jdrama: Yoshitsune, eps 1-3(and counting...ends 15 minutes into ep 5)

Yoshitsune TPTB:  "Dear Takizawa Hideaki fangirls.  We apologize that Takki was not around between the first 5 minutes of ep 1 and the last minute of ep 3.  As compensation, that minute will feature Takki wet and shirtless in the river."

This was, seriously, my only thought during that scene(I like Takki and all, but he's more the reason certain people wanted me to watch Yoshitsune than why I wanted to watch.)

( cut because ETAs started to make it long )

jdrama: Yoshitsune, eps 1-3(and counting...ends 15 minutes into ep 5)

Yoshitsune TPTB:  "Dear Takizawa Hideaki fangirls.  We apologize that Takki was not around between the first 5 minutes of ep 1 and the last minute of ep 3.  As compensation, that minute will feature Takki wet and shirtless in the river."

This was, seriously, my only thought during that scene(I like Takki and all, but he's more the reason certain people wanted me to watch Yoshitsune than why I wanted to watch.)

( cut because ETAs started to make it long )

jdrama: Yoshitsune through ep 7

Yoshitsune TPTB:  "Ok, the audience who cares about us making a good period drama is set in stone, now lets make sure we keep all the Takki fangirls appeased with fanservice."

For those who care: There have been no more shirtless scenes.  This makes me sad, as I was getting a kick out of the blatant fanservice-ness of them and possibly even had a pen and paper to keep count...But there's much running around in solid white and staring off angstily into the mountains and the woods.  And dramatically and elegantly swinging his sword, of course.

That said:  Attention random handsome period drama men:  Please stop saying things like "I'll stay by your side" and "I'll always come to you" and "We'll always be together" to nice girls who are blatantly crushing on you when you mean "as a friend/brother," ESPECIALLY if you have a habit of saving them.  It only results in their hearts being broken when you fall in love with someone else.  I am talking to you, Mr. Jang Bogo, and you, Mr. Xiao Yao, and you, Mr. Jang Sung-Baek(kinda) and you, mr. Yang Guo, and you, Mr. Shanao(eventually to become Mr. Yoshistune.)  You, Mr. Yang Guo, are the worst offender of this so far (Everyone else was content to stop at one, but you?  You had FOUR.) but this post is about Yoshitsune, not Return of the Condor Heroes, so we'll let that slide for now.

Case in point: Utsubo(aka, Random Girl, AKA, Ueta Aya)  Childhood friend of Shanao, comes back into his life when he rescues her from thugs.  Sweet, cute, nice, loyal, completely in love with Shanao and has a crummy past(her scum!brother sold her to a brothel several years ago, but she ran away from there and has been living on the streets since.  Shanao, of course, still sees her as the little girl he used to play with (and I am also convinced she's the girl Widdle Guy saved from the horse) and thus is kinda clueless.  Such a weakness for unrequited crushes...

The girl I'm told is Takki's OTP has had one scene so far and yeah, she's obviously important and seems pretty cool, but until she shows up more, I'm shipping Shanao/Utsubo.  Plus, I remain convinced that Utsubo shall Die Tragically, I just don't know if it'll be soon or if she'll go through years of watching him love someone else, first.

These last few eps(aside from fanservice and red herring love interests) were largely about Shanao running off from the tyemple after learning that Kiyomori, aka "That nice guy who took care of me and mom and acted like my father and let me play with his sons as a child" was his father's-and therefore, his-enemy, and trying to reconcile the two, while everyone ganged up on Kiyomori for sparing Shanao and his brothers and told him to take out Shanao.  Well, everyone but the sons who played with Shanao as kids.  We also see what his oldest brother, Yoritomo has been up to(incidentally, it's entirely possible that I cheered a bit when I learned he had tricked Kiyomori into thinking a fake sword was the legendary Genji sword to help preserve his father's honor.  I suspect Yoritomo will end up Evil in the end, but I kinda like him right now.

So far there have been NO sightings of Oguri Shun, sadly.  I have, however, located Abe Hiroshi by voice alone, as he's almost unrecognizable.  Actually, he plays one of Kiyomori's sons who's supposed to be close to Shanao in age(Abe is 18 years older than Takki in RL...)  It's kinda odd to see him right now...he has the most commanding and dominant presence(and voice) of any jactor I've encountered, and right now his character is kinda mild and humble...he has the presence muted, but you can't really change your voice THAT much(in that way, that is)  But, I think his character-Taira Tomomori-becomes a powerful general or something(I vaguely remember reading about him somewhere) so that could explain why Abe is playing what, for now, seems to be an odd role for him.

jdrama: Yoshitsune through ep 7

Yoshitsune TPTB:  "Ok, the audience who cares about us making a good period drama is set in stone, now lets make sure we keep all the Takki fangirls appeased with fanservice."

For those who care: There have been no more shirtless scenes.  This makes me sad, as I was getting a kick out of the blatant fanservice-ness of them and possibly even had a pen and paper to keep count...But there's much running around in solid white and staring off angstily into the mountains and the woods.  And dramatically and elegantly swinging his sword, of course.

That said:  Attention random handsome period drama men:  Please stop saying things like "I'll stay by your side" and "I'll always come to you" and "We'll always be together" to nice girls who are blatantly crushing on you when you mean "as a friend/brother," ESPECIALLY if you have a habit of saving them.  It only results in their hearts being broken when you fall in love with someone else.  I am talking to you, Mr. Jang Bogo, and you, Mr. Xiao Yao, and you, Mr. Jang Sung-Baek(kinda) and you, mr. Yang Guo, and you, Mr. Shanao(eventually to become Mr. Yoshistune.)  You, Mr. Yang Guo, are the worst offender of this so far (Everyone else was content to stop at one, but you?  You had FOUR.) but this post is about Yoshitsune, not Return of the Condor Heroes, so we'll let that slide for now.

Case in point: Utsubo(aka, Random Girl, AKA, Ueta Aya)  Childhood friend of Shanao, comes back into his life when he rescues her from thugs.  Sweet, cute, nice, loyal, completely in love with Shanao and has a crummy past(her scum!brother sold her to a brothel several years ago, but she ran away from there and has been living on the streets since.  Shanao, of course, still sees her as the little girl he used to play with (and I am also convinced she's the girl Widdle Guy saved from the horse) and thus is kinda clueless.  Such a weakness for unrequited crushes...

The girl I'm told is Takki's OTP has had one scene so far and yeah, she's obviously important and seems pretty cool, but until she shows up more, I'm shipping Shanao/Utsubo.  Plus, I remain convinced that Utsubo shall Die Tragically, I just don't know if it'll be soon or if she'll go through years of watching him love someone else, first.

These last few eps(aside from fanservice and red herring love interests) were largely about Shanao running off from the tyemple after learning that Kiyomori, aka "That nice guy who took care of me and mom and acted like my father and let me play with his sons as a child" was his father's-and therefore, his-enemy, and trying to reconcile the two, while everyone ganged up on Kiyomori for sparing Shanao and his brothers and told him to take out Shanao.  Well, everyone but the sons who played with Shanao as kids.  We also see what his oldest brother, Yoritomo has been up to(incidentally, it's entirely possible that I cheered a bit when I learned he had tricked Kiyomori into thinking a fake sword was the legendary Genji sword to help preserve his father's honor.  I suspect Yoritomo will end up Evil in the end, but I kinda like him right now.

So far there have been NO sightings of Oguri Shun, sadly.  I have, however, located Abe Hiroshi by voice alone, as he's almost unrecognizable.  Actually, he plays one of Kiyomori's sons who's supposed to be close to Shanao in age(Abe is 18 years older than Takki in RL...)  It's kinda odd to see him right now...he has the most commanding and dominant presence(and voice) of any jactor I've encountered, and right now his character is kinda mild and humble...he has the presence muted, but you can't really change your voice THAT much(in that way, that is)  But, I think his character-Taira Tomomori-becomes a powerful general or something(I vaguely remember reading about him somewhere) so that could explain why Abe is playing what, for now, seems to be an odd role for him.

question for those on the flist who keep up with dorama subbing

Does anyone know if Kagero no Tsuji is being subbed?  It's a 11 ep samurai drama that's currently airing.

d-wiki description:

A story about a gifted swordsman who faces with various troubles brought to him with strong sense of justice and genuine sympathy to commoners. Sakazaki Iwane is a ronin who spends idle days in Edo. Until a few months ago, he was a promising son and successor to a powerful family in Bungo. He has came back to Edo, where he lived for a while for swordplay training with his two best friends, after a tragedy in the three’s home domain—both of the two friends died, one of them killed by Iwane by command of the domain lord’s chief retainer. Iwane left his home for Edo, leaving behind his fiancée, a sister of the friend he killed. Eventually, Iwane detects the conspiracy behind the deaths of the two friends and struggles to reform his domain. 

pic:



(as a random bit of info, the lead also plays Hijikata Toshizou in the Shinsengumi drama)

question for those on the flist who keep up with dorama subbing

Does anyone know if Kagero no Tsuji is being subbed?  It's a 11 ep samurai drama that's currently airing.

d-wiki description:

A story about a gifted swordsman who faces with various troubles brought to him with strong sense of justice and genuine sympathy to commoners. Sakazaki Iwane is a ronin who spends idle days in Edo. Until a few months ago, he was a promising son and successor to a powerful family in Bungo. He has came back to Edo, where he lived for a while for swordplay training with his two best friends, after a tragedy in the three’s home domain—both of the two friends died, one of them killed by Iwane by command of the domain lord’s chief retainer. Iwane left his home for Edo, leaving behind his fiancée, a sister of the friend he killed. Eventually, Iwane detects the conspiracy behind the deaths of the two friends and struggles to reform his domain. 

pic:



(as a random bit of info, the lead also plays Hijikata Toshizou in the Shinsengumi drama)

jmovie: Death Trance

I just finished this one.  To be perfectly blunt, this is not, necessarily, a "good" movie...the plot is both thin and rushed and the ending seems designed for a sequel, and the characterization is sparse(I don't even know the names of most characters, but thast's ok, because I gave them ever-so-creative names to compensate.)  It's all about the over the top action, and it never pretends otherwise.

The plot is essentially about Coffin Guy, who steals a coffin that can supposedly grant any wish you want from a temple.  Lots of people have tried to steal the coffin before and the monks turned them into stone for it.  One young monk, Priest Guy, is sent to retrieve the coffin because the coffin could destroy the world if opened (the power of the Goddess of Destruction is sealed inside.)  Priest Guy is also given a Special Sword that no one can draw until the right time.  Along the way, Priest Guy meets up with Mohawk Guy, who also wants the sword, and for some bizarre reason, Mohawk Guy decides he may as well help keep Priest Guy alive while looking for the sword.  There's also Warrior Chick who also wants to keep the coffin from being opened(but seems to think smashing it to bits is ok) and Little Girl, who is completely unphased by having dozens of people die around her and trails after whoever has the coffin at any given point in time.  Also, while the setting looks medieval (it's described as "an unknown time and place" and it's implied that Goddess of Destruction has rebooted the world once or twice already) there are guns and even a motorcycle.  Which are actually kinda fun...

Priest Guy was rather boring and sanctimonious, and I rather wonder why Mohawk Guy and Coffin Guy didn't just toss him off a cliff or kill him (not like he stood a chance against either one anyway.)  I did rather like Coffin Guy and Mohawk Guy.  Mohawk Guy  acknowledges the wisdom of of carrying a gun.  Distance weapon that can kill long before the other guy can get to you vs weapon that requires you to get up close and personal?  Not a difficult choice.  He is, howver, well aware of the danger of running out of bullets, and has his sword as a backup.  There's one very fun scene where these ninjas whip out weapon after weapon and look menacing, and he just keeps shooting the weapons out of their hands(eventually, they realized he had more bullets than they had weapons and he kinda made them his servants.)

Coffin guy reminds me a bit of Samurai Deeper Kyo's Kyo, though not as cool.  He's a simple guy who wants nothing more than to prove he's the best(though in Coffin Guy's case, it's more finding someone good enough to kill him) and to kill anyone who gets in his way.  He's even quieter than Kyo though.  I wasn't sure if he would say anything at all in the movie for the first 40 minutes.  To cement the comparison in my mind, towards the end he has glowing red eyes and a glowing red sword.  Like Mohawk Guy, Coffin Guy acknowledges the  practicality of a gun, but as he likes his fights up close and personal, he only brings out the gun when he decides a fight has lasted to long(as in, more and more keep showing up and he's getting bored with killing them) and he has things to do.

I think my favorite scene is when Priest Guy and Coffin Guy first meet.  Priest Guy asks why Coffin Guy stole the coffin and asks if he knows its dangerous, blah blah blah.  Coffin Guy simply replies that he heard it could grant wishes and walks off.  Priest Guy, being assured of the protection his priestliness grants him, follows him and when Coffin Guy asks what the big deal is, Priest Guy launches into a long story about the coffin and when he keeps going long after the pertinent parts are covered, Coffin Guy clocks him and when Priest guys asks why he did that(from the ground) Coffin Guy replies that his stories are too long and stalks off after his coffin.

Also, for some reason, Priest Guy looks like Cloud Strife with a facial tattoo at the very end...

Anyway, pictures...

( pics )

Apparently there's also a manga of this(was pretty sure 10 minutes in there was a novel or manga.)  As it's only 2 volumes, I'll likely check it out.  I'll likely try to find some art first, though.

Also, apparently this is directed by the sanme guy as Versus, and Coffin Guy is also the star of Versus.  Versus is also supposedly a much better movie than this, so I may check it out. 

jmovie: Death Trance

I just finished this one.  To be perfectly blunt, this is not, necessarily, a "good" movie...the plot is both thin and rushed and the ending seems designed for a sequel, and the characterization is sparse(I don't even know the names of most characters, but thast's ok, because I gave them ever-so-creative names to compensate.)  It's all about the over the top action, and it never pretends otherwise.

The plot is essentially about Coffin Guy, who steals a coffin that can supposedly grant any wish you want from a temple.  Lots of people have tried to steal the coffin before and the monks turned them into stone for it.  One young monk, Priest Guy, is sent to retrieve the coffin because the coffin could destroy the world if opened (the power of the Goddess of Destruction is sealed inside.)  Priest Guy is also given a Special Sword that no one can draw until the right time.  Along the way, Priest Guy meets up with Mohawk Guy, who also wants the sword, and for some bizarre reason, Mohawk Guy decides he may as well help keep Priest Guy alive while looking for the sword.  There's also Warrior Chick who also wants to keep the coffin from being opened(but seems to think smashing it to bits is ok) and Little Girl, who is completely unphased by having dozens of people die around her and trails after whoever has the coffin at any given point in time.  Also, while the setting looks medieval (it's described as "an unknown time and place" and it's implied that Goddess of Destruction has rebooted the world once or twice already) there are guns and even a motorcycle.  Which are actually kinda fun...

Priest Guy was rather boring and sanctimonious, and I rather wonder why Mohawk Guy and Coffin Guy didn't just toss him off a cliff or kill him (not like he stood a chance against either one anyway.)  I did rather like Coffin Guy and Mohawk Guy.  Mohawk Guy  acknowledges the wisdom of of carrying a gun.  Distance weapon that can kill long before the other guy can get to you vs weapon that requires you to get up close and personal?  Not a difficult choice.  He is, howver, well aware of the danger of running out of bullets, and has his sword as a backup.  There's one very fun scene where these ninjas whip out weapon after weapon and look menacing, and he just keeps shooting the weapons out of their hands(eventually, they realized he had more bullets than they had weapons and he kinda made them his servants.)

Coffin guy reminds me a bit of Samurai Deeper Kyo's Kyo, though not as cool.  He's a simple guy who wants nothing more than to prove he's the best(though in Coffin Guy's case, it's more finding someone good enough to kill him) and to kill anyone who gets in his way.  He's even quieter than Kyo though.  I wasn't sure if he would say anything at all in the movie for the first 40 minutes.  To cement the comparison in my mind, towards the end he has glowing red eyes and a glowing red sword.  Like Mohawk Guy, Coffin Guy acknowledges the  practicality of a gun, but as he likes his fights up close and personal, he only brings out the gun when he decides a fight has lasted to long(as in, more and more keep showing up and he's getting bored with killing them) and he has things to do.

I think my favorite scene is when Priest Guy and Coffin Guy first meet.  Priest Guy asks why Coffin Guy stole the coffin and asks if he knows its dangerous, blah blah blah.  Coffin Guy simply replies that he heard it could grant wishes and walks off.  Priest Guy, being assured of the protection his priestliness grants him, follows him and when Coffin Guy asks what the big deal is, Priest Guy launches into a long story about the coffin and when he keeps going long after the pertinent parts are covered, Coffin Guy clocks him and when Priest guys asks why he did that(from the ground) Coffin Guy replies that his stories are too long and stalks off after his coffin.

Also, for some reason, Priest Guy looks like Cloud Strife with a facial tattoo at the very end...

Anyway, pictures...

( pics )

Apparently there's also a manga of this(was pretty sure 10 minutes in there was a novel or manga.)  As it's only 2 volumes, I'll likely check it out.  I'll likely try to find some art first, though.

Also, apparently this is directed by the sanme guy as Versus, and Coffin Guy is also the star of Versus.  Versus is also supposedly a much better movie than this, so I may check it out.