into the void

Yukan Club (Leisure Club)! 有閑倶楽部! Despite BADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD reviews from certain trusted Jdrama blog sites, I TOTALLYYYYY enjoyed this film!!!!

Hahahahaha...

First, I think viewers who would not like this film are those that take the series too seriously or those who are looking who look for deeper things in films.

C'mon!!!!!! Watch it for the laughs!! Like you would an anime!! Forget the realism! Forget the plotline even!! I really really really loved this series because it was utterly HILARIOUS!

I totally enjoyed this series! Not only did each episode really made me laugh, I didn't think the storyline or the plot was bad at all even... Actually, it's really like reading a live-action manga. There wasn't much of a plot to follow because the plots are pretty much episodic but it's just hillarious how the gang go around trying to discover and solve each episode's mystery/situation! The characters are utterly hillarious and to me, that's what makes this series really fun to watch.

I would totally recommend it to people who like..... COMEDY. It's not slapstick... it's just.... very..... JAPANESE! hahaha...

AND If you're wondering... NO. I AM NOT A KAT-TUN FAN (I'm a LUNKHEAD FAN YO). BUT YES! I totally love this series!

NOW to the story itself!!!


STORYLINE/CHARACTERS:

Yukan Club series is adapted from the manga of the same name. This series is about 6 rich kids who together formed the Yukan Club to solve mysteries in each episode. The group consists of three guys and three girls. It seems that the characters are quite different from the manga. Also, actually, part of the premise sounds like Ouran Host Club... But I think the adaptation is the other way round... That is, Ouran was adapted from this series.. since Yukan club is actually a series from the 1990s.


The lead character of this series is Miroku (played by Akanishi Jin of the JE group Kat-Tun) who is the son of the police commisioner (a character that appears in every episode too). And well, yeah, he's from Kat-Tun so his character is the typical bad-boy street-smart cool but good-hearted and funny and sensitive type of character (i bet you there is a name for it).



Then there is Seishiro (played by Yokoyuma Yu from the JE group Janjani8) who is the heir to a hospital empire and trained in martial arts. His character is also the typical calculative cunning genius who comes up with solutions for the group in most episodes.



The other male character is Bidou (played by Taguchi Junnosuke of Kat-Tun also) who is half japanese, son of the sweedish ambassador. He is the playboy and femine-male character of the group, but next to Yuri, he's utterly hillarious!!! I like this character and I thought Taguchi-san really played this role very well!!! He is also the TOTAL playboy character in this series.



As for the girls, first, there is Yuri ... I'm not sure if she's the lead female (she's suppose to be the lead character in the manga version).. but anyway, she's the daughter of a world-renowned but down-to-earth president of the Kenbishi Business. She LOVES to eat, can kick ass and hands down is the most hillarious and enthusiastic and crazy character in this whole series!!!!



Then there is Noriko who is the traditional-japanese character of this series. Her father is a famous japanese painter and her mother is from a tradition tea ceremony family. She often spots a kimono!!! And she utterly HATES MEN!!!! (except in episode 6 where she encounters a really really sweet romance with a ruffian boy!! sooo cute~~~!)



Last but not least, there is the stunning beauty of the group, Karen, who is the daugther of a rich jewel dealer. Her aim is to marry into richness!! hahaha..


MY NIJU YEN:

I really really like Yuri!! She's just damn hillarious!!!! I think if the show was just Miroku, Seishiro, Noriko and Karen alone, it would not be a comedy at all... But Yuri and also Bidou REALLY REALLY spice things up and make it damnnnn damnnn funny!!!
I guess I like Yuri the most because she's the least "female". She loveeess to eat, she is CRAZY, she can kick ass and her reactions are just damn funny!!!!!!!!!
She's played by Minami who is half french... and I thought Minami-san did a GREAT job with this character!!!



Episode 4!!!
This episode is about an 80-year-old miser Kino who falls in love with Bidou. She dies and comes to haunt Bidou to bring him to the after life with her.
I love this episode because it's UTTERLY damn hillarious!!!! Especially the first half where Bidou totally laments his situation while the whole group takes the opportunity to laugh at his misery!! hahahaha


Episode 8!!!
This episode is about Miroku's parents. His father has to deal with an exploding flower bomb in his hand sent to him by an angered okama while trying to make it to an appointment with his wife or else his wife will divorce him!! And to top it up he has to deal with a SEVERE CASE of diarrhea!!
I love this episode because the part where the three boys cross dressed as girls is ABSOLUTELY hillarious!!! hahahahaha... Especially Miroku when he sucks it up and grudgingly plays along clinging to his father and calling him "ojichama" then he almost pukes saying it hahahahaha.... Priceless!!!!
(I bet there were like thousands of Kat-Tun fangirls passing out from watching this scene!! hahahaah... Dude, I'd die if I ever see Yoshitaro in such scene... I'll NOT die from thrill but die from UTTER SHOCK!!! Please.... DON'T LET THIS EVER HAPPEN.)


