The year is off to a good start, one of those times where you think instantly “I’m pre-ordering this NOW”:

I generally don’t go for hugging pillows, but hey, can’t say no to that (I’m still waiting for a Mako-chan one… unless they made one without telling me, lol).

Ok, 2nd part, continuing from where I left off (forgot to mention Sh15uya in 2005, but i’ve already mentioned it here albeit very briefly, lol, I give it 7/10)…

2008

Kabei – Our Mother:

WW2 film set in Japan. The story revolves around a family whose father gets arrested for “thought crimes” (aka: suspected of being a communist, or anyone in general against the war), and how the family’s mother holds everything together. It’s a nice story, but as I mentioned on my twitter it doesn’t really go anywhere. It does however feature the wonderfully talented Shida Mirai though.
Verdict: Nice story, kinda doesn’t go anywhere. 6/10

Guren Onna:

The crimson woman; famous throughout urban legends as someone who stays around to haunt people after dying from being set fire to. Except… she’s not a ghost, and nor is she dead, during the day she’s just an incredibly shy and reserved school teacher. A funny drama showcasing her night time escapades in dispensing justice and trying to keep her true identity a secret. ^_^ First watched it while out in Japan randomly flicking through channels… ended up buying the DVD box set, and seeking out other drama Takabe Ai‘s been in, lol.
Verdict: Funny stuff. 7.5/10

Coin Locker Monogatari:

Starring Kojima Haruna of AKB48 fame. This 4 part drama focuses on the story of a girl abandoned in a train station coin locker when she was a baby, and her comedy encounters with a coin locker attendant. Kinda amusing, but really only of interest to AKB/Haru-nyan fans.
Verdict: Watch if bored, or an AKB48 fan. 5/10

Kimi Hannin Janai yo ne?:

A pretty standard comedy detective show. There’s the detective who thinks he knows how to solve everything, and gets it wrong every week, and his non-detective female sidekick that he doesn’t really like that ends up solving it all for him.
Verdict: Funny, easy to watch, no great complex plot. 7/10

Seigi no Mikata:
Ok, this deserves lots of pictures. Click for fullsize etc.

…and that was all from the first episode, lol. This was truly a funny show, a girl has a really popular older sister who is basically an evil bully, but no-one else can see this, all they see is the beautiful popular intelligent older sister, while the younger sister… the one doing all the older sister’s dirty work is simply pushed to the side. The first show I saw with Shida Mirai in, and i’ve gotta say her facial expressions and acting throughout the entire series are just great. All of her serious drama does lack all of these comedy faces she’s so good at doing. Easily the best drama i’ve watched that’s aired the past 2 years.
Verdict: Very funny, so so want a 2nd season (or at least comedy version Mirai in something else, lol). 9/10

Shibatora:

Shibatora is a cop that looks far too young to be a cop, and has a unique power to be able to see when people are going to die. Police drama with a bit of comedy thrown in. Generic overarching plot with a big bad guy at the end etc.
Verdict: Amusing if kinda generic comedy cop drama. 6/10

Gakko ja Oshierarenai!:

An all girls school is about to accept a small number of guys for the first time. The higher ups are mostly against it, as are the rest of the students, the boys are outcasts. Their teacher (who is incidentally played by mrs loli fashion lover from Kamikaze Girls) ends up forcing them to join a casual dance club with a group of girls that are also somewhat social outcasts themselves… all the while trying to hook them up with each other. Each episode generally follows the relationship between one of the guys and one of the girls.
Verdict: Funny throughout with a nice happy ending. 7/10

Yasuko to Kenji:

Story about a guy bringing up his younger sister alone. Except it’s not so simple, he’s an ex-biker gang member, and he’s now working as a female manga artist (using a pen name) with his un-intelligent ex-gang members as his assistants. His sister is now at that age where she’s fallen in love, but he won’t allow it. Cue much hilarity.
Verdict: Table throwing, pipe slamming hilarity throughout, oh and love~ 7.5/10

Mendol:

And another AKB48 drama (and people wonder why they’re more popular than Hello!Project these days, lol). Three girls audition to become idols and fail. Somehow they end up getting chased by a gang of criminals, which results in them dressing up as men and somehow getting recruited into a band. So throughout the show they have keep their identities a secret and evade capture from the criminals. In-between all of the shots of Haru-nyan, Mii-chan, and Takamina in various states of undress (or getting spanked) it was actually very funny. Especially the running joke of the guy that ended up falling in love with one of them in man form. ^_^ Also the ending theme is probably the last AKB48 single I liked a lot (Oogoe Diamond).
Verdict: Funny, no need to be an ABK48 fan to enjoy it. 7/10

Bloody Monday:

