Saka no Ue no Akai Yane Eps 2~5 spoiler review

I have finished Saka no Ue no Akai Yane and I have a lot to unpack. The five episodes have been an exhilarating ride. The twists and turns were really well done but I need to  talk about spoilers.

The preview at the end of episode 2 spoiled that Ogura Sana (Kurashina Kana) was Sayako. While it was very exciting and creepy, I was worried that the story had fired its best bullet so early in the story.

Fear not because the truth is even better, Ogura Sana was no Sayako. Sana is who she said she was, a writer who won the newbie prize years ago but hasn't recovered from some mental illness and somehow starts to identify with Sayako the longer the works on the novel.

I really like this twist because there are so many layers to it. At the heart of this story is class divide/envy. Sana's parents being doctors, buying the house on the hill acting all superior and Sana acting out because she can do no wrong.

The host Obuchi and the editor Hashimoto both looking up from the bottom of the hill and wanting to burn the house down. A yes, Hashimoto. The other twist is that he is the one confessing the crime in Obuchi's autobiography and he actually wrote that book. 

The one thing I cannot understand is Obuchi's motivation. Obuchi wants people to treat him like a person instead of women falling down at his feet all the time. 

Hashimoto resents his mother and sister who was nice to him but I am not sure of his motivation of using Sana to impersonate Sayako and causing the deaths of Sana and Reiko (Renbutsu Misako). His motive isn't revenge. I guess Reiko and Sayako were both from uber rich families?

Did Hashimoto induce Sayako to murder her parents in the first place? I need a rewatch. I have a feeling a lot of things are implied and when I rewatch the show knowing everything, the clues will become apparent. Maybe Hashimoto's motivation goes back to the opening line of the fake autobiography. Like Sana said, maybe it was already predetermined.

I really enjoyed watching Renbutsu Misako as Obuchi Reiko. Her character has no redeeming traits but there is this humanity in her that is so warped that she cannot see the truth. She is a mirror of Sayako, both to families living on a hill (figuratively) but she cannot help but resent her family.

I was going to see I am not ready to proclaim Saka no Ue no Akai Yane a must watch yet until a rewatch but writing this spoiler review made me realise how good show was. I am sure I am going to love it after a rewatch and everything will be clear as rain.

If Saka no Ue no Akai Yane has one weakness is that it never addressed the fact that seeking a retrial requires some new evidence coming to light that was not considered in the first place. I guess Reiko is not that bright and just accepted everything the lawyer told her.

Saka no Ue no Akai Yane is the reason why I continue to watch jdoramas. Most jdoramas are to promote johnnys but WOWOW is about entertaining with great stories. Must watch.

Saka no Ue no Akai Yane Episode 1

It has been a long time since I have seen a gruesome and creepy thriller. Off the thought of my head, the first show that comes to mind is Kurosawa Kiyoshi's Creepy which was very disappointing. 18 years ago, a host called Obuchi convinced a schoolgirl Aota Sayaka to murder and dismember her parents. (Yes, do not watch episode 1 when you are eating food)

Obuchi was given a death sentence and Sayaka a life sentence because she was being brainwashed by Obuchi. During the trial Obuchi actually got his autobiography published, talking about how he took his first life as a kid which we see at the start of the episode.

Kiritani Kenta is now an editor at a magazine and wants to publish Ogura Sana's (Kurashina Kana) novel about the incident. Ogura Sana won a newbie writing award years ago and wrote a follow up which was shot down and both editor and writer started to interview more people involved with Obuchi and Aoda to get a better picture.

A very much like thriller and the execution of episode 1 is very good. Every character feels a bit off. An executive criticizes Ogura Sana's script as immature and from someone who does not know society well. Sana has a weird relationship with her controlling mother and we later learn that she was adopted.

My first thought is Sana must be Sayaka's sister and given up for adoption and the twist is going to be that Sayaka was the evil manipulator all along. The most interesting thing is how did sleazy host convince girl to kill parents?

Renbutsu Misako is the courtroom sketch artist for the Obuchi trial and is legally married to Obuchi. She is so creepy. I have read about women who fall in love with serial killers and watching her play this character is unnerving.

Never thought I would put Renbutsu Misako and creepy in the same sentence but good use of shadows can do that and the super bright lipstick makes her look even more demented

Speaking of good use of shadows...

Are they going to to a parents were abusive to girl to justify the murder?

WOWOW casting is top class. Kobayashi Ryoko in next episode? Yes!

And this Kurashina Sana smile with the freaking line creeped the hell out of me! I get why WOWOW spoiled the reveal because I am so creeped out but want to see WTF is going on? Is being in prison a lie? Great episode 1 WOWOW and I don't want to get too excited because it is easier to set up an interesting mystery then to make it consistently exciting. Thanks to Monchi for subbing!

