Age Harassment: First Impressions (Ep 1-2)

Takei Emi works so much that it almost feels strange for her to be missing from the Jdorama scene for more than one season. Her SP for Senryokugai Sousakan aired recently but her last full on drama was Subete ga F ni Naru back in fall of 2014. At the beginning of 2015, I was slowly beginning to fall behind in Jdoramas and Jnews because I was so busy with my first year of university. Now that its summer time and I'm a little more settled, I can finally catch up! 

Age Harassment wasn't my most anticipated dorama of this season, but it has already become my favourite with only 2 episodes. Aside from my love for Emi, I find the issue of harassment in the workplace very interesting. We all know that it happens, but we don't realize how often it happens and how subtle it can seem. This drama focuses on age harassment since our main lead, Yoshii Emiri,  is a young female office worker who has just secured a new job at a big company. Because of her young age and beautiful looks, she is able to get away with almost anything and is always the center of attention with male colleagues. Despite these perks, she is unable to show her full potential and is only given jobs that require her youth and prettiness. On top of all this, she is also the target of fellow jealous female employees who were once youthful like her but are now just pushed aside. 

There are other types of harassment that are mentioned in this drama but the two prominent ones seem to be age and gender, which our characters seem to experience almost daily. It's almost hard to hate on the female employees because even though they appear to be bitchy, we see that they go through the same harassment. Growing old is not a crime, but the older female employees still have to suffer from constant degrading comments masked as just a little joke. This of course would make them self conscious on their actions. 

Even with all this happening, no one steps up to call anyone out. This is where our main character comes in. Through a series of events, she realizes that this harassment has happened and will continue to happen as she gets older unless someone speaks up to stop it. We haven't seen much change yet, but Emiri is already stepping up and calling people out for their shit at the end of the first two episodes. 

So far, I'm loving the role of Emiri and I feel really good about Takei Emi's portrayal. For the last few dramas she has done, her characters have all felt lacklustre and I get the feeling that she isn't putting her all but rather just getting by. I'm glad that she is getting the role of a more realistic character now because I was getting real tired of her deadpan and "quirky" characters.

This drama is the first time I've actually taken notice of Inamori Izumi. I didn't know she was in Watashi ga Renai Dekinai Riyuu even though I did remember her character. Her character here is much more memorable. She plays Osawa Yuriko, the direct supervisor of Emiri, and a victim of age and gender harassment. She is probably the best at hiding her feelings despite all the unfairness she goes through. But don't get the wrong idea as she isn't so innocent either. Her actions really confuse me because it seems like she takes care of Emiri but hates her for her youth at the same time. Anyhow, Inamori Izumi is really impressive so far because I've been scared of her character like multiple times in each episode. She has that gentle sheep appearance with a really subtle bitchiness.

Overall, I really like this drama and the storyline has really gotten me hooked. I'm hoping that it'll stay this way and become a example of a girl power drama done right!

Scholar Who Walks the Night: First Impressions (Ep 1-2)

After waiting for what seems like an eternity, Scholar Who Walks the Night (SWWTN) has finally premiered last Wednesday! The thing about these dramas that start teasing and filming too early is that viewers will often feel extra disappointed if it doesn't live up to the hype. Fortunately, at least for me, SWWTN did live up to all the buzz it created.

I managed to find the Chinese translated for the currently ongoing manhwa that SWWTN is based on and rushed through it before the drama started. Since I'm not thaaat good at reading Chinese, I didn't understand much but from I could tell, the drama has been following the storyline quite closely. There are a few differences such as the way Sung Yeol became a vampire and of course the addition of the character Myunghee played by Kim So Eun.

Lee Jun Ki is perfect and impressive as Sung Yeol. His casting is spot on as his trademark pretty boy image fits the androgynous look of his manhwa counterpart perfectly. As with Lee Yoo Bi who is basically a carbon copy of Yang Sun in the book. And even though Lee Soo Hyuk doesn't have silver hair, he is just so gorgeous and it feels so wrong because he is so evil but SO HANDSOME. Kim So Eun is playing new dual characters. One is the first love of Sung Yeol from 120 years ago and the other is Hye Ryung. I really really love Kim So Eun and glad to finally see her in a drama instead of following her in WGM week after week. I can't say much about Changmin yet since we got so little of his character but I'm not feeling any stiffness from him so far! I am however feeling very bad about his moustache and beard. Changmin is my favourite in TVXQ so seeing him with facial hair was a bit of a shock and it will take probably forever for me to get used to.

