other characters. (IT MIGHT CONTAIN MANY POSSIBLE SPOILERS)

Fujiko is really work-oriented. She is the smartest, but at the same time she trusts her mind too much - that's way she has bad luck in love. I think that it is weird that she still lives at home (she is 32 years old), but it is not my problem, ne? I think that Fujiko decides too much on her own, even when these affect others too. It is nice that someone keeps her head cool, but she could have talked things over with others. You can actually see more her boyfriends in drama, than Takemi's..

The main-main character, who "turns up", Takemi is different from all the women in the world. She has been married for 2 times and has divorced same times, but she has 3 children, who have very mature thinking. As a mom she seems to be great, but as a sister - kind a sucks. I find that her beauty is over-rated, but it is one of the main ideas of the drama. It is sad how she is misunderstood and how much actually everybody hurt her. Of course this is true that she flirts too much and she definitely does not know the limits, but calling her "Devil" is a bit too much. She does not know how to show her emotions, her true emotions. I totally understand what it feels like when everyone are only seeing your outer-appearance, but only few tend to see the inner-person. I like that Takemi got along with her ex-husbands, but I think that Katsuhiko should have trust her more. He turns into a bastard for some time. 

Sweet Sakurako. Like I understood then the age-gap between Sakurako and Takemi is the smallest in the family, and it leads to that Sakurako is always in Takemi's shadow, that is way Sakurako stands her the least. In love she is most like her mom and for her it was the hardest to forgive to dad. She might look too clingy, naive and listens way too much her work-friends, but actually she knew everything what she did, except the night she met Shozaburou. All her worries were reasonable, because it is harshhhhh when you're high school boyfriend cheats on you with your sister (even though it was a lie).

Hell hot Shozaburou. It is officially my favorite role from Kato Shigeaki. He is soooo great actor, but this role shows totally different side of him (even though in real life he has said that he is opposite of Shozaburou). Shozaburou is a hot cameraman who has had more women in his bed than years he has lived. Many male-viewers have said that it was absolutely wrong of him to sleep with Sakurako, when Sakurako was drunk as a skunk, but please understand - the original manga and also the script was written by women - almost all women dream of waking up by HOT guy without clearly remembering the last night... but it is just a dream! You can pretty much say that he is a bastard, but it is so sweeeeet when he cares of Sakurako, but then again it seems like to him they are "friends with benefits". I think it won't be a big spoiler if I tell you that he has something on with Takemi too, which makes him even more bastard than he is. Just as he said - he likes Sakurako, but feels close to Takemi, as they share similar emotions in life.

The youngest sister is Ume-chan. She is sooooo sweet as she is so young - actually she is 18, but she is so small and inexperienced that it makes her even sweeter. In manga, she actually is more tomboy - really short hair and more boyish clothes, but I like her in drama more. She might seem really plain, but it is unexpected what goes on in her mind. Ume is a art-student and for a long time she questions about her talent. I want to study art in future too, so I understand why this question is so hard - there are always people who are so much better! That's why even I got inspiration from Takemi's words "It's is not other's who decide whether you have talent or not, it's you!" - it goes for all kind of talents, not only for art.  One more comment - I have met bitches like Yukari and they do not get far - girls like Ume tend to be more successful in life.

The father is the worst. One time cheating- okey maybe this is even forgivable, but continuous cheating?! I think I would have hard time with forgiving my father too, but in the end - he is a father. No matter how things are, it is a fact which will stay. Especially because I believe that he had the worst time after mom died. Yes, a huge spoiler was it, but it is the thing that causes almost everything else. I so love Miyazaki Yoshiko - she is the cutest actress of her age I know. Mama was really naive, but she was the person who held the family together. Believe it or not, but I pretty much want to be the same kind mother in future xD (remind me that after 10 years)   I think that actually the family took it too lightly that mom died, but maybe they all were just mentally really strong. As mama was the "home" for everyone, then there are to ways for the family to go - broke up or grow even stronger together.

