Love makes me strong

Just a scene from Buzzer Beat (O __–)

Love does make me strong…it gives you strength to overcome life’s obstacles.

Osashiburi desu…(it’s been a long time)

I have been away for quite long time, haven’t I? Some asked if I have stopped watching dorama all this time. Well the answer is yes and no. After the last post, I went back to my home country for one month. Then when came back here, I was all the time busy with work and working at my social life. Pfff…to be honest, I can be very introvert sometimes :~! and at some points I prefer having myself lead a life like a hikkikomori. Well if you are not familiar with hikkikomori, try googling it. Any other suggestion? I would suggest you to watch an anime called NHK ni youkoso that tells a story of a hikkikomori.

Ok..enough of my excuses though. So during month March until end of May, I have  actually finished some and am currently watching some J-dee’s.  Pls find them below 🙂

Kurosagi-a black swlinder

This is a dorama from year 2006. Actually I had downloaded one episode before I went back to Indonesia but then got no time to watch it until last month.  This is a story of  a man named Kurosaki whose father was swindled for a big sum of money and ended up killing his own family. Kurosaki apparently managed to save himself from that incident but since then his life is always haunted by the death scene of his family. Living with goal in mind to avange his family and believing the fact that police can do nothing to help people who got swindled, he works as a black swlinder (kurosagi–kuro: black, sagi: swlinder), a kind of swlinder who doest not cheat commoners but instead he swindles other swindles and gives the money back to the victims.

Obviously Kurosaki’s actions cause different reactions from public. Some consider what he does is a heroic deeds while other like police officers and Tsurara-a law major student who rents an appartment from Kurosaki, think swindling (whatever the form is) is still a criminal action that can’t be tolerated. Such a simple story line but it’s interesting enough to see various methods used by a swindler (and of course not forgetting to see Yama-P’s act in many kinds of roles :D).

Cast: Yamashita Tomohisa, Horita Maki, and Yamazaki Tsutomu

Dragon Zakura

I was looking at Jdorama.com top 50 dramas voted web-page when came across a title that I have never seen before. Yep another drama from year 2005 which made according to a famous manga with same title. Shortly, this dorama tells a story of Sakuragi Kenji a lawyer and ex-gangster..ups I mean ex-racer 🙂 who swears to admit 5 students from Ryuuzan high school to Todai in the coming year. Is there anything special from this main storyline??

Let me continue. Ryuuzan high school is known in the neighborhood as a low level high school that has an average score of 36 in the national test. Based on a survey, every year only 3 of the students are willing to go to university and the other just drop-out or directly working after graduating. On the other hand, for those who don’t know “Todai” uni, Todai is an abbreviation of Tokyo Daigaku a.k.a. Tokyo University, the most prestigious university in Japan, and it often ranks as the highest in Asia (wikipedia). Interesting?

I personally think, more than the story itself, the dorama talks a lot about the techniques of doing Todai’s entrance exam. Sakuragi is confidence that anyone can enter Todai. Even stupid students but if they know study techniques, they can.

(A bit of my confession: this post has been in my draft folder for about a month…)

New year 2009

So late but as always many say better late than never. So please let me say my late new year greeting before the month January is over.

Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu..kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu..

Selamat tahun baru

Gelukkig nieuw jaar en alle beste wensen

Happy new year 2009! New year new hope.. :))

Mika Nakashima

Still in Ryuusei no Kizuna’s mode…

Nakashima Mika is the singer of the dorama’s Ending song, Orion. Surprisingly she also appears playing in some episodes of the series as Koichi’s weird customer and fan who always calls Koichi with nickname “AXEL”…At the first time I did not recognize her with long hair as Mika Nakashima in my mind always reminds me of NANA. Yes, she was Osaki Nana in NANA live action movies season one and two, the movies that was made according to a manga with same title.  The image of Nana is so attached to her since the life story of Osaki Nana is somehow similar to Mika’s background that she did not go to school and college, instead she went pursuing her music career.

I start recognizing her at Ryuusei no Kizuna when I see her singing the ending song while sitting at Koichi’s restaurant stairs in episode 6. I do not really know if her role in the dorama does exist in the original novel. Even so, in every scene where she appears, I always feel that  it gives more flavors to the story as a whole.

