[Buzz] Matsuda Ryuhei Sorta Effed Up

Eh, a couple of days ago, it was announced that Matsuda Ryuhei and girlfriend, Ohta Rina tied the knot on 11 January 2009. Ohta turned 21 that day. The couple is expecting a baby. Oh the elder Matsuda brother is... a father.

I give the couple 5 years.

What? The girl just turned 21 this year~ I am 21 and I am still a kid (at heart). I dunno, but yeah, best wishes to them. xD I think they make a pretty couple. They've been together for a while. And a while, in normal people's terms mean 30 years. But they're like celebrities and stuff, so...

This Ohta Rina... she's been in a couple of movies, none of which I have watched. A shotgun marriage means the father is going to work to bring the bread home and the mother's career will be put on an indefinite halt.

Sigh, it is always unfair on the women. Really, why can't men have the kids instead? (The woman-turned-man on Oprah doesn't count.)

xD We are indifferent about the marriage. We do hope to see more of Matsuda Ryuhei and celebrity marriages in the future. And like... was there a ceremony? Did younger brother Shota play Mr. Best man? Just wondering, really.

[Drama] Ashita no Kita Yoshio

Winter 2008

Episodes: 11

Starring: Kohinata Fumiyo, Matsuda Ryuhei, Konishi Manami, Kuriyama Chiaki, Kaname Jun, Namase Katsuhisa, Yoshitaka Yuriko...

Kita Yoshio found his life in the pits after a series of events. He decided that he would end his life in 11 days from when the drama started picking up on his life - on his best friend's death anniversary.

Yoshio then met a lot of people in his remaining 11 days who will collectively change the course of his life. A significant presence was a mysteriou cabaret club manager who loves to quote his father's advice about life, named Yashiro Heita and his girlfriend Hasegawa Rika, Idol Yoimachi Shinobu, some cabaret girls.

Mizuho, Yoshio's beloved ex-wife will also come into the picture within the so-called miraculous last 11 days of his life. In addition to all these people, there's an investigator who is silently following their traces in order to uncover the mysterious death circumstances of Mizuho's second husband.

Will all these events change Yoshio's plan? Will his determination to commit suicide waver? xD Well yeah considering how this drama was aired in early 2008... my attempts to increase suspense surely wont work. xD

*****

After the first episode, the rest seems kinda slow and boring. When I reached the 6th episode, I was thinking~ go kill yourself already. Kohinata Fumiyo scares me shitless. Seriously. That man is freaky. No freakin' wonder the series never even got a 10% after the first episode which was a wee bit more than 12%. But then the drama picked up its pace towards the end, making it a wee bit exciting again.

I was watching the pre-show special where Kohinata and Matsuda were conversing about the drama. Matsuda Ryuhei is a person who seems to be difficult to talk to. xD And scary in a way. But gosh, that facial hair and the shorter head of hair. AH~ ♥ So glad to see him a character that is somewhat... NORMAL.

The two brothers, Ryuhei and Shota~ they have the same... aura. Very introverted and they think on a different level than others. The answers they come up with for questions are like... weird. But when they get into character, they can really convince you that they are the character. They can play a pimp, a yakuza, a punk. Its... convincing.

Kuriyama Chiaki. Purrty~ So glad that she got paired up with Ryuhei! Though her character is a drag and a selfish one at that, forcing Heita to do shit for her so that she can be free of guilt and stuff. RAWR! xD Konishi Manami too. Purrty. Upon first seeing Yoshitaka Yuriko, I knew I've seen that face somewhere (but then its hard to not see any of the actors and actresses before. xP) to find out that she's that younger sister in "Noriko no Shokutaku". She's hilarious and very cute in here. Well, yeah, cos she's mentally fucked up... err, I mean crazy. That character, I mean.

Kaname Jun. Ah~ xD Lol, I should really [SHUT THE HELL UP]. Moving on~

I really wanted to quit watching by the 6th episode. But I'll went on watching. Completion is necessary. In the end, its just a story about a person with Multiple Personality Disorder. Depends on how you look at it, really. Or you can see it as the final act of defiance against his normal way of life for a timid person who always lied to himself to make things easier. In the end, he faced reality and its shittier than what he convinced himself to be. But then good things came out of it as well. Like Shinobu, Heita, cabaret girls... you know~~ people.

If we want to see laughter in the future, we have to take the tears that comes along in the future. I guess this is what it is about. I think. Wait, I am not sure. Matsuda Ryuhei's hotness distracted me from the storyline. xD

Ratings: 2.5/5

A final bit to prove that I was right on how facial hair makes a man... a MAN. xD LOL.

[Movie] Shibito no Koiwazurai

2001

Starring: Goto Risa, Matsuda Ryuhei,



Midori was still having the consistent and repetitive nightmares about a creepy man walking towards her, when she moved back into the town she lived in 10 years ago. Despite those dreams, she enjoyed walking down memory lane, meeting new friends and old ones too. Ryusuke was a childhood friend whom, by fate, was also in the same class with her.

Soon after talking about her dad (who passed away 10 years ago) and Ryusuke, her mom began to behave strangely and fell sick.

There was also a rumour in the town about a love-spell kinda fortune-telling-ish thing called Tsujiura. It is believed that it works but sometimes, a handsome young man in black clothes will appear when one is trying Tsujiura out. The description of the men is similar to the man who keeps appearing in Midori's dreams.

For a strange reason, Midori is unable to walk past the Tsujiura shrine which she needs to pass by to go to school. How are Tsujiura and Midori connected?

*****

What a shit movie. What a load of crap.

Oh... even Ryuhei's creepy Peter Pan look cannot save it.

Its so bad, I don't know if I should laugh or cry while watching it.

It started okay. But it just spiraled down and down into a bunch of crap.

Don't even get me started about how sexist this movie is. Why is it that its always the girls that are killing themselves over a boy or girls being mean to other girls for a boy? While in reality its on the contrary.

Oh well, xD I have seen my share of bad movies. I guess this isn't the worst.

Rating: 1/5 Its... THAT bad.

And then we have Matsuda Ryuhei.

[Movie] Chosyu Five

2007

Starring: Matsuda Ryuhei, Yamashita Tetsuo, Miura Akifumi, Kitamura Yukiya...

A historical movie about the Choushu Five - five young men who were smuggled out of Japan before the Meiji Restoration (when it was illegal to leave Japan) to study in the University College London. At the time they left, the shogunate was at is decline stage and Japan's future was in danger. The five young men later brought knowledge and new technology, thus paving the way for Japan's modernization.

I read a lot of the real Choushu Five (gotta do research when you watch movies. I don't know, its just curiosity and annoyance when I don't get the movie.), it turns out that the movie is rather historically inaccurate if my source happens to be right. But oh well, their story makes a great movie anyways. One of the five later became Ito Hirobumi, the first Prime Minister of Japan and was elected 3 more times (not consecutively). The other four also became influential figures in Japan's government during the Meiji era or prominent figures who brought great change in Japan's culture. (Guess why and how trains became such an important means of transportation in Japan. Yeap, one of them was the Father of Japanese Railways.)

Savvy. Loved history.

Due to the absence of subtitles, I have to admit I have a hard time understanding this movie. And if they were speaking the typical Japanese like the Tokyo folks are speaking now, I wouldn't have such a hard time. They have a funny accent that I really cannot make out. T_T

Ito Hirobumi and Inoue Kaoru went back to Japan first while the other three stayed. Something about warning Japan against war or something. Nevermind that. Nomura Yokichi (Or Inoue Masaru - why do people have so many names, really) on the other hand maintained his continuous fascination for trains.

The movie follows Yamao Yozo's side of the story, he's played by Matsuda Ryuhei. Yamao went to live in Glasgow, Scotland for a while, working at a shipyard. Then he spoke a lot of English, so I could understand. In Glasgow, he was all fired up to learn how to be useful to his country, to open up the industrial sector of Japan after Japan's closed door policy has caused the country to be left behind by the Western world in a lot of aspects.

In Scotland, Yamao learned the song Auld Lang Syne, it is said that Yamao is the one who introduced the song to the Japanese. Japan later changed the lyrics and renamed the song "Hotaru no Hikari". Aww and there was sweet romance for Yamao in Scotland (though how historically accurate this is, I am unsure of) with a Scottish lass. As a result of that, he set up the first school for those who are share the same disability as the Scottish girl, who couldn't speak or hear. AWWWWWWWWWW.

Yeah, sorry for that. xD I mean, if I were really sorry, I would have just deleted what I typed so clearly I am not sorry for being all excited over a character played by Matsuda Ryuhei. I am not as obsessed as I seem, really. xD Just... you know, I always thought that Ryuhei's head is too big for his tall but skinny body. Like a lollipop! xD I know I need to lay off the Matsudas a bit. xD Its too much eh? Come, I shall go watch Hana Yori Dango dramas again. Wait... Shota is in it. xD (That was so intentional.)

Rating: 4/5 (Oh, my ratings are pointless shit used to remind myself how favourable I find a movie and most probably has nothing to do with how good a movie is or how good the actors are, cos I am sure its clear now that it doesn't quite matter to me. xD)


Left, the real Chosyu Five. Right, the Chosyu Five with Matsuda Ryuhei goodness.

[Movie] 9 Souls

2003

Starring: Matsuda Ryuhei and... um... others... xD

Michiru was a reclusive boy who killed his father and was sent to jail. He was placed into a cell with 9 persons, thus making it a total of ten people sharing the same jail cell. When one of his cell mates threw a fit and was hauled away, the remaining nine discovered an opening within the cell thus allowing them to escape.

This movie basically follows their 'adventures' during their escape attempt. The movie started rather lightly, with scenes that defies what logic you and I are normally used to. At times, I find some scenes rather funny, but when the gruesome scenes come along, I wonder if the previous attempts at comedy (or what I think are attempts at comedy) are meant to make the audience chuckle.

I had a hard time differentiate a few of the 9 escapees, since all of them wore a buzz cut. The nine convicts committed serious crimes, one killed his father, another killed his son, a doctor who performed illegal euthanasia, biker gang member who killed 4 of his fellow members, crazy epileptic bomber, a porn star and a few others.

This movie left little for character development, too many characters and too speedy was the progress of the storyline. But one character left the group after another to settle unfinished business, meet some loved ones and towards the end, the convicts are shown as to having a human side despite how brutal their crimes sound. All save one, really.

Psychotic recluse Michiru is the toughest nut to crack. The lack of expression when he brutally murdered his younger brother was a creepy scene. I have no taste for blood and gore.

Anyways, this movie has a good mix of unrealistic quirkiness and cynical irony whatever yada yada. I enjoyed it a bit. Just a bit.

One of them sodomized a sheep. I am greatly disturbed.

Ratings: 3.5/5