Hotaru no Hikari Movie ~ ホタルノヒカリ 映画

I supposed to watch this when it's released on the 23rd in SG but I only managed to watch it yesterday because I cannot resist my birthday treat on Wagyu beef and sake and with good company! So there I was on Saturday morning watching this and what do you know, next to me was sitting a middle aged uncle, alone... Hotaru fan? No, he's not working as the cinema's cleaner (not in uniform). Not sure if he enjoyed the movie, but him being there kind of amused me because he doesn't fit in the demography of this movie target audience. Oh well, then what about me? Did I enjoy this movie?

Hell Yeah! I'm a fan of the drama, so off course I enjoy the whacky Hotaru on the big screen. And buchou can be more corny than in drama some times. Off course the addition of Tegoshi is a bonus and the movie just increase its audience pool. So the story if off course the continuation from what the drama left off. We haven't seen Hotaru and Buchou actually got married right? The movie begins from the winter time, Buchou asked Hotaru where they should be going for honeymoon? *huh? Honeymoon? Where's the wedding then? I demand a wedding!* Well, apparently no wedding because Hotaru thinks wedding is troublesome... and so is travelling... because, by summer, Buchou is still sitting at the very same veranda wonder when they actually get to do the honeymoon. So to keep the story short, Hotaru finally agreed to go to Italy for their honeymoon, and it's also Hotaru's first travel abroad, on business class (!). Sadly they're not sitting together in the plane because Buchou bought the ticket first since he needed to go to Italy anyway for business (kill 2 flies with 1 stone). The pouting Hotaru soon become cheery and merry because she meet her equal, himono otoko! Once they reached Italy, lots of things happened, Buchou's luggage got mixed up with a luggage filled with colorful underwears and a packet of white powder *gasp, could it be...*, Hotaru met another himono onna, and Buchou got kidnapped by 'mafia'. So, will Hotaru and Buchou finally get to enjoy the planned honeymoon?

Yeah, I love Hotaru, so it'll be very bias of me to say that it's a good movie. However, I do admit that this movie is clearly targetted for the fans, not for those first timer. I can imagine first timer will be thrown off with Hotaru's weird train of thinking and how Buchou literally just following all her whims while, off course scolding her if it's too much for him to bear. But does it mean that the movie can't be enjoy by everyone? Not necessarily because comedy is universal and Hotaru is charming enough to make us glued to the screen. The storyline itself, well, it's sooo Hotaru. So, you have the first half of nice flowing story then another half of messy story line, but in the end, it does reach its goal and yeah, fans like me are happy. So, it's all good.

So, if you feel like the need of a very good laugh and a little romance, this is the movie for you because you can laugh your heart out at all those Hotaru's crazy antiques and melt over Buchou's love for Hotaru.

Kuruma Isu de Boku wa Sora wo Tobu ~ 車イスで僕は空を飛ぶ

24Jikan Terebi just ended, and I kept on distracted by... the clips that are floating around now. And definitely, I'll need sub to be able to appreciate fully, but evenso... 24Jikan Terebi once again made lots of people shed their tears, including me. Off course this time it's Nino's turn, as expected since Arashi is the main personalities for the charity show. When I watched this drama 2 hours just flew and I complained that the drama is too short. So what's this drama is all about?

To keep the story short, this drama is about Hasebe Yasuyuki, a delinquent since young (look at that yellow head, isn't it obvious?) and during a fight with a gangster, he fell from a building and now had to live in a wheelchair because his spinal was injured. In the hospital he encountered several people, Daisuke, a boy with a heart condition (I think) who he became attached to but later on Daisuke had to leave the hospital (not sure whether transfered or was sent home), Takehiro, a fellow patient in the rehab center, Kumi, the hospital food shop clerk who apparently had a sad past, and his life started to take change. But later on shortly after he's discharged, his mom collapsed due to overwork, and he keep on thinking, what is the meaning of his life. Now, in a wheelchair, he'll be troubling lots of people, he at the end decided to commit suicide. At the edge of the cliff, would he really do it?

The answer if off course hell no :p. It's 24Jikan Terebi SP drama, the main character must have a change in a life and the drama's intention is to inspire people not to depress people. What I like about this drama is that it's different from the other SP drama, such as a boy got stricken by rare disease and even though sentenced that he's not going to live for long, he worked hard to get into the university, or, how the autistic boy become a top salesman, which is off course all are Nino's (he just has a very long drama resume). This drama is different because basically you are told of Hasebe's train thoughts which are dark, gloomy and negative from his past and his experience. He basically doesn't really know when he should reach out for help and that he actually needs help until he's in the brink of his lowest point. His cry for help at the end is just... heartbreaking.

So, after the heartbreaking scenes after scenes, what makes out of this drama? Simple, it's just to remind us that we're not alone, and we can ask for help when we need one. There'll be always someone out there, may not be necessarily people who are close to you, that may be the one who will lend a hand to you. This message accompanied with great acting, great cast and major heartbreaking background music is a formula for guaranteed tear jerker drama.

And I did say great acting, right? Nino is a very good actor, but he seems to be even better when he's doing a disable person role. He pays attention to detail. You'd see from when Hasebe did the rehab, on the walking bar, when Hasebe fell down because he doesn't have any muscle support on his back, it feels so real. and the way Hasebe got up and down the wheelchair, his legs were lifeless. And, when he got time to practice all this, when he has... varieties, 24th Hr TV project (the darts trip, the support, etc)、 radio, photoshoots (A LOT of them), promo, CM shoots (lots of CMs too), live performance practice etc on his schedule, I always wonder. And, he still look glowing in the Ichiban Song Show few days ago.

So, yeah, I'll be waiting for the sub to enjoy this drama again, and probably... cry again...