正義の味方 Seigi no Mikata – Release July 08

Kumo Japan Drama sneak!!

Japan Drama Story:
Nakata Yoko (Shida Mirai) 志田未来 has an elder sister name Nakata Makiko (Yamada Yu) 山田優. Her sister Nakata Makiko (Yamada Yu) 山田優 is a beautiful smart woman. In fact she might be a little too smart when it comes to her own benefits. Nakata Makiko (Yamada Yu) 山田優 is very good in argument and debate as her boss always ends up speechless when dealing with her. When it comes to getting what she wants, Nakata Makiko (Yamada Yu) 山田優 always make full use of her little sister Nakata Yoko (Shida Mirai) 志田未来. Although Nakata Yoko (Shida Mirai) 志田未来 don’t like it and always blog about how devil like her sister is, Nakata Yoko (Shida Mirai) 志田未来 still has to agree that her sister Nakata Makiko (Yamada Yu) 山田優 is always right about things. The most unbelievable scenario is that Nakata Makiko (Yamada Yu) 山田優’s action and decision even wins her the title of “Ally of Justice”.

Feelings and comments:
This is a fun and entertaining drama that focus on the interaction between couple of sister. I have to say, sometimes relationship between brothers or sisters can be a little unexpected. It might seems like they don’t like each other, but actually they are watching for each other. Most of the time brothers or sisters don’t show out their love directly. I suppose it’s just too embarrassing to say “I care about you” suddenly after all those years staying together. Those words can be difficult to spill out if the family is not use to saying it regularly.
    The interaction between Nakata Yoko (Shida Mirai) 志田未来 and Nakata Makiko (Yamada Yu) 山田優 is just fantastic. It’s actually very interesting and natural to watch all the jokes and fun created by this couple. It also reminds me of lots of old memories between me and my brother. My brother and I always fight with each other when we were young. The fight was too frequent until my grandmother pray for us to stop fighting. Well, that actually works as we stop fighting and become close as we grow up.
    By the way we can also witness some of the smart tricks that woman always pull off, especially for Nakata Makiko (Yamada Yu) 山田優.

Things that caught my eyes:
The western style imported chair which Nakata Makiko (Yamada Yu) 山田優 sits at home is just too obvious. It just doesn’t look right or suitable in a traditional Japanese home where they only sits on the floor.

Japan Drama Rating:
Worth watching. It’s a fun and entertaining drama which the big sister is always full with tricks and ideas on how to make full use of her little sister. The little sister might not like it but that’s just the way the big sister protects and teaches the little sister without showing her love directly.

Purchase:
TV series, Original Soundtrack, Seigi No Mikata

Drama Theme Song: Honto wa ne by Okumura Hatsune

Japan Drama Preview:

ヤマトナデシコ七変化 Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge – Release Jan 10

Kumo Japan Drama sneak!!

Japan Drama Story:
Takano Kyohei (Kamenashi Kazuya) 亀梨和也 stays in a mansion together with 3 other housemates and a young mansion keeper. Takano Kyohei (Kamenashi Kazuya) 亀梨和也 was actually force to move out from his own house because of his charming face that draws attention. The attention eventually turns into harassment and stalking to him and his parents. One day the owner of the mansion introduce her niece Nakahara Sunako (Omasa Aya) 大政絢 to the members who live in the mansion. The mansion owner offers to void their rental if they are able to turn Nakahara Sunako (Omasa Aya) 大政絢 into a lady. They accepted the challenge before getting to know who Nakahara Sunako (Omasa Aya) 大政絢 actually is. It turns out it wasn’t as easy as they think because Nakahara Sunako (Omasa Aya) 大政絢 is a spooky girl who loves horror stuff, do not mix with people and always hides in her room.

Feelings and comments:
If you watch the animation version of Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge first before this drama, perhaps you might be a little bit disappointed. There is just not enough excitement and entertaining stuff in this drama compare to the animation. This is a story of four charming handsome young man with each of their own complicated trouble. Not to mention the drama has one special unique spooky girl who cooks for them. They have a mission to turn Nakahara Sunako (Omasa Aya) 大政絢 into a lady but during the process they each started to face their own problems. Most of the scenes are in the mansion. So it kind of feels a bit boring too.
    Everybody have their own issues and problems. That’s including charming and handsome boys and girls. In some ways we all hope that we can be good looking and charming. Sometimes we even dream of being the most beautiful person in the world. In reality that might not be a good thing. If you’re that one special person, then you risk being a normal person. That means you might not be able to have burgers or hotdogs in the middle of the street without having people and cameras disturbing you. In this case, normal is something special to them. As majority people are in the category of normal. It becomes a common factor.
    Takano Kyohei (Kamenashi Kazuya) 亀梨和也 and Nakahara Sunako (Omasa Aya) 大政絢 acting ability is outstanding in this drama. Their interaction is part of the interesting scene in this drama. If you’ve seen them in previous drama, I think you can tell the difference in their acting. No doubt we’ll be seeing more of them in the coming dramas.

Things that caught my eyes:
It seems they always use this same mansion in most of the drama lately. The special ability of thunder strike is hilarious but I think that’s no match for the numbers of girls they can gather. I suppose all of them are actual fans.

Japan Drama Rating:
Nice to watch. The animation version is much funnier but still there is something else that we can watch in this drama. That is the acting ability of the actors. And there is couple of them which is very good.

