'Dear sister' dorama ~ when a performer starts appearing in movies

What else could I do if I saw a video on YT titled something like 'kiss at the wedding scene of Iwata's and Ishihara's characters'? Of course I went to watch it as soon as I learned that he's taking part. Now I'm not sure I did the right thing.

story and characters

I was surprised to see that the drama actually had a decent scenario and though it was very, very, VERY plain, it was not too bad. It was even interesting to see how relationships of many characters intertwine and create a complex net of feelings and stories.
However you just can't ignore the fact that it was a happy-ending-story for girls. And the story was happy ending for all characters. And it was so happy-ending that I really needed a pickled cucumber to eat after.

acting

But here lies a problem. And that problems looks like this:

 - I'll punish you for troubling the girl I like, old man! - I'm not afraid of hamsters!

At least it's how we here reply when someone pretends to be scary while being not.

Oh yes you will protect them. 'Cause you look so serious. Um... IDK maybe high school girls would swoon here seeing him make such face?

Now the surprise was to see ms. Otozuki participating. And that surprise was not pleasant. If they wanted to create a hysteric femme fatale she would make a perfect one, but there was not actually any time for that, which is why all ms Otozuki could do is just pronounce a couple of lines. 

Just in case one JSB is not enough for you, there is accidental Naoto. For approximately 5 seconds in total.

As for other actors, they were all good and did not irritate me at all, like it sometimes happens. Maybe I could mention that Hirayama Hiroyuki and Horiuchi Keiko were cute portraying an elder sister and a younger brother who get along very well.

music

For a dorama, 'Dear sister' has a normal soundtrack with only one melody that I really enjoyed. As for theme songs, they were awful, as usual. I think I must be really sorry for that, and I kinda am... a little... just a little bit. 'cause they are really soooooo mediocre and boooooring UGH

visual

I'm really happy to see CG in Japan is progressing. What a beautiful, natural night sky. Yes, natural. Of course.

conclusion

You just either watch doramas or not. If not, don't start with this one. If yes, you'll probably like it.

p. s.
language
The language in the dorama is so simple that I did not even download any subs before 8th episode when I wanted to check something and finally searched for the Japanese original ones. From this point of view I highly recommend this series to those learning Japanese because most words are easy to hear and easy to understand, maybe except for a few medical terms that appear in the second half of the drama and a couple of other words.

my humble opinion on TCA 2010 'Forever Takarazuka'

the prologue is titled 'Over Sea'. actually, there's a reason to it, as the song lyrics list the oversea performances of Takarazuka since the time of its establishment

as usual, the Tops participating in the concert reminisce of the coming to its end year

after Oozora-sama says she explored a new character - a weather reporter man with a funny posture - Matobu-sama and Todoroki-sama made me die because of laughing... 'but the usual image of Yuuhi is like... nihil... and like - 'okaeriii', and like 'abayo!', and like 'kampai'...'

and once again, Matobu-sama shows a great sense of humour. 'was it this year? last year? or this? oh, that was a show named 'EXCITER', so that's last year... may_I_speak_of_the_last_year? it will take approximately 30 minutes, is it ok?'

then calling Todoroki-sama as 'Ishi-san' and 'anii'... >___<

then 'oh yeah, and... what was I speaking of?'

and then 'but the cool scene only lasted for 3 minutes...'

and then Todoroki-sama addresses to Otozuki-sama as 'Kimuchi' ^.^ so cute

and then Todoroki-sama shares her impressions of the year - she thought that Matobu was a mood maker, she thought that Oozora was a shy person who suddenly transforms when an MC in the TCA, and she thought that Otozuki was... oh, she didn't think of her

Oozora-sama protests - 'but speak not of me, but of yourself' and Todoroki-sama - 'I was surprised! [by Oozora-sama transforming] there are 365 days in the year, but yesterday and today were the most important!'

then Todoroki-sama speaks about Kobayashi-sensei - 'we believe that he watches over all the actresses with a smile from a theatre somewhere'

Hanagumi corner presents a parody on 'Gubijin' and 'Exciter'. when Matobu-sama started singing and speaking in a high-pitched kawaii voice I could hardly prevent myself from LOLing so that my parents wouldn't wake up
as for the 'Exciter' theme song - I was astonished by Matobu-sama's vocal, the Troupe's vocal and the music itself. such an energy... *___* mitemitaaaai~
Yukigumi was showing 'Roge' and 'Solferino' and 'Rock on' numbers, but the concept was not really funny for me. Otozuki-sama was running with a chair attached by handcuffs... but that was not laughable really
Soragumi started with ''R''ising song, but... erm... why so poor singing??? ^^` unlike that, acting was superb. and Oozora-sama as Gin-chan throwing her shovel...? at the orchestra director Sasada-sensei and saying 'you may try conducting with it...'
'Funky Sunshine' theme 'sorapower' was not too impressive, to tell the truth

the second act full of nice average Zuka songs. I am not saying they are bad, they are just average, pleasant to listen but not too special
there was only one scene where some covers... no, not covers really, only elements of famous songs were performed such as 'Go Go Go Ale Ale Ale' and 'Besame Mucho'
and BTW, I don't want to sound rude but Soragumi really sing bad. I see them again on stage and all of them are pretty unimpressive, including Nono-sama. and Snow was not much better >___<
the second 'talk break' was marked by 'kawaikochan' entering the stage to give the Tops cool water and handkerchiefs
mess on the stage. everybody joking and laughing. Todoroki-sama - 'we're not backstage, so will you please calm down!'

finale was supposed to represent images of the cities where oversea performances were held. to tell the truth, I wasn't impressed much again... in my mind, the choice of singers for each song was wrong. for example, 'yesterday' didn't sound good in Oozora-sama's rather abrupt version, and vice versa 'New York New York' would be better by Oozora-sama instead of Matobu-sama

soooo this is a very good TCA, but the more I watch something like this the more I wonder how people who don't understand Japanese watch TCAs...

my humble opinion on 'Anna Karenina' by Snow Troupe (2001)

this time I deliberately chose a play 'I have nothing to do with'. I mean, there were no siennas I knew well (except for Ouki-san who played a minor role so that I did not see her very much), and the plot did not appeal to me at all

the plot

I do not like Tolstoy and I am not for a minute ashamed I have never read the book itself. the main plot seems to be the type I dislike - something is happening and a lot of things are happening but there is no general line and no comprehensive conclusion, which makes me think in the end if there was any sense in the plot itself. on the other hand, 'tis not the slice of life one can enjoy slowly by admiring every single moment of what one sees. in such cases there is only one thing for me to do...

the story of the main characters did not move me at all, as I could never understand where the love came from and how it happened, and when the characters only keep repeating that they felt some unknown force or that the feeling was so strange they could not understand themselves themselves (how do I put it clearly? when a person cannot understand his own self, that is what I was trying to say...) - I cannot help disbelieving them. the same disbelief followed me through the developments, considering all the further milestones which only made me like 'eh?' and nothing else. nobody could actually decide what he feels, and I could not see where those feeling came from. confessions, quarrels, refusals and making up, deliberate partings and meetings... all in a mess, and I wonder if a mess should impress me that much? what made my impression even more bitter was the fact my lovely Aono-sama portrayed the same woman... my heart was only crying 'nooooo' all the time...

in such a case when the main story presents no interest for me, all that is left for me is to find a 'supporting' character, a minor one who seems to be interesting/attractive/touching/... and follow his story, sympathizing with him and worrying for him every time he is on stage, literally or figuratively

characters and playing

this time 'twas Levin-san. both the character himself and Tatsuki-san were very touching and cute, though I may suppose 'twas Tatsuki-san who made him THAT cute...

BTW, what made me ROFL was the moment when Levin was told by the ladies at the ball that he was sexy. yes, 'twas the way I said and I am not mistaken ^.^

the problem is, loan words in Japanese are apt to go far from their origin, and those ladies using the 'sekushii' word were not impolite, and it did not sound unacceptable in Japanese, but if the word is a loan word, what other translation can be given for it in a dictionary, except for the original one? of couse, if you check Jap-Eng dictionary, it will tell you those ladies told Levin he was sexy, and the moment you imagine the real ball in the real Russia of the 19th century and noble ladies telling a noble young aristo that he is sexy........ you ROFL, do you not?

surprisingly, Asami-san was not for a moment as great as I expected her to be. well, I am not telling all the truth by saying I expected her to be only great. there was something in her image that made me think she might turn out to be the type I do not like, but I hoped - yes, 'tis the proper word, I believe - hoped that she would still be great. and what a disappointment, she was not

of course, 'tis my humble opinion that she was not, as she might be quite enough for someone, but I prefer when an actor/ress can show everything that he/she feels with all the means he/she has. and Asami-san was only doing it with her voice, but nothing was written on her face, nothing was ever exposed by her gestures or movements, to say nothing of look

perhaps, I am even wrong in saying about her voice. no, she was not doing anything special, she was simply singing as usual, and it turned out that her singing ability is great, but I could not see she put her feelings into singing. it sounded as if her voice was separate from herself, judging by the way she looked while singing. and that made me feel awkward... and that is not good >___<

there were, though, some interesting moments which literally opened a new way to enjoy Zuka performances for me. the dance which was to create an impression that the guys were riding horses was a real creation of a genius, so beautifully the obstacles jumping and high speed riding were intertwined with usual dancing movements. another interesting invention was the following scene where Karenin is singing about his wife and all the other characters are moving as if they were shown in a slow speed motion, but then both the speed of movements goes faster and the music tempo also increases. that was a marvellous trick which was marvellously performed

we are possibly used to seeing the Top Musumeyaku cry in the end for her lost love/killed husband/... but here is another case - we have, well, not the Top Star literally, but the main otokoyaku crying. that was unusual for me... though I cannot say 'twas a successful attempt...

what was also unsuccessful is the duet of Asami-san and Konno-san. while playing was so-so, their dancing together never looked like a pair dancing, they were always so separate, so obviously trying to escape each other... o_O well, that is not their fault, is it? of course, actors/resses should play together with whoever they are told to, but it might be that those two were not meant to be a combi, eh?

as for the future Yuki Top, Otozuki-san was not very impressing, though she did her job and that might be ok... well, that should be... and of course, seeing her this much (I mean, in such a minor role) is not enough to spot her outstanding qualities that led her to the top...

music

another dance which impressed me was the pair dance of Anna and Vronsky when in Italy, but the reason was not the way of dancing, but a rare arrangement of the melody which was done for harp as a leading instrument. this half-silent half-present piece was an outstanding one, really

however, this calmness and slowness of the music irritated me, coupled with the dark mood and plain repeated parts

the ending

was of course done in the Zukish way, or in a Japanese way, I daresay. though a tragedy, the last words that were emphasized were Anna's thoughts from the diary about how wonderful 'tis to love, etc etc. of course, the common sense and general morale is also present in the last words of the other characters, and we have a typical 'wiseman' - wisewoman, to be precise, who tells us that we must live on and that the ball will start this evening again, implying that the circle of life is unstoppable

well, those kinds of consolating words before closing the curtain never impressed me much, and this time I only said my sceptical 'fie'. no use to try to make me put up with such a story by ending it with some high-flown talk

in general

'tis a great performance, with every element present necessary in a performance to make it great. and I did not like it at all. well, I am in no way regretful about the last 2 hours, but watching performances like this never make me any happier, never inspire me or give me any energy to move in my own life. and you might have noticed that I cannot enjoy something that has no such effect. however, being objective as I am, I should admit this performance is destined for theatre lovers, who care for another things than I do