Review: Death Note (live-action movie)

Summary
Alternative Titles: デスノート, Desu nôto
Genres: Mystery, Police, Supernatural
Release Date: Jun 17, 06
Starring: Fujiwara Tatsuya as Kira, Matsuyama Ken'ichi as L

Yagami Light is a student who does very well in school and has a good family. One day, he finds a black book with the words Death Note on it. The Death Note contains a set of instructions for the user of the book. The first rule Light reads is that if he writes anyone's name on the book, then that person will die. At first, Light doesn't believe in the Death Note, but after he tries it out, the Death Note does what it's suppose to. Light gets very ambitious and decides to use the Death Note to get rid of all the criminals in the world. Light doesn't reveal his true identity and the world creates the nickname "Kira" for Light ("Kira" means killer in Japanese). To combat "Kira", a world-renowned detective named "L" starts to investigate. Like "Kira", no one knows the true identity of "L".

Review
For those who have watched the first few episodes episodes of the anime, then you'll know what will happen through most of the movie. The live-action adaptation of the Death Note manga and anime has the same excellent plot as the manga and anime counterparts, but it lacks in basically everything else, most notably the horrible acting by some of the minor characters. Since I watched the Death Note anime, I thought that the Death Note movie would have been much better if it was more different from the anime.


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Pros

• Most of the actors resemble their anime counterparts.
• Acting by the major characters are good.
• The Story is very interesting.

Cons

• Acting by most of the minor character are horrible.
• There are some parts were very slow-paced and boring.
• The cop named Matsuda is very annoying.
• CGI is terrible compared to what you see in Hollywood movies.

?Perplexing?: Why does the Red Hot Chilling Peppers sing the theme song?

Recommendation
If you watched the Death Note anime, then ignore the movie and keep on watching the anime.
If you didn't watch the anime, then watch it instead on the movie.

Rating: 7.8/10

Stay tuned!! I plan to review the second movie: Death Note: The Last Name

Review: Galcir

Summary
Alternate titles: Gal Circle, Gyurusa
Genre: comedy
Episodes: 11
Broadcast Year: 2006
Starring: Fujiki Naohito as Shinnosuke, Toda Erika as Saki

Galcir is about a cowboy named Shinnosuke from Arizona that travels to Shibuya, Tokyo to find a girl named Imoko. When he arrives in Shibuya, he meets a group of "gals" who are part of a "para para" dancing circle called Angel Hearts. Each episode deals with the cowboy solving various issues that happen to the "gals" while he continues to search for Imoko.

Interesting Facts
- "Para para" is form of dance where everyone does the same dance moves.
- "Para para" dancing groups and "gals" aren't something made-up for Galcir, they actually exist in real life. They are usually found in a district in Tokyo called Shinuya.
- "Gals"is common term used to describe a certain group of younha females in Japan. These "gals" are characterized by their unique tastes in fashion, music, social activity, and being part of a "para-para" group (view interesting documentary on "para para" and "gals")

Review
Galcir is the weirdest and worst Japanese drama I've never watched. It tries to be a comedy but I found no particular part in any episode that was funny. The story is also very weak. Every episode just deals with Shinnosuke helping to solve a problem that is happening among the Angel Heart members while at the same time, Shinnosuke tries to find a girl named Imoko. You don't even get to find out Shinnosuke's motive for finding Imoko until the every last episode. Once you do find out, you'll think that his motive is just plain stupid. I watched the whole series, but I only did it because I downloaded the whole thing so I had to force myself to watch it.


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Pros

• That girl from Nobuta, Toda Erika is in it...

Cons

• ...but her role in Galcir is completely different
• Humour is week
• Most ridiculous ending ever
• The cowboy's motive for finding Imoko
• The Para Para dancing was crap (check out the J-Pop group, Hinoi Team for good para para dancing)
• A lot of character are just over-the-top
  

Recommendation
Unless you absolutely love "para para" and "gals" (which I doubt) then you might like Galcir, otherwise, just stay away from it.

Rating 6.0/10

Here's the first 10 minutes of the first ep.

Featured Artist: Younha

Due to the popularity of this post, I'm currently updating it. Stay tuned for more updates! (^_^)
Updates so far: new image slideshow, new video playlist

Profile
Real Name: Go Youn Ha, 고윤하
Birthdate: Apr. 29, 1988
Birthplace: Seoul, Korea
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Younha is a Korean artist that does a lot more work in Japan than in her home country. This is why she is considered to be somewhat of a competitor to BoA.

