ROMES Airport Security System 空港防御システム [SERIES]

Serious Secret Window hair. 

As with my last post I am taking a break from reviewing things I will surely rant about to do some more gentle reviews about dramas I genuinely just loved for reals - more than budget crapness pretend o clock in the morning stupids for the sake of their stupidness. 

Granted my favourite character in this drama is Okura's hair - which should have its own name in the cast list by rights, 

but because of his performance and the interesting story line this became more than just Secret Window psychopath hair obsession time. It became a drama I actually enjoyed. But please, as a side note, can we see Okura playing a psychopath with a spilt personality sometime? That'd be great... 

Yes I was taken in by the fluffy hair pretty much all the time, and the moody personality was funny and mean not just angsty - so the character was warm in his own way, 

but also there is a nice polar opposing character to balance it out in the form of a little puppy Yasu. Being Yastastic as usual, He and Okura made a great team and the carried the drama high up on their shoulders, making it greater than it would have been without them. 

Cast List: 

Okura Tadayoshi - Narushima Yuya 

Yasuda Shota - Sunamura Taku 

Kuninaka Ryoko - Yasaka Aoi 

Watanabe Hiroyuki - Kurobe Takehiko 

Sugiura Taiyo - Egawa Hiroshi 

Kawamura Yukie - Kimura Mayuko 

Ikeda Tetsuhiro - Kajiya Kosaburo 

Kusakari Masao - Kanno Tadanao 

We follow the story of the troubles surrounding ROMES which is Tokyo Bay International Airport's security system. 

On the one year anniversary of the installment of this leading system it is threatened by an international group of thieves called Silverfox. 

This situation demands the return of our protagonist Narushima Yuya, who is a fluffy haired grumpy sleepy and maybe a few other dwarfs, super genius, who understands the system better than anyone else. 

A team monitors the system, but Narushima doesn't really want to work along side them - he has his own agenda anyway and hides himself away sleeping all hours in the back room until he is needed. 

Sunamura becomes Narushima's new puppy, even though he already has a dog to dote on. It seems he cant resist the dopey eyes of his assistant - there's another dwarf for you. 

A somewhat unlikely friendship forms between them, manifesting a little bit more like an owner / pet relationship than maybe it should, 

The cuteness of their friendship is one of the highlights to this drama. In fact, after traitors are suspected in the team later in the drama, Sunamura becomes the only person he knows he can really trust. And so promptly locks him up in a room for days. What can I say... the man's mind works in weird ways. 

The twists in the tale throughout build to a climatic traumatic traitor revelation, I wont spoil the reveal don't worry, but there are so many people who are not what they seem to be - and you know that from the outset - you don't really look for the bad guys, you just wait because you know they are coming. 

And actually I think calling the reveals 'twists' doesnt work for this drama, it doesnt really turn on its head so much as just deal you up a few more bloody stupid idiots who had unnecessary ideas, and some sad cases of revenge and desperation that you thought might be in there somewhere. 

Conventional political terrorists these are not. Emotionally driven people with issues in their pasts they definitely are. 

Its not so serious the entire way through. The main character's lovely weirdness with each other keep it light most of the time. I think the system is not so far fetched too, so you don't have to push yourself to suspend all reasonable belief in logic in order to enjoy or even understand like some shows I wont mention now and get into a rant over... 

I'm trying to restrain myself a little for a while - Ive ranted too much in my reviews lately. Im thinking to save it up for a big one :p 

As usual, its been ages since I've seen the show I'm reviewing, I watched a few years ago now, but there isn't so much to tell anyway. 

There is a cute kid, a cute dog, a cute Yasu, and occasionally some planes flying around and sh*t. 

I think that is basically how Narushima sees the world around him. Things that are cute, and things that are unnecessary to be around. 

So basically the only things he likes are the dog and his Yasu puppy Sunamura. 

He loves to wind him up, tease him and basically just abuse him at every corner. 

Sunamura also seems to come back wagging his tail each time so its a bit like watching Ceaser Milan and a happy Golden Retriever make friends. 

One thing I noticed since getting the screen shots is how darkly lit this drama is. All the sets are so dark that its a wonder none of them got permanent eye strain from looking at computer screens in those dark gloomy ass rooms. Its all mood camera angles and dramatic music and Yasu's worried face.

I don't want to ramble on too much so maybe I should leave it here. Hopefully my screen shots are enough to show the general feel of the drama. 

I really don't like taking screen shots from streaming videos online, I cant skip and pause the way I can when I have it on my hard drive, but after these few years later I still haven't got my hard drive fixed... 

Yeah I know, its really dumb, but I think it will cost me a lot so I guess in the end I will buy a new one and start filling it up again before I move to Japan next year. 

Language learning wise I think it helps just to watch anything and everything I possibly can so I'm going back to my watching at least one episode of something every day over the summer. 

If I cant motivate my studies at least I can do that. Maybe there will be a sh*t load more terrible reviews on here due to that then... 

Anything and everything really could find me watching more Garo and Fuma no Kojiro style programs than is mentally possible to endure... But we'll see how that goes.

For the time being I'm too sick to do much so I'm just going to leave you with this short review of gloomy ambiguous screen shots of the impossible lighting in ROMES and hope you watch it if for nothing else but that fluffy hair.

~

Mahoro Ekimae Bangaichi まほろ駅前番外地 [movie] [series]

Gintama staring Eita as Gintoki and Matsu Ryu as Kagura. I dub thee bangumi "Eitama"

Cast: 

Tada Keisuke - Eita (Last friends, Sunao ni Narenakute, Voice)

Gyoten Haruhiko - Matsuda Ryuhei (Aoi Haru)

Series also includes:

Miura Masaki (Zettai Radio)

Kora Kengo (Gokusen 2)

Yamamoto Maika (Kasuka na Kanojo)

Sakai Maki (Nekoben to Toumei Ningen sp2)

Kawamura Yukie (ROMES)

Ok first off, let me say that this site sucks. 

I cant center any of my images so the formatting issues I'm having are going to make this post completely awful. 

I have not got the energy to re do the whole thing for the forth time just to get the photos in so they are going in whichever way they will. F*ck it.

Grumpy pouting at this stupid site.

The movie comes first, showing how the two main characters meet and

become Tada Benriken - the odd jobs shop baring a striking resemblance to Gintama's yoroza ethos of taking on the most bizarre and seemingly impossible requests of its customers. 

Shall we start the petition for Eita to play Gintoki in a live action Gintama now or later?

Mahoro Ekimae Bangaichi まほろ駅前番外地 [movie]

Maybe let's just review this first. 

I just want to finish this review so I can have Eitama on the top of my front page with his beautiful face, 

but I cant rush this review as I have just realised I took over 30 screen shots - from the movie alone. 

I need to somehow write so much that I can fit all of those pictures here. Never going to happen. 

Every single one is too gorgeous not to include but I will have to ramble on about pointless sh*t for a while to get everything in. No change there then.

I watched the movie after the series because I'm an idiot and didn't realise until I was half way through that the movie came first. 

To be fair, the series has that old style look to it and the movie looked new and shiny so what was I supposed to think. 

It worked that way though. I enjoyed the flash back to how they met up and became who they are now in the recent series.

~ Sneezing fit. 

Anyway, we see Eita's character Tada on his missions looking kind of alone but complacent, bump into Gyōten who he knew from school. He picks him up like a stray cat and they begin to embark on their odd road to friendship and contentment through the trials thrown in their way.

~ Seriously stop f*cking sneezing.

This movie sets the scene for the coming ridiculousness of the series. But honestly either one without the other is fine, any which way round is also fine. 

I think the series stands alone just as much as the movie. Both together is a bonus of fully textured lovable characters. 

These guys both have charm leaking out of every word and glance. As they fall for each other's charm, we completely fall for theirs.

I skate between wanting to be Eita with his amazing hair, then wanting to have an adorable stray like Gyōten to knock around with, then daydream about that awesome pile of sh*t place they live in, and then get fixated on Matsu Ryu's warm presence and fantastic acting skill which brings me back into the movie I'm watching.

Leaping away from Aoi Haru and the cold bizarre harshities of that situation, Matsu Ryu has another character who's everything is hiding behind seemingly dead eyes. But charm is the first, last and every other middling word I would use to describe his essence. 

Natural and subtle. Also a bit slap stick and silly. 

The way he runs with his hands flapping by his sides and always in is sandals and pajamas is so cute. 

As I've said, Tada is basically Gintoki from Gintama. 

He is so thoughtful and awesome but also pretty damn useless and buckles to his surrounding loved ones - running to the rescue of everyone he has a fleeting feeling for. Not a negative trait, but a one which conflicts with his personality of wanting to stay out of trouble and keep himself to himself.

In the movie we get the back story to both Tada and Gyōten's previous troubles in life and find out how they wound up where they are. 

We meet quite a few people from the series like the policemen and Hoshi the gangster with the most fetching white waist coat I ever saw not on a boyband member from the 90's.

Gyōten's wife was f*cking hot.

So you might have noticed by now that I've basically got screen shots of nothing but their faces pretty close up. 

This is not just because they are so photogenic and I'm completely happy to smother my front page with them. 

It is mainly because... 

well no it is mainly the reason I just said, 

but it is  because the movie is just lots of quiet scenes with not much talking, looking at their close up faces while they look at stuff or think about stuff. All fine with me. As explained. 

My shots are pretty much all from the movie. The picture quality of my movie file is better than that of the drama so I took a battered old windscreenless truck load of them.

But the series is so good, I will run through a few examples of the stupid sh*t they get up to.

Mahoro Ekimae Bangaichi まほろ駅前番外地 [series]

In the first episode they become Mexican wrestlers - as a requested odd job, not as a hobby. Which is genius. 

Other jobs included disposal of a life size wax woman 

(fully detailed and... less clothed), 

finding a teenage fugitive on the run from the police after killing her abusive father, helping a man track down a woman from a karaoke video, stealing a ring from a girl who stole a boyfriend, and normal sh*t like walking a dog. 

Each job came with a tattered truck load of other problems to fix, usually a drastic measure previously uncalled for of a handyman. And his stray cat. 

But their sense of justice, or inability to refuse seems to always land them in it somehow. Deep in the midst of everyone else's problems and conflicts.

Watching them ironing out Mahoro's idiocy one person at a time is nice. But watching them come to terms with their own is even nicer. It is quite serious at times, almost dark in places, but moving and lovely as a whole. 

I'm feeling pretty fuzzy right now as I have a ranging cold and bit of a fever - I want to stop it here so I guess cramming all these shots in is going to be a tight squeeze. 

Reading that when the pictures are all in and the post is finished is pretty weird. Damn I didn't feed the dog. I don't want to get up again. 

The formatting keeps messing up tonight and I don't have the energy to fight against this crappy site and the lack of sense it makes. Damn it I'm going to bed.

~