The Letters (Tegami / 手紙 -2007)

Starring:
Takayuki Yamada - Naotaka Takeshima
Erika Sawajiri - Yumiko Shirai
Tetsuji Tamayama - Takashi Takeshima
Supporting Roles:
Kazue Fukiishi - Asami Nakajo
Hiroyuki Onoue - Yusuke Terao
Mitsuru Fukikoshi - Tadao Ogata
Mina Hara
Yukijiro Hotaru
Mitsuko Ishii
Morio Kazama - Tadao
Susumu Kobayashi
Sachiko Matsuura
Kazuyuki Matsuzawa
Naoki Sugiura - Hirano
Toshie Takada
Yoji Tanaka - Kurata
Machiko Washio
Tetsuo Yamashita

Brother, how are you? This is my last letter . . .Takayuki Yamada, Tetsuji Tamayama, and Erika Sawajiri star in the blockbuster film "Tegami." Naoki works at a recycling plant on the outskirts of Tokyo, trying to avoid interacting with people to avoid the reputation of his brother who accidently killed a man and went to prison. He's moved countless times, forgotten his dreams, even the lost the love of his life, all because of his brother. The only thing that saved hopeless Naoki was the woman lookin on from the side, Yumiko. Feeling the first happiness in years, he decides to throw off the chains of his brother who continues to send him letters from prison!

I'm still in tears. OMG! I'm going to have headaches all day because I couldn't sleep a wink because of this movie. Yeah, this movie touched me so much that I literally cried myself to sleep last night. This is hands down the best movie ever from Tamayama Tetsuji. This movie affected me personally. How many more tears can I cry? I knew that once I woke up this morning I would write this review but now I'm thinking about it again and once again my tears fall like rain.

This movie should be seen by everyone. It'll touch your soul in more ways than you can imagine. You don't have to be a relative of a convict to feel the emotions that this movie sets forth in motion. But again, I say this, it hit me on a personal level. I for one never thought of what it's like for the person who sits all alone in prison. This movie turned the table on me. I for one feel the pain that MY brother had to go through and why his letters were replied as soon as I sent him one.

Emotionally draining....yes. But this movie puts in perspective what the families of convicts go through and how the motions of that convict change the lives of not the victims families but the convicts families as well. I understand. I get it.

Be a better person and not treat the families as if they are responsible for the convicts actions.....they are only bystanders.

All I can say is......BRAVO! BRAVO! BRAVO!

This movie gets a "A+" for everything. It was perfect in everyway.

Rookies

Starring:
Sato Ryuta as Kawato Koichi
Ichihara Hayato as Aniya Keiichi
Koide Keisuke as Mikoshiba Toru
Shirota Yu as Shinjo Kei
Nakao Akiyoshi as Sekikawa Shuta
Takaoka Sousuke as Wakana Tomochika
Kiritani Kenta as Hiratsuka Taira
Sato Takeru as Okada Yuya
Igarashi Shunji as Yufune Tetsuro
Kawamura Yosuke as Hiyama Kiyooki
Onoue Hiroyuki as Imaoka Shinobu

The story centers on Kōichi Kawatō, a high school (a former deliquent himself) teacher who attempts to raise his baseball team of delinquents out of suspension and into Japan's Kōshien national championship. Having been labeled a vicious teacher after a misunderstanding and accident happened at a prior school, can Koichi pull himself and his students out of societies trash can and into the limelight?

Just like a lot of the young people these days, these students do not have much hope for the future and many do not even know what they want to do. However, Koichi Kawato (Ryuta Sato) is a teacher who is willing to prove that the world is full of hope and that they shouldn’t mock those who do have a dream.

The story takes place at a high school where the baseball team has just been told to suspend their activities because of an incident that occurred during a game. The students are betrayed by their teacher and are forced to take responsibility for the incident. This is when they meet Koichi Kawato, a teacher who believes in having dreams and who would do anything for his students, even if it means risking his job. Through their emotional and heart-to-heart confrontations with this teacher, the students realize that they haven’t and that they do not want to give up their dream.

This show, I've only seen 2 episodes so far, reminds me of GTO and Gokusen all mixed up in one. Throw in some H2...and *poof*...there ya go. I will say the "hottie" factor pulled me to this show. And I am so far impressed...a little. I guess there can only be so much school drama/comedy one can stand.

To reinforce the importance of student/teacher relationships is vital to any society (American or Japanese). If only students and teachers could sit down and watch some of these shows back-to-back to understand the difference between right and wrong in middle- and high-school society. Our kids would have a better learning environment and our teachers would be rewarded.

To reiterate, this show is really good and if you are big fans of any of these cuties, you won't be disappointed...so far.

How in the heck am I to post all the hottie pics? They are all so darn cute.

Sato Ryuta


The Boys