J-drama Marathon
In the last two weeks, I've finished 4 dramas. \8D/
Maou, Nakuna, Hara-chan, Yama Onna, Kabe Onna, and Love Revolution.
General thoughts on all of them:
Maou - Rather too intense for my liking. Naruse's relationship with Shiori felt odd to me because she looked so much younger. Toma's acting impressed me (as I mentioned in my last post) but all the crazy impulsive running around his character did was a bit tiresome after a while. The web that Naruse wove around Serizawa was definitely intriguing. There was a certain philosophical bent to the end when the creepy Yamano ran off to take his own revenge and Naruse couldn't stop him - Naruse had dug a hole so deep there was no way of getting out of it, even if he wanted to.
Nakuna, Hara-chan - Typical Nagase silliness. His facial expressions were hilarious! And lines like "Work? What's that?" made me crack up. Ah, the innocence of a comic book character. Hmm, I probably wasn't too keen on the episode dealing with death because it seemed almost too serious, given the light-hearted tone overall. At first I didn't really like Kutsuna Shiori's character, but she grew on me because I can related to all the unrequited love stuff. And when Makihiro gave her those straightforward, honest compliments, I could see why she would transfer her feelings to him instead of Maru's character. It's the charm of being appreciated. Wish I knew what that was like. lol
The song sung by Kutsuna Shiori's character - as well as the version sung by the children's choir in the end credits - got stuck in my head. ♪ Koi no uta toka kiraiiii nan da yo ne, dore mo mina onajiiii~ ♪
Yama Onna, Kabe Onna - I picked this on a whim (and because there were torrent seeders for it). The first half of the season was dull. So many gratuitous boob shots. But then I guess that's what happens when the series title itself is a reference to bust size. HOWEVER. I was veeery surprised to see Nishijima Hidetoshi (Kikuta in Strawberry Night, whose chemistry with the lead character Himekawa is what kept me watching that series) in it. He was the reason I continued watching - though I did a lot of fast-forwarding until parts where he showed up. XD The earlier episodes were boring to me because I really didn't care about the vague rivalry between Aoyagi and Mariya (Fukada Kyoko). Moreover, Mariya was too nice and chirpy for my liking.
The series definitely got more interesting in the last 3 episodes or so when they started to play up the romantic angles more, and specifically the triangle between Aoyagi (Itoh Misaki), Iguchi (Nishijima), and Aoyagi's boss (Oikawa Mitsuhiro, who apparently does all these flamboyant roles very well. hahah). For once I think I wouldn't have been terribly upset if the main girl had chosen the other guy. In fact, the "other guy" - Aoyagi's boss, in this case - is more intriguing than the main love interest. Iguchi doesn't have much of a character arc, and he's all but invisible in most of the earlier episodes. (I find that Nishijima has a sort of charisma that draws one in...) Her boss, however, is present throughout the series. At first he comes across as a womaniser and a flippant person, but then he has to take over his father's position in the company and then starts becoming more responsible, and also loses the womanising aspect. The guy had always been interested in her, despite all her refusals. You gotta give him points for persistence...
Love Revolution - This is an old-ish drama from 2001. The two main female characters meant very little to me, but there was Fujiki Naohito as the leading man, and I was reeeally curious about that. :3 I'd also looked up a few drama reviews and people said it's good so I gave it a shot. On the plus side: Fujiki Naohito in suits. ALL THE TIME. I liked that. heheheh (Granted, the suits were loose-fitting and not quite the sharply-tailored ones of this decade's fashion...) The romantic scenes in episodes 2-5 were really quite romantic. And for once the kiss scenes were not... frozen and flat. HAHA
But after the 5th episode... I got gradually more and more irritated with the storyline and the characters. Episodes 8-11 were especially trying. I quite wanted to slap some of the people in it. Unfortunately one of them - and the one I most wanted to scream at - was Suga, Fujiki Naohito's character. Sure, he was handsome, but at the same time, such a jerk and an idiot. Ugh. The final episode was much better because I didn't want to slap anyone in it but I felt it was... lacking romance? The bit that should have been romantic was just "okay." Maybe I was exhausted after all the exasperation from the 4 episodes before that. But compared to the first 5 episodes, that last one was rather unromantic, which was a disappointment.
Now I need something else to watch. Recommendations?
I wanna try watching Renai Neet and Zettai Kareshi but links all seem dead :( :(
Maou, Nakuna, Hara-chan, Yama Onna, Kabe Onna, and Love Revolution.
General thoughts on all of them:
Maou - Rather too intense for my liking. Naruse's relationship with Shiori felt odd to me because she looked so much younger. Toma's acting impressed me (as I mentioned in my last post) but all the crazy impulsive running around his character did was a bit tiresome after a while. The web that Naruse wove around Serizawa was definitely intriguing. There was a certain philosophical bent to the end when the creepy Yamano ran off to take his own revenge and Naruse couldn't stop him - Naruse had dug a hole so deep there was no way of getting out of it, even if he wanted to.
Nakuna, Hara-chan - Typical Nagase silliness. His facial expressions were hilarious! And lines like "Work? What's that?" made me crack up. Ah, the innocence of a comic book character. Hmm, I probably wasn't too keen on the episode dealing with death because it seemed almost too serious, given the light-hearted tone overall. At first I didn't really like Kutsuna Shiori's character, but she grew on me because I can related to all the unrequited love stuff. And when Makihiro gave her those straightforward, honest compliments, I could see why she would transfer her feelings to him instead of Maru's character. It's the charm of being appreciated. Wish I knew what that was like. lol
The song sung by Kutsuna Shiori's character - as well as the version sung by the children's choir in the end credits - got stuck in my head. ♪ Koi no uta toka kiraiiii nan da yo ne, dore mo mina onajiiii~ ♪
Yama Onna, Kabe Onna - I picked this on a whim (and because there were torrent seeders for it). The first half of the season was dull. So many gratuitous boob shots. But then I guess that's what happens when the series title itself is a reference to bust size. HOWEVER. I was veeery surprised to see Nishijima Hidetoshi (Kikuta in Strawberry Night, whose chemistry with the lead character Himekawa is what kept me watching that series) in it. He was the reason I continued watching - though I did a lot of fast-forwarding until parts where he showed up. XD The earlier episodes were boring to me because I really didn't care about the vague rivalry between Aoyagi and Mariya (Fukada Kyoko). Moreover, Mariya was too nice and chirpy for my liking.
The series definitely got more interesting in the last 3 episodes or so when they started to play up the romantic angles more, and specifically the triangle between Aoyagi (Itoh Misaki), Iguchi (Nishijima), and Aoyagi's boss (Oikawa Mitsuhiro, who apparently does all these flamboyant roles very well. hahah). For once I think I wouldn't have been terribly upset if the main girl had chosen the other guy. In fact, the "other guy" - Aoyagi's boss, in this case - is more intriguing than the main love interest. Iguchi doesn't have much of a character arc, and he's all but invisible in most of the earlier episodes. (I find that Nishijima has a sort of charisma that draws one in...) Her boss, however, is present throughout the series. At first he comes across as a womaniser and a flippant person, but then he has to take over his father's position in the company and then starts becoming more responsible, and also loses the womanising aspect. The guy had always been interested in her, despite all her refusals. You gotta give him points for persistence...
Love Revolution - This is an old-ish drama from 2001. The two main female characters meant very little to me, but there was Fujiki Naohito as the leading man, and I was reeeally curious about that. :3 I'd also looked up a few drama reviews and people said it's good so I gave it a shot. On the plus side: Fujiki Naohito in suits. ALL THE TIME. I liked that. heheheh (Granted, the suits were loose-fitting and not quite the sharply-tailored ones of this decade's fashion...) The romantic scenes in episodes 2-5 were really quite romantic. And for once the kiss scenes were not... frozen and flat. HAHA
But after the 5th episode... I got gradually more and more irritated with the storyline and the characters. Episodes 8-11 were especially trying. I quite wanted to slap some of the people in it. Unfortunately one of them - and the one I most wanted to scream at - was Suga, Fujiki Naohito's character. Sure, he was handsome, but at the same time, such a jerk and an idiot. Ugh. The final episode was much better because I didn't want to slap anyone in it but I felt it was... lacking romance? The bit that should have been romantic was just "okay." Maybe I was exhausted after all the exasperation from the 4 episodes before that. But compared to the first 5 episodes, that last one was rather unromantic, which was a disappointment.
Now I need something else to watch. Recommendations?
I wanna try watching Renai Neet and Zettai Kareshi but links all seem dead :( :(