Archive for the Live Action Category


Blank The Series, Guest Review by Frank Hecker

May 1st, 2024

Viewed from above, a girl lays her head on her homework on a table. She is holding hands with an older woman who sit next to her, listening to musicA young woman on the cusp of adulthood latches onto an older woman and pursues her, but a sheltered adolescence causes her to come off more child-like than her age might suggest. The older woman, burned by past relationships and not looking for another, thinks of the younger woman more as a daughter than a potential lover, but eventually finds herself reconsidering what they mean to each other.

Wait, didn’t I review this story several weeks ago? But, no, this is not Monthly in the Garden with My Landlord, Volume 2 , it’s season 1 of the Thai live-action yuri production Blank: The Series.

Blank: The Series is an adaptation of a novel by Chao Planoy, the author of GAP: Pink Theory, and is set in the same universe. It’s squarely targeted at fans of GAP: The Series, although its age-gap premise has occasioned online controversy among some in that fandom. 36-year-old Neung (the older sister of Sam from GAP) is a mature woman burned out on relationships, four years on from ditching rising politician Chet at the altar in the series’s opening scene. As previously seen in GAP: The Series, Neung is estranged from her grandmother, has rejected her place in the Thai aristocracy, and is pursuing a life on her own as an artist (partially subsidized by Sam).

Into her life comes 20-year-old Neung (the identical names are not a coincidence). Young Neung (or Aneung, as older Neung refers to her) is a young woman denied a normal adolescence; she’s still in high school, held back by ill health. She has no friends her own age, and her only family is her demanding and censorious grandmother. Aneung’s only escape is reading yuri novels, and when she meets older Neung (whom she calls Ar-Neung or “Aunt Neung”) she immediately sets out to win her over, alternately flirting with her and pouting at the older woman’s rejection of her advances. As for Neung herself, she goes from finding Aneung annoying to struggling with her ambiguous and growing feelings toward her.

“Faye” Peraya Malisorn is excellent as Neung in a role that calls for subtle acting to show Neung’s slowly evolving emotions. “Yoko” Apasra Lertprasert generally acquits herself well as Aneung, although her performance at times threatens to become repetitive. “Ice” Papichaya Pattaralikitsakul and Marissa Lloyd have the thankless jobs of following in Freen’s and Becky’s footsteps as Sam and Mon respectively, but they are very much the side couple here.

Like GAP, Blank has its share of melodrama, especially involving Chet (“Kun” Kittikun Tansuhas) and Phiangfa (“Ploy” Preeyaphat Silahom), Aneung’s long-absent mother. The producers toned things down somewhat from Blank the novel — for example, they aged up Aneung — and hopefully will continue doing so with the second season, which apparently has even more melodrama. They could have toned things down even further, for example getting Aneung out of a high school uniform and dialing back her childish aspects a notch or two. In terms of production values, the major problem with the series is the mediocre to poor English subtitles, which sometimes left me struggling to figure out the meaning of certain lines.

Despite that issue, Blank season 1 is a welcome addition to the GAP extended universe. The core relationship is handled well (except for Aneung going overboard at times), and there’s minimal “service”. I liked it enough that I’ll watch the second season, which begins airing in May. It will presumably deal with the fallout from the final episode of season 1, which ends on a cliffhanger.

Rating:

Story – 7 (unless you hate age gaps)
Characters – 7
Production – 5 (the subtitles drag it down)
Service – 2
Yuri – 6
Overall – 7

 




Chaser Game W

March 6th, 2024

by Frank Hecker, Staff Writer

One result of yuri’s increasing popularity is the creation of more and more live-action yuri series, like the popular Thai production GAP: The Series and the recent Japanese series Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna (based on the manga currently being released in English as She Loves to Cook, She Loves to Eat). Some of these productions are follow-ups to or re-workings of non-yuri material, like the Thai series Love, Senior (a gender-swapped version of the Thai BL series SOTUS). Such is the case with the subject of this review, the eight-episode Japanese series Chaser Game W, which originally aired on Tokyo TV and is now streaming internationally on the Taiwanese LGBTQ-focused streaming service GagaOOLala, with subtitles in English, Spanish, Chinese, Thai, and Indonesian.

The “W” stands for “women”. Chaser Game W is a spin-off of Chaser Game, a previous manga and live-action drama about a male game developer; it shares a setting but not much else with the prior work. The subtitle, “My Evil Boss is My Ex-Girlfriend”, states the premise: 27-year-old Harumoto Itsuki is a closeted lesbian working as a team lead for a game development firm. One day she finds that her girlfriend from university, Hayashi Fuyu, has returned to Japan as the representative of a Chinese company looking to contract with Itsuki’s firm to create a game adaptation of a yuri(ish) manga (or manhua?). Unfortunately, Fuyu has brought with her an older husband, a young daughter, and a vengeful attitude — the result of Itsuki breaking up with Fuyu in college to (apparently) pursue a boyfriend.

