Sunday, October 31, 2010

Mioka美丘 – Release July 10


Kumo Japan Drama sneak!!

Japan Drama Story:
Minegishi Mioka (Yoshitaka Yuriko) 吉高由里子 has a rare disease and was told there was no cure for it. It’s a disease where her brain shrinks and there is nothing can be done for current medical knowledge. One day Minegishi Mioka (Yoshitaka Yuriko) 吉高由里子 stands over the fence on top of school building looking at the view thinking about her disease and the short remaining time she has. She was spotted by Hashimoto Taichi (Hayashi Kento) 林遣都 who rushes to the roof thinking that she might commit suicide. That’s how they first met. They perform a high level self introduction but were soon call down from the roof. It’s a love in first sight. Despite knowing the disease and the cruel reality that Minegishi Mioka (Yoshitaka Yuriko) 吉高由里子only have a year or less to live, they still decided to spend the little time they have together.

Feelings and comments:
If you like this type of romantic Japan drama which the girl pass away at the end of story, you probably like Taiyou no Uta, 1 Litre no Namida and Sekai no Chuushin de, Ai wo Sakebu. Probably the way that couples cherish their limited time together makes these dramas so attractive. Plus people see things differently when told they have not much time left to live.
    This kind of drama actually brings out the acting ability of an actor. The success of this drama depends on how good the main actor presents. No doubt Yoshitaka Yuriko (吉高由里子) has successfully play Minegishi Mioka in this drama. If you check out the previous similar drama that I introduce above, all of the actors turn out successful after the drama.
    One particular repeated action you’ll notice in this drama is that Minegishi Mioka (Yoshitaka Yuriko) 吉高由里子 do things right now as soon as she thought of it. She does not wait nor think twice. Time is precious especially for Minegishi Mioka (Yoshitaka Yuriko) 吉高由里子. As she has only a year or more to live, she tries to do as many things she can. That is why her life is meaningful and enjoyable as she makes full use of her remaining time. Imagine if we can live for a thousand years but reduces to only hundred years, will we try to live out best to cover the things we lost for 900 years? I suppose it doesn’t matter how long we can live. What matters most is how we live the best of our lives within the given time.

Things that caught my eyes:
Despite of the sad crying scene, we see happy, enjoyable and cherish moment a lot more in this drama. It gives us feelings that although life has been shorten but it contains the best and wonderful moments of a normal 100 year life.

Japan Drama Rating:
Worth watching. This type of Japan drama never fails to touch the heart and soul of audiences. Each of these Japan dramas introduces different uncured diseases but presents the strong will and fighting spirits of a person to stay alive.

Purchase:
2010 Japanese Drama: Mioka w/ Eng Sub

Drama Theme Song: Hotaru by Fukuyama Masaharu

Japan Drama Preview:

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Tsuki no Koibito月の恋人 – Release May 10


Kumo Japan Drama sneak!!

Japan Drama Story:
Hazuki Rensuke (Kimura Takuya) 木村拓哉 is the president of a furniture company call Regolith. His vision is to supply furniture to every corner in the world under the name of Regolith. As his company launches the first outlet and factory in Shanghai China, Hazuki Rensuke (Kimura Takuya) 木村拓哉 met a poor factor worker name Liu Xiu Mei (Lin Chi Ling) 林志玲 and instantly falls in love with her. Hazuki Rensuke (Kimura Takuya) 木村拓哉 brought her back to Japan and trained her to be the company model. Besides Liu Xiu Mei (Lin Chi Ling) 林志玲 there are two other women that falls in love with Hazuki Rensuke (Kimura Takuya) 木村拓哉, Onuki Yuzuki (Kitagawa Keiko) 北川景子, the daughter of his rival company and Ninomiya Maemi (Shinohara Ryoko) 篠原涼子, the top furniture designer. As Hazuki Rensuke (Kimura Takuya) 木村拓哉 strive to expand his company in the competitive market, he faces lots of obstacles not just from his rival company but also his own employees. The success and falls of Hazuki Rensuke (Kimura Takuya) 木村拓哉 are related very much to the 3 women who love him. At the end who will Hazuki Rensuke (Kimura Takuya) 木村拓哉 choose for his partner of life?

