I’ve developed a liking towards Ettusais lately, and got myself a couple of products after reading good reviews about them. I’ve tried 2/3 of what’s shown here, and I’m liking it so far!

Kimi ni Todoke (Reaching You) is one of the series I really enjoy. I’ve read the manga, watch the anime and now the live action as well. I first watched the movie in Japanese, and now that the English subs are out, I’m rewatching it while I’m typing this.

Someone uploaded the latest episode of Tousouchuu (2010年11月23日 「逃走中2010～激動明治の大事変～」) on YouTube, and I checked it out since I’ve heard good things about the show and recognised some of the people participating in the latest episode.

逃走中 (Run For Money) is essentially a massive game of tag, which goes on for about 90 minutes (the time, rules and setting vary with each episode, and I’ll base what I type here on the one that I watched, but they generally don’t differ too much). The players have to escape from the Hunters, and with each second that they survive in the game, the more money they can potentially get. All players are given a cell phone (which cannot be switched to silent mode), a watch and a map.

Before the actual game starts, the opening game is carried out. Boxes enclosing the hunters are placed a fixed distance before the contestants, and the contestants take turns to play the game. Once certain conditions are fulfilled, the hunter box opens and the game officially begins.

The participants get to interact with other characters in the game, and they might be asked to perform some jobs, which they then have the choice of accepting or declining. Accepting the job earns them some “money” which would come in useful during the game, but also puts them at a higher risk of getting caught while they are working. There are also missions along the way, which tie in with a story that’s related to the setting of the particular episode. As with the jobs, it is not compulsary for players to participate in the missions, but being successful in the mission means that all players would have a lower chance of being caught.

In this game, the longer the players survive, the more their winnings will be. However, once caught by the hunters, the game ends for them and they will go home empty-handed. One way that the players can ensure that they go home with some money is to surrender during the game, and the amount that they get is then determined by how long they have been in the game until the point they surrendered. The players that manage to survive until the game ends will get the maximum amount of prize money available.

The concept behind the game is fairly simple, but the creators of the show have executed it well, which makes it entertaining to watch, and keeps you on the edge of your seat. It’s interesting to see how the participants behave under such a stressful situation, and the range of behaviours that you can see is reflective of what you see in real life as well. In a way, the feeling I get when I’m watching this is similar to when I’m watching The Amazing Race (which I really enjoy as well!).

When I went to watch the Nodame Cantabile movie 2 weeks ago, the trailer for the Liar Game movie was aired along with other advertisements and trailers before the movie started. It caught my attention, as I had heard of the drama before, but didn’t have much interest in it at the time it was aired. To me, if a series is good enough to be adapted into a drama from the original manga, air for more than a season and extend into a movie, then there must be some merit in the story. After all, if the original story is no good, it wouldn’t have been adapted for another medium, much less get so much air time since it’s not profitable for those producing it. And since I’m not following any particular series lately, I decided to give the drama a try – and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

I just finished watching both the Nodame Cantabile live action and the anime, and some time prior to this, I watched the La Corda D’Oro anime. What do both have in common? Classical music.

When it comes to manga adaptations, some just don’t translate well into live action dramas, and watching the show makes you cringe. The Nodame Cantabile live action, despite retaining the exaggerations commonly found in manga, was filmed in such a way that makes it really enjoyable to watch. It helps that comedy plays an important part in the series as well. Also, having an interesting plot and a wonderful cast, it’s not surprising that the drama was well received when it started airing on TV.