Kasukana kanojo 幽かな彼女 [series]

mata Sato Jiro iru? hahahaaaaaaaaaaa yatta!

Ghosty Anne! I went straight ahead to watch this as soon as I saw the promo poster ^ above. Anne as a ghost in a comedy drama.... after just finishing XXXholic...? Yes please! Surprised (why after all this time) to see Baka Sato Jiro appear as a stupid fast talking crazy ass ghost also. 

Something strange about the new deputy head at a school, twinned with the new arrival of a homeroom teacher who can see ghosts. Anne is cute and sulky and ridiculous, and when Sato Jiro turned up I nearly choked. (^_^)

Putting her head inside the telephone to call Kamiyama (Katori Shingo), getting involved in all the student's problems, disappearing and reappearing in inappropriate moments, wearing ...odd ...clothes ....

So this brings me to the bland as hell Maeda Atsuko. I loved her as a robot in Q10, but she really annoyed me in Yamapi is an undertaker - whatever the hell that drama was really called. I figured out that her emotionless robot was great because she had no expressions, and also in this drama it works because she is a total bitch. It works. Thank god. But seriously walking around in skirts and shorts that are WAY too short for a responsible teacher to wear...

The guy playing opposite her really looks like Shige. He is pretty useless which makes that even more so.... but the real love of mine in this drama is the beautiful Maya Miki (Buzzer beat, Galileo, Shibatora, quiz show 2, zettai kareshi). Kirisawa (Maya) is beautiful, calm and collected. Solves all the problems like the ex-lawyer she is. And there is some secret past.... dun dun dahhhhh!

We mainly follow Akira sensei as he comes to terms with finally realising he should properly face his students and raise and support them well, after becoming cold to them after an unfortunate bullying incident left him scared to intervene in the lives of his students. The ghosts he meets in the new town bring Akira through this journey and they form bizarre cute bonds. As you would expect.

 


I guess its a pretty predictable drama, but it is the cast that keeps it going I guess.Anne in particular is as always a joy to watch. As I wait for each episode to come out I curse watching a drama as it airs. Gah.

Yes. indeed. Maeda agrees.

 

It gets more involved in the students as the drama goes on, obviously - that was stupid to say. 

But with each episode the classmates get closer to each other and form the bonds that help them stand up to adversity and bla bla bla you know the sort. Gokusen stylee.

But don't be blue peter, Its pretty fluffy and lovely dovey in a weird ghost / human way, and slightly less f*cking super weird than XXXholic. Anne wears considerably less colourful clothes... 

I thought I said dont be blue peter! 



Seriously. Bunch of grumps.

Have a picture of Katori Shingo as Monkey instead. He has the best face.

~

Hi my sweetheart 海派甜心 [series]

Team Da Lang all the way with flags and match rigging bribes and fireworks.

When watching 100% Entertainment one time when Rainie Yang came on to talk about their series I obviously went looking for it straight away. 

I started watching back then and months later poor Da Lang is still without his girl because I hadnt gotten around to finishing the damn thing. 

This is such a great series I don't know why it took so long to get through. I think I didn't want it to end.

Since this show, the Rainie Yang and Show Luo have been in an Australian project together which was a mini series to promote China in Oz. I'll review that if I can find time and post the links to where you can watch it online.

Back to Hi My Sweetheart.

Rainie Yang plays a feisty troubled girl Bao Zhu whom everyone dislikes. 

Show Luo plays a nigh on indescribable character Lim Dal Lang - the king of adorable dorks with an underbite the size of his bank account. 

Da Lang meets Bao Zhu at his new school and they fall in to a love hate relationship ending in utter disaster when their families tear them apart. 

Both thinking the other had deserted them, the pair have sad or bitter memories of their past relationship.

In a bizarre twist of fate they are thrown together again years later but only after Da Lang had become unrecognizable with a new name and persona as a womanizing playboy with no concern for others and an ego to rival his wealth.

I was surprised to find myself missing the old Da Lang (as stupid as he looked) and every time he had a little hilarious split personality moment and reverted back to the old Da Lang I squealed with joy.

Show Luo is so funny. Even more than i thought he would be. I actually love him as much as Nobuta's Akira. Now that is saying something.

xzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz [the cat just stepped on the keyboard to show her appreciation too] I really do think that his Da Lang is one of my most favourite characters in any series ever. 

Very funny, sweet, and layered. The story is (typically of Taiwan) interesting and different. 

I can't even begin to describe how pure and sweet the relationships between all the characters are. 

It is one of the most squeal inducing drama's I have seen to date. Always routing for those two idiots. 

I came to love Lee Wei's character He Yan Feng so much by the end, he wasnt just the simpering unrequited love. He became so awesome. I cant even slightly do this series justice. One of the best.

Unfortunately i cant write any more as the formatting is f*cking up so bad its taking too long to fix each thing I write. God damn you blogspot. Get it together.

Love Rainne Yang and Show Luo. ♥

She has the most perfect fringe of anyone ever and I want it. And he wins for the best pout in the world.

