Nobuta wo Produce (2005)

Country: Japan
Genre: school life, comedy
Format: drama 10 episodes
Cast: Yamashita Tomohisa, Kamenashi Kazuya, Horikita Maki, Toda Erika, Nakajima Yuto, Wakaba Ryuya, Okada Yoshinori, Natsuki Mari, Daito Shunsuke,
Synopsis: Kiritani Shuuji (played by Kamenashi Kazuya) is a popular guy, who wants to appeal to everybody, except Kusano Akira (Yamashita Tomohisa), who Shuuji finds REALLY annoying. There comes a new student into their class - Kotani Nobuko - a girl without selfconfidence. Shuuji and Akira find that they may use their youth to make Nobuko into school´s most popular girl.  
Rating: 5/5

AMAZING!!!! XD THE BEST SCHOOL DRAMA and one of the most famous dramas of all. Many now-addicts have started their drama-addiction exactly with this amazing piece of art! And I consider myself as one of them. I remember clearly how I found it and I must admit that I just read the synopsis and saw Yamashita Tomohisa's and Kamenashi Kazuya's pictures and I was already in love with it. Also this drama led me to Johnny's, who now are a big part of my life (do not say I should get a life! I have totally normal social life!!!).
 Yamashita Tomohisa´s acting is soooooo great - his face expressions and the way he plays Akira are over the top. I know many, who say that he is annoying, but please, people, make a distinction between the actor and the character!Akira is childish, eccentric and has a weird accent, but he is also strong (veery strong - no wonder Yamashita Tomohisa got role as Joe in "Ashita to Joe"), competitive and cuuuuute!

I loved the scenes where Akira showed his manly side, it was like "WOOOOW" O.o (hot!)  Many Yamashita Tomohisa's fans' call the "Nobuta wo Produce" time as "The Akira-period" in Yamashita Tomohisa's life xD For me Akira is definitely the best characther he has ever played. (I think I said the same thing in "Buzzer beat" review about Naoki, but Naoki is like the hottest characther, but Akira is the best in every way) .
Disturbing was that Kamenashi Kazuya was so skinny (Thank god, he has some meat on the bones now.  Otherwise his acting was great too, but I was kinds annoyed by Shuuji's characther. He was faking and cared about his popularity, but not about the people around him. His popularity really shrunk down in the end xD Beside Kamenashi Kazuya talked the same way as in "Tatta hitotsu no koi" and it was really tiring as it is so monotone and sleepy. And Shuuji was put in the place of God, who is superior -.- But I loved him after his popularity had plummeted xD he was much more human then.

Horikita Maki did not have many lines as Nobuta, but she was the best! She gave you the real Nobuta like!! amazing! But I do not understand how Nobuta was able to get into this kind of situation for just that little thing in past. Childhood trauma? abusing, DV and stuff like these leave horrible marks in future, but not misunderstanding some things.. It looked like Nobuta is reaaaally shy, but she had so many times where she was so confident in herself that I almost fell from the chair!
One really important person was the vice-president. She said the things that have a deeper meaning and make people think again about things. I found all other teachers weak and stupid. They must give students the security in school. The school-bullying is a serious problem and teachers should do more about it! It is horrible when you are bullied while there are so many people around you and still no-body helps. (Let's make a world a better place and stand for each other!).
And lastly Toda Erika in role of Mariko. She is soo pretty and her obentos seemed sooo tasteful :P. other stuff under the spoiler review. Sorry

The little things of drama. After watching this you will know exactly how to make "Kon-kon", "Nobuta power", "Akira shock", "Bye-cyclie! -bye-bye-cyclie" and  Kame's kawaii-popular-mode. There are sooo many funny scenes which mostly are lip-ads. It teaches you to end your Japanese date perfectly. Girls just must say: "Kyou wa tanoshi kata desu!" ("It was great today/ I had a great time/ etc. you get the point of it, ne?). I loved the reason why Shuuji's dad married with Shuuji's mom, even though she was mostly abroad. To marry just because then you will have the chance to meet her at least once a year, but otherwise he would not had seen her even for that one time. Sooo cute!!! (all those people who are in this kind of situation and are thinking about a divorce and people who whine that their lovers are not spending enough time with them, should put that by ear!). Further more, Shuuji's mother's name was Kiritani Nobuko, what (dadadaaa)is the same as Nobuta's! The reason why Shuuji's dad screams "NOBU-DA!", was that it was a shortening of "Nobuko darling". Kawaii desu ne? Also you see that one Nobuta gym t-shirt ends up in Africa. Hint-hint Shuuji's mother was social worker in Africa for some time :P (It actually was not mentioned in drama, but I just made my own conclusions)

