Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Hisaya Got a Job
Had my job interview today and it went very well. My job position details should come in a week so we'll see what happens ^_^ I am excited~! Had to blog it 'cause I'm so thrilled about the prospect of moving down to California ^_^ Ah, it's going to be fun~
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Binbo Danshi Finale
I never really wrote about this series in my blog, but it's extremely funny. I was a little taken back by Oguri Shun's disheveled look and the beginning of the drama was not exactly interesting to me, but basically after five episodes it just gets so funny. The characters are just ridiculous at times, such as Teru Teru-san and Chagie-san who work for Omu Omu-san, and especially Kazumi (played by Ogurin). The beginning of final episode is just LMAO funny. I cannot stop laughing, even my stomach and sides are getting a workout from all the hysterical funniness that's going on. Though it was a bit of an adjustment for me when watching the series, it really grows on you so I do recommend watching it, though I think it's one of those series that's good the first time through.
太陽と海の教室
One drama that I thought I would not be interested in, but then kind of fell in love with is Taiyou to Umi no Kyoushitsu. I decided to pick up the first episode when checking ratings on it and saw that it was around 20.5% viewership. A lot of times, I choose to watch drama that I know nothing about based on ratings since I rather not waste my time on one that doesn't appeal much to me. For instance, I tried to watch Lotto and Ando Natsu, but both have failed to keep my interest after two episodes so I'm going to have to let both series go. On the other hand, I'm glad that I picked up this series because it has such a nice mixture of stars and the story has a nice, light touch to it. Basically, if one enjoys school dramas then this series is something to consider.
The cast has a nice mix of younger and older actors from series like Proposal Daisakusen, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e, LIFE, Ashita no Kita Yoshio, Mop Girl, Hana Yori Dango, Bambino!, Binbo Danshi, Liar Game, etc. We have Sakurai Sakutaro (Oda Yuuji), age 39, who comes to a high school on the beachside to become the homeroom teacher of class 3-1. He acts a bit like an idiot and the students -- all whom are top students of the school and seniors preparing for college -- do not really take him seriously at all. Shadowing behind him is young teacher in-training, Enokido Wakaba (Kitagawa Keiko), age 23, who is very attractive and does like Sakurai that much as well. Her mother works in the higher-ups of the school and managed to help her get a job there, but because of her disapproval of Sakurai's teaching methods, wants to quit. However, her meeting of Kawabe Eiji (Yamamoto Yusuke), age 18, changes her mind and she decides to stay in order to convince him to come back to the school.
The main character is Sakurai Sakutaro, the main supporting character is Enokido Wakaba, and their group of students are the focus of the story. Sakurai spends time trying to get his students to figure out what they really want for their futures and about life -- which is kind of Gokusen-ish and very typical of teacher-student dramas, and Enokido Wakaba wants to learn how to become a good teacher while working on one troubled student and getting him to come back to school. We have a nice mix of students who are very smart, have lots of goals, loves their friends, and come from very different situations. The first episode focuses on the main student pair, Negishi Hiroki (Okada Masaki) and Shirosaki Riku (Kitano Kii). Hiroki is the ace swimmer for the school's swim team and the deciding factor for the win at Inter-High competition, but a bully forces him to promise that he will lose the competition between their schools since Hiroki's father is in debt to the bully's. Riku does what she can to get Hiroki to not give up Inter-High, but the bullying gets worse until Sakurai steps in. Meanwhile, Enokido may find herself in a compromising situation as troubled teen, Kawabe Eiji, probably may fall for her.
In any case, though the drama is nothing that special, it's still a nice series to watch. At least I'm still feeling hooked to keep watching. The feel of the drama reminds me a bit of the seriousness and touching light-hearted-ness from Bara no nai Hanaya, a little of Galileo, and the student part reminds me a bit of the group of friends from Proposal Daisakusen -- except we have all smart kids in this one. I think this drama possesses the ability to become the next Bara no nai Hanaya, though in a different manner.
So far, no one's performance is especially striking to me, but I like the story.