Small notes time - They concentrate on marrying really much, but I think that all it goes too fast - is not it normal to at least go out for 1-2 years, before even talking about it? Maybe it is just my western-thinking, but still. The biggest minus of the drama is that the time-flow is not well written - most of the things happen within 2 months, which is definitely way too short period for this drama. I like the ost - especially one sound is very beautiful.
In the end, all sisters are having hard time with their love-lives. I do not understand how they cannot be honest with each other - it seems like they had a special loving family, but still they cannot tell everything to each other. (Funny thing about myself - in my family there are also 4 daughters... I have 6 years difference with older sister, with one younger sister few minutes and 9 years with the youngest one... which is pretty much the same as Hanawa sisters had... I am the second - booo-hooo! -.- not happy)

SPOILER review: I said almost everything in the real review already, but still there are some things about the end. I Liked that Sakurako was the one who dumped Shozaburou, even though he wanted to marry and continue lying as he promised to father. but which I like even more was that Shozaburou was the one who begged for new chance from Sakurako. Their love was full of circumstances, but in the end Sakurako was the one who was able to change Shozaburou. I start to cry again... too beautiful love song is playing right now too.
I also like that Sakurako was able to forgive Takemi and dad. Sakurako was my favorite character btw.
Also I loved Ume-chan's message "Even if we are apart, we are family" - because next year I must move to another city, away from my family - they are the best in the whole universe! I must remember that sentence for whole my life - even when I move far-far away in future, I still have my place in this family. ^^

Yankee-kun to Megane-chan (2010)

Country: Japan
Genre: school, yankee, romance, comedy, violence
Format: drama 10 episodes
Cast: Narimiya Hiroki, Naka Riisa, Hongo Kanata,  Koyanagi Yu, Kawaguchi Haruna, Suzuki Ryohei, Minagawa Sarutoki, Ito Shiro, Furuta Arata, Owada Miho
Synopsis: Shinagawa Daichi is referred as yankee, he gets lousy grades and is always fighting, but he attends a highly rated high school, because on the entrance examination he fell in love with one girl, who later disappeared. Adachi Hana is a former yankee, who tries to move on with her life to live like a normal girl. She sees in Daichi a person who could help her. They become classmates and with Adachi's persistent attitude, they become friends.
Rating: 3/5
It is based on a famous same-named manga, but I must say that the drama is not actually that much based on it. There were too many things left out and too much new stuff added or changed. Like actually Adachi lived with her grandmother, not grandfather; In manga, they do not show that much Shinagawa's family. They more concentrate on future choices in drama, but manga shows their time in school. But an important thing to remember is that when drama was filmed, the manga was still on-going!! That explains the different ends and all. The drama shows about 2 months since they met til the end of the drama, but in manga they meet on first high school year and the manga ends many years after the high school graduation.

But there were many great points!! First and the main thing - NARIMIYA HIROKI and NAKA RIISA! As amazing as it is Narimiya Hiroki played 10 years younger character than he in real life is. Shinagawa Daichi was 17 years old, but at that time Narimiya was 27. Sugoi, ne?? In addition, his face expressions are more than super. He has perfect yankee-voice even xD (Maybe the experience of "Bloody Monday" helped him to get a better feeling =P). Narimiya Hiroki and Naka Riisa hit in ten with their appearance and acting.(I am in Narimiya fandom at the moment... O.o he is just soo hot...). Shinagawa Daichi might be a yankee (actually he seems to be yankee against his will), but he has so kind heart and that is what gives him the hard time. I like his home clothes - sexy animal print =P He also has cat and dog printed wallpaber =D SHOO KAWAII! But I feel like story revolves too much around Shinagawa. You can see him smoking many times on screen, but in the end he smokes less and that is called Hana's charm =D

Adachi Hana seemed like three different people in one body. One is "former yankee", second is "trying-hard-to-be-normal-(geek)" and last is "real Hana". I like the third person the most xD I cannot believe how dumb she can be - it is  amazing. No matter what the thing is she is always "SHINAGAWA~!" xD She never understood the situation and got everything wrong. But this all makes her funny and it is nice to watch.
It is hilarious that Narimiya Hiroki and Naka Riisa voices sounded like weeping cats, when they were yelling at each other.

