Akagawa Jirō is a real household name in Japan, when it comes to mystery novels (plus, a gazillion dramas and/or movies adapted from them!), and particularly loved are his series about Holmes, The Calico Cat, and about these Three Sleuthing Sisters (I have no idea why, for this adaptation, they felt the need to add an extra sister, LOL...but since they're all cute, nice and funny, I'm not gonna complain...^_^;...)
It's therefore no surprise that the mystery plots featured in this drama were well written and always interesting; mystery fans won't be let down.
Acting-wise, though, don't expect too much: the guest stars were, in all honestly, mostly terrible and contributed greatly in bringing down the average acting grade; the main cast did ok though (I must confess not being a fan of Namase Katsuhisa normally, but he was particularly good here, and the comic relief scenes between him and the always funny Muroi Shigeru were mostly hilarious; too bad Takenaka Naoto's part is so small, as he was just a ghostly presence throughout the whole series, except for one episode where he actually appeared in flesh and had some screentime). Oh, talking about episodes, as it's always to be expected in this type of drama, some were better than others.
Last but not least, the music commentary was always on spot, imho, and added to the overall quality.
All in all, a nice mystery interspersed with comedic elements and a nice family in the center of it all.
It felt much older than it actually is (in the best sense possible: I mean it reminded me of a drama from the Golden Era! ^___^)

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I have to confess that, upon finishing this "Mushoboke", I just had to sit on it for a while before deciding how I was gonna rate and review it.
Don't take me wrong, I've found the script great (more on that in a while), the acting very good (the ML, Kitamura Yukiya, doesn't have many leading roles in his filmography, alas...but I find him a brilliant actor indeed!), the music commentary and OST absolutely superb, and the cinematography classy, innovative and artistic in the best possible sense of the word (as in, NOT artsy and pretentious...there's a whole lot of substance here! Take the "baseball" scene in episode 6 for example...a pure stroke of genius!).
The only thing is, it's a lot darker and much more depressing than I had expected it to be.
The author, Abera Hidenobu (young and talented scriptwriter, I'm definitely gonna keep an eye on him!), didn't sugarcoat it much, quite the opposite...the traumatic psychological consequences of the ML's jail time are a constant presence in the drama...sometimes they'll end up resulting (bitterly) funny, but most of the time they're just a deeply sad reality.
But then again, I asked myself: doesn't that make the drama's message (about how we shouldn't waste our life but rather treasure what - and who - makes it special and brings some light into the darkness) so much more powerful?
And that's when I realized I just had to reward it with the top grade.
Yep, this "Mushoboke" can be pretty gloomy here and there, some scenes will make you cry...but you'll be left with a nice aftertaste and a lovely message in the end. Once again, my hat goes off to both the scriptwriter and the ML, it wasn't an easy feat to make me relate to such a main character, but they managed to do so brilliantly.

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It was pretty natural for me to compare this "Koeharu!", on the one hand, with "Dasada" (both dramas have a cast consisting, mostly, of Hinatazaka46 members), and on the other hand, with "Koe Girl" (both dramas tell the story of a girl who wants to become a voice actress).
In regards to the former, although both dramas convey nice, uplifting messages (and that alone earns them an extra point as far as I'm concerned!), "Dasada" was imho the better written one; it had a light but not shallow approach and the comedy parts were at times hilarious, whereas in "Koeharu!" the comic relief is more often than not ridiculous rather than funny, and there are some more serious, realistic, borderline gloomy moments (not a problem per se, of course! But the two aspects combined felt a bit confusing, honestly >__<).
The acting, though (and this, despite the less convincing script!), is imho definetely better in "Koeharu!", proof that the girls have indeed honed their skills meanwhile, kudos to them! ^___-
The "problem" - and the reason why I can only give this a "7", despite being a full-fledged "ohisama" (= Hinatazaka's fan ^_^) by now - is that "Koeharu!" loses quite badly when compared to "Koe Girl", particularly script-wise.

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Much better than the parent series!

I honestly don't remember the last time I had found a SP episode better than the series it originated from, 'cause normally it's the other way around and SP episodes tend to be, alas, complete let-downs.
It could very well be that, not having liked the original dorama that much (I rated it 5 out of 10), I had set my expectations pretty low and was therefore positively surprised?
Or maybe that I was quite happy to see Morimoto Leo again (I dearly remembered him from the "Shomuni" franchise)?
Or perhaps that the writer was different than the one from the series, and this one is way better (considered how he managed to give some depths to those previously bidimensional characters)?
Whatever the reason, I must say I've really enjoyed this "Alibi Kuzushi Uketamawarimasu Tokubetsuhen"! ^__-

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If you're a fan of Hinatazaka46 (the idol group previously known as "Hiragana Keyakizaka46"), there's a pretty high chance you'll appreciate this, as I did. If not, be warned that this is a drama with an all-idol cast, so don't expect something filled to the brim with acting talent, or you'll probably be let down.
That said, some of the girls did objectively well enough, acting-wise; the script is simple yet very uplifting and, at times, even pretty funny; the music is kinda catchy (though, in all honesty, not really my cup of tea...but that's a matter of personal taste, and as such, as my Latin ancestors would have said, "non est disputandum" - "ain't no matter for debate", LOL).
All in all, a cute little drama with a cute little plot filled with many cute idols and some pretty nice, positive messages to boot. Indeed, what the drama conveys about the importance of friendship and about the whole "better be 'lame' but real, than 'cool' but fake" is a big part of why I'm giving this such a high grade. ^__-

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This special double-episode "Bank Over! Shijo Saijaku no Goto" is, very simply put, a brilliant, hilarious comedy!
The premise is simple: two guys enter a bank to rob it...just to find there two more guys doing exactly that!
What follows is a masterfully scripted, very well acted and excellently filmed and directed lil' gem!
One by one we'll discover, in a series of flashbacks, the various characters' stories, what brought them there, their motives and (sometimes) secrets...and the story will proceed with twists and turns and loads and loads of fun along the way.
Now, I don't give this a "perfect 10" just because of a coupla pretty minor details that could have (imho) been done a little better/differently, but I was so positively impressed by this script that, upon finding out that the screenwriter (who's worked, either solo or in a team, on *dozens* of dramas BTW - some of them I had already watched and appreciated, and I'm probably gonna check out quite a few of the rest!),well, finding out that he didn't have a profile page here on MDL, I simply *had to* spend around an hour creating one...^_^;;;
I wish there were more dramas/SPs like this one, seriously! ^___-

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You might think I'm being horribly partial by giving this drama such a high grade, considering how I'm the one who actually subbed it...but it really is the other way around, seriously! I decided to sub this (and given my basic knowledge of Japanese, it's been a real pain in the you-know-what, believe me - no surprise it took me so long to complete it, ehm...^_^;...) precisely because I had read about it, watched a coupla RAW episodes, and immediately thought "Oh, my...this is just my cup of tea!"...the kind of madly creative and out of the ordinary drama that, on the one hand, I totally dig, and that unfortunately, on the other hand, was most probably bound to be ignored by subbers, 'cause it's not really popular with the Western audience (let's face it, it's pretty niche!).
Upon watching (and re-watching every scene a gazillion times while subbing, LOL), my initial impression was confirmed, and I sincerely think that this is a real lil' gem!
The script is very well done, the acting very good, each story has a different flavor and manages to surprise the viewers in a different way; the music is nice and the whole series is neatly directed and edited.
Some episodes might be better than others (and then again, it all comes down to your personal preferences), but I think each had its own quality: an original, politically incorrect message in the first episode; a thought-provoking dystopy, paired with a lovely humane message, in the second one; one of the most surprising (and personally, scariest) endings ever in the third one; a tremendously Dantesque retaliation in the fourth one; and last but not least, a profound metadrama in the final episode.
I wish there were more dramas like that, seriously! Perfect 10 as far as I'm concerned! ^___-

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Beautifully delicate movie about a sad, touching historical event

This "Seeing Nara Again" aka "Tracing Her Shadow" is based on a true, sad and very touching historical event: the "war orphans" left behind by the Japanese in formerly occupied parts of China at the end of WWII, raised by Chinese foster parents and then, from 1972 (when China and Japan re-established official relations), in part migrated to Japan in search of their biological families. That's the premise of this movie, where a Chinese granma, Chen nana (masterfully portrayed by Wu Yan Shu aka Estelle Wu, whose performance in the lovely drama "When We Were Young" had also really impressed me, BTW) flies to Japan in search of her Japanese foster daughter, who's moved back to Japan years ago and suddenly stopped writing. In her search, the granma is helped by Hatsumi / Xiao Ze, a young woman, half-Japanese and half Chinese, daughter of another war orphan, and by Yoshizawa-san, a retired Japanese policeman (and kudos to the respective actors, Ying Ze and Kunimura Jun, who were also really good).
What follows is a beautifully delicate movie, filled with many meaningful scenes that illustrate both the differences between China and Japan (to name but one: when the granma sits at the kotatsu the first night, but then in following scenes we see her sitting in a plastic chair - 'cause of course she wouldn't be used to sitting on the floor!) and also the hardships and troubles these war orphans (but also Hatsumi!) had to face - all done in a very delicate way, not force-fed down the viewers' throats as is the case of many Western productions, but rather suggested in an inobtrusive manner that adds greatly to the movie's value (another example of this lovely approach could be in the few funny scenes that lighten up a bit what is of course a pretty sad story - take for example the hilarious scene at the butcher's, or when our trio trick the paramedics into leaving the ambulance unattended so that they could answer the phone).
I really would've given this movie a "perfect 10" grade, weren't it for the next-to-last scene (the one preceding the last one with the beautiful enka song).
WARNING: HUGE SPOILER AHEAD!
I really didn't understand why Hatsumi and Yoshizawa-san would give granma Chen false hope knowing that there was none...it felt cruel and really out of place to me.../.___.\
Apart from that scene, though, this is a real masterpiece and I therefore give it a well-deserved "9"!
Wholeheartedly recommended!

