What dramas are you currently watching?

Kita no Kuni Kara ep. 16.

I can't believe there's only 4 eps to go :(

Mop Girl episode 1. It seems promising. :victory:

Anime Dad wrote:Kita no Kuni Kara ep. 16.

I can't believe there's only 4 eps to go :(

Thats because there are 24 I believe. AT least that is what I have.

Eve wrote:

Thats because there are 24 I believe. AT least that is what I have.

LOL. maybe you're right.

Keps wrote:Mop Girl episode 1. It seems promising. :victory:

I had a lot of fun with this drama! :woot:

I'm watching epi 4 of Yan Papa. :sleeping:

I'm also on the 10th epi of Tokyo Tower.

finish - yasuko to kenji
currently - bloody monday

Wynter wrote:
I'm also on the 10th epi of Tokyo Tower.

The best part of Tokyo Tower for me was Misuko Baisho as "Oba". There's a movie with Joe Odagiri, same name, I think the drama was based on it. You might want to check it out. I think the drama was based on the movie. [/list:u]

gaijinmark wrote: The best part of Tokyo Tower for me was Misuko Baisho as "Oba". There's a movie with Joe Odagiri, same name, I think the drama was based on it. You might want to check it out. I think the drama was based on the movie. [/list:u]

Is it?! I have the movie, but I haven't seen it. Mebbe I shoulda watched that first.

It took me a long time to get into this drama. It was really slow and Ma-kun was so incredibly annoying. I had no sympathy for him whatsoever. But then it slowly grew on me and I'm quite enjoying it. It's actually quite well written.

And I love it when Okan sings. :mrgreen:

If my headache goes away, I'll prolly watch the remaining two episodes tonight.

gaijinmark wrote: The best part of Tokyo Tower for me was Misuko Baisho as "Oba". There's a movie with Joe Odagiri, same name, I think the drama was based on it. You might want to check it out. I think the drama was based on the movie. [/list:u]

Both the movie and the drama are based on an autobiography of the same name by Lily Franky (real name: Nakagawa Masaya). There was also a tanpatsu adaptation as well.

The movie won five Japan Academy awards, including Best Picture and Best Actress (Kiki Kirin as Okan). The movie was decent imo, but not outstanding, and while Kiki Kirin turned in a good performance, I thought Baisho Mitsuko in the renzoku was a lot better in the role of Okan.

Btw, a bit of trivia-- in the drama, there's an episode where they go to a resort. That resort was the Joban Hawaiian Center--the same resort which was built in the movie Hula Girls.

shin2 wrote: The movie was decent imo, but not outstanding, and while Kiki Kirin turned in a good performance, I thought Baisho Mitsuko in the renzoku was a lot better in the role of Okan.

I agree. In fact, Mitsuko Baisho was the only reason I kept watching. [/list:u]

Wynter wrote:

I had a lot of fun with this drama! :woot:

I watched the second episode tonight, and it's marvellously entertaining!
I had seen Ohtomo before (just learned from here that his name is Tanihara Shosuke) in Yama Onna Kabe Onna, and he was a horrible character in that, but I really like him in Mop Girl. :victory:

And I wasn't familiar with Kitagawa Keiko, but she seems a natural comedian, if this drama is anything to go by. :)

shin2 wrote:

Both the movie and the drama are based on an autobiography of the same name by Lily Franky (real name: Nakagawa Masaya). There was also a tanpatsu adaptation as well.

The movie won five Japan Academy awards, including Best Picture and Best Actress (Kiki Kirin as Okan). The movie was decent imo, but not outstanding, and while Kiki Kirin turned in a good performance, I thought Baisho Mitsuko in the renzoku was a lot better in the role of Okan.

Btw, a bit of trivia-- in the drama, there's an episode where they go to a resort. That resort was the Joban Hawaiian Center--the same resort which was built in the movie Hula Girls.

I finished the drama yesterday, and I have to say, Baisho Mitsuko was amazing. I cried embarrassingly in the last two episodes, and not because

Spoiler — click to reveal

all the crying with her son and emotional scenes with Oton, but because she was gone.

I think I'll watching the movie now before I continue with Yan Papa ( :sleeping: ) to see the comparison.

gaijinmark wrote: I agree. In fact, Mitsuko Baisho was the only reason I kept watching. [/list:u]

LOL, she was the only reason I watched the whole series as well. She and her older sister Chieko are two actresses whose work I admire a lot. Both have had long stellar careers, appearing in an extraordinary amount of films, many of them both financially successful and critically acclaimed.

The fact that there was even a part like Okan in a recent dorama is extremely rare. I have stated it before, but I will repeat--ageism is alive and well in the current dorama climate. And on that rare occasion when a "mature" performer like a Baisho, Ogata Ken, Nishida Toshiyuki, Nogiwa Yoko, or Iwashita Shima does get a substantial role in a dorama, they invariably end up showing just how woeful many of the so-called younger "talent" they share scenes with really are.

That's one reason I like watching Asadora. In that genre, a substantial number of roles, both minor and major, are filled by mature actors and actresses playing characters who are integral to the story, not just background scenery or the object of ridicule.

No thread, so I'll review here: Tokyo Tower 8/10

I really did not like Tokyo Tower for a good 4-5 episodes. I found Ma-kun to be selfish, stubborn, and heartless and I could find nothing in him to sympathsize with.

But slowly, subtly, the story began to touch me. Okan (Baisho Mitsuko) gained more of a presence and I was instantly drawn to her. I could see a true, real mother in her eyes, and her affection for her son was infectious. I was able to forgive Ma-kun his behaviour because his Okan could. I should also give a shoutout to Kashii Yu, who plays Ma-kunfs girlfriend Manami. She did a fantastic job and I really believe shefs an underrated young talent.

Spoiler — click to reveal

I sobbed in the last two episodes, and it had nothing to do with a son losing his mother. It had everything to do with the world losing Okan. This drama was great.

shin2 wrote:

That's one reason I like watching Asadora. In that genre, a substantial number of roles, both minor and major, are filled by mature actors and actresses playing characters who are integral to the story, not just background scenery or the object of ridicule.

And the young who ARE cast (as in Honmamon and Churasan) definitely deserve to be there.

shin2 wrote:
I have stated it before, but I will repeat--ageism is alive and well in the current dorama climate. And on that rare occasion when a "mature" performer like a Baisho, Ogata Ken, Nishida Toshiyuki, Nogiwa Yoko, or Iwashita Shima does get a substantial role in a dorama, they invariably end up showing just how woeful many of the so-called younger "talent" they share scenes with really are.

Funny you mention Baisho and Ogata Ken. They played husband and wife in Ruri no Shima along with the ever-present Fumiyo Kohinata and Sei Hiraizumi (is there any drama that at least one of those two haven't been in?) A very underrated and under-appreciated drama. [/list:u]

gaijinmark wrote: Funny you mention Baisho and Ogata Ken. They played husband and wife in Ruri no Shima along with the ever-present Fumiyo Kohinata and Sei Hiraizumi (is there any drama that at least one of those two haven't been in?) A very underrated and under-appreciated drama. [/list:u]

I was sad that Ogata Ken died recently. He was wonderful in RUri No Shima.

Eve wrote:

I was sad that Ogata Ken died recently. He was wonderful in RUri No Shima.

He was absoluetly terrific in Ruri No Shima. :applaud:

Although I could not understand a word, KimuTaku apprently gave a great eulogy for Ogata Ken in the Kohaku Uta Gassen. In fact I will try to copy and post it on VEOH. (Before anyone asks, I knew it was a eulogy for Ogata Ken because a huge picture of him was displayed and KimuTaku delivered his speech in a very somber tone.).

I've been watching Swan no Baka

http://jdorama.com/drama.1213.htm

And so far I've been pleasantly surprised. It's just a little family sit-com about a guy who has reached his 40s, is doing well at home and at work... but he's finding that he has to paddle harder and faster, just to stay afloat.

I got the show because I'll watch just about anything Tanaka Misako is in. But son of a gun, it turns out the whole cast is very strong, and though it started slow, I find myself becoming more and more interested in what's gonna happen to poor Swanny next.

Geezer wrote:I've been watching Swan no Baka

http://jdorama.com/drama.1213.htm

And so far I've been pleasantly surprised. It's just a little family sit-com about a guy who has reached his 40s, is doing well at home and at work... but he's finding that he has to paddle harder and faster, just to stay afloat.

I got the show because I'll watch just about anything Tanaka Misako is in. But son of a gun, it turns out the whole cast is very strong, and though it started slow, I find myself becoming more and more interested in what's gonna happen to poor Swanny next.

I may take a look at this then. :) Kamikawa Takaya is a very good, underrated actor I think. I like Tanaka Misako a lot too.

I watched Shoushimin Kane. Probably inspired by Citizen Kane but I wouldn't know, I didn't watch the movie.

This is lighthearted series about a timid, ordinary teacher and how he changed after meeting a young girl. I like the beginning and the end, but the writing for some of passages in the middle was disappointing and hard to sit through. The acting performances were good all round. The lead character was well acted, Enomoto Kanako was pretty and likeable, and Sawamura Ikki, with not much material, impressed me as the suave, successful doctor. The pacing and style of this series is similar to "The Way I Live", both written by the same writer. Probably 7/10 for me.

ralphm1999 wrote:

He was absoluetly terrific in Ruri No Shima. :applaud:

Although I could not understand a word, KimuTaku apprently gave a great eulogy for Ogata Ken in the Kohaku Uta Gassen.

He wasnt old either.... :shakehead: What a shame.