Doctor-X 2 Review

Title: Doctor-X 2

AKA: Doctor-X Season 2

Genre: Medical

Episodes: 9

Broadcast period: 2013-Oct to 2013-Dec

Cast: Yonekura Ryoko, Fujiki Naohito, Uchida Yuki and Endo Kenichi.

“This is the story of a lone wolf woman doctor.  University hospitals' medical offices were losing power, and even medical care which engages in life plunged into an era where the law of jungle prevailed. To fill the critical shortage in the medical field, freelance - that is, lone wolf - doctors emerged.  For example, this woman. Averse to groups, averse to authority, averse to constraints, a medical specialist's license and her self-honed skill are her only weapons. Surgeon Daimon Michiko. Also known as Doctor X.” (Intro of the drama)

After leaving her last hospital freelancer Daimon Michiko (Yonekura Ryoko) is out of work. This all changes when she saves a horse owned by a wealthy physician Mabuchi Ichida (Mita Yoshiko) by performing surgery. Mabuchi decides to hire Daimon in order to perform surgery on a VIP patient with a condition, if left unfixed will leave the patient paralyzed.

When Daimon arrives at the hospital, she is met with the rules and system that makes doctors greedy and arrogant. So she announces that she will not do anything that hasn’t to do with a medical license, including listening to the chief. This does not lie well with the head of surgery, who wants to throw her out of the hospital and keep his position as the head…

This drama continues with Daimon Michiko from season one, and to be honest it did not change much. It is quite simply one of those dramas where you have a great doctor fight the corrupt and mean system. Even though premise is good, the general storyline kind of sucks. I don’t really like these types of characters, they are just not my type. The fact that they don’t have any flaws annoys me the most, and makes the characters unrealistic hence unlikeable. As the storyline goes, we have heard it before and it is kind of the same as season 1. The main actress is okay, and so is the rest, but I just watched it because of the medical part – and that wasn’t all that good. It’s not bad, it’s just so repetitive, so I don’t know why they did a season 2.

If you really enjoyed season 1 I would recommend season 2, but else not really.

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥ / 3 out of 5 hears

Doctor-X Review

Title: Doctor-X

Genre: Medical

Episodes: 8

Broadcast period: 2012-Oct to 2012-Dec

Cast: Yonekura Ryoko, Tanaka Kei, Uchida Yuki and Katsumura Masanobu.

Japan’s hospitals have lost their values as they are dealt with as business: patients are customers, VIP patients are more important (as they pay more), and patients are always right – even if the doctor has to lie about the condition they're in. As a result many doctors have quit their jobs, in pursuit of positions that will give them not only money but also comfort. This leads to a new set type of doctors: freelancers. They work specific hours and only work part time. One of these freelancers is Daimon Michiko (Yonekura Ryoko), who doesn’t do any of the ‘business’ driven things these hospitals are doing, such as dinner parties, helping professors with their research papers and director rounds. She only does the things that require a medical license, which also includes her not having any respect for hierarchy. But due to her amazing surgical abilities she is hired, and slowly the hospital system is crumbling…

Hmm, I like medical dramas, especially Japanese ones, but this is just weird. First of all I get the problematic of the entire ‘business’ aspect and the ridiculous ‘better keep the customers happy so we won’t get sued’, but I have no idea what her point of being there has to do anything with this. Yeah she makes everyone angry, and she defies everyone. She also is amazing at her job, and she is the best blah blah blah.. Reminds me why I didn’t like Code Blue. It’s not bad, just not that good (I’m using that sentence a lot I know).  The main actress didn’t really grow, and the general hospital staff (all other actors) were just like a group of fighting bulls – if you get the idea. And it is good acted, just without really being an interesting storyline. Or to say it simply, I didn’t find it interesting. The medical part was very weak to be honest, but that might just be me.

All in all: okay to watch, but not that interesting.

☆☆☆ / 3 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥ / 3 out of 5 hearts

35-sai no Koukousei Review

Title: 35 sai no Koukousei

AKA: 35-year-old high school student

Genre: School

Episodes:  11

Broadcast period: 2013-Apr to 2013

Cast: Yonekura Ryoko, Mizobata Junpei, Katase Nana, Kaoono Taikou, Kitayama Saori, Takasugi Mahiro, Suda Masaki and Hasegawa Rina.

“High schools nowadays are like endless wastelands. Bullying, truancy, depression. It’s almost like trying to breathe underwater to deal with everyone. And not just for students. Teachers and parents find themselves having to apologize for their mistakes. There are very few rays of hope now. But, within this never ending darkness. Can the 35 year old high school student find something?” (Taken from intro of every episode).

