Sarg's J-Drama Watch!

2009-03-21T13:14:00.001Z

Spent an extra 30 mins in training to learn some of Kanjo, thanks goes to Parvez for the good spar and bruises :)

2009-03-18T09:49:00.001Z

At al manaar today, room is set up for a school visit

2009-03-15T12:55:00.001Z

A nice sunny day

2009-03-11T11:19:00.001Z

Lazy at work series

J-Drama Summary Puzzle Episode 1

2008-06-01T13:28:00.001+01:00

Tis the season for one word titles - Puzzle, Rookie, Battery, Change...

Wiki Entry @ D-Addicts

"Misako Ayukawa, a woman in her 30s, is an English teacher with ironically poor English skills. She values herself over her students, and money over love. She displays arrogance in front of her students, but acts pleasantly around her peers and family.
However, Ayukawa possesses a brilliant mind for solving puzzles. She ends up tackling various cases around the school along with 3 of her top students" Wiki Entry.

Ishihara Satomi (H2, N's Aoi) stars as Ayukawa Misako.

Satomi is usually portrayed as a ditzy innocent young woman, but her she plays the role of a early 30's hopeless Substitute English teacher who is like cute and candy on the outside but to her students she is cold and hoarse. Makes you wonder which of her persona's and voices is the real deal?

That is the highlight of the show is Satomi's "anti" personality and the way she bullies her students around (much taller than her too).

Unfortunately the Japanese language being as complex as it is, doesn't make for understanding how they solve some of the word games easy.

The way they go about trying to solve the puzzles is hilarious and makes for a enjoyable show. I look forward to seeing more of it and it's being subbed by Querbeet who did Security Police so should be some prompt releases.

Technorati Tags: puzzle,satomi,ishihara,j-drama,review

J-Drama Summary Coin Locker Monogatari

2008-06-01T11:58:00.001+01:00

Talk about strange!

Kojima Haruna (Singer from AKB48 and also in Yamada Taro Monogatari) stars as Hayama Miki.

"Miki, a high school student, has a secret involving a coin locker."

That says it all, Miki - a spitely high school girl -hangs out at the lockers at Shijuku Station, hanging around and always having her eye on locker 56. She even starts helping the station manager so she can sleep in his office at nights. 1st episode she chases a university professor with a fetish for female students, 2nd episode she helps an idol who is leading a double life.

There are only 4 episodes in the series so her secret will be out soon, but a strange and pretty easy going drama is about 20 minutes each episode so this is worth a watch in between all the other 45 minute long dramas...

Technorati Tags: coin,locker,monogatari,miki,kojima,haruna,j-drama,review

J-Drama Watch: CHANGE Episode 1 summary

2008-05-30T01:48:00.001+01:00

Yes I am back at long last!!

Wiki Page @ D-Addicts

Kimura Takuya (Engine) plays Asakura Keita
Fukatsu Eri (Saiyuuki, Narito Rikon, Odoru Daisousasen) as Miyama Rika
Abe Hiroshi (Kekkon Dekinai Otoko, Dragon Zakura) as Nirasawa Katsutoshi
Kato Rosa (Jotei) as Miyamoto Hikari

"The story begins with the deaths of ruling party's Fukuoka legislator and his eldest son, his heir apparent, in an accident. It is decided that a by-election will be held, and Kanbayashi Masaichi, the leader of the ruling party, and secretary Miyama Rika conceive the idea of fielding the second son, Asakura Keita, who had been renounced by his father." Taken from D-Addicts Wiki.

Plucked from a easy going life and thrust in to the final week of a local election Asakura Keita, who is an unwilling candidate has to hit the ground running in this high tempo, high speed political drama.

Eri chan is back after her world famous stint as the monk in Saiyuuki (Journey to the West) and is pale and energetic as ever! She plays the secretary for the party's leader and is at the helm of the election campaign. While Abe Hiroshi puts completes the outing with a boot camp feel (Dragon Zakura all over again?) to add to the tension.

Looks good, and well scripted and the dialogs are fast and fluid, about time we had a good drama for the current season!

Special mention for Kato Rosa (previously in Jotei) who is very cute and fit in well.

Technorati Tags: j-drama,review,change

Lack of updates

2008-03-10T08:38:00.001Z

Series cut short, others finished but nothing that exciting.

Dear all,

I apologise for the obvious lack of updates, seems I have lost all will the blog at the moment after seeing Prison Break and Terminator series cut short (13 and 9 episodes respectively), Smallville only showing 2 episodes this years, and a lack of quality hard subs for Japanese Dramas.

There has been some light though, LIFE subbed by SOS is moving along at a better pace, and Hanayome wa Yakudoshi has been finished, so expect a review soon.

I haven't progressed at all with Bara no nai Hanaya and One Pound Gospel is a bit too light weight to appeal to me at the moment (9 episodes in the series).

Naruto has been sooooo slow this season - they still haven't got to Sasuke after 49 episodes, while Bleach is charging towards the end of it's story arc.

Maybe Heroes will be back soon? Maybe there will be some good dramas this upcoming season?

Expect reviews for Security Police and possibly Nodame Special - look out for Proposal Diasakusen special in the Spring!

Bara no nai Hanaya - J Drama preview

2008-02-01T02:53:00.001Z

Finally I have something to bring you in 2008!

D-Addicts Wiki page

Hard subbed by Love song (LS)

Shiomi Eiji is forced to become a single father when his girlfriend passes away while giving birth to their daughter, Shizuku. Desolate after the loss of the woman he loved, Eiji has little time or desire to even consider remarrying, working part-time jobs just to make ends meet. The one thing that gives meaning and joy to his life is Shizuku, but even that begins to trouble him when Shizuku begins acting strange, hiding her face by putting a cloth over her head when around other people.

One day after opening his flower shop, Eiji comes across a blind woman standing by the door, taking shelter from the rain. When he invites her to come inside the shop, she at first refuses, but later gives in to Eiji's kindness. They become intimate friends and she slowly grows to depend on Eiji's sincerity and good heartedness. After rescuing her a following evening when she walks into the street and is nearly struck by traffic, Eiji himself inexplicably discovers the cold of winter that has saddled his heart all these years slowly melting away... " - D-addicts Wiki entry.

Katori Shingo plays Shiomi Eiji (Saiyuuki)
Takeuchi Yuko plays Shirato Eiji (Lunch no Joou, Style, Pride)
Matsuda Shota is Kudo Naoya (Hana Yori Dango, Liar Game)
Yagi Yuki is Shiomi Shizuku

Yuko Chan is back! She plays a blind woman who accepts some help from the big hearted Eiji, but she seems to sense a lack of compassion from Eiji and wants him to forget his late wife and go out with her. Later in the first episode its revealed that she is in fact a nurse and is under orders from a superior to infiltrate Eiji's life and destroy him, how will this unfold - would Eiji ever find out?

Yuko still retains her elegance and looks but goes well with Shingo and the quick and witty dialogue suits the style of the show.

I was surprised to see Matsuda Shota in this series playing the bit part player of someone down on his luck and forced to leave his girlfriend and convinces Eiji to let him stay a while.

Point of interest is the young child Yuki, she plays her part well with strong delivery of her lines and solid acting, coupled with the fact she looks a bit like the deceased mother all adds to an interesting character.

The drama moves at a steady pace (apart from the intro which moves through (rather well made I might add) about 7-8 years of the father and child's life. Lines are good and the acting is pretty good throughout, the camera work is no slouch either with some fine night time shots and atmospheric shots during the raining scenes.

So far there are 2 episodes hard subbed by Love Song, I look forward to this show and the kind of stories that might evolve!

Technorati tags: bara, no, nai, hanaya, j-drama, jdrama, jdorama, preview, summary

J Drama updates Winter 2008

2008-01-20T20:56:00.001Z

Honey & Clover, 1 Pound Gospel and more news!

Hello, I haven't updated recently since I have been waiting for some hard subbed dramas to come out.

I have been filling my Xmas time with watching older dramas such as Mukodono 2003 (Sars-Fansubs) and Shiawase ni Naritai (soft subs).

There was one J drama special one off feudal era comedy with Inoue Mao called Anmitsu Hime which was good fun to watch even it wasn't subbed yet (accidentally started watching it thinking it was a preview!), expect a review soon!

There are some hard subs to note - Sars-Fansubs have subbed episode 1 of Honey and Clover! Check their site for the details.

One Pound Gospel or 1 Pound no Fukuin is a comedy romance starring the ever popular Kamenashi Kazuya of KAT-TUN fame and has had episode one hard subbed by Sailor Spork Productions, again check their site for the details.

I have updated my Google notebook with links to the D-Addict forums topics with Soft subs that are starting up:

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

Only have Saito San, Ashita no Kita Yoshio and Koshonin to show for at the moment!

Technorati tags: honey, clover, 1, pound, gospel, anmitsu, hime, j drama, preview, soft subs

Upcoming J Dramas in Winter 2008

2007-12-26T11:22:00.001Z

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

Dream Again - J Drama Review

2007-12-25T17:14:00.001Z

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

Joundan Janai - J Drama Review

2007-12-22T03:14:00.001Z

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

Smallville Season 7 episode 9 Summary

2007-12-16T05:18:00.001Z

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

Naruto Shippuuden 39 - Summary

2007-12-14T14:05:00.001Z

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

Bleach 151-152 Summary

2007-12-13T18:18:00.001Z

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

Mop Girl - J Drama Summary

2007-12-12T01:30:00.001Z

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

When to grow up from high school dramas...

2007-12-11T06:50:00.001Z

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

J Drama REWIND: Strawberry on the Shortcake

2007-12-11T04:48:00.001Z

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

ERIKA - Destination Nowhere

2007-12-10T02:49:00.001Z

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

Twitter updates

2007-12-02T02:35:00.001Z

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..

Wonderful life - J Drama Review

2007-12-02T02:31:00.001Z

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

Byakuyakou - J-Drama Review

2007-12-01T07:02:00.000Z

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

Bleach Episode 150 Review

2007-11-30T23:32:00.001Z

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

Prison Break Season 3 Episode 7

2007-11-12T05:03:00.001Z

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

Prison Break Season 3 Episode 6

2007-11-12T03:29:00.001Z

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

Dream Again - Series Preview

2007-11-12T02:32:00.001Z

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

Smallville Season 7 Episodes 5 and 6

2007-11-11T22:19:00.001Z

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

Abareno Mama Preview Episode 1

2007-11-11T21:36:00.001Z

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

Naruto Shippuuden Episode 33

2007-11-11T20:27:00.001Z

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

Ikebukuro West Gate Park Special

2007-11-11T07:10:00.001Z

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

PS2 Memor32 Chips

2007-11-09T08:26:00.001Z

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

Long time no post...

2007-11-09T08:19:00.001Z

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

Bleach 138-139 Summary

2007-09-06T22:34:00.001+01:00

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

Life Episode 1 - Summary

2007-09-06T22:31:00.001+01:00

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

Lack of Posting this month

2007-08-26T22:43:00.001+01:00

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.

Updates?

2007-07-30T08:33:00.001+01:00

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!

Hotaru no Hikari - Drama Summary

2007-07-17T22:32:00.001+01:00

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!

Links to most softsubs

2007-07-16T12:14:00.001+01:00

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

Papa to Musume no Nanokakan Episode 1

2007-07-15T22:40:00.001+01:00

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

Hanazakari no Kimitachi e - Summary

2007-07-14T02:16:00.001+01:00

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

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai episode 1

2007-07-14T02:05:00.001+01:00

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

Bleach

2007-07-14T01:57:00.001+01:00

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

Naruto Shippudden Episode 19 Summary

2007-07-14T01:56:00.001+01:00

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

Naruto Dattebayo info and new must watch Anime

2007-07-06T21:26:00.001+01:00

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

Proposal Daisukusen Review

2007-06-29T00:31:00.001+01:00

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

J Drama watch list Summer 2007

2007-06-27T22:12:00.001+01:00

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.

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

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)

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

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

Bleach Episode 129 & 130

2007-06-22T19:03:00.001+01:00

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

Naruto Shippudden 18 Summary

2007-06-22T14:26:00.001+01:00

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

Liar Game - Summary

2007-06-17T01:40:00.001+01:00

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

Joudan Janai Episode 1 Summary

2007-06-15T00:00:00.001+01:00

Oda Yuji is back with a BANG!

D-Addicts Wiki Entry

Oda Yuji (Odoru Daisousasen, Last Christmas) back as Takamura Keita - a 40 year Computer Design Technician who is hitched up with a 20 year University student Ellen (Ueno Juri - Nadame Cantabile) who fly off to France to visit Ellen's parent's and seek permission for Marriage.

Keita bumps into his ex girlfriend from his University days, Hirose Rei (Ohtake Shinobu) while in Nice, France. What he didn't know that when he meets Ellen's parents, Rei is her Mother!

Still going ahead with the marriage Keita shows an awkwardness towards Rei and if new ever got out that he used to date Ellen's mother all hell would break loose. The episode ends with Rei returning to Tokyo and staying unannounced with the newly weds. Seems like she is out for revenge and wants to be the thorn in the pair's marriage.

As typical of Oda's previous Drama outings, this is filling with great little comic moments in amongst the crazy script and wonderful cast.
A couple of noteworthy mentions are Ueno Juri looks wonderful and looks to be the up and coming j-tv actress for 07/08, and also Oda Yuji has aged quite a bit in the 4 years since he last did a drama!

The Subs are only up to episode 4, lets hope it continues to progress. As usual all the subs and stuff are over at D-addicts.

Tags: oda yuji j-tv joudan janai review

6 a side football in Hayes

2007-06-11T08:49:00.001+01:00

www.soccerfeva.com

In the spring we decided to enter a new league that was starting at Vale Farm sports center (our local astro pitch), but when the league was canceled due to lack of support from Vale Farm themselves, we were invited to join the newly formed Hayes league.

Now after 5 games we finished the table (Championship) in first place and are the group winners and will be promoted to the top group (Premiership) for the next round!

Our team's name is Ghetto Fabulous (Sounds silly but the captain came up with that on the day of registration) and here is the squad as well as our results:

Nauman (Captain)

Sajid (Manager)

Umair

Zeshan

Zuhair

Gary

Yasaar

Sameer

Hamid

Adil

Sanjee

Sandeep

Fixture	Result
Ghetto v Football Club UK	5-0 (Umair 3, Zeshan, Hamid)
Ghetto v Alpha 6	1-2 (Zeshan) (Ghetto awarded 3-0 win as Alpha 6 were thrown out)
Ghetto v Vasco	0-1
Ghetto v Last orders	1-1 (Umair)
Ghetto v Last orders	2-1 (Gary, Umair)

Technorati tags: football, 6 a side, astro

Another cooking Jap Drama - Bambino!

2007-06-08T18:16:00.001+01:00

Matsumoto Jun (Hana Yori Dango, Gokusen) plays Ban Shogo - an over enthusiastic young assistant chef who works part time at his local family restaurant while at university. He is arrogant and wants to promoted to a full chef but the head chef recommends he move from the small town to Ropponji in Tokyo where he can work under the head chef's training college at a popular Italian restaurant as a helper.

The head chef tests him early and puts him in charge of Pasta, but fails miserably. The favourism he is shown by the head chef turns everyone in the kitchen against him - with all colleagues betting he wont last even a day. He gets put under the charge of Katori Nozomi played by Sato Ryuta who doesn't take long to knock seven shades out of our "pretending to be too great" main star. But Ban comes back for more and earns the nickname "Bambino" because he is like a infant deer and needs supervision (Bamby - Italian for baby deer?).

Jun does well to portray his usual character and a good scene is when he steps into the kitchen at his new work place and is stunned (see picture), he is even more blown away by the pace and intensity when the orders start coming in. The cast are all mostly known figures (not starring ones like Jun) and there isn't much to judge them on yet. I seem to be a fan of the cooking type of drama (Lunch no joou, Teppan Shoujo Akane, etc) and I enjoyed this and will be watching it very closely.

Technorati Tags: bambino, matsumoto, jun, j-tv, japanese, drama, review

Naruto Shippudden 17 Summary

2007-06-08T13:58:00.001+01:00

I am going to review Naruto now every week (released Friday mornings (4am) by Dattebayo) since after power watching through 220+ episodes of the regular series, I found the new series on par - sometimes better - than Bleach. The story is like thus: Naruto is back from his 2.5 years of training and teams up with Sakura and Kakashi into a new 3 man team. They are sent to help the Village of the Sand after their leader Gaara is beaten and taken by the group known as Akatsuki (Itachi Uchiha is a member). En route Gai's team and Naruto's team are slowed down by Akatsuki fake's. This episode is more of a transitional one, since the team are resting and then finally get to Akatsuki's location. In the meantime we hear that it was the old granny (in the picture above) who sealed away the "one tailed" demon into Gaara on his father's request. We also see what seems to be the death of Gaara after Akatsuki finish extracting the demon from his body.

Would be a real shame if Gaara is dead because he was one of the more powerful and psychopathic characters who really lit up series 2 and 3.

The next episode won't be out for another 2 weeks - NOOOOO!

Technorati Tags: anime, review, naruto, shippudden, 17, summary

Bleach Episode 128 summary

2007-06-08T13:48:00.001+01:00

The time wasting and uselessness of the bleach cast continues to confound me! In this episode we see about 1 minute of anything remotely useful - Ichigo is able to keep his Hollow transformation for a mere 30 seconds longer while he continues to train. The rest of this episode is just Matsumoto wasting time shopping and getting involved with a pre formed arrancar - which gets everyone suspicious as to why Aizen would send that into the real world. So no meat to this episode as usual and the void still remains in my stomach - when will we get some decent entertainment in Bleach again?

Technorati Tags: Bleach, 128, anime, review, summary, ichigo, matsumoto

A update finally

2007-05-22T20:48:00.001+01:00

Been a pretty nice month all round.

Albeit losing to Chelsea in the FA Cup final put a downer on the title celebrations for all United fans.

Smallville has finished for Season 6, I will get an review ready in the upcoming week.

I finished Final Fantasy XII so expect shots/videos and a good in depth review.

Going to have some retro reviews looking at some of the games available on the Virtual Console on the Nintendo Wii.

I got my England v Brazil ticket in the post today, damn shame I couldn't get 2 tickets together.

Championes Championes, Ole Ole Ole!

2007-05-07T13:33:00.001+01:00

Continuing on the celebrations from yesterday I have some links to post:

Sky's coverage after the Arsenal draw (including Morinho, Sir Alex and co reaction as well as a video):

Asnl v chel (1)
Uploaded by jay2567

BBC's report on where and how United won the title:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/6610085.stm

On a side note, tomorrow sometime I will be posting a review for Smallville Episode 20, Bleach catch up review and also news about the new 6 aside competition we have entered.

Technorati tags: manchester, united, champions, chelsea, arsenal, premiership, league, bbc, alex, ferguson, morinho, sky

Manchester United - Champions!

2007-05-06T18:19:00.001+01:00

Manchester Utd completed a monumentus comeback to reclaim the Premiership title for a record 9th time this afternoon after Chelsea failed to beat Arsenal (1-1 at the Emirates Stadium).

At the start of the campaign people didn't rate United as title contenders because their failure to bring in a replacement for Ruud van Nistelrooy (who was sold to Real Madrid in the summer) and Roy Keane (who left United midway through the last season). Their only outfield signing was debatable Michael Carrick, who now is a regular first team player and a perfect partner for Scholes, and the emergence of Ronaldo and the late show from Rooney and the return to form of Giggs and Scholes!

More coverage and views over the week as United visit Chelsea this Wednesday and West Ham over the weekend.

Technorati tags: manchester, united, mufc, man united, premiership, champions, chelsea, arsenal

Digg attacked by the people!

2007-05-02T09:08:00.001+01:00

In a bizarre incident at Digg.com took place yesterday.

Seems the HD DVD DRM/encryption has been cracked due to a key which was leaked from the film industry. Following this a story appeared on Digg yesterday which included the code included in the key (something of a hexadecimal number). Fearing the wrath of the MPAA (Group that safe guards the interests of the Movie industry - much like the guys who come after you if you download MP3s - RIAA) Digg removed the story which became the catalyst to a community backlash:

Hundreds of post appeared from users all including the cracked HD DVD key in them. At first I thought Digg had been hacked, but it looks like people retaliated making sure this DVD Key stayed in the public domain.

Seems Digg has bowed to the pressure and claims people would "rather see us go down fighting" than bow to the pressure of the big movie makers.

Interesting that "people power" has kept Digg.com free from influence of American conglomerates.

Mega UPDATE!

2007-04-29T20:39:00.001+01:00

I have updated my Youtube videos and Flickr Galleries!

As in my earlier post I have uploaded Photos from the new Wembley stadium, but there are complimenting videos in my youtube account:

http://www.youtube.com/theskillster

I have uploaded videos from Manchester United vs Lille from in the crowd, as well as Manchester United vs Roma in the Crowd, the Manchester United Tour.

There are more pictures in the Wii unboxing showing the UI, the Internet Shop and the Opera Browser at work.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/theskillster/sets/72157600128237110/

Also photos from the Manchester United vs AS Roma game!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/theskillster/sets/72157600128231527/

Smallville summary

2007-04-29T20:20:00.001+01:00

Episodes 18 & 19 + recap!

Episode 17 and recap:

Clark is distraught by the marriage between Lana and Lex Luthor and starts rounding up criminals in a rather violent way, in this episode he gets into a fight club in order to track down and kill and escapee from the Phantom zone, featuring 2 WWE wrestlers.

Episode 18:

Smallville is back after its 3 week (damn straight, that is a long time!) break the series is back on track with a nice episode.

This episode is all about Chloe's past, and her mother(who was in a mental hospital) seems to have powers to control Chloe. Lex jumps on the chance to transfer her to a LuthorCorp facility to see if she can control other "Meteor Freaks", while in captivity she controls Chloe and makes her do various errands like try and break her out or run Lex off the road etc.

Lana gets caught in some cross fire and ends up in the Smallville hospital (probably the most known landmark in Smallville) and the doctor carries out tests on her and to our astonishment (not mines as I had already sussed this out) that Lana was not pregnant but she was unknowingly slipped hormones which simulated pregnancy!

In the meantime Clark busts out Chloe and her mum, but Chloe's mum can't stay sane for long and eventually goes back to her "catatonic" state but is put into safe care via Queen industries.

In retaliation to Lex's experiments on Chloe and her mum she threatens to expose Lex's 33.1 practices on Meteor Freaks and Lex warns her to drop the story or face aggravated assault charges (for ramming Lex off the road and knock him out in his car), but Chloe remains resolute and hits back claiming some "Quality time behind bars" is worth it if she can take down Lex. Lex has the ace up his sleeve when he reveals that he will put Chloe in a place that "makes prison look like a picnic"! We can all guess he means 33.1 and Chloe warns Clark and he feels that the "war has just began" between them and Lex.

Episode 19:

We start with Lex and Lionel in some underground tunnel network, Lionel gets hurt as some women kidnaps Lex.

Seems she is a ex soldier and her husband was supposedly KIA but was infact taken in by LuthorCorp. Lex claims he is dead but the women has already set explosives to go off in 20 minutes and sets off one in the same room after Lex wrestles her gun away and shoots her.

Clark has already made his way into the tunnels after Lionel managed to warn him about something big that Lex was doing there, but he is hit by the explosion and the walls in the tunnels contain meteor rocks and Clark is out cold for 5 minutes. He finally awakes and gets to Lex who managed to find cover, but Clark is hurt bad and has been weakened by the rocks. Lex claims he knew that he must have been invincible after he stabbed him with the chisel back in the valentines day special in Feb.

After Clark reveals that Lex forced Lana to marry him and she wanted to leave him on the day of the wedding, Lex still helps Clark who gets caught in even more rubble.

Meanwhile it seems Lana is forcing the issue after confronting Lionel in hospital about her fake pregnancy and then busting into Lex briefcase from his car to find a CD about this "ARES" project which has something to do with a Zoner. She has full access to Lex's documents on his laptop and Chloe learns that Lana knows about Clark's secret when she goes to her for help in finding Clark.

Lex and Clark get out but Lana is totally all over Clark till she spots Lex and then goes over to him to carry on her charade as Mrs Luthor.

Lana learns from Lionel that he is protecting Clark by keeping Lana close to Lex because Lex could kill Clark (?). Lex asks Lana if she did see Clark the day of the wedding and Lana does a superb act of bending the truth and indicating that she would lose her love for someone who did not love her (ie Lex was only interested in the marriage etc) but she doesn't drop the fake pregnancy discovery on him yet.

In the meantime Clark studies the maps and documents to see what Lex was really up to in the tunnels but fails to find the real deal - Lex has that ex army dude in some labs down there and seems like he might be the one who has been taken over by the Zoner in the video Lana saw...

Will Clark mend his relationship with Lex after this escape? Will Lana leech Lex for all the info she can? What is Lionel doing - whose side is he on? Where is Oliver Queen - we want more of him! Next episode 20 of 22 is out next Saturday.

Sarg

Wolf's Tale

2007-04-29T17:24:00.001+01:00

He may have forgotten to plug my blog, but at least I can plug his!

Parv finaly solved his seemingly never ending struggle to stick to one location for his blog(wordpress, blogger, yes he has tried them all). After his latest move I suggested I should sign him up with a domain name (URL) so he can move around but still be found under the one universal name. So he took the bait and all worked out in the end(although I am sure he still has to pay me 30 odd quid).

He is now (and hopefully forever) location at www.wolfstales.com

Also thanks to www.freeparking.co.uk who make it so easy to buy and manage domain names.

Technorati tags: url, domain name, wolfstale.com, theskillster.com, freeparking.co.uk

Day Trip to see the New Wembley Stadium

2007-04-29T17:18:00.001+01:00

£10 well spent! This Saturday I went to watch the England Under 16 team vs the Spanish U16 at the new Wembley Stadium. The admission of £10 was worth it to get to grace this fine new national arena.