Younha's popularity grew with her second single, "Houkiboshi", which was used as an ending song for the anime Bleach. Younha is only the second Korean-born Japanese singer (after BoA) to reach the top 20 on the Oricon album charts (Japan's music charts that rates music releases based on sales).

Currently, Younha is trying to go back to her Korean roots by releasing her first ever Korea album named A Perfect Day for Love Declaration. Younha also recently released two Korean singles: AUDITION and Password 468.

Discography
♥= My Favourites
[2004.09.01] Yubikiri
[2004.10.20] Yubikiri -Japanese version- ♥
[2005.06.01] Houkiboshi ♥
[2005.07.13] Motto Futari de
[2005.09.07] Touch/Yume no Tsuzuki ♥
[2005.10.05] Go! Younha (album)
[2005.12.07] My Lover
[2006.06.07] Te wo Tsunaide
[2006.09.06] Ima ga Daisuki ♥
[2006.12.04] AUDITION (Time2Rock) (Korean)
[2007.01.17] Hakanaku Tsuyoku
[2007.??.??] Password 468 (Korean) ♥
[2007.03.15] A Perfect Day for Love Declaration (Korean Album)

Why Younha is a Featured Artist
Younha was chosen because she is one my favourite Japanese singer. Younha also sings in Korean and I equally enjoy her Korean songs. I consider Younha one of the most unique Japanese artists since she sings many of her songs while playing a piano.

Playlist
Now listen to Younha's only Japanese album, Go Younha!


Video Playlist
Here's a playlist containing all of Younha's Japanese PVs. Enjoy!

Build your own custom video playlist at embedr.com

Review: Basilisk: Kouga Ninpou Chou

Overview
Alternative Title: バジリスク 甲賀忍法帖, Basilisk Kōga Ninpō Chō
Genre: Historical, Shounen
Episodes: 26
Broadcast Year: 2005

Two warring ninja clans, who support a son of Hidetada Tokugawa as the next shogun, send ten representatives to fight for the possession of a scroll. The prize for the winning clan is the annihilation of the other clan and the support of the Tokugawa government for the next thousand years.

Interesting Fact
Basilisk is based on a book called The Kouga Ninja Scrolls by Futaro Yamada. There is also a live-action movie based on the same book called Shinobi.

Review
Basilisk is definitely my anime EVER. Basilisk is like Naruto on steroids. Basilisk has a lot more blood, violence, gore, and fight scenes. The main reason why it's my favourite anime is the characters. Each clan choses ten ninjas to fight for each other scrolls and every ninja has their own unique ninja abilities. One of the main characters, named Kouga Gennosuke has an abilitiy called the Dojutsu Eye technique. If you've ever watched Naruto, it's like Sharingan, but on steroids. I don't want to spoil anything since Gennosuke doesn't use this technique until a few episodes in, so just watch Basilisk to see what I mean.

Pros

1. Each Ninga has their own unique ninja techniques
2. A lot more blood, gore, fighting scenes than other historical animes
3. Best animated fight scenes ever

Cons

1. Some of the minor characters die early on in the series and you'll be begging that you saw more of their unique abilities

Recommendation
If you like action then you must watch Basilisk!!!!!!!!!

Rating: 10/10

Review: Nobuta wo Produce

Summary
Alternative Titles: 野ブタ。をプロデュース
Genre: School
Episodes: 10
Broadcast Year: 2005
Starring: Kamenashi Kazuya, Yamashita Tomohisa, Horikita Maki

Nobuta wo Produce (Nobuta means pig) is about a popular guy named Kiritani Shuji. Shuji is the "go-to" guy at his school but he's getting bored of his popularity. The only person he doesn't get along with is a wacky boy named Kusano Akira(played by Yamashita Tomohisa, yes that guy from the j-pop group, NEWS). Akira is the most annoying person in Shuji's school. Akira acts and talks funny all the time, no matter who's around.

Shuji has a daily ritual of touching a widow tree for good luck. One day, when Shuji goes to touch the widow tree, it's gone. In its place is a freaky girl that tells Shuji that he plained to hang herself. Frightened, Shuji goes away.

The next day, everyone in Shuji's class gets excited when they learn that there will be a new student. When the student introduces herself, Shuji is shocked to find out that the new student is the girl from the previous day.


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Review
Nobuta wo Produce is the very first j-drama that I watched. It was a very good drama since it got me to continue watching more j-dramas.

Nobuta has some of the most memorable scenes. There are definitely many scenes in Nobuta wo Produce that will make you laugh and even cry. However, there were also some scenes in Nobuta that seem awkward and didn’t really fit in. For example, the episode with the ghosts (you’ll see once you watch it). These things don’t happen often in the series and it doesn’t make the whole series a bad experience. I just thought it would make been better if they somehow changed these scenes.

