tokyographers

It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Too many things going on, and I almost didn’t finish the Drama Preview in time for the start of the season… (though I didn’t finish the title banner, so I guess I still missed my deadline)

Anyway, two weeks ago was my cousin’s wedding, and like I expected, I didn’t have time to watch anything. Last weekend I got my Wii Fit and started playing with it - I’m on my way to getting in shape! Seriously, though, it has already improved my posture and balance! Now I just need to keep it up…

I also finally finished Mega Man 9 yesterday! Wow, Dr. Wily’s stage is tough. I don’t think I have the drive to attempt some of the challenges for that game. I guess I’ll get back to Okami (sidenote: the art covers came and they’re beautiful!) or pick up Wario Land or De Blob, or maybe some of the new WiiWare stuff. Or I can finally suck it up and drop some serious money on a PS3, but I really am praying for some price cuts for the holidays.

I haven’t watched too much in the past two weeks, but one of them is the classic Laputa: Castle in the Sky. Honestly, I had never seen it before, but apparently pretty much all of Japan thinks it’s Miyazaki’s best film, so I figured I should finally see it too. And yes, it’s beautiful and well done like everyone says. I can certainly see how it can occupy a special place in people’s hearts, especially if it was one of the first Miyazaki films they’ve seen, but unfortunately, my exposure to Miyazaki has been all out of order, and I think Spirited Away may still be my favorite one.

I also watched my first Kiyoshi Kurosawa film, Sakebi (also known as Retribution). I don’t normally pick up J-horror, but I plan on watching Tokyo Sonata and wanted some point of reference for Kurosawa as a director, and this one happened to be available for rental. Is it good? Actually… I’m not sure. There are parts I like, such as Koji Yakusho playing the doubt-filled detective and some of the suspense and tension scenes, but overall I felt several parts of the plot to be cliché. I don’t think I would recommend it, but I’ve seen some positive reviews from other people, so maybe it’s just not for me. The overall style was interesting enough, so hopefully I’ll like Tokyo Sonata, which should be more in line with my taste for films.

A couple more episodes of Maou are out of the way, and I’m now ready for the last two, which I should see sometime this week. Hopefully I can finish Seigi no Mikata during the weekend, too. I’m still aiming to watch Crows Zero sometime soon, though Kisarazu Cat’s Eye: World Series (finally!) may end up above it on my list of priorities.

Has anyone seen something good lately?

A press release for Fuji TV’s Innocent Love was held on Thursday. There were some pretty nice pics of Maki-chan!

Images taken from Sankei Sports and Sponichi.

She doesn’t normally wear them, but if you’ve ever wanted to see what she looks like in glasses, here’s your chance. At the Megane Best Dresser Awards that took place on Wednesday, she was the winner in a special category as the person who people would like to see wearing glasses.

Here are the pics:

Images are taken from Sponichi, Nikkan Sports, Sankei Sports (last two).

There’s also another image of her at the IOFT site (the event that sponsors the awards).

So, rather than doing the work I was planning to do this weekend, such as finishing the Drama Preview article (sorry!), I only did some of it half-assed while watching movies, dramas, and playing Mega Man 9… which, by the way, is definitely one of the toughest Mega Man games I’ve ever played, but at least the ability to buy Energy Tanks makes up for it. I’ve cleared all the bosses and passed the first part of Dr. Wily’s stage, but I figured I should put it down so that I could at least get some work done…

So what did I watch? First off, I saw Mamoru Hosoda’s animated version of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo). I’ve never seen or read any other version of the story before, so it was all new to me, and I loved it. It’s beautifully animated, has a fitting soundtrack, and is a charming, well-paced story with plenty of humor. It has some minor plot holes - normal for any time travel story - but that’s about its only flaw. I’m definitely planning to pick up my own copy of the DVD.

After that was the movie version of the HERO drama series, which I’ve been wanting to see for a while. I loved the original series, so I really wanted to see what a movie would be like. And it turned out to be a pretty good tribute to the television series, with plenty of references for fans of the drama, and it finally had *the* moment that everyone’s been waiting for. But perhaps it was a little too much like a TV episode, and not enough like a feature film. Still, I certainly liked it more than the special that aired in 2006. In a way, I’m glad it stayed true to the feel of the original show, but I guess I was also hoping for something more. Honestly, though, it’s hard to give a fair evaluation of the movie, since it’s always difficult for a popular franchise to make that transition to film without disappointing its fans.

I also saw Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge, the adaptation of an unconventional coming-of-age story about a young man who meets a girl who nightly battles a chainsaw-wielding giant from the moon. It’s one of those plots that just screams “cult classic.” Anyway, I had to watch it without subtitles, so I can’t say I understood every bit of dialogue, though it’s the kind of film where I think that’s all right. I probably missed some of the finer points about the relationship between the two (Hayato Ichihara and Megumi Seki), as well as the influence of Haruma Miura’s character. But based on what I did understand, I’m a little let down, as I felt the characters’ development wasn’t fleshed out well enough. I’m guessing maybe the original novel did a better job and this was just a problem with cramming it into under two hours. I also would’ve liked to have seen just a little more chainsaw action, but that’s all right.

I also watched a lot of dramas. Based on the recommendations from my last post, I started up Maou - and I definitely approve. I was skeptical at first because of the Johnny’s leads, but they’re doing quite well in their roles. Ohno actually kind of reminds me of Tatsuya Fujiwara playing Light Yagami in Death Note, in a way (though more emotionless and honestly, not as badass). The plot’s moving along nicely in the first two episodes and the suspense is building well, so I’m looking forward to the rest of the series. It will probably turn out to be my favorite for the summer, just like the rest of you have been telling me. And I haven’t seen the original Korean series, so everything’s new to me. (Just curious, for those who have seen both, are they very similar?)

I finished off Yasuko to Kenji, and I’m satisfied enough. It’s not a brilliant drama, but its cheesiness managed to keep me watching through the whole season. And it’s probably the most interesting role I’ve ever seen Ryoko Hirosue in, so that’s a plus.

I saw a little more of Tomorrow, Seigi no Mikata, and Taiyou to Umi no Kyoushitsu - those episodes were about par for the course. I also watched the Unfair special - yeah, I watched the movie before seeing the special - and of course I enjoyed that.

That’s it for this week! I might not get to watch anything next weekend since it’s my cousin’s wedding, but I’ll see if I can squeeze in Crows ZERO at some point!

I didn’t have time this weekend to watch much, but I managed to squeeze in the last two episodes of Rookies on Thursday and the last two episodes of Code Blue today. So what’s the verdict?

I think Rookies was one of the better shows of the spring season. It’s a fairly solid teacher-student drama that separates itself from similar dramas with its baseball emphasis. I definitely like Hayato Ichihara here, though I found some of the supporting cast annoying. And was it really necessary to do a close-up of each team member whenever something happened? But I’m still looking forward to continuing the story with the upcoming special and movie.

As for Code Blue, I found the ending to be satisfying. Since the show is really about a group of young men and women struggling with the meaning of being a doctor, I liked that it never really got too preachy or idealistic. I’m also quite happy there was no attempt at pairing Yamapi with any of the female cast, as a romantic storyline would probably have ruined the show for me. In any case, this is another series with a special episode I’ll be waiting for.

What’s next? I have The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and the HERO movie lined up for next weekend. In terms of dramas, I also still have to finish off Yasuko to Kenji, Tomorrow, and Seigi no Mikata. I’m curious about 33pun Tantei but haven’t gotten around to it yet. And is Maou any good?

Finally got around to watching NANA 2 this weekend! I admit I was worried about it due to the cast changes - particularly Yui Ichikawa replacing Aoi Miyazaki as Hachi - but in the end, I’m still glad I watched it. Definitely, I liked the first movie better, but the NANA story is awesome anyway (even though I haven’t finished reading the manga). In fact, I couldn’t resist and had to rewatch the first movie today… I’ve heard the anime is good but I never got around to watching it, so I’ve put it down on my list of things to do!

Yesterday I had also planned to watch The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, but the disc I had rented was actually cracked, so that’ll have to wait. Instead, I pulled out Takeshi Kitano’s Takeshis’, which I picked up a while ago but had put off due to the negative stuff I’ve heard about it. And while I generally like Kitano’s works, this one was way too surreal and bizarre for me. I kind of understand what he was aiming for, but overall, I don’t think it needed to be that long. I can normally appreciate his style of humor, but it seems that several parts of Takeshis’ just went completely over my head. I still plan on watching Kantoku Banzai! though.

I also went through two episodes of Code Blue - episodes 8 and 9, the ones that start the whole Kuroda-sensei story. Dramatic! To be honest, the show is actually better than I initially expected, but I think we all know it’s not going to win any prizes on the basis of artistic or literary merit. And in terms of medical dramas, it’s nothing compared to Iryu. But hey, I’ll still watch it (yay for Gakky!), and I’ll also be checking out the special episode scheduled for next year.

So… what did you watch this weekend?

The promotional poster for Kankuro Kudo’s “Shonen Merikensack” has been unveiled! Check out bad-ass Aoi Miyazaki:

(Taken from Sponichi Annex)

I would LOVE to have her on my wall.

Sankei Sports has an article up about Shun Oguri being cast as Ishida Mitsunari in NHK’s next taiga drama, “Tenchijin.” Along with the article, they posted a picture of Shun in the 1996 taiga drama “Hideyoshi,” where he also played Ishida Mitsunari, but as a child. Here’s the pic:

Aww, how adorable!

I’m not normally into most of the bands at Warped Tour, but I’m a big fan of Oreskaband, so I pretty much went just for them. I helped promote them by putting up posters and handing out flyers, but I was happy to see they’ve already built up a pretty good fanbase. There were a lot of people stopping by the booth and watching them perform. The girls also seemed a lot busier this year, as they made a lot of friends with the other bands and even made some guest appearances.

Saki, Leader, and Moriko joining the band Ludo

Jumping into action at the start of the set

With some guests of their own (I don’t know who)

Tomi, perhaps the cutest bassist ever

Group pic!

What’s with all the fashion-related posts lately? Not too sure myself, but Sankei Sports has another photo gallery up. This one is Aoi Miyazaki modeling a few kimonos at a show for Suzunoya: