more dramas and random stuff
Drama
HR
I ended up watching HR because it was mentioned in an old sxs episode and I suddenly got curious about it.
For some reason, I had very low expectations. I think because I read a negative review of it a long time ago? That's why I was kind of surprised of how funny it actually was. You could easily recognise the Mitani kouki style in the script. There was 2 or 3 weaker episodes in the middle of the second half, but other than that the show had such a good flow and made me laugh a lot. The characters are all adorable, my favourite is the character played by Nakamura Shido.
It's Japan's first sitcom. I loved watching western sitcoms. Some of my favourites are That 70's Show, Becker, The IT Crowd, Scrubs...But I don't remember watching a sitcom with such a fast pace that uses the particularity of the set in such a smart way. Mitani took the constraints of the fixed, limited set and turned it into a strong point that gave the show a big part of its charm.
I loved also the making parts because I was really curious about how the show was made. The actors were under a high pressure, getting the script in the last minute, having only one day for rehearsals, having to film the whole thing in one shot in front of a live public just like a stageplay but with all the running through the different parts of the set.
I haven't heard of any other japanese sitcoms that were made after that? Maybe there were some but didn't get popular or were not on the national channels? Googling doesn't help.
Triangle
This one is a drama I wanted to watch for years.
The script is very interesting. What makes it so powerful is the fact that the characters are deeply involved with the case to solve, to the very core of their existence. They are stuck in that past and they can't move forward until they find the truth. It's a really sad story.
The OST was awesome and also the ending song, it suited the sadness of the drama so well.
There were also a lot of surprising developments along the episodes. But the ones that shook me the most was the end of episde 1 and the moment when they revealed the culprit. I was so shocked XD.
Note to self: Remember to find the OST
What am I going to watch next? I kind of want to watch Onmyouji, but I can't find subs and it doesn't look like the kind if drama I can watch raw like HR and Boku no Ikiru Michi. There are also some movies I want to watch. And a few Kimura dramas I'm curious about.
I know 6 years in such a fandom isn't a long time, but sometimes I get frustrated about all those dramas and movies I still haven't watched, all those screencaps/gifs showing things I never knew happened. And I don't even dare to talk about the old solo regular shows. lol. I think even when smap retire they'll leave enough material for 3 generations of new fans. It's frustrating but it's definitely a good thing :D
SxS
I knew nothing about Miranda Kerr apart from the fact that she was married to Orlando Bloom (an old celebrity crush). She looks like an interesting person and she was making an effort to be considerate all the time. I love how she immediately saw through Nakai's lies XD
My favourite moment was 2TOP turning into five year olds <3
I don't know if I want to talk about Shingo's T-shirt with the "Televised Executions" message. I'm just noting it down for the record.
Things Nakai Says
Nakai: I work to eat good food, ride good cars, wear good watches and date good women
Fans: *cheer*
Old stuff
I don't know why I'm suddenly thinking about this again. Probably because of all the talks about the summer music specials. But I can't get out of my head the thoughts about all the things that bugged me in last year's music shows so I have to write that down.
It started from the Music Station sp in september. there was that moment when they announced Sekai hana ranking first as the song japanese people are proud to show to the world. And Nakai said something like:"We have to do things properly" with a bitter laugh. I felt that he wasn't only talking about singing.
Then FNS, that memorable performance where they looked like they came to fight and not perform.
The one that bugged me the most was the Triangle performance in Kouhaku. When I go back to the entry I wrote on new year, I find that I didn't talk about kouhaku, probably because it kind of worried me at the time. Smap's kouhaku performances are usually very "open" towards the audience and artists. But in Triangle they were standing huddled together like we saw them sometimes when they were facing a threat or a big challenge. It was that very special smap circle that we rarely see.
And finally CDTV. I don't need to talk about the dance show, Stay and Nakai acting out of character, because I like to think we all know their meaning by now. But I remember I was surprised they sang Otherside again. Since they sang it on kouhaku, I expected them to sing Ai ga tomaru made wa or even Karei naru gyakushu on CDTV. Nakai did the same in the samuga episode that aired on 01/16, he played otherside twice on a row.
It's somehow useless to talk about this stuff now as we know that they were going through a lot in that period and that they had a few messages to pass. But I just needed to get it out of my system.
