Anime: Tamako Market

Tamako is a daughter of a mocchi maker, that soft sweet and tender Japanese traditional confection, that is well loved by the people at Rabbit Mountain shopping district. Living an almost carefree and innocent life, until a mysterious bird came into her life. A bird that could talk and is looking for a bride for the prince in their royal court. The series goes into the daily life and grind of her family, friends and members of the shopping district.

Tamako Market is a slice-of-life/ school life anime good for light viewing, with almost no plot twists and a feel good plot surrounding the story.

The characters and their development is well produced throughout the series, with looks and attitudes comparable to Yui,Ui, Ritsu, Azusa and Nodoka from the "K-On" series (so does the character design and art production).

There is an underlying love story that viewers would likely love to see come into fruition, a bit of yuri-love in the beginning, but was concluded early on.

The series also contains a lot of traditional Japanese celebration due to the fact that the family business delves into traditional Japanese culture.

Death Note (2015 live drama adaptation)

 

I just got off an all nighter with the recent episodes of this year's adaptation of the popular series 'Death Note' by Nihon TV, which I incidentally saw the ad at a book store in Chiba with the re-release of the manga.

Now, as someone who read the manga, watched the anime, and all live movie adaptaions by Warner Bros., I think nothing can shock me now, since I know the plot and story inside out. But a sudden surge from the net in an uproar because they cast Near as a girl, got me thinking... maybe this is to renew all that yaoi fan art stuff that burst through the seams in its hayday.

Then, upon seeing the trailer ad, I became curious.

And boy, I was wrong.

Its like a 'what if' universe of the original series, with all the twists and turns but still satisfactorily teis in back to the main plot. As soon as you relax and think 'Oh boy, this is gonna happen' (because you know the series already) then, BOOOM you get served a halthy serving of story twist that leaves you wanting more.

As Yagami Light, actor Masataka Kubota has nothing going for him in potraying the series anti-hero. He delivers Light as a traumatized youth with a gloomy outlook , but still kept in check by his college buddies. Unlike the bishonen, ultra intelligent and livin the good life but too stubborn to realize it Light that we know, Kubota brings a certain level of helplessness, gloom and bleak outlook...add that with the past of the character, makes for a more believable roots of the twisted form of justice which is Kira. And as the series progresses, I cant help but notice the transformation of Kubota's face...from a helpless teen, to a paranoid and delusional person absorbed by the power of the Death Note.

Kento Yamazaki gives the familiar 'L' that we all know, but his relationship with Watari (played by Kazuaki Hankai) gets a more comedic turn...at times.

Then there was Near...and her ventreloquist doll Mello (?!?).

Well, at first I said...well, that was a cute potrayal...like a little sister trying to impress her big brother. But it was later apparent that the doll is the personification of her split personality. In episode 4, it shows that Mio Yuki-san was actually providing the voice for the doll, having fights and a scream match between Near and Mello. And as the scene closes, she was laughing manically as screen fades.

I suddenly fell in love with the new Near/Mello character.

It was also refresing to see some of my fave supporting actors in a different light. Like Jiro Sato (Densha Otoko, Jin, Gokusen) and Yutaka Mastushige (Love Call Center, Propose Daisakusen) was quite refreshing.

I can7t wait what twists awaits me on the next episodes.