I do not understand why they did all other characters so annoying (except for Nerima, because NerimaXShinagawa friendship is one high light of the drama). Chiba pretty much is a wimp - he has so few self confidence in him and he is pretty naive. Rinka is too yankee.. she has personality crack too xD and Izumi has his own problems... which can be really weird in some scenes O.o  and actually he was not yankee - he used to be a biker in junior high. But I must say that Kanata Hongo has some amazing leg kicks  (he is the white-head dude) =P At all, the drama contains much much violence.

They try to solve student problems like working part-time at the same time, future choices and dreams. Like many of you know, working part-time while attending high school is mostly not allowed in Japan, there of course might be exceptions. I think it is because studying is hard enough, but I really think that there are some cases where it should allowed. I live in Europe (like you all have found out before, I believe) and I know that in my class about 6-7 students are working too, but it is because some of them are living alone and they must pay the bills themselves, some earn money for partying, because they are too ashamed to ask their parents and some of them are just earning money from their hobbies. About future choices, I think that every student must make the decision themselves. It is their life, not their parents! I know that parents want the best for their children, but if they make their children study something that actually makes them unhappy?? To end this paragraph, I repeat

Shinagawa's words "Everybody has a dream, but not everyone are telling it out!"
It suck in technical way - it is too fake, but "imagination points" are extra-funny and these are in every episode too =D But I must say that Shinagawa reads too much manga, because his imagination was actually shoujo-like xD
The best thing is to watch it as a totally different drama, which has little to do with manga. As a live-action it sucks more than it should.

Swing Girls (2004)

Country: Japan
Genre: music
Format: movie
Cast: Ueno Juri, Hiraoka Yuta, Kanjiya Shihori, Motokariya Yuika, Toyoshima Yukari (+ many famous actors in small roles)
Synopsis: During the summer classes group of delinquent girls end up poisoning the school´s brass band. In order to make things better they have to replace the band members with themselves. But from hating and lazing around they grow to like music more than anybody thought. 
Rating: 3/5
It is soooo comic movie! I just was not able to stop laughing while watching it. It has many flaws, but it still is great movie.

The girls are pretty clever, but they are not the most smartest girls in school. I think that it is very free-spirited school they are attending - everyone did what they wanted, the girls wore make-up, bleached their hair etc. It is not very common in Japanese schools. The girls act like they are seven years old and I do not believe that they were able to play so good with so less practice. Then again, it is based on true story, but in real time, the girls had off-notes too, while in movie everything was perfect. The characters must have had a great musical hearing xD In fact, the actors did not know how to play these instruments at all in the first place. They went under 5 months of hard training to actually play! Respect for them! I like when actors do everything themselves and do not use stunts (or faking the thing).

I cannot bring out any special character - Tomoko, Takou, Yoshie, Sekiguchi and Naomi were the ones who story mostly concentrated, but it they were the ones who did not want to give up in any way.  My true favorite was Yoshie as Kanjiya Shihori is so cute actress =P Maybe I liked her because she is most like me =D Cute guys make me want to achieve everything, but finally I still will do it for myself ^o^
Funny, but meaningful quotes from movie "There are two kind of people in this world:
1) ones, who succeed, and others, who quit
2) ones, who can chill out, and others, who cannot
3) people, who swing, and people, who don't
It is funny story, that shows that if you want to achieve something in life, you must work hard.

Kimi ni Shika kikoenai (2007)

Also known as: Calling You; Only you can hear this voice
Country: Japan
Genre: romance, friendship, human
Format: movie
Cast: Koide Keisuke, Narumi Riko, Hada Mika, Katase Nana
Synopsis: Ryo (Narumi Riko) is a silent high school girl, who finds it hard to communicate with others. That´s why she has no-one to talk to. On one day she creates a mobile phone in her head, but for her surprise, it is picked up  on the other side by a boy called Shinya (Koide Keisuke).
Rating: 2/5

It is really beautiful  movie, but at the same time you can find similar things from other movies or dramas. (In some ways it reminds me "Il Mare" or USA version of it "The Lake house", because of the time differences and all). I did not like the fact that it mostly was about one thing, that´s why, it looked like it will last forever. It seriously is the slowest movie ever. Many times it does not have any soundtrack at all, expect for cicadas sound.

