Ties Of Shooting Stars

tags: japanese dorama, murder mystery, Keigo Higashino, Netflix

🌟🌟🌟🌟

From  Asianwiki

At the age of 11, Koichi Ariake discovers his parents brutally murdered in their home. Furthermore, Koichi must tell his two younger siblings the awful truth about their parents disappearance.

14 years later the three siblings still feel as much rage against their parents murderer as the day it happened. Then one day they locate the murderer...

From IMDB 

"When we grow up - We'll kill him together". Koichi, Taisuke, and Shizuna are three siblings whose parents had been brutally murdered when they were just in elementary school, and they vowed to avenge their death. Fourteen years later, their vengeful plan unravels countless new facts. A shocking revelation leads to an overwhelmingly emotional ending. What will become of the siblings who have lived their lives solely in reliance of their bond alone?

The Japanese dorama 10 episode series is based on a serialized book written by Keigo Higashino and was filmed in 2008. I had to watch because the main lead, Koichi, is played by Kazunari Ninomiya of the Japanese boy band Arashi. He was just 25 years old and looked like a little boy. [His bandmate Jun Matsumoto has currently 2 doramas streaming on Netflix which will be my next Japanese watch.]

The series is murder mystery and drama but loaded with the silliest comedy, some are so random and strange I just had to laugh. The sister was one day scammed out of her money. Koichi got the idea and started scamming people. He wrote the "script" and the sister and younger brother perform the scam. It was doing well and earned them some cash until they discovered the new victim is the son of the man they suspected had killed their parents. 

I enjoyed it and binge-watched for 2 days.

Karma Is A ...

While attempting to chase and corner a patrol boat with the Philippine Coast Guard near Bajo de Masinloc in the West Philippine Sea on Monday, a ship with the China Coast Guard (CCG-3104) collided with a Type 052D Destroyer of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (DDG-164).… pic.twitter.com/D1Ph8zkO7W

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) August 11, 2025

Additional footage of today’s collision in the West Philippine Sea, between a ship with the China Coast Guard (CCG-3104) and a Type 052D Destroyer of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (DDG-164), has been released by the Philippine Coast Guard. The footage shows… pic.twitter.com/Eh0UB0NFQl

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) August 11, 2025

John Lennon's Instant Karma

Instant Karma's gonna get you 

Gonna knock you right on the head 

You better get yourself together 

Pretty soon you're gonna be dead 

What in the world you thinking of 

Laughing in the face of love 

What on earth you tryin' to do 

It's up to you, yeah you

Going Home In The Dark

tags: fable, horror, humor, mystery

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From Goodreads

When hometown horrors come back to haunt, friendship is salvation in a novel about childhood fears and buried secrets by #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense Dean Koontz.

As kids, outcasts Rebecca, Bobby, Spencer, and Ernie were inseparable friends in the idyllic town of Maple Grove. Three left to pursue lofty dreams―and achieved them. Only Ernie never left. When he falls into a coma, his three amigos feel an urgent need to return home. Don’t they remember people lapsing into comas back then? And those people always awoke…didn’t they? After two decades, not a lot has changed in Maple Grove, especially Ernie’s obnoxious, scary mother. But Rebecca, Bobby, and Spencer begin to remember a hulking, murderous figure and weirdness piled on mystery that they were made to forget. As Ernie sinks deeper into darkness, something strange awaits any friend who tries to save him.

For Rebecca, Bobby, and Spencer, time is running out to remember the terrors of the past in a perfect town where nothing is what it seems. For Maple Grove, it’s a chance to have the “four amigos,” as they once called themselves, back in its grasp.

It took me a few weeks to rate this book by Dean Koontz. I couldn't decide if it is worth 4 or 5 star or if it is really bad as some of the reviewers on Goodreads think. It is another good versus evil themed mystery but it is very different from previous books by Koontz. I felt it was written for young adults because on the first few chapters he breaks the fourth wall to talk to the reader to explain and define some words or terms which are not that uncommon. Example: in a fugue. People know what it means for sure. Some readers got distracted by the constant explaining. I didn't mind it because sometimes it is funny.

Dean Koontz once again ridiculed everything and everyone which is hilarious in my opinion. There are many many humorous LOL things going on with the three friends specially when they rescued Ernie from the hospital to prevent the mortician from getting to him. It was like Weekend At Bernie's

The book reads like a fable or parable and I think those who rated it a 1 star got offended at the very end of the story, when Koontz compared the evil blob to communists trying to destroy the idyllic town. The blob was defeated by the good blob which was older and bigger than it is. The moral of the fable is, keep the good growing to prevent the evil from becoming powerful.

Recommended only for Dean Koontz fans.

American Eagle Jeans Ad

I never knew nor heard of the actress Sydney Sweeney because I turned off regular TV and most Hollywood produced movies and series for almost 20 years already. Her advertisement for American Eagle jeans triggered many people and calling the ad as Nazi propaganda. It is a play on the words genes and jeans.

I had to see for myself what the "controversy" is about and didn't find any "white supremacy"  message and decided the people triggered are just envious of this actress. If I were younger I'd buy that pair of jeans she's selling. 👖

Thankfully there are still sane people who don't agree with the triggered group.

 

 

Dunkin" Donuts also released a "triggering" ad with a young white blue-eyed actor. Let the fools cry on TikTok. I have ignored this actor's series on Amazon, The Summer I Turned Pretty, but now I'm adding it to my list. 😉

I have been wishing for beautiful people to come back on TV and movies and at last my wish has been partially fulfilled even if it is just advertisement. It's a step in the right direction because I am tired of watching fat ugly tattooed with questionable gender people on my TV screen. Beauty is back!

View at your own risk. May require eye bleach. LOL

Untamed

tags: murder mystery, Netflix series

⭐out of 5

From IMDB

A National Parks Service agent investigates a brutal death at Yosemite National Park.

Pros

> good not great cinematography because it was mostly filmed in Canada, not Yosemite

> there are only 6 less than an hour episodes

Cons 

> lousy script and story

> really bad acting; the raspy voice of both Eric Bana and Sam Neill is hard on the ears 

> all the characters are annoying specially the male and female leads

> clichés galore: alcoholic main character, troubled ex-wife, abusive ex partner of female lead (female lead character and her story is totally unnecessary; remove the character and the narrative will move along without her), uncooperative co workers, drugs (there's always drugs snuck in every Hollywood production)

> as predictable as the sun rising from the east, I guessed early on who is the despicable one.

> items introduced that don't help with the investigations and simply abandoned without explanation, example - the gold leaf tattoo on the dead girl.

- turned into almost slapstick comedy when the lead male ran out of bullets but was saved by the belle. 🙄

Not recommended

Blood Ties

tags: Jo Nesbø, mystery, sequel, thriller

⭐⭐⭐⭐out of 5

Blood Ties is the second of 2 thriller book series by Jo Nesbø, The first is The Kingdom which I rated 5 stars out of 5

From Goodreads

By all accounts, Carl and Roy Opgard are doing quite well for themselves. Or at least they’re doing as well as can be expected in a small town like Os. Carl manages the area’s swanky and successful spa and hotel, while Roy runs a nearby gas station and harbors grand plans to build it out into an entire amusement park complete with a roller coaster. But when news breaks about a new highway to be built nearby, bypassing Os and leaving the town cut-off and isolated, it’s clear that something has to be done . . . even if the methods are bound to be dirty. Fortunately, Carl and Roy have experience with just that kind of work.

Meanwhile, the town sheriff has gotten his hands on new technology that will enable him to take a deeper look at a slate of unsolved murders from years past—including that of his own father. And just as the sheriff reopens his investigation, the death toll begins to climb. It’s like Roy says about his roller “Once it’s rolling, it’s too late to get off.”

I enjoyed the book although I was not too keen on the on and off romance going on with Roy and his woman, or rather young girl, because he is much much older than she is. 

The sequel is twistier than the first book and with more vile people who deserve their violent end. It is still a great read from Jo Nesbø who can write a really bloody novel with plenty of humor.

Highly recommended for fans of Nordic noir and Jo Nesbø.

Happy Independence Day!

Love In Chains

;

Tags: Amazon streaming, period drama, soap opera, Ukraine

24 episodes

Katerina Verbitskaya was raised as a noble lady with her godmother Anna Chervinskaya but for the whole world she was only the property of Peter Chervinsky. She falls in love with the nobleman Alexey Kosach who knows nothing about her origin. On the way to freedom and love, the serf maid will have to overcome a lot of trials.

I was watching this period drama from Ukraine then Amazon started inserting ads which is not fine to me. I stopped watching and removed my whole watch list and didn't tune in to Amazon streaming for over a year. I noticed that the ads were removed from some of their shows so I resumed watching this series. 

The series is poorly written.. All the young actors, men and women, sound like they are reading their lines. The actress playing the lead, Katya is not even that pretty for 2 men to fight over. The other girl who plays her friend, Natalia is so awkward. She acts like she's in a High School play, very amateurish. I was only able to tolerate 3 episodes. I proceeded to read the synopses from episode 4 all the way to episode 23 then I watched the last episode 24. I like period dramas from Russia and Ukraine but this one is terrible and boring. The love polygon (chain) is done to death and with very little entertainment IMHO. 

Not recommended.

KPop Demon Hunters

tags:animation, demon hunters, fantasy, Kpop, Netflix

When K-pop superstars Rumi, Mira, and Zoey aren’t selling out stadiums, they’re using their secret identities as demon hunters to protect their fans from ever-present supernatural danger. Together, they must face their biggest threat — an irresistible rival boy band of demons in disguise.

From Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse), comes a fiercely fun and action-packed KPop odyssey featuring brand-new, original songs. Also featuring a new, original song performed by Jeongyeon, Jihyo, Chaeyoung of TWICE.

What??? Animated movie with KPop bands. The songs are kinda catchy. Not bad for KPop fans.

The Dinner Table Detective

 

tags: Amazon streaming, anime, 

The series is ridiculous but funny. A pair of affluent girl and boy solve murders with help from the girl's butler. *The butler actually solves the mysteries*. Both detectives are over the top just like a typical anime. 

In Japanese and a few other languages. Also dubbed in English and other languages.