Upcoming J Dramas in Winter 2008

My watch list for January till March

D-Addicts list of upcoming dramas for the new season

Remember in Japan the year's seasons are Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn. So 2008 will start with Winter!

This line up may change depending on what I can get subtitles for :)

The layout of the list is title, genre then on to the leading actors (and some of the other series they have starred in).

Some of these are recommendations - while others of actors I am not familiar with - doesn't hurt to try new faces?

Bara no nai Hanaya, Human Drama
Katori Shingo (saiyuuki), Takeuchi Yuko (Lunch Queen, Style)

Hachimistu to Clover (Honey and Clover), Friendship & Romance
Narumi Riko (ruri no shima), Ikuta Toma (Hanazakari no Kimitachi e, Akihabara@DEEP)

Saito-san, Comedy
Mizuki Arisa, Mimura

Binbo Danshi, Comedy
Oguri Shun (Hanazakari no Kimitachi e)

Shikaotoko Aoniyoshi, Comedy
Tamaki Hiroshi (Nodame Cantabile), Ayase Haruka (Hotaru no Hikari)

Daisuki!!, Human Drama
Karina (Bambino), Hiraoka Yuta (First Kiss)

Mirai Koshi Meguru, Comedy
Fukada Kyoko (Strawberry on the Shortcake, Yama Onna Kabe Onna)

Atsu-hime, Retro
Miyazaki Aoi

Sasaki Fusai no Jingi Naki Tatakai, Comedy
Inagaki Goro, Koyuki

Nodame Cantabile Special
Ueno Juri, Tamaki Hiroshi

I will update my google notebook with a list of soft subs as soon as the ball gets rolling! Thanks!

 

Technorati tags: upcoming, japanese drama, drama, j-tv, japan, fuji-tv, nbs, tbs

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Dream Again - J Drama Review

Finally finished a drama from the current season - worth the wait!

Read my preview of the series

About Kato Ai in this drama

Wiki entry @ D-addicts

Cast:

Sorimachi Takashi (GTO) stars as Ogi Shunsuke & Asahina Takaya:

Kato Ai (IWGP) as Ninomiya Satsuki:

Shida Mirai (14 Sai no Haha) as Fujimoto Hina:

Aota Noriko as Ushiyama Momoko:

Miyake Hiroki as Kumada Tsunehito:

Watanabe Tetsu as Maeda Kenzo

Suga Takamasa as Hishinuma Tsukasa

"Ogi is a baseball home run hero for the Giants but is forced to retire due to a shoulder injury, but years later he has been busy with other jobs and retraining in the hope of a dream comeback into baseball.

But a sudden accident claims his life but he gets a 2nd chance but only in the body of another man! The show follows the man as he tries to get by with his daily life as a wealthy fund company manager but still trying to realise his dream of playing baseball again in his new body." Taken straight from the preview.

This series is classed more as a sports/human drama - it has subtle blends of family,sports,romance and human drama mixed in.

The opening episode is really well set up for viewers - the plot is something new and fresh as are the cast.

Shunsuke's fool hardy approach to try juggling work at the Asahina company and train to become a pro baseball player again wins him many fans from employees to his daughter - and Mirai does a sterling job as Hina, more on that later.

Shunsuke gets close to fulfilling his dream of pro baseball but at a price, Hina has been hiding her heart condition hoping she can live out her last few months in a family and she is in a critical condition on her 2nd heart attack.

Shunsuke passes the pro baseball test as he promised with Hina but she is not recovering, in an act of love and desperation he pleads with Tanaka (Kodama Kiyoshi) who is like the angel looking over Shunsuke to swap his life for hers - take his life in exchange for her to survive and live on.

At the last moments Satsuki learns from the coach Kenzo (Watanabe Tetsu) that he is going to trade his life with Hina's, teary moments ensue and Shunsuke says that chasing his dream was more important than making it reality, he regrets not being able to make her happy with his own hands.

The fact that Asahina starts to fall for Satsuki again mid way through the series and she starts to see more of Shunsuke in him adds complexity - because Shunsuke cannot reveal his true identity directly to anyone or risks losing his new body completely!

He dies and Hina comes back to life from the brink of death - no Shunsuke is cheering her on from the afterlife. Tanaka has seen a massive changing in Shunsuke and throws a spanner in the works by sending us back to the beginning of the show!

Now Ogi Shunsuke is alive and reconciles with Satsuki, and the past plays out differently - Shunsuke gets back to pro baseball, Kenzo gets to go out with Kayo, and Mirai is alive and living with the real Asahina who looks to be more mellow now.

For the whole of the last episode I knew he was going to swap his life for Hina but I thought there might be a minor chance of something stopping it - like Tanaka saying he was just testing him! But I truly didn't expect it to all rewind to the start!

I was really moved by Mirai's performance in the episode when she is on the verge of trying to end her life because she has no future thanks to her heart condition, while Kato was in a real wreck emotionally because she kept being dropped hints that Asahina was in fact Shunsuke, but when she overhears Shunsuke talking to Tanaka she is broken to hear that he is Ogi Shunsuke, and likewise when he is going to die she is a wreck too. You begin to feel for her as it must be an emotional rollercoaster ride!

Takashi plays his role well, sometimes he is a bit naive or arrogant - a reflection of the old Ogi Shunsuke, and is rather cold emotionally but you warm to his baseball related antics and his constant attempts to understand the stock market!

This drama didn't get high rankings in Japan but with massive amount of air time dedicated to these actors I was well satisfied with their performances and am looking for more from them in the future.

This is a really enjoyable and satisfactory watch especially during the cold winter evenings! I will give this a 7 out of 10 because of the great cast otherwise it would be a 6.5.

Technorati tags: j-tv, drama, dream again, takashi, mirai, kato, shunsuke, satsuke, hina, japan, japanese drama, review

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Joundan Janai - J Drama Review

A fun filled family comedy with a twist.

Wiki entry @ D-Addicts

Read my summary for a brief introduction.

Oda Yuji (Odoru Daisousasen, Last Christmas) stars as Takamura Keita and his young wife Ellen (Ueno Juri - Nadame Cantabile) along with Ellen's Mum and Keita's ex girlfriend Hirose Rei (Ohtake Shinobu).

Having finished watched the older Nodame Cantabile I find Ueno Juri has matured massively from her previous role but still retains that loli kawaii look and those cute gestures making her a much better all round actress.

Oda Yuji is of course superb as usual and is solid throughout the series.

There are plenty of love triangles or other love interests but notably is Hirose Rei and Nonomura Saeko (Iijima Naoko) but Saeko stands out a lot and is a pretty powerful and attractive presence despite her age (39).

