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探偵の探偵 / Tantei no Tantei (Detective versus Detective)

Watched this based on Winner san's referral above, and really enjoyed
this one. Keiko Kitagawa rocks this role royally, and Haruna Kawaguchi
turned in a fantastic performance.

Keiko's character is this fantastically fit and brave young woman who
is seeking to find the corrupt detective who set up the death of her younger sister
(Played in flashback scenes by Kyoko Yoshine).

Keiko's character fights like a lion, and has mad MacGuyver improvising skills,
but also is an extremely vulnerable character plagued with psychological issues.

Haruna's character starts off as a somewhat timid character with a very
submissive, get along to go along character, but gets hardened by the harsh
experiences she endures due, in part, to Keiko's recklessness.

Great overall cast, shoutout to veteran actor Yusuke Santamaria, who plays an arrogant rival detective,
and Takahiro Miura who plays a widowed cop with a young daughter who misses her mom.

And Mugi Kadowaki leaves a strong impression with her role
Towards the end of the series....

Really a fine drama, worth a watch.

Keiko goes full MacGuyver

Credit Fuji Television

Haruna and Keiko                           Haruna


A fun clip with Keiko and Haruna promoting the show:


北川景子 川口春奈【探偵の探偵 爆笑NGシーン】

[vlinorman]

^ She also made jetski out of coffin?

[winner]

Kaitou Yamaneko x Higanbana

[muppet]

Awesome scene Winner san!^

Brings back memories of one of my all time favorite shows!

Some more fun:


ドラマ三番組がコラボ！「怪盗 山猫」「ヒガンバナ」「火村英生の推理」

[winner]

2016 spring.
Haven't really found any drama to get into this season.

good:
Juhan Shuttai! ep01-06 - A newcomer editor in the manga industry. A very positive drama, and takes a good look at some of the work needed to making a manga magazine.

Omukae desu ep01-04 - A guy that is suddenly able to see ghosts and Death gods (turning out to be guy in a pink rabbit costume and a kid. hehe) They then make him join them as a part-timer. Nice and fun.

ok:
99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi ep01-05 - Matsumoto Jun taking on cases with a 0.01 probability chance of having a dismissed truth. Solid drama but nothing that interesting.

skipping:
Dias Police ~ Ihou Keisatsu ep01 - Some kind of underground cop that maintains order within the illegal immigrant society. its interesting, but not what I'm into.

Yutori Desu ga Nani ka ep01 - I just found it really boring.

[winner]

2016 Summer stuff. 

good:
Ieuru Onna ep01-04 - Kitagawa Keiko's character as an ace real estate manager, using any way posible to sell houses. Watching her boss all the staff around gets pretty funny.

ON ep01-02 - The cop show of the bunch. With Haru acting as a cop that has memorized every case file. She also has a dark urge to find out the culprits real reasons for committing their crime, often letting them continue and risking herself getting too deep.

Gu Ra Me!~Sori no Ryoriban~ ep01-05 - Food drama of the bunch. Gouriki Ayame as a chef for the Japan prime minister. Its basically a modern version of recent drama Tenno no Ryoriban.

Soshite Daremo Inakunatta ep01-04 - And the tech suspense. Fujiwara Tatsuya as an IT guy that invents a system called "Miss Erase" that can delete and change digital details/existence of any person. Then it goes all Platinum Data. Running away from cops and the triad, not knowing if he can trust his friends or even his family. fun stuff.

Toki o Kakeru Shoujo ep01-05 - Summer love~~ Really cute and emotional school romance. Really glad I didn't skip it.

ok:
Koe Koi ep01-05 - A schoolgirl falling in love with a classmate that has an attractive voice, but for an unknown reason wears a paper bag over his head all the time. I like it.

Sukinahito ga Irukoto ep01 - Then the Summer teen romance. Cake chef girl gets fired, moves to Shonan to work at a small beach-side restaurant, and starts living with 3 hot brothers. I bet that happens alot IRL.

skipping:
Juken no Cinderella ep01 - A girl and a cram school tutor. Feels just like Biri Gyaru just without the Gyaru. This had a movie in 2008, also based on a novel, so it actually came earlier. Its not bad, just not that interesting either.

Seisei Suruhodo Aishiteru ep01-03 - So romantic its dumb. Jewelry promotion girl wishing to sell jewelry since she was a kid. Meeting rich young son of the company chairman that suddenly joins. Banging head on wall from the cliche-overkill.

HOPE ~Kitai Zero no Shinnyushain~ ep01 - Someone finding a job? too boring to even remember.

