Lucky Seven

ラッキーセブン

2012, 10-episode FujiTV detective drama that starred Matsumoto Jun as Tokita Shuntaro, a 'freeter' who is great with women as well as reading people.

The story unfolds with some private detectives spying on a married woman having frequent interval sex with an unsuspecting Shuntaro. The PI's pop the woman, and the next day, when Shuntaro calls her for another bit of afternoon delight, she tells him to stop calling her on account of being caught by her upset husband.

Shuntaro figures out how it happened and goes after Eita's Nitta Teru, one of the spies he bumped into in the underground parking garage of the 'love' hotel.

The two don't get along, and the first episode showed it in spades. It was an action-packed episode straight out of the gate that never slowed down much until the very end, and even then it had me wide-eyed and laughing.

Nitta is a hot-headed loud-mouth with issues who isn't inclined to smile, much less take the time to listen or get to know anyone.

After the two duke it out inside the detective agency, the boss appears to break it up, and then she propositions Shuntaro, asking if he thinks he can cut it as a detective.

This is the second time around for me, having watched it shortly after its upload at aznv.tv and then again at dramacrazy.net because apparently aznv.tv is having technical difficulties once again.

The subs were stupid. Since graduating (even before) I began to notice that one of the big issues with these subbers is their inability to comprehend or lack of education with regard to prepositions, subject/verb agreement, and tense.

A, and, the, is, was, the be's, etc.

The inability to properly word phrases, too, like butt OUT.

Then there is the problem of Asian phrases not being properly translated to English. Their strange use of ordinal versus cardinal, time, and context.

I'll leave 'first', and hang up 'now', until just now, and since just then don't compute well in English vernacular and sound ridiculous to the English-trained ear.

Regardless, this had a minor effect on my LIKE of this drama.

Each episode brings a new client into the office, and then the mismatched group of detectives do their thing right up to the very end - which starts out normal, goes wrong, and usually with Shuntaro figuring out what needs doing to set things right.

The first episode, though, was a powerhouse packed full of amazing and hilarious fight scenes between Eita's Nitta and Jun's Shuntaro.

Their first client is a disillusioned and heartbroken fire fighter who gives up on life and keeps entering illegal fight club rounds, letting whatever contestant ends up in the cage with him beat the crap out of him without defending himself or fighting back.

The tag team of detectives discovers gambling on the premises and enlists the aid of the police, but until they can get there, a diversion is needed in order to keep their client's aniki out of the ring - fearing he might, just die this time around.

Enter Shuntaro and Nitta.

Way too much fun there.

An aside or story-within-the-story is Shuntaro's little nephew, who lives with Shuntaro, his grandmother, Shuntaro's mother, and his father, Shuntaro's aniki.

The little boy is addicted to a long-running detective show on TV, and toward the end of this 10-episode drama, fantasy meets reality.

The five-rainbow rating is simple. This drama is re-watchable, not over-the-top stupid, less predictable than you'd think, and not cram-packed with ganbatte messages.

Watching guys like Matsumoto Jun and Eita bicker, learning the secrets of what makes each of the stars character's tick, and being interested in each of the stories that make their way into the detective agency also helped decide on such a high rating.

If you haven't seen this one yet, get going. You won't be disappointed.

Read More

きみはペット / Kimi wa Petto

You Are My Pet

     

2003 JDorama that was first manga about a ToDai grad with an awesome job as a journalist who is reaching 29 when her life takes this amazing and drastic turn.

She's seen as a tough bitch with balls, but the reality is she has inferiority issues and a somewhat unrealistic fear of being discovered as a fake.

Being shy, it's difficult for her to express her true feelings, though at the start of this 10 episode story, she hauled off and punched a superior in the nose after he suggested being able to stroke her fanny the same way he wants her to let their foreign clients get away with doing.

That move sends her packing for another department within the newspaper office, where she's met with more than just the scorn and jealous assumptions of her new co-workers.

The office betch who sucks helium and smiles all fake-like in order to snag a husband is on to Iwaya Sumire (Koyuki) right from the start, and when she finds out the tall, sexy woman with low self-esteem is the love interest of a man the entire building wants to see naked, she naturally sets out to steal said hot man from Sumire-san.

Tanabe Seiichi as Hasumi Shigehito is the hunky world reporter who has just returned from a stint in Rio de Janeiro and is overly glad to find his love in the same elevator as him.

He is Sumire-san's senpai, and she also had a huge crush on him while they attended Tokyo University - and right away, they begin their romance.

HOWEVER ~

Before that occurred, Sumire-san was struggling to get over a nasty break-up with another man from another area of the office - who was too weak to let her know he wasn't happy with their relationship or her, so he had an affair with another woman, got her pregnant, and when Sumire walked in on them, that was when he decided it was time to let her know he was marrying someone else.

