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Completed
Toto nee-chan
2 people found this review helpful
Apr 11, 2022
156 of 156 episodes seen
Completed 2
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10
As someone who’s only seen a handful of NHK Asadoras (10 by my count, and a couple of those I only watched a portion of), I’m hardly in the position to state such lofty declarations, but having just wrapped up the Mitsuki Takahata-led show, I have to say that TOTO NEE-CHAN is one of the BEST asadoras I've EVER SEEN! I’m serious. I haven’t been SO INVOLVED and MOVED by a drama since my early golden days of J-drama watching! Not only is Toto Nee one of the best asadoras, it's seriously one of the best DRAMAS I've seen, period!

I’ve thought about what makes an asadora like Toto Nee-chan so strong compared to some others, and it’s easy to see what it is: A CLEAR ADHERENCE TO A SINGULAR STORYLINE. From its very first scene (where you see the main characters already grown and succesful as magazine publishers), the stage is set: you are going to hear a tale of a family of three sisters who strive through wars and hardships to one day become publishing giants, and the asadora never wavered. Every arc and challenge the family met became a stone in the foundation of what they would become and what their fortunes and fates would be. From Tsuneko going to school as a child, all the way to success, you follow her through every step of her life, crying and cheering along the way with her.

Usually a show’s best parts are in the first half of the drama and there is some faltering at the second half, but Toto Nee-chan kept you interested with each new development, and I remember being at week 20 and STILL feeling as excited as I was in its first few chapters! And by the time of the show’s last great arc, I couldn’t stop watching, burning through the episodes to see what happened next, I was SO INVESTED and had to force myself to slow down! SUCH a great STORY!

Watching Tsuneko grow up and rise to the challenges to create her dreams in both work and family was a joy to watch and you felt sadness with every tragedy that befell her and warmth in your heart every time she successfully completed her one of her dream goals. 

 In asadoras, they tended to show the heroine’s entire life, from beginning, middle, and (sometimes) all the way to the end...in that same way, I’m impressed at how well Toto Nee-chan gives you the sense of time moving. People growing up, moving away, etc....

 As each arc ends and the children grow older, you really feel like you’re witnessing a whole life’s work. In the latter chapters with the sisters running the publishing house, thinking back on the early episodes where she and her sisters were still living with Grandmother Takiko in Tokyo, it seemed a million years ago, it seemed like a completely different drama! It truly gave you the feeling of history, like those were the "olden days"...

I began watching this because of my love for Mitsuki Takahata, and I’m so glad I did, this asadora has been a tour-de-force for her and has absolutely become my favorite Mitsuki Takahata role and drama!  Since picking up Toto Nee-chan, I’ve put her latest show “Muchaburi” on hold so as to not distract from immersing in the asadora, but now it’s done I can finally go back and catch up. Hope it measures up, because Toto Nee-chan has become the Mitsuki Takahata drama ALL others must compare to!

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Nihon Boro Yado Kiko
2 people found this review helpful
Apr 5, 2022
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 8.0
With my beloved Tetsu Ota Michiko 2man Kiro about to wrap, I needed a new show to fill my “Girl with an Odd Otaku Obsession” appetite, and I found it in the 2019 drama “Nihon Boro Yado Kiko”, about a young girl managing a washed up singer who is obsessed with cheap, run-down “boro” hole in the wall Inns!!
Life on the road can be tough, but it’s all worthwhile for all the run-down lodgings they’ll encounter: From outdated phones, televisions, and light fixtures, dingy and humble washrooms, to well-worn beddings...and OOH! Stained Carpets!!!! ...this is a Boro Yado fan's DELIGHT!!!
Nihon Boro Yado Kiko is a fun and spirited show filled with warmth and sentimentality of  yesteryear, and part of its authenticity is that Takahashi (and even Fukagawa) have real-life idol roots-  Kazuya Takahashi was a Johnny’s entertainment singer in the 80’s (and really exuded that early boy-idol style)-
and of course Mai Fukagawa herself came from the first generation of Nogizaka46!
Maybe that's the magic formula that makes Nihon Boro Yado Kido such a great little ode to the glories of yesterday! Really LOVED it! 

