(Source: madelinen)
A REVIEW BY KANI
Plot: High School of the Dead is about a group of high school students who one day has to fight off hungry flesh eating zombies at their school, only to find out later that this zombie issue is not only occurring in their school but around the world as well. The story follows five students and a nurse’s fight for survival to find the whereabouts of their family and loved ones.
I like zombie genres, specifically horror genres in general, so it’s not much of a surprise that I enjoyed this anime. It’s fast pace, filled with gore and action that will hardly bore the hell out of you.
The only thing that really annoyed me was the excessive ecchi and nudity scenes of the female characters. To be exact, episode 6 was a nauseous and even to the point of me fast-forwarding some parts. I thought those scenes were unnecessary and the anime would have done fine without them, but seeing as the original manga author works in the hentai business, audience of High School of the Dead ended up having a taste of hentai-like moments. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a girl that I don’t like watching girls getting grope by perverted guys, but do guys in general think these horny scenes were needed in this specific anime? I don’t know, just askin’.
Characters: I thought all the 6 characters that the story mainly focuses on is unique and strong. I’m glad they’re not screaming around and doing something stupid that will put others’ life at risk. When I watch zombie movies, those kind of characters pisses me off and I just want to shout at the TV/computer screen. Anyway, back to the anime. Every character has their strong point and contributes to the survival of the team. There are students who are physically strong. There is a guy who is knowledgeable in weapons usage, specifically guns. There is a girl who’s smart. There is a nurse who can transport you from one place to another. A dream team, right? If only there weren’t so many undie flashes and nipple-less boobies flying around to distract others, I would’ve said it’s the perfect dream team.
Animation: I thought the animation was very good. As High School of the Dead does fall in the horror genre, there were a lot of dark colors usage. Some scenic scenes looked realistic and the detailing of the zombies were quite good.
Sound: The voice actors and actresses did an excellent job. They’re portrayal of fear and anger and sadness was convincing and done very well.
The music were also great. I really like their opening theme High School of the Dead by Kisida Kyodan & The Akeboshi Rockets. I don’t know why, but I think rock music works well with anything zombie. I also like the main ending theme by Maon Kurosaki, Kimi to Taiyou ga Shinda Hi. There were also more awesome ending songs later in the anime by Maon Kurosak.
Overall: High School of the Dead is a great zombie thriller and I’d recommend it. The only downfall of the whole anime are the pointless hentai-like moments. Just because the manga author did some previous hentai works doesn’t mean that he has to give High School of the Dead all those sexual moments in order to get an audience. I think this anime would have still gotten a good amount of fans and viewers without all of that. Anyhow, the anime ended at only 12 episodes and they haven’t closed some loose ends yet AND the ending pretty much is a cliffhanger so I’m hoping there’s a season 2 in the making.
A REVIEW BY KANI
If I were to describe My Girlfriend is a Gumiho in just one word, it’ll have to be cute. Seriously, it’s one of the cutest Kdrama I’ve seen in quite a while. Let, me rephrase that: It’s the cutest Kdrama I’ve seen yet! Sorry, I’m going to be using the word “cute” a lot in this review.
The storyline is somewhat unique, falling into the fantasy-romcom genre. I said “somewhat” because it has the whole “love contract” thing going on here and I’ve seen a lot of similar dramas to that so it’s not that unique. The pace is also fast with lots of cute and funny moments that just leaves me laughing and smiling. Who doesn’t love a happy and bright drama?! Anyway, as it is a fantasy drama, there were a few CGI scenes. The computer graphics were not at the level of movie CGI, but definitely good enough for TV. I was just in awe with the scene where Miho first revealed here nine tails to Daewoong in the gym. The CGI where the tails sprouted out from behind here made the scene beautifully enchanting.
The main reason I was so glued to this drama was because of the two main protagonists, Lee Seung Gi and Shin Min Ah. The chemistry between them are undeniably cute and makes you rooting for them to be together even if you do sympathize the supporting actor, a.k.a. guy who won’t get the girl in the end (though I didn’t feel sorry for him at all). Even though they’re lovey-dovey and cute and you just want to give them both a super huge hug, there were a few scenes where you heart just breaks seeing them sad and hurt, such an example was when Daewoong left Miho on the cruise ship.
