01 January 2016

Otona Joshi

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

My rating: 3.5-4 out of 5 stars

Reason for watching this: Fruitage Inc.

(with spoilers and otome game references)

09 June 2015

On Hiatus

I'm trying to sort my life at this moment so most of my blogs are on hiatus (including this) although I'm very active on Tumblr *sigh*... if there are any reasons you have to reach me, find me here.

I do want to update this blog if I can because I still need a place to say all the things I thought about doramas and such.

03 November 2012

Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de SP

Rating: 14.7% (Kanto)

*smile* I'm really glad that I chose to wait. I watched this in between my dorama re-watch sessions XD... 

It was fun! I don't know why... all the comedic moments (theme song playing, finished??.... rewinded, not finished! lol) & chemistry between the characters (& casts) looks better than the dorama... Though, to be honest, there are moments where I was cringing a bit at Sho's acting (more than Miss Kitagawa's *I find her acting acceptable in this SP*)... And it was great to see a bit character developments (for the upcoming movie??) happening e.g Kageyama worrying he's on the same level with Kazamatsuri?? XD  

About Kageyama in Hong Kong... What was that all about? XD Was he smitten with the woman who looked like his Reiko-sama... or was it just something that reminded him of the [real] lady he is serving (missing his job?)??

Anyway... I love how the way they combined two seems unrelated cases into one case in one episode. Wished they show more on what happened next after Suzuki-san revealed himself though...

My rating: 4/5 stars

18 September 2012

Kagi no Kakatta Heya ~Post-Spring 2012~

Original post here.

Last updated : 6.44pm MYT, 20.Nov.2013

[*** = Loose translation by me; might be wrong m(_ _)m]

===================== Post-Spring 2012 =====================

7/4
Ohno talked about KagiHeya on his radio show today about Kagi team's pet lizard, Kagi.

Yesterday (July 3rd), he talked about being sleepy as he memorised his lines in KagiHeya.

7/6
LaLa TV's "The Drama Conference" (Digest version) - read about this before on 2ch threads but never seen it... The highlight regarding KagiHeya was Tsunku's comments on Ohno after watching KagiHeya (actually similar to what he tweeted before). 
Video ]

7/7
Aizawa-san (main scriptwriter) updated her blog. She talked about the messages she received in two weeks time after KagiHeya ended. Most of the messages sounded like these: "Feeling lonely after it ended" & "Hoping for sequels". She was happy & thankful on receiving them. She also expressed that she wishes to work with Team Enomoto again somewhere, someday.***

7/9
Saw this tweet by Director Matsuyama today...
Seems like there was some kind of misunderstanding... Matsuyama-san asked those two Twitter users about the source for KagiHeya movie news they mentioned to him. It was mentioned in an article by Umeda Keiko from a column on Nikkan Sports. The article was about five spring doramas (starred by Johnny's artistes) she watched (btw she said KagiHeya is the most interesting among those five XD). Umeda-san has  issued an apology & correction for that article : "***There is no confirmation regarding the movie version [of KagiHeya]."「映画化決定の事実はありません。」

As much as I want a sequel (or more XD), I think all these movie rumours originated from articles after the final episode aired (that sounded like poorly quoted contents from KagiHeya producer's interview on the official site) mentioning about movie version somewhat vaguely. They might be still at discussion/planning stage now (who knows? XD *hopeful* //Don't quote me on this), but as of now, a movie sequel IS NOT CONFIRMED.

Doing detective work is fun! XD

7/10
Ohno mentioned about a staff member from a recent dorama (he didn't mention specifically KagiHeya though) on his radio show today.
[ Link to trans will be added if available ]

7/11
On his radio show today, Ohno talked about the scale models used in the KagiHeya. He talked about wanting them when the dorama was still airing (hoping the staff will consider giving him) months ago... & it seems they did. All of them XD
[ Trans by @ohnodiscovery ]

7/25
Photos of the scale model from the last two episodes were posted on a blog (I think it's the creator's blog).
Here ]

7/27
Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix (Spring 2012) Awards >> KagiHeya wins Best DramaBest Actor (Ohno Satoshi)Best Supporting Actor (Sato Koichi) & Best Supporting Actress (Toda Erika).

