...what are you watching...

Ooku (Ohoku) jmovie! is based on the manga of the same name by Fumi Yoshinaga. This short review has been sitting awhile now; wasn't sure if I liked the movie or not. I found the manga to be getting tediously long. The movie covers the first major arc in the manga series. A fictional disease hits most of the male population of feudal Japan. Roles are reversed. The shogunate keeps a harem of pretty boys from which to make babies; well, in hopes of a male baby shogun. The movie is filled with popular actors/actresses; notably Nino--something from Arashi, Tamaki Hiroshi, Kou Shibasaki and Maki Horitaka. The whole atmosphere was interesting and beautifully shot, but there was something missing in the acting...lack of the convincing passion maybe? Ninosomething and Shibasaki...yeah, an odd couple. I'd kick him out, too.

And there's a jdrama AND 2nd movie coming out in October and December starring Masato Sakai which will cover manga volumes 2-4 and 4-6, respectively. I'm sure Masato Sakai will make these installments more convincing.

Movie trailer..and there’s a jdrama trailer..but all the links have been taken down. :(

The Ooku/Ohuku trailer looks good. Tamaki Hiroshi, Nino(the frail-looking Arashi member), Kou Shibasaki & Maki Horikita are the most recognizable actors starring in this. I actually picked up Viz's volumes of the manga which are physically very nice; great cover, color pages, printing. My (and almost everyone else's) criticism is the horrible Shakespearean-Yoda English translation. That is so distracting. I wish they used standard English, maybe an effort to use a few more polite or intelligent/complex English words, and then stuck a footnote to explain how the original manga was read. Anyway, it's a story of how a fictional Japan is forced to become a matriarchal society. It's hard to pick up anything uninteresting that Fumi Yoshinaga creates. I like her What Did You Eat Yesterday? manga. It's a cookbook.


Bad Guy 15! And the crap hits the fan? The parents know the true identity of Gun-wook via the loyal butler/servant and maid. Of course, the father has a heart attack when he finds out...yawn, drama cliche. Other than the father getting shut up so he couldn't reveal the truth too quickly, the actual development of the truth being revealed was pretty darn good; car accident & go mysterious butler! It's a shame Tae-ra deludes herself most of this episode. She should be smarter than that. Remember that model from episode 1-2? I'm glad the writers made her disappear. I'm also glad Mo-ne was shipped off though not soon enough. Four women harping over one guy could have been messy. I thoroughly enjoy any scene with Jae-in's little sister.

ETA: The Woot employess have Danboard T-shirts. I want one.