Terrorists are about to release a deadly virus across Tokyo, somebody must stop them. This is where the government organization THIRD-i come in… except one of their number ends up on the run suspected of murder and involvement with the terrorist plot. It’s now up to his genius hacker son to figure out what’s going on and save the day. Several places i’ve seen have called this “Japan’s 24″, it was an action packed thrill ride all the way to the end.
Verdict: Terrorists, a deadly virus, a genius hacker, what more could you want? (a second season perhaps… well that starts in a few days too!) 8/10

2009

Mei-chan no Shitsuji:

Mei’s parents die in a freak house explosion (you know, happens all the time). Turns out her grandfather is the incredibly rich head of a huge corporation, he takes custody of her and sends her to an expensive girls school where every girl has her own butler, and she is supposed to learn how to become a lady suitable for taking over the company. However at the school she ends up assigned to the most popular butler there, which creates a few enemies for her. Comedy throughout, plus a pointless love story between her and her butler.
Verdict: Funny, but the love story with her butler was the wrong choice, she should have gone for her childhood friend instead. 6/10

Q.E.D.:

Starring Ai-chan from Morning Musume (did they finally catch on?). Another generic comedy detective story. A new guy transfers to Ai’s school, he’s a genius at maths got moved up a few years, and studied in America in the past, but he’s a bit of a loner (and frankly irritating to be honest), but he and Ai end up becoming friends. Onto the detective part… Ai’s dad is a detective, but somehow Ai and the kid end up solving everything each week, go figure.
Verdict: Another generic comedy detective show. Watch if you like that sort of thing, or you’re an Ai fan. 6/10

Uta no Oniisan:

Starring one of the guy’s from Arashi along with the girl from GIRL NEXT DOOR. The basic plot is that the guy gets kicked out of his own band, so is forced to go out looking for a new job, ends up going to the wrong interview and somehow gets accepted for a singing TV presenter on a kids show. Only problem is he’s not the most cheerful of guys, lol. The kids show itself has it’s own problems, falling ratings and the two current hosts have ego’s as big as a planet.  It’s really quite a funny show, with a nice happy ending too. Oh, and they were showing this at Ayacon last year too… what made me laugh was the description one of the Ayacon staff had written in the conbook for it, something along the lines of “the sort of children’s show that could only appear in a drama”………. yeah…. whoever wrote that clearly hasn’t seen much Japanese children’s TV as this is more what every single kids show is like, lol. ♪Minna de utao! Pa Pi Pu Pe Pon♪
Verdict: Very funny show, great characters, easily best drama i’d watched in 2009. 8.5/10

Atashinchi no Danshi:

Girl is running away from debt collectors after her father racked up some huge debt. To the rescue comes an excentric old rich guy that runs a toy company who pays off her debt and makes her his wife… except he only has 1 month to live. She ends up signing some stuff that means after he dies she has to look after his adopted sons (who all hate each other) in a crazy house full of puzzles and hidden rooms, and try and get everyone to like each other. Once she’s completed all of the challenges she can then become a free woman. Also, had a really great theme song… Infinity by GIRL NEXT DOOR.
Verdict: Funny oddball show with lots of crazy inventions. 7/10

Futatsu no Spica:

Bunch of guys and girls go to astronaut school with dreams of going to space. Set in alternate world modern day Japan years after a Japanese space shuttle disaster involving one of the girl’s that attends the school’s parents. Relatively interesting story ignoring the major plotholes. Kinda sad too.
Verdict: You don’t get a drama about an astronaut school very often. Nice if kinda sad story. 7/10

And there we go, i’m done, lol. What was originally supposed to be a review of drama from the first half of 2009 turned into a brief look through pretty much everything i’ve seen, lol. Top three drama, easily Winter Sonata in first, followed by Densha Otoko, and Seigi no Mikata in third (with Uta no Oniisan having an honourable mention). Stuff i’m currently watching (or planning to watch):

Shokojo Seira
Majisuka Gakuen
14 sai no Haha
Daremo Mamotte Kurenai
Love Exposure
Bloody Monday 2 (when it starts)

Hmm, i’ll be impressed if anyone actually read all of that (I know I wouldn’t). Lets see, if anyone did, then add up all the scores I gave to stuff and tell me the number in person at some point and then you can claim a free drink, lol.

Ok, this is going to be a long post, but bear with me, it might almost be worth reading (that’ll be a first, lol). Basically this post started out as a draft from back in June where I was going to write a review of the drama shows from the first half of 2009. Reached the end of the year at which point it turned into a review of drama shows from all of 2009. But then I realised there’s loads of drama i’ve watched that i’ve never mentioned at all, so her we are, a review of everything I can remember watching up to the end of 2009.

Note: The list currently stands at 27 things, so this is likely to be a *very* long post. List also includes a few movies. It’s going to be ordered by release/air date, which bears absolutely no relation to the order in which I watched them. Enjoy.

2002

Suicide Circle:
A kinda surreal horror movie with one of the most memorable opening scenes I can remember. I’ll admit I only bought it because it feature’s Momoi’s “Mail Me” throughout (as performed by Dessart). It doesn’t make a whole heap of sense from what I remember, but I guess if you’re into Japanese horror then you’re used to that.
Verdict: Only redeeming feature was the use of Mail Me. 4/10

Winter Sonata:
See this post.
Verdict: Must watch. Absolutely must watch. 10/10

2004

Shimotsuma Monogatari (Kamikaze Girls):

I’m sure most people have seen this, but anyway, it’s a nice story about a girl who likes loli fashion that ends up becoming best friends with a girl biker gang member. Comedy ensues, but it’s ultimately a touching story in the end.
Verdict: Nice fun film with a touching ending. 8/10

2005

Lorelei:

World War 2 Japan in an alternative world, the story revolves around a revolutionary new submarine that is tasked with protecting Tokyo from an A-Bomb. But what is the source behind this submarine’s mysterious power? Seemed like a very high budget movie for Japan, quite good, not very deep or thought provoking though. Likely only done as well as it did in Japan purely for it’s high budget special effects (which aren’t actually all that good really, lol).
Verdict: Interesting film if you’ve got some time to kill, not likely to leave any lasting impression though. 6/10

Densha Otoko:
Ok, now *everyone* has seen this, lol (talking about the TV series and not the film). If you are any sort of anime fan and you haven’t, well what on earth have you been doing with yourself??? Hilarious comedy based on the true story of an anime otaku posting on 2ch about his encounters with a woman he saved on the train one day (the “true” part being that the posts did actually get posted on 2ch, but whether or not the poster was making the whole thing up is another matter).
Verdict: Hilarious throughout. 9.5/10

2006

Maid In Akihabara:

Short drama (6 episodes) about a bar girl that goes to work in a maid cafe to escape the yakuza. I can’t remember a great deal about it (which probably says something about it’s longevity), but I do remember that it was mildly amusing.
Verdict: Mildly amusing, probably of interest if you like maid cafe’s, lol. 5/10

Saiyuuki:

Modern re-make of the classic “Monkey” based on the Journey to the West novel, featuring Atsushi Ito of Densha Otoko fame, and one of the guys from SMAP playing the lead role. It was relatively funny, staying true to the original, though the ending did take on a more serious note. I’m pretty sure I mentioned it on here at the time… ah yes, here: http://www.pori.co.uk/?p=182. It also had a great soundtrack, and that most memorable ending theme… Around The World by Monkey Majik (I do believe they done a cover version of Monkey Magic at some point too, lol).
Verdict: A great re-make. True to it’s origins, funny throughout. 8/10

Akihabara@DEEP:

A group of various otaku get together in Akihabara to start a problem solving group for anyone to come to them with their problems. Hilarity ensues each episode etc. And it seems I already reviewed it here: http://www.pori.co.uk/?p=423.
Verdict: Funny show. You will leave it with a craving for umaibo and a realisation that fujoshi are hot. 7/10

2007

Halko☆UP DATE:

Biographical 2 part drama about Halko Momoi. From her origins as a fan of female idols, and someone who was teased at school, all the way up to her ascent to idolhood herself.
Verdict: A must for any Momoi fan. 8/10

Ashita no Watashi no Tsukurikata (How to Become Myself):

Starring Acchan of AKB48 fame. A story of two girls discovering well… themselves. The story starts with one girl admiring the other for being the popular girl in class, wishing she could have friends like her. That doesn’t last long however as she soon loses popularity and finds herself the target of the bullies. The two never actually speak to each other until their graduation ceremony. Story skips ahead to high school, the girl being bullied has moved to another town, and the other girl wants to become an author… she starts anonymously text messaging the bullied girl her story about a popular girl, and the bullied girl begins to adopt this imaginary character’s personality. Lots of things happen, they both wonder who the real “me” is etc. etc.
Verdict: A touching film about growing up and what it is to be “me”. So good I watched it 3 times on the aeroplane to/from Japan. 9/10

Tantei Gakuen Q:

A group of children training to become detectives at a school in Akihabara (seemingly in a cupboard above Mai:lish, lol). Pretty standard formula for a Japanese detective show, random mystery solved each week, culminating in an overall plot with a big bad organization at the end.
Verdict: Somewhat amusing, and features the truly wonderful Shida Mirai (would have got a lower score if she weren’t present). 6.5/10

Flight Panic:

It’s basically Outbreak (great film), but on an areoplane! I only watched it because it had Takabe Ai in it (just after i’d finished watching Guren Onna… more on that later), and boy did it take ages to find. But yes, it pretty much does what it says on the tin. There’s an outbreak of an infectious disease on an aeroplane, I think everyone can imagine what that entails.
Verdict: I like disaster movies. 7.5/10

Densen Uta:

Starring AKB48, it’s a pretty naff horror (/comedy) movie about a song that causes people to commit suicide (…so a standard horror movie plot in Japan then). I’m really not much of a fan of Japanese “horror”, because most of the time it just seems to border on the farcical side of things with some gratuitous gore thrown in for the sake of it. But hey, this has it’s redeeming features… it’s full of AKB48.
Verdict: Watch only if you’re some sort of J-Horror otaku, or an AKB48 fan (or if you enjoy seeing AKB48 girls setting fire to themselves). 4/10

Ok, and i’m done for now, decided to split this out into more than one post, tired and want to sleep now, lol. The above is generally mostly stuff I watched before I really started watching much drama.

Also, this:

Mm yes, this is good animu.

Last HP concert today…

After being to several by this point it was clear where I needed to be if I was to be in the best position for cheering for Sayaka (and Kikka too… may aswell cheer for the remaining Kirarin Revolution girls even if they are just eggs now, and there’s no Koha to lead them)…….. and that was right at the front and all the way on the right.

This lead to buying a 3rd row ticket all the way on the right! Which as I knew was effectively a front row ticket, because there is no “1st” row all the way on both edges, and the 2nd row is reserved for people in wheelchairs, so no-one standing there.

Got there wielding my makeshift Kirarin Revolution star tambourine (because i left my official one at home thinking I wouldn’t need it without Koha), and wearing my Kirarin Revolution t-shirt.

I was gonna go all out cheering for Sayaka today, I was determined to get her attention.

This concert was pretty funny… right at the beginning the curtain failed to come up during the first song, so they had to stop it all and start over again. Everyone laughed. ^_^

But yes, when it did start, being that close and right at the front, it certainly feels incredibly different to being even a couple of rows behind front row… you’re right there… all of H!P can see you there right at the front in full view. It took a couple of songs, but just as Sayaka was walking off stage I was there waving at her (I should point out at this point that the eggs are basically on autopilot for these concerts… effectively just backing dancers, no speaking parts, just waving indescriminately into the crowd, not expecting anyone to wave back or care about them). But yes, Sayaka was just walking off stage and there I was waving the star at her, she saw it and her face lit up, lol, I got the biggest smile i’ve ever seen off of anyone on stage, and a full on double handed wave as she carried on walking. *I melted* She looked so happy, lol.

The eggs weren’t on again until the end so I was just cheering for everyone else from that point on, pretty much everyone on stage saw us at some point, lol. C-ute’s Chisato looked happy (as did Maimai) that we were singing along during the sing along parts of Seishun Song, and she looked even more happy when I did the hand bit to her, lol.

Lots and lots of Mittsi in front of us, and JunJun too. Still failed at getting the attention of LinLin though, even with her right in front of me. >_> Grr, lol, she must have seen us, lol.

Then eventually the eggs were back on, waved at Sayaka some more and then she disappeared towards the back out of my view (giant speakers in the way… which incedentally make you deaf by the end… considering they’re the speakers for the entire concert hall right next to your ears). So with Sayaka out of view I decided to wave at Kikka, now I was pretty sure she’d spotted me earlier wearing my Kirarin Revolution t-shirt, but I wasn’t really looking at her and she probably saw me cheering for Sayaka, lol. But anyway yes, she instantly saw me waving at her, nodded at me, smiled and waved back a lot for pretty much the entire rest of the song (which was only half way through, lol).

Yes, Sayaka, Kikka, there are still some of us out there that remember and love Kirarin Revolution. You two are missed!! Please get put into a new unit soon!!! Making them smile pleased me… definitely the best H!P concert we’ve been to out of these ones. Bring back MilkyWay, we’ve not forgotten you two!!!

   

After the concert, paid our final visit to that maid bar this year… you know you’re welcome in a place when they’ve poured your chosen drink before you’ve sat down to your seat and without asking what you want, lol. Said goodbye to everyone there that day, they asked when we’d be back (next year?), and wished me luck with slowly learning Japanese, lol. Before we left one of them pretty much pleaded us to use our filled up point card on a photo with her, how could we refuse, lol.

Ahh, back to crappy England tomorrow. *sigh* The land of women with no fashion sense. *sigh* The land where the country shuts down after 1cm of snow and a slightly chilly wind. *sigh* The land where trains are never on time, and the bus only turns up 33% of the time (if you’re lucky). *sigh* The land where…………. etc. etc. x 1million