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.

Mou yuukai nante shinai (2011)

Review what I have written for 3 months.. well, I have been really busy with everything going on and because of that I am submitting it under July. There should come more reviews this month. Sorry for no posts in June!

Country: Japan
Format: movie
Genre: yakuza, comedy, romance
Cast: Ohno Satoshi, Aragaki Yui, Kanjiya Shihori, Narimiya Hiroki, Kaname Jun, Sato Ryuta, Yasuda Shota, Takashima Masahiro, Kimura Ryo Special guests: Fukuda Saki, Matsumoto Jun, Sakurai Sho, Namase Katsuhisa, Tanaka Kei,
Synopsis: Tarui Shotaro has always dreamt of being an hero, yet some things are not meant to happen. One day he saves a girl, who is being chased after by two yakuza-looking guys, not knowing that she's Hanazono Erika, the daughter of a yakuza boss. Things get out of hand when he agrees to feign kidnapping her in order to raise money for her half-sister's hospital fees.
Rating: 3/5
It is made after same-named novel by Higashigawa Tokuya. As you see it has hell of a cast, but for acting - most of them have done a better job in other dramas or movies. It was more as they all made a joke with "Mou yuukai nante shinai" as it really was different kind of movie, a bit stupid and made for laughing.

The main character of the movie is Tarui Shotaro, played by Ohno Satoshi (From Arashi). He suited for the role, his face and expressions were on the spot all the time. His character is another story - firstly, Shotaro's story reminded me too much "Loss time life" episode 6. At least like a sequel or something, because the start really was a copy-paste. But I enjoyed that Shotaro did not lose himself in the action, he stayed the super hero loving dude, who was a bit chicken and followed his sense of justice. Even thought Shotaro looked like dumb, he was pretty clever most of the time. It was interesting how they added cameos from Arashi and made it as cameos from other dramas - Sakurai Sho as Kageyama from "Nazotoki wa Dinner no ato de" and Matsumoto Jun as Tokita Shuntaro from "Lucky Seven". Of course their cameos were totally useless put-ins, but still.

Hanazono Erika was the one who caused all the trouble. She is said to be over 20, but she acted like a spoiled teenager. She was sooo manipulative and did not think rationally. Her actions went from crybaby to threatening with "mysterious disappearing" just to get her way. Of course, it was funny to see how she wrapped Shotaro around her finger, but to tell you the truth, she was mostly annoying. Also, Aragaki's acting in it definitely was not the best thing - she seemed to lack in something.
I much much more enjoyed Satsuki X Seiji story. I think that if they would have consecrated on their story a bit more, then it would have been better. Okey, I know I am playing favourites, but Kanjiya and Narimiya seem a bit higher quality actors than Ohno and Aragaki.

Well, Satsuki was the oldest daughter of Hanazono clan. She is promised to marry with Takazawa - father's follower who will take over the clan , but there are no mentions of her own feelings. She is like a lone wolf since school times and she only thinks about the clan. She is very mature and I bet that in the novel her "war" with the police officer is more written out, because in the movie, we get to know only a small amout of it. She is almost best friend with Seiji Yamabe - second best man to father.

Seiji is old-fashioned guy, who has been with yakuza family for 15 years, before that he was a yankee, whom everybody were afraid of. He prefers to make his own actions and you really cannot tell on which side he is. He is one of the most mysterious characters in the movie. Narimiya Hiroki as yakuza is soooooo hot, well, he is always hot, but he really suits in the bad guy role.

Takazawa is the first man of father. At first I did not recognize Kaname Jun at first. He does not have much screen time, but is very important character for every twist in the movie.

From other characters, I should mention that Komoto is one back-stabbing bastard who is unable to think with his own head, but the dumbest characters in the movie are Shiro and Kuro. If you do not understand Japanese, then "Shiro" means "White" - Yasuda Shota (from Kanjani8) played him with blond hair, and "Kuro" means "Black" and Takashima Masahiro's hair was black, so they made the "Shiro-Kuro" pairing from hair colors.
I was not a big fan of this movie and it as not the best choice how to spend Friday night, but I watched it because of the cast. There are brighter moments in the movie and it is not like something boring, but from the story and this cast you expect much more than you get.

SPOILER review: You can soooooo see how much actually Yamabe loved Satsuki and vice versa, but they had too many obstacles on their way. I understand that Seiji only wanted to save the clan and protect Satsuki. I would have gave the movie another star, if in the end they would have shown how Satsuki goes to visit Seiji in jail.

Sweet room (2009)

Country: Japan
Genre: friendship, romance, ***
Format: cellphone drama 4 episodes
Cast: 1.ep "Last Love": Narimiya Hiroki, Shiomi Yukari
         2.ep "Birthday" : Mukai Osamu, Hasegawa Emi
         3. ep "Triangle": Kaname Jun, Watanabe Naoko, Kubota Yuusuke
         4. ep "Room service": Toyohara Kosuke, Noriko Iriyama,
Synopsis:  Four stories of four men in a hotel room. In "Last love" Narimiya Hiroki is a young photographer who is photographing his crush, while she announces that she is going to die due to incurable disease. "Birthday" Mukai Osamu creates the most wonderful birthday celebration for his girlfriend. In "Triangle" Kaname Jun is fighting over a girl with his friend, who is also in love with that girl. A few hours later friend dies and tells to make action. "Room service" Toyohara Kosuke plays the part of a servant, who will have a romance with a visitor.
Rating: 1/5

 I liked Narimiya Hiroki´s episode... other were just like they were.  It was Narimiya´s first time filming this kind of bed-scenes. Must say that he totally nailed it! I have never understood how can he make these face expressions. It feels like he is in big pain or agony. Every time I see that face, I feel like I want to hug him so tightly. The end of his episode was just funny. I feel so sorry for him..

