Yonimo Kimyona Monogatari (Tales of the Unusual)

 

In my country, every December we have a film festival which we call Metro Manila Film Festival, a lot of movie entries with different genres are included. Popular genres are fantasy, which oftentimes becomes a box-office hit because families can watch it, and kids love these kinds of movies, another hit genre is the horror films. One popular movie which is always expected to be included is entitled Shake, Rattle, and Roll. It consists of 3 different horror stories. It reminds me of this Japanese tv-movie made series. In English, it means Tales of the Unusual. I have seen the Spring Edition 2014. It consists of five stories. The story opens up by a man wearing black, I got this summary from KissAsian.com.

Tamamori Yuta stars as a down-on-his-luck college graduate who lives with a holographic female/maid servant; Watanabe Eri is a divorcee who feels uncomfortable with her new-found friendship with a so-called 'graveyard friend.'; Nounen Rena as a high schooler who delves too much into her fantasies of Samurai warlords; Eikura Nana as a tv director who gets into an accident and sees her life flas before her eyes; and Fujiki Naohito as a doctor who cannot forget a hurtful past.

My favorite among the five stories is the first story, the fresh-college graduate who lives in a dorm run by the government, and he has a female maid hologram. I have also seen the 2010 Fall Special. I didn't notice that my Japanese crush, superstar is included in this movie, Ohno Satoshi, he is included in the story about a woman who's frustrated by his boyfriend's habit of saying, 'first of all,' he always uses it when he says something.

 Other stories are, about the mysterious hotel wherein if you checked-in all your wishes will come true. Another story is about the bookmark of love, wherein a young woman communicates with the love of her life by writing, since cellphone is still not invented during that time. Followed by, an office worker who found a manual for killing someone, and the last story is about a man who's sister was murdered, and he met and befriend's someone who has a pyrokinetic ability, and she helps him get revenge. I just wish I had the chance to see all of the episodes but I cannot watch the other episodes since they are in Japanese. I have got to find an English subtitled version. I really like this movie, it reminds me also of the American tv series, 'Twilight Zone', and 'Amazing Stories', featuring weird, scary, and fantasy tales. Also, you get to see different kinds of stories in a movie, so its not boring. This is definitely a must-see movie! Two thumbs up!

TV Series: Sekai Ichi Muzukashii Koi

        This is the Japanese series that I'm watching now. The main lead star of this drama is  Ohno Satoshi (I just find out that we are of the same age),  he is also the lead star of another series, Kagi no Kakatta Heya, in English means The Locked Room Murders. I thought that  this series would be a boring one, but I was wrong. I do find some scenes really amusing, and it is my first time to laugh again while watching a Japanese series. It seems that I really can't get enough of Ohno Satoshi, one of the members of Arashi (which means Storm in Japan), a Japanese idol group. Sekai Ichi Muzukashii Koi, translates in English as The Most Difficult Romance.


          This series is about the president of a hotel group of companies, he is single, and has a strict personality, so that's why his subordinates fear him, and his popularity with them is evident. While he is good-looking, and rich, he is also often turned down by women. Will he ever learn to love, or find love?  

TV Series Review: Kagi No Kakatta Heya

     

      Kagi No Kakatta Heya  ( 鍵のかかった部屋), or the Locked Room Murders. This is the Japanese series I am watching now starring Ohno Satoshi. I was hooked the first time I watched the first episode because the actor was kinda cute. This reminds me of the phone application that I used to play before, escaping a locked room. But what's more interesting is that it's not only a locked room but there was a crime committed, and Enomoto (played Ohno Satoshi), a locked room expert, helps solve every locked room mystery. He is teamed up with lawyers from a major law firm. What I like about Japanese series is that it is not that lengthy and you can finish the whole series in a day. If you want a mystery type of series then this is for you!