I am sorry to announce that I have made a decision to officially close Cypsis' Blog.
All the reviews stay up as they are, but I will not write more reviews. Cypsis' Blog had many ups-and-downs during those 7 years and I have tried to give the best I could, but unfortunately my life has moved on so much that finding time for reviewing has become more and more difficult. Closing the blog is breaking my heart, but I have thought a lot about it and understood that it is for the best. I am very thankful to everybody who have enjoyed reading my reviews.
(PS. I am still continuing to watch Asian dramas and you can always find me on Mydramalist.com)
Thank you for all these 7 years. I hope that those 240 reviews made you happy. I truly had unforgettable time writing them!
Sincerely, Cypsis
01.01.2018
Showing posts with label Yamashita Tomohisa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yamashita Tomohisa. Show all posts
Country: Japan Format: drama, in 10 episodes Genre: romance, comedy Cast: Kamenashi Kazuya, Yamashita Tomohisa, Kimura Fumino, Nanao, Mitsushima Shinnosuke, Sawabe Yu, Okano Maya, Seiichi Tanabe, Watanabe Eriko, Ookura Koji, Sugimotto Tetta, Ishino Mako, Synopsis: Masaki Makoto always seems to fall for wrong women. At the age of 29, he is once again single after his previous girlfriend is arrested by police. One night a mysterious guy appears in his apartment, he introduces himself as "God". "God" says that Masaki has a destined soulmate waiting for him and through out life they have had countless number of meetings. In fact, his destined person happens to be Kogetsu Haruko, who works next door to Masaki. Rating: 5/5
One drama that made almost everybody waiting for Saturdays and stare on their TVs/computers. After 12 years a long waited reunion of Kamenashi Kazuya and Yamashita Tomohisa took place and that is enough to make everybody go crazy. The last time they played together in "Nobuta wo Produce" which has become one of the classic Japanese dramas. It was also my first drama which got me addicted to Japanese dramas, so it was a pleasure to see them together on the screen again.
Country: Japan Format: Special movie Genre: psychological, drama Cast: Yamashita Tomohisa, Kimura Funimo, Asari Yosuke, Watanabe Konomi, Namioka Kazuki, Tsukaji Moga, Nakamura Yasushi, Hoshino Mari, Funakoshi Eiichiro, Kimoto Takehiro, Nakano Haruto, Synopsis: Within process of arson incidents, police finds a young girl locked into white room in the house of the suspect. The girl does not say a word and the suspect is deaf. Psychologist Narumi Saku is included to the investigation in order to find out the truth of the silent girl. Rating: 3/5
This is more or less the last weak role from Yamashita Tomohisa before getting back into serious acting. Also, this is one of the least known roles from him in recent years as this kind of tv specials are not exactly his thing. It is far from anything mindblowing and the plot can get rather predictable early in the start, but of course it has some of its own charms that make it rather decent movie.
Country: Japan Format: drama in 10 episodes Genre: romance, comedy Cast: Ishihara Satomi, Yamashita Tomohisa, Tanaka Kei, Furukawa Yuki, Kaga Mariko, Takanashi Rin, Saeko, Yoshimoto Miyu, Nagatsuma Reo, Takada Hyoga, Tsunematsu Yuri, Terada Kokoro, Nakamura Anne, Hayami Mokomichi, Toda Keiko, Ueshima Ryuhei, Shison Jun Synopsis: After accidentally throwing the ashes on the priest on funeral service, Sakuraba Junko is embarrassed to death, but relieved not to see him ever again. She has a dream of working in New York and everyday she is getting closer to this dream in ELA - English Language Academy - where she is one of the best language teachers. For her misfortune, she is set up for arranged marriage with Hoshikawa Takane, who happens to be the same priest from the service. To add to it, Takane ends up falling hopelessly in love with Junko and has set to make her his wife no matter what. Rating: 5/5
Another drama that I waited a bit too much to see, not sure what were the reasons. "5-ji kara 9-ji made" is a very comical drama, that is easy to watch and does not make you feel depressed from too much drama.
Also known as: Flowers for Algernon Country: Japan Format: drama in 10 episodes Genre: drama Cast: Yamashita Tomohisa, Kuriyama Chiaki, Kubota Masataka, Kudo Asuka, Kikuchi Fuma, Tanimura Mitsuki, Oomasa Aya, Ishimaru Kanji, Kaai Gamon, Maeda Goki, Ishida Issei, Kusakari Tamiyo, Synopsis: Shiratori Sakuto was born with mental disability, so that at age of 28 his intellectual mind is still the same as 6-year-old. He grew up at flower's delivery store after his father's death and his biggest wish is to become smart so that his mother would accept him. His wish is granted when group of scientists need voluntary person with mental disability for their research experiment. As Sakuto's intelligent is increasing, his world as he knew it is collapsing. Rating: 5/5
"Flowers for Algernon" is based on same-titled award-winning short story by Daniel Keyes. It has made into drama once before in 2002 with Yusuke Santamaria and Kanno Miho as leads and Korean version is "Hello, God" (2006) starring Yoo Gun and Kim Ok Bin. I actually took time from my sleeping hours and read it. If you have a chance, then you definitely should read it.