HR
I ended up watching HR because it was mentioned in an old sxs episode and I suddenly got curious about it.
For some reason, I had very low expectations. I think because I read a negative review of it a long time ago? That's why I was kind of surprised of how funny it actually was. You could easily recognise the Mitani kouki style in the script. There was 2 or 3 weaker episodes in the middle of the second half, but other than that the show had such a good flow and made me laugh a lot. The characters are all adorable, my favourite is the character played by Nakamura Shido.
It's Japan's first sitcom. I loved watching western sitcoms. Some of my favourites are That 70's Show, Becker, The IT Crowd, Scrubs...But I don't remember watching a sitcom with such a fast pace that uses the particularity of the set in such a smart way. Mitani took the constraints of the fixed, limited set and turned it into a strong point that gave the show a big part of its charm.
I loved also the making parts because I was really curious about how the show was made. The actors were under a high pressure, getting the script in the last minute, having only one day for rehearsals, having to film the whole thing in one shot in front of a live public just like a stageplay but with all the running through the different parts of the set.
I haven't heard of any other japanese sitcoms that were made after that? Maybe there were some but didn't get popular or were not on the national channels? Googling doesn't help.
Triangle
This one is a drama I wanted to watch for years.
The script is very interesting. What makes it so powerful is the fact that the characters are deeply involved with the case to solve, to the very core of their existence. They are stuck in that past and they can't move forward until they find the truth. It's a really sad story.
The OST was awesome and also the ending song, it suited the sadness of the drama so well.
There were also a lot of surprising developments along the episodes. But the ones that shook me the most was the end of episde 1 and the moment when they revealed the culprit. I was so shocked XD.
Note to self: Remember to find the OST
What am I going to watch next? I kind of want to watch Onmyouji, but I can't find subs and it doesn't look like the kind if drama I can watch raw like HR and Boku no Ikiru Michi. There are also some movies I want to watch. And a few Kimura dramas I'm curious about.
I know 6 years in such a fandom isn't a long time, but sometimes I get frustrated about all those dramas and movies I still haven't watched, all those screencaps/gifs showing things I never knew happened. And I don't even dare to talk about the old solo regular shows. lol. I think even when smap retire they'll leave enough material for 3 generations of new fans. It's frustrating but it's definitely a good thing :D
SxS
I knew nothing about Miranda Kerr apart from the fact that she was married to Orlando Bloom (an old celebrity crush). She looks like an interesting person and she was making an effort to be considerate all the time. I love how she immediately saw through Nakai's lies XD
My favourite moment was 2TOP turning into five year olds <3
I don't know if I want to talk about Shingo's T-shirt with the "Televised Executions" message. I'm just noting it down for the record.
Things Nakai Says
Nakai: I work to eat good food, ride good cars, wear good watches and date good women
Fans: *cheer*
Old stuff
I don't know why I'm suddenly thinking about this again. Probably because of all the talks about the summer music specials. But I can't get out of my head the thoughts about all the things that bugged me in last year's music shows so I have to write that down.
It started from the Music Station sp in september. there was that moment when they announced Sekai hana ranking first as the song japanese people are proud to show to the world. And Nakai said something like:"We have to do things properly" with a bitter laugh. I felt that he wasn't only talking about singing.
Then FNS, that memorable performance where they looked like they came to fight and not perform.
The one that bugged me the most was the Triangle performance in Kouhaku. When I go back to the entry I wrote on new year, I find that I didn't talk about kouhaku, probably because it kind of worried me at the time. Smap's kouhaku performances are usually very "open" towards the audience and artists. But in Triangle they were standing huddled together like we saw them sometimes when they were facing a threat or a big challenge. It was that very special smap circle that we rarely see.
And finally CDTV. I don't need to talk about the dance show, Stay and Nakai acting out of character, because I like to think we all know their meaning by now. But I remember I was surprised they sang Otherside again. Since they sang it on kouhaku, I expected them to sing Ai ga tomaru made wa or even Karei naru gyakushu on CDTV. Nakai did the same in the samuga episode that aired on 01/16, he played otherside twice on a row.
It's somehow useless to talk about this stuff now as we know that they were going through a lot in that period and that they had a few messages to pass. But I just needed to get it out of my system.