In the episode of school festival watch for the second, when Shuuji screams "I AM NOT KAMENASHI KAZUYA!". It made me like, "yeah, right you're not!" xD It is tooo funny xD Many of you might not get the November 4th thing in episode 4 - you must know some things about Japanese languaege. If you write 114 (11 = November, 4= the date), then 11 looks like ii-s (same way pronounced "ii") and 4 in Japanese is "yo", which gives you "ii yo" (means something like "great", that's why it is called a great day). Watch out for the ending piggy song "Seishun amigo" by Shuuji to Akira (At first I did not get the point, but it is so adorable and stupid xD) aaa! the song Yamashita Tomohisa is singing in episode 7 is "Oyome ni oide" by Fukuyama Masaharu (Only that Yamashita Tomohisa sings it in slow-version). Also my friend said that in some episodes you can see people dancing far Shuuji&Akira "Seishun Amigo" dance, but I have not seen it myself (so going to look at it xD)

The cute side-characters were James and Shiitaka. I liked James, because he was only half-Japanese and made drama more international-level xD and Shiitaka.. he was just sooo stylish, cute and hot. I so want that Wakaba Ryuya could get his big time! (He actually has acted in many famous things like "GANTZ", "Gokusen 3" and he also acted in "My boss, my hero" and "Sensei wa Erai", which both I have seen, but I cannot remember him at all! :S I think he has not have any lead-roles at all. Okey, he was a lead in "4TEEN", but year then was 2004)
I saw a dream of "Nobuta wo produce" after rewatching it and I woke up with nose-bleed O.o....

SPOILER review: I thought for a long time that Mariko is the bitchest person of all, but she turned out to be the best one. But it was so horrible what Shuuji made to her!!! :S Girl's heart is very fragile and it hurts much, when a guy you like says it is all a lie. I liked her especially in the end, I loved that she became Nobuta's friend,but the real end... that was just O.o weird.. Shuuji and Akira just left her, I know it was her wish and blablablaa, but still! It was a bit... gay-ish (btw. I love gays, so I am not so homofob!) Two guys playing in the sea..?
I cannot understand how people always fell in love with wrong people??!! Nobuta broke even my heart when she choose Shuuji over Akira. Akira was always by her side, but still she started to love the "popular guy who everyone likes" -.- NANDE?? :S it is too sad... I wonder if they were going to ever meet again. I so hope they were xD
I still believe that it might have worked out between Nobuta and Shiitaka.. I would have not mind that in this way xD
and a special thing... AOI IS A CRAZY BITCH!!!!

Troubleman (2009)

Country: Japan
Genre: surreal, yakuza, life,
Format: drama 12 episodes
Cast: Kato Shigeaki, Takezai Terunosuke, Iwasa Mayuku, Nakayama Yuichiro, Riju Go, Kino Hana, Terajima Susumu, Osugi Ren, Nukumizu Youichi, Satsukawa Aimi, Kanai Yuta, Katagiri Hairi, Miyaji Masako, Uechi Haruna
Synopsis: Tokuda Kazuo is cursed with bad luck - since birth only bad things happen to people near to him. As things get even worse by every day, he tries to find a way to get over that curse. One day by all kind of things, he ends up with his five other apartment residents in the same room and soon it becomes clear that they share much more than that apartment...
Rating: 5/5

Really short drama, okey, it has 12 episodes, but they  are like 30 minutes long, but at least 5 minutes of it are beginning and ending themes (I've said it before, that usually Japanese dramas are 45 minutes long). I do not understand how can it have soooooo low ratings?????!!! Average is like 2, but I think that it is a masterpiece. I am afraid that it is because it aired on Friday nights 00:12 - older people sleep already and young ones party (at least in my country xD) This is one of the most surreal and most interesting drama ever!
It perfect example that you cannot fight with the fate, it seems like a endless ring and it is impossible to get out of it. There is a saying that "What good for one is bad for other" - it is like a main theme in "Troubleman". I like the script. It is just sooo amazing. Beside, Kato Shigeaki is amazing in his role! All this pronunciation and acting is über xD