Towards the end of the series the comedy is a bit thin while they try to make head ways with the plot. But it all comes together in the end and ends pretty well, although I was disappointed by the wishy washy attitude of Ellen - possibly over emphasising her young age.

I would certainly recommend a look at this series and I would rate it a modest 7 out of 10.

Technorati tags: Ohtake, Shinobu, Ueno, Juri, Oda, Yuji, Iijima, Naoko, j-tv, j drama, joudan, janai, review

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Smallville Season 7 episode 9 Summary

The messy filler like episode...

Seems Clark disappeared for 2 days at the end of the last episode and now he is back and wants Lana to open up and reveal everything she has on Lex and project Psion. Meanwhile the bulk of this episode is made up of badly written and badly acted story of a stalker who contacts Louis forcing her to write his story about Luthorcorp, threatening her that if she fails to cooperate he will kill Chloe.

The story that he is trying to expose was that he was a clone made in Lex's labs and he was an inferior specimen (since he is rapidly aging), but when Louis confronts the Chief Editor (Grant or Julian) we discover that both this stalker and Grant are clones.

Clark saves Chloe from the bomb in her purse and she exposes her truth about her meteor powers to Jimmy and even demonstrates her healing powers to him.

We hear again how Milton Find is probably back thanks to the liquid in the last two episodes. But more serious is that fact the Clark in this episode was bizarro Clark while the real Clark is still imprisoned in the Fortress!

Smallville will be on the writer's strike and will be off till Jan 08 somepoint.

This episode didn't get me excited much, just that scene at the end (see picture) was the highlight.

Technorati Tags: smallville

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Naruto Shippuuden 39 - Summary

The Hell Happened here?

Sai scopes out the meeting point in advanced to make sure it wasn't an Akatsuki ambush and then Yamato uses a wood element based transformation to mimic Sasori and uses Sakura's help to imitate his voice.

The Akatsuki spy was none other than Orochimaru's right hand spy Kabuto! Seems as though Sasori had put a spell on him and sent him to Orochimaru.

Amazingly Orochimaru appears on the scene and Kabuto turns against Sasori and Yamato has to reveal himself as he tries to escape Orochimaru's attacks.

He has seen through Yamato's plans and asks him to call the three "rats" he has hiding, Yamato gives the signal and Sakura, Naruto and Sai jump in.

Orochimaru is pleased to see Sakura and Naruto again and feels he can have some fun here, taunting Naruto asking him if he has improved more than Sasuke.

The animation was so much better than the last 4-5 episodes and I hope it stays that way for the duration of the series.

Technorati Tags: naruto, shippudden, episode, 39, summary, anime

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Bleach 151-152 Summary

We get some Bankai Action!

Ichigo engages in his fight with Fallen Espada Dordonii, who makes light work of Ichigo when he releases his Zanpakutou and wants Ichigo to release his Bankai and fight him at full strength.

It's only when Nel gets sucked into the fight does Ichigo release his Bankai and then Dordonii attacks Nel some more to get him to unleash his hollow powers.

Ichigo wants that he will only see it for a second and it proves right when he beats him with only one hit.

They try to help the downed Dordonii with Nel's healing spit (lol) but Dordonii only gets ready to fight back.

Nice to see just pure fighting for most of this episode even if it was just Ichigo getting whacked around!

 

Technorati Tags: ichigo, bleach, summary, anime

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Mop Girl - J Drama Summary

A Kawaii new star in this funny but cute comedy.

Wiki Entry @ D-Addicts.com

Review at Dannychoo.com (possible spoilers)

"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".

Pretty new to the Japan Drama scene is model Kitagawa Keiko who plays Hasegawa Momoko a slow but energetic young woman who gets demoted from a Wedding planner company to a funeral one and now is part of a team who clean up murder scenes after the police have checked the scene.

Keiko is almost like a younger more rounded Ito Misaki, but in this role she is almost like a anime character making bizarre but cute noises and actions.

I felt after episode 1 that this might be similar to Jikou Keisatsu mixed in with the time travelling elements of Proposal Daisakusen, since it has murder solving elements which only span 1 episode. But the comic script allows you to see past the cheesy murder mystery and enjoy a good laugh and admire the cute Keiko Chan.

Episode 2 is more of the same but Keiko is really fitting well into the role and you can see there is virtually zero plot, but its good fun never the less.

This is being soft/hard subbed by TimeLesSub at a now standard winter pace of only 2 episodes thus far (sub thread is here).

Technorati tags: mop girl, keiko, kitagawa, preview, summary, j-tv, jdrama

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When to grow up from high school dramas...

Isn't it about time the same old faces stop trying to be 16 year olds?

Read my preview of Dream Again

Ninomiya Satsuki played by Kato Ai plays a pretty and sensitive lawyer who has lost her boyfriend in the freak lightening death of Ogi Shinsuke. Kato Ai played a teenager in Ikebukuro West Gate Park (special review) but this drama is clearly showing that you still retain your class and gain respect and elegance when you play an adult.

Cant say the same about the current series Yukan Club as you can see in the shot below there are faces in there that were in Gokusen 2 (2005), played a teacher in My Boss My Hero (2006) while there's one guy is 26!! Give it a break! This series would have been just right as University students instead..

One the other hand Shida Mirai who plays the terminally ill Fujimoto Hina has come on leaps and bounds and is a really pivotal character in the Dream Again show as she radiates confidence and displays 2 distinct before and after personalities.

Technorati tags: dream again, yukan club, views, actors

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J Drama REWIND: Strawberry on the Shortcake

A bizarre but intriguing love story with an unusual twist.

 

Wiki entry @ D-Addicts

This aired in 2001 and is voted in at number 34 all time Japanese drama by viewers at JDorama.com.

Takisawa Hideaki plays final year student Irie Manato, who has become so withdrawn that his outward "persona" is completely different person.

One day he meets a strange girl - Misawa Yui played by Fukada Kyoko, who is totally up front and honest and helps him put his "persona" behind him.

He gets drawn towards Yui, but is caught in limbo when he finds out his father is remarrying and the woman's daughter is non other than Yui!

No matter how hard he tries to resist he ultimately gets drawn to Yui's vibrant personality.

The drama also stars Uchiyama Rina as Sawamura Haruka (the Girl next door who has a long unexplained longing for Manato)and Kubozuka Yosuke as Saeko Tetsuya (IWGP, GTO) who eventually becomes the person Yui chases after and ultimately Manato's nemesis.

No matter what Manoto tries or who ever else gets between him and Yui his feelings increase to such a point that he will do anything to protect her and keep her happy - even turning against his friend Tetsuya.

The last episode kind of reminded me of Hana Yori Dango Season 2's finale - trapped in a snow storm and being forced to find shelter in a safe house till the morning.

I guess the only down side is the Manato and Haruka relationship which is complex and subtle but kind of branches off into nothingness and Haruka's final demise is a bit sudden and not very well laid out as the Manato x Haruka or Manato x Yui or Yui x Tetsuya or even Tetsuya x Mariko (the class English teacher).

It is an interesting watch - only 10 episodes, and moves along at a slow day to day pace almost - which is good to see once in a while as you get to see the character interactions and the pretty decent written script.

I would give this a 7 out of 10 since it wraps up nicely at the end not leaving you dissatisfied or wanting more.

Technorati tags: j-tv, drama, review, strawberry, on, the, shortcake, sos

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ERIKA - Destination Nowhere

Opening Theme to the new J Drama - Mop Girl

 

Sawajiri Erika releases her 2nd hit song which is the opening theme for the currently airing in Japan.

Pretty decent song, as you can see it was released around Halloween time - hence the theme.

I would like to see Erika back in the Dramas but currently her pop and movie career have taken off since she did the songs in her last Drama "Taiyo no Uta".

Mop Girl Summary is going to be up soon as I finished watching episode 2 so I can give a more unbiased view of this interesting series.

Technorati Tags: erika, sawajiri, jpop, drama, destination, nowhere

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Twitter updates

Can I draw your attention to the Twitter updates bar on the right hand side of the page?

It contains mini updates from me from time to time about what I have been watching or what has been keeping me busy, since I can post Twitters from my mobile phone I can post all sort of stuff pretty quickly.

Not to mention I have twitter integrated into Netvibes - my online RSS aggregator site - so I can update while reading the news..

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Wonderful life - J Drama Review

Sorimachi Takashi in another Baseball related Drama...

Wiki entry @ D-addicts

Sorimachi Takashi plays high flying baseball star Kirishima Akira who is falls victim to a career threatening injury - forcing him to retire, his family abandon him, and he left penny less.

On a whim he takes on a vacant coaching position at a school kids local baseball team, the team is on the verge of falling apart.

"Mizuki is a girl who wants to become a lawyer. Her brother plays on Kirishima's team, but can't stand the sight of Kirishima. She hates men who fool around, and especially those who deceive children. Will Mizuki and Kirishima be able to come to a mutual understanding?" --Fuji TV

It is an easy going, warm drama subbed by Sars fansubs. Kirishima manages to turn the team into tournament winners, but along the way he has to overcome his natural tendencies to be arrogant, flirt and waste money and become a more honest and humble person who leads by example.

The main setting for the series is at this pretty lifeless old shopping district and you get an insight in to most of the player's families and issues, amazingly I loved the bizarre chemistry between Kirishima and Mizuki.

Definitely a satisfying watch - although the last episode kind of encompasses about 2 years! I would rate this 7 out of 10 - the quality of the video is a bit low for a 2004 series, the audio is nothing special. Most of the cast are well known comic/drama stars and its mainly Kirishima and Mizuki's strong personas which stand out.

Technorati tags: wonderful life, sorimachi takashi, j-tv, drama, review

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Byakuyakou - J-Drama Review

Just how far can you go for your first love?

Wiki Entry @ D-Addicts

Yamada Takayuki stars as Kirihara Ryoji
Ayase Haruka stars alongside as Karasawa Yukiho

D-Addicts have a very simple and straightforward introduction for this series:

"Yamada plays Ryouji who finds out that his first love, Yukiho is forced into child pornography by his own father and kills him. To his horror, the object of his father's perversion is Yukiho, whose mother forced her to do so to relieve their dire economic straits. Yukiho also retaliates in similar manner by staging a suicide for her mother as well as herself. They grow up attempting to keep it secret and ride out the statute of limitations. In order to protect Yukiho and improve her life, Ryouji enters the world of vice and dabbles in crimes to support Yukiho."

This is a sad yet powerful and dark drama about a couple of kids who kill there own parents to protect one another, in the hope of living out the rest of their lives in peace the past keeps creeping up with them - namely in the form of a persistent detective - Sasagaki Junzou - and Ryouji and Yukiho resort to all sorts of evil deeds to cover their old tracks but at the same time creating new cases against them.

It gets to a point when Ryouji now 16 and out of School enters the underground world (so to say) in order to keep Yukiho out of harms way and making sure she doesn't have to commit anymore crimes.

It gets to an extraordinary point where you just cannot imagine how further these two will sink just to keep the truth hidden and their love intact.

You start to feel for Ryouji who is stuck in this world of killing and wants to get out - at the same time Yukiho exhibits many different personas leaving you guessing as to which one is real and which is fake.

This is probably a 16/18+ age rating - lots of killing, bare flesh etc. I didn't think Japanese drama could get this complex and serious - this has to rank in the top 50 all time J-dramas!

Each episode takes place of many different scenes and even towns (after about episode 3), so many strong characters and moving soundtrack has you wanting more by the end of each episode.

Yamada really has a go at his role in this and it shows with some of his dialogue - while Ayase is a bit more on the quieter side, you feel her voice is a bit too mellow for her character.

But the junior Yukiho (as in the flashbacks) is exceptional and played by Fukuda Mayuko (Joou no Kyoushitsu) and really there are almost 2 whole decades portrayed in this series - and very well too!

Only down side would be the sudden gaps in the timeline towards the end of the series.

Definitely a must watch if you are into Japanese Drama/Film! I would rate this 8 out of 10, the time gaps which leave you a bit clueless is the only minus.

Technorati tags: Byakuyakou, j-tv, review, yamada

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Bleach Episode 150 Review

They are finally back on track - but for how long...

Ichigo, Nel and co break into the walls of Aizen's fortress and start making their long way towards Inoue. There's a large chunk of uselessness when they fall into the basement...

The Arrancar who capture Inoue explains how he set her up to look like a traitor to the Soul Society stopping them from sending their teams to recover her.

Inoue is surprised to find Aizen showing her the Hougyoku, she thinks it is to get her trust - but she feels she must use her powers to eliminate the Hougyoku.

But is it all a ploy by Aizen to make her develop her rather weak powers?

Technorati tags: bleach.review, anime

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Prison Break Season 3 Episode 7

Wow, what can I say???

The fight between Michael and Whistler is all a set up to get everyone out in the courtyard while the 2 make their escape. Whistler's Girlfriend turns on Lincoln the moment she notices something is not quite right, while Lincoln has Sucre monitoring the meeting point to make sure LJ is safe.

Schofield and Whistler start breaking out of the cell on the 2nd floor via a rope ladder, but some cloud cover ruins their distraction method and they have to hurry back inside.

The guards notice something is wrong and they find one guard has been drugged and also spot the rope ladder which has fallen back out the window while Schofield and Whistler are left with no choice but to duke it out in the courtyard.

Schofield's timely demise is saved by the police sirens going off in the prison - the guards and riot police come storming in and line everyone up in the courtyard. Meanwhile Sucre puts his life on the line to stop the Company getting away with LJ again and crashes his car into their van.

Lincoln catches up with them and shouts the driver and bodyguard and gets the woman agent by the hair (see picture above), but there's a 3rd man who had LJ at gun point. Seeing as killing the woman wouldn't save LJ, Lincoln is frustrated but begs them to let Michael try again.

Meanwhile someone takes responsibility for the attempted breakout and gets shot by the General, who also puts doubt in Patrone's ability to control the prisoners. Patrone gets hold of Schofield and lets him know that he wants him to break him out too!

Agent Mahone becomes agitated by the long wait for his trial (seems he needs his "fix") and becomes aggressive to the point he is put into handcuffs again.

Schofield returns to see Whistler conversing with the company agent!

What next for Schofield and co, so many mini conspiracies and absolutely 0 trust now between all the merry men in Schofield's gang...

Technorati tags: prison break.summary

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Prison Break Season 3 Episode 6

This is more like it!

Schofield's plans are just hours away from completion, while Lincoln and the others get on with drugging the tower guard Whistler is accused of killing the new french prisoner and will be executed in reply! Seems ex Agent Alex Mahone seems to have done it but he is getting an immediate transfer to a minimum security prison now that the FBI are pulled strings on his behalf.

Lincoln has no choice but to confess to Michael that Sarah is dead and Schofield cracks just minutes away from their escape and now doesn't care about anything and wants to settle matters with Whistler in the ring as it's his fault that Sarah died.

Exciting stuff - fast paced and lots of characters involved in this episode, can't wait for the next one!

Technorati tags: prison break, summary

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Dream Again - Series Preview

Yet another Baseball story...

Wiki entry @ D-addicts

Sorimachi Takashi (GTO) stars as Ogi Shunsuke in another "rising from the ashes" baseball story - in a similar vein to his last performance in A Wonderful Life (Review expected in the next couple of weeks).

Ogi is a baseball home run hero for the Giants but is forced to retire due to a shoulder injury, but years later he has been busy with other jobs and retraining in the hope of a dream comeback into baseball.

But a sudden accident claims his like but he gets a 2nd chance but only in the body of another man! The show follows the man as he tries to get by with his daily life as a wealthy fund company manager but still trying to realise his dream of playing baseball again in his new body.

A strong cast include Kato Ai (IWGP) and Shida Mirai (Joou no Kyoushitsu, Tantei Gakuen Q, 14 Sai no Haha) as well as other solid characters and seems the money has been splashed around on locations etc. I feel this is going to be a rather deep and interesting drama (rather than heavy righteousness and emotion which is usually Sorimachi's style) and the releases are quite frequent - Hard subs being done by Massuki Fansubs.

Keep an eye out for this one!

Technorati tags: dream again, j-tv, drama, preview, summary, sorimachi, takashi

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Smallville Season 7 Episodes 5 and 6

Finally it is starting to look good!

Episode 5 summary:

There's the movie version of Warrior Angel being filmed in Smallville and Clark is on hand to save the star actress when her vehicle goes out of control - now Clark has to find out who is behind the plot to kill of the lead woman in the film. Seems someone was not happy about the way the comic story was changed to make a happy ending in the film and wants to correct it himself!

Meanwhile we see Lionel for the first time this season (conscious, I mean) and he is being held captive on Luthorcorp land! Seems Lana forged the purchase of the land in order to keep Lionel locked up as punishment for making her go through with her wedding to Lex.

Lionel frees himself from his shackles (see gruesome detail in photo above) but is then rescued by Lex. However distrust still runs deep between the pair.

Interestingly Clark gets Warrior Angel's cape as a present at the end, but he chooses to leave it tied to the fence - possibly a sign that he has not excepted his fate yet.

Episode 6 Summary;

We start the episode seeing a flashback of Zor-El sending Kara to Earth while they are at war with General Zod (I think), Kara dreaming wakes up in the air in front of an oncoming plane and misses it just it time. But this news gets to the papers when the pilot believes he saw a missile in the Washington area. Jimmy confesses that Kara found out that the Government owned the labs that Clark and Lois raided to try and find Kara's spaceship.

Doing a little influencing Kara seduces one of the lab technicians from the Department of National Security (or what ever it's called) and breaks into the lab to find that the crystal she is after is missing.
She triggers some alarms and runs off, after she and Jimmy hack into the Government systems and find that Lex's company had been at the lab earlier.

She goes to his Mansion only to be confronted by the Government agent who uses Kryptonite handcuffs to restrain her and puts Lex on ice while he takes her away.

Using some technology from Summerholt institute the agent is able to get Kara to replay her memories. She re enacts her visit to Earth to see Lara, she reveals she is pregnant with Jor-El's child, and that she will leave it with the Kent Family as recommended by Jor-El, Kara names the baby Kal-El. Zor-El bursts in and tells Kara to go home, then it's revealed that both brothers - Zor-El and Jor-El - were after the same woman. Zor-El wants Lara to stay on Earth and rule with him, when she declines he reveals that her DNA is already in a Crystal waiting to be reborn after Krypton dies (See Zor-El and Lara is picture above).

Kara bursts in and Zor-El wipes her memory clean with some device, this section is also witnessed by Clark when he tries to save her and shares her dream for a moment.

Lana meanwhile opens the Iris foundation, who are reaching out to help the meteor infected - a cover up for her spying on LuthorCorp.

Clark reveals a hidden photo of Lara to Lana and also reveals the crystal that Kara is looking for and explains her mother's DNA is within this crystal!

Technorati tags: smallville, clark, kent, superman, summary, drama

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Abareno Mama Preview Episode 1

Wiki entry @ D-addicts

Ueto Aya (Attack No 1, Ace wo Nerae, Hotelier) stars as Ayu in this family comedy about a new wedded couple, where the man from a previous marriage has a child which he didn't tell Ayu about and arrives one morning at their doorstep.

The infant gets enrolled via recommendation into a top kindergarten with rich parents and intelligent kids. Aya being from the country and working with husband Oizumi in their house/hair salon finds her self like a fish out of water and doesn't except the child into her life at first. But by the end of the episode she is willing to give it a try.

