Shinzanmono

Shinzanmono 新参者

Shinzanmono is a crime/mystery Japanese drama with the title, Shinzanmono新参者, meaning 'new comer', which describes the character of police officer Kyoichiro Kaga (played by Abe Hiroshi). The show delves into the plot immediately, with the death of a resident happening within the first ten minutes. This really kicks off the show and let's the audience see Abe Hiroshi's 'Sherlock-like' detective skill. From the first episode till the last, various residents of the area (Nihonbashi 'Doll Town'), are suspected of being the murderers, with different clues left around for the audience to pick up through the use of dramatic irony. 

As one can imagine, it is quite frustrating to believe that a character is the murderer only to be proven wrong at the end of the episode; and this happens every episode save the last. However, this drama is more than just a detective case: it's drama. Each person in the show lies, and these lies are key. There is an intense build up to finding the murderer, with touching side stories and as always, stories surrounding family problems or personal issues within each character.

It does get quite repetitive; you feel as if there is no point in watching the next episode if the person it revolves around is not the murderer. However, i was always suspicious of the person who, by the end, is revealed as the murder. Moreover, during the last two episodes, the tempo of the drama increases and the viewers have a lot of information (or should i say clues) to take in which lead up to the revealing of the true criminal.

I may be biased since Abe Hiroshi plays the lead role for this drama, but along side him were great actors such as Mizobata Junpei who played the cousin of Kyoichiro and also a detective, and Izumiya Shigeru, who did a wonderful role of playing the "lone wolf". All together, they really worked with the story and various situations

(p.s. The music was great. So far, it is the drama with the best soundtrack, in my opinion. Check out the ost here. < This is also my favourite track number).

Kekkon Dekinai Otoko

Ah, this drama. Or should i say "dorama". This isn't the first J-drama (Japanese Drama) i have watched but so far; it is my most favourite. A funny story about an awkward man and his inability to marry - as the title says "The Man Who Cannot Marry".

 If you're a fan of the American TV show "The Big Bang Theory", well, the main character (played by my favourite Japanese Actor: Abe Hiroshi) could quite easily be compared to Dr. Sheldon Cooper. Their bluntness and excessive knowledge is the downfall of their social relationships. However, this J-drama is short; consisting of eleven 'one-hour' episodes and as a result, you can see the development of Hiroshi's character and it is all very beautiful and heart warming. Personally, i am infatuated with the amount of dramatic irony used in this show. It definitely kept me on edge throughout the drama and all the plot twists failed to throw me off.

If there was any fault with this show, it was that, in my opinion, Kuwano (the main character) seemed to have found courage for the final episode, which took me by surprise since i wasn't expecting such a proclamation without seeing him struggle. I guess being blunt really is his strong point.

I cannot say this enough - Abe Hiroshi is a FANTASTIC actor. I'm currently watching a crime drama in which he has the lead role. You may start to see a pattern in the next few reviews i do as i'll be watching a lot of Hiroshi's work.

Next Week : Shinzanmono review!

Jerusalem - The Holy Land

I was just a foreigner.

Walking through the sandy streets of Silwan – the most deprived area in East Jerusalem. It belonged to the Jews. Men with kippers raised their heads to glance at me; their eyes unwelcoming.

“For Jews, Jerusalem is essential to everything.” That was my Jewish tour guide speaking. David was his name. He spoke with an Austrian accent, hinting on the history of his whereabouts. What about the Arabs, I had asked him. It’s their holy land too. Daniel spoke with a slight hint of disgust and the hatred he held for the Arabs was instantly obvious.

“This is the Jewish homeland. It means nothing to the Arabs.” His nose scrunched up as to show his disgust of them. We continued to stroll through these battered streets; these uninviting people; this ‘holy land’. I was taken to Daniels house. It was still under construction yet the architecture itself was easy to notice: sturdy pillars supported this large two-story house. It looked like a building from a Hollywood movie. I noticed the two dark skinned builders. I noticed their dialect – they were Arabs. Daniel read my face and answered my unspoken question.

“Most builders here are Arabs. It’s nothing unusual.” So they’re building themselves out of existence, I asked him.

“They are building houses for the Jews. We want to repopulate the Jewish community so yes, they are doing exactly that.” There was no remorse in his voice. I quizzed him again. But this land is holy to the Arabs as well, I argued. I was brushed off with an idiom in a foreign language. ‘Hamevine yavin’ he said.

“You won’t understand,” he repeated to me. Now more than ever, I felt separated from these people, this country, this air. Of course, I wouldn’t understand. I was just a foreigner.

