桜の吹雪

Original Title: 湯を沸かすほどの熱い愛 (Yu wo Wakasu Hodo no Atsui Ai)

Director: Nakano Ryota

Distributor: Klock Worx

Release Date: October 29, 2016

Cast: Miyazawa Rie, Sugisaki Hana, Odagiri Joe, Matsuzaka Tori

Genre: Family, drama, slice of life

Notes: 2 hours and 5 minutes, bagged numerous awards in 40th Japan Academy Film Prize, 26th Japanese Movie Critics Awards, etc.

Review:

This film was so good I might as well tell you to stop reading this review and watch it right now. No kidding. Do yourself a favor and watch it. Right now.

If that isn't convincing enough, then continue reading and welcome aboard.

Our story centers around the protagonist Futaba who has a daughter bullied in school and a closed public bath business, thanks to the disappearance of her husband one year ago. Then, she found out she has a terminal cancer and that her days are numbered. So she decided to hire a private investigator to locate her husband. It was a quick search and Futaba managed to bring his husband home, with his child from another woman. They soon opened the public bath with all the members of the family helping around. But that's just two from the list of things she was determined to do before she dies. And the rest will guarantee to make your heart melt and put tears in your eyes.

I love the general concept of the movie: the pure, selfless love a mother can give to her children, husband, and strangers. It also showed a dying mother's strength, courage, and wisdom and her ability to inspire and change people's lives despite the dreary horrors she was facing herself.

AtsuiAi was well-written, the dialogues were creative, appropriate, and spot on, the pacing was not too slow, not too fast, and every characters were carefuly knitted into a wonderful 3D persona easily capable of drawing out empathy from the audience. The way the characters grow and matured into better persons were also worth mentioning as it made them more human; it made me feel like we're watching a reflection of ourselves, of our families, and of society as a whole. I also love the side stories and the little unexpected twists which added flavor to an already excellent film. Themes like bullying and death were handled responsibly and realistically. The resolutions were also convincing and satisfying.

Each characters were portrayed by top-tier actors and actresses, especially Miyazawa-san and SugiHana. That was a powerful combination and I would love to see them in a different film as mother and daughter again. Odagiri Joe's role was annoying but my heart warmed up to him after some scenes and I also appreciate the comic relief he gave to the story. I already lost count the number of times I cried while watching this film, but I remembered even the youngest kid in the film tugged my heart. That just proved how well-picked the cast were.

Cinematography and editing of the film was also good though nothing spectacular. The music was apt and brought nostalgia and heart warming feels.

I definitely recommend this to everyone. It's a gem you shouldn't miss!(*ﾟ▽ﾟ)/ﾟ･:*

Rating: ★★★★★

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Original Title: オーディション (Audition)
Author: Murakami Ryu
Translator: Ralph McCarthy
Published date: June 7, 2010
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Format: Paperback, 191 pages

Blurb:

Documentary-maker Aoyama hasn't dated anyone in the seven years since the death of his beloved wife, Ryoko. Now even his teenage son Shige has suggested he think about remarrying. So when his best friend Yoshikawa comes up with a plan to hold fake film auditions so that Aoyama can choose a new bride, he decides to go along with the idea.

Review:

Too many highfalutin words which made it harder to read. Too much details about Aoyama's backstory and it could be removed without hurting the plot. Despite of that, I really liked Murakami Ryu's writing style. He, indeed, has a way with words. I loved his descriptions and how he relates it to other things and make the readers feel what he wanted to convey.

"But sometimes things happen that no one hopes for. Events that cause everything you've worked hard towards, the life you've carefully constructed piece by piece, to come tumbling down all around you. No one is to blame, but you're left with a wound you can't heal on your own and can't believe you'll ever learn to accept, so you struggle to escape the pain. Only time can heal wounds as deep as that - a lot of time - and all you can really do is place yourself in its hands and try to consider the passing of each day a victory."

I was also impressed with his techniques at foreshadowing. I learned a lot from reading this book.

There was no likeable characters except Yamasaki Asami. Aside from the author's brilliant prose, she was the saving grace of the story. I was amazed about the way this character was created. The way the author described her was impeccable.

"She's like a smoke: you think you're seeing her clearly enough, but when you reach for her there's nothing there."
"She's either a saint or a monster. Maybe both extremes at once, but not somewhere in between."

I would love to read a version of this novel in her point of view. I was more intrigued with her than Aoyama's sickening monologues and infuriating viewpoint about certain things, like:

"There had to be something wrong with any woman who dreamed of being an actress."

Wow. Just one sentence and even though I never dreamed of becoming one, I was seriously trigged. Yoshikawa also said something equally provoking:

"There's no such thing as an actress with a stable personality."

Nevertheless, the climax of the story makes up for the lack of tension in the previous chapters. It was so intense I could hardly breathe. But the ending was just so-so. I was a fan of Audition's cult classic film adaptation and watched it more than twice. It was the main reason I badly wanted to own a copy and read this novel. Though I have a few disappointments as the movie was better than the original story, I think it was worth the read.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

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Original Title: 宇宙を駆けるよだか (Sora wo Kakeru Yodaka)
Network: Netflix
No. of Episodes: 6 episodes
Release Date: August 1, 2018
Cast: Kiyohara Kaya, Tomita Miu, Shigeoka Daiki, Kamiyama Tomohiro
Genre: Supernatural, romance, drama, psychological, youth
Notes: Based on a manga, 40 minutes per episode

Review:

I think this is the best teen drama I've ever watched. No kidding. I mean, most shoujo manga adaptations tend to be light and fluffy, cliche, and some has superficial plot, but this one's entirely different.

the lead characters from the original manga

Switching bodies theme is pretty popular and I'm personally fond of it. I've seen a few using these theme but I have never seen something as brilliant as Switched. Kawabata Shiki, the manga-ka, used the theme to its full potential and gave us a magnificent twist. And God, the way she plotted the whole story was simply amazing. I was absolutely deceived by her! Needless to say, the story alone is a solid 5/5 to me.

Now, let's go to the characters. The four lead characters were so relatable and I love how Kawabata-sensei purposely made them look stereotypical and perfect at first but were actually so very human. Just like how Ayumi-chan was the cliche popular Madonna of the class - rich, pretty, and has lots of friends, with two ikemen osananajimis (handsome childhood friends) who were both in love with her. But as we slowly found out more about her and the other characters, we realized how flawed they are, how their insecurities reflect ours.

I particularly love how despite the popular trope in shoujo manga using pretty girls as villains, Sensei proved that pretty girls can have a pretty heart and pure soul, too. I also love how Umine-chan was created because she was the most relatable character in the story. We knew exactly where she's coming from. Her resentment towards pretty and blessed individuals, to her negligent, poor mom, and to the whole world due to her pitiful fate was so real and raw to me. We can't really blame her for who she was. How her character developed, especially at the last scene, really melted my heart.

This show taught me that everyone, no matter how evil they once were, can change. And that you can still be pretty even if the society's standard considers you ugly. That there's more to life than we give physical appearance and popularity credit for. If you accept and love yourself, others will accept and love you too. If you reach out to others and have your real feelings conveyed, what you thought was an unbreakable barrier btween you and the others would instantly be destroyed and the world would be a better place. A place wherein you could pretty inside out without the need to drastically change how you physically look like.

I'm truly grateful for this show for making me realize such important life lessons because sometimes, I, myself, am very insecured about how I look like. This gave me the confidence boost to accept and love myself more. Because this is the body that God has given me.

I also would like to express how amazed I was with the portrayal of the four leads. What they did was certainly not easy as the characters have complex personalities, and the shuffle just made the hurdle higher but despite of these, they've managed to depict their respective roles perfectly I wanna cry. They are so talented actors and actresses that I wanna see them again in another drama!

Of course, I cannot end this review without giving my praises for the awesome script, cinematography, and OST of the drama. (In fact, I am still very much in love with its theme song, Dirt Luck (アカツキ) by Johnny's West.❤) They made the overall drama a masterpiece, garnering a perfect 5/5 from me. I'm really so glad that I've put Switched in my priority watch list after my friend recommended it to me. Kudos to Netflix as well for making this live action possible. Looking forward to more high-quality and impressive Japanese dramas produced by Netflix~!

Rating: ★★★★★

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Original Title: きのう何食べた？ (Kinou Nani Tabeta?)

Network: TV Tokyo
No. of Episodes: 12
Release Date: April 5 - June 28, 2019
Cast: Nishijima Hidetoshi, Uchino Seiyo, Tanaka Misako, Yamamoto Koji, Isomura Hayato
Genre: Food, BL, slice of life
Notes: Based on a manga, 30 minutes per episode

the lead characters from the original manga

Review:

I've become aware of the existence of this drama because I've read somewhere on Twitter that it was really good. I later found out that it is a live action of a critically acclaimed manga which also bagged a Kodansha Manga Award. The drama also amassed several awards namely: the Galaxy Award, Best Drama, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, and Best Director in the recent 101st Television Drama Academy Awards (Spring 2019).

All the more reason to watch it, I thought. So, after I downloaded a couple of episodes, I watched it and immediately got hooked I want more.

What Did You Eat Yesterday? is a slice of life, food, and Boys Love (BL), or Yaoi, rolled into one delicious and domestic plot. It's about the life of a middle aged gay couple, Kakei Shiro, a serious and closeted gay lawyer, and Yabuki Kenji, a lively and openly gay hairdresser, in modern day Japan. It's honestly the first time I watched a BL drama within which the relationship of the gay characters were so realistically portrayed and handled perfectly by their respective actors (and its not just about looking absolutely like the original manga characters, the acting is on point like they are the characters themselves!) that I cried my heart out with all the feels it gave me.

Though there are already plenty of LGBT themed plots in manga and other similar media in Japan, there are relatively few in Japanese TV dramas. Probably because it's still a theme not widely accepted in Japan.

Some of the Jdramas I've watched that has this theme are:

Last Friends (2008) - portrays several issues, and one of them is gender identity disorder, which, in my opinion, was handled really well
Transit Girls (2015) - considered to be the first lesbian themed drama in the history of Japanese television, this is a love story between step sisters
Ossan's Love (2016 & 2018) - this drama became immensely popular inside and outside of Japan that a sequel movie has been released this year. It's about an unpopular straight guy who received two love confessions: one from his elderly boss at work and one from his male co-worker who he happens to live with him
Kataomoi (2017) - a murder mystery story which heavily deals with gender identity disorder
Joshi-teki Seikatsu (2018) - story about a transgender who moved from the countryside to the city to live as a girl.

This drama involves various issues faced by gay couples and being gay in general, such as society's expectations regarding gender roles, marriage, fidelity, filial piety, old age, etc. Their perspectives as a person considered 'not normal' by society and the perspectives of people in their lives about these topics will really stir your emotions. I honestly love every bits of this drama. So intricately weaved. Not to mention the generous amount of the scenes where the characters, mainly Shiro-san, cook their meals. The dishes don't just look mouth-watering, the procedure on how they are done are also calming and satisfying. If this drama is not a food for the soul, I don't know what is.

some of the food Shiro-san cooked for Kenji

With a good mixture of humor and drama, good food, and gay relationships, whether you are a fan of BL or not, this drama will absolutely not let you down. Trust me! (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ❤

Rating: ★★★★★

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Manila International Book Fair (MIBF) is the biggest and most sought after book fair in the Philippines which is now celebrating its 40th year. I always look forward to MIBF because in its five-day run, Fully Booked, my favorite local bookstore, always gives 20% off on all of their books! Crazy, right? So if you are a bookworm and happens to be in the Philippines, this event is something you should never ever miss out!