[vegas]

last week i finished to watch amachan i just love this drama 

i tried a draw of aki chan

[winner]

Pretty much skipped everything from 2017 Winter and Spring.

2017 Winter

must-watch:
Onna Joshu Naotora ep01-27
Taiga drama with Shibasaki Kou. Been catching it weekly.
A girl that grows up to become a lord in the Sengoku period. Covering all that betrayal, kinda-love but kinda-responsibility, and all that sudden dying circumstances drama I eat up. Love it.

ok:
Super Salaryman Saenai-shi ep01-10
Comedy where a simple salary guy is given superman-like powers. Paruru is in it. It was fun~

2017 Spring

must-watch:
CRISIS ~ Kouan Kidou Sousatai Tokusou-han ep01-10
A secret 5-person specialist team tasked to take out high threats.
Great main cast. Story was really good too.
Throughout the show, the team doubt if what they're doing is actually right. As these "bad guys" who come from different circles, do extreme things like terrorism hoping to change the unfairness of the current society. It really takes a toll on them.
Also really great action/fighting scenes, a lot of them with the actors doing it themselves. The ep08 fight was surprisingly impressive. Where the team storm a cult, taking on like 100+ people during a 6-7minute fight scene all in one flowing shot (these guys must've saw Daredevil).

ok:
Chiisana Kyojin ep01-10
Another police drama, but using the Hanzawa Naoki formula again (they literally have some of the same actors doing the same role!). It has some awesome acting.
But yeah. The "good guys must do an impossible task in ??-hours to make the bad guy pay back 10x over, but ultimately not change anything for the better" formula is really starting to get stale.

[winner]

For the guys who still haven't watched the CRISIS ep08 fight scene I talked about in the above post. Check it here if you want. 



Back to normal drama watching.
Either I can't find anything that interests me past few seasons, or I'm just slowing down a lot.
Anyways. Went backwards to watch one of the Winter ones.

Good:
Okaasan, Musume wo Yamete Ii Desu ka? ep01-08
Haru stars in this family drama. A mother being over obsessive and controlling with her daughter's life.
It doesn't go all scary or anything. Instead, it is very believable. Just a normal caring mother cranked up to 13. Some scenes get really emotional.
Oh yeah. Creepy human dolls randomly placed around house = not best idea.

[winner]

One more show I watched.
I should note it does have some gore (nothing too sick, just around the level of a campy vampire movie).

Good:
Tokyo Vampire Hotel ep01-09
Starting off with a basic story of a girl finding out she has some weird destiny, while two groups of vampires try to capture her because her birthday is coming.
Then a few episodes in it'll get to the hotel, where the vampires are holding a dating party for humans. The show literally turns into The Rocky Horror Picture Show, where the humans are told its the end of the world, with the hotel being the only safe haven. The vampires then force the humans to pair up and make love babies. It turns into a bunch of funny/awkward sex scenes with hotel staff vampires watching. 



In the last few episodes it goes into the aftermath. The social structure of the remaining survivors gets pretty interesting.

Here's a trailer for the show:

[pompador]

just finished mr nietzsche in the convenience store (2016)


hilarious show. jiro sato at his best


want to watch this soon
Mother (2010)

[winner]

Been watching a bunch of stuff from here and there.

SP movies

must-watch:
Yonimo Kimyona Monogatari Spring and Fall SP. Both were awesome as always.

BORDER Shodo/Shokuzai. 3 TV movies.
Shodo is 2 prequel episodes. Focusing on Haru's character, still just a Uni professor's assistant, taking on a student murder case in a rural city. It finally leads her to joining Forensics and meeting Ishikawa Ango (Oguri Shun).
Shokuzai tells what happens after the 2015 drama. Oguri Shun's "talk to ghost victims" cop character battling his inner demons and a literal demon.
The 2015 drama was excellent. Same with these.


Next up. Dramas

2017-2018 Winter. So much manga turned anime turned live action!
must-watch:
Video Girl Ai ep01
Nishino Nanase fan-service scenes guaranteed!
I watched the anime when I was really young. Don't remember much of it anymore. Just that I really liked it. And Noriko Sakai sang the ED. 
And it had some really touching scenes. Hope this will do just as well in that area.

good:
Saki - Achiga-hen: episode of side-A ep01-04
Girls playing Mahjong.
I really like how they made the characters actions so comic. Not comical (funny), but comic book like detailed things they each do. It makes the show much more fun.
Like the main character running past a shrine, then coming back to give a bow. Little stuff like that.
Hamabe Minami, who acted the main character Saki, coming back to act her sister is perfect.

ok:
Akagi ep01-04
Guys... playing Mahjong
A kid playing Mahjong for his first time, taking on the yakuza and growing up into a legend.
I watched this gambling anime a few months ago. So far it has captured the feel pretty well. Too bad it only goes to ep05, then another arc airing 1/2 year from now. I'll forget about it by then...
It focuses a lot on the actual Mahjong and serious gambling tactics, unlike Saki which focuses on making cute characters, so Akagi might feel a little boring for some ppl.


