mahoro ekimae bangaichi
omg. found a little gem called mahoro tada benriken, which i watched after 3 episodes of mahoro ekimae bangaichi, completed that, and then watched mahoro ekimae kyosokyoku. ...and it's frigging amazing.
i watched eita have such explosive dynamics with matsujun in lucky seven and admired his excellent acting and amazing agility, so i went to look for more things eita starred in.
and this little gem... in it not only i found that matsuda shota's brother, matsuda ryuhei, was yet another great actor, but man, i think this was a very quiet, sad, yet hopeful piece. it had so much subtlety - in the duo's relationship (gintama would call it kusa na en), their gradually clarified pasts and present behaviours, and their commonplace story told through other commonplace stories - but all the while linking with each other with a whole lot of heart.
these are just two guys hurt so much by the world, yet so quietly kind that they just cannot leave anyone fallen behind.
so it's really touching when tada tells gyoten, "well, it makes no difference i guess. we're together in the office. and we're together here." and the look of surprise and gratitude that gyoten gives him T_T. gyoten, who is somewhat of a mystery, but has always seemed to long for some place or person that needs him. and i think gyoten worries in secret that tada may one day not need him any more, so it's really nice when tada says, "i should be thinking about where we should be moving..." and gyoten says, "'we'?", and tada replies, "yeah, what about it?"
this show does not have a whole lot of pizzazz, and the whole show is carried on these two fellas' shoulders. people may feel like they are not particularly very interesting characters, but to me, they felt like very deep characters that left plenty unspoken. the show says much more with its silence and what is not there, than what is. and that in itself, i think, is a lot harder to do. it feels a little like it carries the subtle style of mushi-shi.
eita once again shows off his acting prowess - man, his crying scene O_O i read one review which said that it's totally believable when he changes 5 tones in one scene and GOSH THEY ARE RIGHT. he's that good. ryuhei matsuda i can't quite tell at this point - as this role requires him to be lazy and reticent, but i think his strange actions, lazy look and his quiet gazes also communicate alot. one day i should watch something else with him in it hahaha!! big j told me that he acts very well and does alot of indie films - shall check them out!). (btw, i told bts girl that he totally looks like suga) but wait! in kyosokyoku, ryuhei-san finally shows off his range - and man, that restrained anger wow!
and the stories they tell are simple and sad facets of life, yet these two carry on. the show touches upon heavy topics like trauma, child abuse, jk clubs in japan, stalking as having potential severe consequences, prostitution, religious fanaticism, death, suicide and so on. but it doesn't glorify anything, it doesn't make anything gratituous. instead it just presents these as facts, and how the duo navigates around a simple yet complex life. it's like a dark version of gintama, with more subtle humour, but also equally touching bits about friendships T_T i also really like how both tada and gyoten are actually really intelligent in their own unique ways (but also both have very low self-esteems - poor fellas).
i watched bits of variety shows with eita and ryuhei matsuda in it... and my gosh, they seem almost like the copies of tada and gyoten HAHAHA (perhaps ryuhei-san is slightly less strange than gyoten haha, but omg that adorable awkward laugh!). they both are indeed super reticent people ^____^ so adorable! (but also so poor thing that they get kind of made fun of for their introversion awww T_T) eita indeed feels like ryuhei-san's protector of sort ahaha. THEY KNEW EACH OTHER SINCE EITA WAS 18... that's 16 years now O_O!!! no wonder they have such good chemistry hahaha!
i read a review about mahoro ekimae kyosokyoku, the most recent instalment of the mahoro series. it said it throws in a bunch of random people... but i realise these 'random' people are all connections from the first movie and drama - so the movie expects the audience to know who we are seeing, because it would take far too long to explain EVERYONE's presence again. and when we do know, the meaning is O_O the reminiscent symbols are poignant.
this has shot up to be one of my top favourite j-dramas of all time. (the first one being kenshui nanako - which i remember fondly but perhaps may view differently if i ever get to watch it again) ...could this have become #2?!
i watched eita have such explosive dynamics with matsujun in lucky seven and admired his excellent acting and amazing agility, so i went to look for more things eita starred in.
and this little gem... in it not only i found that matsuda shota's brother, matsuda ryuhei, was yet another great actor, but man, i think this was a very quiet, sad, yet hopeful piece. it had so much subtlety - in the duo's relationship (gintama would call it kusa na en), their gradually clarified pasts and present behaviours, and their commonplace story told through other commonplace stories - but all the while linking with each other with a whole lot of heart.
these are just two guys hurt so much by the world, yet so quietly kind that they just cannot leave anyone fallen behind.
so it's really touching when tada tells gyoten, "well, it makes no difference i guess. we're together in the office. and we're together here." and the look of surprise and gratitude that gyoten gives him T_T. gyoten, who is somewhat of a mystery, but has always seemed to long for some place or person that needs him. and i think gyoten worries in secret that tada may one day not need him any more, so it's really nice when tada says, "i should be thinking about where we should be moving..." and gyoten says, "'we'?", and tada replies, "yeah, what about it?"
this show does not have a whole lot of pizzazz, and the whole show is carried on these two fellas' shoulders. people may feel like they are not particularly very interesting characters, but to me, they felt like very deep characters that left plenty unspoken. the show says much more with its silence and what is not there, than what is. and that in itself, i think, is a lot harder to do. it feels a little like it carries the subtle style of mushi-shi.
eita once again shows off his acting prowess - man, his crying scene O_O i read one review which said that it's totally believable when he changes 5 tones in one scene and GOSH THEY ARE RIGHT. he's that good. ryuhei matsuda i can't quite tell at this point - as this role requires him to be lazy and reticent, but i think his strange actions, lazy look and his quiet gazes also communicate alot. one day i should watch something else with him in it hahaha!! big j told me that he acts very well and does alot of indie films - shall check them out!). (btw, i told bts girl that he totally looks like suga) but wait! in kyosokyoku, ryuhei-san finally shows off his range - and man, that restrained anger wow!
and the stories they tell are simple and sad facets of life, yet these two carry on. the show touches upon heavy topics like trauma, child abuse, jk clubs in japan, stalking as having potential severe consequences, prostitution, religious fanaticism, death, suicide and so on. but it doesn't glorify anything, it doesn't make anything gratituous. instead it just presents these as facts, and how the duo navigates around a simple yet complex life. it's like a dark version of gintama, with more subtle humour, but also equally touching bits about friendships T_T i also really like how both tada and gyoten are actually really intelligent in their own unique ways (but also both have very low self-esteems - poor fellas).
i watched bits of variety shows with eita and ryuhei matsuda in it... and my gosh, they seem almost like the copies of tada and gyoten HAHAHA (perhaps ryuhei-san is slightly less strange than gyoten haha, but omg that adorable awkward laugh!). they both are indeed super reticent people ^____^ so adorable! (but also so poor thing that they get kind of made fun of for their introversion awww T_T) eita indeed feels like ryuhei-san's protector of sort ahaha. THEY KNEW EACH OTHER SINCE EITA WAS 18... that's 16 years now O_O!!! no wonder they have such good chemistry hahaha!
i read a review about mahoro ekimae kyosokyoku, the most recent instalment of the mahoro series. it said it throws in a bunch of random people... but i realise these 'random' people are all connections from the first movie and drama - so the movie expects the audience to know who we are seeing, because it would take far too long to explain EVERYONE's presence again. and when we do know, the meaning is O_O the reminiscent symbols are poignant.
this has shot up to be one of my top favourite j-dramas of all time. (the first one being kenshui nanako - which i remember fondly but perhaps may view differently if i ever get to watch it again) ...could this have become #2?!