Waru ~Hataraku no ga Kakko Warui Nante Dare ga Itta？Episodes 1~3

I named the so bad its good award after Imada Mio because I finished Trillion Game and Ichiban Sukina Hana because of her. I decided to see what other Imada Mio doramas and I came across Waru, a shoujo dorama workplace comedy with Imada Mio playing the super bubbly and positive Tanaka Maririn, a new employee of Omi which started out selling kimonos and now has its own online shopping platform.

The shoujo dorama part is that Tanaka Maririn went sky diving and feel in love with Kongming, I mean Mukai Osamu who happens to work at Omi as well. Armed with only his initials T.O., Tanaka Maririn will abuse her powers in the equipment section to stalk poor T.O. while fighting with the guy she will end up with every episode.

I got really excited because the first episode was about employees who came in during the corona pandemic and could not settle in because they were working remotely. Shida Mirai was a pandemic employee and her sempais don't remember her name because she was WFH all the time and she hasn't gained the required experience to do her job. I thought the corona employees being left behind was interesting although it was only explored skin deep. 

Episode 2 was about women in the workplace and episode 3 is about the marketing research team on the verge on being outsourced. This is interesting stuff because it is relevant in today's world where lots of jobs are being outsourced yet I was not enjoying Waru. Was it because it never looked at the problems deeply and solved everything too easily and not to mention Tanaka Maririn gets 'promoted' to a new department every episode? 

One of my favourite jdorama series of all time is Salaryman Kintaro. It was basically GTO in a workplace dorama and episode 1 was about Kintaro being so good at sharpening pencils. Salaryman Kintaro never went too deep into workplace problems either and every episode usually ended up with a fight scene. However, it was a goddamn fun dorama.

Waru was not fun, probably because it is a shoujo dorama so it is not aimed at me or something about Imada Mio's sickening bubbly personality just rubs me the wrong way. Also the show did not make me laugh and I found the female characters more interesting but Tanaka keeps hogging the spotlight. Normally as long as a show has some interesting issues I am happy to watch or have it in the background but I have absolute no desire for more Tanaka Maririn. Maybe I should download Japanese subs to watch instead?

Speaking of Japanese subs. I gave up on Last Man, another Imada Mio dorama after episode 1 long time ago. I decided to continue with Jp subs recently and I just stand watch Fukuyama Masaharu's plastic face. His face looks so CG or he looks like he is wearing a mask from Face Off. Its way too unnatural.

Meh and ultimately not for me. It did make me want to rewatch Kanno Miho's Hatarakiman and of course Takeuchi Yuko's Dandarin which I think might be the best workplace jdorama ever. 

GTO Revival 2024 review

One upon a time in jdoramaland, Kinpachi sensei was the prototypical teacher dorama. The wise grizzled veteran teacher giving advice and helping troubled students. Then came GTO, featuring a former yankee Onizuka who knows nothing about teaching, thinks about sex all the time and is entraped by a female student in the first episode but wins her loyalty by smashing a wall in her house. (It will take too long to explain, just watch GTO ep1 and it will make sense)

To me, GTO popularised the rebel main character  who was also perverted who could say what everyone could not and would solve problem using outrageous means. It started the formula of every teacher being against the main character and every episode he would get a new ally until the last episode would be the assistant principal who of course was after the principal's chair.

The original 1998 jdorama series is legendary. It is one of the top 10 greatest jdoramas over. The dorama SP was not bad, the movie was eh and then they tried a revival in 2012 which was so bad.  Many years later, is Japan ready for more Onizuka or is this Sorimachi role past his due date?

At the start of the dorama SP, Onizuka is now an uber eats driver and I liked how the audience is tricked into thinking he is coming to teach only to be revealed as the food delivery person. 

It is great to see Oguri Shun, Kunozuka Yusuke and Murai Kunio back in their old roles and them talking about what happened in the original series. Its been so long since Oguri Shun was in Summer Snow and GTO.

Wasn't Fujiki Naohito a policeman in GTO?

So how does GTO who still uses a clamshell (garakei) phone connect with students in 2024? They tell him they don't have any dreams and I call bullshit because everyone wants to be TicTocker, youtuber or some sort of influencer.

You have your compensation dating story (enjou kousai) the staple of all teacher jdromas which is now known as papakatsu.

It is very disappointing that Onizuka's solution to papakatsu is to employ an underage student at a bar for above minimum wage? I can hear all the people slaving away at combinis for 1,113 yen an hour crying that this is bullshit! It goes to show its about who you know and now what work experience you have.

