Call Center no Koibitoコールセンターの恋人 – Release July 09

Kumo Japan Drama sneak!!

Japan Drama Story:
Tokura Wataru (Koizumi Kotaro) 小泉孝太郎 works in a TV shopping company in Tokyo. He is just a simple normal stuff trying hard to live his life without offending others. One day he accidentally pisses off the host of the show who has a strong influence within the company. As a result, the show presenter title “Antarctic Ice” (Natori Yuko) 名取裕子 transferred Tokura Wataru (Koizumi Kotaro) 小泉孝太郎 to call center department which situated in country side. At the beginning it was hell to Tokura Wataru (Koizumi Kotaro) 小泉孝太郎 because he was unable to enjoy the modern life style as in Tokyo and later lost his girl friend because of being apart. At the call center department he met Aoyama Kyoko (Mimura) ミムラ aka “Queen of handling complains” and other stuff that teaches him to be a better person. Tokura Wataru (Koizumi Kotaro) 小泉孝太郎 plans to return back to main office in Tokyo but find himself began to love the current job as time goes by.

Feelings and comments:
The title of this drama does not really match the content of the drama. The story of this drama is not about lovers but about the story of customers that complain about the product. For each product sold there will definitely be complains and dissatisfactory. Some complains are unique and related to lots of coincident, thus creating some interesting stories. Perhaps these interesting stories keep those professional operators continue to work.
Some of the scene in this drama reminds me of some situation that employees have to deal with. The first situation is accidentally offended superior and force to transfer away. Second situation is to take the blame no matter what just to comfort customers. Third situation is customers are not always right but we still have to comfort them. Forth situation is some part of business really is dirty and tricky. Fifth situation is that it doesn’t matter if the product is good or bad as long as it sells.

Things that caught my eyes:
No doubt the products that they sell are not real but there is one real product that they promote indirectly. The real commercial that you will notice is the white Toyota car. They even have an angle of a scene that looks the same as commercial poster.

Japan Drama Rating:
Interesting to watch. It’s not just complained that call center received but the story of customers too.

Purchase:
2009 Japanese Drama : Call Center No Koibito w/ Eng Sub, Call Center no Koibito / Call Center's Lovers Japanese Drama Dvd with English Sub

Drama Theme Song: Arigato by Sonar Pocket

Japan Drama Preview:
Not available.

Haken no Oscar派遣のオスカル – Release Aug 09

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Japan Drama Story:
Misawa Katsuko (Tanaka Rena) 田中麗奈 is a big fan of girl’s manga “The Rose of Versailles”. She’s always dream herself in the world of manga in order to escape the reality. She did try to apply jobs that related to manga but was turn down. As a result she works as a temporally worker in a body cleansing product company. The company did not do well and is facing financial crisis at the moment. When the company started to implement unreasonable policy towards the employees, Misawa Katsuko (Tanaka Rena) 田中麗奈 decided to do something about it because she feels that she is in a situation the same as in the manga “The Rose of Versailles”. She seems to hear the voice of Oscar (Main character of “The Rose of Versailles”) telling her to fight for her rights and to save the company.

Feelings and comments:
I think most of us growing up reading one or two favorite manga. You can’t really forget the exciting feeling even if you have become an adult. That goes the same as playing video games. Some of us still continue to read manga and playing video games. It might seem a bit childish to still falling for these things but still it is acceptable. A childhood favorite can be the best hobby to escape from reality. It’s a good way to get away from work pressure and release tension temporally. So just give us all a break.
The question of produce quality product or produce product that sells kept me thinking for a while. I suppose keeping a balance between the two concepts is the best. Taking just only one side won’t be enough to survive. The best example that I can think of is George Clooney. The actor has created some movies that sell, for example “Ocean’s Eleven/Twelve/Thirteen” and quality movies like “Good Night, and Good Luck” and “Michael Clayton”.
Tanaka Rena (田中麗奈) appears mostly in movies rather than drama. No doubt her acting is good but still I just feel that she still missing something. Perhaps a fine tune towards her acting or maybe an opponent that can bring out the best of her is what she needs.

Things that caught my eyes:
I think I might understand better if I had gone through the manga “The Rose of Versailles”. Still it’s never too late to catch up with it. Just that this is a 36 year old girl’s manga. I’m just not so sure if I’ll like it.

Japan Drama Rating:
Fun to watch. A stuff that always imagine herself as a hero in the manga sure creates lots of laughter around.

Purchase:
Not Available yet.

Drama Theme Song: DREAM GOES ON by Every Little Thing

Japan Drama Preview:

RESCUE – Release Jan 09

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Japan Drama Story:
Kitajima Daichi (Nakamaru Yuichi) 中丸雄一 determine to become a member of Special Rescue Team due to an incidence when he was young. He was rescued by a member of Special Rescue Team who died saving his life. Ever since that day Kitajima Daichi (Nakamaru Yuichi) 中丸雄一 has been working hard to become a member of top elite Special Rescue Team. As usual it’s not easy to become the member of top elite rescue team. From the moment that Kitajima Daichi (Nakamaru Yuichi) 中丸雄一 sign up for the training program, he has to compete with other trainees to the spot. Only the best will be given the orange uniform.

Feelings and comments:
This is a drama about life and death. The question of whose life is more important always arises. Either it’s the life of the rescuer or the life of the victim. This drama also talks about team work and the people who risk their life saving people. The theme of this drama is not new as we have seen lots of drama about police force, fireman and emergency rescuer. Still when it comes to dealing with life and death, there’s always something debatable.
Normally in this type of drama, muscles, sweat, training, yelling and lots of running around can be seen almost any time around. The female character is normally stands in the corner with not much contribution. In other words, this is a macho type of drama.

Things that caught my eyes:
The drama explains how Japan rescue forces are built and train. Japan is a country that frequently hits by earthquake. Perhaps that is the reason why they are able to build up a top performance rescue team.

Japan Drama Rating:
Nice to watch. Another drama that dedicated to those that dedicated themselves for rescue services.

Purchase:
TV series

Drama Theme Song: Rescue by KAT-TUN

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Uta no Onii-san歌のおにいさん – Release Jan 09

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Japan Drama Story:
Yano Kenta (Ohno Satoshi) 大野智 lost his job before he even starts working. On top of that his girl friend dumped him, his band breaks up without his knowledge and he lost couple of friends because of the band. Yano Kenta (Ohno Satoshi) 大野智 is going through the worst time in his life. As he starts looking for a job, he was accidentally hired as a character in kid’s show name “Minna De Utao!” As much as he dislike the job and working with his face showing miserably, Yano Kenta (Ohno Satoshi) 大野智 began to accept the show as time goes by.

Feelings and comments:
At first I thought this drama is some sort of kids show. Perhaps that’s because of the title and the picture with Yano Kenta (Ohno Satoshi) 大野智 dress up like that. It turns out this drama is a comedy with lots of kids acting.
Sometimes life sucks. You might just get hit by lots of bad news and end up in a position that you never imagine it would be. Especially in recession time you might just find yourself in a job that you never expected. That’s better than jobless. Life is no easy and will never be easy. Just don’t hate it and try to enjoy it. You never know what you’ll get even if at worst time. Life is like a box of chocolate, you’ll never know what’s inside unless you taste it.

Things that caught my eyes:
It’s fun to see Yano Kenta (Ohno Satoshi) 大野智 get mob by kids. His “refuse to smile” face really looks funny. By the way you'll see some special guest star in this drama.

Japan Drama Rating:
Fun to watch. This drama is not a kid’s show but actually a funny motivation drama, but you’ll see lots of kids in it.

Purchase:
TV series, Original Soundtrack, 2009 Japanese Drama : - Uta No Onii-san - W/ English Subtitle

Drama Theme Song: Kumorinochi, Kaisei by Yano Kenta

Japan Drama Preview:
Not available.

Ketsuekigatabetsu Onna ga Kekkon Suru Hoho血液型別オンナが結婚する方法 – Release Feb 09

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Japan Drama Story:
This is a 4 episodes drama that features the love stories of 4 different blood types female. Each episode play by a lead female actress with blood types from A, B, O and AB. Blood type A Sachie (Kato Rosa) 加藤ローサ is an office lady that works in the accounting department of a company. Blood type B Sachie (Shaku Yumiko) 釈由美子 is a famous drama script writer. Blood type O Sachie (Kashii Yu) 香椎由宇 is a sales girl that works in a furniture shop. Blood type AB Sachie (Mizukawa Asami) 水川あさみis a university student that works as a lab researcher.

Feelings and comments:
I’m not sure if the blood type character prediction true or not but this type of topic can really cook up an interesting story. In addition this drama has 4 beautiful ladies that lead each episode, definitely attracts lots of viewers. Particularly in episode blood type O, Kashii Yu (香椎由宇) shows off her ability to speak Chinese language with her partner Wilson Chen (陳柏霖) from Taiwan.
Other than using blood type to describe the characteristic and love life of a person, we also have horoscopes, astrology, tarot, Chinese zodiac, numerology and other similar stuff. Each and every method has their mysterious way of prediction. Perhaps that is the reason why it is so popular. Just do a search online and you’ll find lots of sites about horoscopes and many other predictions. You may even try it out yourself to see how true it is. When you’re feeling down or having lots of pressure from work or life, this can be a good way to relax and have a little fun. Just remember not to go too deep with it and get addicted. Besides it’s just a prediction and guide. We still have to build our life with our own bare hands.

Things that caught my eyes:
Kondo Haruna (近藤春菜) that acts as the one and only friend for the main character is the only person that appears in all four episodes. The main character in all episodes has the same name call Sachie (幸恵). It’s a name that represents happiness.

Japan Drama Rating:
Nice to watch. It’s interesting to see if blood types really matters. Just make sure that you don’t compare it in front of your loves one.

