are you sure you cast a right person?

Before I began ranting, let me remind you again and again (tho I think my loyal readers of this blog may had it known already) that I am a Tobikko and to be specific if I had to pick who's my favourite member, I can't pick one. Instead, I have two favourite members and they are Yamada Ryosuke and Chinen Yuri.

smile all you can because after this angst coming up. *smirks*

And ... I am still new to 'Ansatsu Kyoshitsu' slash 'Assassination Classroom' fandom. Be it manga, anime series, OVA or even the upcoming live action movie. 

When the cast list for 'Ansatsu Kyoshitsu' live action movie was announced in August 2014, I am having mixed feelings as a Tobikko. Seeing more and more members joining Chinen in the Cinema Club (when you are reading this, Nakajima Yuto is currently filming his debut movie 'Pink and Gray' that slated to premiere in cinemas next year) made me happy because finally! JUMP is going to cinemas!

But I came across this comment in one of the articles in AramaJapan and trust me, I cannot help but to agree. 

credit pic goes to AramaJapan

BUT! Bear in mind that at that time I had NO IDEA about Ansatsu fandom. Okay.

So I browsed mangafox.com, try reading the said manga online and while reading, I imagined it with the already announced cast for the live action movie. Also try imagining how was it like for Chinen Yuri to be Shiota Nagisa. 

I had been Tobikko since 2009 and knowing that any JUMP member taking challenging roles in dramas, movies, drama SPs, heck even stage play is actually spelling 'fresh start for adult!JUMP'. Yes, who does not like your bias taking roles that he never done before, huh? That is called versatility, right. When you talking about JUMP members do dramas and drama SPs, of course you are imagining them taking 'student' roles, ALL THE TIME! Boring~ less challenging at all! 

Even Hikaru's role in IDN and Chinen's role in 'Sprout' also considered bleh~ to me. 

Speaking about Chinen, he had done 'bad boy' role ever since he guest starred in 'Yukan Club'. But it was 'Saikou no Jinsei no Owarikata ~ Ending Planner~'s Ihara Hayato that bring new definition of 'bad boy role' to Chinen and trust me, he is killing the role so asdfghjkl~. I say that was a turning point of his acting. While Yamada is still being a student (and detective, I must add) until recently ended 'Kindaichi Neo'. He had not reached his turning point of his acting yet, but on 21st March 2015, it will be a turning point for his acting resume. 

Now back to the pics I attached. I read the manga and this is my rant. 

Yes sir, I totally agree that it somehow wrong to cast Yamada Ryosuke as Shiota Nagisa for that movie, considering this is his first time in movies plus he is the lead in the said movie. Chinen should be doing Nagisa, considering he too suits the role of the 'girly but got undesirable bloodlust' character. 'Girly-look' is Yamada and Chinen's middle name anyway. *shrugs* XDDD

just to emphasize, Yamada came up first and Chinen came up fourth in 'Goo's Most Beautiful Johnny's talent under 25' 

Considering the experiences, Chinen has more experiences in movies than Yamada. 

BUT! I also agree that they are casting Yamada for that role. Okay. No offence to those who wanted him to be Nagisa. He himself look like come out from the manga anyway. 

The thing is when it comes to eye candy and rating, Yamada has that 'talent' to attract the viewers to watch the movie. Chinen do have the same 'talent' okay, they are being hated once by fans because being too overrated during NYC era imho. And I simply don't agree with this comment down there, saying Chinen cannot act. HELL THAT GUY CAN ACT LIKE HOW COME HE IS THE FIRST ONE TO BE IN SILVER SCREEN THAN YAMADA? Tell me. Hm. *side-eyeing*

credit pics to AramaJapan

Alright, maybe he had been stiff and bland in some of his early dramas but he is doing better as the drama projects coming up, My favourite role of him aside in 'Ending Planner' was of course, in 'Hissatsu Shigotonin 2014'. Hands down! But please I beg you, do not.ever.compared.him.with.Yamada. That was the worst thing in JUMPsville you can do, ok. 

