Monsters

MONSTERS is a Japanese crime series that aired on TBS from October 21st to December 9th 2012. The series consists of 8 episodes with an average duration of 45 minutes.

Story: Kosuke Saionji is designated to the best investigation team and is close to fulfilling his dream but he ends up assigned to Heihachi Hiratsuka, a top class detective who was working alone, he needs to take care of because of Hiratsuka's loud and impolite personality and his possible secrets in solving crimes. Every episode follows another crime and the investigation led by Hiratsuka.

Cast: The very first thing I need to say about this series is that it seems to be satirical. Everything is just a little overdone from acting to the way the cases are shown. In its own genre mixing up comedy and crime it is not bad but if it was a real crime drama it would lack some seriousness. This shows extremely well in the eccentric character of Heihachi Hiratsuka played by Shingo Katori. His acting in the eccentric way is good as well as some of the serious parts are great, too. As an actor I don't remember being familiar with Katori but I enjoyed his acting in this drama.
Tomohisa Yamashita as Kosuke Saionji is the helpless subordinate type of character and I honestly don't think this drama shows the strong side of his acting but it is a different side of what I've seen in most dramas he was starring in (that I watched so far of course).
Other characters were rarely in the focus as this drama just evolves around these two but other actors in this drama include Kenichi Endo, Tomoya Warabino, Daisuke Kikuta, Tatsuya Hino, Tomoya Shiroishi, Yasukage Hinaka and Makoto Otake.
 
Soundtrack: I totally loved the soundtrack and the music played in the episodes. I can't really explain why but I think it did highlight the atmosphere very well.


In total I rated this drama as 8/10 as it is not a full crime drama but includes comedy so the eccentric and over-the-top parts were intended to be that way. The crimes in each episode were interesting but sometimes it was a little obvious what might have happened. I would recommend this if you like the type of satirical crime dramas but if you only watch this for Tomohisa Yamashita you might be disappointed as this is not his best drama.

Tiger & Dragon

タイガー＆ドラゴン (Tiger & Dragon) is a Japanese drama series that aired on TBS from April 15th to June 24th 2005 and consists of 11 episodes. It also has a special episode that was aired on January 9th 2005.

Story: The story evolves around two different worlds, yakuza and rakugo, that become combined and entangled through family and friendship in this drama. Toraji Yamazaki is a yakuza and belongs to the Ryuseikai Shinjuku but dreams of becoming a rakugo story teller while Ryuji Yanaka is the son of a rakugo master and a fashion designer with a quite unique taste in fashion who quit rakugo a long time ago even though he has talent. As they both face difficulties and meet various people their bond of 'Tiger and Dragon' keeps intact most of the time.

Cast: In the very first place the acting in this drama was not supposed to be taken serious since it is a comedy so I can't say much about how well/realistic the actors can do their job. Tomoya Nagase as Tora was a character in this drama that I personally wanted to fulfill his dream. The acting made him literally seem like a tiger occasionally but that was one of the main points of the drama.
Junichi Okada as Ryuji was somehow a pitiful character I seriously couldn't get myself to like. The character was written a little bit too.. much from time to time. I remember scenes in which it just had me shaking my head.
Misaki Ito as Megumi certainly did have her part in this but her character was also some cliché kind of female. Pretty but not the smartest. I think she acted well in her part.
Toshiyuki Nishida as Shokichi Yanaka or Hayashiyatei Donbei (note that I left this order because turning the last name and given name around would sound weird in the case of such a long last name I think) was a fatherly figure that also did kinda well in his role. Takashi Tsukamoto as Ginjiro Nakatani is the clueless son of the leader of the Ryuseikai Shinjuku. As a character he was very likeable in his clumsy way at first and improved a lot, the acting also showed his change in character well in the end.
Other actors in this drama include Yu Aoi as Risa, Tsubaki Nekoze as Tsuruko Yanaka, Sadao Abe as Ryuhei Yanaka/Donta, Yosuke Asari as Susumu Murata/Udon, Gen Hoshino as Dontsuku and Yoshiyoshi Arakawa as Jumptei Jump.

Soundtrack: The opening song "Tiger & Dragon" was recorded by Crazy Ken Band. While I personally still don't really like the song I think the vocalist has a kind of voice that suits the song well.
The ending was "UTAO-UTAO" by V6. Personally I do like this song a lot more than the opening and I would occasionally listen to it just for fun, too, I think.


This drama gave me a hard time thinking about the rating. While I did like it somehow and didn't have a hard time finishing it - it failed as a comedy for me. Hence I rated it as 6/10 because it honestly didn't even make me laugh once. It wasn't bad though and as a kind of satirical drama about family, yakuza and friendship it would most likely get a better rating. However, if you want to watch it don't hesitate to do so. I think even though this drama might not be a comedy everyone likes there are aspects others might find interesting except for the jokes.

Jiu

ジウ　警視庁特殊犯捜査係 (jiu: keishichou tokushuhan sousakei; Jiu: Special Investigation Team) is a Japanese drama series that aired from July 29th to September 23rd 2011 on TV Asahi and consists of 9 episodes.

Story: Motoko Izaki and Misaki Kadokura couldn't be anymore different. One is a tough fighter, one of the strongest in her police unit SIT and prefers to take action to protect people. The other is a gentle and calm girl also referred to as "Miss Cannes" and wants to be responsible for negotiations - her job is talking. After an important incident both of them are transferred to different units and work to track down the mastermind behind the plan. All that is known about him in the early stages is the name "Jiu", a good-looking young man with blonde hair usually appearing in white clothes. But is he really behind all those deeds? And why do people follow him if they aren't doing it for money?

Cast: I know what people want to hear but I will just start off with Meisa Kuroki as Motoko Izaki. She is actually a singer if I'm informed correctly but she rocks her role in this drama. As a tough and fit woman Izaki is definitely someone I would look up to. Mikako Tabe as Misaki Kadokura on the other hand is the gentle and kind, naive girl who tries to get along with everyone. I know that this type of character does have a certain difficulty to it so I respect the actress but it is just the type of character that is popular among males for the fact that they are so cute and usually willing to follow.
Yu Shirota as Takashi Amamiya is a character that is just suspicious from the beginning. I don't fully know why but I never trusted his intentions in this drama, just the beginning and the first episode made me doubt everything but he added something to the story that was important. As for the acting, it was very secretive and mysterious and totally worked with the overall atmosphere.
Yukiya Kitamura as Hiroki Azuma did a good job overall trying to protect Kadokura while trying to solve the case of Toshinori and track down Jiu, the mysterious man he sees behind all the happenings. The acting was good but seemed a bit hesitant to me from time to time.
And lastly, yes, I have to mention Kim Myung-soo or L depending on what you want to call him as Jiu. Now first some questioning: Why in the world did they name the drama after a character that rarely appears until episode 7 or 8? And why did they need to use a Korean idol in an all Japanese drama? While I don't really mind it, let me talk about my theory: Attention. They just wanted attention from Korean fans of Infinite by making him the character that also gives the story the title. What they get especially on MDL are bad ratings by disappointed fans and I do believe that many people will just watch his scenes specifically. Anyway, I considered his acting to be good as far as he was shown but then again most of the time I think he had to stand somewhere with no expression on his face.. which can be difficult to but I got a feeling that he's good at standing somewhere with an emotionless face.

Soundtrack: The soundtrack is hardly memorable. The only thing I remember is the ending. Seriously, Lady Gaga? Edge of Glory? Now it is one of the songs I don't hate but I don't get how this is connected to the drama at all. Plus, since it plays while the last minutes of the episode are airing, it was sometimes too loud so it interrupted the dramas flow.


I personally didn't find this drama to be as boring as many other people but then again I didn't have that high expectations. However, sometimes I just wanted to scream because of the side characters. It seemed more like a piece played in theatres. A person finished a sentence, and the next action takes place two or three seconds later - they obviously waited and sometimes too long so it was just obviously faked.
But then again the mystery in the plot and the characters made up for some negative stuff which is the reason for this drama getting a 7/10.
I DON'T recommend to watch this only for L/Myung-soo.

Postman to Heaven

천국의 우편배달부 (Postman to Heaven) is a South Korean movie directed by Lee Hyeong-min and released in 2009 with a running time of 108 minutes. The movie actually was a Japanese-Korean collaboration written by Eriko Kitagawa.

Story: Jae-joon is a mailman delivering letters to heaven which makes him the heaven's postman. One day when emptying the mailbox he meets Ha-na, a woman who keeps on writing to her deceased ex-boyfriend. During the next two weeks they become closer and try to ease the pain of those who are in pain after someone's death - but Jae-joon has a secret that is the reason why they can't be found out.

Cast: Kim Jae-joong as Jae-joon is a really interesting character and actor. It is soon obvious that he has a secret but the acting keeps his character mysterious and somehow interesting. Also the character develops and changes slowly which was portrayed well.
Han Hyo-joo as Ha-na was a little bit too childish as a character sometimes but her turning into a happy and bright person was really good to watch and the light-hearted kind of thing that is popular among audiences in both Japan and Korea. The acting was good but not perfect so her overall performance was a nice thing but still not perfect.
However, they had a good chemistry on-screen which was easy and nice to watch.


The way this story was told somehow fascinates me, the idea of a heaven's postman who helps to ease people's pain is something I would wish for in a real life. The way Jae-joon's personal background was revealed and what or who exactly he is in fact is very interesting. While this movie maybe included not enough action to be one of my overall favorite movies, it is definitely worth watching.
So my personal rating is a 7.5/10.

Days With You

恋極星 (Koikyokusei; Days With You) is a Japanese movie directed by Amiy Mori and released in March 2009.

Story: Natsuki Kashiwagi lives in Sapporo, Hokkaido, and takes care of her autistic brother Daiki Kashiwagi. One day she is reunited with her childhood love Souta Funabiki who moved away to Canada when they were young. The two fall in love again but Souta suffers from a serious disease and decided to not get surgery again since the disease is always returning.

Cast: Another movie with Erika Toda in it, this time as Natsuki Kashiwagi. Her acting is really good in my opinion, she manages to portray the happiness and the hope as well as the sadness and the burden of caring for her brother alone after her fathers death well.
Kazuki Kato delivers another great character as Souta Funabiki. The way he portrayed the struggle with the disease and the hopelessness but also the will to fight for his love and his parents was portrayed well and really made me hope the best for him (and the fact that I just hate sad endings of course makes me hope for the best all the time as well).
And Ryuya Wakaba as Daiki Kashiwagi did a great job portraying the autistic younger brother. I don't know much about autism, just that there are of course different forms, and I was wondering if what he was portraying was a real form of autism but I think it fit the story well in total and did highlight the fact that he somehow needed his sister to help him.


I can't say I loved this movie but I kinda liked it so it got a 7/10 from me. It is not necessarily a movie I would rewatch even though I do love the setting and the acting a lot but the story doesn't really offer a big surprise. I honestly knew what disease they would use right when I read about a 'serious illness', it is just what usually happens in dramas and movies.
But what I have to admit is that the Japanese movie producers know how to make a heartwrenching melodramas just by using some stereotypical things.

Words of Devotion 2: To the End of the World

!WARNING! This is a boys love movie, if you don't like it, just ignore it.

(Ai no kotodama 2: Sekai no hate made; Words of Devotion 2: To the End of the World) is a Japanese boys love movie that was released in 2010.

Story: Hirofumi Sasaki started working for a new company not too long ago and doesn't really know that much about the IT field in the beginning. The day he's moving out of home his boss calls him to the company and he meets Shinji Tamura, who transferred to the branch to help them for some time. As Shinji starts working in the branch, Hirofumi naturally meets him more often. The two of them slowly start to work on their relationship and become a lot closer..

Cast: Ryunosuke Kawai as Shinji Tamura is doing a really good job in this movie. So does Makoto Uenobori as Hirofumi Sasaki. Their chemistry was nice, I really felt like there were sparks floating around in a few scenes. The only thing I didn't really like was one scene pretty much towards the end of this movie since it seemed a little bit too impulsive and even a little violent.

After all this movie received a good 7/10. It is not closely connected to the first movie so you don't have to watch it though some aspects appear in this movie again. One will understand those easily even without knowing the first movie.
The movie is a sweet and light one, nothing really sexual about it unless your imagination will make you think of it that way (though it's actually clearly shown there's nothing to it), if you like some Boys Love movies with a happy end (yay for the writers not making a character die~) you'll probably enjoy this even though the story in itself isn't anything completely new.

Words of Devotion

 !Warning! This is a Boys Love movie! Don't like the genre? Then just ignore it.

愛の言霊 (Ai no Kotodama; Words of Devotion) is a Japanese Boys Love movie that was released in 2008.

Story: Shinya Ootani and Miyako Tachibana have been best friends since high school and started living together about two years ago. Actually the two of them are a quite cute couple but one day Yuki, a friend from high school, shows up and Ootani starts feeling jealous and somehow insecure.
The movie shows the life of a gay couple and no one around them knows that they actually are a couple and not only close friends.

Cast: Yasuka Saito as Miyako Tachibana has acted in a few other boys love movies before so I think his acting in this field is pretty solid. It's not like I could really complain about it.

Hidenori Tokuyama is someone I haven't seen in any series so far and his acting itself as Shinya Ootani was okay but sometimes as a character trying to hide his jealousy he seemed too calm.
After all the chemistry between the two leads was good and their acting was nice to watch.


My personal rating of this movie is 6/10 though. The movie isn't bad but since I'd say it's rather about a couple's life (and it doesn't even matter if it's a gay or straight couple) with a nice ending but a not-so-deep plot. It's not that exciting though it is a sweet story finally not about how people start dating but their relationship itself.

L: Change the World

Lの本当の秘密 (L: Change the World) is a spin-off and the last movie to be released belonging to the Death Note-series. The movie was released in 2008.

Story: After Watari's death L receives a "gift" - that's actually pretty much alive. L gets to know that the child he received as a gift is the only survivor of an exterminated Thai village. Behind the exermination of the village is the last enemy, the "Death", a virus created by humans with no vaccine yet.
While taking care of the little boy another visitor drops in. A girl named Maki who's father has been working on biological weapons, to be more exact he created the virus himself. In order to stop terrorism he infected himself and destroyed the only vaccine he had created that far.
The terrorists appear looking for the virus and L puts everything on the line, trying to protect the children, stop the virus and solve his final case - while he has only 6 days left to live.

Cast: Basically the only character remaining in this series is L played by Kenichi Matsuyama as always. And what is obvious is, that after two years as L, he did a pretty amazing job in this one again. Even if I don't want to think like that, to me, L and Kenichi Matsuyama are basically the same person.
Youki Kudoh is in this series as basically the main antagonist - while the other members of the group are dangerous as well - her intelligence makes Dr. Kimiko Kujo even more dangerous.
Masanobu Takashima is the second antagonist as Daisuke Matobe who makes things a little more interesting. If I remember right, greed was his main reason though he also claims to be a member of the "Blue ship" but then again the viewer doesn't really know if saving the planet through destroying humankind is really his goal or if it's only about money for him.
Mayuko Fukuda as Maki Nikaido is the key to the mystery around the virus and also the vaccine. While she's after Dr. Kujo for her revenge as well her acting is really good to watch, she's one of the few characters that make this movie for me.

As I don't know that to tell you anymore, I'll get straight to the point: the rating. 5.5/10.
In the very beginning I thought it would be worse but the ending of this movie was actually a good one. However, I do think that this has nothing to do with the first two movies released and that it should have been more clearly seperated. Also, in the beginning, the scenes seemed to be nothing but a mess. Nothing made sense at all, and when those scenes appeared showing that village in Thailand I felt like I was watching a completely different movie.
The movie itself is enjoyable. It is not outstandingly good but then again it does have some interesting scenes, especially in the latter hour. But honestly, 129 minutes were too long for this movie, the story wasn't created to fill two hours but probably 30 minutes left.
That being said, I sometimes just had to laugh about how the events were shown because it was ridiculous and also that enviroment-protection-whatever-group made me crack up. As much as you hate humans for destroying this planet, I cannot imagine such an extreme would ever happen so I just couldn't help laughing about them as well.

Death Note: The Last Name

Death Note: The Last Name is a Japanese movie released in 2006 based on a manga series:


Story: As in the first movie, Death Note, L and the team of detectives trying to find kira. Light joins the special unit after the death of his former 'girlfriend' Shiori. Now being placed next to L, he wants to get rid of the ones in his way. As L is still suspicious he decides to observe Light closely.
Suddenly another kira appears and needs to be found. Both owners of the Death Note's together would be even more dangerous since one of them is a good strategic player while the other seems to see the name of the victim..

Cast: Okay, so I have no idea what I should really put on here. The main cast is of course the same as in the first movie. Kenichi Matsuyama as L and Tatsuya Fujiwara as Light Yagami. While in this movie Light seems to be more insane than in the first one which makes the acting more intense it's as good as in the first movie as well.
And let's not forget about Erika Toda as Misa Amane. While I love her style I think she's a little bit too psycho in a different way due to a trauma. All she wants is to be loved after all.
And there's Nana Katase as Kiyomi Takada who would do basically anything for her career.


I personally really liked how things involved. Many things were easy to understand because of the connections between the characters. Nothing seemed to be just fate but a plan carefully made.
The story is a little bit too crazy later though. This might be a spoiler but Light seems to have gone completely mad.
So my personal rating is a 7/10 which is not as good as the first movie but still not that bad.

Code Blue 2

コ-ド·ブル- Season 2 (Code Blue Season 2) is a Japanese medical drama series that aired from January 11th to March 22nd 2010 on Fuji TV. The series consists of 11 episodes.

Story: Once again we are following the four interns Mihoko Hiyama, Megumi Shiraishi, Kazuo Fujikawa and Kousaku Aizawa through the last year of their fellowship training. After Dr. Kuroda left the Shohoku University hospital the four of them work under Dr. Keisuke Tachibana who shares important memories with Dr. Kanna Mitsui. While this series still shows the life within the hospital and quite dramatic cases outside the hospital, it is also focused on family bonds and personal relationships.

Cast: Once again we have Tomohisa Yamashita as Kousaku Aizawa in this series, and what else can I say? I like his acting overall, and I like his character even more, especially episode 5 was pretty cute (you'll get what I mean when you know the drama).
By far another one of my favorite characters is Mihoko Hiyama played by Erika Toda. She's the one who has to encounter the biggest problem due to a mistake she made and I was just hoping for her to get through the hardships without too many problems. So her acting was quite on spot.
Yui Aragaki as Megumi Shiraishi shows an interesting development due to the experience in her field. While her father wants her to go a different path in the future she starts to take responsibility for her own life because she wants to stay in lifesaving and help patients with her knowledge.
Kazuo Fujikawa or actor Yosuke Asari shows an interesting development as well. While he's still called "the worst" (Ep. 11, figure out by whom on your own) as he has always been fighting to even be allowed to go on the helicopter, he's saving a life in the worst circumstances one can imagine but also manages to do a good job in general with his kind personality.
Luckily also flight nurse Haruka Saejima played by Manami Higa is back in this series and we hear more about her private life. Her character becomes even more warm and opens up and it's quite good to see how she's caring about the one's she loves.

Soundtrack: What can I say about this? Two songs by Mr. Children and I don't really like the band itself because of the vocals (just not my style, I don't want to argue about this) so it's only like "meh" to me.

My personal rating after all is 8.5/10 mainly because it focusses too much on family and relationship issues. Yes, that's part of everyone's life but I found myself to be rather bored by most of the scenes involving only relationships so I couldn't bring myself to give this a better rating.  It's quite nice though and reminded me of my childhood (there was a series called "Medicopter 117" airing here in Germany when I was a child and I loved it) so I really liked the topic in itself a lot.

Code Blue

コード・ブルー  ドクターヘリ緊急救命 (Code Blue - Doctor Heli Emergency Lifesaving) is a Japanese TV series consisting of 11 episodes that aired on Fuji TV from July 3rd to September 11th 2008.
The special was aired in January 2009.

Story: Code Blue shows the life of four interns in the Shoyo University hospital. Being responsible for emergencies, those four are flight-doctors-in training and work with Doctor Heli, a program involving a helicopter transporting patients to offer help as fast as possible. However, those four work under Dr. Shuji Kuroda, a senior doctor who's said to not really like young people. Mihoko Hiyama is a straight-forward young woman while Megumi Shiraishi seems to be more calm and doesn't want to hurt people with words if she can avoid it. Kazuo Fujikawa is a talkative young person but seems to lack skills sometimes while Kousaku Aizawa is extremely quiet and cold which is why he can deal with emergencies well.
While working together, those four experience difficult situations.

Cast: As I am not one of those who watched many J-Dramas I think it's something special when I can say that I've known a few actors. And well, those are actually two but nevermind.
Tomohisa Yamashita is a quite good as Kousaku Aizawa. Why exactly? Well, I don't really know about his acting in general but this cold character in this series just fits him perfectly, and also the emotional scenes with his grandma (not a huge spoiler I guess) seem to be fine.
Erika Toda is in this series as Mihoko Hiyama. Compared to the movies I've seen her in before (*cough* Death Note *cough*) her role in this one is strong and confident. While I found her sometimes to be the difficult type of person, I did like her acting overall as well and seeing two different sides of one actress is a good thing as well.
As Megumi Shiraishi we see Yui Aragaki. While her rather shy character sometimes was too quiet in my opinion (or just didn't say what she thought), I was a little frustrated with her being careless in the end. Nonetheless I think she was a necessary part of this series, mainly because they wanted to show completely different characters.
The same actually works for Yosuke Asari as Kazuo Fujikawa. While at some point you pity him because he's seriously not that good compared to the others, in the end it seems like he just needed to adjust himself to the team and the new surroundings while following his dream to become a flight-doctor. Since he doesn't seem to be blessed with extremely medical talent, he's working hard to make his dream come true.
My favorite character in this series was by far Haruka Saejima played by Manami Higa, a young and extremely beautiful flight nurse who seems cold at first but warms up in the end. She's an important part of the team itself and she's good in what she's doing, sometimes even better than the average doctor.
And lastly I feel like I need to name Toshiro Yanagiba as Shuji Kuroda. While at some point one might start to hate him he's a good doctor and wants to safe patients in the end. That's also the reason why he's strict when it comes to the interns.

Soundtrack: The music in itself is not bad. The opening, "HANABI" by Mr. Children isn't bad, as an opening song it's quite nice actually. But then again the music in the whole series sometimes missed the atmosphere. This might be only my opinion but especially during those emergency operations I would actually expect something more dramatic if it's about life and death.
That being said, the soundtrack is probably the weak point this drama has.


After all a 9/10 for the series and an 8.5/10 for the special are still a good and strong rating because of the interesting stories told in such a short amount of time.
While the worst part in fact is the music in general it's not that bad and didn't really make me dislike the drama, that was just something I need to say.
Also, something about the special in itself: I found the talk about separation alright. Yes, it was nice, but not nearly as exciting as that huge accident (should I feel bad for saying this?). The last part of this special episode (actually almost two hours long) was rather slow, there was no major action since emotions were most important then.

Vampire Heaven

ヴァンパイア・ヘヴン (Vampire Heaven) is a Japanese drama series that aired from April 12th to July 5th 2013 on TV Tokyo. It consists of 12 episodes with an average duration of 24 minutes.

Story: The count is a vampire who wants to marry Sakurako. When she decides to go to see him, her best friend Komachi, also called Koma-chan, gets her out of there and the two of them run away together. They end up in contemporary Tokyo and meet Hayato with whom Sakurako falls in love. Living with a young human, Kentarou, and working for Midnight Cafe's owner Aoi the two find out they're not the only vampires in the human world - the count is looking for his fiancee Sakurako...

Cast: At first let me say that there is nothing outstanding about the acting in this one. Aya Oomasa as Sakurako was somehow the typical naive female you find in lots of dramas. I didn't really like her character until the very end. Tsubasa Honda as Komachi was just incredibly cute. While I really really really loved her character, her acting wasn't too special either but then again she was the most refreshing part about the 'main cast' in this series. Yuta Hiraoka did well as Hayato though but then again I don't know whether his acting was that special - sometimes he just seemed to be too calm about things, especially in the end.
Noriko Eguchi was somehow awesome as Aoi though. Or maybe I just found her character to be pretty appealing because she was just cool about almost everything. Especially when she was talking to Kentarou and telling him her 'secret' she seemed to see it as an almost funny thing (which it indeed was). Speaking of Kentarou, Satoshi Tomiura seemed like a 13 year old boy most of the time. I don't want to sound rude but his voice didn't really change the effect, and at first I was confused because he looks so girly in this and his voice is so high but.. Ken is a male name. Oh well, once you get used to it.
Lastly, there's Eisuke Sasai as the count. I don't remember ever hearing people using his name but though he was supposed to be a villain I couldn't help laughing from time to time about him being so damn stupid. It was funny to watch anyways.

Soundtrack: Please let's not talk about the opening and ending songs. I don't really like the Japanese idol culture so the first time hearing the opening song I was like "Okay... well, whatever" but after hearing it three times I wondered if they couldn't do better..


After all this drama is a 5.5/10 for me. I know people are criticizing it for it's basic plot, pointless romance, lack of story and character development and of course the fact that they aren't following their own rules! Saying vampires need to take care because of the sun but then again when they just lose a scarf or anything nothing happens. Sure it does have it's flaws, and there are a lot of those (though I think there is a story actually). It's nothing but the usual vampire stuff with only the fact that there's a female vampire now.
But then again, it's entertaining, and the whole series doesn't take longer than six hours to watch. It's perfect for a weekend if weird effects and even weirder fighting scenes make you laugh - and it's not as bad as many people make it seem. Especially those two spying on Sakurako, Aoi and Komachi for the count. THESE GUYS made me completely crack up.
I honestly found the Komachi and Hayato to be good characters, so maybe I'll rewatch some scenes just because of them.

1 Litre of Tears

1リットルの涙 (1 Litre of Tears, 1 Litre no namida) is a Japanese drama series that aired from October 11th to December 20th 2005 on Fuji TV.

Story: The drama tells the story of Aya Ikeuchi, a young girl at the age of 15 who enters the highschool she wanted to along with her best friend. After tripping often lately, her mother, Shioka Ikeuchi, is worried and takes Aya to see a doctor, Hiroshi Mizuno, who diagnoses her with spinocerebellar degeneration. Though Shioka meets many other doctors as well as the specialist about this disease, the reality that it cannot be cured remains. She didn't tell Aya, but in the meantime the girl is able to figure out what's going on with her body on her own. One day when visitting Dr. Mizuno again, the information she found becomes reality - she won't be able to walk or speak or write and will be bedridden someday. "Why did the disease chose me?" As her everyday activities become more difficult, she even has to leave her friends and can't realize her dream to graduate from Higashikou anymore. But the young woman refuses to give up hope, also because of Haruto Asou whom she met on the day of her entrance exam and though the two of them didn't get along that well at first became a reliable friend.

Cast: Erika Sawajiri does a brilliant job as Aya Ikeuchi. She's fighting for her freedom, her life and in the end for her body to remain hers. Not being able to control her body anymore is a nightmare and I usually felt how thankful she was towards her friends and family but in the same time she was so sorry for being a burden to those around her. Also Ryo Nishikido as Haruto Asou is good in this one. I don't know if I would describe his acting as excellent. Sometimes he seems a little too cold, especially when he's more or less rebelling against his father but the scenes with Haruto and Aya were always nice to watch and I loved their friendship - I won't say love because not even once it is officially stated they are dating - we only know that they like each other. A lot.
My favorite actors in this series were actually Hiroko Yakushimaru and Takanori Jinnai as Aya's parents, Shioka and Mizuo Ikeuchi. Parents fighting for their child, trying to comfort her though they are in pain as well. Especially Aya's father has difficulties accepting the truth about the disease and though he tries to not show that he's in pain sometimes, when Aya's not around, it still comes through. As for Aya's mom, it's almost the same. She's trying hard to be strong in front of her children so they won't worry too much but then again her pain comes through while she's still fighting.
Naohito Fujiki as Hiroshi Mizuno is the doctor caring for Aya and while at first he's the one to accept the fact that he can't cure the disease, Aya becomes someone to make him go forward and work and research much more than before because he wants to cure the young woman.
Riko Narumi as Ako Ikeuchi at first seems like a rebellious teenager who wants attention from her parents because Aya always was the number one in the family. As she didn't seem to care too much at first, she's trying hard to help her sister later and even wants to try and get accepted at Higashikou so she can fulfill her sister's dream. The development of her character is really good and actually something one can understand. Yuma Sanada as Hiroki Ikeuchi has a lot less screentime but I somehow found him to be an interesting character as well. While he was somewhat embarrassed at first when his team mates found out about his sister 'walking strangely' he changed due to something Ako said and was sorry for hurting his precious older sister.


Soundtrack: One song became incredibly popular and I knew it belonged to this drama even before watching it - "Konayuki" by Remioromen! I still love this song a lot, especially the various versions shown in this drama. It's also known to be Aya's and Haruto's theme song.
But honestly one song made me cry. Once. "3月9日 (Sangatsu Kokonoka/ March 9th)", originally performed by Remioromen as well usually appears as a choir version. When watching Ep. 8, the very end of that episode, you might understand why this got me. Thinking about this scene still makes me cry.
Just to complete the soundtrack, there is one ballad track on the OST performed by Korean singer K/ Kang Yoon-sung called "Only human" which actually is the theme song of this drama. Combined with the pictures at the end of each episode it's beautiful but makes me feel sad as well.
After all it's a well-chosen soundtrack in my opinion.


My rating for this series is a definitely strong 9.5/10. I'm not a person who cries often when it comes to series but I admit that there were some episodes (or more endings of episodes) that got me. It's a good and strong series but with a rather slow development, especially in the beginning but it's a melodrama after all and it's not surprising. In the end, it became a lot faster and there were many times when suddenly months or even years passed by. I see why they did that though. Only watching Aya's daily routine in the hospital wouldn't have been interesting - at least not that much.

As for the special from 2007, I think it's worth watching if you enjoyed this drama a lot and want to see some moments again. The special is about two hours long but I'd just guess that roughly half of this are only flashbacks. That's why my rating for the special is only 6.5/10. It's interesting though to see how the family and Haruto dealt with the happenings as well as all those people coming to 'meet' Aya.

Takumi-kun: That Sunny Blue Sky

!Warning! This is a Boys Love movie - don't like it? Then ignore it.

あの、晴れた青空 (That Sunny Blue Sky), also known as the fifth and final part of the Takumi-kun series, is a Japanese movie that was released in 2011.

Story: This movie actually starts with the ending of the third one and therefore ignores the side story (which wouldn't change anything anyways).
The death anniversary of Takumi's older brother is getting closer and he receives a phone call from his mom. Actually Takumi still hasn't forgiven his parents nor his older brother and asks Gii to go with him. Gii promises to join him.
But on the same day, there's a snooker competition in which Gii wants to take part. Takumi feels betrayed and the whole situation obviously creates some tension.

Cast: Ah, one last time we have Daisuke Watanabe as Giichi Saki and Kyousuke Hamao as Takumi Hayama. I have to admit that they've developed a lot through the movies. While in the second movie, there was some good chemistry but they didn't seem to be that comfortable with their roles, they really improved and this might be the peak. I'm really curious how they would've developed if there was another movie. Sadly, we'll never know.
And also, we have Yukihiro Takiguchi as Shozo Akaike. I really have to praise him as an actor like I did through the whole series. As a good friend who's always helping the clueless couple and a shadow just carefully watching over everything I came to wish for a friend like him as well. And did you notice? He's basically the only actor who appears in all movies.
We also see Ryoma Baba as Arata Misu in this movie once again, and one shouldn't underestimate his role in this movie. Though I know I've said that before - his charisma is no joke, and though he keeps saying that he hates Gii, he cares for Takumi somewhat. A character I didn't like in the beginning but will surely miss somehow.

Soundtrack: Just as a short review of the whole series, I loved the music and the use of moments of silence which made me expect something to happen. I loved the sounds they used in general, not only the music, but simple background sounds. I know it works similar in many movies but they just managed to support the atmosphere through music and sounds a lot better than some other movies.

My rating for this movie is a 9/10. It's cute, it's lovely - and I'm dying because I know the whole series is over now. If it was about me, they could go on forever but sadly all good things come to an end.
But I still have to mention some points I've been criticizing before - well, mainly the flashbacks. If they had to change the setting and even what was spoken, at least a little bit, they should've tried to make it more clear that you're watching something that happened in the past. Sure the change of the lead actors made it difficult since they had to film all those scenes again but then again it was quite confusing. And even if they would've used something like a special frame or a color filter. It would've been a lot easier.

I'll miss this series, and I think I'll watch the movies again for sure just because I love all of them.. except for the second movie which made me feel depressed. I remember how often those movies made me smile, sometimes laugh, and at times it made me want to hug the characters..

Takumi-kun: PURE

!Warning! This is a Boys Love movie - don't like it? Then ignore it.

ピュア (Pure), also known as the fourth part of the Takumi-kun series, is a Japanese movie that was released in 2010. Though it does have a strong connection to the original series, this movie can be described as a side story.

Story: Different from 3 previous movies, this Takumi Pure's movie is focus on the relationship between Arata Misu and Kanemitsu Shingyouji. Shingyouji fell for Arata at first sight but their relationship somehow evolves into a push-and-pull game because of Arata having a crush on Takahiro Sagara, a student who graduated before. Takumi, Gii and Shozo Akaike decide to help them out. On the other side, Gii also has to help Izumi Takabayashi and Michio Yoshizawa to solve their problems.

Cast: So this is basically the only movie where the main cast completely changed since we don't see Takumi and Gii that often. But still, since they do appear, we see Daisuke Watanabe and Kyousuke Hamao again in their roles. Their chemistry is still special, and at least there are some cute scenes even in this movie that focusses on side stories. We cannot forget about Yukihiro Takiguchi as Shozo Akaike either. As you might have noticed in the earlier entries, I came to like his character so much. A calm and helpful friend, the so-called 'saving grace' or 'fairy god-mother father'.
There's also Ryoma Baba as Arata Misu again. I don't want to give too many spoilers but his charisma is no joke onscreen, and I was seriously surprised but had to think about the title "You're my pet" in the end. Not that it's related in any way but sometimes such things just appear in my had.
The rest of the cast changed completely though. As Kanemitsu Shingyouji we see Taiki Naito and I admit that he actually is really cute and somewhat pitiful but - well, a one-sided love is always sad.
Suddenly we have Ryo Mitsuya as Izumi Takabayashi. Not that he's doing a bad job but seriously, all those different actors playing the same character just makes it hard to really recognize him at first. I wonder who had the idea. And Yutaka Kobayashi accepted the role of Michio Yoshizawa.
Oh, and just because it was really hard to find the information: Takahiro Sagara is played by Yusuke Hirose. It took me some time to find out his full name so if that's the information you were looking for, you're welcome.


So I did realize that this is the first time watching this movie but it probably won't be the last. My rating is 8.5/10 since I actually think it's a refreshing and cute story. BUT I'll still argue that it would've been a good idea to just try and keep at least some parts of the actual cast. It's so confusing when the actors change all the time..

Takumi-kun: The Beauty of Detail

!Warning! This is a Boys Love movie - don't like it? Then ignore it.

美貌のディテイル (The Beauty of Detail), also known as the third part of the Takumi-kun series, is a Japanese movie that was released in 2010. The whole movie series is based on a manga series of the same name.

Story: After a long break, the students are returning to school and Gii and Takumi enter their third year. But Gii doesn't come to meet Takumi, and after hearing that Gii changed a lot, Takumi starts worrying and plans to visit his boyfriend. But even towards Takumi Gii shows a cold and completely different behavior which leads to a crisis, especially for Takumi who sees himself confronted with a problem he thought wouldn't appear again. Luckily, Shozo Akaike, Arata Misu, Takumi's new roommate, and Kanemitsu Shingyouji are there to help Takumi out - at least as good as they can.

Cast: Once again we have Daisuke Watanabe and Kyousuke Hamao as Gii and Takumi. The two of them already had a good chemistry in the second movie, Rainbow Colored Glass, but this third part seems even better to me. This might just be my idea but both of them seem to be more comfortable acting which makes their chemistry even better.
Once again we can see Yukihiro Takiguchi as Shozo Akaike, the saving grace of this series. How can a character with such a good heart just disappear from time to time.. he honestly would deserve his own movie but anyways, maybe he's the only straight student in that school (don't judge me, just a thought.) In this part, Ryoma Baba also appears for the first time as Arata Misu. Sadly we don't get to know why his character seems so cold towards Gii but as Takumi's new roommate his role in this movie is definitely one of the most important ones. Since he's the one to make Gii realize that something's seriously wrong. Kanemitsu Shingyouji is played by Bishin Kawasumi. While his role in this movie appears to be some minor role, it shouldn't be underestimated. And he's somewhat like a cheerful and cute puppy.
Lastly, we have Yasuka Saito back as Izumi Takabayashi. Once again I wonder, why there was another actor for this role in the second movie when Saito is the one playing this role in the first and third movie. Maybe that's just me but it doesn't make that much sense to me. Anyway, once again it's more like a guest role so it's not that bad actually.


As for the conclusion, my rating is 9.5/10. This movie is definitely more serious than the first one, yes, and it's therefore not as cheerful and bubbly as the first one but also not as sad and depressing as the second.
But they had to film some scenes that were actually included in the first movie with the new lead actors as well. That wouldn't be a problem at all if the setting wouldn't have changed that much. That is actually what makes flashbacks hard to understand. IF they had to change the cast, it would've been better, at least for the flashbacks, to at least try and reconstruct the dormitories presented in the first movie.

Takumi-kun: Rainbow Colored Glass

!Warning! This is a Boys Love movie - don't like it? Then ignore it.

虹色の硝子 (Rainbow Colored Glass), also known as the second part of the Takumi-kun series, is a Japanese movie that was released in 2009. The whole movie series is based on a manga series of the same name.

Story: Takumi Hayama and Saki Giichi are now an item at their all-boys school. However, Gii suddenly seems to be interested in Tooru Morita which makes things really difficult for Takumi. While the two of them try to solve their problem, Takeshi Suzuki, a friend of Gii, drops out of school.

Cast: As for this second movie, the main cast completely changed. If you're planning to watch this movie, you might be able to think for reasons by yourself.
Starting with this movie we have Daisuke Watanabe as Gii and Kyousuke Hamao as Takumi Hayama. Actually, those two have a great onscreen chemistry as well, and I remember watching a 'Making Off' as well. It seems the actors get along well and were able to transfer this into the story. (That doesn't mean that I really think they're gay, most likely they're something like friends, I don't even know.)
Though they're doing a good job I still have to deal with the sudden change of lead actors which makes it hard for me to identify with characters. The same issue appears with Kei Hosogai as Izumi Takabayashi. He rarely appears in this movie, so maybe it would've been better to just leave out his character? Especially since in the third movie, the actor switches back.
Yuta Takahashi can be seen as Takeshi Suzuki. I was quite impressed with some of his scenes. Yes, most of them were flashbacks quite at the end but I think he did a good job especially in displaying the struggles.
There's also Yuuki Hiyori as Tooru Morita. Despite of him having not that much display time either his character is just too adorable. I really loved some of the ending scenes just because of him.
And of course, once again last but not least, we have Yukihiro Takiguchi as Shozo Akaike. He's like the saving grace of all the characters, knows everything and gets involved only to help them out.

Soundtrack: Once again I can only say that I seriously loved the way silence was used, as well as some different classical instruments just to highlight the atmosphere.

My rating for this movie is 8/10 and actually that's only because I don't like the ending. Like not at all.
Actually the charming point about the first movie is the light and bubbly atmosphere - at least most of the time. It made me smile like an idiot because of the cute plot. Sure many people say it sounds like a fanfiction written by some 13 year old fangirl but then again they don't need to watch it.
As for a grown up young woman I understand that there are some difficulties when it comes to love but the actual charming point almost disappeared. It reminds me of a melodrama somehow and I'm not a huge fan of overly melodramatic stuff since I think some things are just way too common.
So as far as I remember this one is the weakest part of the series (I've watched either the first three or even four movies back in 2010/2011, I don't remember clearly) which I just didn't want to watch again because of the sad ending which made me cry back then but that doesn't work anymore for me.