Honjitsu wa Taian Nari

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Honjitsu_wa_Taian_Nari 

I've only seen Yuuka in Maou & My Girl... but I really like her aura when she's acting. This is her first starring role (if I'm not mistaken) so I definitely want to watch this :D

Ratings (%) : 3.3 | 4.8 | 6.5 | 3.9 | 4.2 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 3.6 | -- | -- |

My overall rating: --

#1~#2

Moving on from Lucky Seven marathon (until #8), the atmosphere of the dorama is more relaxing (despite the chaos in the first episode)... Everyone just falls into their characters so naturally esp the wedding planner team(?). Seems like they put in some scenes that are meant to be funny... (okay, I did laughed XD) .. but I'm more interested with the mystery/suspense side of the dorama.

...will be updated

Lucky Seven #6

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Lucky_Seven

Rating (Kanto): 14.6%

My rating: 4/5

Surprisingly, my watching experience isn't affected much by Nitta's absence... I dare say  he shone the most in the first few episodes... now that the character is gone, everyone started being in the same light again... a blessing in disguise? :P

Almost everyone showed their cool side in this episode :) Shuntaro, Tsukushi-san, Junpei... it was a fun episode. Tanihara's character/story was also enjoyable.

Was the first case story explained fully? I'm still curious of why Tsukushi-san was stabbed & how Touko-san saved him (& kicked someone?)... I'm guessing it was similar to what happened in this episode..

I still feel weird about MatsuJun's portrayal of Shuntaro. Guess I'm not a fan enough to appreciate the performance huh. I like it when he showed Shuntaro's not-so-cool side... but is totally turned off by those cool expressions (I'm a totally strange Arashi fan XD)...

Lucky Seven #4 & #5

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Lucky_Seven

Ratings (Kanto): 15.4% (#4), 15.2% (#5)

My ratings: 

4 | 3.5 

5 | 3.5 

Eita's character is gone :(

Anyway... well, I read that he has butai/stageplay so it's understandable for his character to be absent, I guess . But I don't know if I can say I like how they make his character very suspicious in the fourth episode... The change was so drastic. Ahh... just when his friendship with Shuntaro got better, he's leaving already...


Oh well.

There was one scene where Oizumi's character (Junpei) checked the lock of Nitta's apartment door for any signs of being broke into.. I totally thought of "Kagi no Kakatta Heya" the instance lock is mentioned... XD. I wonder if Ohno will make an appearance in the final episode..? It's okay if he doesn't.. I'm just hoping there'll be a glimpse of the next Mon9 in the end of the final episode <3

I saw Tanihara in the preview for next episode :P

Lucky Seven #3

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Lucky_Seven

Rating (Kanto): 15.2%

My rating: 4/5

Ahh.. they have gotten comfortable with each other in this episode. 良かったね。

That side story  about Shuntaro as a suspected stalker was kind of funny... & the kid was so random.. Too random. I was annoyed at how casually she stole the dog away from Shuntaro. But this 10-year-old girl is very matured. I actually like the scene (I cried ..hehe) where she bowed down to apologize to the man her mum swindled earlier.

Preview for next episode: What is Nitta doing?

Lucky Seven #1 & #2

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Lucky_Seven

Ratings (Kanto): 16.3% (#1), 16.9% (#2)

My ratings: 

1 | 3.5 (It was just "meh" for me)

2 | 4 (Loved the guest characters & that scene on bench at the end :'D)

Finally started watching this before the final episode air next week :P

This is going to be hard to review. I didn't have much expectations before watching. My expectations were pretty much at a neutral level. Something about Jun bugged me in the first episode. The character?...or his portrayal???  When I reached episode 2, I could see where they want this character to head to...but I'm not used to it yet.. maybe after a few more episodes. Maybe.

I have mixed feelings for the interaction between the Lucky Seven (L7) detectives. Excepting Shuntaro, everyone is supposed to be very familiar with each other. But sometimes it feels awkward when Oizumi & Naka's characters interact with other characters. Somewhat forced... & a bit unnatural? Eita & Matsushima fell right into their characters..though Matsushima didn't appear that much really. Her presence as their boss reminds me of her character in "Bijo ka Yajuu" (minus the aloofness). Eita portrays his character naturally. Nitta is my favourite character since the first episode.  

...and I'm skipping the synopses :P because my reviews usually are centered on my impression on that particular episode. 

Kagi no Kakatta Heya

「鍵のかかった部屋」Kagi no Kakatta Heya (Locked Room)
Last updated : 9.25pm MYT, 14.March.2012

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Cast :

Ohno Satoshi as Enomoto Kei

Toda Erika (2/27) as Aoto Junko  

Sato Koichi (3/2) as Serizawa Gou 
Nounen Rena (3/13)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Episode 1 Guests:

Maeda Ken (3/4) 

Nadaka Tatsuo (3/5) 

Oficial Site:  http://www.fujitv.co.jp/kagi 

Original Story (novel): Kishi Yuusuke (Ao no Honoo, Kuroi Ie, Crimson no Meikyuu/The Crimson Labyrinth)
Scriptwriter: Aizawa Tomoko (Princess Toyotomi, Guilty Akuma to Keiyakushita Onna, Itsumo Futari de )
Music: Ken Arai
Producer: Ohara Ichiryu 小原一隆 (he was one of NatsuNiji directors)
Directors: 

• Matsuyama Hiroaki (Liar Game series, Shiawase ni Narou yo, Voice)
• Kato Hiromasa (GOLD, Last Friends, Innocent Love, Saiyuuki)
• Ishii Yusuke (Watashi ga Renai Dekinai Riyuu, Nagareboshi, Tokyo DOGS, Tsuki no Koibito)

2/20
Rumoured to be announced on this day. Scans of TV Magazine (yet to be published?) reporting this circulated but no official announcement yet.

Toda Erika is rumoured to be one of the supporting casts.


2/22
Officially announced in newspapers (with Aiba's dorama).
[Trans: Tokyohive || Tokyograph || MomoEdgewood ]

How Ohno's character looked like... [Link]

Official site opened: http://www.fujitv.co.jp/kagi

Staff list:
(crossposted from my LJ)
----------------------------------------------
Original Novel: Kishi Yuusuke
Scriptwriter: Aizawa Tomoko (Princess Toyotomi)
Producer: Ohara Ichiryu 小原一隆 (One of NatsuNiji's directors)
Directors: 

• Matsuyama Hiroaki (Liar Game, Shiawase ni Narou yo)
• Kato Hiromasa (Last Friends, Innocent Love, Saiyuuki)
• Ishii Yusuke (Watashi ga Renai Dekinai Riyuu, Nagareboshi)

----------------------------------------------

2/23
The scriptwriter mentioned about this on her blog (originally seen/trans available here).


2/27
Toda Erika involvement in this dorama is confirmed.
[News scans here | Trans from Tokyohive | Trans from Tokyograph]

How Toda's character looked like... [Link]

Screencaps from morning's Mezamashi.
[Reblogged on Tumblr/Ohno : Here & here]
Filming already started/crank-in.

Official site update:
"Topics" section. Seems like a section for news related to the dorama.
my loose trans :P
(vol.1)
Working with Ohno Satoshi for the first time in "Kagi no Kakatta Heya" as a pure-hearted & instinctive beautiful lawyer, Toda Erika is playing as the heroine. 


2/28
*updated the drama wiki for this dorama : http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Kagi_no_Kakatta_Heya


3/2
New cast member revealed - Sato Koichi. Junko's superior.

Official site update:
"Topics" section.
my loose trans :P
(vol.2)
Working with Ohno Satoshi for the first time in "Kagi no Kakatta Heya", Sato Koichi plays a veteran lawyer who believes in the phrase "Time is Money."

The novel is going to be re-published by the publisher (Kadokawa). The release date is April 25th. [Link]
This is good news because it seems every online shops I visited doesn't have the novel in stock anymore. Even my YesAsia order for this item was cancelled. Kind of hoping they'll re-publish the other two books in Enomoto-Junko series too. (In case you're wondering, I can't handle reading a book in japanese yet... I'm buying them for future use :P)


3/4
Rumoured guest appearances for Episode 1:
Horibe Keisuke & Maeda Ken.
**Maeda's appearance confirmed through his tweets on March 2nd (Original tweet | trans by Yamakaze067@LJ)


3/5
Official site update:
"Topics" section.
my loose trans :P
(vol.3)
Ohno Satoshi, Toda Erika & Sato Koichi - crank-in! (Filming started)
---Mentioned guests : Nadaka Tatsuo & Maeda Ken.


3/10
Kagi no Kakatta Heya's OST is going to be released on May 30th. [Link on Amazon.jp]
The composer is Ken Arai(?).

Official site update:
"Message" section opened.


3/12
Ohno talked a bit about filming & his character in his weekday radio show (Arashi Discovery) today. [Trans by @ohnodiscovery]


3/13
Official site update:
Another cast member revealed... Nounen Rena.
She's part of the regular cast, acting as Serizawa's secretary. [Tweet]




3/14

"Hana Arashi" campaign (sth similar tu Fuku Arashi) started from the day of final episode of "Lucky Seven" until the first episode of "Kagi no Kakatta Heya".
I'm guessing that there'll be "TV Spots" or trailers for Kagi during this campaign.



Date
----




4/16 
Started airing every Monday on Fuji TV, 21:00 JST.
Episode 1.

================================================================

Disclaimer: 
***This progress post is a post made to record any events related to the dorama from the eye of a biased fan of Ohno Satoshi. Most of the links and info put here were found through LJ, 2ch thread, the official site and twitter/google searches. Tumblr links are reblogged posts from my own Tumblr (in case the original one are deleted). 
***I also edit the drama wiki for this dorama from time to time (my username is JAnA) so don't be surprised if the information on both sites are similar.

Mou Yuukai nante Shinai [Review]

Real-time (Jan/3)

Keyhole wasn't really nice that day :P. But I managed to watch until the end. I was sick... & I think I almost go to sleep in the middle :D. I didn't think it was that boring if you care to accept this from a biased Ohno fan :P. Honestly, I was expecting it to be a dorama SP that makes your New Year merrier... but I was wrong. It didn't help that this started straight away after VS Arashi ended (without ads between) :P. In my case, I was still a bit nervous/excited watching the final round of Rolling Coin Tower. Anyway... I think this is a dorama you're supposed to watch after all those New Year celebrations.. to like cool down. It has this calming effect on you so if you are one that thought it would be the merry kind, you'll be bored easily in the first 15 minutes. When the dorama reached its climax, I was wide awake...  because the dorama started taking on a quicker pace. I wasn't able to understand much (which means I have to self-study japanese language harder :P) except simple conversations, of course lol.. didn't get what Shotaro's senpai was speaking at all :P. I also like to see Shotaro & Erika's interactions (& sometimes with Komo-senpai).

LQ video (Jan/4-5)

Suffered watching LQ... because I couldn't see Ohno's expressions (which I really like to observe always) clearly. When I watched real-time, I couldn't follow the story properly because of video streaming issues.. anyway.. I just realised Shotaro loves superhero (tokusatsu?) merchandises. Is he counted as an otaku? Though maybe Ohno doesn't see the character that way because I'm not getting that vibe from him... anyway.. Like someone (or maybe most people) said, this dorama is star-studded.. I think I saw Takada Nobuhiko (wasn't listed in the cast list or correlation chart) in one of the scenes. I'm sure I saw more but can't recall anyone now. Kaname Jun didn't look like him at all...is it because of the hair? :P Erika's erm... family looks fun. I like how her father is portrayed as a fierce on the outside yet a fatherly mob leader. He looked sincerely worried when he got the call from Erika's "kidnappers".


Chinese-subbed (Jan/6)
SUBS! lol... Seeing this with subs (with limited chinese vocab :P) enlightened me a bit about the plot. Actually like 75-85% enlightenment :P.. anyway.. About Kaname, I think it was the moustache :P... And I may not be fond of Kanjiya's acting, but she seems comfortable with her role.. And I don't think this is comedy really.. sure there were some funny scenes here and there.. but I still think it's more to the mystery side.

Watching for the 3rd time, I started thinking how interesting it would be to see this as a renzoku dorama. I wish I knew the characters better (for a 2-hr dorama, not much characters development can be done) ... the atmosphere sure feels like I should have known them. But if it will be done as a full-length dorama, I wish it starts from the ending of the SP. Of course the title & plot had to change too lol, I don't think I can watch Shotaro saying "I shouldn't have done this kidnapping stuff" in every episode... I'm thinking of a plot similar to Mukodono..like Shotaro having to work for Hanazono family to get father's approval *oh lol.. Sorry, imagination running wild.. XD* (actually hoping for a more serious role in dorama for him this year *my wish every season*)..

I wish I can say I like Shotaro... but I can't... because I don't know this character well. I think he's likable though.. but I need more than 2hrs to really like him. In my opinion, Ohno's performance here falls in the same category with his character in Uta no Onii-san (characters that are similar to his personality). He played his character well... & that was it. There weren't really scenes that made me go "WOW. This person's acting skill is superb" like the feelings I get watching Maou's eps 7 where Naruse met her sister... or Kaibutsu-kun's eps 4's crying scene at the end.


HQ video + japanese subtitles (Jan/7)
Watching again for the fourth time :D.. Actually not till the end, I just want to check the video's quality. But the more I watch it the more I grow to love it. I also realised that the special appearances by some casts were for "Strawberry Night" (a subtle promo, perhaps?)...



HQ video + english subtitles (Jan/10)
English subs makes a big difference :D...