"Birthday" was most romantic. All that, how the male character thought and everything he did for her. (It is hard to make a review, if the drama has no names... hope you understand). It really seemed like a real young people love story, like a puppy love ^^.

"Triangle" was most annoying. I do not know why, but I am not a big fan of Kaname Jun. He is a great actor, but something is missing. The story of it was lousy too. "Why don´t you go out with her?" does not have the same meaning as "Why don´t you sleep with her?!".
"Room service" only episode without hard bed-scene. I liked this end the most, it was sweet. otherwise it was nothing special.
Mostly they all contain a lot of nudity and bed-scenes. It is best not to watch with really young children (And it might be uncomfortable for you to watch it with your parents, but I watched clips of "Last Love" with my mother. I´ll tell that even if it is uncomfortable for you, there is nothing new to your parents anyway....). 
All episodes should be about 10 minutes, I guess?

"Last Love" clips were used in (former) Tohoshinki/DBSK/TVXQ or what ever they are called more music video for "Stand by me" (Which is also the theme song of the movie).

Tatta Hitotsu no koi (2006)

Country: Japan
Genre: Romance, drama
Format: drama 10 episodes
Cast: Kamenashi Kazuya, Ayase Haruka, Tanaka Koki, Hiraoka Yuta, Toda Erika, Kaname Jun, Saito Ryusei,
Synopsis: Hiroto is a young poor guy, who works at his deceased father´s ship factory, while Nao is a spoiled university girl, who has not worked a single hour in her life and whose father owns a diamond shop. Hiroto´s prejudices and Nao´s naive outlook start to change after meeting each-other.
Rating: 1/5
You can totally see the Kitagawa Eriko´s (scriptwriter) handwriting in it. Her written female-leads are always the same - naive, childlike, otherworldly, innocent and mostly crybabies, but Nao is officially the worst! As Ayase Haruka played Nao.. I do not know if I did not like character or her acting. (I should watch more her dramas, then I could tell which, but something about Ayase Haruka annoyed me). Nao´s character was so horrible, she was so selfcentred and did not understood other´s problems at all (In my point of view..). It was ironically funny, how her character was tried to make more appealing for viewers with her illness and all, but it kind a failed. Many times I wanted to hit her and tell her to grow up. (Do not worry, I am not violent xD)

At the same time, Hiroto (Kamenashi Kazuya) was great. I totally understood him and his purposes. It was great that drama was made from his point of view. Even though he is a guy, his thoughts and acts were so cute and made heartpounding fast. I think that because of Kamenashi Kazuya this drama got high viewer-ratings when airing. Only bad side was, that Kamenashi Kazuya had his skinny time then... and he smoked all the time!!! I give cookies to person, who counts how many times he smokes in this drama xD

Tanaka Koki played the role of one Hiroto´s friends and he was so funny! He can make so funny face-expressions xD enjoyed watching him ^^ His character was honest and true, that´s why I liked him the most. I liked that Yuko started to feel it too at least for some time.

Hiroako Yuta acting was great too - I would like to have a friend like him, but I have to say that he had a bad taste in women xD I forgive it to Hiroto, but not to him!
I think many would like to hear about Kaname Jun too. His acting was good, but character sucked! I have an older brother and thank God that he is not like Tatsuya! If I had a brother like him, I would not know what to do.. -.-'
My favorite episode was 9th (It has only 10 episodes xD)
Easily said, at first it seems a great love story of young people, but as series goes on Nao starts to get on nerves and is tiresome.
It is great drama for those who love shoujo-mangas.

RESCUE (2009)

Country: Japan

Genre: rescue, action
Format: drama 9 episodes
Cast: Nakamaru Yuichi, Masuda Takahisa, Yamamoto Yusuke, Shoei, Kaname Jun, Tanaka Yoji, Yamamoto Koji, Ishiguro Ken, Takahashi You, Ichikawa Yui, Fueki Yuko (Yoo Min), Ebata Hiroki, Nishihara Aki,
Synopsis: Kitajima Daichi (Played by Nakamaru Yuichi) was saved by a Special Rescue team as a child, now he and his friend Tetsuka Yutaka (Masuda Takahisa) enter Special Rescue Team trainings to become a member of Super Ranger.
Rating: 3/5
First star for cutting their hair. As many of you might know Nakamaru Yuichi and Masuda Takahisa had longer hair since young age and they had to cut their hair just to get the role. I liked them with longer hair too, but the star is for willing to do the chance. (And as I have seen they still have shorter hair since then xD) Another star for ... half-naked scenes. There were many bathroom scenes and scene without shirts. (If you have seen Masuda Takahisa´s muscles, then you should know what to wait for)

I liked the drama for showing the hard life of rescuers. As a average person we might never understand how much are they trying to give their best. It was a great contrast to show characters´ personal life too (Oke mostly it was just drinking beer in a pub xD).
Usually I am not a big action fan, but "Rescue" really got my attention, especially because the emergencies were real (as they might happen). Another thing is that they must had a REAAALLY BIG budget to make all those explosions and fires.
The series was made with collaboration of real rescue squad of Yokohama, so the actors received a rescuing knowledge too.
It was filmed in winter 2009, so respect to actors for coping with the cold.
I liked the theme song too - "Rescue" by KAT-TUN.