Full List (arranged according to number of votes):
Best Drama - Kagi no Kakatta Heya (1342votes), ATARU (785), Umechan Sensei (211), Legal High (131) & Kaeru no Ojou-sama (121).
Best Actor - Ohno Satoshi (Kagi - 1357), Nakai Masahiro (ATARU - 835), Sakai Masato (Legal - 224), Takenouchi Yutaka (Mou Ichido - 142) & Kusanagi Tsuyoshi (37-sai - 136).
Best Supporting Actor - Sato Koichi (Kagi - 1248), Kitamura Kazuki (ATARU - 753), Takahashi Katsumi (Umechan - 159), Okura Tadayoshi (Mikeneko - 85) & Fujiki Naohito (Mikeneko - 74).
Best Supporting Actress - Toda Erika (Kagi - 1141), Kuriyama Chiaki (ATARU - 754), Aragaki Yui (Legal - 200), Wakui Emi (Mou Ichido - 96) & Minami Kaho (Umechan - 95). 
*I didn't include the Best Actress part

7/31
Saw this mentioned in KagiHeya's 2ch thread... Just thought it's interesting ^_^... Seems like in Naniwa Shonen Tanteidan, Tabe Mikako's character said 「そうか、そうやったんか」(***"I see. So that's how it's done.") after she solved a locked room case in ep4. It might meant nothing (e.g. reference to Kagi)... but the phrase sounded similar to what Enomoto said after he found the solution in certain episodes : 「そうか、そうだったのか」(***"I see. So that's how it happened.")
p/s: I didn't watch this episode/dorama (& might never will... not a fan of Tabe's acting :P)

8/1
Ohno talked about Kagi the lizard on his radio show today. (...so Kagi is under his care now :).. *happy to know*)

8/2
Oh his radio show today, Ohno talked about Aikawa Sho-san ...& a bit on Kagi - seems like it was decided earlier that he'll take care of Kagi which is why he can't accept Aikawa-san's gift...

8/13
Some stuff found between 3-11 Aug...
Tokyo FM's "Athletes' Cheer up SONGS" >> Kondo Ai's choice is Arashi's Face Down. (***Reason:"A song I will listen to when I want to feel better. The cool-looking MatsuJun is my type." unrelated to Kagi XD)
Link ]

These are from transcription shared by fans on 2ch threads (I didn't listen to the interview so can't be sure of its accuracy... including the translation XD)
[***]
-Kagi is the most difficult work she had encountered (moreover it's for the Getsu9 slot).
-Seems like Ohno suggested the unlocking gesture while the director added in the unlocking sound.
-Kishi-sensei gave his opinions for every episodes... he anticipated watching the second half of dorama just like other viewers (ah.. because they changed the storyline, I think... as long as the locked room tricks stay the same)...
-If there's a part 2, wished it to be done overseas(??? this part is kinda vague)...
[another transcription]
-The opening scenes were added to serve as a surprise (for audience?) & to make it unique, they're done with the trio..
-They couldn't borrow a nursing robot, so they had one made for the dorama.
-It was hard to put together the trick & a story in less than an hour. She usually can use [personal?] experiences in creating a story but for this dorama, she couldn't. It was always like a "studying for exam" session for every episode...

8/12,16 (list added on 9/2)
Kagi won in five categories for The Television Drama Academy Awards - Best Drama, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress & Best Theme SongThe winners list will be out officially on Aug 16th but there's a scan of the magazine shared in Kagi's 2ch thread.

