Kamoshirenai Joyutachi (Maybe Actresses)

Bakarizumu, czy też jak wolą niektórzy: Bakarythm, to niepozorny, acz pocieszny komik, który w pewnym momencie (dokładnie w 2012 roku) pojawił w dramie Going My Home jako nieco natrętny sąsiad głównego bohatera (Abe Hiroshi) i naraz zrobiło się go jakby więcej. W 2014 napisał scenariusz 10-odcinkowej, bardzo ciepło przyjętej dramy Suteki-na Sentaxi. Tam po raz pierwszy zaczął zastanawiać się "co by było, gdyby?", dając swoim bohaterom możliwość skorzystania z taksówki do dowolnego miejsca w czasoprzestrzeni i zmienienia raz podjętej decyzji. W specjalu Kamoshirenai Joyutachi (Maybe Actresses) sięga po bardzo podobny koncept: co by było, gdyby trzy topowe japońskie aktorki nie wykorzystały swojej szansy i nie zostały aktorkami?

Do realizacji tego przedsięwzięcia wybiera Maki Yoko, Mizukawę Asami i Takeuchi Yuko. Dwie pierwsze próbują swoich sił w showbiznesie, ale idzie im to opornie. Z trudem dostają role statystek, a Maki w końcu całkiem rezygnuje, poświęcając się innemu, odkrytemu przypadkiem powołaniu. Takeuchi zaś w czasoprzestrzeni Bakarizumu postanawia nie oddzwaniać na numer pozostawiony jej na ulicy przez łowcę talentów (o zgrozo!) i pracuje jako redaktor. Losy tych trzech postaci oczywiście zaczną się krzyżować, żeby w finalnych scenach całkowicie poplątać w zabawnym qui pro quo. 

Sympatyczna produkcja nie tylko dla fanów trzech głównych aktorek.

Kouhaku ga umareta hi

Kouhaku Uta Gassen to wielkie przedsięwzięcie muzyczne NHK, doroczny sylwestrowy koncert, w którym wykonawcy podzieleni na dwie drużyny czerwoną (紅 kou, w której występują piosenkarki) i białą (白 haku, piosenkarze) toczą bój muzyczny o zwycięski sztandar. Przygotowania do koncertu zaczynają się już w połowie roku, a w mediach dyskutuje się - i to dość burzliwie - o tym, kto wystąpi (kto zaśpiewa po raz pierwszy? Kogo NHK w tym roku nie zaprosi? Kto będzie zamykał koncert?), kto koncert poprowadzi (czy będzie to znowu Arashi i główna bohaterka asadory?) i kto zasiądzie w jury. Wielu wiernych widzów (w tym i autorka) może i jest zawiedzionych spadającym z roku na rok poziomem prezentowanych piosenek, ale jedno jest pewne - z Kouhaku warto się zapoznać, żeby zobaczyć i usłyszeć, co w danym roku było trendy, jakie wydarzenia będą przytaczane, komentowane i przeżywane na antenie.

Kouhaku ga umareta hi (Dzień, w którym narodził się Kouhaku) to bardzo udany godzinny special, opowiadający o początkach programu. Shindo Tatsuya (Matsuyama Ken'ichi) wraca z frontu do pracy w rozgłośni radiowej JOAK. W samej stacji pozornie niewiele się zmieniło. Na Shindo czekają starzy znajomi, w tym Takeshita Mitsue (Honda Tsubasa), wyemancypowana asystentka o wielkich aspiracjach, zmuszona zajmować się prostymi zadaniami, żeby utrzymać rodzinę, która po wojnie znalazła się bez środków do życia. A jednak wiele się zmieniło - Japonia przegrała wojnę, morale są niskie, na domiar złego w radio pojawiają się amerykańscy cenzorzy, którzy krytykują nieudolność Japończyków przy nagrywaniu audycji (nigdy nie trzymają się scenariusza i nie pilnują czasu), blokują wszystkie stare i nowe programy, które mogłyby kojarzyć się rewolucją, etyką samurajską lub wszystkim tym, co byłoby pro-japońskie i anty-amerykańskie zarazem. Pojawia się jednak promyk nadziei, gdy zespół Shindo dostaje zadanie: wymyślić nowy program muzyczny i przekonać do niego cenzorów...

