Tiger And Dragon

tags: dorama, Japanese series, Netflix streaming

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From IMDB

The show revolves around Rakugo, a traditional Japanese comedy that can look back on a 400 year long history. It tells about a Yakuza who goes to a Rakugo performer to collect debts, and a talented comedian who tries to change his destiny.

This 2005 Japanese series is streaming on Netflix. It is goofy and hilarious, a true dramedy with bursts of comedy and heavy drama. I love the over-the-top acting and contrived personal stories that only the Japanese can do without the viewers rolling their eyes.

Highly recommended. 

Love Village

tags: Becky, Japanese reality dating show, Netflix streaming

4 episodes every Tuesday, 30 - 35 minutes, total of 18 episodes

Becky has a new dating reality show to comment on. The dating show is for more mature unmarried people and those who have been married before looking for  a second or a third chance at love. The participants are all older than the usual romance seekers on reality TV, a version/mash-up of Terrace House and the Korean dating show Single's Inferno. The youngest is almost 40 and the oldest is 60.

The show is definitely different from other romance oriented reality shows. They help in renovating the old rundown house and grow vegetables in the garden to supplement their food allowance. The group is more open to sexual discussions because they are old and had more experience than shows with much younger people. The 2 oldest men had an argument early on which I've never seen in any Japanese reality shows. Japanese people are usually not prone to arguments.

At the end of the fourth episode the 2 oldest men left and were replaced by 2 40 year old men and one woman. There will be 5 women and 4 men next week. Interesting and addicting series, just like Terrace House and Love Wagon. Next 4 episodes will air on May 9.

BTW, Becky looks prettier and doesn't seem to age.

A Death In Tokyo

tags: Japanese, mystery, police procedural 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

From Goodreads

In the Nihonbashi district of Tokyo an unusual statue of a Japanese mythic beast - a kirin - stands guard over the district from the classic Nihonbashi bridge. In the evening, a man who appears to be very drunk staggers onto the bridge and collapses right under the statue of the winged beast. The patrolman who sees this scene unfold, goes to rouse the man, only to discover that the man was not passed out, he was dead; that he was not drunk, he was stabbed in the chest. However, where he died was not where the crime was committed - the key to solving the crime is to find out where he was attacked and why he made such a super human effort to carry himself to the Nihonbashi Bridge.

That same night, a young man named Yashima is injured in a car accident while attempting to flee from the police. Found on him is the wallet of the murdered man. Tokyo Police Detective Kyoichiro Kaga is assigned to the team investigating the murder - and must bring his skills to bear to uncover what actually happened that night on the Nihonbashi bridge. What, if any, connection is there between the murdered man and Yashima, the young man caught with his wallet? Kaga's investigation takes him down dark roads and into the unknown past to uncover what really happened and why.

Keigo Higashino never disappoints. This recently translated from Japanese to English, the third featuring Inspector Kaga, has numerous characters, and many twists and turns that only Higashino can write without readers getting bored or frustrated. 

Highly recommended.

Kirin is a Japanese mythical creature, Qilin in Chinese literature.

Old Enough

Another Japanese TV show with children as young as 2½ years old running errands such as shopping, delivery, or doing chores ALONE. That's absolutely crazy! Only in Japan and I think in South Korea too. It's amazing the children can communicate properly with adults in the shops and can identify different vehicles such as police cars, buses, etc. Of course, a TV crew is filming so there isn't any danger of them getting hit by a car or snatched by perverts.

On the first episode, the 2 year 9 month old boy has a gross yellowish snot, walking 1 kilometer all the way to his house, dragging the flowers on the road, completing the 3 items to buy for his mother. Kawaii! Very entertaining and some of the kids are natural comedians and some have boundless energy. The camera people must be exhausted with the 2 children running and running even after going up 200 steps. The series is quite addicting to watch.

Streaming on Netflix 20 episodes, 7 to 21 minutes

Thermæ Romæ Novæ

 

New bingeable anime Thermæ Romæ Novæ on Netflix streaming 

11 Episodes, 27 - 36 minutes

2012 live action is also ridiculous and hilarious.

I Am A Cat

tags: humor, Japanese, satire

⭐⭐⭐⭐

from GoodReads

Written over the course of 1904-6, Soseki's comic masterpiece, " I Am a Cat," satirizes the follies of upper-middle-class Japanese society during the Meiji era. With acerbic wit and sardonic perspective, it follows the whimsical adventures of a world-weary stray kitten who comments on the follies and foibles of the people around him.

"The New Yorker" called it "a nonchalant string of anecdotes and wisecracks, told by a fellow who doesn't have a name, and has never caught a mouse, and isn't much good for anything except watching human beings in action..."

Reading this novel took me ages to finish which is unusual for me. The book is not bad at all, in fact it is very funny, engaging, and makes the reader wonder about and laugh out loud at people's absurd behavior. The nameless cat sometimes drones on and on but the stories it tells are interesting and sometimes, maybe most of the time, philosophical and political. A rest between reading portions is a must to fully enjoy the book. I like it enough to give it 4 stars.

*******************************************************************************

This video of cats reminds me of the time the kitty takes a bite of rice cake that gets stuck on its teeth. The nameless cat tries to remove it and fails miserably. The humans see him on hind legs spinning around like crazy. Poor kitty but it is hilarious.

Bullet Train

tags: bullet train, Japanese, Shinkansen, thriller

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

from GoodReads

Nanao, nicknamed Lady Bird—the self-proclaimed “unluckiest assassin in the world”—boards a bullet train from Tokyo to Morioka with one simple task: grab a suitcase and get off at the next stop. Unbeknownst to him, the deadly duo Tangerine and Lemon are also after the very same suitcase—and they are not the only dangerous passengers onboard. Satoshi, “the Prince,” with the looks of an innocent schoolboy and the mind of a viciously cunning psychopath, is also in the mix and has history with some of the others. Risk fuels him as does a good philosophical debate . . . like, is killing really wrong? Chasing the Prince is another assassin with a score to settle for the time the Prince casually pushed a young boy off of a roof, leaving him comatose.

When the five assassins discover they are all on the same train, they realize their missions are not as unrelated as they first appear.

A massive bestseller in Japan, Bullet Train is an original and propulsive thriller that fizzes with an incredible energy and surprising humor as its complex net of double-crosses and twists unwind. Award-winning author Kotaro Isaka takes readers on a tension packed journey as the bullet train hurtles toward its final destination. Who will make it off the train alive—and what awaits them at the last stop?

Can I give this novel 10 stars out of 5? Yes I can. I enjoyed the book very much and it is like reading a Takashi Miike movie script on steroid. 3 professional hired killers, 1 vengeful dad, and 1 demented bad seed teenager aboard the Shinkansen (Japanese bullet train) have different reasons for being on the train. The synopsis from GoodReads and pretty much from other booksellers is far from accurate. Only the 3 assassins have connections to each other. The dad and the brat have their own story but get to meet the other 3 people and several passengers who may or may not be connected to them.

- Nanao, the black-framed eyeglass wearing hired killer called Ladybug, in my version of the novel, is assigned to steal a suitcase filled with money, then get off the next stop. How hard could it be? Nanao finds it's rather complicated. 

- The twin fruit assassins Lemon and Tangerine brought the suitcase onboard which they have recovered after successfully rescuing the kidnapped son of a much feared underworld boss. They are to deliver both to someone at the last train stop.

- Kimura, a former hitman and a recovering alcoholic, armed with a handgun is on board to kill the teenage boy, the Prince, who pushed his son off the roof of a building and the son is now in a coma.

- the Prince is a demented 14 year old androgynous boy who looks innocent but is manipulative and deadly, and has an obsession with killing. His reason is to taunt Kimura.

What could go wrong? Heaps with a capital H. A tale that is twisty turn-y, full of humor and philosophical musings, thrilling, unpredictable. The novel is hard to put down once you start reading.

Highly recommended. EBook is available to borrow from Hoopla.

