Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Summer '08 Dramas

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Incredibly long post ahead!!!! =P


Because yours truly is sibeh free liao, she has since watched nearly every summer drama and will now write up a review for all of them so anyone interested would know what to watch and what not to =P Ha, I finally have summer =)


Oh it's all J-dramas of course! All the dramas below are still currently airing and you can find the links for them at the end of the post. Ha! I love my internet line here and the lovely people at LJ who supplied all the DDL so I needn't deal with stupid torrents hee~


You people should all get a LJ account ok regardless of what fandom you are in (anime, k-entertainment, j-entertainment, chinese and western stuff) because it has every single thing you could ever ask for and at the instance it's released. Vids, songs, scans, mags, fics, art etc. LJ IS AWESOME!!!! =DDD Forums are so yesterday liao *waves hand


All dramas listed in alphabetical orders because I am particular about order just like that:


Code Blue

Total Episodes: 11




Before I go into the summary, I have one thing I want to say first: I dislike Yamapi.


Now that I've said it, let's move on.....Code Blue is probably the most anticipated drama this Summer seeing the cast of A-list stars -Yamapi, Toda Erika and Aragaki Yui. But of all dramas to make I must ask WHY A MEDICAL DRAMA LAR!!!! The word 'medical' itself already sound boring -_- Anyway, it's about 4 interns training to become a flight doctor and its concept is based on Japan's proposal for an emergency medical service using helicopters to quickly reach those in need.



Yamapi as usual -rolls eyes- is cast as the highly skilled, cool, silent, admired by many and nearly perfect doctor. In other words: the heartless a**hole whom girls still love for reasons I cannot comprehend. I swear you can substitute Pi with an android these days and none would be the wiser. His acting skills worsens each year imo and srsly all he does these days is act all stoic and flash his bod every now and then and girls would scramble to have his babies -_-


Anyway in this drama, he is portrayed as this selfish intern who only cares for his own gain and little about the patients life though admittedly he does get more humane after each episode. Oh and he has bad hair too!!! =) Curls so does not suit him hahaha.



Then we have Toda Erika ahh I love her, she was awesome as Misa in Death Note ok! =D but back to topic, she is the intern I like best because she seems to have the most heart for the patients despite her shortcomings as a doctor at times ^^ Yui (below) is the intern who I dislike more and more despite her intelligence here simply because her soft seh kia voice is annoying, her wimpy attitude is irritating and her overall shu nu image just irks me endlessly.



And no it's NOT because she was rumored to be dating Tegoshi before wth how can you people think so little of me!!! She is super cute I know but I AM SICK OF HER SHU NU IMAGE as seen in Koizura too which I shall rant about later. I prefer her better as the spunky daughter in Papa to Musume no Nanokokan. And if you must know, the rumor turned out to be fake anyway =P Plus I like Nissy more now =PPP



The last intern ar sorry I cannot remember his name but he is short, loud, useless and full of BS half the time. So the drama mainly revolves around them outdoing each other in order to ride in the coveted helicopter lol. And small heartwarming scenes between the patients and doctors. And lots of bloody scenes which I close my eyes to so half the time I have no idea what is going on =P But despite all my critical rants it is still somewhat entertaining -why? srsly why???- so yes I'm gonna continue with this series *sigh*


Rating: 4

(Because haih a A-list cast does help somewhat considering its a medical drama....)



Here Is Greenwood

Total Episodes: TBA



"The story based on the manga of the same name and focuses on the lives of Kazuya Hasukawa and his dorm mates at Ryokuto Academy where they live in a former insane asylum turned dorm, called Greenwood." -drama wiki-


Ha-ha. Watched the 1st episode only. Gayest drama ever. And I don't mean ghei as in where the guys are hot entertaining pretty boys but gay as in the guys are really sissy and won't last a minute in the real world. For sure get beaten up by guys and shunned by girls. I dunno if the drama is trying to be funny or serious because it's kinda stuck between 'so-was-that-suppose-to-be-funny' and 'bad wtfery' half the time. Weird and incredibly dull. If this drama supposedly reflects the real life of Japanese guys, then I am changing fandom liao wth.

Not continuing obviously.

Rating: 0.5

(In fact, title should be changed to 'Here Is Gaywood'. Much more fitting imo)




Koizora

Total Episodes: 6



Last fall, over 3 million people were brought to tears by the movie Koizora. The highly popular movie will be turned into a drama, which follows the life of a normal higschool girl who experiences many unbelievably sad events, but through it all proving that love conquers all, and this true love story remains unchanged from the movie. Not only does it simply portray the first love of the highschoolers, it shows the warmth from the family, the importance of life, the bonds with friends, and the common happenings of teens, and through it all Mika and Hiro's love story gets unwound. -drama wiki-


So I haven't watch the drama yet but I did watched the movie so I shall review that instead.



And all I have to say is..............the people in Japan don't have much taste for romance stories *makes face* Was surprised to discover that the cast consists of Yui and Haruma (!love!) But idk if its just me or are Japanese movies just really really boring -_- Tegoshi's Shissou which many said was awesome just sucked imo. So did Pi's Kurosagi. This one is no different either ok where there is no bg music at all and everything seem so normal and dead. No drama. And I don't see anything heart-wrenching at all cause I think she would have led a better life had she not met Hiro. She only kena rape by others, got pregnant with Hiro's child and miscarry etc. because of him wth. So NO SYMPATHY for her ok.


If that is true love, then I am so enrolling myself into nunnery next week.


Ok so the ending is kinda sad at any rate but heck, the Koreans do it way better ok when it comes to movies or romance stories so you're better off watching K-dramas instead of this.


Rating: 2.5

(Don't care what you people say. It sucked. Am not watching the drama.)




Maou

Total Episodes: 10



This drama is a remake of the popular suspense K-drama Mawang (hahaha sounds like bawang) that was aired in Korea last year. Ohno Satoshi will be playing the role of a two-faced lawyer, one of which is a kind hearted soul and the other who is plotting revenge, using his brilliant mind, on the person who killed his relative. On the other hand, Ikuta Toma will play the double lead role of the man, who has become a detective due to his dark past, who is pursuing the mysterious series of murders and fighting against the devil (maou) -drama wiki-


asdadksdagsashda I AM SO PIMPING THIS DRAMA TILL YOU KILL ME OUT OF FRUSTRATION WHEREBY I WILL COME BACK AND HAUNT YOU WITH MORE RAMBLINGS ABOUT IT.

That is how much I heart this drama =D



And no its not because its full of JE boys (Ohno and Nino from Arashi and Toma) -though having hot JE guys in any drama is always love
- but cuz its a suspense drama ok!!!! *flails* It kinda reminds me of Death Note and you keep holding your breath as you wonder who would be killed this time and how is the bad guy gonna carry out his crimes through the manipulation of others.


The satt opening (Arashi's 'Truth') which kicks the korean version one =P


Story goes like this. Yes that is the link to the Korean drama wiki which has a better summary so just replace 'Oh Soo' with 'Toma' and 'Seung Ha' with 'Ohno' and you'll get the picture =) If you're into K-dramas then watch the Korean one then since I heard it got rave reviews.



Ohno makes a damn fine bad guy ok!!!! Soft and gentle one minute and all cunning and manipulative the next
♥ JE should burn for not giving him dramas before this wth that guy got talent can? Toma is just well, hot. But his acting is good ok so different from Hana Kimi where he was the idiotic Nakatsu lol. Here he is the hot-headed, emotional and aggressive detective who tries desperately to save his friends from their deaths as he battles with his past guilt.




The cryptic messages, the puzzling tarot cards, the accomplices, the misleading information, the intense emotions, the manipulation oh the brilliant manipulation omg I LOVE THIS DRAMA TO BITS. I am on Ohno's side wth simply because I want to see what more cunning plans can he churn out seeing as Toma is gaining onto him in each episode =DDD


But lately the murders kinda came to a lull? Oi, more deaths please!


Rating: 5

(Because I am a suspense/thriller/murder-mystery fangirl and this is amazing stuff!!!)




Shibatora

Total Episodes: 10



IT'S KOIKE TEPPEI!!!!! Can you say love? *happyface* He plays a detective who is always mistaken for a middle-schooler due to his childish looks and for that is forced by his siao lady boss to go undercover as a teenager to crack various cases. Oh and he has these eyes which can see the approaching death of those in the next 24 hours. It's a comedy drama with a hint of action and suspense. The scene of him being caught while he was running to catch a teenage suspect simply because the people mistook him as the criminal when his friend shouted for them to 'catch the kid' was hilarious XD


Look, even if it wasn't funny -which it is =) - Teppei is effing cute ok and that itself should really be enough to make you want to watch it. I shall hereby spam you with screenshots of him:



*spazzes* dammit why must he be so short. In fact why must all Japanese stars be so short T____T


Rating: 3.5

(kyaaaaa Teppei daisuki!!!!!)



Taiyo to Umi no Kyoshitsu

Total Episodes: 10



"..............................."


I downloaded all 1 gig of it for the 1st ep because there were numerous comments on how it's a nice teacher-student drama that is unlike the typical Gokusen/GTO ones. I watched the 1st 5 minutes of it, skipped around parts of the video for 1o seconds and deleted the whole thing.


Give me the typical teacher-motivates-delinquent-students drama any day over this. I don't care if it was made to reflect closely the life of everyday students like what for I wanna watch something I live out everyday? Siao.


Rating: 1.5

(My high school life was 92831931231 times more chioer than theirs)





Yasuko to Kenji


Total Episodes: 10




The show focuses on a man named Kenji and his younger sister Yasuko, whose parents died in an accident 10 years earlier. Kenji was once the leader of a gang, but in order to support him and his sister, he began making a living as a shojo mangaka. Part of the story follows Yasuko's romance with a boy named Jun Tsubaki. Jun's older sister Erika now runs a flower shop, but Erika was once a leader of a female gang, and she used to be in love with Kenji during those days. Most of the story is centered around how Yasuko tries to help Erika confess her love to her brother in order for her to date Jun freely without the interference of her over-protective brother. -drama wiki-


Another JE boys-centric drama =DDD Where is my Tegomass drama dammit where?! Comedy obviously where the actions and facial expressions are highly exaggerated -a common trait in Japanese comedies. Acting style is reminiscent of 'My Boss My Hero' starring Nagase Tomoya and little wonder since the leads of both dramas are from the same JE band TOKIO. Oh MBMH also stars Tegoshi!!!! And he was so chubby and cute back then I love him more than the skinny stick he is now.



Anyway, what shocked me was the fact that Tsubaki is Ohkura - a Kanjani 8 member!!!!! I thought K8 were hideous with the exception of Ryo. But omg I'll give Ohkura any time of the day he wishes ok! Shall pay more attention to all the other bands in JE liao.



This is mostly a feel-good-drama for you to laugh yourself silly after a long tiring day at work where the last thing you wanna do is think. Worth a watch at any rate =) Oh and Yasuda Shota from K8 would also be guest starring in Ep. 5. People say Yasuda is the cute one in K8 but I beg to differ. I still think Ohkura pwns him any given day =P


Rating: 3.5

(Just make sure you've eaten before you watch this cause I swear the endless food scenes is the reason why I'm getting fatter *sigh*)


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Ok now on to the Spring dramas which I didn't have time to review or just got to finish them recently =)

Delicious Gakuin

Total Episodes: 13




Ok I lied. This is no Spring drama and was more last year in fact but THIS IS NISSY'S DRAMA OK so endless spazzing on it is expected =)


Yes, I know. why the hell is Nissy so short?! grrrr...

3 guys are kidnapped by 4 cooking masters who teaches in a culinary school where one can only leave either after graduation or by beating any of the masters in a cooking standoff. One of them is Nissy, another is a pretty boy who is obsessed with beauty and lastly a rich sissy boy. The class president is Shinjiro (the other AAA guy). And why yes, the school is run by an iron bull head. Yes, an IRON BULL HEAD.



So be warned that this is a completely whacked-out drama ok which makes NO SENSE at all and is just pure crack. It's like Stephen Chow kinda style where everything is just full of wtfery albeit a good one =) It's one of those 'so bad till its good' kinda shows where you go into it without any expectations whatsoever and it turns out to be amusing. Heavily influenced by anime if you ask me.



The ghei-ness of it all hahahahahaha XD I did not add the sparkles la ok.



Deeeeeeeriiiicious!!!!



Less sissy than the other one which I hate but can be excused because he is hot after all.


And of course, obligatory Nissy screenshots!!!!! ^^


lakdagaldadlaksda


But the english subbing is still in progress T___T and I am half thinking of downloading the completed chinese subbed one instead because I don't think I can wait that long ne.....


Rating: 100!!!!! NISSSSSSYYYY!!!!

(ok fine. A 3 maybe.)



Gokusen 3

Total Episodes: 11



Gokusen to J-dramas is like what Naruto is to anime. Everyone who is in the fandom would know that you have not really watched any J-drama if you miss Gokusen, HYD, Hana Kimi to name a few. Gokusen is basically about a yakuza heiress -Yankumi- who decides to teach instead of taking over the family business. In all 3 seasons, she is stuck with the delinquent class and aim to see every single one through graduation.



And Yankumi is friggin HOT ok when she takes off her glasses and hairbands during fights to save her students. All the stupid 3D boys in all 3 seasons are effing blind if you ask me for saying she is ugly.



Season 3 guys


Best season imo is still the first but for the most number of engdao kias that would be the 2nd season lol. Kame, Jin, Teppei etc. ok! But first got MatsuJun bor!!! =P Anyway, this 3rd season has Takaki Yuya (a JE boy, Gokusen is nothing without JE boys) and Miura Haruma!!!!



That is Haruma who plays Ren. FRIGGIN HOT. Tall again! Yes the same one who plays Hiro in the movie Koizora.


Ok so the drama is kinda repetitive: students get into fight, Yankumi saves them, gives some valuable insights, students listen. Wash, rinse and repeat. Heck, even the plots looked similar to the first season. BUT it is STILL worth watching because try hard as you might to hate it, you'll find yourself falling for the class after episode 4 at least. They are a cute, hilarious, idiotic and vulnerable bunch and you can't help but follow them to the end of the series ^^ And I think I will never tire of the stupid facial expressions between Yankumi and the Head Teacher lol.

How not to like such adorkableness?

I bet if they were to come out with a Gokusen 4 (omg srsly enough is enough) the whole drama watching netizens would be howling in disbelief but would still end up watching it anyway. Haih, I dunno how the producers does it, but they just might have hit upon the magical formula for a successful drama.


It always make me cry too....

Rating: 4.5

(The only reason its not 5 is because the first season was still better)




Zettai Kareshi

Total Episodes: 11



Also known as 'Absolute Boyfriend'. Robot maker, Kronos Heaven, finally develops "Night Tenjo", the perfect male humanoid programmed to be devoted and completely loyal to his lover. The company chooses temp worker Izawa Riko to take part in a 5-day free trial. At first, Riko only sees Night as a household appliance. But when she finds out how deep Night's devotion to herself is, Riko finds herself falling in love with him. Joining the love triangle is Asamoto Soshi, a distinguished young executive at her company who has feelings for her. -drama wiki-



Watch. it. I kinda bawled at the ending *sniff* Of course if you were to look at it logically, she should so pick Soshi ok who is hot, rich and sweet. But this is a drama, and I cannot let go of the fact that the robot is way nicer. I am in a dilemma. But the drama didn't care for my dilemma and resolved the matter by its own hands much to my dismay.


Effing nice. Funny and sweet and got cry-able moments for all you romanticists out there. Oh and that actor who plays the robot makes a fine robot ok!!! Best acting ever.


Rating: 4

(Not as romantic as HYD but still touching)


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Ok, you can watch the above dramas at either crunchyroll, mysoju, shisaki or youtube. For some, the fansubbers forbid uploading of their subs to online sites so you have to download them from ourhour or gekiuma or D-addicts.


Happy drama watching ♥

15 comments:

Akira 思胜 said...

Wah, really a long post neh! haha... All about reviews...

Got one drama, Delicious Gakuin, rated 100? hahaha... so nice?

Ammy said...

WHY YOU DIDNT MENTION TAKAKI YUUYA ONE I DON'T LIKE YOU LIAO. *shuns*

f said...

Wow, cool review. I should really sit down and go through some of the famous dramas one day, but problem is they're so freaking LONG. :( After being conditioned to half an hour anime episodes I can no longer hold my attention for longer than 30 minutes. Same thing applies to english dramas (which is why I haven't watched second season of Heroes). Guilty confession: I never finihed HYD2, Densha Otoko, HnC or Nodame Cantabile either. I know those dramas are insanely good but somehow I just can't sit an hour through an episode without thinking 'is it over yet?' It takes effort and motivation man. -_- Also most reasonable quality dramas are 700MB-1GB and it takes forever to come down. Sigh. I really have a short attention span. >.<

Sorry about the rant. I will make the effort in future. :)

hana said...

@akira: lol no lah not 100 lah. tbh, it wud be 3 but if you are siao abt nissy like me 110% also can XD


@ammy: The only YUYA I would spazz about is TEGOSHI. Takaki is like the kuching Ah bengs. so BLAH. and u actually like him???? *shuns*


@faye: Ahaha, it all depends on how much you like something. I cannot stand English nor Korean dramas. Even if the time span is as long as J-dramas =P I think maybe you have to be in the fandom more to actually be able to watch all of those dramas like how you can watch all those animes I can't simply because you're more immerse in the anime fandom XD


And for H&C.....I never finished it either. Stick to the anime for that =PPP And I think 250MB for a drama is quite an ok quality already. Well, if you plan on deleting them immediately like I do lol.

Anonymous said...

HYD ftw! =DDDD

oi ammy GO FKIN DL ABSOLUTE BF NOW NOW NOW!!!!!

haha hana u fickle kitty u always change boys one haiz! oh oh delicious gakuin reminds me of the old anime COOKING MASTER BOY omg me love.... xD

ohno is hot =DDDD

i hate u la why u go US suppose to be american ok why all u do is watch jdramas *facepalm*

Ammy said...

YOU THINK VERY EASY TO DOWNLOAD WITH THE CRAPPY CONNECTION HIA????? and besides, i dont like dramas with sad ending. i prefer happy endings. read the manga before and i bawled at the end. so i DOWAN

Chokilala said...

omg. so long la the post. maybe i should find some time to read it. my eyes we're like bzzzztt bzzzzt reading your post. hehe. hey, my blog is dot com now~ *claps happily*

Anonymous said...

da connection is good now ok stoopid. n i wan.

hana said...

@abi: Yes I am fickle. I worry about marriage ok cause I dunno if I can bloody stay loyal or not. srsly. I nearly died ok when I hear cousins of mine getting married at my age lidat. Byebye freedom wth.

And yes zettai kareshi is kinda nice but I dunno if you would like? since u like bad boys wth XD

@ammy: SHUT UP ITS AWESOME. WATCH IT.

@Cik Choki: haha if you're not interested in J-dramas then you needn't read lah lol dun later i kena sue if your eyesight kena problem =PPP

Abi~♥ said...

HAHAHA i noe!!!!!!!!

its not bout the freedom its the fact tht u have 2 see tht person for the rest of ur live. omg how sien is tht!! xD

hana said...

@abi: i know....but u look reli happy with matt lah u both sure can last forever one lah. haih i baru got problem lah. *buries head miserably in hands*

Abi~♥ said...

haha haiya u juz gotta find tht perfect guy. like me i say i wil marry ryo, top, all those but in the end matt is the one for me.

u'll definitely find someone like tht one day =)

Mozzarella said...

I stumbled upon your blog. I love it and YOU!!I've recently gotten into the whole oriental thing and I've watched ALL the Korean movies I can on Mysoju and was branching into the japanese. I loved Koizora although yeah it moved to fast and was nonsensical and definitely her life woulda been better if she'd never met Hiro..

ANYWAY I've gone off on a tangent. I'm adding your blog to my watchlist. Because you are fantastic!

hana said...

LOL okay. ILU too ^^

btw welcome to the world of J-dramas =DDD It's short, humorous and has a variety of plots <333

I wonder many J-dramas you'll need to watch before you get hooked into the shiny world of JE though *muses*

heh. I'll be waiting =PPP

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