Cue weird neighbors, parents and children in what turns out to be a pretty warm funny drama. One line hit home was the story scene when they got married and the narrator says "and so opened the gates of Hell"!!

Hard Subs are from WAEI-Subs if your interested. I will keep an eye out for these - I don't think they will be released in a hurry this season.

Technorati tags: abareno, mama, j-tv, drama, preview, summary

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Naruto Shippuuden Episode 33

Time to meet the rest of the ninjas

Catch up: Team Gai and Team Kakashi return after rescuing Gaara from the clutches of the Akatsuki and Chiyo exchanges her life to revive Gaara using a forbidden technique.

With Kakashi out of commission for a while, Sakura and Tsunade discuss the possibility of recruiting new temporary members to team Kakashi so they can set off to meet the Akatsuki informant working with Orochimaru.

Naruto overhears this and jumps the gun as usual. Comedy aplenty when he meets team Kurunai for the first time (see Hinata pic above), but unable to convince them he meets Shikamaru and Choji.

Choji offers to help but they are attacked by strange painted beasts - seems this is the new Konoha ninja on the block who we saw abit of last episode.

Overall nice humor and quality animation, and the now regular hyping up of Naruto's greatest strength - his character.

Technorati tags: naruto, shippudden, episode, 33, summary, review, hinata

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Ikebukuro West Gate Park Special

Bukuro Saiko!

Wiki link @ D-addicts

Makoto is back in the 2:11 hour special (although there are some songs which account for around 15 minutes), things have moved on some 3 years later and Makoto is now homeless as his Mum sold out his shop to a building company. Reluctantly he gets dragged into investigating a suspected "Bone smasher" - someone is putting homeless people to sleep and then proceeding to break their bones.

Alot of the cast have changed appearance wise (original series came out in 2000), Hikaru and Yamai the main culprits - unrecognisable at first. While Makoto, Takashi, Ritsuko, and other main protagonists haven't aged much.

In between finding the culprit, we get to see a Ramen related gang war, Makoto's real father's history and some bits of humor.

There are typical scenes which made the original series funny and the same feel is translated to the special. What might be missing is the real raw street feel you got in the series with locations like the police station, the train station, hostess club thingy, hotels, shops and of course Makoto's home.

Generally its a nice addition and welcome progression to the original series - a must watch if you have seen the original IWGP series but decent viewing even if you haven't.

I would give it a 6.5 out of 10 - not killer material like the original series.

Technorati tags: Ikebukuro, west, gate, park, bukuro, iwgp, makoto, j-tv, review, drama

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PS2 Memor32 Chips

http://uk.gizmodo.com/2007/11/08/chipping_a_ps2_just_got_really.html

Mod chips are getting easier!

Groups are slowly finding ways to bypass the MagicGate encryption system on the PS2 Memory card slots. By using updated DVD software (which installed to a PS2 memory card as the PS2 did not feature upgradable firmware) as a base to understand the signing process for the memory cards, Memor32 acts as gateway and allows users to upload unsigned code to execute from the memory card.

PS2 Backup games do need to be burned as fake DVD movies (IE need to have a DVD Video files on the disk to trick the PS2 into excepting the disk (used to be able to that with Data CDs - tricking the PS2 by making them with Audio tracks)) but then using the unsigned executables to boot the games...

More on this as it develops and also the potential for a free version..

Technorati tags: ps2, mod chip, memor32, magicgate, dvd

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Long time no post...

Hello Folks.

I haven't posted anything in a while.

Why?

Simply because I haven't been bothered!

The J-Drama seen has dried up a little - some not so hot series are being aired this Winter (or Fall, I can't remember) and I am just waiting for Hard subs to arrive (I have run out of room for 700MB an episode and just sticking to 300MB subbed ones).

What's in store this month?

I am going to be doing an Unboxing and review of the new Nokia N95 8GB exclusively on the Gadget Igloo.

There will be no more waiting for Sars to released the IWGP Special (yes it is out - 2 hours worth! But shoddy quality...), but there are only 3-4 episodes of Life out so far? What about Hotaru no Hikari? Hard subs haven't finished yet. And the hard subs for this season are crawling away (Yukan Club and Galileo the only ones to note at the moment).

So really there isn't much to report - maybe the return of PRISON BREAK (YES!!!) and SMALLVILLE (NOOOO!), as well as the demise of Bleach and the rise of Naruto!

So there is something to shout about this month!
See you soon.

Technorati tags: anime, naruto, bleach, j-tv, drama, life, hotaru no hikari, smallville, prison break, n95, phone, yukan club, galileo

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Bleach 138-139 Summary

Finally things are back on track.

Aizen sends his espadas arrancar to earth accompanied by Grimmjaw.

The Soul society goes into red alert and Rukia heads back leaving Inoue to come back later.

Ichigo is also allowed to leave; he meets up with Grimmjaw and explains how that he has changed in one month.

One espada is missing, Aizen has sent him on a special task which we are yet to find out, but it seems Aizen is able to awaken the Hoguko just for a short time 2 months before schedule.

The quality was better and the pace was top notch too.

I am looking forward to this week's since there is no Naruto to watch till next week.

This week it finally happens, the Arrancar finally go after Inoue while she is in between the real world and the Shinigami world.

Ichigo pulls on his Hollow mask and acknowledges that he will have to beat Grimmjaw in 11 seconds, and proceeds to decimate him but just before delivering the final blow his mask cracks and breaks off, giving Grimmjaw the chance he needs to get some hits in on Ichigo.

Hitsugaya tries to stop one of the 3 other Arrancar from releasing his Zanpaktou and promptly gets backside kicked. 1 released Arrancar Espada is enough to handle the 3 remaining Shinigami.

Urahara arrives just in time to free Matsumoto from the Arrancars grip on her, but is instantly attacked by the newest Arrancar (created by Aizen at the start of the last episode).

There are just 2 Shinigami escorting Inoue to the real world when suddenly the Arrancar that was missing enters the Dimensional gate and kills off the Shinigami and orders Inoue to come with him or he will kill off her comrades – he shows images of Hitsugaya, Ichigo and Matsumoto getting beat down.

Finally Bleach has come out of reverse and is looking like value for money – shame the episodes are just too short.

There was no preview this week – possibly to hide Inoue’s decision or to hide something big from next week!!

 

Technorati tags: bleach, episode, summary, anime

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Life Episode 1 - Summary

Wiki entry @ D-addicts

Long time was taken in the release of the first episode of Life by SOS fansubs but was it worth the wait?

Defiantly, Shiiba Ayumu played by Kitano Kii stars in this reality check for the Japanese world, laying down the hard facts and bare truths of the issues kids face today in all schools across Japan and most of the world.

The first episode throws down scenarios such as suicide, self mutilation, bullying, discrimination, domestic neglect as well as peer pressure, domestic pressure, sadism, seclusion and other problems - and this is just from the first episode!!

Ayumu wants to stay close to her best friend in high school and gets her to give her major revision help for the entry exam. Surprisingly Ayumu passes the exam and her friend doesn't, prompting her to turn on her as she spent more time helping Ayumu then revising herself. distressed Ayumu gets a worried call from her friend's Mum that she hasn't returned home from school.

Ayumu goes looking for her only to find her dead in a pool of blood from what appears to be the result of jumping off the school roof.

Ayumu locks herself away for days overwriting her face on all of her many photos with her deceased friend, retracing her thoughts and deciding she was the reason her friend's dream was snatched away and then decides it better she wasn't alive and starts cutting away at herself with a pair of scissors.

Jump ahead to the new term at the new school and she is a wreck and wants to be left alone. One girl sees this as an opportunity to find someone who she can open up to - she is so adored by other classmates she can't dare express her true feelings to the others in the class.

Hence a bond of unusual friendship grows between Ayumu and the popular girl, but as she gets pulled into her close circle of friends she sees how other girls getting bullied or singled out for rough treatment but stays quiet due to the fact she doesn't want to make her new friend upset (see what happened to her last friend?) and watches on as one girl gets rough time.

Last scene sees Ayumu try consoling her friend after she was dumped by her boyfriend. Thinking she has done enough she lets her friend go home only to turn and see her standing in the path of an oncoming train.

Talked about cursed! cant wait for another episode, this episode had quite alot so I didn't mention the minor subplots like the domestic pressure, the sadist boyfriend who is trying to meet his father's expectations of top marks by hitting on a teacher, and others.

Clearly one to watch although on the side of caution as it is hard hitting and the wiki summary mentions it deals with bullying and rape.

Clearly a departure from the rosy anime/manga inspired school flicks we are used to.

Sarg.

Technorati tags: life, episode, j-tv, drama, preview, summary, sos

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Lack of Posting this month

Hi, for those who do read this blog.

I have had little chance to post during July and August due to doing extra shifts at work.

I am doing extra shift till mid Sept, so I am afraid there won't be any posts till then.

Come September it will be time to write up reviews for the pick of the Summer J-Dramas (yes I have still been watching them) and previews of the Autumn shows.

Also Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, Bleach and Naruto catch ups (Yes Bleach is back on track and Naruto is progressing well).

Also a whole slew of Man United photos to upload to Flickr.

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Updates?

Hello folks, sorry for the lack of updates recently.

I have either been unwell or at work!

I still have to write up summaries of Yamada taro monogatari, Ushi no negai wo, Tantei Gakuen Q and Yama Onna Kabe Onna all of which I have seen and First Kiss with Inoue Mao! There will be a preview of Life (which I don't think has been subbed yet) as well as the current state of Bleach, Naruto (not much happening there) and Higurashi.

Stayed tuned, I am in Manchester this week to watch Manchester United's friendly with Inter Milan and also the Charity Shield match vs Chelsea - so lots of Photos to upload next week!

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Hotaru no Hikari - Drama Summary

Wiki Entry @ D-Addicts

Haruka Ayase (Tatta Hitotsu no Koi, Byakuyakou, Sekai...) stars as Hotaru Amemiya in this Manga adaptation.

This show starts off easy going, but you soon get an idea of Hotaru's character - even though she is in her 20s she has no interest in finding love and all her spare time is spent at home being lazy and messy. This all comes as a shock to the new home owner - her boss (Fujiki Naohito), who is forced out of his wife's home and comes to live here only to find the place a tip thanks to Hotaru "squatting" at his parent's home.

Hotaru's life starts to evolve when a new employee named Makoto (Kazuki Kato) comes back to the company after studying in London and develops a liking for her - you can see her reaction to getting a peck on the lips in the photo above!

The funniest point of the episode was when her boss finally decides to let Hotaru stay (considering he is still married etc) because she isn't from the female race! She has no traits from opposite gender, so he agrees to let her stay - calling her a "dried fish"!

This drama demands your attention with bold contrasting characters, conflicting life styles of Hotaru and her boss and her almost childish reaction to falling for the new boy at work (since it has been so long since she was last interested in a guy).

This is being hard subbed by DoReMi so don't expect it to be released as quick as say a soft sub, which is a shame as I clearly didn't get my fill from one episode - a must watch, but not in small doses!

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Links to most softsubs

Hey, if you are like me and you cannot wait for hard subs to come out on D-Addicts, then this may be of interest.

Here is my collection of links to pages (mostly at D-Addicts) with the current soft subs for those series.

Most are from this season (summer 07) and there are some from last season (Spring - Liar Game, Bambino, Jodan Janai, Hotelier, Jikou Keisatsu 2 and Proposal Daisukusen).

Please feel free to share this link with anyone it's my google notebook and will be updated when a new season starts or a new drama is on my watch list:

http://www.google.com/notebook/public/11986609191240181779/BDUkRQgoQuYSGp6si

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Papa to Musume no Nanokakan Episode 1

Wiki Entry @ D-Addicts

Aragaki Yui stars as Kawahara Koume and 16 year old high school girl and her beleaguered father Kawahara Kyoichiro (played by Tachi Hiroshi).

The show starts off with the father lamenting the fact he cannot confirm his existence - his wife ignores him and his only child refuses to talk to him. One day on their way back from the home of Koume's grandmother the train stops in a tunnel and there is some sort of accident.

Only 3 people survive, 2 of which are the father and daughter but they soon realize when the wake up in hospital that they have switched bodies!

Now, I know there has been loads of US films about father & son or Mother & Daughter switching places but I don't think I have seen two different genders swap over?

The show is great with lots of detail paid to the characters inheriting their previous habits (Koume in her father's body - she talks like a girl, has girly actions and texts at lighting speed :-) and it is quite amusing to see them getting to grips with their new bodies, Koume tells her father to keep his legs together when seated, while her father has to prepare a whole book to help Koume get to work and full dossier on all his workmates!

Other bits of comedy are in bits like when they first need to go to the toilet or when they go for a bath (nothing 18 rated thank you).

Koume has to deals with issues at work like the customer who doesn't think highly of women and gets told off by Koume, while her father has a fatherly chat with the high school boy who is trying to run away from the responsibility of being a father.