Feelings and comments:
I have to admit the biggest attraction of this drama is to watch Lin Chi Ling (林志玲) interacts with other Japanese actors especially Kimura Takuya (木村拓哉). Perhaps all the other main actors are too talented and thus it magnifies the lack of acting experience within Lin Chi Ling (林志玲). Hopefully we can see more of Lin Chi Ling (林志玲) in the coming Japanese drama.
    The drama looks pretty good from all aspect but still it doesn’t feel good enough. Perhaps we have high hope that this drama can bring out a very romantic feeling but instead it shows more reality pressure and struggling to overcome obstacles.  I think with the same group of actors and production stuff but with a different story and script, this drama can be a hit. This also proves that if you use the best ingredients to produce a drama, it might not turn out as good as we expected.

Things that caught my eyes:
No doubt Liu Xiu Mei (Lin Chi Ling) 林志玲 is the focus in this drama. This is her first debut in Japan Drama. Although her acting performance still needs lots of improvement but we can see that she’s giving her best shot, especially at the beginning of the drama where she is able to put aside her beauty image for acting.

Japan Drama Rating:
Nice to Watch. This drama has great actors, great scene, great car, great song and great music but unfortunately lack of a great story line or script. I just felt a bit disappointed as this drama can be better.

Purchase:
2010 Japanese Drama : Moon Lovers (Tsuki No Koibito) w/ Eng Sub

Drama Theme Song: LOVE RAIN ~ Koi no Ame ~ by Kubota Toshinobu

Japan Drama Preview:

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Hotaru no Hikari ホタルノヒカリ Season 2 – Release July 10


Kumo Japan Drama sneak!!

Japan Drama Story:
Amemiya Hotaru (Ayase Haruka) 綾瀬はるか has return to Japan after station for 3 years in Hong Kong. Her first action after returning to her old rented house is to transform back to “don’t worry but lay around and relax” style.  After 3 years Amemiya Hotaru (Ayase Haruka) 綾瀬はるか is still the same girl who likes to wear jersey and relax at home. Unfortunately Takano Seiichi  (Fujiki Naohito ) 藤木直人  who is her landlord, her superior and her boy friend already have lots of plans for both of them. As Amemiya Hotaru (Ayase Haruka) 綾瀬はるか is looking forward to get back to her same old lifestyle, Takano Seiichi (Fujiki Naohito) 藤木直人 is preparing to marry Amemiya Hotaru (Ayase Haruka) 綾瀬はるか. This is a big surprise to Amemiya Hotaru (Ayase Haruka) 綾瀬はるか as she lifestyle might take a big turn because of the marriage or after the marriage. While she is very happy with the suggestion, Amemiya Hotaru (Ayase Haruka) 綾瀬はるか has no idea about what marriage is about.

Hotaru no Hikari ホタルノヒカリ First Season Review

Feelings and comments:
Season 2 of this drama still is as good as season 1. There are lots of changes after 3 years but the chemistry between Amemiya Hotaru (Ayase Haruka) 綾瀬はるか and Takano Seiichi (Fujiki Naohito) 藤木直人 is still there. I guess the best part of this drama is to see how they interact with each other.
    This drama actually brings out all the concern from both parties when it comes to marriage. The example provided in this drama is very good as the differences between the couple are a lot but yet they are still able to work things out just because they understand and love each other. If you take a look closely you’ll find that they have differences in age, status, thoughts, personality and lifestyle. It’s almost like opposite attracts. Although it seems like this couple is a matching between brainless and brainy but the problems they encounter while preparing for the wedding are about the same as everybody else. At the end of the drama you might find that both of them are able to solve their problems and differences with just one simple method.

Things that caught my eyes:
I suppose the weird thoughts of Amemiya Hotaru (Ayase Haruka) 綾瀬はるか are the most interesting part. You’ll never know what to expect from this girl. Ironically Takano Seiichi (Fujiki Naohito) 藤木直人seems to understand her well enough to know exactly how she thinks.

Japan Drama Rating:
Worth watching. It’s a fun romantic comedy with getting married as the title theme. It will be better to catch up with the first season of this drama before watching second season.

Purchase:
2010 Japanese Drama: Hotaru no Hikari II w/ Eng Sub, Theme Song Single

Drama Theme Song: Kimi ga iru by Ikimono-gakari


Japan Drama Preview:

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Rinjo臨場 Season 2 – Release April 10


Kumo Japan Drama sneak!!