If you are being in the JUMP fandom long enough, you do know how much Yamada wanted to defeat Chinen in so many ways.  

The conclusion is, both of them suit the role of Shiota Nagisa. Just the production team had so many reasons why they pick Yamada Ryosuke than Chinen Yuri. Only they knew why they decided to cast Yamada to be Nagisa. They are professionals. Who are we to blame? Are you going to defy the professionals? They knew what are they doing. Let them be.

I am sure in 2015, Chinen will got himself another challenging role that sure shut you haters' mouth up from judging his acting skills. Peace. 

End of my rant. 

The video attached, I give credit to TokyoPop's official Youtube channel. 

Did we tell you that YamaChine is so suck with the term 'give up'?

Zekki: You said what? *glares*

*covers mouth*

I told you that there's no way Yamada Ryosuke, the so-called avid fan of Nube francais will be in the live action drama for the manga because really, that dude had to go back and forth between 'Ansatsu Kyoshitsu' filming and this one because it was so jam-packed and considering the location for 'Ansatsu' filming is in rural areas so it made 10 times harder. 

But like Chinen said in the mags, 

Chinen: He's currently doing 'Ansatsu', yeah. But he don't care. He still want to be in Nube tho~

And because Yamada is pretty according to Goo, Nube's director do know him well thanks to 'Risou no Musuko', and the term 'you can't defy Chinen whoever you are'. this happens. 

Yamada: owyeah~ meet my demon hand~

Catch Yamada Ryosuke guesting as Zekki, the ever so handsome Oni a.k.a demon in eps 9 of 'Jigoku Sensei Nube', this Saturday, 6th December 2014, 9pm JST only on Fuji TV. 

Warning to other drama makers: don't ever resist YamaChine. They do whatever they can to get what they want. Period.

Yamada: we did it, bae~

Chinen: I know right. Now go kill Nube students, you demon~

All the GIFs and pics plus the caption under Chinen's GIF is credit to the owners. The rest I didn't mentioned, is mine. 

Of supernatural geeks and #teamYamaChine

It's the time of the year again where those supernatural acts like demons, monsters and other sorts of paranormal activities come and haunt your school and it's up to any of you whether we have any survivors left or maybe someone who act as a hero who got their intensive learning from Winchester brothers to fight demons haunting a high school full with innocent students.

'Jigoku Sensei Nube' (English title: Hell Teacher Nube) is another manga to anime to live action drama adaptation explaining the first long paragraph up there. Only this time, there are lots of gorgeous girls (one of them had been brought all the way from South Korea to add the gorgeousness, LOL), the infamous list of students (yes, dude, students, not pupils.) and a modern re-boot. Yeah. Modern re-boot.

I am sure most of you guys who are currently reading this post may have once read the manga or watch the anime where the setting is around elementary school pupils, am I right? I was being told that this francaise is among the strongest fan base in manga and anime world with lots of followers all around the world. 20 million copies selling for this manga way back in 1990 is no joke, ok. For the drama, the team made major changes in terms of setting by changing it into the high school setting so it may sound logical and easy to get more supporting young actors and actresses to be the students. Since the manga itself a rated R one, so should it be suitable with ... high school setting? Kids aren't appropriate to see hentai things, ok. *giggles*

In short, this upcoming drama tells the story of a part-teacher, part exorcist Meisuke Nueno a.k.a Nube who possessed a demon hand. He takes up a post at Domori High School. He cares very much for his students but his enthusiasm proves futile. A hopeless teacher who is clumsy, foolish and ridiculed by students. However, there is another side to him. He is the only teacher in Japan with psychic powers because of a devil dwelling in his left hand. When his students are attacked by monsters and evil spirits which take up residence in weak human hearts, he would risk his life to protect them by making use of his left hand. (source: Arama Japan)

Now since this francaise is a well known one back in the 90s so there were huge expectations on how does the modern reboot of this will attract die hard fans. Especially with those all-stars line up casts (note: Kanjani8's Maruyama Ryuhei, Hey! Say! JUMP's Chinen Yuri, ex-KARA's Kang Jiyoung, Kiritani Mirei, Hayami Mokomichi, Nakagawa Taishi and Yoshizawa Ryo). Look at that list again! That was a bunch! I am very sure that more well-known actors and actresses will do their cameo in each episode of this drama because really. It's a well-known francaise.

and, no, you won't see him inside. it's no use no matter how hard he ask Chinen beg the producer to have him do the cameo in this drama. he's the huge otaku of this francaise btw.

The fact that this drama will air at the Golden Time (Saturdays, 9pm JST) adding the pressure not just for the team but also to the fans. They have everything in the drama (modern reboot with oh-so-gorgeous-yummy young set of actors as students) so the fans are expecting high on this modern reboot. I myself, as I have zero knowledge about this franchise and depending the luck of high ratings in the hands of some idols starring in this drama, may give this a try. Fun fact: this is the second time Chinen starred in a supernatural themed drama with a Kanjani8 member and last time he done that, the drama (note: 'Yorozu Uranaidokoro Onmyouya e Yokoso') got pleasant average ratings. 

So, I am very anxious for this drama. Are you? Catch all of these star-studded casts in the drama 'Jigoku Sensei Nube' starting 11th October 2014, 9pm JST only on channel NTV. 

... and how does #teamYamaChine related to this post? Read the post again and be dazzled because did I told you that Yamada had been bugging Chinen for telling the directors and producers of Nube drama to have him in the drama? It was being rejected (as stated in the caption) at first but you know these two are suck in giving up. Last time we checked, the producers had to say no, considering Yamada is busy with his 'Ansatsu Kyoshitsu' filming, but as we know that these two notable Hey! Say! JUMP members were suck in giving up, we have this. 

not the best quality, but yes. YAMADA RYOSUKE IS IN 'JIGOKU SENSEI NUBE'! just his voice. :P

...just because I promised you to do the review...

Well, where should I start?

Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo Neo or Kindaichi Neo for the short. The first time when it was announced (be it on the producer's Twitter page or in the TV news as well as newspapers), everyone was overjoyed. Everyone. Because like I said before. "4th Gen is sure the best thing happened in Kindaichi saga." And it was proven.

If I had to explain in 10 words about Kindaichi Neo, this is what I will write:

Yamada Ryosuke, Kawaguchi Haruna, Arioka Daiki, star-studded cameos, sophisticated but complicated cases, Narimiya Hiroki, the sub-romance plot, the chemistry between casts, the adult humor, the settings.

Miyuki: seriously Hajime-chan, what is ZRC-chan's blabbering about?

Hajime: saa~ *blur face*

I don't have any favourite case in this series but if I had to pick my favourite episodes in the series, I must say I personally love episode 7 the most. Call me childish or something but episode 7 is so close to social issues regarding teenagers nowadays. I personally love it.

Before I ramble a lot about that episode, I want to do an overall review for this series. Personally I never expect that it will be full with star-studded cameos. To name a few we have Kamiki Ryunosuke and Nakagawa Taishi for episode 1, Chiba Yudai, NEWS's Masuda Takahisa, Mamiya Shotaro and Kiriyama Ren for both episode 3 and 4, Irie Jingi for episode 7 and Fuji Mina for both episode 8 and 9. Also the trio coming back for the series and also the man of the show, Narimiya Hiroki. He will and always be my favourite villain actor. But he has cute sides too. Such as ... calling Yamada Ryosuke a raccoon? XDDDD

