Bloody Monday (ブラッディ・マンデイ -2008)

Starring:
Miura Haruma as Takagi Fujimaru (Falcon)
Kawashima Umika as Takagi Haruka
Newspaper Club
Sato Takeru as Kujo Otoya
Fujii Mina as Asada Aoi
Tokunaga Eri as Anzai Mako
Hisano Masahiro (久野雅弘) as Tachikawa Hide
THIRD-i
Tanaka Tetsushi as Takagi Ryonosuke
Matsushige Yutaka as Kano Ikuma
Katase Nana as Hosho Sayuri
Ashina Sei as Minami Kaoru
Yoshizawa Hisashi as Kirishima Goro
Nakahara Fumio (中原文雄) as Sonoma Takao
Kubota Masashi (久保田将至) as Kudo Akira
Anan Atsuko (阿南敦子) as Sawakita Miki
Kudo Shunsaku (工藤俊作) as Okita Koichi
Harada Kana (原田佳奈) as Nakagawa Saori
Saito Ayumu (斎藤歩) as Kamata Junichiro
Terrorists
Narimiya Hiroki as J (Kanzaki Jun)
Kichise Michiko as Orihara Maya
TET as Demon Joichi
Yamaguchi Ryuto (山口龍人) as Bluebird (Ando Ken)
Takito Kenichi (滝藤賢一) as Shirota Manabu
Taniguchi Shota (谷口翔太) as Kobayashi Daisuke
Nagakura Daisuke (永倉大輔) as Tanabe Ryo
Tsuneyoshi Rie (恒吉梨絵) as Arimura Nozomu
Abe Marie (安部魔凛碧) as Miyamoto
Tozawa Yasuaki (斗澤康秋) as Nishida
Kojima Koichi (児島功一)
Kaneko Takanobu (金子貴伸)
Officials and Police
Hamada Akira as Yasuoka Keitaro (Chief Cabinet Secretary)
Nakane Toru as Osugi Kenichi (PSIA Chief Director)
Kokubo Joji (小久保丈二) as Ikeda Katsuhiko (Chief of Detectives)
Ryu Raita as Kujo Akihito (Minister of Justice)
Hotaru Yukijiro as Detective Funaki
Ozaki Usoh (尾崎右宗) as Detective Iba
Others
Shimada Kyusaku as Kamishima Shimon
Jinbo Satoshi as Shikimura Sosuke
Nomaguchi Toru as Ishikawa
Saeki Arata (佐伯新) as Asakura
Namiki Shiro as Hikage Kiyoshi
Miyazawa Miho (宮澤美保) as Tominaga Kyoko
Yananaka Atsushi (山中敦史) as Kurosaki
Watanabe Shiho (渡邊志穂) as Murakami Anri
Takeshima Yasunari (竹嶋康成) as Sada
Mihara Iona (三原伊織奈) as Ishikawa Matsuko
Wada Satoshi (和田サトシ) as Yoshioka Keisuke
Seki Keisuke as teacher
Eguchi Noriko as Yasuda Yukiko
Oyamada Sayuri as Yamamura Yoko

After a biological terrorist attack kills off the population of a Russian town; Japan's Public Safety Special Third unit, code name THIRD-i, believes that the terrorist organization responsible plans to unleash the same virus known as Bloody X into Tokyo. Subsequently, THIRD-i recruits the help of genius hacker Takagi Fujimaru to find out what happened in the Russia. However, as Fujimaru becomes involved, he soon finds out that he is in over his head and that the terrorist groups influence reaches not only his school but even the police. Fujimaru must now rely on his skill as a hacker to unravel the organizations sinister plot and find out the truth behind "Bloody Monday."

I don't know if these are tears of joy or happiness. From episode 10 to the end, I have been a blubbering idiot. It's not like this was a sad drama. Well, it was but not like a melodrama. I cried because of the fear of betrayal for Fujimaru. I cried because I couldn't believe his best friend would be "K". Man, I was sick and jittery to the bitter end.

This is by far the best damn DRAMA I have EVER seen. This is now my ranked #1 drama at this moment. The script had me on pins and needles. I couldn't wait find out the outcome. And you know what? They left an opening for a second season. PLEASE SAY IT IS SO! I really didn't want this drama to end. My favorite young actors and older as well were in this drama. The character portrayals were perfectly matched by the actors and actresses who played them.........

This....God!....this was just wonderful. Okay, and I balled and boo-hooed at the very end because there was a sad but beautiful ending to this story. Can I go on living?

The plot twist in episode 10 had me hook. line and sinker. You never really know who we can trust and we we can't. But I was so totally pleased to know that Fujimaru's instincts were true.

Such a smart drama. I might have to watch this again. I might have missed something.........

Now I'll go hide in the corner and suck my thumb because I can't go on living without more episodes of this. Please....oh, please....I hope they make another season.

Damn! This rocked my world!

Kisarazu Cat's Eye (2002)

Starring:
Okada Junichi as Bussan (Tabuchi Kohei)
Sakurai Sho as Bambi (Nakagomi Futoshi)
Okada Yoshinori as Ucchie (Uchiyama)
Sato Ryuta as Master (Okabayashi Shingo)
Tsukamoto Takashi as Ani (Sasaki Kizashi)
Sakai Wakana as Mouko
Abe Sadao as Nekota Kaoru
Yamaguchi Tomomitsu as Yamaguchi-senpai
Furuta Arata as Ojii / Ozu Yujiro & Shintaro
Morishita Aiko as Rose (The Second Generation Kisarazu Rose)
Kohinata Fumiyo as Tabuchi Kosuke
Yakushimaru Hiroko as Asada Mirei
Shima Daisuke as the cafe owner
Sunouchi Mihoko (須之内美帆子) as Setsuko
Narimiya Hiroki as Sasaki Jun
Hosono Yumiko as Igarashi Ichiko
Morishita Tetsuo as the school principal
Hida Yasuhito as the vice principal
Hiraiwa Kami as Miiko
Miyake Hiroki as Takeda (police officer)

Guests
Kono Yoichiro (河野洋一郎) as the math teacher (ep1,3)
Seto Masaya (瀬戸将哉) as the science teacher (ep1)
Kitaro as a thief (ep2)
Murasugi Seminosuke (村杉蝉之介) as the policeman (ep2)
Casey Takamine as Komine (yakuza kumicho, ep3)
Aikawa Sho as himself (ep3,5)
Masuda Keiko as Naomi (Master's sister-in-law) (ep4)
Schadaraparr (http://www.schadaraparr.net) as Danii, Kenii, Tonii (ep5-6)
Pierre Taki (ピエール瀧) as Sigourney Koike (ep6)
Kishidan as themselves (ep7)
Nakamura Shido as Inujima (ep7-8)
Kato Taka (http://www.katotaka.com/) as himself (ep7)
YOU as Mizuki Asari (ep8)
Watanabe Ikkei as Ucchie's dad (ep8)
Miyaji Masako as Ucchie's mom (ep8)
Aja (あじゃ) as Hitomi (ep9)
Azumi Shinichiro as Azumi (ep9)
Shibayama Kaori (柴山香織) as Chiharu (ep9)
Tsumabuki Satoshi as Little Yamada (ep9)
Maruyama Tomomi
Matsumoto Jun

Twenty-one year old former high school baseball player, Kohei (nickname: Bussan), learns that he is dying from cancer. He is told that he only has six months to live, and decides that he wants to do something daring and risky. He proposes to five trusted members from his former baseball club that they form a ring of cat burglars that would steal from those who commit crimes. His friends think it odd, but feel they cannot turn down a dying man's request. With only six months, how much could they do anyway? --TBS

Geez-a-lou! Another good one I've passed up originally. Why? Because I was a total, complete idiot. Baka!

This drama was totally original and was so touching. I will admit I thought this was about a guy who was diagnosed to die but the doctor screwed up or something happened and the diagnosis would change. Well, not true. He does have cancer. As Bussan described it....it effects the lymph nodes. So in other words he has lymphoma.

