Protocol Snow

I’ve had the drafts of a few drama reviews saved forever so I figured while I’m at the airport waiting for my flight back to school, this would be a great time to finish them off and get them online. I had intended on posting two of these in the summer/fall of 2007, that’s how long I’ve been putting these off.

The premise of Papa to Musume no Nanokan is hardly original. A salaryman named Kawahara Kyoichiro (played by Tachi Hiroshi) is troubled with problems at work, where he’s been reassigned to a new project in the company, and at home, where he has difficulty connecting with his teenage daughter, Kawahara Koume (played by Aragaki Yui). One day while coming home on the train together, there’s a train accident and the two wake up in the hospital, where they realize that their minds have mysteriously swapped bodies!

Cue lots of crazy hijinks as Kyoichiro and Koume are forced to live each other’s lives, ultimately leading to a greater understanding of each other’s problems and a better relationship between the two. Were you expecting anything else?

Read the rest of this entry »

Wow, when was the last time I blogged about an Asian drama? I started watching a new series (Hotaru no Hikari) on Friday, but before I moved onto the second episode, I decided I should finally finish watching a couple series that have been lying around my hard drive for the past half year. First up is Yama Onna Kabe Onna. I had written some impressions on this series in the summer of 07, so you should check that out before reading on.

Looking back on what I had written, I commented on how one-dimensional the drama seemed after four episodes, both in terms of the jokes and the plot. That didn’t change after eight more episodes. Virtually nothing of consequence happens that can’t be quickly resolved within the episode, and I couldn’t connect with any of the characters or the budding relationships that formed. Yeah, it’s just a light comedy, but honestly it’s not all that funny after you’ve seen and heard the same breast-related gags a dozen times.

I wouldn’t go as far to say that Yama Onna Kabe Onna is flat out terrible, but its priority on your watch list should be fairly low. However, if you’re a big fanboy of Itoh Misaki, she does make the drama as a whole much more appealing. In fact, if you don’t like her, I wouldn’t bother with this show at all. Personally, I adore her so I was able to enjoy the eyecandy.

Itoh Misaki pics!

Looking elegant at a party

So cute! I didn’t like her unflattering work uniform, which unfortunately takes up about 60% of her screen time

Model walk down the street

Facts
12 episodes
Aired Summer 2007
Genre: Comedy

Links
Official site
D-Addicts Bittorrent download page
Subtitles

Yesterday I said that I’ve started watching dramas as they aired because subbing groups are so fast these days. Usually I wait until subtitles for the entire series are completed so that I can watch all the episodes continuously and not be stranded in the middle of a show. Well, I just found out that the subber for Papa to Musume no Nanokan has quit her project halfway through the series. Details are here, check it out to see some of the members throwing hissy fits. We have to remember that subbers take on projects purely for their own enjoyment and make no money, so appreciate them!

My Japanese skills are only adequate enough to understand roughly 30% of the average episode, but since I’m already hooked on this series, I think I’ll continue watching it. Stay tuned for impressions soon.

Usually I prefer waiting for a drama series to finish airing in its entirety before starting to watch it. This way I don’t stuck halfway through the season, waiting for weeks hoping for somebody to post subtitles. However, subbing teams are so on the ball nowadays that during this summer drama season, I’ve been following two series as they air. They’re so quick and reliable that you can download both the newest episode and the accompanying subtitles within a couple days of the Japanese airing. As always, check out the community at D-Addicts for details on the hottest dramas, new and old.

Coincidentally, I caught the premiere episodes of both these series “live” on TV while I was in Japan. One show is called Papa to Musume no Nanokakan and stars Aragaki Yui. I’ll talk about that one next time.

The topic for today is the comedy Yama Onna Kabe Onna, which stars Itoh Misaki, probably best known as the elegant Hermes lady in the drama Densha Otoko. She plays a luxury bag saleswoman named Aoyagi Megumi who works in a premiere Ginza department store. Unfortunately, her work attire isn’t very flattering; for that classic Hermes / Itoh Misaki look, you’ll have to wait for the scenes when she’s not at work.

Anyway, Aoyagi is a top selling bag saleswoman, but she has one small problem: she’s quite self conscious about her chest. That “A cup complex” is compounded when a new girl, Mariya Marie (played by Fukada Kyoko), with an enormous bust is transferred into the department store. She just so happens to be an excellent saleswoman as well, which makes Aoyagi feel even worse.

If you know Japanese, the title of this show now makes perfect sense. Yama Onna = mountain woman. Kabe Onna = wall woman.

As you might expect from the premise, breast related humor is very prevalent in Yama Onna Kabe Onna. On the serious side, the focus seems to be on Aoyagi struggling with her insecurities, though there’s also a little lecturing on what it means to work in a department store and to offer premium service. If you’ve ever been to a Japanese mall (or even a Japanese-owned mall in Taiwan or other Asian countries), you should be quite familiar with that level of service.

But for the most part, the show is about:

And what the heck, for good measure:

Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course. Yama Onna Kabe Onna is funny and Itoh Misaki is charming as always. However, four episodes have aired so far and it’s been pretty one-dimensional up to this point. I don’t expect that’ll change much, but stay tuned for a post-mortem when the series is finished in a couple months. I think there’s eight episodes left.

UPDATE: Post-mortem post

Other characters of note:

Ooyama Haruka (played by Koike Eiko). She is Aoyagi’s hostile rival, both professionally and romantically. She doesn’t miss an opportunity to get a jab in about Aoyagi’s chest. Quite evil looking, I must say. In real life, Koike Eiko is a gravure idol with plentiful assets.

Yoshino Kanako (played by Uehara Misa). She is a co-worker of Aoyagi and a supporting character who’s there for comic relief. You might remember Uehara Misa from the drama Nodame Cantabile, where she played Chiaki Shinichi’s ex-girlfriend.

Facts
12 episodes
Airing Summer 2007
Genre: Comedy

Links
Official site
D-Addicts Bittorrent download page
Subtitles

It’s been awhile since my last Asian drama review and I had a couple sitting on the backburners, so let’s start off with the immensely popular Nodame Cantabile!

One of the reasons I prefer Japanese dramas to Chinese or Korean ones (even though Korean dramas are all the rage in Asia) is because of the greater variety. Whether that’s an actual fact or just perceived reality is unknown to me, but a drama about classical music and student orchestras just seems uniquely Japanese. And that’s exactly what Nodame Cantabile is about.

The drama features two main characters. Chiaki Shinichi (played by Tamaki Hiroshi) is an extremely talented pianist and the top student at Momogaoka College of Music. He was born into a musical family and was fortunate enough to receive world class instruction from renowned instructors starting at an early age. Even though he’s haughty because of his skills and perfectionist attitude, the rest of the students nevertheless admire him, particularly the girls. But Chiaki feels confined staying in Japan and longs to pursue his dream of becoming an orchestra conductor by studying abroad.

The other main character is Noda Megumi (Nodame for short, played by Ueno Juri). She’s the polar opposite of Chiaki: a childish slob who often forgets to take baths and lives in an atrocious mess of a room. Though she actually has hidden piano talent, she plays piano according to her heart (which is a nice way of saying sloppily) and not precisely to the sheet music. In fact, even though she is attending a music college, she desires to be a kindergarten teacher.

When the two meet one day, Nodame falls instantly in love with the popular Chiaki. He is baffled and disturbed by this wacky girl, but becomes a little intrigued when the two are paired up to practice a piano duet. And so begins their wacky relationship, with an adoring girl chasing after an aloof star.

Fundamentally, Nodame Cantabile is a romantic comedy, but major emphasis is placed upon the classical music. Early on in the series, Chiaki transfers from piano to the conducting division and has an opportunity to be the conductor for a student orchestra. The concert performances by the orchestra are not shown in their entirety, but whole minutes can pass with only footage of the students playing and not a word spoken.

Don’t let that scare you off though, even if you hate classical music. As anybody who enjoys music should know, powerful emotions can be conveyed through music and the acting doesn’t stop just because the actors are playing instruments.

Actually, you might even discover a newfound appreciation for classical music by watching this drama. I saw Nodame Cantabile soundtracks being sold everywhere I went in Tokyo, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this drama inspired many people to start listening to classical music or even to start learning an instrument. Having a story attached to “boring old music” certainly gives it more meaning. I’ve been playing piano and violin since I was five years old and even I found a new favorite in Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, thanks to its role in the drama.

Accompanying the two stars of the drama is a giant group of side characters, way too many to list (there are many members in an orchestra, after all). Some have more prominent roles though, such as Mine Ryutaro (played by Eita). He’s the rock star violin player. If you’ve seen Densha Otoko before, which is my all time favorite drama, you’ll have fun identifying some of the side characters because quite a few alumni from Densha Otoko show up here.

Nodame Cantabile as a whole is an excellent drama and highly recommended. There is one thing that bothered me about the show initially though. Since the series is based off a manga, some of its cartoon influences can be seen in the show (in fact, a Nodame Cantabile anime series started airing after the drama ended). That means occasional cartoony violence, such as Chiaki delivering a solid roundhouse punch to Nodame, who flys through the air. It doesn’t happen too often and is actually kind of funny, but it can be kind of startling to see all of a sudden in a live action series.

It also means over the top wackiness. Nodame the character took a couple episodes for me to get used to, since I initially thought Ueno Juri was trying too hard and exaggerating the role of a strange, hyperactive girl. Now I just think it’s endearing and great acting by her.

The same was true for another prominent side character: Franz Stresemann (played by Takenaka Naoto), a famous conductor who becomes a mentor for Chiaki. He has another side of him as the perverted old guy, which seems to be a typical archetype for Japanese media. As you might guess from the photo, he’s supposed to be a European with the stereotypical hair of classical composers. Because of that, he intentionally speaks broken Japanese with a very bad accent, which is quite grating. I hated his character and his perverted ways (which is played up by the drama) until a specific episode when he gets serious and shows why he’s so renowned. That’s when he won my respect, and I began to appreciate the work Takenaka put into his character in order to speak so poorly.

Whew, this is a long post. Bottom line, Nodame Cantabile is a must see and has secured a place in the “Amazing” category of my Drama Rankings. One of these days, I really need to start filling in the details for that list.

Facts
11 episodes
Aired Autumn 2006
Genre: Romantic comedy

Links
Official site
D-Addicts Bittorrent download page