Anyways, talking about the fact that all Hey! Say! 7 members will be 21 soon, everyone, and I do mean everyone is anticipated to see whether the said notable 4th Gen Kindaichi Hajime can pull the romance scenes better.  I trust both Yamada and Haruna as a pair of capable actors can pull those scenes as we expected to see and they actually did not fail me in romance scenes. The mushy cheesy romance act that sometimes we even go 'ewww~' when we see it in real life were look way mushy cheesy and lovely in the hands of those two. I can say Yamada is ready for a romance-themed drama like now. Screw fangirls, he needs to live lor. But as most teen detective stories did not focus much on romance, Kindaichi Neo is no exception. Hands down, you have a pair of capable actors and great chemistry because they had been together in the saga for two years and no romance closure? Well, at least the producers had put the indirect confession scene in the final episode of Kindaichi Neo. That's a little progress. But I still give both of them kudos.

And I slowly can accept the fact that 'Saki Ryuji' is made for Daiki. No, I seriously cannot imagine if Chinen is the one being Saki Ryuji. Daiki's acting is so-so, I wonder when will he have a drama on his own? He's the only one in JUMP that did not have solo appearance in drama series. I cannot say anything about his acting skills because his appearance here is just so little and close to 'you are even okay if you're not in here', something like that. Not saying that he is a bad actor, but IDK, I cannot comment on his acting like, yet. What I know, the team had made right decision to have him as Saki Ryuji, despite his age that is even older than Yamada. Hell, Asari Yosuke is 26 and act as 17 year old student in this drama? How mind blowing.

Overall, as a fresh watcher (I say 'fresh' because I do not refer the manga before watching this. I NEVER watched anime version, nor the past generations of Kindaichi dramas, drama specials and movies, with an exception of 3rd gen), Kindaichi Neo is okay. I give 4 out of 5 for ratings. But call me biased, the 4th gen is sure the best thing happened in Kindaichi saga. 9 years is worth the wait.

YamaHaru: *sleeps* zzzzz~

OKAY SORRY. THIS REVIEW HAS SO MANY YAMAHARU HAJIME X MIYUKI GIFS SO I HATE THEM FOR FILLING MY SYSTEMS THROUGHOUT THE AIRING OF THE SERIES! Just kidding. I super love the tandem! I even ship them in real life. Sweet dreams, cute pair. Till we meet again~~ *hides*

All GIFs credit to the owner. I own nothing aside the captions and the post itself.

4th Gen sure is the best thing happened in the Kindaichi saga.

Considering it had been 7 years since the last time Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo (either SP Drama or drama series) aired in NTV, this is (maybe) the best way to end Kindaichi saga. I said 'saga' other than franchise because hell yeah this one had been bugging NTV since 1996 and it had seen many changes either in many types of presentation. OVA, anime series, live action movie, live action drama series, live action drama special, just name it. Also, it had shown its growth through 4 generations of Kindaichi Hajime (and Nanase Miyuki IMO) which consists of a great chemistry between lucky Johnny's idols and some currently on demand actresses.

People that grew up with Kindaichi saga since 1996 might know that 1st gen of Kindaichi Hajime and Nanase Miyuki live action version had been portrayed by Kinki Kids's Domoto Tsuyoshi and Tomosaka Rie, followed by 2nd gen consisting of the combination of Arashi's Matsumoto Jun and Suzuki Anne way back in 2001. As 2005 appears, Kindaichi saga got his 3rd gen Kindaichi and Miyuki in the form of KAT-TUN's Kamenashi Kazuya and Ueno Juri, in which my favourite Miyuki so far just because she is cute, LOL . After that Kindaichi saga was put up to rest until they don't know how long. At least for the fans. 

What the fans don't know that since 2007 the Kindaichi team (be it the mangaka, the scriptwriter, the screenwriter) had been eyeing Yamada Ryosuke as their next Kindaichi Hajime but they have to wait until 5 years for Yamada to be old and sexy and hot and asdfghjkl but still short (kidding) enough to be 4th gen Kindaichi Hajime. Knowing how insecure Yamada fangirls is, the team sure had a little bit hard time to find the suitable actress to fit the 4th gen of Nanase Miyuki. But yeah, to hell with that and they are ready to announce the official 4th gen of Kindaichi Hajime and Nanase Miyuki is none other than Hey! Say! JUMP's Yamada Ryosuke and Kawaguchi Haruna.

