My High School Business(先に生まれただけの僕) Japanese Drama Thoughts

    Sakurai Sho is finally back on the small screen with an all star cast of Aoi Yu, Seto Koji, and, Tabe Mikako in My High School Business. The drama was directed by Mizuta Nobuo and written by Fukuda Yasushi for ten episodes.


    A company man is sent to a failing High School as a way to prove his worth to his boss. Now, he must become the principle of the school while also turning the it into a grand school that families would want to send their kids to. He also must deal with relationship problems and a devious boss on the side.


   The duration of each episode for this drama only lasts a half and hour at most but the plot gets a lot developed for the story in that short amount of time each episode. It would have been really easy for this show to fall into the trap of making this drama about bullying. As you might know, there's a ton of Japanese dramas dealing with the subject that talks about bullying which is a safe ground to fall on when producing dramas about school or education. My High School Business does touch on the topic of bullying in a matter of fact way without wasting too much time on the subject. I would assume that the writer of the script knew that bullying is always a popular topic in these kinds of dramas so the plot centers around many different topics concerning school. I was actually surprised at the range of topics this drama touched on. They were topics that were very relatable to school but many of us don't think about until the problem is in our faces. One of the biggest examples I could think of was the girl who was dating a man older than her(He wasn't super old but older than her.). The teachers had to deal with this because the mother was getting nowhere with convincing her daughter that she was moving a little too fast for her age. You might think its kind of weird that teachers would get involved in a matter like this one however, in Japan homeroom teachers are equal to second parents to their students. There's nothing strange about going to your homeroom teacher about personal issues. I really enjoyed the drama's method of using real life issues to solve student issues in the school. Sometimes educators forget that the students they're teaching will be going out into the world.  Getting good academic grades important to a certain degree but you can't forget to teach your students about the reality of the outside world as well. Ignored to get this point across, the lines in the drama do become a bit preachy at times. I was completely focused on what was being said though. I even got emotional during a few words that hit home for me….. Comedy was a big presence in the drama during the times that the plot didn't take a more serious turn. Not many things can make me laugh out loud but this drama made me LOL a few times. High School Business is a very well produced drama who's plot makes you want to accomplish all your goals.

 
    I haven't seen Sho since Kazoku Game from a while ago. This role for him was a piece of cake. It was very apparent by the way he approached the role with a just confidence. He does a lot of speaking in front of the public, especially as a News Anchor, Tv host, and radio host so the long dialogues were delivered wonderfully. He's played wacky characters before too, making comedic chemistry not hard for him to come by. I don't think that these are the roles that he shines in the most however.  Kazoku Game was his brightest shining moment to me. He can play a crazy character like his second skin and his acting talent shows the most during his time in this character. A little change in characters he can play is always a good thing.  Aoi Yu continues to mature as an actress… how old is she now? She looks like she could play a high school student because of he cute face. I alway enjoyed her acting presence since she has a calm mild way of embodying characters. She and Sho worked together in Honey and Clover back in the early 2000s. I'm totally giving away that I'm a middle aged twenty something year old man right now[INSERT ME LAUGHING.]….. Anyway, I liked both of their meek yet strong chemistry then just as much as I liked it here. Seto Koji was good acting an English teacher too even though he looks young like Aoi. His english lines were super cute plus the pronunciation wasn't bad at all. Tabe Mikako's acting came off kind of gloomy. Her character was very focused on bottling up her emotions so none could see them. I was hoping the drama would go in another direction when dealing with the two's character's relationship. I know I was wrong.

  Mizuta Nobuo shots all the scenes using different angling. He will shoot from whichever point expresses the actors's performances more. Sometimes he will use a start point then slowly zoom closer and closer to the actor talking. He did this the most when the teacher were talking to their class of students or when Sho's character was talking to the whole entire student body.

  My High School Business is a cute drama that's not too long. You can sit down and watch this all in one go or take your time. There's many lessons to be learned from this drama truthfully.

 

Who Killed Cock Robin(目擊者) Taiwanese Film Thoughts

   This film was yet another film that made it's way into my "watch" list just because I wanted to watch a newer film from Taiwan. Who Killed Cock Robin is the films alternate English titled but the actually translation of the film would be Eyewitness. Cheng Wei ho directed and co wrote for the script as his fifth film. The full script is written by Dorothy Chen and stars Chaung Kai hsun, Hsu Wei ning, and, Ko Chia Yen.


 A journalist investigates a past hit and run accident. He finds as he investigates that more pieces are missing from the case and those missing pieces might be closer to home than he thinks.

   The god forsaken trailer was better than the whole film put together. Let me get right to the point everyone. It saves a lot of time for those of you that have other things that you need to be doing. I don't know where the plot of Who Killed Cock Robin was attempting to go. The plot instead earned the name from me of Who Killed The Damn Plot? I was under the strong impression that Cock Robin was going to be a horror/thriller film. Taiwan actually produces alright Horror Thrillers when they want to so I was kind of excited after watching the trailer. I'm upset that I got tricked into buying this film so easily. Instead the plot ranges from mystery to sad murderous love story. You get taken back in the past to retell the same crucial part so many times that viewers eventual stop caring about who killed who or even why. Storytelling should be told using interesting methods such as using the scenes to add a peak of boiling over for the plot. Nothing of the sort happens in this film. Things only keep telling you the same part over and over using different points of perspective. Then you have some weird drama dealing with the characters in between that. That "you know who did it but you don't know how they did it" storyline has been played out for awhile now. Japan became the experts at using this type of plot to create film masterpieces while South Korea comes in a very close second with using the idea. Even through the lame progression of Who Killed Cock Robin, I still understood the message of the film completely: At certain moments in life there is no good. The ending of the film should have been moved to the beginning. Expansion on the events shown in the conclusion would have made a good film. I came for the shiver I got during the last few scenes! Too bad I had to wait the whole entire film to get that sensation.

   The cast was alright in their roles. Their acting wasn't a make or break for the film honestly. I absolutely loved the last scene however. His acting was so gripping. I got pulled in by his performance instantly after twiddling my thumbs the whole entire film. Had me gripping my damn invisible necklace and all.

   Our method of filming was a good pairing to the dark horror thriller this film was suppose to be. The camera shots a lot of night scenes making some scenes harder to make out. The director liked using a lot of zoom focused shots so that the viewer is forced to look at one thing while actions are happening away from that focus point. This is a often used tactic by directors to leave viewers scared about he unseen.

  Who Killed Cock Robin is a film that you should settle for just watching online. Now, I don't promote watching films online without giving money to the creators in support if you have the means to usually. It's not an amazing film though.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS FILM CONTAINS SEXUAL EXPLICIT AND VIOLENT CONTENT. DO NOT VEIW IF YOU ARE UNDER THE AGE OF 18 YEARS OF AGE. THANK YOU.

Harmonium(淵に立つ) Japanese Film Thoughts

 

   Harmonium is a film that I watched the trailer for but didn't think much of trying to watch the film. Nothing in the trailer really jumped out at me and I've had a history of watching indie Japanese films then getting burned holes in my pockets. Some of these kinds of films are super slow moving too so I loose interest pretty fast. I do try to wait out some of the these films because I spent my hard earned money on them. Fukada Koji directed Harmonium as the film went on to win a Jury prize at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival and was also nominated in a few other categories. Veteran actor, Asano Tadanobu stars in the film along side Tsutsui Mariko, and Furutachi Kanji.
 
   A man just released from jail and appears in front of his long time friends house asking work and a place to stay. His friend decides to let him stay with them but his presence in the household comes at a price. Soon the family starts the crumble around the man as secrets from the past resurface and problems in the family began to show.
   

   Harmonium is actually a film that made me like it's contents during viewing. I was honestly very surprised at how good this film was considering the trailer doesn't spark a hint of excitement from the viewer. There's a creepy aura about this film that slowly moves behind you and the characters throughout it's duration. Stripped down, the film is a family drama that's as plain as they comes but the plot wastes no time getting to the exciting central conflict. It uses methods that don't use flashy transitions or ton of screen play. Just the characters acting within the plot. The plot deals with Karma coming back on a person no matter how long ago you did something wrong. If your due to get that back, you will be paid back eventually. Don't put out in the world what you don't want back in return. A man's friend comes to live and work with a friends family. However, the script doesn't actually ever tell viewers if he was there for revenge or not. The family has problems of their own creating bigger rips in the gapping holes that were leaking out blood in the foundation of the family. The friend only made their problems worse by ripping the bandaid off these holes that the family continued the patch up themselves. Then there's a big secret that the father of the family kept hidden for many years…. So the real dark and mysterious charm about Harmonium is that you're left to decide if the family destroyed themselves from the inside out or was the appearance of his "friend"the mastermind. Many of you might think that was the latter. One thing I do know is that the flow of the plot keeps you glued to the screen in order to find out what happens next. Think of Harmonium as a "secrets under the wooden floorboards of the family house" type of film. The creaks coming from the floorboards don't lie.