The built-up is amazing. At first many things seem hard to understand, but once you know the truth, it gets unbelievable scary. I think that this drama shows how small actually the world is (In real life, doesn't world seem small when you read my blog, but you are on the other side of the world? xD)
I cannot say anything much about characters, but I think that Yakuza's (the one in apartment too) story was the saddest. Whole drama shows different sides of life - we really can't see others past and feelings.  But I can say some words about Kato Shigeaki and his role.

Firstly, Tokuda's work suited him so much, but like always, if you do something great for people, you do bad for company, which gets you fired -.- A big line in it are mangakas and they are soooo kowai! (scary) I have always admired their drawing skills, but this time the gave me creeps! Especially Marcus the monkey O.q I have never liked monkeys and now they like even less -.- I think that maybe because they had to spend so much time alone there and then for the first time a handsome/sexy/great guy walks in - yeah, you might end up as a lunatic so. I have always thought if Kato Shigeaki can draw so well in real life too (I know that he might had somebody else's drawing), but he has played mangaka already for twice! (the second time was in "Chichi yo, anata wa erakatta")
I have always wanted to try hypnotherapy, which they do much in it, but I am afraid that I might recall some strangled memories, which might change my life (don't you sometimes have this feeling of fear in some situations like your mind says that something bad has happened this way, but you self cannot remember it?)

I love the theme song!! It is "Funky man" by NEWS (who are my favorites =P) and also in the very last episode there is a unplugged version of "Forever". I think that the end is the most romantic thing I have seen xD but when to think about March 11th 2011 in Japan, then it is a little bit sad and inappropriate. But still, I love this drama, it is just sooo wicked. 

Marry me, Mary! (2010)

Also known as: Mary stayed out all night
Country: South-Korea
Genre: romance, comedy
Format: drama 16 episodes
Cast: Jang Geun Suk, Moon Geun Young, Kim Jae Wook, Kim Hyo Jin, Park Joon Gyu, Park Sang Myun, Lee Ah Hyun, Lee Sun Ho, Lee Eun
Synopsis: Wi Mary (sometimes written Mae Ri) is a optimistic girl, whose father is always in debts, which causes problems to her too. She accidentally runs over indie-singer Kang Mu Gyul. At the same time her father is saved by a old friend, who got really rich in Japan, but now has returned to Korea with his son. The fathers decide to get their children married to each other as they once promised. To find a excuse, Mary asks Mu Gyul to act like they got married, so that Mary would not have to marry Jung In. But the situation is more complicated than it seems at the first sight and Mary makes a "100 day contract", in which she has to divide her time with her "two husbands". In the end of the 100th day, she must decide who to marry.
Rating: 5/5

It seems so girly-love-movie, but actually everybody are for their own benefit in the contract. People tend to be egoistic and try to get the best situation for themselves - all these things make it really interesting. I watched all 16 episodes in 3 days in a row (about 5 episodes for a day).
I do not know where to start... (*should get some sleeeep, get some sleeeeeeeeeeep... stupid pu-erh tea O.q under the affect of strong tea*)It is not like usual Korean dramas. The girl is not endlessly fallen in love with neither of guys and it seems same for guys, but all the emotions develop slowly. There are more than needed misunderstandings, but some of them where forgivable. Like why did Mary do all her bridal-training and wedding stuff if she had no intentions to marry Jung In?? Everything and everyone has its own limits and some people are more short-tempered than others. 
They definitely drink a lot in it.. like A LOT! but it is amazing how great actors both Geun-leads are, because their drunk-attitudes are hilarious, but at the same time normal for really drunk person. I find Mu Gyul  and Mary so similar (except that Mary listens to explanations and believes people), they are like perfect for each other.

