Mikeneko Holmes no Suiri #3

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

Rating (Kanto): 12.7 

My rating: 3.5/5 stars 

Why can't I stop saying "kawaii" whenever cat-Holmes shows up..???? XD 

Mikeneko Holmes no Suiri #2

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

Rating (Kanto): 12.1
My rating: 3.5/5 stars 

Mita Holmes is scary lol...

Honestly, I love it when a mystery starts like this XD.. Like someone who's supposed to be dead attended a seminar on love..& murdered someone? 

There were more scenes for human-Holmes.. I think Matsuko's acting is awkward most of the time.. hmmm.. but I'll take it as part of a cat's peculiarities *though I'm not very convinced*

Kagi no Kakatta Heya #2

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

Rating (Kanto): 16.5%

My Rating: 4.5/5 stars 

Hints: Mathematical formula & red tape/confetti?

Not really a surprise but my keyword for this episode is... mystery.

Since I saw the preview for episode 2, I was already intrigued by the mystery (lol).. why.. how is such room be made as a closed room...?  I didn't attempt to read this chapter yet :P (just started yesterday).. My attention was on this mystery... 

Hmmm.. seems like they'll follow this pattern huh.. The trio in the room while Enomoto introduces the case... & the ending we'll have Enomoto introduce (again) the preview for next episode. :P 

Okay. 

...some weird editing again for this episode (well, it's the same director for eps 1 :P hehe)... 

As the director tweeted, the opening was different!  I'm going to list the hints from now on :P

Mikeneko Holmes no Suiri #1

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

Rating (Kanto): 15.9
My rating: 4/5 stars 

Will you believe me if I say I watch this for the cat? (Partially true XD)

I've seen Aiba's "My Girl" & "Bartender" before so I know his acting skills aren't the best but I'll continue watching this just so that I could give a review... & it looks fun anyway (Not fond of Oomasa's acting so I'll pretend that I can't see her XD).. I laughed a lot. Seriously, I really wonder how Yoshitaro could even pass becoming a police detective XD.. though I really pity his character.. (unhelpful boss & family members :P)

A closed room murder for the first episode huh..? 榎本さんどこだ~？ XD

I'm not in the habit of providing synopsis for every episode anymore so I'll only focus on other things. But I don't really have anything to nitpick about for episode 1... Excepting Oomasa (it was okay, to be fair, but it wasn't a hard character to act out really), so far I like everyone's acting..

Kagi no Kakatta Heya #1

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

Rating (Kanto): 18.3%
My Rating: 4.5/5 stars (0.5 extra for Sato-san's character :D)

Hints: Syringe & fly

I wouldn't miss watching this (obviously :D)... this is my first new Ohno dorama after I became a fan in 2010! I was really excited when I read about his dorama rumours two months ago... when it was confirmed, it felt like that 2 years of waiting was worth it. Getsu9 slot & a Sherlock character - I'm one happy fan! :D

Actually after reading his character's description, I straightaway thought of Galileo's Yukawa-sensei. They are not interested with who is the criminal.. both characters only want to prove that something is doable - Yukawa uses science to explain those seem-unsolvable cases while Enomoto uses his knowledge on security systems.

37-sai de Isha ni Natta Boku

This is the first time I see Kusanagi-san's acting. It's only the first episode, but I like the dorama already. 

... and this review might be the first review done by watching a dorama without subs. :P Lucky~ Someone is subbing this! Google it yourself! XD

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/37-sai_de_Isha_ni_Natta_Boku_~Kenshui_Junjo_Monogatari~ 

Ratings (Kanto): 

13.2_13.1_14.5_13.6_13.6_13.67_12.5_14.0_10.2_11.2_13.0

Avg || 12.95


My rating: 3/5
Will I watch again? Hmmm... Maybe not.
Why?
- there weren't really any memorable characters... Konno was interesting in the first half of the series.. after that.. not so much
- not really interested in the side story on politics at workplace
- not fond of most of the casts' (especially young ones) acting skills... Most of the ones that I like to watch (Suzuki Kosuke - he was good!; Matobu Sei - should've act as a doctor :P) have very limited scenes :D
Recommended for people who:
- are fans of any cast members...?
- just want to watch another medical dorama (including the politics involved)

Episode 1  (added: 17-April-2012)

Well, this is quite a challenge for me... I can understand easy conversations but I'm helpless when it comes to medical terms :D..  Let's try anyway. 

So.. Kusanagi's character is one of the four doctors (or five? :P) in training that just came in a hospital university. I thought it was amusing that in the beginning, the other 3 trainees thought they were late when they see Konno-sensei at their office. They apologized to him... thinking he's their supervisor (or sth?). When he revealed his age, they were surprised. hehe.. I'm already caught on the dorama from this scene. I was thinking : "This is very interesting!"