Cutie pie So Eun being a cutie pie

The first episode was solid and fast paced without letting any time go by freely. I'm pretty glad that the writers decided to present the whole setup in the first episode instead of flashbacks throughout the drama. It's just so much less confusing and it allows us to follow the present time much better, which is more important. At the same time, we can still see the changes in our titular character from 120 years ago and now. What Sung Yeol went through was tragic and his personality has changed drastically. Gone is the slightly sassy scholar with a happy marriage on the way and in comes a vampire with a human heart, unable to control his urges and haunted by the death of his loved ones. I'm glad that Sung Yeol has people by his side but hiding away for 120 years as everyone around him changes and leaves him behind must be sad.

The second episode was just as good but slowed down only by a little bit. We see more of our heroine and her background. People can move mountains for the one they love and we see that here as Yang Sun is doing everything she can to support her family and her little sister even if they aren't related by blood. Her relationship with her sister is just too cute but I'm really afraid it'll end in tragedy. From years of drama-watching experience, I feel like something is going to happen to her little sister. Please oh please, dramagods, let me be wrong!

Even though I love this drama's OTP, I actually found the OTP scene in episode 2 to be a little awkward. Maybe its because Lee Yoo Bi is rocking her cross dressing look too well, but I was actually so unused to her long hair. Ha! Even though Sung Yeol's frivolous and teasing personality worked in the manhwa, I'm afraid its a bit hard to transfer that onto camera, where it can easily look and feel cringey.

HOW IS HE THIS HOT LIKE SRSLY

I'm really enjoying Gwi so far. His character is a typical villain at first glance but if you pause and think about it, he's anything but typical. He has the power to stay alive for a long time because of how strong he is. From what I interpret, it's as if Gwi is bored of his tyranny. It's become too easy for him. So after Sung Yeol turned into a vampire and knocked him unconscious with his unexpected powers, Gwi was probably shocked and that's why he waited so long to battle with Sung Yeol again.

I actually don't typically watch saeguks or anything vampire related so I'm watching this purely based on the actors themselves and especially for the OTP. The story so far is quite good and I'm getting really good vibes from all of the characters.

STOP BEING SUCH A CUTIE PIE

STOP BEING SUCH A HOT TOMATO

2015 Anticipated Summer Jdoramas

Hey hey hey! I know its been a long long time since I've done a dramalist but its honestly because I've only been keeping up with one or two Jdoramas per season. I have a whole pile of dramas that are waiting to be watched so I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed but I will definitely get through them. This season, I'm jumping back on the Jdorama train and there are a bunch of dramas I'm excited to watch, some of which have already aired!

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Mondays

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Koinaka

Start: July 20th / Time: 21:00 / Channel: FUJI TV

Cast: Fukushi Sota, Tsubasa Honda, Nomura Shuhei, Shinkawa Yua, and more

Synopsis:

Miura Aoi (Fukushi Sota) has an indecisive personality and dislikes summer. One summer day, he meets his childhood friend and first love Serizawa Akari (Tsubasa Honda) who disappeared suddenly in their 3rd year of high school. Aoi's feelings for Akari begin to resurface again but there is now another man beside Akari who is also named Aoi.

Thoughts: 

I honestly don't have any interest in the plot of this drama because I still don't fully understand it. But I always like to watch everything that Tsubasa Honda is in because I absolutely adore her. A drama with her and Fukushi Sota, another one of my favourite actors, is a must watch for me. I am a little concerned about the acting since they are both known to be a little weak in that apartment, but I'm confident that they will work up their charms and chemistry!

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Thursdays

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Tantei no Tantei

Start: July 9th / Time: 22:00 / Channel: FUJI TV

Cast: Kitagawa Keiko, Kawaguchi Haruna, Miura Takahiro, Dean Fujioka, Ito Masayuki, Rokkaku Shinji, and more

Synopsis:

Sasaki Rena (Kitagawa Keiko) is a woman with great memory and intelligence. Rena works as an investigator who specializes in corruption among other detectives. Her reason for doing so is because her sister was murdered by a stalker after being given information from an unknown detective on her sister's whereabouts.

