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Discussing CJK 中日韓 Dramas Available in California


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nchristi Profile
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Re: J-Drama: 川、いつか海へ (Kawa itsuka umi e)


You weren’t alone, Haruspex! Episode Two was really trippy. From Samurai to Shikato Hot Spring... I couldn’t believe I was seeing Watanabe Ken in such a comedy. I haven’t really followed his career all that much, but what I’ve seen he’s always been in a very serious role.

And wasn’t it a perfect line when The Guest was telling Watanabe that the Ryohaku reference was actually to a guy who invited a military commander to his home, only to end up having all of his own family killed as a result? Yes, just the type of inn everybody would love to stay at!

I was really, really impressed with the actor who played the guest (sorry, I’m so poor at remembering names, drat...). I’ve seen him in any number of period military roles but never before as a contemporary character. He was wonderful at playing the serious, white collar worker, even his phone call home to his wife to tell her the bad news--he was fabulous. Then, when he was doing all that dancing in the room with the drunk party goers, wow. He could put down some serious moves, I’ll bet. How versatile. He must be a fun person in real life, too.

It cracked me up just seeing the guest sit in that “hot tub for one” that looked like a tree trunk. He was so perfect in it. And the grand prize. Then the grand prize riding shot gun in the van leaving the inn. (Not to mention when Watanabe first picked him up at the station, put him in the van, then “let me adjust your seat,” wham.)

Question: Why were most of the people in the little town wearing kimonos or traditional clothing? Also, anybody know where this was filmed in Japan? It looks like a really wonderful place to visit.

6/14/2004, 8:42 pm Link to this post Send Email to nchristi   Send PM to nchristi AIM
 
nacho Profile
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Re: J-Drama: 川、いつか海へ (Kawa itsuka umi e)


I agree...I didn't like the first episode, but the second episode was great. It didn't start exactly at 9 pm, so I missed the beginning. Ken Watanabe was great playing a comical husband and a nitwit inn manager. But why did the employees have a change of heart at the end? It didn't explain well. If I ever have the chance to visit Japan, I would like to stay that type of inn. I gotta try the hot springs. Great scenery and sooo relaxing!
6/15/2004, 1:14 am Link to this post Send Email to nacho   Send PM to nacho
 
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Re: J-Drama: 川、いつか海へ (Kawa itsuka umi e)


引用 (quote):

nacho wrote:
But why did the employees have a change of heart at the end? It didn't explain well. If I ever have the chance to visit Japan, I would like to stay that type of inn. I gotta try the hot springs. Great scenery and sooo relaxing!


The employees were sick of Watanabe’s attitude because he was not familiar with how to run an inn but acted like a know-it-all instead of accepting their help and experience. He was arrogant, rude to employees (working them hard but not knowing their names), disrespectful and abusive to his wife, and grossly lazy and irresponsible. So they rebelled against him by “abandoning” their jobs.

Watanabe did a complete turnaround once he had the glowing blue ball experience. He became kind and affectionate to his wife and was determined to work really hard to make a go of the inn.

The old fellow (the clerk who told him he did things wrong) did not want to participate in the job abandonment but threw in the towel when he finally saw that nothing was going to work with Watanabe holding onto his old attitude.

You’ll recall, however, that the main instigator was the van driver (who was probably more arrogant than Watanabe). It seemed as though the other workers sometimes wanted to help but were afraid of the van driver (was he the manager?). Remember when the wife asked where the large broom was and the little guy piped up with the answer, only to have the van driver jump all over him for helping out the wife?

The pivotal point of change for the girls and the old clerk was when Watanabe’s and his wife’s hard work had softened the heart of the guest (Tajima (sp?))--when the wife did the pitiful geisha with the karaoke routine. Watanabe, though trying his hardest, was humbled by his inability to handle everything without the staff and to please the guest.

Tajima's experience at the inn was so woeful that it had gone full circle and become heart warming because of Watanabe's trying so hard to please, yet failing so miserably. Watanabe was broken at that moment.

Remember, the workers were watching all this and they realized that Watanabe had been both humbled and had succeeded in softening the guest. At this point one of the girls did a gesture of lightly “slapping” the van driver’s face and then the girls quickly scurried away from him. (I took that as a gesture that they were leaving the van driver’s side of the job abandonment issue and were going to rally to Watanabe's aid.)

Then when Tajima took over as the “Chief Manager” to calm down the partygoers, the old clerk and the girls were right there to carry on, once again dedicated members of the team.

The final rejection for the van driver was when he was dressed up in the deer suit to entertain the partygoers and everybody ignored him in favor of the incredibly funny “chief manager,” Tajima. (You'll recall that the blue ball glowed in the foreground while the van driver stood there dejectedly, head hung low. Maybe it did its magic on him, too, and he once again humbly rejoined the staff.)

I agree with you on the scenic beauty of that area. I tried this morning to find it on the internet but, not reading Japanese, it's like looking for a needle in a hay stack.

Last edited by nchristi, 6/15/2004, 7:15 pm
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J-Drama: 川、いつか海へ (Kawa itsuka umi e)


Episode 3 was another good one in this series. Not as focused as the last episode (too many storylines being juggled for any real characterization to develop), but still entertaining. Excellent direction really helped with this one (though to be honest, I wouldn't have minded if the whole hour had just been shots of the scenery with maybe the Umidake floating by once in awhile...).

Yanagiba Toshiro plays his usual role to perfection: the slick, slimy bureaucrat/company executive willing to roll over anyone in his way. Koizumi Kyoko seems to have picked up her role in 'Koi wo nan nen sundemasu ka?' right where she left off as a wife/mother married to one man but still thinking about another.

The boy at the center of the story, like most of the other children, was a little stiff, but good direction helped cover that up quite nicely and by the end his performance had improved considerably. He sure can run, too!

Gotta love that scenery! I'd love to be able to track down the Mitsumime (みつみめ) station where the characters arrive at and just walk around that town...

----------
Interesting. Episode 4 will have Kento from 'Watashi no Aozora' show up as part of a Shakespearean troupe performing 'Romeo and Juliet' (with way too old performers in the eponymous roles). I wonder how the Umidake fits into this one...
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Re: J-Drama: 川、いつか海へ (Kawa itsuka umi e)


another great ep., but i missed the first ten minutes again. it brought me memories when i fell in love for the very first time. osamu was mean to shinobu because he liked her. i acted like that. too bad shinobu and koichi's fate was the same as their parents.

the backdrop was great--the first time shinobu and Koichi walked home together, while the sakura showered to the ground they walked on. i also like the scene when the group of men talked about the dam. their head were covered in hood. i can feel their suffering. who was that woman in the bus stop? Does she supposed to respresent something?

the guy who played kento, the principal in sakura, and the main character in diamond girl make an appearance in the next ep.
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Re: J-Drama: 川、いつか海へ (Kawa itsuka umi e)


Ah, I knew I saw Koizumi Kyoko before. (恋を何年休んでますか?)

I liked the episode. I don't think any of the storylines really got resolved... but maybe they didn't have to. And again, beautiful, beautiful scenery.

I'm just glad I'm saving this whole series.


<tech stuff>

The way I make them, my vids are 1500 kbps, xvid avis; they're about an hour, and each vid is about 700 MBs (but definitely less than 700). So if my math is correct...

1 DVD = 4.6 GB
1 GB = 1024 MB

...1 DVD = 4710.4 MB

700 x 6 = 4200 MB

...so yeah. It'll fit on one DVD. Hopefully TiVo doesn't break down again! emoticon

</tech stuff>


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nchristi Profile
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Re: J-Drama: 川、いつか海へ (Kawa itsuka umi e)


Anybody know what happened to tonight’s episode and whether it played at a different time? Or just resuming next Sunday night?

(From tonight’s replacement program I heard “9-11”, “Nippon” and “America” a whole bunch of times. Wonder what the consensus was from the 5 interviewees. ?)

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Re: J-Drama: 川、いつか海へ (Kawa itsuka umi e)


引用 (quote):

nchristi wrote:

Anybody know what happened to tonight’s episode and whether it played at a different time? Or just resuming next Sunday night?

I'm assuming it'll resume next week (not having seen anything to the contrary). They'd been advertising tonight's political interview special for a while.

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lovelessemotion Profile
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Re: J-Drama: 川、いつか海へ (Kawa itsuka umi e)


oh thanks... i just looked at my recording and saw that the series didn't air, the prime minister interview was pretty interesting


on a side note: i missed eps#3 and was really looking foward to last night's ....hmm bummer, well atleast it was something interesting and not just filler =)
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posticon Writable DVD Capacities


引用 (quote):

Triple Lei wrote:

1 DVD = 4.6 GB

1 modern DVD-R is at least 4,700,000,000 bytes. Capacities of writable DVD types vary slightly.

BTW, next week's episode looks like it contains bits from “Romeo and Juliet” according to the preview.

Last edited by ccwf, 6/30/2004, 12:52 am


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