jackyyjack

Vetting of the monk's identity was intense.

The source novel was published in 1994, the year Picnic was shot. Who knows?

Way more engaging than PICU. Go Ayano handles the ridiculous sensationalism of "mad pianist" to a believable human with his hands full. Dr. Storks > PICU, just as Let's Go Karaoke! > Babanbabanban Vampire:P

Babyfaced? It works!

A tricky role for Ayano to pull off as well as he did. The subtexts are more ambiguous than, say, Kikujiro's Summer.

Kotaro has to be one of the best fictional kids ever. The 2 series work a bit like reverse Dickens (no child exploitation), come to think about it.

Perfect role for Yoshizawa. The subtexts alone! An interesting exercise in imagination at times.

After EPS 2, if we keep the "possessed by Beat Takeshi" meme going -- Gannibal is basically Yagira's Violent Cop!

J subs are on Jimaku. Machine translation works OK.

I've never laughed harder. Enough of the gags have an alien's "Why?" about aspects of Japanese life. The reality of dorama shooting schedules...ANSHIN shite KUDASAI 7x. The Kaku/Kubota showdown is instant classic. In fact Kubota is the most spectacular villain in a Fukuda yet.

As a superfan of Mr Nietzsche, seeing Mamiya/Sato interact just kept me fed. Sato brings out the best in Mamiya as he's more expressive than in other works. This could be an entry in Tales of the Bizarre hosted by Tamori, ie. keep your expectations low in terms of adaptation.

Hirata as the "janitor" guy must have thrilled director Fukuda, who's a superfan of Hirata's signature role in Fall Guy (1982).

Adore him in his 2 roles for Fukuda comedies. He's like an outrageous teddy bear.

2 people's extramarital affair impacts their own marriages and children. They don't impact the general public. If they commit murder, rape, financial fraud etc., those are public hazards. Actors play scripted roles, they're not "role models of morality" unless they were packaged as such branding by their agencies/management as a moral authority to sell misc. products or cultural campaigns (in which case their roles as influencers should be scrutinized, because monied interests like to propagandize the public for their own gains/power.)

Why did the rating drop so much from S1?

The novel was first adapted in 1962 by Kon Ichikawa. Japan had a very vibrant documentary scene, where most of the marginalized people and subjects can be found.

"Free school" concept is basically Totto-chan, which is famous book read all over probably up to genX/Y.

In EPS 5, how did Tsugumi/Rena have Nao's phone number in Tokyo in her notebook of favorite things? Was she already given the home number of Nao's mom in Tokyo, while they were still in Hokkaido?

Do you remember the book title and author? It would be an uncommon point of view, since for decades the McMartin Preschool trials were considered (by "cultural writers") ~false memories borne out of hysteria and fearmongering about LGBT that a school became scapegoat. "Save the children" was often seen as a sanctimonious cover to persecute sexual minorities, according to pundits.

He stole the show in Black Night Parade!