If you start to think about it, isn't it scary if a toy-phone starts to work this way??! O.o But actually, their "Mind-phones" are called telepathy. At first I thought that Shinya really is her imagination.  I started to think that if those mental phones would be real, then what would happen? I sure would like to have free calls XD

But some words about characters. Ryou was so annoying to me.. I am not a fan of people who are too shy, hesitating and afraid of everything. She was really slow and many times depressive. I know that being back-stabbed by your friends at early age is painful (been there, felt that), but you just must have self-belief that you are better than any of these guys! I liked that she started to change with the time they are talking to each other. NB! she does not look like, she has not practised piano for years. When she stopped playing in 2 class, then normally she would have forgotten most of the things by that time.

I cannot say anything much about Shinya, because he did not talk much and movie mostly concentrates on Ryou. Koide Keisuke has a nice smile - that I can tell =P He had cute ideas (like long-distance date) and all his personality was sweet. I liked his grandma, because she always wore kimonos =P
I like Nagano scenery - sooo beautiful! I know that many many people like that movie really much, so watch it and then decide! It is slow, has one story-line and is hard to follow because of the time difference, but it has something sweet in it.

SPOILER review: I do not understand if really no-one knew how to give first-aid?? Okey, they called ambulance and Ryou was by his side, but they should have at least tired to check any serious damages or at least is he breathing still... I know he moved, but still! This movie goes to a list "Worst dyeing scene ever"!  like tooooooo fake!           If someone did not understand then Harada was actually Ryou, but 10 years later. Also in the end, you see that people cannot change the past (except if you are Kenzo from "Proposal Daisakusen")

Sugar and Spice: Fumi Zekka (2006)

Also Known as: Sugar and Spice ~ what little girls are made of~
                            Sugar and Spice ~ Fumi zekka~ (Sublime in flavour)
Country: Japan
Genre: Romance
Format: movie
Cast: Yagira Yuya, Sawajiri Erika, Natsuki Mari, Oizumi Yu, Chen Bo-Lin, Hamada Gaku,   Mitsuishi Ken, Kimura Ryo,
Synopsis: Shiro (Yagira Yuya) is a young man just finished high school, who lives in Fussa and starts working at the gas station. His best friends are fighting over the same girl, one of them tries to commit suicide. In addition, he sees a break-up between a man and college girl Noriko (Sawajiri Erika), who starts working at the gas station too. Shiro finds himself in a point, where he is stuck with life and love.
Rating: 2/5

I must say under cover that I wanted to put much higher rating to it than just 2 stars, but I admit that those ratings are not actually based on only mine opinion.
When I saw it for the first time, I did not like it at all - it seemed boring and pointless (as many might have read from former review) I did not understood a thing back then, but this time - I absolutely loved it! Maybe it is because I have gone trough more stuff and grown up more, because now I find it one of the best love stories ever!
It gives you the perfect view of a real kind of relationship. But at first you must live trough some weird scenes.... as the guys are ... being guys? Yeah, this porn-stuff is weird.
(Actually I am making a review of Ichitaro's concert for school at the moment.... working on two reviews is hard O.O....... continueing with that review after 7 hours xD)
Well.. The two hours have many long scenes, but actually they are not so annoying - when you consentrate on the story. I cannot recall any annoying thing beside it O.o Weird...
All characters are nice and real. Naoki (a friend who tries to attemp a suicide at first) is sweet how  much he loves Yoko, but at the same time he is a sex-maniac. The other friend just should have been more honest with everybody.

Grandma was amazing! Being 70 and act like you are only 27! xD I like people who stay young forever. Her lost love story was so sad. Heart can recover from many heartbreaks, but there is only one deep cut to a heart and it will give you a wound, which can never be healed. She has many smart ideas and living-ways, so it is a good thing to actually listen and learn from her. In addition, the make-up artists have done amazing work with her! Natsuki Mari was at that time 55 years old.

Shiro was like a .... perfect man? (at least for me) but it is true that "man must know when to be soft and when though"  - "Softies get dumped". You can see how much impact her grandma had on him. I did not see a thing he did wrong. In one scene when he leaves Noriko alone and Noriko gets sad, I totally understood Shiro. The situation is so hard, when you are not a boyfriend and girlfriend, so you do not know what rigths do you have (like.. you cannot get very jealous if you are not together; Is it okey for you to ask about some stuff or not, etc). Been there, thought about that -.- still ended up with no results. Yagira Yuya actually has nice look =P

Sawajiri Erika looked cute! Noriko knew she looked pretty and that made her more selfconfident. I liked that she explained the thing about girls "No means yes! - It most of the time "NO MEANS NOOOO!" , "But only for one person they can mean the same thing" (Guys, just learn how to read the mood - I cannot really tell you the situations when they are the same, but like.. when girl really likes you, but her self discipline does not let her to say that she wants to stay. Was it too hard? still... just learn to read it well - cannot say anything helpful xD) I hate her ex-boyfriend, he is a bastard, but I do not say anything bad about Noriko yet (read spoiler review for that).

Mostly the movie concentrates on "What really is love?"  "Having special feelings for someone?", "Wanting to see someone more than once a day?" These are good questions.. by those questions I have been in love only once and even that was only onesided...  Remember, "If love is over, then it is over - you cannot force her/him to love you again".  The thing that love comes and goes is exactly the same kind of nature law as that seasons changes and after today comes tomorrow.
It is based on the same named novel and Oasis is really great band =P

SPOILER review: Noriko situation - many might think she was a bitch for leaving Shiro, but I must say my friend's words "Every girl has someone who they are helpless toward". If that special guy hugs or begs to go back to him, girl cannot to anything. Those guys give easily promises, but never keep them and the worst thing is that girls know it! And girls know that they will never get happy with those guys, but there is something unbelievably strong that keeps girls with them. (If you have seen "Porgy and Bess" opera, then the other guy is the same for Bess) Like it has nothing to do with real love and it is difficult to explain, but I think that every girl, who has had someone like that in their lives, knows what I mean. I think the best thing is to stay as far as you can and avoid any contact with them, but believe me - it is so hard. But what you can say bad about Noriko is that YOU just cannot let your ex into your new boyfriend's house!!!! and then almost get caugth! -.-
Shiro and Noriko looked much cuter together than with that ex -.-
If you want to know the "Daimond Fuji" place without watching the movie, then it is Lake Yamanaka at dust!
 And little girls are made of sugar and spice =P

Sensei wa Erai (2008)

Country: Japan
Genre: school
Format: movie
Cast: Nakajima Yuto, Yamada Ryosuke, Arioka Daiki, Chinen Yuri, Yusuke Santamaria, Karina, Abe Tsuyoshi
Synopsis: Souta (Nakajima Yuto), Wataru (Chinen Yuri) and Rin (Arioka Daiki) are students, who of public junior high school. They find their teacher Uzaki (Yusuke Santamaria) really annoying (His nickname is even "Uza-Ken", which literally means "You´re annoying"/ "You must be kidding"). As they get in contact with their old classmate Hayato (Yamada Ryosuke), they start to change the teacher into more appealing person. 
Rating: 1/5
To start with, the junior high students are not cool at all, but they understand it much too late. (Maybe it is just the system, that everybody who are older than yourself look cool to you, but when you reach to that point, you realize that actually it is nothing like that?) At the same time, I understand that their (high school students) life is hard too. The part of "growing up, but still being a child" is harsh for everyone, ne?

Souta (Sou-chan)- I find him the most foolest and childish ones! xD He was just so epic in everything he did - cool clothes? buying underpants from Shibuya (there's nothing wrong with that, but you'll understand what I mean if you watch it xD), studies, room0. He was like most comical character in it.  I liked the brothers relationship in it.
Wataru (Wata) - it was funny that Souta and Wataru were bestfriends - it seemed like they were the tallest and the smallest in the class =) but Wataru was such a mamaboy O.o Everything was like "mama will do!".

Takekura (Takeshita/Rin) - Arioka Daiki was the star of the movie for me =D His face expressions were so funny and all his character was cute. I think that knowing the "7 wonders of Uzaken" brought him really bad luck. yeah, bad luck with girls. He is the only character who is dragged into love-triangle, which is soooooooo sweet :) Ahh I wish that there would be not that rare to find that honest and brave guys in real world.

Gunjou (Hayato) - He was just annoying character. Yamada Ryosuke is all cute and totally idol-like in it, but the character was really like WTRamen!??? O.o (I am going to finish high-school in spring and even for me it was hard to understand what he was saying) Gunjou was the type of "Let's make the world a better place!" Yaaaaay!!! -.- not.... His overhelming kindness was actually annoying, because it seemed so fake.

now to the teacher... he totally deserved his nickname, but I think that he was the same as my written school-policy: Teacher and human are not the same. He/she can be the best person in the world, but totally suck in teaching. At the same time, there is a saying that "If a students really wants to learn, then he/she do not need any teacher at all, so there is not great or bad teachers. (Oh there are bad teachers - like languaege teachers, who teach you wrong pronounciation and wrong language rules. I have many teachers in my school /mostly older women/ who are like grannies in personality, but as a teacher no one respects them.). I liked that Uzaken was not a puppet and tried to make them the real thing themselves. It was cute how the 5th wonder was true, but in the other way xD (Watch the movie, to find out :P)
I like that it actually combines the really funny scenes with sad scenes. Just like school is all about - funny things, love-scenes, jealousy, giving your best and sad parts, which might make you cry in future too.   

AAHH! NOW I REMEMBER!! For some seconds it shows a scene, where there is a magazine on the table! /XD Yeah, on the cover of it was Yamashita Tomohisa.. It was a great surprise ^^





SPOILER review!: the end was really sad. It must have been mentally hard for guys when Uzaken collapsed. I know that once in my school a teacher collapsed in front of the class and was taken to the hospital. I think that a experience like that will remain to the memory for a long time, especially when you do not know what is wrong with other person. In the end I still started to cry, because when Aoyama-sensei (nurse) said, that she loved the sound of Uzaken's slippers, I reminded some personal issues, so if you really want to say something to other person, then just do it, before it is to late. even if it is just something about their slippers.

Tada kimi wo aishiteru (2006)

Also known as: Heavenly forest
Country: Japan
Genre: romance
Format: movie
Cast: Miyazaki Aoi, Tamaki Hiroshi, Kuroki Meisa, Uehara Misa, Koide Keisuke,
Synopsis: Makoto and Shizuru go to the same course in university and they become really good friends. For the birthday present Shizuru wants to have a picture of two of them kissing. After that Shizuru is gone from Makoto´s life. 
Rating: 3/5
I warn you from the start that I wrote more negative things about this movie, but still it is considered as one of the most romantic and best love-movies.... I think everyone tastes are so different - some love this movie, some hate and people like me are neutral..

At first I found it really slow, boring and annoying, but since the part they start to be house buddies, it gets funnier, faster and better. It seems as if the story finally starts running..I like when movies are made liked memories - you can see some scenes of the end at first, then the memories part and finally the real end. It makes it more interesting. More than that, the scenery is magical! I want to go to the forest like this too - especially because this place makes me want to pick up my pencils and paint again. So the technical side of the movie is great, but now to the bad side...
I do not like any character. Like really no-one.. They do not act the way it is normal for their age as they more seemed like 12 not over 20!  I know, there are things that "Try" to explain their behavior but for me they totally fail to give appropriate reasons to their actions.
Tamaki Hiroshi has a great English, which is one of the best things in it, but the character he plays is rather annoying. He takes everything to seriously, except Shizuru. Many times he did not get the jokes and when someone was serious, he thought it was funny. It feels as if he does not understand all the situations nor has his own opinion about things. Also I did not understand his skin-disease. Usually this kind of things go away after some time of medication?