Hereby is the Japanese lyric of ORION in latin 🙂

Naita no wa boku datta
(it was me who cried)
Yowasa wo misenai koto ga sou tsuyoi wake jyanai tte
(not showing your weakness doesn’t mean that you’re strong)
Kimi ga itteita kara dayo, I believe
(because you told me, I believe)

Iki ga tsumetakunaru kaerimichi ni tada hoshi ga nobiteru
(my breath becomes cold and my foot stretches in front of me back home)
Tashikameta bakari no awai nukumori sae mo wasuresou
(I might even forget the warmness that I felt just now)
Hito wo suki ni nareru koto ni hajimete kizuita, ima wa
(I just realized how it feels to love someone)

Naita no wa boku datta
(it was me who cried)
Tsunagatta, fuyu no seiza, kono sora ni kietekanai you ni
(The beautiful winter concellations, hope they don’t disappear from the skies)
Mitsumeteita(n) dayo, I believe
(I looked at it, I believe)

Kajikanda te no hira hanarenu you ni itsu made mo sawareteitai
(I want to protect this hand so that it will never seperate)
Tsutaetai kotoba mo furikaesu noni mada koe ni naranai
(What I want to say doesn’t come out as words)
Tawainai koto de waratte, yasashiku tsutsumu yo, kimi wo
(Laughing at things, surrounding you softly)

Nagareboshi, kazoeteta
(Counting the number of shooting stars)
Kimi to deaeta kiseki ga ima boku ni ikiteiru imi wo
(Because of the miracle that I met you, I’m here right now)
oshiete kureta kara, I believe
(Because you taught me, I believe)

Naita no wa boku datta
(it was me who cried)
Yowasa wo misenai koto ga sou tsuyoi wake jyanai tte
(Not showing your weakness doesn’t mean that you’re strong)
Kimi ga itteita kara dayo, I believe
(Because you told me, I believe)

Itteita kara dayo, I believe
(Because you said so, I believe)

Those old J-doramas broadcast in Indonesia

I don’t really remember if I’ve ever mentioned this…I have been watching dorama since I was only a student at Junior High. Before attached to dorama, I was a big fan of Chinese kung-fu series including Condor Heroes, the return of condor heroes, To Liong To.., twin heroes, and so on

My very first dorama was a long series called “OSHIN.” To be honest, I do not even remember the story except that it tells a life story of…OSHIN (who else?) from a little girl called Oshin, teenager Oshin, until Oshin obasama (read: grandma Oshin) :). Anyway, I was only six at that time.

The first dorama that I can still remember most of its story is Tokyo Love Story (Tokyo Rabu Sutori). As I remember that was broadcast right after the first airing of INDOSIAR channel on Indonesian television. When? don’t ask me about when was it because I am very bad with remembering date and time…that’s why my history’s grades could not go over 7. Briefly, the story is about four adults, two guys (Kenji and Mikami) and two ladies (Rika and Satomi) who are involved in polygon love story.

After the series finished airing, the channel followed it up by having “Just the way we are” aired. I remember it was the title of the dorama. Sounds like a famous song with similar title but it was really a dorama and not a song. Japanese title of it? never know it at all until I accidentally listened to the mp3 of the theme song at my friend’s home…..The song is called Kimi ga Irudakede from Kome Kome Club.

A triangle love story between two best (girl) friends who coincidentally fall in love with the same man. In the end, one of the girls chooses to give up her feeling and let the man marry her only bestfriend. Sadly, because of weak body, her bestfriend passes away while giving birth to her only daughter. Since then the girl promises to take care the daughter as if she is hers. Since

Then, again on the same channel, “Anything for you” was aired. The story? It is the Japanese style of Demi-Moore Ghost movie :p….very romantic and memorable just like the original movie only in a longer version.

And followed by “Ordinary People” which the theme song itself is one of the best all the times Japanese pop song ever…If you never listen to it before, you can try googling or youtubing for “True Love” by Fumiya Fuji.

Then…I came acrross various dorama with Indonesian subbed voice (that I won’t mention them here) until I met…eh…until I watch Kimura Takuya for the first time in Long Vacation. There he was, acting as Sena a 24 years old piano student who inevitable has to live with a woman in her thirty’s who appears to be the bride who has been left behind at the altar by his ex-roomate.Here, I also watched Hirosue Ryoko and Takenouchi Yutaka for the first time acting before their next appearance in Beach Boys.

Ok..I have to end this post here….because it is impossible to me to outline all other doramas that I had watched since then.