For five years now, I knew Lee Seung Gi has always been a talented singer but I never knew he was a talented actor as well. My Girlfriend is a Gumiho introduced me to a whole new side of him I’ve never seen besides his music videos. I’m definitely looking for more dramas [and/or movies] coming from him in the near future. And GOD I just love his smile. I think I can stare at him smiling for hours!
Shin Min Ah is such a beautiful and adorable and sexy actress. I haven’t seen her in a drama since 2005’s A Love to Kill with Rain (Bi). I have seen a lot of her movies but it’s refreshing seeing her in something not so serious. She made here character of a creature living and learning and adjusting in the human world look so natural with a touch of charm and humor. She didn’t exaggerated her character to a point where the audience will want to turn of their TV/computer screen. She’s a good actress so her serious scenes were flawless as well. Her smile, like Seung Gi, just makes me so jealous…makes me want to pinch her cheeks. And to top that, she has adorable dimples! Not is this the cutest Kdrama I’ve seen, but it also has the couple with the cutest smiles ever.
The supporting casts did a great job. I’m just going to mention a few of the characters here. For the older couple, I love watching their story because they add to the many laughs and entertainment.
I knew No Min Woo was the former drummer of the rock band The TRAX and left to pursue an acting career, but this is my first time watching something from him. I can’t really say much about him because there’s not really much to say besides the fact that he’s such a pretty man. I did feel sad for his character, Dong Joo, but not sorry because Dong Joo was a bit mean and Daewoong won me over first.
Park Soo Jin plays the “other girl”. She has the bitchy look that is totally perfect for her role here. Her character, Hye In, is mean and straight-forward but to my surprise she wasn’t as desperate as I thought she’d be. I didn’t hate her to an extent as I did with similar characters from other dramas.
There were also guest appearances from popular celebrities. You’re Beautiful’s Park Shin Hye and Lee Hongki were some of the few who made a special appearance. Hongki actually played his You’re Beautiful role, Jeremy, in My Girlfriend is a Gumiho. That’s a scene to look forward to.
The music were very good. My favorite track would have to be Lee Sun Hee’s Fox Rain. It’s such a gorgeous song. Whenever the song comes on, I would usually sing along to the doo-bee-doo-ra-pba parts. I also love the other renditions of this song. As Lee Seung Gi is a singer and acts in here, I wasn’t surprise at all that he sung songs for the drama too.
Wrapping it up, I’d totally recommend this drama. Episodes 13 to 15 are rather slow and repetitive and the drama has a few flaws but the overall drama will leave you entertain. Be prepared to go oogly-googly when watching the adorable Daewoong and Miho!
A REVIEW BY KANI
I was skeptical at first about watching a remake of You’re Beautiful because it’s only been 2 years since the original aired, but I fought that skeptism and decided to give Ikemen desu ne a try. To my very surprise, I quite enjoyed the remake as much as the original. I thought I was going to compare both versions a lot while watching the remake, but honestly, I don’t even remember much of the original because I only watched it once 2 years ago.
Before I began watching the drama, I read a few reviews. Quite a few of them had really mean comments about AN JELL’s look. I knew about Kis-My-Ft2 and Hey! Say! JUMP before Ikemen desu ne so I was pretty use to them. I guess some of the really big fans of the original drama just couldn’t really take in about the whole idea of another AN JELL. Sure, I admit that the Japanese guys are not as good-looking as the Korean ones but a lot of those comments were immature and unneccessary. “Tamamori Yuta is so ugly compared to Jang Geun Suk”, “Taisuke is way too tanned”, “Hikaru has jacked up teeth”, those were very common comments I came upon. But I think these three guys are not ugly at all. Like the saying goes “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.” Some people also complained that the casts in Ikemen desu ne are way too young compared to You’re Beautiful. FYI, Lee Hongki and Park Shin Hye were 19 years old when You’re Beautiful aired. The Japanese AN JELL casts were already in their 20s.