Also known as: Close range love Country: Japan Format: movie Genre: romance, school life Cast: Yamashita Tomohisa, Komatsu Nana, Mizukawa Asami, Kotaki Nozomu, Yamamoto Mizuki, Arai Hirofumi, Sano Kazuma, Furuhata Seika, Synopsis: Kurirugi Yuni is top-marked student in her high school. Only difficult subject is English until new English teacher, Sakurai Haruka, starts to give her private tutoring in order for girl to reach the highest mark also in it. Things go a bit differently once Yuni discovers that she is falling in love with her teacher and that this might not turn out to be only one-sided. Rating: 3/5
Based on same-named manga by Mikimoto Rin. The manga has huge fanbase and this movie was long-waited by many. Before the movie came out there was prequel drama-series what was about Haruka's high-school, before he became teacher and everything. The drama has different cast and movie cast does not make appearance in drama. (unfortunately have not seen yet)
Country: Japan Format: movie special Genre: historical, detective Cast: Yamashita Tomohisa, Takei Emi, Ito Hideaki, Endo Kaname, Asaka Mayumi, Emoto Tokio, Oshinari Shugo, Kusamura Reiko, Magy, Haniuda Amu, Masuoka Toru Synopsis: Kindaichi Kosuke is a rookie detective who got fast fame by discovering few crimes, but being so young, he does not get a lot of job offers. One day he is called to investigate a missing person case of two pharmacy families who have been on the foot of war for years already. The more he investigates the deeper into the secret he falls. At the same time, old detective Akechi Kogoro takes interest in Kindaichi Kosuke and decides to keep a eye on him to see him working.
Rating: 3/5
To tell you the truth, then I have not been impressed
or interested in “Kindaichi Kosuke vs Akechi Kogoro” for a single time and it
continues even after watching it. Only difference for me is that now I see it
as SP of “MONSTERS” with time travel to past.
Synopsis: Saionji Kosuke is a rookie detective whose first job is to find out his partner Hiratsuka Heihachi's secrets behind quickly solving cases, for possible connection to the under-world. But the thing is that Hiratsuka is not like others - he is odd, mysterious, sometimes rude and most of the time very annoying.
Rating: 4/5
I remember when
“MONSTERS” first aired and how Yanne watched the whole first episode via
KeyHole – for you to know first episode is 90 minutes long. While airing this
drama did not get great viewer-ratings and people started to talk how Johnny’s
cannot bring ratings anymore, but I just think that it is really underrated
drama.
Country: Japan Format: drama in 11 episodes and Sp Genre: comedy, suspense Cast: Nagase Tomoya, Kato Ai, Kubozuka Yosuke, Sato Ryuta, Yamashita Tomohisa, Morishita Aiko, Nishijima Kazuhiro, Sakaguchi Kenji, Yazawa Shin, Koyuki, Kitaro, Watanabe Ken, Tsumabuki Satoshi, Sugita Kaoru, Sakai Wakana, Watanabe Tetsu, Yusef Lotfi, Ikezu Shoko, Waki Tomohiro, Kawasaki Mayo Synopsis: Majima Makoto is an usual guy from Ikebukuro, an area which is known for gangs and delinquents. His is best friends with G-boys gang leader Takashi, without being in the gang himself. After Makoto's friend Rika gets murdered he starts to find the murderer, because nobody believes in police. Soon Makoto discovers that he is helping the whole Ikebukuro to investigate many problems and mysteries. Rating: 4/5
I was impressed by this drama. On 25th Television Drama Academy Awards it won 7 categories of 13th and was the best drama of this season. "Ikebukuro West Gate Park" is based on same-named manga by Ishida Ira.
Country: Japan Format: drama in 10 episodes Genre: romance, Cast: Esumi Makiko, Yamashita Tomohisa,Yanagiba Toshiro, Miyaji Mao, Kimura Tae, Kohashi Kenji, Kato Takako, Katsuji Ryo, Yamada Yu, Ayase Haruka, Hamada Mari, Synopsis: Ogawa Kozue has been married to her husband Hideo for 7 years already, but their relationship has become dull and silent. One day she meets with high school guy Takuma who attracts her attention. As it it is raining they end up going to Takuma's work place - dance studio, where he is dance instructor. After meeting young and bold Takuma, Kozue begins to think about her own life. Rating: 2/5
To tell you the truth, I expected much more from this drama. I think this drama can be explained with
Kozue having pre-middle-aged crisis, where she discovers that her life has not gone as she wanted and there is no flame in her marriage. Of course then she meets 18-year-old guy, who shows her all new and different things in life, not to mention the powerful passion that is missing in Kozue and Hideo's relationship.
Country: Japan Format: movie in 2 episodes Genre: historical Cast: Yamashita Tomohisa, Tanaka Koki, Fujigaya Taisuke, Kuroki Meisa, Higashiyama Noriyuki, Kobayashi Nenji, Yakushimaru Hiroko, Nogiwa Yoko, Takashima Masanobu, Ito Shiro, Ito Kazue, Matsuo Toshinobu, Takuma Takayuki, Nishihara Aki, Ishiguro Hideo, Saito Shota, Sakimoto Hiromi, Tomita Sho, Hashizume Ryo, Matsushige Yutaka, Masu Takeshi, Kikawada Masaya, Tsutsui Mariko, Iida Kisuke, Yamada Meikyo, Hirooka Yuriko, Kanno Rio, Matoba Koji, Nakagoshi Noriko, Ida Kunihiko, Namiki Shiro, Okayama Hajime, Sakai Toshiya, Ishimaru Kenjiro, Bengal, Asano Yuko, Musaka Naomasa, Watanabe Ikkei, Kataoka Tsurutaro, Wakamura Mayumi, Wakui Emi, Synopsis: Sakai Shintaro and Shinoda Yusuke are descendants of Byakkotai samurais. In order to escape from Shintaro's grandmother, they go to Aizu where grandfather sends them into Byakkotai Memorial Hall. In their mind they travel back to years 1868 to 1869 when Japan had Boshin war - war were special force of 340 boys of 16-17 years old fought for their lives. Rating: 3/5
It is a re-make of 1986 movie - so I think it looks exactly the same. Most of the things that happen in the movie are based on true life events.