   All three lead actors and actress made this film work. Had it not been for their acting, this film would have been almost nothing. Their characters's facial expressions, actions, and emotions are a huge driving factor in the plot being as interesting as it was. Performances in the film were heartbreakingly on the borderline of being insane. I give huge props to the whole cast for making Harmonium a film to remember.

   Many shots are the country side of Japan in a small town. I believe the most cinematic shots were toward the end where there was traveling involved. These scenes were nice to look at while the scenes done in the house felt claustrophobic. Almost like a person would run out of their traditional Japanese style home if he or she stayed in their too long. Scenes in their home are also dimly lit at times in the film. My favorite scene was one that was towards the film's conclusion that features the ocean. It's a sad scene full of symbolism.

   I would watch Harmonium a couple more times in the the future. This film is very engaging for people that like films based on drama. There's enough content in this film to make you gasp till the film's shocking conclusion. Funny that this film is shocking without trying too hard to be.

Goblin(쓸쓸하고 찬란하神-도깨비) Korean Drama Thoughts(2017)

    Readers are going to be getting a couple posts about Korean dramas from last year for a little bit going into this new year. I still have not heard the end of people raving about this Korean drama called Goblin or also known by it's longer title, Guardian: The Lonely and Great God. The drama was directed by Lee Eung Bok and written by Kim Eun Sook. Gong Yoo, Kim Go Eun, Lee Dong Wook, Yoon In Na, and Yook Sung Jae star as the main cast in the supernatural fantasy. Goblin's viewership rating went through the roof during it's airing time on cable from the middle of 2016 to the beginning of 2017. Then causing the drama to become a huge phenomenon in South Korea. I still remember seeing a whole lot of my male Korean friends posting pictures of themselves on Instagram with a greenish blue swords sticking out of their bodies. It looked weird to me at the time but now I know that these pictures where references to Goblin[INSERT ME LAUGHING.]. Korean guys must tune into what their girlfriends are watching.

   A man has a curse placed on him in the distant past and is turned into a great God that can not die. He can only be killed if the curse is lifted from him. The only way this can happen is by pulling an invisible sword out of his body. One day he meets a girl that can not only see the sword in his chest but can also see spirits.

    Goblin didn't get me hyped up until I read all the good reviews about it online. My beforehand thoughts were really nothing more than seeing Gong Yoo again after Train to Busan. The drama starts out baiting the viewer into thinking that this drama will be different from all the others and it is to a degree….. That is until the drama runs out of ways to be different. Our beginning is one for the masses respectively. All the stops are actually pulled out in the first episode. Everything from good sets to top of the line special effects. You almost forget that you're watching a Korean drama on the small screen. Remember that flashy visual aids don't make a good drama. It's the story that supports the flashy visual aids that makes a good drama. Then we move right along to the present day where the Goblin is pretty much this immortal being that hangs around a grim reaper who also happens to run into a girl who's perfect to be called his bride. The overall fantasy element of the show follows slowly behind dramas such as My Love From a Star expect for Goblin's slow pacing paired with the constant(over used) subject of death. I'm going to be one of those oddball out kind of viewers just to say that I didn't love Goblin like many people did. I did however love certain qualities about Goblin. For example the special effects when they were used effectively to brighten up the story. The story during the drama's midway ark caught my interests too because of the presence of a villain. My eyes didn't leave the screen when the villain came into the picture as he shook the drama up a bit. Some of the scripts attempts at cliffhangers was a bit overused and the foreshadowing of the final conflicted ruined the last episode for me. I could guess the ending before the drama got there while feeling nothing for the cast of good-looking guys. What bothered me most of all was the crazy amount of scenes where the "lonely" God and Grim Reaper would sit around in the house talking. These scenes felt to me like a sitcom of two good looking guys sitting around discussing life. After you get over the fact that they are obvious eye candy, these scene are annoying. Yeah, a fun chemistry is contained in these scenes but I would have enjoyed Goblin more if the script had utilized the main character in terms of having him taking down more evil in the world that could have pertained to his curse. I felt that watching Goblin was more of a chore than a luxury for me sometimes. Maybe I should dilute my brain, turning me into a mindless female who cares more about hot men and their relationships with girls younger than them then a progressive storyline.

   I'm going to be the bad guy here too. I was very hollow inside while watching the acting. Nothing in this drama made me want to cry or anything. None of the cast are bad actors and actresses especially since I'm a big fan of Gong Yoo. Their performances just didn't touch me. I might be getting old or something because back in the day, I always came with tissues to wipe my eyes before watching a Korean drama. Stairway to Heaven is an old drama that will make you dive into you emotions completely. Goblin however couldn't walk on the same ground as Stairway to Heaven. Watching these character cry made me feel irritated to the point that it took something away from the show. Female viewers fell for the handsome faces. I on the other hand have higher standards for Korean drama. What was up with the age difference between the two leads? I kept wondering what was making feel uncomfortable about seeing those two together on screen. Now I know that it was the age difference(She might be of age in real life but her demeanor made he seem young.). Gong Yoo played his character like he was dealing with a child while wanting to be sexual with her at the same time. That's a bit strange to me. The extended cast did very well as cases of death that the Grim Reaper had to clean up. Grim Reaper's(Lee Dong Wook) scenes at the gates to heaven were a bit sad but that's it.

   The special effects are top notch and probably the best I have seen in a long time for a Korean drama. I enjoyed that back and forth style of scenes dealing with the past and the present. Viewers get a little hint of old Korean culture during these scenes. My favorite scene from the drama was the one where the God causes a big car accident saving the female lead that he pushed away too hard.

    If you want to call another Korean drama overrated, Goblin is the one. It's really not a horrible drama by any means. Goblin just doesn't live up the hype that was put on it by the masses in my opinion. I do respect everyone's different opinions though.
 

Brian the Sun(ブライアンザサン) - The Sun Album Thoughts(J-rock)

1 The World
2 Sunny side up from your heaven’s kitchen
3 ポラリス
4 カフネ
5 Sunny side up
6 boys
7 One
8 She’s lost a gun
9 ねこの居る風景 (Album version)
10 Winter Train
11 the Sun

   Brian The Sun is a group of guys that have been making music for years before the made it into the mainstream Japanese music market. The boys have released a couple of independent mini albums. Even filming music videos along with them but the band never gained huge success. Soon they were scouted and signed to a major label. They have only released two albums if you include this one(The Sun). That didn't stop the band's song's from being featured on popular anime such as March Comes in Like a Lion(which has started airing a new season by the way.).

  Brian The Sun is one of those bands that didn't need much change in their music production. You know how some bands that are in the indie scenes sound kind of amateurish when you listen to them. These band do however have the potential to be something great so a professional producer will get their hands on their music, then tweak it up before their major label debut. Brian The Sun didn't need anyone to upgrade their sound. I listened to a few of their songs when they were indie and the boys had that quality to be popular even without guidance from a major label's producer in Japan. Their first major album didn't sound like too much of an departure from their indie stuff honestly. The Sun just follows suit in this idea. Your speakers or earphones are about to be filled with a youthful rock party fueled by consumption of red bull. The tracklist of The Sun doesn't rock out too hard though. They clearly decided long ago to be a more soft rock band. Guitars don't go over the drums but they definitely let you know that they are apart of the party. Noted in the guitarists skill to play advanced solos while still not being too noisy. Yes, I would go as far as to say that Brian the Sun is pop rock for the most part. The Sun does show a growth in desire to expand on the horizon for the band however. I found myself tapping my foot to tracks like She lost a gun simply because the chorus was big, bright, and fun. Pathos And Ethos(first album) was catchy too, just not as all around as catchy as this album. Only song you will catch me humming from Pathos is the track called Maybe if it's a good day. Much of The Sun was elevated into more catchier tracks that will have listeners remembering them for days going forward.

  Brian The Sun's frontman is classified as on of the frontman of a band that can actually sing. I believe if I met him and asked him to sing for me without any music, he could do it. The Japanese music scene has a lot of rock band frontmen that can sing. His voice is a bit high. Not an annoying screechy kind of high. Instead its the high tenor quality that's pleasing to the ears.

  These boys are well on their way. I have a feeling that they will get their opening and become more popular in Japan. Let's hope they get a top ten spot on the Oricon Chart at least once. That would be cool.