When she arrives at her weirdly named apartment (Mom Paradis) one, rainy night, feeling dejected and alone, she finds a big box marked 'Hawaiian Bananas' at the entrance of the building, and when she peers inside the box, she finds a beaten unconscious, young man inside.

Matsumoto Jun as Goda Takeshi is a runaway, gifted dancer from a well-to-do home, (his best buddy is Eita, btw) and after shoving the heavy box into an elevator and sliding it inside her apartment, she gently tends to his wounds while wondering who he is and why he was inside the box.

She isn't over her latest heartbreak, but she did own a golden retriever when she was ten - a time in her life that she would rather forget except for the dog - so, when Takeshi begs to stay, she offers to oblige if he will become her pet and act like a dog, not a human.

Of course, he agrees to the weird offer and becomes 'momo' the human dog.

Her best (and only) friend is a pretty and laid-back woman with a baby girl, living in a great house thanks to a pilot husband who is never there, and Sumire-san relies on her for advice about what she's just done to herself and the life of a veritable stranger.

The whole point of this story was to show how humans relate to one another versus their relationships with animals.

The writer even tossed in an office psychologist who carried around an adorable Chihuahua as a way to drive home that point I suppose, but his role remained relatively imperative throughout the show since Sumire-san, and then her handsome lover, and eventually even Takeshi-kun ended up seeking his advice about their relationship troubles.

Am I the only one who didn't know that men see women who own a pet as unavailable or worse - unattractive - because they are using the animal as a replacement for the husband they don't have?

Sumire-san couldn't, under any circumstances, behave natural around Hasumi-san, and it was supposed to be because of the immense fear of her being rejected that made her act that way.

At home, though, and with Momo-chan, things were completely different.

Sumire-san could laugh, speak her mind, let down her hair, and even shed a few tears without that fear - which made ZERO sense to me, but then I may be the bad guy for not possessing that sort of a personality, who knows.

At the same time, though, I could totally understand where she was coming from: since I, on occasion, have felt that way and even acted that way around guys I thought were ten times better than I was, but resentment at feeling that way was what made ME walk away, and not the other way around.

I can't fake it, I guess.

Anyway, she wants to believe she truly loves Senpai, but even when he springs a pretty engagement ring on her, she remains tight-lipped and with that furrowed brow in his gentle and patient presence.

Momo-chan remained true to his own nature in a round-about kind of way; pretending to be a dog while also not ignoring the budding emotions that continue to grow for the sexy woman he is shacking up with, but to keep their relationship going, he avoids letting her know how he really feels until the sexual tension builds to the boiling point, he lets it out on her, she slaps him and tells him to leave ... and so he does.

This was another of those dramas that I bookmarked YEARS ago but let the synopsis keep me from watching for so long.

I've learned my lesson and will NEVER do anything that stupid again, I promise myself.

Especially when it comes to anything out of Japan.

I must remember that the twits who write the synopsis are a-holes with no brain and not jump to any, irrelevant conclusions until I've given at least the first episode a try.

I wasn't, too fond of the OST or theme song, but there was one, underlying tune (usually played during pregnant pauses in the show) that I just HAD to hear again, and this time I got lucky - finding the entire soundtrack online for free, and as I type, I have that tune on repeat via WinAmp.

I'm not saying this was the greatest thing Matsumoto Jun ever starred in, but I will admit it wasn't the worst, either.

He looked damn fine in this show, too, and he had an amazing head of hair I jealously watched our Sumire-san get to run her fingers through and even shampoo several times.

Some day I'll have my own place again, and when that day comes, the FIRST thing I intend to do is buy a pet dog or cat - but, it won't be because I don't want a man in my life.

Read More

Bambino! / バンビーノ!

2007, 11-episode drama from Japan that is based on a Manga by the same name about a young, brash college student named Ban (Matsumoto Jun) who lives in Fukuoka Prefecture and works at an Italian restaurant.

This means he thinks he's the greatest chef alive, so when his boss gives him a chance to spend spring break working at a high-class Italian restaurant in Tokyo, he jumps at the chance to show off his mad skills.

Turns out he's not so great after all, and our cute but clueless, high-energy Ban is suddenly pitted against some of the finest, most skilled professionals in the business, making poor Ban look bad and ridiculous at the same time.

Sato Ryuta as Katori Nozomi kicks Ban's ass rather early on,

I really like Sato Ryuta!

and then Karina as Hibino Asuka steps in to dump on him further still.

It's for his own good, though!

Poor Ban ...











Matsu Jun looks great in pink!


For me, though, the highlight of this drama was the head waiter and a familiar actor from the Galileo series ...


Kitamura Kazuki as Yonamine Tsukasa


This is a prime example of why I'll always prefer a man with long hair.