I like Mary's personality, she is so sweet and tries to find the best solution for everyone, but I hate her hair! There is just too much of it! I do not understand why the stylists put so much hair-extensions on her?? Luckily she often wears them closed ^^ Also it is true, that on free time, she dresses like beggar xD I found that my personality is actually really similar to her. She is nothing like other Korean girls (at least in dramas).Mu Gyul's best part is .... eeem... eeeem.. okey, Jang Geun Suk is just so hot and sexy in this role, plus he is so great singer =P

Actually I like Mu Gyul's attitude too - he gets so childish when he is with his mother or when he has wicked mode, but otherwise is like god - all mighty xD I feel like he was the only person who the REAL bad luck in drama - he just happened to be in a wrong place on a wrong time. (In the end you might say vise versa, but at first is seems so). I loved the question "Between love, trust and hope, which is the most important?" You know the answer? =P It is loyalty xD but my mom said "love, because to her it is a combination of trust, loyalty and hope etc, so actually I agree to it. It would have been better if the question would have been "between trust, hope and loyalty" and then answer "love", but Mu Gyul did not believe in love, which makes it all understandable.

I have not written anything about Jung In (mostly referred as "Director"). He looked like a robot. O.o All his movements and speech were like automatic, but it was because of how his father raised him. Despite of  being robot, many many funny scenes were because of him! Really all those misheard things were giving me stomach-cramps! In addition, there is much  gay-theme with him, which makes it really hard to understand. Even Mary thought he is gay, because that would make sense of the  fast marrying and his extremely-(eeeeem...)high perfectionism (I just remembered one song about man of drawing, who is perfect in any way). In the end, I am 100% sure, that if he wasn´t gay, then he at least was a bi-sexual =). So the drama suits for people who are open minded. My older sister actually liked him more than Mu Gyul - she said that he would marry with someone like him anytime xD

I think I should say some words about fathers too, because they are the reason of all the problems. Firstly, I understand that Mary's father wants the best of her daughter, but god sake!, stop already! He ruined her life already so much, why cannot he let Mary be??! In some scenes he actually seems already normal, but then comes the real reason of his behavior - Jung In's father. I knew from the start that the-called "Japan business" was actually yakuza stuff. They do not say that it was it, but com'on! everybody can understand from his attitude and his guards (read: hitmen) that it was not something pleasant. I think that he was a person who just wanted the best for himself and he really did not care about anyone else. (annoying *************************************).  I felt like he wanted to chenge EVERY SINGLE THING ABOUT MARY!

I do not understand how is it possible to have such kind of marriage registration? Just one person, two witnesses and other's signature does not make it a registration!! Same was in "Playful Kiss" where Seung Jo registered their marriage just with Ha Ni's ID-card. Does it really happens so in South-Korea?? I know that in "Marry me, Mary" actually father copied her sign, but it does not explain the real situation!
I actually did not like the ending. I would have loved if it had cliche-end, but they put the epilogue to explain everything and it actually ruined the end :S

Some small thing of drama. It has amazing OST! They have better OST than "You're beautiful" (just my thought). "Wi Mary" actually sounds like "We marry" in English XD which makes her name exactly appropriate of the drama and also, from her name comes all the "Merry Christmas" jokes. Ahh, also, like in every drama - the comparison  with animals. In "Marry me, Mary" they use cats :P cute-cute cats :P Especially the cat on the picture xD

Rumors, statistics etc: Many people have dropped it and it has received much bad critique, but I think it is because it is not a usual Korean drama! But in the end the ratings where so bad, that the scriptwriter dropped the project and they had to look for a new one (former scriptwriter wrote episodes 1-10th and the second 11 until the end). The average viewer rating (nationwide) was about 6 (compare it to "You're beautiful" 10,1!, but at the same time "Heartstrings" was only 5,7 and "Playful kiss" 4,9, which makes "Marry me, Mary" better than those too) . Despite of those things, drama earned many awards and is famous for GeunXGeun-pair xD (Both leads have Geun in their first names xD).
I strongly recommend it. It is so funny and sweet. I do not understand why people are complaining. I absolutely loved it and I think that people, who like my "5 STAR" list, will like it too.