Purchase:
Not available yet.

Drama Theme Song: not available

Japan Drama Preview:

Kami no Shizuku神の雫 – Release Jan 09

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Japan Drama Story:
Kanzaki Shizuku (Kamenashi Kazuya) 亀梨和也 is the son of the famous wine critic. Despite from the famous wine critic family, Kanzaki Shizuku (Kamenashi Kazuya) 亀梨和也 hates wine and did not go along well with his father. One day Kanzaki Shizuku (Kamenashi Kazuya) 亀梨和也 was informed about the death of his father and a will that is left behind. Kanzaki Shizuku (Kamenashi Kazuya) 亀梨和也 must compete with Tomine Issei (Tanabe Seiichi) 田辺誠一 to solve the wine identify puzzles in order to inherit the fortune of wine collection from his father. Kanzaki Shizuku (Kamenashi Kazuya) 亀梨和也 has no interest in the fortune but the intention of his father. In order to understand his father, he has no choice but to accept the challenge.

Feelings and comments:
This drama is all about wine. If you’re interested to learn more about wine, this drama might just be the right one for you. There will also be lots of French speaking scenes, not to mention all those poems and descriptions on how the wine tastes too. In some ways, this drama might be boring to certain people.
In order to get to know a person, perhaps the best way is to go into their world and experience the same thing they did, especially people that are famous in arts, singing, acting, managing, royalty, designing and many more. We can’t really understand what they are thinking unless we place ourselves in their position.
One thing that impressed me is that the wine identifies puzzles is able to connect the wine with facts of life. Some part of it might over expressing it but it really does make sense.

Things that caught my eyes:
No doubt wine is the most eye capturing scenes but there are couple of things that I have to say. Kanzaki Shizuku (Kamenashi Kazuya) 亀梨和也 likes to say “wake up, Bacchus (God of Wine)” before drinking the wine. Tomine Issei (Tanabe Seiichi) 田辺誠一 likes to roar after tasting the wine.

Japan Drama Rating:
Nice to watch. You’ll probably like this drama unless you hate wine.

Purchase:
Original Soundtrack, 2009 Japanese Drama : - Kami No Shizuku (Les Gouttes De Dieu) - W/ English Subtitle

Drama Theme Song: ONE DROP by KAT-TUN

Japan Drama Preview:

Meitantei no Okite名探偵の掟 – Release April 09

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Japan Drama Story:
Tenkaichi Daigoro (Matsuda Shota) 松田翔太 is a famous private investigator. Whenever crime happens, he will be there. Okawara Banzo (Kimura Yuichi) 木村祐一 is a high ranking police detective and Fujii Mana (Kashii Yu) 香椎由宇 is a rookie police detective that is under his guidance. Together 3 of them created a story of a famous private investigator. Each episode features a crime story with a typical trick of a detective story.

Feelings and comments:
This is definitely a strange detective drama. The story basically is making fun with the typical detective story instead of telling the detective story. You basically don’t have to think how the crimes go because there is no logic behind it. The only thing that you might learned from this drama is how a detective story written and the rules to write them. This is supposed to be a funny and humor story but sadly the jokes are just too cold.
Although the so call famous private investigator Tenkaichi Daigoro (Matsuda Shota) 松田翔太 did not solve mostly of the crimes but he actually found out some other information. Perhaps the most normal person in this drama is Fujii Mana (Kashii Yu) 香椎由宇.

Things that caught my eyes:
The special door that allows the characters to enter and discuss about the story is unique, but that’s just crazy. Instead my attention was drawn towards Tenkaichi Daigoro (Matsuda Shota) 松田翔太’s Nike shoes.

Japan Drama Rating:
Fan of Matsuda Shota (松田翔太) and Kashii Yu (香椎由宇) should watch it. This drama looks more like a comedy rather than a detective story.

Purchase:
2009 Japanese Drama : - Meitantei No Okite - W/ English Subtitle

Drama Theme Song: Fighting Pose no Uta by Baba Toshihide

Japan Drama Preview:

Triangleトライアングル – Release Jan 09

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Japan Drama Story:
A 10 year old girl was killed back in 1984. The murderer was not found and the case remains unsolved until now. A man name Goda Ryoji (Eguchi Yosuke) 江口洋介 seems to have some connection with this case. He used to be a doctor but later become an international police. One day Goda Ryoji (Eguchi Yosuke) 江口洋介 disguised as personal tour guide for a girl name Sachi (Hirosue Ryoko) 広末涼子 in France. Sachi (Hirosue Ryoko) 広末涼子 seems to has some connection with the unsolved case too. As Goda Ryoji (Eguchi Yosuke) 江口洋介transferred himself back to Japan police department, a colleague name Kuroki Shun (Inagaki Goro) 稲垣吾郎 received a mysterious call informing that the case (The 1984 10 year old girl murder case) hasn’t end…yet.

Feelings and comments:
The drama looks more like a mystery suspense story then a detective story. The question of “Who kill the little girl?” always surrounded the whole story. As it’s a unsolved murder case, it gets complicated as time goes by. The script of the drama is well written in a sense that it makes you wonder everybody is a suspect. It just seems like every characters have some secrets that connect to the unsolved murder case.
There are so many people died in murder cases in the world every single minute as we speak. There are also a lot of people died in the frequent natural disaster lately. We don’t actually feel the impact unless our loves one involved. It just takes a death of a person close by, either murdered or died of natural disaster to change our life completely. Honestly I don’t think we can understand the feelings unless we experience the lost of loves one ourselves. Perhaps the best way is to imagine and think “What if…” Only then we might start to do what we can to help those that involved in the unfortunate tragedy, Instead of just having thoughts of “Doesn’t concern me…”

Things that caught my eyes:
The scene and each clips of the drama is well connected, It makes you suspect there are some untold secrets behind. The drama really did a good job in fooling our eyes.

Japan Drama Rating:
Worth watching. You just can’t stop until you finish the whole series.

Purchase:
Original Soundtrack

Drama Theme Song: Sayonara wa Iwanai by Oda Kazumasa

Japan Drama Preview:

Akai Ito赤い糸 – Release Dec 08

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Japan Drama Story:
It is said that fate brings couple together. If both of them are meant to be each other, there will be an invisible red string that connects them together. Takemiya Mei (Minamisawa Nao) 南沢奈央 and Nishino Atsushi (Mizobata Junpei) 溝端淳平 both birthday is on the same date 29th February. Both of them celebrates birthday once every four years. Every since they were young, they keep on bumping into each other. It’s like both of them are meant for each other. Still both of them keep on separated as life is full of obstacles. Even with all the pain, suffer and problems, they still connects and love each other.

Feelings and comments:
Once in a while we get to watch great love story drama from Japan, and this is one of them. Akai ito is base on one of the bestselling novels in Japan 2007. All the casts in this drama is new and young. The things that capture the heart of the viewers are the story, song and wonderful script. There are basically two parts of this love story, movie version and drama version. You may choose to skip the movie version and jump right into the drama version as that’s the main complete story. If you already watch the drama version, don’t bother to watch the movie version.
Do you believe in fate? According to legend, an invisible red string connects those that are meant to be together. That’s basically what’s this love story is about. The thin red string will be stretch, bend and twisted but it will never break. That’s just a way to say that no matter how tough life is, the couple will still be together at the end. I suppose only couples that love each other can feel the existence of the red string. Ever incidents that happened in life have reasons. Either good or bad, these are the things that create the person that we are now.

Things that caught my eyes:
The theme song is one of the best love songs that I ever heard. The pictures shown at the end of every episode is nicely captured. Be sure to take a look, especially the pictures of all the couples. These couples are standing side by side but are separated by a distance of a person. It just seems like they are connected by the red string.

Japan Drama Rating:
Worth watching. This is another beautiful love story base on a bestselling novel. The script is nicely written. The scene is beautifully captured and the song is great.

Purchase:
Original Soundtrack,2009 Japanese Drama: Akai Ito w/English Subtitle, Akai Ito / Red Thread of Fate Japanese Movie with English subtitle

Drama Theme Song: 366 Nichi by HY

Japan Drama Preview:

Love Shuffleラブシャッフル – Release Jan 09

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Japan Drama Story:
Four couples decided to get together and shuffle their partners to find out their true love. This is the game suggested by the psychiatrist name Kikuta Masato (Tanihara Shosuke) 谷原章介 when he and three other apartment neighbors stuck in the elevator during a power failure. The three other neighbors are Aizawa Airu (Karina) 香里奈, Usami Kei (Tamaki Hiroshi) 玉木宏 and Sera Ojiro (Matsuda Shota) 松田翔太. All of them have some trouble with their current relationship. They hope to find solution and answer to their problem by shuffle their partners with each other.

Feelings and comments:
This drama mainly focuses on the interaction of the 8 main casts. There are 4 men and 4 women. You can just feel the different chemistry when they are pair differently. The first thing that you’ll witness is their definition of love is totally different. This drama sure makes a good lesson in teaching what love is. There seems to have 3 different type of relationship. First is the lover type where romantic feeling comes in. Second is the husband type where security and kids come in. The third one is friendship type where you are able to open your heart and have conversation about anything. Perhaps there may be a lot more different ways to love a person. You just have to find the kind of love that suits you.
We don’t actually have to try this “Love shuffle” method of find true love. All we have to do is go out there and meet people. The effect is just the same. Part of the process to find true love is to find ourselves first. That means understand who we really are and what we actually need and hope for.

Things that caught my eyes:
The corridor right in front of the elevator seems to be a nice place to hang out. It looks more like a living room for having breakfast and supper. It’s one way to hang out with your neighbors without showing them your room. If you’re able to get friendly neighbors, perhaps you can hang out with them that way.