Country: Japan Format: drama in 11 episodes Genre: romance, youth Cast: Yamashita Tomohisa, Karina, Toda Erika, Nagasawa Masami, Katsuji Ryo, Kubota Masataka, Sato Shori, Yamamoto Mizuki, Chiba Yudai, Nakajo Ayami, Hashimoto Nanami, Takahashi Katsunori, Itaya Yuka, Saiki Shigeru, Okamoto Sho (OKAMOTO'S) Synopsis: It is the start of summer and the manager of well-known Italian restaurant Chiyohara Natsuki is getting married to her long time boyfriend. Mikuriya Asahi is the photographer at the local town and also happens to be a photographer for Natsuki's weddings. Unfortunately, the groom has second thoughts and ditches Natsuki right before registration, which all is gotten on the photos by Asahi. From one event to another, Natsuki soon finds herself working in the same town as a chef at Aoyama cafe and befriends with the locals: outgoing Hanae, who has been in love with Asahi for 10 years; "the leader" Asahi, who sees Hanae as a friend, because he has not been able to overcome his love for his ex-girlfriend who suddenly disappeared 3 years ago; intelligent and silent Hikaru, who hates sea, but is unable to leave; positive mood-maker Takashi, who falls for every beautiful women and more. Rating: 3/5
When the production of "Summer Nude" was announced, it became my most waited drama of the summer season - Kaneko Shigeki as the scriptwriter, amazing cast, summer and sea, what could have gone wrong? I did have some doubts about the first storyline, but I had a hope that they will be cleared. Unfortunately, in the end I understood that I had my hopes too high.
Country: Japan Format: drama in 11 episodes Genre: school, youth Cast: Abe Hiroshi, Yamashita Tomohisa, Nagasawa Masami, Teppei Koike, Aragaki Yui, Saeko, Nakao Akiyoshi, Hasegawa Kyoko, Yasawa Shin, David Ito, Hori Akari, Synopsis: Ryuuzan high school is Tokyo's lowest rated school with average score 36. Sakuragi Kenji, a former race-gang member, is a poor
lawyer who’s put in charge of Ryuuzan high school bankruptcy, but then he decides to save
the school. He creates special advanced class for students to get them into Tokyo University. Rating: 5/5
Sakuragi Kenji does not seem to be much, but he is so damn smart! At first I
thought that he might have some kind of teacher degree too XD I would have
wanted them to give the reasons why and
how he came up with all those plans and
ideas and a little bit more about his background, but I guess I must read the
manga :/ I wish someone had made this kind of program for me too so that I
could have had better results, but then again.. I did not need great results to
get into university. Abe Hiroshi's acting was rather good. As Sakuragi did not show out
any emotions and he always had on the same serious face, then I say that Abe Hiroshi
acted this part really well, but the fact that he won the best actor's award for this, then he was brilliant. I wish to see his acting more and I really like
that he kinda looks like half-Japanese (need to do background check on him XD)
Ino-sensei only understands everything literary and gets caught up by sentence
“for my precious students”. Even though she is rather naive, she is the only
teacher who tries to think at least a bit about students. There is something
cute about her, but I cannot believe how she hardly understands anything. Believe me or not, but this drama gave me the feeling
that I would like to study high school subjects like maths, physics and chemistry
again.. I so hope that I do not have any maths exercise near me, because I
might start to solve them. Then again seeing them taking the exams
reminded me the stress of them and I praise the sweet Gyoza for the fact that I
do not have to take them again. Beside I put the “need of learning” into
Russian as it is the only subject that needs more memorizing.. I hope I was
able to memorize at least something.. ahhh.. now I think I should concentrate
on learning it more..
Yuusuke was bought into the “Todai plan”. Yes – “BOUGHT” not “brought” (as
for “buy-bought-bought” and not “bring-brought-brought”). He has a huge
pride that does not let him accept help from others even in critical situations,
that’s why he is pushed into corner to surrender. Young Yamashita Tomohisa is
young. I love his hairstyle in it – bad boy with a nice smile (Actually
remembered some song lyrics...). I do not know if Yamashita Tomohisa actually
played the trumpet himself, because I have not heard of him playing it later.
Naomi is Yuusuke’s childhood friend, who has feelings for him. Yuusuke calls
her “Nao-Boo” for unexplained reasons, so I hope that they have explained the
“boo” part in manga. I like seeing
Nagasawa Masami in good girl role that is
left at background, because compared to Aragaki Yui in it, she looks way too
average. She is the one who goes to special class, because she has realistic
views about how her life would be after graduating Ryuuzan and that view is
something that she does not want to accept. Sakuragi’s sentence “Your life will
take 180 degrees turn” makes her understand that actually there is nothing
wrong with trying. I think that she is the one who has the most obstacles on
her way.About Masami’s acting.. well,
it is the same even now, which is sad, because I think that every actress/actor
should improve with time. I give you a hint and tell you that Naomi and Yuusuke
will share some cute “friendship” moments which might struck into your hearts.
