Mitsuko Delivers (2011)

Country: Japan
Format: movie
Genre: absurd, comedy
Cast: Naka Riisa, Nakamura Aoi, Ishibashi Ryo, Inagawa Miyoko, Namiki Shiori, Takeuchi Miyako, Oona Momoka, Kondo Yoshimasa, Hotaru Yukijiro, Saito Keiko
Synopsis: Mitsuko is in her last month of pregnancy, but her life is a big mess. Her parents believe that she is happily living in California, but in reality she went back to Tokyo after her African-American boyfriend dumps her when hearing about the child. In addition, she is out of money and has no place to stay, but still she believes that everything is going to be just fine.
Rating: 2/5
We all have some movies that after watching them make us think "WHAT THE RAMEN I WAS WATCHING NOW??!" and this is just like this to me. This is now officially one of the weirdest movies I have seen, but on the other hand it works! For me it was so weird to understand that it was amusing and actually made me want to see other Yuya Ishii works.

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.

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.

Halfway (2010)

Country: Japan
Genre: romance, school
Format: movie
Cast: Kitano Kie, Okada Masaki, Narimiya Hiroki, Naka Riisa, Mizobata Junpei
Synopsis:Hiro (Kitano Kie) and Shu (Okada Masaki) are in last year of high school and they start dating. Their relationship is going to be darkened by the fear and changes of tomorrow as Hiro is going to attend in local university, but Shu has always wished to go to Tokyo.
Rating: 2/5
I have read the original manga. It is amazing how similar the actors are with original characters. For spoiler, the manga and movie have different endings. As it really is a shoujo-manga, then manga has actually unrealistic end, that´s why I liked the movie ending more.

Actors were just great. They totally pulled it off - .^ Specially I liked Kitano Kie, but I did not like her character. Her eyes are amazing.

It is another Kitagawa Eriko´s works. That explains why the movie is just going in a slow-motion. There is no big happenings, mostly about one thing and that´s all. In addition, if you have seen other Kitagawa Eriko´s works, then you should know that the female lead is cry-baby, egoistic and childish. Hiro really cries a lot... it is not even crying, it is whining like a baby! (But it is understandable, when it is a baby, but for 17-18 year old girl it is really childish.). (BTW. If you think that I just do not like Kitagawa´s work, then wait til Sunao ni Narenakute review or read it, and you might change your mind. It seems like they have used hand-camera for filming and there is very few montage done, many raw cuts and it is very documentary-like. In some ways it is really fascinating, but it doesn´t work for that story. It seems like you are entering to someones personal life.

The reason why it did not get higher rating is that it was tooo slow and I did not enjoyed it. I just do not understand how can one girl be so childish!!!
I totally love Narimiya Hiroki and Naka Riisa (They acted together in "Yankee-kun to Megane-chan"), but sadly they did not have any screentime together this time. They both are still so great ^^ I would like to see them acting together more. They have a chemistry on screen ^^ 

Toki wo kakeru shoujo (2010)

Also known as: Time traveller, The Girl who leapt trough time
Country: Japan
Genre: future, drama, romance, time travel
Format: movie
Cast: Naka Riisa, Narumi Yasuda, Nakao Akiyoshi, Kanji Nishimaru, Katsumura Masanobu, (+ Matsushita Yuya)
Synopsis: It is year 2010 and Yoshiyama Kazuko works secretly on formula to time travel. She gets into car accident, which leads her to comatose, her daughter Akari hears about mom´s first love. In order to fasten mother´s recovery , Akari uses the time travel formula to go back into 1970-s. After making the mistake with year, she meets Ryouta.
Rating: 3/5
It was like a sequel to the real story. I have seen the anime-movie of it and I enjoyed it. About movie, I did not get that same feeling, but there where some scenes which I totally loved. It is like usually that first movies are a little bit better than sequels, but if look at it as a different movie or you do not know about the real story, then it is a great movie.
It has a great story and I liked that it has many side-stories and a beautiful ending. I cried like a insane, but the tears were worth it xD. Again it is a movie were everybody and everything have connections, but actually if you always try to think ahead, then it might be predictable - so don´t think, watch~! (I know I just totally remade Bruce Lee´s "Don´t think, feel~!" But after one click i discovered that it is sooooo common phrase xD just search from tvtropes.org and you´ll see where it has been used. I know, out of topic)

Naka Riisa is so great actress. No matter what she had to do she did it so well that it didn´t seemed to be acting! it was so natural! and I fell in love with her haircut. I know it is so ordinary and plain, but it is beautiful.
The are some weird characters, but they do not annoy. May be Kazuko is weirdest, because as a mom she should have worry about her daughter more, not sending her 40 years into the past.

My Boss, My Hero (2006)

Country: Japan
Genre: School, romance, friendship, yakuza
Format: drama 10 episodes
Cast: Nagase Tomoya, Tegoshi Yuya, Tanaka Koki, Aragaki Yui, Murakawa Eri, Osugi Ren, Kikawada Masaya, Ichimura Masachika,  ( a minor role from Naka Riisa)
Synopsis: Sakaki Makio is 27, dropped out of high school and becoming a successor of his father - yakuza boss. But before he gets a boss-position, his father forces him to go back to high school and graduate, otherwise the position goes to Makio´s little intelligent brother.  In school Makio cannot reveal his true background and must play a role of 17-year-old guy.
Rating: 2/5
The best part was "Sakura-nantoka" (In English it should be something like "Sakura-something") - yeah, actually Sakurakoji (played by Tegoshi Yuya) is not a hard name to remember XD Nagase Tomoya acting was great too - in some way he totally bulled off high school student role, but he as yakuza was over the top. It is weird that Nagase Tomoya´s appearance and singing voice are so different - The Theme song is "Sorafune" by TOKIO, Nagase is the lead singer of the band.
Makio´s brother Mikio (by Kikawada Masachika) was so annoying (character, not actor) - he could have done anything, but he decided that he should be the next yakuza-boss even though he knew it was Makio´s dream -.-
The "Water" joke was funny - in a weird way it is really catchy -.^
But it got two stars because after finishing it, you (at least I) was able to remember only those highlights. (Oke, Koki´s acting was great too xD he was really.. eem.. violant xD). Beside, while watching it, I did not get the addiction. Sorry for not explaning it more!