Full List (votes from readers/juries/TV reporters *winners correspond to readers' votes*)
****[left out Best Actress part]
Best Drama
1. Kagi no Kakatta Heya, 2. ATARU, 3. Mou Ichido Kimi ni Propose, 4. Mikeneko Holmes no Suiri, 5. Legal High
1. Legal High, 2. Kagi no Kakatta Heya, 3. ATARU, 4. 37-sai de Isha ni Natta Boku, 5. W no Higeki/Tempest/Toshi Densetsu no Onna
1. Legal High, 2. Kagi no Kakatta Heya, 3. ATARU, 4. 37-sai de Isha ni Natta Boku, 5. Kodomo Keisatsu
Best Actor
1. Ohno Satoshi, 2. Nakai Masahiro, 3. Takenouchi Yutaka, 4. Aiba Masaki, 5. Sakai Masato
1. Sakai Masato, 2. Ohno Satoshi, 3. Nakai Masahiro, 4. Kusanagi Tsuyoshi, 5. Takenouchi Yutaka
1. Sakai Masato, 2. Ohno Satoshi, 3. Nakai Masahiro, 4. Takenouchi Yutaka, 5. Kusanagi Tsuyoshi
Best Supporting Actor
1. Sato Koichi, 2. Kitamura Kazuki, 3. Okura Tadayoshi, 4. Fujiki Naohito, 5. Tamamori Yuta
1. Kitamura Kazuki, 2. Sato Koichi, 3. Satomi Kotaro, 4. Ayano Go, 5. Kiritani Kenta
1. Sato Koichi, 2. Kitamura Kazuki, 3. Namase Katsuhisa, 4. Satomi Kotaro, 5. Okura Tadayoshi
Best Supporting Actress
1. Toda Erika, 2. Kuriyama Chiaki, 3. Aragaki Yui, 4. Wakui Emi, 5. Oomasa Aya
1. Kuriyama Chiaki, 2. Aragaki Yui, 3. Toda Erika, 4. Wakui Emi, 5. Mimura
1. Aragaki Yui, 2. Kiriyama Chiaki, 3. Wakui Emi, 4. Toda Erika, 5. Gouriki Ayame
Best Theme Song
1. Face Down (Arashi/Kagi no Kakatta Heya), 2. Tadaima (JUJU/Mou Ichido Kimi ni Propose), 3. Your Eyes (Arashi/Mikeneko Holmes no Suiri)
1. Kokuhaku (Hirai Ken/W no Higeki), 2. Face Down (Arashi/Kagi no Kakatta Heya), 3. Jiyuu e Michizure (Shiina Ringo/ATARU)
1. Ai deshita (Kanjani8/Papadol), 2. Jiyuu e Michizure (Shiina Ringo/ATARU), 3. Boku to Hana (Sakanaction/37-sai de Isha ni Natta Boku)
***for Best Director & Best Scriptwriter, KagiHeya got third place for both. "Legal High" got first & "ATARU" second for both categories.  


8/22

Ohno talked about his lizard pet :D again on his radio show. His father has taken a liking to Kagi (& even bathed with him!).

9/18
Meitantei Conan Vol. 77's cover included an introduction of Enomoto Kei. (Several others such as Higashino Keigo's Galileo was also featured in the past)
9/25
Arafes voting official results - "Face Down" tops the list for singles category

Kagi won in four categories for TV Navi's Dorama of the Year 2012 (Spring) awards : Best Drama, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor & Best Supporting Actress. 
[ Link ]

Full List 
*excluding Best Actress and Best Newcomer

Best Drama
1. Kagi no Kakatta Heya
2. ATARU
3. Legal High
4. 37-sai de Isha ni Natta Boku
5. Mikeneko Holmes no Suiri

Best Actor
1. Ohno Satoshi (Kagi)
2. Nakai Masahiro (ATARU)
3. Sakai Masato (Legal)
4. Kusanagi Tsuyoshi (37-sai)
5. Aiba Masaki (Mikeneko)

Best Supporting Actor
1. Sato Koichi (Kagi)
2. Kitamura Kazuki (ATARU)
3. Okura Tadayoshi (Mikeneko)
4. Kiritani Kenta (W no Higeki)
5. Fukushi Seiji (Hancho 5)

Best Supporting Actress
1. Toda Erika (Kagi)
2. Kuriyama Chiaki (ATARU)
3. Aragaki Yui (Legal)
4. Wakui Emi (Mou Ichido Kimi ni Propose)
5. Mizukawa Asami (37-sai)

10/9
"Kagi no Kakatta Heya" recently won MIPCOM Buyer's Award for Japanese Drama 2012.
-Some details about this award from english version of year 2010 result(?) available here.

10/10
DVD/Blu-ray release day.

10/12
Scriptwriter Aizawa-san updated her blog on Oct 10: "To Tatsumi's Winery, with Kishi Yusuke-san."
-In the entry, there's a photo of her with Tatsumi Takuro & Kishi-sensei from the show "Tatsumi Takuro's Wine Bangumi" [aka "Tatsumi Winery"] to air on BS Fuji TV this Oct 17, 23:00~23:30 JST.
-She also mentioned about KagiHeya DVD/Blu-ray release (with photo)..

10/17
Oricon Dorama DVD Weekly Ranking - 1st is KagiHeya's DVD-Box (sold 14 524 copies so far...) // KagiHeya got 1st for Dorama Blu-ray Weekly Ranking too (12 942 copies sold...)

10/30
More on MIPCOM's Buyer Award for Japanese Drama 2012 ---

From an entry on Drafes' blog [Link] :
***Comments on "Kagi no Kakatta Heya"...
"The substance [of the story] is very interesting & high-level. Even the overseas [audience] can *enjoy this." -Denmark (*十分通用する)
"The concept and story are very good." -France
"The casts are particularly good. There's humour and it's also fast-paced. Makes one look forward to the next episode." -Australia
"The quality is very high, befitting all kind of age groups." -Lebanon
"The actors' performance is good & the story is cleverly done. The characters are loveable especially the guy from the security company - he was good." -Brazil

The blog entry also mentioned that mystery genre is very popular overseas. Besides the story, the performance of the actors/actresses was also much talked about.

[KYAA~ security company guy... is Enomoto-san, right? ]

"Tatsumi Winery" with Kishi-sensei & Aizawa-san ---
***[Like before, I found transcriptions from 2ch & fan blogs... I didn't watched it so can't be sure of its accuracy including the trans XD]
edit 09/Nov/2012--seems like the eps both are on will only be aired tomorrow (10/Nov/2012).. The transcriptions I found were fan reports who attended the show.
-On the addition of a new character (Serizawa), Kishi-sensei said Aizawa-san's scripts were great. He was already made aware that while the trick remained unchanged, the setting of the story will be changed. (However, he did checked all of the scripts.)
-On Ohno-kun, "He's very cool! He's thirty already, right? And yet he still looks so young! Some scenes were re-shoot over and over again... so many times. It's almost like a torture *laughs*.. There was once -it wasn't Ohno-kun's fault- was it the position of the camera? Or angle? ..kind of problem arose so a certain scene was re-shoot repeatedly.. it was perfect after that. I was really, really surprised with [his] ability to concentrate. It was great." [Someone who attended Kishi-sensei's lecture (elsewhere) said he mentioned about how professional Ohno was with such concentration] 
-Seems like someone asked Kishi-sensei whether he'll continue with Enomoto-Junko series/novels (since dorama Enomoto is on a journey), his answer was "Don't worry. They'll be returning!"

11/13
"Tatsumi Winery" (aired on 11/10)
***transcription from 2ch (I really wished I could watch the whole show!)
On sequels, Kishi-sensei himself said he have tricks and plots enough to make a whole new series (2nd season???) so he asked for Aizawa-sensei's help again if the time comes.
p/s: OMG! Isn't this great?? This was the only thing that made me worry when thinking of KagiHeya sequels - but the author actually had enough tricks/plots for his Enomoto-Junko series! Who knew...! All the dorama needed is the tricks (provided by Kishi-sensei) ...& now.. let's hope that the casts have space for KagiHeya in their work schedule next year (!) *hopeful for a fall dorama lol*

-------------------------- 2013 --------------------------
2/26
KagiHeya won in five categories for TV LIVE's 22nd Annual Drama Award 2012: Best Drama, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress & Best Theme Song.
[ source ]

3/15
Ohno shared about his feelings in winning the recent Best Actor award on his radio show.
[ Trans by twosen@LJ ]


5/10
KagiHeya won in four categories for Nikkan Sports 16th Drama Grand Prix (Annual) - Best Drama, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress... *The nominees for this annual version seem to include all top five from each season*

# of Votes: 2624
[ Voters: Male-685, Female-1939; 10s&below-45, 20s-109, 30s-358, 40s-1026, 50s-823, 60s&above-263 ]

Full List (excluding Best Actress)
Best Drama:
Kagi no Kakatta Heya (1237 votes), PRICELESS (490), Umechan Sensei (129), Aibou Season 11 (123), Tonbi (123)

Best Actor:
Ohno Satoshi/Kagi no Kakatta Heya (1251), Kimura Takuya/PRICELESS (490), Mizutani Yutaka/Aibou 11 (172), Uchino Masaaki/Tonbi (128), Nakai Masahiro/ATARU (90)