Episode 9:
Yuri episode!!!!! Minami did a great job in this episode!!!
Yuri gets possessed by a ghost that wants revenge against a teacher at the school!
And I LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE the part where a possessed Yuri tries to kill the teacher with a vase and Miroku grabs her and Bidou takes the vase away from her... Then the teacher questions them and Bidou starts an exercise routine dance with the vase!! DAMN FUNNY YO!!!!


But most of all... I really like this episode coz it had alot of Miroku and Yuri scenes!! ^___^ which leads me to the next category...



I think they're really cute together... They are childhood friends (assuming this because their fathers are very close childhood friends), and they hang out with each other outside of the club (this isn't shown but implied). Also in the manga, it seems that they belong to a Rock club together too.

Also, I think like in a majority of the episodes they're usually shown together... They have alot of childish arguments and playful fights with each other (more than with the other characters...), she'd be the one disturbing him the most, they always sit next to each other in classes (all three class scenes), he also usually disturbs her too. Also, sometimes when the scene is focusing on something or someone else, the both of them might be talking with each other or fighting with each other in the background. So, usually little things like that kinda show that they might be closer to each other than they are to the others (of opposite sex) in the club.
Also, besides their fathers being childhood buddies, when Miroku's mom came to visit, she specially bought an eiffel tower cookie/bread gift for her (after that you can see Miroku distrubing Yuri over the bread in the background).

I think they're really cute together!!


This scene from Episode 9 is really cute!!!!! They go "SOU KAAAAA??!!" together... Soooo cute~~~!! of course Miroku was totally insulting her there for her shallowness hahahaha!! so cute~!! hahaha


This scene was from episode 7... It was quite cute because Miroku suddenly realized that Yuri ate his cake and he questions her and she denies it then they start fighting over cake hahaha... so cute...

The starting of Episode two was really cute too... Miroku was playing with a toy helicopter and was ready to shoot a can when Yuri kicked the can away and he screamed "YURI!!! BAKA!!!!" hahahaha damn cute~



This is from episode 7 and it was really cute too!! After Karen leaves to go on her date with the prince, they wave her goodbye and then they start slapping each other's hands!! So cute!! haha


WOO!! YEAH!! Hold her more!! hehehehehe
Ok... this scene is not as cute as the look of the scene hahaha but I love it because he was holding her!!! ^___^;;... Actually she was possesed by a ghost and fighting to get free but he was holding her back... Then his father came along and asked them what they were doing..... then his father laughed and thought they were both dating... hahahaha... so cute~~~!! I WISH THEY WERE!!!


But anyway.... There were no romance really developed in the series (nor in the manga, it seems...) Although, definitely there was some "attraction" thing suggested between Seishiro and Noriko who are also childhood friends. I think the manga also has abit on Miroku and Yuri but barely.


ANYWAY! It was a great series and I really enjoyed every episode!! And it's a good series to rewatch again and again!!! Because it's all just for laughs!!!


CURRENTLY, now, I am watching Tantei Gakuen Q! It's farrrrrrrrrrr from the comedic Yukan Club but it's a good mystery detective series!!

I just realized it but I've actually seen the lead actor for this series, Kamiki Ryunosuke, on some TV variety program when I was in Japan back in December... NO WONDER HE LOOKED SO FAMILIAR!!!!

Well.... ok... the song didn't exactly say that, but didn't it imply that watching TV burns your bright future?!?!?!

nevertheless....

I really want to check out these jdrama series.... I really kawtow to those people whose blogs I've visited. How on earth did they manage to watch so many series =______=

Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (Hani Kimi)
(Ashiya Mizuki, a Japanese girl in the U.S. who one day sees the young athlete Sano Izumi (Oguri) compete in the high jump on television. She begins to idolize him, and decides to move to Japan to attend the same school as him. However, Izumi goes to an all-boys school, so Mizuki disguises herself as a boy to achieve her dream of being with her idol.)

Hmmm... I came across the manga version of this series many years ago... but I wasn't attracted to read the manga... I don't really like shoujo mangas that much... But somehow, this is one of the series that sounds like it's a good watch as a live action... So i really want to buy this series from somewhere.... I hate torrenting (IT'S SLOW!!!)


