Currently Watching:
No spoilers. I swear.
Meteor Bond (because I can never remember how to spell it in Japanese)
Six episodes in now. Still so very madly in love with this show. I started out having not-so-happy feelings towards Ryo and Erika. Ryo just strikes me as being a very intense wet blanket and Erika is just too pretty and perfect and whiny for me to appreciate in any way-shape-or-form. And... well, we all know how I feel about The Neener. Regardless of who else was in this, I was going to be watching for him.
Nino. He's actually said it himself, his acting has improved. How he actually got better than Letters, I don't even know. We're just going to pretend Yamada Taro was a bad, bad dream and henseforth worship the ground he walks on. No. Serious. Koichi just rocks my world. I just get the sense that he's been quietly struggling his whole life to keep his family together while still haunted by the past. And now that it's finally time to face those demons he's walking a wire so thin it's invisible.
Ryo. Taisuke is the Japanese equivilent to a blonde bimbo with heart. And acting skills. Or at least fake-beard-attaching skills. He works in a porn shop. I mean, how do you not love this guy? Up until this point I was viewing Taisuke and Shi as support for Koichi. Which, in some respects, still holds true, but Taisuke is coming into his own. He's not just blindly following his older brother's directions. Which, usually then leads to some nice comical relief, but his role is very vital. These characters are very rich.
Erika. Shi is so very sweet and innocent and absolutely adored by her brothers. She cheats, lies and steals and is still somehow a fluffy little kitten. No claws. Not to say she's perfect. She's very faliable. And I really find her a treat to watch on screen. There have been these moments between her and Koiche ---"you're making the face again" where had anyone else delivered that like to MY NINO I would want to throttle them, but coming from Shi the meaning is so much more complex than the words.
All in all, how the capture the guy who did it, doesn't interest me so much as how it's going to change them and their relationships. Already we've hit a huuuge reveal. ....which I plan to cap the hell out of and make icons. Don't mind me.
And... my thoughts are petering out and... I really just want to go to bed.
Last Friends
I chose this one because after watching Proposal Daisakusen I have a girl-crush on Nagasawa Masami (who coincidentally dated Nino). Anyway, point being, I've come to discover that JDramas are either wildly off the wall/cheesy/omgwtfbbq (HanaKimi, Hanadan) or utterly and completely so far grounded in reality of human nature that it's painful to watch (Maou).
Last Friends definitely falls into the latter catagory. We're dealing with Domestic Violence, Gender Identity Disorder, Infidelity and god knows what else they're throwing at us (just finished episode 7). Being as I got into Jdrama for the escapsim and giggles, I ask myself, why am I still even watching this?!
The answer is because it's good. As awful as the things Sousuke (also played by Ryo, I love how incestuous Japan entertainment is) has done, and omg, he doesn't stop at beating his girlfriend, they don't just write him off as a guy who gets off on beating girls. This is very much a story of the cycle of domestic violence. As much as he's the villan here, he's not being villanized by the show's creators. I respect that.
Beyond that, the characters are all richly drawn and their friendship is frought with the desire to be good friends to one another. Sometimes, it's not always easy and everyone is facing their own issues. It's just so utterly real. These people are known to me. I know the bubbly girl who takes it all in stride and wants everyone to have fun, no matter how it might hurt her deep down. I know the guy who may or may not be gay, who stands tall to support his friends. I know the girl who's just a litlte bit too boyish that raises people's brows. I know the girl who's meek and quiet and never quite made it on her own two feet, I know the geeky guy who can't quite believe his luck to find the perfect woman who then throws him out of his own house marrige certificate or not.
It's just so easy to identify with these people. Particularly in this last episode. When it was all about truth and who finds out what and in what order. Having been in a tight group of friends, I understand how one person can spread a piece of information to one and not another. Holding back with some and baring it all to another. It's just so realistically portrayed, I can't look away.
The material is heavy, though, so I usually can go only one or two episodes in a sitting.
Minami's Girlfriend
This is I don't even know how old. It's a Nino drama. And it's not even completely subbed yet. I only have one episode downloaded.
Nino has a girlfriend. One day, she shrinks down to about 6 inches tall. I did mention that Jdrama comes in two favors right? This would be the omgwtfbbq variety. I like it. I want more.
Still to Watch:
Code Blue (Yamapi!)
Brown Sugar Machiatto (which is... TW? Alia, help me out here?)
Rookies (Baseball!)
Kizura Cat's Eye (More baseball and Sho!)
Have Watched:
HYD
HYD2
HanaKimi
Kimi wa Petto
Maou
Nobuta wo Produce
Proposal Daisakusen
Sho!With!Babies (teaching preschool... can't remember the name)
Yamada Taro Montagori
Kurosagi
...*tries to think of others*
Are you senseing a pattern? My rule for watching dramas has been 7 Degrees of MatsuJun. I have to be able to trace at least one actor back to Matsumoto Jun through something else I've watched. Hense I got Last Friends(Masami)<------ PD(Yamapi)<------NwP(Maki)<----HanaKimi( Shun)<---- HYD(MatsuJun)
And I have officially reached my quota of late night rambling. Gomen.
Meteor Bond (because I can never remember how to spell it in Japanese)
Six episodes in now. Still so very madly in love with this show. I started out having not-so-happy feelings towards Ryo and Erika. Ryo just strikes me as being a very intense wet blanket and Erika is just too pretty and perfect and whiny for me to appreciate in any way-shape-or-form. And... well, we all know how I feel about The Neener. Regardless of who else was in this, I was going to be watching for him.
Nino. He's actually said it himself, his acting has improved. How he actually got better than Letters, I don't even know. We're just going to pretend Yamada Taro was a bad, bad dream and henseforth worship the ground he walks on. No. Serious. Koichi just rocks my world. I just get the sense that he's been quietly struggling his whole life to keep his family together while still haunted by the past. And now that it's finally time to face those demons he's walking a wire so thin it's invisible.
Ryo. Taisuke is the Japanese equivilent to a blonde bimbo with heart. And acting skills. Or at least fake-beard-attaching skills. He works in a porn shop. I mean, how do you not love this guy? Up until this point I was viewing Taisuke and Shi as support for Koichi. Which, in some respects, still holds true, but Taisuke is coming into his own. He's not just blindly following his older brother's directions. Which, usually then leads to some nice comical relief, but his role is very vital. These characters are very rich.
Erika. Shi is so very sweet and innocent and absolutely adored by her brothers. She cheats, lies and steals and is still somehow a fluffy little kitten. No claws. Not to say she's perfect. She's very faliable. And I really find her a treat to watch on screen. There have been these moments between her and Koiche ---"you're making the face again" where had anyone else delivered that like to MY NINO I would want to throttle them, but coming from Shi the meaning is so much more complex than the words.
All in all, how the capture the guy who did it, doesn't interest me so much as how it's going to change them and their relationships. Already we've hit a huuuge reveal. ....which I plan to cap the hell out of and make icons. Don't mind me.
And... my thoughts are petering out and... I really just want to go to bed.
Last Friends
I chose this one because after watching Proposal Daisakusen I have a girl-crush on Nagasawa Masami (who coincidentally dated Nino). Anyway, point being, I've come to discover that JDramas are either wildly off the wall/cheesy/omgwtfbbq (HanaKimi, Hanadan) or utterly and completely so far grounded in reality of human nature that it's painful to watch (Maou).
Last Friends definitely falls into the latter catagory. We're dealing with Domestic Violence, Gender Identity Disorder, Infidelity and god knows what else they're throwing at us (just finished episode 7). Being as I got into Jdrama for the escapsim and giggles, I ask myself, why am I still even watching this?!
The answer is because it's good. As awful as the things Sousuke (also played by Ryo, I love how incestuous Japan entertainment is) has done, and omg, he doesn't stop at beating his girlfriend, they don't just write him off as a guy who gets off on beating girls. This is very much a story of the cycle of domestic violence. As much as he's the villan here, he's not being villanized by the show's creators. I respect that.
Beyond that, the characters are all richly drawn and their friendship is frought with the desire to be good friends to one another. Sometimes, it's not always easy and everyone is facing their own issues. It's just so utterly real. These people are known to me. I know the bubbly girl who takes it all in stride and wants everyone to have fun, no matter how it might hurt her deep down. I know the guy who may or may not be gay, who stands tall to support his friends. I know the girl who's just a litlte bit too boyish that raises people's brows. I know the girl who's meek and quiet and never quite made it on her own two feet, I know the geeky guy who can't quite believe his luck to find the perfect woman who then throws him out of his own house marrige certificate or not.
It's just so easy to identify with these people. Particularly in this last episode. When it was all about truth and who finds out what and in what order. Having been in a tight group of friends, I understand how one person can spread a piece of information to one and not another. Holding back with some and baring it all to another. It's just so realistically portrayed, I can't look away.
The material is heavy, though, so I usually can go only one or two episodes in a sitting.
Minami's Girlfriend
This is I don't even know how old. It's a Nino drama. And it's not even completely subbed yet. I only have one episode downloaded.
Nino has a girlfriend. One day, she shrinks down to about 6 inches tall. I did mention that Jdrama comes in two favors right? This would be the omgwtfbbq variety. I like it. I want more.
Still to Watch:
Code Blue (Yamapi!)
Brown Sugar Machiatto (which is... TW? Alia, help me out here?)
Rookies (Baseball!)
Kizura Cat's Eye (More baseball and Sho!)
Have Watched:
HYD
HYD2
HanaKimi
Kimi wa Petto
Maou
Nobuta wo Produce
Proposal Daisakusen
Sho!With!Babies (teaching preschool... can't remember the name)
Yamada Taro Montagori
Kurosagi
...*tries to think of others*
Are you senseing a pattern? My rule for watching dramas has been 7 Degrees of MatsuJun. I have to be able to trace at least one actor back to Matsumoto Jun through something else I've watched. Hense I got Last Friends(Masami)<------ PD(Yamapi)<------NwP(Maki)<----HanaKimi( Shun)<---- HYD(MatsuJun)
And I have officially reached my quota of late night rambling. Gomen.