99.9 2 Review

Title: 99.9 season 2

AKA: Criminal Lawyers season 2

Genre: Legal, Drama

Episodes: 9

Broadcast period: 2018-Jan to 2018-Mar

Theme song: Find the Answer by Arashi

Cast: Matsumoto Jun, Kagawa Teruyuki and Kimura Fumino

“The Japanese criminal justice system has a conviction rate of 99.9%. Once indicted, a guilty verdict is a near certainty. This drama series tells the story of the lawyers who take on these difficult cases, so that they may find the facts hidden within the remaining 0.1%.” (Intro of each episode)

Returning to where we left off, Miyama Hiroto (Matsumoto Jun) still works “losing” cases for Madarame Law Firm. Joining him this time is a former judge, Ozaki Maiko (Kimura Fumino), who firmly and blindly, believes in the judicial system of Japan - which is completely opposite from Miyama.

Not being able to unite in the beginning, the two learn to adapt to each other’s workstyle, and soon enough, together with top defense lawyer Sada Atsuhiro (Kagawa Teruyuki), they seek justice for cases with a 0,01 % success rate…

So, 2 years back, I watched the first season, and didn’t not fancy it. I didn’t hate it, but I wasn’t that into it. The second season is a bit better. I like that there is an exact opposite of Miyama, making it two sides, instead of just the one. Also, Ozaki is really cool. I like her character being herself, even if she is caught in a disadvantage, which the previous lead didn’t have. All characters are pretty much the same, and the acting was pretty much at point - though the humor and speed of conversations, is hard to follow, which it was in season one as well. The stories are good, and the flow of the back plot is great, so it made it a bit more enjoyable.

All in all, a better season, and interesting storytelling.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

Kizoku Tantei Review

Title: Kizoku Tantei

AKA: Noble Detective

Genre: Detective, Mystery, Comedy

Episodes: 11

Broadcast period: 2017-Apr to 2017-Jun

Theme song: I’ll be there by Arashi

Cast: Aiba Masaki, Takei Emi, Namase Katsuhisa, Kinami Haruka and Okayama Amane.

Takatou Aika (Takei Emi) is a young detective, working at her master Kitami Kirikos (Igawa Haruka) detective agency. She hasn’t had a breakthrough even though she spends most of her time focusing on cases and her work - she rarely gets a deduction right.

Everything changes when she one-day encounters “The Noble Detective” (Aiba Masaki). Nothing is known about his except that he identifies himself as such, and that he is an aristocrat with a lot of money. All his deductions and investigations are carried out by his staff, and he spends most of his time entertaining young women involved in the cases.

Completely befuddled by his way of “being a detective”, Aika decides to prove to him what a real detective is, and competes with his in solving cases. Soon she realizes that The Noble Detective has some past with his master, and she starts to investigate him, but the further she goes, the less she is sure…

When I watched the first episode I wasn’t hooked at all, then when I continued I found the first drama ever that I couldn’t guess the ending off till the very last episode. That not only made me intrigued, but also looking forward to every week to see if the things I had guessed were right.

The acting in this drama was good, and the storyline is weird, though it grows on you quite fast. I must say that I didn’t expect to enjoy it that much, and for the first time ever I hadn’t noticed the small hints that were given throughout the series. When the last episode came out, I was surprised that I hadn’t connected the dots. And this made me realize how nice it must be not to be able to guess the ending. (Ha ha ha)

All in all, a weird yet good drama, with good acting, and they managed to ‘fool’ me, so a “well done detective drama”.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts

99.9 Review

Title: 99.9

AKA: Criminal Lawyers

Genre: Legal, Drama

Episodes: 10

Broadcast period: 2016-Apr to 2016-Jun

Theme song: Daylight by Arashi

Cast: Matsumoto Jun, Kagawa Teruyuki, Eikura Nana and Kishibe Ittoku.

In Japan the conviction rate is 99,9% which means when someone is prosecuted the chance for being exonerated is only 0,1%, so if you are innocent your chances are very low. This drama follows a special team of lawyers and paralegals challenge the system by taking on the cases of 0,1% to find the truth.

Miyamoto Hiroto (Matsumoto Jun) is a lawyer who lives for finding the truths behind cases that includes investigating himself. Though he has zero interest in money, he has a high sense of honesty.

When he offered a job in the special unit he declines at first, but after some time he agrees as his curiosity for cases increases. Partnered with him and also an ambitious man is Sada Atsuhiro (Kagawa Teruyuki) who hates the idea of honesty, and prefers to work FOR the clients so that they can win – different than Miyamoto who refuses to lie no matter the reason. The two are forced to lead the team, but soon find a common goal and try to win the 0,1% cases...

Another Arashi drama! I simply love their dramas since they are probably some of the best Japanese idol actors out there, good enough to lose the 'idol' and just be seen as actors. Matsumoto has had a couple of good ones, and to be honest I was afraid he'd do a romance again (not that he's bad at it, just way too typical), so you can imagine my surprise when I saw him in a drama with no romance. It is also one of the few where the focus is mainly on the sub-stories of the drama, and doesn't really have a main storyline that fills the plot. This makes it easy to follow even if it is quite heavy with the law and legal talk going around.

Besides that, the general drama is not really one of my favorite. It is interesting, but not something you watch to follow every single week, and it doesn't keep you on edge – not that it is necessary for it – but it makes it pretty slow paced while watching.

All in an okay drama to watch, but not a drama that keeps you on edge.

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥ / 3 out of 5 hearts

Yokoso, Wagaya e Review

Title: Yokoso, Wagaya e

AKA: Welcome to my home

Genre: Family, Suspense

Episodes: 10

Broadcast period: 2015-Apr to 2015-Jun

Theme song: Aozora no Shita, Kimi no Tonari by Arashi

Cast: Aiba Masaki, Sawajiri Erika, Arimura Kasumi, Minami Kaho and Terao Akira,

Kurata Kenta (Aiba Masaki) is a coward who avoids confrontation and disputes. Due to his upbringing he never bothers other people or does he trouble people, and uses preferably the sentence “I’m sorry” in any given circumstance. His father is the same way, and his mother is a happy person who never stops smiling. The only one in the family with a serious personality is the daughter, who is the complete opposite of everyone else.

The family is happy and loving family, until one day Kenta finds his courage and tells off a man who bothers people at the train platform. Here he also meets Kandori Asuka (Sawariji Erika) a woman that always speaks her mind without holding back.

After the situation the man runs off in embarrassment - but when Kenta takes the bus home that very man appears in the same bus. Creeped out Kenta gets out of the bus only to be followed by the man and it escalates with the man running after Kenta. Kenta runs around the neighborhood, and manages to lose him. The next morning though the flowerbeds in front of their house are ripped out. Unsure whether or not it is that man, Kenta wants to figure out who he is, and by pure luck meets Asuka again, who introduces herself as a journalist willing to help finding out the stalker.

But as it turns out more and more things start to happen to the family, continuously bothering them. Who can it be, and why the Kurata family?

My reason for watching this was mainly Aiba so I did not really read the summary of the plot. But I think that did kind of the good part here, not know what to expect.

The drama is a mellow family story with a psychological twist to it, as it is very disturbing to know that due to a little confrontation you can become a victim of severe stalking and what I call ‘chain-stalking’.  And to be honest, even though it isn’t all horror, it made my mouth dry quite a few times. Just the thought of ‘what-if-it-had-happened-to-me’ made me shiver. As I said: dirsturbing.

As a general it doesn’t isn’r scary, and the family is so adorable and fun to watch, so you don’t get that bored, but to be honest it is a bit too ‘chain-stalkerish’… you’ll get what I mean when/if you see it. And I wasn’t all that excited to find out the ending. Aiba is great as always, and to be honest everyone was good at acting, even Sawariji whom I never really liked before.

All in all: a good and interesting family drama with a hint of suspense.