Anyway, some of the 'complaints' at aznv.tv included the fact that Ban was so gung-ho about his career when ... excuse me, it wasn't simply PASTA he wanted to make, but ... yea, you guessed it ... a CAREER.

If this had been about a guy working his way up the corporate ladder and he had the same gusto, would they have said the same thing, I wonder?

The cooking portions actually made me hungry until I ended up trying to make Asuka's broccoli & Italian sausage pasta, and I must admit it came out rather well and tasted as good as anticipated, too.

Ok, after spring break ends and Ban is out of the chaotic kitchen now, the young, impetuous fool decides he wants to be a famous chef, so he drops out of college and returns to the high-class restaurant in the big city.

However, reality smacks him in the face (with Nozomi's help), and instead of getting the head-chef position as he hopes, he is first relegated to the dining hall, where he has to wait tables and greet customers.

Ban is as crushed as he was after finding out to his utter dismay that he isn't quite so great as he first assumed, and now he has to struggle with the task of learning how to be someone he doesn't want to be.

Naturally, this is all done by the owner of the restaurant and the best friend of the guy Ban worked for in the tiny prefecture outside Tokyo so that Ban can learn, grow, and mature into the person he wants to become.

It takes him a really long time to figure that out, and even longer for him to perfect the waiter job, but once he realizes the importance and connection between the front of house and the kitchen, things begin to go his way.

At last, he is assigned to the kitchen after a year, and again, Ban is crushed to find out that it isn't to cook his favorite dishes, but to assist the 'dolce' pasticcere.

Again, it takes him some time and effort, but Ban figures out after making batch after batch of nasty-looking and heartless-in-effort meringue that is always dumped in the garbage until he stumbles upon the mute pasticcere's recipe book and Ban learns what it means to be a serious dolce maker.

Like his love for pasta, Ban waits every morning for the shy, mute pasticcere to leave his apartment so they can go shopping together for fresh ingredients, and they become friends.

Eventually, Ban ends up in the kitchen again, and still not as head chef, but with a new understanding of his role in life and the necessary steps he needs to take in order to realize his dream.

I liked Bambino! and I enjoyed watching Matsumoto do his thing, too.

Give this one a chance as I'm sure it'll impress you.

Read More

Gokusen / ごくせん / ごくせん２ / ごくせん 3

Season 1


Never in my life could I have anticipated nor even hoped to derive as much pleasure from an overly popularized Manga turned Anime turned JDorama about high school life as I did when I decided to give Gokusen a try.

I mean, I ended up spending an entire WEEKEND hooked on this sh*t, and I even tolerated constant buffering and shut-downs at aznv.tv in order to watch every, single episode from 1 through 3, including the special episode for season 1, the television special for season 2, and finally the movie that concluded the series once and for all.

Heck, I'm even in love with Matsumoto Jun now!


Matsumoto Jun as Sawada Shin

Furthermore, I'm tempted to search for and buy the Manga series, but that is doubtful at this point.

For the only person out there to not have watched this yet, it's about a mousy girl (Nakama Yukie as Yamaguchi Kumiko (aka Yankumi (students), Ojou (brotherhood), and Kumicho (potential lovers)) who grows up with her Yakuza boss grandfather and longs to become a teacher who will make a difference.

She ends up fulfilling that dream by landing her first position at an all-boys academy where she is placed in a 3D room (last place) filled with high school rejects no one else on the staff can get under control.

As a former teacher, it was easy to relate to this dream and her mentality as a hopeful heart-reacher wanting to make a huge difference in even one child's life.

Unlike Yankumi, possessing her martial arts abilities and inhuman strength are too much to ask of the average, human educator, though.

After completing my first year of college, I learned quite by surprise that today's Japan is a lot like the late 1950's and early 1960's United States, and Gokusen helped to prove that strange fact.

It was like watching a modern-day version of the novel The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton.

Anyway, the Japanese actors were a lot hotter than any American actor could hope to be, and that was part of the reason for my interest in this series.

In seasons 1, 2, and 3, along with the movie, Yankumi was forced to have to show her fidelity toward and honest concern for the boys by helping out whenever they got into trouble with rival gangs or bad adults in order for her to gain their trust.

It may have seemed repetitious to some and pointless to others for the added hype, but getting to see a new group of cute, senior high boys struggle to maintain their last shred of dignity while facing bad at every turn proved interesting and worthwhile to me.

The boys in seasons 2 and 3, as well as in the movie, kept commenting about the fact that Yankumi had no sex-appeal while in season 1, Shin had the hots for teacher, as did the coach, a gorgeous truant officer (Sawamura Ikki as Shinohara Tomoya), and one of the ever-faithful yakuza brothers (Kaneko Ken as Asakura Tetsu).

I think she has a cute butt and a very attractive face - along with gorgeous hair I wish I had!

Of the four, different versions of the same story, I liked the first season best, and I liked the cast best as well ~



Gokusen Cast Season 1

Oguri Shun (Uchiyama Haruhiko / Uchi) portrayed loverboy with a secret affinity for his single and struggling okaasan.

Season 2 had Koide Keisuke as Hyuuga Kosuke, who got a night job at a club that had a secret gambling room he discovered by mistake, and when his okaasan came to his rescue, it was the most heart-wrenching scene of the entire series, I think.

In season 3 it was Miura Haruma as Kazama Ren who secretly vowed to help his older sister so she wouldn't have to work so hard to support them.

It was season 2 that had the best-looking cast members, and yet for me it turned out to be the least memorable of the 4 shows - I'm not sure why, though.



Gokusen 2 cast members
Akanishi Jin and Kamenashi Kazuya are smokin' hot regardless, and in season 2, they start out as mortal enemies due to a misunderstanding that is later cleared up thanks in part to the tireless nosiness of Yankumi.

Hayami Mokomichi was in this one as Tsuchiya Hikaru - a tall delinquent who liked to carry around an ornamental fan and had a very, loud mouth.

In the first Gokusen, it is Sawada Shin who plays the brooding leader with little to say about anything, and in season 2, it is Kazuya's Odagiri Ryu who spends a majority of the show moping in silence about his overbearing city official father.

In the third season, the same character is portrayed by Miura Haruma as Kazama Ren, the boy with looks and brains but no voice who worries that his older sister may have lost out on a chance at marriage because of him.

Season 3's cast members weren't bad, and like all 3, the two leads were really attractive, so it's hard to say which season had the best eye candy.



Gokusen 3 cast members

Of them all, I liked Miura Haruma as Kazama Ren best, though his best friend turned enemy returned best friend again, Takaki Yuya as Ogata Yamato was a real cutie for sure.

Most memorable of them all, though, was Nakama Junta as Ichimura Rikiya - a dude with a bad attitude from start to finish, but who proved most loyal whenever push came to shove in season 3.

I'm sure no one will agree with me, but I kept getting a Mick Jagger vibe whenever I saw him, and maybe that has everything to do with his full, luscious lips, eh?






Like a lot of people who watched this at aznv.tv, I agree that more of the original cast members from the first Gokusen should have returned for the 2, 3, and movie versions - ESPECIALLY Matsumoto Jun's Shin.

In the first season, Yankumi fell in love with Shinohara Tomoya (the gorgeous cop), and in season 2, it was Tanihara Shosuke as Kujo Takuma (girls school teacher) - so, what happened in season 3, I don't recall - Ah yes - the school's visiting physician, Koizumi Kotaro as Natsume Seichi.

In the movie, Sawamura Ikki returns as a potential political candidate who turns out to be a really nasty guy this time - but I was super-glad to see his fine ass again regardless.


In the first season, Yankumi realizes rather quickly who the gang leader is in her class, but her first tussle is with Waki Tomohiro as Kumai Teruo (Kuma), who ends up coming back for all seasons and the movie.

He was so adorable, funny, and useful to the success of this series! And, it was awesome that they let HIM be the dude who actually gets the girl of his dreams, too.

Kuma means bear, and he was a lovable, stuffed animal for sure.

Still, it would have been great if AkaJin AND MatsuJun returned for at least one, other season.

Like, in the movie finale, Jun's Shin could have walked up to her after the battle royale, held out his hand to her, and whisked her off on some romantic get-away.

AkaJin's Yabuki Hayato could have at least appeared during that televised portion of the stand-off between Yankumi and her nemesis, too, or been one of the characters to meet up with her on the path to school at the end of the show.

Season 2's Odagiri Ryu's (Kamenashi Kazuya) character returns in the movie as a teacher-in-training, but Ryu is not played by Kazuya, and wiki has it wrong, so I don't know who the guy is that portrays him - sorry!





wiki has him listed this way: Saito Takumi as Mamiya (Ara High's alumni)

and Asianwiki has him listed this way: Kazuya Kamenashi - Ryu Odagiri



if this is the same Kazuya, I'm stunned


These are scenes from the movie in which graduated 3D students meet up at Kuma's Gyoza & Ramen shop:







The 3D boys in the movie are apparently popular with the little girls today, but they barely received much screen time, with only one fight scene between the little boy leader and a motorcycle gang, which Yankumi ended up helping to save the day again by intervening at the precise moment as usual.

I thought the silly marching band music, the quirky sound effects, and the rubber face of the head sensei, vice principal, and then principal - Namase Katsuhisa as Sawatari Goro (Kyoto) were hilarious every, single time.

Also, it may be an old trick, but since I never saw it happen before, I can't wait to pull the finger on the cheek trick whenever I get a chance!

See, you actually do learn things by watching fru-fru Asian dramas!

Read More