Hana Yori Dango (Live Action Series)

 

 

Cast:

Inoue Mao as Makino Tsukushi

Matsumoto Jun as Doumyouji Tsukasa

Oguri Shun as Hanazawa Rui

Matsuda Shota as Nishikado Soujiroh

Abe Tsuyoshi as Mimasaka Akira

 

Supporting Cast:

Sato Megumi as Sanjou Sakurako

Nishihara Aki as Matsuoka Yuki

Seto Saki as Asai Yuriko

Fukada Aki as Ayuhara Erika

Matsuoka Emiko as Yamano Minako

Sada Mayumi as Toudou Shizuka

Kato Takako as Sengoku Sachiyo

Kobayashi Susumu as Makino Haruo (father of Tsukushi)

Tomiura Satoshi as Makino Susumu (brother of Tsukushi)

Ishino Mako as Makino Chieko (mother of Tsukushi)

Kaga Mariko as Domyoji Kaede (mother of Tsukasa)

Matsushima Nanako as Domyoji Tsubaki (sister of Tsukasa)

David Ito as Nishida

Oshinari Shugo as Nakatsuka

Sakai Ayana as Kurimaki Ayano

Handa Kento

Kaku Tomohiro

Sano Kazuma

Igarashi Shunji (ep1)

Takuma Takayuki (ep4-9)

 

 

Summary:

Makino Tsukushi is the only poor student at Eitoku Gakuen, the school of the ridiculously rich and privileged that is ruled by Flower 4 or F4, a group of four boys who come from extremely powerful families: Domyoji Tsukasa, the leader and heir of the Domyoji World Finance Group; Hanazawa Rui, the introverted son of a large company; Nishikado Sojiro, a player who is the heir of a tea ceremony school; and Mimasaka Akira, a madam killer with ties to the underground. If a student gets on the F4's bad side, he/she gets a red notice and is bullied and driven out of school.

Makino hopes to pass her days quietly-- without drawing any attention to herself-- but one day, she stands up to Domyoji in defense of her friend. The next day, Makino gets the dreaded red notice. Even though she is harassed, Makino decides to keep going to school because she is a "tough weed". She declares war right back on the F4. Her resolve gets the attention of her crush Hanazawa Rui and oddly enough, rouses romantic feelings in her worst enemy, Domyoji Tsukasa.

The series is based on the Japanese shoujo manga "Hana Yori Dango" (Boys Before Flowers) by Kamio Yoko.

 

Credits: wikipedia

 

 

What I Think:

Now where do I start this review, I just love this series so much! The acting, was superb… the acting of the leads T and T, Tsukasa and Tsukushi—Jun Matsumoto as Domyouji Tsukasa was really good. I was not a big Matsu Jun fan before; I cannot believe he was casted as the bullish, hard-headed leader of the F4! Jun looks frail, tall, so reed lean and girly to a fault but man was he awesome as Domyouji, he'd grow on you. He was perfect as the toughie but softie Domyouji-kun. He totally surprised me, caught me off-guard at how such a great actor he is, he was just splendid!

Mao Inoue as Makino Tsukushi was superb! She was hella good! She was only 18 when they did this series but she held her own alongside her all-male F4 cuties! Haha! Mao was gripping, touching, hecka funny, perky and all-around-awesome! She was my run away favorite!

Oguri Shun as Hanazawa Rui— Do not hate me for this, but people I do not seem to gravitate to Oguri Shun, he does not look good at all. If I was Makino and I would choose between him and Domyouji, haha, I would go for Domyouji in a heartbeat! His acting though was very close to the manga, he was a cool, composed, brooding and silent person. I just hated the fact that he made Makino his rebound girl…aish!

And for Matsuda Shota as Soujiroh and Abe Tsuyoshi as Akira, I like them because for the first time I can decipher who is who, who likes dating older women etc...Because Meizuo and Ximen in Meteor Garden pretty much looks and acts the same to me.

Of the supporting cast, faves were Matsushima Nanako as Domyoji Tsubaki (sister of Tsukasa) because right from the moment she appeared she just stole the show. She was pretty, strong and awesome! No wonder she is a well-loved and famous j-actress! Worth mentioned acting is Makino's mother, she was strong and funny I like her. Sakurako, omg she was scary, I have a friend who cannot seem to finish watching HYD coz she was so afraid of Sakurako! She was lifted from a horror movie.