I wouldn't say this was the greatest comedy but the story is about a guy trying to live life day by day with his closest friends. In doing so, he learns about the greatest gift of all. Just thinking about it makes me sad. Okay, my eyes are burning because the tears are trapped behind my eyeballs. I want to cry. I really don't want to but yet I need to.

This drama wasn't really sad but yet we all know the outcome of the story..........that is what is so painful.

Surprising the cast did an awesome job. I've already known that Junichi-kun was a good actor. I've seen them all act before, actually. But in a serious role, Sakurai Sho was amazing. His character was a little bit more bubble-headed, I guess. But not used to him without his Arashi bandmates, this was definitely a better role for him without the dependence of Arashi.
*Oh crap an edit....I found more of Sho-kun's dramas and will definitely be watching them all! He and Ohno are my favorite Arashi members. They are so KAWAII! Ooops, I forgot that I saw him in Yamada Taro Monogatari too. My bad.*

Okada Junichi


Sakurai Sho


Narimiya Hiroki

Last Quarter (Kagen no tsuki -2004)

Starring:
Chiaki Kuriyama ... Mizuki Mochizuki
Hiroki Narimiya ... Tomoki Anzai
Tomoka Kurokawa ... Hotaru Shiraishi
Motoki Ochiai ... Masaki Miura
Simon Britton ... Evil Eye Bassist
Ayumi Ito ... Sayaka Kamijo
Takanori Jinnai
Reika Kirishima
Maki Meguro
Anna Nakagawa ... Sayaka's mother
Ken Ogata ... Doujima
Nao Omori
Hideto Takarai ... Adam (as Hyde)
Yasuko Tomita
Tsuyoshi Ujiki

Last QuarterOn the night of her 19th birthday, Mizuki (Chiaki Kuriyama) is celebrating in style at a club with her boyfriend Tomoki (Hiroki Narimiya). Their blissful scene is ruined by a friend who reveals that she has been sleeping with the habitually promiscuous Tomoki, which shocks Mizuki profoundly. After the suicide of her mother and her difficulty adjusting to her father's remarriage, he was the only person in the world that she felt she could rely on. Utterly dejected, she flees into the night and stumbles upon a dilapidated estate bathed in the ethereal glow of the moon in its last quarter. Drifting on the still air is a strangely familiar melody being played on a guitar, emanating from somewhere inside the mansion. She follows the music inside to a darkened room and a mysterious young man named Adam (HYDE). He claims to have written the song especially for her even though she has never met him before. Feeling an inexplicably strong bond to this charismatic stranger, Mizuki returns home and collects her belongings in order to begin a new life with him but is involved in an accident. Suddenly she finds herself back at the gates of the mansion, unable to leave its precincts, and with no memory of what has happened or who she is.

Hotaru (Tomoka Kurokawa), an inquisitive young girl recently discharged from hospital, is searching for her runaway cat, followed by her reticent school friend Miura (Tomoki Ochiai). They enter the overgrown grounds of a deserted manor and hear piano music coming from within, enticing Hotaru to venture inside where she discovers a solitary young woman suffering from amnesia who claims to be awaiting the return of someone called Adam. When Miura enters the room, they are astounded to find that this girl can only be seen by Hotaru and is prevented by some strange force from leaving the mansion. Together they try to discover her identity and unravel the mystery surrounding her, and gradually come to the realization that it is all somehow connected to the tragic past of a family who once lived in the mansion, a rare phase of the moon that occurs only once every 19 years, and an enigmatic musician by the name of Adam...



This was the most bizarre love story ever! BUT....totally different in every way. I wasn't sure this story was even going to work. First, we all know how I feel about infidelity. Tomoki cheated on Mitzuki with her best friend, Aya. Second, it was creepy-ish. I'm not big on horrors. Thankfully this wasn't a horror movie, at all. Third, two of the characters were "goth" like. Nothing against Gothic genre, but that's not my "cup'a tea".

Instead, this movie became a eerie mystery. A girl suspended in the "middle" world. Not dead or alive. One girl, who just happened to have an accident the same night as the girl who is suspended-like, can see her.

Feeling guilty, and just realizing he had made the most biggest mistake of his life, Tomoki eventually realizes that Mitsuki's spirit has been taken over by another and helps the goth-like teens figure out how and why this has happened. I loved the story.

This was the first movie that I've witnessed Hyde's acting capabilities. I have to say he fit Adam to a "T". His ethereal freakiness was perfect as the haunting ghost of the mansion. And might I add that I will be youtubing him after I finish this review because I love jrock and haven't quite really heard him sing with the exception of the theme song to this movie and it was quite good.

Hyde


Narimiya Hiroki

Akihabara@DEEP Movie (アキハバラ@DEEP-2006)

Starring:
Hiroki Narimiya - Page
Yu Yamada - Akira
Shugo Oshinari - Box
YosiYosi Arakawa - Taiko
Haruma Miura - Izumu

Set in Tokyo's otaku mecca Akihabara, "Akihabara@DEEP" tells the story of five otaku who drop out of society and end up founding their own successful IT venture called Crook. But Nakagomi, president of an influential electronics company called Digital Capital, will do anything to get his hands on Crook.



This movie was a dud. There was nothing that Hiroki- and Haruma-kun could do to save this movie. I was bored to tears. It took more than halfway for the movie to get decently interesting and then it ended. I really wanted to beat my head up against the wall. I should have just quit the movie and found something else. But I so desperately wanted to see this movie improve...........

I wasted two perfectly good hours to only see no more than 30 minutes of Haruma-kun. Ugh! I will say that Hiroki-kun was definitely the star of this show.

So.........I'll just post pics of the cuties. Something more interesting to look at than that boring movie.

Miura Haruma

He's half my age. It's sooooo NOT fair! *sobs uncontrollably*

Narimiya Hiroki

Sorry I went a little nuts on Hiroki-kun! God, he's gorgeous!

Oshinari Shugo

Stand Up!!!

Starring:
Ninomiya Kazunari as Asai Shouhei
Yamashita Tomohisa as Iwasaki Kengo
Suzuki Anne as Oowada Chie
Narimiya Hiroki as Udagawa Hayato
Oguri Shun as Enami Kouji
Tsukamoto Takashi as Kume Naoya

Four schoolboys find themselves the last virgins left at school. During the summer holidays, a girl they knew as children 11 years ago, moves back to the neighborhood. Despite their childhood attraction to her, they realize she is a mere shadow of the "princess" they all thought they knew. This story of summer - love, friendship, school, family, the hypocrisy of adults, complications of life, experience and failure is set in an everyday shopping district and shows the clumsiness of children who have developed a little later than their peers. It's a bright romantic comedy that both young and old can appreciate. --TBS

OMG! I found another awesome drama! This is highly recommended for all teens (beware parents some nudity in 2-3 episodes but not lengthy). This was funny, poignant, sad, naive, hopeful, and reminiscent of high school life. You can't help but stand up and clap at how the parents tried so hard to keep their kids "pure". Then as many times as the guys swore to their abstinance they couldn't help but wish for their first time. LOL! God knows how much money they spent on condoms and never used them.

It was a funny romp with serious undertones. I think most girls would hope to have those 4 guys to be their first. Friends are usually our first crushes and loves. And are deemed worthy to defend and protect us from foul play. These guys showed their true colors when Chie's honor was crushed. Stand Up was the perfect name for this show. I don't know how many times I wanted to "Stand Up" and cheer for the great episodes and acts of courage these guys had to go through.

This was a wonderful eye-opener for the puberty ridden kid. Consequences on both sides. Is it worth it now or to wait? Kume Naoya was the perfect protagonist and antagonist for love and sex. Totally loved this show.

I love a good show that has a story and hidden meanings that go along with it. Hey, and add some members of the Japanese Brat Pack and there ya go!!

Oguri Shun


Yamashita Tomohisa


Narimiya Hiroki


Ninomiya Kazunari


Tsukamoto Takashi

Did you know that TT is best friends with Oguri Shun? If you didn't, well now you know.

NANA (2005) and NANA 2 (2006)

(2005)
Mika Nakashima ... Nana Osaki
Aoi Miyazaki ... Nana Komatsu
Hiroki Narimiya ... Nobuo Terashima
Ken'ichi Matsuyama ... Shin
Saeko ... Sachiko
Yuna Ito ... Reira Serizawa
Momosuke Mizutani ... Naoki
Anna Nose ... Jyunko
Takehisa Takayama ... Kyosuke
Tomoki Maruyama ... Yasu
Tetsuji Tamayama ... Takumi
Ryuhei Matsuda ... Ren Honjou
Yuta Hiraoka ... Shoji Endo

Nana Osaki is a punk singer who wants to debut with her band as soon as possible to leave her ex-boyfriend, Ren Honjo, behind. Nana was the lead vocalist in their old band with Ren, and they lived together as lovers. When Ren is offered a chance to debut in Tokyo as a replacement member of the popular band Trapnest (T-Nest for short), Nana chooses to cultivate her own band, Black Stones (BlaSt for short) instead.

Nana Komatsu, the other Nana, is called Hachi (after Hachikō) as she has weak mental characteristics that resemble a puppy. With a habit of falling in love at first sight, Hachi has always depended on other people to help her. When her friends and then boyfriend leave for Tokyo, she decides to join them a year later after having saved enough money.

Nana and Hachi meet in a train by chance, both on their way to Tokyo. After a string of coincidences, they come to live together in an apartment numbered 707. Despite having contrasting characters and ideals, the Nanas like and respect each other.

While the Black Stones begin to gain popularity at live gigs, other issues need resolving, especially in the areas of romance. The story of Nana revolves heavily on the romance and relationships of the two characters as one seeks fame and recognition while the other seeks love and happiness.

I loved, loved, loved this movie. Matsuda Ryuhei was perfect as Ren. Nakashima Mika was perfect (and looked just like the manga version) as Nana. I loved the complexity and the sexiness between them both. Such a serious aspect for youth at that age. You could actually feel the tumultuous relationship between the two. Ahh! The train scene had me bawling like a big baby.

Miyazaki Aoi was the pefect assignment as the character for Hachiko. There was actually a time I wanted to beat the living daylights out of Shoji for treating Hachiko the way he did. Miyazaki's portrayal of Hachi was spot on while showing her quirky, naive side. That "oh so" innocent face was just perfect!

This was an A+ movie all the way.


(2006)
Mika Nakashima ... Nana Osaki
Yui Ichikawa ... Nana Komatsu
Kanata Hongo ... Shin
Yuna Ito ... Reira
Nobuo Kyo ... Ren
Tomoki Maruyama ... Yasu
Momosuke Mizutani ... Naoki
Hiroki Narimiya ... Nobu
Anna Nose ... Junko Saotome
Takehisa Takayama ... Kyosuke
Tetsuji Tamayama ... Takumi
Seminosuke Murasugi
Tetsuhiro Ikeda
Yasuhi Nakamura

Taking place shortly after the end of the first film, Nana 2 focuses more on Komatsu Nana (Hachi/Hachiko)and her love life. Romance develops between Hachi and TRAPNEST's bassist Takumi as well as with the Black Stones' guitarist Nobu. Meanwhile, Nana works hard for her band while trying to find happiness. Both girls struggle through life, and try to keep their friendship from falling apart. More information on the story at Nana.

The flipside.....of NANA 2 sucked. I was looking forward to the relationship scenario of Hachiko with Takumi. Well, first of all......Matsuda, Matsuyama and Miyazaki.......didn't reprise their roles. That was a definite minus since their parts were perfect for them. This movie went so downhill it's not even funny. Miyazaki's replacement was lost in translation. I love Kanata Hongo as Ryoma in Prince of Tennis but as a rock-n-roll bassist.....ugh! He was not even close to being right for the part. He was too young, too innocent, too something. Nobuo Kyo was believable as Ren but Matsuda played it better. The only good thing about this movie was Tamayama Tetsuji. I love this man and his part as Takumi couldn't have been played any better.

This movie isn't really worth watching other than drooling over TT. If you are a TT fan...go for it!!!

Tamayama Tetsuji


Matsuyama Ken'ichi


Matsuda Ryuhei