Lupin III

Lupin III (Shun Oguri), Daisuke Jigen (Tetsuji Tamayama), Ishikawa Goemon (Gou Ayano), Fujiko Mine (Meisa Kuroki) and Inspector Koichi Zenigata (Tadanobu Asano) meet. They face a powerful enemy and form the Lupin team in response. The Lupin team then faces the challenge of retrieving the "Crimson Heart of Cleopatra" locked away in a fort like safe. The treasure is thought to allow its owner to control the world. (asiawiki-2014)

Ever since this movie came out, it hasn't been on my plans to watch it. Zero interest. To be honest, I am not even familiar with Lupin (except for the "real" Lupin, from the book). But a couple of days ago, I've read this particular actor had a small role (as a samurai!) so I just had to watch it. And watching action movies is never a chore.

beautiful as always except for that wig, hmph

It was very strange to watch a Japanese movie half in English, half in Japanese. I gotta give some kudos to Oguri Shun and Kuroki Meisa... at least 50% of their script was in English (and their English was good). Still, everytime they were talking in English, the acting wasn't smooth... you could tell they were acting, so I didn't like it at all. I wish it was 80% Japanese and 20% English...

I wonder why all these foreign actors? Taiwanese, Korean, Thai... it just didn't work, because even the Korean actor looked like he was just acting when he was talking in English and Japanese... the Taiwanese actor was better at least.

The plot was somewhat messy and the fights looked very choreographed... for example, when Lupin handcuffed the Inspector (what a waste of Asano Tadanobu, btw). The one with Kuroki Meisa and the other girl was fine at least. And I also liked Daisuke Jigen.. what a cool guy! But my dear Ayano Go was a bit of a waste... he has a sword, for God's sake! But barely any scenes :(

Passable for a boring night... but still, kinda mediocre :(

**My rating: 5/10**

Love Stories from Fukuoka 13

“Love Stories From Fukuoka” is a series of real-life stories submitted by viewers in Fukuoka about their personal experiences with love, loss and longing. All the stories are based in Fukuoka, the capital city of the Fukuoka Prefecture on Kyushu Island. The stories feature many actors, celebrities and athletes who have ties to Fukuoka, including a few members of the popular Japanese girl group AKB48.

In "Beyond Your World", the university student Sota falls in love with a girl at the library at first sight. However, she was born deaf. Determined not to give up, Sota starts learning sign language and they fall in love. Will they be able to overcome the fact that they live in different worlds? (mydramalist-2018)

This was like I was expecting, cute and simple. I like the JSL in stories, but I feel like in this case, Nao, being the MC, was a bit mediocre with sign language. I mean, she was too slow and didn't communicate with passion nor like someone who has been deaf all her life and communicating thru signs, like Kanno Miho in "Kimi no Te Sasayaite Iru" nor Shibasaki Kou in "Orange Days". On the other hand, Sugino Yosuke was adorable and he did portray the sweet, caring guy very well.

My rating: **8/10**