Hero (the series)

2001 JDorama that stars Kimura Takuya as Kuryu Kohei, an off-beat defense attorney working for the city (prefecture).

I watched the 'special' before I found this (the original, eleven episode series) at aznv.tv, so at first I was a little confused.

Also, the DVD cover above has the number 5 after the title, and that confuses me as well, but it was the biggest picture I could find, so ...

One thing I noticed in the disparity department was that in the special, Abe Hiroshi's character kept telling everyone that his daughter hated him, but in the original series, he kept talking about his only child as being his 'son' ...

Anyway, in both the series and the special, they made it a point to show all of the attorney's gathering inside the elevator, and this time I was able to get a somewhat decent shot for your enjoyment





He's so tall.

In this series, Takuya's Kohei takes care of one, baffling case after another, and while no one in the office seems to like or even notice him at first, he always ends up saving the day - or in this case, an innocent person's life so that by the end everyone wants to help him out.

I especially liked that he was addicted to the Home Shopping Network and always ordered everything related to exercise equipment.

At the beginning, he made a few references to an experience he had in school when some body builders came for a demonstration or a contest or something, so it made me wonder if that wasn't why he kept ordering and trying out the equipment.

What was hilarious about it, though, was that the 'hosts' of the home shopping channel were European (and ugly) while they talked in Japanese using dub.

Whatever ~ I really liked the series and the special, and I think you will too if you give it a chance.

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Kekkon Dekinai Otoko / 結婚できない男

He Who Can't Marry




To be honest, I wish I had watched this version first and not the Korean re-make.

Verbatim from start to finish, but because I really, REALLY enjoy watching Hiroshi Abe star in anything, the tedium was a bit, more bearable.

Korean dramas tend to take a long time to tell a story by including every aspect of life (including watching people walk in silence, ride on a bus while pondering a dilemma, etc.) while Japanese dramas have a wonderful habit of taking you on a precise journey through a fictitious character's life start to finish without leaving you confused or exhausted.

In short, they leave things to the imagination and let the viewer draw their own conclusions on occasion.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy the Korean version, because I did!

I liked this version as well, but I'm still not sure if seeing this, particular story told twice was a good thing or not.

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

I did capture a few images, though.



pretty lamp



pretty view, though the background almost seems photoshopped



kawaii cactus centerpiece



always LOVE to see a man in this color


These are strange text (and the subtitling was ok at the start, then it got really stupid bad)



this is Sheila and she is supposed to be a popular model, but I don't get it

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Hero

2007 Japanese movie that stars Kimura Takuya as a slovenly bengoshi with true justice as his only motive for handling a case.

He's really handsome in a ruggedly macho kind of way, and I like it.

He's not typical of the average, Japanese mega-star, yet he's definitely a mega-star in his own right.

He possesses the prerequisite good looks with a touch of grass-eater thrown in the mix, and yet he couldn't be considered stylish-hair, make-up wearing, girly-girl, is there a chance he might be gay? looking by any means.

Hero also starred ABE HIROSHI as another, obstinate attorney in the firm, and at the beginning of this exceptional movie, there is a scene where he and the rest of the crew file into an elevator.

He stands head & shoulders above them all, and I couldn't help but laugh, wanting to rewind again and again even though I couldn't.

Everyone at aznv.tv asked about or expressed an interest in a second season, but I haven't found anything in that regard.

Here is what the synopsis had to say ...

"Based on a well-known TV series, "Hero" Kuryu (Takuya Kimura) is finally back in the Tokyo Prosecutor's Office "Josai" Branch and reunited with old familiar colleagues and handling a variety of petty theft and injury cases."

This makes it sound like it was originally aired as a half-hour television spot that ended up as a movie ... which is what I just watched ... having never seen nor found anywhere the 'original' television version.

AND ... it sounds like the cast of the movie were in said or implied television series.

Confused, as usual.

Anyway, Hero revolves around a single case of political greed that lands a street punk in jail as a case of mistaken identity (or is it a frame up?)

An innocent man is killed, a supposedly innocent youth is accused of the crime, and it is up to Kimura's character to uncover the truth regardless of the mammoth implications involved should he decide to go up against the powers that be both in and outside the legal arena.

The incident takes him to Korea, where I breathlessly awaited the arrival of promised hunk, Lee Byung hun as another no-nonsense law man who actually arrives at the very end of their stay in Korea, and is on-screen for approximately ten seconds.

ya pa de

However ~ it's what occurs in Korea that had everyone who watched this great movie wondering about a sequel, because the guy they chased down at the start dropped a flash drive inside Kimura's assistant's bag, and then nothing about it was ever mentioned again.

He did it in order to keep it out of the hands of the Korean authorities, but what does it contain, and ...

I like funny mixed in with serious, and Hero had me laughing as much as I was riveted with anticipation of the eventual outcome.

***UPDATE: I found the 2001 television series! (hurray for me!) ^.^'
will watch with interest and blog when I'm through. ***

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