The villain for GTO Revival 2024 is a youtuber who exposes people involved with the school. On a side note, the most prolific youtube expose person is GaaSyy ガーシー who become a politician from doing expose videos on the Japanese entertainment industry. He won a seat in parliament representing the anti-NHK party and Japanese politics is something else. 

So happy to see Fuyutsuki sensei!

It was a nice nostalgia trip including callback to a teacher using the word scum (kuzu) but the chainsaw stunt is just not cool.

Ultimately while it was fun to see the old faces, I don't think there is no need to revive GTO for a whole series. Fun nostalgia for fans of the original series but nothing to see here for everyone else. Thanks to skewed translation for the sub. Made me want to rewatch the original series which I can do every year.

Hamsapsukebe Jdorama Awards 2023

Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived at that time of the year again. The time when I cbf watching any more jdoramas from 2023 and want to celebrate all the excellent shows from 2023. I think 2023 might be one of the best jdorama years ever because we have more than 5 must watch shows and a few that I would not not mind giving a must watch to like 0.5 no Otoko. So without further ado:

BEST ACTRESS

IITOYO MARIE - NANYOUBI NI UMARETA NO?

The question is Iitoyo Marie that good or is Nojima Shinji's script so magical that anyone could have made the role of Sui sing so well? Who knows but by the jdorama gods, this is the best performance by an actress from 2023. If you said Naka Riisa from Rikon Shiyou yo, I would not disagree.

BEST ACTOR

AOYAGI SHO - KASO GIREI

Aoyagi Sho did such a great job as Kiryu Ekai. He is a swindler who created this religion for money but at his core, he wants to help people and he discovers that the business of religion is a lot more cutthroat than he imagined. Aoyagi Sho made Kiryu Ekai a genuine person in a sea of sharks.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

FUBUKI JUN - 0.5 NO OTOKO

The heart of 0.5 no otoko, a heartwarming family dorama from WOWOW.  I did not give it a must watch but it is such a great feel good show and if anyone from the show deserves an acting award it is Fubuki Jun.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

KITAMURA  YUKIYA - KEIJI TO KENJI, TOKIDOKI HANJI

Not only did Kitamura Yukiya did a good job for Tasogare Yusaku, he was very good as the prosecutor whose ex was Kichise Michiko and who has the hots for Higa Minami.

MOST FUN JDORAMA OF 2023

KENSHIROU NI YOROSHIKU

I know I did not give Kenshirou ni Yoroshiku a must watch but it was such a funny and memorable show for me. I kept waiting for the gimmick to grow stale but the show had me laughing until the end.

GOOD TRY AT GOING A HOME RUN AWARD

KUDO KANKURO FOR RIKON SHIYOU YO

The first half of Rikon Shiyo yo! was so freaking good and funny. The second half was slow and boring. Kudo Kankuro could have gone the easy way out but he wanted to do this meaningful divorce story that was a few episodes too long. I respect Kudo Kankuro's ambition but it could have easily been the best show of 2023 if he did not aim for the stars.

SO BAD THAT I ENJOYED IT

TRILLION GAME

Trillion game is a turn off your brain show about two people who somehow succeed at every get rich quick scheme from creating their own online shopping platform with a fake AI to becoming hosts to creating stupid gatcha games. Trillion Game was so cheesy I could not help enjoying myself. Maybe I should call this is Imada Mio award because I would not have finished Trillion Game and Ichiban Sukina Hana without her. 

BEST 5 JDORAMAS OF 2023

5. TOKYO HINKON JOSHI

It was between Tokyo Hinkon Joshi and Rakujitsu for the final spot and I have to give to Tokyo Hinkon Joshi. I can't remember the last time I had more than 6 must watch shows in a year. Tokyo Hinkon Joshi is the show that shows you sometimes women can ganbatte all they want but the odds can be staked against them and life is never fair.

4. HAYABUSA SHOBODAN

Fun mystery jdorama set in beautiful inaka featuring a band of underdog firefighters. Beautifully shot with a great ending.

3. PARIPI KOMEI

Is Mukai Osamu that good as Komei or is it just the costume? Kamishiraishi Moka is the absolute casting choice for Eiko. I think Paripi Komei does everything very well.

2. FENCE

Fence is a story about a magazine reporter investigating this rape allegation in beautiful Okinawa and what she uncovers is not pretty. Fence gives the audience a breakdown of the politics of Okinawa, race in Japan and the cost of having a foreign military base. 

1. KASO GIREI

Kaso Girei is a jdorama about two people creating a fake religion but it is also a show about people looking for a place to belong. It is a show that examines the value of religion and rituals to our lives and how it gives order and meaning. Kaso Girei also looks at the power of religion and it's connection to politics. Amazing job by NHK.