Fan of Hana Yori Dango? Maybe a few of creator Youko Kamio’s other works? How about the romantic drama Cat Street? Yes? Good news for you! It’s being developed into a live-action drama. For those of you who have no clue what the series is, it’s about a 16-year-old girl named Keito Aoyama who used to [...]
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Ryu ga Gotoku aka Yakuza was an action/adventure game released by Sega for the PS2. This sequel, Ryu ga Gotoku: Kenzan! is not a continuation of the first and second game but rather, a story set in the Edo period with Miyamoto Musashi as its main character. There are several things that make this iteration looks impressive. The first is the amount of talents who lend their voice to the characters. These include: Tsukamoto Takeshi (Battle Royale), Takenaka Naoto (Nodame Cantabile), Katou Masaya (Mirai Yosouzu), Terajima Susumu (Casshern), Matsuda Shouta (Hana Yori Dango), and two famous anime VA, Hisakawa Aya (Fruits Basket) and Kuroda Takaya (Bleach). In an attempt to emphasize these talents, the facial structure of the characters have also been tailored to mimic the VA's face. The only exception to this is the face of Kiryuu Kazumanosuke/Miyamoto Musashi, which doesn't seem to have been molded from the face of his VA. While this is not a faithful re-telling of Miyamoto Musashi's history, I can't help but being interested in the game. I just think the game's atmosphere looks fantastic and faithful to the Edo period. OP Theme: ZEEBRA－「ＢＵＳＨＩＤＯ」 (YouTube video) ED Theme: ケツメイシ - 「ライフ イズ ビューティフル」 (YouTube video)
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Amazon.com Widgets Title:  Boys over Flowers (Hana Yori Dango) Vol 28 Author:  Yoko Kamio Publisher:  VIZ ISBN: 9781421515335 May Contain Spoilers Tsukushi's joy that Tsukasa is making an attempt to live in her humble world is short-lived when she overhears him speaking with the F4.  He's been going back to the [...]
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I've been looking forward to this anime for a while, I first saw Kitaro this past fall in the live action movie GeGeGe no Kitaro starring Wentz Eiji (Nodame Cantabile) and Inoue Mao (Hana Yori Dango) . But the movie just drops Kitaro in the real world with no explanation of where he came from I wanted to know his origins. After watching the opening episode of the 2008 anime last night Kitaro and his graveyard birth have been revealed, along with a hearty helping of fresh frog eyeballs and the mystery of how patients at a city hospital are becoming living ghosts.Minor spoiler. It also shows his father, the last of the Ghost tribe morph from a giant mummy to an eyeball man the size of a person's thumb.This anime is based on the manga by Mizuki Shigeru that was first released in 1959. According to what I've read this show is supposed to be closer to the manga that the other five anime adaptations that have already been produced the first starting in 1969 and the latest in April, 2007. I'd never had an opportunity to see any of the other anime versions or to read any of the manga just the L.A. movie which I enjoyed. The visual style of the anime is striking; the art director is Kurahashi Takashi who also handled the art on Mononoke which this show's artwork is reminiscent of. That's another show which I loved for its stylish artwork, just take a look at the screen shots below. It's really hard to judge an anime by its introductory episode but so far I'm looking forward to seeing more of this show and meeting more of the yokai which populate its world. Give this show a try if you like Hanada Shounen Shi or the Adams Family.Download the first two episode English hardsub bit torrent files here.
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The drama opens as Gin and Vodka members of the sinster Black Organization look out over the city, Gin is holding a picture of Miyano Shiho he tells Vodka that they’ll soon catch the traitor. The scene switches to a hotel backlit by fireworks, Professor Agasa, Edogawa Conan, Mori Ran and Haibara Ai are at the hotel to attend an awards party for Miss Japanesque. But when Conan and Ai eat some cake made with vodka they transform into their true forms, Kudo Shinichi played by Oguri Shun (Hana Yori Dango, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e) and Miyano Shiho played by Kashii Yu (Yukan Club, Tokyo Tower). When a murder occurs at the awards Shinichi is on the case, but Shiho has been spotted on TV by the Black Organization and she is targeted by the gang.If you’re a fan of the 493 episode anime you know that Kudo Shinichi was a well respected high school detective who after a date with his girlfriend Mori Ran witnessed a crime committed by the Black Organization. They knocked him unconscious and fed him drug that was supposed to kill him but instead it transformed him into a seven year old kid. The professor knows the truth but Mori and her father himself a hapless detective don’t know that the boy that lives with them is actually Kudo Shinichi. This is the second drama special and Oguri Shun return to the role is filled with fun as he tries to protect Mori and keep her from the truth. Kashii Yu is good in her role of a woman desperate to find the cause of the transformation. I’d recommend this to an less then serious mysterious fans. If you enjoyed Kuitan or Yukan Club I think you’ll enjoy this story.Download the TimeLesSub English hardsub bit torrent file here.
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Happy New Years, it’s either a time to look back at the previous year or look ahead to our hope and dreams for the future. This is my dream for 2008.Here’s my fantasy show which if I had millions of dollars I’d produce a live action version of the manga. The plot lends itself to the drama format exceptionally well, it’s a character driven story has some romance and a large dose of humor and it’s about otaku which have been popular in both drama and movies. It’s college setting and no action to speak of so it should be cheap to produce, the only expensive set would be the Genshiken club room which like Densha Otoko’s bedroom would require the purchase or rental of large amounts of otaku goods, figures, manga and old game consoles and of course the salaries of the large cast of my favourite actors and actresses.My dream cast for the men I’d pick either Satoshi Tsumabuki (Orange Days) or Hongo Kanata (Himitsu no Hanazono) as Sasahara, Ikuta Toma (Akihabara@deep, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e) as Madarame, Matsuda Shota (Hana Yori Dango , Liar Game) as Tanaka and Akanishi Jin (Anego, Yukan Club) as Kohsaka. For the women I’d love to see Horikita Maki (Hanazakari no Kimitachi e, Nobuta wo Produce) as Oguie, either Kosaka Yuka (Akihabara@deep) or Matsushima Hatsune (Akihabara@deep) as Ohno, and either Aya Ueto (Attention Please, Hotelier) or Ishihara Satomi (Nurse Aoi, Hanayome to Papa) as Saki.In the smaller roles Angela would be portrayed by Leah Dizon, and because this is a perfect world Summer Glau would be Suzy. Domoto Koichi (Sushi Oji!, Remote) would be Kucchi.Would you like to see this made into a drama and if you would what’s your dream cast. Another anime I’d just love to see as a drama is Ouran High School Host Club I thought Maki would make the perfect “Haruhi” ever since watching Hanazakari no Kimitachi e.
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Episode 1 The Kiss that Changed Their LivesTwo years ago as Kotoko played by Sato Aiko (Atsu-hime) is rushing through the school hallway, she accidently runs into Irie Naoki played by Kashiwabara Takashi (Hachimitsu to Clover, Orange Days) their lips meet and Kotoko has her first kiss while falls in love, with the boy that is top of the school, number one in marks, the highest IQ to ever attend their school and also the tops in sports. Two years later on her 18th birthday Kotoko writes a love letter confessing her love, she finds Irie and tries to present her feelings to him. While her two friends standby with cameras ready to photograph his acceptance. However Irie refuses the letter, saying that Kotoko is annoying and when she pursues he coldly states “I don’t read letters from stupid people.” Her friends try to console her, but she agrees with Irie. Later that night she discovers that her house has burnt to the ground, rejected and homeless it hasn’t been a great birthday.Kashiwabara Takashi character Irie is so cold, emotionally distant and annoying that this drama would have been terrible if it wasn’t offset by the unbelievable Kotoko. She may not be very smart and she is definitely clumsy but she never gives up in her quest to win over Irie. She is also quite funny and almost all of the humour in the show is derived from either her physical humour or from her facial expressions, like her dreamy expression after the first kiss with the blood on her teeth. A seventeen year old Nakama Yukie (Gokusen, Musashi) has a small role in her second drama as Yada Sonoko. This 1996 drama is based on the 23 volume 1990 Itazura na Kiss manga by Tada Kaoru, the manga was never completed because the mangka passed away. The second season of the Taiwanese Drama adaptation It Started With A Kiss is currently airing. I haven’t seen this version but I’d highly recommend Itazura na Kiss to fans of romantic comedies like Hanazakari no Kimitachi e, Hana Yori Dango or Nodame Cantabile. I really found Kotoko to be as endearing as Nodame.DoReMii fansubs released the final episode of the English fansub on November 27 but I didn’t have time to watch it until this weekend however all the episodes are currently being seeded so download this soon if you want a chance to see this funny drama from eleven years ago. Download the bittorent files for all nine episodes here. Video quality improves dramatically after the first episode.
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I haven't been much of a jdrama fan, until last year, though I was mostly into manga-based jdramas, especially those I'm already familiar with. There's Hana Yori Dango (it's 2005, but I just watched it last year), and Nodame Cantabile, for example. If we're going to include movies then add Lovely Complex and Honey and Clover to my "watched jdramas list". There's nothing special with mangas being turned into jdramas, as it's been done so in the past, though the number of these adaptations are considerably less compared to manga turned animes. Other notable adaptations in 2006 include Kurosagi, Iryu, Teppan Shoujo Akane, and Sapuri. Upon further checking, I discovered that there are a total of 13 manga-based jdramas this year, though most of the titles it was based on is something I have yet to come across with. Things changed in 2007, particularly during Spring and onwards, where the influx of manga-based jdramas became evident. There's a total of 30 of these adaptations in this... [ This is only an excerpt for the post! Go the the website for the full content + pictures + links. ]
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Title: Boys Over Flowers (Hana Yori Dango) Vol 27 Author: Yoko Kamio Publisher: VIZ ISBN:  9781421509907 May Contain Spoilers Even as Tsukushi struggles with her relationship with Tsukasa, she's shocked to learn that Yuki has fallen head over heels for the womanizing Sojiro.  She warns [...]
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Amazon.com Widgets Title:  Boys Over Flowers (Hana Yori Dango) Vol 26 Author: Yoko Kamio Publisher:  Viz ISBN:  9781421509891 May Contain Spoilers Tsukasa finally tracks down Tsukushi, and he lays everything on the line for her.  He's not complete without her, he won't have anyone but her, and he'll do whatever he has [...]
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