Taiyou no Kisetsu (Season of the Sun)

If you’ve seen Takizawa Hideaki dramas you know that he is at his best when he plays characters that are conflicted in obscure and sometimes dark situations (Majo no Jouken, Boku dake no Madonna, Strawberry on the Shortcake). Tackey is no different here.

‘Season of the Sun’ showcases Tatsuya’s (Tackey) determination to manipulate and destroy the lives of the rich and privileged. He purposely befriends the young and naive socialites, and eventually gains the utmost trust of the richest kid on the block, Kouhei. Believing that Tatsuya is his only true friend, the rich kid is fooled time and again by his new best friend; blinded even as Tatsuya delves into a relationship with his fiancée.

—I don’t know about you, but so far the drama seems to be giving off “The Talented Mr. Ripley” vibes.

Anyway, nothing seems to be able to stop Tatsuya from his life of vengeance until his chance encounter with an aspiring composer and pianist. Ah, the light in this otherwise dark tale. However, unbeknownst to Tatsuya, she too is a rich girl.

Young, crippled, and overprotected, the girl is drawn by the dark and broody Tatsuya.

—Do you see where this is going? Know the ending already? You’re wrong then. The ending does surprise you. However, I was still disappointed because this drama seriously had a lot of potential to be great! I still say watch it for Tackey who does a great job as always.

Gokusen 1

Story:
Yet another tale of a Yakuza/ gang member going to school in secret… You’d think that school was the last place drop-outs would  want to go back to. Then again, Yankumi isn’t a drop-out; just her family.
The drama will remind you of GTO, but thankfully it stands on it’s own. Each episode follows pretty much the same format, so it can get boring at times, however the comedy aspect of the drama was done very well. If the drama wasn’t funny then I wouldn’t have given it more than 5 stars.

Acting:
Nakama Yukie did a FANTASTIC job on her character! There’s no doubt that she practically carries the whole drama on her shoulders, and successfully too! The supporting cast did a great job too, but Nakama was just in a league of her own.  No one can compare to her awesome-ness!

Music:
Matched well with the comic theme. You’ll notice specific characters have their own tunes, which was cute .

Satisfaction:
If you’re looking for a laugh and something mindless then go to school (oxymoron!) with Gokusen. You’ll find plenty here.

Hana Yori Dango (Boys Before Flowers)

Story:
Bunch of pretty boys being badass until they come across the girl that would change everything. Heard it before? Probably.

One thing I want to comment about is that I wish they spent more time dwelving more into the other two F4 members. However, the short length of J-doramas don’t always allow for that.

Acting:
The guys did a great job modeling, but acting wise they were all average.  I thought Oguri Shun’s performance was really boring and Jun Mutsumoto kind of annoying.  However, that might not be their fault since they are capable actors (not the best, but still okay). I think the story is more to blame .

Music:
Well done. I love the Otsuka Ai’s song, “Planetarium”. The only thing that was worth watching this drama for really.

Overall:
Meh. I don’t why everyone loves this drama.

Dragon Zakura

Story:
Definitely similar to GTO, but still different. The drama was really brought down by the scene involving the chairman and the other teachers who constantly bicker. I ended up fast-forwarding all of that.

Acting:
The main actors were the ones that really, really held up this drama. All the actors who had minor roles did very little to support the series. In fact their contribution made the drama worse…

Music:
Background music fits the scenes, but the insert and theme songs aren’t much to talk about. Bored me completely actually…

Overall:
I learnt a lot about how to study. Interesting tidbits about effective studying methods. The series ends well though.  If you have nothing else to do then try this drama. It’s not good, but it’s not bad either.

Dance Drill

Story:
Completely unoriginal. Absolutely uninspiring in every way possible. If they had at least shown more than 2 cool dance routines then maybe I’d give higher marks, but they didn’t. The side stories are also really boring except maybe the one involving the teacher. The teacher’s story gets more interesting. Mind you, don’t expect that story to blow you away or anything.

Acting:
Yes… I guess they did okay. I frankly liked the karate girl and girl with glasses best. Everyone else was pretty boring. Although it wasn’t completely their fault since the characters don’t really change in terms of personality.

Music:
Background score wasn’t appealing. Quite forgettable.

Overall:
Pass on it.