Japan Drama Rating:
Nice to watch. It just feels like taking a lesson about love. The game of love is always interesting because the results are unexpected and surprising.

Purchase:
Original Soundtrack, 2009 Japanese Drama : Love Shuffle w/Eng Sub

Drama Theme Song: Fantasy by Earth, Wind & Fire

Japan Drama Preview:

Japan Drama NG Scene:

Atashinchi no Danshiアタシんちの男子 – Release April 09

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Japan Drama Story:
Mineta Chisato (Horikita Maki) 堀北真希 is a “homeless” that lives in the park and takes her bath in net café. Her mother died when she was young and her father ran away leaving a huge debt. One day as Mineta Chisato (Horikita Maki) 堀北真希was chase by the debt collector, she was rescue by a rich man name Okura Shinzo (Kusakari Masao) 草刈正雄. Okura Shinzo (Kusakari Masao) 草刈正雄 offers to settle all her debt, in return she has to become his wife for one month. As soon as Mineta Chisato (Horikita Maki) 堀北真希 signs the agreement, she found herself stuck with an old man with only a month to live. Plus, the agreement that she signed includes other details that acquired her to become mother of Okura Shinzo (Kusakari Masao) 草刈正雄’s sons for three month. There are six of them and each of them has different personality which doesn’t get along well.

Feelings and comments:
This drama is all about homeless and family. It started out with Mineta Chisato (Horikita Maki) 堀北真希as a homeless girl with huge amount of debts and ended up with a big family of six members. There are a lot of crazy jokes and scenario but all stress on the important of family. There is couple of things that I think is well said and important. First of all blood line related is not necessary important in justifying as family. There are a lot of families with bloodline related but still act as strangers and killing each other because of money. Sometimes friends are closer compare to family members. I suppose we considered it family when group of people help each other and experience life, work, fun or worst time together. Another thing is the place call funfair. I use to think funfair is a place where the whole families can have fun. Turns out it’s a place for families to hang out and discover different faces or identities that mom and dad never expose within busy days. Perhaps that‘s the fun and treasure that kids are looking for when visiting funfair.

Things that caught my eyes:
The crazy invention and the mansion is the most interesting part in this drama. It must be fun to have those inventions around. The mansion might not be a good place to live but it sure is a fun place to hang out. By the way, the six guys always in sauna with just towels on.

Japan Drama Rating:
Fun to watch. There are a lot of crazy stuffs in the drama. It’s good for a laugh.

Purchase:
Original Soundtrack, 2009 Japanese Drama : - Atashinchi No Danshi - W/ English Subtitle

Drama Theme Song: Infinity by GIRL NEXT DOOR

Japan Drama Preview:

Arifureta Kisekiありふれた奇跡 – Release Jan 09

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Japan Drama Story:
Nakashiro Kana (Nakama Yukie) 仲間由紀恵 met Tasaki Shota (Kase Ryo) 加瀬亮 when both of them sense a middle age man - Fujimoto Makoto (Jinnai Takanori) 陣内孝則 trying to commit suicide. Both of them successfully prevent Fujimoto Makoto (Jinnai Takanori) 陣内孝則 from jumping over the running train. The fact that both of them are able to sense the suicidal intention is because they too used to think of suicide. It’s a strange way for both of them to meet and they instantly generate good feelings with each other. They started to email each other and sometimes dated. They were able to help each other on curing their deep wounded heart. When they started to see each other, their relationship began to trigger conflicts between both their families. That’s because both families wanted the best for them and hopes that they can be happy.

Feelings and comments:
I have to say this drama is a bit depressing at the beginning. Most of the time it’s just about the expression of dark depression feelings and that covers almost half of the drama. The drama only starts to show a bit of sun light when the couple started to make their relationship work out. It just feels that everybody in the drama is trouble by something and most of the time they are depress with it. Still they are able to find happiness within they busy ordinary life.
It doesn’t matter if you’re happy or not, life has to go on. Sometimes we just can’t hope too much. Learning to accept what is available for you and satisfied with it might just be the way towards happiness. We cannot have everything goes as what we plan, but the effort might just enough to have most of them done. We just have to cherish what we have.
Miracles exist within life because we do not know what lies in front of us. We might just meet the one that we love any place, any time or any situation. As long as we keep on living our life, there is still hope that we’ll find happiness.
The story of this drama is simple but the acting is a bit difficult. It’s not easy to bring out the depression and fear towards life on screen. I think both main casts Nakama Yukie (仲間由紀恵) and Kase Ryo (加瀬亮) did a very good job in bring out the feelings within. Perhaps their experience and long acting career helps present this ordinary drama a miracle one.

Things that caught my eyes:
The title of this story is ordinary miracles. Not a surprise that everything in this drama is ordinary, including their occupation, life style and the people around. Finding each other in this ordinary world might just be the miracle. Thus I caught nothing with my eyes but I do feel the miracle.

