Chocolate and Howling at the Moon

1% of Something
I really really enjoyed this drama! It has my bulletproof kink of FAKE RELATIONSHIP, and the characters were interesting. The dude had some selfishness problems, but the couple was refreshing in how they maturely discussed their problems and emotions most of the time. The family tree had me hopelessly confused though. Did they expect us to have seen the original and already know all the relationships?? I still have no idea what happened to the dude's two fathers.

Master's Sun
The main problem with this drama is that it felt so slow and long, especially toward the end. Amnesia is always a delaying tactic. I was sticking it out because the premise could be interpreted as FAKE RELATIONSHIP, but it really dragged. The secondary couple was so annoying that I fast forwarded all of their scenes. And the main dude's trauma manifested as dyslexia, which is not... how dyslexia works... However, there were a few hysterically funny moments randomly sprinkled in an episode, so those were worth it. I just never felt like I understood the characters' growth or arc, and spending so much time with random ghosts wasn't worth it.

Goblin
This drama is still airing and I ran out of episodes and am dying for more. I love it soooo much. In the first 5 minutes I cried so much lol. And even though ghosts are not its main focus, its few ghost moments are WAY more touching than any of Master's Sun's ghost moments. I teared up a little at Master's Sun, but I was full-on bawling at that ER ghost in Goblin. I also love the bromance between the Grim Reaper and the Goblin, and I'm 100% here for their gay sitcom. The main romance is really great so far, and I have high hopes. Also Kim Eun Sook is the bomb. And of course Gong Yoo. <3 While I go through withdrawal, I at least have One Fine Day, another Gong Yoo brother/sister drama.

I can't believe I never posted about My Daughter Seo Young and You Who Came from the Stars, but it looks like not. Suffice it to say, I mainlined both dramas last year and was extremely happy with both - except the end of You Who Came from the Stars was a little weird. I also watched most of Famous Princesses (can you sense a Park Hae Jin theme?) and that was interesting too.

Nino totally carried this drama. The no-eyebrow girl (who was very strange) called Ryo a "droopy eyed soggy rice cracker," and she was right on the money. Ryo was really blah and had no presence, which is odd when I've seen him give such good performances in Chonmage Purin, Papadoru, and Zenkai Girl. Toda Erika was fine, but I could take or leave her. Kaname Jun was an unexpected joy with his enthusiasm for life. Terajima Susumu and Morishita Aiko (who may be actually contractually obligated to appear in every KudoKan drama lol) played the same characters they always do, but they do it so well!

The other good point about this drama was of course the dialogue. KudoKan came through once again with many hilarious one-liners that made me laugh out loud. The mini-"dramas" that were portrayed by characters' imaginations and voiceovers were also very amusing. But unlike other KudoKan mysteries, the story as a whole did not hang together (especially the ending).

Also this is not a problem I've had with KudoKan dramas before, and it may be a function of the direction, but I had a VERY hard time following what was actually happening when a past event would appear on screen. Was it 1. a character's imagination (and therefore probably false) 2. a character's memory (and therefore maybe true) or 3. an actual flashback from 3rd person omniscient POV (and therefore true)? I still have no clue how much of the past scenes were true.

I wish the incest vibe had not been there because when it's just the 2 older boys perving on the younger sister who actually believes they are related and thinks of them as brothers, then it's weird and gross. And the thread was never followed through - the plot point of both of the brothers (maybe?) being in love with their sister was just dropped so then why even go there?? Kaname Jun also "compliments" Nino by saying that it's admirable that the brothers cared so much for a sister that they were not related to, and I thought that was so insulting to adoptees and found families.

( The ending was so WTF. )

( 1.SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO! )

( 2. NINO'S MOVIES )

( 3. TOOOMAAAA )

( 4. KENSHIN )

( 5. AMERICAN MOVIES WHUT )

Overall, with Avengers, Snow White, and Kenshin, this summer is going to be epiccc.

Last night I watched Kimi wo Miagete, the drama where tiny Go is in love with a tall girl. It was well written and performed! I was surprised. It was thoroughly enjoyable. Yaaay cuteness + plot! I kind of want to sub it now. D:

Too bad about Adam losing Idol (not that I watch Idol), but now he's free to be his badass awesome self successfully.

***

Okay, seeing as I've read (and read and read) everyone's reaction posts, my viewing of the Star Trek film (it really doesn't have an actual name??) was a little biased, but here is my ( obligatory reaction post. )

***

Why did no one tell me that Julie was so hot?? Only NOW do I find out he's called the Japanese David Bowie and the pioneer of visual kei. Fandom fail! I knew he was famous, but I pictured the Tigers as like early-'60s Beatles, drawing crowds of screaming girls while not being very hot.

But Koichi's performances of Julie's Darling are hot (starts at 27:30). Hello jewelry and sultry looks. (I've really got to finish Tokikin.) And they reminded me of the cute way Koichi acts around Takuro-san. (BTW Takuro-san is totally hot with long, non-fro hair, wow.)

And so what with those performances and Toma's performance I was inspired to look for the real thing. Here's one - you can't really see it well in that one, but he does this totally limp-wristed thing on the chorus...

But this other song is so freaking hot. Talk about to-be-looked-at-ness. Not to mention queer coding and androgyny. Sailor hat! Jewelry!! Fanservice! I think it's impressive that he makes it obvious that dog-tags and hat-badges are just another form of jewelry.

***

I finished Hitotsu Yane no Shita season 1 in my great quest to watch everything Nojima Shinji has ever written, and omg. It was good! An-chan reminded me of Nagase in Mukodono, really weepy and hot-blooded and family-oriented. The gags did get a bit much and so did the melodrama, "accidental sighting" coincidences, and gender roles. There was some overacting too. I can tell that Nojima Shinji's writing has improved, but this was a real fun ride. Now I want to watch season 2! Except if I don't watch it I can keep my illusion that it will give me my two-brother-one-woman marriage. My OT3s are always so doooomed. ::clings to Concerto::

( Gakkou e Ikou MAX )

( Akashiya Chaneru )

*

Change is the only drama I'm watching this season. And wow, it doesn't much disappoint. The cinematography and direction in episode 7 were breathtaking. And I'm glad they didn't give in to the easy cheesy plotline in episode 8. I want Bartlet Obama Asakura to come and govern me!

It is interesting to look at the unrealistic way (one of many) that the US President is colluding with power-hungry Kanbayashi, playing into the fear of foreign dominance (OMG the Americans scene made me CRINGE SO HARD embarrassing gaijin are NOT ALLOWED on my screen) and showing Kanbayashi's lack of patriotism, or loyalty to anyone but himself.

I didn't even realize this special ending to Ningen Shikkaku existed until I watched it today. I wonder why/when they filmed it, since Tsuyoshi's hair is different from Makoto's. But of course just watching that tiny clip made me CRY SO MUCH WAAAH. Oh the trauma from that drama. And yet I remember that when a Japanese teacher asked me what my favorite drama was, I answered Ningen Shikkaku, even though I'm sure that if I watched it again (::eyes LoveSong subs warily::) I would cry every single episode. But I really do love Nojima Shinji's dramas, and this one made a big impression on me.

On a more hopeful note, I remembered that I still have the burninated hard drives from my dorm fire 3 years ago, so I think some of my fanvids may be on there if I can figure out a way to get them out again. So all is not lost!

Despite all of paranoid_ninja's pleas and threats, it took onlymesmerized physically sitting down and marathoning BSG with me to get me back on watching it. (Haha, season 2 still!) So that is one western show I've been watching!

Mostly I've just been overwhelmed with the huge amounts of years Kinki stuff I have to catch up on. And then they keep doing new stuff! With other groups/fandoms I can follow them casually (Witness my not tracking down and watching all the British variety shows about DW and TW... or you know, catching up on the shows themselves.) but with Kinki I have that collector's feeling. Gotta catch 'em all! And mostly the huge amount of stuff is a good thing. The main reason I left Starsky and Hutch (and to some extent Due South) fandom was because I ran out of canon (and compelling fannish material). Once Speranza stopped writing Due South, once I'd read every S&H fic online and devoured morganlogan's oeuvre, I was kind of at a loss, so wandered away. In Kinki's case, there's a dearth of English language fannish material (unless you count rumor and speculation haha), but soooooo much canon.

So I've been starting to watch Love Love Aishiteru and Domoto Kyoudai in parallel from the beginning (i.e., 1st ep of LLA, 1st ep of DK, 2nd ep of LLA, 2nd ep of DK, etc.). It's so interesting to see the connections and differences between the two shows and the two snapshots-of-Kinki-in-time. But just with watching variety shows and listening to radio and watching concerts (Only Kinki! Not even Kanjani8 my babies or TOKIO or Arashi or anyone!) I have no time for my huuuuuge list of dramas, not to mention, err, Western TV... And those vids I have to make (Persuaders, Long Vacation, Farscape, S&H, Mars, Once a Thief, Majo no Jouken, Nikita, to mention a few).