Baba Ayako (Yonekura Ryoko) is a 35 year old high school dropout, who has been returned to the last year of high school. Little is known about her, except that she is rich and very smart, but yet she is returning to school. Here she takes things head on and learns about difference between schools then and now. The very class she is in has a heavy aura of domination two groups: “the popular ones” or also known as Team one. Basically they are able to do anything even while the teachers are looking due to the ‘School Caste’ - which ranks all students and teachers. Slowly the appearance of Baba shakes up Team One, and somehow gets to the core of the school system problems…

There is one theme/subject I really don’t like when it’s televised: bullying. I usually try to avoid those dramas, I mean when the theme is the main focus, and most school dramas have this theme in the storyline, but they are usually short. In this drama, bullying is pretty much in every episode, even though other subjects are mentioned; bullying is in all of them. When I started this, I cried in the very first episode, like seriously, so you might just understand the severity, but as the episodes continued, it just became, I don’t know, too focused on Baba. And the ‘bad guys’ sort of turned tables too sudden, or I don’t know, it became kind of as if I didn’t believe them… BTW, Mizobata Junpei was so amazing, I really was edgy in that one scene.. Lol.. okay no spoiling.

It’s a good school drama that focus on interesting subjects, and yes its harsh too.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

Koshonin 2 Review

Title: Koshonin 2

AKA: The Negotiator Season 2

Genre:  Detective

Episodes: 9

Broadcast period: 2009-Oct to 2009-Dec

Cast: Yonekura Ryoko, Kakei Toshio, Sasano Takashi, Takaoka Sousuke and Shirota Yu.

The story continues with Usagi Reiko (Yonekura Ryoko) in the SIT (Special Investigation Team) as a negotiator. After the entire Mariya Kyosuke (Shirota Yu) situation, Usagi has finally become a real part of the team. Amari Yusuke (Takaoka Souske) on the other hand, has become doubtful in whether he is suited to be in the SIT, and has found him liking the Juvenile District, even starting to counsel a teen who has locked himself in a room due to bullying.

When a series of cases occur involving the same type of gun, they find out that a certain ‘Summer Claus’ has been delivering guns by mail, to regular people - from families with children to old people’s houses. Though attaining 14 guns, they discover that there are 27 guns distributed all over Tokyo, and now it’s up to the team to recover the rest, before any more victims appear..

I’ve been seriously waiting 2½ years for this to be subbed, and somehow not really worth the while. I mean I remember season one to be brilliant and it’s not like the second season is bad, just okay if you ask me.

I really wasn’t that caught, and I was partially bored watching this. I don’t know what to think of it, I mean it really didn’t shock me or surpised me. Like I kind of knew what was going to happen most of the time - EXCEPT the deaths.. That took me by surprised, and what made me really confused was that even if they happened. No one really seemed affected? Lol. I don’t know. I rather just remember season 1.

☆☆☆ / 3 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥ / 3 out of 5 hearts

Koshonin Review

Title: Koshonin
AKA: The Negotiator
Genre: Police, Crime
Episodes: 8
Broadcast period: 2008-Jan to 2008-Feb
Theme song: Ogon Soul by Shonen no Kaze
Cast: Yonekura Ryoko, Jinnai Takanori, Takahashi Katsumi, Takaoka Sousuke and Shirota Yu.

Usagi Reiko (Yonekura Ryoko) is a tough police woman: she is strong, wilful, smart, and not to mention stubborn. When she finally enters the SIT (Special Investigation Team) who works as a negotiating team, she is faced with opposition from not only the criminals, but the rest of the male dominant team, being the only woman there. Kirisawa Keigo (Jinnai Takanori) the head of the department sees her as a huge burden and can’t see why a woman is to be let on the team. Together with her there is another newbie, Amari Yusuke (Takaoka Sousuke), who is treated differently because of his gender, but has less of a brain than Usagi. Besides having to deal with the men in SIT, she occasionally visits the mentally disturbed convict, Mariya Kyosuke (Shirota Yu) who was the main suspect in a case involving her father’s death, 5 years ago...

To be honest I started this drama because I missed Japanese dramas, and what other to watch than a drama that’s about a woman’s fight in a man dominant world? And as I was watching it I thought it was pretty dull for a police/action drama. But I ended up liking it. When I started watching this, I was annoyed, because I thought I didn’t have ‘the red thread’, meaning something linking the story together. I was wrong. I should’ve gotten used to Japanese drama already; they all have one MAIN story, followed by small ones. Though not all succeed, this one does it remarkebly well.
The actress Yonekura Ryoko I’ve never seen or heard of before, but I’ve become a fan (though I find her staring odd, creeps me a bit). The performance I was blown away by, was by Shirota Yu, like can you say AMAZING?! Now I’ve seen him as a bully, geek and a mental person. I put very high standards on crazy people, because you need skill and you need to give that “chill feeling “, in order to make it believable, which he scores pretty high on. To sum up, GREAT watch!

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts