35 posts tagged “drama”

My wish has come true.

Arashi - all 5 of them - doing a drama, together.... TOGETHER.

*dies*

and the drama sounds so awesome too. ^^ SSaigo no Yakusoku.

Lots of stuff coming out next year for 2010 for Arashi. Sho's drama SP + drama, Jun's drama SP, and Nino's movie. o_o oh wowie. I am so happy I'm living in Japan right now xD

now. I hope my two other Arashi wishes come true.

-Nino + Jun + Shun + Mao do a drama together :)
-Arashi becomes like.. world famous. (and I mean, enough popularity to go touring in other continents)

yes? yes? yes?

Right, same thing with Smile, very casual review... not as much flail. Huh. Strange. o_o I honestly thought I would be DYING over The Quiz Show. DAMN IT MATSUJUN!!! >_<!!

Kamiyama is the host for a TV show called The Quiz Show and the first guest is a singer/musician called Andou Kosuke who killed his partner. The Quiz Show (in the drama) is structured in a way where the questions, as they get "harder" begin to reveal the "hidden" parts of the guest and by the end they have to confess whatever wrong they did or walk out. Kamiyama is actually a guy who suffers amnesia and Honma (the director) is somehow connected. What Kamiyama does remember is a girl who is drowning. The is unknown for now.
Not a bad start. It was pretty interesting but I can easily see how repetitive it can get. For now nothing.. really seems to be pulling me a long. I mean.. the "amnesia" thing doesn't really interest me much but we'll see.

Episode 2
The show starts off with yet another flashback. A bit more is revealed. The guest this time is a cell-phone novelist named Mika. The problem with her is that she did not actually write any of her stories and she is wracked with guilt and what not. Apparently Kamiyama met her as a kid when he was on a camping trip with some nameless girl. In fact it seems everyone who will be guesting was someone Kamiyama had met at some point.
It's getting there. The amnesia storyline still isn't pulling me along that well. Sho's acting is awesome though and I seriously love Kamiyama. He's such a jackass *laughs* I'm sort of wondering how many people Kamiyama actually met on his little trip and how Honma ties in (by the way, Yoko - Honma - so fricken hot). Little thing about the guest - ... she just pisses me off.

Episode 3
The guest this time is a "free school representitive" Miyamoto Keniji (played by Narimiya Hiroki!). Basically his character is a guy who helps run a free school that apparently lives on donations. Obviously the entire thing is a huge smuggling scam in reality and the guy is found out. The snippets of memory continue coming and the girl's name is Misaki. Don't know what happened but Honma knows Misaki. A love triangle? A sister? Who knows? It was raining. Ayaka's character saw Kamiyama (very lifelessly) being shoved into a car. She's obviously wondering what is going on. We also learn that apparently Honma is in the show thanks to Saejima. How exactly are those two linked? o_o. As well, an incident "2 years ago" was mentioned. What incident was that? Gah.. so many mysteries.
Alright. So. I think this drama is just getting better and better as the story continues. Also the director. Saejima, love her so much for some reason. Don't ask why, I just do. Also, I'm loving Ayaka right now for her Shukudai-guesting. Anyone else think that Saejima appearing with her kid might be significant to the story in the future?

Episode 4
Flashback in the beginning. Honma, Kamiyama and Misaki were classmates? Or schoolmates? The guest this time is a fortune-teller of some sorts named Yuutenji Nokko. She is a fake and apparently was a very nice lady until she realized her life sucked and she was too lonely. That was harsh wasn't it? I don't really care about the guest, what I'm more interested in is the whole HonmaxMixakixKamiyama thing going on. Did Kamiyama really kill the girl (as the end seems to show)? Also, Ayaka's character is started to become really suspicious and seems to start snooping around a bit. Wonder how that's going to turn out.
Alright, now the amnesia storyline is actually turning interesting. All these character ties and relationships that appear. Crazy plot twists. This is getting really interesting. Seriously. Loving this. KamiyamaxMisakixHonma - WHAT HAPPENED? So many speculations I could make up. How does Saejima pull into the mix. How is it that Kamiyama managed to meet every single one of the guests during his little camp trip? So many questions, not enough answers... can't wait for the next episodes!! Little thing about the guest - The "Jyunishi power" thing pissed me off to no end.

Episode 5
Flashback, apparently Kamiyama really did kill Miyaki (says Honma). Those two seemed to be going out. Onto the guest for today's episode is a "genius" surgeon "Godhand" Tomobe Koichiro. This guy left his professor to die. Anyways, aside from the guest so much unravels in only the first 9 minutes. Apparently nothing is known about Kamiyama but Honma was an AD for the old Quiz Show (season1) and somehow Saejima is linked to that too. Also there seems to be some relation between Saejima and the Galaxy TV president.Throughout the episode we learn that Kamiyama's first name is Satoru. Apparently Honma saw Kamiyama over Misaki's dead body. Saejima, Ayaka's character and Kamiyama are starting to find things out.
Oh god this is just getting better and better. So many twists and turns and I can't predict anything at all. One that bugs me is all the guests.. take so long moping and trying to defend themselves and it's sort of annoying. Little thing about the guest - He's got problems. Lots of problems. Guys like him should not be doctors. -_-''

Episode 6
The guest this time is a NEET who lives off his mom, Katsuragi Makoto who kidnaps Saejima's little girl Minori. The format for this episode was just a teensy bit different. Instead of just interrogating the guest it seemed in the beginning that the guest had dominance over the TV staff but than it changed in the end thanks to Kamiyama. Pretty interesting, the episode went by pretty fast. Again still wondering why all the guests were gathered in the same place as Misaki and Kamiyama. Another person seems to have appeared in the memories but they are still blurry. Also, Yamanobe has appeared in front of Homa o_O
This episode was pretty interesting due to the fact that it was just.. different from all the other episodes which made it more entertaining. Nothing much was revealed although Yamanobe from season 1 did appear. Little thing about the guest - He's retarded. I agree with Ayaka, can I punch him? Ungrateful !@#$ >_> Can't wait for episode 7 =D

Episode 7
The episode starts out with Honma telling Yamanobe that he won't screw up and with Kamiyama starting to become a bit rebellious. He's very close to regaining most of his memories. The guest this time is a pilot named Shibata Yuuki. We learn in this episode (after a majority of headaches that were honestly quite annoying) that Kamiyama, Honma and Mizuki were on a plane (with all the other guests of the Quiz Show) and the pilot of said plane is Shibata. Due to the epic FAIL of the plane company the aircraft crashes onto the lake where all of them are stranded. The guest this time honeslty didn't do anything wrong it was his shitty companies fault. Really, this episode just exists to quickly patch up all the places that need patching. We also learn in this episode that Saejima was there was well, she was a reporter at the time. It also seems that Honma is a lot more powerful in the TV station than he seems and Saejima is apparently the next guest =O
Oh.. things are just heating up. Honestly this episode was a bit hard to get through due to the constant headaches that were just pissing me off so much. A lot of things were cleared up though and I wonder what's going to happen to Saejima next episode. What dirty secret does she have to expose? o_o? EPISODE 8 NOW!!

Episode 8
Saejima is fired and she returns today as the next quiz for this episode of todays "The Quiz Show". In this episode we learn that Saejima is the wife of the "chief" and that she is not the actual mother of her daughter. Honma wanted to punish Saejima for using Misaki's death as a way of upping her fame. At the end when Saejima is forced to "reveal her secret" Kamiyama saves her and keeps her secret closed, pissing Honma off a huge amount. Kamiyama is started to get most of his memories back and he is starting to become rebellious.

OMG - ShoxYoko moment are like.. damn. But Kamiyama is becoming rebellious and I felt bad for Saejima. Next episode seems even better - the guest? Kamiyama =D Ah.. only two more episodes left until the shocking conclusion. Also, some hints of Ayaka's character (whom I still cannot for the life of me remember the name of) becoming director soon?

Episode 9
Takatsugi? Whatever, Aya's character is made director of the Quiz Show for this episode. Saejima comes back as producer and... Kamiyama is the guest! Seven questions that tell us so many answers... sort of. We learn so much more about the whole KamiyamaxHonmaxMisaki incident and at the end, we are left with: Kamiyama, Honma and Misaki go on a grad trip to Shinai lake. Kamiyama asks Misaki to be his GF but she says no (cause she likes Honma). Kamiyama says something that pisses Honma off and the next day (Misaki's b-day) the three were supposed to go on a plane trip but Honma (cause he's pissed) doesn't go. The resulting crash happens. Misaki becomes a vegetable and supposedly, Kamiyama is pissed at her so he takes of her oxygen mask and kills her and than tries to commit suicide by jumping off a building and fails. SUPPOSEDLY - but... does that really happen?
..Is it just me or do the episodes of the Quiz Show seem harder and harder to get through? I thought I liked the series but... I don't know. The episodes seem to crawl by so slowly now.. (-_-;;) The ending is just too predictable in my opinion.. I haven't even watched the first series but things like this can be predicted easy (for me at least). Bah, I'll still finish the last episode though ^^

Because this drama is so awesome, I'm going to write actual reviews. Basically I'm just gonna have the episode summaries and than my small comment of the actual episode at the bottom in the large font. Seriously this drama is just too good to not write a review about it.

characters:
Matsumoto Jun : Hayakawa Vito (but I like Bito so I'm going to write Bito =D)
Aragaki Yui : Mishima Hana
Nakai Kiichi - Ito Kazuma
Oguri Shun : Hayashi Seiji

The beginning opens in 2015 with Bito being in jail for an unreason unknown. Then it goes back to 2009. Basically this first episode introduces the characters and of course, starts the storyline off. Hayakawa Bito a half filipino young man works at Machimura Foods with two of his friends, Bull and Kinta and the very warm and loving Machimura family. On part time he works at a bar. Bito meets Hana in a bookstore and than she follows him and applies for a job at Machimura foods, Hana cannot talk. The lawyer Kazuma is also introduced early in the story and is the boss to Shiori, daughter of the owner of Machimura foods. Things seem to be fine until Bito is accused of being a drug dealer of crystal meth. At the end there is a very touching (and a bit tedious...) scene where Bito is unjustly accused and captured to bring into court. You also learn in this episode that Bito used to be part of a gang and the leader was a guy named Hayashi Seiji (played by Oguri Shun) this is really important later it. ^^
A very good opening in my opinion. It introduces all the characters nicely and it's actually a lot more deep and touching. I thought this drama would be very cliche but from the first episode onwards I find I am loving this drama a lot.

What happens in episode 1 continues onto episode 2 where Bito is in court. Because Bito had such a bad name when he was younger (in his teens) police unjustly make up stories and try to frame him. Hana (Aragaki Yui) knowing that Bito is innocent follows the real drug dealer Kondo and hopes to dig out evidence. She manages to find evidence to prove that Kondo is guilty and that Bito is not. Kazuma then enters more into the story now. At the end a news report appears that a school has suffered a bad case of food poisoning. Hana and Bito's relationship started to develop a bit in this episode but than something happens at the end (always the end..) that makes Bito a bit hesitant and distance with Hana. >_<
The second part of this episode was so good. Hana was like a stalker but she's a brave stalker and I commend her for her awesomness. The HanaBito scenes are just so cute and I seriously love these scenes so much. Ah.. can't wait for episode 3.

In the beginning no one knows how the food poisoning happened and the beginning mostly details into a bit about Kazuma and Bito and sort of develops their relationship a bit more. There is more descrimination against Bito (that seriously make smy blood boil) and we get to see a hint of something that may have happened in Kazuma's past. He seems to have this complex about things being "pure Japanese". There is also some developement with Hana and Bito and Hana tries to win Bito's heart (and she does such a good job, I want to hug Hana so bad, she's so cute). Then near the end we realize that it's apparently Machimura foods that is the source of the food poisoning and this problem will continue onto the later episodes. Also in this episode we get to see a bit more of Hayashi Seiji and how much of a bad-ass he is. At the very end, Hana faints for some unknown reason, seemingly in pain. As well, in 2015 we get a small scene where Bito asks "Hana would've been much more happy if she hadn't met me" which makes me think something very bad happened to her. Did she die? o_o Did BITO kill her?
I'm loving this series more and more. The scenes between Hana and Bito are so much love and they're so cute together and than the more serious issues about Bito being a half filipino really makes me hurt inside for some reason. Also at the end when things start becoming serious, this drama is really like an emotional rollar coaster ride. It's a drama with such a misleading name "Smile" Hah. Underneath the "happy" is a very dark and depressing undertone.

Bito and Hana's relationship is a bit strained in the beginning due to that guy... who I forgot the name off. Hana's guy-friend and so Machimura mama+papa tell Hana to be more assertive. They also attempt to get the two together on a "shopping trip". Hana faints though when a bunch of reporters come swarming towards her and she is sent to the hospital. Hayashi Seiji (who was released from prison a earlier) spots Bito on TV and decides to give his little friend a surprise visit at the end of the episode. Meanwhile when Bito is at the hospital with Hana he reads a letter which Hana had previously given to him. We see some more hints of Kazuma's own personal problems and Machimura continues getting into more and more trouble. Also we learn about Hana's past and why she lost her voice in this episode. As much as I'd like to continue summarizing, all I can say is, we really hit some deep points in this episode about one of the many themes in this story.
Okay first of all. Shun is crazy hot *laughs* Hana and Bito continue to make me squeal and aww at their cuteness (okay, it's mostly just Hana but whatever) and when Bito was talking with Kazuma when they were drinking I could feel myself tearing because it was just so sad what happened to Hana. Next episode will again follow the trend of "happy and sad" but... I SHUN!! YAY!! ^^

Personally I wasn't as interested in Smile as I was for The Quiz Show because.. I thought Smile was sort of cliche but you know, even so, I didn't expect..

11.7% viewership ratings for episode 1.

o_o

I mean, 10:00pm, Friday Night, TBS - that's the best slot. And then you can't forget the cast, Matsumoto Jun - DOMYOUJI TSUKASA - Aragaki Yui who is currently amazingly popular, Nakai Kichi a very popular, basically vet. actor and then they even pulled in Oguri Shun. You'd think that the drama would at least get over 15%.

11? I may not have been interested but... from the reviews I've read, and from what I've heard Smile really doesn't deserve that type of rating. -_-''

I really hope it goes up. 

I just finished the Taiwanese one. My firefox crashed as I was re-writing this review. I'm going to try and make everything as short and sweet as possible cause I hate re-writing things. This review may be worse of better *shrugs*

Characters:
All the characters are basically the same, except Quan and Sano. They're not all that different either but I.. half the time I felt like smashing Sano's head into the wall. Why? I really don't like the silent characters who just wallow in their self-pity. People like Sano. I'll even mention Sawada Shin because, yes, I did hate his guts in Gokusen as well. Quan isn't like that, he was never like that honestly. I mean, Quan is a lot more outu-going, nicer, smily and fun and maybe Sano isn't like that in the manga but I don't care. The fact that Quan does not wallow in his own self-pity makes the entire drama so much more enjoyable for me.

Other characters I want to mention are all the side characters, the dorm heads, the photographer, in the Japanese one they appear like every episode and are almost like main characters except not whereas in the Taiwanese they come and go respectively. They appear for their little story and then never come again, which I like. I don't know why the Japanese focused so much on the side characters -_-''

Oh, the doctor. I sort of like the Taiwanese one more cause he's more sadistic, and he appears more.

Actors:
You think I'd like the Japanese actors more considering I've seen them more but.. appearently that is not the case.

I like Wu Chun a lot. I like Shun a lot. But... I like Wu Chun more. A bit odd, but I do. In this I will be superficial and say it's becuase Wu Chun looks hot xD But acting wise, both of them are very good and they acted very well. I really can't choose when it comes to acting and skill. And their behind-the-scenes personalities are also equally appealing. I mean Shun's really cute and funny and I find Wu Chun amusing cause he's always mentions eating and screws up on his Mandarin.

For Maki and Ella. I have to say Maki did her acting better than Ella, but Ella looked a lot more like a guy than Maki did. In my eyes anyways. Why? She totally reminds me of some guy in my grade. But yes, Maki's acting was better than Ella's so you'd think they'd be equal in my eyes. But they're not. I've seen Maki in HanaKimi and Kurosagi and although she is quite a good actor I've honestly never been interested in her at all. Ella though has really captured my interest. Maybe it's because she's so tomboy-ish and open and so I find her a lot more amusing and entertaining.

Jiro and Toma. Now choosing between these two guys is really hard. I really don't think I can honestly. I mean, both their portrayals of their characters were quite good but again, I have never really been interested in Toma. For both these guys I only like them in their respective roles but outside I don't pay much attention to them.

Wu Chun > Shun
Ella > Maki
Jiro = Toma

Story:
For the Japanese drama they focused more on side-stories in the beginning and then fell into the whole "high-jump" thing. Although I have to say, as much as I found the side-stories enjoyable they were also a bit tedious, there were so many characters (dorm heads, etc.) and they just kept re-appearing and it was a bit annoying. Although the story is not bad overall I don't really like the flow of it. I mean, I know at the end they were trying to show that because of the little trials, Sano changed and high jumped and blah, but... Sano was so emo for so long it was just sort of like "oh my god..." and although you sort of did see the relationship develop it wasn't as special as the Taiwanese relationship. 

For the Taiwanese drama they got the whole High Jump thing over with all nice and fast within the first 3-ish? episodes and then focused on the developing relationship as well as the side stories (in which the characters left and appeared respectively). I like that a lot more. Because focusing on the relationship was enjoyable, you really see Quan slowly fall more and more in love with Rui Xi and then the little stories pop up, coming and go, yet flowing very nicely all together. I was actually glad they didn't focus on High Jump so much -_-''

Ending:
I. Hate. Hate. Hate the ending of the Taiwanese one. I know, strong words. Although my hate and dislike seems to mostly stem from my intense Chunella fangirling but really, I don't like that ending. The entire last episode was just so "wtf" for me. I mean, I understood (somewhat) the closure between Xiu Yi and Rui Xi but then there was the whole "Quan I have to tell you something", "Okay I have to tell you something too Rui Xi" and then they get interrupted billions of times and then when they finally are about to spit out that "I'M A GIRL" and "I ALREADY KNEW YOU WERE A GIRL" it never happens! They never tell each other, even at the end. I mean, they could've kept the last scene of "I lied to them about your secret" but all I want in that ending WAS FOR THEM TO TELL EACH OTHER! I mean, Rui Xi doens't have to tell the entire school but at least she could've told Quan, or Quan could'v told her what he knew but NOooooo. The producers have to be dumbasses >_> That's what I was waiting for the entire fricken drama. -_-'' But Noo... they never do. They leave the ending so open for a sequel and then the producers/director people are like "Nope, no sequel cause we don't think it'll be possible" *sigh*
Yes, I'm really pissed off at the Taiwanese drama.

As for the Japanese ending. It was... alright. I mean, the only part I really remember is the really long "good-bye" thing (which I skipped actually) and then the really crappy kiss at the end BUT they KNOW. They find OUT, they get ficken TOGETHER there is CLOSURE. Something the Taiwanese one did not have >_> So although the Japanese ending was not the best ending in the world ever, in my opinion it beats the Taiwanese just for the single fact that, Mizuki tells her secret out. It is known. It's not enough for me that Quan knew from the first episode, I want Rui Xi to actually say something. The fact that Quan knows from episode 1 does nothing for me. It just serves to build up to the end when he is supposed to tell her but never does.

alright, I'm going to shut up about how disappointed I am at the ending now. Sorry ^^''

Overall Comments:
Alright, I remember posting on here somewhere about how I hated Taiwanese dramas more than Korean ones, but Hua Yang completely contradicts that. I love this drama so much and most of it boils down to the wonderful chemistry that Chunella have on (and even off) screen. It makes everything so much more enjoyable for me. Shun and Maki did not have much chemistry together, if at all.

I think Hua Yang is like my HanaDan, my complete and utter love. The only difference is that, whereas HanaDan had a sequel, Hua Yang did not and probably will not and that really pisses me off. (but I don't go on about that).

....

Overall - I like Hua Yang more than HanaKimi.

(if I say anymore I will just continue on and on about Chunella and the whole "no sequel" thing so bye bye, done my review ^^)

Oh my god, I'm a total MaoJun supporter but it's seriously like.. one of my dreams to see Mao and Nino act together in a drama and now? Now? THIS DREAM IS COMING TRUE!

Do you know how HAPPY I am to hear of this? I think I nearly screamed when I read the name "Inoue Mao" as Nino's wife. Now I hope Mao will appear on Arashi TV shows or something xD

but seriously, Nino and Mao? Oh my god, excitment.

No real news about Nino's drama except for the story, I'll post about it when the release date of this drama SP is released =D

Being serious here - this is not and April Fools day. I'm not the type of person to fool people. ^^