 

The fashion style, Mao Inoue looks cute in her uniform; she will always be my Teen of Japan winner! She looks so regal and homely in her store kimono uniform, she looks so beautiful wearing her formal dress! Jun Matsumoto… all I can say is he looked pretty much better than Jerry Yan (as Dao Ming Zhi), he flumped in some of his clothes, god he even wore that stupid-looking fur coat to a date! He looks adorkable still, he looks good in the succeeding scenes don't worry. Matsushima Nanako as Domyoji Tsubaki (sister of Tsukasa) looks very sophisticated, she does not look like a married woman at all, and she was fierce, sophisticated, funny and ever so composed! She was in The Ring (Jap Version)! That's why she looks familiar!

 

I just need to write the ending scenes, that scene was promising, awesome!

Domyoji:

I'll come back when I become even more awesome as a man,

Even if you beg me

Or tell me you can't live without me

I think it will make you stronger.

But even now

Even in the future

Or even way in the future

You'll always be the only girl I'll ever approve of

I'm going to be with you Makino.

I know you're happy.

 

Makino: No way

 

Domyoji: You a liar. You are in love with me

 

Makino:

I am in love with you.

You are stupid, selfish and self-center,

I've fallen in love with you.

Tsukushi's gold cell phone (given by Domyoji) has a Star Wars Imperial March ring tone! I was kinda laughing when I heard it, so fitting for Domyouji…come into the darth side...Hehe. And Kento Handa, my masked rider boy…holy crap where the clouds was he in the series?!! Maybe I was just so engrossed with Jun that I did not catch him, my Gokusen boys!!

 

The story stayed close and true to the manga, but cutting a lot of things (what with 9 episodes from the manga's 36 ep), scenes were greatly shot, useless characters being cut, and script was awesomely written. It was fast-paced, gripping, moving, made me laugh, the ending made me cry though, so bitter-sweet.
Awesome soundtrack too, the main theme Wish by Arashi was lively and perky. Ai Otsuka's Planetarium was very Hana Yori Dango-ish and Utada Hikaru's Flavor of Life was marvelous.

And if you'd ask me how this one fair out with Meteor Garden, Hana Yori Dango definitely wins in a heartbeat!

 

Rating: 10 Japanese Tempura out of 10

 

Other Stuff:

LEFT CLICK on the links to download. The first 3 songs are awesome!!

 

Hana Yori Dango OST Opening Theme Arashi -Wish.mp3: http://www.sendspace.com/file/oi7p12

 

Hana Yori Dango OST Ai Otsuka – Planetarium mp3:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/xli1mt

 

Hana Yori Dango Utada Hikaru- Flavor of Life (ballad version) mp3:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/bu2y8o

 

Hana Yori Dango – Ending mp3:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/6477x2

 

Hana Yori Dango -Blue Mind (instrumental) mp3:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/ogi9js

 

Hana Yori Dango - Sad Piano Background music mp3:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/oyax6r

 

Hana Yori Dango Main Theme (that sounds like Harry Potter theme) mp3:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/6u67le

 

The cute asking out scene, so funny!

 

First Kiss...

 

Waiting for his girl in the rain

 

Stuck in the elevator and spending the night together

 

Kissed! so cute Tsukky!

 

Why aren't there other people? I bought the whole cafe so we could talk!

 

It's because I love you.

 

Talking before the TOJ contest

 

Makino breaks down into Domyouji's shoulders

 

Maybe we should just get married!

 

Bittersweet...

 

The saturn necklace Domyouji gave to Tsukushi..

 

 

Credits: wikipedia, Dennis Larsen orange days blog, cinematube

Death Note (Live Action Movie)

 

 

Cast:
Kenichi Matsuyama - as L
Tatsuya Fujiwara - as Light Yagami
Asaka Seto - as Naomi Misora

Shidou Nakamura - as Ryuuk (voice)
Shigeki Hosokawa - as Raye Penber
Shunji Fujiwara - as Watari
Sota Aoyama - as Touta Matsuda
Takeshi Kaga - as Souichirou Yagami
Tatsuhito Okuda - as Ukita
Yuu Kashii - as Shiori Akino
Hikari Mishima - as Sayu Yagami
Ikuji Nakamura - as Kanzo Mogi
Matt Lagan - as Lind L. Taylor
Michiko Godai - as Sachiko Yagami
Shin Shimizu - as Shuichi Aizawa

Erika Toda - as Misa Amane

 

Synopsis:

THIS SUMMARY IS FULL OF SPOILERS.