Big notice is their dialect, Koume continues to talk girly in her father's body while her father talks slowly and surprisingly polite - much to the surprise of her school friends - so they have the challenge of trying to fit in to their surrounding environments too.

Big thing at the end of episode 1 is when Koume's father agrees to go on the date Koume had arranged over a week ago, but Koume can't trust him in her body so ends up trying to spy on him!

This series will grow on you, there is good humor and of course you get to see lots of Aragaki Chan on screen too - so it is a win win deal!

Technorati Tags: papa to musume no nanokakan, episode, 1, summary, j-tv, jtv, japanese, drama

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Hanazakari no Kimitachi e - Summary

Wiki Entry @ D-Addicts

Extract from Wiki:

"Horikita Maki (Teppan Shojou Akane, Kurosagi, Nobuta wo Produce) plays a Japanese girl (Ashiya Mizuki)in the U.S. who one day sees the young athlete Sano Izumi played by Oguri Shun(Hana Yori Dango) compete in the high jump on television. She begins to idolize him, and decides to move to Japan to attend the same school as him. However, Izumi goes to an all-boys school, so Mizuki disguises herself as a boy to achieve her dream of being with her idol."

Well, well, well. This is purely a school comedy of sorts, there is not much school either - poor Maki Chan she must be well embarrassed in this role, having her hair cut, no makeup, have to wear something to flatten her chest etc.

She disguised herself as a boy to get transferred into this all boys school which has everyone in dorms.

In the 1st episode everything went so quick, she got into the same dorm room as Sano kun, won a marathon to become popular and even have her identity revealed. I was left thinking maybe the story is moving too fast.

But in the 2nd episode Ashiya san is trying her best to convince Sano kun to return to his sport, while the school doctor who discovered Ashiya's real gender is actually supportive of her as long as it is to get Sano back into the track and field team.

I might grow to like this, it has humor and lots of well known actors and also trying to figure out why Maki Chan looks so strange!

Technorati tags: hanazakari no kimitachi e, j-tv, drama, review

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Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai episode 1

Yes it's a new anime and what a mouthful to say or type!

This episode seems to be a summary one, trying to explain some of the bizarre occurrences of the 1st season, the series as a whole is based on Type-Moon's PC game of the same name (I think), season 1 had several mini stories taking place at the same time just in different dimensions/time planes (I think) all of them ended in some gruesome bloody death. This episode tries to tie some of them together, we follow on about 20 years into the future returning to the scene of the carnage. There was only 1 survivor of the catastrophe and even she seems mentally disturbed - seems she wants things to go back to how they were.

This sets the stage for future episodes back in the original timeline and more psychological horror of some sort - yummy can't wait!

Technorati tags: higurashi no naku koro ni kai, anime, review

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Bleach

On a side note - Bleach is still airing fillers, this week seems to be a football related one...

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Naruto Shippudden Episode 19 Summary

Sorry for the delay - but there isn't much to report on this one.

As you know Team Gai are up against a new enemy - clones of themselves. This means Team Kakashi are left to take on the Akastu members themselves but even this is split further with the old granny and Sakura taking on the puppet master and Kakashi and Naruto going after the fellow with the model bombs who has the body of Gara.

There is nothing else to be said in this episode, only thing of interest is the new ending (screen above) which seems to be a story in a comic book fashion depicting life at a middle school where Naruto has just joined, the music is easy going and nothing to write home about.

Believe

it or not Naruto is taking yet another 2 week break - what the fu*k!

Technorati tags: naruto, shippudden, episode, 19, summary, anime

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Naruto Dattebayo info and new must watch Anime

Seems that Dattebayo (the group who sub Naruto) mentioned a week or so ago that due to some issues they wouldn't be subbing Naruto anymore, this week they announced it as a joke and released Shippudden episode 19, that leaves me to think that last week there was no episode aired. Anyway review will be up tomorrow.

Bleach episode 131 and 132 are still fillers so I will not bothered with them for now.

A return for the gorish anime Higurashi no Naku Koro ni means I will add another anime to my already tiny weekly watch.

More impressions on the new series are here at Random Curiosity:

Permanent Link to Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai - 01

Technorati tags: dattebayo, naruto, bleach, anime

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Proposal Daisukusen Review

Yes I did actually finish watching this one!

D-Addicts Wiki Entry

"Yamashita Tomohisa and Nagasawa Masami play a young man and woman who have been friends since elementary school. Yamashita's character, Iwase Ken, is obstinate and unskilled in love, but he fell long ago for the lively and cheerful woman, Yoshida Rei, played by Nagasawa. But Rei is about to get married to another man. While Ken and other friends from high-school attend the wedding ceremony, a fairy appears and sends Ken back in time, giving him a second chance to win the girl he loves."

Yamashita Tomohisa (Nabuto wo Produce, Dragon Zakura, Kurosagi) plays the part of the useless guy (Ken) who you end up wanted to knock out cold because he is so useless at saying anything of use to Rei (Nagasawa Masami - Dragon Zakura), but what is interesting is that you follow the characters through different intersections of their life (high school, University and beyond) and you see Rei change and develop as a character as she gets older - of course its the same actor and all that, just they put more effort into the script.

While you see Ken try his best to "make a difference" to the present by trying to make his mark on Rei in that segment of his past. What makes this show interesting is that he doesn't always get things his own way, and even ends up giving up towards the end and that's when you can tell there is nothing more he can say to Rei to change her mind.

But you can see with each time travel he is making subtle changes to the present Rei's affections towards him and some of his friends are changing too. 

The last few episodes have twists aplenty and even I was gasping when episode 9 finished, and his contrasting actions in episode 11 were completely unforeseen.

This series is a very low key romantic story which has the viewers willing Ken on in his bid to change the present, I feel this is one that will stay timeless due to its completely unusual story.

I would recommend everyone watches this series at least once!

Technorati Tags: japanese, drama, review, proposal, daisukusen, yamashita, tomohisa, nagasawa, masami

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J Drama watch list Summer 2007

Dramas to watch this summer!

Hanazakari No Kimitache e

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Hanazakari_no_Kimitachi_e

Extract from Wiki:

Horikita Maki (Teppan Shojou Akane, Kurosagi, Nobuta wo Produce) plays a Japanese girl in the U.S. who one day sees the young athlete Sano Izumi played by Oguri Shun(Hana Yori Dango) compete in the high jump on television. She begins to idolize him, and decides to move to Japan to attend the same school as him. However, Izumi goes to an all-boys school, so Mizuki disguises herself as a boy to achieve her dream of being with her idol.

This drama has the Kawaii Maki Chan and one of the best young male performers in Japan at the moment Oguri Shun a winning line up!

