Gokusen (2005)

SEASON 2

Country: Japan
Format: 10 episodes
Genre: school, youth
Cast: Nakama Yukie, Kamenashi Kazuya, Akanishi Jin, Koike Teppei, Koide Keisuke, Hayami Mokomichi, Namase Katsuhisa, Utsui Ken, Kaneko Ken, Uchiyama Shinji, Anan Kenji, Tanihara Shosuke, Waki Tomohiro, Otoha, Inoue Jun, Azuma Mikihisa, Mizushima Hiro, Kawamura Yosuke, Nakamura Yuichi, Miura Ryosuke
Synopsis: It has been 3 years since Yankumi’s first students graduated and through accident Yankumi becomes a teacher at Kurogin High school. Her new homeroom 3D is again full of delinquents, who face fights, troubles, misunderstanding and possibility of expulsion everyday. With only 3 months left until graduating Yankumi must give her all to guide her students to the right path.  
Rating: 4/5
Read the first season review here!
Like some other viewers I had fears that second season might not be so good or I do not start to like the guys as much as I liked in the first season. Fortunately, just look at the cast, how can I not love them! Now I know that I had no reason to worry, because "Gokusen" stays "Gokusen". 

BECK (2010)

Country: Japan
Format: Movie
Genre: music, friendship
Cast: Mizushima Hiro, Sato Takeru, Mukai Osamu, Kiritani Kenta, Kutsuna Shiori, Nakamura Aoi, Brett Pemberton, Todd Shymko, Floyd Lee, Cinque Lee, Mikami Kensei, Kurauchi Sari, Shido Nakamura, Furukawa Yuta,
Synopsis: Ryusuke Minami and his sister Maho have grown up in the United States, but are now  back in Japan. Ryusuke is an amazing guitarist, but his bands always seem to fall apart. After another break up, he decides to create his own band with members that he believes in. He also meets a young high school boy Koyuki who takes interest in guitar playing. Newly formed band BECK has a fast way up with getting new acquaintances, upcoming concerts and CD debut, but every road has its ups and downs and sometimes the past just does not let go of you.
Rating: 5/5
I was more than impressed by this movie - everything was over the top - actors, acting, music, technical part, storyline - EVERYTHING!

Mizushima Hiro played the lead role of Ryusuke or Ray. I love that he can speak English really well, all thanks to the fact that he lived for 6 years in Switzerland and studied in English school. Most of the time Ryusuke is fine and normal, but he gets really irritated when someone in the band isn't improving or things do not go as he plans, easily said - he's really short tempered and when irritated he says rude things without thinking. His best friend is Eddie who became famous with his band The Dying Breed Eddie is played by Brett Pemberton - a participant in America's got talent season 6, a singer and a model, and Todd is played by Todd Shymko who is Canadian man who created Japanese band called SUPERFUNKTION and is its lead-singer.

Another really good friend of Ryusuke is Chiba - a guy who is brilliant at rapping, but is unable to feel satisfied by it and does not seem to find the place he belongs to. Kiritani Kenta made a wonderful job as Chiba. So far it's my favorite role by him. I am not a big fan of rapping if I exclude Eminem and rapping in Kpop, but I really enjoyed Kiritani Kenta in it - everything came out so naturally for him. Of course Chiba has this funky personality at times too and is almost as short tempered as Ryusuke.

Taira is the bassist and he is played by Mukai Osamu - bleach blond Mukai Osamu. I already feel that each guy I really adore has had bleach blond hair in some moment in their lives - and I am not talking only about idols. Taira is the silent hot guy, who pays attention to everyone others and understands everyone the best. He also has a weird habit of taking of his shirt on concerts. His motto should be "I have a history of taking off/losing my shirt" (Thumbs up if you know the song where the sentence is taken from)-. Anyway really hot guy, who always made me go "mmmm" whenever he was on screen.

I was impressed by the fact that Sato Takeru is so much younger from all the guys I have written before in this review and I admit that in the movie he seems even more younger than he really is. He was 19-20 when it was filmed, his character Koyuki is about 16-18 and most of the time he looks like 14-15. Some things about him will be written in Spoiler-review, because I do not want to spoil. At first, Koyuki is the perfect example of goody two-shoes - shy guy, who mostly follows and does favors for others. Until he finally breaks out from his shell.

Last but not least, the only main girl - Maho played by Kutsuna Shiori. Kutsuna Shiori was born and raised actually in Australia, that's why she felt connection with her character and that has given her a great English skills. She takes love interest in Koyuki, but the same time is tracked down by idol Yoshito - who is so over-rated by everyone. She makes the best fish-kiss scene ever, because it is so innocent and it is in the right place and everything is perfect for fish-kiss. In a weird way, I really like that scene.

