JDorama review: Boss 2

Title: Boss season 2 Broadcast dates: 4/14/11 - 6/30/11 Number of episodes: 11 Genre: Detective Cast: Amami Yuki, Takenouchi Yutaka, Tamayama Tetsuji, Toda Erika, Mizobata Junpei, Kendo Kobayashi, Nukumizu Youichi, Hasegawa Kyoko, Narumi Riko Plot: Two years have passed. Nodate (Takenouchi) has received a promotion, thanks to the work of Osawa (Amami) and her team. Now it is time to bring the team back together. What is good: Amami Yuki is an amazing actress. What is bad: Kimoto (Toda) is missing from most of the series. Letter rating: A

I absolutely loved the first season of Boss so I was looking forward to the second season. For the most part, it didn't let me down. The only part I didn't like was Kimoto's "banishment." While they tried to replace her with two characters, it just wasn't the same. Granted, I would love to see Kurohara Rika become Kimoto's protege of sorts. That would be a pretty awesome spin-off.

My favorite part of the series is that it is a detective series but it keeps humor in their lives as well. It's not all stuffy or anything. I am really looking forward to news of a third season.

JDorama review: Boss

Title: Boss Broadcast dates: 4/16/09 - 6/25/09 Number of episodes: 11 Genre: Detective Cast: Amami Yuki, Takenouchi Yutaka, Tamayama Tetsuji, Toda Erika, Mizobata Junpei, Kendo Kobayashi, Nukumizu Youichi Plot: Five years ago, Osawa Eriko (Amami) was sent to America as a demotion. Now she has returned to lead a new team of misfit detectives. What is good: It never turns into "Bad Guy Of The Week." What is bad: It ended! (But there's a second season coming!) Letter rating: A

I heard amazing things about this show. Knowing how hardcore fans can get rabid about "awesome" shows, I can reluctant to watch it myself. I'm sorry I waited so long!

The show mostly revolves around Osawa. It flips a little between her personal life and her extraordinary detective skills. I'm happy that they didn't delve too far into either arena. The show would have sucked if it was based on "You can't get a husband." On the other hand, I think it would have been too dry if it focused solely on the detective work. It was a great balance between the two.

I'm not going to go into each of her subordinates individually because that would take way too long. I enjoyed seeing the transformation of Kimoto Mami (Toda) from a stand-offish loner into an actual part of a team. Since there is a second season on the way, I hope to find out a little more about Iwai (Kendo) and Yamamura (Nukumizu). They were great secondary characters but they seemed to get tossed out to make room for everyone else. I'd like to see them make their own transformations.

This is most definitely a must see. Don't wait!

Jmovie review: Nana 2

Title: Nana 2 Release date: 12/9/06 Genre: Romance, Slice of Life Cast: Nakashima Mika, Ichikawa Yui, Kyo Nobuo, Tamayama Tetsuji, Narimiya Hiroki, Hongo Kanata, Maruyama Tomomi Plot: Komatsu Nana/Hachiko (Ichikawa Yui) finds herself trapped in a love triangle with Trapnest's Takumi (Tamayama Tetsuji) and Black Stones' Nobu (Narimiya Hiroki). When she finds out she is pregnant, it devastates her best friend and roommate, Osaki Nana (Nakashima Mika). Can any of them find happiness in their lives after this? What is good: Nakashima Mika is still the perfect choice to play Osaki Nana. What is bad: The actors for Hachi, Shin and Ren were all replaced. Letter rating: B- Overall: I was really looking forward to seeing how the movie would handle a lot of the issues in this part of the storyline. The script seemed to be very good but the change in casting was a big distraction. In my opinion, Miyazaki Aoi was perfect as Hachi. Ichikawa Yui wasn't able to bring the same naviete and innocence to the character. I understand that Miyazaki Aoi didn't want to tarnish her image with the delicate issues dealt with in the second movie. However, she should have read through the manga to see what the future of her character was before accepting the role in the first movie. Considering how popular the NANA franchise is, I don't understand why she would have thought that the story would have stopped with the first movie. I also understand that the change in Shin's actor was due to Matsuyama Ken'ichi being too old for the role. While this is more understandable, since Shin has a larger role in this movie, it was difficult to accept the new actor as Shin.

While this wasn't a terrible movie by any means, it wasn't nearly as good as the first one. You're left expecting more from the actors, more from the two bands and more from the characters. If you watched the first movie, you'll probably want to watch the second movie to finish the experience. Just don't expect a whole lot from it.