Purchase:
Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge - Japanese Drama - 10 Episodes (Original 5 DVDs), Original Soundtrack

Drama Theme Song: Love yourself ~Kimi ga Kirai na Kimi ga Suki~ by KAT-TUN

Japan Drama Preview:

曲げられない女 Magerarenai Onna – Release Jan 10

Kumo Japan Drama sneak!!

Japan Drama Story:
Ogiwara Saki (Kanno Miho) 菅野美穂 works in a law firm while trying to obtain her license to become a lawyer. Ogiwara Saki (Kanno Miho) 菅野美穂 is 32 years old and has been failing the examination bar for nine consecutive years. Ogiwara Saki (Kanno Miho) 菅野美穂 has a boy friend lawyer that works together in the same law firm. They did not get married because Ogiwara Saki (Kanno Miho) 菅野美穂 wanted to concentrate on getting her lawyer license first. Ogiwara Saki (Kanno Miho) 菅野美穂 does not mix well with others nor fits in to the society. That’s because she is a woman that does not go along with trends or environment but always pursuit her own will and thoughts. She does not twist or go around issues. Despite her strange mind set, she is still able to find couples of friends that can help her get though life.

Feelings and comments:
The big slap by Ogiwara Saki (Kanno Miho) 菅野美穂 at the beginning of first episode has convince me to finish the whole drama. I suppose that’s my first impression I get which acknowledge the acting ability of Kanno Miho (菅野美穂). The strange characteristic of Ogiwara Saki (Kanno Miho) 菅野美穂 draws my curiosity of knowing her decision and witness her next action.
    No doubt Ogiwara Saki (Kanno Miho) 菅野美穂 is a strange person. She seems to live by her own world with her own rules. If we take a look deeper in her condition, we all actually are facing the same problem as she did. There are two ways that we can live our life. Either we choose the path of life style we want and take control of situation around, or we can go along with the condition and accept the things presented in our life. Ogiwara Saki (Kanno Miho) 菅野美穂 is just an ordinary woman that refuse to give in to all the obstacles in life. It’s a typical example of consistency, endurance and never gives up until success is achieved. Plus the help of friends are needed to take on the challenge life has to offer.

Things that caught my eyes:
The Michael Jackson songs with Kanno Miho (菅野美穂) dancing are funny but I just couldn’t laugh out loud. In fact I’m impressed by the consistent accuracy of paper throwing, and of cause the secret of the shutter.

Japan Drama Rating:
Worth watching. The story might be simple but the acting performance of Kanno Miho (菅野美穂) is brilliant and entertaining.

Purchase:
Original Soundtrack, Uncompromised Woman / Magerarenai Onna Japanese Tv Drama Dvd with English Subtitle NTSC All Region

Drama Theme Song: Modorenai Ashita by aiko

Japan Drama Preview:

エンゼルバンクAngel Bank – Release Jan 10

Kumo Japan Drama sneak!!

Japan Drama Story:
Ino Mamako (Hasegawa Kyoko) 長谷川京子 resigned from being a school teacher after confronted the headmaster for better benefits. While searching for a better job, Ino Mamako (Hasegawa Kyoko) 長谷川京子 decided to go for a career change seminar. At the seminar Ino Mamako (Hasegawa Kyoko) 長谷川京子 met Ebisawa Yasuo (Namase Katsuhisa) 生瀬勝久 the Speaker which is also the boss of career change advisor company name Life Partners. Instead of figuring out which career she needs to take on, Ino Mamako (Hasegawa Kyoko) 長谷川京子 ends up working as an agent under Ebisawa Yasuo (Namase Katsuhisa) 生瀬勝久. Being an agent is not her intention in the first place but she began to feel this change might help her discover what she actually wants to do.

Feelings and comments:
The main focus of this drama is the information regarding career change or job hunting. I’m more interested about the tips and guide on finding the right suitable job rather than the story, acting and stages. I suppose that’s the main stuff that makes this drama interesting.
    There are a lot of quotes and thoughts about being an employee and finding the right job. Personally I love the quote “The price or value or a person is judge by the market.” That means your salary are very much depends on how much a company needs you. The value of a fresh graduate is judge by the education level obtain. Once fresh graduate get pass the first entry of working society, the value of a person starts decreases if one does not continue to learn or improve. After working for several years and when it comes to changing job or career, it’s not about what you have done. It’s basically what you can do for the company right now.
    Changing job or getting a different career is not about trying to change the work load, pressure and responsibility. The only thing that will change is our life style. All the above will still remain the same because that’s what working is about. Changing job will lead to an adjustment of work load, pressure and responsibility. All these will eventually affect your life because half of your life is spend on working. Those changes will definitely affect the other half of your personal life.
    There are lots of questions we think about when we start working. The one thing that most of us worried about is how long can we continue to work here and do we need to change job for a better life. There won’t be any job for us if we don’t have a value to the company. If that is the case we just have to increase our values to companies. Each of us is unique in a sense and with different ability. We just have to understand ourselves and pin point our ability and sell it to companies that required our service. That eventually places us in a higher price. If this company no longer needs you, then just find another company that needs you.

Things that caught my eyes:
Each episode presented a scenario which all of us that are holding a job will faces eventually. All the information shown in this drama can help a person reevaluate themselves before decided to change job or career.

Japan Drama Rating:
Interesting to watch. This drama is good for employees and those that are just starting to work in society. There are lots of interesting points that salary man faces and needs attention which can be found in this drama.

Purchase:
Original Soundtrack, 2010 Japanese Drama : Angel Bank w/ Eng Sub

Drama Theme Song: Hana Tori Kaze Tsuki by Remioromen

Japan Drama Preview: