Battle Royale J-Movie Review (2000)

Warning: Some Spoilers Ahead



Info
Title: Battle Royale
Romaji: Batoru rowaiaru
Japanese: バトル・ロワイアル
Director: Kinji Fukasaku
Writer: Koushun Takami (novel), Kenta Fukasaku
Producer: Kenta Fukasaku, Kinji Fukasaku, Kimio Kataoka, Chie Kobayashi, Toshio Nabeshima, Masumi Okada
Cinematographer Katsumi Yanagijima
Release Date: December 16, 2000
Runtime: 114 Min.
Distributor: Toei

Synopsis
At the dawn of the new millennium, Japan is in a state of collapse. Unemployment is endemic and school violence is out of control. The beleaguered government retaliates with Battle Royale... Each year, a randomly chosen class is pitted against itself on an abandoned island in a cruel game of survival. The rules of the game are simple: 1) it lasts three days; 2) Each player starts with food, water and a "weapon"; 3) if more than one player survives, everyone dies (by detonating special electronic necklaces; 4) there is no escape. Takeshi Kitano plays a downtrodden teacher turned Battle Royale operation leader. As the game progresses, terror and panic challenge the students' fragile trust in each other. But despite the game's brutality, the adolescent players remain obsessed with their crushes, their petty grudges - and their dreams...

Cast
Tatsuya Fujiwara as Shuya Nanahara
Aki Maeda as Noriko Nakagawa
Taro Yamamoto as Shogo Kawada
Takeshi Kitano as Kitano
Masanobu Ando as Kazuo Kiriyama
Kou Shibasaki as Mitsuko Souma
Takashi Tsukamoto as Shinji Mimura
Sosuke Takaoka as Hiroki Sugimura
Yukihiro Kotani as Yoshitoki Kuninobu
Chiaki Kuriyama as Takako Chigusa

My Review
Battle Royale is one of the well-known and critically praised movies in the J-gore genre. Based off of the book by Koushun Takami, Battle Royale was also one of the most controversal movies to come out of Japan due to the graphic nature of the violence with high school students killing each other off for survival, and it's portrayal of the Japanese government, which is understandable. It's violent, dark, and gory. Battle Royale goes for shock value and it succeeds.

Yet despite the violence, Battle Royale isn't just about blood and gore. It has a strong storyline mixed with excellent character development mostly through a series of flashbacks. These flashbacks give background to the characters and the class as a whole. They show some of the strong friendships between the characters as well as the unpleasant lives that some of them have. These flashbacks and the fact that the class was randomly selected to fight each other to the death, gives a lot of sympathy to the characters. You start to feel like these students are victims of a corrupt government's inhumane solution to big problems.




The two characters who are really easy to sympathize with are Shuya Nanahara (played by Tatsuya Fujikawa) and Noriko (played by Aki Maeda). These two are the innocent bystandards, caught up in the mayhem of this unjust game of survival. Throughout the movie they develop a close bond and try to find a way to survive the game without killing anyone, even though the rules state that only one person can survive the game. This dilemna is reflected with the character, Kawada (played by Taro Yamamoto). Kawada, a transfer student, was a survivor of a previous battle royale after his girlfriend killed herself off so he could survive. Kawada's experiences lead him to sympathize with Nanahara and Noriko, and joins them in their efforts to try to escape.



The sadistic protagonist of the movie is Kitano (played by Takeshi Kitano), who was the class' former teacher. He quit teaching, however, after being stabbed in the leg by one of the students in the class. This incident leads him to sympathize with the government and the Battle Royale Act. Yet he has a soft spot for Noriko, whom he saw as the ideal, well behaived student of the class. Kitano is an excellent villain protagonist, who at times you can sympathize with because of him being stabbed and for his affection for Noriko, yet you grow to love to hate him for being a cruel SOB.




There are two other villain characters in Battle Royale, both of whom are students. One of them is Mitsuko (played by Kou Shibasaki), a student of the class who's troubled due to her dark past involving her father. She's deceptive, leading students to believe that she's either joining them, the innocent victim, or using other methods. She's the much more rounded of the two student villain characters. This also happened to be Kou Shibasaki's debut, and helped lead to her success in J-Dramas such as Good Luck!!, Orange Days, and Galileo. She was perfectly suited for her role, providing a mysterious physic about her.