Being a yuri production this state of affairs can’t continue unchanged, of course, so the show finds various (and at times contrived) ways to throw Fuyu and Itsuki together and encourage them to re-kindle their relationship. However, corporate intrigues and the demands on Fuyu as a wife and mother threaten to derail it once more. Nakamura Yurika does an excellent job portraying Fuyu’s transition from office terror to a woman approaching her breaking point, while former idol Sugai Yūka acquits herself well in the less demanding role of Itsuki. The two also have good chemistry as partners in romance, although some viewers may bemoan the relative lack of kisses and other physical affection. I should also mention Kurotani Tomoka as Ro Asami, an older corporate manager who takes over the villainess role midway and does a bang-up job of it — although her motivation when revealed proves to be more than a bit clichéd.

Other notes: Beyond the three characters mentioned above, the others in the game development team are also women, while the men are all side characters, ranging from innocent and even sympathetic bystanders (Fuyu’s husband) to sexist buffoons (a character designer himself caricatured). The series finds multiple occasions to favorably portray Japanese work practices and social mores as more relaxed and tolerant than those of China, something I found quite amusing given Japan’s reputation in the West as a land of overworked employees and conservative attitudes. Finally, the epilogue, which occurs after a time skip, gives viewers a happy ending, but I found it a bit rushed and hand-wavy. I would almost have preferred something more bittersweet as being more in keeping with the show’s relative realism about being a lesbian in Japan (or, worse, China).

Ratings:

Story: 7

Characters: 8

Production: 7 (it has its cheesy moments, most notably in a coming out scene that’s accompanied by sound and lighting effects more appropriate to a Gothic horror movie)

Service: 3 (a fairly tame bedroom scene)

LGBTQ: 7 (both Itsuki and Fuyu are explicitly lesbian, although Itsuki is initially closeted and Fuyu entered into a heterosexual marriage due to family pressure)

Overall: 7

Chaser Game W is well worth watching if you’re a GagaOOLala premium subscriber, and worth checking out during a free trial period if you’re not. GagaOOLala has recently established itself as _the_ place to go for current Japanese live-action BL series; perhaps Chaser Game W is a harbinger of an increased GagaOOLala focus on Japanese live-action yuri as well.

You can watch the official GagaOOLala trailer for the show. GagaOOLala also released several scenes from the show on Youtube; spoiler warnings for all these, but especially the second:

Fuyu in vengeful mode

Fuyu’s backstory

Reminiscing about their past

A contrived excuse for wedding cosplay

A romantic moment





Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna, Live-Action Drama, Season 2

March 1st, 2024

Two woman stand outside, holding sandwiches. in front of a background of gingko trees.If you happen to catch me grinning today, it’s only because last night the second season of live-action drama of Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna wrapped up. Goodness, this is such a wholesome series. It makes me want to hug everybody in it.

As with Season 1, Higa Manami as Nomoto Yuki and Nishino Emi as Kasuga Totoko, are outstanding. They just play those parts so perfectly that it seems like they have always been those people. Nomoto wears her emotions openly, and Kasuga has little affect, which makes her occasional smile just that much more precious.

In this season we also get Sakurazaka 46 member Fujiyoshi Natsuzu as Nagumo Sena, the young woman who moves into the apartment between Kasuga and Nomoto. Her low-energy character ends up changing the older women’s lives, and they change hers. Also added to the cast is Tomosaka Rie, who is, I think, the very first actress whose name I became familiar with years ago, when she starred in Kimi ga Oshietekureta-koto, about a woman with autism. She plays Yakko, Nomoto’s net friend with whome she discusses topics of sexuality and queer life.

The live action drama remixes some of the manga, so that by the end of this series, we are all but caught up on the 5th volume of the manga (which I reviewed yesterday here on Okazu.) Nagumo begins to address her illness, Kasuga and Nomoto move forward a little with physical intimacy. The finale of this series even includes a kiss which was less bad than most other kisses in Japanese dramas. (Please, J-Drama people, hire someone to teach people to kiss on TV.) The usual slow painfulness of the kiss scene worked for this particular couple as they negotiate consent and intimacy.

There are a few departures from the manga worth noting, because they are very good. At work, Nomoto is offered a project that takes her out of the data entry pool into a team environment. It’s a subtle touch and isn’t presented as “zOMG,” just as, well, a professional development opportunity. I love how that becomes part of the story, and we can see that she and her colleague Sayama really grab on to it. Which leads me to Sayama. In the manga, Nomoto does talk honestly with Sayama, but we don’t see that much more of her. Here, she becomes a regular confidant and work friend to Nomoto. They share dating stories and, crucially, when Sayama goes on rant about how marriage shouldn’t have to be a life goal, she comes back to Nomoto to apologize for not thinking about how Nomoto can’t get married. I want to offer my undying appreciation to screenplay writer Yamada Yuri, who had Sayama say something like, “And why not? It’s ridiculous that gay people can’t get married in Japan.” in that moment. Bless you.

Equally, Kasuga gets an outside character to interact with, Fujita, a middle-aged woman who works at one of the stores Kasuga delivers to. Fujita is divorcing her husband and it gives Kasuga pause to think about how relationships end sometimes. Given her own relationship with her family, it’s an excellent release valve for her to see that it doesn’t have to be the way it was for her mother. And again, the screenplay absolute NAILS the moment when Fujita says she’s read to start her second, no, third life.” I though that a fantastic line. 

In the manga, these interactions are less important, but here, they give Nomoto and Kasuga a richer depth to their “society,” the circle of people with whom one has regular contact and conversation. I’ve talked at length about how important this is for the ideation of female leads, when so many are relegated to speaking only with the romantic partner of the story. These women, like the characters of Amayo no Tsuki, have society. This is the final criterium that sets an amazing story apart from a very good one. And when it is missing, I feel it keenly. This series takes such pains to make sure we understand that the characters’ lives are full and real.

Ultimately, this evening drama has probably put real LGBTQ+ issues in front of more Japanese people than any efforts in activism, or literature. And it’s done so with sensitivity, kindness and a genuine love of food that not only makes me hungry, has actually inspired my wife and I to make several Japanese meals recently. ^_^ The first episode opens with oyakodon, a chicken and egg over rice dish that we had the same night we watched that first episode. Nomoto and Kasuga made cream stew look so appealing that we ran out a few weeks later to get some rue blocks for a cream stew of our own. With carrots, onion, broccoli and chicken it ended up much like the filling for a pot pie.  Very warm and tasty. ^_^ Oh, and let’s not forget anko butter toast. That was really fun, as well.

As live-action adaptations of manga go, Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna is one of the best I’ve ever seen. It does not change or shy away from uncomfortable issues. When it takes a slightly reductive tack on things like systemic homophobia, or Nagumo’s eating disorder, the series is not dismissive, it’s focusing on the power of having allies, and support.  After all, this is a feel-good evening drama, not an exposé. And, let me tell, you, feel-good is something this series does well. People acknowledge each other’s trials without victim blaming, they support each other and they make gigantic cream crab croquettes. It’s quite wonderful.

I’m very thankful to everyone who has worked on this series, staff and actors and to the advisor to the series on LGBTQ+ issues. And to NHK for making it available both on their main channel and on NHK Plus, which is still the most annoying system, but I get to watch it, so yay! And to whichever genius thought to add the recipes for each episode to the website. Kudos to you, my friend.

Ratings:

Overall – 10

What a terrific series. I sincerely hope someone will license this for an EN release, because the world needs a series about women loving themselves, loving each other and loving food.

 





Movies On A Plane (Like ‘Snakes On A Plane,’ But It Doesn’t Really Work)

December 17th, 2023

Even before the pandemic, I rarely went to the theater to see movies. I know many people feel it is the only way to truly enjoy a movie. For me – a person who does not love movies all that much in the first place – it is an inconvenient way to not enjoy a movie. Theaters are too cold, the seat are always uncomfortable  (more so now that we are paying more to sit in worn, broken recliners all the time) the movies are, without exception too loud for the space and nothing on the screen needs to be that big, as directors keep choosing to get so close up that I can see nose hairs.

Streaming is fine for me, but again, I don’t really remember to watch movies for months and months, so the one time I catch up on all my movie watching is when I am on a plane. Sure I could read. But watching a movie on a teeny, poor quality screen, often without sound because I don’t bother plugging in my headphones, stuck in a metal shell flying above the earth, is about how I like watching movies. ^_^

I watched 4 movies on the way to Japan. Links to Amazon Prime, but they do stream elsewhere.

