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

Tiger and Dragon (タイガー＆ドラゴン -2005)

Starring:
Nagase Tomoya as Yamazaki Kotora / Hayashiyatei Kotora / Tora / Toraji / Toravolta
Okada Junichi as Yanaka Ryuji / Hayashiyatei Kotatsu
Ito Misaki as Megumi
Nishida Toshiyuki as Yanaka Shoukichi / Hayashiatei Donbei / Shishou / Don-chan
Shoufukutei Tsurube as Nakatani Ken / Ken-chan (Shinjuku RyuseIkai Kumicho)
Tsukamoto Takashi as Nakatani Ginjiro / Gin-gin
Takuma Takayuki as Hyuuga Jun
Gin Pun Chou as Yanaka Sayuri
Abe Sadao as Yanaka Ryuhei / Hayashiyatei Donta
Nekoze Tsubaki as Yanaka Tsuruko
Shunputei Shota as Hayashiyatei Donkichi
Hoshino Gen as Hayashiyatei Dontsuku
Fukami Motoki as Hayashiyatei Donburi
Asari Yosuke as Murata Susumu / Hayashiyatei Udon
Aoi Yu as Risa
Kiritani Kenta as Chibi T / Takeshi-kun
Arakawa Yoshiyoshi as Awashima Yukio / "Jumptei Jump"
Omi Toshinori as Ta-chan (Soba Shop owner / Rakugo Fanatic)
Hankai Kazuaki as Hanzou (Oden Stand Owner / Rakugo Fanatic)
Matsumoto Jun as Yoshiko
Itou Shuuko (伊藤修子) as Nakatani Shizuka
Emoto Karin (江本花琳) as Yanaka Saya
Horaguchi Shinya (洞口信也) as Manabu
Hiroishi Keiichi (廣石恵一) as Kariya
Koumoto Junichi as Liu-san
Fukazawa Atsushi

Guests
Hiroshi (ヒロシ) as Death Kiyoshi (Sp&ep7)
Sugawara Daikichi (菅原大吉) as Tamotsu (Sp&10)
Oomori Nao as BOSS Kataoka (ep3)
Takada Fumio (高田文夫) as Takadatei Babahiko (ep3,7,10&11)
Morishita Aiko as Mizukoshi Koharu (ep4&11)
Furuta Arata as Maruo (ep5)
Shimizu Michiko as Marimo (ep5)
Yakushimaru Hiroko as Shiraishi Katsuko (ep6)
Kohinata Fumiyo as Yanagitei Koshin (ep7)
Takaoka Sousuke as Kaneko (ep8)
Kitamura Kazuki as Tanabe Yasuo (ep8,9,11)
Ino Manabu (猪野学) as Tetsuya (ep9)
Shoji Yusuke (少路勇介) as Yasuji (ep9)
Hashimoto Jun as Kaji Rikio (ep9-11)

The tale of Tiger & Dragon revolves around Rakugo, a traditional form of Japanese comedy that can look back on an impressive 400 year long history. Nagase portrays the Yakuza follower Toraji who goes to a Rakugo performer to collect debts, while Okada plays Ryuji a talented Rakugo player who wants to leave behind the old fashioned world of Rakugo for good. Shortly afterwards these two very different characters happen to cross paths through a girl named Megumi and that's when all the real trouble starts igniting.

Wow! This drama was so confusing. It's overly fast-paced. The first episode should have clued me in right there because it took me a couple of tries to watch this.

I'm not saying this show was bad but hard to keep up with. It would throw you into the Rakugo stories and then the "reality" stories and you would have to fend for yourself to figure out the show.

The show's actors were superb! Why I haven't fallen in love with Okada Junichi until now....I don't know. And Nagase Tomoya must love the "yakuza" characters he plays because he fits into those parts so well. LOL! And let's not forget the cute Tsukamoto Takashi. So I stuck in there with this drama because the eye candy was delectable.

I don't recommend this show for everyone even though there were some moments that were so funny. Again, its fact paced and the dialogue can be quick. So some jokes it took a while to catch on too. Some of the Rakugo was even lame...or maybe it's because the story was lost in translation. Literally. I know sometimes it's hard for translaters to do. So I'm not "beefing" on them. Just some words can't be translated to or from the Japanese language.