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The first two seasons (and also the first two SP episodes) had been *absolutely* brilliant, but then the following SPs and the third season had been, in all fairness, weaker and weaker. It was therefore unexpected, but luckily this "Final Series" basically went back to the series' roots: a brilliant script with elaborate plots that worked like clockworks, the correct amount of comic relief (that is, minimal doses, so as not to become obnoxious), and most of all a tremendously satisfying mystery part (even avid fans of the genre, who are therefore used to all the tricks of the trade and are hardly ever surprised by crime writers' twists and turns, will probably be pleased - at least, so was I ^__^).

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Honestly, I find this third season to be weaker than the ones before it. Don't take me wrong, it's still entertaining and anyway better than most detective shows, but it just isn't as good as the first two seasons. I felt the series started getting worse after the first two SP episodes (which were both very good!); the 3rd and 4th SP were okay but not great, the 5th was quite bad, and this season that came after it is just so-and-so. Some episodes are still very good, but some much weaker (like the double episode season finale, for example); Furuhata's character is borderline annoying in a coupla scenes, and the way Imaizumi's character is written just isn't funny anymore, more like embarrassing. The jazzy score is always great though.

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A very entertaining action comedy!

The first installment of the "Detective Chinatown" trilogy is a tremendously enjoyable action comedy with loads of action scenes and just as many hilarious moments. The mystery part itself is also pretty darn good, with enough twists and turns to keep your attention and interest throughout the whole movie. The cast does a good job (my only "complaint" is that Tong Li Ya's role is so damn small, *sighs*...) and the production value is top-notch, with direction, photography, editing and OST all together contributing highly to make this a very entertaining movie. Can't wait to watch the sequels! ^___^

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This is only the second C-drama I've watched, and of course, before my C-experience becomes somehow statistically relevant, a lot more time will have to pass, LOL...but I still think I'm seeing some trends, as compared to J-dramas (correct me if I'm wrong!): first of all, cinematography and photography/colors are much more relevant (and *ages* better!) in China; secondly, the music as well (intended both as OP/ED credits songs and, even more importantly, as the musical score accompanying the various scenes) is also, at least for me, tremendously better; thirdly, even with much longer dramas (this one, for example, with its 24 episodes - which make it a "short" one in China, BTW! - could very well be the equivalent of 3 to 6 modern J-dramas! - what with the new Japanese "standard" being shorter dramas made of half-length episodes), well, even with all that, Chinese writers manage to keep things lively and not boring; last but not least, traditional Asian values seem to still be at home in China, while in Japan they keep getting replaced by Western stuff at a dramatically fast pace.
All this said (and consider it a public explanation of why you're most probably bound to see many more C-reviews from poor old me in the future ^__-), this "My Assassin Girlfriend" also showed a coupla drawbacks (hence my vote - good but not perfect).
But let's start with its (many) good points: I chose to watch it 'cause I had really loved Xu Jie aka Jelly in "Waiting for You in the Future", and indeed she was good and funny in this one as well (so much so that I wonder why she hasn't done anything else! >__<). The rest of the cast was also brilliant! I've developed a huge crush for Chen Hao Lan aka Anna Hollen, who's gorgeous to look at *and* a pretty good actress! Ryota (weird name for a Chinese actor, LOL) was also extremely good, I'm gonna keep an eye on him too. But seriously, they all did great, even the minor roles were played well.
The music (see my considerations above) was also nice and catchy, particularly the opening credits song!
The cinematography was beautiful, both in the modern and in the ancient settings (my personal preference going to the latter...ah, those colorful silky costumes! Made my crush on the FL even bigger, LOL).
The script was mostly well done, though (here come the afore-mentioned drawbacks) I have to confess it gave me the impression that some parts were missing, as if they had planned it to be made of more episodes and had to cut some parts off eventually. This (which is totally a personal idea, so pardon me if I'm wrong!) might explain a coupla plot holes (which I might address in a comment later on so as to avoid spoilering anything in this review). Another (minor) problem I had was that I would've changed some small things at the end (just a matter of personal preferences, though).
All in all, a solid, funny time-travel rom-com graced with endearing main characters and some nice humor here and there. Not a masterpiece, but a pleasant watch nonetheless!

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As you might have already guessed by reading my constant rants against the French "Nouvelle Vague" and "Cahiers du Cinéma", I must confess that I often find short movies (as well as a few normal-length ones!) to be way too artsy for my taste...but it really wasn't the case here! ^____^
So it's definitely not a surprise that this "Transferring" won several awards at SAPPORO SHORT FEST 2012 and at BUSAN International Film Festival 2012!
In a mere 20', in fact, they managed to squeeze in a deep, sweet little story which I couldn't help but seeing as a metaphor of life: within society (the classroom) we often have to wear labels and we might feel left out; outside of it (the windy way home) it can be an inhospitable, cold desert; but if we know how to let people in (the afternoons at Morikawa's) and how to use some humor (Masuda's dedramatizing remark at the end), then every encounter, no matter how fleeting, can end up being a real treasure.
Such a beautiful, oh-so-Japanese message! ^____^

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Masterpiece!

Some 15 years ago, that masterpiece going by the name of "1 lt. no Namida" got me hooked on J-dramas. And now, after all those years of strict japanophile observance (in which I've watched about 250 J-dramas), I've got the strong feeling that this masterpiece going by the name of "Waiting For You in the Future" will definitely get me hooked on C-dramas! Such a strong impression it has left me with! ^__________^
And how could it have been otherwise? Everything here is absolutely top notch!
Coming from J-dramas, which normally (of course, apart from asadora and taiga dorama) consist of 3 to 12 episodes, I must confess all my initial skepticism, when I started this drama made of 36 episodes of around 50' each (we're talking of 3/4 of an asadora!). But my hat goes off to the writer(s), 'cause not a single episode felt draggy or redundant!
The premise is very interesting (matter of fact, I've discovered this drama precisely 'cause I was looking for something similar to the J-drama "High Position" which I really loved) but, as my fellow reviewers already so aptly pointed out, this is much, much more than a mere time-travel story: it's about life, friendship, love, and it portrays an inspirational, life-changing path of personal growth. All filled with beautifully written characters who are so endearing that, by the end of the drama, you feel like you've just said goodbye to a bunch of friends!
Let me also spend some words about the acting: of course each country, each different culture has its peculiarities when it comes to acting styles (for example, Italian actors act similarly to French or Spanish ones, but pretty differently than, say, Brits or Scandinavians). I distinctly remember that when I had started watching J-dramas, at first I couldn't help but notice the different acting style, though I soon got used to it and now I must confess I find the Japanese acting style much more to my liking than, say, the "hollywoodian" one. Regarding the Chinese acting style, I had already watched a few Chinese movies, so I wasn't totally unfamiliar with it; as a result, adapting to it was totally effortless. And the whole cast does a superb job in this production, seriously! Particular praises go to Li Guang Jie, Fei Qi Ming, Sun Qian, Xu Jie aka Jelly and Zhang Zhi Lu, but they all did wel, really!
Praiseworthy are of course also the direction and the photography, both at a definitely higher level than those of most Japanese productions, I'll have to admit!
Last but definitely not least, the OST is simply fabulous. The score is always perfect for enhancing the viewers' experience, and the songs are really beautiful ! Honorable mention for the lovely "Sanctuary"!
Summing it all up, a perfect 10 in my book! Instant top5 of all times, as far as I'm concerned. I loved every single minute of it!

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Nature in all its majesty - and with no sugarcoating whatsoever, LOL

Maybe it's because half of the blood running through my veins comes from an alpine valley, and I'm no stranger to the sight of steep slopes all covered with coniferous forests. Or maybe it's 'cause I just really like Japanese rural settings, which I consider way more authentic and interesting than the more usual urban ones. And then again, maybe it's simply because this is indeed a great movie, period.
Whatever the reason, I deeply enjoyed this "Wood Job"!
Such a pure, straightforward story, mixed with some very funny scenes, some deep moments, some great acting (Ito Hideaki in particular steals the scene more than once), some nice music....and last but totally not least, some breathtaking scenery!
Perfect 10! ^___-

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