Suikyu Yankees Review

Title: Suikyu Yankees

AKA: Water Pool Yankees

Genre: School, Sports, Romance

Episodes: 10

Broadcast period: 2014-Jul to 2014-Sept

Theme song: Ashita e no YELL by Hey! Say! Jump!

Cast: Nakajima Yuto, Takaki Yuya, Ohara Sakurako, Yamazaki Kento and Oomasa Aya.

At a very young age Inaba Naoya (Nakajima Yuto) is saved by a Yankee who tells him life changing this, including never giving up on anything without trying. Living by those words for 10 years, Naoya returns from America to Japan, to the school where his idol went: Kasuminroi Technical High School - or Kusu High School. Here he decides he wants to take the ‘top’ and rule over the school, but the students of Kusu High School are not the Yankees that they used to be. To make things worse the school is to be closed down, due to its unpopularity and since the school loses out in both grades and reputation against Suiran High School.

Looking for the current top he faces off Mifune Ryuji (Yamazaki Kento), whom he believes is the ‘top’ of the school.  Unable to take him serious Ryuji brushes him off, having much more important things on his mind: Kitajima Torao (Takaki Yuya) a student at Suiran High School. Ryuji and Torao were best friends once; both loving to play water polo, but for some reason Ryuji quit and refused to play it, making Torao becoming the town’s hero (for making the town popular after winning championship).  When Toraos teammates beat up some of Naoyas classmates, Naoya decides to go head to head with Torao in order to pay him back - but Torao has one condition: it has to be water polo.

After the battle Naoya realizes one thing: he can save his school by beating Suiran High School, but first he has to recruit members to the Water Polo club…

I never liked these kinds of dramas with swimming sports, also one of the reasons I never finished Water Boys. But this drama is really funny, and I finished it in one go. It’s really my cup of tea and the water polo part is not so bad. I am just annoyed with the love stories, which I found boring - even though they were trying to make it interesting. Takaki Yuya and Nakajima Yuto are so grown up T_T, I kind of like it *_*. Their acting is great too, but that’s Johnnys for ya :P The rest was okay too, and the trio were soooo funy omg.

Okay sorry fan girl mode. Anyways, good and funny drama.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts

Kamji’s Verdict:
I was looking for something light, entertaining, Japanese (yep ! The “Japanese”part is really important because I just wanted something real, something human, something only Japan know how to do..) to lift up my spirit which isn't feeling at the best at the moment. And I’m surprised that this drama entirely fulfill those goals. And there were so much more in it. Let's get one thing straight: It's not the best dorama out there, it's not amazing but by god was this wholeheartedly entertaining, fun and just what you want from a Summer Drama!! Johnny's, Johnny's everywhere. The only down I can actually pick out is, I personally felt the romance aspect was unnecessary. The romance (all like 5 of them!) added nothing to the drama and weren't needed. All this dorama needed was a bunch of guys being the best friends ever and that's what I got and I loved it!

☆☆☆☆½ / 4½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥½ / 4½ out of 5 hearts

Yowakutemo Katemasu Review

Title: Yowakutemo Katemasu

AKA: Even if we are weak, we will win

Genre: School, Drama, Sports

Episodes: 11

Broadcast period: 2014-Apr to 2014-Jun

Theme song: GUTS by Arashi

Cast: Ninomiya Kazunari, Aso Kumiko, Fukushi Sota, Arimura Kasumi, Nakajima Yuto, Hongo Kanata and Yamazaki Kento

When his professor is suspected of falsifying a thesis, the sponsoring for the lab Tamo Aoshi (Ninomiya Kazunari) is working at is pulled back and he is left without a job. The professor promises that in a year he’ll fix the problem, but that still is a year without a job for Tamo. He contacts his old high school principle for a job as a biology teacher in the same high school, and gets the job and is assigned a class. The school is famous for smart kids that enter Toudai, and the students usually score good results in tests. While being there he is reminded of the time he was at the baseball, and how bad how he was, which made him leave baseball 13 years ago. Still unable to let it go, he finds himself drawn to the baseball team that is so bad, the students are not even able to catch the balls. Still loving the sports, the six members that are there are yearning for a good coach, and find out that Tamo used to be in the school’s baseball team.

Set to get his revenge on the school that made him feel weak and leave baseball, Tamo declares to that very school that he will win against them, by having these students win against them. Now he has to make the team a team, and find a way to make them win even if they are as bad as they are…

Another Arashi drama with Ninomiya as the lead actor. To be honest, I was really excited to watch a high school drama, and a baseball one on top of that. Though I was sceptic about Nino being in the role as the teacher, I have to admit he is perfect in this role. Generally he is a great actor, and acting as a Tamo-sensei is pretty perfect for him. The male cast, basically all the boys of the team, are really good at acting and even raise the quality of the drama. I was a bit annoyed at Arimura, but I guess it’s her face, because her character was okay.

The drama is also pretty slow passed, so there really is not that much going on. Lol, when I finished it I actually didn’t really know what I was expecting, but it didn’t really have that much of a climax.

All in all a greatly acted drama, with a slow pase.

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ 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