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Completed
Tsuma, Shogakusei ni Naru
2 people found this review helpful
Apr 5, 2022
10 of 10 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10
When I first read the synopsis for "Tsuma, Shougakusei ni Naru" with Shinichi Tsutsumi as a Husband whose deceased wife comes back to him in the body of a 4th grade Schoolgirl, I expected a wild and WACKY show in the style of his previous shows like "Super Salaryman Saenai-shi", with zany hijinks and slapstick comedy...Instead, what I got was a sweet, thoughtful, and touching story  which had a lot to say about family, grief, responsibility, and above all, cherishing what you have and using the time you have positively. 
From Tsutsumi Shinichi as the Husband to Aju Makita as the daughter, Ryunosuke Kamiki as the brother and an incredible performance by Nono Maida as the Yuriko Ishida reincarnated Wife Takae (and even Misato Morita and Yo Yoshida as support characters), these were all people you grew to really care about and want to see find happiness, though you are aware that not everyone can get what they want in life.
From the get go, we all felt that this story would have a bittersweet ending but I'm happy to say that it was an entirely satisfying and complete conclusion to a wonderful story…

Who would have ever thought a drama with such a humorous set-up could be so heartfelt and heartbreaking! 

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Completed
Kanojo to no Tadashii Asobikata
2 people found this review helpful
Nov 25, 2016
1 of 1 episodes seen
Completed 1
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.5
Rewatch Value 10
What a fun, sweet movie! I watched thist as soon as I finished downloading it, and was PLEASANTLY SURPRISED to find that the actress who played the main girl Yuna was none other than a big fave actress of mine, Tomoka Kurokawa! Costarring Hiro Mizushima as the forever befuddled Takeshi, the show even made a cute nod to CAT STREET by having Mitsuki Tanimura in a small but revealing cameo!
This show (Drama? Special?) is the one that really did it for me and pushed Tomoka Kurokawa from a passing fancy to a true "Crush" as I can't get her out of my head! The character of Yuna in Kanojo to no Tadashi Asobikata is such a great one- at first seemingly perfect and conceited, little by little, as she and Takeshi go through the motions at school and outside, you see how awkward and insecure she is about herself- moreover, you see just how much she really loves this guy. MAN! Tomoka really SOLD ME!!!!

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Completed
Why Don't You Play In Hell?
2 people found this review helpful
Nov 24, 2016
Completed 0
Overall 7.0
Story 5.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 8.5
Rewatch Value 7.0
The highly explosive and bloody Why Don’t You Play In Hell (Jigoku de Naze Warui), the supercharged tale of a former child-star mob daughter named Michiko caught between two rival mob families and a troop of amateur filmmakers, all of whom have one thing uniting them: to make the cinematic masterpiece that will stand the test of time! The movie starts out quirky and eccentric,(think Miki Satoshi) but slowly but surely as the film moves along, the movie gets weirder and weirder, til it cumulates in the most absolutely over-the-top looney tunes shoot out for the ages! A truly WTF movie if there ever was one!

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The Wings of the Kirin
2 people found this review helpful
Nov 24, 2016
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 8.0
Just finished watching the Hiroshi Abe movie KIRIN NO TSUBASA (The Wings of the Gryphon), a crime drama that I originally grabbed becasue I mistakenly thought it was a Yui Aragaki Movie. Aragaki IS in the movie, but she was more part of an (admittedly stellar) ensemble cast than a starring role, but it didn't even matter because I was captivated thoughout the movie anyway! If there's one thing that's been proven, when times are tough and things seem hopeless, Hiroshi Abe is THE MAN when it comes to cracking the cases and bringing the guilty to justice!

Strangely enough, though I really enjoyed Abe's crime drama SHINZANMONO, I had no IDEA that The Wings Of The Gryphon was a movie featuring the characters from it! I simply thought Hiroshi Abe , Junpei Mizubata, etc, wre playing stereotypical crime drama roles that I've seen them play a hundred times before! You would have thought the characters NAMES would have tipped me off, but honestly, I didn't remember what any of them were! LOL

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Completed
Dear Friends
2 people found this review helpful
Nov 24, 2016
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 8.0
OKAY, a full confessional here: when I acquired the 2007 movie DEAR FRIENDS, my MAIN purpose of checking out this flick was to see the ubiquitous Kitagawa Keiko (who has without doubt moved up to become one of my VERY FAVORITE actresses) duked out as a SEXY, SUPER-HOT VIXEN complete with the skimpy outfits and tight, tight shorty-shorts and the attitude to match! Sexily gyrating on the sweaty dance floor and leading on her choice of men, she’s the kind of girl who has friends casually ask, “Could it be you’re pregnant AGAIN?” and have her response be, “Can’t Be…I’m on the Pill, after all!” WHOA!

But if I thought this movie was gonna be all fun and games, I was SORELY MISINFORMED! ‘Cause though there WAS an awful lot of that in the first half of the movie, at one point, Dear Friends becomes quite somber and turns into a serious and introspective film. Where I thought I would be spending my time drooling and pandering after Keiko, I suddenly found myself weeping like a girlyman instead!