This is based on a hit manga and should be worth watching, but I can't see how they can make them look young (although they pulled it off with Proposal Daisukusen!).

Show kicks off on the 3rd of July.

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First Kiss

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/First_Kiss

Extract from Wiki:

In this romantic comedy, Mao Inoue (Hana Yori Dango) stars as a selfish girl named Mio Fukunaga. Because of a serious illness, she lives in the U.S. for medical treatment. Before undergoing an important operation, she returns to Japan, where she meets the older brother she has been separated from since her parents' divorce. She finds Kazuki (Hideaki Ito) leading a good-for-nothing life, but he shows his seriousness when he resolves to find a way for Mio to experience her first kiss. Yuta Hiraoka plays the love interest, a rookie doctor.

There isn't much of a lineup in this one, but it will be interesting to see how well Inoue Mao can rise from the ashes of her success with Hana Yori Dango and establish her self in the J Drama world. Yuto Hiraoko was a real talent and shone well in Proposal Daisukusen so will be interesting to see how they hit off on screen.

------------

Detective School Q - Tantei Gakuen Q

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Tantei_Gakuen_Q#Renzoku_Series

Extract from Wiki:

Adapted from the manga by Tadashi Agi(Seimaru Amagi), Tantei Gakuen Q revolves around a team of genius students studying in a detective academy run by a famous detective, Morihiko Dan.

Kamiki Ryunosuke and Shida Mirai (Suppli, 14 sai no haha) star in this drama, I am interested to see Mirai's progression since 14 Sai no Haha (not seen all of that series yet).

---------------

Hotaru no Hikari

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Hotaru_no_Hikari

Extract from Wiki:

Haruka Ayase stars as the title character, Hotaru Amemiya, in this adaptation of Satoru Hiura's "Hotaru no Hikari" manga series. Hotaru is a twenty-something office lady who has become a "dried fish" - she has "retired" from love, and she prefers to spend her time lazily at home. Then one day, her world gets shaken up when she unexpectedly ends up living with her boss (Fujiki Naohito). To complicate her life even further, she begins to find romance with a new employee named Makoto (Kazuki Kato).

Ayase Chan (Tatta Hitotsu no Koi, Byakuyakou)is back after a break after Tatta Hitotsu, and we all know about Naghito from Proposal Daisukusen (seems a lot of actors from that show are getting new roles!) but Kato Kasuki seems a new comer, this is another show I might look at 1 or 2 episodes to see if it whets my appetite.

-----------------

Others to watch out for:

Yama Onna Kabe Onna

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Yama_Onna_Kabe_Onna

Starring Misaki Ito (Densha Otoko, Suppli)

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Jotei

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Jotei

Starring Kato Rosa (newbie) and Matsuda Shota (Fresh from Liar Game).

------------

Seven days of Daddy and a Daughter

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Papa_to_Musume_no_Nanokakan

Starring Aragaki Yui (My Boss=My Hero), comedy type.

Technorati Tags: jtv, drama, japanese, summary, summer, 2007

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Bleach Episode 129 & 130

I hadn't watched Bleach last week as I knew it was a filler, therefore I am even more disgusted that this week's is also a filler, seems the whole mini story will be dragged on for a little while longer - I am so disgusted I am not even going to bother reviewing them - there was no non filler scenes at all...

Technorati Tags: anime, review, bleach, 129, 130

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Naruto Shippudden 18 Summary

This episode again is just transitional before the real fighting begins.

Neji uses his eyes to look past the barrier and can't explain what's happening, but Kakashi discovers that this is a Five Seal Barrier and would require all five seals to be removed at once.

Neji pinpoints the seals and the other 4 are in distant locations.

Team Gai split up 4 ways and locate all the remaining seals.

Meanwhile Akatsuki member's are starting to leave and Sasori tells Itachi that the Kyuubi will be his and he and the his colleague stay behind to welcome the outsiders.

All 5 seals are removed and Sakura destroys the boulder, at the same time some enemies are beginning to appear in front of each of Team Gai's members.

Inside the hideout it seems as though the monster/statue thing that was used to contain the monster sucked out of Gaara is transported elsewhere as the head of Akatsuki cast some seals and they both vanish from the "hideout". Team Kakashi know they are already too late when they see the two remaining Akatsuki members sat on the lifeless body of Gaara.

They didn't need to figure out who has the Kyuubi inside of them when Naruto flips and starts calling up his Kyuubi strength in a bid to launch an all out assault on the Akatsuki.

Again not much content in this episode, I am a bit disappointed with the quality as there were some scenes where the quality had dropped a bit. Looks like the fighting will start next week, but seeing as it might be split into 5 fights I expect this might take sometime before any more story progression...

Technorati Tags: anime, naruto, shippudden, 18, review, summary

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Liar Game - Summary

LIAR GAME D-Addicts Wiki Entry

This is a must watch. If you are like me and enjoy watching things like Hustle on the BBC and enjoyed Kurosagi then this is a must watch!

I call it a psychological suspense type of show in which the lovely Toda Erika (as in the picture above; features in the last 2 episodes of Hana Yori Dango 2 also in Nabuto wo Produce) plays the dumb Kanzaki Nao - who is so gullible she gets tricked by just about anyone and cannot see the dishonesty behind what people say or do, ie she never doubts what is said.

She gets accidentally snared into a deadly game called Liar Game, where each contestant is sent 100 million Yen (around £40 million) to their house and they cannot refuse entry once they open the cash (which she had already done), you are chosen an opponent who you must steal his money from in order to win. You have 30 days to do this. If you win you keep half (100 mil), if you lose you owe the Liar Game Secretariat 100 mil which they will take back by making you take out a loan or something.

She is assigned her old High school teacher as an opponent, thinking that she can confide in him, he tricks her into handing over her money (for safe keeping) and she manages to enlist the help of a ex con genius con man called Akiyama Shinichi (played by Matsuda Shota - Hana Yori Dango) to try and win her money back.

The plot thickens when they realize they are in something allot deeper then just this one opponent...

I enjoy the action (up to episode 4 so far) in terms of suspense and not knowing what the game or Akiyama will throw up next. Akiyama is less sharp in comparison to Kurosaki but the tricks and cons he has up his sleeve are only shown at the last given moment - so you are kept guessing till the end.

I recommend this above all the other J-Dorama I have seen this season, of course having the nice Toda Erika alongside the sly and sharp Matsuda Shota is a winning combination!

Technorati Tags: japanese, tv, j-tv, drama, liar, game, toda, erika, japan, matsuda, shota, review, summary

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