Tokyo Friends (the series and the movie)
(Otsuka Ai plays the character of a small town girl who goes to Tokyo chasing after her dream... On arrival, she finds a job as a waitress in a restaurant and meets guitarist Ryuuji Shintani. Ryuuji likes her voice and invites her to join his band as the vocalist, The Survival Company.
ANDDDD the character comes from SHIKOKU!! muahahahah Yoshitaroooo~~~~~)

I saw the preview of this series on Astro, actually... And I really liked the songs on it... So i downloaded the OST... But I've been unable to download the series... The movie is for sale but for some reason, the series is not.. It's only 5 episodes too!


Eli, Eli, Lema Sabachthani (movie)
(A rich millionaire hires a detective to find a cure for the “Lemming Syndrome,” as his only grandchild is stricken with the disease. The detective learns that the live music played by the band Stepin Fetchit may have the innate ability to cure people stricken with the disease. Now the grandfather, detective and the granddaughter travel to find the musicians and cure the granddaughter of Lemming Syndrome.)

Hmm... I came across this movie just today while i was randomly browsing through ebay... I thought it was really interesting and if I can find a way to watch this relatively cheaply, I'd love to check it out.


Orange Days (Series)
(One day, Kai Yuuki meets a girl who is playing violin in campus. She is Sae Hagio. In marked contrast to her beautiful tone and attractive looks, her personality is somewhat impertinent. And to top it off, she communicates through very vulgar sign language. Four years ago, she lost the most important thing for a violinist - her hearing.)

I saw the DVD for sale the other day at Speedy video... for SIXTY BUCKS... so i decided to download it... It's almost done... then my comp got hit by a virus, so i have suspended all downloading activity... But would like to check it out ^__^



Besides those, Aida has asked me to check out Hana Yori Dango (Meteor Garden). Hmmm... Like Hana Kimi, I've known about the series for awhile but I've never checked it out... Maybe it's too shoujo??? hahahahahahaha.... Anyway... it's TWO seasons.. so let's see how it goes.

I WOULD like to check out Hana Yori and Hana Kimi... For some reason, there are some shoujo series that I think would be nice to be watch as a live action and not the manga version or anime... I guess... that's because shoujo series can get too sickeningly sweet sometimes!! hahahaha... and the drawing and expressions on Anime and Manga can really overload it! hahahaha... I dunno!! I suppose!! hahaha....

Anyway.... I'm VERY picky with entertainment (except music I guess)... Its always the same type of books, the same genre of music, the same themed animes, etc etc... I don't like anything that's too dramatic and sad (which leaves out 99.9999999% of all j/k/t dramas hahaha)... Actually I prefer watching comedies or mystery series for japanese movies and dramas (I like those food type of shows the best!!! It's always wacky and interesting!!), I like action/adventure with a little mix of romance for animes, I like BRAINLESS ACTION FLICKS! for Hollywood movies, and as for books... it really depends on my mood hahaha... but nothing drama!!! LOOONGGGGG and BOOORING...


I am currently watching:

Yu Yu Hakusho (anime)
YEAH.... FINALLY..... wanted to watch this like YEARSSS ago... to hell with downloading.. the entire 112 episodes was onsale for only 50 bucks the other day. It's okay... abit too much repetitive fighting.......... like pokemon style of fighting hahahahahahaha

Busou Renkin (anime)
Was also on sale!! only 17 bucks!!! Anyway, i did not know (or kinda forgot) that the manga of this series is by Nobuhiro Watsuki!!!! The creator of Rurouni Kenshin!! But anyway, this story is very different from Kenshin.... Still good though!

Food Detective 2 (series)
Yeappppp I told you I like food japanese drama... So have been watching this one... Just still till ep3, though... Kinda long, 1 hour each episode!! hahaha


Currently Reading:

Inuyasha
PLEASE ENDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!! Looks like the end is NEAR!! REALLY NEAR!!! But dude... it's Inuyasha and Takahashi Rumiko!! So we better keep our fingers crossed yo!!

Gakuen Alice
DUDE, this series KICKS ASS! PERIOD. DUDE. KICKS ASS!! It might LOOK elementary school but dude!! The story is AWESOME!!


And NO, my Japanese is NOT improving one bit!!! =_______=
But well, at least I can understand more of Yu Yu Hakusho in Japanese when then subbing is COMPLETELY wrong and doesn't make sense...


There goes my "bright" future, Isshiki-san.... *sigh*