This episode begins with a recap of the last. Riko played by Aibu Saki (Utahime, Attention Please) was looking forward to her free trial period ending when she learns from Namikiri Gaku played by Sasaki Kuranosuke (Shikaotoko Aoniyoshi, Bambino!) that when she returns Night played by Hayami Mokomichi (Hataraki Man, Rondo) his memory will be erased and he’ll no longer remember her. So she has a change of heart and decides to buy him. Today she sits in her apartment with Namikiri and hesitates before stamping the papers that grant her ownership and a seventy year loan to pay off the 100 million yen. After she stamps Namikiri gives her a free present, Kronos Heaven boxer shorts which he hands to Night with the injunction to have her put them on him later. Night asks her to take care of him for the next 70 years, and Namikiri says the loan will go by before she knows it. Namikiri adds she’ll need to pay 200,000 yen a month, Night breaks it down to only 268 yen an hour. Then Namikiri tells her that 01 (Night) is an excellent appliance and that she’ll never need to buy a washing machine or dishwasher and Night adds that he can do massages too. Namikiri foresees a future when all homes will have an 01. But Riko tells him she just wants a normal love life and normal marriage too. Night wants to know if she prefers a church or shrine. After that Riko decides she doesn’t want to buy him. Namikiri smiles and says that she just signed the contract.Really enjoyable episode, with lots of laughs and a surprise cliffhanger at the end, this drama is terrific the only romantic comedy currently running I like better is Ryokiteki na Kanojo. I like that Riko took pity on Night and didn’t want him erased even though he causes her lots of trouble, and even more in this episode and for the next seventy years.Download the English hardsub bit torrent releases from SARS fansubs here. Screen shots of the previous episodes are here.
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The drama opens with a flashback to a baseball game, it’s the ninth inning 2 outs and 1 strike away from a win, when the batter hit by a ball strikes the apologizing pitcher with his bat,which causes a riot involving both teams and even the spectators. Sato Ryuta (Utahime, Bambino!) as Kawato Koichi runs and talks on his phone, Asano Kazuyuki (Attention Please, Ganbatte Ikimasshoi) as Ikebe Shunsaku the head teacher complains to the principal played by Ibu Masato (Detective Conan 2, Hataraki Man). The principal responds that he’d hired the teacher implying it was his responsibility. Koichi arrives at the Futagotamagawa High School to begin his first day. There’s a fight going on in the hallway that he tries to intervene in but is stopped by another teacher when a motorcycle roars through the hall knocking down a student. The teacher yells at the motorcyclist that he’s trash from the baseball club. The baseball club members enter the club room to find their captain Aniya Keiichi played by Ichihara Hayato (Long Love Letter) on the couch with a half naked girl. Shirota Yu (Hanazakari no Kimitachi e, Seito Shokun!) as Shinjo Kei arrives in time to see Koichi’s first encounter with the head teacher, then all the club members head for the assembly to see the new teacher.As I said many times in the past I’m not a sports fan but I do enjoy sport dramas and anime. That said so far in the 1:40 minute opening episode they only had about 1 minute of baseball. So far this drama seems more similar to GTO then to Ace Wo Nerae or Ganbatte Ikimasshoi. In addition to the actors I already mentioned two of the club members are Koide Keisuke (Nodame Cantabile, Gokusen 2) as Mikoshiba Toru and Sato Takeru (Kamen Rider Den-O, Shinigami no Ballad) as Okada Yuya and playing a teacher is Fukiishi Kazue (Bambino!, Yamada Taro Monogatari) as Mayumi Rie. I liked the first episode a lot, and from what I’ve read the series is going to cover the entire manga so it’ll have more episodes then a traditional Japanese drama. After the first episode I’d recommend this to fans of GTO or Gokusen even if they don’t care for sports.Download the first episode RAW video bit torrent file here, soft subs by Skewed and Timeless are here.
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This episode starts with a recap on how Riko played by Aibu Saki (Utahime, Attention Please) obtained her robotic boy friend, Night played by Hayami Mokomichi (Hataraki Man, Rondo), on a free trial. Riko wakes, to Night’s attempt to give her a morning kiss but she flees to the living room, when he asks her if she didn’t want a morning kiss, she responds that she doesn’t and for him to wear some clothes. She realizes that today is the last day of the free trial, and then she sees the breakfast that Night has prepared for her. She’s overjoyed with the meal but then upon inspection of the refrigerator she discovers that Night used a weeks worth of food to prepare the breakfast. Meanwhile Mizushima Hiro (Kamen Rider Kabuto, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e) is having a meeting with his older brother and father about the development of a new product for an exclusive department store. The father wants Hiro to be in charge of it but the brother objects saying that it’s too important. They compromise making Hiro responsible for coming up with a new concept and presenting it to the company’s board before any decision is made. Hiro’s not happy with the new responsibility and when his father states “There must be something you like”. He arrives at the office and when he sees Riko he remembers the cream puff that she’d made. He drags her into his office and asks her to make some more. But she refuses.This is my second favorite romantic comedy drama being shown this season running a close second to Ryokiteki na Kanojo, but in any other season it may well be the best. It’s funny and the implied love triangle between Riko, Hiro and Night should prove highly entertaining. After the second episode still highly recommend this to fans of romantic comedies like Kimi wa Petto or Proposal Daisakusen.Download the first two episodes English hardsub bit torrent releases from SARS fansubs here. Screen shots of the first episode here.