Solidnie napisany scenariusz (Ozaki Masaya, autor między innymi Kekkon Dekinai Otoko i asadory Umechan Sensei) skupia się na przygotowaniach do premiery i dniu transmisji koncertu i taka długość jest idealna. Kilka scen zapadnie w pamięć widzom na dłużej, jak ta, w której Shindo przekonuje swój team do nowego projektu, powołując się na koncepcję 3S, albo gdy dochodzi do starcia z cenzorami, a raczej ich japońskim tłumaczem Georgem Mabuchi o konotacjach słów gassen i shiai (bitwa i mecz). Matsuyama Ken'ichi jest bardzo dobry jako Shindo, ze swoim nerwowym mruganiem oczami i etapami na przemian rezygnacji i zaangażowania. Świetny jest też Hoshino Gen jako główny antagonista George Mabuchi, z kamienną twarzą i zaskakująco naturalnie brzmiącym angielskim. 

Wśród drugoplanowych historycznych postaci uważny widz rozpozna znanego z Wagaya no Rekishi Furukawę Roppę (tu gra go Rokkaku Seiji), prowadzącego drużynę Białych. Jego konkurentką po stronie Czerwonych jest Mizunoe Takiko (grana przez dawną aktorkę teatru Takarazuka Oozorę Yuuhi). Z kolei gwiazdę sceny i estrady Namiki Michiko gra miwa (w swoim drugim występie na ekranie, po pełnometrażowym filmie Maestro! ze stycznia 2015 roku) i choć rola jest niewielka, wypada bardzo przekonująco - 25-letniej piosenkarce pasuje zarówno stylizacja z tamtych czasów (warkocze, koczki, garsonki i sukienki), jak i stylistyka przeboju Ringo no Uta, którą  w jej wykonaniu usłyszymy w filmie.

Guilty - a Woman who made a Pact with the Devil

Guilty has an impressive premise – gentle-faced but cold-hearted Kanno Miho (aka Nogami Meiko) takes her revenge on men, who put her in jail 15 years ago on the charge of poisoning her brother-in-law and nephew. There’s no need to explain any further that this incident ruined the lives of her and her family – her sister took her life away and put her mother on the verge of sanity. In each episode she deals with yet another hideous persona leading a perfectly safe and successful life and she deals with them in such a refined way disguised in a perfectly understandable suicide that the viewer is left amazed and in awe.

Then suddenly a douche-faced but gentle detective Mashima (Tamaki Hiroshi) turns up in a rather unconventional way (he saves a dog she was taking care of from an inevitable death by drowning). He is intrigued by Meiko both professionally (he notices she is somehow connected to the series of recent puzzling suicides) and privately. When the story evolves from Meiko getting rid of the underlings to the episodes when Mashima and Meiko are getting close to the mastermind the quality plummets reaching its climax in ridiculously weak final episode.

Usually a faulty script is a KO mistake for a drama for me. It’s unfortunate because Guilty has some good points as well. As I mentioned in first paragraph it starts strong with gloomy atmosphere, enhanced by dimmed lights and dark colours (so very WOWOW-y rather the FujiTV). It's both exciting and intriguing to see how a pet salon worker Meiko puts on her cruel face and cleverly deals with the bad guys. It's enjoying to see Karasawa Toshiaki as the eccentric reporter, who devotes himself completely to pursuing the truth behind Meiko's case, living as a homeless and appearing from time to time with greasy hair and retro camera. Kichise Michiko as detective Mashima's sidekick and ex-girlfriend is also convincing and a wholesome character.

My point for this show

The soundtrack is the a I probably enjoyed even more than I expected. Orginal score was written by Sumitomo Norihito and features some really memorable pieces. The title song "Guilty" with english rapping by The New Classics that opens the whole series made me sway to the beat during each episode. Give it a listen here.

Ren'ai Shashin

A renown photographer, man going by nom de plume Shizuru Satonaka, tells the story behind him adopting a woman's name.

They met a few years back, while Makoto Segawa (Matsuda Ryuhei) was still a student, aspiring to become a professional photographer. From the first sight, he fell for the eccentric Satonaka Shizuru (Hirosue Ryoko), a persona of some notoriety on the campus. She moves in with him and begins sharing his passion for photography. It soon becomes evident that she has an innate affinity for it - her imperfect amateur shots show and tell more than Makoto's technically sound, but cold and impersonal photographs. Makoto is jealous of her which leads to them breaking up when Shizuru receives an award in a photography competition they take part in together.

Three years later Makoto receives a letter from Shizuru. She's gone to New York where she continues to hone her skills as a photographer. Soon he learns of a rumour that Shizuru has been dead for some time now, killed by an unknown assailant. Faced with this contradictory pieces of information, he travels to NY himself to ascertain the truth. What are the chances he'll find a missing person in the 10 million crowd?

While the intrigue thickens in New York, the movie takes a slump there, with lackluster performances by some of the foreign cast, over the top finale and at least one serious plot hole - the movie would end quite a bit sooner if someone was able to put two and two together. The more toned down Japanese part is of a notch higher quality.

In a fashion typical for the director, serious themes are freely mixed with comedic scenes. On a few occasions, the director uses satellite image zoom-in shots that will feature heavily in his SPEC series. I don't remember seeing them in Tsutsumi's earlier works, they might originate here.

The performances from Matsuda and Hirosue are solid, minus Matsuda's narration in English, which gets tiresome sooner rather than later. The movie is composed as an account of the events described during an interview, hence Matsuda uses English, however there is no apparent reason why the interviewer couldn't be Japanese. It would make life easier for both the audience and Matsuda himself.

Interesting watch - an uneven movie, strangely refreshing due to nonconformist plot - a story sad in a brutal way, quite unlike the typical Japanese melodrama. And a proof that a nail that sticks out gets hammered down - considering the 2006 remake.

My point for this movie

If watching this movie left you with a feeling that you have seen it somewhere before, you might be right. The movie's script was novelised by Ichikawa Takuji in Renai Shashin: Mō Hitotsu no Monogatari. The novel was remade as a movie in 2006 and released under the title Tada, Kimi o Aishiteru. The movie, starring Tamaki Hiroshi and Miyazaki Aoi as respectively Makoto and Shizuru, is known as Heavenly Forest in the west. Apart from the names and a very general outline of the story, both movies share little common ground.

Although I assumed the movie's Japanese title is a reference to Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu, another novel by the author which had its successful movie adaptation in 2004, it reportedly comes from a verse in its theme song, Otsuka Ai's Ren'ai Shashin.

Now, if you google for "Renai Shashin", you will mostly get references to the song and a single link to imdb site of Tsutsumi's movie. There's something half-profound, half-ironic in seeing a derived work based on a derived work based on a derived work outshining the original.

Liar Game: Reborn

When a fresh graduate Shinomiya Yu (Tabe Mikako) recieves a box full of banknotes and a black envelope, we don’t need any further explanation. The Liar Game starts again. Along with her, the notorious swindler and psychology prodigy Akiyama Shinichi Matsuda Shota), now a university professor, is pulled into the game.

But hey, where is Kanzaki Nao?

After two seasons in TV and a movie, the eponymous game is back in Liar Game: Reborn. Once again we will witness how twenty or so players risk heavy debt in a game of complex rules, shifting alliances and backstabbing. The rules seem simple at first, but carry hidden implications - finding and exploiting them will allow an underdog to turn the tables and break out of a seemingly losing situation. And rest assured, the tables will turn more than once, this one aspect of Liar Game did not change. Yet this movie does not live up to its promise.

As much as I like Tabe Mikako, she's no Toda. With her gone, it's now clear how much did the show depend on her character. Shinomiya Yu was announced to be a different, more able person than the stupid-naive Kanzaki Nao. Yet it doesn't show - she's just as naive and when she finally appears to act out of her own initiative, it soon ends up in a train wreck, just the right situation for Akiyama to come in and save the day.

A similar case can be made for Makiko Esumi and Ashida Mana, who play Omega and Alice, the masterminds behind this Liar Game. Ashida's appearance was another hyped one - she featured prominently in the trailer and had a dedicated short spin-off drama before the movie. With that much publicity one could expect that they'll be taking a major role in the events of the movie together with a large chunk of the screen time, at the very least giving Yokoya from the series a run for his money. And how did it end up? They have a total of maybe four scenes and play no active role in the game. They might just as well not have been there.

And the rest of the cast? We have series regulars Fukunaga (Suzuki Kosuke) and "Gold Tooth" Tanimura (Watanabe Ikkei) - another pair of sideline commentators. On the bright side, among the players we'll see Hamada Mari reprising her role as Sakamaki Mai from The Final Stage and Koike Eiko in what probably was the most decent performance among the main cast.

The movie features only a single game, "Modified Musical Chairs" and at two hours time it feels drawn out in the middle and ending prematurely in the finale. It seems as if they have originally planned a second game and a different finale, but ended up having to revise the script and had trouble tying up the loose ends.

Is it a worthwhile watch? If you saw the earlier Liar Games and are hungry for more - go ahead, it is ultimately more of the same. A little under-cooked, but most of the ingredients are in place - the games, the mood, the music and most of the cast. Otherwise, you're better off watching - or rewatching - the series. In my eyes, The Final Stage was a satisfying closure. Reborn doesn't bring anything new to the table. It doesn't bode well for the future of the series.

Food for thought

I'm not familiar with the manga and to what extent the drama storyline stays true to it, so I'm basing what I'm about to write on a Liar Game Wiki post. In the manga, "Modified Musical Chairs" was the fourth round of the original Liar Game Tournament. It was held after the "Contraband Game", and had Akiyama and Kanzaki Nao competing against Yokoya and Funakoshi Eiichiro's cult leader character Fukunaga was the leader of extras instead of Ikeda Tetsuhiro's character.

While the producers might have had little choice but to replace Toda's character, there seems to be no apparent reason for keeping Fukunaga out of the game he originally appeared in. I am no less puzzled as to why Yokoya was replaced - he appears in at least one scene in the movie (it may only be a flashback though).

Looking at the game's resolution makes the fact that this game is recycled from the original series story-line most visible. While "Modified Musical Chairs" was replaced in the drama series, its resolution was adapted and used in one of the replacements. Now hearing almost the same lines spoken out for the second time makes it feel distinctly out of place to anyone familiar with the drama series. You simply can't make the same Grand Revelation twice.

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What are your thoughts? Am I being needlessly critical here?

Nankyoku Tairiku

56 years ago, in November 1956, the first Japanese expedition set off to Antarctica. The crew, consisting of explorers, scientists as well as Karafuto-ken, Sakhalin Husky breed dogs, stayed there cross-winter. Next spring, due to bad conditions the crew was forced to leave the dogs behind and head back to Japan. Suddenly, the heroes who were the first ever Japanese to live in Antarctica were bashed harshly about leaving the animals for inevitable death. However, two dogs - siblings Taro and Jiro - survived South Pole's severe conditions by themselves and were later safely brought back to their homeland.

The story of Taro and Jiro is well known among both adults and children in Japan. Two Sakhalin Huskies are a bit of an icon actually (I daresay second to loyal Hachiko, whose figure is a meeting spot in Tokyo's Shibuya). Surely though, not everyone is fully aware of all the facts regarding the Cross-Winter expeditions. These were written down by Kitamura Taiichi, a member of the 1st and 3rd expedition. One of his books, „Nankyoku Ettotai: Taro Jiro no Shinjitsu” (“Antarctica Cross-Winter Expedition: the truth behind Taro and Jiro”), published in 1997 became a base for TBS 2011 tv-drama Nankyoku Tairiku.

However, don't expect the drama to be as faithful as a documentary. It's based on true events, but the scenario is actually fictional. Kuramochi Takeshi (Kimura Takuya), our main “human” hero, is created upon Kikuchi Tetsu – South Pole explorer and mountaineer, member of the first expedition, who was in charge of the dog sleds. The traces of Kitamura Taiichi can be found in the youngest member of the crew, university student researching aurora effects, Inuzuka (Yamamoto Yusuke). The facts and ficition regarding those two characters are mixed and if you're interested you might want to check that up.

The expectations towards the drama were very high. Star-studded cast was led by SMAP’s Kimura Takuya, whose well known for being picky in terms of his appearances in TV series and co-workers. You can expect high quality and ratings form the shows Kimutaku graces with his name (recent years though, the tendency seems to be a little falling from “high” to “decent” though). Unfortunately, Nankyoku Tairiku is one of the shows that leaves a dissapointment taste.

The characters in the First Cross Winter expedition members are varied and likeable and we got a sufficient introduction of their background to care for their safe return home. Their families waiting and following the news back home are also depicted very well. Also the Antarctica glaciers (filmed on Hokkaido) and post-war Japan backgrounds are picturesque and believable, though from time to time we get a little over the top CG effect that ruins the overall feeling. The South Pole continent is wild and dangerous, the impression enhanced by the music, especially the first chords of Nakajima Miyuki’s (another big namein the credits!) ending theme “Kouya yori” that strikes in the right moment for a major cliffhanger.

That's all for the good. In terms of scenario, the show is draggy. At one point it gets close to absurd when all characters repeat the same lines over and over again for half and episode or more and we go nowhere. Weaker points turn up throughout the whole series and might work as a turnoff.

My point for this show

The cameos - Nakama Yukie appears as Kuramochi Takeshi's wife. Her appearance is as short as one glimpse of a black and white photo. And you wonder and wonder if you get to see her again. Musician Miyazawa Kazufumi (from The BOOM, author of international hit Shima-Uta) appears as Iwashiro, ficitonal leader of the second expedition.

Smuggler

Wannabe actor, Kinuta (Tsumabuki Satoshi) takes on a job as a mover - one who gets rid of inconvenient corpses - after his debt is bought out by an underground banker. He joins Joe (Masatoshi Nagase), a hard-boiled, laconic veteran of the trade, and an older chatterbox of a man who goes only by the moniker Gramps (Gashuin Tatsuya). Meanwhile, two legendary assassins, Vertebrae (Ando Masanobu) and Viscera (Ryushin Tei), are hired by the Chinese to deal with a Yakuza boss, Tanuma. Joe's team is tasked with disposing the bodies after the bloodbath that ensues. That's the first time their path will cross with the assassin's, but certainly not the last, because the angered Yakuza are now aiming for Vertebrae and Viscera's heads...

This is the premise of Ishii Katsuhito's 2011 movie Smuggler, based on Manabe Shohei's manga. The director assembled a pretty impressive cast - apart from the already mentioned, we'll see Mitsushima Hikari, Matsuyuki Yasuko and Kohinata Fumiyo with cameo appearances by several familiar faces.

When I sat down to this one, I expected a movie akin to Samehada Otoko to Momojiri Onna, with its comic-book violence and Pulp Fiction-like dialogues. This one however is noticeably darker, grittier and brutal then Samehada..., falling halfway to Kitano's Outrage with its realistic depictions of violence and gang power struggles. There will be skulls cracking in slow motion and lengthy, detailed torture scenes - the movie is not something to watch to the dinner.

I'm on fence with this one. For one thing, it's a well made piece of cinema, but the excessive violence left me twitching for a substantial part of the movie. Certainly there are people it will appeal to, for me it was too much. I find the more quirky Ishii, like Cha no Aji or Naisu no Mori, far more enjoyable.

My point for the movie

Among many cameo appearences by such Ishii veterans as Kiyokawa Hitoshi, Morishita Yoshiyuki and Terajima Susumu, there's also an appearence by Osugi Ren and Matsuda Shota as a pair of policemen - much like Tsumabuki's own appearence with Oguri Shun in Surely Someday. What's with all the policeman cameos in Japanese movies? Yoji Tanaka (another one from Samehada... cast) must have made it his hobby - I remember him from Udon, and looking at his imdb page, he must have scored a good three or four by himself. I have a hunch that I might have seen some odd policemen somewhere else too, but I can't pinpoint the titles of the top of my head

What are your feelings on Smuggler? Alternatively, have you seen any suspicious policemen around here somewhere?