HANA YORI DANGO (花より男子)

Fall 2005

Hana Yori Dango (Boys Over Flowers) is about a financially poor girl named Makino Tsukushi (Inoue Mao) who attends a high school for the super rich through the sacrifices made by her family. As she is different from her classmates in terms of status, money, and power, all she wants to do is pass through each day at school without any issues. Unfortunately, she inadvertently gets involved with Domyoji Tsukasa (Matsumoto Jun), the leader of the powerful group, F4 (Flower 4). Domyoji is known to have a bad temper and when he doesn't like a student, a red note is slipped into the student's locker. The student then gets harassed by other students forcing him/her to leave the school. Since the F4 are heirs to powerful Japanese families who donate to the school, they can do whatever they please; even the teachers don't get in the way. But when Domyoji tries to get rid of Makino, she surprisingly stands up to him. Since people usually cower before him, he is startled and actually develops a bit of an affection for Makino. This starts a rocky relationship between the two, but will there be a happy ending?

Recommendation: Okay, so first of all this drama was based on a popular girl's manga. Since I'm a guy, I don't read girl mangas (not saying that all guys don't read girl mangas) so I can't compare the series to the manga version. I do know that it was a very popular manga and actually the drama got really high ratings. Unfortunately, I have to say that it really didn't do much for me. I thought Inoue Mao acted well, but I just couldn't watch the drama without gritting my teeth sometimes. Man, I hated those three annoying rich girls (although they were probably meant to be annoying) and all the F4 members including Matsujun (he was funny at times) made me cringe. Oguri Shun was descent. That said I actually liked Makino's family and Kato Takako who played the dango store owner was funny too. I understand that the directing team may have wanted to make it feel like a manga at times, but sometimes I think the people in charge should think more out of the box and not necessarily try to match how the characters are in the manga exactly. Also, the more episodes I watched, the more I felt like I was watching a drama really for women (obviously because it's based on a manga for girls). Anyhoo, with all the luxurious items from cars to jewelry that they had to use for the series, I think it was quite amazing. Still at the end of the day, I don't think I would go back and watch this one again, even if you bribe me with a dango.

STORY: 1.0
ACTING: 0.5
DIRECTING: 0.5
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: 1.0
EMOTIONAL FACTOR: 0.5

3.5 Out Of 5.0 Crowns

ENGINE

Spring 2005

I'm hoping to finish one more drama before school starts. For me watching dramas comes in spurts; once you get hooked, it's hard to stop. I just watched four dramas in less than two weeks. I don't think I broke any records, but I did enjoy the experience!
The series that I just finished watching is called Engine starring Kimura Takuya who plays Kanzaki Jiro. He is a talented circuit racer who is a bit brash and immature. He gets fired from his racing team overseas and returns to Japan only to find a younger and faster racer that took his place on his old race team. He also returns to his home after being away for six years. His father runs a foster home with several kids of different ages who have various personal issues. Jiro never liked kids, but as he tries to get his job back, he inadvertently helps them deal with their own problems as well.

Recommendation: This was a pretty good drama, but I say this really only because Kimutaku is in it. Replace him with any other actor and I don't know if I would give this series a good rating. There are some good actors that I was surprised to see like Ueno Juri and Toda Erika, but they were still young and didn't have huge roles. Koyuki was good, but not great in my opinion. I watched Sakai Masato in a samurai movie called "When the Last Sword is Drawn" or "Mibugishiden" and I thought he was pretty descent in this series. Overall though I would watch this just because of Kimura Takuya. I enjoyed the story, but it was a bit predictable. After the first episode I knew that Jiro would be involved in solving a kid's problem every episode. Still it was worth it and I do recommend this series. By the way, my favorite kid was the fat one that gave Kimutaku the evil eye.

STORY: 0.5
ACTING: 1.0
DIRECTING: 0.5
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: 1.0
EMOTIONAL FACTOR: 1.0

4.0 Out Of 5.0 Crowns

DENSHA OTOKO (電車男)

Summer 2005

Densha Otoko (Train Man) is supposedly based on true events. It's about an otaku (in this case someone who is obsessed with anime) named Yamada Tsuyoshi played by Ito Atsushi who saves a young woman named Aoyama Saori played by Ito Misaki from an abusive drunk on a train. Yamada never had a relationship with a woman and posts his experiences on an internet forum for single men. He receives advice from various strangers who eventually call him "Densha Otoko" on the net hoping that he could one day get together with the beautiful "Hermes."

Recommendation: This drama received high ratings and it was an interesting story. I really loved this series as it brought excitement and high emotion to a familiar storyline aka Beauty and the Beast. I basically was sucked into the world of an otaku and the series humanized this group who are usually seen in a negative light. As usual you have some weird characters that I would have left out entirely like the strange Japanese man with the connected eyebrows touring around the world. I also thought that Ito Atsushi did a great job playing Densha Otoko, but there were a few scenes that I thought were a bit too mushy with the studdering. I know that Ito Misaki was a former model and maybe she still is, but her acting was pretty good. I watched her in two other dramas called Kiken na Aneki and Yama Onna Kabe Onna, but her acting seemed one dimensional. I thought Shiraishi Miho who played Jinkama did a fabulous job. She enters whenever the Darth Vader tune is played and Toyohara Kyosuke who played Sakurai was just hilarious with his fantasies. Yamada Takayuki, Horikita Maki, and Oguri Shun are also in this dorama but they have small roles. I definitely believe this is a classic in the drama universe and it a series that you won't regret watching!

STORY: 1.0
ACTING: 1.0
DIRECTING: 1.0
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: 1.0
EMOTIONAL FACTOR: 1.0

5.0 Out Of 5.0 Crowns

H2 - Kimi to Itahibi (君といた日々)

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Winter 2005

It's unbelievable how time flies. This is actually my first entry for 2011. I haven't posted anything for awhile mainly due to being lazy, but I was able to find the time and muster the energy to review one of my favorite dramas called H2 which is based on a high school baseball manga. The story revolves around Kunimi Hiro played by Yamada Takayuki who was an ace pitcher for his junior high school. He won the junior high school championship with his fellow teammates (and friends) Tachibana Hideo (4th batter) played by Tanaka Koutaro and Noda Atsushi (catcher) played by Nakao Akiyoshi. Unfortunately Kunimi and Noda both are diagnosed with physical ailments ("glass elbow" and weak waist respectively) that prevent them from participating in high school baseball. Both of them enter Senkawa high school which doesn't have a baseball team. Hideo on the other hand enters Meiwa No.1 high school which is known for their baseball tradition. Hideo's girlfriend (Kunimi's childhood friend) Amamiya Hikari played by Ichikawa Yui also goes to Meiwa. Eventually, Kunimi and Noda find out that the doctor who diagnosed them was not a real doctor and they were actually very healthy in the first place. They help their school's baseball fan club to become an actual baseball team and with the help of the team manager, Koga Haruka played by Ishihara Satomi, they strive to one day play in the famous high school tournament, Koshien.

Recommendation: I'm a sucker for sports dramas as I love playing sports in general. This was one of my favorite series even though I remember being annoyed by the English teacher and the character called Kine. Still, most dramas seem to include some wacky character from time to time so I wasn't too surprised. The thing about this series is that it's really not just about baseball. It's really a love story and the conflict between the four main characters (who all have names that begin with an "H" Hiro, Hideo, Hikari, Haruka) which was interesting to see play out.

Even though I never played on a high school team or met my first love in high school, each episode has a scene or two that reminded me of the "good old days" when times were simpler. With all the responsibilities that come with being an adult, it is funny to look back and remember the problems and issues that I faced back then that now seem trivial. Yet, it was still an important time in my life and I experienced heartbreak, death, and made close friendships that still last today. When I watched H2 those memories resurfaced; something about high school and the timelessness of baseball just did it for me.

STORY: 1.0

ACTING: 1.0
DIRECTING: 1.0
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: 1.0
EMOTIONAL FACTOR: 1.0

5.0 Out Of 5.0 Crowns

NOBUTA WO PRODUCE

Fall 2005

I must say that Nobuta Wo Produce is one of my favorite dramas of all time. I watched the series again to refresh my memory, and it's amazing to see how the main actors like Yamapi, Kamenashi, and Horikita Maki have gone to become big time stars. Even Toda Erika who only had a minor role in the drama is a super star these days. The drama follows three high-school students who don't have anything in common and would not have been friends if not for a unique circumstance. Kiritani Shuji (played by Kamenashi Kazuya) is a popular student and gets a long with practically everyone in class. The only person he can't stand is Kusano Akira (played by Yamshita Tomohisa) who is somewhat of an oddity and acts annoyingly around Shuji. A new student, Kotani Nobuko (played by Horikita Maki) transfers to their school. She is a reserved, quiet, and depressed student who gets bullied constantly. To do something unique and different before they graduate, Shuji and Akira decide to "produce" Nobuta (which is a nickname for Nobuko) or make her a popular student. These three unlikely amigos go through a unique adventure of ups and downs that eventually paves a path to true friendship.

Recommendation: I didn't expect much from this drama, but the story and the directing really blew me away. I thought the drama was creative in that each episode alluded to some kind of humanistic purpose or gave advice about the meaning of life. There were uplifting and moving scenes and it really went deeply into what young people think and do as they try to "grow" as human beings. It is interesting to see how Shuji wanted to change Nobuta and make her popular, but at the same time, he eventually changed himself as well. I highly recommend this drama and consider it a classic!

STORY: 1
ACTING: 1
DIRECTING: 1
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: 1
EMOTIONAL FACTOR: 1

5 OUT OF 5 CROWNS