Thoughts: 

Dramas about corruption gets me excited and makes me depressed at the same time. Although its fun to watch, I'm always saddened by the fact that in real life, corruption is almost inevitable. Anyhow, I love Kitagawa Keiko even though I haven't been impressed with her dramas as of late. I love Kawaguchi Haruna even more so I'm pretty pumped up for this. I'm expecting plenty of on the edge moments and a big plot twist towards the end! Twists are predictable for these types of dramas, but it is still so stimulating to watch everything unravel!

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Age Harassement

Start: July 9th / Time: 21:00 / Channel: TV ASAHI

Cast: Takei Emi, Inamori Izumi, Seto Koji, Kaname Jun, Okura Koji, Naito Risa, Hara Mikie, Sugimoto Tetta, Fukikoshi Mitsuru, Asano Kazuyuki, Aso Yumi, Takenaka Naoto, Kazama Morio, Koizumi Kotaro

Synopsis:

Yoshii Emiri is a new employee of a top trading company. In addition to her motivation, skills and ambition, she possesses both youth and beauty. This would appear to be her passport to happiness. But because she is assigned to the General Affairs Department, the old guard which only pays lip service to “female employment”, everything she possesses becomes a target of harassment. The company only requires Emiri's youth and beauty. Her dream of doing a good job and eventually becoming an executive officer is quickly crushed. On the other hand, Emiri just has to flash a smile and the male staff would fuss over her even though she did not ask for anything. She becomes the target of jealousy of the older female staff. Emiri is given a hard time simply because of her youth and beauty. Although she endures this every day, she soon reaches the limit of her patience. When Emiri rebels against the old-fashioned company, what awaits her is... -- Jdrama Weblog

Thoughts: 

Duh, I'm obviously watching this for Takei Emi, my ultimate female bias. Apart from that, I went in the first episode expecting nothing, knowing nothing, and coming out floored at how much I already love this drama. I'm not sure about how things will go since I've only just watched the first episode but this is a role from Emi in a long time that I'm excited for. After playing stupid/not-so-stupid characters and deadpan characters, we finally have strong female character! YES! I'm pretty pumped up about this drama so expect a first impressions post soon around episode 3!

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Saturdays

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Dokonjo Gaeru (Gusty Frog)

Start: July 11th / Time: 21:00 / Channel: NTV

Cast: Matsuyama Kenichi, Mitsushima Hikari, Maeda Atsuko Katsuji Ryo, Mitsuishi Ken, Denden, and more

Synopsis: 

When Hiroshi (Matsuyama Kenichi) was just a middle schooler, he tripped and fell on a top of a frog that was flattened and stuck on his shirt. The frog, named Pyonkichi, began to speak and that was the start of Hiroshi and Pyonkichi's strange relationship. Now that Hiroshi is a grown man and still a loser, he decides to redo his life. 

Thoughts: 

Anything with Matsuyama Kenichi is a must watch! Especially when he is playing a klutz! I'm not super sure about the storyline but I'm expecting a fun and lighthearted drama with a magical twist. I'm also pretty stoked about Maeda Atsuko because I adore her.

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Sundays

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Death Note

Start: July 5th / Time: 22:30 / Channel: NTV

Cast: Kubota Masataka, Yamazaki Kento, Yuki Mio, Sano Hinako, Fujiwara Reiko, Matsushige Yutaka, Sato Jiro, and more

Synopsis: 

Yagami Light, (Kubota Masataka), is an ordinary university student. One day, he receives a death note which changes his life. He becomes murderer Kira and punishes criminals through the death note. L, (Yamazaki Kento), is a private detective who defines Kira as evil and decides to catch Kira. 

Thoughts: 

I haven't watched the first episode yet and with all the reviews I've been reading, I have to be honest and say I am super skeptical and a little scared. I did really enjoy the movies, but I don't love it enough to swear off anything that is different. The only thing I think I would be constantly comparing to is Matsuyama Kenichi's performance as L. Kenichi brought L to life perfectly and that is the very role that made me fall in love with him. I like Yamazaki Kento and I do believe that he has the acting ability to portray L, but sometimes its not always about acting ability. If the characters have really changed like I've read from various bloggers, then I would say I'm disappointed that they decided to use the name Death Note. All of these feelings are conflicting with my intense love for Kubota Masataka. If you didn't know, I fell head over heels for Kubota in N no Tame Ni. I'm not so ready for him to play a character that's very dislikable. Light is admirable to some extent but I would never like him as a character. OH MY FEELINGS!