Keiko plays Rina, a sexy girl-about town who has the world of the nightlife in the palm of her hand. She is brash, spoiled and manipulating, but when she finds herself suddenly hospitalized, she is brought crashing back to earth, her partygoing life and thrillseeking friends taking a back seat as Rina is forced to see what really matters in life.

Stellar acting from all the lead actors, especially Keiko and actress Yuika Motokariya, who plays Maki, another sick girl who gives Rina the inner strength to go on with her life when fate has dealt her a bitter hand. Also of merit is the CUTE little girl Mao Sasaki who played Kanae, a tiny shut-in patient who befriends Rina during her initial stay at the hospital. Oh, and a holler out to Hatsume Matsushima who played Rina’s partygoing friend Emi who looked HELLA like Ueto Aya in those opening scenes!

This is my second movie in recent weeks dealing with hospitalization and cancer after seeing equally terrific HEAVEN’S DOOR, the movie that starred Nagase Tomoya as the cancer patient and Mayuko Fukuda as the shut-in hospitalized girl. Though the two movies couldn’t be any more different, they both had heart at its center and guaranteed that I’d be using up all my Kleenex as it took me through its emotional ups and downs!! Sob, Sob!

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Completed
Ichi
2 people found this review helpful
Nov 24, 2016
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 9.5
ICHI puts a feminine twist on the “Zatoichi / Blind Swordsman” legend with Ayase as a blind girl who uses her hyper sense of hearing to perceive her surroundings and destroy opponents. Along for the ride is love interest Takao Osawa as Toma, he himself a gifted swordsman but unable (for psychological reasons) to draw his sword.
This movie was interesting and quick-paced, the fight scenes quick and stylized, and Ayase Haruka, besides being as pretty as ever (even dressed in rags!), is entirely convincing as the cold and ruthless Ichi. I loved every scene she was in, and especially liked the scenes with her and the little boy who shows her around the village and lovingly follows her around as she shuffles through town.

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Completed
I Just Wanna Hug You
2 people found this review helpful
Nov 24, 2016
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 9.5
This was a fairly “By The Numbers” tearjerker, but I love Keiko, and as usual, her acting lends to very likeable and believable characters…I was taken with Tsubasa from the moment I saw her. This film was heartbreaking for me not so much for its grand, tragic end, but more for the parts where you see Tsubasa going through her everyday life coping bravely with her handicap (doing her errands in her wheelchair, doing housework with the use of only her right arm), and the footage of her shortly after her accident when she was first going through the arduous and painful task of rehabilitation was harrowing and yet so admirable to watch.

Besides Keiko and Ryo Nishikido, Dakishimetai featured an all-star ensemble cast, including Eriko Sato and Aya Hirayama, albeit in minor roles.

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Completed
Hayabusa Shobodan
1 people found this review helpful
Oct 8, 2023
9 of 9 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 6.5
A drama that took me completely unaware! When I initially began watching Hayabusa Shobodan, I expected a traditional story of the "harried city man who comes to small town and recharges himself", and at first, that was what we got, with main character Taro Mima (Tomoya Nakamura), a struggling writer, coming to the small village of Hayabusa, connecting with the locals, joining the fire brigade and even finding a love interest of sorts in Aya Takichi (Haruna Kawaguchi).
But at the halfway mark of Hayabusa Shobodan, the show slowly began shifting into an entirely different, SURREAL drama, one involving Fanatical Religious Cults, Supernatural Encounters, and Spiritual Prophet Reincarnation! WHAAA!
While on one hand thinking  "What the HECK is happening to this drama?", the OTHER hand was transfixed and couldn't WAIT to see what would happen NEXT! This had all the makings of a David Lynch Series a la TWIN PEAKS, and I was ALL on BOARD!
 I've said many times how much I appreciate an unpredictable show where you're on your toes with one surprise after another and I GOTTA SAY, I had NO IDEA where ANY of it was going to GO! Had me guessing ALL the WAY to the END!
Sadly, it ended ALL TOO SOON, and I  really wished it could have been even 15 minutes longer just so we could have a nicer "wrap up" between the romantic leads. STILL, a fine show and one I'm satisfied with, something I can't say for most of the shows lately... 