Well, it was entertaining in its own right, if you could get past the Rakugo, but that's hard since the show revolved around that entirely. Ahh well. To each his own. I'm posting pics of more eye candy any way................................................

Okada Junichi


Nagase Tomoya

Teppan Shojo Akane!! (鉄板少女アカネ!! -2006)

AKA: Teppan Girl


Starring:
Horikita Maki as Kagura Akane
Miyoshi Ai as Young Akane
Tsukamoto Takashi as Ichijo Shinta
Izumisawa Yuuki as Young Shinta
Jinnai Takanori as Kurogane Ginzo
Katase Nana as Saigoji Erena
David Ito as Kitamura Shugo
Ootomo Minami as Narumi Eiko
Natsuko as Katsura Yuzu
Akiko as Katsura Mikan
Ryu Raita as Akashi Mitsujiro
Iida Kisuke as Tomobe
Tamura Saburo (田村三郎) as Kinoshita
Suwa Taro as Ninomiya
Neko Hiroshi (猫ひろし)
Guests
Miyazaki Masumi as Hamada Toyoko (ep2)
Yanagisawa Nana as Yayoi (ep2)
Hamada Gaku as Hamada Shingo (ep2)
Fuse Hiroshi as Shirai Bunpei (ep3)
Mizuhashi Takami as Shirai Fumino (ep3)
Mizutani Yuri as Himeno Momoka (ep4)
Hasebe Hitomi (長谷部瞳) as Shiina Ranko (ep4)
Sakaguchi Eri (坂口エリー) as Saotome Yuri (ep4)
Toyama Kyoko as Irie Fukumi (ep5)
Asaka Mitsuyo as Yamakawa Yasuko (ep6)
Miyashita Naoki (宮下直紀) as Yamakawa Kenji (ep6)
Sato Jiro as Yamakawa Hideki (ep6)
Toyota Maho as Ou Etsuko (ep7-9)

Kagura Akane (Horikita Maki) is the only daughter of a family who runs a teppanyaki place in downtown Tokyo. Akane had always been proud of her father Tetsuma, who was called the “No.1 teppanyaki chef in Japan.” Growing up in such an environment, she naturally acquired “teppanyaki skills.” However, when her mother died of illness, her father lost his energy to work and disappeared. Since then, Akane has managed and protected the restaurant all by herself. One day, out of the blue, she is visited by Erena (Katase Nana), the rich daughter of a major food company, who orders Akane to move out at once because her father had borrowed money against his restaurant. Though feeling disappointed, Akane makes up her mind to close the store. But when her father’s friend, Kurogane (Jinnai Takanori), shows her “Ittetsu,” a grilling plate that Akane’s father cherished, it reignites her passion towards teppanyaki.

In order to protect the restaurant, she embarks on a journey with Shinta (Tsukamoto Takashi) to search for her father, but wherever she goes, she ends up getting involved in culinary battles. "--TBS"

This started off really well but eventually got overly repetetive. I couldn't take it any longer. Thankfully this series was only 9 episodes long.

The only reason I hung out as long as I did with this series was the love story underneath the teppanyaki competitions. I found myself fast forwarding through the boring cook-offs to the storyline that held my attention. Then "boom"......

Episode 8 struck. No!!!!! They can't make Shinta a bad guy! Nooooo! Ah, but the Japanese didn't disappoint me...."whew!" I really did hope for a more finished ending but for these types of genre dramas....it was for the course.

I just love Takashi-kun.............*sigh*

Tsukamoto Takashi

Summer Snow (2000)

Starring:
Domoto Tsuyoshi as Shinoda Natsuo
Hirosue Ryoko as Katase Yuki
Imai Tsubasa as Suetsugu Hiroto
Ikewaki Chizuru as Shinoda Chika
Oguri Shun as Shinoda Jun
Nakamura Shunsuke as Tachibana Seiji
Kuninaka Ryoko as Suzuki Misa
Kadono Takuzo as Katase Shogo
Hara Hideko as Sakurai Miyako
Fukuda Mayuko as Chiro-chan
Tamayama Tetsuji as Gang leader (ep6-7)
Tsukamoto Takashi as Gang member (ep2-3,6-7)
Abe Sadao as Chiron-chan's father (ep6)
Ito Takashi

A love story between a young man who has been forced to grow up too quickly, and a young woman with an ailment that has placed restrictions on her life. Natsuo has been looking after his younger brother and sister since the death of their parents. He has also been running the family bicycle shop. Yuki becomes the only person in the world in whom he can confide. For Yuki, Natsuo becomes the catalyst that has her trying to break out of her cocoon. -- KIKU-TV

Okay, I'm going to type this up before adding the cast, synopsis, and pics.

This drama was so wonderful! But......I will never watch this again. I will be crying the rest of the day and all eternity. I had no idea this would turn out just like Heaven's Tree. I had a feeling something was up when they kept hinting about watching out for cars and organ donors. If you don't know what I'm talking about by now.....you must be brain dead. Yeah, I just spoiled the ending. But don't let that bother you because this drama had so many popular faces in it. I was so excited that my toes curled and my blood boiled.

This drama touched on important scenarios in our everyday lives....especially organ donation and teen pregnancy.

The important factoid that was stressed entirely in this drama was to be TRUE TO YOURSELF.

Now I'm a little beefed because this was a Japanese drama and it ended like a Korean one. I was not happy at all but then I was too busy shedding enough tears that I became a human Niagara Falls. Yeah, it was that good of an ending!!!

A definite tear-jerker if your willing to spare the water weight from your body. It'll take days to get over this one. How will I sleep tonight?

Now I shall post pics of guys I haven't posted of before...........shall I?

Imai Tsubasa

Domoto Tsuyoshi

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!

Robokon ( ロボコン -2003)

AKA: Robot Contest

Starring:
Masami Nagasawa - Satomi Hazawa
Shun Oguri - Koichi Aida
Atsushi Ito - Yotsuya
Takashi Tsukamoto - Kazuyoshi Takeuchi
Kazuma Suzuki - Zushi sensei
Risa Sudo - Sasaki sensei
Tsuyoshi Ujiki - Yoshiyuki Hazawa
Hideko Yoshida - Obaba
YosiYosi Arakawa - Gohara
Sei Hiraizumi - Wakita sensei

This film is based on a real technological competition opened every year in Japan since 1988.

Satomi (NAGASAWA Masami) is a student of a technical college. She is a lazy girl and poor at both study and club activities. One day, a teacher tells her she is short of credits and needs to have extra lessons. More lessons will be killing her, but the teacher gives her a proposal that if she joins the second robot club of the college and takes part in the coming RoboCon with the club, he will accept that as the credit.“Robot Contest” or RoboCon is competed by one hundred and twenty-four teams from sixty-two technical colleges - two teams from each college. Every team consists of one robot and three members of crew - a captain, an operator and a mechanic. The captain of Satomi’s team is the club leader Yotsuya (ITO^ Atsushi), who has dropped out of the first robot club of the college because it is too tightly organized, but is worried about too few members of his club and his small gift of robot operation. The mechanic is Aida (OGURI Shun), who is a lonely genius - having enough gifts in technological fields and no cooperation. And the operator is Satomi, who has never operated a robot before. Their robot is named “BOXhund”, designed with outstanding ideas but still incomplete .

The matches are a single elimination tournament. Two teams compete to make their robot carry more objects to the respective goal within three minutes. The design of the robot is free while it meets some requirements - the weight, the size when it stands still, the power supply, the budget, and so on. The first robot club wins the preliminary matches and proceeds to the final stage like every year; the second robot club loses the first round like every year. But it is not usual that the second robot club is invited to the final stage as one of two teams by recommendation of the judges. They have praised the design concept of “BOXhund”.

Satomi encourages the other members to win the final stage. Her team’s miserable defeat in the first round has awoke her long-sleeping competitive spirit. But they have a lot of problems to face - the incomplete robot, Satomi’s poor operation technique, little cooperation between the members, and having only a few months until the final stage.

It is touching that the club members try to make their way to the final top. ~~crunchy

I downloaded this movie ages ago and completely forgot about it until last night when I was on the hunt for a particular movie. You know somedays you want a thriller, some days a comedy, and some days a romance.

I happened upon Robokon and got that jolt of "deja vu" then it was like "oh yeah!" I have this movie on my hard drive. Duh!

So this morning, I opened it up and away I went.

This movie wasn't the greatest of my Shun-kun movies. Adorable as ever and with his best bud Takashi even sweeter!

The movie, to me, starts out a little abrupt and messy. There wasn't a clear line of communitcation from to the movie to me. I kept going...:"huh?" It wasn't till the middle of the movie that it started to make sense. Or maybe the subs weren't clear enough for me. Not sure. I need to learn Japanese quick!

This was a great time killer. I'll probably end up burning this on DVD but it's not going to be seen anytime soon again. I'd probably watch this out of boredom.

Oguri Shun and Tsukamoto Takashi

Battle Royale(Batoru rowaiaru-2000)

Starring:
Takeshi Kitano - Kitano (as Beat Takeshi)
Shin Kusaka - Yoshio Akamatsu - Boys #1
Ren Matsuzawa - Keita Iijima - Boys #2
Gouki Nishimura - Tatsumichi Ohki - Boys #3
Shigehiro Yamaguchi - Toshimori Oda - Boys #4
Taro Yamamoto - Shougo Kawada - Boys #5
Masanobu Ando - Kazuo Kiriyama - Boys #6
Yukihiro Kotani - Yoshitoki Kuninobu - Boys #7
Osamu Ohnishi - Youji Kuramoto - Boys #8
Yuuki Masuda - Hiroshi Kuronaga - Boys #9
Shirou Gou - Ryuhei Sasagawa - Boys #10
Sousuke Takaoka - Hiroki Sugimura - Boys #11
Yutaka Shimada - Yutaka Seto - Boys #12
Junichi Naitou - Yuichiro Takiguchi - Boys #13
Shigeki Hirokawa - Shou Tsukioka - Boys #14
Tatsuya Fujiwara - Shuya Nanahara - Boys #15
Hirohito Honda - Kazushi Niida - Boys #16
Yousuke Shibata - Mitsuru Numai - Boys #17
Satoshi Yokomichi - Tadakatsu Hatagami - Boys #18
Takashi Tsukamoto - Shinji Mimura - Boys #19
Ryou Nitta - Kyouichi Motobuchi - Boys #20
Yasuomi Sano - Kazuhiko Yamamoto - Boys #21
Tsuyako Kinoshita - Mizuho Inada - Girls #1
Eri Ishikawa - Yukie Utsumi - Girls #2
Sayaka Ikeda - Megumi Etou - Girls #3
Tomomi Shimaki - Sakura Ogawa - Girls #4
Tamaki Mihara - Izumi Kanai - Girls #5
Yukari Kanasawa - Yukiko Kitano - Girls #6
Misao Kato - Yumiko Kusaka - Girls #7
Takayo Mimura - Kayoko Kotohiki - Girls #8
Hitomi Hyuga - Yuko Sakaki - Girls #9
Anna Nagata - Hirono Shimizu - Girls #10
Kou Shibasaki - Mitsuko Souma - Girls #11
Satomi Ishii - Haruka Tanizawa - Girls #12
Chiaki Kuriyama - Takako Chigusa - Girls #13
Haruka Nomiyama - Mayumi Tendou - Girls #14
Aki Maeda - Noriko Nakagawa - Girls #15
Satomi Hanamura - Yuka Nakagawa - Girls #16
Sayaka Kamiya - Satomi Noda - Girls #17
Aki Inoue - Fumiyo Fujiyoshi - Girls #18
Asami Kanai - Chisato Matsui - Girls #19
Mai Sekiguchi - Kaori Minami - Girls #20
Takako Baba - Yoshimi Yahagi - Girls #21
Ai Iwamura - Girl - won last BR
Ai Maeda - Shiori, Kitano's daughter (voice)
Minami - Keiko
Michiko Yamamura - Reporter
Gou Ryugawa - Lieutenant Anjo
Takashi Taniguchi - Nanahara's father
Ken Nakaide - Mr. Hayashida - Home-room teacher of Class 3-B
Kanako Fukaura - Bus conductress (Basugaido)
Yuko Miyamura - Training Video Girl

At the dawn of the new millennium, Japan is in a state of collapse. Unemployment is endemic and school violence is out of control. The beleaguered government retaliates with Battle Royale... Each year, a randomly chosen class is pitted against itself on an abandoned island in a cruel game of survival. The rules of the game are simple: 1) it lasts three days; 2) Each player starts with food, water and a "weapon"; 3) if more than one player survives, everyone dies (by detonating special electronic necklaces; 4) there is no escape. Takeshi Kitano plays a downtrodden teacher turned Battle Royale operation leader. As the game progresses, terror and panic challenge the students' fragile trust in each other. But despite the game's brutality, the adolescent players remain obsessed with their crushes, their petty grudges - and their dreams...

I finally broke down and watched this. I'm not a girl who likes gore, horror, or intense thrillers. But everyone, and I mean everyone, keeps telling me that this was an awesome movie. Soooooooo...............................

Yeah, I watched it. Okay, Nobu's death was too much. Then there was the guy who's head was cut off and used to encase a hand grenade. But from other than those two instances....it was reeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaally good. I was so happy to see Takashi-san, Ando-san and Taro-san. I love those guys! Tatsuya-san, I was never really a great fan of his because his character in Death Note just wasn't right. From that point on I've avoided his movies and/or dramas. Okay, my bad. He did a really good job in this one. Maybe Kira just wasn't the right character for him in Death Note. Or I could blame the writer's in that one because they totally annihilated that anime/manga movie. But I digress.....Death Note for another time.

I just couldn't imagine having to kill my boyfriend or friends. That's just insane. The part where the girls in the lighthouse "lost it" was very, unimaginably believable. And very sad. The trust was walking a thin line.....and "boom" it was lost in a second.

This was a very good movie all around. Scary, horrible, horrific, and just terribly sad.

Masanobu Ando

Tsukamoto Takashi

Fujiwara Tatsuya

About Love (Guan yu ai -2005)

Starring:
Bo-lin Chen - Yao (segment "Tokyo")
Mavis Fan - A-Su (segment "Taipei")
Yui Ichikawa - Yuka (segment 'Tokyo')
Misaki Ito - Michiko (segment "Tokyo")
Ryo Kase - Tecchan (segment "Taipei")
Lu Lu - Yun (segment "Shanghai") (as Xiaolu Li)
Ren Osugi - Shop owner (segment 'Tokyo')
Takashi Tsukamoto - Shuhei (segment "Shanghai")
Rui Yang - Min



Consisting of three vignettes about cross-cultural love set in three different cities (Tokyo, Taipei, and Shanghai), 'About Love' is a film made by three directors with six idols from Japan, Mainland China, and Taiwan. In each vignette, a foreigner and a resident, both in their twenties, try to transgress cultural and language barriers and explore something 'About Love'.
TOKYO
Cast: Ito Misaki, Wilson Chen Bo-lin
A Taiwanese student in Japan yearns to become a successful digital cartoonist. One day he passes by a heartbroken young graphic artist who possesses a quality that intrigues him...
TAIPEI
Cast: Kase Ryo, Mavis Fan
A newcomer from Japan in Taipei who eagerly hopes for a one-night-stand receives a call from a local girl for help. He speeds to her place only to find that his task is merely to help A-Su assmemble a bookshelf...
SHANGHAI
Cast: Tsukamoto Takashi, Li Xiaolu
A young Japanese student lives on the second floor of a general store in Shanghai. The landlady's daughter falls in love with him at first sight, but he is still filled with thoughts of his sweetheart in Japan...

I think I watched this backwards. Didn't mean to. Just didn't know which order was what. Anyway, to an extent it was probably for the best. It made the Tokyo segment more understandible but yet the other two less. I guess if I watched them now in the right order it would all make more sense. LOL!

The other two segments contained a little something that dealt with the Tokyo segment and vice-versa.

I think my favorite segment was Shanghai. It seemed more innocent BUT I was totally lost at the end. I didn't understand what happened to Yun and her building. And I wanted closure between Shuhei and Yun. It was so sweet and poignant when Shuhei discovered what "Te Quiero!" meant. They translated it as "I love you," which surprises me because the literal translation is "I want you." Either way.....it was so sad and sweet at the same time.

Tsukamoto Takashi


Wilson Chen