Marumo no Okite 2014 SP Review

Title: Marumo no Okite 2014 Special

AKA: The Tradition of Malmo

Genre: Family, Comedy

Air date: 28 September 2014

Theme song: “Maru Maru Mori Mori!” by Kaoru to Yuki, Tama ni Mook

Cast: Abe Sadao, Ashida Mana and Suzuki Fuku.

Three years has passed since Kaoru (Ashida Mana) and Tomoki (Suzuki Fuku) moved in with Mamoru (Abe Sadao), and both Kaoru and Tomoki are now 5^th graders. Kaoru dreams of becoming an idol and is popular with her classmates, and Tomoki loves insects and reads about them constantly. When a fellow female classmate shows interest in Tomoki’s books, Tomoki decides to ask Mamoru for advice. Also, Mamoru helps enroll Kaoru in “idol training school”, an afterschool where kids take classes to become future idols, though it is very expensive. At work he gets opportunities to follow his creative style and travel abroad, but Mamoru is not sure of what he wants, as he can’t leave the children.

At the same time their mother returns, wanting to live with them again. This leads to Mamoru being unsure about the children’s future; whether he is with them, because they need him, or is it because he needs them…

I love this drama, and this family. The dynamic is amazing, and the characters are so well written, you can just enjoy it. The acting is on point, and the family relations are relatable, which makes it a great watch. Even though I felt the overall dilemma was a bit “recycled”, it was alright. It has funny moments, and sad moments as well, but for me the most enjoyable part was watching the family interact.

So all in all, a fine special, with good acting!

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

Marumo no Okite Review

Title: Marumo no Okite

AKA: The Tradition of Malmo

Genre: Family, Comedy

Episodes: 11

Broadcast period: 2011-Apr to 2011-Jul

Theme song: “Maru Maru Mori Mori!” by Kaoru to Yuki, Tama ni Mook

Cast: Abe Sadao, Ashida Mana and Suzuki Fuku.

Takaki Mamoru (Abe Sadao) a bachelor living in a one-room apartment, doesn’t have much in life - especially after he gets transferred to Customer Service branch, even though he has potential in other areas.

When his high school friend Sasakura passes away suddenly, Mamoru meets the friends two children, the twins Sasakura Kaoru (Ashida Mana) and Sasakura Tomoki (Suzuki Fuku). While alive Sasakura had emphasized that he would like the children to be together as they had always been inseparable, but the family members, unable to have their own children and the twins in the house, decide to separate the two. Soon enough the two become depressed and start running away from home. This is where Mamoru decides to take in the twins and decides to help them enter school as well as helping the cope with the loss of their father.

While the trio start getting used to each other, Tomoki finds a stray dog, who happens to be able to talk, and for some reason it helps the family in dealing with emotional scars and issues…

I became a fan of Abe Sadao after watching him in the Iryu series, so when I noticed this drama, I simply had to watch it. I wasn’t sure what to expect from it, since it was the only drama of his that had a different character, other than the one from Iryu - that I have watched. To put it simply, he is officially one of my favorite actors now. Putting aside the classic storyline, and the amazing kid actors, Abe Sadao is absolutely believable in this character - I really can’t explain why, but he embodied Mamoru perfectly. Almost as if the character was made for him. (LOL) The storyline was good too, though at first, I was thrown off by the dog being able to talk… But later it kind of made sense to me. It is very cute, and I sort of felt happy about it later on.

So to sum up: a cute drama with great acting.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

Youkai Ningen Bem Review

Title: Youkai Ningen Bem

Genre: Fantasy, Supernatural, Adventure

Episodes: 10

Broadcast period: 2011-Oct to 2011-Dec

Theme song: BIRTH by KAT-TUN

Cast: Kamenashi Kazuya, Anne, Suzuki Fuku and Kitamura Kazuki.

“Nobody knows when they were born. Split from a single cell in soundless world, three creatures were born. They weren’t human and they weren’t animals. But inside those ugly bodies, the heart for justice beats strong. The creatures are… monsters who couldn’t become human.” (Taken from intro)

Bem (Kamenashi Kazuya), Bela (Anne) and Belo (Suzuki Fuku) are three man made monsters who can’t stay out of human problems. Even though the three are scary once they turn into their true form, they are kind hearted and save humans the moment they are facing danger. But this is not seen by the humans, who cannot see past the posterior. That is until they meet Natsume Akinori (Kitamura Kazuki), a cop who thought they were somewhat involved in the cases they happened to help at. He and his family are a nice loving family of three who have emotional baggage in the past. They welcome the three as good friends, and Natsume even accepts them when he finds out the truth.

The three desperately want to become human, but for some reason they lost their memory and woke up in the forest with a new paper clipping of a man creating humans. So they decided to look for him, but little do they know there is much more of their pasts then they were aware off…

I wasn’t really expecting anything except another ‘kaibutsu-kun’- ish drama, and yes I got that. LOL.

The drama is targeted for Japanese kids like Kaibutsu-kun, and it has the same emotional feel to it, heck I even cried in one situation, which is pretty absurd, since the monsters are really badly made. But else I have to admit very good for kids to watch.

To be honest they cannot be measured the same way other dramas are, and I simply enjoy these kinds of kids show. It is not as tacky as power rangers, again due to the emotional part, but it is - simply put - made for a younger audience.

So based on that - a good drama.

☆☆☆ / 3 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts

Kuruma isu de Boku wa Sora wo Tobu SP Review

Title: Kuruma Isu de Boku wa Sora wo Tobu

AKA: I Will Soar to the Skies in my Wheelchair

Genre: Human drama

Broadcast date: 2012-Aug-25

Cast: Ninomiya Kazunari, Ueto Aya, Ikematsu Sosuke, Suzuki Fuku  and Yakushimaru Hiroko

Haseba Yasuyuki (Ninomiya Kazunari) is a delinquent who lived life with no seriousness. One day he gets into trouble with a gang, and in the mist of running away he jumps from a building, only to wake up in a hospital being told that he will never walk on his own feet ever again, matter of the fact his entire lower body is paralyzed. He loses any wish to live, until he meets Ishii Daisuke (Suzuki Fuku) a little kid suffering from cancer and Kato Kumi (Ueto Aya) a store staff, to whom he slowly confides to. But when Daisuke gets transferred and Kumi suddenly quits her job, and is released from the hospital, he starts to grasp the reality of his disability. He starts feeling that he is “a bother” to other people…

Wow. That’s what I can come up with: wow. This TV SP is amazing, like from the story to the acting all the way to the screenplay. And omg, I love the messages conveyed... Completely different from other dramas this one touches your heart directly, and the characters grow on you with the speed of light. Ninomiya is amazing completely believable, and everyone make it just more realistic. There are some parts that don’t seem to work, like happening to sudden, or you don’t get it completely, but it grows on you. Though I can’t say that everyone will love it, I can say that most will like it :)

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥½ / 4½ out of 5 hearts