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Completed
Kanojotachi no Hanzai
1 people found this review helpful
Oct 8, 2023
10 of 10 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 5.0

Scattershot but Satisfying

Despite this drama's wildly outlandish set-ups and unbelievable plot twists (really haven't seen this many expectations subverted since The Last Jedi!), I cannot deny the fact that I was THOROUGHLY entertained throughout the entire story of the three desperate women who do the unthinkable to get out of the unbearable situations fate has cornered them into!
Atsuko Maeda, Anna Ishii and Mai Fukagawa excel as the three lead women, in particular Fukagawa came in really strong with her character!
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Completed
Uchi no Musume wa, Kareshi ga Dekinai!!
1 people found this review helpful
Apr 6, 2021
10 of 10 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10
Uchi no Musume wa Kareshi ga Dekinai was SHEER DELIGHT to watch from the very first minute and never let go til the last episode’s final beat!!
Featuring a fine little cast, this was an ensemble-led drama where everyone shone, and yet, the heart and soul of the show was the love between this eccentric Mother and Daughter as they go about life and romance!
I cannot tell you how many times I was just sitting there crying my eyes out with how wonderfully touching the scenes with Mom Aoi and daughter Sora, their each and every moment showing you how much these two loved each other. 
And the writing…There were so many zippy, fun and witty scenarios as well as incredible, wonderful lines of dialog that warmed me, inspired me and just flat out BROKE MY HEART!(sadly most of them I can’t quote without giving away important story points!)
This is one drama I will really have to sit on and decide where I want to place it in my list of all-time faves, because, oh boy, this was a HUGE one!!! One of the most satisfying dramas I’ve seen, and DEFINITELY one to go alongside all of writer Eriko Kitagawa’s other amazing dramas!

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Completed
Kenja no Ai
1 people found this review helpful
Mar 30, 2020
4 of 4 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 10
An absolutely smouldering performance by Miho Nakayama as a beautiful woman who plots an elaborate, magnificent revenge scheme on the woman who has systematically taken everything of importance to her since childhood-

Man, It’s been a day and I still can’t stop thinking about this drama. You know how when you’re watching a show’s last episode and it’s looking like things will end the way you want…and then you see that it still has a half hour to go and you KNOW it’s gonna have one of those...DRAMATIC kind of conclusions…

Well, without giving away any spoilers Kenja No Ai ended on a similar note and while it wasn’t the ending I wanted, it was an ending that seemed …RIGHT somehow…enough that I accepted it fully and am here still thinking about it…

I’m in a VERY melancholy mood right now!

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Completed
Kaibutsu
1 people found this review helpful
Nov 24, 2016
1 of 1 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 8.5
Rewatch Value 8.5
Wow, I just finished watching the incredibly Dark Movie special "Kaibutsu"(Monster) and I have to say it's been quite awhile since I've seen a movie that was so unpredictable in its subject-matter, twists and double dealings that I was on my toes (and at the edge of my seat) throughout the entire flick!

The story of Kaibutsu concerns a Police Detective named Kosai (Koichi Sato) who is determined to arrest an up-and-coming politician (Jun Kaname) suspected of a crime committed 15 years ago involving the murder of a little girl is intriguing enough, add in a surreal extra-sensory power Kosai has of being able to perceive a murder scene by scent alone, and you've got a slightly X-Files-ish tale on your hands. Going further and adding in another case he's working on concurrently with his new partner Ishikawa (Chiaki Kuriyama) involving a worker named Masaki (Osamu Mukai) working at a Sewage -Treatment Center who's suspected of liquidating bodies with the city's new high-pressure waste disposal unit, and we're reaching DAVID LYNCH creepiness!

"There are people who want to disappear, and then there are those whom people want to disappear", Masaki tells Kosai one day, and this seems inarguably true in a world where cruel criminals callously murder innocent victims and those slighted burn with taking revenge into their own hands, and as people begin disappearing left and right, the question of just who the "good" people are in this movie and who the "monsters" are begin to blur.

By the movie's conclusion, we are left with that thought to ponder, and as the movie ended and the characters departed, I for one wanted to see where the events set up in this movie would lead! In fact, the ending left me on SUCH a "What Happens Next...?" kind of feel, I even rushed to AsianMediaWiki to see if this was the pilot to a new TV series or another movie (like the two-movie chaptered Double Face, for example), but so far nothing yet....

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Completed
Clover
1 people found this review helpful
Nov 24, 2016
Completed 0
Overall 5.5
Story 3.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 5.5
Finally got around to watching the Okura Tadayoshi /Takei Emi TBS television movie Clover and while the romantic storyline wasn't anything new ( the cliches were as old as the hills), Emi Takei was so freaking adorable as main character Saya that I STILL ended up really liking it!
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