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

Yowakutemo Katemasu Review

Title: Yowakutemo Katemasu

AKA: Even if we are weak, we will win

Genre: School, Drama, Sports

Episodes: 11

Broadcast period: 2014-Apr to 2014-Jun

Theme song: GUTS by Arashi

Cast: Ninomiya Kazunari, Aso Kumiko, Fukushi Sota, Arimura Kasumi, Nakajima Yuto, Hongo Kanata and Yamazaki Kento

When his professor is suspected of falsifying a thesis, the sponsoring for the lab Tamo Aoshi (Ninomiya Kazunari) is working at is pulled back and he is left without a job. The professor promises that in a year he’ll fix the problem, but that still is a year without a job for Tamo. He contacts his old high school principle for a job as a biology teacher in the same high school, and gets the job and is assigned a class. The school is famous for smart kids that enter Toudai, and the students usually score good results in tests. While being there he is reminded of the time he was at the baseball, and how bad how he was, which made him leave baseball 13 years ago. Still unable to let it go, he finds himself drawn to the baseball team that is so bad, the students are not even able to catch the balls. Still loving the sports, the six members that are there are yearning for a good coach, and find out that Tamo used to be in the school’s baseball team.

Set to get his revenge on the school that made him feel weak and leave baseball, Tamo declares to that very school that he will win against them, by having these students win against them. Now he has to make the team a team, and find a way to make them win even if they are as bad as they are…

Another Arashi drama with Ninomiya as the lead actor. To be honest, I was really excited to watch a high school drama, and a baseball one on top of that. Though I was sceptic about Nino being in the role as the teacher, I have to admit he is perfect in this role. Generally he is a great actor, and acting as a Tamo-sensei is pretty perfect for him. The male cast, basically all the boys of the team, are really good at acting and even raise the quality of the drama. I was a bit annoyed at Arimura, but I guess it’s her face, because her character was okay.

The drama is also pretty slow passed, so there really is not that much going on. Lol, when I finished it I actually didn’t really know what I was expecting, but it didn’t really have that much of a climax.

All in all a greatly acted drama, with a slow pase.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts

Shinigami-kun Review

Title: Shinigami-kun

AKA: The Reaper

Genre: Human drama

Episodes: 9

Broadcast period: 2014-Apr to 2014-Jun

Theme song: Dare mo Shiranai by Arashi

Cast: Ohno Satoshi, Suda Masaki, Kiritani Mirei and Matsushige Yukata.

When people die they are guided by a Shinigami to guide along to the afterlife, carrying a book with a list of names and informing them when they are going to die. One of those is Shinigami no. 413 (Ohno Satoshi) a rather new shinigami and a pretty clumsy one at that, has a bit of a soft spot for his travelers. He had been taught that humans become happy when they are told that they are to die, but finds out the contrary. He informs the humans he is to collect, about them dying, and to have them finish unfinished business, so they won’t worry when they leave for the afterlife, which is against the law and pretty unusual.

Due to his clumsiness he loses his book with the written names, and while retrieving it a demon manages to get loose at steal the souls of the people supposed to die. Will Shinigami no. 413 manage to stop him?

I was positively surprised when I saw Ohno doing another drama, but I did not expect him to a fiction character. Not that it is bad, but I’d like him to do more like Maou and Kagi no Kakatta Heya. I guess he likes diversity, compared to his fellow Arashi members.

The drama has a b-class feel to it, and seeing it airs midnight I guess it’s for those who cannot sleep. But it is a fun drama, and has touchy stories to it. Like some made me very teary.

That said, I don’t think it’s one of the must watch, but defiantly not time wasted.

☆☆☆ / 3 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts

Shitsuren Chocolatier Review

Title: Shitsuren Chocolatier

AKA: Heartbroken Chocolatier

Genre: Romance

Episodes: 11

Broadcast period: 2013-Jan to 2013-Mar

Theme song: Bittersweet by Arashi

Cast: Matsumoto Jun, Ishihara Satomi, Mizukawa Asami, Mizuhara Kiko, Mizobata Junpei, Kato Shigeaki, Sato Ryuta and Arimura Kasumi.

Falling in love at first sight, Koyurugi Souta (Matsumoto Jun) spends most of his time around her because it makes him happy and he wants to make her his girlfriend. And after more than three years of courting he finally manages to date her for two months. But after being dumped, Takahashi Saeko (Ishihara Satomi), tells him that she never even thought of him as a boyfriend. When he comes home he spends days in his room, and while continuously thinking about her, he is reminded that she likes a special sort of chocolate which is only made in Paris, France. He then decides to leave Japan in order to work at the store making that very type of chocolate, so he can bring it back and make it for her.

