Suikyuu Yankees (2014)

I was looking for something light, entertaining, Japanese (yep ! The “Japanese”part is really important because I just wanted something real, something human, something only Japan know how to do..) to lift up my spirit which not feeling at the best at the moment. And I’m surprised that this drama entirely fulfill those goals. And there were so much more in it. First I have to admit I love Yankees stories in Japanese cinema. I love the fact that even if they are Yankees, a bad guy with bad reputation, who love fighting and skipping class, they most of the time have the kindest heart ever. There are also in this drama some powerful and stunning meaningful sentences. I’m impressed by this drama and what it made me feel.
It’s not an amazing drama itself, it’s not flawless, it’s not absolutely the one everyone have to watch but if you’re looking for something to warm up your heart on a cloudy dark day, it might be the one. Plus the fact that it’s about teenagers in high school reinforce the light side. There’s nothing complicated, nothing tricky, no need to think, no need to try to understand everyone hidden motives, we just need to watch it and enjoy it.

“If you give up from the start, you can’t do anything. If you don’t give up, things will not end. Don’t give up till the end. You can be anyone. The possibilities are infinite.” The drama starts on this simple brilliant sentence. And from the very beginning you know this drama is gonna be about hope and people fighting for their goals. And for me, for the one I was when starting this drama, that was exactly the sentence that makes me cry and realize that yes I can do everything ! If I give up, I can’t win. (Against work issues, against heart darkness, against love disappointments, this works for everything)

This drama is all about Naoya who in order to save the school he loves so much creates a Waterpolo team with 7 members. Those 7 players were everything in this drama. At the end of the drama, we know everything about everyone, we know their strength, their flaws, their joys, their sadness, their love and their hopes. It’s a team that learn to grow up together facing those difficult teenage years. What I love about sports is the team spirit, I love so much seeing a whole team getting together ready to do anything for helping one of their teammate. And this drama is surely full of this. Every drama about sports have this and this is so heartwarming and it always makes me want to be a part of it.
Of course I have to say, remember, this is waterpolo, a water sport, this means hot guys in swimming suits ! Hell YAY XD. Maybe a little too young for me but wth it’s still eye catchy.

The main character is Naoya, a Yankee in all his splendor. He looks dangerous but he has one of the most beautiful golden heart never seen. He’s a little annoying at the beginning being irresponsible a little childish, quirky. He’s also so naive, it’s a flaw and something that annoyed me but it also was so cute and touching sometimes. He is so adorable with all his strength, his will, his endless hope, his smile and unfailing good humor. He is a model of fighting spirit, guts and chivalry. He is the one who changed everyone else’s life and way of thinking just by being him. “Men have to take responsibilities of theirs words.”

In fact there’s one music that turned my heart upside down and was able to give me shivers each time I heard it but I’m so sad I can’t find it anywhere. I just know that it’s from Yu Takami and this guy seems to be like the Japanese Hans Zimmer.

My rating is completely based on the feeling I have at the precise time I watched it.
I will surely re-watch it the day I’ll need some cheer up. ^^

“No matter how many times we fail, we believe that one day, our dreams will come true.”

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Let's get one thing straight: It's not the best dorama out there, it's not amazing but by god was this wholeheartedly entertaining, fun and just what you want from a Summer Drama!!

We follow an out-dated yankee, which is hilarious right away!, and soon a Water Ball (not Water Polo due to him reading the Kanji wrong xD) team is begun at his new High School.

This drama is packed with hilarity (I RARELY laugh at non-British shows) and I laughed so hard many times! I love the friendships and relationships and the words of 'never giving up' are repeated and are very inspiring!! And let us not overlook the fact that we get to see more than 8 guys in nothing but tiny swimwear for 10 episodes!! <3

The reason I give this such a high mark regardless of the fact that it's not what you would class as a masterpiece, is because I love the actors (big fan of them!), I love the themes it brought up, and it was a lot of fun to watch!

The only down I can actually pick out is, I personally felt the romance aspect was unnecessary. The romance (all like 5 of them!) added nothing to the drama and weren't needed. All this dorama needed was a bunch of guys being the best friends ever and some small swimming trunks and that's what I got and I loved it!

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Interesting drama, about water sports, friendship and the unfair ranks of "society". The story is interesting and entertaining, as it gets you hooked as a proper sport themed movie should do. The sport events were interesting as well, and the rivalry between the two teams and the two players was amusing. The romance was not that good, however. It felt as it was out of nowhere and, not to mention, the love triangle was seriously weak. I wish that either the romance was better or that there weren't any, or that the original potential couple was formed. In any case, fortunately, the romance failure didn't effect the drama too much. Also, the performances were very good, which helped the drama a lot. So, 7 out of 10.

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Me dio menos de lo que esperaba, pero está ok.

¿Cómo se encuentran el día de hoy? ¿Acaso se están preguntando quién creyó que el póster de esta serie era buena idea? No se preocupen, a mí me pasó lo mismo cuando lo vi, pero no niego ni afirmo que esa fuera la razón por la que decidí ver este jdrama jaja.

La historia gira en torno a un chico llamado Naoya, un auténtico Yankee japonés que está decidido a volverse el líder del instituto Kasu, al que acaba de transferirse. A pesar de su apariencia (ya pasada de moda) el chico tiene buen corazón, por lo que, al ver que la escuela parece a punto de cerrar, decide poner en marcha un extraño plan: crear un club escolar de waterpolo para ganar prestigio y, de esa manera, salvar la institución. ¿Por qué waterpolo? Porque el equipo de otra escuela se cree dueño de la ciudad jaja.

Pasan los días y yo sigo intentando llenar el vacío que me dejó Tumbling y, aunque Waterpolo Yankees no le llega ni a los talones, sigue siendo una serie muy entretenida, con personajes bastante lindos y momentos muy graciosos. Sí es cierto que no me llegué a comprometer tanto con el grupo principal ni con la trama, pero no me aburrí en ningún momento, pude seguir bien todo lo que fue pasando y, por si fuera poco, siempre me quedará mi hijo, mi muchacho... Chiaki jaja.

A nivel técnico no tengo mucho que decir, la verdad es que las actuaciones en general son bastante buenas, visualmente está muy bien y hay un par de canciones de la banda sonora que, aunque no me encantaron, sí me gustaron mucho.

Eso sí, no puedo dejar de mencionar lo sorprendida que me dejó el deporte. Estoy casi segura de que nunca había visto bien cómo era que se jugaba al waterpolo y realmente me impactó un montón lo desgastante que parece. Mis respetos hacia todos aquellos que practican esta locura jaja.

En fin, no es un dorama que les recomiende especialmente, pero si la sinopsis les llamó la atención (o si son fans de alguno de los protagonistas), denle una oportunidad. Digamos que no es nada del otro mundo, pero no está mal, cumple con lo que promete y no pretende ser algo que no es. Además, cierra todo bastante bien, lo que es mucho muy importante.

IG de reseñas cortas: @altoplottwist

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Entretenida, pero nada especial

Un dato curioso es que este es el primer dorama que se hizo centrado en el waterpolo. Si bien no es un deporte que me llame la atención, ver esta serie me hizo adquirir conciencia de lo difícil que debe ser poder jugarlo. El desgaste físico que implica nadar mientras se hacen pases y anotaciones con un balón es tremendo. Los actores hacen un muy buen trabajo en lo que jugar al deporte respecta (si hubo dobles, la verdad nunca me di cuenta).

Las actuaciones están bien, no es que haya alguna destacable pero tampoco hay nadie malo. Hubo algunos miembros del equipo súper simpáticos con los que me encariñé (creo que mis preferidos son Chiaki y Koki, o sea el integrante con crackhead energy y su sidekick enano cuyo nombre me recordaba a Coqui Argento).

Creo que es una de esas series que podrías dejar colgada en cualquier episodio sin desesperarte por saber cómo sigue pero ojo, la trama está buena y es entretenida, hay momentos súper graciosos y los conflictos están buenos; simplemente es una serie muy tranqui, la verdad. Recomendable para ver algo sencillo, a lo que no haga falta prestarle mucha atención, pero que te mantenga enganchado en lo que dura cada episodio.

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Déja vu... but fun!

This is basically a lesser iteration of Water Boys.
Same concept, similar arch story, the new guy at high-school, sports, the underdong team, a little bit of teen romance, some comedy, even the soundtrack bears a resemblance.
The clichés are all taken to the nth degree. The kids yelling, talking to each other 100mts apart, everybody is against them, the cringe factor of some scenes and the exacerbated melodrama.
And yet, I had some fun. Sometimes I need one of these feelgood teen sports comedy romance j-dorama.
Water Boys will always be one of the best in this genre, though :)

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[WARNING: the rating and review I give have the possibility to be subjective due to my preference for the genres, scenes or casts]

Actually, I want to give 9.9 rating, but they didn’t have it (^o^) Why 9.9? That's because Yamaken didn't get a GF in this movie (^o^;) (sorry, I'm still his fans XD)

Good dorama. The conflict not too cheesy and the sport which become the theme is quite unique for me. I mean, I'm not too familiar with water polo, so I excited to see how difficult it looks like. I love their fighting spirit too.

If I give it a further thought, I think this dorama is just like Gokusen (^_^)

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