The game wasn't have bad either - fine English pedigree on show - winning convincingly 1-0. I have uploaded photos to my gallery here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/theskillster/sets/72157600149415419/

I will add descriptions and comments later when I also upload my videos (including the only goal of the game!) later in the week.

Technorati tags: fa, new wembley, wembley stadium, england, spain, international, freindly, under 16, 90000, cup, final, photos, gallery

Nintendo Wii - Unboxing!

2007-04-26T04:02:00.001+01:00

Yes! I got a Wii two weeks ago and have finally posted the photos of the Unboxing - a video of the setup will follow shortly.

Click on the image to access the gallery of photos:

Prison Break - The End?

2007-04-26T02:17:00.001+01:00

Season Finale!

Well I thought this would be the end of the line for Prison Break but it seems those executive producers at FOX have decided that they want to make a 3rd series (WHAT??) and somehow the writers have shoe horned in everything into the last episode!

I was left gasping for air when I realised what had actually happened in the final episode - not because it was so good, but because it was totally unbelievable. Schofield goes head first (no thinking involved) to try and save Sarah. Instead they lose the money, the boat and their freedom.

The only winner is Lincoln who was cleared of killing the ex president's brother and Kellermen looks like he has been killed off by the company.

Somehow we are lead to believe that Schofield has been experimented on and that now he has been thrown into jail he will attempt to escape simply because "its in his blood".

Schofield is thrown into "Sona" a prison that is so lawless that even the police do not dare enter. We see Mahone and Schofield enter and we see Bellick on the floor with barely any clothes on completely disfigured by the animals (or criminals) in the jail.

Who know what is in store for series 3 but I am not that interested for the time being.

Tags: Prison Break tv review

Manchester United - Old Trafford Tour

2007-04-21T14:14:00.001+01:00

Yes I did go to the tour and the Museum.

I didn't think there would be much to see, but I was wrong.
The Museum is packed to the rafters with Shirts, Medals, Trophies, Videos, Memorabilia and loads more. We got pressed for time and we didn't get to see everything in the museum (about 3 floors - albeit not big floors - of info and stuff on display) but the tour guide certainly made up for it - he has been a tour guide for the past 10 or so years so he knows players habits like the back of his hand.

I have uploaded the photos and shifted through them to keep the best ones and spent all of this morning labeling and adding comments to them. The are in a set in Flickr at this URL:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/theskillster/sets/72157600070304119

Something we didn't get to snap was the Player's Lounge where players chill before and after a game. After the game there is a bar inside the lounge which is also open. There is a plaque on the wall there commemorating all the players who have played for United and represented their country, so players like George Best, Beckham, Giggs etc are on there.

Player's Family and Guests are also invited into the room and get to mingle with the players (but come on it is the size of my living room how do you fit 15/16 players and friends+family??) and notably there is a Creche facility for those parents who play at United which is manned by dedicated match day Nannies.

The Player's Guests and Family get to sit just by the tunnel when watching the game (Which on TV Screens is the bottom left part of the pitch), so you will notice alot of the times players will go to that corner and point at someone (C Ronaldo's 2nd Goal vs Roma for instance) and that is usually someone in the Guest area.

There is a mini tunnel leading from the VIP Lounge down past the Director's boxes and onto pitchside where the Manager's sit - this used to be the original tunnel and has not been changed since early 20th Centaury.

The Stadium holds 3 Police cells for any trouble makers within the ground who do anything that cannot be solved by simply throwing them out of the stadium. The local Police take over the CCTV Security center during match days to keep an eye on things.

Before we went on the Tour me and Zam checked out the developing Salford Docks (in Salford Quays, around the corner from Old Trafford).
There is the Lowery Center which houses discount outlets like Nike Warehouse and Cadburys Warehouse. The riverside view was really nice and the bridge you can see in the photo actually rises to let ships through.

Normally on Match days the road leading to Old Trafford (Sir Matt Busby Way) is jammed like a cattle market and there is no traffic allowed through and what is normally a 10 minute walk takes up to 30 minutes to navigate. But you can see the stadium as you near it, you pass the Lancashire County Cricket Club on your way (Old Trafford Cricket Ground) in case you wanted to know where that is.

Tags: Manchester United Old Trafford Tour Museum Salford Quays

Very Belated Update

2007-04-21T07:49:00.001+01:00

Trip to Manchester, Old Trafford Tour, The End of Prison Break and more

Well I have been lazy this last 30 days - why? I don't know.

But lets get back on track and I am going to make some detailed posts about my visit to Old Trafford for Manchester United vs Roma (Yes that was a special night!), my return to OT for the OT tour (very interesting!) and the end of Hana Yori Dango and Prison Break (!) and also why I am pi**ed off with Bleach and Smallville.

Stay tuned for posts on these topics throughout today since I am at work with very little to do at the moment.

Sarg signing out!

Weekly update - March week 3

2007-03-27T01:00:00.001+01:00

Prison Break, Smallville, FF12, HYD, Bleach and more!

Well PS3 fever is upon us, I really don't look after my money that well but parting with £450 (potentially £550 if you include a 2nd controller, a game and a HDMI cable) is still difficult. But with all the hoo haa I feel I might grab a Wii to help me stay off the PS2 and FF12 - but there is no stock to be found in any online retail store - Here is a website that searches for stock daily http://www.wii-consoles.co.uk.

Prison Break last week was a massive step towards the end of the series - Scofield and Burrows are in Panama! Sarah sacrifices her freedom to make sure Michael and Lincoln get away safely! T-Bag gets caught in Mexico and is being used as bait to lure out Scofield, and he has taken the bait. In a mysterious turn of fate C-Note gets released from prison and is given a new identity in order to secure his testimony against Agent Mahone. In this week's preview Agent Kellermen is involved and Scofield and Mahone team up against T-bag - and there is only 2 episodes to go!!!

Smallville was interesting, featuring -from my guess- some WWE wrestlers. Clark is unable to control his emotions after seeing Lana finally marry Lex Luthor, and goes around physically apprehending hoards of criminals in Metropolis and leaving them unconscious outside police stations. Oliver Queen tips Clark on a online brawl where people pay top dollar to watch people fight it out and die in the ring. What gets Clark involved is that the recent undefeated Champion is Kyrptonian and is from the Phantom Zone! Well of course Lois gets involved and shows off her fighting abilities and Clark has a pretty bloody fight with the Kyrptonian - I am surprised as this is the first time he has bled without the aid of Krypton or being stripped of his power, can he actually bleed if he gets hit hard enough? Lana looses her baby - conveniently it times well with the fact Lana uses the baby as an excuse not to be all lovey with Lex and avoid the honeymoon. Although there are doubts now as to wether there was a baby in the first place as Lex burns all her files from the Smallville hospital. Lana is left in a mentally broken state by the end of the show and is now right in Lex's ever controlling hands.

Hana yori Dango's finale was aired a few weeks ago, it has just been translated by Sars Fansubs and I will watch it on my break later this week - same goes for Prison Break this week.

Bleach was back with a part filler explaining how Ikkaku (if that's how you say it) managed to have a Bankai (as shown in the last episode). I assume he is hiding it because his squad captain (Kenpachi) doesn't have a Bankai (Second Release) let alone a Shikai (First Release), but you learn about his past and the fact Renji looks up to him ever since he moved to his vice captain position due to his obsession to overtake Captain Byakyua. At the end of the episode you see that his fully charged Bankai was enough to take down his enemy.

Final Fantasy 12 is getting pretty exciting. It is easy to go around fighting for fun and leveling up but the side quests are fun too.
Currently I have spent 40 hours, seems chasing "Marks" is quite time consuming. People who have problems getting rid of a certain monsters often offer a reward for its death and they advertise them as "marks" to be hunted down. Often it is good experience and you can get good items.

The licensing board is pretty good too, meaning that certain characters will become specialized in one or many areas - totally your choosing.
Currently Ashe is like a Paladin - very good with Swords but has the best Healing power and has pretty healthy MP and a Summon to boot.

Technorati tags: bleach, j-drama, preview, prison break, smallville, ps3, wii, review

J-Dorama Alert: Spring 2007

2007-03-17T03:40:00.001Z

Upcoming Drama series:

Jodan Janai - which simply means Don't Joke or Not Joking stars Oda Yuji, who is back in J-Dorama for the first time since Last Christmas 3 years ago. This series starts airing on the 15th of April so still awhile to go. One thing to point out is the theme song will be sung by Oda himself(again??), he usually records some tracks for his shows (Last Christmas, Odoru Daisousasen, etc). Hopefully the show - which is a comedy of course - is as good as his previous outings, fingers crossed.

Hotelier is a show starring Ueto Aya (Ace wo narae, Attack No 1, Shimokita Sundays) has a Manager at a Hotel that is being taken over by a rival businessman. Plot details are sparse but Ueto usually lights up her shows so this is worth a watch - at least for episode 1.