I almost start to hope that someone has made a fan-vid about them, but as most
of the fan-videos have been torn down from Youtube, then I find it difficult to
believe.. Aragaki Yui plays the bad girl. She looks so damn beautiful this way and I
think that she suits more into this role than into “good girl” roles. At least
here she is interesting and not plain.
She is Yuusuke’s girlfriend, but their
relationship seems to be more like only the title, because they do not show out
that they actually are in relationship, especially Yuusuke who rather talks to
Nao-Boo about important things in his life than with his actual girlfriend. She enters into
special class because of Yuusuke, so until the end even Sakuragi does not
understand her motives. As I told you around the corner, she is not 100%
explained and that’s why Aragaki does not get as much screen time to criticize
her acting, but it was more interesting than her other usual student-dramas. Hideki, played by Koike Teppei – the funny cute dude. I adore how he gets really
familiar with everybody and adds “-chan”after their names, but I find it difficult to say anything more about him.
I do not consider Koike Teppei as a great actor and Hideki was not so remarkable either. For me he was just a character who made the drama a bit cuter. Maki-chan is soooooo cute :D She
wants to enter Todai because she thought that it is easier way to become an idol.
Her friend recently became a talent (idol) and most of the time is annoying her
with messages from other countries. She gave me again the “gyaru-mode”.. thank
you, gyoza, that I do not have enough cute gyaru-stuff.. (ahh, doushite??! I
want to be a cute girl too for a moment! Well.. must accept the fact that I am
pretty and not cute :/ *egocentric-mode*) She suited together with Hideki, who was shown on the screen as much as she - aka mostly left out.
Ichiro is the character I feel most sorry for. As he
has a twin brother in Shuumenkan, he is totally left beside by his family and
to think that his younger twin brother almost hates him.. I do not know. I hate
Jirou so much for what he does to Ichiro, even though Ichiro has sacrificed
most of his life so that Jirou would succeed. As a twin, I find Jirou’s actions
unacceptable. Most of the time, I wanted to kill Jirou, because even though
Ichiro looked like real baka, Ichiro was so cute and sincere.
Beside Jirou there are many annoying characters in
this drama, like other teachers and parents. I think that because of people
like them the education system and children studying results are bad. I
remember from my school time that there were teachers who made their lessons
more interesting and students had better results in them, than in lessons that
were only taught by textbooks word by word. And as it is said in drama,
teachers must have passion for their subject.There is a lot to study from this drama, starting from great studying-strategies
and hints on exams. But I admit, that I
do not agree to 24/7 studying and you might call me naive like Ino-sensei was,
but you must enjoy your youth too, then again in Japanese society these exams
and school system are very different from the ones in my country.
SPOILER-review:I saw it coming that all
of them won’t get in and that Yuusuke will decide not to go to Todai. For me it
was sad to see them not getting into uni, because I know damn well how it feels
when you do not see your number/name on the list. At moments like this, it is
important not to give up, that’s why I liked the ending. But one thing made me
think *ero-mode in brain*, if Ichiro got into Todai.. did Maki slept with him
as Ichiro was also part of the “sleeping-agreement” or was the agreement valid
only when Maki would have gotten into Todai too? It is just something that made
me think :P
Country: Japan Format: drama in 10 episodes Genre: drama, family, life&death, detective Cast: Yamashita Tomohisa, Eikura Nana, Maeda Atsuko, Chinen Yuri, Ono Ito, Sorimachi Takashi, Mikami Kensei, Yamazaki Tsutomu, Kanie Keizo, Quests: Tamamori Yuta, Anne, Synopsis: Ihara's family business is rather unusual - for 4 generations they have worked as funeral parlors. Second son Masato hated this job and left home some years ago. On one unlucky day Masato's life is turned up-side-down, when he is close to losing his former job and receives a call from home - dad has passed away. Since older half-brother Kento is on one of his unknown trips and three younger siblings - cripple Haruka, university student Hayato and highschooler Momoko - still growing up at home, Masato takes the responsibility and takes over the household and continues 5th generation at funeral shop. At the same time, he befriends with local police, especially with young rookie Sakamaki Yuki, and co-operates with them in investigations. Rating: 5/5
I did not think that it is going to be that interesting. It actually is not that sad as you might think from the synopsis and it is definitely much more interesting than usual detective dramas.
Masato has many different sides. As a manager he did his job, which made him bitch. In love he is playboy and cheater as his girlfriend (only mentions and photo) is in England. Other than that, he is very reliable, honest, caring, soft-hearted and loves his family the most. He also acts like the eldest son when Kento is not at present. It is very different role from Yamashita's previous roles and his acting is more natural. To my surprise, he was the first and only one from the main cast who knew how to act crying and I have a feeling that his amazing crying-scene was not made with fake tears..
Eikura Nana plays the part of Sakamaki Yuki. I liked Yuki's character. Despite being a detective and being surrounded by crime and murders, she keeps her positive way of life. She drinks much and most of the time ends up drunk as a fish so that Masato must push her home in cart. She has a special nickname for Masato - Masapyon, which was actually the nickname how Masato's girlfriend called him, which made me think if it is really suitable for a friend to call with same nickname as girlfriend does? She also proved that even police uses Google to search information - professional, ne?