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Beginnings, endings, and in-betweens this 29 April 2008 Level Comics release. And as seinen and shōnen demographics are not my forte, here's the manga release list post-haste... Level Comics manga (2008.04.29) NEW SERIES Jepang Tenggelam (Japan Falling) 1 of 10 by Komatsu Sakyou & Isshiki Tokihiko Japan Falling 「 日本沈没 」 Shogakukan Big Comics Spirits, seinen, 2006.06 Ongoing? Little Jumper 3
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Absolute BoyfriendEpisode 1 The Flawless Robot Lover Namikiri Gaku played by Sasaki Kuranosuke (Shikaotoko Aoniyoshi, Bambino!) and his boss are talking about love as they look at the completed robot played by Hayami Mokomichi (Hataraki Man, Rondo), and discuss finding a suitable test subject. Izawa Riko played by Aibu Saki (Utahime, Attention Please) sneezes and Ishizek played by Kyo Nobuo (Kamen Rider Kiva, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e) hands her a pocket warmer. Just as she’s about to confess to him, he gets a phone call and hurries away. She’s discussing her encounter with her co-worker in a bar, when she too gets called away. But the bartender gives her a free drink, telling her she has a gloomy face that’ll never get her a boyfriend. Then the bartender tells her unless the perfect man shows up she won’t find someone. Namikiri sits by her at the bar, telling her he’s going to change her life. Then he takes her back to the Kronos Heaven offices and begins questioning her on her preferences in men. Telling her that for free Kronos Heaven would find her the ideal boyfriend.Co-starring with Aibu Saki is Mizushima Hiro (Kamen Rider Kabuto, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e) as Asamoto Soshi her boss. I really enjoyed this first episode, I love romantic comedies and science fiction so it’s pretty much a given that this show would appeal to me, also I was really impressed with Mizushima Hiro last summer in Hanazakari no Kimitachi e as the dorm leader and even more so as Kabuto which I’d just recently watched. Hayami Mokomichi was terrific as the robot and I think he and Mizushima Hiro are going to become rivals for Saki’s attention, that’s not a spoiler it’s just my guess. In one respect I think this is like Densha Otoko in reverse, except Saki is nowhere near as pathetic as Yamada was. I’d highly recommend this to fans of romantic comedies like Hotaru no Hikari or Proposal Daisakusen. This drama is based on a manga of the same title by Watase Yu, I haven't read it yet, but after watching this I'm going to. Download the first episode English hardsub bit torrent release from SARS fansubs here.
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I had been interested in this series for a while. It probably started when I learned a little about it after seeing some of the artwork displayed at Kinokuniya. Hiroko Matsukata is an editor at the entertainment magazine Weekly JIDAI. She is a workaholic that tends to even unnerve the other workaholics at her office. [...]
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According to ANN, Hataraki Man and Happy Mania mangaka Moyoco Anno, wife of Evangelion director Hideaki Anno, is taking time off from Hataraki and her other project, Ochibisan, for the sake of her health. She apprently thinks it’ll be a long break and does not specify what health problems she has. Hopefully it’s nothing too [...]
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Matsukata Hiroko played by Kanno Miho (Watashitachi no Kyokasho, Ai no Uta) explains what she does for a living to the camera, as she gets ready for work, runs for the train, buys a newspaper and enters her office. She talks about a balnce that must be maintained between work, love, fashion and health. She’s an editor at Jidai Weekly magazine. Narita Kimio played by Sawamura Ikki (Maison Ikkoku) is her boss, Nagisa Mayu played by Hirayama Aya is her junior and also an editor, she wants Hiroko to go to karaoke after work but Hiroko can’t because she has a date. Kobayashi Akihisa played by Arakawa Yoshiyoshi (Kiken na Aneki, Kamikaze Girls) who is the head of Performing Arts and Culture section of the magazine is on a photo shoot, when he receives a call from Narita telling him to change his copy that emphasizes the small breasts that the swimsuit model is endowed with. Kobayashi explains that the readers are getting tired of seeing large breasts all the time. Umemiya Tatsuhiko played by Ibu Masato (Nodame Cantabile, Detective Conan 2) is the editor in chief and he approves the proofs and the work for this issue of the weekly is completed, when Hiroko is introduced to Tanaka Kunio played by Hayami Mokomichi (Jotei, Rondo) who just started that day as an editor on the magazine. He remarks that an article for this weeks magazine was frivolous, which infuriates Hiroko who spent three days working on it. Work is over so she leaves for her date with Yamashiro Shinji played by Yoshizawa Yuu (Ace wo Nerae!, Pretty Girls).I’ve been waiting for the subs to be released for this show and the first episode English subs were released late last week and it’s been worth the wait. I’ve read the scanlation of the manga by Anno Moyoco who’s a terrific mangaka another manga of hers that I recommend is “Happy Mania” that’s about a woman obsessed with finding a boyfriend opposed to this story about a woman obsessed with work. Interesting side note, Moyoco is married to Hideaki Anno director of Shin Seiki Evangelion. I also really liked the anime that aired last spring in Japan. The plot of this episode was pretty close to original and I liked the way that the characters address the audience commenting on their lives and work. If you haven’t read the manga or seen the anime the reason it’s titled Hataraki Man even though the main character is a woman is because when she really get’s going at work Hiroko switches to man mode and works like a demon. I highly recommend you checking this drama out if you like dramas like Hotaru no Hikari or Haken no Hinkaku.Download the Raw video bit torrent files here, the English softsubs for the first episode here or the English hardsubs here. Read and download the first chapter of the manga scanlation here.
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[Original image] Happy 29th birthday to the voice of super non-aging combat meido, emo junk doll, monosyllabic Personcon, hataraki man, Azumanga’s meganekko, double-pink Gundam girl, Shizuru’s (other) play thing, and underrated Stellvia girl. Here’s to more Tanaka Rie awesomeness in 2008 and in future!
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Alright so I really enjoyed the ending of this series a lot more than Yukan Club. I guess I’m biased because I work at a Japanese company and I can relate to some of the retarded crap that went on in the show. Also I’m an old fart so any work drama I can [...]
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