Joker Game - My review

Set along a backdrop of a fictitious second world war at an international city in Asia.

In Japan, Lieutenant Colonel Yuki (Yusuke Iseya) recommends the creation of spy training school "D Kikan". Meanwhile, Kato (Kazuya Kamenashi) is facing capital punishment for his refusal to follow a superior's order. Kato is then scouted by "D Kikan". He goes through a harsh training regiment and faces his first mission as a spy.

In order to seize American ambassador Graham's confidential documents "Black Note." Kato infiltrates into an international city. A battle to gain possession of the "Black Note" ensues between Kato, a mysterious woman named Rin (Kyoko Fukada), the British Spy Agency, the Soviet Spy Agency and the radical army in Japan.

This was a great movie, lots of action and spy things. I haven't seen this kind of thing since... well, I don't remember. I liked how Kato was so good in his training (disguising and picking locks). I feel like the movie did not make so much use of his abilities. I can't believe that Koide Keisuke plays at first a bully. He has such a nice face. But he was awesome (as always). The guy who played Colonel Yuki was so good. First time I see this man. He has a strong presence. Reminded me a little of Cillian Murphy.

As for Kame, I am so proud to say he did an incredible job as a spy. Generally speaking, I prefer to see him in goofy roles (like in "One Pound of Gospel") but he was very good and credible in his spy role, getting into fights and running. He looked so tiny here. His face, his body.... I love his hair in this movie. It suits him so well. He has to speak English several times in the movie... I admit I did not understand him a couple of times, but overall he did a good job. So cute! Kame speaking English <3

To be honest, I don't like Kyoko so much as an actress. She is so wooden, like she is some kind of doll. All stiff and beautiful. No idea if she did any surgery to her face (she was pretty even back then), but surprisingly, she did a good job here. I guess you don't need to have acting skills to be in an action movie (sorry Kame! I am talking about her only). And again, I feel like the female role was a bit MEH. At the beginning, it was very MEH. Again a guy, who is supposed to be cold and composed, gets involved with a problematic, yet beautiful woman. An insta-love (on Kato's side), which is always bothersome for me.

Not sure if the Japanese people who choose the casting are happy to have anyone who is foreign and who can speak English, but to me the English speaking actors were bad. Not the first time I think this. It is like they overreact in their speech or something.

It ends in a way that make the audience want to have more (so please director, make a sequel!).

Excellent soundtrack (I looooove "Dead or Alive").

My rating: 8.5/10

Meichan no Shitsuji - My review

The story revolves around a young woman named Mei, who was rescued as a young girl by someone calling himself her "butler." With only a vague memory, though, the experience seems like just a dream. But one day, after her parents' accidental death, he appears: Rihito comes from a line of outstanding butlers, and he has been appointed to serve her! Now her ordinary life has completely flipped, as she discovers that she's actually the heiress to a fortune, and is forced to transfer to St. Lucia Girls' Academy, where all the students have butlers! As a result, her childhood friend Kento decides to enroll in a butler school so that he can stay close to her. (wiki.d-addicts)

I love silliness in my manga, anime and dorama. The kind that obviously does not exist in real life, or the kind that make you think "how ridiculous!", with a laugh. Like it happens in Ouran High School Host Club, or Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge. In fact, I picked this dorama because it looked like it was similar to Hana Kimi.

And it is... in some ways. First, the school is completely ridiculous. No teachers that we can see of, and the students do what they want. Also, some actors that were in HanaKimi are also in Meichan, like Nanba-sempai, Oscar and Hibari-san.

And there is where the similarities end.

It is true that, like it happened to me while watching HanaKimi, I kept thinking "this is so ridiculous". But with HanaKimi I was thinking this while I was laughing. Instead, with Meichan, every time I had this thought was with a straight face and rolling my eyes.

Let's start with our heroine, Mei-chan.

While Horikita Maki can't act, and while she was kind of annoying as Mizuki, Eikura Nana was dull as Mei-chan. Maki is a bad actress, but she has charisma. Eikura Nana is a better actress but she was so dull. And her character was exactly like those girls in shoujo manga I hate so much: so nice, so naive. She cries for nothing. She gives up when there is a problem. She constantly runs away. Two nice guys love her, no idea why. The villain of the story tried to ruin her life several times, yet she "forgives" her and wants to be her friend. The sidekick of the villain shot an arrow to her love, yet she "forgives" her. All people that are mean to her, she forgives them. Arggg!

Another thing that bothered me about her, which is not completely related to her, is the lenght of her skirt. Yes, Eikura Nana is tall and has nice legs, but she is supposed to be a nerdy, innocent, kind of silly girl! Instead, she wears the shortest skirt in school.

Her childhood friend, played by Sato Takeru, confesses his love for her. Yet every time he says something like "I will always be by your side", what is her reply? "Mameshiba...." (his nickname). I swear, this happens almost every episode:

- Kento: I will fight for you, I will not give up.
- Mei: Mameshiba....

- Kento: I will always love you. Maybe sometime you will love me too.
- Mei: Mameshiba....

- Kento: I will go to England to become a better butler to be with you forever.
- Mei: Mameshiba....

And when he decides to leave to England, she gets mad. Doesn't say goodbye. But oh wait, she regrets her decision at the last minute, and of course everyone, including her awesome butler, have to do the impossible so she can get to the airport to have the above kind of conversation again.

All I have to say about Sato Takeru is... dude, that orange hair! Seriously, it was awful. Looked like a mushroom or something. And he looks like a 90-year-old man in a boy body. The bags under his eyes! Please, eat more! He was pouting and stomping all the time like a little boy. He did not have a chance against his cool brother, who at least behave like a man.

The headmistress was a joke, and not the good kind. All she did was read manga (really???). Well, the whole school was a joke, actually. What with those four mean girls who were always crossing arms? Who were they to have so much power? And they acted so bad. Like, BAAAAD. Lucia-sama was another cartoonish evil character: supposedly fragile and beautiful, but disguising her mean motives. Yawn, at the end she "redeems"  herself. How? Only by trying to commit suicide, but wait! Sweet Mei comes to save her and tell her she wants them to be friends **eyerolls**. The other girls were all 2-dimensional: the tsundere, the fatty, the rich brat, the weirdo, etc. None of them very likeable.

Not one moment I believed the bond between Mei and her classmates. Why would they? Because Mei "helped" them to keep their butlers? There was ZERO chemistry between the girls. And there were some good actresses. But yikes, no friendship at all there. I did not feel like they enjoyed shooting the scenes. The "best" of them (and at "best" I am referring to the most tolerable) was the little girl. The others were mediocre.

I found the idea of a girl and her butler very creepy, not romantic nor funny at all. These girls lived among girls only, except for their butlers. Of course some of them would develop romantic feelings for their butlers (which was prohibited). And how could these young, capable, handsome man be happy serving a spoiled rich girl? Some of them have medical abilities. Yet they were enslaved by these girls. Yes, ENSLAVED. They had to risk their lives for their mistress, they had to give up their own lives to serve their mistress. It was a very weird concept... The butlers did not own their lives; their mistresses did. There is a scene where Mei and Lucia-sama have a duel and the one who wins will keep Rihito-sama, like he is some kind of dog or something. In fact, Lucia-sama claims that she will have him forever and never, that she will own him.... Ehhhhh?

As for Hiro playing Rihito-sama, the perfect butler... While he looked very good as a butler, and he is very handsome with a model-like pose, I wasn't convinced with his acting. He squints his eyes very much (like he did in Kuroshitsuji).

In fact, the only one I think was very good was Osamu Mukai, as the evil butler. He looked good instead of ridiculous in his outfit. Other people, like the evil guy from "Liar Game", can look like he is cosplaying, but not Osamu Mukai. He nailed it in that white suit and white wig.

In summary, this dorama failed big as a comedy. Not a comedy, more like a parody but again, failed as one. It is more dramatic, but the silly kind of drama. The villains were cartoonish, the jokes were lame, there was zero chemistry between the actors, the acting was very bad. The dorama was saved by Osaku Mukai and the presentation of the show + the song. Oh, and for fans of the movie "BECK" almost all the gang is here, except the drummer and the rapper XD

**My rating: 2/10**