Six years later he returns to Japan, looking forward to seeing her again, opening up his own chocolate store, only to find out that she is engaged to get married. But still he is not able to stop loving her, and when Saeko keeps sending mixed signals, Souta is getting confused. So he decides to change his personality in order to make her fall in love with him: to become a bad boy, which he believes is her type.

But when he meets Elena (Mizuhara Kiko) he is surprised to find out that he isn’t the only one with unrequited feelings, and for some reason he is able to talk to Elena like he never was able to do before.

Will his heart change for Elena, or will he make Saeko fall in love with him?

Another drama like Summer Nude, except this one made me hungry. The concept of being heartbroken was so deep in this drama I still am stunned that they had it go through all 11 episodes. I mean the beginning was kind of funny, but not only did they drag it on, they honestly made me dislike the main couple. I heard people disliked the main actress in the beginning and liked her later on. I did not like her AT ALL. I felt she was a brat from beginning to end. Matsumoto’s character was kind of okay in the first few episodes, but he got on my nerves. Honestly at the end, everyone got on my nerves. The entire drama did. Like a bunch of people not knowing what they want and having weird ideas of how to fix things or make others like them. Oh man. Though I liked the more realistic view of how these couples behave. Like no over protective personalities, or just simple kisses.

To sum up, I wouldn’t watch it again.

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥ / 3 out of 5 hearts

Kagi no Kakatta Heya 2014 SP Review

Title: Kagi no Kakatta Heya Special

AKA: The Locked Room Murders

Genre: Mystery, Detective

Broadcast date: 2014-Jan-03

Theme song: Face Down by Arashi

Cast: Ohno Satoshi, Toda Erika, Sato Koichi and Fujiki Naohito.

The story continues after Enomoto (Ohno Satoshi) leaves Japan, after the case of the missing diamonds. Serizawa (Sato Koichi) has been successful in many of his cases due to the extra time he has got with not following around Enomoto, and Aoto (Toda Erika) has become more familiar with her work after having become a real lawyer on her own. Even though they have not heard of Enomoto for a long time, the two secretly miss the “Team Enomoto” and the mystery cases.

When Serizawa arrives early at a client’s home, he sleeps in his car after spotting a man looking at him, and is woken by the client’s niece. The two enter the locked room only to find him murders. At the same time Aoto is looking for a man who has saved a man’s life, but had no way of entering the room except with a key. There she meets Enomoto again, who solves the case in matter of minutes, and decides to help Serizawa in finding the locked door murderer…

This drama has a certain ‘feel’ to it, which I had forgotten about. But when watching the special all the emotions and the ‘feel’ I had watching the serial, I remembered when watching the special. The comedy was great and awesome as always, and the crime was amazing due to the point it being actually reasonable and not theatrical. I was actually very interested in seeing how the killer did it, which I couldn’t do in any way even if it was possible to guess. I love these actors, Ohno of course, Erika as always, but I really enjoyed Koichis comedic role. I love that Erikas character has become smarter in guessing the murders, and also I love Ohnos character becoming more interesting, with that I mean his past and most definatly his way of dealing with his knowledge..

So recommendable? Yes, but you should watch the drama, just for the sake of the amazing cast.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

Last Hope Review

Title: Last Hope

Genre: Hospital, Medical

Episodes: 11

Broadcast period: 2013-Jan to 2013-Mar

Theme song: Calling by Arashi

Cast: Aiba Masaki, Tabe Mikako, Tanabe Seiichi, Koike Eiko and Kitamura Yukiya.

This drama revolves around a group of special doctors, who just recently were hired in one of the up-to-date hospital as a form of special team that help people who are at their last chance of getting cured. Hatano Takumi (Aiba Masaki) is a strange fella who has to eat a snack when the clock hits 3pm. He is different than the rest of the team since he is the only one not having a specialty. He is a “country doctor” meaning he is a doctor from a small village, and has helped his father in the family clinic. Being haunted by images from his past and having a scar on his body he can’t really explain, Takumi one day notices a newspaper with faces of the people he remembers from his childhood. Tachibana Ayumi (Tabe Mikako) is known as “The Machine”, meaning she never gets emotional about any cases, nor does she try to connect with her patients. Due to this she is being sued for malpractice by a family who believe that she is guilty for the state of their family member, this also gets the attention of a journalist who has found out that Ayumi is actually Aitani Kiko, but changed her name due to her father’s mishaps. Besides these two there are Takagi Junji (Tanabe Seiichi) a player ‘look-a-like’, but in fact has a deep emotional scar from losing the love of his life because of an illness. Ogiwara Yukiyo (Koike Eiko) a mother, divorced due to her husband’s infidelity, who wants to find the person who was responsible for her mother’s death. Soejima Masaomi (Kitamura Yukiya) the son of a hospital CEO who has had problems with his marriage, and Komaki Toshiaki (Kohinata Fumiyo)a researcher who lost his son, but refuses to believe so.

