[Drama] Lunch no Joou

Summer 2002

Episodes: 12

Starring: Takeuchi Yuko, Eguchi Yosuke, Tsumabuki Satoshi, Ito Misaki, Yamashita Tomohisa, Yamada Takayuki, Eita, Morita Go, Tsutsumi Shinichi...

Mugita Natsumi is a pretty young waitress who loves lunch time and the Omurice at a restaurant named Kitchen Macaroni. To her, lunch is like hope for the working class. (a bit of an exaggeration but her words, not mine.) She came to work at Kitchen Macaroni after a strange series involving the eldest son of the owner of the restaurant who tricks Natsumi into tricking his family with him. Posing as the fiancee of Kenichiro, Natsumi meets his family but was left behind when Kenichiro escaped with the family's hard-earned money.

Natsumi later convinced the stern second son of the family and head chef of the restaurant Yujiro to let her stay and work with them while waiting for the return of Kenichiro. She did so with the help of Junzaburo, the third son.

During her stint there, she achieved rapport with the family who takes to her very soon. The three brothers Yujiro, Junzaburo and Koshiro also developed a strange fixation on Natsumi but refrained from taking actions as they thought she was actually the fiancee of their eldest brother.

Well, actually, some of them did try to get it on, namely Koshiro, the playboy, flirty, straightforward youngest son who is still a highschool student. Junzaburo on the other hand was shy but probably was the most attached to Natsumi and he helped her throughout the way. Junzaburo is also the most passionate about his job as a chef. Yujiro took to her the slowest, his hard outlook was probably used to intimidate but actually he is a real softy inside. Well... or something like that.

Oh yeah, Junzaburo, really cute.

*****

I heart Tsumabuki Satoshi in this. Heart heart heart. What? Bite me for fangirling. Geez. He is seriously adorable in this. So young and... adorable. I first watched this when I was in my Pi-phase. Yes, I had a Pi phase, it happened a long list of phases ago, but hey, I remember that it was there. I probably have another entry for this drama stashed somewhere in this blog or another blog or somewhere else. But it was a long time ago. So I thought I'd do this again just for the heck of it.

It is a fun family drama. Sorta like a gyaku-harem. We love gyaku-harem. Love, love, love. Not to mention the brothers (minus the eldest, I couldn't stand the eldest) are all so... diverse and have their own strengths. xD Underneath all the snippets of humour, there's a heartfelt bond within the family (minus the eldest, again) and their passion for their restaurant is admirable. And for them to take Natsumi into the family just like that. xD Well, it is a drama. Without Natsumi, there wouldn't be a drama to start with.

When the patriarchal figure, their dad, passed on after playing catchball with Koshiro for the first ime. And it was Koshiro who walked away from the game to go on a date, it kinda hit me a bit. The next time you meet with anyone might be the last time and that we shouldn't take anything for granted. But that is really difficult because there are too many things, too many people to spend time with. But it was so sudden and sad. T_T

How could Natsumi be so oblivious about the brothers' feelings, that, I don't get. She's one of those girls that seduce men in a not-so-obvious way and then act innocent when the men are hurt because of her refusal. xD But I heart Takeuchi Yuko + Tsumabuki Satoshi althought Tsumabuki is actually with Shibasaki Kou in real life. Takeuchi looks adorable in here too. xD So does Pi. They all look so young and... young. Well, Yamada Takayuki needed a haircut badly though.

I found it HILARIOUS when Koshiro used the line made famous by KimuTaku's Osamu in "Asunaro Hakusho". Koshiro went "Ore jya dame na no?" on Natsumi. I LOLLED. I am not sure if it was meant to remind viewers of "Asunaro Hakusho" but it sure did remind me of it. And the fact that Pi's like a skeletal figure here~ xD and that blonde hair. Ah~ the days when I liked Pi~ What nostalgia~

xD And it just occured to me that Yamada, Pi and Tsumabuki all appeared in "Long Love Letter" as well eh? xD

One more thing. Morita Go's appearance in this drama as a badass. I have never seen a role more suitable for him than this. Really. I had a thing for Morita Go too. xD

Reitings: 4/5

[Drama] Byakuyakou

2006

Episodes: 11

Starring: Yamada Takayuki, Ayase Haruka, Watabe Atsuro, Kashiwabara Takashi, Koide Keisuke...


It was Christmas Eve 2005 when Yukiho, dressed elegantly in an evening gown, spotted Ryouji, dressed in a Santa costume, drenched in his own blood with a pair of scissors attached to his abdomen. Ryouji was crawling towards and pointing forward, asking Yukiho to walk the other way... Yuki walked away, vowing to not shed a tear as she walked down the 'brightly lit' path. This led to a flashback on Ryouji's part as the two characters proclaimed each other as their replacement for the sun that they lost 14 years ago.

