ThatJapaneseDramaGuy

Drama: Mr. Hiiragi's Homeroom (English title) Romaji : 3 Nen A Kumi: Ima kara Mina-san wa, Hitojichi Desu Japanese: 3年A組-今から皆さんは、人質です- Actors: Masaki Suda, Mei Nagano, Rina Kawaei, Ryota Katayose, Mio Imada, Haruka Fukuhara, Miu Tomita, Moka Kamishiraishi Director: Naoko Komuro, Yuma Suzuki Writer: Shogo Muto Network: NTV First scene we see Ibuki Hiiragi (Masaki Suda) jumping off the rooftop. Is this a foreshadowing? Will this be the ending of this drama? Is he going to kill himself? We don't know. Ibuki Hiiragi is the class advisor for class A, a class full of problematic students. They also don't respect their teacher and he even got kicked by one of his students. First minutes in this drama tells Hiiragi a weak minded teacher. The next scene we see him declare that he will take class A as hostages, some of them just laugh because they know Hiiragi's character is not capable of doing that. Some delinquent type of students got p...

Drama: A Little Room For Hope (English title) Romaji: Sachiiro no Wan Rumu Japanese: 幸色のワンルーム Actors: Anna Yamada, Shuhei Uesugi Director: Ryuichi Honda Writer: Hakuri (webtoon), Shinya Hokimoto Network: TV Asahi, ABC The backslash this drama is getting is coming from people who think this drama is romanticizing the idea of kidnapping, but if they just proceed and watched the show they would realized why the guy done it, in fact I wouldn't call it kidnapping but giving shelter to a pitiful girl.  I'll give you a heads up if you expect something like romantic love in this drama you would be a bit disappointed as I don't see it as portrayed as romantic but more of a platonic love, it's the same feeling when we see a cute stray cat, it makes us wants to keep it and make it safe from harm. Sachiiro no Wan Rumu is based on a manga of the same name, it's kind of famous on manga fans so expect it will also get anime adaptation soon. As...

Movie: The Bride of Rip Van Winkle Romaji: Rip Van Winkle no Hanayome Japanese: リップヴァンウィンクルの花嫁 Director: Shunji Iwai Actors: Haru Kuroki, Gou Ayano, Cocco Writer: Shunji Iwai Producer: Shigemichi Sugita, Shunji Iwai, Muneyuki Kii, Tomoyuki Miyagawa, Masashi Mizuno Cinematographer: Chigi Kanbe One of the most important contemporary directors of today, Shunji Iwai gives us a suspenseful emotional ride in his latest film "A Bride for Rip Van Winkle". It reminds me a lot of "All about Lily Chou Chou"(also directed by Iwai) on how it uses the internet as the main element in the movie, how it affects characters minds and their relationship, simple chatting before social media now. This movie will make you realize how social media affects our society, how most of us make it our safe haven and sometimes create a fake identity and how that fake identity would factor in constructing our own, not giving much of a story away, the theme would be so o...

Drama: Miracles (English title) Romaji: Bokura wa Kiseki de Dekite Iru Japanese: 僕らは奇跡でできている Actors: Issey Takahashi, Nana Eikura, Jun Kaname, Reina Triendl, Honoka Yahagi, Kana Kita Director: Keita Kono, Kazunari Hoshino Writer: Atsuko Hashibe Network: Fuji TV What makes Japanese drama different from its neighbors is how diverse its genre. From mystery thrillers, romance live actions, tearjerkers, weird WTF comedy to Job oriented ones. But my favorite is without a doubt the thought provoking genre. This genre is their forte in my opinion, those meaningful dialogues is always fascinating and this drama not an exemption. It has many dialogues that will make you think and will teach you different philosophy in life, which makes it to me the Quintessential Japanese Drama of 2018. Japan is the land of symbols, if you've been watching anime for a long time you probably see this already, they are so good using symbolism as part of the narrative, to me it...

Movie: Over Drive Romaji: Over Drive Japanese: OVER DRIVE Director: Eiichiro Hasumi Actors: Masahiro Higashide, Mackenyu Arata, Aoi Morikawa, Takumi Kitamura Writer: Sayaka Kuwamura This is a brotherly love type of story so don't expect any romance in this movie. Not to give much of the story away, let's just say something happen or someone involved that resulted to their conflict, I would say it's very cliché, but not in a bad way. Naozumi Hiyama (Mackenyu Arata), the younger brother, handles it with anger which is obvious with the way he drives, aggressive, reckless and dauntless. On the other hand Atsuhiro Hiyama (Masahiro Higashide), the older brother and also the chief mechanic, runs away and brushed it off as if it didn't happen, he just dedicate his time and works tirelessly with his team. Some may compare this movie to fast and the furious but it is closer to a Ron Howard movie Rush. The pacing is similar to that movie where the story ...