About their acting... For the first time, I realised that I'm bored of Mizukawa's acting. Heh. And I'm annoyed with the other young-looking doctors' acting. I like the persona Kusanagi-san is giving to his character.. I'm already supporting the character huh.. :D I can't help wanting him to do his best when I watch Konno-sensei's dedication towards his patients. I also like watching his interactions with his fiancée, Suzu. They look so close to each other. 

About the ending:  I thought it was a dangerous thing to do.. but I cried when the patient was able to eat.. If they get good actors/actresses as guests in every episode, I'm willing to turn a blind eye to those regular casts' acting.. :D   ...also.. is Saeki-sensei an ally? or enemy? I was hoping for a smile of an ally ("Oh..he's like a younger me" or sth XD) in the end but there was none.

I look forward to Episode 2.

Episode 2  (added: 29-April-2012)

Ahh.. looks like Suzu is moving to the hospital Konno is working at... Hehe.. dunno why, I just love watching their scenes together..

Anyway.. I was really annoyed with Sawamura-sensei in this episode.

It seems like it's going to be Konno vs everyone huh... ? XD Morishita-sensei seems different though.. like he has similar values with Konno-sensei.. the other doctors.. *sigh* .. & I'm still not happy with these young actors' acting.

What is interesting, Konno-sensei is applying ways of solving things/habit he used to do when he was a salaryman (though it was revealed later by Suzu that he also had problems with previous employer because of what he is :D)... I don't think it's all bad when he always go around & interact with patients (even though they are not under his care).. but it brought problems to him when those patients started bugging the other interns (to do chores for them lol)... poor Konno. I can see that what Konno has in advantage (compared to his younger peers) - working experience & dealing with various people from his previous job, which is what the others are lacking. I think it's cool that he's using what he knows from experience. The patient (Kuwahara-san) under Sawamura's care didn't even know Sawamura's name (no proper introduction?) Heck, she didn't even seem care to make eye contact with the patient! Wasn't it a pathetic thing to happen that Kuwahara-san didn't feel like telling her about his pain because "she looked busy"...

Episode 3  (added: 19-May-2012 //started watching subbed ones)

As usual, Konno-sensei is doing something bold again :D *sigh* ... Seems like this episode stressed out the responsibility a doctor holds when he speaks to patients. Sawamura had experienced having the doctor said "You'll be fine" (to her mother)... and then in the end, her mother died (was diagnosed late).. I thought Konno succumbed to saying "sweet" words like that to the patient... but he actually didn't. It was so sad when he read the patient's letter to him.  *cries*

But I'm proud of him for sticking to what he believes in...
*wonders if he spoke "You'll be fine" to Suzu* Speaking of Suzu... they had a minor fight in this episode about her getting back to her work.


Episode 4  (added: 19-May-2012)

This is amusing... the other two doctors unleashed their inner Konno! XD

Anyway.. this episode made me cry again. It was the part where Yoshino-san was going to leave... aww...

It was a pleasant surprise to see Abe Tsuyoshi.. well, not really a fan.. I like what his character said in the end to the two boys - no sugarcoated truths for them :D...

Episode 5-6  (added: 25-May-2012)
The doctors vs nurses issue in eps 5 was interesting! ... and now it's obvious Saeki-sensei is not an ally...

It's not easy to change a system that has been practised for years already.. and with authorities like Saeki and Nakajima, it becomes harder. What Konno was suggesting for the hospital sounded so right to me that it frustrated me when Saeki rejected the suggestion after thinking over it for just 3 seconds. 

...in eps 6, we get to know more about Konno's past and what made him to decide  to become a doctor. This episode also reminded me of why I wanted to watch this dorama. It was inspiring.

I kind of like Sawamura a bit now... in the beginning of the series, she seems somewhat uptight about Konno and his ideals. Now that she got to know him better, her character became less annoying. I like that conversation she had with Konno about his past.

What Taniguchi-sensei did was despicable. It just made me hate his character more... even though he somewhat redeemed himself in the end.

Episode 7  (added: 2-June-2012)

Hmmm... Sawamura seems to like Konno..

Saeki-sensei annoyed me more in this episode. No more vagueness in his character... he's Konno's antagonist and he's not going to make Konno's life easier now. Konno-sensei rebelled too much XD

I love that scene where Sawamura followed suit (and then the other residents too), asking the patients things they weren't encouraged to during the doctors conference. I laughed when Taniguchi asked the patient about the weather and patient was like "Huh?"

Cried watching the end. I wonder if Suzu will really die in the end...? Highly possible... I kind of don't want that to be part of the ending of this dorama though..

Episode 8-9  (added: 1-July-2012)
In ep8, I can just see Konno itching to attend to Date-san XD... 

I thought this was just going to be about another troublesome patient... didn't think it will be the base for another bigger issue that was revealed in ep9. Of course it could partially be Date-san's own fault for refusing to do tests, but... sheesh... he only wanted Saeki-sensei to meet him... (why make things complicated, Saeki?)... Anyway... Is Shimoda going to tell? I guess that's the reason he gave his resignation letter... to not act as a whistleblower... Suddenly thought that he was kinda cool in the end of ep9 hehe... 

Quite surprised to see Morishita's change of character...... or maybe I shouldn't have..? That must be the reason he's being nice, all-obliging with Saeki in earlier episodes. Hmmm... Hopefully he'll make the working place better.

Honestly, I'm disgusted with those higher-up doctors teaming up like that... Hospital politics huh... 

And about the big issue. Negligence. While it can appear understandable from the doctors point of view... From the the other side, it's easy to be mad about it. I tried imagining it happening to a person close to me & it made me angry. Which makes it easy to like Shimoda if he's really going to tell...  *sigh*

With the amount of sweet foods Saeki's been eating since ep1, initially I suspected that his character might be diagnosed with diabetes... Maybe that's the meaning of those scenes where he looked at some scans... and that cake remained uneaten...?  



Episode 10-11  (added: 5-July-2012)
Kind of surprised Date's wife doesn't want to sue... but pancreatic cancer sounded worse though.. 


Honestly, it was a bit weird seeing the change of main antagonist character suddenly in the end... What was that about? 


...and then just when I thought everything is messy & nothing nice will happen anymore, it ended like that! Hmmmmmmmm. 


So, judging from the ending, Konno has changed almost everyone eventually with his ideals and principles. Of course I like good endings... ah.. but this final episode was just so-so for me. Was a bit disappointed because I think the first half of the series was quite good...




Some afterthoughts
This dorama's title seem to suggest something like you can change (or do something new) no matter what age you are... If you think this dorama will be the inspiring kind (the one where you can related to), it's not... Not really. Most of the plot revolves around Konno fighting against the system (not so aggresively). While they did include some scenes on the general meaning of changing yourself (especially in the first half of the dorama & at the end).. I think it wasn't enough.

Lucky Seven, Honjitsu wa Taian Nari & Strawberry Night

I decided to watch three Winter doramas this year. 

"Lucky Seven".

"Honjitsu wa Taian Nari".

"Strawberry Night".

Mystery/Thriller genre <3

Among these three, I probably enjoyed Honjitsu the most... Lucky Seven was..hmm.. I guess the plot didn't work so well with me. I do have a favourite character & it's not MatsuJun's character. (:P)..  I don't really like how he portray his character - was it trying too hard..? Or maybe I saw some gap in his character that doesn't complement each other...? It was somewhat a complete opposite to Eita's performance. Now I know why I wasn't Jun-baited during HanaDan days :P ... I actually loved Jun's Kindaichi (another mystery dorama) - it felt like he wasn't afraid to look dorky/uncool at that time.. now seems different.. *sigh*

I was surprisingly a bit disappointed with "Strawberry Night". It wasn't bad..but it wasn't exceptionally good either (at least to me, it felt that way). In general, there were some interesting cases (bizarre & gruesome) & superb acting from guest stars such as Sugimoto Tetta..  Ishiguro Ken was amazing in the last three episodes!... with some exception... Oomasa was predictably bad (somewhat unnatural expressions... I hope she doesn't appear much in Mikeneko).. Kimura Tae was fine but I find her voice annoying (happened out of blue! I was surprised too) during the scene in the interrogation room, I had to fastforward that scene (hopefully I didn't miss anything essential :P) so that I could finish that particular episode. The regular cast was good too.. though I was kinda annoyed with Gantetsu the whole time... sometimes with Reiko too.. After watching a full-length series, I realise that I don't really like Reiko.. I'm not convinced with this intuition thing (though I believe in intuitions) incorporated in her character. I enjoyed seeing her chemistry with Kikuta, but I wasn't expecting anything to develop between them... Takashima Masahiro & Endo Kenichi were unexpectedly charming in their characters. Watanabe Ikkei's character was annoying too.. actually I'm more annoyed at how Watanabe played his character..or maybe it is the character itself...??  I've always loved Namase's acting...even if it's only a minor role, he always nails the character down. His character in Strawberry Night included.. sometimes I wished he wasn't so clingy to Reiko.. XD


But I'm satisfied with both "Lucky Seven" & "Strawberry Night" endings... especially "Strawberry Night".. *still impressed by Ishiguro-san's performance*