For this year, I decided to adjust my working shift to attend on its opening day. Why? Because when I attended Big Bad Wolf Book Sale a couple of months ago, I belatedly realized that business-minded people hoard books on book fairs and buy multiple copies of the same titles at a discounted price to resell at a higher price online or maybe, at their own physical shops. I usually go hunt for English translated Japanese fiction because they are both rare (not something you usually see in the shelves of local bookstores so if there are copies available, they're usually very few) and expensive (like double or triple the price of normal books so discounts are pretty much a God sent gift). Plus, I have a growing collection of J-lit so it's my number one priority. So, if I go at a later date, the chances of coming across Japanese fiction in translation is close to zero (they are pretty in demand especially at online bookstores), which beats my purpose of going there. Luckily, my request for a later shift was approved prior to the event so I managed to go at MIBF in the morning.

When I arrived at the venue, I was surprised to see so many people from different organizations and walks of life patiently waiting in line to get inside. I was so used to attending MIBF on weekends (not the first day), so I didn't expect the crowd. I guess that's just shows how much people loves books.

I didn't explore the whole venue (I didn't have the time and additional money to be lured by books from other booths) and immediately went straight to Fully Booked upon entering the building. And below are the list of Japanese books and related stuff I saw at the Fully Booked booth:

Japanese textbooks like Nihongo Soumatome, Nihongo 500 Mon, (if I'm not mistaken) etc. This is a big help for Japanese learners because ordering these books online could cost a lot of money especially due to shipping fees which are based on weight and location.
Japanese idols and actresses Photobooks. I saw Suzu Hirose's! This is really a surprise. I am not sure if Fully Booked had PBs at previous MIBF events but it's the first time I noticed them.
Japanese magazines, design, and art books. CLAMP artbooks are so pretty!
Manga - this section is divided in English and Japanese! In the English section, we have lots of titles to choose from, from shounen to shoujo, BL, and Yuri. In the Japanese section, there are also quite a lot of mangas available. I remembered seeing Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun and Wotakoi volumes among the shelves. Oh, I saw Junji Ito books, too. I wanted to buy one but they're really expensive even if I considered the 20% discount. *cries in Japanese*
Light novels - sadly, very few compared to previous events. I've only seen two titles from Nisioisin's famous Monogatari series.
Translated Japanese fiction - As expected, there are so many Murakami Haruki books in the booth. As for the others, please see below titles I've seen yesterday:

Higashino Keigo's Malice and A Midsummer's Equation
Kirino Natsuo's Out
Kawakami Hiromi's The Ten Loves of Nishino and The Nakano Thrift Shop. I don't own a Kawakami Hiromi book yet because it's immediately sold out at local online bookshops. And the ones available at Fully Booked branches are usually the versions more expensive compared to the ones I'm looking for.
Dazai Osamu's No Longer Human and The Setting Sun
Natsume Soseki's I Am a Cat and Kokoro
Ogawa Yoko's Memory Police and The Housekeeper and the Professor
Akutagawa Ryunosuke's Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories
Nakamura Fuminori's The Thief, Evil and the Mask, and Cult X
Abe Kobo's The Box Man
Ishiguro Kazuo's Never Let Me Go and The Buried Giant
Arikawa Hiro's The Travelling Cat Chronicles
Mishima Yukio books (sorry I forgot the titles)
Kawabata Yasunari books (sorry I forgot the titles)
Sumino Yoru's I Want To Eat Your Pancreas
Ozeki Ruth's A Tale for the Time Being
Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji
Enchi Fumiko's Masks
Kawamura Genki's If Cats Disappeared from the World
Anthologies and story compilations from various Japanese authors like Japanese Fairy Tales, Modern Japanese Stories, Japanese Death Poems, etc.

And these are the books I've bought with their respective discounted prices:

1.) Memory Police by Ogawa Yoko (P652.80) - out of all the Japanese fiction I am planning to search inside the booth, my ultimate goal is to grab a copy of this book. It was recently released but was expensive (if you convert it to Philippine peso) at Book Depository. I saw a copy on a local online bookshop at a cheaper price but was not able to reserve it because it's on first come first serve basis. I even joined an online giveaway contest to have a copy but still no luck. So, my only way to have Memory Police at a lesser price is attend the MIBF and wish to find a copy of it. Fortunately, I found a couple of copies of the book inside the booth. I immediately grabbed one and hugged it, feeling like the angels were singing in the bright morning sky. Heavenly! ♡

2.) I Want To Eat Your Pancreas by Sumino Yoru (P659.20)- I honestly didn't know there was already an official English translated version of this! More than two years ago, I've read the fan-translated version of the book and quickly became a fan of Sumino Yoru. I even secured a copy of the original Japanese novel when I first visited Japan because this is one of the books I would like to read raw in the future. Needless to say, I quickly add it to my cart without much thought. There's also a manga version available but right now, I'm only interested in the novel version.

3.) Cult X by Nakamura Fuminori (P689.60) - This is the thickest book I bought at MIBF and it was a little bit cheaper than Sumino Yoru's book. I decided to buy this because the title intrigued me, plus, I'm also planning to read his other works. I already owned a copy of Kingdom, so Cult X will be my second Nakamura book.

4-5.) Bakemonogatari Part 2 (P574.40) & Kabukimonogatari (P612.80) by Nisiosin - Nisioisin is one of my favorite authors and it's frustrating because it's hard to collect the Monogatari series. You would never see them complete in any local bookstore branches. And counting the books I already have, plus these two volumes I've bought yesterday, I only have four out of sixteen books which are already released, not to mention more volumes will be released in the coming months and years. I know I always complain about the price, but these series are particularly expensive especially compared to jun bungaku, or pure literature, in translation. And if you think that's mainly because it's a translated book, search up the price of the original raw novels. They are also more expensive than jun bungaku. My wallet is aching just thinking about this sad truth. Another thing, I have never seen a copy of this series (be it brand new, remaindered, or secondhand) on local online shops which sell at a lesser price.

Will I ever manage to catch up in collecting this series? The only thing I know right now is I need a higher salary to achieve that. *sobs in Japanese*

6.) Norwegian Wood by Murakami Haruki (P252.00) - this is my first time buying his book. I know H. Murakami is very popular but believe it or not, I haven't read any of his works yet. Few years ago, I've tried reading an ebook copy of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle but gave up immediately after the first few chapters because I couldn't get into it. Maybe it's because I haven't read something like this before so I got impatient. I bought Norwegian Wood hoping I would enjoy it enough to read his other books as well.

7.) Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (P190.40) - I became interested in reading this book because it was previously mentioned in a Jdrama, but I forgot the title. I thought it was Byakuyakou but belatedly realized that for that drama, it was Gone With The Wind.

8.) Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (P224.00) - I've recently read an article wherein Ogawa Yoko mentioned that her encounter with this book inspired her to become a writer herself. I know this is a classic book and I always see copies of this in almost every available bookstore in the country, but I haven't read it yet because I am not generally fond of classic books. Hopefully, this book will help me appreciate them more.

9.) Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz (P652.80) - out of all the books I bought yesterday, this is the only book I wanted to read which was completely unrelated to Japanese authors or books. I'm just genuinely interested in reading Magpie Murders because of the cool plot and the lovely title and book cover. Haven't read any of Horowitz before but if I will like this book, I would definitely want to try his other mystery books as well.

These nine books cost me P4,508 and it was my most expensive book haul ever. Sometimes I am getting scared about my book hoarding tendencies. But when I think that I will eventually buy these books in the future, with no stock available or a 20% discount guarantee, I feel it's okay not to have any regrets. Especially since buying these made me extremely happy. I am looking forward to reading them all.

Hopefully, I will be able to attend MIBF next year and have great finds again! (❁´◡`❁)♡

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