2017 Fall
good:
Ima kara Anata wo Kyouhaku Shimasu ep01-09
A guy and his team, acts as professional hired "threaten"ers. Eventually completing the request while also helping ppl. Just think City Hunter. 
Fujioka Dean and Takei Emi is really good in bringing out the comedy. Paruru too!
Mr. Nietzsche guy is in this one.

2017 Summer
ok:
Bokutachi ga Yarimashita ep01-10
Three schoolboys and their dropout senior set up some prank bombs in their neighboring school, full of juveniles that always pick on them, to try take revenge.
The bombs surprisingly causes a huge explosion, killing some of the juveniles. Making the four of them wanted criminals on the run.
Their continued inner struggle with guilt was one of this shows strongest points.
Funny. Mr. Nietzsche guy is in this one too.

Kurokawa no Techo ep01-08
Takei Emi again. A cabaret girl that blackmails men for money to buy her dream club.
It actually starts off pretty good, blackmailing creepy guys is fun. But by halfway it starts getting a little shallow.

[INpompeonelli]

I watched FINAL CUT ep1 and 2. ( ＾∀＾)
It is little heavy but interesting. ( ✌︎'ω')✌︎
https://www.ktv.jp/finalcut/index.html

[winner]

Checking more of the 2018 Winter stuff.

must-watch:
Anone ep01-03
Teenage girl living at a net cafe + working in a decease scenes cleanup crew. Tries to find her past while getting into a lot of trouble.
The pacing is a little slow. Maybe because its style is actually much closer to a movie than a drama.
But the overall quality of the story, colorful characters and the great acting is blowing me away.

BG Shinpen Keigonin ep01
Team created to provide bodyguard hiring services. Cool KimuTaku veteran bodyguard guy.
Drama, action, shady chara backstories. All stuff I like. (Man, I miss SP)

good:
Kakegurui ep01-02
High school gambling yay!
New transfer student Jabami Yumeko taking on the student council's games, outwitting their trickery and cheating.
Great to see more of Hamabe Minami and Morikawa Aoi. Its little bit tamer than the anime. Still find it lots of fun!
Maybe cos I liked the anime tho. Most people will probably just find this drama ok at best.

UNNATURAL ep01-02
A special team called UDI that investigates unnatural death cases. So many special teams this season!
Police forensics stuff. Solid show. Ishihara Satomi is in it!

CHASE ep01-04
Honda Tsubasa (tv station AD) and Otani Ryohei (freelance reporter) look into five seemingly related murder cases of young girls, going back as far as 27 years with a suspect arrested. Further investigating they find more and more likely the suspect may have been falsely accused all these years, while the real culprit may still be out there.
The chemistry between the pair is really good. Wonder how the story will all pan out.
Might take a long time to get to the truth though. It already has a 2nd chapter/season planned?!

ok:
Repeat ep01
Eight people given a chance to go back 10 months in time, letting them change their mistakes.
Its good. But honestly, mainly watching for sadist Paruru scenes.

FINAL CUT ep01-03
Kazuya Kamenashi (highschool student) who's mother (a kindergarten teacher) commited suicide after a girl in her care was kidnapped/killed and have her being accused for it. Years later he goes on a revenge trip on the media who hid details of the case, while also looking for the real killer.
So its kinda like Chase, just a little less serious n' more campy.

Segodon ep01-03
Taiga drama this time focusing on Saigo Takamori. Instant seal of quality.
So far I'm not that into it yet. Maybe after they build up the characters more.
I'll surely watch it till the end. Probably twice to catch all the stuff I miss from their heavy Satsuma dialect!

Kansayaku Nozaki Shuhei ep01
Another Hanzawa Naoki formula drama with a great cast. Nothing exciting, but I'll watch it.

skip:
Momi Keshite Fuyu ~ Wagaya no Mondai Nakatta koto ni ep01
Man this show. The jokes are awful. The characters are unlikable. The story... is there a story?
I'll probably give it one more episode just in case they make some miracle. Then maybe just fast forward to all the Haru scenes for the rest.
This show is just sad. Like dying puppy on the sidewalk sad.

[muppet]

Double Posted

昼顔 - 平日午後３時の恋人たち- / Hirugao - Heijitsu Gogo 3 ji no Koibito tachi
(English title: Hirugao: Love Affairs in the Afternoon)

Very interesting look at Marital troubles that cause people to have affairs that in turn lead
to extreme Marital troubles.

The writers stayed away from condemnation, but also didn’t whitewash the reality of
the Sh_tstorm that affairs eventually create (Mari Yaguchi, anyone?)

Michiko Kichise & Aya Ueto


The two leading ladies were excellent in revealing their characters, but
must issue this  disclosure: at no time did Aya Ueto appear in this outfit:


But what you did see in this 2014 drama were great performances by a
superb cast:

Houka Kinoshita and Michiko


Takumi Saito and Aya


Fun Fact: Saito san and Michiko worked together in the 2011 series
“The Woman of Steel Season 2”

Kosuke Suzuki, Ayumi Ito, Aya, and Takumi,
In a lighter moment on set


Michiko, Hana Toyoshima, &
Mayu Yamaguchi


Michiko and Kazuki Kitamura


A nice clip of the 2014 show with a segue into the 2017 film, which
marked Aya’s return to the big screen, after taking a Marriage/New Baby break.


『昼顔』ドラマダイジェストPV

[winner]

Starting up the Spring dramas. watching all the cop shows again... 

must-watch:
Black Pean ep01-03
A hospital drama with Ninomiya Kazunari as the usual arrogant loner main chara with mad surgery skillz.
Putting it so high up cos Ninomiya is perfect doing these sly fox roles. The cast looks pretty solid too.

good:
Miss Sherlock ep01
Eccentric weirdo Sherlock (Takeuchi Yuko) consultant helping the police solve crimes.
Traditional crime solving drama. She's creepy. 

Mikaiketsu no Onna - Keishichou Bunsho Sousakan ep01
Haru as a police detective that gets transferred to the basement of the police HQ, storage room holding documents for unsolved cases.
Meeting Suzuki Kyoka, who's a super expert at text deciphering. She can literally solve cases just from looking at text on documents.
Wait a sec. Girl transferred to the basement. one arm in a sling?!! Darn... its not a sequel to SPEC...

Gakeppuchi Hotel ep01-02
A hotel fallen from its grace, with its staff going lazy. Guy comes in to try and save it.
Toda Erika and Hamabe Minami both in it. Wow!~

ok:
Signal - Choki Mikaiketsu Jiken Sosahan ep01-04
A profiler finds a walkie talkie that magically lets him talk to a cop in the 1990's. Tries to solve cases together and preventing deaths in the past before they happen.
Pacing is a little slow. So it might feel a little flat. Still, I'm enjoying it.

Seigi no Se ep01
A public prosecutor with a strong sense of justice.
Just picture Hero, with Yoshitaka Yuriko as the newcomer (Matsu Takako/Kitagawa Keiko) character. And without a KimuTaku. Basically that.

skip:
ConfidenceMan JP ep01
A threesome of con artists that try to trick yakuza bosses and rich evil businessmen.
Its actually really good, with Nagasawa Masami in it. Just a little too comical for me, I might've kept watching of the show was more serious.

DAISY LUCK ep01
Following 4 young women who were childhood friends.
Too "everyday life" for me. dropping it.

[Saburo]

Quartet began last month on the local J-TV cable station:



I'm willing to watch this one episode at a time. Stretch out the good stuff!

[winner]

Some more random shows from this season, and last year.

good:
Maji de Kokai Shitemasu ep01-05end
Short drama. Takeda Rena and Iitoyo Marie are uni students that join a one-month naval training course that is mostly made up of guys.
Its super-cute, especially Iitoyo Marie's airhead full charge ahead character.

Hana Nochi Hare ep01-07
Follow up to Hana Yori Dango. Just expect the same romancy/corny comedy F4 stuff.
Its enjoyable. But main charas are a little less charismatic/likeable than OG F4, which hurts the show a little.
Getting OG F4 MatsuJun and Oguri Shun doing guest spots was nice.

Hyaku Man En No Onna-tachi ep01-12end
Author guy suddenly getting a bunch of women living in his house, paying him 1-million yen each month.
Only speed-watched the Matsui Rena bits last year. Watching it normally, I found it was actually really good.
Each of the women have their own motives to live with him. Starting from a harem dream it quickly turns into a crazy life and death situation for all of them.

ok:
Itsumademo Shiroi Hane ep01-08end
Shinkawa Yua entering a nursing program.
No crazy gifted doctor stuff like most hospital dramas, it focuses more on actual nurse training and their hardships. So it might feel a little too slice-of-life.

