[Drama] Shibatora

Summer 2008

Episodes:

Starring: Koike Teppei, Ohgo Suzuka, Fujiki Naohito, Maya Miki, Tsukaji Muka, Sotaro, Minami Akina...

Shibata Taketora is a 24-year-old cop with the looks of a middle schooler. He has his goals fixed on fighting crime and upholding justice while helping the weak. But as expected being a cop is not easy. This drama follows Taketora's journey towards being a good cop and yakk yakk yakk. Oh yeah and he is something of a psychic or has some superpowers. Something.

One day, he was sort of tricked by his superior Chiba Sakura into being an undercover cop and was sent to track the activities of a gang called Helter Skelter (How original~~ and I am assuming these people were associated with Charlie Manson.) and to help Hosho Mizuki escape their clutches and return to her family.

Along the way, Taketora met with many interesting people/friends/guiding figure such as his friend Fujiki Kojiro who guides him through hard times and encourage him when he is down. He was a gangster once and helped Taketora when he was in trouble. He is also well acquainted with not only the cops but a gang leader named Uzaki as well. xD Not a simple man.

And~ the story shall continue with Taketora being sent as undercover to a high school, but this synopsis won't.

*****

Episode 1

Was a normal drama. Not worthy of squealing over or anything. No doubt focus on the squishability of the ever cutesy Koike Teppei. His performance wasn't great or anything, just the cute thing that he is and will be for a while.

Wasn't great. Just that when did that little girl from "Memoirs of a Geisha" grew boobs? I mean... serious? I remember a little cute midget with the cutest face. Her cuteness didn't follow her through puberty though. Still pretty, but less cute.

Fujiki plays Fujiki~ just a supporting character with really bad hair colour but still hot. Caught a glimpse of Mr. Facial Hair there~ Just a glimpse. T_T We want more.

The drama has a rather comical tone to it... being adapted from a manga, it is well expected. It is amusing at times but was unable to induce a giggle from me. It was very~~ how do I put this... teen drama-ish.

Well yeah~ it is. I think its okay, not great, not bad. A good waste of time. At least up to the first episode, it is.

[TV] Shibatora @ Waratte Iitomo

Fujiki Naohito and his hairstyle which induces an ungodly sight on all those who lay eyes upon his hair. Oh... my heart is broken as my favourite old-dude actor who appears to be eternally sexy has committed a hairstyle crime which I thought only Johnny's boys would have committed early in their career back in the 1990s. He'd be in Hanada Final too. But with a better hair colour.

Koike Teppei, cute as always. Even Nakai had problem not saying "Kawaii~~" during the show. But the problem is that I don't think he can grow as an actor and will be typecasted because he is, after all, cute and cute is all he is. Even in "Taga Tame ni" where he was a murderer... well didn't work.

Maya Miki, classy and pretty, like she always is. No doubt a guiding figure for the main character again, like she always is. Attention Please, Zettai Kareshi and now this.

Who is that dude with lots of facial hair named Sotaro and how come I have not seen him before?! OMG So, effing, sexay. Look at that facial hair, look at that bad boy look with a silly smile. Am most certain he will be an antagonist. Am most certain will root for him. Am most certain Teppei's cutesiness will not be able to compare with bad boy-facial hair.

Ohgo Suzuka will be in this too! She's that girl who played young Sayuri in the movie "Memoirs of a Geisha". V. cute. I think, probably Teppei will have a crush on her or something. Whatever. I wonder how will Fujiki and Facial Hair turn out in the drama. Hope Facial Hair will get more airtime.

Am most certain I went overboard with the Facial Hair screencaps. xD I can't help it, it just happened. T_T



P/s: Went and looked up this Sotaro. I think this is his first recurring role. Hm... born 1986 in the US of A, California to be exact. Was in one of Crystal Kay's videos. Was in Binbo Danshi. Err... very hot? Lol. I assure you I am not that obsessed yet. Just curious, thats all. It irks me when I don't know things. xD Things like who's that hot dude with facial hair? He's the same age as Teppei... which is one year older than me. GASP, I can't believe it. I'm OOOOOOOOOOLD. T_T I hate life.

[Drama] Summer 2008 Dramas

Yeah, since summer dramas are all going to start faster than you can say "I-would-rather-watch-evil!Ohno-instead-of-Dr.Pi-but-heck-I'll-watch-both" I am going to make a list for self reference, about which drama I should catch. But then I'll always end up catch only about 3 because I have short attention span and I am fussy.

I just don't watch any drama. It has to have enough starpower in the cast for me to watch it. AND, Johnny's-involved is preferred because I am biased like that. (This will lead to the "I know they are douchebags and they have no talent and stuff... but I am that addicted to them" argument, so I will just not go into it.)

I yakked enough about Maou and Code Blue (replacing Last Friends) so I will look into some others that are worth considering.

Seigi no Mikata

Yamada Yu and Shida Mirai. Now I really like Yamada Yu the model-turned-actress. She's (or was, god knows how fast these people go through boyfriends and girlfriends) dating Oguri Shun. They make a nice, tall couple eh? But rumour has it Shun is already cheating on her. He'd better not. RAWR. Shida Mirai is that girl in the drama "14 sai no Haha" acting as a middle schooler impregnated by Miura Haruma (or rather, his character). Didn't Miura Haruma impregnated Aragaki Yui in that movie as well? Geez, he has GOT TO stop impregnating schoolgirls. Really.

The drama will have the two playing sisters. Of course when you have a sister, you can expect lots of fights. I don't know, I don't have one. In the banner for the drama, Shida Mirai looks like Yamada Ryosuke from Hey! Say! JUMP. No, really, and its not Shida Mirai that looks like a boy, its more like Ryosuke looking like a girl, really.

Tomorrow

Stars the long forgotten (at least by myself) Takenouchi Yutaka (hot) and Kanno Miho. Hmm... actors of the older generation. What do I say? Let me think... I have never seen Kanno in anything other that "Itoshi Kimi e" because I wanted to watch "Watashi-tachi no Kyoukasho" but it seems so boring. A lot of her dramas seem too serious and boring that I just cannot take it. I like crap, I like pretty boys, I like to watch them crossdress, I like stupid people doing stupid stuff. So, yeah. Oh no wonder I haven't really seen a lot of Kanno Miho.

Takenouchi Yutaka... where did he disappear to? Err... gosh he's old. I know I have watched his dramas but I don't remember any scenes from the dramas. Classics like "Long Vacation" and "Beach Boys" oh and "Dekichatta Kekkon". Wow, thats... quite a lot. How come I only remember the last one I mentioned? Strange. Most probably cos he's old. xD

Kurokawa Tomoka (gag) and Edo Harumi (yay) will also appear in the drama. Its about doctors and nurses. I smell love between doctor and nurse. Whats up with all the doctor shit invading the dramasphere anyways?

Shibatora

Koike Teppei. Rookie cop who looks like a loli-shota host. Fighting crimes.

Nuff said. I mean, look at Teppei! Cute as a button. Deffo' qualified loli-shota. xD

Koizora

I don't think I will watch this seriously. I just included this in the list to remind myself what a failure looks like. I am not the world's best predictor person thingie whatever. But... that dude playing Miura Haruma's character is so... duh. And that girl... cannot hold a candle to Aragaki. The movie was too well-received and a this was a doomed failure from the very beginning. Casting a newbie for the main character is just... well... it spells failure cos these two are not as hot as Haruma and Yui. Period!

[Drama] Dragonzakura

[Moved from my old blog.]

Starring: Hiroshi Abe, Kyoko Hasegawa, Tomohisa Yamashita, Masami Nagasawa, Teppei Koike, Saeko...

11 episodes.

A poor, ex-motorcycle gang leader, lawyer is summoned to a school that is almost bankrupted to sort out its debts and stuff. But he decided that this would not do anything for his reputation which was ruined by an article showing the lawyer's past in a magazine. The school, Ryuuden Koukou is well known for producing 'stupid' students and their average mark is 36%. The lawyer, Sakuragi decided to send 5 students to the prestigious Toudai (Tokyo University). Thus a special acceleration class was held.

Sakuragi slowly recruited students to join, skillfully attracted their attentions to their studies, and gained the respect of the students and teachers alike.

Yamapi's character is Yuusuke, whose family is deep in debt left behind by his father who left the family. Sakuragi paid the debt using school money thus Yuusuke, feeling indebted (though he wouldn't admit it) joined the special class.

Masami Nagasawa's character is Yuusuke's childhood friend, Naomi (affectionately called Boo by Yuu-kun and later Hideki too) joined the class because she doesn't want her future to be confined to the restaurant owned by her family where her mother had to sorta... do waitressing while being grabbed and hugged by customers.
Yuusuke's bandmember, Hideki (Teppei Koike!!!) has a rich family, and his dad kept comparing himself with Hideki and made Hideki felt like he was worth nothing, he joined to proof his dad dead wrong.
Yuusuke's girlfriend, Yoshino, joined at first to be close to Yuusuke and also to keep Naomi/Boo's claws off Yuu. However, she become more and more interested in getting into Toudai and later realized something like this "The hell with Yuusuke, I'm gonna get into Toudai!"
Saeko's character, Maki joined cos she has a bitchy celebrity friend who sends her messages scorning her all the time. She was sick of all that crap, so she wanted to show who's the boss!
Then there is this nerdy twin, Ichirou, whose twin brother Jirou was the 'smart' one, expected to be accepted into Toudai. He always did the best for Jirou and one day, Jirou was being a total asshole, so he decided that Jirou is so not worthy of Toudai like he is. So he joined.
I may have exaggerated their reasons for joining the class and made them seem evil, the truth is, I think drama characters are too fictionalized. People are born to prioritize themselves. So, yeah, I included my own opinions. Ah... XD

Anyways Yamapi as a rude juvenile delinquent (sorta) is absolutely irresistible. But in a scene where his face was focused on by the camera, I can't help noticing his ugly, tasteless earring on his left ear. T_T

Teppei is like a puppy you want to put in your bag and bring home. Then you would feed him with milk and let him play with a fake bone! Aww sho kiut!!Teppei: Feed me, I am sho kiut!

This is the second drama I saw with Yamapi and Masami. The first being Proposal Daisakusen. They keep playing 'Childhood Friends'... xD tsk tsk tsk... Yamapi also collaborated with Maki Horikita twice, I think. In Nobuta wo Produce and Kurosagi (watching it tomorrow).

I first saw Masami in... 'Sekai no Chuushin, Ai o Sakebu", and her character shone, also her name was credited behind Kou Shibasaki's. I didn't care much about Kou's. The leading guy was also... yeck! But Mirai Moriyama was okay la.

Saeko, again was more likable compared to when she was in NANA. And those two guys from "A Litre of Tears", those two playing Ryo's character's sidekick was also in there, you would notice if you look carefully. xD

Ending details.

Wouldn't it be too predictable if only some of them passed? I have noticed that the trend of dramas lately was to try and make the ending less cliched. Which is why I knew that not all of them will pass. I was right!

Maki promised Hideki if he passed, she is going to XXX him. Well, the both didn't pass. Boo missed the exam cos her mom was sick.

And Yuu-kun was so in love with Boo. It was so obvious, but by then Yoshino didn't give a shit already. xD
The sight of Yuu-kun in a yukata is not only manly but sexy. xD

I am not a perv. T_T I am just bored of the monotony of my life right now. I am lovin' it. But I need to buy some stuff but I could never get myself out of the house or tear myself from the monitor without being discouraged halfway. I am an indoors person. It is just so hot outside.

My electric bill is going to soar... I cannot stand it. It is so hot! The air-conditioner is always on.

That bastard who lives next door actually burnt rubbish behind his house. It was a big, big fire. My God, does he have no common sense? The global warming is so serious, what the hell is he doing? I am pissed!