[TV] Arashi no Shukudai-kun

2 February 2009

Guest: Nagase Tomoya

I heart them Johnny's. This is exactly the reason why. Right here, in this episode. The shiny costumes cause serious brain damage. Give these boys with brain damage some variety shows, and voila, we have good entertainment. It is all a well thought-out plan by Johnny Kitagawa the Great. I, with my all-seeing eye, am able to see through all that.

I disagree with TOKIO's claim to be rockers, but apart from that, everything is fine. So Nagase stated that he was pissed of at Nino and Aiba. When asked what was up with that, he said that it was because they called Matsuoka "Matsu-nii" which Matsuoka himself was fine with but Nagase said that the two were calling Matsu-nii because they were trying to make him happy, thus manipulating him by sucking up to him like that. xD It turns out that Ohno was calling Matsuoka that as well. xD Nagase was just trying to play that "I'm-ya-senior, you-gotta-be-patient-even-if-I-am-senile-and-am-pooping-on-you" card, which, btw works in such a seniority-based culture. xD I think he's just jealous cos Matsuoka is a step closer to joining the orgy that is Arashi. He wants in, despite the fact that he's banging that Aibu Saki. xD Nagase can bang anyone he wants to. I mean... gosh is he not sexy? Anyways, for the rest of the show, just to piss him off, Aiba and Nino kept calling him "Nii-san". xD

The entire show, he was attacking various Arashi members with "Aren't you stupid?!" remarks. And who was the man who tried to eat that giant hamburger directly with his mouth and needed a second person to hold the burger for him? xD And seriously, I am not sure anyone is Johnny's Jimusho can call another stupid cos that would pretty much be the pot calling the kettle black.

The theme was "Beef" and it was not just any beef. Big chunks of beef with lots of fat. Ah beef. I love beef. I haven't had beef for a while. All I had was... chicken and fish for a while. Minimal meat. Lots of vege. That's my diet-thing currently. Nagase has been put on a doctor-stop when it comes to beef. From overeating, or so he said. And so they ate. Lots of beef. Big chunks of it. The first dish was steak. It wasn't just any steak, it was a 1.5 kilograms Super Steak. xD According to Nagase, eating fatty beef will make your chest hair grow. xD Noted. I am, after all, a hair fetishist. xD I'll feed the men lots of fatty beef. xD

The second dish was a 2.6 kilograms hamburger. It was huge. xD And Nagase insisted on attempting the impossible. To eat it like one would eat any burger. xD And attempted that, he did, with Jun's help. But he could only manage to eat the beef patty. After he tried eating it with the bun, he let out a rather feminine shriek that doe not seem to go well with his image. Then the exclamation "Cho American" emerged. Somehow, the Japanese have the impression that all Americans eat are really large hamburgers and all they wear are overalls or leather jacket. When Sho was eating the burger, it looked very American to them. Jun insisted on eating with a leather jacket on, so Sho let Jun wear his jacket. xD Strange people do strange things.

Suddenly, I remembered that Nagase is just 2 years older than Ohno. xDDDDD OMG he looks like their dad. xD Thirdly, Nagase wants to bite into the long row of meat often seen in kebab restaurant-type-things. xD And he sure did. xD Albeit a bit disgusting... that's a man. xDDD I mean, the polite eating ways of a fork and spoon is so pretentions, men should just bite into big chunks of stuff. It sure induces reactions in women. Seriously. Wild and sexy.

Next came the "Mid-winter, Johnny's Stupid Sports Event". Totally direct translation. xD Mostly inaccurate, but it is not like anyone expects accuracy from me, really. xD They played Shounentai songs... xD OMG. Shounentai was active before I appeared on earth. xD Jun, Sho and Ohno formed Team Ohno while Nino and Aiba joined Team Nagase, probably because they pissed him off. xDDDDD The two continued to bug Nagase by calling him "Nii-san" (Big brother.)

xD The first game, they had to do the long jump under a net hung really low. Means, they had to crouch down to that level to do the long jump. xD xD Once again, I have to announce that I love it when they do stupid crap like this. xD They started calling Jun Rambo, probably the hair thing. xD They all did well except for Aiba and Sho. You expected it from Sho, I guess. xD They made him go first as experiment.

Next, the three in a group had to uh... imitate the objects requested of them. Like they have to do burgers, Tokyo Tower, helicopters and Totem pole, synchronized swimming and motorcycles and stuff. Was pretty interesting, the screencaps can tell the story. Sho was shrieking like a girl during their first attempt at hamburger. Their second attempt had Jun riding on Ohno face to face while Sho riding on Jun from behind. Very... uh... straightforward. Because everyone likes a nice gay threesome. When team Nagase was doing the Totem pole thing, Nino was riding on Nagase. RIDING. Dirty thoughts entered my mind. Synchronized swimming had Nagase and his two bitches bare their legs while he forcefully held their hands for the sake of holding them. xD Another name for this game would be "Johnny's teaches you various sex positions and foreplay ideas.

[Drama] Utahime

2007

Episodes: 11

Starring: Nagase Tomoya, Aibu Saki, Sato Ryuta, Ohkura Tadayoshi, Koike Eiko...

A young man named Akira traveled to a rural countryside on behalf of her mother to watch a movie when a really old, broken cinema was to put up its last showing. Akira's mother, a songstress who decided that she would retire after her father, Akira's grandfather's death. She expressed that it would be a meaningful, life-changing movie that Akira will be watching, called "Utahime". As Akira arrived at the cinema, he found out that the cinema was closing because the owner's mother passed away the month before and it was written in her will that this movie - written by James Taro, about a man who lost his memory and the women who loved him - be the last movie the cinema will show. As Akira was looking at the pamphlet of the movie, the scene switches to a 1950s Japan and a man who looks exactly like Akira was riding on a bicycle, delivering reels of films.

Taro, Akira's grandfather, turned out to be a live-in worker at the local theater - Orion za(the one Akira was to visit half a century later.) The owner of the restaurant gladly took him in to live with the owner's wife and his young daughter - Suzu. It was later revealed that Taro was in the army before he arrived in this small town, he was found by Suzu and her father, drifting in the river and was saved by them. He woke up remembering nothing of his past and the war, not knowing where he was from. His only hint was a broken pocket watch without a chain. The family took Taro in and the four of them lived happily together but was often interrupted by the local Yakuza gang.

The drama follows Taro and Suzu's life in the small town, how they overcome the problems of everyday life and how Suzu loved Taro, how Taro avoided her love for fear of complication if and when he remembers his past... and then there is a little but expected twist. This is the negative point of flashbacks. You can tell what will happen because the fragments of the future often contain hints. And I am a master at flashbacks as I realized, back in high school, I wrote a lot of essays and about 90% of the stories I wrote are flashbacks. Oh how I loved the hint dropping incorporated at the beginning. ^^

*****

O_O I actually thought Nagase Tomoya and Aibu Saki look cute together. To think I was always on Team Ayumi. Tsk tsk tsk. The love between their characters is apparent very early on. The ending I can also pretty much predict.

Nagase Tomoya seems to be playing a character with a wee bit more depth than his previous characters that I have seen such as that "Mukodono" dude and the "My Boss My Hero" dude. Dual personality. Savvy.

Ohkura Tadayoshi's James prances around with a lovely hairstyle. I like! His character's obsession with James Dean is absolutely hilarious. xD Am starting to remember him already! Yes, I had a period of time where I forgot Ohkura. xD He is always rebelling without a cause in the drama. xD

The theme song "SEISYuN" by none other than TOKIO has a nice retro feel to it. Though I have to say... in episode 2, when Nagase was trying to sing "Jailhouse Rock"... what the hell?! Its... T_T horrible. The pronunciation, I mean. He could have spent a few more days learning it, really. It turned out to be a complete joke. And I know I am being hard on him, but still...

The viewership rating is a stunningly LOW 7.9% on average in the Kanto region. WOW. xD That's something... Anyways, I do not start something I don't finish. (Well, not really. Just thought it sounded cool to say that.) So I finished it.

Sato Ryuta playing a bad guy... I was pessimistic from the beginning. A person with that face cannot play a bad guy. Turns out, I was right. His character is the perfect idiot.

[Spoilers from episode 7] Taro's wife, played by Koike Eiko appeared, I think that its really selfish that the family kept it from him. Sure, James and his determination to fix the ideal couple up is admirable, sure, of course you would want the person you are closer to to be happy instead of some unknown stranger. BUT, BUT, BUT, its just unfair. Let Taro make the choice! Taro should have the right to make his own choices. No one would be happy if they have to keep the secret from Taro, definitely not Suzu. She might have to live in fear of Taro remembering the past suddenly and blaming them for not telling. Suzu is too selfish and stupid for keeping Taro like that, praying at the temple for Taro to stay. Even if he stays, she won't be happy knowing that he might remember anytime. Its so annoying that people are no farsighted enough to see that secrets are crap!

[Spoilers from episode 10] Miwako is so great that she could have been wrapping up her husband and giving it to Suzu graciously and Suzu is so selfish that she did not tell Taro that he has a daughter. Bitch. Miwako~~ thou art great. She understands, you see, that if she forces Taro to go back, neither of them would be happy. She could even admit that he fell for another girl and accepted the fact that he doesn't love her anymore. Hows that for being mature? T_T Poor thing.

[Spoilers from episode 11 - finale] Its so unfair that they portray Taro to be someone who just go back to his life pre-war for his daughter and his daughter is the sole reason for him to go back. Its unfair. Does Miwako mean nothing to him? Yeah, yeah the main characters have eternal love. Whatever. I think I will gag. Taro wrote a script based on their love story which was to be the film that Akira traveled so far to watch. James added the finishing touch, thus the James Taro~ double first names. xD I kinda had a feeling that Akira and Ruriko were to resume the story that their respective grandparents failed to complete earlier on. I was right! And I knew Suzu was going to marry Croissant. Croissant is such a great guy inside, despite being a crybaby. Sabako outlived all of the others. Sabako is great.

Now what does this drama tells you, kids? You don't always marry Mr. Right. Life is about compromise... even if it means that you will marry a crybaby named Croissant. T_T

Rating: 3/5

Was a bit slow for my taste.

[Drama] Mukodono

2000

Starring: Nagase Tomoya, Takeuchi Yuko, Aiba Masaki, Shinohara Ryoko...

Sakuraba Yuichiro is the most famous singing artist in Japan. His on-camera charisma makes fangirls weak in their knees. But off camera, he becomes Yu-chan, the loving boyfriend of Arai Sakura. Yearning for the warmth of a family, since he grew up without one, Yuichiro accepted the many conditions of Sakura's family and also his manager.

Sakura's family consists of a father who teaches calligraphy, three elder sisters who are a handful, two nephews. One a HOT HOT HOT (bias alert) high schooler who excels in Kendo, and a younger one who grew up without a father. Let's talk about the hot high schooler who excels in Kendo and is played by Aiba... *gets smacked on the head* fine... moving on.

However, Yuichiro soon found that winning Sakura's family over is easier said than done, with his status as the most wanted man in Japan, the couple soon found themselves unable to maintain their secret relationship... then... the story goes on.

*****

You know how I stopped giving out spoilers... truth is, I am too effing lazy to think of a way to put the story into words. xD

Anyways, Aiba is in here. That was why we are watching it. I was sorta curious about the drama before I knew Aiba has a part in here because Nagase sang the theme song at the previous Johnny's Countdown. Said song is "Hitoribocchi no Haburashi". Its a good song, and then I found out that Aiba plays a role, a recurring role, in fact, his name is credited right after Takeuchi Yuko's.

So yeah, we are happily watching it away and then found that Nagase plays the same character as the one in "My Boss My Hero". Okay, not the same, but they had the same personality. Basically, Nagase is good at playing affectionate airheads. I am kinda pissed at him for breaking up with Ayu. Cos when there's a breakup, its the man's fault. I don't care about the details. But yeah, Ayu is partially hearing impaired, he should be the romantic guy he played in dramas and stay by her side. T_T

Okay, its really none of my business. But awww, this is such a sweet drama, light and happy. Its family-ish. I like it. And Aiba's character is an angry teenager, you know, those boys that seem to be constipated 24/7. And its so different from how Aiba carries himself on camera when he is playing Aiba Masaki and not someone else. But then god knows how he is like off camera.

I have enough common sense to know that these people are all playing a role on camera. No, I didn't learn that from this drama. Lol. They are all playing a role, a role that they think would be popular among their fans. They have to eat, you know? xD

And because I am biased...