Kids (キッズ-2008)

Starring:
Teppei Koike - Asato
Hiroshi Tamaki - Takeo
Chiaki Kuriyama
Shigeru Izumiya

Asato Teppei Koike is a sensitive young man with the ability to transfer other people's wounds to his own body. His strange healing powers lead to friendship with the troubled Takeo Hiroshi Tamaki.



Woohoo! I've have been going nuts wondering when this movie was going to be subbed and released. Insane craziness for this movie. My first love being Tamaki-kun! *goosebumps* He looked so different in the most absolutely, best wonderful way! LOL! Oooooh, so HOT! I loved the scruffy look. So....mmmm....manly!

At first, I was concerned about the first 20 minutes of the movie. It was slow and nothing was really interesting. *Blah* But I held on because "my man" was in this. Oh, I knew it would get better and it was more terrific than I had hoped for.

This movie was absolutely amazing. Again, I will repeat, this being a Japanese movie, there is a hidden moral to the story. Of course.

Asato has a gift. His mother thinks it's a curse. Evil. The movie revolves around this gift but it's more about the aspects of forgiveness and friendship.

I was really scared about the ending because of Asato's gift....it could have been either/or. But the ending was sweet and suffice it to say.....hopeful. *smiles*

Tokkyu Tanaka 3 Go (特急田中３号/ Tokkyu Tanaka San Go-2007)

Starring:
Tanaka Koki as Tanaka Ichiro
Tsukamoto Takashi as Hanagata Kei
Akiyama Ryuji as Momoyama Seiji
Kuriyama Chiaki as Meguro Terumi
Kato Rosa as Shibuya Kotone
Hiraiwa Kami as Kojima Riko
Kaito Ken as Makita Joji
Okouchi Nanako as Kato Miharu
Sakamaki Keisuke (坂巻恵介) as Kimura
Minami Shuhei (南周平) as Sasaki
Kimura Ryo as Tanaka Jiro
Endo Kenichi as Tanaka Katsuji
Saito Keiko as Tanaka Shizue
Yoshiyuki Kazuko as Tanaka Haru
Hirooka Yuriko as Momoyama Saori
Omi Toshinori as Momoyama Makoto
Sudo Kentaro (須藤謙太朗) as Momoyama Seitaro
Toyooka Masumi as Izumi
Hashimoto Jun as Master
Takahashi Issei as Mishima Ken
Nozuki Takahiro (野月貴弘) as Tetsu A
Minamida Yusuke (南田裕介) as Tetsu B
Tomikawa Kazuto (富川一人) as Tetsu C

Guests
Takagi Maria (gokon, ep1)
Tachibana Ayano (gokon, ep1)
Yamaguchi Misa (山口美沙) (gokon, ep1)
Tomikawa Kazuhito (ep1)
Tanaka Subaru (田中彗) as Tanaka Ichiro as a child (ep1)
Tanaka Juri (田中樹) as Tanaka Jiro as a child (ep1)
Passion Yara as a worker (ep3-4)
Manami (愛実) as Miki (ep3,4,8,9)
Noguchi Seiko (野口聖古) as Hitomi (ep3,9)
Takahashi Hitomi as Meguro Keiko (ep3,9)
Shitara Osamu (設楽統) as Terumi's father (ep3,8)
Takahashi George (高橋ジョージ) as George (ep3,10)
Harada Fumiaki (原田文明) as Professor Yamakawa (ep4)
Ato Kai as Professor Fujii (ep5)
Kikuchi Kinya as Kodera (ep5)
Denden as Maegi (ep7)
Kinami Haruka as Yoshie (ep7)
Kobayashi Katsuya as Iwashiro (ep7)
Nakagawa Reiji (中川家礼二) as Shimaoka (ep8-10)
Kamenashi Kazuya as Shibahara Toru (ep9)
Yokomi Hirohiko (横見浩彦) as Tetsu (ep10)
Kimura Yuko (木村裕子) as Tetsuko (ep10)

After two years of preparation, Ichiro Tanaka finally enters a university disdained as a third-class one. Out of his ardent desire to become popular with girls, he by chance steps into the world of the railroad “otaku” (commonly called “tetsu”), getting deeply involved in the fascinating railroad world. This drama portrays Ichiro who, together with those lonely “tetsu” guys he meets there who “want to be popular so badly but are not,” develops love and friendship and grows mature as a person. --TBS

LOL! I can't believe I loved this drama. The only reason I watched this in the first place was because of Tsukamoto Takashi (*kawaii*). Tanaka Koki was brilliant as the crazy-in-love Ichiro. LOL! This was a sleeper hit with me. I would never have really watched this based on the synopsis. Well, I'm glad I did.

