Ando Lloyd Review

Title: Ando Lloyd

Tagline: A.I. knows LOVE?

Genre: Sci-fi, Futuristic, Romance

Episodes: 10

Broadcast period: 2103-Oct to 2013-Dec

Cast: Kimura Takuya, Shibasaki Kou, Oshima Yuko, Kiritani Kenta, Honda Tsubasa and Endo Kenichi.

Matsushima Reiji (Kimura Takuya) is mathematical genius with a bit of an awkward stance. He works as a professor at a college with his younger sister who is equally brilliant as he, as his assistant professor. After meeting his girlfriend Ando Asahi (Shibasaki Kou) while playing Shogi online, the two fall deeply in love and decide to get married. All this changes when Reiji one day notices that a fellow researcher dies in what seems to be an accident, but Reiji firmly tells his sister that he is next in line, as he has found a list circulating online of people who will die: and he is next on the list. Reiji leaves the office in order to save the next one on the list after him: Asahi. He calls Asahi and declares his love for her, which confuses Asahi, especially when someone calls her right after. This makes Asahi suspicious and she leaves to check his office, where Reiji’s sister tells her about the list. Shortly after Reiji’s announced as missing and presumed dead, while in fact he had been murdered.

Unaware of this, Asahi is heartbroken and the next morning is pushed on the train rails by the same murderer that killed Reiji, but is saved by someone looking exactly like Reiji, yet is completely different than him. He introduces himself as an Android from the future with the mission of saving her from the same people, or in this case androids that killed Reiji. Now the questions remain why was Reiji killed, and why do they want to kill Asahi?

Okay I guess I spoilt a bit of the first episode, sorry.

This drama is not what I has expected: I kind of thought it would be a Kimura Takuya version of Absolute Boyfriend which is why it took me 3 years to begin watching, but it kind of reminded me of Terminator.

Anyhow usually a recipe for a good Japanese drama you would need two things to make it good: 1. A good plot, and 2. Kimura Takuya. Occasionally you need a 3. which is a great cast, but most of the time Kimura is enough. So basically you have an all ingredients, including no. 3, BUT then why is not a 5 star you ask? Well, that might have to do with me having quite the standards for sci-fi/time-travel dramas. As a fan of both categories, I have one thing that I mind: love stories between robots and humans. I won’t indulge but those kinds of stories make me uncomfortable. Also the plot kind of felt dumb at the end… I need a decent explanation for it – I really didn’t understand how feelings/emotions can become particles, and not to mention something that connects the future as well as makes people send emails, or whatever… But I guess that is Japan for you, not everything has to make sense.

Other than that, this drama is really thrilling, and I would recommend it to action and sci-fi lovers.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts

Kazokugari Review

Title: Kazokugari

AKA: Family hunter

Genre:  Mystery

Episodes: 10

Broadcast period: 2014-Jul to 2014-Sep

Cast: Matsuyuki Yasuko, Ito Atsushi, Endo Kenichi, Kitayama Hiromitsu and Mizuno Miki.

Hizaki Yuko (Matsuyuki Yasuko) is social worker, working in a childcare center. Every day she deals with children with abusive parents, and takes them away as a precaution measure. Sometimes she manages to get the children completely away from the parents, other times she tries to get the parents to ‘clean up their act’ so that the children can return. Either way she never gets thanked or any gratitude for her work, yet she is unable to let go. The situation at home isn’t much easier as her Alzheimer struck father and gambling mother can’t seem to function without her.

Sudo Shunsuke (Ito Atsushi) is high school arts teacher with no interest in his students or their lives, especially when they don’t seem to care for his existence – not that he tries to change that. Being undeceives and quite bad with social situations he after a one-night-stand ends up having a girlfriend who happens to be a coworker whom he doesn’t care for – yet he is unable to break up with her.

These two meet at a police station when a female student claims to have been raped by Sudo, and Hizaki won’t let him defend himself – basically thinks he is a rapist. After the allegation clear up the two get involved in another case where a family is set to have committed ‘family suicide’, but police officer Mamihara Koki (Endo Kenichi) believes they have been murdered – and both Sudo’s and Hizaki’s name come up during the investigation…

Sorry for the long into. I was wondering what to tell and what not to, and to be completely honest, the less you know about the main story the better. This drama has a very ‘dark’ and ‘dramatic’ tune, which kind of gave me the creeps. Not as in noir, but as in the dark side of frustration. Like what people are capable off and why they would either think that way or do it that way. I liked the way it was going and how slow the pace was, it really was not action packed – rather sad with a dim of light. 

I started this because of Ito Atsushi, I don’t know what it is but I like him. The rest of the cast was quite good, though the younger cast overacted just a bit too much for my taste.

All in all: a good drama with a bit of ‘borderline to crazy’ feel.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts