Zíza

This might seem rather light-hearted at the beginning, but it takes a pretty serious to dark turn towards the end. At the beginning Makoto runs around solving other people's problems and hanging out with his friends. This, of course, was preceded by the murder of his friend/girlfriend, which was dealt with in episode two and then fizzled out, with only the occasional flashback. Of course we find out who did it; I even guessed it. But by the end, the darkness caught me so off guard I didn’t feel right. More people die. And a character I didn't want anyone to touch dies. Yakuza, thieves, crooks, kidnappings, murders, gang warfare, police – Makoto comes into contact with all of it. It's not exactly a relaxing film, so if you're in the mood for something more serious about Ikebukuro and crime of all kinds, check it out. What’s more you see a young Yamapi, Ken Watanabe (I'm sure everyone knows him from The Last Samurai with Cruise), Tsumabuki Satoshi, Kubozuka Yōsuke (plays a pretty good maniac), Koyuki (who also starred in The Last Samurai), but all of them pale in comparison to Nagase Tomoya, who was great as Makoto. I hated his mom and I hated Hikaru (they were both whiny, each in a slightly different way, but it still got on my nerves), but otherwise I liked the characters. Plus, this dorama is set in 2000 and it's funny how in every episode Makoto's phone rings with those MIDI ringtones. Everything in general is still so shabby. But it fits this one. A weaker 4 stars.

I'm stunned. This is one of the best Taiwanese doramas I've seen lately. Because Taiwanese work can't be original – or so I thought. Then I put on ToGetHer and it proved me wrong. Sure, there's the same kind of stuff here you see everywhere else; and yet this dorama somehow feels more adult, not melodramatic, even authentic. The relationship between Momo and Mars was very nice, they had the start they did, but it only got better and better as they finished. Even Tony Ge wasn't that typical bad mother who strictly forbids relationships. Rainie outdoes the acting that she showed me in Devil Beside You and Why Why Love?. I was finally able to like Jiro (I really hated him in It Started With a Kiss, I didn't even think he was attractive, but things got better here; like I say, I like him a lot more with black hair). I knew the opening song from before, so I was surprised to hear it here :-D I liked it. Another plus. The songs throughout the series are fine, listenable – some more, some less. But I did keep skipping ahead; I wasn't loving the scenes with Momo and her best friend. Then some of the other scenes, it was some here, some there, basically I just kept skipping ahead. So for me, it was really a perfect dorama if only it had been cut down to like six episodes :-) But I can definitely recommend it, because I really don't know if I'll see something so "normal" from Taiwan again. A weaker 4 stars.

I did some rigorous math – an average – and I got what I gave it. I liked the 4th and 6th stories the least, the beginning was kind of weak in general, but then the mimes came in and it gave me hope for a better ending. After that, my enthusiasm cooled down – two stories that I would probably have given something like 2 stars. But the 12th story charmed me; and I'd give that one the highest rating on its own. And after that? Nothing came along that was worse than average, so the final level was very nice, orderly, melancholic. The last short story brings it to a beautiful close, just like the person at the center of the story, even I came away feeling it, and everything just clicked. It's definitely worth taking a tour of Paris – in both senses. It starts weak, but finishes with verve.

The best thing about this piece are the hidden (and somewhat blatant) allusions to films, characters, personalities – we have Crows Zero, Hairspray, Casablanca, F4 shows up, and you hear the music from Harry Potter when you’re expecting someone with a scar on their forehead, a sad past, and round glasses. Another "strong" experience for me was Kimura Ryo, since I remember him as Nakao in Hana-Kimi, and here he was suddenly the tough Tonomine (but when his secret was revealed, I almost slid under the table...). Otomenism in general is a pretty funny thing – some types are fine, you won't laugh at them, but with Asuka and Tonomine you can't help but laugh. And that brings us to my favorite character of the whole series, Juta. I just adored this manga-creating creature, for me he's the cutie of the month. I immediately had to see what else Sano Kazuma has done so I could get more of him (preferably in a lead role) and I found out that he was in a movie with Kaho (the one who plays Miyakozuka), so if you don't mind those two, check out the 2008 movie Tokyo Girl. But back to Otomen. The whole series has a light, comedic spirit, and then suddenly boom, near the end the atmosphere seemed to get terribly serious (you can call it that); of course, it's clear how it's going to end, but it felt like an unpleasant rapture. The other thing that bothers me is that I still don't know how the Kendo championship turned out – and that sucks. :-D One of the better doramas. A better 4 stars, and I can definitely recommend it.

The best part is watching it in a room of people who are on the same vibe as you, then the experience is enhanced. But that's hard to arrange, so if you're watching it alone, I've probably rated it a bit too high for you, but still... sometimes I just want to give it that 5 stars, and I adore Satoshi Kon's work, so... Life is nothing more than coincidence...

So our journey with Nodame and Chiaki is over. It lasted two hours, and while it didn't end as nicely as the anime, it's still an ending worthy of the live-action Nodame Cantabile. Everything is the same old same old – classical music, characters, chaos, gags. It's just fast and slow at the same time. Sometimes it could handle slowing down and savoring a certain situation more, sometimes it would have done well to cut things off quicker. A must see for all those who made it to Paris with Nodame. A weaker 4 stars.

I was waiting the whole movie for the moment when the boys start singing... Unfortunately, they didn't, and that was the only disappointment with this film :-D Otherwise it was a good time, typically Japanese, with an interesting story, Arashi in the lead roles, and an ending that won't leave many eyes dry; no, I'm kidding. ^^ A relaxing movie, not worth watching alone, because at least two people will have more fun with it (it doesn’t drag as much^^). That's why my rating is what it is. Sayonara.

The beginning was promising, interesting, I thought I really hit the mark in choosing this movie. But then – I don't know why – I was disappointed by the dancers in the "historical bar", but even with that feeling I kept watching with gusto, because there was Tsumabuki, the reason I turned it on in the first place, so I put on a satisfied face and moved on. But some manga should remain manga (or at most, can be remade into anime) because they look terrible on the silver screen – I'm talking about the monsters at the moment, dear Lord; I'm also talking about the rushed yet unfinished story that says if you want to know how it turns out, and if you want to enjoy it more, open the manga; I'm talking about those slow-swimming blades that don't cut anyone except to gouge out an eye. But again, it wasn't that bad a movie, I was just expecting something more, something "hmm, hmm" (you know what I mean by that...?). For my part, my disappointment is reflected in the rating.

We begin with the speech that the boy spends every Christmas (Christmas Eve), incidentally the day he was born, alone. Pity him, the poor guy. The other thing is that beforehand a girl appears out of nowhere and declares that she will spend the whole night with him and make him happy. Any normal person's first thought is that the girl is offering him sex, but of course in anime it doesn't work that way, and when the girl realizes why the boy got so red, she’ll get a kick in the pants. Awesome, Zíza’s optimism that it's going to be a nice Christmas romance got a kick in the pants, too.

As watched I was wondering how I would sum up this series, and this word came to mind: "lackluster". The story. The music. The characters. But in the end, I was glad they were all hugging it out :-D It's not so much about basketball, it's not so much of a drama, it's just a simple Japanese story about how sometimes it's better to stop dreaming and start working. I didn't really like Yamapi here (for me he's just Kurosagi, period^^), but he didn't do a bad job. I just think he's one of the few actors who doesn't deserve to be laughed at. But that's okay, I made up for it by occasionally checking out Kaneko Nobuaki (Yoyogi). A better 3 stars. It's not pretentious, it's ordinary, and if you're in the mood for something ordinary where there are no gags but just kind of life, check it out.