The cast has a nice mix of younger and older actors from series like Proposal Daisakusen, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e, LIFE, Ashita no Kita Yoshio, Mop Girl, Hana Yori Dango, Bambino!, Binbo Danshi, Liar Game, etc. We have Sakurai Sakutaro (Oda Yuuji), age 39, who comes to a high school on the beachside to become the homeroom teacher of class 3-1. He acts a bit like an idiot and the students -- all whom are top students of the school and seniors preparing for college -- do not really take him seriously at all. Shadowing behind him is young teacher in-training, Enokido Wakaba (Kitagawa Keiko), age 23, who is very attractive and does like Sakurai that much as well. Her mother works in the higher-ups of the school and managed to help her get a job there, but because of her disapproval of Sakurai's teaching methods, wants to quit. However, her meeting of Kawabe Eiji (Yamamoto Yusuke), age 18, changes her mind and she decides to stay in order to convince him to come back to the school.
The main character is Sakurai Sakutaro, the main supporting character is Enokido Wakaba, and their group of students are the focus of the story. Sakurai spends time trying to get his students to figure out what they really want for their futures and about life -- which is kind of Gokusen-ish and very typical of teacher-student dramas, and Enokido Wakaba wants to learn how to become a good teacher while working on one troubled student and getting him to come back to school. We have a nice mix of students who are very smart, have lots of goals, loves their friends, and come from very different situations. The first episode focuses on the main student pair, Negishi Hiroki (Okada Masaki) and Shirosaki Riku (Kitano Kii). Hiroki is the ace swimmer for the school's swim team and the deciding factor for the win at Inter-High competition, but a bully forces him to promise that he will lose the competition between their schools since Hiroki's father is in debt to the bully's. Riku does what she can to get Hiroki to not give up Inter-High, but the bullying gets worse until Sakurai steps in. Meanwhile, Enokido may find herself in a compromising situation as troubled teen, Kawabe Eiji, probably may fall for her.
In any case, though the drama is nothing that special, it's still a nice series to watch. At least I'm still feeling hooked to keep watching. The feel of the drama reminds me a bit of the seriousness and touching light-hearted-ness from Bara no nai Hanaya, a little of Galileo, and the student part reminds me a bit of the group of friends from Proposal Daisakusen -- except we have all smart kids in this one. I think this drama possesses the ability to become the next Bara no nai Hanaya, though in a different manner.
So far, no one's performance is especially striking to me, but I like the story.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
D.Gray-man, Orange Days, ROOKIES
I was left pining for more D.Gray-man after reading this week's installment. The plot is really starting to unravel more and yet still stay an enigma. There's so much left to find out and so much being revealed as well. I really wish I didn't read so quickly and am so up-to-date =_=; Being up-to-date with a series really makes one miserable at times 'cause the wait for the next installment is always such a pain. But, that's what makes the series good, I guess.
Also started watching Orange Days yesterday. I skimmed through the first episode, but from what I see, I like so far. Tsumabuki Satoshi and Shibasaki Kou play the leads in this drama with a few other A-list young stars. If you like classical music, sign language, romance, and slice of life, then this is really the drama the for you. Reminds me of my senior year of college in a way, and I heard lots of good things about this drama so I'm looking forward to watching it.
ROOKIES is coming to a conclusion and it's going to be a 2-hour finale next week. Can't wait~! I somehow got hooked on this drama from last season after checking ratings. I'm not really a fan of baseball, but the story looked good after the first episode so I kept watching it. It's one of those "gambare" drama and I tend to really like those a lot, like Water Boys, etc. I hope ROOKIES ends well, it's not like one of those drama where you expect an angsty ending so I really hope everything goes well.
Also started watching Orange Days yesterday. I skimmed through the first episode, but from what I see, I like so far. Tsumabuki Satoshi and Shibasaki Kou play the leads in this drama with a few other A-list young stars. If you like classical music, sign language, romance, and slice of life, then this is really the drama the for you. Reminds me of my senior year of college in a way, and I heard lots of good things about this drama so I'm looking forward to watching it.