 

This movie is about a college student named Light Yagami. One day he hacked into the FBI system and looked at the profiles and saw that some criminals never got caught or the cases are dropped. Since he wanted to become a lawyer, finding out about this made him really angry and he wanted to go see for himself whether this is true or not and it turned out that it is true. At the bar, there is a criminal there and the criminal is telling his buddies how he killed and Light overheard. He then left while it is raining and found a notebook on the ground. He picked it up and went home.

The notebook is really special. The human name that is written in the book will die and Light thought that is funny and unbelievable but he wrote the name of another criminal in the notebook and he died of a heart attack. If the death is not specified, then the human will die of a heart attack. Later, he found out that the notebook is real and so he began killing by writing the names of criminals into the book and every time, the criminals would die.

At this time, his pen name Kira, is formed and there were websites and many adored him for getting rid of the evil. Ryuk is the owner of the notebook before he dropped it and Light found it. So Ryuk stays with Light but no one could see him except for Light. I guess you could say that Ryuk is a spirit or a demon of some sort.

Though Light's intention is good, he began to kill for other reasons, thus making him the bad guy. He does not kill to get rid of evil but for his own motives. He even killed his own girlfriend, Shiori. You see? He's really bad and selfish. He's really intelligent and knows how to manipulate. Ryuk, at this point, started to see that. During Light's killings, his dad, who works for the FBI, began to investigate the cases and L aided them. He is another main character in here that secretly investigates Kira or Light with the help of the FBI, forming a group so to say. L suspected Light and still does at the end of the movie.

So the movie surrounds how L is trying to prove that Light is actually Kira and how Light hides his true identity.

At the end of the movie, Light joins in the FBI group to hunt down Kira. His purpose for this is to get close to L and the others and to stop them from finding out the truth. Sneaky isn't he? Also at the end of the movie, another girl appears by the name of Misa. She also has another Death Note that is for her. I wonder what will happen.

 

Credits: spcnet

 

What I Think:

I like watching Japanese series and movies because they are fast-paced, I am not really good with finishing movies and series that I have started watching, and I watched this movie out of curiosity…I saw a Death Note book and it looks so intriguing.

Let's start with the acting…

Kenichi Matsuyama - as L pretty much was born to play the role...he nailed the parts where he did L's mannerisms,the way he holds the cups, the stick, the cellphone; most of his scenes have him eating sweets, his eyes focused on tv monitors, sucking his thumb like a big baby and hair tussled everywhere. Kenichi definitely looks better with black eye liner and fussy hair than his clean-cut look; I have to say he is a cutie but borders on freakily psychotic! And I did not know he was in Gokusen?! Like every hot Jap actor starred in gokusen!! I should finish that series. Yeah yeah fine I like him, there and I like his name.

 

Tatsuya Fujiwara - as Light Yagami has better acting skills. Though he is not at all a looker, he was quite okay in the acting department. I am really bothered by his super-straight, broad shoulders…and his nose! Nose is not a good sight, he reminds me of a jukebox el cheapo singer! Haha! I just hated his character that's because, he has the gaul to even kill his loved ones!

 

The supporting actresses, Asaka Seto - as Naomi Misora and Yuu Kashii - as Shiori Akino…one thing about these 2 ladies, they are so pretty! They have little screen time that I have nothing much to say about them, except that Asaka as Naomi Seto was fierce, strong, and convincing.  Poor Shiori. Tsk tsk.

 

Ryuk, man he looks like an ordinary Tekken/gamecube character stuffed in the movie, when he first flew over Light, the graphics were not so good but the movie was really nice.

 

The soundtrack… like every other Japanese movie lifted from awesome shoju mangas, the soundtrack was awesome. Two songs stand out the most; Manatsu no Yoru no Yume which plays out as Light takes Shiori on a date to the museum. I love that song! The other is the ending theme, Dani California from Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

 

 

Rating: 9 out of 10 Japanese Tempura

 

 

Other Stuff:

* Death Note - A Death Note is a book held by a Shinigami which has the power to kill people if certain conditions are met. All Death Notes follow a long set of specific rules.

 

* Before releasing his Death Note into the human world, Ryuk wrote some of the more basic rules on the first page in English, because he believed that English was the most popular language in the world. The rules written by Ryuk are the following:

 

1. The human whose name is written in this note shall die.

2. This note will not take effect unless the writer has the subject's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.

3. If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the subject's name, it will happen.

4. If the cause of death is not specified, the subject will simply die of a heart attack.

5. After writing the cause of death, the details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

 

* Sound of Death Note is a soundtrack featuring music from the first Death Note film composed and arranged by Kenji Kawai It was released on 17 June 2006.

Track List:

 

1. A heart attack

2. A dispute

3. Confused

4. Realize the limitations

5. Disturbance

6. In the heart

7. Astonishment

8. A reality

9. Logic

10. A challenge

11. Make a noise in the world

12. A shadow

13. The test

14. Give the right answer

15. Reasoning powers

16. Carry out a plan

17. Memo paper

18. Be cute

19. Impatience

20. An image

21. Suspicion

22. Misunderstand

23. According to plan

24. A sacrifice

25. An observer

26. Go into battle

 

Kenichi as L:                Kenichi minus the makeup:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Credits: wikipedia, spcnet, darren.wiinix.com

The Prince of Tennis (Live-action movie)

 

 

 

Cast:

Kanata Hongo  - as Ryoma Echizen

He is the Prince of Tennis

 

 

Yuu Shirota – as Kunimitsu Tezuka

Echizen’s senior and the team captain of the Seigaku Tennis Team, a third-grader student

 

 

Rikiya – as Egate Mcleod Higaki

Strongest rival of Ryoma from Hyotei Middle School

 

 

Ryuuji Sainei – as Keigo Atobe

Tezuka’s rival at a tennis game. This guy looks cute.

 

 

Goro Kishitani – as Nanjiroh Echizen

Ryoma’s father; former tennis legend

 

 

Sayuri Iwata – as Shioin Higaki

Mute sister of Egate Mcleod Higaki whom Ryoma saved from high school bullies

 

 

Hitomi Shimatani – as Sumire Ryuzaki

A teacher at Seigaku

 

Kousuke Kujirai – as Kaoru Kaidoh

2^nd Year student who challenges Ryoma to a game when he first entered Seigaku

 

Hiroki Suzuki – as Shuichiro Oishi

Hiroki Aiba – as Shusuke Fuji

Osamu Adachi – as Eiji Kikumaru

Hirofumi Araki – as Sadaharu Inui

Yoshikazu Kotani –as Takashi Kawamura

Masaki Kaji – as Takeshi Momoshiro

 

Summary:

Ryoma Echizen, a tennis prodigy, attends Seishun Academy Middle School (Seishun Gakuen), or Seigaku in short, a school famous for its strong tennis club and talented players. Ryoma quickly defeats numerous upperclassmen shortly after entrance to secure himself a spot on the regulars team.

 

 

Official Site:

http://www.tenipuri-movie.jp/index2.html

 

 

What Think:

Shirota Yuu as Tezuka – Holy macaroni, I did not know he was this cute!! I like him with his glasses, he looks so cute! He looks so stoic; but then again his role was supposed to be stoic. He is the senior of the Prince of Tennis, so if here were the Prince of Tennis that I would be his princess! Haha! This jap-spanish dude is one hot commodity!

Kanata Hongo as Ryoma – He lacks depth too, he looks so lackadaisical in most scenes; he has no feelings in a lot of scenes. As I have not seen the anime version of this movie, I cannot compare both characters, is Ryoma supposed to be this young? I can hear his voice breaking...ha. But there is something about this boy that makes me say that he will go a long way in show business.   

 

I like the background scenery so much; it is like a laid-back sub-urban school campus.

* Near the intro parts where Ryoma made all the tennis balls fly all over the court was pretty cool to the horror of the bully.

* The line “Mada mada dane.” Which means simply not there yet, I like that!

* Ryoma trying his new team jacket out and posing in front of the mirror, he looks so cute and wacky.

* The whole Segaku High School Tennis Team walking down the school aisle to the tournament matches---with Shirota Yuu leading, they look like a bunch of gorgeous children of the corn…hehehe!

* The soundtrack ---nice one too.