There has been much comments about Maeda Atsuko. She almost got ban from acting together with Johnny's and her screen time was cut down, because ratings showed that viewers changed channels on when she was on screen, literally she was made into reason of low ratings. I think it is unfair accusation, because I find her acting bearable, well if we look that it was her 10th acting role, then it is slightly bad. At the same time, Haruka's character was partly in fault - she was too sensitive about her leg, time to time too emotional and annoying. I do not understand why they had put so much of her love story into drama, because others had only one episode about their love life, so her continuing story was almost out of context. My complaints for Maeda Atsuko are that her acting of disabled leg
was horrible and too fake, also she should have opened her mouth more to have clearer pronunciation - her words were hard to understand. I hope that now on solo career she takes up some acting and singing lessons to improve herself, because otherwise she will be forgotten with some years.
Because Hayato and Momoko were the youngest and they were kinda similar, I am going to talk about them together. They both were more selfish and thoughtless then others, it might have been due to the fact they grew up without mother longer than Masato and Haruka. Momoko has an ability to eat in every possible situation or if she does not eat the food, it ends in her face after she has again insulted Haruka. Neither of them has much screen time, so I cannot comment their acting much, I feel just sad that they beat up Chinen Yuri -.-
Kento, more referred as Ken-ni or Aniki (older brother), is very caring, but many of his actions did not seemed to be for the sake of others, more they were easier ways for him. He always left without saying goodbye and never revealed where he was or what he was doing. He also had serious doubts as, in the end, he still was only a half-brother to others. Well, later he has some other problems too, but about that in Spoiler review. The Ihara family had serious communication problems - they all loved and respected their dad, but their family life lacked in solving problems and helping each other. It is interesting to see how they are rebuilding the trust and family ties with each other. There is a saying that critical situations do two things - they break up people or grow stronger together.
I should mention Iwata-san too, but I bet any extra word about him, might be a spoiler, so you know where to find information about him ;)
In conclusion, it is a heartwarming drama, which combines family life, detective and even a bit supernatural. The star of the drama is Yamashita Tomohisa - he has made a great comeback since starting solo career. And this drama is watchable for all viewers as it is not that big tearjerker. (The starting clip actually reminds me NEWS Bathday commercial some years ago..)
SPOILER review: The thing about Kento is that he has a tumor - a fast paced brain tumor, but I must say that the saddest scenes are when Masato finds out about it. Even Kento's dying is not that sad as drama shows long and clear his last moments. But more spoilers are attached to Iwata-san. As you might understand since one episode - he does not eat or drink anything and since another episode you start to think why anybody else has not seen him? At first, I thought he is like some kind of Masato's conscience. It would have been a good idea, ne?? I think it was in 8th episode where it comes out, that actually he was Yuki Grandpa's soul. Which is the reason why the drama is also supernatural. In a weird way it was not annoying at all. From all the episodes, there was only one thing I hated from the bottom of my heart - why Nagamine (Yuki's partner) had to die? He had just married and was becoming dad -.- It is way too unfair.
Country: Japan Genre: food, romance, comedy Format: drama, 12 episodes Cast:Takeuchi Yuko, Eguchi Yosuke, Tsumabuki Satoshi, Yamashita Tomohisa, Yamada Takiyuki, Wakabayashi Go, Tsutsumi Shinichi, Ito Masaki, Takubo Issei, Eita, Morita Go, Umemiya Masako, Osugi Ren, Kiritani Kenta, Suzuki Emi, Synopsis: Natsumi is a woman who finds comfort in lunch, that's why she is willing to do anything for the sake of great meal. One day a man named Nabeshima Kenichiro askes her to pretend to be his fiancee, in order to him to have a reason to go home. Kenichiro is the oldest son of "Kitchen Macaroni" owner, beside Father there are also 3 younger brothers - Yujiro, Junsaburo, Koshiro and live-in apprentice cook Minoru. Natsumi falls in love with restaurant's omurice and its famous demiglauce sauce and decides to stay there forever, even though "her fiance" Kenichiro has stolen family's money and ran away. But a woman living with 5 single healthy men does not bring anything but trouble.. Rating: 4/5
People who like food should always watch it with full stomach - too appetising.
Natsumi is cool, she does what she wants. Give her a food and she is okey with everything. Natsumi has a difficult past on her shoulders, which still haunts her time to time. Natsumi does speak about her past to others and tells failing lies, but in some way they all believe her. She tries to give her best and seeks for positive side of world. She teaches others that there must be some fun in life no matter how old you are and there must be passion for the things you love. She is someone who loosens the strings in the family. Takeuchi Yuko was great in this role. At moments she a little bit reminded Ueno Juri, next time Ueto Aya - so her acting was a little jumpy.
Kenichiro is actually total side-character, but as he was the one who brought Natsumi to home then he deserves to be mentioned. He is silly, awkward and shy. Even though, he is the oldest, he has the least life-experience - he has failed in life more than once, but he always gets things other way, not really understanding the right reasons. He seems to be bastard for his actions to family, but deep in side he loves them and they love him - it is just complicated. Beside, there is the saying that the first one still goes behind the fence.
The second son Yujiro is much more grown-up than Ken-ni. He has given up on many things in his life in sake of the restaurant. He does not think much and makes his own rules which everyone must follow. But every man has his own love in this world too - so there is Hidemi, his painfully in bad marriage very beautiful friend. Yu-ni never says things what he thinks - he is having a difficult time acknowledging his true feelings so he hides them behind visible lies. He is helpless when he sees woman's tears and guess what.. he is the one (and may be only one) who sees Natsumi crying.
