JMovie review: Rookies: Sotsugyō

Title: Rookies: Sotsugyō Also known as: Rookies - Graduation Release date: 5/30/99 Genre: Sports, drama Cast Sato Ryuta, Ichihara Hayato, Koide Keisuke Plot: The baseball team of Futakotamagawa high school are now seniors. After recruiting some freshmen players, the team once again begins their journey toward Koshien. Of course, their beloved teacher and coach, Kawato Koichi, is back to cheer them on. What is good: The characters seem to have grown up a bit. What is bad: The big payoff is missing. Letter rating: B

I was really hoping for some real closure with this movie. The boys would make it to Koshien and we'd see them kick everyone's butts in the tournament. Alas, we don't get to see that. We see the boys make it to Koshien but then the movie skips to their graduation. We never really find out how they performed.

That doesn't mean it was a bad movie. The two new characters, Akahoshi Shoji and Hamanaka Taiyo, are great additions to the cast. Without them, I think the movie would have felt repetitive since the team pretty much does the same thing over and over. I also enjoyed the actual graduation of the senior players. It was extremely heartwarming. There was more than one tear that came to my eye.

If you watched the drama, then you should watch this. It won't give you a ton of closure, but you will get some. However, if the drama wasn't your cup of tea, then you should be fine skipping this entirely.

Jdorama review: Rookies Special

Title: Rookies Broadcast date: 10/4/08 Genre: Sports, drama Cast: Sato Ryuta, Ichihara Hayato, Koide Keisuke Plot: The baseball team of Futakotamagawa high school has been banned from playing for six months after fighting on the field. Rookie teacher Kawato Koichi arrives with promises to help them achieve their dreams. Together, the group fights to get to the Koshien baseball tournament. What is good: It's a good recap of the story if you haven't watched the series. What is bad: There isn't anything new. Letter rating: D Overall: I didn't bother to read anything about the special before watching it. As a result, I was expecting a side story about one of the minor characters. Nope. This special is nothing but a two-hour rehash of the 11 episode series. I'm guessing this was supposed to get people ready for the movie's release. That way they could quickly introduce the story to new people and remind fans about what had already occurred. Unfortunately, when the special stands on its own, it is very boring. I can really only recommend it if you don't feel like sitting through the whole series. But then you'll miss all the little moments between Kawato and the team. Watch the series and skip the special.

Jdorama review: Rookies

Title: Rookies Broadcast dates: 4/19/08 - 7/26/08 Number of episodes: 11 Genre: Sports, drama Cast: Sato Ryuta, Ichihara Hayato, Koide Keisuke Plot: The baseball team of Futakotamagawa high school has been banned from playing for six months after fighting on the field. Rookie teacher Kawato Koichi arrives with promises to help them achieve their dreams. Together, the group fights to get to the Koshien baseball tournament. What is good: Sato Ryuta is a very good actor. What is bad: Aniya (Ichihara Hayato) is a bit of an annoying character. Letter rating: C+ Overall: I was hesitant to list this as a 'sports' drama because, really, the baseball takes a backseat to the personal dramas of each of the characters. Granted, the main plotline is to get the team to Koshien but it's still not the core of the story. As such, I found myself getting a lot more enjoyment out of the show. I'm not a huge sports fan so usually things like this are lost on me. However, by making the characters the meat of the story, it makes the show more interesting for people like me. I'm actually looking forward to watching both the special and the movie to see where this goes.

JDorama review: Kisarazu Cat's Eye: The Movie

Title: Kisarazu Cat's Eye: The Movie Release date: 11/2003 Genre: Comedy Cast: Okada Junichi, Sakurai Sho, Okada Yoshinori, Sato Ryuta, Tsukamoto Takashi Plot: Bussan (Junichi) is dying. His doctors continually tell him that he has six months left to live. Instead of being depressed, he lives life normally with his friends. What is good: There are some very funny moments. What is bad: The beginning of the movie is rather confusing. Letter rating: C+ Overall: I should start out by confessing that I have not watched the 9-episode drama that goes with the movie. This was just something I plucked off of Netflix without any expectations. As such, I was terribly confused for the first 45 minutes. Perhaps, if I was familiar with the series, I might have understood what was going on. Either way, the movie really picks up in the last half of the film. Once you can piece everything together and see how each event relates to other events, the movie is quite fun! I actually found myself staying up way past my bedtime just to find out how it ends. (I rarely stay up past my bedtime. I like sleep.) Now I need to track down the series so I can see what other adventurous mishaps this gang gets into!