Again, those Japanese and their morals, HAHA! They took the basis of the train system and made it into what we would call a metaphor of life. Every episode based something of how a train works and it's counterparts that would symbolize our daily life and our love. Truly a hit with me.

Okay, and the best part of it was the unknown fact in episode 10......Kame made a guest appearance that I wasn't expecting. *kawaii* So now I had Tanaka Koki, Tsukamoto Takashi and Kamenashi Kazuya to look at. Oh, how my heart trembled with delight.

The first episode took me a good 3 attempts to watch. I'd start and then find something else to watch. The first 10 minutes was really baka. LOL! But again, if I just beared through it, which I did this time, became a wonderful drama/comedy. Tanaka Koki has wonderful comedic timing and that face of his and his expressions were just adorable. (Okay, I wish he didn't pluch his eyebrows because I really don't like that)

This is truly something for everyone to watch. The theme would be......to never give up and when the chips are down to just keep trying and to not stop smiling.

Lovely drama. Wonderful.

Tanaka Koki

Wow look.....he's so cute with hair. He's really a hottie in disguise! LOL!

Oh looky....see how much cuter he is with eyebrows! Damn straight....he's hot!


Kamenashi Kazuya

Umm, this like turns me on but yet at the same time.....Kame looks toooooooooo much like a girl. And, umm......that frightens me!

Scrap Heaven (スクラップ・ヘブン-2005)

Starring:
Ryo Kase - Shingo
Joe Odagiri - Tetsu
Chiaki Kuriyama - Saki Fujimura
Akira Emoto
Akira Shoji
Sawa Suzuki
Takama Suzuki
Hidekazu Mashima

Shingo is a frustrated clerk at a police station, Tetsu is stressed out over his mentally ill father and Saki has an inferiority complex over her artificial eye. Together they have the misfortune to be riding the same bus when a terrorist strikes. Shingo is frozen with fear as he helplessly watches Tetsu get shot and the gunman take aim at Saki. A few months later, Shingo is back to shuffling paper at his dead end desk job with no hopes of becoming a detective. He also still suffers guilt over the bus incident. One day, Shingo coincidentally runs into Tetsu and he pours out his suppressed feelings about the shooting.
Together they fantasize about revenge, talk about retaliation and how they can make a business out of it. Their scheme is simple. A client must provide ID credentials. The request for revenge cannot be revealed to the third party. There is no second chance and nobody gets hurt. They scrawl graffiti to solicit customers and begin to get customers.
Their first clients include a patient after a doctor for malpractice and a kid who wants to get back at his abusive mother. Tetsu and Shingo keep playing the revenge game walking the thin line to becoming full on criminals! Shingo starts to crave the feeling of power and omnipotence. He feels some debt to Saki after the bus attack but his efforts to help her always fail.
Meanwhile Tetsu increasingly approaches the revenge game like childs play and hatches a plan to steal guns from police boxes. Eventually, the game goes too far and Tetsu and Shingo dangerously spin out of control.

OMG! It's official....Odagiri Joe....the best damn actor ever!! Damn, he's so freakin' cool and I loved him in this. Sheesh! I can't think of a movie that he didn't do an awesome job even if the movie sucked...he never did. *<3>

Then there is Kase Ryo. First off, he's American....holy shnikeys! I didn't realize. I know I've seen him in other movies but this is the first one where he isn't supporting. He rocked my world.

The first part of the movie I was laughing my ass off. Damn, it was funny. Don't we all wish we could pay back jerks who have done us wrong! I'd have hired them in a second!

I know the reality of it all that "what goes around, comes around" could and should happen. But "what comes around" that being Shingo and Tetsu shouldn't "go around" again. They increased the bad karma upon themselves and it ended up coming back on them. I guess this could be a learning experience for most of us that "an eye for an eye" doesn't necessarily mean that's a good thing.

Extremely well written for both Odagiri and Kase and their acting abilities. Definitely a keeper of a movie!!

Odagiri Joe