Barbie – I loved it. I loved that it was so nuanced and thoughtful. I cried a few times – not just when America Ferrera deprogrammed Barbies with the reality of being a woman. Will Farrell being a send-up of the kind of role he takes so often – the hyper enthusiastic bad guy who just wants to destroy fun things – was outstanding and Ryan Gosling as Ken was, honestly, perfect. But Margot Robbie. Holy shit. She was Barbie. Yes, Barbie was a terrific feminist movie, with some great things layered in. Sasha’s disdain for Barbie felt really real, mirroring the disappointment I have always felt about Barbie during my lifetime. Dream House, Party Van…but she hates math, tee. fucking. hee. (Yes, she’s been updated many times, but that one stung.) Now she’s a fashion icon into which Frida Kahlo has been made and all I can say to that is…Sappho on a radical cracker…no.

So Sasha spoke for me. I’ll never buy a Barbie, but Greta Gerwig took the story to some amazing places. Rhea Perlman as Ruth Handler was what had me in tears.  And her final note that Kens really need to work on their own insecurities was, I thought, spot on.

10/10

Blue Beetle – It was a decent superhero movie. Xolo Maridueña, whom I know only from Cobra Kai, was great as Jaime Reyes. The story was a great underdog hero tale, the love interest was a boring handwave that had to happen to make things work. The underlying systemic racism and oppression was softened a lot so that if you were exceptionally clueless you could mostly ignore it, something all mainstream movies and TV do which actually annoys me. What’s left hurts people who have lived through it, and is barely noticeable by those who haven’t.

I never watched the cartoon – it hit just when I didn’t have access to broadcast media. So this was my first experience with the character. He seemed like a DC attempt at a Spiderman. It was a fun movie, needed some popcorn and comfier chair.

8/10

 

A Haunting in Venice – I am a huge Hercule Poirot fan and, for so many Poirot fans, the problem with anyone attempting playing Poirot is that David Suchet WAS Poirot and everyone else fails. Kenneth Branagh has a tendency to play Kenneth Branagh, so this movie was definitely Kenneth Branagh playing Poirot. It was atmospheric – the atmosphere was literally a character in the story. Tina Fey as Ariadne Oliver was outstanding – I know that because, until just a moment ago, I had no idea Tina Fey played Ariadne Oliver. She just *was* Ariadne Oliver in much the way Zoë Wanamaker was in Suchet’s version.  And Michelle Yeoh took what was a microscopic role and did amazing things with it. It was just her acting and boy howdy, did she act.

The mystery felt cobbled together, but was a solid bit of acting by all involved. I would probably watch this again if it were on and I wasn’t watching anything else.

7/10

 

Encanto – I have, for a number of reasons, watched Disney’s Coco like 4 times and I still don’t hate it, which is remarkable, because I definitely do not like Disney. A friend of mine loves Disney and musicals and absolutely raved about Encanto, so I thought, sure, why not? Well, it does a way better job of dealing with generational trauma than Blue Beetle, but in a lot of ways is kind of the same movie, from a different angle.

The animation was excellent. So good, I have to warn you all – the facial expressions are starting to look very real and when Disney starts making deepfakes for law enforcement, we are fucked. No joke, that they choose to make doll-faces on their characters is a relief, because if they went for human looking faces, there’d be almost no uncanny alley.

The music was sticky and fine. “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” is definitely the showstopper, but Isabela’s empowering herself was my favorite scene. Luisa’s crisis was powerful, as well. Two excellent scenes that don’t get the attention they deserve. But…there is a flaw in the story that I cannot forgive. Dolores. She has super-hearing and is described as being able to hear pins drop a mile away….but she cannot hear something (giant spoiler) vastly louder (giant spoiler) close by (giant spoiler)? This is a huge, unforgivable plot hole. Her character is also a tattle-tale. For a woman who hears secrets she has to know aren’t hers to share, she sure is a blabbermouth. Also, how does she not know the other main secret, since Abuela talks to herself, the house and her late husband out loud all the time. Sigh.

7/10

On the way home I watched two movies. I should have opted for a third but these were not good and wore me out.

Aquaman – Jason Momoa is lovely. Everything else about that movie was a comic book done by someone who knows what comic books are, but not how to write them. I kept falling asleep watching this. It’s pretty, but meaningless. Nice to see Nicole Kidman in it though. Patrick Wilson as King Orm kept making me think of Judson Scott.  Watch cool clips on Youtube, skip the movie.

4/10

Knights Of The Zodiac – While in Tokyo, the wife and I visited the Tamashii Nations store in Akihabara where the AKB48 cafe and the Gundam Cafe used to be. It was there, we were there, why not.  They had a huge exhibit of Saint Seiya figurines which was impressive. No pics allowed, but the wife got me and Athena.

I have never seen any Saint Seiya, except for one music video back in 2002 or so, set to the Apotheosis remix of Carl Orff’s O Fortuna that has lived rent free in my head since. ^_^ (This may well be my favorite sentence I have ever written.)

So I decided to give Knights of the Zodiac a try.  It was…okay. Less bad than Aquaman, and, as I read the Wikipedia of the series, slightly less incoherent than the actual manga. Also Sean Bean. So that was nice. Mackenyu, who also played Zorro in the wonderful One Piece live-action series (seriously, speaking as a longtime One Piece fan, it was fantastic. Highly recommended.) played Seiya. He brought an intensity to the role that (having read the synoposis, so now I am an expert) suits it well.

I thought the story as presented was silly. Sadly everything is not ending, so telling me that x person will destroy everything, lowers the stakes considerably for me as a viewer. Personal loss is much more powerful than “the earth will be destroyed!” I was deeply disappointed that we did not see many other Knights. I was kind of hoping that we’d get a group armor shot. Oh well. I don’t know if a fan should watch this, because it definitely has nothing to do with the actual manga story, but let me know if you are and how you felt about it.

5/10

I’m mostly caught up now on movies. Guess it’s time to actually look to see what’s on Netflix. ^_^

 





Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu Live-Action (推しが武道館いってくれたら死ぬ)

September 27th, 2023

For various reasons I have spent the last few weeks playing catch-up with everything I have meant to watch and read and listen to but never got around to. At the behest of folks on the Okazu Discord, I *finally* watched Sound Euphonium all the way through and Sean Gaffney suggested that, but for one episode, I might find Management of a Novice Alchemist worth a try. Why is Ep. 9 always the absolute worst? I’m looking at you, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha.

And, finally, spurred on by my recent read of Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu, Volume 9, I finally managed to sit down and watch all ten episodes of the Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu Live-Action series (推しが武道館いってくれたら死ぬ).  And wow do I have some opinions about it. ^_^

First of all, the acting was really quite excellent. Matsumura Sayuri as Eripyo was outstanding. In all her pathetic  and inappropriate enthusiasm, she was absolutely perfect.  Jitsukata Takao as Kumasa and Toyota Yudai as Motoi were likewise absolutely spot-on for their roles. If you’ve been following this series, you’ll know that Kumasa is very much our otaku godfather and mentor. He’s balanced and wise and deeply moved. Motoi is a fuckup that I am never going to like, but that’s pretty much the point. LOL Motoi’s sister Reina is so normal and nice in comparison.

The members of ChamJam are, likewise, absolutely fantastic in their roles. Like the manga, the best scenes are those with the members and their relationships. While the story centers Eripyo’s obsession with back-row member Maina, the slow building relationship between Yumeri and Maki is really quite sweet.

It’s hard for me to not see the idol ecosystem as an non-sexual form of human trafficking and the bits where the otaku bankrupt themselves to “support” their favorites will always make me angry – especially when the story positions that behavior as honorable. But slowly, almost as slowly as the manga, the members of ChamJam and their otaku have their worlds widened.  One of the strongest bits of the live-action was to give me a reminder of everyone’s personality and finally, I may be able to remember Yuka’s name now. ^_^;  I don’t know why…but I just keep forgetting her. Maybe that’s why Aya is so annoying, so people remember her. The support Sorane shows leader Reo when she’s feeling pressure was quite nice. And we get a glimpse of Maple Doll, which features the lead in Reo’s former group. As I have repeatedly said in reviews of the manga, the moments spent with the group members, getting to understand them has been the best part of the story.

Ratings for the adaptation, not the story:

Acting – 10
Story – the beginning volumes can be harsh, let’s say 6 at the start and 8 at the end
Characters – 10 Everyone was perfect.
Service – 0
Yuri – Eri x Maina  – an uncomfortable 7  Maki x Yumeri  – a comfortable 5

The live-action picks a solid place to end, thankfully, so my guess is that they did not let Hirao-sensei pick the stopping point. ^_^ We’re left with some hope that Eri and Maina might one day communicate appropriately and that ChamJam will one day be in an even bigger venue….

…which reminds me of the day my wife and I saw a bunch of boy idol groups at a Japanese mall, and all their fans came to shout and wave things at the right times. It was really interesting to watch these not-that-popular groups performing. We did not buy any CDs, although we considered getting one song that wasn’t bad.

This series is streaming on Hulu Japan, if you have access. I wish Crunchyroll would pick it up, since they have the anime (via their Funimation merger.) I think I’ll write them and ask.