And then Shizuru.. To start with her, I would like to say she is WEIRD, but she says in the movie too that "she is not weird, she is just "very original""... yeah.. weird, it is not her appearance that makes me say that (even though it would have been better if she had washed her hair and do something about her clothes), but the main reason are her thoughts and her views on life. Her way of thinking was pretty childish and naive. I know, sometimes we all see too much in things where is nothing, but her thoughts were exaggeration in every direction. She was the one who pushed herself on Makoto, he did absolutely nothing and she imagined everything already. She kinda a felt like psycho.. I do not understand her way of thinking at all. but if you want to hear positive thing, then Miyazaki Aoi actually looks so beautiful and cute, when you remove her glasses, so I hope you will watch the movie til the end to see it. Miyazaki Aoi's acting is great, but her character is too annoying for me to like her.

I believe that I should write some things about the last, but very important character too. Miyuki, played by Kuroki Meisa, was definitely wedding-addicted. Sadly mostly this kind of women do not marry at all or marry too much. I am afraid that she is the one who will only dream about it - mostly because she is able to wear a wedding dress before wedding - I consider it as a bad omen. Most men are afraid to date girls who are too wedding-directed. There is nothing much about Miyuki, but I hope that she managed to have her perfect wedding. Kuroki Meisa is beautiful as always, but she is the same as always too. I praised her much in "Dance Subaru", but this time I find that her only advantage is her appearance - that explains why she is/was that great model, but her acting skills... sorry, Kuroki Meisa, I do not see you as great actress.
I forgot to mention before that I loved Shizuru's photos a lot. I always feel connected to black and white photos and people. There is something intimate about them, so at least Shizuku's so-called "work" paid off and earned at least one point.
I think it is the first sad movie, even though I did not cry. Maybe it was because I was not that into it or that my sister is perfect when it comes to ruining sad scenes. And like the movie ended, I will end too. THAT FAKE BIRD IS TOOO HILARIOUS!
Even ramen would have been a better bird" by Yanne

Love Julinsee (2011)

Also known as: Love at 4 size
Country: Thai
Genre: romance, youth
Format: movie
Cast: Alex Rendell, Apinya Sakuljaroensuk, Irada Siriwut, Jirayu La-ongmanee, Nutthapong Pibultankiet, Tisanart Sornseuk, Natcha Jantapan, Monchanok Saegchaipiangpen
Synopsis: A famous Big Mountain concert is happening. Four different song have four different stories to tell about the love. Love has nothing to do with age, needs patience, needs to be clear, but might make you lose a friend.
Rating: 4/5
I like the way they connected the different stories with each other by bringing them into the concert and also giving them a special song, which describes story the best. Most of the songs are performed by PARADOX. I totally love their songs =P These are great concert songs (like sometimes there are songs, which you like to hear from music player, but not on live, but I really would like to hear them on live more than from music player. You get the point?) The concert part makes sometimes think "WTRamen??"- their costumes are hilarious, but the truth is - THEY WEAR THOSE ON THEIR REAL CONCERTS TOO! the more I see them, the more I like them xD I must warn you that there might be many spoilers in my this time review, so I am not making a special "Spoiler-part". Hope you will forgive me!

1.Story - Fon & Boat. You can understand from the start that Boat is a pervert-minded bastard and actually his pick-up skills are horrible. Fon at the same time is very self confident and skillful. Even though the teasing is usual thing (Many girls love to tease guys just for fun. Guys cannot fight the nature, but girls can. Sorry, guys! But teasing you is so fun even when we, girls, do not have any feelings towards you) I know that the thing Fon does to him, is way too mean, but in some way he deserved it. But it might leave a lifetime trauma, so better girls - please do not try to act the same way as Fon did in the end.. But, guys! - never underestimate girls =P One side comment - "Girly guys are veeeeeeery popular in Thai - I am not sure, but there is the highest population of gays in the world. Their song is "SEXY" =P 