The storyline is pretty much about a girl who poses as her twin brother and takes his place in an idol band called AN JELL. During her three months there, she encounters a complicated relationship with the guys there. The pace is quite fast with 11 episodes. *Jdramas usually range from 9 to 12 episodes* With just that much, Ikemen desu ne did a very well job of explaining the important stuff.
There were a few changes to the story due to cultural differences. Such an example was the reason behind Mio’s nose problem. In South Korea, plastic surgery of the nose is a lot more popular than in Japan, so in the Japanese version, Mio broke his nose because of a fight and had to get it fixed and healed.
There were also appearances from popular stars such Koda Kumi and Jang Geun Suk. Yes! Jang Geun Suk appeared in this drama. He’s the leader of AN JELL in the Korean version. That episode where he appeared is so funny and cute. Miko was so tranfixed on him while her other three band members just looked on with jealousy. Haha.
OH! There’s a specific scene that I’ve just got to mention. It’s the scene where the real Mio arrives at the airport and one of the reporters [who suspected that it’s a girl in disguise] pulled off the real Mio’s jacket to reveal…*drum rolls*…a guys body! I wonder how the hell they got the actress’s (Takimoto Miori) head on a guys body. It looks so real.
As for the ending, it was really good, maybe some would even say better than the original.
For the acting performances, I think Takimoto Miori did the best job. I thought she portrayed her emotions really well, and she wasn’t as annoying nor stupid as I thought she’d be because Go Mi Nam annoyed the heck out of me. Sorry.The three guys of AN JELL did an okay job. They’re pretty much newbies so I didn’t expect much from them. Yuta may have exaggerated some of his facial expressions, but there will be improvement for him in the future. Taisuke played the quiet-nice guy so I can’t really say much about his acting skills because there really wasn’t much to say. I wished his character, Shu, had a bit more screen time because that way we can actually see that he’s really fighting for Miko’s affection. With the lack of screen time, we just don’t see him have any real connections with the girl he really likes. By the way, his drawing scene with Miko was so cute. Compared to Yuta and Taisuke, I’ve actually seen Hikaru act before. I saw him in Orthros no Inu where he played a badass villain. But here in Ikemen desu ne, he’s the total opposite, portraying the bubbly and bright Yuki. I guess I like Hikaru’s acting more than the other two guys. If he were to play a serious role, he’d be good because he did a great job in his bus scene. Oh, same as Shu, I wished there was more focus on Yuki. As for the supporting casts, they did a fine job as well, though the manager Mabuchi was very annoying.
The music was good. Two of AN JELL’s songs were from the original, and one wasn’t. I didn’t like the Japanese version of “I Will Promise You” because they’re vocals didn’t have much power nor emotions. It just didn’t click for me. I thought Miori did an okay cover of “Without Words” though. I loved the instrumental tracks. They came in at the necessary moment and the string tracks were just so utterly beautiful. Kis-My-Ft2’s “Everybody Go” is the theme song to the drama. I heard the song a few months ago before I watched the drama. It didn’t catch my attention at first listen, but after listening to it repetitively, I really like it.
Overall, Ikemen desu ne is not right there on the top with You’re Beautiful but it definitely is quite very close to it. I think fans of the original should pushed their bias views aside and give Ikemen desu ne a try. Woah, that rhyhmes…lol. Even if you haven’t seen the original, you will definitely enjoy this drama. It’s fast pace and cute and the AN JELL casts are likeable. This drama is a definite watch for Japanese dramas of 2011.
Story: 10/10 | Characters/Acting: 9/10 | Soundtrack: 9/10 | Overall: 9/10
(Source: imnaturallyshy)
yunjaeyah:
And then you start thinking Ren and Shu might dance around in roller skates. ;))
(Source: fujikita)
(Source: weloveikemen, via fujikita)
*drools*
(Source: boysofnippon, via fujikita)
(Source: dustysock, via fujikita)
(Source: myvillageidiots, via fujikita)
(Source: fujikita)
krazi-muzique:
(Source: hipppie-freak, via thankenstein13)
(Source: yusukefever, via thankenstein13)