HERO 2 Review

Title: Hero 2

Genre: Legal, Crime

Episodes: 11

Broadcast period: 2014-Jul to 2014-Sep

Cast: Kimura Takuya, Kitagawa Keiko, Sugimoto Tetta, Hamada Gaku and Masana Bokuzo.

Kuryu Kohei (Kimura Takuya) has returned to the Josai branch after once again being transferred. This time the office has gotten new prosecutors and new paralegals except two familiar faces. As always Kohei does his usual by causing turmoil in the office, be it his clothes or his way of investigating every case in detail.

This time around his paralegal and partner is Asagi Chika (Kitagawa Keiko) a fierce yet honest woman, who does not like to waste time or beat around the bush. She is very firm and likes to keep prosecutors on track, as she believes that is what she is supposed to do. That is until she meets Kuryu who helps her understand what it is like to work at the office and what her real duty is…

Finishing the (current) last of Kuryu Kohei’s story, the second season is better than all others I have watched. Not acting wise or not cast wise, but the overall story is better now if you ask me, and kind of has a better idea of what it’s like being in the office as a prosecutor - also in court. The thing that struck me both in the first season and the movie, which is also mentioned in season 2, is that the prosecutors are seen as bad in Japan: way different here where I live where the defense lawyers are seen as the bad guys.

Kimura as always does his job as Kuryu flawlessly and having Keiko on the cast makes it even better. The rest are quite brilliant as well, which I have no objections to.

All in all a great second season, and great cast.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts

HERO Movie Review

Title: Hero

Genre: Legal, Crime

Broadcast date: September 8, 2007

Origin:  Japan

Cast: Kimura Takuya, Matsu Takako, Abe Hiroshi, Lee Byung Hun, Otsuka Nene, Katsumura Masanou, Kohinata Fumiyo, Yashima Norito and Ayase Haruka.

After the entire incident with the Kimura family on Yamaguchi Island, Kuryu Kohei (Kimura Takuya) returns to the Josai branch in Tokyo, and teams up with his former colleagues and former paralegal Amamiya Maiko (Matsu Takako) who is not forgiving Kohei for not keeping his promises to her.

When homicide case lands on Kuryus desk after another prosecutor has personal business to take care of, Kuryu is shocked when the accused pleads not guilty after having plead guilty before. That being a common thing for prosecutors they decides to not think too much of it, but soon they find out that there is so much more going on behind the homicide. And for some reason the secretary of a former minister is helping the accused…

Compared to the drama and the special the movie has a bigger focus on actual court room situations, which happens after indication of suspects. And to be honest it kind of gives a better idea of how capacious a prosecutor’s work actually is. Also compared to the other cases this one is kind of a bigger scale type of case, and involves all the prosecutors, which yeah we do see in the drama and special, but here it really goes all the way, and I like that the original cast is in it. Besides that I would’ve liked them to make it a bit faster, it really goes on a slow pace. Of course there are tense moments but there are way too many of those quiet and dull moments they could have cut out or replaced.

But all in all a good movie that you could watch with ease…

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

HERO Review

Title: Hero

Genre: Legal, Crime

Episodes: 11

Broadcast period: 2001-Jan to 2001-Mar

Cast: Kimura Takuya, Mastu Takako, Otsuka Nene, Abe Hiroshi, Katsumura Masanou, Kohinata Fumiyo and Yashima Norito.

Once a high school dropout, Prosecutor Kuryu Kaohei (Kimura Takuya) is assigned the Josai Bureau in Tokyo. He is a different kind of prosecutor as he takes his time to evaluate every case until the very last minute, and doesn’t seem to differentiate in cases: be it a murder case or being it a theft case. In his eyes all cases are of equal importance. He is paired up with a paralegal, Amamiya Maiko (Mastu Takako), who is the complete opposite. She dreams of becoming a prosecutor, even volunteers to help Kuryu so that she’ll get better points from her boss. At first she finds him repulsive and lazy, but as time passes she notices how diligent and observing he is, and starts to admire him.

Together with the other prosecutors and paralegals they encounter different, often absurd, people, and deal with them as well as their own family and love lives.

Okay so this drama is one old drama, with an extremely young cast that I today know as the ‘oldies’ of jdorama. I’m not only talking about Kimura Takuya but every other cast member that I know as old actors - who were then pretty young, and with black hair. I never really wanted to watch it; one because Jenji said she was unable to finish even episode one. And two, well it’s from 2001.. That is 13 years ago!

BUT I have to admit, it is really a classic. Ones you get used to the way the camera shoots, you will sort of like it. It has the typical ‘awkward humor’ with the long silence and long stare, which at the beginning I kind of felt boring, but ones you get a hang of the ideal, you kind of can’t stop laughing. And yes it most defiantly is a classic.

I liked the storyline(s) and every character, and I completely understand the huge ratings! So! To watch and not to watch? I would recommend it for Takuya fans and for classic drama lovers. But if you can’t deal with old dramas, this probably shouldn’t be your choice.

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts

Bridal Mask Review

Title: Gaksital

AKA: Bridal Mask

Genre: Period, action, drama, romance

Episodes: 28

Broadcast period: 2012-May-30 to 2012-Sept-06

Cast: Joo Won, Shin Hyun Joon, Chun Ho Jin, Park Ki Woong, Park Joo Hyun, Han Chae Ah, Ahn Hyung Joon, Jin Se Yun, Song Byung Ho, Son Yeo Eun, Seo Yoon Ah, Jun Noh Min, Kim Myung Gon, Park Sung Woong, Ji Seo Yoong ...

Set in the 1930's in the land that would become the Korean Republic, during the Japanese occupation, we follow the story of a hero. The hero known as 'Gaksital', bridal mask. Gaksital is the protector of the people, working against the japanese occupators, the government and regime. Lee Kang To (Joo Won) is a Korean young man working for the police. He is often confronted and molested because he isn't Japanese, but got into the police because of his great skills. Kang To bets his everything on catching Gaksital and is therefore extremely hated by the Korean people. He goes as far as torturing his own childhood friend and first love, Oh Mok Dan (Jin Se Yun), and manages to catch and shoot Gaksital, only to find out that it was his older brother, who was fighting in order to take revenge on the Japanese, responsible for their father's death. Having almost lost everything, he decides to take on the mission of revenge. He decides to keep working at the police office undercover, but meets trouble as his best friend Kimura Shunji (Park Ki Woong) joins as an officer to catch Gaksital, for the revenge of his older brother death, who was killed by Gaksital. This is the story about the struggle and opressed people, fighting for freedom and love.

Halfway through second episode I was so surprised and impressed that's when I understood why this drama was popular and knew I definitely had to watch. I was especially impressed by Joo Won's acting, as it was very different from what I had seen earlier.I reeaallly felt like looking up spoilers and finding out what's gonna happen like already from the beginning. It was almost too much to bear, I couldn't stand having to watch to find out what's gonna happen and get all questions answered. And of course I accidently spoiled a part, seriously if you are like me (don't read or watch anything about a drama before you start) then avoid such as tumblr and youtube aso, which is reeeally hard, but that's what I like the most and that's how I enjoy a drama the most, not knowing anything and just going with the flow. This drama really leads you through it all, it wasnt boring at all, and all these unexpected things happen ALL the time (unexpected if you havent seen spoilers). I was often confused because it is a very different historical drama, it is set in 1930’s and I kept thinking it was long before, so it was weird, but interesting as well. It has some really tough moments and I really cried like really badly. I really recommend it, it is a great drama with action, romance, friendship and revenge. It doesn’t get boring and just leads you through the episodes ;) 

☆☆☆☆☆ / 5 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥♥ / 5 out of 5 hearts

Bunji's Verdict
This drama is one of this year’s best dramas. Every actor does a great job, and all characters are brilliant. There are some small things that does take you aback, like the that 1/3 of the drama is about torturing people, like really, I think most characters were tortured. And the amount of people dying is like omg, like flies really. Then there is the entire “mystery” about “who is gaksital?” which is really exciting until people find out and then the tension suddenly lessens, lol. But it’s great, as it is. Joo Won is great as a villain, love him like that, and as the good guy he does a great job. I can’t get over of how good Kang To, Joo Won’s character, was at lying, totally believable, making even me believe him, even though I knew what really happened.

All in all a good drama, really recommendable. But be careful, the tension and the hurt actually can (and prolly will) break your heart, or at least make you get strong feels.

☆☆☆☆½ / 4½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥½ / 4½ out of 5 hearts