My friend told me that "Lunch queen" might get very cliched and boring, but I think that only cliched thing about it was the third son Junzaburo. He fell hopelessly in love with Natsumi since the first day. He is same old as Natsumi, but he looks much younger and childish. He is a big cry-baby, pathetic and in the end pessimistic. He does not think his actions and saying through, so he many times says meaningless cliche things and then he gets angry or aggrieved. At the same time, his useless trying is so funny that you cannot stop laughing.
The youngest son was Koshiro, acted by Yamashita Tomohisa. Being the youngest does not mean that he is mentally youngest. In many scenes he teaches Jun-ni and Yu-ni about women and how to deal with them. They even say it in drama that Koshiro is the most famous with women - and you can see it too as he never goes on a date with one girl.. there is always at least two girls. He is like family's love-doctor, while he himself takes baaaad advantage of it with teasing others - especially Jun-ni, who is really slow. But on the other side, Koshiro is the only one who does not help out in restaurant, which makes him useless in kitchen. After one serious turn-up in drama plot, he is having the hardest time to find himself. Others have their cooking, while he "must" get ready for university. By the way, he stays at school for the whole day, which makes his brothers worry, but he is a very fast learner. Everyone are afraid of that when Koshiro starts working at kitchen, he might become better than they are.
And then there is the wise father,the head-chef of "Kitchen Macaroni". I think he has the least screen time and text in all, but he has that amazing aura, which makes him respectful. He is ready to put down his job and give the restaurant to his sons. That makes him more think about his life and the past. He tries to spend father-son time with his sons, especially with Koshiro, because others got more his attention while being little. Koshiro was very little when Mom died and Father was always busy with restaurant. These scenes are very heartwarming, because you can see how much he cares for all his sons and "daughter-in-law" Natsumi.
From side-characters Minoru, the live-in cookboy, is almost great friend with Koshiro. I did not understand if he is the same old or not (seemed few years older, but dunno). At restaurant and in the city he keeps low and silent profile, actually he was from the same neighbourhood as Natsumi, so he knows the truth about her. In Chiba, his hometown, he is known for his fighting skills and is honored by many smaller dudes. He is very funny character who has the most morality in the house. He also has a crush on Tomato.
Sadly, Tomato or Toma-chan as they call her, has had a huuuuuge crush on Junzaburo for ages. Toma-chan works at nearby vegetable/fruit shop, where "Kitchen Macaroni" buys their ingredients. There is also one character from Natsumi's past - Shuji. The bad boy who brought only bad to Natsumi, but you cannot choose who you love. He is not that big bastard as you might think, because even he has feelings and humane wishes. He is too aggressive, but I think he really loved Natsumi.
I think that is it about characters. It is funny and you do not know what happens next as the actions begins since the first episode and Natsumi never shows out her "love-interest". "Kitchen Macaroni" seems to be very cozy and comfortable place, but the drama also shows that lunch-time in Tokyo is one insane time.
One small thing more, It seemed like it is a reunion of "Long Love Letter, because at least 6 actors are the same - Yamashita Tomohisa, Yamada Takiyuki, Tsumabuki Satochi, Suzuki Emi, Takaki Maiko, Osugi Ren to mention. Want the reason? Both dramas are mainly made by Omori Mika and Mizuta Narihide with only half year difference.
Nothing else to say than enjoy watching while eating!
Country: Japan Genre: boxing, dreams Format: movie Cast: Yamashita Tomohisa, Iseya Yusuke, Karina, Kagawa Teruyuki, Katsuya, Koga Mitsuki, Moro Morooka, Nishida Naomi, Sugimoto Tetta, Baisho Mitsuko, Tsugawa Masahiko, Hulk Ren, Synopsis: Story is set in 1960s in a city slum. Yabuki Joe is poor, but a great fighter. His fighting skills get noticed by ex-boxer Tange Danpei, who now has ruined his life with alcohol. Unfortunatelly, the fight leads Joe into prison for one year. Tange has made up his mind to make Joe into professional boxer. After losing a man-to-man match to Rikiishi Toru, Joe decides to accept Tange's offer in order to pay back to Rikiishi, who after releasing from prison continued his shining boxer-career. Rating: 5/5
Made after one of the most famous same-named sport-manga by Isao Bitou. Manga was published from 1968 to 1973, but is still famous nowadays.
Yabuki Joe is one badass. He tends to think he is much better than he really is, which makes him more vulnerable and naive. Most of the time he does not listen to Danpei on the match. Btw, I adore his hair =P I think that Joe's role shows how great and willing is Yamashita Tomohisa as an actor. He went on a serious boxer diet, that did not contain any red meat (!), for the role. He took down about 9 kg and 9% of body fat and went through boxer training. About the diet he said at first that it was okey, but as the time went on, he admitted that no-one should go through it and the diet was more like a nightmare. I agree - he looked too skinny in the end and there was no chubby cheeks.
One amazing fact about the movie is that all the punches were real - I think they wanted to make it very real-like... Under-cover fact, there is a rumor that he got one veeeery painful punch to one very gentle spot during filming, but he said that he is okey and continued to film until the end of the scene - after that he went to dressing room alone and kept punching the wall because of the pain - how much more can one actor put up with for the sake of the role??