Pros

• Some very funny parts
• Unexpected twists in the plot

Cons

• Awkward episodes and scenes that don't fit
• Ending was kinda bad
  

Recommnedation
Watch Nobuta wo Produce if you enjoy school-type dramas since this is probably the best after Hana Yori Dango.

Rating: 9.0/10

Here's the first 35 minutes of ep.1:

New PV: Ayaka - Jewelry Day

Ayaka recently released a new PV called Jewelry Day. The actual single will be released on July, 4, 2007. Jewelry Day is a ballad and it's very similar to her previous single, Mikazuki. This PV looks pretty high quality and it has a subtle and nice story to it.

Definitley watch this PV if you like ballads-style songs because Ayaka is one the best at j-ballad singers.

1st Impressions: Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto

So far I've watched the first seven episodes of Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto (man that was a mouth-full, let's just call it Bakumatsu for shot).

Summary
Bakumatsu is a historical/action anime that takes place during the Bakumatsu period in Japanese history (hence the title). The Bakumatsu period are the final years (ie. downfall) of the Shogunate and the beginning of the Meji Era. To explain briefly, Bakumatsu is about a mysterious mercenary named Akizuki Yojiro, who is on a mission to destroy a mysterious object. During his mission, he meets a traveling theater group who is out for revenge for the killing of the parents of the group's leader. Yojiro joins them to lend them his skill against their enemies, while a dark conspiracy continues to follow behind him.

The overview is a bit vague but I didn't want to give too much away. Definitely do not use the overview to determine if you'll watch Bakumatsu or not.


Impressions
First of all, the first three or so episodes as a bit confusing. Bakumatsu is a historical anime so it would help if you knew a bit about the Bakumatsu period. Once you watch more episodes, the main plot is revealed and you'll get a better idea about what's going on. However, don't let the confusing plot to steer you away. The animation and action is top-notch. The aspect that stands out the most are that the characters are very interesting. Every episode introduces at least "bad guy" and all of them are so unique that you'll be wishing to see them fight against the the good guys. The music is also very good.

Pros

• Interesting characters
• Top-notch animation and fight scenes
• Classic Edo period-style music

Cons

• A bit confusing at beginning

Recommendation
Watch Bakumatsu if you enjoy historical animes with plenty of action!

Review: Hana Yori Dango

Summary
Alternative Title: 花より男子
Genre: Romance
Episodes: 9
Broadcast Year: 2005
Starring: Inoue Mao as Makino Tsukushi, Matsumoto Jun as Doumyouji Tsukasa

Hana Yori Dango (HYD for short) is about a teenage girl named Tsukushi. Tsukushi is a teenage girl from a poor family, but her parents decide to send her to a school called Eitoku Gakuen. Only students from wealthy families are able to attend this prestigious school. Tsukushi, being the only poor student in Eitoku, is always bullied by her schoolmates. Things become worse when she get in trouble with “F4”.

“F4” is the name given to the 4 richest guys in Eitoku who basically control Eitoku because of their status. "F4" bullies Tsukushi like they have done to other students but she tries her best to stand up to them. However, one of the “F4” members seems to have regret and starts liking her.

Music
Intro: WISH - Arashi
Ending: Planetarium by Otsuka Ai

Review
Hana Yori Dango is probably one of the most addictive j-dramas I’ve watched. The story is very simple yet very interesting. HYD is a typical love story between a poor female and a snobby rich male. You may have watched other dramas with a similar story but you've probably haven't watched one that matches the high quality of acting.

The main season why HYD is so addictive is because of the characters and the endings of every episode. Let me explain how "the endings of every episode" makes HYD addictive. Some people may or may not like this. At the end of every episode (even to some extent the last episode) of HYD is a fingernail-bitting ending or a "cliff-hanger". Every episode ends with a rise in action and then the episode suddenly ends and you'll be begging to see the next episode. Most j-dramas do this, but from my experience, HYD probably does it the most. Some hate this but I enjoy this "technique" since it keeps the action fresh.

The two main actors, Inoue Mao and Matsumoto Jun each do a great job of acting. Inoue Mao (who plays Tsukushi) is THE best female J-drama actress I've seen so far. However the three minor members of F4, do an every sub par job of acting.


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Pros

• Interesting characters, character development
• Great acting by the two main characters
• Keeps action fresh throughout

Cons

• Poor acting for some minor characters

Recommendation: Watch HYD if you like romance dramas.

