Rurouni Kenshi 3 Movie Review

Title: Rurouni Kenshin - The Legend Ends

AKA: Rurouni Kenshin  3

Genre: Samurai, Period, Action

Origin: Japan

Release date: September 13, 2014

Cast: Sato Takeru, Takao Emi, Fujiwara Tatsuya and Kamiki Ryunosuke.

After surviving the fall from the ship, Kenshin (Sato Takeru) wakes up at his old masters. Remembering what had happened he wants to set out and find Kaoru (Takao Emi) but is told that she couldn’t have survived 2 days in the water. Furious at that fact and at Shishio (Fujiwara Tatsuya) for being responsible, Kenshin begs his master to teach him the final technique so he can kill Shishio. Knowing Shishio can’t fight more than 15 minutes due to his wounds, Kenshin wants to bet everything on that final fight.

Shishio on the other hand wants to repeat history by bombarding Tokyo and thanks to his intel finds out that Kenshin is alive. So he gives the government a demand: if they label Kenshin as a fugitive for the murders he did during the war and to get him executed for them, he’ll stop the bombarding...

This movie is the same quality as the previous one: awesome and well-acted. The only difference is that this one has focus on the actual fighting. Yes the previous one had it too, but the second one has more of an action vibe, rather than storyline. This is probably the only negative part of the movie. But don't get me wrong this does not make the movie bad: it's really good for a second part of one story, and also it has one epic final battle. I just don't understand the final fight, even if they did explain it - but that is just me. The cast is really great; I really like how each character is portrayed - again quite honest to the manga, which I appreciate.

To sum up: a really great third movie of the trilogy.

☆☆☆☆½ / 4½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥½ / 4½ out of 5 hearts

Rurouni Kenshi 2 Kyoto Inferno Movie Review

Title: Rurouni Kenshin - Kyoto inferno

AKA: Rurouni Kenshin  2

Genre: Samurai, Period, Action

Origin: Japan

Release date: August 1, 2014

Cast: Sato Takeru, Takao Emi, Fujiwara Tatsuya and Kamiki Ryunosuke.

In the year Hyogo 1878 (Meiji Era 11), the Japanese law enforcement are trying to catch the ‘new battousai’. Due to Kenshi (Sato Takeru) leaving his samurai ways and lives his life in peace with his friends, the new battousai, Shishio Makoto (Fujiwara Tatsuya) has been creating havoc around Japan. Because of that the home minister, now currently one of the tops of the government, asks for a meeting with Kenshin. When he arrives Kenshin is asked to kill Shishio, as Shishios main goal is to get revenge and destroyed the new government.

At first Kenshin refuses since he enjoys life as it is, but when he is shown what Shishio is doing to the country, he partly feels responsible as Shishio took over his past position. So, by leaving his new life, Kenshin sets out to find Shishio, but finds out that he is much less powerful than Shishio, as he isn’t even able to beat Shishios underling… Will the old Battousai show his past colors?

The more I read my summary the less I like it. Oh well, I hope I don’t ruin it for the ones that want to watch it.

Anyways, an awesome movie, like so amazing: from the acting to the scenography. Like everything is so well-made! And it is amazingly well created! I don’t know if you’ve read the manga, but they are very honest to the story of the manga - I think I mentioned that before? Oh and Sato is sooo cool! And Fujiwara I almost didn’t recognize! Omg, and Kamiki!.... Sorry! Fangirl mode!

This movie has all my favorite things, though I am not a fan of fighting, I was kind of amazed by the fight scenes. SO much that I noticed EVERYTHING, and that is rare for me. You can actually watch the first movie without watching the second and the third, but you’ll miss out! I am telling you!

☆☆☆☆½ / 4½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

Gakkou no Kaiden Review

Title: Gakkou no Kaiden

AKA: School’s Steps / The Steps of School

Genre: School, Human Drama

Episodes: 10

Broadcast period: 2015-Jan to 2015-Mar

Cast: Hirose Suzu, Kamiki Ryunosuke, Ishibashi Anna, Sugisaki Hana and Suga Kenta.

