Zettai Kareshi
絶対彼氏
Episode 4
Aired: 6th May 2008
Carlie’s Rating:
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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…

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.

Zettai Kareshi
絶対彼氏
Episode 2
Aired: 22nd April 2008
Carlie’s Rating:
Rate This Episode: Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

Riko’s trial period of Knight is over either must purchase Knight for 100 million yen or give him back and pay for the damages made in the last episode – costing 1 million yen. Riko can’t wait to get rid of Knight, but has to somehow come up with 400,000 yen in a week. How can you make a lot of money in a short space of time?

Soushi, on the other hand, wants Riko to make her cream puffs for the company.

Watching the re-cap of the previous episode, it made me realise what a good job Hayami Mokomichi did at being a robot. There is personality in there, while being a robot. I think somehow in the short time of the recap I appreciated this show just a little bit more.

And this episode didn’t let me down. It was fast paced, a lot of fun with a great dose of tension. Gotta love love squares. Perhaps I should still call it a love triangle, as I am pretty sure Mika’s feelings are not love.

Any way, I do love a good love-based tension, so of course my favourite scene in the show was the one I pictured above, when Soushi was taking Riko home and Knight comes along.

This episode is also good because I feel we get to know more of Riko’s personality and motivations. I feel like I’m knowing her better, and she doesn’t seem as similar to Aibu Saki’s role in Utahime.

There was also a fantastic dosage of humour injected. “Ore sexy?” or “Am I sexy?” Also loved the “sweat” spray, lol. I understand about how weird it would be to have a robot saying that, but how could you not love Knight?

Oh, and did Soushi’s grandfather remind anyone else of Colonel Sanders? No? Maybe it was just me.

The Love Triangle.

Still feels a bit ordinary, but it’s going up.

I don’t know, it still feels a bit ordinary, but I think this series is going to get better and better. Which is why I’m going to give it

Okaeri by Ayaka

In somewhat related news, is anyone else loving the ending theme song, Okaeri by Ayaka? Apparently it’ll be out on the 14th of May, 2008. The little ending scene is a lot of fun too. Here’s a video:

Lyrics of the whole song, in Romaji:

okaeri sweetheart
kaeru bashou yeah
ai wo arigatou

mata heiki no furi wo shite
kanashimi no iro wo nuritsubushite
waratte shimaun desu
shinjiru koto no taisetsusa
wakatteru no ni iza to iu toki
utagatte shimau yeah

karappo no karada
nagareru toki ni
fuiteshimaisou ni naru kedo
anata no koto dakishimetai
kono kimochi katsugi ugokasu no

okaeri im home
hitogoto de mitasareru kokoro
okaeri sweetheart
kaeru bashou yeah
ai wo arigatou
sweet home

jibun no koto bakkari wo
kangaeru otona wa zuruin da to
omotteitan desu
demo hisshi ni kaeru koto wo
sakenderu hito mo iru’n da
yatto shitta’n desu

atarimae no shiawase nanka
kono sekai ni hitotsu mo nai
anata no tame, sou omoeta
kono kimochi katsugi ugokasu no

okaeri im home
supiido ga kasokushiteku mainichi
okaeri sweet home
kawaranai zutto aru keshiki
sweet home

sagashite nakushita
kokoro no kizu ga
tachimukau tsuyosa ni kawareta no wa
“okaeri” ga atta kara

okaeri im home
hitogoto de mitasareru kokoro
okaeri sweetheart
kaeru bashou yeah
ai wo arigatou

okaeri im home
daijoubu anata ga iru kara
okaeri sweetheart
mattete ne mou sugu tsuku kara
sweetheart
oh yeah
okaeri…sweetheart

What’s up with the bagpipes at the end?

Remember to support Ayaka and buy Okaeri!

Riko is hopeless when it comes to boys. That is, until she ends up with a robotic boyfriend who is programmed to be her perfect man! Of course, a robot is nothing compared to a real man… or is he?

I think this show will be sweet, a bit fun, but nothing remarkable.

Aibu Saki comes across as very childish, in both the roles I’ve seen her act in. Perhaps she is typecast, I’m not sure, and I’m not sure if it annoys me or not.

Anyway, I want to keep this separate from the manga, and enjoy it as a seperate entity. I think I will. There are some amusing bits, nothing really over the top funny, but bits that made me smile. Some parts felt a bit too over the top for me.

One part I did enjoy was the careful placement of scenery in certain scenes. (0_0)

I will enjoy the love triangle that is emerging. Or is that perhaps love square?

CHANGE
Airing: Mondays from the 21st of April
Staring: Kimura Takuya, Fukatsu Eri, Abe Hiroshi

The story begins with the deaths of ruling party’s Fukuoka legislator and his eldest son, his heir apparent, in an accident. It is decided that a by-election will be held, and Kanbayashi Masaichi, the leader of the ruling party, and secretary Miyama Rika conceive the idea of fielding the second son, Asakura Keita, who had been renounced by his father.

After Keita graduated from senior high school, he went on to a university in Nagano because he wanted to live in a place with beautiful stars, and eventually became an elementary school teacher over there. Well-liked by children and satisfied with his beloved star gazing, Keita has no interest in the world of politics. However, at Rika’s persuasion and the pressure of his family, he reluctantly decides to announce his candidacy.

Upon returning to Fukuoka, Keita is given a hearty welcome by supporters. The election strategist, Nirasawa Katsutoshi, arrives there. He is guided by the notion “election is the only permitted legal war” and begins Keita’s election campaign – dramawiki

This drama is going to be Hard and Soft Subbed by Massuki

ZETTAI KARESHI
Airing: Tuesdays from the 15th of April
Staring: Hayami Mokomichi, Aibu Saki, Mizushima Hiro

Izawa Riko is a temp worker in search of a boyfriend, and she ends up in possession of a “robot” known as Night Tenjo, who is programmed to be the perfect boyfriend. However, this creates a love triangle with a distinguished young man at her company who has feelings for her. – dramawiki

It’s going to be Hard and Soft Subbed by S.O.S. Fansubs.
Also just Hard Subbed by SARS-Fansubs.

OSEN
Airing: Tuesdays from the 22nd of April
Staring: Aoi Yu, Uchi Hiroki, Mukai Osamu

Handa Sen is the “okami” (proprietress) of a long-standing restaurant in one of the lower parts of Tokyo. Though she is normally airheaded and loves to drink, she has an impressive mastery of a wide range skills, from cooking to ceramics to calligraphy. While the drama follows various events surrounding the restaurant, one of the series’ highlights is its illustration of Japanese food and culture. – dramawiki

Hard and Soft Subs to be made by Querbeet.

HOKABEN
Airing: Wednesdays from the 16th of April
Staring: Ueto Aya, Kitamura Kazuki, Kato Shigeaki

Ueto plays Akari Domoto, an idealistic lawyer who wants to “rescue the weak.” She joins a large law office, though she is assigned to a lowly department whose only other member is her boss, who was transferred there after making a mistake during a case. – dramawiki

Hard Subbed only by Candypop Fansubs

Thank you to the subbers for all your hard work! Check back for part two of Who’s Subbing What, Spring 2008 edition

Zettai Kareshi is one of my favourite manga. Watase Yu is one of my favourite mangaka. Which is why I’m really excited about this news:

It’s going to be made into a drama! Staring Aibu Saki of Utahime as Riko. Hayami Mokomichi as Night. Mizushima Hiro as Soshi. I believe they are changing it from a high school story to Riko as an Office Lady.

Excited is me.

Galileo

In “Galileo,” Fukuyama Masaharu plays a genius physicist and university associate professor, Yukawa Manabu, who solves difficult mysteries. Affectionately known as Tantei Galileo, Yukawa is brilliant, an all-round sportsman, tall and handsome but eccentric. Yukawa’s partner is a rookie cop, Utsumi Kaoru played by Shibasaki Kou. She is hot-blooded and has a strong sense of justice.

This show stars Fukuyama Masaharu, Shibasaki Kou (from Dororo and Orange Days) and Kitamura Kazuki (Bambino!). Hmmm, a detective story. I’m not a huge fan of the detective genre, so this one doesn’t appeal to me much.
Starts: October 15th

Abarenbo Mama

The comical home drama stars Ueto as the strong-minded Ayu, who has just married a divorced man (Yo Oizumi), despite a 12-year age difference and contrasting backgrounds (she grew up by the sea while he was raised in the city), as well as a 5-year-old son from his first marriage. While Ayu and her husband have their disagreements at home, she also gets in arguments with people outside the house, such as the other mothers at her son’s kindergarten.

Stars: Ueto Aya (from Attention Please), Oizumi Yo and Tomosaka Rie. Huge age difference story line. This one doesn’t really interest me either.
Starts: October 16th

Swan no Baka

Kamikawa takes the lead as Daisuke Suwano, a 40-year-old salaryman married to former co-worker Masumi (Misako Tanaka). Because his daughter is taking entrance exams, Daisuke is forced to live on only 30,000 yen a month. Hiroki Narimiya plays Kawase, an IT company manager who works in the same building as Suwano’s office, while Hitori Gekidan plays a deputy manager of the building’s cafe.

Stars: Kamikawa Takaya (Hana Kimi), Tanaka Misako, Narimiya Hiroki (Gokusen, Stand Up!, Orange Days). I’m not really sure what the underlying theme of this one is, but it doesn’t grab me either.
Starts: October 16th

Yukan Club

The story is a comedy revolving around six wealthy and popular high school students who solve mysteries and in their free time, amuse themselves lavishly. Akanishi plays Miroku Shochikubai, the son of the police commissioner.

Stars: Akanishi Jin (of KAT-TUN), Yokoyama Yu and Taguchi Junnosuke (Hanayome to Papa). This one looks like it’s going to be a popular one. I’m not a huge fan of Jin – I say this only because I’ve never actually seen any of his work – but I know other people are. I do like high school dramas so I’ll probably give this one a go.
Starts: October 16th

Hataraki Man

The story revolves around Hiroko Matsukata, an editor of a weekly magazine. Hiroko is so focused on her work that she has no time for romance, and others refer to her by the nickname “hataraki man” (“working man”).

Stars: Kanno Miho, Hayami Mokomichi (Jotei, Densha Otoko, Gokusen 2) and Kichise Michiko (Liar Game, Nodame Cantabile). Woman Work-a-holic story line. This one slightly appeals to me, but not so much that I think I would actually watch it.
Starts: October 10th

Stay tuned for more Autumn (Spring) Drama News…