Jikou Keisatsu is back for a second season! Starring Odajiri Joe who is a Civil worker at a Police station who has a hobby of solving crimes that have passed their legal time frame (statute of limitations - strangely enough in the USA their is no time limit on murder cases...) and his assistant Asou Kumiko. What excuse will Kumiko have for sticking with Odajiri this time? There is no wedding certificate now, surely.
First series was an interesting if not slow watch - but 2nd series should be improved, I hope.

Proposal Daisukusen (Proposal Strategy) stars Yamashita Tomohisa (Dragon Zakura, Kurosagi, IGWP, Lunch no Joou etc) alongside Nagasawa Masami (Dragon Zakura) and this seems to be a bizarre go back in time and make the right decision type of story but if its got Yamashita in it then its gotta be worth watching!

Ichi Rittoru no Namida - 1 Litre of Tears: seems Sawaijiri Erika is going to be back in a one of special for this series (not confirmed yet), but the series was a classic (according to about 99% of viewers) so this is a must.

I have missed out much of the Winter schedule but I will start catching up as the hard subs start to emerge.

Technorati tags: j-drama, preview

OCZ 2GB PC2-6400 Platinum Preview

2007-03-17T03:09:00.001Z

I took the plunge and put hard earned money down for the OCZ 2GB Kit (1GBx2) PC2-6400 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 (model OCZ2P800R22GK) over at Overclockers UK who have it at a special price of £117.49 (inc VAT).

I also plumped for Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular PSU priced at £70.49 at Overclockers UK as well.

I did fit the memory and not the PSU (will wait to get a new motherboard before I gut my system again) and all worked OK out the box. I noticed on their support site that the specified timings of 4-4-4-15 at 800MHz are not in the memory's SPD timing table and need to be entered manually into the BIOS (so much for not going Corsair).

I have been running them for 3 days and have stress tested them and they see OK, not really a speed boost I had hoped for with 2GB but suppose I wont know till they are really running at 800MHz (currently at 677MHz due to motherboard limitations).

Hana Yori Dango Season 2

2007-03-17T02:45:00.001Z

Just watched episodes 9 and 10 and episode 10 was a really interesting one. Domyoji goes to find Tsukushi at the fishing docks where her family is staying at, but during a moment of chaos Domyoji falls off the edge of a pier and hits his head on a rock on the beach below.

All seems well when he regains his consciousness in hospital but in a bizarre twist of screen writer's horror he forgets who Tsukushi is!

During the episode they all rally to try and get him to remember, but another patient befriends him and seems to be stealing Tsukushi's place when he finally remembers who is missing from his memories but thinks it's this other girl! This sets the scene for our hour long final episode where it's likely Tsukushi and Umi-Chan will fight it out for Domyoji. Bring it on!

Weekly/Monthly Reviews

2007-03-16T22:02:00.001Z

Gears of War, FF 12, Prison Break and more!

I know I have been behind on the reviews, but I am back!

I played all of Gears of War on the Xbox 360, and in co-op mode that game rocks! I played FPS on the PC all my life and games like Halo on the game pad don't cut it for me. But this GOW (Gears of War) really is easy to pick up and play and is a challenge to master.

It is real fun to be covering your team mates back (AI or otherwise) and the graphics feature high resolution textures and HDR otherwise known as High Dynamic Range which is a colour/lighting programmable effect which drastically changes the playing environment and makes games feel like movies (HDR is used in SFX for films) and even more life like. But it takes a hit on the CPU (well it does on mine when I play CS:Source with HDR on) but you would barely notice on the Xbox 360. Sometimes when you enter a new map it takes 3-4 seconds to buffer the high quality textures so you can spot a crappy texture here and there until the action begins.

This game is worth buying an Xbox 360 - I can't wait for the next installment!

Meanwhile I bought FF12, Yes I BOUGHT Final Fantasy 12 PAL not NTSC not downloaded, I paid £30 from www.play.com.

I got the game yesterday and since I have experience with FF11 (the online only game) I quickly noticed how the battle system is upgraded from FF11.

I mean the party leader automatically attacks after an attack is initiated (so he will go on attacking till you tell him otherwise) and other party members fight on their own.

What I do like is you can set "macros" or Gambits to help automate your team members more efficiently.

This all equates to fast quick paced battles while you are on the map (so now warping to a new screen to fight). This removes random battles but allows you to stay clear of enemies or allows them to come after you.

The voices are quite good and there are some stupid cockney accents in there, but the lip syncing is horrible and doesn't even come close to FF10's quality. Animation and level design is allot better, but the level graphics in towns is hampered by the low quality of the textures which are then heavily filtered. It is hard to tell unless you play the game on a LCD, trust me.

Prison Break was on last week, the game is up for Sucre but how did C-Note survive? Looks like he might stitch up Mahone to the FBI snitch in his team! The President lets Schofield get away but caves into pressure from The Company and doesn't grant pardon to the brothers and instead steps down from her position as President! Michael and Lincoln have no choice but to make a run for it - but what's that! Sarah is being tailed by the FBI Women - she will lead them straight to the brothers! What do you know it isn't on this week! Boo!

Smallville was back on yesterday! Yeah!
Lana finally finds out Clark's secret, but can she get out of the Luthor's grip to finally be with CK? Allot of surprises but in the end the inevitable happens, and you are left to wonder - just what is growing inside Lana's womb?

Hana Yori Dango Season 2 is into the last few episodes (finishes episode 11), I am going to watch 9 and 10 tonight and 11 is out Saturday(wont be subbed till next week).

Technorati tags: xbox, playstation, final fantasy, gears of war, review, prison break, smallville, j-tv

Manchester Utd vs Lille

2007-03-16T21:29:00.001Z

We got seats in the new North Eastern Quadrants that were completed over the summer - £50 a pop they were (I know expensive), but with the leather upholstery on the seats and the increased leg room it looked worth it.
There was a great view and a good atmosphere - the Lille players were getting some real stick from the fans! But there were no hostilities so all is good. Actual play on the pitch was poor and rates at about 5 out of 10 but the stadium was alive and good to see the crowd are getting allot more vocal then last season. Hit the picture to go to my gallery of photos from the night (new photos were taken with my new Samsung NV10 camera).

Samsung NV10

2007-03-16T21:23:00.001Z

Wow, been a while since I last posted, allot to talk about but lets start from the day before I went to Manchester.

I got the Samsung NV10 camera and went to unbox the thing, here are some shots of the packaging:

And the cables etc inside:

Notice the charger seems to be just a plug, more on that later. Now the camera itself:

It has a light metallic body and fits naturally into your grip. The rear of the camera has a large LCD and touch sensitive buttons along the sides of the screen, these also act like scroll bars meaning you can move you thumb along the buttons to scroll through pictures/options etc:

Notice the Dial to select the shooting mode, the silver button is the shutter and the smaller button is the power. The flash pops up from to top too:

Note here is the interface socket on the left and on the right is the Battery and SD card slots:

Here is the charger which connects to the USB cable supplied with the camera! So basically this camera will charge from any USB socket:

First impressions:

It takes a while to get around the menus (getting used to the touch buttons is tricky), but there are allot of options to explore here for the pro-sumer. The camera is small and light and is easy to take with you to a football match(!). Expect future pictures to be taken from the NV10.

Technorati tags: unboxing, samsung, nv10, camera, review

New month - new expectations

2007-03-02T15:24:00.001Z

The month of March is upon us - that means two things: I just got paid and secondly the weather is improving!

I ordered Smallville Series 4 & 5 (same prices as season 3 £25 ish) since I finished series 3 (there were so many episodes I have missed on TV!).

I am getting a new camera, I hopefully will be getting a Samsung NV10. a 10 Megapixel camera. It has a thin body and has great picture quality at long distance. I will include a review and unpacking pictures on arrival - hopefully I can get it before I leave to go to Old Trafford in Manchester!

I am downloading the rest of Season 2 of Tsubasa Chronicle so expect a final review of the series when I watch the rest of it.

Another J-Dorama I might start watching soon is Wonderful life starring the famous Sorimachi Takashi, this series is currently being subbed by Sars Fansubs and they are up to episode 5.

I use Microsoft's Live Writer for writing these posts, it's currently in beta but I find it has a nice feel and can easily be customized with plugins etc.

Tsubasa Chronicle and other series tid bits

2007-02-27T01:40:00.001Z

I am into season 2 of Tsubasa (Episode 27 and beyond is season 2), and am starting to enjoy it. More and more time is being spent in each world and character development is doing very well despite my original fears.

The lead Syaoran has something dark in his past which the story line seems to be avoiding for the moment, while Princess Sakura as quickly come to life and towards the end of Season 1 she was pulling her wait and adding to the show and at the start Season 2 she is taking a lead role when a race sponsor's president decides that Sakura is the right role model to take part in her race.

Incidentally this president's name is Tomoyo which clashes unmistakably with Card Captor Sakura and it clicked to me when she wanted to a costume for Sakura's final race:

I took this shot to draw distinct similarities between Tsubasa Chronicle Season 2 episode 1 and Card Captor Sakura, in which Sakura does the action hero and Tomoyo does the filming and the wardrobe work for Sakura.
Alas they hit similar roles in an alternate universe in Season 2 of Tsubasa Chronicle.

Well I am downloading the rest of Season 2 (which is not licensed by the way) and I have high hopes for it. I will keep you updated.

Smallville is taking a break till mid March and this next episode IS the big one - Lex Luthor and Lana Lang's Marriage! Will Clark intervene (will he even show up!) or will Lana realize that Lex is pulling the wool over her eyes? Or is it finally going to end and will Chloe get a change with Clark? Who knows, but I can't wait.

Prison Break is available from about 3:30am GMT today so will be worth the wait guys!

Meanwhile I have been catching up with Inuyasha the manga.
It has reached about chapter 490 and in December celebrated 10 years of Inuyasha! Shame the Anime stopped in 2003 (4 years),

the plot has progressed quit a fair bit and a few characters have died on the way too.

Technorati tags: anime, tsubasa chronicle, sakura, tomoyo, smallville, clark, lana, lex, luthor, prison break, inuyasha, manga

Champions League roundup

2007-02-24T06:31:00.001Z

I know I don't blog much about the footballing world but this week was so good that it was worth breaking my silence.

Following the craziness that was Lille vs Man United, I decided to watch the Barcelona v Liverpool match because not only are Barca worth watching at any time but Liverpool are my favorites to spoil anyone's party in europe especially away from home (Arsenal are a close second).

Liverpool displayed immovable away form to win the Champions League back in 2005 and Barcelona were the irresistible form on their way to the 2006 Champions League title so this was going to be a blockbuster.

And sure as hell it was, Liverpool did the job of containing Barca for 80 odd minutes and beating them in their own back yard - kudos to the scousers.

I am of course a long time Manchester United fan, and I won't be giving the Liverpool any more credit until after we play them at Anfield in a week's time. After that I will sit down and watch Barca attack like never before when they visit Liverpool to try and overturn their 2-1 deficit from the home leg.

Here was a nice Nou Camp photo I found on flickr from bcnsimpson

Smallville DVD Sets

2007-02-19T07:18:00.001Z

I don't know why but many people have different opinions about the "Superman - The Early Years" AKA Smallville.

I have been watching it on and off during seasons 1 to 4 and watched most of seasons 5 and 6 and I really like the show.

So much so that when I watched some episodes of season 1 on youtube I decided to buy seasons 1 and 2 on DVD.

Fortunately Amazon.co.uk have a special price on seasons 1 and 2 at about £17 each, which is good considering Tesco's DVD site had them up for that price and then put them back up to about £40. The other seasons are priced at about £25 each.

I have been busy filling up my spare time watching these and enjoying looking at the Smallville kids before they eventually grew up into what they are now.

Technorati tags: smallville, dvd, review

Small Anime update for this week

2007-02-16T03:54:00.001Z

Got through the first 10 or so episodes of Tsubasa Chronicle, and the basically our main guy - Syaoran who takes part in historical digs in the path of his deceased father and there is his childhood sweetheart Princess Sakura. Fate takes a turn for the worst and Sakura loses her soul and her memories in the form of "feathers" across different dimensions. In order to keep Sakura alive and return her to her former self Syaoran takes her on a journey to recover them and is joined up by Fai and Kurogane who have arrived in the same world due to alternate fates.

The story follows the team as they recover all the feathers from a certain dimension before they are allowed to move onto the next - which means it is impossible to get bored of the surrounding and the characters since they are constantly changing - this might be a challenge in terms of character development, we will have to wait and see.

On another note Bleach is up to episode 114 in Japan and Ichigo is reunited with Rukia, Renji and co in his home town as they prepare for their next fight with the Arrancar. Rukia reveals that she knows about Ichigo's fear about his inner Hallow and if he wishes to stop it gaining possession over him then he will have to gain more strength in order to crush it. Toshiro fears that if Eizen has assembled 10 or more of these "captain class" Menos and converted them to Arrancar then it is more then likely the Soul Society will fall. In the final scene Eizen reveals that there are possibly 20 such Menos already assembled!

An interesting and well maintained site I spotted today was Do As Infinity ::Do the Web:: who have info on Do As Infinity who did a few ending tracks to Inuyasha. They also have a separate site for Tomika Van and her solo exploits. There is also a online player to preview any of DOI's tracks and even links to DOI material on Yes Asia's Shopping site.

Orange Days

2007-02-14T21:19:00.001Z

By chance I realised I had downloaded Orange Days (J-TV Sub) awhile ago onto my USB drive and not got around to watching it.

For those who don't know Orange Days is almost legendary in terms of popularity and features a awesome collection of hot young talent!

Here is the intro from jdorama.com & wiki.d-addicts.com.

"Kai Yuuki (Satoshi Tsumabuki) is in his senior year at university studying social welfare psychology. At present, he is in the middle of job-hunting season. He is finding it difficult with no job offers so far.
One day, he meets a girl who is playing violin in the campus. She is Sae Hagio (Kou Shibasaki). In marked contrast to her beautiful tone and attractive looks, her personality is somewhat impertinent. And to top it off, she communicates through very vulgar sign language.
Four years ago, she lost the most important thing for a violinist - her hearing. As a result Sae closed off her inner self from the outside world.
Kai finds himself on a date with Sae, in place of his best friend. Unexpectedly, he comes into contact with Sae's private side.
Love, job-hunting, friendship... Setting a campus in spring as a dorama's backdrop, it's the start of a glittering youth drama."

CAST (courtesy of D-Addicts Drama Wiki):

Tsumabuki Satoshi (Lunch no Joou, IWGP) as Yuuki Kai

Shibasaki Kou as Hagio Sae

Narimiya Hiroki (Gokusen, Stand Up!!) as Aida Shohei

Shiraishi Miho (Sapuri, Densha Otoko) as Ozawa Akane

Eita (Lunch no Joou, Sapuri) as Yashima Keita

Konishi Manami (Hotman, Churasan, Ruri no Shima) as Takagi Maho

So allot of big promising talent there and bags of quality acting awaits.
Only shame is that the subs fly past so you and end up hitting pause and rewinding because you blinked and missing part of what was said, that and the translation to the opening 2-3 minutes is a bit confusing.

Technorati tags: orange days, j-tv, drama, review

Tsubasa Chronicle - This month's anime

2007-02-11T19:02:00.001Z

I finally managed to watch the entire episode 1 of Tsubasa Chronicle which Parv had given me like 8 months ago!
I have finally been bitten by the bug and I will watch it this month, but I am safe in the knowledge that I won't have to wait a week for every 20 minute episode. Hit the picture for screens from episode 1.
Anime style bears a striking resemblance to Card Captor Sakura and shares some timelines/dimensions with xxxholic.

Technorati tags: anime

Latest update for the whole week

2007-02-10T11:56:00.001Z

Well sorry if the last 2 updates were long, I have been ill since Monday so I was unable to post - well that and I got my OEM copy of Vista Ultimate edition along with my WD 500GB SATA Raid Edition drive and also a 2GB Corsair Flash USB drive (should help alleviate the fact I only have 1GB of Ram for Vista, you can use USB FLASH drives as a "smart cache" to replace the use of disk swap space).

So while I was sick I went about doing a separate install for Vista on my new upgraded D: drive....
It installed OK no issues, but XP didn't boot...

Now I am almost back to fully operational with XP, and almost recovered from the flu too.

Not to mention heavy snow fall on Thursday Morning (yes snow in London?)

Recently I started watching a new J-Drama called Style! Yes this is a drama which has the most useless story/background ever.

The main lead is a man who gets his way with women and is extremely good at his job in the commercial dept of a department mega store called "Harrys". His transfer to New York falls through when he woos the wrong women (the daughter of one of the major investors in the business) and he ends up being in charge of a project which was originally his brain child - the personal shopper project. He is put in charge of a bunch of individuals from around the store and even one person off the street.

The cast is pretty light and easy on the eye, it is great to see Yuko Takeuchi (Lunch no Joou) as she adds nice comic humor.

I am going to watch this series, it's great to see all the women bicker and team up against the lead male.

Technorati tags: snow, vista, upgrade, style!, j-drama

Upgrading the Western Digital Mybook

2007-02-10T01:23:00.001Z

I finally hit my 320GB limit (well almost) and didn't find any guides on the internet to help me so I am going to post the internet's only (possibly) guide with pictures on how to upgrade the Western Digital Mybook range (well I have the Pro version not Essential or Platinum or the new PRO II so don't blame me for any changes).

Note: this is a SATA drive and uses the ATA style power connector (Molex).

Firstly find the side where the button is located and you can wedge a flat screwdriver under the rubber seal to lever it off.
Once it is clear you can lever the two plastic halves of the case and you can prize open the case and slide out the half with the button and the drive attached See picture 1.

You need to remove the screws I have highlighted in blue to release the drive cage from the case. Next turn the case over and see picture 2.

The electronics are located here, unscrew the screws in pink. Remove the Silver tape highlighted in green and notice the connector labeled 1, this is where the button board is connected which we need to remove to release both cages from the casing. See picture 3.

Remove the Green arrow screws and pull the board off the free the drive. Remove the big screws from the sides of the drive and replace the drive with a SATA drive and screw back together, hard part is aligning the electronics cage with the drive cage so you can screw it back on and also there is a tight screw in picture 1 which could pose a problem.

Remember to format the drive - if you want to keep it the same you need to format it as FAT32, which you will probably have to do BEFORE you put the drive in or CLONE the drives with GHOST or something I will leave you to decide.

Technorati tags: western, digital, mybook, 320GB, 500GB, Raid edition, upgrade, hack, assemble, dissemble

Weekly Drama review

2007-02-04T06:48:00.001Z

Sars funsubs have outdone themselves and released 3 episodes of Ikebukuro West Gate Park or IWGP for short.

That completes the series which I class as drama with abit of murder and mystery rolled in. The main character Nagase Tomoya (My Boss My Hero and from the band TOKIO) as Makoto Majima portrays a guy in his late teens spending most of his life on the streets hanging out with his gangster friends and getting by without having to earn any money at all.

He meets some new individuals in the first episode which leads to the death of his new girlfriend and thrusts him into a spiraling murder mystery which concludes in the final episode where you really feel for him as he ends up losing everything along the way.

Another drama I am going to start downloading more of is HOTMAN which is a family drama starring Sorimachi Takashi as Furiya Enzo - who needs no introduction really (GTO, Cheap Love and Sengoku Jieitai). His mother happened to have kids from three/four other marriages and when she passes away and leaves her house and money to her eldest son Enzo he does the fatherly thing and provides shelter for his mother's other children too. That makes him the head of the household and also makes for complicated personal relationships with his "family". There are roles for lovely Yada Akiko (Last Christmas, Top Caster) as Kaneko Misuzu and also the cute Ichikawa Yui (Kurosagi, H2) as Furiya Hinata and even a later appearance of Sawajiri Erika (1 liter of tears, Taiyou no Uta). The episodes usually span about a week each and reveal allot about personalities of the individuals and also the shortcomings of the family. Well worth watching (there is also a series 2 out too) although the subbed version is a low quality VCD version so if anyone spots a better English subbed version please let me know.

Smallville episode 13 was out today - a valentines special! Sounds corny I know, but there are some real plot twists and turns.
And FINALLY Clark starts to tell Lana and Lex just how he feels about the whole Clark x Lana x Lex thing after he gets a dose of red kryptonite! Also a bizarre pairing of Louis and Clark!

Prison Break episode 15 (I think) was really something! Just when you thought that they had to run out of ideas when Terrence Steadman killed himself they unload a bomb onto the "Company"s doorstep! Will Kellerman be swayed by the Presidents sweet talk? Wait and see...

Technorati tags: hotman, iwgp, j-tv, j-drama

Western Digital 500GB Raid Edition

2007-02-01T18:45:00.001Z

I need a new hard drive to off load stuff for vista readiness.

I spotted this review of 500GB drives over at xbit labs:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/storage/display/seagate-barra-720010.html

Claims that WD's 500GB Cavier and RE drives are market leaders currently. I spotted a good price for the RE version at eBuyer:

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/108762

I think I will go for it together with a OEM copy of Vista Ultimate edition (Ultimate? Sounds like some fad from FF7 - Cloud's Ultimate Weapon...).

Not sure if I should go 32bit or 64bit - I saw pictures over at engagdet that suggest you could get both with one serial key....

http://www.engadget.com/photos/vista-home-premium-loosed-in-the-us-unboxed-in-oz/141949/

New York Teen counter sues Music Companies

2007-01-31T16:54:00.001Z

All I got to say is that it's about time someone stood up those bully tactics used by the MIAA and the RIAA or music/media industries.

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=37337

Mancunians and all that

2007-01-31T12:50:00.001Z

My cousin came down this weekend from Manchester, we are close but we love to compete and love to argue over everything!

So when he brought down Pro Evolution Soccer 6 with him (PS: I only play Winning Eleven 10 (Japan Pro Evo 6) we lined up ready to clash yet again.

Somehow he isn't that good at it and I can thank my Winning Eleven experience for wiping the floor with both him and Umi :-)

But he got his revenge with the countless beatings I took in Monopoly!
Out of around 8 games I was the first to lose in all but one game (in which I still lost to him)!

Counter Strike Source : Dedicated Server

2007-01-25T22:43:00.001Z

I decided to attempt to install SRCDS on my Linux server (that's SouRCe Dedicated Server for those out of the loop).

I found it pretty straight forward, but this is for LAN use first I haven't got any expectations to open it up to the Internet, maybe to local friends etc.

Here are some useful HOW TOs to try out, only thing I had issues with was the Mani Admin plugin which wouldn't start.

But on the How to site:

http://wolphination.com/linux/2006/03/29/how-to-setup-a-cssource-dedicated-server/

There is a post near the bottom explaining how to fix the start up issue:

"manith - You need to create the vdf file. To do so, open your text editor and copy and paste the following lines over to it:

“Plugin”
{
“file” “~/srcds_l/cstrike/addons/mani_admin_plugin”
}

Save that as mani_admin_plugin.vdf in the directory /home/username/srcds_l/cstrike/addons
That should allow Mani to work, and then pressing ‘p’ should work too.

Tolerance - See the Installation->Configuration->Sounds section of the Mani documentation. "

I managed to get owned by the CS Bots on the server :-(
My CS l33t cousin is on his way down tomorrow, time for some deathmatch me thinks!

Prison Break: Worth the wait? Other TV Series

2007-01-25T22:06:00.001Z

The 2nd half of Prison Break 2 (or Prison Break Season/Series 2) began on Monday.

Initial reaction was "That didn't just happen? How is Lincoln going to clear his name now?" and after mulling over it with my cousin the reason I didn't like this episode too much was there was too much location/story hopping.

One minute you are with Michael and Lincoln and the next you are with Agent Mahoney and then off to see T Bag, and then and then...

There is little chance to appreciate the atmosphere or the scene due to the fact each take last less then 5 minutes.

I can only hope the season starts to slow down and perhaps a good half of an episode (non stop) is dedicated to one person's adventures and not to 8-9 different sub plots.

In the mean time I finished watching Kekkon Dekinai Otoko (The Man who cannot get married) which is a comedy based around a 40 year old architect Kuwano Shinsuke (played by Abe Hiroshi - the lead in Dragon Zakura and also in Narita rikon)who is a perfectionist and finds the idea of having a partner a burden and considers it to be in his best interests to be single.

That is until he meets up with Hayasaka Natsumi (Natukawa Yui) who works as a doctor at the local hospital/walk in surgery who is 35 and has failed to find her partner and is totally unlady like in her interests and behavior towards our lead man.

They both are insanely rude to each other and get their kicks by putting the other down, which makes for some crazy arguments and fights.

The series shows Shinsuke's feelings and ideals slowly change under the influence of those around him, but will he ever get married?

Read more at D-Addicts Wiki site here:
http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Kekkon_Dekinai_Otoko

Series Updates!
Akihabara@DEEP has finally been completed! Although the full ending will only be available in the DVD version, also there is a special to be translated in the future!

IWGP has had episode 9 released by SARS today! What will happen to Makio?

I started to watch Tatta Hitotsu no Koi (Just one love), it stars the two of the best young actors out there in Japan - Kamenashi Kazuya (Sappuri, Gokusen 2 and member of KAT-TUN) and Ayase Haruka (Sekai no Chuushin, Byakuyakou) in a Cinderella (but with the guy being the poor person) type scenario based in Yokohama. This is cool to watch in HD (720p) because the scenery is great and of course Ayase is worth watching! I have seen episodes 1 and 2, but further watching is restricted till I free up space on my hard drives...
Time to buy some more storage me thinks or crack open my USB mybook to try and swap in a larger hard drive. Man J-TV has filled 90% of my 320GB drive!!

J-Dorama - Last Christmas

2007-01-21T09:35:00.000Z

A very good review of a good Romantic Comedy starring Oda Yuji(Odoru Daisousasen fame) and Yada Akiko(Top Caster).

http://cheesemon.livejournal.com/97889.html

Saw this series last year and it is worth grabbing the whole series and watching it on a rainy day or on those long winter nights!

Shame this was one of Oda's last appearances in a Drama role before becoming exclusively a Film actor...

Create unhackable passwords with ease

2007-01-16T21:42:00.000Z

I very good guide I just read via digg on how to easily create something called compound passwords:

http://neomeme.wordpress.com/2007/01/15/generating-the-perfect-password/

DELL 24" 2407FPW Widescreen LCD Monitor

2007-01-15T21:06:00.000Z

I finally went and bought it after weeks of shuffling through articles to try and find the perfect desktop LCD.

I have posted unboxing pictures on my Flickr page:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/theskillster/tags/dell

My first reaction was "damn better not drop it!" followed by "shit this is a tad too big for my desk"!

The screen is so grand is deserves a matching setup to go with it, my PC is OK Spec wise (Core 2 Duo, 1GB ram, Nvidia 7600 GS, etc) but I need a decent table to go with it.

I did order the Dell Soundbar to go underneath the monitor's frame to accommodate speakers - that has arrived a few days after and I will post photos of when I have it hooked up.

Rolling Star - Yui - Fansite

2007-01-10T15:55:00.000Z

For those Yui fans I stumbled across this fan site who basically translate all the info on Yui's own site (www.yui-net.com).

I was actually looking for lyrics to Rolling Star (Bleach's new Opening track) so I advise all fans to take a look at some point here:

http://bluewind.wordpress.com/

HYD Season 2 Softsubs are OUT!

2007-01-08T17:01:00.000Z

Yes the first episode has been translated:

http://arashi.vox.com/

Get the softsub file from the post on that site and rename the .SRT file to match the name of the RAW avi you have.

Make sure you have the CCCP codec pack installed.

Happy Hana Yori Dango'ing...

Hana Yori Dongo Returns and more!

2007-01-08T13:52:00.000Z

Yes that is Correct!

HYD returned with season 2 last Friday with a 2 Hour special!
Hanazawa Rui and Makino go to New York to visit Domoyoji!

I hope there will be a Soft/Hard Subtitled version out in the next week or so. When there is expect a full review!

In the mean time I have watched the great Dragon Zakura (a great GTO themed drama), Gokusen 2 (not really worth my time).

I am currently following Akihabara@Deep (hard subbed by Love Song) and IWGP (Ikebukuro West Gate Park, subbed by Sars) which are both good comedy with a bit of detective story behind them.

I was watching Yamato Nadeshiko which is a story about a women who originally is poor and is only happy with wealth. She goes on a group date and one of the men pretends to be a wealthy surgeon. Lots of humorous lies and deceit made this an interesting watch, but a shame that Mognet who are doing the Hard subbing have only managed 3 episodes thus far and there are no Raws and Soft subs to go by.

Another piece of news, the Bunto/Filler Story of Bleach is Finally over!
That's right from about episode 65 till 109 we have had to hold back our anger - but towards the last 10 or so the action was alot better.

Episode 109 was a summary of everything thus far and ushered in the new arc. Grab episode 110 which is airing on Wednesday I think.

Big Screens or Higher Resolution?

2007-01-08T13:39:00.000Z

Here is an argument I personally think deserves some attention.

People in the UK seem to be obsessed by screen size (40" TVs etc), but after spending money on a 32" LCD TV a couple of years back I quickly came to realise something - you can only appreciate the size of a screen when you have a resolution to match and make use of every single pixel on that screen.

Hence I believe it is worth spending the extra 100-200 quid to get a screen for my PC that has a resolution that would spank 22"-24" LCD TVs.

It is like playing your Super Nintendo or Playstation 1 on a 40" LCD and thinking "the graphics never used to look THIS bad?". No point in just simply "blowing up" an image on a larger screen is there?

I am going to put my money where my mouth is and am investing in a quality LCD to go with my recently upgraded PC.

I will have a unboxing and review shortly

Football 5 a side or 7 a side?

2006-12-13T13:32:00.000Z

The boys over at Vale farm prefer at least 7 a side.

Why? If you think about it, that's 1 Keeper and 6 outfield players.
This generally leads to a 3 up and 3 down mentality. This was the case last Saturday when we had 7 players- We kept 3 defenders and two central midfielder's while Gary and Umi did the attacking.

It lead to us winning something like 11-3, a good win? Maybe not.
The opening 20 minutes were awesome - flowing football from either side - Gary, Dan and Umi combining with some great passing moves .

After the teams had settled we found ourselves on the back foot for the rest of the game while the other team had resorted to long ball tactics to try and break us down.

That leaves the rest of the game a bit of a drain having the defend deep and resort to lobbing the ball up to the remaining striker.
I remember reading a while back that the British failure at international level and the lack of technical ability in the youth system stems from the demands placed on youth teams to win rather then play attractive and exciting football.

This is evident when we play on Saturdays; key players want to win more rather then enjoy the game, I would rather see a 5,6 a side game where the teams are spread evenly and teams play to score goals, keep the ball and play some exciting attacking football.

That's just my opinion, anyone is welcome to comment on it.

Lazy Lazy

2006-11-28T12:48:00.000Z

Played at Astro on Saturday. Beaten 4-3 I think.
Far too many players - 8v8, I didn't play good either.

Went to work Sunday night, when I came home I watched Episode 1 of Lunch Queen (Lunch no Joou) and I liked it. A star studded cast where you get to see the likes of Yamada as a youngster (filmed in 2002) and the lead women is very kawai too, so I will watch the rest of the series for sure (hard subbed by SO).

Also a new series I have started watching is My Boss, My Hero.
In this series a Yakuza(?) Boss's first son (who is destined to take over the gang/clan soon) keeps making major blunders at deals because he is dumb - yes he flunked school and can barely count or read.
So as a ultimatum from his father he has to retake his senior year of High school in order to be qualified to lead the gang.

The lead is constantly reminded of his lack of IQ by his class mates but keeps trying to learn driven by his dream of being the boss of his gang.
What keeps this first episode funny is his natural reaction to certain situations - sometimes he switches to gang mode and baffles everyone!

Today I am going to watch the last episode of this season's Prison Break 2. Will Lincoln and Schofield get away from Mahoney? Will Sarah learn her Father's Secret in time to save Lincoln? What will happen to T-bag, Belleck and that ex army dude?

Got some training session tonight organised by my Physio (Yawn), can't be bothered to revise either (revise or study?).

Hana Yori Dango - Summary

2006-10-03T11:48:00.000+01:00

Just finished watching this series yesterday - WOW!

What a star line up! All the cast members where quality and some of the acting was class. Especially the lead Inoue Mao - I will be looking out for more shows with her in them.

I am posting a summary for the shows I have watched and then a review when I finished re-watching them. First off then - Hana Yori Dango;

Makino Tsukushi (Played by Inoue Mao) is a girl from a working class family who managed to get admission into the socially elite school of Eitoku, she works hard on keeping a low profile amongst all the glamour and glitz of the wealthy teens there but she can't help noticing the extravagance of the upper class.

There is always going to be the uber wealthy who distinguish themselves from the rest - enter F4 or Flower 4 - a group of 4 guys whose parents make huge donations to the school and are allowed to be above all the school rules.

Anyone who crosses their path risks being given a "red note" which ultimately means the end of their social life - constant abuse and bullying till they quit the school.

Makino finally breaks her silence when her new friend - Sanjou Sakurako (Played by Sato Megumi - Taiyou no Uta) - accidentally spills drink on the leader of F4 Domyoji Tsukasa (Played by Matsumoto Jun from the Akashi Band) and she steps in to try and stop any trouble, this angers F4 and the next day she becomes the first girl to receive a "red note".

Makino starts getting abused by her school mates but surprisingly finds a listening ear from one of the F4 members Hanazawa Rui (played by Oguri Shun - Stand up!! GTO) who steps in a couple of times to save her from the abuse.

Makino is as stubborn as her name suggests (Tsukushi generally refers to a weed) and when Domyoji makes a laughing stock of her bento (Packed lunch)and her family she declares that she wont be moved and is ready for war against F4 and promptly clatters Domyoji with a right hook which has Hanazawa grinning and everyone shocked including Domyoji.

Japan TV Drama Shows

2006-10-02T22:45:00.000+01:00

Lately I have been downloading and watching loads (I mean loads) of J TV Dorama (japanese way of saying drama) Series.

I am going to post Pictures and review all the series I have seen to date.

And in all honesty I have yet to come across a show that isn't either a joy to watch due to the cast/script or keeps you hooked thanks to the storyline.

Here is a quick list of some of the shows I will be reviewing and will get the Skillster ratings:

Great Teacher Onizuka
Cheap Love
Love Complex
Odoru Daisousasen
H2 - Kimi to itahibi
Last Christmas
Narita Rikon
Joou no Kyoushitsu
Saiyuuki
Sapuri
Sengoku Jietai
Stand Up!!
Taiyou no Uta
Hana Yori Dango

If there any others you would like me to review please post in the comments.

Thanks