Adios..and until next time 🙂 🙂

Hiyashi Chuka

While being bored of waiting, I accidentally watched Boku dake no Madonna (English title: You’re my only Madonna/and I love her…) and finished it in three days (I took my time :). It is a dorama from Summer 2005, that was very popular at that time because Takizawa Hideaki and Hasegawa Kyoko played as a couple there. Even in Jdorama.com, it is still in the top 50 of the most voted dorama ever. One of my best friends said that Hasegawa Kyoko as Surumi was the most beautiful Japanese girl that he has ever seen in a dorama. Without realizing, she was playing as Kimura Takuya’s younger sister, Sanae, in Karei Naru Ichizoku. She is older than Hideaki but still none can deny that they are very compatible as a couple.

As summer is coming again in the Netherlands (even until now the temperature is still around 15 to 20 degree celcius), I suddenly recall this cuisine that was repeatedly eaten during the airing of the dorama (even most of the times, it was the ready-eat one from supermarket).

What is hiyashi chuka? If you are googling at it, it will give you a definition as Japanese cold noodle or Japanese cold salad, which is consumed during summer time.

Summer in Japan is apparently very hot every year. Not like in Netherlands, even we say now is summer time, the temperature can change dramatically. In one time you can have a sunny warm beautiful day and just in another couple of hours, it becomes a windy cloudy day. Yeah…welcome to Holland!!

Anyway, because it is very hot during summer, that’s why hiyashi chuka is consumed when it is cold for body-chilling purposes. The noodle is served together with various fresh toppings such as long-tiny-sliced scrambled eggs, thin sliced ham, cucumber, carrot, bean sprouts, (Japanese) red ginger, and so on.

Interested? You can try checking the following link from wikia not wikipedia :p Hiyashi Chuka’s recipe
.

Lately

I am surprised by myself for being able to finish two doramas in a row while I was having pile of works at the office. The two doramas themselves are actually not brand new doramas but I just got a chance to watch them lately.

One dorama is called in English One liter tears (Ichi Ritoru no Namida). The dorama is based on true story which is inspired by Kitou Aya’s diary, a girl who suffered an incurable brain disease called Spinocerebellar Degeneration or Spinocerebellar Ataxia. It is really a sad and dramatic story. So please prepare your tissues while watching it. I like the soundtrack songs so much, the ED and the national song (I think the title is 9 march) that was sung by Aya’s in her first year at high school.

Aside from the story, manager Takano (Fujiki Naohito) is playing here as Aya’s doctor…..kakkoi ja!!

The second dorama is Proposal Daisakusen where Yama Pi (nick name of Yamashita Tomohisa) is the main role as Iwase Ken(zou). From the storyline itself, it is actually quite ordinary. It is about a guy who is attending his childhood girl-friend’s wedding and at the same while looking at the fact that he is not the groom he starts regretting his past. Therefore, he makes a wish to turn back time and redo things that he is regretting in order to win the girl of his dream once more. Thanks to a fairy who lives in the church where the wedding ceremony is being held, the guy’s wish is granted and he can travel back to time.

The things that make this dorama special is the flash back plot (when Ken goes back to the past), how the story is being told and the messages behind each episode. Surprisingly, some of the dialogs are taken from bible’s verses. If you have a holy bible with you, try reading Matthew 7 verse 7.

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

People who are like me would expect to have a serious romantic drama as it is about the word “love and regret” but YamaP is not cast for that kind of role. “Halelujah chance…NOOO” scene is a little bit eccentric but I get used to it though. Here Fujiki Naohito is also cast as the groom in the wedding, but to be honest I do not like his role that is too kind, plain, and somewhat boring. Anyway, I have fallen for this dorama, both the story and the Ending soundtrack (Kuwata Keisuke – Ashita Hareru kana).

Renai Shashin-Otsuka Ai

Renai Shashin literally means “Picture of Love.” It is a beautiful mellow song performed by Otsuka Ai. She is no other than Japanese singer who sings Planetarium the ED soundtrack of Hana Yori Dango Live Action. It is one of my favourite J-songs that I can play for many times in one day.

I have known the song long before I watched the movie who has similar title as the song’s refrain, “tada kimi wo aishiteru.” Why? simple reason, no one subbed the movie yet at that time (LOL). Surprisingly comparing to the movie itself, I prefer watching the video clip and Movie promo (which previewed with this song as the background sound), which I think they are more attractive.