ROOKIES is coming to a conclusion and it's going to be a 2-hour finale next week. Can't wait~! I somehow got hooked on this drama from last season after checking ratings. I'm not really a fan of baseball, but the story looked good after the first episode so I kept watching it. It's one of those "gambare" drama and I tend to really like those a lot, like Water Boys, etc. I hope ROOKIES ends well, it's not like one of those drama where you expect an angsty ending so I really hope everything goes well.
Maou Episode 02-03
The plot is really thickening and Ohno Satoshi's performance is really impressive. After watching play lots of comedic roles, I wasn't sure if his dark and cold performance would be good, but it turned out to be really good. Also, though it seems as though he shows the same poker face over and over again -- or the one that's just distorted in hatred -- he is able to show this complicated, torn and soft expression in episode three. When watching episode three, it reminded me of volume 13 from Skip Beat when Tsuruga Ren is acting out the role of Katsuki and is able to show cold & brutal side to soft, loving and kind. Though at the moment, I really wonder about Naruse's intentions towards Shiori are. Seeing as she's connected to Hideo as well, I wonder what type of feelings he has towards her then and now. It looks like he may be in love with her as well, but might need to kill those feelings for her because he probably needs to get rid of her due to her powers. If they get too close and really start a relationship, she might get curious and use her powers to find out more about him and ultimately find out everything about him... which will not be good at all for either of them. So I can't wait to see further development on their relationship.
Also... the guy in glasses is really freaky. He looks like a pedophile =_=; The drama is hinting at him being one of the victims (or the primary one) that Serizawa and Co. picked on back during junior high, but now he just looks really stalker-ish and pedo-ish so... I wonder about his relationship with Naruse and how exactly did the whole thing with a teddy bear work out the way it did... Can't wait for the 4th episode!
Also... the guy in glasses is really freaky. He looks like a pedophile =_=; The drama is hinting at him being one of the victims (or the primary one) that Serizawa and Co. picked on back during junior high, but now he just looks really stalker-ish and pedo-ish so... I wonder about his relationship with Naruse and how exactly did the whole thing with a teddy bear work out the way it did... Can't wait for the 4th episode!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Always Running in My Dreams
I wonder why that is... I had another dream last night, it's like the fifth or sixth one now in a row for this week. I don't think there's been a night that I haven't had some dream, but the last five or so I've been able to remember quite well. The one from last night was really odd and stood out to me 'cause Kimura Takuya, Mogami Kyoko, and Irie Yuuki were in my dream =_=;
I had just finished watching up to episode 11 or 12 from Itazura na Kiss when I decided that I just wanted to sleep 'cause I was tired. I had also read volume 13 from Skip Beat yesterday as well, but I haven't watched CHANGE in a while so I wonder why Asakura Keita (played by Kimura Takuya in the drama) was in my dream. Except rather than the Prime Minister, Asakura Keita was an assassin-like character dressed up like Raiden from Metal Gear Solid 4. So imagine Raiden, but with Kimura Takuya's face @_@; (Talk about weird).
Anyway, there must have been some sort of war going on or people were camping out 'cause the scene zoomed in from above like in a movie and there were all these children sleeping in sleeping bags within the same place. Reminded the outside of a military camp or something, and the seasons kind of changed as we continued to zoom in until it reached summer. Mosquitoes were biting these children and we see Irie Yuuki (from Itazura) sleeping and the bugs are biting his arm, while Kyoko (from Skip Beat) is lying on her stomach and her tank top has hiked up a bit so her lower back is exposed and there are lots of bites there.
Suddenly, Asakura Keita drops in from nowhere and the outdoor camp zone becomes the inside of a crumbling building. (What is it with me and crumbling structures, earthquakes and shaking caves?) Then he rouses up the children and tell them that they have to move it, and then I'm in there somehow, I'm not sure which role I am, but I was pretty sure I was seeing things from Kyoko's perspective, that or my perspective 'cause I had to protect some of the children. Anyway, apparently the area was guarded by some military-looking men and while Asakura Keita was sneaking kids out, I had to stay behind and make sure that the one guard on duty didn't realize what was going on.
Irie Yuuki clung to me and we pretended to be asleep while I watched the guard. And when most of the other children were out, I grabbed my laptop -- which just so happened to be nearby, and grabbed Yuuki and we bolted out of the place following after Keita who was holding onto a bunch of kids that clung to him like little monkeys. Yuuki couldn't run very fast so I had him piggyback on me, but then I drop my computer. I'm not sure why I ran back to get it, because I think while I was watching the guard, I was setting something up on the laptop and couldn't turn it off. It might have been for a bomb or something...? Not sure what, because I woke up after that. Yes... strange.
A couple nights ago, I had a dream about great white sharks. A high school kid named Andrew and some guy with glasses... whom I'll dub as Megane, and I were floating and holding onto this half-ball machine that's bobbing about in the ocean. It's not exactly the most stable thing in the world and kind of looks like half of a poke-ball from Pokemon. Anyway, Andrew's controlling the ball and despite there being lots of great whites in the water, he keeps diving and surfacing with the damn machine and poor Megane and I were just freaking out. We were next to a navy base or something, and Andrew was just having lots of fun zipping in and out of the water while Megane and I were just holding on for dear life. Then Andrew decided to go even deeper into the water this time and pop out of the water at full-speed. Least to say that it went badly 'cause when we finally surfaced, I was the only one who managed to stay on the half-ball while Andrew was in the water and now scaling the side of the base. Megane was still many feet below in the water probably freaking out or knocked out and lots of sharks were now circling around him. I was freaked out. I wanted to go save him, but I didn't know how to operate the machine and also that ball is not covered so basically if I'm not lucky, a shark could totally chow on me. Well, I screamed for Andrew to get his ass back onto the half-ball, but he was more concerned about scaling the base and finding some other way to get out of the water. I look back down at Megane and decide to give it a shot, when....
... My mother decided to wake me up 'cause my alarm wouldn't stop going off and I wasn't hearing it so... I never got to finish the dream. I was pretty pissed, I was like "Mom, you just killed a guy in my dream!" And then I snoozed off again. But yeah... I'm always running from something in my dreams. Either on a machine or on my own two legs... not sure exactly why...
I had just finished watching up to episode 11 or 12 from Itazura na Kiss when I decided that I just wanted to sleep 'cause I was tired. I had also read volume 13 from Skip Beat yesterday as well, but I haven't watched CHANGE in a while so I wonder why Asakura Keita (played by Kimura Takuya in the drama) was in my dream. Except rather than the Prime Minister, Asakura Keita was an assassin-like character dressed up like Raiden from Metal Gear Solid 4. So imagine Raiden, but with Kimura Takuya's face @_@; (Talk about weird).
Anyway, there must have been some sort of war going on or people were camping out 'cause the scene zoomed in from above like in a movie and there were all these children sleeping in sleeping bags within the same place. Reminded the outside of a military camp or something, and the seasons kind of changed as we continued to zoom in until it reached summer. Mosquitoes were biting these children and we see Irie Yuuki (from Itazura) sleeping and the bugs are biting his arm, while Kyoko (from Skip Beat) is lying on her stomach and her tank top has hiked up a bit so her lower back is exposed and there are lots of bites there.
Suddenly, Asakura Keita drops in from nowhere and the outdoor camp zone becomes the inside of a crumbling building. (What is it with me and crumbling structures, earthquakes and shaking caves?) Then he rouses up the children and tell them that they have to move it, and then I'm in there somehow, I'm not sure which role I am, but I was pretty sure I was seeing things from Kyoko's perspective, that or my perspective 'cause I had to protect some of the children. Anyway, apparently the area was guarded by some military-looking men and while Asakura Keita was sneaking kids out, I had to stay behind and make sure that the one guard on duty didn't realize what was going on.