 

 

Rating: 8 Japanese Tempura out of 10

 

 

Credits: wikipedia, official prince of tennis site

Watch the Trailers here: http://www.tenipuri-movie.jp/trailer.html

 

 

* And if you want to know more about Shirota Yuu:

 

    

Nicknames: Shiroro, Shiropon, Shirotan, Yuu-ani, U-kun
Blood Type: O
Family: mother (divorced), father (divorced), two older brothers, an older sister and a younger sister
High School: Horikoshi Academy
Height: 185 cm (6'0¾")
Weight: 74 kg
Three Size: 89-73-94 (35"-29"-37")
Dexterity: Left Handed
Hobbies: Song Writing, Song Composition, Karaoke, Watching funny TV shows
Special Skills: Spanish, Piano, Saxophone, Guitar
Favorite Sports: Soccer
Favorite Number to See Performed: "Onna no Ronsou"
Favorite Food: Chocolate, rice cookies
Close Friends: Tomohisa Yamashita, Jin Akanishi, Ikuta Toma

Shirota was born on December 26, 1985 to a Japanese father and a Spanish mother. Because his mother is Spanish, he lived in Barcelona, Spain until he was about 2 years old. He returned to Japan for elementary school and could still speak Spanish in ordinary conversation.

According to Shirota, when he was little, his family liked to sing songs, so he would borrow his older sister's keyboard, while his mother taught him piano; hus spawned Shirota's love for composing. He composed his first piece when he was in the fourth grade, titled the "The Tear.”

 

 

 

Happy Birthday G-Dragon!

May you have the heart to keep the BB team together

May you have the passion to keep k-hip hop love alive

Nae sarang Kwon Ji Young!

 

Credits: ygbb forum

 

10 Cutest Summer Couples

 

I just had to post this little Hollywood thing…

I like the list…like them? cant stand them? who looks like who? post a comment ^_^

CALIFORNIA COUPLE Heroes star and bikini girl Hayden Panettiere gets a lift from boyfriend
and Laguna Beach hottie – Stephen Colletti during a playful date in Venice Beach.

 

 

GOING STRONG
While filming a video for her "Girlfriend" remix, Avril Lavigne hooks up in L.A. with her husband,
Sum 41's Deryck Whibley. The two celebrated their one-year anniversary July 15.

 

 

'HIGH SCHOOL' SWEETHEARTS
High School Musical 2's Vanessa Hudgens helps costar – and boyfriend! – Zac Efron keep
cool on a hot day in New York. "We kind of clicked from the very beginning," he told PEOPLE
of meeting Hudgens on the set of HSM.

 

 

SINGING DUO
Miley Cyrus has the support of one of her biggest fans during a stop at MTV's TRL:
her beau, pop-rocker Nick Jonas.And what do the 14-year-olds do when not at work?
"I like to go see movies," Jonas says of a typical date night.

 

 

SHORE THING
Laguna Beach's Kristin Cavallari – no stranger to a beach romance – smooches boyfriend
Nick Zano between games of volleyball and soccer outside the Polaroid Beach House in Malibu.

 

 

A PERFECT MATCH
Entourage star Adrian Grenier enjoys a good game – of volleyball, that is – with his girlfriend,
Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Melissa Keller. The twosome, who checked out the AVP Long Beach Open,
have been dating on and off for two years but stepped it up this summer.

 

 

LOVE IN LONDON
Keira Knightley and beau Rupert Friend seem to enjoy summertime in London as much as
they enjoy each other as the Pride & Prejudice costars connect during one of their typical
strolls in the British capital.

 

 

WORKING ROMANCE
High School Musical 2 star Ashley Tisdale celebrates her 22nd birthday in Hawaii
with boyfriend and Honolulu native Jared Murillo, a backup dancer for the HSM tour.
(See if you can spot him in this clip of her performance of "Be Good to Me"!)

 

 

J'ADORE L'AMOUR
Becoming Jane star Anne Hathaway holds tight to her Italian boyfriend of three years,
Raffaello Follieri, while walking through Paris. "He's protective without being possessive,"
she told PEOPLE of her man.

 

 

SUMMER OF L.O.V.E.
Ashlee Simpson kicks off the season with a 28th birthday bash for her Fall Out Boy,
Pete Wentz, at New York hot spot Angels and Kings. Since then, they've made the rounds
from Beverly Hills to Miami and back East in Watermill, N.Y.

Source: Teen People Magazine

 

 

 

Extra! Hayden Christiansen and Rachel Bilson: They did not make it to the teen people list but they made it to mine so I am writing them down. So it is sooo goodbye Adam Brody!