Best Supporting Actor:
Sato Koichi/Kagi no Kakatta Heya (1188), Nakai Kiichi/PRICELESS (508), Narimiya Hiroki/Aibou 11 (134), Sato Takeru/Tonbi (101), Takahashi Katsumi/Umechan Sensei (99)

Best Supporting Actress:
Toda Erika/Kagi no Kakatta Heya (1140), Karina/PRICELESS (472), Kuriyama Chiaki /ATARU (119), Ono Machiko/Saikou no Rikon (94), Aragaki Yui/Legal High (88)


[ Source | aramatheydidnt ]

===
Director Matsuyama's tweet on May 7th:
"Obara-kun. Looking superb today too."
Attached is a scan of Nikkan's article where Producer Obara received the "Best Drama" award.

9/15
Rumour of KagiHeya SP. There's a scan (from to-be-released magazine?) circulating on Twitter. No official news yet.
[ Pic ]
***Trans of headline: "Enomoto is Making a Comeback - A Special [Drama] for "Kagi no Kakatta Heya" starring Ohno Satoshi Has Been Decided!"

9/16
Confirmed news on KagiHeya SP.
[ Article (japanese) | aramatheydidnt | doramaworld ]
Will be based on a to-be-released story(or book?) by Kishi Yusuke:
鏡の国の殺人」 Kagami no Kuni no Satsujin (Murder Through a Looking Glass*)  and 「二つの密室(仮)」Futatsu no Misshitsu (Tentative) (Two Closed Room Cases)
*basing on the trans of Kagami no Kuni of Lewis Carroll's "Through a Looking Glass" :D

Staff's official blog update:
***16-Sept-2013 - "Finally, Enomoto is returning!"

9/18
Scriptwriter Aizawa-san updated her blog on Sept 18: "Kagi no Kakatta Heya SP"

11/19
More news on the cast of the special: Kuroki Hitomi as the niece of a security company's president; Sano Shiro as an Art gallery/museum curator; Fujiki Naohito as a Modern Art Artist; Okada Yoshinori as an apartment manager; Matsui Jurina as Serizawa's new secretary; ...
[ Article (japanese) | doramaworld ]

11/19
Official site update:
"Topics" section

***(vol 12)

04 September 2012

Currently rewatching... : Part 2

I think this will be the last part because I'm out of doramas that suits current mood to re-watch XD

Proposal Daisakusen - Still enjoyable after almost 5 years... but I kept noticing things that reminded me of why I'm not YamaPi's fan anymore :P. ... after recently watched Toshi Densetsu no Onna, Nagasawa Masami's (who I find watchable years ago) acting style has become an annoying to watch for me... It seems like I just realised the unnaturalness she displayed in this dorama... Surprisingly, I find Fujiki Naohito's Tada-san more bearable now (maybe because I watched Hotaru no Hikaru before this XD)...

Shomuni - It was a fun journey... I like watching Esumi Makiko here.. And Ishiguro Ken... XD I sometimes wonder if Ukyo will end up with Sawako in the end... 

Ringu : Saisusho - Less enjoyable now... I'm very annoyed with Yada's acting (I started fastforwarding her scenes in the end)...  If there's ever reason needed to re-watch this again, it would be Yanagiba-san... Nagase (& his character) just annoys me this time

JIN (both seasons) - I think I enjoyed more watching this for the second time... and I even cried more (haha) compared to when I first watch it... The theme songs esp the 2nd one almost always brought tears to my eyes.. There was one particular scene in the first one (when Minakata-sensei met the sick Ogata-sensei) where I was crying and the same time amazed by their performance... Gosh, what a roller coaster of emotions this dorama had been for me.. 

Mei-chan no Shitsuji - ...I wouldn't have survived watching this if not for Mizushima Hiro... Eikura Nana was okay (though there are parts where she could have done better).. This dorama was the reason I'm not very fond of Oomasa's acting (honestly, I felt nauseous every time her character talks so I gladly fastforwarded them :D).. Yamada's acting gave me the same effects...

Strawberry Night - ... Had the same feelings when watching it the first time.. I don't find Himekawa likeable... Now (for the second time) I'm not sure if it's because of Himekawa's character or the actress' acting style... Anyway... I grew to love Kikuta more (kya~)..  also.. I noticed that Koide's character here is somewhat similar to his character in JIN.. hmm.. Maybe the expressions he used for the characters...