SPOILER review: In drama it seems, like Mu Gyul and Mary do not share much emotions, but I later saw one fan-video of it (it is the best video of them ever) and I understood then, that actually they loved each other soooo much, but sadly this video was removed from Youtube
.I do not understand one thing at all.. Mary is said to be tone-deaf, but she wrote lyrics for "Hello, hello"? It would make sense if she wrote the lyrics, but Mu Gyul made them suitable for the song.
There is said, that Mu Gyul dated girls only for one month and in epilogue Mary says that they have broken up for 12 times and are dating for 13th, but at the same time how long time has it been since the got together for the real time? One year! divide it with 12 times and you'll get that they broke up every time after one month, but got together again xD

Kimi ni Todoke (2010)

Also known as: From me to you, Reaching for you
Country: Japan
Genre: youth, school, romance, comedy
Format: movie
Cast: Miura Haruma, Tabe Mikako, Kiritani Mirei, Renbutsu Misako, Watanabe Natsuna, Aoyama Haru, Kanai Yuta, Arata, Tomita Yasuko, Katsumura Masanobu, Haruyama Rena
Synopsis: Kuronuma Sawako, with a nickname Sadako as she reminds Sadako from "The Ring", is always misunderstood by other people. Actually she is a normal girl whose motto is "One good deed everyday" and who wants to live up to other's expectations. Until the day when the school's most popular guy starts to speak to her, she has been alone and left out. Since that day everything changes.
Rating: 5/5

It was made after same named manga. It is amazing how similar are manga characters and real actors!! There actually was  a popularity guess who should play in the live-action and Miura Haruma was like 100% winner, but Tabe Mikako was not even listed (she was not so famous actress, I think).
I wish I would have seen it as first Miura Haruma role (not "Koizora the movie"), because in this movie, I understood why he is so talented and loved actor! I agree that he is great! He just was Kazehaya! It did not seem acting at all! It was a copy-paste of the actual Kazehaya from manga!!! 

There is a great friendship between Sawako, Chizuru and Yano. Like every friendship, their friendship suffers from false rumors and it is so sad how Sawako tried to clear them away. But I liked Chizuru's and Yano's thought that only thing that matters is what they think of each others (Not sure if that thought was brought up in movie..). Shizuru and Yano are so cool! They are totally different, but they truly are best-friends. Also what is great is Shizuru's and Ryu's story - it is a small side story, but cute.

I love Sawako's character!! She was a late-bloomer - knew nothing about friendship and love. She saw many things through pink glasses, but she was so cute at the same time. Usually I get annoyed by too naive people, but I found Sawako just a sweet person. All this unknowing and shyness explains many her actions too. She definitely is the cutest character in the story. Maybe one thing that is different than in manga is that in movie you cannot see much her feelings so much. As it is a shoujo manga, then there are all those *too much emotions* thing xD

Kazehaya at the same time did everything that makes a girl heart beat fast and he showed his emotions much, but on the other hand, he seemed to be like it with others too. There are sooooo cute scenes between Kazehaya and Sawako. It looked like he did not want to lose a sight of Sawako no matter what the situation was xD (OMG! Miura Haruma's smile is irresistible!)
It is one of those cute high-school love-movies, which everyone wants to have during their school-years but few have. (Mind went blank again.. I should not write reviews, when I am sick and have to write poetry-essay of Jessenin, Blok and Brjussov (Russian poerty writers).. I definitely would change my studies with high-school love ^o^).

There is much action and really different story lines in it. (Like you know, I am not the slow-movie type xD) I first watched the movie and then fell in love with manga too. Like I have heard, then it is a pretty popular stuff =P I actually cannot recall any annoying aspect of the movie!! O.o Now I would like to watch it again ^^ (Please, do not tell me that I have not finished my homework and tomorrow is a school day!) 

(For people who know "The Ring" girl as Samara: In American version it really is Samara, but the original, Japanese version, is Sadako. Japanese version is said to be much scarier, so Americans decided to make a less scarier version and also changed the name, because Samara is more American than Sadako)

Kamikaze Girls (2004)

Country: Japan
Genre: Comedy, friendship, lolita-yankee
Format: movie
Cast: Tsuchiya Anna, Fukuda Kyoko, Abe Sadao, Okada Yoshinori, Miyasako Hiroyuki, Koike Eiko, 
Synopsis: Momoko is a lolita, who sells his father´s old bogus brands to cover her expensive outgoing. One day she meets self-styled "Yankee" Ichigo. Between them bonds a friendship.
Rating: 4/5
It gets one bonus star for being my first Japanese movie and for introducing Japanese movie-industry to me. Even though it is my first Asian movie, I consider "Nobuta wo Produce" as the start of my addiction. I stumbled on the movie by accident on Youtube because I have always had a thing for cute lolita clothes, even though I have never worn them myself.

It´s a really great movie about friendship and of course fabulous lolita-clothes. The main brand "Baby, Stars Shine Bright" is an actual lolita brand, that was founded by Akinori Isobe and his wife Fumiyo. Throughout the movie you can see Momoko wearing lolita clothes, Sweet-Lolita style to be accurate, which means a lot of cuteness and laces.
I love the up-built of the movie. It has interesting start and amazing effects, which make the movie even more interesting. I like that they explain almost everything about Ichigo's and Momoko's life, but it is sad that they did not explain exactly Momoko's attitude. They say that she was like it since she was born, but to me it is inconvenient. But she has amazing sewing skills *jealous*

In addition, they show right emotions at the right time, except that Momoko had almost no feelings (beside her fantasy things). Even though Momoko says she does not need anyone, I think that actually her grandmother played a much important role in her life, than it seemed like. But maybe I think it like this because of my life..  Despite looking like a "small kid" and lacking of social skills, she is extremely smart and educated. Due to influences from Rococco-period, she is into classical music, reading and handcrafts. Fukuda Kyoko is absolutely brilliant in her role.

I knew Tsuchiya Anna before, but I knew her as a singer and voice-actress for "Nana". Ichigo is deliquent, her writing skills are equal to a first grade student. She is equally lacking in social skills, but with the difference that her actions are mostly inappropriate and rude. Compared to Momoko, she has a strong sense of justice and takes her promises seriously. At the same time from her backstory you can see that she once used to be smart average girl, but as a victim of school bullying, she decided to make the change. Ichigo gets on the bad side with her former gang and  Ahh, one thing about Ichigo's name! If someone does not know, then "Ichigo" meaning is "Strawberry", but "Ichiko" is "First child", that's why Ichigo thought that her name is not suitable for her as yankee.

There are many great lines in script, but I do not think they all are true. It is just my personality which does not want to agree with them. For example: "Woman cannot cry in public, always cry alone!" - Actually my mother raised me up with this saying too and for long time I held everything in me, so no-one could see me hurt, but in the end it is too painful. Now (like you have understood it already) I am pretty much a crybaby, though I never cry for stupid reasons! Only when I am hurt or when I see some sad movie.

Second line: "If there is something you like, take it! If there is something you want to do, do it!" - YES! People should be more adventurous, more spontaneity! ..but please obey the laws... it is not that great if you take everything you want or do what you want and end up in jail..
The last one: "Humans are cowards in face of happiness! Humans need courage to face it!" -
It all depends on, "what is happiness?" - if it is love and relationships then it really needs courage, but if it is something small like seeing a butterfly - does watching it needs courage? Yes, if you are afraid of butterflies, but then again, it would not bring happiness, people are supernatural if they work hard on want they want, so if you have big will power and won't give up, there is a high possibility to get what you want.

It is wicked and totally funny movie with many surreal scenes. It might seem to be girlish movie at some moments, but it is totally worth watching as it does not get boring. This movie has so many messages - friendships, broken marriages, bullying, fighting, illnesses, following your dreams, differences between city and country etc. There are so many things in it to what people can relate or find interesting.

P.P.O.I (1999)

Country: Japan
Genre: romance, comedy, youth
Format: mini-drama 8 episodes
Cast: Yamashita Tomohisa, Aiba Masaki, Fukiishi Kazue, Maeda Aki, Hasegawa Jun, Akanishi Jin, Nakamaru Yuichi, Uesato Ryuta, Takahashi Yuzuru, Furuya Yoichi
Synopsis: Amano Hei is always mistaken for a girl, because he is short and looks very girly. His friend is Kusaka Banri - the most popular guy in school. Amano has a crush on a quiet Ichinose Hinako, but does not know how to confess to her. At the same time Hinako's friend Sagami Makoto has a crush on Amano Hei. The super confusing love stories will get even more confusing and a short but sweet love story is on.
Rating: 3/5
(Yeah, I totally stole the Yamashita Tomohisa concert title "short but sweet", but I believe that he was not the first who thought about it!) Drama is more than funny and it is really short, but it might be hard to find from net, because it was never published on DVD.
"P.P.O.I" is the oldest drama I have watched with 2011 august results. Like you see from the cast many different Johnny's act in it.

Actually it should be the only drama and the only place where you could see Yamashita Tomohisa in GIRL'S CLOTHING! I am not sure, but I think that he has not even wore girl's clothing for some comedy sketch in variety shows. He is so going to kill me for this photo xD But you have to agree that he had that cuteness back then (he still is cute, but now he is much more masculine with all his amazing abs. You really cannot put him on girl's clothes anymore, because he would look.... weird O.q.

All the actors/actresses are sooooo chibi! I looked how Fukiishi Kazue and Maeda Aki now look and they look sooo beautiful! I edited the picture to show you "back then and now" photos xD So sad that I have not seen any other drama from them.Drama shows much Makoto's and Ichinose's friendship, but I kinda feel like it was weird... because usually girls have the silent agreement that you cannot like the same guy and if you like, then neither of them is allowed to take a first step. At least many girls have it.

 It has a really really funny script. Especially HeiXBanri dialogues. They have many great scenes, where they show the bestfriend mood. If I compare it to girls friendship, which looked like Ichinose was just a tailbone for Makoto, the guys where more equal and they definitely talked more to each other xD It felt like Banri was Hei's big teacher, because Banri was much much more mature than any other character in it. I know that people who do not like spoilers will hate me for that, but I must submit great BanriXHei kiss pics!!!

They are just priceless!  A big story line was the culprit part. Someone was trying to kill Banri!! O.O It was unexpected solution in the end, but it add the mystery in it.  (My sister just discovered that Banri, just name, is similar to Barni, the bear... - it is a cookie bar which has a sick advertisement and toooo catchy song O.q makes me lunatic!)

But even though they were great.. My favorite character was Bobby aka Takaoka (played by Takahashi Yuzuru). He was so funny! His biig crush on Hei was one of the highlights of the drama. Joanna!Joanna! .. Bobby! xD

From time to time my sister makes the joke when she is at the city.. yeah, not the smartest thing to do in the middle of the crowded place.
I think It was a part of one Takizawa Hideaki show, but I do not know what. At least it was some kind of Junior show. More I feel like Takizawa Hideaki liked to put Yamashita Tomohisa into uncomfortable situations during his junior time... 
I did not recognize Akanishi Jin in it O.q and Nakamaru Yuichi has come a long way in acting..  

The Seaside Motel (2010)

Country: Japan
Genre: romance, comedy, surreal, yakuza, (contains sex and violence)
Format: movie
Cast: Ikuta Toma, Aso Kumiko, Narumi Riko, Yamada Takayuki, Tamayama Tetsuji, Emoto Tokio, Furuta Arata, Nukumizu Yoichi, Kojima Hijiri, Ikeda Tetsuhiro, Yamasaki Mami
Synopsis: There is a motel named The Seaside Motel between a rural mountain area, where no water is found near to it or in it. A lousy swindler Kameda Masayuki (Ikuta Toma) is sent there to sell 50 fake body creams. A call girl Candy (Aso Kumiko) enters his room by mistake. As they try to swindle each others money, they find more things in life. A businessman Ishizuka Tatsuya wants to spend the first night with his cabaret girlfriend Marine in the room next to Kameda's. In the other room a former yakuza Asakura Yosuke is staying with his cat-crazy girlfriend Rui, but is interrupted by a childhood friend, yakuza Aida and his younger follower Chi-bo. The last room is occupied by Ota and his wife, who tends to be jealous. Night is full of lies and everyone lives will be changed, but no-one really meets others. What will happen when the sun rises?
Rating: 5/5
It looks like 4 different stories and they really are different, except that one's story is totally connected with others. It makes the feeling that "If he/she was not there or would not have said this, then it would not have happened!". There is impossible to say that the movie is love movie or a tearjerker - there is love, sadness, fright, mystery, friendship, it is totally surreal, but all logical at the same time. Really important is to check time when watching, because the time is always different - another scene might show the time which happened before the last one. Stories are very unexpected and everything really is related! One thing leads to another and you can see that everything has at least two sides of it. What seems good at first can end up being bad.
I liked the sounds in it and amazing shooting. There is not used a usual technicals, which makes even more interesting to watch it. now to the 4 stories...

Room 102. Kameda and Candy. I think that everyone agrees if I say that they are most likely to stars of the movie. I liked that it gave another view of Candy's work, because I have thought several times, why some women have this kind of work. It was so fun to see how they totally lied to each other, but finally were lost in their own lies too, but at the same time it showed that if a person plays around to much, then in the end others won't know if he/she speaks the truth or not. It reminds one lamb story, but I am seriously not going to write it here.

I loved some quotes by them. "A fake thing can turn into something genuine" and "Woman look into the future, but men worry about the past". I find those quotes true. It was the first movie I have seen by them, but I find Ikuta Toma an excellent actor. He has great face expressions, he seems to be able to act any character and he looks so true.

Room 103. Ishizuka and Marine. I do not know what to say about them. Ishizuka was total a*****, so he totally deserved what happened to him. Marine was really cute, but she was soooooooo stupid. Yamasaki Mami really is flexible! It is sooo amazing!!
Room 202. Yakuza stuff. In this room the most sickest things happened. The torturing part is the worst. If other rooms had just 2 people, then it had 5 people.

Riu (Narumi Riko) really asked too much. I was just watching and even I felt my head exploding. She is too freaking naive and there are to much cats.
Room 203. Ota and his wife. I think that they had the smallest screen time, but they changed much in the storyline, but not as much as others. I  liked that their story showed how to go trough grief, which made it really sad.
I think that's all.. (I am really tired as it is almost 2 am in the morning). Almost all the characters act in it, not just actors, but characters too, which I think makes it harder for actors. There are so much lies, but in the end the truth reveals as "A lie has a short legs".

Also the movie shows that your life can be changed by a total stranger who just passes by. Just because you see this person, he/she already is part of your life. Just that second might change something. While staying in hotel or riding a train/bus, think about the person in the other room or sitting next to you. His/her life and problems - we do know nothing about them, ne? ^^

Shounen wa tori ni natta (2001)

Also known as: The boy became a bird
Country: Japan
Genre: family, life&death, friendship
Format: movie
Cast: Yamashita Tomohisa, Kazama Shunsuke, Nishimura Risa, Asano Yuko, Furuoya Masato, Asai Erina, Tsugawa Masahiko,Takaoka Saki, Taguchi Junnosuke,
Synopsis: Ken is 15 year old boy, who was born with hole in his heart. Even though doctors did not give him any hope, he was able to live that long. But there are even more troubles beside disease - his friend Kira has always played piano and now is suddenly giving up on it and another friend Koiichi avoids him. Ken believes that seeing a Inuwahi (a great mountain eagle) will give strength to everyone as they struggle in life.
Rating: 2/5

It is another sad and slow movie. It more seems to be the mother's side of the story as she is the narrator. I think that mother had the hardest time there. She was the one who gave birth to Ken and yet no matter what she did, she actually can't help him.
The best part of the movie (in my mind) is Yamashita Tomohisa's acting. I think that playing a person with a disease is really hard and easy to over-do it, but he made it realistic. Also, even back then he had a great English, a little bit too abrupt, but still good.

What I did not like, was some lines in the script. Like how can Kira and Koichi envy Ken? More than that, I do not understand how can anybody envy someone else? Just accept your life and start smiling! You may think I am naive, but I believe that if a person really wants, he/she can see a small happy thing in everything. In addition, I do not understand Japanese schools anymore. I have seen it in "1 litre of tears" that school better gets rid of the student than tries to help him/her. My high school really tries to help them and I have not heard that someone is "expelled" for that, but it seems that in Japan it is more usual to wash ones hands of it. (That all reminds me that I must attend school year opening ceremony in 1,5 hours... and I am not even ready..).
I liked the sisters and beautiful scenery's. The mountains are amazing. I am living in a place where are no mountains... -.-
In the end, It is very heartwarming and sad movie. It makes you cry (especially Yamashita Tomohisa's fans xD). It actually looked like half-documentary movie as it has amazing bird shoots.
(PS! I have no idea in which scene Taguchi Junnosuke played, but I believe that he was a member of a class)