“If you have friends there, school is fun. For the strong, school is a paradise. But for the weak...it's a mine-ridden battlefield. There are no passionate teachers who will help you, and you can't rely on your parents. All you can do is try to avoid the mines and wait for graduation. That's right... You should keep your breath hushed, and not move. If you move even a little, you'll become a target. When that happens... I've lost? Fight back and break it all! This is the story of the world's biggest weakling... And her rebellion.” (Intro of the drama)

Haruna Tsubame (Hirose Suzu) is a student at a prestige school, where rich kids are enrolling. She, with numerous of other students, is part of a program where children from ‘not-so-rich’ families are enrolled. Due to the money given by 8 riches students, called Platinum 8, or rather their families, the 8 are allowed to do anything without being put responsible.  As a joke the Platinum 8 put Tsubame as the president of the school’s council, knowing that Tsubame has a fear of big crowds. This leads to Tsubame encountering Shizukui Kei (Kamiki Ryunosuke), who tells her that she need to fight and that he will help her.

At first she refuses him, but when her best friend is at the verge of being expelled, she seeks the help of Kei…

As a fan of Kamiki’s I have to say, one great drama! I didn’t really know what to expect since I didn’t read the summary of the drama, but I really enjoyed watching it. You would think that 10 episodes with speeches would make you bored, but somehow the monologues where nice to hear. I call them monologues, but when talking you really felt like she was talking to you. So it wasn’t boring to be honest.

Kamiki was great; I am officially going to watch all his dramas/movies. Besides him, the rest was good too. I kind of thought they were all good actors.

All in all: a great drama with great acting.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

Blackboard Part 3 - Yume SP Review

Title: Blackboard part 3 - Yume

AKA: Blackboard: Dream

Genre: School, Dreams

Broadcast date: 07 Apr 2012

Cast: Matsushita Nao, Kamiki Ryunosuke, Kato Shigeaki and Matsui Jurina.

This is the last one out of 3 stories about the school system changing in Japan.

Takizawa Momoko (Matsushita Nao), on the verge of a breakdown, runs home in tears after her pupils make a fool out of her. She has been bullied by her pupils ever since a student named Omiya Masaki (Kamiki Ryunosuke) begun to ridicule her and effecting the class. As she feels cornered and decides to jump from her terrace, but is pulled back by her mother, who talks sense into her. Not wanting to give up, she gets her act together and hits hard on the pupils actions. This she succeeds by intimidating the students with point loss and adding bad resumes if they don’t listen. Every student complies, except Masaki who says his famous line “I don’t understand”. When in class he refuses to do his assignment, Momoko notices that something isn’t right.

Maybe Masaki really doesn’t understand? This becomes the start of a row of misunderstandings…

Despite the fact that it reminds me of all other Japanese high school dramas, this one is much more a realistic story with the actual student issues. And the teacher really shows the hardships of being a teacher vividly. On the other hand the ending seemed a bit too cliché-ish, but that’s Japan for you. The characters, young and old, were portrayed well and show the growth of a young actor (Kamiki) which I enjoyed a lot.

That said, this is probably the one everyone would see considering the time.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

Aikurushii Review

Title: Aikurushii
AKA: Sweet
Genre: Family, romance
Episodes: 11
Broadcast period: 2005-Apr to 2005-Jun
Cast:Takenaka Naoto, Harada Mieko, Ichihara Hayato, Ayase Haruka, Kamiki Ryunosuke, Matsumoto Rina, Sugiura Naoki, Shiho, Hongo Kanata, Oguri Shun and Sawajiri Erika

