Delusions of Grandeur

Hi there my dear flist, did you miss me? Well I missed you guys! It feels like ages since i spoke to alot of you or updated this journal. Anyway I was having a tough time, i had the summer blues and as such felt utterly miserable. Luckily unlike last year i managed to pull myself out of it a bit instead of languishing in idleness and misery for the entire summer. So YAY for that. :D

Anyway, So what has Tai been up to all this time? Well aside from emoing and pondering my place in this world, i spent alot of time watching jdramas. It was great cause I havent really sat down and watched jdramas for a while. Excluding Honey & Clover and Tantei Galileo which I watched earlier in the year.
Anyway I'm watching ALOT of dramas right now, so here's the list of what I'm currently watching/recently watched and some of my thoughts on it:

Last Friends - ( This ran a bit long so I used a cut )

Hokaben - I think alot of people hated this drama, and Aya ueto = not the most amazing actress. But I wont lie I got a soft spot for the girl cause of the Azumi films and she really is very pretty. Yes I'm a sucker for a pretty face, even for girls. Color me shallow~ But after having watched an episode of this drama I really dont think it's that bad at all. I do think her story would have had 300993x more impact if she was trying to become a criminal justice lawyer and protect the weak by putting criminals behind bars than working in the pro bono division of some big fancy law firm. Obviously the point of such a firm would be money, I'm all for ideals and justice but there is a place for it and somehow i didnt see that as being it. I also took issiue with how ep 1 was handled, it did seem melodramatic and I dont know why that woman did not go to a criminal court or press charges against her husband. Also I find it hard to believe that it's THAT easy to confiscate children from their mothers. But eh what do I know about Japanese law huh? But anyway once I overlooked these things I was able to enjoy it more as just a drama. I dont know if I'll stick with this one in the long run. I'm not totally sold on it yet but I think it has the potential to get interesting if not particularly realistic. One bright note for me was Kitamura Kazuki as Akari's jaded superior, He's one guy I've seen in alot of dramas and He always manages to have a commanding (and pretty hot) presence. So I think he'll be good in this even if no one else is. Shige is hilariously wooden so far, but then his chara doesnt seem to be that complex anyway so really props to shige for managing to NOT annoy me everytime he came on screen. Now if only he could do that in real life too...

Zettai Kareshi - DOMO ARIGATOU MR ROBOTO, DOMO ARIGATOU...seriously I had that song in my head for the first 10 minutes of this. XD I wasnt planning on watching this at first because well, to put it lightly, the manga SUCKED. It was quite bad and no I didnt read it, I refuse to read most Watase Yuu manga on principle. (seriously after ayashi no ceres I was like NEVER AGAIN) but from what I did know about the manga it sounded shitty and dull. But man Mizuhiro and Aibu saki? How could I say no? ;_; Also what is that I see? WHY YES IT IS MAYA MIKI. HELLO THAR AMAZIN LADY *fawns* Luckily this drama has been surprisingly delightful so far. Despite my dislike of romance comedies, this one really is cute and funny. Even though, the charas Saki and Hiro are playing are very typical (cocky boss's son who loves the ladies, dopey but pure hearted girl) the way they play them seems fresh and natural. So i enjoy watching them. Also I dont know if Mokomichi is a good actor or not but he does make a convincing robot so props for that at least. Hard to believe he was the fan waving delinquent in Gokusen 2, he seems totally different here. At any rate Moko has a slammin bod but the rest of him looks weird and unattractive to me also I'm not particularly interested in robots, and I dont get how that scientist guy thinks that it's possible or ok for humans to fall in love with robots. Also who wants a guy who is PERFECT? and tells you he loves you ALL THE TIME? or follows you everywhere? A girl needs her space too! lol, but really all of these antics have been more cute and funny rather than irritating to me as a viewer. It's a nice light fluffy show to counter all the other heavy dark dramas I've been watching. Also MizuHiro is DEAD SEXY, I think i would watch the rest of the drama just to admire his beauty. *____*

Osen - I've only seen one ep of this so far (and it was RAW) but so far i like it. It seems really cute and sweet like zettai kareshi and also very amusing. Uchi is such a total dork/brat in this (and i love it) and Aoi yuu is such a lovely actress and not to mention incredibly beautiful. Also her costumes in this are stunning. I think I'll enjoy this drama alot. But I wanna wait till more eps are subbed before continuing with it. When I see more I might come back in my journal and write more about it. ^__^

Koshonin - I enjoyed this drama SO MUCH and it is thankfully quite short at 8 eps. It really had me on the edge of my seat. A truly captivating and intense drama. Yonekura Ryoko played the badass heroine in this and she did a FANTASTIC job IMO and I wish there were more strong and courageous jdrama heroines like this. Usagi Reiko (the heroine) was not only tough and skilled but she had such a big heart and willingness to help people off the path of wrongdoing. This character could have turned into a preachy obnoxious super hero but she was played with such depth and subtlety that I rarely see in characters like this. She seemed so human and real, I grew to adore her so much and admire her. She was so brave and serious about her job. And she was a damn good negotiator. I also love the depth of the other characters all of which were male. The show could have made them 2-D misogynists and jerks but even though they werent that nice to Reiko at first in the end they all grow to respect her and it feels earned and genuine. Also the sub plot with corruption in the police organization was a cool idea to me and I loved seeing everything come together at the end, although I do wish the finale had been a bit longer since it felt rushed near the end. Also something that cannot be overlooked was Shirota Yuu's creeptastic and dynamic performance of alleged serial killer Mariya Kyosuke. He makes a small appearance in each ep, since Reiko makes it a habit to visit him regularly. He was so so insane but also, you find out later on, a very tragic figure. the climactic confrontation between him and Reiko was just so intense and moving and I CRIED OK? ;_; Everyone just watch this drama already!

Sasaki Fusai no Jingi Tatakai - My flist seemed to like this drama and I FREAKIN LOVE Koyuki. She's one of my girl!crushes. And her playing a lawyer seemed like a dream come true. Anyway so I started watching this recently and I'm on ep 4, but it wasnt what I expected. It's funny and sweet and I like that Goro's chara is the one doing the cooking and cleaning and it's seen as ok and not like a breach of his manhood or something like that. Also at the same time Koyuki's character makes the most money for their joint law firm. It's a cool idea and it is original but at the same time it lacks the intensity and depth of some of the other dramas on this list. I would say so far it's a decent drama but nothing exceptional, I dont feel the need to finish it right away like I did Koshonin for example. It doesnt hold my attention as well, and having them threaten divorce every or almost every ep does stand to become repetitive but at the same time it's been dealt with rather interestingly so far. I do like it, and Goro and Koyuki really DO seem like a couple in this and I enjoy their chemistry. Also the Law stuff doesnt sound totally ridiculous either and resembles reality. It's a cute light but not stupid drama for when you need one.

Rookies - I wasnt that jazzed about the first ep of this drama, I expected more from this, and honestly it just felt really corny and melodramatic in many places. It does have more heart and sincerity than your typical school dramas but i wasnt particularly moved *heart of stone*. But at the same time I found the characters really interesting and by episode 2 I was genuinely attached to them. Also Ichihara Hayato looks obscenely good in that baseball uniform MMMM YES M'AM *___*. The students all have distinct and colorful personalities and Shirota Yuu is crazying it up on my screen again and I couldnt be happier. LOL he is really too good at playing nutcases. But hey if you can make a career out of playing emotionally unstable characters I say why NOT? Honestly as I've only seen two eps I dont have much to say about it yet. But I would say this is a nice drama so far and it's not dark like Koshonin or LF but it's not all fluff and light like Zettai Kareshi & Osen either. I think the central message behind this one about having the ability to change and pulls yourself out of the depths of misery or mediocrity. To get up try again after you failed so tragically, well I think that IS a powerful and moving message. So I give Rookies props for having it's heart in the right place at least.