Japan Drama Rating:
Interesting to watch, but it’s a bit depressing. It’s about how people deal with life after their painful tragic. The best cure is love and meeting the right people. This drama is able to present it nicely. By the way it’s a happy ending.

Purchase:
Arifureta Kiseki - Original 6 DVDs - 11 Episodes Japanese Drama (Eng)Arifureta kiseki (Japanese Edition)

Drama Theme Song: Dreams Are More Precious by Enya

Japan Drama Preview:

Godhand Teruゴッドハンド輝 – Release April 09

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Japan Drama Story:
Mahigashi Teru (Hiraoka Yuta) 平岡祐太 is the son of a famous brilliant surgeon name Mahigashi Kosuke (Terawaki Yasufumi) 寺脇康文. Mahigashi Teru’s (Hiraoka Yuta) 平岡祐太chest has a large palm press mark due to Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) performed by his father. This happened during a plane crash accident when Teru is young. Mahigashi Teru (Hiraoka Yuta) 平岡祐太 is the only survivor. His father died right after saving his life. Years later Mahigashi Teru (Hiraoka Yuta) 平岡祐太 becomes the surgeon just like his father. As a newbie surgeon, Teru has potential but clumsy. He has a strong will not to let his patients die easily. He also posses the ultimate healing ability “God Hands”, which seems like his father gives him a hand when he faces difficult surgery.

Feelings and comments:
Every part in this drama looks logic except when Teru transform himself into a surgeon expert. The first thing that comes to my mind when I saw the “God hand” mode is Power Rangers or Kamen Raiders. The ability to transform, perform difficult surgery and maintain zero death record under his surgical sounds just like an act of a super hero. If you’re able to ignore special ability part and watch the rest of the drama, it is still consider exciting and interesting to watch. There are only 6 episodes in this drama. Perhaps that makes the story interesting as the best part of the story is selected.
Faith is a powerful thing. When we believe, many things will turn out just right. When we don’t believe, many things will just fall apart. Sometimes it doesn’t matter if it’s true or not. As long as people believe, it gives the strength to keep on going, working and living.
It is true that health care is expensive. There are private hospitals that earn lots of money and there are government hospitals that provide almost free medical care. Either way we still need lots of money to train doctors, better medicine and medical research. Many places in the world still lack of doctors and medicine. Thus it is still highly debatable on the issue circle around money and health care.

Things that caught my eyes:
No doubt the best part of this drama is when Teru goes into God mode. Glowing hand mark on his chest transforms him naked and placing him into the universe with the ability to see through patient’s organs.

Japan Drama Rating:
Nice to watch. Medical drama is always interesting to watch but this drama just looks too much like the Kamen Raider.

Purchase:
Original Soundtrack, 2009 Japanese Drama : - Godhand Teru - W/ English Subtitle

Drama Theme Song: -

Japan Drama Preview:

Rinjo臨場 – Release April 09

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Japan Drama Story:
Kuraishi Yoshio (Uchino Masaaki) 内野聖陽 is a crime scene coroner. His task is to process the crime scene to determine if it’s an accident, suicide or murder case. The police investigation starts base on his judgment. Kuraishi Yoshio (Uchino Masaaki) 内野聖陽 is very good in his profession. Throughout his professional career he never misjudges a case. Perhaps he might be too good in his work as he always over step his authorities by keep on investigates the case until it is solve. That causes a lot of trouble for his colleagues and his subordinates. As he is very good in solving cases, he always gets his way around. Even though most colleagues do not like him but they still respect him.

Feelings and comments:
This is another Uchino Masaaki (内野聖陽) version of drama just like Gonzo. Perhaps the previous detective drama Gonzo is too good which makes this new drama Rinjo feels repeated. It’s always hard to break through when the previous drama is good. At least if you like the acting of Uchino Masaaki (内野聖陽), you won’t be disappointed with this drama.
There are too many detective dramas lately. Solving crime is not a new thing and I’ve seen too many similar building that represents Japan Police headquarter. The key attraction in this drama is the ability of Kuraishi Yoshio (Uchino Masaaki) 内野聖陽 to solve crimes. I think this drama produces a hero identity, a heart broken hero who determine to solve all cases no matter what.
When we talk about being professional in our work, we are merely referring that we shouldn’t involve our personal feelings into our work. This is easier to say than done, especially when you’re young and inexperienced. In most area of work, performance can be better when we exclude personal feelings. Sometimes the feelings might cloud our judgment or shall I say assume the result or pre judge before looking at the facts.

Things that caught my eyes:
It should be interesting to take a look at Kuraishi Yoshio (Uchino Masaaki) 内野聖陽’s house, a partly indoor vegetable garden in an apartment. I’m curious about how he take care of the garden that supplies so many fresh vegetable daily. Perhaps it’s just a fictional scene but I think it can be done. The tomato and cucumber really looks delicious.

Japan Drama Rating:
Nice to watch. This is a detective drama that similar with the US famous C.S.I series.

Purchase:
2009 Japanese Drama : - Rinjo - W/ English Subtitle

Drama Theme Song: -

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Shiroi Haru 白い春– Release April 09

Kumo Japan Drama sneak!!

Japan Drama Story:
Sakura Haruo (Abe Hiroshi) 阿部寛 was just release from 9 years of prison. He was involved in Japan yakuza and sentence to prison because he killed a man. Before he was thrown in prison, he was actually thinking of quitting Yakuza. As his girl friend Takamura Mariko (Konno Mahiru) 紺野まひるneeds the money for her illness, he decided to make a final deal with the yakuza to earn the money. He managed to complete the deal by killing a man but he was then caught by the police. Knowing that he will be in prison for a long time, he broke up with Mariko. Thinking that she is better off without him and she should find a better man now that she has the money to seek medical attention. After 9 years of prison Sakura Haruo (Abe Hiroshi) 阿部寛 is free again. He thought that Mariko is now well and alive, perhaps might already married and have kids. Turns out that she died after few years he was prison. He was furious and decided to find the man Mariko with right after he was prison. He managed to find out that the man Murakami Yasushi (Endo Kenichi) 遠藤憲一owns a small bakery shop and seems to marry another girl. As he tries to approach Murakami Yasushi for answers, he met a young little girl that seems to like him very much. The young girl name Murakami Sachi (Ohashi Nozomi ) 大橋のぞみseems to get along pretty well with Sakura Haruo (Abe Hiroshi) 阿部寛.

Feelings and comments:
Honestly, I never did interested in watching this drama at the beginning. The only reason that I took a peek is because of Abe Hiroshi (阿部寛) and lucky that I did. The drama turns out great. The story is simple or shall I say it’s the same kind of story that is told again and again in movies and dramas. The thing that makes this drama attractive is that the script is written in such a way that you can feel the love of a man that willing to sacrifice anything for it. The love of a man towards his 2 precious women in his life is all you can feel in this drama.
One particular thing that bugs me always is those that are love by did not know or realize the sacrifices that their loves one make. It is consider fortunate to be able to find someone that loves you very much. I suppose it’s difficult to find these kinds of people nowadays as they are almost extinct. The world can be a better place if lot more people sacrifice for love.
Abe Hiroshi (阿部寛) really is good in what he does. His appearance in this drama makes every single moment special. There isn’t a moment that you’ll feel bored in this drama. You might find some similarities in another drama call “kekkon Dekinai Otoko” where Abe Hiroshi (阿部寛) is the lead actor.

Things that caught my eyes:
Getting the road sign and the statue in front of the bakery shop definitely is a way to disturb their business. I was hoping to see how the big post box gets in front of the shop, but then it never did happen.

Japan Drama Rating:
Worth watching. The story is not new as you might figure out the whole story just by watching the first episode. Still I just can’t stop watching the drama till the end. The script is well written and the drama has one of the best actors - Abe Hiroshi (阿部寛) in Japan.

Purchase:
2009 Japanese Drama : Shiroi Haru w/ Eng Sub

Drama Theme Song: Yokogao by Sakai Ayumi
Link to Youtube

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Konkatsu!婚カツ！– Release April 09

Kumo Japan Drama sneak!!

Japan Drama Story:
Amamiya Kuniyuki (Nakai Masahiro) 中居正広 comes from a family that owns a tongkatsu restaurant. His father wants him to take over the restaurant but sadly Amamiya Kuniyuki (Nakai Masahiro) 中居正広 hates tongkatsu. He rather works in other company then helping up with preparing tongkatsu. As jobs are difficult to come by, he needs to fake his marriage to get hired by the local government. In order to make things right, he needs to get married as soon as possible so that his story becomes true. That’s when he starts joining group dating call konkatsu. Trying to find someone and get married but instead did not realize a girl that is close to him has been in love with him for a long time.

Feelings and comments:
This drama really is slow tempo. For the first couple of episode, it might seem a bit boring as there isn’t anything special about it. It’s about a thirty year old guy trying to get married just to keep his job. You can feel that this is just a story of a simple ordinary guy that you can find anywhere around. If you’re able to survive the first couple of episode, then you’ll start to get interested in the drama as there is a sense of finding out the extraordinary right from a simple ordinary life.
Marriage is about 2 people that are able to find each other, love each other and wanted to stay together for the rest of their life. It can be consider as miracle. In order to create this miracle we have to get involve. That means meeting with people. It’s like a game of finding the right one. There are no rules and there are no hints. All you can rely on is just your feelings. It might looks strange attending events like konkatsu but it’s actually a way to expose yourself and increase the possibility of the miracle. Besides it’s just an event to get to know more people.

Things that caught my eyes:
As shown in the picture above, the drama is mixing up konkatsu and tongkatsu. What in the world that konkatsu has to do with tongkatsu. At least the drama succeeded in convincing me to have tongkatsu for dinner.