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.

JDorama review: Bambino

Title: Bambino
Broadcast date: 4/18/07 - 6/27/07
Number of episodes: 11
Genre: Cooking drama
Cast: Matsumoto Jun, Fukiishi Kazue, Karina, Sato Ryuta, Uchida Yuki, Kitamura Kazuki, Sasaki Kuranosuke
Plot: Shogo Ban is a college student with dreams of becoming a professional cook. After working at an Italian restaurant in his hometown, he is sent to Tokyo in order to learn more. Once there, he learns that realizing your dream is not always as easy as one might think.
What is good: Kitamura Kazuki steals the spotlight as the head of the dining room at Trattoria Baccanale
What is bad: It would be nice if Ban (Matsumoto Jun) had more than two emotions.
Letter rating: B-

Overall: A lot of MatsuJun's roles revolve around his prettiness. This isn't an exception. The show is filled with close-up shots of him licking his lips or being contemplative. Once in awhile, we're treated to a genuine smile. The role of Ban (aka Bambinp/Bambi) doesn't require a lot of work on his part. He is either really excited or really depressed with little to nothing in between. While the older characters in the show chalk it up to being young, it gets old after awhile.

Yet it's still easy to get swept up in the magic of the restaurant. Yonamine Tsukasa (Kitamura Kazuki) spends his time dazzling the ladies in the dining room while the kitchen workers manage to get through a long busy day without even getting a spot of sauce on their white shirts. Adding to that magical feeling is the lack of time progression. There is only one point in the show where the audience is filled in on how much time has passed. The rest of the time we are left to assume this is a daily grind for the characters.

I found Bambino to be a decent show that is mostly carried by the secondary characters. There is little reason to care about Ban beyond "you're supposed to." It's definitely more fun to watch the interactions between the eccentric dessert chef and everyone else or the three managers of the restaurant. Even though I know the main theme of the show was "work hard to follow your dreams," I felt somewhat unfulfilled at the end. I would have liked to see Ban grow a bit more, not only as a person but also as a professional chef. Hopefully there will be a special showing that Ban can really transform into a master chef.

JDorama review: Ikebukuro West Gate Park

Title: Ikebukuro West Gate Park
Also known as: IWGP
Broadcast date: 4/14/00 - 6/23/00
Number of episodes: 11
Genre: drama
Cast: Nagase Tomoya, Kato Ai, Kubozuka Yosuke, Sato Ryuta, Yamashita Tomohisa, Watanabe Ken
Plot: Majima Makoto (Nagase Tomoya) tries to live a quiet live in Ikebukuro West Gate Park, a place infamous for gangs. One of his best friends from high school, Takashi (Kubozuka Yosuke), is the leader of one gang - the G-Boys. When he tries to solve the murder of a friend, Makoto finds himself solving everyone else's problems. Gang tensions begin running high in IWGP putting Makoto, who refuses to join any gang, directly in the middle of it all.
What is good: Kubozuka Yosuke is very entertaining as the king of the G-Boys.
What is bad: The show loses direction almost immediately.
Letter rating: D+

Overall: I spent the entire first episode trying to figure out what was going on. There were these murders but no one seemed to really care about them. Sure, the cops said they were looking for the killer. It just didn't seem to go anywhere beyond talking about it. From the second episode on, the series goes in an entirely different direction. Makoto, who is supposed to be trying to find who murdered his friend, spends all his time helping just about everyone in Ikebukuro. The yakuza, the prostitute from the sex shop across the street, his own mother....the list goes on. About two-thirds of the way through the series, another gang is introduced - the Black Angels. The end of the series brings us back to solving the original murder and adds in the tension between the G-Boys and the Black Angels. I think that the final episode was the only thing, besides Kubozuka's antics, that saved the show from a lower rating. As a whole, the series is very violent. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who couldn't handle gang violence and the blood that goes along with it.