The story of Tada Kimi wo Aishiteru (English title: Heavenly Forest) is actually pretty amusing and yet romantic. However, when it is brought into a movie, the result is rather dissapointing. How should I put this, good but not as hilarious as the previous movie which the story is also written by same writter, Takuji Ichikawa. If you guess it is Ima ai ni Yukimasu (English title: Be With You) then you have guessed it right. Should I say you better watch Kimi wo first before Ima? Well it is up to you.

Anyway, here is the romanji lyric and translation that I copy paste from another website

Source:www.channel-ai.com

Romaji:
aoao to shita yozora no shita de
anata ga miteta ushiro koi sugata

tokiori miseru mujaki na negao
atashi ga miteta koishii sugata

donna hitotoki mo subete
wasure nai you ni
muchuu de shattaa kiru atashi no kokoro wa
setsunai shiawase daata

tada kimi wo aishiteru
tada kimi wo aishiteru
tada kimi wo aishiteru
tada sore dake de yokatta noni

ame furu toki no kawashi ta kisu wa
tsunaga re te yuku futari no sugata

isshou ni mou nai kono kimochi
umaku ie nai kedo
anata ni deatte atashi no mainichi wa
kirakira to kagayai ta yo

tada kimi wo aishiteru
tada kimi wo aishiteru
tada kimi wo aishiteru
anata ga kure ta shiawase yo

tada kimi wo aishiteru
tada kimi wo aishiteru
tada kimi wo aishiteru
tada sore dake de yokatta no ni

chiisana heya ni kazara re te iru
futari no egao renai shashin

Translation:
Under the green night sky
You saw the back of love

Sometimes you show your innocent sleeping face
And I saw your dear appearance

No matter what
I can’t forget everything
In dreams, the shutter of my heart turns off
In painful bliss

However, I still love you
However, I still love you
However, I still love you
However I’m glad even if that’s all it is

The kiss we exchanged when it was raining
Ties the both of us together

This feeling will not last my entire life
I can’t explain it well, but
After meeting with you, every day of my life
Has shone brightly

However, I still love you
However, I still love you
However, I still love you
You gave me happiness

However, I still love you
However, I still love you
However, I still love you
However I’m glad even if that’s all it is

Decorating this tiny room
Are 2 smiling faces—a photo of love

 

Back from Vacation

Been away for quite a long time and just back from my vacation in Indonesia. Therefore I have not watched any drama since then. When I was in Indonesia, my sister told me that Hana Yori Dango 1st season has just been started. The television broadcasts it every Sunday. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be a hit since none of my friends said they watch it neither does my sister. Even my mom, my sis, and my friend, they prefer watching that Korean Drama, Jang Geum (forgive me if I spell it wrong) or in English the drama is called, Jewel in the Palace. It is a drama about a brilliant palace maid named Jang Geum who is able to picture tastes of food. The story in general is about palace’s maids and their conflicts and politics to be number one maid in the palace, especially in case of cooking the emperor’s food.

I am out of J-Dee topic, but here are some fun facts about Jang Geum:

• You will see more maids than those princes and princesses.
• Obviously, as what you can expect, the maids are clothed in uniform, only the dress colors and the hair design that distinguish their positions.
• For some reasons, I can conclude that palace maid’s role is as important as the role of emperor’s right hand and the food is as essential as those war’s equipments.
• In Indonesia, the drama had been broadcasted once, this is the second one. A proof that people, especially housewives and teenage girls love it.
• As the characters always mention the ingredients of the cuisines, which most of them use garlic as the main spice, it has caused dramatic increase in garlic’s price and sales at local markets in Indonesia.

What a drama…I never expect that Korean Drama would be a big trend like this. Maybe someday, local producer will make Indonesian version of Jang Geum as they have done with other Korean dramas.

J-dee

I like watching Asian dramas, especially Japanese ones. Japanese drama is mostly known as J-dorama or just dorama (ドラマ the katakana is read: dorama). As you can notice from the pronounciation, dorama is nothing else than the word “drama” in Japanese.

The idea of this blog is simple, it is created to review those J-doramas that I know. Some may sound quite new while the other dorama may be very nostalgic (back to my ’90s). Hopefully, the review would be also useful for those of you who are dorama’s lovers.

Lea