[muppet]

Just finished watching ep 1 of CRISIS, thanks to Winner san’s recommendation....great mix of cast

Finished this series- Posted this in Haruna Kawaguchi’s Thread:

Just finished watching the 2016 series “Chef ~ Three Star School Lunch” which starred Yuki Amami,
and featured Haruna san as the Chef’s estranged daughter.



Haruna in action


Haruna plays the daughter of Yuki Amami’s character




Light entertainment, but well written, and lots of cuisine talk, plus elementary kids who finally start to eat their vegetables,
Thanks to three star chef Hoshino.

Credit to Amami san, Haruna and all the cast for a fun show!

[winner]

Hitting some of those 2018 Summer dramas.

Must-watch:
Zero: Ikkaku Senkin Game ep01-05
Based on the manga by Fukumoto Nobuyuki (Akagi, Kaiji), it has the same theme of 'competitive gambling' and 'solving life-threatening puzzles'.
Zero (a math teacher) and many others get thrown into a "game" by the evil multi-trillionaire Zaizen. Pitting the competitors against each other to win one trillion yen and the title of "king". Exciting maths! 

Majimuri Gakuen ep01-05
AKB48 schoolgirls beating people up again. Yay!!!

Good:
Dele ep01-02
A foolhardy guy gets recruited to a company run only by a pair of siblings, with the brother being a computer whiz that requires a wheelchair.
Running a 24-hour vitality check service on customers. If found dead, the brother deletes all digital data belonging to the customer.
The new guy starts questioning these cases, teaming up with the non-interested brother to hold off deleting and instead investigate them.
Its a nice crime drama, just with neither of them being cops.

Good Doctor ep01-02
A newly graduated doctor that has photographic memory but also a heavy ASD problem when communicating with people.
Basically everybody treats him like trash. While he has the knowledge and medical theories to save lives, its mostly high-risk and ignored by his co-workers.
Usual hospital drama. But its really solid.

Maji de Koukai Shitemasu: 2nd Season ep01-02
More naval training.
Iitoyo Marie gets a cool-headed superior officer that literally finds faults in everything she does.
Takeda Rena gets transferred to office work, with her wish to get back to being a ship mechanic TBD.
More cute and fun!

Cheer Dan ep01-03
A bunch of schoolgirls trying to revive the school's cheerleader club.
Also fun!

OK:
Survival Wedding ep01-02
Haru's character quits her magazine job and prepares for marriage. But its cancelled when she finds the guy cheated on her.
She begs for her old job back, but is instead moved into a super-popular fashion magazine. The twist, the chief editor requires her to find a new guy and marry him in 6 months or she'll be fired.
Haru is cute with the "Devil Wears Prada" type comedy done with her boss. But this show is literally the 2 things I'm not into. Fashion and stupid romance.

Tomei na Yurikago ep01
A newcomer nurse facing the harshness working at a local women's clinic. Her first task is assisting an abortion, then a new birth in the same room straight afterwards.
Its way serious and a little heavy.

GIVER Fukushu no Zoyosha ep01-04
Hired killers that specifically handle client's grudges and help them in taking revenge.
A rehash on the "Uramiya Honpo" theme, its also a midnight drama. Its watchable, but don't expect too much.

Sick’s Jonosho ep "I have no f'ing idea!"
Hey. SPEC actually does have a sequel! and it started in April!
Toda Erika and that bald cop guy aren't around anymore though. {cry} Its still totally loopy~ {yay!} but also loopy in a bad way {frown}
Whats worse. The episodes come out super crazy. Each episode is cut into 4-5 parts, then aired weekly in a monthly episode style on paid-tv. And they do not have a planned total episode count [Basically you watch 10min bits each week, or it'll take a year or two for it to complete. it suuuuucks.]
But it is more SPEC.... I'm happy for that at least. And the Mano Erina SP that's coming soon.

Zettai Reido (Season 3) ep01-05
Sequel to the crime drama with Ueto Aya, switching her and putting in Honda Tsubasa as the lead and a new team.
I have no idea why but they turned it into a really boring Person of Interest show... (testing a supercomputer system that marks out potential murder criminals). Its just sooo slow....
I don't remember the old show that much, but it definitely wasn't this mediocre.

Skip:
Investor Z ep01-04
A teen forced to join the school's secret Investment Club.
I really tried getting into this. But it just kept getting more and more boring. By ep04 I started falling asleep watching it.