Rikiishi Toru was Joe's only real rival, but I saw them more as best buddies too. They saw each other as the reason to continue with boxing and they were the only ones to truly understand each other. Iseya Yusuke also took down on weight and in the end his body fat was only 3-4%!!! In movie, I felt sick when I saw his abs - he was way to skinny! I do not find man with these kind of abs sexy..
Karina was very elegant in Yoko role. Yoko was one fateful woman. I did not understand what she felt towards Joe, but as you see, she had feelings for Rikiishi. Also, Yoko suffered from past trauma, which makes her real bitch, who cares less about pour people. That's why I enjoyed all the things Joe said to her. Brilliant!
Danpei's actor Kagawa Teruyuki actually is a big boxing fan, so in his free days he went and taught Yamashita about box. I liked the saying "Tomorrow will never come if you do not spend today well".
I have no words left. It was very interesting and I understand why it is soooo great. There are some slow motion scenes and they look horrible! (in a good way). The shootings were amazing! but even after watching an incredible movie as "Ashita no Joe", I do not like box - it is too violent.
Definitely, WATCH IT!! You will not regret it!
SPOILER review: In the end of the manga, Joe dies too. In movie, he does not die, but Rikiishi dies after the ending match. Weird is it that I cried when Joe lost the match, but I did not cry when Rikiishi died...
Tagline: Drifting classroom Country:Japan Genre: surreal, sci-fi, romance, school Format: drama, 11 episodes Cast: Kubozuka Yousuke, Tokiwa Takako, Yamada Takayuki, Yamashita Tomohisa, Suzuki Emi, Karina, Osugi Ren, Misukawa Asami, Tsumabuki Satoshi, Synopsis: Misaki Yuka and Asami Akio meet by chance at a bookstore. Even though they feel connection between each other, they are unable to meet again. One year later, Yuka is working in her dad's flower shop and Asami as a math teacher in Motokura high school. They meet again when Yuka goes to the school to collect money from a client there - re-encounter does not go as well as they hoped. Yuka receives a call from her former student to meet with her day after that. Next day Yuka goes back to the school (she did not get the money day before) - Asami wishes to clear the misunderstanding between them when suddenly an earthquake occurs. When they open their eyes again, they find that everything but school has turned into sand - or is it the school that has disappeared from its place? Rating: 4/5
Really highly rated drama! It would have been a total killer if it would not have had one tooo annoying point in it, but more about it later. You can read about the end of the drama from SPOILER-review.
The main main character is more actually Asami, but I know that it does not seem to be so according to the synopsis. Asami is played by Kubozuka Yousuke. He is really amazing actor (well, it is his first drama I have seen) - all emotions are well played. As Asami is one character who goes through all kind of different scenes - he is being jealous, angry, sad, in love etc. Really cute - especially "Let's go on a date under the desert moon" *romance level 100* He tells most of the truths in the drama like "As long as you live, you have hope!". His and Yuka's love story in it is really cute form the start. When in Code blue operation with drill (construction drill) was sick, then prepare yourself to ultimate sickness as they perform an operation with paper knifes and spoons.
It is weird how things start to happen first with Yuka - that's why in the synopsis she is most mentioned. She gives the feminine aura to drama as she really starts to act as a mother by protecting the students. Her background is later explained, but it is difficult to understand her feelings towards Fujisawa, the former student of her.
Takamatsu is the main character among the students. He is really insensitive and stupid when it comes to Kaoru, his girlfriend, but he is only character whose mental growth is clearly shown. As well he is the one who wants to go back to the so-called reality the most as he starts to regret his foolness in the real world. What I did not know was that Yamada Takayuki is the same actor who played in The Seaside Motel as Asakura Yousuke (room 202). AMAZING! Kaoru stays in the real world, that's why they start to think about their relationship more - it is sweet how much Kaoru loves him.
Otomo Tadashi, played by Yamashita Tomohisa, is smart yet lazy best-friend of Takamatsu. He is popular, but does not have a girlfriend and he is regularly (mentally and almost sexually) abused by his teacher Sekiya. Tadashi is a little bit scary character by his talk - he mentions the most about killing and suicides, but at the same time he also talks the most about girls and sex. High point of him is when Takamatsu tells him "Don't jump on her!" when Nishi is unconscious in next bed and he answers "I am not that desperate!".
Others - Sekiya is way tooo crazy - even in the real world she has mental issues, which deepens with shock. Kamo is the genius of the drama - her IQ is 230 and she really finds out everything with out leaving the place (okey, GPS scene is an exceptition), but in the end, she comes to the same result with out leaving school as others are spending outside researching. Nishi is a girl whose leg is injured - she sets many things into motion like some happenings, Tadashi's heart etc, but she is really scary when she is having a revelation - I have never liked it when people start talking nonsense without remembering it later.
(Question!! - Is Ikegaki played by Kanjani8's Murakami Shingo? I have not seen videos of him from that age, but Ikegaki is pretty similar to him - there is no information of Ikegaki's actor on the Internet, so I would be happy if some Kanjani8's fan would tell it to me! ^o^)
Drama contains several messages to people. One, which is most talked about, is "Only this moment matters! Live for the moment" - in drama they start with it, but in the end they find out that other way is possible too, as it is rather difficult thing to do. I think you should live for the moment, but think for the future - another weird thing about me. This drama definitely makes you think about the situation when some people you used to know are not anymore with you. Other thing is that we all must keep the nature - we cannot use all resources and we definitely cannot pollute our nature with all kind of chemicals! It is true that deserts have widen with recent years, so we really must take care of areas close to deserts (It is easy for me to say as I live so far from it)
But now to the reasons why it lost its 5th star. It might be a spoiler, but they show what happens with human - how they evolve into something spiderlike things. When I first saw them I was like "WTGYOZA! YOU JUST RUINED THE DRAMA!" I understand that it had to be more science fiction with it, but it more was similar to "Boogeyman" (2005, USA) when you finally see that Boogeyman is a really failure puppet. I seriously hated those spider-like-humans as much as that lamb meat in my rice. In some way it is just another sci-fi about 21st century, which were so popular before 2000 and some years after it. Also the jump in the last episode is actually impossible - and that scene was anyway bad, because you can see it how they all jump down not forward. I think the last episode is the worst episode of the drama.
You never know what happens next in this drama and that's why some things at first seem impossible - why and what really happened to that school? how can they navigate in desert? How much to the future they went? How much fuel the car has?? At first I thought they have not noticed so-called "mistakes", but actually they will give answers to all those questions above, except that Kamo's laptop must have had a serious killer-battery as she used it all the time without recharging it first...
Finally, the drama is very interesting, because they soon find out that they are not the only ones in that desert and it is cool to see how they try to survive, when one by one people go crazy, die or have a serious mood-changes. Also drama shows different sides of life - romance, friendship, protecting nature, school, different people in extreme situations etc. I recommend it to watch as another drama not as a sci-fi, because if you concentrate too much on the surreal part of it, it gets weird.
SPOILERreview: The end is a little bit difficult to understand, but from my point of view this is how it was: they actually stayed into that desert, but they were able to recover nature, so that grass started to grow again (but it is weird that there was no possibility for other animals to come out, which means that they all became total vegetarians and the children of those 21 people will be kindred in future) About those letters and "the past" clip which was shown - it was third parallel- the past, which would have been if some things would have not happened as they did. It is rather complicated, but just think that we never know what is real in this world and what is not - maybe every time you have to make a decision, the world actually divides itself between your decision and the parallel-what-might-have-happened. Easily said, it is another level of philosophy.
Country: Japan Genre: Family, drama, human Format: movie Cast: Matsushita Yuki, Nakamura Toru, Yamashita Tomohisa, Suenaga Haruka, Nakajo Yui, Tsushida Saaya, Shofukutei Tsurubei Synopsis: Katagiri Naoki and Kyoko are happily married when they find out that they cannot have children of them own. They decide to go with the adoption, but end up being foster parents: they will take care of children who have their own parents yet due to circumstances are unable to live as a whole family. Most of the time children have difficult childhood traumas that follow them throughout their lives. Kyoko and Naoki do everything they can to give lots of love to their foster children and prove that people do not have to be related by blood to be one united loving family. Rating: 5/5
One of the most heartwarming movies I have recently seen.
Kyoko and Naoki are amazing people and I am happy that there are this kind of people in real life too as the movie is based on a book which is based on true life. For you to know, then actually adopting is not a usual thing in Japan nor being the foster-parents. In Western-world it is more common and I remember a period in my life when my parents wanted to become foster-parents too, but unfortunately/fortunately there where no children "available" during that time. I guess for them 5 children did not seem enough, but now my parents have grown a bit too old for it and wait for grandchildren.
I think that with Yosuke, Kyoko had the hardest time, but with Sachi had Naoki. Of course Yosuke went a little bit more into their hearts, because he was "their" first child and really problematic, but I do not think they loved Sachi less. Like I said Yosuke had many troubles - his real-mother gave him away when he was 2 and he has having a hard time with trusting and accepting people. Even though his real-mother wanted him to have better life and better possibilities in life, it is too difficult for a child to understand why his mommy "does not want him". You might even say that he has no luck in his life, except finding the best foster parents. Even thought Kyoko and Naoki love him, they must do a hard decision and give Yosuke back. I totally disapproved this move, but at the same time just by watching the movie, you cannot understand how tough that situation really was. But Yosuke still loves and treasures them and so do they. Many scenes are just for watch-long-scenes-of-Yamashita-Tomohisa-being-beautiful.
I loved that Yosuke and Sachi were like real siblings. They had a really close relationship. The movie shows Yosuke as 4, 7 and 17 years old and Sachi according to her age on these years. Sachi was 4 when she was taken in, her mother had died and his father was not able to cope with toddler alone, beside mostly he was drunk and burned Sachi's hands with cigarettes. She was basically taken by Kyoko and Naoki, because Yosuke said "Mom, Dad! I want to have a little sister!". Even when Sachi was 14, she sometimes had a nervous break-down of the childhood trauma. It took time for her to trust Naoki as father. I think she felt a little bit left-out because of Yosuke, but she still loved her family.
Prepare for major crying! I started to cry from the start when these sentences became on the screen :
"All children have the right to feel loved. All children have the right to be happy. No adult has the right to take away the light of hope from children eyes." Just to think how many children actually have unfit life-qualities all over the world. I think that the worst thing is that it is not just the third-world countries, but also in the most advanced countries. We cannot choose our parents and that's why parents acts will stay on children shoulders too and all these things make a big impact in future. Our society is making criminals out of children who have had no choices in their life. I do believe that there are some children who are so-said "born evil", but I think at least 97% of the children's future, mindset and views of life are affected by their upbringing and environment.
SPOILER: highlight for reading. Yes, Yosuke dies.It is the saddest moment in the movie, but after that you can really understand their relationships. *going to cry again*
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