That's Cunning! Shijo Saidan no Sakusen (1996)

AKA: That's Cheating! The Ultimate Mission

Starring:
Namie Amuro
Tatsuya Yamaguchi
Naohito Fujiki
Sadatora Araki
Riki Hayama
Taro Yamamoto
Masâki Takarai
Takeshi Masu
Akaji Maro
Toru Yuri
Yasuyo Shiroshima
Takashi Matsuo
Katsuo Nakamura

The plot, such as it is, involves a group of chemistry students (all of whom live in a notorious dorm called "White Bear") whose only hope of passing organic chemistry is by cheating. Their professor is a manaically strict man who hates cheating . Ironically, he is also a cheater - it comes out later that he is plagiarizing another professor's work. Anyway, the maniac professor hates cheaters and the students of the White Bear dorm, who happen to be one and the same. He hatches an anime - villain-worthy plan to tear down their dorm and build a hotel on that spot - UNLESS the group gets good grades on their finals, WITHOUT cheating.

The White Bear is a boy's dorm originally, but Yumi (Amuro Namie) decides to move in and, predictably, fight with the boys to preserve the dorm. The White Bear is a boy's dorm originally, but Yumi (Amuro Namie) decides to move in and, predictably, fight with the boys to preserve the dorm.

After a brave effort, the group realizes they don't have a hope of doing well on the final without cheating, so they create a new original cheating scheme that their professor will not be able to detect. This turns out to be really funny, and it provides the second highlight of the film, after the first sequence. After a brave effort, the group realizes they don't have a hope of doing well on the final without cheating, so they create a new original cheating scheme that their professor will not be able to detect. This turns out to be really funny, and it provides the second highlight of the film, after the first sequence.


This was absolutely hilarious. OMG! The cheating was so unreal and creative. I had to hide my son's eyes away from the screen because I didn't want to him to learn some of these techniques. LOL! Some of them were legitimately reasonable to get away with. No lie! LOL! Where was this movie when I was in high school? LOL!

This movie was a little remindful of the old university spoof classics like Animal House. I really think a lot of old schooler will love this movie. Made in 1996 (I was already out of high school....*pouts*), the genre is classic and reminiscent of that era. *pouts some more*

Since this movie is a little "old school", it was hard to find reviews or synopsis' for it. But some of the actors on the list are still around today.........and still hotter than ever!!!

Tantei Gakuen Q (2007)

Starring:
Kamiki Ryunosuke as Kyuu
Shida Mirai as Megu
Yamada Ryosuke as Ryuu
Kaname Jun as Kinta
Jinnai Takanori as Morihiko Dan
Wakaba Katsumi as Kazuma
Okunuki Kaoru as Miss Yurie
Yamamoto Taro as Nanami Kotaro
Suzuki Kazuma as Kerberos
Hoshino Gen as Nekoda Keiji
Akita Makoto as Uemura Haruka
Saiki Shigeru (斉木しげる) as Moroboshi Keibu

Guests
Moriguchi Yoko (ep1)
Kakiuchi Ayami as Okada Ritsuko (ep1)
Hongo Kanata as Makino Daisuke (ep2)
Jinbo Satoshi as Igarashi Takumi (ep2)
Yanagita Erika as Suzuki Ayaka (ep2)
Yoshitake Reo (吉武怜朗) as Takeyama Yuuki (ep2)
Aoyagi Ruito as the street dance leader (ep2)
Ichikawa Yui as Yoko (ep3)
Nagata Anna (永田杏奈) as Tamura Yuki (ep3)
Fukami Motoki as Watanabe (ep3)
Isaki Mitsunori (ep3)
Suzuki Kasumi as Asabuki Maya (ep4-5)
Wakaba Ryuya as Sakuma Hibiki (eps 4-5)
Ochiai Motoki as Tominaga Masashi (eps 4-5)
Ono Kensho (小野賢章) (eps 4-5)
Tajima Yumika (田島ゆみか) as Toya Kuniko (eps 4-5)
Nishimura Risa (西村理沙) as Murasaki Misato (eps 4-5)
Yamazaki Yuta as Fukunaga Ukon (ep6)
Satoi Kenta as Fukunaga Samon (ep6)
Nishiyama Mayuko as Fukunaga Tomoko (ep6)
Yamaguchi Miyako as Fukunaga Haduki (ep6)
Yamashita Shinji as Toyama Kinzaburo (ep7)
Suho Reiko as Taguchi Ryoko (ep7)
Kinami Haruka as Nishizawa Maki (ep7)
Namioka Kazuki as Mimasaka Ryusuke (ep7)
Uemura Aika (上村愛香) as Okajima Yayoi (ep7)
Suzuki Kosuke as Asano Takuro (ep8)
Takahashi Mai as Reika (ep8)
Kayo Aiko (嘉陽愛子) as Setouchi Tsugumi (ep8)
Akiyama Nana (秋山奈々) as Honoka (ep8)
Honda Makoto (本田誠人) (ep8)
Muro Tsuyoshi (ep8)
Hosokawa Shigeki as Renjo Satoru (ep9)
Hasegawa Tomoharu as Tanaka (ep9)
Nagano Satomi(長野里美) as Ishi (ep9)
Maido Yutaka (まいど豊) as Nakamura (ep9)
Watanabe Minoru (渡辺穣) as Keimu Kan (ep9)
Nakamura Sakuya as young Kyu (ep9)
Tanaka Minoru as Benijo Kyosuke (ep10)
Matsuo Reiko as Nanamura Biki (ep10)
Murano Mia as Kagiya Kikyo (ep10)
Kosuda Yasuhito (小須田康人) as Uhora Tsubesema (ep10)
Yamashita Yuko as Benijo Tsubaki (ep10)
Sakurai Ryutaro (櫻井遼太郎) as young Ryu (ep10)
Wakamatsu Takeshi (若松武史) as King Hades (ep11)

Notebooks that foretell deaths, numerous urban legends, and murders with no clues... a series of strange incidents occur, and people are lead into a deep labyrinth of mysteries. Five fledgling teen detectives of the Dan Detective Academy, which was founded by the legendary and renowned detective, Morihiko Dan, work together to solve such difficult cases. Stealthily at work behind the strange incidents is an evil crime syndicate called the "Meiosei". They are a group of intellectuals who have long antagonized the Detective Academy run by Morihiko Dan. The five youngsters make their way forward a step at a time as they come face to face with death, clash with one another at times, reconcile, and deepen their friendship. This is a pop mystery drama series about youth friendship and adventure in the face of united efforts against dark forces. --NTV


Another awesome drama that I most definitely fell in love with. Started it this morning, got hooked, and watched until now. Eleven hours of this show....and it totally thrilled me and I must say....ROCKED!!!!!

I love shows that keep you on your toes instead of groaning because the fool couldn't confess because he was a dipsh*t. I have to say the Korean's are good at those love triangles and quadrangles...that strangle me to death. This show had none of that. There was a kind of romance going on but it was innocent and not over the top. This show relied more on it's mystery and story which was refreshing.

Friendship....definitely well defined in this show. Don't we all wish we had friends as close as those 5. I do. Kyuu and Ryuu's relationship was something that we all go through but in the end if we believe and trust in any relationship (friendship or love), it all works out. The story was so involved in their oncoming friendship. The highs and lows and everything in between....the good will always overcome the bad.

Kaname Jun


Kamiki Ryunosuke


Yamada Ryosuke

Without feeling like a perv, Ryu-kun is only 2 years older than my oldest son. So I'm not posting any naked upper body shots. That just makes me sick on my part. He's just toooooo young right now to be slobbering all over him. But! This kid when he gets older is going to be a gorgeous man. No doubt about it. And for obvious reason of the last pic......it's Ryu-kun with my KAME!!!! Now he's the man! LOL!

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

Moon Child (

Starring:
Hideto Takarai ... Kei (as Hyde)
Gackt Camui ... Sho (as Gackt)
Lee-Hom Wang ... Son
Taro Yamamoto ... Toshi
Susumu Terajima ... Shinji
Zeny Kwok ... Yi-Che
Seiji Chihara
Koji Chihara ... Wani
Yosh
Kanata Hongo ... Young Sho
Ryo Ishibashi
You Kurosaki ... Jun
Anne Suzuki ... Hana
James H. Thomas ... Rick
Etsushi Toyokawa ... Luka

"Moon Child" is a sci-fi action drama starring HYDE (of the band L'Arc en Ciel) and Gackt, two of Japan's top rock musicians with a strong fan base throughout Asia. Filmed on location in Taiwan, it features an up and coming cast in a truly unique, pan-Asian glimpse of the future. In a chaotic, strife-filled city where everything is up for grabs, fate brings four orphans into the life of KEI, a man with eternal life, a vampire.

The story follows the five tough yet vulnerable characters as they struggle to find love and friendship in a world of conflict and horror. Caught in the web of violent times, they end up at war with one another in a bitter sweet mix of love hate and gunfire.

It is the year 2014. The Asian Special Economic Zone, "Mallepa" is bustling with people of different races and nationalities. It's a boomtown at the frontier of the modern economic system where dreams can come true overnight...for some.

SHO, who has just turned eight, is one of a gang of kids known as the "Mallepa Orphans" who eke out their lives on the streets. Together with his brother SHINJI and their buddy TOSHI, they survive by petty thieving and picking pockets. One day Sho gets acquainted with KEI, a young man with the cursed fate of a vampire. Trying to help the wounded Kei, Sho takes him to their hideout.

A vicious thug storms the hideout to retrieve his briefcase which the gang had stolen earlier. They try to flee, but Sho and Shinji are cornered. Sho sees his brother gunned down. But nothing matches the horror of watching Kei arise and tear the thug to pieces then drink his blood. From that moment on, this terrible secret is a bond between them.

...Ten years later, Sho and Toshi have matured into hoodlums who plan to hit the local Taiwanese mafia and make their fortunes. Kei, not having aged a day, tags along with this group of friends.

As they launch their attack on the mafia HQ, they encounter SON, a local guy there with exactly the same plan in mind. They team up and become stronger than ever.

Later, at Son's house, they meet his sister YI-CHE who was once raped by the mafia thugs and left for dead. Struck dumb by the trauma, her only mode of expression is in the painting of a giant mural in the park where the gang hang out. Sho falls for her silent beauty, but it seems she is smitten by the mysterious presence of Kei.

Against the hidden longings of this latent love triangle, the following period is one of true happiness for the gang. For the first time in their bleak, young lives they know what it is to cherish each day. However the peace is fated to be short-lived. At the opening exhibition for Yi-Che's mural, hit men from the top-level of the mafia gang barge in, guns blazing.......



I'm going to start off right to the point. This movie is a total must-see. I've got tears streaming down my face. It was a beautiful story. Who would have thought a story about a vampire would be so beautiful. It was an emotional story that Hyde couldn't have played better. And surprisingly enough, Gackt rocked!! Kei (Hyde) starts off by becoming a sort of father figure to Sho (Gackt). As Sho grew, it was more of brother love. It was a bloody, enduring, hopeful story of friendship beyond imagination during a time of gang wars and racial discrimination.

This movie has got to be a sleeper hit. I really don't know but I'd never heard of it before but yet I've read other reviews to this movie and it was given above average marks. I have to say that I agree whole heartedly and then some!

I'll admit it was a bit fast in the time changes but yet it fit so well. We see the growth in Sho as he matures into an adult while we watch Kei struggle with life as he never ages and knows that eventually they'll all leave him behind.

The end was shocking and left me with a "huh?" then a "WTF?" to an "OMG!" then progressed to an all out sob fest. Man, the Japanese sure do know how to make me cry! Damn them! LOL! Kidding folks!

I'm immediately going to download this movie as soon as I can!! So should you!!

Hyde

What a pretty backside....*wink, wink*


Gackt

Ummm? Oooooh-laaaaaaa-laaaaaaa!

Are those really his blue eyes.....or contacts?

OMG! If I post any more naked pics of Gackt...I'm sooooo in trouble. The man is not afraid to pose nude (with a certain appendage covered discretely). Any more pics like this.....might have to rename my site Mada Mada Hentai....LOL!

Go! (2001)

Starring:
Yōsuke Kubozuka - Sugihara/Lee
Kō Shibasaki - Tsubaki Sakurai
Hirofumi Arai - Won-Su
Taro Yamamoto - Tawake
Takahito Hosoyamada - Jong-Il
Tsutomu Yamazaki - Hideyoshi (Sugihara/Lee's father)


At first glance, Sugihara (Yosuke Kubozuka) looks no different than your average high school rebel-without-a-cause-except that he's concealing a carefully kept secret: he's an ethnic Korean-or zainichi-growing up in Japan. The 2001 Japanese film Go chronicles Sugihara's tribulations as he searches for his identity in a society that refuses to acknowledge him. The film is an adaptation of a novel by the same name by Kazuki Kaneshiro, who is also a zainichi.

A short crash course in modern Japanese history is required for the movie to make the least bit of sense. Koreans numbering the tens of thousands migrated to mainland Japan for forced labor during the Imperial occupation of Korea during World War II. After Japan's defeat, many of the Koreans residing in Japan lost their Japanese citizenship because Korea was no longer under their rule. Also, Japan's laws determine citizenship through blood and not location. In other words, the Japanese government denies legitimacy to a Korean born in Japan, but an ethnic Japanese born overseas is guaranteed citizenship until the age of 21. Of course, there is an alternate process of naturalization, but it's so rigid that it offers plenty of room for discrimination.

Despite beginning a relationship with a girl named Sakurai (Kou Shibasaki)-under the guise of a Japanese citizen-things change for the worse when Sugihara's best friend from Korean school is murdered in a subway. Sugihara breaks down for the first time in the movie. His friend, Jog-Il, was his sole classmate from his previous school to approve of his attempt to blend into society.~Brett Fujioka

This movie was really good but seemed very confusing with many flashbacks. You had a hard time trying to figure out what was then and what was now. But in all, it was a great lesson in discrimination. More of a great learning experience for myself who really didn't realize the problems with Korean and Japanese relations. Again, American naivete reigned supreme for me. I live in this generalized American bubble that I'm so desperate to pop.

The most memorable moment in the movie, to myself, was the discussion between the Japanese patrolman and Sugihara. We all want to be seen as individuals. As an American, I'm a "mixed breed". Even though, I'd be categorized as caucasian, I'm a pure breed of English, French, Native American (more so of that than the others), German, and possibly Irish/Scot. I speak English, some Spanish, some French, some Japanese, some Korean, and some Latin. To be categorized by race or country really, truly apalls me to no end. All of us, when cut, bleed red.

I totally got pissed when Sakurai told Sugihara that her father said that Chinese and Koreans were "dirty". Eeeergh!!!! That for him to be inside her....was scary. Damn if I didn't want to reach through my computer and ring her neck. Love is love there should be no walls beween.

Definitely, this movie was an "A" class. Maybe not for most with race issues, but definitely a teaching and learning experience.