Every doctor has a past and dealing with, along with trying to be the last hope for their patients…

This is officially my favorite Aiba Masaki drama, and my favorite Japanese medical drama. I love that the backgrounds of the doctors is shown and every story is taken care of, and I love that there isn’t really a love story, I mean sometimes you just shouldn’t add one. It does have love stories in it, but not as the main story which made it more enjoyable than expected. I love that every character is its own and that they really have this individuality - also that they all somehow connect without crossing paths. I never really imagined Aiba as a doctor, but it really worked for me, also I didn’t expect to like Tabe, but I did.

Without trying to ruin the drama, I’ll just go ahead and recommend t :)  

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

Mikeneko Holmes no Suiri Review

Title: Mikeneko Holmes no Suiri

Genre: Detective, Comedy

Episodes: 11

Broadcast period: 2012-Apr to 2012-Jun

Theme song: Your Eyes by Arashi

Cast: Aiba Masaki, Fujiki Naohito, Okura Tadayoshi, Oomasa Aya and Matsuko Deluxe.

Katayama Yoshitaro (Aiba Masaki) is a detective really unsuitable for the job: he is afraid of heights, blood and women. He loves doing housework, is incredibly naïve, believing everyone, and is very gentle and too nice. Being forced to be a detective by his older brother Katayama Hiroshi (Fujiki Naohito) and younger sister Katayama Harumi (Oomasa Aya), due to the family’s percept “One family, one detective” meaning that there is every generation has to be one detective. Hiroshi dreams and strives to become a novelist, and Harumi is working part-time jobs dreaming of becoming an actress. The two basically don’t let Yoshitaro quit his job so the two can do whatever they want, even when Yoshitaro takes a resignation letter to his boss, the siblings make sure to go to his workplace and take back the letter.

After his 4^th failed resignation, he and his fellow co-worker detective Ishizu (Okura Tadayoshi) are assigned to go to a girl’s school, where Yoshitaro sees a cat. He is warned about the cat having a reputation of scratching and biting people so no one wants it, but when he approaches the cat, nothing happens. The cat is introduced as Holmes, and when he takes it home he is surprised to see the cat transform into a human form (Matsuko Deluxe), but only in front of him/in his eyes. When a murder happens in the same school Holmes helps Yoshitaro, and slowly Yoshitaro becomes better and better at his job.

This is a very family oriented drama, which focuses on making the audience guess who the killer is. Presenting the evidence do that everyone understands, and having a family discuss the issues makes the audience get involved and helping them guess the methods and reasons. The cats as ‘Holmes’ gives it a humorous side to it, and having the lead actor not being interested in being a detective makes it funnier than usual police dramas. This drama suits Aiba the most, and fits his personality almost perfectly.

I did enjoy this mainly because it’s not as annoying as the typical dramas, and it’s very light, meaning a great break from all other dramas. A good Japanese drama.

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥ / 3 out of 5 hearts

Kazuko Game Review

Title: Kazoku Game

AKA: Family Game

Genre: Family, Education

Episodes: 10

Broadcast period: 2013-Apr to 2013-Jun

Theme song: Endless Game by Arashi

Cast: Sakurai Sho, Kamiki Ryunosuke, Kutsuna Shiori, Uragami Seishuu and Kitahira Rie.

When their youngest son Shigeyuki (Uragami Sheishuu) becomes a hikkomori (hermit - meaning locking himself in his room), the Numata family simply can’t make him go to school. The father and the head of the family, Numata Kazushige (Itao Itsuji) is a workaholic who only focuses on results. The mother, Numata Kayoko (Suzuki Honami) is an at home mom, who doesn’t know how to deal with her sons, or family. And lastly there is the oldest son of the family, the perfect son and straight A’s student, Numata Shinichi (Kamiki Ryunosuke).

After having tried several different tutors, they stumble upon an ad saying his success rate is 100% to Todai University; they hire the tutor called Yoshimoto Kouya (Sakurai Sho). The family’s goal is to make Shigeyuki return to school, which Yoshimoto promises that he will make Shigeyuki return in matter of a week, as long as the family doesn’t interfere - no matter what.

I can’t even explain how great this drama is, I mean I was blown away, and it takes damn lot to blow me away. No episode was how I expected, and no ending was how I expected it. Like even the very ending of the drama made me tilt my head and go “Omg, no way”. I have to say, it’s a very thought through and very entertaining. Acting-wise, they could not have made better choices, and Sakurai Sho as a mental person is damn genius. I mean, it suits him PERFECTLY.

So why is this not a 5 stars? Well, if you ask me, there are a few things that are just either not possible or just too convenient, and when you make such an amazing storyline, small details do matter, especially for me who started analyzing the entire thing. But most defiantly worth a of watch.

☆☆☆☆½ / 4½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥♥ / 5 out of 5 hearts

Yatterman Movie Review

Title: Yatterman

Genre: Kid
Origin: Japan
Release date:  March 7, 2009

Theme song: Believe by Arashi

Cast: Sakurai Sho, Abe Sadao, Fukada Kyoko, Fukada Saki and Okamoto Anri.

The Skull Stone, a magical stone that was broken in 4 pieces and scattered around the world. An archeologist named Kaieda (Abe Sadao) dedicated his life, in order to find it, and actually managed to find two pieces. But the evil Dokurobe - god of thieves, found him and kidnapped him, and ordered his minions Doronjo (Fukada Kyoko) and gang, to find the other two pieces. The ones that stop them are the Yatterman who have headquarters under the Takada Toy store in Tokyo. Yatterman #1, Takada Gan (Sakurai Sho) is the only son of Takada Store, and specializes in tinkering Mecha (Machines). Yatterman #2, Kaminari Ai (Fukada Saki) is Gan’s girlfriend and only daughter of Kaminari Technologies.

When they save a girl, Kaieda Shoko (Okamoto Anri) they find out about the Skull Stones, and decide to help her find her father…

Growing up watching the cartoon Yatterman and of course being an Arashi fan, I had to watch this, but honestly I’m a little disappointed. I remember the cartoon being a bit more moral, and educational, but somehow it wasn’t. It felt like a bad mix of children movie and silly scenarios: I was very bored tbh.  Even Sakurai Sho couldn’t fix it, though he was cute.

I can’t recommend, even for kids honestly…

☆☆½ / 2½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥ / 3 out of 5 hearts

Kisarazu Cat's Eye Review

Title: Kisarazu Cat's Eye

Genre: Comedy

Episodes: 9

Broadcast period: 2002-Jan to 2002-Mar

Theme song: "A Day in Our Life" by Arashi
Cast: Okada Junichi, Sakurai Sho, Okada Yoshinori, Sato Ryuta and Tsukamoto Takashi

This drama is about 5 baseball loving friends going all out after they find out that one of them is dying. Tabuchi Kohei (Okada Junichi) also known as Bussan is a catcher for the second team of Kisarazu Cats. He with his friends is known to be extremely good at it, except for the fact that due to a mistake 3 years ago they weren’t able to go to Koshien. The mistake was a misunderstood signal and led to the fight between Bussan and the pitcher Nakagomi Futoshi (Sakurai Sho) aka Bambi. The two were classmates, but ever since that incident, Bambi has been ignoring Bussan. Bambi is a university student, also the most intelligent one, which all of them agree on. After every game they go to the bar owned by another player Okabayashi Shingo (Sato Ryuta) aka Master, a housebound and father, with child number three on its way. Sasaki Kizashi (Tsukamoto Takashi) aka Ani, is the older brother of Kisarazu’s star Sasaki Jun (Narimiya Hiroki), also the reason for the nickname ‘Ani’ short for Aniki. He is bit of an idiot, and constantly judged, especially because of his lack of success - be it job ot baseball. Lastly we have Uchiyama (Okada Yoshinori) aka Ucchie; a senpai, with a mysterious family, especially since no one knows where he lives and what he thinks. He is weird, and never speaks much: somewhat of an airhead.

After Bussan drops the bomb of him dying, he gets crazy ideas and plans crazy things, like stealing cars and selling them or form a band. These experiences bring them closer together, and eventually bring up fear in the friends hearts. Their friend only has three months to live…

If it weren’t for Sakurai Sho, I wouldn’t have watched it, now that I have, I gotta admit, LOVED it! The thing about old dramas is if you can follow the flow, you will like the drama, and I did. It didn’t make sense most of the time, number one because it’s typical boy stuff they do and second, well I have no idea what these guys are doing… The thing I liked a lot, was about the illness and actually how seriously the illness affected the other people, but of course its comedy so they had to make it funny. Okay, to sum up, the drama is ok.

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts

Bartender Review

Title: Bartender
Genre: Drama
Episodes: 8
Broadcast period: 2011-Feb to 2011-Apr
Theme song: Lotus by Arashi
Cast: Aiba Masaaki and Kanjita Shihori

As her grandfather is her only family, Kurushima Miwa (Kanjiya Shihori) grew up having a strong bond with him. Since he is a head of a newly opened hotel he has been teacher her divers things, such as how to manage a hotel and how to deal with the bussniss, but the one thing he has had biggest pride in is the main bar. He loves liquor and has told Miwa about ‘The God of Glass’ which is the one glass that can make a person forget all his loneliness and sadness. His wish is to find a bartender able to make such a glass and put him as the main bartender in the main bar. This wish Miwa wants to make come true.

She herself is a journalist who writes about drinking spots, for woman who look for them. As she one da finds a possible bartender, Sasakura Ryu (Aiba Masaaki), maybe able to make The Gods Glass, she finds out he is no longer a bartender. When she by accident bumps into him, and convinces him to return to the bartending world, and his first mission is to make a drink to Miwa’s grandfather, who is not easy to please. The drama follows Sasakura Ryu and the guests who enter the bar he is working at…

It’s a good drama it’s just I have zero interest in liquor.. Like you know, they talk about it, and like share emotions, and I’m like “really?”. But Aiba was great in this, seriously, like he has grown, and it felt real to me, sort of natural watching him. Though it was kind a fun seeing him do the shaking part, you know when they mix the stuff and look away shaking the mixture, yeah, so funny…tihihi,,, Oh yeah, and I wonder what it is, but he kind a looks hot in the apron, or is it just me...

The storyline was not that exciting, but it was sweet and if nothing else, just watch it for Aiba :)

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥ / 3out of 5 hearts

Kagi no Kakatta Heya Review

Title (romaji): Kagi no Kakatta Heya
AKA: The Locked Room Murders
Genre: Mystery, Detective
Episodes: 11
Broadcast period: 2012-Apr to 2012-Jun
Theme song: Face Down by Arashi
Cast: Ohno Satoshi, Toda Erika and Sato Koichi.

When Aoto Junko (Toda Erika) officially starts working at a law firm, she somehow manages to mess up on the first day. Her boss Serizawa Gou (Sato Koichi) is sort of a dominant man, but is easily persuaded. The two go to a bank in order to deal with a financial case; the bank director and Serizawa go inside a high tech vault, only to be locked inside by Aoto. When she finds out that the only way to open the vault is the bank director, all hope seems lost. That is until a funny character arrives: Enomoto Kei (Ohno Satoshi) a weird and expressionless person with an incredible mind. He works at a security firm and manages to open the ‘impossible’ vault in matter of minutes. This leads Aoto to ask Enomoto for help, solving a ‘Locked-room-case’ they had been entrusted in earlier that day, which Enomoto doesn’t refuse; because he believes that “There is no room that can’t be unlocked”.

Defiantly one of the best Japanese dramas of the year; not that I have watched that many this year, but so far the best. Ohno Satoshi doesn’t fail to empress me, and Toda Erika is surprisingly good at being bubbly. I really like the theme of the drama, and to be honest, I would never had thought that I would need so much time to figure out who the killer is to the point where I had no clue, and I’m usually decently good at it.

Anyways, the drama is recommendable, so if you missed interesting Japanese dramas you should watch this : )

☆☆☆☆/ 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts