Unubore Deka (2010)

Country: Japan
Format: drama in 11 episodes
Genre: detective, comedy
Cast: Nagase Tomoya, Ikuta Toma, Kaname Jun,Yahagi Ken, Bando Mitsugoro, Arakawa Yoshiyoshi, Nakashima Mika, Hashimoto Jun, Guests: Kato Ai, Aoi Yuu, Higuchi Kanako, Toda Erika, Yakushimaru Hiroki, Koyuki, Koizumi Kyoko, Mitsuura Yasuko, Ishida Yuriko, Sakai Wakana 
Synopsis: Unubore (a nickname) is 30-ish-something detective, who once worked in the Headquarters, but after being dumped by his fiancee Rie his career went down, father moved into his apartment and he keeps thinking that all the women in this world wants to marry him (Unubore means conceited). He befriends with a group of men from "I am I" bar, who fall in love easily too: Kurihashi Makoto-sensei (Bando Mitsugoro) a psychology professor, Honjo Sadame (Ikuta Toma) a young actor, Matsuoka Seishiro (Kaname Jun) a pattisier and  Anai Kiichi (Yahagi Ken) a gravur idol photographer. Things get even worse when Unubore gets a new partner: Saeki Masaru, who happens to be married to Unubore's ex-fiancee Rie. To top it over: every woman Unubore falls in love with is in some way or another a criminal. Thus he gives them a choice: marry him or be arrested.
Rating: 3/5
Funny detective drama with almost the same pattern in every episode. Still it is so funny that you will laugh in cramps.

Nagase Tomoya is perfect for the role - starting with being a Johnny (as they are known as real ikemen, great dancers and for not being afraid to do really stupid things..), ending with having amazing face expressions all the time, beside even though he sometimes does not look like it, but he is soooo damn sexy. Unubore really thinks tooo much of himself, he does not understand women at all and most of the time he is misusing his work position to get close to women. For him there is no such thing in love as "type" - even though he does not look so despaired, he goes after every woman no matter how she looks like or how old she is and even for same gender as himself that looks appealing to him. He is a big crybaby and silly, but he recovers really quickly and his senses are amazing - with one moment he is able to find a missing clue in investigation and solve the crime. Also, it is really cute how he always gives criminal the chance to escape from going to jail. Even though his father seems to be totally different, then actually they are just the same. Father always forgets that he is the one who is living in son's apartment.
Saeki is Unubore's partner, who is very hasty in his actions - one moment he is working his ass of and the next second he is missing his wife, so he decides to go home. He is loud, does not handle alcohol at all and he is known as "the realistic detective" when he and Unubore go together to "I am I" bar. He has no clue about Rie's and Unubore's past.

Sadame tries to be an actor, but most of the time he plays corpse roles. Everybody tells him that he has "annoying face" or "annoying personality", also he is not the sharpest pencil in the box, so everybody think he is baka (stupid). He is also homeless (mostly sleeps in the internet cafes or at park or bar "I am I" or crashes Unubore's place), even though through the series he gets some fans and is noticed as an actor. From Unubore 5, he becomes really great friends with Unubore. It is funny, that they start to film "Unubore deka" in "Unubore deka" with Sadame being the lead - it is like you can see one thing twice - one where Nagase acts as Unubore and some minutes of Ikuta Toma as Unubore. Sadly, Ikuta Toma seems to be more of a viewer-catcher as for half of the episodes he gets really less screentime, later there is more of him where he shows how great actor he really is.

About others in "I am I" bar, they all have their own episodes, but they do not concentrate on them much. It seemed to me that Matsuoka's Tutti Frutti'es were different cakes with the same name - at least in first episodes, later they really became the same Tutti Frutti'es. For Kaname Jun it was definitely a different role from his usual roles (Okey, I have not seen his roles much, but he gives you the feeling of more serious roles). Captain never remembers women names and has a thing for bar's Mama, he wrote many books about finding the woman of his dreams, but even though he is getting already pretty old, he is still single. I have nothing else to say about Anai Kishii than that I was amazed to see Yahagi Ken acting -

he is actually famous comedian in Ogi Yahagi duo. In the bar there are also, Mama and bartender. Mama is someone who almost never speaks because she has sang her voice off at karaoke, to communicate she writes stuff on papers and most of the time she is angry.  The bartender is the smartest man in the bar, but no one really believes or listens to him. He also has a girlfriend, whom you never see in the drama, and he is not in Unubore 5 - most of the time he is bored of them hanging there, but to consider that those 5 are able to drink 30 hours in a row, then the money he earns is worth it.

Last but not least, Rie - woman, who is really difficult to understand and I will tell you that you will understand her actions and everything in the last episode. But she definitely was a bit too jealous while being with Unubore - or was she trying to push him away with it? I do not know.. at least it was nice to see Nakashima Mika in a "cute" role and believe me - her acting was great.
It is really great drama if you want to have a long laugh, because there are so much fun going on all the time, but as the plot seems to repeat itself, then it is a good thing to make some pauses between the episodes, otherwise it might get boring.