Rich Man Poor Woman Ep 10

Yay, the second to last episode!  The majority of this episode was so warm and sweet.  Of course, being the second to last, it had to end with some sort of sad conflict.  I'm so looking forward to the final episode.  

Summary:

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The episode begins with Asahina's arrest for insider trading.  We don't see the trial, but we do see him settled behind bars.  Hyuga tries to visit him repeatedly throughout the episode, but Asahina refuses to see him.  Asahina reflects from jail on how wonderful their time together at Next Innovation really was.

At the Wonder Wall office, Natsui is giving Hyuga etiquette lessons and critiquing his social skills.  She follows him to various client meetings and gives him a 1 to 100 score after each one.  He's frustrated with the low scores she keeps giving him, but by the last meeting, where he presents a crowd with new 3D scanning technology to allow customers to try on clothing from home, he scores a more-than-perfect 120, even getting some clients' names right.  

Natsui is flustered by how perfect and handsome Hyuga has become, but she's also disappointed.  Now that he's mastered basic social skills and etiquette, she feels she's no longer of any assistance to him.  Having exhausted her purpose, she feels the need to distance herself because she of her feelings for him.  She takes a part-time job at a lab and messages Hyuga that she'll be taking a break for a while.  

With Natsui gone and not accepting his calls, Hyuga sets off on a mission to find her.  He stalks her house and frequent haunts and eventually ends up trying her rural home town.  On the train out, he runs into Yoko, who travels with him for the remainder of the trip.  They stay at Natsui's family inn.  The family, not knowing who they are, gossip about their oldest daughter who declined a prestigious job to start a company with the man she loves.  At this point, Hyuga is clear and open with Yoko about his feelings for Natsui.

Before they leave town, Yoko convinces Hyuga to visit his mother's restaurant.  He doesn't reveal that he's her son, but the visit leaves him satisfied.  He's surprised that he's not hurt or angry.  Yoko suggests that he's no longer searching for his mother and is now yearning more for someone else.  

Back in the city, the Next Innovation accountant had been trying to get Hyuga to come back to Next Innovation.  The company is on the verge of being acquired by a large tech company and the accountant doesn't want to see true innovators trampled under corporate giants.  Hyuga initially refuses, but by the episode's end, we learn that he plans to return to the company.  He leaves Wonder Wall to the three-amigo-coders and also asks the guy he'd previously invested in to support the venture.

Hyuga eventually tracks Natsui down at the lab where she's working.  He approaches her at the bus stop and they both have something to say to each other.  Hyuga chickens out and tells her he came to tell her he's rejoining Next Innovation.  He also tells her that there's someone he's been searching for, but he doesn't say its her.  Instead, he lets her share her piece, which is to inform him that she's taking a job at the lab and needs to do something on her own.  She apologizes for breaking her promise to always stay at his side.  He lies that he hadn't taken the promise seriously.  

They part ways.  As they walk, each looks back, but their timing is bad and their eyes never meet. 

;___;

Scenes of Note:

• Natsui harshly lecturing Hyuga on etiquette and giving him low marks.
• Hyuga searching desperately for Natsui, calling her millions of times and peaking in the windows of her apartment.

Taisetsu na Koto wa Subete Kimi ga Oshiete Kureta 5

This episode takes a turn that I was expecting, weakening the story's impact but also making it more palatable.  Ultimately, I'm OK with the change, if slightly irritated by how many problems have and will continue to stem directly from a lack of communication.  If characters just talked to each other in dramas, 99% of the issues would never even become issues...

It's set to continue with the angst and intensity in upcoming episodes, but they're now positioned to at least have the potential of a socially-acceptable happy ending.  But since it's a jdrama, they may decide to eschew the happy ending altogether.

Summary:
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As Kashiwagi is leaving, Uemura returns to the school and makes some attempt to defend him against the students' bullying.  Kashiwagi is awaiting discipline from the school committee and the principal insists he continue coming to school in the interim, to face what he's done to the students and Uemura.  Saeki's mother is keeping her home from school, but Saeki wants to go, saying she has something important to explain.

After school one day, Uemura meets Kashiwagi and explains her doubts that he actually slept with Saeki.  It's too unlike him and he could be covering up for Saeki.  She sets off, intent on finding the truth for herself.

She meets again with Kashiwagi's brother and learns the truth about that night after she left.  Kashiwagi's brother had attacked their mother and the brother had then proceeded to blame his entire life on Kashiwagi. Uemura then goes to the hospital to meet up with Saeki for her side of the story.  Before Saeki explains, Kashiwagi nearly collapses.  The nurse tells her she's anemic and should see a doctor; Uemura leaves again without an explanation from Saeki.

Tired of hurting people, Saeki goes to the school to the school to explain things fully.  As Kashiwagi is facing his students and taking the blame, she interrupts, saying everything was a lie.  We then learn the full explanation behind that night.

Saeki explains to the students about her condition, her dead sister, and her parents' broken marriage.  She says she had wanted to feel like her sister, so she'd dressed and put on make up, gone out that night and allowed herself to be picked up by a random man.  She slept with him and immediately regretted it.  She ran into Kashiwagi at a cafe later that night purely by chance.

Kashiwagi was drunk after the falling out with his brother.  Saeki struck up a conversation with him, then helped him get home that night.  He drunkenly stripped and went to bed and she followed him in without his knowledge.  Regretting her one night stand and wishing it had been with him, she crawled into bed with him and had taken the photo as a keepsake.

In the aftermath, Uemura talks about how everything can return to the way it was, but Kashiwagi worries that Saeki will have no one by her side.  When Saeki shows up to school the next day, Kashiwagi is the only one that greets her.

From a brief flashback, we find out that Uemura is 7 weeks pregnant and also submitted paperwork to cancel their wedding.  As the episode ends, she angstily muses that Kashiwagi may be in love for the first time and that she can't stand in the way...

Taisetsu na Koto wa Subete Kimi ga Oshiete Kureta Ep 4

Another crazy-intense episode and this time they break out the heavy hitting dialogue, too! This is definitely an "all grown up" series for Miura Haruma (although I suppose he's been playing some really mature roles even since he was a kid in "14 Sai no Haha").

Summary:
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After reading her worrisome journal posts, Kashiwagi runs to Saeki and meets her at a cafe.  Presumably, this is the cafe where they first met? It's unclear how he knew where to find her.  Uemura calls Kashiwagi while he's there and Kashiwagi hangs up on her.  Kashiwagi gives Sonoda's cell phone to Saeki and tells her the entries made him want to "see the real her".  She asks if they can just go back to being student and teacher, but Kashiwagi says he can't pretend nothing happened.

Kashiwagi missed dozens of Uemura's calls while he was meeting with Saeki and sending her home.  They meet in front of a park and Uemura freaks out on him a bit.  She asks if he's in love with Saeki.

The Nurse, Aya, visits a grave site and meets with Saeki's father.  Aya was apparently in the same accident as Saeki and her sister.  She also has a mini-flashback to her phone call to the school--it turns out she didn't tell them about the affair.

At school, Uemura is starting to lose it, while Saeki claims she's trying to forget the entire incident for Kashiwagi's sake.

Later, Uemura and her roommate are opening wedding RSVPs when Uemura begins to cry.  She tells her roommate about Kashiwagi's affair and admits she doesn't feel like herself anymore.  She skips school the next day.

Aya stops Kashiwagi for a chat after school and tells him it's because he's a teacher that she can't forgive him.  Kashiwagi takes it to heart and visit's his family's shop afterwards.  He apologizes in advance to them that things are going to be difficult, but he will work them out.

Kashiwagi then tells Uemura he plans to tell the school he's slept with a student (although to protect Saeki he plans to keep her identity a secret).  Uemura asks him to forget about it, saying that she can forgive and forget, but only if no one else knows what happened.  She freaks out again, asking "What's wrong with living as a scumbag teacher who sacrificed his student for his own happiness?!"  Kashiwagi has too many principles and Uemura feels burdened by them.

Nurse Aya messages Saeki that she's coming to the school to tell them what happened.  She can't let it go.  Saeki runs to stop her, abandoning her cell phone on her desk in the classroom.  A classmate picks up the phone and finds the blackmail photo of Kashiwagi sleeping.  Soon, the entire class knows.

Kashiwagi walks into the classroom and they confront him.  Saeki tries to pass the photo off as something else, but no one buys it.  Kashiwagi admits it and apologizes to the class.  A lot of powerful accusations are tossed around and one kid attacks him.  The teachers get involve, send Uemura home and isolate Saeki in the nurse's office.

As Uemura is on her way home, she gets nauseous and then very worried--perhaps she's pregnant?

Saeki goes to leave with Sonoda but stops when she sees Kashiwagi bowing down to all the other teachers...

Scenes of Note:
There were a ton of noteworthy scenes in this episode, but the best might be the class confronting him.  There are a number of great Uemura-freak-out bits, too.

Taisetsu na Koto wa Subete Kimi ga Oshiete Kureta Ep 3

Another intense episode with character development out the wazoo--none of the roles are black-and-white at this point.  So much happened in this episode, I'm curious to see how the series will run for 10 episodes if this pace keeps up.

I wonder if it was weird for Toda Erika to be romantically involved with a younger actor?  It's only 2 years, but the difference between a 21 year old and a 23 year old can be pretty big...Miura Haruma was playing a high-schooler just one year ago (Bloody Monday 2) and Toda Erika's been playing post-high school characters since at least 2007 (Liar Game)...

I'm torn between loving the soundtrack by Pink and hating its upbeat placement among really serious scenes.  But her typically angry music sort of fits and it definitely adds to the tension of the serious scenes...

Summary:
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The episode starts with Uemura seeing the blackmail picture of Kashiwagi, sent by Saeki.  She now has no doubt that the two slept together. Before Kashiwagi & Uemura can talk things through, Uemura gets a call that her father's been hospitalized.  The two rush over and nearly run into Saeki at the hospital.  They learn that Uemura's father will be fine with just a hernia and they quickly go to leave.  Kashiwagi heads down to the lobby ahead of Uemura and has just enough time to run into Saeki and the nurse before Uemura catches up.  Saeki happily introduces them to the nurse as "the man I slept with and his fiancee".  Saeki makes it clear to the nurse how much she's enjoying messing with the couple.

In this episode, we learn the details of Uemura's condition.  She has Congenital Ovarian Dysfunction, in which medication is needed to produce secondary sexual characteristics such as breasts and menstruation.  We also learn that Saeki acquired her arm scars in an accident 4 years previous.

Kashiwagi follows Uemura home and says its up to her to decide if she wants to stay together or proceed with the wedding.  Uemura flips out at Kashiwagi, saying that she shouldn't have to decide all the important things and leaves it up to him to think about their future.

At school, they are both noticeably depressed.  Saeki corners Kashiwagi in the cafeteria, promising she'll do anything to separate them.

Uemura confronts Kashiwagi's brother at the family liquor store to ask about the night before school started. The Kashiwagi brothers were together when she had left early, that evening.  Kashiwagi's brother claims Kashiwagi had left early and that nothing had happened.

Uemura and Kashiwagi arrange to meet after school one night to talk things over.  When Kashiwagi gets home, he finds Saeki had used the key to get into his apartment.  Uemura walks in shortly after and almost flees, seeing the two together.  Kashiwagi gives a great little speech about how he loves Uemura and he's sorry that he hurt Saeki, but he has no intention of letting things continue.  Saeki returns the key and flees, while Uemura stays.  Kashiwagi then tells Uemura he wants to cancel the wedding before the school hears anything about the affair.  He's clearly still feeling guilty and wants to protect Uemura.  Uemura leaves, hurt and angry, grousing about how Kashiwagi is too honest and she would have forgiven him.

Saeki flees in tears to Sonoda, her short-haired friend with the money problems.  It becomes clear that Saeki  had been putting on a brave front and she truly did have feelings for Kashiwagi.  She associates Kashiwagi rejecting her with her not being a "real girl" because of her disorder.

Saeki skips school for several days and Sonoda begins to worry.  After Kashiwagi gives a lecture about how "slugs are not defective snails," Sonoda ties Kashiwagi back to Saeki's mystery man.  Saeki had posted the same comment to her blog, saying she'd overheard a man saying that and fell in love with him for it.  Sonoda corners Kashiwagi about the affair, claiming he'd played with Saeki's feelings.

Because Saeki had skipped school for so many days, Kashiwagi has to do a home-visit.  He meets with Saeki's mom while Saeki is at the hospital.  Saeki comes home as he's leaving, along with the nurse from the hospital.  The nurse is now able to connect Kashiwagi as both the guy Saeki slept with and her homeroom teacher.

Saeki and Kashiwagi go for a walk, in which Saeki explains about the accident which killed her perfect older sister, some details about her illness, and her true feelings for him.  Kashiwagi begins to feel bad for her.

Uemura goes to the wedding planning office and picks out the cake and menu.  She calls Kashiwagi to tell him she needs him and still wants to get married.  They're on the verge of making up, when Kashiwagi gets a call that Saeki is missing.  Seeing her recent foreboding blog posts, he gets a bit freaked out and goes running off.  Meanwhile, the nurse calls the school office with some information about Kashiwagi...
Scenes of Note:
The scene where Uemura tells Kashiwagi she still wants to be together on the phone, then Kashiwagi goes running off and you're not quite sure who he's running to...

Taisetsu na Koto wa Subete Kimi ga Oshiete Kureta Ep 1 & 2

This series has much greater intensity than I expected.  For the longest time, the uber-dorky promo picture had turned me off from this series, even though I knew I wanted to see it.  So far, I'm nervous the entire time I'm watching it.  I'm rooting for Miura Haruma and don't want to see bad things happen to his character, even if he's partially at fault.

It definitely has some of the appeal of Akai Ito and Koizora, for their similar focus on teenage sexuality and the anticipation of bad things happending to the characters (and maybe they deserve it a little, but you still root for them).  It has less similarity with Majo no Jouken, even though they both focus on teacher-student relationships.  In Majo no Jouken the teacher-student couple was the one to root for and this is definitely not the case here.

Summary:
Show Summary

The basic premise is that Kashiwagi Shuji (played by Miura Haruma) is a young high school teacher.  He's popular with students, parents and other teachers.  He's currently engaged to another teacher, Uemura Natsumi (played by Toda Erika) to complete his ho-hum perfect life.  The series starts with Kashiwagi waking up late on the first day of school, with no memories of the night before, and finding a strange girl in his bed.  He gives her a key to lock up after herself, with instructions to leave the key in the mail box (this apparently is the choice way to handle a one night stand in Japan according to all the dramas I've seen).

At school, he starts his first day of class and soon finds that the girl he slept with is a student, Saeki Hikari (played by Takei Emi).  Throughout the episode we learn she's sort of obsessed with Kashiwagi and she starts to get close to his fiance, Uemura, by joining the basketball team where Uemura is the coach.  Saeki isn't at all secretive about her dislike for Uemura--she says things like "I adore you and want to destroy you" and tosses a basketball at Uemura's face.  She's further developed as the villain by her blackmail material--a photo of Kashiwagi sleeping from the morning-after on her cell phone and has held onto the key that she was supposed to lock up with and leave in the mail box.  Saeki also has a mysterious illness that apparently requires taking medication at school and frequent trips to the gynecology department of a hospital.

Kashiwagi goes through his days feeling horrendously guilty and hypocritical.  He tries to continue as a strong role model to his homeroom and even has to give a mini-lecture on teenaged sex.  He emphasizes the importance of not sleeping with someone casually and how sex will change you and your relationships, feeling like a hypocrit the entire time.  Kashiwagi is paranoid that someone will find out throughout the episodes, and rightly so, as by the end of the second episode Saeki has emailed Uemura the sleeping blackmail photo.

As a side note, we learn about some of the individual students who are facing problems such as working part-time at a maid cafe due to their parents debt and a high school couple who is adjusting to their relationship becoming more serious and intimate.  We also learn that Uemura's roommate, who is planning their wedding, is a childhood friend of both Uemura and Kashiwagi and was previously in love with Kashiwagi.  Kashiwagi's brother also appears to hold some grudge against the couple.

Scenes of Note:

• The first few minutes of the first episode, where Kashiwagi finds an unknown girl in his bed.
• The middle of the first episode, where Kashiwagi has a nightmare that Saeki announces the affair in class.
• The end of the first episode, where Kashiwagi gives a lecture on teenage sex.
• The end of the first episode, where Saeki confronts him, asking "did you change after you had sex with me?"
• The beginning of the second epsiode, which sums up the first episode.
• The scene toward the beginning of the second episode, where Kashiwagi freaks out, "Why are the woman I'm marrying and the woman I slept with playing catch!" and then Saeki confronts him in his lab.

Rich Man, Poor Woman Episode 9

*Flail* *Flail* *Flail*  My love for this series continues to grow.  I'm going to be so sad to see this series end.

They do a fantastic job almost-but-not touching in this episode.  It suits their evolving, not-quite-romantic relationship really well.  There's a lot more focus on romance, but I suspect from the ending that the next episode will veer back into the business-y side of things.  I actually appreciated the introduction of some typical cliches to advance and explore the characters' romantic feelings.  The romantic tension hit a level where a typical big misunderstanding felt almost necessary.  Overall, each of the cliches were well executed and didn't drag out unnecessarily.  In fact, I think each one was wrapped up within minutes of its introduction.  If only K-dramas knew how to do this...

Summary:
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In this episode, you find out that the majority of Hyuga's posessions were in Next Innovation's name, so he's lost them.  He'd also already rented a small office space, expecting the Three-Amigo-Programmers to follow him to start a new company, so that has left him well and truly broke (he has $1,500 to his name).  He shows up at Sawaki's doorstep with all his worldly possessions (which includes his precious Roomba, how cute) and asks to live with her.  I'm surprisingly fine with the way they handled that "poor-man-moves-in-and-romance-blossoms" cliche.  But of course, I'm even happier that they didn't follow through on it.  He comes to his senses and is presumably staying at the shrine or at the rented office--they don't really go into it.

Hyuga and Sawaki kill time at the rented office, not really having anything to do, while we see Asahina succumbing to pressure to lower implementation costs of the stolen Personal File project.  He agrees to change the interface, showcasing a wretched, government-website like design and thoroughly disappointing their important business-champion, Secretary Fujikawa.  Fujikawa stealthily takes her concerns and the data to Sawaki, offering Hyuga the opportunity to take another (cheaper) crack at the interface through a sub-contractor.

Before Sawaki has the opportunity to share this good news with Hyuga, she receives mysterious bonus money form Next Innovation.  She meets up with Asahina in order to return the money to him but Yoko (Asahina's sister and Sawaki's rival for Hyuga's attention) coordinates things so that Hyuga sees the two together and is hurt.  This is the first time that Yoko's jealousy really overpowers her sense of decency, but the misunderstanding isn't overdone and she is human enough to pretty quickly feel remorse.

The confrontation afterward leads to Hyuga and Sawaki parting ways, but before she leaves, Sawaki posts dozens of dorky memos on the walls with the details of the new interface project.  After discovering the notes, Hyuga's feelings clearly change and he sets to work on the project.  Once his interface is completed (within 3 days, magic) Sawaki and Hyuga reunite adorably.  The Three-Amigo-Programmers are also won over by the interface and the 5 happily set up shop together.  The episode ends on a cliff hanger with a news bulletin showing Asahina being arrested for the previous personal data leak and insider trading.

Scenes of Note:
It's such a shame this is too far in the series to clip for panels.  My favorites were the almost-kiss, Sawaki trying to link arms with Hyuga and being brushed off, and Hyuga cornering her in the storage room at the end of the episode.  I'm frankly disappointed there was no kiss scene to follow, but I have high expectations for the next two episodes.

Switch Girl (Japan, 2011, High School Romance)

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Switch_Girl!!

This is a super short drama, best summed up as a whole bunch of simple adjectives: dumb, light, fluffy, fun, and completely lacking in deeper meaning.  Based off the manga of the same name, it's an enjoyable super manga-like high school romantic comedy.

The heroine is a "switch girl", meaning she has an "on" mode (her popular and beautiful persona at school and among her friends) and an "off" mode (her true personality, most akin to that of a dirty old man).  She happens to fall in love with a transfer student who has the opposite "switch" modes.  He's a dweeby, coke-bottle glasses-wearing boy at school and a fashionable and popular ikemen in his time off.

Pros:

• Good high school chemistry.
• Quick watch.
• An aggressive heroine.

Cons:

• Not much substance to the series.
• Cliches abound. 

Scenes to clip: TBD

Rich Man, Poor Woman Ep 8

It's been a while since a series has pumped me up like this one does.  It's a wonderful combination of romance and business drama.  It's refreshing to have intensity without wanting to climb the walls in frustration and rip out some characters hair...

The episodes keep getting better.  This episode shows the most clear mutual feelings between the hero and heroine so far. Even their physical closeness is stepped up a notch.

The dialogue in this episode was some of the most intense in any romantic drama I've seen. The characters started exposing their true colors, there was a lot of shouting--both angry and loving. I have so much love for this episode and this series.

Show Slightly More Detailed/Spoiler-y Summary

I love that Sawaki has grown a backbone--we saw evidence of it developing earlier series, but she really comes into her own in this episode.  She manages to talk back, stand up for herself, and come out with some biting remarks without losing her extremely well-educated politeness.  That said, I almost wanted her to make a scene when Hyuga was having his fit in front of the office.

The betrayal scenario was a bit over-done, I feel.  In the real world, I like to think that such an obvious usurper would face at least some backlash.  I also think it's unlikely that the hero would fall into such extreme and sudden poverty.  It would have been more believable if he were either entirely bankrupted or if he remained with at least a few thousand dollars to his name. Leaving him with $50 to his name is just a bit too conveniently close to broke.

Lucky Seven (Japan, 2012, Mystery)

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

Lucky Seven is a typical mystery drama about a team of private investigators doing everything in their power to help people.  Most episodes involve simple, heart-warming investigations where the detectives prioritize improving the lives of their clients over making money.  A deeper mystery, hinted at throughout but fully explored in the final two episodes, carries most of the series intensity and helps the series end strong.

In Lucky Seven, MatsuJun plays an unmotivated, womanizing Freeter.  A series of events finds him chasing down Eita's character, which leads him to the Lucky Detective Agency, owned by Matsushima Nanako.  The president is so impressed that MatsuJun was able to tail Eita, her best detective, that she hires him on the spot.  MatsuJun spends the remainder of the series helping people, fighting with his quirky detective colleagues, learning the tricks of the trade, and developing really, really (really, really, really, really) awesome fighting skills.

Pros:

• A super-strong all-star cast: MatsuJun (Hana Yori Dango), Eita (Voice), Matsushima Nanako (Majo no Jouken), Naka Riisa (Ninkyo Helper)...(and others who have super-strong credits, but I just don't <3 them as much...)
• MatsuJun's hair--it's not super permy!
• The fight choreography is really well done.  It was definitely the strongest part of the series.
• Entertaining infiltration scenes--not on the same level as Yukan Club, but they're the next best thing.
• MatsuJun and Eita's as action stars.  They clearly did some serious training for these roles.  
• Koyama Keiichiro as a papa.  It's a minor role, but he's perfect for it.  All young dads should look like him.
• Did I mention the fight choreography?
• A MatsuJun vs. Eita + Cage Match?...Yes, please. ^_________^

Cons:

• MatsuJun's hair--it's not super permy!  (Yes, I also put it as a "pro", but perm-free MatsuJun takes some time getting used to...)
• A few of the conversation scenes get unnecessarily warm and sentimental, killing the momentum of the episode.
• Their detective logic can be overly simple.  This is far from a brain-teaser mystery.
• Eita + Mustach = Cringeworthy

Kagi no Kakatta Heya (Japan, 2012, Mystery)

My first post! ^_^  Kaki no Kakatta Heya translates to "The Locked Room Murders", and it is about a security guy obsessed with locks who helps two lawyers solve "locked room" murders.  These cases seem impossible for a murder to take place and would instead be considered suicide if it weren't for these lawyers consulting this genius weird guy.  This drama is episodic, with each episode being a different mystery (except for the last two episodes, which is one big mystery, but that type of formula is pretty standard for mystery dramas).

Ohno from J-pop group Arashi is in this drama, and it's the first drama I've seen him in since "Maou".  He looks very good for his age, even though he's just in his early 30's.  It was quite entertaining for me to see him with his awesome lack-of-facial expression while playing the lock-obsessed genius weirdo.  He was exactly like this in "Maou" too, which kind of added to his creepiness because you (as the viewer) can't really tell what he's thinking.

Toda Erika is one of the lawyers that helps out with the cases.  I like her as an actress - I tend to not really like the characters she plays though.  She's always had that innocent girl-next-door look, which kind of type-casts her to innocent girl/kind-of-dumb roles ("Liar Game", anyone?).  She wasn't quite ditzy/dumb in this drama (of course not, she's a lawyer), but some of her antics tended to channel that naivety and innocence she portrayed in past characters.


Pros:

• Cases were good enough to keep you interested

• Pretty standard, solve-by-episode type of drama that will please any sort of mystery drama fan

 
Cons:

• No character development.  Kind of  understandable since it was an episodic drama, but it left me kind of dry, since I've seen mystery dramas of the same format but still had a good amount of character development.

• When Ohno's character solves a mystery, it's sort of unrealistic at points.  He tended to tell the criminal what EXACTLY they did, step-by-step, at what time, how they did it, what they were wearing, etc.  I know he's supposed to be a genius, but.... come on. O_o

• Ending left me hanging.  Some people probably wouldn't have minded an ending like this one.  But I like closure.  I hate having to ask myself a question at the end of a series like, "Wait, so does that mean he __________????" even though it might have seemed like it was implied.

Overall, it wasn't bad for a typical mystery drama to pass time.

MyDramaList Rating:  6/10 (Fine)

Yokai Ningen Bem (Japan, 2011, Supernatural/Family Drama?)

A formulaic and mostly episodic series torn between being a family/home drama and a supernatural adventure story, it's ultimately hard to care very much about Yokai Ningen Bem.  It starts with strong potential and attempts to go out with a bang, but falters consistently in between.

It would be a good series for a family audience.  If this was an American movie from the 90's, it would totally be rated PG and star Robin Williams.  I have no idea why I feel this way, though.

Pros:

• There are some absolutely adorable Kame-paternal instinct scenes.
• On occasion (particularly the first episode or two), the demonstration of their supernatural powers is cool.
• Suzuki Fuki (the child actor)'s performance is quite strong.  He may have been my favorite character.  Because of his age, his goody-goody character isn't quite so annoying.
• It's appropriate for a family audience, particularly for preteen children, almost as a transition between tokusatsu and prime time drama.

Cons:

• The heroes are so earnest and altruistic, it's annoying. 
• It could have been much darker, with a lot more intrigue.
• Kame was unable to rock his grey-haired sexiness to its fullest.
• Anne's outfits are unflattering.  
• Kitamura Kazuki was wasted as a milddle-aged softy of a father.  Give me back my sexy, arrogant Kitamura Kazuki from Hokaben, Iryu or Akihabara@Deep!

Lucky Seven Episode 4

Summary:
Show Summary

Nitta (Eita) acts suspicious while staking out a private restaurant.  Later, political and police secrets are published in a tabloid, using pictures of the restaurant's patrons that Nitta took.  The police come after Nitta at the detective agency, but he has already fled.  The police confiscate everything from the agency and the other six detectives are left confused and unable to work.  Despite the suspicious circumstances, they profess to believe in Nitta and wait for him to contact them.  Nitta ends up wanted by the police and Shuntaro (MatsuJun) sets off on a mission to find him.  While everyone else failed to find Nitta, Shuntaro manages to track him down in some sort of industrial zone by a river.  The police quickly catch up.  Nitta takes off running and Shuntaro attempts to follow.  The episode ends with "To Be Continued".

Scenes of Note:
None.

There was very little action and all of the plot development was open-ended.   Because the other six detectives are blindly keeping faith in Nitta, there isn't much suspense, either.  The highlight of the episode is a cute, silly conversation about who has what type of siblings.