ZDorama
USA
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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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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Yeah, the film was just about as silly as it sounds, but there was one BIG perk of watching it- throughout the show, they kept introducing new government assassins posing as transfer teachers and students, and among them was an extremely hot and sexy bombshell named “ Irina Jelavic”, played by pretty Jiyoung, she late of K-pop group KARA!
Damn, gotta say, when I first began watching Assassination Classroom, I didn’t even recognize her- the blonde wig was an obvious throw-off, but additionally Jiyoung was probably the last actress I expected to see here…
I guess I shouldn’t have been TOO surprised, though, since she played another little hottie in the equally crazy monster-in-the-classroom drama JIGOKU SENSEI NUBE! Mmmm, She’s been lookin’ HELLA fine!!!
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Ah, but despite coming in so late to the game, I enjoyed the flick, and WOW- one thing I was amazed to note was that though I’ve known actress RYO since her debut in Long Vacation way back in 1996, this was the FIRST TIME I’d EVER thought she was SEXY and PRETTY, man she was so HOT in this show!
Maybe it was that this was the first time I’d seen her playing a rich, socialite woman, or maybe it was that she’d gained some weight since those early days (she was always so thin) or maybe it was just those lush false eyelashes, and heavy mascara, but WOW, her portrayal of Oshima Mariko, a woman who is constantly threatening to sue the matchmaking Company because her dates always dump her had me all turned on throughout the movie!
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Lots of great action scenes in this one and so many intriguing characters, and it becomes a madhouse of murder as each killer becomes either hunted or hunter, switching back and forth in an intricate game of cat-and-mouse til you aren't sure WHO to root for!
All this, Nanao, adorably cutesy Aimi Satsukawa as a ditsy former-student of Suzuki’s who gets accidentally involved with the whole brouhaha herself, and even a cameo with Kumiko Aso as the wife of one of the assassins!
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“Judge!” is clearly Satoshi Tsumabuki’s movie and Keiko has an admittedly lesser role in it, but every scene she’s in, she just lights up with that sassy energy of hers! Whenever a scene would play, I’d find myself delightfully rewinding her parts over and over- Man, I do love this girl so much! A good, fun movie to watch over the weekend!
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I’ve just seen a J-movie that is such a mish-mash of genres that it's end result must be one of the most unusual amalgams ever! This movie has it all: Romance, Roughnecking, Triumph and Tragedy, and it’s all set to campily enthusiastic SONG AND DANCE!
For reals, when I sat down to watch AI TO MAKOTO (For Love's Sake), I was only in it for the sweet babe-ness of its main star Emi Takei, but as soon as I saw the opening scene where delinquent bad boy Makoto (played by Satoshi Tsumabuki) beats up a rival gang all the while singing and DANCING, I knew I was in for SOME movie! Seriously, this was the Jets fighting the Sharks all over again!
I have to say that this a pretty innovative flick, and though the songs seem to break out at the most inopportune times, some of them are in fact pretty catchy, it was a thrill to hear Emi Takei singing her sweet proclamation of love to Makoto, and I have special fondness for the dark, drawling, song “Dreams Bloom at Night” which rival-love-interest Yuki (Ono Ito) hypnotically purrs to Makoto to take him away from innocent Ai’s arms…
Ai To Makoto is really like a Manga brought to life, and with waltzing Gang Members, Angry Singing Parents and enemy students brawling at the drop of a hat, it’s sometimes hard to take things seriously! But just like Romeo and Juliet (which West Side Story was based on , of course), this story has the shadow of TRAGEDY looming all over it, and you just KNOW that our heroes and heroines will not come out of it unscathed…
Ah, but let us not bring the zany vibes down! The Verdict for Ai To Makoto: Highly Original movie with an insane amount of nuttiness. Camp Factor: High, Emi Takei Cuteness factor: Maximum! Cautiously Recommended Viewing!!!
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Hiroshi Abe is back on the case with the latest in the strong SHINZANMONO pantheon, the smooth and cool Nemuri No Mori, a television special following the intense Wings Of The Kirin (Kirin No Tsubasa) from 2012. I couldn't wait to dig in!
This was one interesting story that had me guessing throughout the show, but even MORE awesome was how pretty all of the actresses playing the suspect ballerinas were! With actresses Ishihara Satomi, Otozuki Kei, Otani Eiko and Kinami Haruka as the primary girls (suspects), there was enough eye candy to keep me going no matter WHAT the storyline, LOL
AHAHA, and if THAT wasn't enough, they even had fantastic Nakama Yukie make a hilarious and cute cameo appearance as Kaga’s omiai prospect! Leave it to Yukie to be the girl who can really put Abe in his place! Too Funny!