***********************************************************************************

I read that the original title is Mariabītoru (Maria Beetle) published in 2010 and is now being made into a Hollywood movie. 🙄🙄🙄 Oh please, avoid the movie which I predict will change the story to make it one of, if not the worst, movie adaptations ever. IMHO, everything Hollywood touches becomes garbage.

A Rant: People who have read the book compare it to Tarantino movies but I beg to disagree. Obviously they haven't watched a single Takashi Miike movie. Tarantino is a talentless moviemaker who steals ALL his ideas from other movies specially from Japan, Hong Kong, other Asian countries, and a few from Scandinavian countries too. Tarantino is one big poseur and a FRAUD.

   

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal: The Movie 2021

For fans of Sailor Moon - Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal: The Movie 2021

Netflix streaming

2 parts, 81 minutes each

In Japanese with English subtitles 

or English dubbed (not recommended)

Alice In Borderland

Coming to Netflix streaming on December 10, 2020 - Alice In Borderland, starring the busiest young actor in Japan, Yamazaki Kento. The TV series is based on Manga. An aimless gamer and his two friends find themselves in a parallel Tokyo, where they're forced to compete in a series of sadistic games to survive. 

Laplace's Witch

tags: Japanese, murder mystery, sci-fi, thriller, Takashi Miike

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

from Asianwiki

Two people are poisoned to death by hydrogen sulfide at hot springs located in different regions. The police ask Aoe Shusuke, a geochemistry professor, to determine whether the deaths were caused by freak accidents or were murders. While investigating the cases, Aoe Shusuke comes across a young woman, Uhara Madoka who guesses correctly that a natural phenomenon will take place. The police begin to suspect Uhara Madoka might be related to the deaths.

Takashi Miike directing a murder mystery movie based on a novel by Keigo Higashino - how can I not love it. It's a 2-hour movie full of twists and turns, and a lot of intelligent dialog. It's hard to guess the who and why and my early assumptions are all proven wrong. As in Higashino's previous novels, the story uses mathematics and science, hence the title Laplace's Witch, from the writing by French scholar and polymath Pierre-Simon Laplace, Laplace's Demon. 2 young people who underwent procedures to have precognitive abilities as described in Laplace's Demon help in solving the murders.

Highly recommended. 

Assassination Classroom Live Action 2015

tags: comedy, fantasy, Japanese, live action anime

Eigapedia

“Class E” of Kunugigaoka Junior High School consists of students determined to have no future. They’re separated from their classmates and assigned to a bizarre tentacled alien homeroom teacher. The alien, whom the students refer to as “Kurosensei” (literally “unkillable teacher”), had previously destroyed most of the moon and threatened to destroy Earth. However, he decided to delay his plan for one year if he was given a class of junior high school students to teach on the terms that he wouldn’t harm them.

Kurosensei teachers his class various assassination techniques and the government promises a 10 billion yen reward to the student who finally manages to kill him. Unfortunately, Kurosensei is able to avoid all of their attacks due to his vastly superior alien reflexes. In spite of this, student Nagisa Shiota keeps track of any perceived weaknesses as he and his classmates try to come up with new ways to kill him.

I love this latest live action anime from Japan. It's so silly but lots of fun to watch. The English subs are probably not 100% accurate but I find they make sense and am able to understand the movie. I'll watch it again just to see if the subtitles have improved.

Recommended for Japanese anime fans. Full English subtitled movie is no longer available on YouTube. Have fun watching Kurosensei's antics if you can find the movie elsewhere by searching.

The lead actor, Yamada Ryosuke as Nagisa Shiota, is a member of the Japanese idol group Hey! Say! JUMP. Here's a video of one of their songs from the movie

 

Princess Jellyfish

tags: anime live action, comedy, Japanese language, romance

Plot summary from Wikipedia 

Princess Jellyfish centers around Amamizukan, an apartment building in Tokyo, where the only tenants are otaku women, and where no men are allowed. While each character has her own particular fixation, the protagonist is Tsukimi Kurashita, whose love of jellyfish stems from memories of her deceased mother taking her to an aquarium and linking the lace-like tendrils of jellyfish to the dresses of princesses.

Tsukimi hopes to become an illustrator and is an awkward girl terrified of social interaction, attractive people and the prospect of formal work. The other tenants of Amamizukan are the same, being NEETs who refer to themselves as the "Amars" (nuns). Tsukimi meets the stylish Kuranosuke Koibuchi, the illegitimate son of a politician, who cross-dresses to avoid the obligations of politics and to feel closer to his mother. Tsukimi keeps the secret of his masculinity from her man-hating housemates, even as she is troubled by the intimacy of having a man in her room at times.

Amamizukan's surrounding neighborhood is under threat of redevelopment, as opportunists aim to turn the quaint area into a more cosmopolitan region, with many of the buildings being demolished to make room for hotels and shopping centers. Although Amamizukan's tenants fear and loathe attractive people, they are helped by Kuranosuke who does not want to see Amamizukan destroyed.

the 5 otaku women, each has her own obsession

Japanese live action anime movies never fail to entertain me. This one is LOL funny and has a bit of a love triangle too: the cross-dressing boy and his older brother both fall for the lead character, Tsukimi. I really like the movie and hope there will be a sequel. I'll also start watching the anime series.

Highly recommended for fans of anime and silly but fun stories. Streaming with English subtitles on several streaming services. DVD is not available yet in the US. The cross-dressing boy Kuranosuke wearing one of Tsukimi's "jellyfish" designs. The actor Suda Masaki does a fantastic job of wearing dresses without losing his masculinity.

Kuranosuke helping Tsukimi prepare for a dinner date with his older brother

The last scene from the movie - Tsukimi wearing one of her "jellyfish" dresses
and Kuranosuke wearing regular boy clothes.

The Devotion of Suspect X

tags: mystery-crime, psychological thriller, cultural-Japanese
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

from Amazon.com

Yasuko Hanaoka is a divorced, single mother who thought she had finally escaped her abusive ex-husband Togashi. When he shows up one day to extort money from her, threatening both her and her teenaged daughter Misato, the situation quickly escalates into violence and Togashi ends up dead on her apartment floor. Overhearing the commotion, Yasuko’s next door neighbor, middle-aged high school mathematics teacher Ishigami, offers his help, disposing not only of the body but plotting the cover-up step-by-step. 

When the body turns up and is identified, Detective Kusanagi draws the case and Yasuko comes under suspicion. Kusanagi is unable to find any obvious holes in Yasuko’s manufactured alibi and yet is still sure that there’s something wrong. Kusanagi brings in Dr. Manabu Yukawa, a physicist and college friend who frequently consults with the police. Yukawa, known to the police by the nickname Professor Galileo, went to college with Ishigami. After meeting up with him again, Yukawa is convinced that Ishigami had something to do with the murder. What ensues is a high level battle of wits, as Ishigami tries to protect Yasuko by outmaneuvering and outthinking Yukawa, who faces his most clever and determined opponent yet.

I enjoy a mystery thriller whenever the killer/s are known early on. This Japanese novel in particular, pitting 2 geniuses against each other is pure pleasure to read. Who will prevail: the physicist or the mathematician? The novel is full of twists and turns that I never saw coming. Highly recommended.

The novel spawned 2 movies, one from Japan and one from Korea, and a Japanese TV series. I read the book first last year before watching both movie versions. 

The Japanese version: Suspect X

The movie is good but not great. It's not as compelling as the book and looks like a Made-for-TV flick. I took out 1 star out of 4 because of the female rookie cop replacing the original male cop as the physicist's "partner" in solving the puzzle. It makes no sense since she is not the physicist's friend from college who together frequently discuss crimes and possibilities, think Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. She also annoyed me constantly. The film makers had to have a female detective working with the physicist for the TV series. 

The Korean version - Suspect X/Perfect Number

The Koreans just know how to make an edge-of-your-seat thriller. The title, cast, cinematography, dialog, acting, and script are just about perfect. Although they added and changed a few stuff, they didn't distract from the essence of the novel.