This drama revolves around the Mashiba family of 7: Tetsuo, the loud father (Takenaka Naoto), Meiji, the free-spirited grandfather (Suginara Naoki), Yumi, the sick mother (Harada Mieko), Michiru, the clumsy oldest sister (Ayase Haruka), Go, the ‘almost’ yankee brother (Ichihara Hayato), Horo, the strong kid (our narrator)(Kamiki Ryunsuke), and Uta, the cry-baby youngest little sister (Matsumoto Rina). Horo has never cried before, or to say he doesn’t know how to, so as his mother becomes sick, and everyone starts to cry, he finds himself in a situation where he doesn’t know what to do. He befriends ‘the weird kid’ Nagumo Shu (Hongo Kanata), who lives with his single mother, and Sakamaki Nana (Shiho), who tries to make her guardian angry by doing stupid things.
The story focuses on how the family copes with the mothers hospitalization, and how there are big problems in different families, even though they live on the country side.

Omg! Like this star cast is UNBELIEVABLE! I guess this is how they became famous? :P
I loved the drama, though I have to say some parts of the love story kind of made me annoyed, mostly the Ayase-Oguri love story. It was sweet and all, but damn that girl had a fast change of heart. But otherwise, I found everything brilliant, from the fights at the dining table; to the search for “Rainbow-Soldiers” (if you watch it you’ll understand). And I finally realised what it means when actors shine through the screen. When there are a lot of actors, it’s hard to make all of them look good, which sort of failed for Ayase (though her performance was decent – don’t get me wrong I’m a fan!). Ichihara Hayato, Oguri Shun and Kamiki Ryunsuke shined trough, and made me like them even more.
This drama is TOTALLY a family drama, and it’s REAAAAAAALLY heartfelt, so if you want to watch something like that, this is a GO!

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars.

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

Namida wo Fuite Review

Title: Namida wo Fuite
AKA: Wipe Your Tears
Genre: Family
Episodes: 11
Broadcast period: 2000-Oct to 2000-Dec
Theme songs: "Tobenai Tori" by Yuzu & "Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi" by Arashi
Cast: Eguchi Yosuke, Ninomiya Kazunari, Ueto Aya, Uchida Yuki Tatsumi Yuudai and Kamiki Ryunosuke

The story is about a family of six, the Fuchigami family, who one horrible night experience a fire which not only burns the house down, but also ends the life of the father while saving the life of the mother, who ends up in a coma. The four children; Kenta (Ninomiya Kazunari) the oldest and rebellious one, Kota (Tatsumi Yuudai) second youngest and serious one, Momo (Ueto Aya) second oldest and only girl and Ryota (Kamiki Ryunosuke) the youngest who still wets his bed, are now left without guardian, and no one steps up to take responsibility, except Onishi Katsuo (Eguchi Yosuke). Katsuo is their father’s kouhei, and in a spur of the moment says that he is going to take care of the children, because he believes that he owns their parents, and he doesn’t want to lose (it’s kind of difficult to explain, but if you watch it you’ll understand immediately).
In the beginning there are misunderstandings, but eventually they come to understand each other...

I liked it, a lot. I usually don’t like ‘old’ dramas, because it seems like, in Japan, the fashion is lagging, so a movie from 2000 seems like it’s from 1990, and I gotta admit the scripts are usually very slow and unnecessarily emotional, like beyond normal, from what we would call a trivial thing, they go further and see it as the end of the world. But to be honest, I didn’t mind it in this drama, mainly because the problems are very ‘this year’; like bullying, selling yourself and responsibility. Loved it. And I love that it wasn’t a teacher this time around, it was a useless adult, who learns from his own mistakes, but still teaches the kids what and how. Acting wise I was surprised to see three actors, whom I only know as adults; Ninomiya Kazunari (a J.E. that is known for his sarcastic tone) we see him here as an 17 year old caring big brother, Ueto Aya (one of my fave actresses) we see as an 14 year old girl trying to be all grown up, and Kamiki Ryunosuke (Kyu from Tantei Gakuen Q) we see as an 7 year old kid, who wets his bed. All in all, loving it.

☆☆☆½ / 3,5 out of 5 stars.

♥♥♥ / 3 out of 5 hearts