Sorry, I forgot Nakamura Aoi, who is playing the part of Saku - Koyuki's friend and the drummer of the band. He is always happy and sees things positively. He is really cool character, but he is left aside most of the time. Mizushima Hiro and Sato Takeru actually did not know how to play guitar so they got lessons and practiced each free minute and night and got blisters from all that, but they were very great in the movie. As much as I know then other actors knew how to play these instruments before. The concert scenes are so amazing! I wish I had the chance to go to that concert too - I seriously love all live-concerts, especially the ones taking place outside. Their music was much better than the others on the festival, because they were real,  but others were just posers.
 Really cool music movie, which is worth watching because every actor makes such a great job in it and you can see how they enjoy it, so that all makes you enjoy it too. I forgot to mention it before, but it is based on manga by Sakuishi Harold,

SPOILER-review: I do not know if you already know or not, but they actually did not put Sato Takeru to sing - you cannot hear it. It was one thing I was looking forward to find out, if they let him sing or not, but they won't and to tell you the truth, I was satisfied with that answer! Koyuki is said to have angelic voice that takes breath away and makes you just listen, but I do not believe that there is such a voice in the world that everyone would love it. Many say that they could have recorded someone else singing and then dub it into the movie or other things like that, but that just would have been wrong. In the end it would not have been "that" voice anyway. So, I really enjoyed that they left it as it was and you can think on your own how he might have sounded. For example, I am pretty sure that if he had a higher voice then I would not have liked it - I fall in love with lower voices and they make me listen without thinking, but I know that some people prefer high voices.   

Lovely Complex (2006)

Country: Japan
Format: live-action movie
Genre: school, romance, comedy
Cast: Fujisawa Ema, Koike Teppei, Kudo Risa, Mizushima Hiro, Tamaki Namami, Tanihara Shosuke, Terajima Susumu, Yamazaki Yusuke, Nukumizu Yoichi, Yamasaki Shizuyo, Kato Mio, Wentz Eiji
Synopsis: Koizumi Risa has a problem with love - she is 170 cm tall and gets always rejected by guys for being too tall (172 in manga). At the same time, Otani Atsushi has the same problem, but vise versa - he is 159 tall (in actual manga he is 156). First annoyment grows into friendship after they discover that they have many similarities, but heart has its own way and soon Risa finds out that maybe it is not just friendship she wants - but uncertainty of confessing grows as everyone find tall girl and short boy couple a real joke.  
Rating: 3/5
Live-action movie of popular anime/manga "Lovely complex" by Aya Nakahara.The movie looks too fast-forward, because they show all three high-school years in less than 2 hours - so they almost took the most important scenes from the manga.

The lead is character is Koizumi Risa - she is rather silly, naive, childish and she does not have that big complex with her height as Otani has. She falls in love too easily and she tends to over-react with her actions - especially later when she has a crush for their new teacher. Even though it looks like she falls for Otani too fast, she actually did start to have doubts about her feelings in manga too. She and Otani are just so similar and the way Otani acts would make every girl's heart beat faster. I did not like Fujisawa Ema's acting as it was a bit overacted and unreal - even though Risa was unfeminine. It is funny that they made Fujisawa Ema wear high heels to seem taller - she is actually 167cm, which is the same with Koike Teppei's height. Also, which makes the illusion of her being tall, are the hairstyles - sorry, but does not every girl know that exactly these up-dos make you look reaaallly tall?

Otani is sweet guy, who acts like though and strong. He is the star of the basketball team, even though the coach is always displeased with him. He has much bigger complex about his height as he had some mental traumas, which stayed as a painful spot into his heart. Teppei's acting is good - he brings out the way Otani actually is and gyoza he looks cute with those hair-clips, but he did was not as thickheaded as Otani really was. I do not like that they showed too long scenes of baseball game and not much of Otani's feelings.

There has been on and on discussion about "being unable to find girlfriend/boyfriend for girl while being tall and for guy when being short". I would say that first of all, it is difficult to find good relationship whatever you look like. Secondly, if the height matters to another person, then for sure they are not worth your feelings. If you like someone, then like someone for who they are and the height is just part of them - unlike the weight of a person, the height cannot be changed when wanted.

Sadly it did not show the other characters much - it was movie only about Koizumi and Otani, with almost no side-stories, which sucked as it made the movie one-sided. But from other characters Suzuki was my favorite - sweet, shy guy who happens to have a wide imagination, especially when things come to "ero"-stuff, so he ends up having nose-bleeds time to time, even though this line was totally added to movie, because in manga he was not perv. He is together with Chiharu, who is just as shy as he is. They both are really good-looking and actually Otani and Koizumi had a crush on them in manga, but that is not reverberated in live-action. Last friends are Nobuko and Nakao, who again are a couple. Nobuko is Risa's best-friend and constantly tries to hook her up with somebody and Nakao is always helping her with her schemes.

They brought in Kuniumi Maitake or "Mighty/Maity" and left out Haruka - I do not know if it was the best idea, but I have not read that much manga yet. I know that we would have had much fun with Haruka or Seiko.
In the end, the most annoying part was the scenes with English audio - if you want to make a movie with English audio, then find someone who does not have that big accent and has a nice pronunciation. I did not understand a word of what he was saying.

It is a great movie when you want to laugh and say "Awwww" after every 5 minutes, but if you seriously want to have the best of "Lovely Complex", I recommend watching anime and reading manga - I bet for real fans the movie might had been a big letdown. At least for me it proves that it is difficult to make a great live-action of a fabulous manga. They have reorganized the time order to put it into movie time, but it makes it totally different from the original story.

Hanazakari no kimitachi e (2007)

Country: Japan
Format: drama, 12 episodes + SP
Genre: comedy, romance, school
Cast: Horikita Maki, Oguri Shun, Ikuta Toma, Yamamoto Yusuke, Mizobata Junpei, Okada Masaki, Mizushima Hiro, Kiritani Mirei, Kamikawa Takaya, Daito Shunsuke, Sugimoto Tetta, Inagaki Goro, Ishigaki Yuma, Kimura Ryo, Kyo Nobou, Iwasa Mayuku, Kurose Manami, Shirota Yu, Minami, Konno Mahiru,
Synopsis:  Ashiya Mizuki becomes a transfer student to all boys school Osaka High, but the thing is - Mizuki is a girl. In order to get her favorite high-jumper Sano Izumi to jump again, she flies to Japan from California, cuts her hair and says goodbye to being a girl. She is taken into class really easily, but this school is not just about studying - there are competitions about being the best, crazy fangirls, different characters, lunatic photographer and sharp-minded doctor. How long can one girl stay into Ikemen Paradise, when emotions are added into the game?
Rating: 5/5
This is my 100th Asian drama/movie, which I have seen. I know it is not much, but luckily my watching speed is increasing.  "Hana Kimi" is made after same-named manga by Nakajo Hisaya. I hope you understand just how great it is by looking at its cast, many of them are now really well-known. (Example: It was Mizubata Junpei´s second role, Okada Masaki´s third, in addition Oguri Shun, Horikita Maki, Ikuta Toma etc were widely known before) . I do not know why I have not watched it earlier, but it certainly is one of the classic-must-watch-dramas!

The heroine of the story is Mizuki - she is brave and actually thinks much before actions, but she does not think that much of all possible outcomes. She is a bit naive and has a big mouth, when it comes to things she knows nothing about, even though her ideas come in handy anyway. It actually seemed to me that she loved Sano too soon and too much, although she says something else. As much as I was able to read its manga, I understand that in drama she is made even less obsessed with Sano, which is great. Her reason of going there is acceptable and actually right from the bottom of the heart, but I do not think it is something that everyone should think that "OH! Let her stay! she has a big heart and she is not afraid to show it! show it! (Sorry.. I got stuck with LMFAO lyrics). That´s why I liked Doctor´s point "It is interesting to see what is going to happen". I like Maki in this role - the boy-ish girl role suits her as she cannot be said to be the most feminine Japanese actress. I think she must have had much fun while filming it, because you can see that there is going to be much touchy-mushy-and-close-calls.

Sano Izumi is palyed by Oguri Shun - I do not know why I always have a really strict and egoistic prejudice of him (Gomenne, Shun-kun!),  it might be because of "Hana Yori Dango", then again I have not watched it yet. I loved him in this role, well mostly I loved Sano´s character -especially when he showed out his real emotions or was under Nara-pickle-syndrome, other than that he was emotionless bastard loved by everyone, but who did not show his love to others. It feels like the fact of Mizuki being a girl does not as a big surprise for him, but you can see its real conclusion in Special episode. Actually Sano is not reticent as he talks so much about himself to Mizuki, so you get to know his harsh childhood - I think he just did not want to go babbling all over the city of his thoughts and feelings. I really begun to like him.

Nakatsu - well you can guess he was my favourite if you know me. He is now officially goofy-guy-nr2 (Goofy-guys´ list). He is funny, he is loud, he is easy to read, he is full of himself and he is the first one to fall (that would make a great song lyrics..) At first he is againts Mizuki as she puts Nakatsu´s great sport results in danger, but soon they become best buddiezzzz.... well, at least he is friendzoned by Mizuki. Like you might guess - he has no idea of the fact that Mizuki is a girl - so there are lost and lots confused feelings in Nakatsu, which even threaten his orientation. His "Nakatsu super visions" are one of the highlights of the drama and most of the time he ends up having a nosebleed. This role made me go seriously into Ikuta Toma fandom and I want to see his acting more.

By the way, in the 5th episode he is wearing the same green "I have a great personality" T-shirt as Yamashita Tomohisa in "Proposal Daisakusen" 5th episode. This coincidence is cool because Ikuta Toma and Yamashita Tomohisa are great friends since childhood and both dramas aired in 2007.
Nakatsu is roomed with Kayashima - dude, who can see aura and sense the unlivings. His dad is just like he is and no matter what the situation is Kayashima is the first one who is left out from the list. I liked to see Yamamoto Yusuke in this kind of role, because I have not seen him much. NakatsuXKayashima moments  are really great.

There are three dorm leaders. Dorm 2 is lead bu Nanba Manami - guy from who girls get pregnant just by looking at him. Girls, watch out! It might happen through computer screen too. He is a women´s man, that´s why he is referred as Nanpa (Flirt) at many times, but he has big heart for his guys, who are like a family to him. That´s why he always stands up for them and never lets them down.

Drom 1 is full of brainless martial art guys. Tennoji is their leader - he actually looks hotter when he is wearing his school uniform, his most famous word is "Baby~!!!". Other dorm member always try to eliminate him when there is a possibility, but mostly they fail. Last dorm is about acting and music and that kind of stuff. Leader Oscar/ Masao has repeated school for many years. He has unique ideas, but he is just plain stupid. Every once in a while he gets possessed by some spirit and becomes even weirder. Also, be prepared for some cross-dressing and horrible singing. Dorm 3 faithfully follows him and I feel like that there is no thinking in their heads.

I think I should mention more about dorm 2 members, who are shown more. Sekime is slow to understand things and he is always losing, that is why he is called failure. He is naive, but very friendly - he is the first one to become friends with Mizuki.  Nakao is in love with Nanba from the bottom of his heart - but he always gets rejected, although they are still great friends. Nakao thinks to be the cutest, which is the reason of not liking Mizuki as he thinks that Mizuki might be cuter than he. 

Doctor Umeda - my second favorite character from the drama. He has a big trauma since the university time, which made him watch men, but he is not harassing anyone of the students, but I cannot say the same about Mizuki´s annoying brother and new psyhopatic teacher (Inagaki Goro), who I mentally killed already. But doctor is frequently abused by school´s photographer Hara Akiha, who caused the trauma in past. 

Kagurazaka is Sano´s greatest rival, played by Shirota Yuu. Again firstly annoying bastard, but you will have great laugh with him too. Even though I know Shirota Yuu for a long time already, it was the first time to see his acting - well, makes me want to see more.

In Special episode is Julia, who is Mizuki´s friend from USA - she puts her nose into other´s business and is too much with her words - it is weird when everyone thinks that their way is the best for someone, even when they do not know the real situation. AHH! I almost forgot one very important character!!!

Yuujiro - Dorm 2 dog, who is like a dorm member and I am not surprised if he would receive a graduation diploma at graduation too. The school director is a bit off - she is very elegant and always wants to see her students "bloom in full colors", no matter what it is her word is the law for boys, even when they find it silly. She does not see boys much as she is on trips all the time, so the most communication is between her deputy manager, who never remembers the thing he has to say, and boys. Hibari and Hibari Four are the protectors of Osaka High guys and Hibari is endlessly and hopelessly in love with Sano, but Sano is hardly aware of her. Hibari four is pretty unique and funny and they make many things to happen.

It is very funny when all dorm members have different opinions about things and even if it seemed to be secret talk between two person, they start to come out from all kind of different places and each option is more irrelevant to the question and absurd than the one before it. They do all kind of funny things together and their stupidity is endless.
I will end my review with one great saying from the drama: "If you give up on things you love the most, you will lose yourself. Someone who can lie to oneself is lonely and sad" - that´s why keep watching great dramas and movies and be happy, but remeber that "Hard work will be rewarded" - so do not lose your eyesight or your real life because of your great addiction.

It is perfect drama if you want to train your stomach muscles with laugh, well it is perfect drama for everything! May be only minus is that they try to put too many important points of the manga into too few screen time - this is live action needs more episodes to show "Hana Kimi" manga´s real awesomeness. Definitely one of my favorites, soooo WATCH IT! ^-^

SPOILER REVIEW - I actually even did not want Nakatsu and Mizuki together. When so many are saying that they should have been the pair, then actually I think that Mizuki suited more with Sano, because they had more similar personalities than Nakatsu with her. But it still broke my heart to see him suffer from unrequited love. 
I was a disappointed in the end of the Special, because her speech sucked like I do not know what. It ruined the drama a little bit... but I will forgive it, because all those maleXmale kisses are real deal.