JDorama review: Gokusen 3

Title: Gokusen 3 Broadcast date: 4/19/08 - 6/08 Number of episodes: 11 Genre: comedy Cast: Nakama Yukie, Namase Katsuhisa, Takaki Yuya, Miura Haruma, Ishiguro Hideo, Nakama Junta, Kiriyama Akito, Waki Tomohiro Plot: Once again, Yankumi (Nakama Yukie) is called upon to bring the rowdy boys of class 3D of another high school to heel. What is good: Besides Nakama Yukie, the students seem to be better actors this time around. What is bad: The ending is a bit abrupt. Letter rating: C+ Overall: While the plot is still basically the same, there are a few changes. For one, the writers have added a sort-of overall villain to the fold. He's not in every episode but he does appear more than once. Also, despite the fact that the cast is still littered with boy band members, they aren't particularly bad actors. Nakama Yukie shines, as always, and it's really nice to see the Kuma character from the first series move forward in life instead of being stagnant. This season was much better than season 2.

Game review: Enchanted Fairy Friends: Secret of the Fairy Queen

Quite often, my daughter likes to play hidden object games with me. I usually let her pick which game we're playing. Her choice this time around was Enchanted Fairy Friends: Secret of the Fairy Queen. In the game, you are trying to find the name of the Fairy Queen. Each of the Queen's Rose Court fairies has a hint. Put these hints together to guess her name. This game was actually well suited for my child. It not only had the hidden object part but there were also find-the-differences and puzzle parts as well. None of them were particularly difficult. (Though the puzzle part was based on matching shapes so younger children may need help with it.) The graphics were bright and colorful and each level was themed to a specific fairy's flower. Obviously, this was no geared toward boys but I think any fairy-loving girl would enjoy the game.

TV review: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (season 2)

On Monday night, the second season of The Sarah Connor Chronicles began. While the first season started off a little rocky, it did get better. This season, they've added a new bad girl in the form of Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson. Once again, I thought the premiere episode was a little much. I don't want to give out any spoilers but there was a plot point that I think should have been lengthened to a few episodes yet it was resolved by the end of the first. Yes, this particular point is something they will need to address in later episodes but it just seemed to be fixed too fast.

Meanwhile, Shirley Manson, in her acting debut, was gorgeous in every way possible. No one tried to force her to cover up her accent and she just dripped with sexy evilness. I can't wait to see what happens with her character this season. All I can say is that I hope they don't do anything lame.

Game review: The Race

The Race is another hidden object game that tries too hard. The premise is that you are one in five pairs of competitors racing around the world. However, the problem with the game does not lie in the premise. It's the execution. In order to make the game "difficult," they cram each location full of a variety of objects. I really wish game designers would learn that this does not make a game difficult, it makes it annoying. Since there are so many items in the picture, it is impossible to see everything. So the item you are looking for might only be seen as a bicycle handlebar or a smudge on a window. There are many ways to make a hidden object game fun and challenging. This was not one of them.

Game review: Dream Day Wedding: Married in Manhattan

First, there was Dream Day Wedding. Then there was Dream Day Honeymoon. After that, there was Dream Day: First Home. Now there is Dream Day Wedding: Married in Manhattan. The Dream Day series is probably my favorite hidden object series available. In this one, we are pretty much back to the basics. You help a couple plan their wedding as you create the story of how they met. It's difficult enough to keep you interested yet easy enough that you don't get aggravated. Since each version of the game is slightly different you don't get bored playing the same exact thing over and over again. I get giddy every time I see a new Dream Day game. I hope that you feel the same way.

TV review: True Blood

It seems that vampire are the new "in" thing for entertainment. HBO debuted their new vampire series, True Blood, Sunday night. It stars Anna Paquin as Sookie, a waitress in a backwater Louisiana town. The plot revolves around vampire wanting to be accepted in mainstream society. A synthetic blood, called Tru Blood, that satisfies vampires' dietary needs has been formulated so there is no longer a reason for them to feed on humans. Now they just want to be like everyone else. However, not everybody is willing to blindly accept bloodsuckers.

Sookie spends her nights waitressing at Merlotte's, a local watering hole. Unfortunately, she has the ability to hear other people's thoughts. Of course, her secret makes everyone think she is strange. One night, Bill, a vampire played by Stephen Moyer, stops into the diner. Sookie is immediately taken by the stranger since she has never seen a vampire before. Her best friend Tara, played by Rutina Wesley, and her boss Sam, played by Sam Trammel, both warn her to stay away from Bill but Sookie can't. After all, Bill is the only one that Sookie can't hear in her mind. At the same time, Bill is intrigued by the mortal girl.

I fully expected a crappy vampire show. It's not often that someone pulls off a really good vampire story. HBO found some amazing actors and writers. We're only one episode in and I'm already smitten.

Game review: Yummy Drink Factory

In Yummy Drink Factory, you have been spirited away by a witch to a fairy tale land. You need to serve beverages to customers in five different villages. Each village brings you closer to a magical map that will help you get home. When I first downloaded the game, I thought it was going to be a very typical time management drink game. However, there is a little more to it. Instead of just serving pre-made drinks, you need to combine different ingredients to make special drinks for the customers. For example, you might need to make an Iced Mocha with cocoa, mocha flavoring and ice. You get more recipes as you go along, which makes it interesting. I had quite a bit of fun playing this one. It was a really nice change of pace.

Game review: 10 Days Under The Sea

10 Days Under The Sea is an underwater hidden object game. Despite having a fairly difficult hidden object side, there was a more interesting side that involved taking pictures of fish. Unfortunately, that part is only interesting for a few minutes. Then it seems like it's the same fish swimming past. As for the hidden object side, it was semi-difficult because some of the objects are set into the background. This means that they aren't seen as easily as the objects in the forefront. The background objects have a bluish tinge to them, making them hard to see. Honestly, there are much better hidden object games I'd rather play.

JDorama review: Ikebukuro West Gate Park Special

Title: Ikebukuro West Gate Park Special Also known as: IWGP Sp Broadcast date: ?? Number of episodes: 1 Genre: drama Cast: Nagase Tomoya, Sato Ryuta Plot: Taking place three years after the series, Makoto and his mother are currently homeless. She is staying with various friends (like King's father's sauna) while Makoto sleeps in their now-traveling fruit stand truck. One day, a homeless man wakes Makoto to tell him about a rash of homeless beatings. Ken, the leader of the homeless, wants Makoto to find the culprit. Meanwhile, Makoto is feeling restless in Bukuro. What is good: The last half hour or so is pretty good. What is bad: Boring! Letter rating: F Overall: While I didn't particularly like the series, it was at least interesting on some point. The special is painstakingly boring. There's two full-length songs sung in concert form for no real reason. Yes, both of the musical acts are important to either the storyline or a character revelation but the songs weren't really necessary. Kubozuka Yosuke, who played King in the original, is absent for a majority of the show. In his absence, both of the major gangs from the series have set up ramen shops. There is a sub-plot about which gang makes the best ramen. Now I know why I put off watching this for so long.

Game reiew: Farm Frenzy 2

Do you remember how much I loved Farm Frenzy? Well, this is a company that knows how to make an awesome sequel to an awesome game. They didn't try to make the gameplay different; they didn't try to jazz up the graphics. All they did was change a few things to make it a little more difficult. In the original game, you were raising geese and sheep in order to make money. This time, you have chickens, pigs, cows and ostriches. Yes, I said ostriches. I worked my butt off to be able to buy some ostriches because their feathers bring in a lot of money! Not only that, but you can make hats and dresses out of them as well. I love this series and I hope everyone else has as much fun playing it as I did.