Who wouldn't have thought that the tandem continues for two specials and one drama series. That equals as two years. Two years are enough for both Yamada and Haruna to build an unforgettable chemistry any Hajime x Miyuki shippers could dream of since 1996. Really, some of us ship them IRL. Because, face it! They are so cute together! Awwww~

In honor of the Hajime x Miyuki tandem, also the new tandem I called YamaHaru (and apparently almost all Yamada x Haruna shipper approved the namesquish *smiles proudly*) I had handpicked some songs to fit their background story and their personalities inside and outside Kindaichi Neo drama set. Because, again. Face it! They are so asdfghjkl cute together inside and outside the set and I wont complain if they end up really dating IRL *runs away* .

1. G-Dragon: Crooked

I know that this is a 'post-breakup' song, but who cares about the lyrics when the music is way cheerful and showing the happiness and excitement of having a new life. I was looking for a song that suit the first romance encounter this 4th Gen Hajime x Miyuki had done in Kindaichi saga, to be specific; Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo: Gokumon Juku Satsujin Jiken drama special that aired in 4th January 2014. The fact that they have their first romance scenes as a 4th Gen Kindaichi and Miyuki in Malaysia just made Malaysian Tobikkos especially Kindaichi fans proud yo.  

2. Siti Nurhaliza : Jaga Dia Untukku

I wished this song would release in English version because damn. This song tells the prayers and hopes for the loved ones to be safe wherever they are, what are they doing and more. It suits Hajime x Miyuki well because we know Hajime had been doing his best in solving crimes that sometimes in order for him to look for the truth, he had almost got himself hurt and in a dangerous situation.

3. Pitbull feat. Shakira: Get It Started

Let me just make the reason why this song is chosen, simple. Takato a.k.a Narimiya Hiroki finally made his appearance in eps 5 onwards and ofc what could this evil mastermind can do other than making Hajime's life hard, LOL. And what's better to threat Hajime other than using Miyuki as a bait, deshou? Cliche, but in 4th gen case, na-ah.

4. T-ara: Don't Leave

Damn, I fell for this song in an instant. Surprisingly this song is coupling with 'Day by Day' from T-ara which I made into my own 'Sprout soundtrack list' two years ago. This song tells the story of a girl to beg her partner to not leave her for she love him so much. In every episode, we can see how obvious that Miyuki had feelings for Hajime and vice versa (and a biased opinion: YamaHaru did that super well asdfghjkl thanks to two drama specials *runs*)

5. Shakira: Dare

And nope, not the World Cup version. It's the original version. Listen to the lyrics and you'll know the difference. Why is this song in the list? Did I told you I ship YamaHaru IRL? Add a little bit glamour stars, idols and voila.

6. Enrique Iglesias: Finally Found You

This song (I know the music video is so 18+) is chosen because of the lyrics. As the episode progressed for this drama, the love feeling between Hajime and Miyuki is getting obvious. It was way obvious when in episode 7. Go watch that episode and be dazzled and connect it to the lyrics in this song. On the side note, I think both actors are doing the romance part better in each episode. A little bit biased opinion don't you think? I don't know the other generations but I trust MatsuJun and his partner to do the romance as better as YamaHaru too.

With that, I conclude my fanmade OST for Kindaichi Neo. If you guys are interested on my review on the whole drama, wait for it. For now~ let the GIF talk. 

And a FMV, if you may. My all time favourite Hajime x Miyuki a.k.a YamaHaru FMV ever. (and believe me, this FMV came out like three days after final episode of Kindaichi Neo aired.)

all videos and GIF, I give credit to the owners. I own nothing other than my biased opinions.