2.Story - Pla & Bright. Bright was so damn romantic (sadly I do not like that much romance), but he was the big-fat-liar. They were too lovey-dovey all the time. It shows really difficult feelings - was he truly lying about everything or was that only a BIIIIG misunderstanding? It was way too much deleted scenes to be sure in either of the possibilities. In addition, it has many lines to think about. Firstly - if woman wants something, then she should make it - it was the mothers way to think about life. Secondly, about the difficult relationship - "Waiting for a love or waiting for a break-up?". It was the main theme in this story. I can truthfully say that I was able to relate to this story the most because of this sentence. If you are in this kind of situation, you really do not know anymore what to wait for. It is the saddest story of the four of them, but like they say in movie "Sadness is a part of life!". Their song  songs "Waiting" and the song I was not able to find out.

3.Story - Hatai (Now) & Yo. I loved this story the most. Even though there have been many scenes deleted I still understood everything. I was amazed by their school - it was art school and I have never seen anything about Thai culture (except traditional dance in "First Love ~ a little crazy thing called love~"). The story is mostly about big misunderstandings and Hatai (I am actually not sure if that was her name) plays around too much. She tends to be childish, but there are many times she seems to be normal. I find her apologize so sweet, but it is sad, that those were not her real words. I understand why Yo was annoyed and said that he needs time to think. I bet that if you cannot understand it from movie itself, then you might understand it in trailer. If you still do not understand, then read the little spoiler part: This thing is actually called "best-friend-syndrome" - no matter where or what,  the best friend is there - on dates (like that concert) and so on. There is feeling like the best friend is everywhere and knows everything. Also like you can see in trailer, it was actually the friend who put those thoughts into Hatai's head, but it seems different in movie - again stupid cut-outs -.- I still liked it the best though, they were so cute together =P Their song is "Summer"

4.Story - Eua & Yok. It is the usual story of longtime-friends. Dating can ruin everything.  Many times just one or two kisses and it is already over (do not believe in dramas like "Proposal Daisakusen" that much xD). Many might say that Yok was overdoing everything by telling everyone, but I find that he just was happy. More seemed like Eua was over-reacting. She did not thought everything through before telling him and that led it to the point were they finally stood. If she had spoken up before, then it would have had diffrent end. (btw. There is no way to see it as a kiss. but it was definitely more than a friendhug xD.) What is funny is their dates and the "Rabbit/Moon" song. It has the most wicked, sad and funny lyrics I have heard recently. I bet she was just confused by all the situation, but you never know what happened to them in future, ne? (I tend to think all kind of sequels or different endings to movies/dramas, so people who like to do that, think about their future too)  Song.. could not find out...

What I do not like about the whole movie, is that there are tooo many deleted scenes! It makes it hard to understand everything perfectly and that is just more than sad. I am very looking to see deleted scenes, because they should be added to DVD, but I have not found them anywhere. So you can just see some parts of it from trailer (I strongly recommend to watch it!)
But I try to finish review with positive things. Many actors have their first debut in it! They are all so amazing and beautiful! They are not great cast for acting skills, but they are great cast because they make you want to see this movie soooo much! (like I did) and their acting is believable. Sometimes I though that it is not even acting, but real life and ,not like in "Halfway", I was not annoyed by that "feeling-of-personal-life-watching". Also, as it is 2011 movie, it is very nowaday-ish (is there a word like that??) -

I think it is one of the first movies (Asian movies) where I see Facebook and MSN. But there still are those Thai traditional things (like Thai dance in second story). The scenes are beautiful and they have used great shooting-techniques (I cannot give you an example, so just watch and see it yourself). It is very funny, cute and easy movie, with many bittersweet feelings. It shows different stories of love and every story has different conclusion just as in real life, so I think that most of you can relate to one or other story. It is truly amazing how down to earth stories it has.  (It was crazy thing to find out all the their songs because I cannot understand or read any Thai xD I hope you understand my hard road to post this review)