He patrolled the old town. The town in the West, belonging to the Arabs. They didn’t like him. They didn’t want him here. Countless stones were thrown at him. He received taunts from the children – words you would never imagine from a youngsters mouth. But he was solid; a statue; a soldier. A foreigner approached him and questioned him about his job.

“How often are you in this town?” the foreigner asked. The Arab kids had quieted down and were listening to the conversation. Every Friday, the soldier replied. His mind flashed back to the previous Friday. Arabs exiting the mosque after Jummah prayer; he could recall the sounds of cans of tear gas rolling and his futile efforts to enforce order.

“Do you know these people really well?” his memories were interrupted by the foreigner. We know them, they know us, replied the soldier. He looked around at the Arab people: the mean kids, the bitter elders. He knows them very well, he though to himself. Very well indeed.

They called me an ‘Ajnabi’. It was Arabic for foreigner. After my talk with Daniel, I had decided to cross into the West bank –the Arab bank. While passing through the security barrier, I encountered the Israeli Police force. I had been told by a Jewish boy that Israel was a very ‘democratic’ country. In my mind, it was the complete opposite. Voting rights had even taken from the Arabs and the country’s police force and justice system were, well… unjust. As I drove into the West bank, large rocks were thrown at the army vehicle I was travelling in. I was given a bulletproof vest to wear. When I stepped out of the truck, I was informed that a riot had broken out. Things were tense, quiet, suspiciously uneventful. After a few stones that were pelted at the soldiers and inevitably returned as tear gas, I ran into a young Muslim man. He was about twenty or so with a red face – probably from the heat and the excessive shouting. I asked him how he felt about this ‘crusade’, in a sense, over the ‘holy land’.

“How would you feel if the Israelis come and they take your house from you and they hurt your family. How you would feel, huh?” He rambled on with broken English. This man was obviously angered. I felt sympathetic towards him. More than the Jews. Before I departed with him, I inquired about the soldiers and how he felt towards them. There was sadness in his voice, pain in his eyes. So different from the Jews who carried this extreme look and aura about them. The Arab started to explain, but held back.

“Ajnabi, you simply wouldn’t understand” His accent coated his words yet still jogged me memory. I was a white Englishman; An Atheist; A foreigner. That was it. I was just a foreigner.

"Life is too easy for young people today. They lack challenges and don't have to fight for anything."

Flick through a 1960's magazine and you'll see countless images of children with Cheshire cat grins, frolicking in a field of daisies, under a flaming hot star, blissfully unaware of everything happening in the 'adult world' - economical crises  and political problems. This image really supports the idea that life was anything BUT easy in the past(!) Sure, kids these days are surrounded by various forms of entertainment, drowning away their minuscule issues, enveloped by their surround sound system. And yes, statistics do show that the lack of sport and physical activating due to access to gaming and TV, HAS led to obesity. 

But since when was obesity easy to live with? I'm aware that in the modern day, most youngsters get things handed to them: the latest game console; a new hair straightener; a pet dog. Unfortunately, we do not simply get handed great GCSE and A-level grades. They are not presented to us in a pretty package simply because we did nothing. No, the education system has because increasingly tougher and an average B grade student doesn't get a lot of credit or acknowledgement. In fact, in recent years, 1 in 8 graduates do not end up with a job straight after they attain their degrees. With the costs of living soaring through the roof and moreover, the ridiculous tuition fees (which probably seems like barely anything to all the Eaton boys), there has been nothing but stress for young people today.

I guess adults do have a point though. Youth are becoming increasingly lazy. Well hey, we can all get lazy. Sometimes, all we need is to become quadruple amputee's before we decide to reform ourselves. Yes, statistics show this and that about youth today, but is that all young people are? A bunch of statistics? The number of youths, i'll be it, a small number of youths, that DO decide to stay in shape will find it near impossible to find a gym which fits their criteria. The government cries about the health of the younger generation yet where are the tax-funded youth gyms? With the increasing pressure from the media towards younger audiences to look "beautiful", many youngsters have developed eating disorder and/or have taken their lives. Tell me, where is the ease in that? 

Wonder

Wonder

How comely you are sir. The finest of them all. Wearing a hat upon your head to make you ten feet tall.

Look at those gloves! So white as snow. As white as the fur that in the night does glow.

Oh maiden not so fair, don’t kill us for this deed. My head is just so heavy, I fear I can’t be freed.

Why is a raven like a writing desk? What a riddle I do recall! Pull yourself together lad! You’ll do nothing else but fall.

And through the glass; the peeking eye, shadows do we seek. Of a girl once lost, who is no more, walking in her sleep. Awaken child! Should you not rise from this slumber, do fear all. The Queen is out to get your head, the knights do heed her call. If you step beyond that world, that which is full of the sane. Lost yourself forever you have, to the pretty kitties game.