The other is Kazuo Kiriyama (played by Masanobu Ando), a transfer student who seemingly joined the game just for sadistic fun. Kazuo, IMO, is the far less impressive villain-type character. He's good a sadistic villain, but that's all there is to his character. He has no dialog throughout the movie, and no real development or backstory. He's just your standard one-dimensional psycho-path. Eventually these two villainous characters fight each other, which was a somewhat disappointing confrontation.



One surprising aspect about Battle Royale is how good the acting is, considering most of the actors portraying the students ranged in age anywhere from 14 to 19 years old. This includes Chiaki Kuriyama, who later was picked to star in the American movie Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (directed by Quentin Tarantino, who is a huge fan of Battle Royale). I felt the best performances were by Tatsuya Fujikawa, Aki Maeda, Takeshi Kitano, and Kou Shibasaki.

My Rating
9/10- Overall, this is an excellent movie and I recommend it to anyone who's interested in Japanese entertainment or gore films. However, I can't recommend it to everyone since the gore and the violence may not appeal to everyone. However, if you can stomach it (other than a couple scenes here and there it's not that bad), then I highly recommend this movie.

Zenkai Girl J-Drama Review (2011)

Warning. Spoilers Ahead



Info
Title: Zenkai Girl (Japanese: 全開ガール)
Episodes: 11
TV Station: Fuji TV
Broadcast Time: July 11, 2011 to September 19, 2011
Genre: Romance, comedy
Average TV Rating: 12.3%

Synopsis
Devoted to becoming an international lawyer, Ayukawa Wakaba is full of ambition. Her hard work pays off when she lands a job at an international law firm, but to her disappointment, the first prestigious assignment that is given to her is to babysit the boss' 5 year old daughter, Hinata. Wakaba loathes kids and nursing, but unwillingly takes on the job as she is fixated on wealth and success. One day when she goes to a preschool to pick up Hinata, she meets a man named Yamada Sota. Sota is a man without higher education, wealth, or a future goal, someone that Wakaba absolutely cannot stand, the complete opposite of her ideals. Once again, contrary to her will, she ends up looking after Hinata and a few other kids along with Sota. Despite being exhausted from all the first-time experiences in child care, Wakaba begins to realize what is truly important to her. A heart-warming comedy about work, relationships and love.

Cast

Aragaki Yui as Ayukawa Wakaba
Yanagimachi Kahana as young Wakaba
Nishikido Ryo as Yamada Shota

Samejima Sakuragawa Law Firm:

Yakushimaru Hiroko as Sakuragawa Shoko
Hirayama Hiroyuki as Shindo Kyoichi
Renbutsu Misako as Shioda Soyoko
Aoyama Noriko as Kujo Mika
Sato Jiro as Sakota Morice

Mitsuba no Mori Nursery School:

Takeuchi Riki as Hanamura Jin
Kaito Aiko as Hanamura Urara
Tani Kanon as Sakuragawa Hinata
Takagi Serai as Yamada Emitaro
Iguchi Koko as Hayashi Kobato
Aoki Keito as Chabo Junior
Kuroda Hiroyuki as Nishino Teppei

Restaurant Le Sato:

Suzuki Ryohei as Nishino
Minagawa Sarutoki as Torii Hiroshi
Arakawa Yoshiyoshi as Hayashi Samao
Suga Tomio as a Le Sato shopkeeper

My Review
Zenkai Girl follows your standard “money doesn’t buy happiness/love” plotline. Here, the main character Ayuwaka Wakaba (played by Aragaki Yui from Code Blue, Smile), is an ambitious female lawyer whom dreams of big money and being the “hawk of Manhattan.” In the process she has to babysit a 5 year old girl, Hinata, and meets a lower class guy, Shouta (Nishikido Ryo, 1 Litre of Tears) whom is also a single dad. It’s a plotline that’s been done a million times over. However, lack of originality isn’t necessarily a problem if the story is well executed. Papa to Musume no Nanokakan, another Aragaki Yui drama, has an unoriginal plotline of the main characters switching bodies but is quite a fun drama. That, however, is for another time.

The strength of the drama is its characters. All the characters in general are pretty likable, with solid development and great acting. The two main leads work well to develop each other, and they learn from each other.



Anchoring the drama is a strong main character, Wakaba. She's very well developed, and she's played by Gakky, whom I've been a fan of since watching her in Smile. She's quite a diverse actress, who can play the more serious characters like she does here or the incredibly cute ones like she does in Smile. She does a good job here, portraying her character’s changing emotions, ambitions, and struggles quite well.



The kids in Zenkai Girl also stand out. Often in many shows or movies, kids can be annoying and/or their acting skills are glaringly bad. However, on Zenkai Girl the kids are pretty likable and cute characters, and their acting is actually pretty good. This was really nice to see.



Also sticking out with a solid performance is Yakushimaru Hiroko (1 Litre of Tears), who plays Sakurakawa Noriko, Wakaba’s boss. Her character struggles to balance time between work and raising a kid. The developing relationship between her and her daughter, Hinata, was a really nice thing to see. There was also one scene in the last episode that was quite awesome, when she outsmarted another character who tried to take control of the law firm away from her.



There was much debate among J-drama fans about Nishikido’s character, Shota. Many dismissed him as being wishy-washy and lacking ambition, particularly for not chasing his dream as a French chef. However, I thought he was quite a solid character and was well developed. He’s a single father, and it can be tough to raise a kid and chase your dreams at the same time. I thought his struggles were well done. However, I will say that the writers didn’t do enough to develop his French chef dreams. It’s touched upon for the first four episodes, but then the plot is just thrown aside and not even mentioned again until episode 10 when Shota suddenly decides to go to France for no other reason than to avoid Wakaba.



While the characters are pretty solid, the romance plot itself leaves a lot to be desired. The first half of the drama starts out very promising, building anticipation. Through the first 6 or 7 episodes, there’s plenty of build up in the relationship between the two main characters, Wakaba and Shota. The problem lies in the last 4 or so episodes, where everything goes off track because of new subplots and a series of annoying near-misses, misunderstandings, and delays. Wakaba and Shota’s relationship goes practically nowhere from episodes 8-10, and their relationship ends up being underdeveloped. It was also somewhat unconvincing that Wakaba actually learned that love doesn’t buy happiness, which is the main point of the drama. Then everything is slapped together at the end, to make sure the main characters get together.



Among the subplots used in the last few episodes include Wakaba having to learn to accept her father’s sentiment (episode 8), a lawsuit involving a toy factory (episode 9), and a custody battle over Shota’s foster-son Pitaro (episode 10). I did like the storyline with Wakaba’s father, which helped develop her character further. Her father was mentally retarded, did the best to raise her, despite getting fooled and in debt. It was a great subplot and finished some loose screws that were left during the early episodes. However, the placement of the toy factory subplot could have happened much earlier in the drama. By the time the drama gets to the custody battle plot, it just feels like the writers are doing everything they can to delay Wakaba and Shota getting together until the last episode, trying to make it more dramatic.





However, I will say that I did enjoy the interaction between the two leads throughout the series. We get a good sense of them developing from distrusting each other (mostly Wakaba cringing at the thought of Shota) to them slowly falling in love. I also really loved the ending of episode one, which had one of the goofiest and funniest kissing scenes ever, and the ending of the entire drama, which was really sweet.

Overall: 7.5/10- Overall it's a descent show, and a good watch for Gakky and Nishikido Ryo fans. However, it's not nearly as good as other romance dramas I've seen.

Kamisama Mou Sukoshi Dake J-Drama Review (1998)

Warning: Spoilers Ahead



Info
Title: Kamisama Mou Sukoshi Dake (Japanese: 神様、もう少しだけ)
English Title: God Please Give Me More Time/Precious Time
Episodes: 12
TV Station: Fuji TV
Broadcast Time: July 7, 1998 to September 22, 1998 on Tuesdays at 21:00
Genre: Drama, romance, disease/disability
Average TV Rating: 22.5%

Synopsis
A touching love story about a girl Kano Masaki (Fukada) who contracted HIV after selling her body in order to earn money for the concert of a famous composer Ishikawa Keigo (Kaneshiro). After the concert, Keigo saw Masaki chasing after his van. She was drenched, and thus Keigo took her to his apartment, where they spent the night.

Cast
Kaneshiro Takeshi as Ishikawa Keigo
Fukada Kyoko as Kano Masaki
Kato Haruhiko as Hibino Isamu
Nakama Yukie as Kaoru
Yazawa Shin as Oda Asami
Hirata Mitsuru as Kano Nogiro
Tanaka Yoshiko as Kano Yaeko
Masuoka Toru as Arida Yoshikatsu
Tonesaku Toshihide as Kubo Takashi
Tanaka Yukimi (田中有紀美) as Tamura Kana
Takeshita Kotaro (竹下宏太郎) as Isawa Hiroyuki
Nagahori Taketoshi (永堀剛敏) as Noguchi Takaaki
Isayama Hiroko as Hiratsuka Ishi
Miyazawa Rie as Takimura Lisa
Katsurayama Shingo (ep3)
Kohinata Fumiyo (ep10)

Awards
Television Drama Academy Awards:
Best Drama
Best Actor: Kaneshiro Takeshi
Best Supporting Actress: Fukada Kyoko
Best Theme Song: I For You - Luna Sea
Best Scriptwriter: Asano Taeko
Best Director: Takeuchi Hideki
Best Cast
Best Opening

My Review
Kamisama Mou Sukoshi Dake is one of my all-time favorites. It has everything you would want in a drama. A touching story, great cast, awesome soundtrack, and a very good romance. It's as close as you can get to being a masterpiece.

The story circles around Masaki (played by Kyoko Fukada), whom contracts HIV after trying prostitution to get enough money to go to a concert. The concert she goes to is set up by the music producer Keigo, whom Masaki is a big fan of. Later on, the two develop a friendship that starts out of Keigo's sympathy for Masaki and eventually turns into a romance. On paper it does sound a little far fetch but to be honest almost anything on TV (rather it's J-Dramas or Hollywood) has some unrealistic parts. The plot is daring, tackling controversial subjects like HIV, prostitution, and social attitudes. What really makes the story great is the depth that it has. It's more than just about AIDS and prostitution. Other issues tackled in the drama included school bullying, having kids, social attitudes towards AIDS patients, and child-parent relationships. This makes for an intense rollercoaster ride of emotions, and you can really sympathize with the characters. It's a tearjerker, yet very beautiful.




Fukada's role as Masaki is generally agreed by most to be her best acting performance. She won a J-Drama academy award for best supporting actress in the drama, though it makes absolutely no sense why she won the award for supporting actress since she portrays the main character in the drama. Indeed, Kyoko was excellent in her role as Masaki. It was a vastly mature role for Kyoko, especially considering that she was only 15 at the time of filming the drama. She's able to bring a lot of depth to her character and shows a wide range of emotions. Her character is somewhat on the immature side initially, but looking from a teenager's point of view you can't really blame her. Besides having to deal with the virus, she's bullied at school once her classmates find out. On top of that her mom is having an affair and her dad neglects his own responsibilities as head of the household. Masaki's also unable to take the medication given to her due to the strong side-effects. Masaki's attitude does change throughout the drama, and matures tremendously. Later on there's some really good moments that bring out the best of her character. A couple great examples are the speech she gives at her school where she confesses to having HIV, and in the last episode where she's willing to sacrifice her life to give birth.



One particular part of the story I really enjoyed was Masaki's relationship with her parents. The process in which her relationship with both her parents changes leads to some good character development for both her and her parents, as well as some touching moments. She struggles to tell them that she contracted the HIV virus. Besides that, both of Masaki's parents have their own issues. Masaki's mom is having an affair, and after finding out Masaki is even more reluctant to talk to her. Despite her affair, Masaki's mom is deeply worried about Masaki after noticing a change in her. Eventually Masaki opens up to her mom after realizing that she does care for her. Meanwhile, Masaki's dad is pretty much your stereotypical father. He neglects his family's needs, and yet is overprotective and overreacts to anything he doesn't like. Eventually he changes and admits his own faults.



The male lead is Keigo, played by Takeshi Kaneshiro who is more well known for playing in a handful of Chinese wuxia films such as House of Flying Daggers and Red Cliff. Keigo is a cold and emotionless character due to his dark past. His character balances out Masaki, who's younger, bubbly, and cheerful (before learning she has HIV). Like Masaki he has his own issues to deal with, such as his dark past and his dwindling music career. Like Kyoko, Takeshi won a J-Drama Academy Award, winning the Best Actor award. He's just as strong in his role as Kyoko is.




Eventually, the two leads develop a romance. Both lead characters help each other to develop. Takeshi and Kyoko have fairly good chemistry, and are a likable couple, with many good kissing scenes throughout. However, it's this romance where the only real flaws exist. First is the character Kaoru played by Nakama Yukie (Trick, Gokusen). Kaoru is the annoying, jealous woman whom tries to steal Keigo from Masaki. The other flaw is an idiot ball plot over the last three episodes. Keigo willingly has offscreen unprotected sex with Kyoko, and it's implied in the lead-up. Yet Masaki gives birth to a child and somehow neither Keigo nor the child get infected. Admittedly it is possible and Masaki's child birth did make for some really good drama and touching scenes later, but the writers didn't need to go as far as they did to imply that they had unprotected sex. It just makes the scene somewhat disturbing to think about.

The only other issue I had with this drama is that the ending is bittersweet. Masaki dies, which is expected since she had HIV. I wasn't really upset about her dying since it was inevitable throughout. The bigger issue I have was Masaki dying at her wedding, which is what made it bittersweet. Still, it's not as painfully bittersweet as other dramas, like Summer Snow, and everything before Masaki's death does feel like a happy ending and leaves you satisfied.





A major bonus that this drama has is the OST. The soundtrack is one of the best among J-Dramas, filled with many great songs. Highlighting the soundtrack is the opening theme song, I For You by Luna Sea. The intro itself is fun to watch. There's other great songs as well, including a beautiful piano piece, Wishes by S.E.N.S. and In The Sky by Kudo Shizuka.

My Rating
9.5/10- This drama has the complete package. The cast is great, the music is awesome, and the emotional yet beautiful story outweigh the flaws.

Mop Girl J-Drama Revie (2007)

Info

Title: Mop Girl (Japanese: モップガール)

Episodes: 10

TV Station: TV Asahi

Broadcast Time: October 12, 2007 to December 14, 2007 on Fridays at 23:15

Genre: Comedy, mystery

Average TV Rating: 10.2%

Cast
Kitagawa Keiko as Hasegawa Momoko
Miyama Karen as young Hasegawa Momoko
Tanihara Shosuke as Otomo Shotaro
Asami Reina as Okouchi Hina
Takaoka Sousuke as Wakayama Akira
Sato Jiro as Higashi Shigeo
Magii as Yokouchi Atsushi
Watanabe Natsuna as Nakamura Tamaki
Ikezu Shoko as Kataoka Miki
Hanagata Ayasa as Satomi Reiko
Hori Mayumi as Ryoko (Shotaro's ex-lover)
Honda Hirotaro as Hasegawa Ryuji
Hayashi Yasufumi as Hasegawa Keigo

Synopsis
Kitagawa plays the part of the slow but hardworking Momoko, a low-ranking employee at a funeral services company who carries a mop as part of her job. However, Momoko happens to possess a strange ability. Whenever she comes across the corpse of someone who has left strong feelings behind, she travels back in time to save that person from his or her fate.

Awards

55th Television Drama Academy Awards:

Special Award: Kitagawa Keiko

My Review

As interesting as the synopsis is, Mop Girl is another show that's somewhat mixed for me. It seems to be Japan's version of the American TV show, True Calling. However, Mop Girl also has a lot of similarities to another J-Drama in the same genre, Remote. These similarities include the combination of comedy and mystery, with a ditzy female lead and a more serious male lead who has a dark past. Like Remote, Mop Girl is episodic and involves murder cases.

However, similarities aside, Mop Girl does hold its own pretty well. The episodic plot is done well with some well-written cases as well as some good comedy. The comedic timing is pretty good, and the wacky humor is pretty funny. I especially liked episode 8, when the main characters Otomo (played by Tanihara Shosuke) and Momoko (played by Kitagawa Keiko) had to question a bunch of wacky characters, including a lesbian, a sadistic, and an author obsessed with over the top cute, childish fiction. It was also funny to see that Momoko's ditzy side runs in her family. Momoko's brother and father are both well educated doctors, but have their share of dumbass moments that were amusing. Also making the drama cool was the theme song, Destination Nowhere by Sawajiri Erika (1 Litre of Tears).

Keiko was great in her role as the ditzy character Momoko, a woman who was given a strange ability to travel back in time to prevent murders from happening. She was really funny and adorable at the same time, which gave me another reason to like her after seeing her in Buzzer Beat. Tanihara Shosuke was also good as the stoic male lead Otomo Shotaro. However, Tanihara's character has a really cheesy running gag of flirting with foreign women. These two have a common background story. Several years back when Momoko was a little girl, she was saved by Otomo's then-girlfriend Ryoko during a motorcycle accident. It's during this time that Ryoko passed on her strange ability to Momoko. Most of the two leads' development revolves around their common backstory. However, some of Momoko's development is her trying to make sense of her strange ability and is it ethical to use it.

However, Good Luck!! the writing towards the end of the series prevents this drama from being a very good one. Eventually Otomo finds out that Momoko was saved by Ryoko, but Momoko who's on her death bed, is suddenly sent back in time and it's like the whole thing never happened. The last episode lacks closure and it seems the producers wanted to make a movie or a second season, but it never happened. This drama could have used another episode or could have written the last episode better.

Pros

* Kitagawa Keiko and Tanihara Shosuke both acted very well in this drama.

* Episodic done well with well written cases and stories.

* Comedic timing is good and this series is pretty funny.

* Theme Song was ok.

Cons

* Poor writing during the last episode, the characters' overarching story isn't tied together.

* The running gag of Otomo constantly flirting with foreign women is cheesy.

My Rating

7.5/10- Overall, this was a good drama, but it could have been better if it weren't for the writing hiccup towards the end.

Remote J-Drama Review (2002)

Info

Title: Remote (Japanese: リモート)

Episodes: 10

TV Station: NTV

Broadcast Time: October 12, 2002 to December 14th, 2002 on Saturdays at 21:00

Genre: Comedy, mystery, cop show

Average TV Rating: 10.7%

Cast

Domoto Koichi as Himuro Kosaburo
Fukada Kyoko as Ayaki Kurumi
Konishiki as Bob Kato
Nagura Jun (名倉潤) as Otaguro Keibu
Tamaki Hiroshi as Shingo
Sakai Miki as Sakaki Naomi
Kimura Yoshino as Sakaki Yuka
Takasugi Ko (ep5,6)
Waki Tomohiro as Fudo Shinichi (ep6)
Matsumoto Rio as Karen Chikumagawa (ep8)
Kinouchi Akiko
Eita as Sawamura Keisuke
Inoue Yoshiko
Maeda Ken (ep8)

Synopsis

Locked away deep in his home and hiding a secret that keeps him there, Detective Kozaburo Himuro remains ever vigilant in his duties of police work. But how does the wunderkind detective investigate crime scenes without ever stepping out of his home? Enter traffic cop Kurumi Ayaki. She's a young lady who's about to marry and resign from the force when tasked with being Himuro's eyes and ears on the beat. While on the scene of the crime their only means of communication is via mobile phone. Together they investigate a series of mind-boggling murder mysteries that put them, particularly Kurumi, in constant danger. Can Kurumi keep up with Detective Himuro, and the fast-paced and dangerous work of criminal investigation?

Awards
35th Television Drama Academy Awards:
Best Supporting Actor: Domoto Koichi
Best Theme Song: Solitude "Shinjitsu no Sayonara" - Kinki Kids

6th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix:
Best Supporting Actor: Domoto Koichi

My Review

This show I think is pretty darn good. It manages to mix well executed comedy with some really serious and heartwarming moments. The combination of comedy and mystery is really entertaining and interesting in this drama. The two main characters have very contrasting personalities, which makes it even more fun. Domoto Koichi plays the role of Himuro Kosaburo, a genius and stoic detective. Himuro-keiji (Detective Himuro), however, is a shut-in due to his dark past. Fukada Kyoko plays Ayaki Kurumi, a simple minded and ditzy traffic cop who only gives out parking tickets and is getting married soon. Yet Kurumi's life changes when she's picked to be Himuro's eyes on every case. Seeing these two work together and often butt heads is pretty funny, they make a really good combo. I felt these two couldn't be more suited for their respective roles. Domoto Koichi won two awards for best supporting actor in this drama and they were well deserved. Fukada Kyoko overacts but it's appropriate for her character and for the comic relief. I felt her comedic timing was well done and she put on a good performance, one of her best IMO. Konishiki, an American actor, was funny as well in his role as Bob Kato. However, the comedy isn't the only thing that's good about this series. Most of the cases are well done, and there's some really touchy moments, particularly with the school case and the revelation of Himuro's dark past. My favorite case was in Episode 8, with the character called "hungry man." This case was chillingly creepy. I also loved the ending of the series. I won't spoil it, but I'll say it was pretty funny and was a fitting ending for this drama.

Pros

* Combination of well executed comedy, mystery, and heartwarming stories make this drama really entertaining.

* Both leads put on good performances and their characters contrasting personalities make for some really funny interaction.

* Episodic but episodic done really well with well written cases and stories.

* Well-directed series.

* The Kinki Kids theme song was ok.

Cons

* Some people might find Fukada Kyoko's character a little annoying, but I personally thought she was really funny.

My Rating

9/10- Not the best show I've seen but definitely a fun watch. Highly recommended.

Gook Luck!! J-Drama Review (2003)

Info

Title: Good Luck!! (Japanese: グッドラック!!)

Episodes: 10

TV Station: TBS

Broadcast Time: January 19, 2003 to March 23, 2003 on Sundays at 21:00

Genre: Aviation

Average TV Rating: 30.4%

Synopsis

Having achieved his life-long dream of being a pilot, Hajime is first officer on an international jetliner and is now working to become a captain. He can't seem to please Captain Koda, who has become an exacting taskmaster since an air incident many years ago. To complicate matters, he begins a relationship with stubborn and straight-talking mechanic, Ayumi, whose parents died many years ago in the plane crash for which Captain Koda feels he is responsible. What follows is a story of 21st century love, dreams, and passion.

Cast

Kimura Takuya as Shinkai Hajime
Tsutsumi Shinichi as Koda Kazuki
Shibasaki Kou as Ogawa Ayumi
Uchiyama Rina as Fukaura Urara
Kaname Jun as Abe Takayuki
Danta Yasunori as Ota Kenzaburo
Kuroki Hitomi as Togashi Noriko
Takenaka Naoto as Naito Jane
Ikariya Chosuke as Shinkai Ryoji
Nakao Akiyoshi as Shinkai Makoto

Awards

36th Television Drama Academy Awards:

Best Supporting Actor: Tsutsumi Shinichi

Best Opening

6th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix:
Best Actor: Kimura Takuya

Best Drama

My Review

This series for me is a bit mixed. The plot is pretty good but suffers along the way due to some spotty writing. The pacing is slow and they don't do enough with some of the key aspects of the story. For example, Ayumi's (played by Shibasaki Kou) father was killed in an airplane crash some 12 years in the past, for which Captain Koda Kazuki (played by Tsutsumi Sinichi) felt responsible. However, while this incident is explained it is never shown once throughout the drama. The other major flaw with the writing was surrounding Shinkai Hajime's (played by Kimura Takuya) injury. There was basically no screen time devoted to his recovery from surgery. However, there's still quite a bit to like about this drama. It does give an interesting look at the aviation industry. The characters are all pretty solid and I really did like the interaction between Shibasaki's and Kimutaku's character. The developing romance between them was pretty solid. Also, I think Shibasaki, Kimutaku, and Tsutsumi all deliver very good performances. Overall, I think Good Luck!! is a good drama but overrated due to Kimutaku's presence, especially since this drama is ranked in the top 10 on jdorama.com.