It all started like any puppy love would. Ryouji was a young boy whose mother cheated on his father with a worker. Yukiho was a year five primary school student who has a drunkard of a selfish mother. The two met and fell in love as kids always do. That was until Ryouji found out that his father has been paying Yukiho's mother money in order to take nude pictures of Yukiho. He subsequently killed his father upon witnessing him in that very act. Yukiho took the pair of scissors from him and the camera in an attempt to dispose of the evidence.

When two policemen reached Yukiho's doorstep in the process of investigation, Yukiho proceeded to stage her own mother's suicide to prevent her from revealing any information. Ryouji, upon realizing what Yukiho had done to cover his crime, found a letter from Yukiho that explains her actions. Ryouji pleaded for her to stay but understood that she had to leave as Yukiho gestured for Ryouji to leave by pointing towards a path. (The same way Ryouji gestured in the prologue.)

Yukiho had to wait 15 years to meet Ryouji again so that the case can no longer be reopened and the two of them will be forever free of blame. Ryouji did not know this when they have been separated for 7 years and he was beginning to think that Yukiho has embarked on her new life, leaving the old one behind. On the other hand, the veteran detective, Sasagaki was still unable to let go of the suspicious case in which he saw many loopholes. Then, the past started to come back to haunt them, leaving them with no peace.

*****

[Spoilers]

This drama saw the reunion of Yamada and Ayase after the success of their "Sekai no Chuushin ni Ai wo Sakebu". In addition to that, like "Sekai no Chuushin...", the theme song of this drama is also by Shibasaki Kou. However, upon seeing the banner of this drama, this drama struck me as having a darker tone to it.

I enjoy watching these two actors involved in the same project again. Ayase Haruka has a face that screams 'BORN TO BE AN ACTRESS'. The dark tone of the drama sparked my interest more! This is obviously because I have no taste for happy endings. Though this drama is a flashback drama, the prologue actually gave me no clue as to the progress of the drama. I love it, how unpredictable it is. Add to that the tragedy that befell these children and the tragedy waiting to befall them, ah~ yes, I have a hunger for tragedy just as otakus love the moe yaoi stuff.

This drama is trying to convey that once you make a mistake and lie about it. The lie will lead to more lies in order to cover the lies. And a long line of lies will just make the truth seem harder to cover. Yeah, shit happens. Sad. Oh well.

What I like about this drama is more than the bad shit that happen to the characters though. This drama has imperfect characters. There's no perfect protagonist, no wholly evil antagonists. This is how the real world is like. The drama struck me as incredibly realistic, good people sometimes do bad things. And then in order to protect themselves, they continuously plunge into an abyss of crimes. I originally thought that the drama, like most dramas, would emphasize on these two and their love for each other. But, in reality, as shown in this drama, it wanes. They commit the crime back in 1991 because they were young, the boy was in shock. The girl thought she found the love of her life. They were but 11 years old. As they grow older, their world widens. They slowly understand that they could have had so much better a life had they stopped somewhere, had they not do as much as they did. Perhaps their love was not as deep as they thought. Though there were instances where you'd think its love, then you'd think its a symbiotic relationship. Ah, nothing thrills me as much as complication.

Its amazing how unpredictable the characters can be. They change, though expected, since this drama covers such a long period of time. I blog as I watch, so that I can immediately type out the thoughts before forgetting them. I end up erasing the lot of them because of the twists and turns of the story. Love the drama though.

One thing that got on my nerves. Yamada Takayuki CRYING. No... WAILING. I actually thought that he looked hot at the beginning of the drama, then the wailing started. T_T Ruined my image of him. The cruel world outside can lead to moral decadence. A person who faced tough shit in life will be willing and able to do anything to protect themselves. It is when you have nothing to lose that you are truly able to do anything. Someone who has never seen hardships in life is unable to understand that. You get to see the character of Ryouji change. From a death-fearing boy who cries and gives up immediately, to someone who can do evil things, betray anyone without blinking once. After that, he changed again, constantly watching over Yukiho, helping her at all risks. Yamada Takayuki delivered an impressive performance though (not that this man is not known for weeping in dramas.)

The character Yukiho changed too. The perversion of the personality. Or was she never normal to start with? The mastermind behind the plot to cover up the crime committed by her first love at the tender age of 11, she later suffered a lot in life, that is true. But by episode 5, you see her true features. Attempting to backstab her friend whom her new crush eventually fell for. She saw it as unfair that she got to grow up happy and its that happiness that attracted Shinozuka - the hot crush. Yukiho attempted to convince Ryouji to do it for her, even though Shinozuka might not fall for her after the deed. But then it was revealed that she did things for Ryouji too. This drama is just full of twists and turns.

The bond between the two started out by will. The two thought their love could overcome everything, that their love will stay for all their lives. They were wrong. Dead wrong. Slowly, it appears that Ryouji was trying to repay the debt that him and his father caused Yukiho, believing that they are the ones that caused Yukiho's life to be the way it is. He will do anything to bring her happiness. The bond later became a burden that they have to live with, at times, they wished that it was not there. Its good to have leading characters that are not squeaky clean and generous all the time. ^^ The two of them justify their deeds by attributing them to the fact that they want to make the other happy, yet I doubt if they had one second of happiness doing all that. Its rather ironic, really.

Anyways, they knew that they are doing the wrong things. But a line recurred in the drama, "You don't have to tell me what is right, because I know it already." yet knowing what is right does not stop them from doing what is wrong. Both would not surrender nor stop protecting the other. And then there is the cop hot on their trails. Its rather... suspenseful, though you know that he is going to get stabbed, you wonder how. As the story progressed, the characters lose their conscience more and more. Not that Yukiho couldn't lie without flaw since she was younger.

The book, "Gone With The Wind" has been referred to in a lot of instances throughout the drama. For example, Yukiho's admiration for Scarlett's err... whatever. Then Ryouji, saying that she will go and be like Rhett Butler. Kashiwabara Takashi (or his character... who looks like him... yummy) appeared, reading an English version of this book. Of course it appealed to Yukiho. When asked of their types, they each said "Scarlett O'Hara" and "Rhett Butler" respectively.

Its a fucking tragedy. T_T Sadder than "A Litre of Tears". Oh... I think I am going to mope around for a few days.

Rating: 4.5/5 Just finished watching @ 3 something in the morning. No time for screencaps. Freakin' sleepy. Watched this in ONE day. T_T

[Drama] Taiyou no Uta

[Moved from my old blog.]

*Warning: Spoiler alert, this blog entry contains huge, big, large, enormous spoilers to the drama ‘Taiyou no uta’ so if you wanna like watch it without spoilers don’t read. But its not like we don’t know what is going to happen in the end la… so predictable.*

Drama starring Yamada Takayuki and Erika Sawajiri. Language: Japanese.

18-year-old Kaoru Amane (Erika Sawajiri) grew up with a type of disease called XP. (note: XP is not the emoticon with the closed eyes and tongue sticking out. Its two alphabets, X and P.) The diseease does not allow her to be under the sun or go out in the morning without wearing an outfit resembling a spacesuit. If she does, her skin would get an infection and turn into skin cancer and she will die an ugly death.

Then she met Kouji, whose guitar she picked up... and so starts a romance that will be filled with sorrow as death slowly consumes the girl.

Sounds familiar, especially the dying part.

Anyways,

T_T

Erika Sawajiri has to stop dying! She keeps dying a long, painful death. It hurts to watch.

At least in this drama there is less suffering, less sappiness and no Asou-kun.

I know Sheela hates Takayuki Yamada, she feels menyampah when she sees his face. I didn’t like him in Densha Otoko, but in this drama I find him okay. I mean, the last part where Kouji Fujishirou was imagining that he was with Kaoru Amane on the beach totally breaks my heart. How can you hate him when he has to live the rest of his life reminiscing a lover that is separated from him by death? You can’t!!!

However, I really think that Erika Sawajiri should stop acting these stereotypical roles.

Girl gets chronic, untreatable disease, girl dying, disease gets in the way of brave girl and her dreams, girl lives on bravely, girl’s courage attract sweet guys, guys’ hearts break while watching her die a slow, painful death (the death will be pretty though), girl dies but lives on in the hearts of the people. Yada yada yada.

I blame the sun for being cruel. Overall, its a nice drama, but if you watched a litre of tears and then watch this, or watch this and then the other, you will see the similarities, then you will get kinda pissed and think stuff like, "Can't she stop dying already?"

[Drama] Lunch no Joou

[Moved from my old blog.]

This drama dates back to about 2002/2003. It stars some familiar looking chick, a tall big guy, Yamada Takayuki, Yamashita Tomohisa, Tsumabuki Satoshi, Ito Misaki and others.

12 episodes.

My rating: 2/5

Frankly, I hate this drama. It is so ridiculous. How can all four brothers (including Yama~P) and Morita Go all fall for that girl?! Even Morita Go who appeared as her ex who was wanted by the police. I hate to say it, but Morita Go sure does look like a criminal, drug dealer... sorta person.

But I like Yama~P's character a lot.

I have nothing to say about it, just that Yama~P is really freaking skinny to the bone in here. Dark and skinny. So skinny when pushed, you fear that he would fall over. His cheeks were hollow and sunken.

Yah, I removed this drama from my drive, so I guess... that's all. No screencaps.

[Movie] Tegami

[Moved from my old blog.]

Starring: Yamada Takayuki, Tamayama Tetsuji, Sawajiri Erika.

Movie. 2003.

T_T Spoilers.

Tsuyoshi and Naoki were orphans since they were very young. Tsuyoshi worked hard to support Naoki and his schooling fees - he had always hoped that Naoki would attend university as he himself never had the chance to do so. Due to overworking, Tsuyoshi hurt his hip and found himself in a situation where he couldn't work anymore. In need of money to finance their daily lives, Tsuyoshi decided to commit a crime. He robbed an old woman and accidentally caused her death. Tsuyoshi had to face lifetime imprisonment because of his actions.


Naoki exchanged letters with his elder brother ever since but he was often discriminated at everything he did because of his criminal brother. He didn't attend university and worked at a factory for his third job. This was where he met Yumiko. A girl who spoke with a funny Kansai-ben. She took the initiative to approach Naoki only to be rejected by him. One day, a senior at the factory encouraged Naoki to follow his dreams of doing Owarai (a type of Japanese comedy usually performed by a duo.) with his friend Yuusuke.


They duo found success soon only to have their success to face a threat that is to be connected with a murderer. Naoki decided to escape from the entertainment scene and left Yuusuke performing solo. His relationship with a rich girl who later became his fiancee was also messed up when the girl found out that his brother was a murderer.

Naoki later moved and did not inform his brother about his new address. Thus, the letters failed to reach him and he lost contact with his brother. All this while, Yumiko seems to pop up wherever he is. One night Yumiko invited Naoki over to her house and handed him some letters written by Tsuyoshi. It appears that Yumiko had been sending computer printed letters in pretense to be Naoki on his behalf because she realized that for a jailed person, the only solace they can find is in the letters of their loved ones.


Naoki and Yumiko became a couple since then and got married. Naoki stopped running from reality and accepted the fact that his brother is a criminal. They got married and had a kid named Miki. This could have been the end but it was not. Naoki found his daughter being discriminated as well because of his brother's imprisonment so he wrote a letter to his Tsuyoshi telling him the whole story of what happened and forbade Tsuyoshi to write to him ever again.



Naoki visited the son of the woman Tsuyoshi murdered and tried to apologize only to find that Tsuyoshi had been writing to the man all along. The last letter mentioned Naoki's decision to cut of ties with himself, and his realization that he hadn't been repenting as his letters brought suffering to Naoki and his victim's family as well. The victim, Ogata told Naoki that he would like this to end here and stop blaming and stop the anger. Naoki wept. (I don't know why he wept, but yeah... his mucus was flowing from his nose and I was disturbed.)


The last scene showed Naoki doing the Owarai with Yuusuke again at the prison, while Miki and Yumiko were at a park. The scene cuts back and forth. Naoki and Yuusuke were joking about something and suddenly Naoki's brother was mentioned. And Naoki said his brother was irreplaceable after all and not something that he could just throw away. Miki finally was accepted among the kids at the playground. Tsuyoshi was in the audience witnessing the duo's performance. Tsuyoshi was weeping despite the program was actually a comedy. (His mucus was also flowing, but this time I wasn't disturbed, probably because I was busy looking at how hot Tamayama Tetsuji is. And wow, he is hot. ^^)



Movie ends with the happy family of three walking away from the camera.

***

Upon hearing that the movie stars SawaEri, Yamada and Tamayama, I initially thought that it would have been about Yamada and Tamayama fighting their ass off for the affection of SawaEri who would probably play some diseased, dying beautiful and determined and brave young girl.

xD Yamada would probably get the girl and Tamayama would probably get herpes. That was the first image that came into my mind before reading the synopsis for the movie.

Well, after I watched it, an unexplainable anger burned in me for the character Naoki. I mean, Tsuyoshi was trying to get money to support Naoki and he just brushed him off like that. It was life imprisonment that Tsuyoshi got. In his 20s, how many years does he have to suffer like that? And to think it was all for Naoki's sake. And god knows time must crawl slower than a snail when you're in jail.

The poor thing.

And SawaEri's kansai accent was horrible. It wasn't anywhere near believable. She should go take some lessons from her costar Nishikido before trying it on. =D It sounds so fake, her accent. Oh trust me, I know, I have only been watching years and years worth of Kanjani8 TV shows within one or two months. To have them brainwash me with their accent is like... sorta... very good education? Nya whatever.

So there, second Yamada Takayuki movie/drama in such a short time. This time he looked hotter than he was in Crying out love, but overshadowed by actor/model Tamayama.

Rating: 3/5

And just because I feel like it, here are some screencaps of Tamayama with a crew cut. I like short hair!^^ Men should just have short hair.