Zulu-Niner

She looks like a taller version of Shiraishi Sei or Morikawa Aoi lol.

Yeah it turns out that main male lead is kinda tolerable. Maybe has to do with the fact he doesn't speak that much and his character isn't that emotionally demanding even compared to others in the show.

The DVD will be released on January 20 (it's been available in JP Youtube Movies since mid January 2021 though), let's hope someone pick it up for subs.

I think the DVD will be out on 20th of January. It's already released in Youtube Movies a week prior to that date although can only be purchased or rented in Japan so far. Fingers crossed someone will upload it in the internet and make the English subtitle. Just saying.

The girl who pinched lil Nana's cheeks TWICE!!

LIVING LEGEND!!!

This one is arguably Kimutaku's best performance in the last 10 years, even better than that in Grand Maison Tokyo. I was glued at the edge of my seat whenever he's on scene, can't think anyone can pull that character better than him. Moka is the standout among the student's cast (who are already excellent, save for a botched and out-of-place comic relief), her acting in the last act is just impeccable. Give her more meaty roles like this, JMovie-Drama gods!

And that post credit scene...perhaps the next installment will be more brutal than the previous two?

It's a full renzoku (8-12 episode).

Yeah good luck for the director lol. Wakana and Yoshikawa Ai are manageable though, but the other one....

I see they will undertake a different approach on the original material compared to the 2007 version. The thing that makes that previous version great is that they had three leads with very imposing screen presence (Kimutaku, Kitaoji, Suzuki Kyoka) which fits the theme of the show like a glove amongst other factors, such as production value and insanely grandiose soundtrack. TBS really went all out to make it work. Their counterparts in this version (Mukai, Nakai, and Uchida Yuki respectively) are great or at least competent actors, but they aren't even close to that of the 2007 version in term of presence and charisma.

Furthermore, a decision to cast an out-right incompetent actor, namely Fujigaya, could defeat the entire purpose of the show like a proper impostor (yeah I'm referring to Among Us lol). Unless they decrease his screen time massively that he doesn't need to show up often, although ironically this is kinda hard considering in the 2007 version Ginpei (portrayed by ever-reliable Yamamoto Koji) was the most important character outside from the three leads. Don't understand why WOWOW cast some very poor actors like him and Hashimoto Kanna (in the upcoming 'Influence') recently.

Sorry for hijacking the topic, but is it only me who sees the stakeholders in mainstream Japanese cinema/TV increasingly becoming elitist nowadays? Like, going as far as actively preventing new faces in getting substantial roles. Just look at the drastic heroine casting policy change of NHK's Asadora.

Recently Japanese indie scene, which is receptive to new names and the 'unknowns', is getting better and better (in the recent years there has been always at least one hit from the indies), but I'm afraid it could be too little, too late. They need something more to foster these talents.

lil Riko FTW ><

Do you mean 'uretteiru/uretteimasu'? Yeah that means salable.

Indeed lol. Sakurako is a lot taller though.

Just-slightly-above-average-LA with some typical missing details, which perhaps due to fact they tried to cram multi-volume manga into a 2 hour movie. It's not necessarily a bad movie per se, but I glad I didn't spend my hard-earned money to watch it in cinema. Some scenes are very well shot and sequenced though. lil Riko's acting stands out of the four leads, her transition from a shy super meek to a more mature girl is on point and believable.

Yeah it's hard to pinpoint which prefecture the show represents the best, because Oshin goes places all the time!

Been eyeing to watch Itomichi btw, I hope it'll be good and do Ren-chan justice. She's so underrated.

Nice list. BTW isn't Oshin set in Sakata (north Niigata) instead of Tsugaru?

I concur with the time slip, that might be the correct assumption and this trick has been used time and time again in the genre (most recently in Netflix's Ju-on 2020). However, it still fails to explain the existence of Ryotaro's biological mother. A more plausible explanation is that the baby wasn't the only villager who escaped the massacre (the lady came from other lineage related to the village). Perhaps unbeknownst to everyone Yai had another offspring aside from Kanade's mother, which later bore the Ryotaro's biological mother? Or it simply has nothing to do with the occurrence in Inunaki Mura, i.e. Kanade's sixth sense was awakened sometime after Akina's incidence so that she can see the ghost of the lady (although this argument can be refuted by the fact Ryotaro has werewolf trait like Kanade's family)?

I'm still not dismissing it as plot hole, perhaps there could be some hints or even explanations in the upcoming sequel (Jukai Mura).

Plot twist: Kanade's great-grandpa from her father side was an animal right activist lol

Neither

Not my cup of tea but IT HAS DAT SCENE - Kento pinching Fumi's super cute cheeks (which I think her cutest ever)