Pros

* Great interaction and a solid developing romance between Shibasaki Kou's and Kimura Takuya's characters.

* Interesting look at the aviation industry.

* Descent plot and story line.

* Good acting from Shibasaki, Tsutsumi, and Kimutaku.

Cons

* Suffers from spotty writing.

* Starts out really slow for the first four episodes.

* Uchiyama Rina's character is really annoying, although she has a very good character development episode in episode 5.

* The ending theme sucks.

My Rating

7.5/10- For me a good drama, but could have been better if it had some better pacing and better writing.

Code Blue Season 1 J-Drama Review (2008)

Info

Title: Code Blue (Japanese: コード・ブルー, Romaji: Kodo Buru)

Episodes: 11 + 1 Special

TV Station: Fuji TV

Broadcast Time: July 3, 2008 to September 12, 2008 on Thursdays at 22:00

Genre: Medical

Average TV Ratings: 15.6%

Cast

Yamashita Tomohisa as Aizawa Kosaku (Flight doctor-in-training)
Aragaki Yui as Shiraishi Megumi (Flight doctor-in-training)
Toda Erika as Hiyama Mihoko (Flight doctor-in-training)
Higa Manami as Saejima Haruka (Flight nurse)
Asari Yosuke as Fujikawa Kazuo (Flight doctor-in-training)
Kodama Kiyoshi as Tadokoro Yoshiaki (Emergency Unit Chief)
Katsumura Masanobu as Morimoto Tadashi (Flight Doctor)
Ryo as Mitsui Kanna (Flight Doctor)
Yanagiba Toshiro as Kuroda Shuji (Flight Doctor)
Sugimoto Tetta as Saijo Susumu (Brain Surgeon)
Terajima Susumu as Kaji Toshi (Pilot)
Yuui Ryoko as Todoroki Seiko (Communication Specialist)
Hiwatashi Shinji (樋渡真司) as Anzai Yasuyuki (Co-pilot)
Ikeda Kimiko (池田貴美子) as Ohara Sumiko (Head nurse)
Kaneda Mika (金田美香) as Murata Kaori (nurse)

Synopsis
If it can be treated one second earlier, the heart might start beating again.
If there is one extra helicopter, another life in danger may be saved.
If one more life can be saved, the Japanese medical community may regain trust.
There are more lives in this country that can be saved.
The "Doctor Helicopter" system was legalized in Japan in June 2007. A medical team is dispatched to the patients on a helicopter to provide medical care in the field as soon as possible. One day, four young physicians are assigned to this latest medical system. The doctors experience traumatic medical situations, deal with personal ambitions, witness the fragility of life, and they grow personally and professionally.

Awards
58th Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Directors - Nishiura Masaki, Hayama Hiroki

My Review

I'm not usually a fan of medical shows, but Code Blue is a really well made series. It tends to be episodic, but it's episodic done well, and well written. All of the main characters get their share of solid character development. All of the doctors striving to be licensed flight doctors go through their trials and tribulations with their own inexperience. Season 1 is actually more about their growth as doctors. Code Blue also has some solid stories as well, both among the patients as well as the characters such as Aizawa's grandma, Saejima's ex-boyfriend, and Dr. Kuroda's work with the new doctors. The series has a star-studded cast with Yamashita Tomohisa, Aragaki Yui, and Toda Erika, all of whom play their parts well.

Pros

* Strong character development for all the main characters and some of the minor characters as well.

* All-Star cast of good actors.

* Some of the cases can really be heart-warming or heart-wrenching.

* Episodic but with some solid stories along the way.

* The special was descent.

* Excellent background music and the theme song is pretty descent as well.

Cons

* Asari Yousuke's character, Fujikawa can be annoying at times but he's also a likable character as the underdog of the group.

* Episode 2 was cheesy.

* Some of the patients can be annoying.

* A slightly slow start but still pretty solid from beginning to end.

My Rating

8.5/10: This is a very good series that's interesting and fun to watch. I highly recommend it.