Irie Yuuki clung to me and we pretended to be asleep while I watched the guard. And when most of the other children were out, I grabbed my laptop -- which just so happened to be nearby, and grabbed Yuuki and we bolted out of the place following after Keita who was holding onto a bunch of kids that clung to him like little monkeys. Yuuki couldn't run very fast so I had him piggyback on me, but then I drop my computer. I'm not sure why I ran back to get it, because I think while I was watching the guard, I was setting something up on the laptop and couldn't turn it off. It might have been for a bomb or something...? Not sure what, because I woke up after that. Yes... strange.
A couple nights ago, I had a dream about great white sharks. A high school kid named Andrew and some guy with glasses... whom I'll dub as Megane, and I were floating and holding onto this half-ball machine that's bobbing about in the ocean. It's not exactly the most stable thing in the world and kind of looks like half of a poke-ball from Pokemon. Anyway, Andrew's controlling the ball and despite there being lots of great whites in the water, he keeps diving and surfacing with the damn machine and poor Megane and I were just freaking out. We were next to a navy base or something, and Andrew was just having lots of fun zipping in and out of the water while Megane and I were just holding on for dear life. Then Andrew decided to go even deeper into the water this time and pop out of the water at full-speed. Least to say that it went badly 'cause when we finally surfaced, I was the only one who managed to stay on the half-ball while Andrew was in the water and now scaling the side of the base. Megane was still many feet below in the water probably freaking out or knocked out and lots of sharks were now circling around him. I was freaked out. I wanted to go save him, but I didn't know how to operate the machine and also that ball is not covered so basically if I'm not lucky, a shark could totally chow on me. Well, I screamed for Andrew to get his ass back onto the half-ball, but he was more concerned about scaling the base and finding some other way to get out of the water. I look back down at Megane and decide to give it a shot, when....
... My mother decided to wake me up 'cause my alarm wouldn't stop going off and I wasn't hearing it so... I never got to finish the dream. I was pretty pissed, I was like "Mom, you just killed a guy in my dream!" And then I snoozed off again. But yeah... I'm always running from something in my dreams. Either on a machine or on my own two legs... not sure exactly why...
Drama English Subbing Groups...
I swear... watching a lot of these new drama with some of these groups subbing them has not been a pleasant experience. At times the translation will be right on the mark and then there are times when I'm sitting there going ... "Um... exactly how fluent is this translator?" or "They seriously need a better proofreader." I mean, I'm not great with translations by any means if the terminology and dialogue gets more advanced, but sometimes with the simplest lines the translations get all weird. Right now, Nawidy and SBK are not my fave groups, because I've caught more than just a few mistakes in their first release already. STORMY has been around since Yamada Taro Monogatari and they are subbing Maou at the moment, which they are doing a decent job and with few mistakes. TimeLesSubs is one that I prefer at times, though I was not too fond of their Cantonese subbing into English with The Seventh Day -- mainly 'cause I'm Cantonese and I'm kind of picky when I really understand what's going on. Right now, if I have to say terrible subs for Japanese drama, SBK next to the sfv files translated by whoever does it are some of the worst translations I've ever seen. I'm not the best translator in the world, but I can distinguish good subs from bad -- like good performances to bad performances for concerts even if I'm not the best instrumentalist. At the moment, some sub groups that I like include:
Towards the end of the list I'm pretty partial with these groups like Nya has really pretty typesetting, but can really use a proofreader for grammatical errors. But grammar is one of those things that every group has some dips now and then, so that's forgivable. And then there's just plain bad hard subs =_=; Really bad subbing makes me feel edgy for some reason... not sure why.
- Love Song
- SARS-FanSUB
- Kioku
- Querbeet
- DoReMii
- BON
- Massuki
- TimeLesSub
- STORMY team
- Nya
- Skewed-S
- Japan-TV
Towards the end of the list I'm pretty partial with these groups like Nya has really pretty typesetting, but can really use a proofreader for grammatical errors. But grammar is one of those things that every group has some dips now and then, so that's forgivable. And then there's just plain bad hard subs =_=; Really bad subbing makes me feel edgy for some reason... not sure why.
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