Japan Drama Story:
Kuraishi Yoshio (Uchino Masaaki) 内野聖陽 is a forensic expert who is very good in picking up details and finding out the truth. Kuraishi Yoshio (Uchino Masaaki) 内野聖陽 and his team is responsible in analyzing crime scene initially and determine if it is a suicidal case or murder case. Kuraishi Yoshio (Uchino Masaaki) 内野聖陽 has the habit of digging out the truth no matter what it takes. Sometimes he even goes beyond his authority to get the answer. Thus he always picks up fights with people in police department.

Rinjo臨場 First Season Review

Feelings and comments:
The crime scene is still as interesting as the first season but there is just not much excitement within. You can feel the second season seems to put in more budgets to produce a much better drama. Just like the first season, the investigation teams are able to solve one criminal case in one episode. Honestly there aren’t many changes compare to the first season. In the second season the investigation teams get a new boss and Kuraishi Yoshio (Uchino Masaaki) 内野聖陽 gets a new stuff as one of his subordinate gets transfer back to the original investigation team. Overall if you like the first season of this drama, you’ll be interested to take a look at the second season. I suppose the most interesting part in the second season is the unsolved case which involved the new guy that transferred to Kuraishi Yoshio (Uchino Masaaki) 内野聖陽’s team.

Things that caught my eyes:
Seems like most of the cases are solved by Kuraishi Yoshio (Uchino Masaaki) 内野聖陽. But his working attitude of sleeping in the office is not so encouraging.

Japan Drama Rating:
Nice to watch. The second season still maintains the same quality and excitement. Although there is not much change in the story but there are improvements in overall production especially in music and theme song.

Purchase:
2010 Japanese Drama : Rinjo II w/ Eng Sub, Ifu Doudou Single by Hirahara Ayaka

Drama Theme Song: Ifu Doudou by Hirahara Ayaka

Japan Drama Preview:

P/S: This preview is from season 1 as season 2 is not available.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Chaseチェイス – Release April 10


Kumo Japan Drama sneak!!

Japan Drama Story:
Haruma Sosuke (Eguchi Yosuke) 江口洋介 is a government agent for the National Tax Agency Bureau. His job is to investigate businesses or individuals who evades or falsely report taxes. One day a plane crash incident which causes the death of his wife changes his life. Haruma Sosuke (Eguchi Yosuke) 江口洋介 has to reduces his work load to take care of his daughter. In the other hand, several cases which Haruma Sosuke (Eguchi Yosuke) 江口洋介 used to handle reveals a connection towards the plane crash accident and the death of his wife. As Haruma Sosuke (Eguchi Yosuke) 江口洋介 started to investigate deeper, he found out a professional tax evades name Shuji Murakumo (Arata) 井浦新 who is behind several complicated tax evade plans. These plans involves international taxation are part of a huge deceive plan which links to the death of his wife.

Feelings and comments:
There are two things that make this drama interesting. First is the taxation law around the world and methods to evade tax. You may discover that taxation is a big topic which not just involves income taxes but also business taxes and international export/import taxes. It is fascinating to discover that in some countries there are no income taxes, and in some countries there is no inheritance tax.
    Second is the outstanding acting performance of Shuji Murakumo (Arata) 井浦新. He actually creates a very deep impression and mysterious aura which draws attention and curiosity of viewers. Haruma Sosuke (Eguchi Yosuke) 江口洋介 still is as good as always but Shuji Murakumo (Arata) 井浦新 turns out extraordinary in this drama.
    It’s a large amount of money as one has to pay inheritance tax of up to 50% of property. I won’t be surprise if people will take all necessary steps to reduce or evade the tax. Even normal salary man will try to pay as little tax as possible when filling income tax. So do we have anybody who is happy to pay their taxes?

Things that caught my eyes:
It’s interesting to know the differences of taxation laws in other countries. Especially for the case of inheritance tax, I beginning to understand why some people love to travel, buy a yachts and give birth in other country.

Japan Drama Rating:
Worth watching. This is an incredible crime story from a different way of approach.

Purchase:
2010 Japanese Drama : CHASE (Kokuzei Sasatsukan) w/ Eng

Drama Theme Song: 退行by Naruyoshi Kikuchi

Japan Drama Preview:
Sorry, not available.