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

A Clinic On The Sea Review

Title: A clinic on the sea

AKA: Umi no Ue no Shinryojo

Genre: Romance, Comedy

Episodes: 11

Broadcast period: 2013-Oct to 2013-Dec

Cast: Matsuda Shota, Takei Emi, Fujiwara Noriko and Fukushi Sota.

In Japan there are a lot of small inhabited islands where there aren’t any doctors, so the government made a boat that is filled with medical equipment and travels from island to island and treats the people. Sezaki Kota (Matsuda Shota) is newly hired doctor who is about to travel with the crew. He is a skilled and talented doctor with an amazing calm in every crisis situation, but he has one weakness: he falls in love in matter of seconds. Every single time he thinks too much of a situation and believes he is in love with any pretty and young woman. On the boat he befriends Togami Mako (Takei Emi) a nurse who at first didn’t believe him as good doctor, but as time passes she realizes how good he is as a doctor.

Together with a crew they treat the people of the islands, and help solve their problems - and try to make Kota stay on the boat, not off trying to wed every beauty he sees…

I rather enjoyed this drama, even though I didn’t expect I would and I found that the story was a bit more fun than dramas alike (Unubore Deka). It did strike me too familiar with Unubore Deka, but hoped and expected it to be a bit more about doctors, as it is about doctors on a boat. It honestly had too little medical in it, and was a bit uncategorized, since I was not sure what the drama was really about. We have a love story, a man doctor that falls in love with every girl he sees, and a lot of family issues, but not general theme - except comedy.

All in all a good drama with good actors and funny screen play.

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts

Rurouni Kenshin Movie Review

Title: Rurouni Kenshin

AKA: Rurouni Kenshin; Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story

Genre: Samurai, Period

Origin: Japan

Release date: August 25, 2012

Cast: Sato Takeru and Takei Emi

“About 140 years ago in the turbulent Bakumatsu era... There was an assassin called Hitokiri Battousai.

Following orders of the people of the anti-shogunate movement he was acting behind the scenes in Kyoto...” (Taken from intro of movie)

10 years after the new era had begun the famous assassin Hitokirir Battousai (Sato Takeru), now calling himself Himura Kenshi has retired and lives life as a ronin - a wandering master-less samurai. He walks around with a swapped blade: meaning that the blade can’t cut anyone but him. One day he meets Kamiya Kaoru (Takei Emi) who sees his sword and is sure he is Battousai, the one going around killing people and misusing her father’s name. The two soon find a common understanding when Kenshin saves her dojo and starts living with them.

When the country is led by law, the criminals have found ways to use that very law to make sure their dirty work isn’t noticed. This leads houses being bought by the rich - without or with force, which is used for making opium in the center of the city.

Both Kenshin and Kaoru reluctantly get involved when a woman called Megumi (Aoi Yu) seeks refuge in the dojo..

Having watched the anime as a kid, and read the manga as an adult, I have to admit I am pretty satisfied with the live action. Of course having in mind that there are two more movies coming, this one is a fairly good start and it is very well executed. The cast chosen for this movie are actors I have seen before, in either an idol dorama or a short drama, but yet they are acting really well here and somehow they make me relive my childhood, when I first started watching the anime.

Of course it being a Japanese movie and based on a manga it becomes very typical, but it does not ruin the overall movie.

I would recommend it actually even if you haven’t read the manga or watched the anime, because it is good.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥½ / 4½ out of 5 hearts

Love for Beginners Movie Review

Title: Love for beginners

AKA:  Kyo, Koi wo Hajimemasu

Genre: Romance, High School

Origin: Japan

Relese date: December 8, 2012

Cast: Takei Emi, Matsuzaka Tori, Kimura Fumino, Aoyagi Sho, Yamazaki Kento, Shinkawa Yua and Takanashi Rin.

Hibino Tsubaki (Takei Emi) is a plain girl that doesn’t like to get attention from anyone. That all changes when she starts her first day of school by getting noticed, by the schools no 1 hottie: Tsubaki Kyota (Matsuzaka). Having the same name, both noticed each other, and they both end up sitting next to one another due to that same reason. Disliking his unserious personality and his playboy attitude, she hates being around him, which makes her gets teased by the rest of the class since everyone adores him. He makes fun of her, and ends up kissing her in class, much to Hibinos disgust. This leads to her becoming the class president, without wanting to be it. Kyota uses the situation by making her ask him out, just to tease her. After the best date Hibino has ever had, Kyota tells her that he will give up on her, since she really doesn’t seem interested in him, which unfortunately isn’t true, as she had fallen in love with him…

Okay, out of all the Japanese high school love stories this one is the best one made, and the couple really is beyond adorable! The storyline is very cliché-ish but somehow it has its own innocent flavor. Though the flow is pretty much typical, the story kind of is good. I think I’m starting to understand why people are annoyed at these girl stories. Yes, they are good, but damn they are typical. I think the only part that was missing was that the leads needed to get married or engaged, but else pretty much that. It’s like those American movies (Last Song, Note Book, Safe Haven etc.) that make you roll your eyes a bit, and even laugh like a teenaged girl, but somehow manage to keep you happy.

Do I recommend it? Sure, it really is okay to watch.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts

GOLD Review

Title: GOLD
Genre: Drama, Family, Sport
Episodes: 11
Broadcast period: 2010-Jul to 2010-Sep
Cast: Amami Yuki, Nagasawa Masami, Mikami Kensei, Matsuzaka Tori, Takei Emi and Sorimachi .

Saotome Yuri (Amami Yuki) owns a major sports gym and aesthetic salon. She is famous for the way she raises her children and is often called on TV shows to talk about her point of view, which are also written in books that she writes. Her older brother was an athlete, almost going to the Olympics, but unfortunately ends up in an accident. This leaves Yuri with the desire to fulfill his greatest wish to get gold, so she raises all her children to become athletes, be it swimming or running, just so that they can get gold. This sounds rough said so bluntly, but the wish to get gold is not only Yuri’s dream, it became the dream of her children as they grew up under her strict rules and ways of living.
Their lives change when suddenly situations happen of which they had not expected…

I started this drama mainly because of the cast: Amami Yuki (BOSS, Queens Classroom, Kaiji) and Sorimachi Takashi (GTO) are two of my favorite ‘non-idol’ celebs and actors. It was like those typical Japanese dramas with the typical touching speeches occasionally, so didn’t really expect much of it. Seriously, this drama caught me off guard. It really didn’t expect it to be so mature and tough, like really. It’s very serious, and very harsh sometimes, made me go like ‘whaaaat?’. On the other hand, it had its downs, like sometimes the actors weren’t really expressing the character that mainly happened in the beginning, but towards the end it became somewhat crazy. I mean wow, I thought they would all end up in some mental institution if they continued… I actually am not sure whether or not to recommend this, because the drama is, especially for j-dorama fans, very serious (like Last Friends kind of serious, maybe one or two inches more). And if you don’t have patients you’ll stop watching it, like immediately.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts

Asuko March! Review

Title: Asuko March!
Genre: School drama, romance
Episodes: 9
Broadcast period: 2011-Apr to 2011-Jul
Cast: Takei Emi, Matsuzaka Tori and Kaku Kento.

When Yoshino Nao (Takei Emi) failed her entrance exam for the school she was hoping for, and in order not to become a ’Ronin’ (someone who failes high school exam and has to wait a year in order to do them again), she takes her grandfather’s advice and joins Asuko High School, thinking it’s a normal high school. Little does she know the school is COMPLETELY different than what she’d hoped for: the school focuses are to send students to work, meaning crafting and stuff like this are put as usual subjects. Not only that, the school is basically FULL with boys, with only Nao and 2 other girls…

This drama is a typical Japanese high school drama, with the heart-felt speeches and friendships, lol, mainly the reason for me to watch it. I really liked the characters in this drama, all of them, but seriously, the lead chose the wrong guy in the end… anyhow, it’s fun, I laughed real hard at so many scenes, especially when Nao’s mom comes to her school, awesomeness!
It’s very much like Gokusen, with the one girl 20 boys thing, but with the little difference in the girl being a student and not teacher. Oh yeah, and the romance that I root for :P lol, again different people different taste, hehe…

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

Jenji's verdict
Very typical japanese high school drama, really nice and nice plot with the different kind of school and really nice cast actually. Another high school drama you gotta watch, it was very enjoyable and fun. I like that it is different even though it's the typical story and we all know how it ends and stuff but it was still different. I totally agree with Bunji that she was stupid at the end for choosing that guy -.- aarh.. but oh well. Also I think that the other female student's role was kinda weird. It was confusing whether she plays a big role in all this or not. Like her story just ends. Lol maybe I'm just used to everything has to be a fight in those dramas haha.

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts