Anime/Drama Review

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Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO)

2 DVD 12 EPS 1 SPECIAL 1 MOVIE
English Subtitle

Synopsis

The drama series is based on the manga and anime of the same name, both created by Fujisawa Tohru. The story is a sequel of lesser known series Shounan Jun'ai-gumi (Shounan Love Gang) where Onizuka Eikichi's rogue high school days are depicted.

Sorimachi Takashi plays Onizuka Eikichi, a graduate of a third-rate University and the leader of a motorcycle gang, whose lifelong dream is to become a teacher. After being hired by a seemingly eccentric principal, Onizuka begins his unconventional way of teaching a hopeless group of troublemakers. Although he meets much opposition from the students and teachers themselves, his warmth and passion for teaching eventually convinces everyone that Onizuka truly has the makings of a great teacher.

Cast

Gokusen

English Subtitle

GOKUSEN 1
2 DVD 12 EPISODE + 1 SPECIAL

GOKUSEN 2
2 DVD 10 EPISODE

Synopsis

Faito, oh!

The story of a young, idealistic teacher who enters Shirokin Gakuen with hopes of making a difference in the students' lives. However, Yamaguchi Kumiko (Nakama Yukie) is in for a rude awakening when she finds that she will be the homeroom teacher of 3-D, the hardest class to maintain in the school. The students have multi-colored hair, sloppy uniforms, and show absolutely no respect to her. The leader of the class, Sawada Shin (Matsumoto Jun) is lazy but bright and shows some interest in Yamaguchi when he notices that she is very different from other teachers. The students try to bully her to make her quit, but their attempts don't get them very far.

What the class and the rest of the school does not know is that Yamaguchi Kumiko is actually the 4th generation heir to the Ooedo Group, a notorious yakuza clan.

Cast

  • Nakama Yukie as Yamaguchi Kumiko (Yankumi / Ojou / Koumichou) (Math Teacher)

Ooedo Group

Class 3D

Beautiful Life

1 DVD 11 EPISODE
English Subtitle

Synopsis

Kyoko, a young woman with an unhindered spirit despite being physically bound to a wheelchair due to illness, and Shuji, a stylish and popular fashion magazine hairstylist, are brought together in a fateful traffic incident. Despite their confrontational meeting, they soon find themselves falling in love, with Shuji drawn to her courage and enthusiasm and Kyoko attracted to his ability to look beyond her physical limitations and into her heart. However, Kyoko's protective older brother and her worsening condition begin to test the bounds of their love for each other and threaten to end their beautiful life together.

Cast

Water Boys

1 DVD 11 EPISODE
English Subtitle

Synopsis

During the summer two years ago, five high-school boys brought fame to a small town in Japan. What was so unique, was that they formed a "men's synchronized swimming club." Their involvement and struggles while learning synchronized swimming-known to be a sport for girls-brought much attention to their school and town.

Two years have passed since that summer, and the boys of Tadano High School are still in the club. The Fuji Television drama "Water Boys" shows how these young boys fight to learn synchronized swimming, fall in love, and enjoy friendship with one another.

Cast

Wedding Planner

1 DVD 11 EPISODE
English Subtitle

Synopsis

My dream... is to become a "pretty bride" Every woman must have thought so, at least once.

"Actress," "announcer," "flight attendant"... there are many occupations a girl dreams of. Still, number one on the list is no doubt "bride." The one and only moment when that "bride" becomes a beaming existence, is at her "wedding." It's a moment when the bride and groom become the stars of the show. That's why people's passion and willingness to have a successful wedding is just extraordinary.

Weddings during the great bubble years were extravagant. But that was the past. Now the trend is having fancy weddings in restaurants or in a rented home, somewhat like those in Europe and in the United States. That's why we need wedding planners. They're there to listen to the couple's needs, and create a wedding full of originality. A wedding is a once in a lifetime experience (with some exceptions, of course). Both the bride and groom are wedding beginners. With their rich know-how and experience, wedding planners play a significant role in helping these beginners to have the time of their life.

Since it's a once in a lifetime event, couples ask for the impossible. Demands even come from the couple's parents too. Wedding planners have no choice but to listen to all their requests, go through tremendous trouble, and be responsible for everything. Their job is really tough both physically and mentally. Who can imagine that from the flamboyant world they create?

This is a love comedy that takes you behind the scenes of the latest bridal businesses, as well as the human drama of engaged couples, seen through the wedding planners' eyes, as they help to put on weddings.

Toru Oomori (29) works in the accounting department of a medium-sized firm. Unable to escape restructuring by his company, he gets sent to work at an affiliated company, "Sweet Bridal," as its president. Toru realizes his days as a salaried worker are numbered. That's why he's determined to increase sales, and regain lost ground.

There's one major problem though... An incident hit him one year ago that makes work here, just too miserable. This is where our story begins.

The sky was absolutely clear on this April day, one year ago. The scene, a solemn wedding, in a church where the bride is strolling down the aisle. Ahead of her is the groom, with a huge smile on his face. The church is filled with a pleasant and happy atmosphere...

...and then, a scream breaks the silence. "Yoko!" yells a man who barges into the church. Without thinking, the bride dashes across to him, and the two flee together. The church is now in an uproar, and the groom standing astonished. We've seen this scene in the movie, "The Graduate". What's different from the movie however, is that the main character of this story is not the man who stole the bride, but the foolish groom who had her stolen. Marriage sure has its traumas, doesn't it?

In the company, "Sweet Bridal," not only are all the employees women, but all of them have difficult personalities.

Kanako Terashima (34) who lives with her son Taku (8), was left by her husband for another women after five years of marriage. Although she's the vice-president, Kanako is the one who literally runs the company. To Kanako who loves her job, what bugs and irritates her the most is Toru. All he says is, "the bridal industry makes big money!" The two are nothing but enemies. Nobody knows this, but the pipe organist who played at Toru's wedding a year ago was actually Kanako. Yes, an eyewitness to that disaster.

There's also the mature, calm, and beautiful Misaki Uno (30), a perfectionist in everything she does. She is the only person who is happily together with a boyfriend, within "Sweet Bridal." At a glance, she seems to have no problems at work, nor in her love life, but actually,...

Kurumi Aizawa (22) is like Kanako's younger sister. She wants to get married more than anybody else, and can't wait to wear a wedding dress. But when it comes to her own love life, things don't go that smoothly. She can't help feeling inferior to Miss Perfect, Misaki. Kurumi is struggling to find her own self, both at work and in her love life.

Toru feels isolated in this all-female company, so he invites Shuhei Narumi to work for him. Shuhei was Toru's junior in the same photography club at college. Shuehei became a professional photographer at a young age, and worked as an exclusive cameraman for a famous magazine. He must have been through tough times at work, because his friendly and innocent personality from college is now nowhere to be seen. The bridal industry of course, doesn't interest him at all.

Can people who can't even handle their own love lives succeed as wedding planners???

Let's just forget about the men. As for the ladies, even though they have difficult personalities, one thing they have in common is that they all want to "make the wedding a success."

Staying up all night sewing a wedding dress, making the bouquet with painfully chapped fingertips, being yelled at by a restaurant owner, the gospel singers they hire are not only tone deaf but can't dance, the wedding cake collapses, guests get drunk, a bride's father bursts into tears, falling in love with the groom, comforting a bride who has marriage-blue...

Though this business isn't an easy task, all they want to do is "make the wedding a success." Even Toru, who thought wedding receptions were foolish, is touched by their success. Enemies Kanako and Toru, soon learn to respect each other through observing couples having the time of their life. It's not long before the other employees learn to work as a team...

And Toru's wedding trauma...

In this romantic comedy, the story unfolds within a wedding planning company filled with love, laughter, and occasional tears.

Main Cast

You're Under Arrest!!


1 DVD 9 EPISODE

Trick

Trick 1 = 1 DVD 10 EPISODE
Trick 2 = 2 DVD 10 EPISODE
Trick 3 = 1 DVD 10 EPISODE

Synopsis

Although 23 year old Yamada Naoko (Nakama Yukie) is a "super" magician, she is continously fired and constantly hounded by her landlady for the rent being late. One day as she is searching through the newspaper for a new job, she comes across an ad of a physics professor, a non-believer of all things magical, offering money to anyone who can prove to him that magic is real. Desperately needing the money, Naoko accepts the challenge, which is how she comes to meet Professor Ueda (Abe Hiroshi). Falling prey to her simple magic tricks, Ueda is impressed, and enlists Naoko to help him uncover the tricks behind a local cult. Their hilarious antics, along with those of police officer Yabe, leads them onto further mysteries, all with tricks needing to be solved in sort of an "X-Files" meets "Scooby-Doo"...

Usual Cast

Tokyo Wankei

2 DVD 11 EPISODE
English Subtitle

Synopsis

"Please tell me who I really am."

This e-mail message was sent by Mika Kimoto, an editor working at a publisher in Daiba, Tokyo.

Coming from a wealthy family, Mika has always had everything she has ever wanted and more. She is a third-generation Korean living in Japan. She loves her job, and her Japanese boyfriend is a doctor.

There's one thing that bothers Mika though... Her father Masao is very conscious of his ethnic heritage and will allow Mika to marry only a Korean. When her relationship falls apart because of her father's interference, she just happens to post the above message on a mobile phone dating service.

Ryosuke, a blue-collar warehouse worker at Shinagawa Pier, replies to Mika's message.

Daiba and Shinagawa Pier are separated by Tokyo Bay. Mika is a career woman working at a major firm. Ryosuke lives a meager life doing manual labor at a warehouse. There seems to be nothing in common between the two. Still, destiny brings them together.

One day Mika happens to find her late mother Yuri's diary. Written within is the tale of Yuri's concealed relationship with a Japanese man before she married Masao. Mika finds out her mother's hidden past and her passion for the man she loved. Without knowing it, she is about to follow the same path as her mother.

Cast

Tokyo Friends

1 DVD 5 EPISODE
English Subtitle

Strawberry on the Shortcake


1 DVD 11 EPISODE

Synopsis

At some point, Irie Manato (Takizawa Hideaki) began to withdraw himself from the world. Even when picked on, it's not the real Irie, but an act. However one day he meets a strange girl - Misawa Yui (Fukada Kyoko). Yui, who finds the tedium of everyday life unbearable, teases Manato with her almost too upfront and honest manner. Alone and afraid Manato wavers but finds himself drawn to her. But his feelings for Yui are doomed to be unrequited. (TBS)

Cast

Shotgun Marriage

1 DVD 11 EPISODE
English Subtitle

Rondo

Japan-Korean Movie
1 DVD 8 EPISODE
Malay Subtitle

Synopsis

Japan and Korea’s biggest names star in this big-scale drama. Yutaka Takenouchi portrays Sho Nishijima, a Japanese detective whose father was murdered in Korea when he was still a boy. In hopes of discovering the truth behind his father’s death, Sho is working undercover in a huge secret organization. Choi Ji Woo portrays Choi Yuna, a Korean woman who visits Japan in search of her missing father. She opens a Korean restaurant with her younger sister, but soon faces the mercy of fate. The couple meets in a corner of Tokyo and fall in love. But what waits ahead of them… A “rondo” of fate, love, and history is about to begin.

Cast

Oniyome Diary

1 DVD 11 EPISODE
Malay Subtitle

Synopsis

Mizuki Arisa and Gori star as husband and wife in this TV adaptation of a popular Internet blog. Oniyome Nikki is a true account of the life of a husband who is abused daily by his wife. The drama will depict the exchanges between the couple - the misery and the (unintentionally) comic moments.

Cast

Oishii Kankei

2 DVD 11 EPISODE
English Subtitle

Synopsis

Momoe lives a life of luxury until one day, she loses everything... her money, her father and her lover. She must now find a way to support herself. With no experience whatsoever, she nonchalently applies for a position at at French restaurant where she once enjoyed a consomme soup many years earlier.

Momoe was attracted to the French restaurant, La Petit Lapin, because of the wonderful owner, Kansuke and the delicious soup that was invented by the chef, Orita Keiji. Keiji, a first-rate chef, was trained in Paris at the two-star restaurant, Grand Bleu, and is as a result, a little spoiled and snobby. Find out what happens next when Momoe is taken on as an apprentice and must prove herself to Keiji. --- Groink 23:14, 9 Apr 2006 (EDT)

Cast

Nobuta wo Produce

2 DVD 10 EPISODE 3 SPECIAL
English Subtitle

Synopsis

Kiritani Shuji is the popular guy who gets along with everyone, from the jerks to the nerds to the just plain weird. He's the one that everyone can count on. However, what they don't know is that Shuji knows how predictable his classmates are and he plays off their predictability to his advantage. His day-to-day existence as "Shuji-kun" is just a facade he uses to play in the school popularity game. Truth be told, Shuji is bored.

The one person Shuji cannot stand is Kusano Akira. Unlike Shuji, Akira is just plain annoying. Akira loves his soy milk so much, he gets drunk from it. He laughs funny, he talks funny, and he acts funny. Nobody in class takes Akira seriously. Shuji can't stand the sight of Akira and it drives him nuts that Akira does whatever he wants despite Shuji's expressed dislike of him.

Shuji has a daily ritual of touching a certain willow tree for good luck. One day, he is startled to find out that his willow tree was uprooted and in its place, a freaky-looking girl telling him that some people took the tree somewhere else to be spotted. She joked that she was planning to hang herself from that tree. Scared, Shuji runs away.

Things heat up when a new student comes to school. Shuji is shocked to find out that the new student was the freaky girl he saw the day his willow tree disappeared. Her name is Kotani Nobuko, a girl who has no self confidence at all and is content at being made fun of and bullied in school.

Shuji and Akira come to an accord that in order to make use of their "youth" they will "produce" Nobuko as the next popular girl. One of the conditions, however, is that nobody should find out that they are working together as a team to make this concept possible.

Of course, there can be no protagonist without an antagonist. There is a mysterious girl in school jeopardizing the duo's plan to make Nobuko popular. The mystery continues to unfold.

Unveiled here is the story of true friendship between three unlikely candidates who would not have been friends if not given the special circumstances!

Cast

My Little Chef

2 DVD 10 EPISODE
English Subtitle

Synopsis

Seri, an unknown yet talented female chef from the country, arrives in Tokyo to work at French restaurant, Etoire, but discovers that they have gone out of business due to the departure of their main chef. Together with the restaurant's former manager, she opens a French restaurant of her own and begins to recreate the flavors her late father mastered as a famous gourmet chef. Unfortunately, Etoire returns with an unscrupulous manager, and to make matters worse, Seri learns that it happens to be owned by her birth mother living in Paris who she hasn't seen since she was a child. Seri wonders if her passion and skill will be enough to succeed.

Cast

Love Generation

2 DVD 11 EPISODE
English Subtitle

Synopsis

Katagiri Teppei (Kimura Takuya) is a promising creative agent, but whose attitude gets him transferred to the sales department. He has to learn to adapt to the new working environment, which includes cutting his precious locks of hair to create a neater and more appropriate image. Helping him along the way is Uesugi Riko (Matsu Takako), whom he tried to pick up along the street earlier but was tricked by her instead. Riko does not have a good impression of him at first, but falls for him gradually. However, Teppei runs into his ex-girlfriend Mizuhara Sanae (Junna Risa) who is now the girlfriend of his brother Soichiro (Uchino Masaaki). Consoling him is Riko, whom Teppei likes gradually. Just when Teppei and Riko start dating, Sanae realises that she still likes Teppei...

Cast

From The Heart


2 DVD 12 EPISODE
English Subtitle

Good Luck!!

1 DVD 10 EPISODE
English Subtitle

Synopsis

Having achieved his life-long dream of being a pilot, Hajime is first officer on an international jetliner and is now working to become a captain. He can't seem to please Captain Kouda, who has become an exacting taskmaster since an air incident many years ago. To complicate matters, he begins a relationship with stubborn and straight-talking mechanic, Ayumi, whose parents died many years ago in the plane crash for which Captain Kouda feels he is responsible. What follows is a story of 21st century love, dreams, and passion.

Cast

Crying out in the centre of the world / Sekai no Chuushin de, Ai wo Sakebu

3 DVD 12 EPISODE
English Subtitle

Synopsis

"I thought I might be using a lifetime's happiness in a moment. I was that happy and she was that beautiful." A young boy stands on the red earth of Australia under its blue sky. It is 17-year-old Sakutaro Matsumoto. His time with the girl comes back to him. The colored sand runs through his hands and a tear appears on his cheek. He wakes up. It's 2004 and he is 34 years old and in Japan. He thinks "I have been in a world without her for 17 years." Returning home to see his old high school for the last time before it is demolished, Saku confronts anew the loss of the love of his life, Aki, to leukemia 17 years ago. Now a medical researcher at graduate school, he has been living as if half of him died with her since then. Based on the bestselling novel that sold over 3 million copies, the past and present come together in this love story that is both pure and sad.