Rating: 9.5/10

New PV: Hitomi Shimatani - Neva Eva

Hitomi Shimatani's new PV for her new single is released! Neva Eva her 25th single. The PV starts off with Shimatani in some office and the second half takes place at some party. "Neva Eva" is a bit low budget compared to her other PVs but at the same time "Neva Eva" is very unique. The whole song has a very jazzy feel to it. If you like jazz, Hitomi Shimatani, or both, you should watch Neva Eva.

Here are the CD covers.

What do you want to know more about?

About The Keizou Journal
Learn some general stuff about my blog.

About my blog posts
Learn more about each type of blog post.

About me
Learn more about the blogger behind The Keizou Journal.

About The Keizou Journal

The Keizou Journal is a blog about Japanese entertainment, including Japanese dramas, Japanese movies, and Japanese music. My blog contains mostly J-drama and J-movie reviews, but I also blog about J-music.

The Keizou Journal was started in 2007 shortly after I got into watching J-dramas. During my early days of watching J-dramas, I noticed a lack of J-drama review sites. Every time I wanted to start a new J-Drama series, I had a hard time choosing. That's when I decided to start The Keizou Journal. I wanted to provide everyone with short spoiler-free reviews.

So far, The Keizou Journal has been a success and other ways it hasn't. I hoped to make some cash by blogging, but so far my earnings are $0. However, I still continue to blog as a hobby.

I'm always looking to improve my blog in anyway possible. If you have any suggestions, comments, or questions, contact me.

Facts
Started: June 18, 07
Number of bloggers: 1

About my blog posts

Unlike most other blogs, I like to fit each post into a category. The following explains each category:


Reviews
Most of my blog posts are J-drama and J-movie reviews. I only review dramas or movies that I've completed. I also review anime movies, but only ones that aren't based on an anime series.

Reviews take me a lot of time to prepare and post. All screenshot are taken by me and sometimes I have to extract a scene for the video preview section of the review.

See my Review Guideline for more info about my reviews.


TopChart
For my TopChart posts, I find a bunch of J-music PVs (music videos) that have something in common (like weird PVs or even PVs that have cherry blossoms in it...anything goes). I then rank them based on criteria that I mention in the post.


Featured Artist/Group
I choose one of my favourite J-music artist or group and write a blog post. The purpose of the "Featured Artist/Group" posts is to introduce people to new Japanese artists that they don't know. All posts feature a short bio of the artist, a music playlist and pictures of the artist. Some of the posts also contain a video playlist.


Got an idea for a new blog post category? contact me or post a comment below

About me

I'm a male, 19 year old student from Canada.

A couple of random facts about me:

- Although I blog about Japanese entertainment, I also enjoy watching Chinese and Hollywood movies

- I'm also a huge fan of Japanese anime

- My interests include playing piano, cycling and (of course) blogging

- One of my favourite Hollywood movies are Transformers and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

- My favourite asian movies include Battle Royale (Japanese), Fearless (Chinese)

- I'm a huge fan of anything historical, I love playing WWII video games, I enjoying reading books about samurai and I love watching historical movies

- I listen to pretty much all kinds of J-music, as long as it sounds good

Contact

You can contact me at

You can contact me if you want to...

• exchange links
• ask questions
• provide feedback

Review Guideline

Here is an explanation of each section of my new review format (effective June 20, 2009). Like always, I try my hardest to make all reviews completely spoiler-free including the summary, screenshots and video. If there happens to be a spoiler, it will be clearly indicated.

1. Summary

- Includes basic info about the drama/movie and a short summary

2. Pros

- Everything I thought was good about the drama/movie is obviously placed here
- Each opinion has it’s own section (for example: if I thought the acting was good then I’ll have a heading named “Acting”)
- The order of the opinions indicates how good which factor was (for example: if I thought acting AND the animation was good, BUT I thought acting was better than the animation, then I would write about acting first then the animation)

3. Screenshot slideshow

- All screenshots are taken and selected by me

3. Cons

- Everything I thought was bad about the drama/movie is placed here
- Each opinion has it’s own section
- The order of the opinions indicates how bad which factor was (for example: if I thought the acting AND the animation was bad, BUT I thought acting was worse than the animation, then I would write about acting first then the animation)

4. Recommendation

- My recommendation about who should or shouldn’t watch the drama/movie

5. Rating

- My rating out of ten

6. Video Preview

- Now included in all reviews!



Optional sections:

?Perplexing?

- I put anything that I though wasn’t good or bad about the drama/movie, just plain weird

Interesting Fact

- I put this section if there’s something interesting about the drama/movie

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