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A melancholy movie with beautiful, atmospheric backdrops and a slow paced rhythm to it that really soothes the viewer’s soul
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I picked up on this movie simply for the stunning array of stellar actresses they’d gotten (Aoi Yu, Takeuchi Yuko, Tanaka Rena, Nakama Yukie,Suzuki Kyoka and Hirosue Ryoko, MAN,have you ever seen so much TALENT in one movie?) and the movie’s touching and heartfelt story certainly put them to good use, but the overall thing that stunned me the most was the film’s unbelievable cinematography and special effects!
Having a movie set in the years 1936, 1964, 1969, 1977 and 2004 would be a daunting task for anyone, and I wouldn’t have blamed them if they just winged it and made do with the sets they had on hand, but MY GOSH, those period pieces (and, in particular, the 60’s scenes) seemed like they were actually shot at that time!
Every time they opened another scene, just one look at the girl and her surrounds and I’d instantly KNOW what decade they were in, and DAMN if the Yukie Nakama scenes didn’t just remind me of those Tomokazu Muira/Yamaguchi Momoe flicks of the 70’s! And to bring out the flourish of those period pieces , the scenes alternate between modern 2004 shots which REALLY makes them stand out in comparison!
Of course, all this talent and special effects wouldn’t have meant much without a solid story to go on, and FLOWERS wonderful message is the cherishing of life, family, and the miracle of motherhood. (and never has a movie utilized Olivia Newton John’s (!) “Have You Never Been Mellow” better than this movie’s conclusion…so touching!
And for those of us who were just so blown away by the period piece effects, they went one further for us, as the ending credits ran and they showed these old, yellowed family photos of the generations of families, and I was like HOLY CRAP, THESE PICTURES LOOK SO DAMN AUTHENTIC! Especially the Aoi Yu shots- DANG, those could have been in MY Grandmother’s photo album! Just Fantastic!
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The film was interesting enough, but what really made the movie for me was the all star cast that included not only Fujiwara Tatsuya (of the aforementioned Battle Royale fame), Abe Tsuyoshi (Hanadan) and the mighty Kitaoji Kinya, but THREE (yes, count them, THREE) of my favorite actresses: Ayase Haruka, Ishihara Satomi and Hirayama Aya!
Each gal played a certain stereotype: Aya as the giggly kogal Wakana, Haruka as the quiet and introspective Shoko, and Satomi as the scene-stealing morose, dramatic and suicidal Miyu! I have to say that it was their presence that really kept me glued to the computer- Man, I haven’t had a Crush Overdose like this since “Mamiya Brothers” with Kitagawa Keiko and Sawajiri Erika!
Say, it looks like Ishihara Satomi is really getting into this new kind of haunted, morbid character persona like the one I first saw in Tobo Bengoshi, and I have to say it fits her well!!! Very sultry and on her way to becoming a true Femme Fatale!
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Remember that movie “Of Unknown Origin”, where Mild mannered Bart Hughes is so obsessed with catching a pesky mouse, at the end he ends up burning down his entire house to kill it? Think that, but with two pretty ‘n’ buxom gals instead of Peter Weller, and you’ve got the idea!
Can’t say that there was too much more than that as far as any deeper story goes, but BOY was it FUN watching these two beautiful girls bash each others’ brains out in true Wile E. Coyote/ Road Runner style, til each girl is a mess of blood and bruises! I’ve just become a fan recently of Nonami Maho, and I’ve loved Eiko Koike since I first saw her as a recurring guest on DOMOTO TSUYOSHI SHOJIKI SHINDOI, and it was awesome to see them let loose and go CRAZY!!!
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Keiko's character is a quiet and pure girl who shyly comes into Muga's restaurant looking for a job, and Takuro's so shocked that such a beautiful young thing would want to work in HIS shoppe, he's almost too dumbstruck to reply! It's then that he seeks out the mysterious HANDSOME SUIT to change his appearance so he can sweep Hiroko off her feet...or will he?
Hmmm. While I can understand why a sweet and naïve young girl like Hiroko might be turned off by a showboating egomaniac like Shosuke Tanihara, I have a harder time believing she’d fall instead madly in love with Muga’s character, at least so much that she would go to such drastic measures as she does…
Ah well, in a movie, like this, common sense and credibility are thrown out the window, and you’re there to simply sit back and enjoy the ride, a feat that this movie does effortlessly! SO much fun, and MY does Keiko-chan look absolutely adorable as the shy and innocent Hiroko…! Thumbs Up!
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