Japan Drama Rating:
Nice to watch. Perhaps the story line is too simple and direct, nothing special but the story is nicely presented.

Purchase:
Original Soundtrack, 2009 Japanese Drama : Konkatsu! W/ Eng Sub

Drama Theme Song: Wedding Bell by PUFFY

Japan Drama Preview:

MR. BRAIN– Release May 09

Kumo Japan Drama sneak!!

Japan Drama Story:
Tsukumo Ryusuke (Kimura Takuya) 木村拓哉 was a simple ordinary guy. Right after an accident that injured his brain, his IQ increases rapidly. It’s a miracle that he is able to survive and gains such talent. Still there are many questions that are unanswered for what has happened to his brain. In order to understand better the changes of his brain, Tsukumo Ryusuke (Kimura Takuya) 木村拓哉 went back to study. He is able to obtain a PhD on human brain in a short time of period thanks to his gifted miracle. Tsukumo Ryusuke (Kimura Takuya) 木村拓哉 later was hired and assign to the Research and Science department of police force, a department that uses high end technologies to solve criminal cases. Tsukumo Ryusuke (Kimura Takuya) 木村拓哉 is in charge of the brain section. Which is responsible in figuring out how the mind of a criminal works. In other words Tsukumo Ryusuke (Kimura Takuya) 木村拓哉 might just have a brilliant mind that come close to what the criminal is thinking.

Feelings and comments:
The appearance of Hirosue Ryoko (広末涼子) in the first episode is enough to make me continue watching this drama until the last episode. Seriously I had never seen that many famous top actors appear in a drama as guest stars. On top of that, this drama has Kimura Takuya (木村拓哉) as Tsukumo Ryusuke and Ayase Haruka (綾瀬はるか) as Yuri Kazune. It’s enough to draw a lot of attention from a lot of fans. Of cause not to mention how good both their acting is.
There are still a lot of areas within human brain that we don’t quite understand yet. It’s the most sophisticated part in our body. It’s also very fragile. Any injury that involves the brain is going to look ugly. As for the case of Tsukumo Ryusuke (Kimura Takuya) 木村拓哉, I don’t think anybody can be that lucky.
Adding human brain study into detective drama certainly is something new. In most of the cases the drama is focus more on the criminal instead of the crime. In order to get the best results, getting top actors for the role of the criminals is the right choice.

Things that caught my eyes:
There are lots of advance technologies shown in this drama but I doubt not all of them are real. I actually like his table with a large touch screen monitor. I’ll definitely get one of those if available, but most probably will be very expensive.

Japan Drama Rating:
Worth watching. The drama uses a different approach on solving crime. I’m very surprise that this drama is able to invite a lot of top actors and singers as guest star.

Purchase:
 2009 Japanese Drama : - Mr. Brain - W/ English Subtitle

Drama Theme Song: JUMP by Van Halen

Japan Drama Preview:

Japan Drama NG Scene:

Honjitsu mo Hare Ijo Nashi本日も晴れ。異状なし– Release Jan 09

Kumo Japan Drama sneak!!

Japan Drama Story:
Shirase Ryo (Sakaguchi Kenji) 坂口憲二 voluntarily transferred to Narumi as a stationary policeman. Narumi is a small populated island without any doctor, police and some other public facilities. As there isn’t much development in this island, there are more people moving out from the island then staying. Shirase Ryo (Sakaguchi Kenji) 坂口憲二 used to be an elite detective in Shinjuku. Due to a mistake that he did in an investigation, he get to know about the island call Narumi from a song. That is how he gets to know the island and decided to transfer there. He believes that no matter how small a place it is, problems exist and there is a need of a policeman. The people in Narumi have been staying there long without any policeman. The sudden appearance of Shirase Ryo (Sakaguchi Kenji) 坂口憲二 stir up a lot of problem but also helps improve the quality of life in the island.

Feelings and comments:
The main attraction of this drama is definitely is the beautiful island scenery. This drama is similar with another drama call Dr. Koto Shinryojo. Instead of a doctor but a policeman travel the whole island on a bicycle.
We all make mistakes, and that includes policeman. It is also true that we cannot fix everything and save everybody. All we can do it try our best to fix and save as much as we can. The important thing is that we take the effort to make things right and try to make a change. As all these action and feelings will eventually influence others to step in and join in. That’s the power that change things and it can be done even if just started out by a person. If you ever read any famous historical legends like George Washington, Martin Luther King or Gandhi, then you’ll know that they all started small but end up big.

Things that caught my eyes:
The beautiful scenery of the small island is the attraction. Not to mention the sugar cane and sheep that occupied most area of the island.

Japan Drama Rating:
Interesting to Watch. It’s a simple story with warm hearted scenes, suitable for family and kids.

Purchase:
2009 Japanese Drama : - Honjitsu Mo Hare. Ijo Nashi - W/ English Subtitle

Drama Theme Song: Negai by Akikawa Masafumi

Japan Drama Preview: