Kodoku no Gurume Ep.4: Meat, Meat, Meat

Boneless short rib & chuck

Gorou-san went to Komiya, a town in Hachiouji City in western part of Tokyo.  I never heard of such a town, and it's far from busy areas of Tokyo.

What inspired Gorou-san to go to a grilled-meat restaurant was his client's lunch packed in a bento box.  Full of meat, some Japanese omelet and vegies.  This o-bento was packed with love by his client's pregnant wife.  It made Gorou-san a little jealous.
(continued)

New Summer J-drama (7): Henshin (Transformation)

 
Now that Double Face is over, this new drama based on a Higashino Keigo's medical suspence novel just started on a Japanese cable channel WOWOW.  It is made up of 5 episodes, starring Kamiki Ryunosuke, Nakaido Fumi, Watabe Gouta, etc.    

(Spoiler)

Petero no Souretsu Ep.4

 This week, we know more about the editor-in-chief, which explains her devastation after the bus jack.  We still don't know how things and people we see in this drama are connected.

(Spoiler)

Three Musketeers: Cool and Stylish Teaser

K-drama coming soon on tvN.
For more teasers check here.
Drama info
 
   

  

Kazoku Gari Ep.4

Story is progressing.  However, we can't tell how things are going to turn out or what this drama is all about.

(Spoiler) 

Present Perfect - Short Thai Movie

A cute movie.

Dososei Ep.3

 It's the 3rd episode, and the story is going rather slowly.   I'm debating whether I should keep watching this drama. 

Kenta and Akehi

(Spoiler)

Kodoku no Gurume Ep.3: Steak Donburi (Bowl) Set

This week, Gorou-san went to Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture.  It's a mountainous area with lots of lakes near Mt. Fuji.   

Hakone (19c Ukiyoe by Utagawa Hiroshige )

You Are the Apple of My Eye （那些年，我们一起追的女孩）: Taiwanese Movie

Here's a Taiwanese movie released in 2011 which was a big hit and received well by movie critics. (wiki)  The official English title is "You Are the Apple of My Eye".  As for the literal translation of the original title, it is "In those years, we chased a girl".

The movie is about 2 girls and 5 guys who are classmates in junior high school, and follows them for 10 years from 1995 to 2005.  For me, it's mainly about the first love between the main guy and the girl.  They like each other a lot, but somehow they were not fated.  It's sweet, bitter and sad.  It's reality.   (Sigh...)

(Spoiler)

The Way We Were (16個夏天); Not Redford and Streisand

A new Taiwanese drama started.  The original title is 16個夏天 (16 summers) while the English title is The Way We Were.  It is supposed to cover 5 individuals (3 men and 2 women) for 16 years; from 1998 to 2014.  In the first episode shown last Sat, our guys and gals were college kids in 1998. 

Like other t-dramas, it's about 70 minutes long and one episode is shown every week.  However, this is supposed to have only 15 episodes.  So this is going to be short and concise.

Teaser

(Spoiler)

Petero no Souretsu Ep.3

 Here's another drama that is intriguing and mysterious.  We see things happening only on the surface, and don't know what those happenings are all about.  Is this a game somebody is playing in order to hurt some individuals?  Are all the passengers involved in this game or did they "just" happen to be on that bus?

cardsharps with the ace of clubs by Georges De La Tour (1620)

(Spoiler)

Kazoku Gari Ep.3

The story is proceeding, but it's still not clear how people are related to one another or how the "family hunting" homicides relate to those people. 

(Spoiler)

Dososei Ep.2

Things aren't moving fast.  4 people: 2 couples.  Each person is not so sure about his/her feeling or other person's feeling toward him/her.  
 

Couple No. 1

Kodoku no Gurume 4 ep.2: Feeling Asia

In this episode, Gorou-san goes to Ginza to see his friend who is about to open her photo exhibition.  She is a Vietnam freak and photos are about Vietnam.    　

After saying goodbye to her, he walks around Ginza and goes into a Taiwanese tea house.  There he orders "Ten-Sai-Hana-Cha (天才花茶)": 天才 means genius and 花茶 means flower tea, and "Taiwan-Sensou （台湾仙草）".  I checked Taiwan Sensou on the web and found out it is called "Grass Jelly" in English and this jelly is popular not only in Taiwan but also in Hong Kong, Macau and Southeast Asia. (Wiki).  Gorou-san liked the jelly more after he put "Kuro-Mitsu," brown-sugar syrup on it.  I think brown-sugar syrup here is similar to dark mollases.  

HERO is back!

HERO 2014

It is hard to believe it has been 13 years since we saw the first series of HERO on TV.

Since this is a summer series, we cannot see Kuryu'u in that famous reddish-brown down jacket.

Perhaps, the biggest change for this current series is that the 2nd lead is Kitagawa Keiko instead of Matsu Takako.  

Platonic (final ep.) Shocking and Sad, Sad, Sad

 I just watched the final episode of Platonic.  What a story!!!  You must watch all the episodes to know what drama is all about; love, life, death and platonic love between the two leads.

This is one of the best j-drama I watched this year.

This is a powerful drama which is sad and heart-breaking (no pun intended).  It is beyond right or wrong, satisfactory or non-satisfactory, agree or disagree.  The great thing about this drama is that it makes people think.  It doesn't give us answers, but it gives us questions to think about. 

(Spoiler)

Genome Hazard (Movie): Must Watch for Nishijima Fans

pic 1

Here's a SF movie.  I'm not sure if this is a Korean or Japanese movie, but it does not really matter.  Casts and staff are both Korean and Japanese.  Japanese is mostly spoken.

I was very impressed with Kim Hyo Jin's Japanese.  She spoke fluently, which I understood perfectly.  I take my hat off to her speeches and acting.

Nishijima spoke a little Korean in the middle and a lot at the end.  However, I was not sure whether it was his real voice in the last scene.    

55-sai Kara No Hello Life

 This is an omnibus drama series that shows lives of 5 men and women who are all 55 year old.  Each episode looks at an individual who struggles in his/her life and find peace (temporary it may be) through his/her difficulties.  DramaWiki has a very nice synopsis.

Original story was written by Murakami Ryu.  I didn't know he writes this type of story, as my image of him comes from his "debut" novel, Almost Transparent Blue, and Coin Locker Babay.  

I loved the 4th and the 5th episodes.  Fine acting by Kobayashi Kaoru (ep.4), Issey Ogata (ep.5) and Hino Shouhei (ep.5).  Kobayashi plays a lonely man who is about to find a new job, his mission in life.  Issey O. and Hino play childhood friends who happened to meet again after 40 years or so.  Their lives are now very different, but they are still connected.

    

River's Edge O'okawabata Tanteisha: Final episode

I'm a bit sad that this series just ended.  This was a nice series.  Each episode was short (30 minutes long) and introduced a different case to be investigated.  Cases and those who brought the cases are often strange and/or heart-warming.  

Initially this drama reminded me of Mahoro Ekimae Bangaichi which was also on TV Tokyo and broadcasted in the same time slot.  However, individuals in the two dramas are different.  In Mahoro, it was two buddies.  In River's Edge it's 3 people in an office (owner, secretary and worker).   

Tantei-sha means detective-company/office.  So this drama was about a small detective agency where Odagiri Joe works with two other colleagues, an old man who is the owner of the agency and a young woman who is a secretary.  The three all have unique personalities/characteristics.  Odagiri often takes a nap in the office and his dreams later come true.  

New Summer J-drama (6): Nobunaga no Chef 2

I didn't watch Nobunaga no Chef 1 nor I've never read the manga.  I'm a sucker of cooking and food dramas.  However, I don't think I'll continue watching this.  Sorry to say this, but this series looks silly to me.

I may like the manga version.  Perhaps it won't be so silly if it is manga.  I hope to have a chance to read the manga.   

Kazoku Gari Ep.2

Kazoku Gari remains dark and mysterious.  I still can't figure out how and where the story is going.  

In this episode, no more families were killed or hunted.  So, "Family Hunt" occurred in 3 places in Tokyo; O'omori, Akabane, and Setagaya.  Main characters and families are becoming clear.  

(Spoiler)

New Summer J-drama (5): Dososei

 Dousousei can be translated as "those who went to school together," and has somewhat nostalgic tone.  

This drama is about two men and two women who are reunited at the 25th anniversary class reunion of their middle school in Nakano, Tokyo.  

"A person falls in love three times" is the sub-header.  It's going to be about 40-year old men and women looking back their lives so far and trying to reset them with their "true" loves.   

Dr. Stranger Final

BIG  DISAPPOINTMENT

I totally agree to this review on Dramabeans.

New Summer J-drama (4): Wakamono Tachi 2014

 This is a drama about a 4-brother and 1-sister family.  Their parents are dead and the oldest son is the head of the household.

My first impression was that actors in this drama are really good ones.  Here they are (this may include spoilers, so be ware);

New Summer J-drama (3): Kodoku no Gurume 4 Ep.1

Kodoku no Gurume Season 4 has just started.  It's the same actor, music and format again.  This week Gorou-san went to a diner in Kiyose, a north-western part of Tokyo, on the Seibu Ikebukuro line.  

Pic 1

Pic 2　(200 yen)

Pic. 3  (300 yen)

Pic. 4 (150 yen)

He had  meat (pork, I think) and mung-bean sprouts spicy stir-fry (Pic 3), steamed rice, miso soup, garlic with miso and green chili (Pic 4), jumbo gyoza half size (Pic 2), and grilled chicken on a stick.  The stir-fry dish also had shredded carrots and nira (Chinese chives). 

New Summer J-drama (2): Kazoku Gari

Kazoku Gari is another new drama on TBS.  Kazoku means "Family" and Gari means "Hunting".  So far, the drama is about killing of families, a police detective, a high school art teacher, and a child psychologist from a local child welfare office.  It is not clear whether family members dying next to one another are homicides or suicides.  Also, it is not clear how people are related.

New Summer J-drama (1): Petero no Souretsu

2014 summer j-dramas are starting.  TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting Station) is into crime dramas this season.  Both "Petero no Soretsu" and "Kazoku Gari" are about crimes, and how an ordinary man gets involved in the crimes. 

In the 1st episode of Petero no Souretsu (Funeral Procession of Peter), the leading man (played by Koizumi Koutaro) became one of the six hostages in a bus-jack.  The reason why an old man committed the bus-jack is still not clear. 

Joseon Gunman: 1st Chapter Finished

 I just watched the first 4 episodes of "Joseon Gunman" which can be considered as the 1st introductory chapter.  

At the end of the 4th episode, the leading male character, Park Yoon Kang (played by Lee Joon Ki) came back to Korea after staying in Japan for 3 years, wearing western clothes and holding a handgun.  He hides his identity as Yoon Kang and pretends to be a Japanese, Hasegawa Hanjo. 

Now that the introductory chapter on different characters and background stories is finished, the real story of the Joseon Gunman is starting from next week.  

Lovestore at the Corner (巷弄裡的那家書店) TWdrama

I've started watching Taiwanese dramas lately. This one, Lovestore at the Corner, is on-going.  So far 11 episodes were broadcasted.  

I watched 8 episodes as ep.9 English subtitles are not available yet. I'm hoping they would not give up on the subtitle creation.  

Taiwanese dramas I watched are long.  Each episode is about 1hour and 15 minute-long, and one series consists of 26 episodes or so, and unlike most k-dramas, only one episode is shown every week.  So, the stories tend to go slowly.  I like the slow pace as I don't have to concentrate on a drama so much.