~

3 iron 빈집 [movie]

another kim ki duk movie, warning: fan girling alert. 

I'm going to be stingy with the screen shots - I actually don't want to show you anything. I love this film for how unexpectedly beautiful and gorgeous it is, you should watch it without knowing anything if you can. If you have read any of my previous reviews of Kim Ki Duk's movies you will know what to expect for me. Shall i get it out of the way now? Because for F*CK SAKE i swear the man has the most phenomenal vision. Just so stunning.  

This particular movie is twisted, quiet, soulful and weird, just as you would expect, but - I don't know why, but somehoe it knocks the sh*t out of everything else I've seen lately. 

To explain the plot I think all I will say is Tae-Suk (Jae-Hee - Art of fighting, Bloody beach, Korean ghost stories) is a homeless guy who breaks into and lives in people's houses when they are away on holiday. Sun-Hwa (Lee Seung-Yeon - Cinderella, Love and ambition) is the abused wife of a rich man who meets Tae-Suk when he breaks into her house when she is home. They form an unusual relationship and save each other in strange ways from their troubled existences. 

Please give this movie the time to grown into the work of art of art it is. the second part of the movie is so moving and strange. Kim Ki Duk da kara ne.

Yep, well that's it. told you I was being stingy with the screen shots. I really dont want to spoil it. Shortest review ever. Gah. Seems weird for one of my favourite movies in the world to have such a short review. Jae-Hee, I should add, is captivating. Couldn't think of a better person to play such an odd guy.  

you can watch it here

battlefield baseball 地獄甲子園 [movie]

yeah its not funky forest but its still pretty weird. 

ok, this movie... what can i say. 

im putting in some quotes here and there just to try and give you a sense of how random this movie is.

i just dont think i can do it justice.

also, i think a *spoiler alert* is needed. but this movie makes less sense the more you know so it wont ruin anything. 

dear god, aside from this guy's face, where to start...

Jube is a highschool delinquent, he moves to a school who's team is about to play an insanely violent team who usually leave all the opposing players in a bloody dismembered mess on the pitch and sail through their victories straight to the cup. 

Jube is suffering at the memory of killing his father with a baseball pitch on the beach one day - which we are loving told through the medium of song ballad and purple camera filter. reminded me of the stock videos that accompany japanese karaoke songs.

*#father died, the pitch was too fast...
and thats the story of a boy and baseball#




eventually after some fights, persuasion, and a round of applause from the suddenly appearing entire school, Jube joins the team in the hopes to defeat the violent Gedo zombie-inmate-psychopath-mutant-whateverthefucktheyare baseball team in the coming match.

there is a guy that is played by 3 different actors because he dies so many times - actually pretty much all of the characters die at one or more times throughout and come back again in various states of alive-ness. 





this particular pitch that everything is riding on doesnt actually ever really rear its head in the match! 
they just beat the crap out of each other for a while, shaolin soccer style, and with a team of re-encarnated robotised half assed cobbled togther left overs of teachers, students, and Jube's mum, we get the final showdown with the big chinned blue skinned cowboy coach of the Gedo team, and i have no idea what the sh*t is going on.

*but Jube-kun, can we win?
*yes! with the deadly bullet pitch we can definitely win! the ball... the deadly bullet that killed my dad...
*you were hiding a pitch like that?
*no i dont actually remember how to do it, but when i was dead ten minutes ago my dead father told me to throw it.



i was surprised how funny this movie was. its weird enough to be totally crackers, but its not so stupid that it just leaves you thinking you just wasted 2 hours. and it is 2 long hours of nonsense. 


All, we come to find, is really something to do with that old drunk guy in his long johns with his dog watching on the side lines. 

and there's always an old drunk guy in his long johns with his dog watching on the side lines isnt there?

*who are you? who stopped my super tornado?

i watched this thinking "man this movie feels familiar" then found out it was a Kitamura Ryuhei film. 

I watched the whole thing thinking "Jube looks really familiar too" then i realised it was Sakaguchi Taku from alive and versus etc. 

man, he was super pretty in this.

*indeed, i died, but ive been reborn, of course, my face changed too.
*youve been reborn?
*i heard everything while i was dead, its time to get even with Gedo!
*ok, weve both died once, lets do it!

and if you think these quotes might make more sense when you watch the movie, youre wrong. they wont. im more confused now than before i saw it. i read a review before watching, it looked interesting and suitably stupid enough for my want at the time, but it was funnier than i expected it to be. those stupid but subtle nods of earnest agreement, the furrows of worry, Tak had me in fits. and yes, even though it was bonkers, i think the humour in it was more subtle than the outset would have you think.

*thanks to advanced technology, im mega gorilla!

maybe not.

i cant be arsed to do a cast list, look it up. by the way the title means Koshien Hell, not battlefield baseball, in case you get stuck. looking through the screen shots it actually looks pretty tame, i mean, its no funky forest but its still up there in the top leagues of weird ass japanese movies. its one for a group of people to enjoy. wish i had found this while i was still living back at the flat and the gang could have come over to watch this. damn funny.