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Upcoming Drama: Code Blue Season Two

GoddessCarlie — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:46:29 +0000

Coming up in the Winter season 2010 is season two of Code Blue. It starts on the 11th of January and will air Monday nights on Fuji TV. Looks like the important characters from Season one are returning, including Yamashita Tomohisa, Aragaki Yui and Toda Erika.

I only watched the first couple of episodes of season one and found the characters dull and the story line uninteresting, but obviously it was good enough that it is getting a second season.

Check out the Official Website
Check out the Code Blue blog

I don’t think I’ll be watching this one unless online pressure changes my mind. Code Blue season 2 will be fan subbed both hard and soft by Querbeet

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Proposal Daisakusen SP – Review

GoddessCarlie — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 11:33:50 +0000

Proposal Daisakusen
プロポーズ大作戦
Special
Carlie’s Rating:
Rate This Special: Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

In this special of Proposal Daisakusen, it is Eri and Tsuru’s wedding. However, Eri isn’t prepared to go through with it because she isn’t sure if Tsuru is serious about her. Once again, Ken wishes there was something he could do, and thus he is transported back to the past to change the future…

It starts immediately after where the series left off. Many complained about the ending of the series, how they wanted more. I thought the ending was great. I thought that an ending of hugs, kisses and gooey stuff wouldn’t have worked. Here, in the special, I think they have presented “what happened next” more realistically than that, which is great. We get the next scene without too much cliche.

Tsuru and Eri’s wedding takes place in Hawaii… It makes me want to go there soooo bad!! The special has all the comedic parts that I loved in the show… Socrates and the teacher/pottery guy being stupid (with some drag which is always welcome in any show!). Also loved the appearance of the marathon runner in the hostess club!

The show plays on past themes, such as the intro of the wedding (Ken being late and running, always running). It also ties things up nicely with an appearance from all the major and minor players. This time Ken is much wiser with his time spent in the past. There doesn’t seem to be too many, if any at all, moments where I want to hit Ken into action!

I think this special has everything you could want from a special. What makes this not as good as the show, in my opinion, is that the focus is on Eri/Tsuru’s relationship as the main story arch rather than Ken/Rei. However, I do think, like I mentioned in my review of the last episode, I do think that if it had been about them, it would have felt like the “same old”. Conclusion: There was no way to win this one, the special was never going to be as good as the series.

However, not to say this was bad. Far from it! I enjoyed it a lot and think this is better than some shows I’ve seen! Highly recommended.

Tsuru is so funny. Mainly because of his height.

Masami-san needs to learn how to laugh better! And the fake kiss. I mean, yay for kiss, it was more intense (because of length) than others, but we need some kind of movement people!!

A fitting conclusion to this awesome series.

Almost Finished Uni…

GoddessCarlie — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 07:42:28 +0000

OK, right now I’m so close to finishing uni, I am so excited yet so stressed!! I look forward to writing on this site more often, I am often blogging in my head, I just rarely get the chance to actually write it down.

It’s not long now until I go to Japan! I’m so excited yet I have a lot to do before I go so I am probably thinking about it more than I should.

This is going to be my first time in Japan. I plan on going everywhere. I’m starting in Osaka, going up to Tokyo and then back down to Kyoto before leaving.

One thing I am hating right now is the exchange rate. Why did it have to happen NOW??? My money has effectively been halved thanks to it. I’m only going to be able to buy half the manga and visit half the love hotels I planned on going to.

Another thing I’ve been *naughty* in doing is studying Japanese my way. I really have a lot of things I need to be doing, yet I’ve been plugging away at my Intermediate Japanese textbook, and again have been using Anki – that program has changed a lot since I last used it, which I think was around July.

As for Dramas, I have been watching:

Innocent Love
I am really enjoying this, I think this one is my favourite so far this season. Of course, the season is still young though.
Oh! My Girl!!
*Yawn.* I found nothing special with this one. While cute, I’m not sure I’ll watch the rest of this one.
Ryusei no Kizuna
I’m enjoying this one. I think the cast have great chemistry, and it was more “mature” (i.e. lots of sex talk!) than I thought it would be for a Johnny’s show. I like the non-linear-ish story line. This one is a bit of fun, so far, but with dark undertones.
Bloody Monday
I haven’t finished watching the first episode yet, as I got interrupted, but this is one show I am planning to watch. From what I’ve seen it’s really intriguing.
Room of King
*zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz*

New Season “Summer” 2008! Yay!

GoddessCarlie — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 11:32:27 +0000

Hi Everyone. I’ve been sick. In fact, I still feel sick, I can’t shake it! Dammit! But, today I’m feeling a lot better – mainly because this week the new Japanese drama season has begun! I’ve spent most of tonight watching lots of promotional stuff of Maou, Ikuta Toma and Ohno Satoshi’s new drama that aired last night. OMG, I’m so excited. I love tarot, and I love Ikuta.

Even though I didn’t do as well as I usually do at university last semester, plus I was suffering from serious burnout, I got better marks than I was expecting, which is fantastic. In regards to my quest to Remember the Kanji, I’m still at the 600 kanji mark, however I’ve been practising a lot trying to get back up to where I was before. Over the next six months I hope to keep reviewing these as well as slowly increasing the amount of kanji I know.

I haven’t been reading manga, however I’ve been going through my copies of the Japanese Graded Readers, level two. For me, the only problem I really face with them is vocab. I can understand the stories except for a word here or there. Some I can get from context, but others I read the whole story and still can’t guess the word. I want to go through them again with a dictionary.

That’s the news, you’re up to date.

Last Friends – Episode Four – Review and Caps

GoddessCarlie — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:18:10 +0000

Last Friends
ラスト・フレンズ
Episode Four
First Aired: 1st May 2008
Carlie’s Rating:
Rate This Episode: Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

Michiru stays at the share house while Sousuke stalks Ruka to find out where Michiru is. Meanwhile, Orugin and Eri go pair cup shopping.

They cut the opening sequence! Poo! I really enjoy the opening, I just feel it is so powerful, and they cut it! I don’t mind so much, it means an extra 30 seconds or so of action. But Poo!

It is refreshing to see Nishihara Aki acting like such a bitch after only seeing her in “good girl” roles such as Hana Yori Dango’s Yuki. I can’t help wonder if there is something going on with her bullying though…

I also feel sorry for Ruka. Why can’t we all be treated as equals? It’s stuff like that that pisses me off.

Ogurin is cute in a wall-paper kind of way. Yeah, his character is very bland. I like Eri, but her voice is so irritating! I can see her staring in a Japanese version of The Nanny.

In this episode we learn more about Sousuke from Michiru’s point of view. I feel so bad for Ruka that Michiru doesn’t even see her pain or how she worries for her. Michiru is blind to it all.

Is waiting all night in the rain for someone sweet or sinister (or stupid!). I can understand what they were trying to do at the end of this episode. Someone standing in the rain, waiting for me… that is a stupid yet sweet action. We see this kind of thing in Hana Yori Dango. However, because we know Sousuke’s history, we see it as a sinister action. I can see how Michiru could interpret it as an action of someone who cares for her very much.

BillyWest alerted me to this Mainichi news article (not currently accessible) where the author can’t understand why Michiru went back to Sousuke at this point. I think that the author of this article doesn’t fully understand what women can go through when they are in this situation. In fact, I can’t either, but I do know someone who has gone through this situation. In this show I see all the “classic” or “cliche” things that people in a domestic violent situation go through. I have seen someone go back to a violent man two times, something that I only understand on the surface. This news article thinks that this show isn’t an accurate portrayal of DV, but in my limited experience I think it is.

Another episode that I really enjoyed.

Um… Perhaps the whole Sousuke drama is getting a bit too melodramatic. A bit repetitive?

I am still enjoying this show a lot.

Zettai Kareshi – Episode Four – Review and Caps

GoddessCarlie — Sat, 31 May 2008 10:29:00 +0000

Zettai Kareshi
絶対彼氏
Episode 4
Aired: 6th May 2008
Carlie’s Rating:
Rate This Episode: Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

Knight is now mika’s boyfriend because she reset him when they kissed. Soushi is still obsessed with cream puffs. Riko is still pouting.

You know, it feels like the only reason Riko cares about Knight is because something of hers has been taken away from her, like a child who only wants a toy because another child has it. It sucks, I’m thinking “what the hell is the point??” Abu Saki’s acting is also just irritating me at the moment. I think the biggest thing is I’m just dissapointed because this show could have gone so well… I don’t have much to say, but I’m going to give this . It’s on the edge of going down a heart though…

New YamaP Drama – Code Blue

GoddessCarlie — Mon, 26 May 2008 01:32:26 +0000

A new drama has been announced for the summer season 2008 – Code Blue. It is about an emergency service that uses helicopters to get to people in trouble quickly.

While (for me) the premise doesn’t sound that exciting, the cast make this one something I’ll have to check out. We have Yamashita Tomohisa, Aragaki Yui and Toda Erika, all staring as Flight In-Training Doctors.

This drama will air Thursday nights from July 2008.

Code Blue’s Official Website

Last Friends – Episode Three – Review and Caps

GoddessCarlie — Thu, 15 May 2008 12:42:22 +0000

Last Friends
ラスト・フレンズ
Episode Three
First Aired: 24th April 2008
Carlie’s Rating:
Rate This Episode: Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

Ruka and Takeru see Sousuke about to abuse Michiru – so her secret is out. Takeru gets an unwanted phone call, and becomes the newest member of the share house. And the cups become a pair…

During the first scene, where Ruka and Takeru see the Sousuke and Michiru incident no.34, the music felt really upbeat somehow. It was a bit distracting in some parts. Music should compliment, not be distracting! How ever, it was good to see some of the same moments of last week’s episode from a different perspective.

A bit more is revealed about Takeru’s past – not much, but enough to wet our lips.

Ruka and Michiru have a girl talk, where Michiru reveals that she has never felt loved before by anyone, until now with Sousuke. Which explains a lot of her behaviour, how ever she completely disregards everything Ruka has felt and done for her. It must have also been painful for Ruka to hear her defending him.

Takeru joins the house and he and Ruka have “pair cupts”. Very cute. We know that the cups are important, as they are featured in the opening sequence, they are a what everyone was shopping for in the first episode when the three main characters “came together” – even if they didn’t know it themselves at the time – and well, Michiru and Sousuke also have pair cups. I could go on and on. In fact, we have at the d-addicts forum.

Michiru asks for help from Ruka which is a fantastic step. She calls Ruka and says she wants to see her. Having to sneak behind your boyfriend’s back should be a warning sign, but nothing is ever clear when you are living it.

Michiru realises that she needs both Sousuke and Ruka in her life. And so she stands up for herself when Sousuke tries to forbid her to see Ruka. Yay! This was, in my opinion, a very powerful scene. It crossed between the verbal fight between Michiru and Sousuke, and a card game between the share house. Watch carefully from when Ruka gets a good card or a bad one.

In the end, you could say, Ruka wins both fights. It felt like a very powerful ending for the episode. I cried. I don’t know how anyone could not be affected by this episode. It felt like Michiru made some “progress”, some how.

Very powerful episode.

Pass…

OK, you already know I liked this one.

Zettai Kareshi – Episode Three – Review and Caps

GoddessCarlie — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:55:44 +0000

Zettai Kareshi
絶対彼氏
Episode 3
Aired: 29th April 2008
Carlie’s Rating:
Rate This Episode: Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

Now that Riko owns Knight, she is paying him off on a simple payment plan. Of course she can’t afford him, so Knight has to get a job… we all know where he goes. Meanwhile, Soushi is trying to get cream puffs into the company, but they look ugly. Knight is getting jealous of Soushi and Rika, no thanks to Mika. It’s all very thrilling.

I am having issues with this show. In my first two episode reviews, I was hopeful in the direction that this show was heading. It seems I was wrong. What I was hoping for was a nice love triangle between Soushi, Riko and Knight. Maybe Riko feeling uncomfortable because she is having feelings for a robot. Maybe feeling a bit confused because she likes Soushi but he is a bit of playboy.

Instead, we are constantly reminded Knight is a robot, mainly through the stupid noises that you hear whenever he turns his head or blinks. It just screams ROBOT and thus it is hard to come to like feel emotions for someone/something that is being put out there are programming, not actively learning, if that makes sense. What I mean by that is, Knight could be “learning” to be more human, instead he is stuck in this static state of robot.

Soushi on the other hand… there is no conflict there either. He didn’t even care when Knight got a bit jealous over Riko and him spending time together. He just walked away like it wasn’t his problem. So he doesn’t have any feelings for Riko, it seems, at the moment, besides that she can make puff creams like colonel sanders.

Riko… it’s painfully obvious who she is destined to end up with. No suspense, no surprise. No good guy hiding behind a play boy, no, he’s just a good guy….

And thus ends my rant for now. Really, I do enjoy this show. It’s nice. But it could be so much better.

Ah, my rant has clouded my judgement, but I did enjoy bits from this episode, such as Knight saying “From this point forward my name is Tenjo Knight” or something to that effect; him carrying that guy and the bottles; and the love message scrawled on the window with cleaning fluid. So romantic! Heh.

See rest of post

As I said, this is a nice show. Sweet even. But… eh. It’s nothing special. Which is a shame. Here’s hoping things pick up a bit, we are still early in the show.

Hana Kimi Special – Videos

GoddessCarlie — Sat, 10 May 2008 01:03:43 +0000

The Hana Kimi website has updated with some videos of the new special that is coming soon. It looks like they are having a lot of fun filming (but I haven’t watched all of the videos yet). I can not wait for the special to air, I really enjoyed this show!