I’m so sad that this is a TBS drama, and so I can’t show screen captures. I’m very very sad, as Ikuta Toma is HOT with his new hair do.

OK, on with the review. Usually with first episodes I’m a bit iffy on them – either they suck or they are OK and it takes a few more episodes for me to really appreciate or get into the first episode. I have to say, with this drama, I am going to be totally biased. I don’t think I can give a proper review. My heart was beating so fast all the way through this because a certain someone looks really good. Yes, I am a sad person.

But I have to say, I really enjoyed this. Ohno was great in his role, although I would love to see him be a bit more charismatic. Perhaps I am picturing this all wrong, but I was picturing from the synopsis that Ohno would be really likeable but a demon underneath, and that Ikuta would perhaps be not so nice on the surface but a really good person who always does the right thing underneath. We didn’t quite get that, but it is no fault to the show, just my assumptions.

I liked the way, I believe it was Toma’s character who said something to the effect of “Who ever did this is a monster with no emotions” (very much paraphrasing this from memory, I could be way off!) and then the next shot is of Ohno’s character crying. It was a nice contrast.

Ohno is the master of the evil smirk.

I have seen many criticisms that Toma was over acting. I didn’t notice, to tell the truth. Perhaps I should pay a bit more attention to his performance, rather than… um.. other things.

Over all the plot is engaging. There are things that remain unanswered and I am curious to see how things pan out. I don’t mind these types of shows but to be honest it isn’t my favourite genre. But I’m looking forward to the next episode.

Love the actors in this show.

It may have been my expectations of the plot or the fact that this isn’t my “genre” but I didn’t get the feeling of “this is awesome” compared to other shows. Besides the thought of “Toma is awesome”.

So yes, expect lots of raving this season from me. I’m sorry, I can’t help it!

p.s. I forgot to mention the shower scene! Less than five minutes in and we have toplessness! For the win!

Image is the Judgement card from the fantastic, as yet unpublished, Shadowscapes deck by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law. I’m soooo buying this deck when it is published. And check out her other work, it’s fantastic.

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.

I’m excited because it is not long now until I will have a weekly dose of Ikuta Toma when he co-stars with Ohno Satoshi in Maou. Which has nothing to do with the rest of the post which is about Reviewing the Kanji. After a bit of a break from studying Japanese, I am back into it with my quest to Remember the Kanji.

I’m on uni holidays now, so I would like to get as many as I can done in the next four weeks. I’m not expecting to finish, but I would like to come as close as I possibly can. I’ve done the maths, I know how much I need to do in order to get close to finishing. However, I’m not going to try and reach a certain number and put pressure on myself. I’m going to do as much as I can each day, trying not to burnout. Here’s some things I’m planning to do:

• Use the Reviewing the Kanji Website to help me come up with new stories. There are lots of example stories there that give me something to start with that I can adapt for my own use. Saves lots of time!!
• Use Anki to actually review the kanji. I just love Anki so much, it is the best flash card program that I have used so far, and I have used a few. I have written a post on how I structure my RtK deck in anki for those who are interested.
• Because I am now working more hours at work, thanks to reduced time at uni, the good news is I will have a dedicated lunch time (instead of eating on the go between work and uni – not fun). So I plan to use my lunch break for actual study. Just to go through stories that I have had trouble with and need adapting, practise writing difficult kanji etc. This will be things I can do on paper, as when I write things down on paper often I remember them better. I also recommend this Practise Page Generator for RtK keywords.

So, remembering the kanji, here I come (again)!!

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Fantastic news! Arashi’s Riida, Ohno Satoshi, and awesome sexiness Ikuta Toma, are both going to star in an upcoming drama called “Maou”. Here’s a video:

This drama is a remake of the popular suspense drama that was aired in Korea last year. Ohno Satoshi will be playing the role of a two-faced lawyer, one of which is a kind hearted soul and the other who is plotting revenge, using his brilliant mind, on the person who killed his relative. On the other hand, Ikuta Toma will play the double lead role of the man, who has become a detective due to his dark past, who is pursuing the mysterious series of murders and fighting against the devil (maou). – from Dramawiki

I like Toma’s hair! – Why does the weather report have to be in the way! And are tarot cards going to be apart of it? (revealing one of my other hobbies here ) I am looking forward to this!

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