Plot Synopsis:

Based on a popular manga (comic book) that was later turned into an equally popular 26-episode anime TV series, the live-action “Honey and Clover” is another sensitive, understated drama, focusing on five art-college students as they experience love and pain on their journeys toward personal and professional fulfillment.

Yuuya Takemoto, Takumi Mayama, and Shinobu Morita are students at an art school, who live in the same house. Ayumi Yamada is the fifth student in that group, which is building some love triangles.

The story starts out differently from the anime and manga, in the drama Takemoto Yuta meets Hanamoto Hagumi almost as soon as the drama begins at a pond, but his friends are snatching him away. Hagumi is a freshman at the school and the niece of professor Shuuji Hanamoto, she is the youngest and possibly most gifted student in the school. While Hagumi pours her emotions onto large canvases, this quiet, hypersensitive artist is awe-struck by Morita, an older student already on the verge of art-world celebrity. This makes things tough on Takemoto, an aspiring architect who initially lacks the confidence to express his love for Hagumi.

Takemoto Yuuta is the narrator and main protagonist of Honey and Clover. He’s rather easily bullied by Morita and Mayama, his two closest friends, but on the other hand the ability to take it all in good humor is an illustration of his character. Morita Shinobu is handsome and quirky, and apparently hides a talent for sculpture under that playboy appearance.

Unrequited love is also endured by Mayama, an introverted design student who gradually finds a more promising connection with Ayumi, who’s been patiently waiting for Mayama to appreciate her affection.
Mayama Takumi is a bespectacled architect-to-be who has a crush on his boss, Harada Rika, an older woman.

This dorama is full of beautiful imagery, as befits the tale of art students. The sakura blossoms are probably the most prevalent imagery, and that, when put together with the soulful music, is an awesome blend. Each in their own way, these appealing characters give shape and substance to the film’s passionate embrace of creativity as a lifestyle that chose them as much as they’ve chosen it. And while “Honey and Clover” may be an even richer experience as a full-length anime series, this film can be enjoyed entirely on its own, with no previous awareness of its origins.

At last the key issue of this show seems to be about relationships; the love triangles are important, but the best part of the show is the interaction between friends. Because outside of the love triangles, there is so much chemistry between the characters that it’s very easy to see that they are best of friends.

Episodes:

1. Spring, the moment I fell in love
2. Ocean, tears, and a kiss won by lottery
3. Summer, a crush scattering like firework
4. A tearful confession of love sent on Christmas Eve
5. I don’t have to be your number one
6. How can you become an adult
7. Forward on an unmapped road
8. Missing person! Losing sight of life and love in winter
9. A miraculous confession of love, a shocking accident
10. Abyss of despair, the path that binds the two together
11. A love to be proud of

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Official Website: Honey & Clover Official Site

Plot Synopsis:
Live-action adaptation of the best selling comic by Chika Umino - Honey & Clover centers around four art students (Takemoto Yuta, Mayama Takumi, Morita Shinobu and Yamada Ayumi) who live in the same housing complex that is run by an art teacher, Hanamoto Shuji. Yuuta Takemoto, Takumi Mayama, and Shinobu Morita share an appartment. All three are poor and must struggle for every meal, but otherwise live a fulfiling college life.

During a party at the complex, Hanamoto introduces a new member to the building, a relative of his, named Hanamoto Hagumi. She is the niece of an art professor at the university and is known as a child prodigy. Takemoto instantly falls in love with Hagumi. Morita is the type that lives life on the edge, is extremely confident and talented in art. When Morita gets to spend time alone with Hagu, he expresses his feelings to her by kissing her suddenly. His friend and neighbor in the dormitory is Takemoto. He is more withdrawn, not as talented in art, and, even though he is in love with Hagu, tries to act like a friend to her.

While Takemoto is trying to confess his love, another love story between Mayama and Yamada is happening. Ayumi loves Mayama from the bottom of her heart. Mayama likes Yamada as a friend but secretly he loves an older women named Harada Rika who is also his boss at work.

Hagu is perfect. Takemoto looks very silly here - the biggest let down of the whole movie. Morita is actually the best out of the 3 main guys, he has that artist charisma too. Mayama is a stalker and he’s skinny. Yamada looks good, too bad they never show her “Iron Lady” power. As they all grow closer together, they must cope with the unpredictable nature of love, as well as find their own respective places in life.

Compared to the anime/manga, this movie stands alone quite well. The sceneries in the movie coupled with the BGM (by popular composer, Yoko Kanno) really sets it apart from the anime/manga. But I like it a lot.

Opening Theme: Speedrive by misono

Lovely Complex is Pretty Touching and totally halirious! It made me laugh and cry so much at the same time. I think the actor and actress are cute. I know the live action movie is odd but that’s one of the reasons I love it.

Plot Synopsis:

Adapted from the anime/manga by Aya Nakahara Lovely Complex live-action movie is a high-school romantic comedy centering on two students.

The girl, Risa Koizumi, is 172 cm (5′7″) tall - much taller than the average Japanese girl. The boy, Atsushi Otani, is 156 cm (5′1 and a half”) - way below the height of the average Japanese boy. They act similarly and love the same music, and their friendship is full of laughing, shouting at each other, and of course, lots of jokes about one another’s height. Their constant bickering and comical love-hate relationship is well-known throughout the school. Because of this, they are called the “All Hanshin Kyojin” after a popular comedy duo that has a similar height difference.

Risa gets rejected by a boy because she is taller than him. Otani gets rejected by a girl because he is shorter than her. And the two gradually become attracted to each other while coping with their respective height complexes. Together, they became the laughing stock of their whole school, always caught bickering back and forth. Although everyone claims that they’re a “perfect couple”, both deny it with rage. Fed up, Koizumi set out on a mission to find a fitting boyfriend, but who knows, maybe everyone was right.

During summer school, a very tall transfer student shows up and Risa immediately falls for him, as she has had bad luck with boys in the past because she is tall. There is a girl Chiharu that Otani likes as well, so Risa and Otani decide to put aside their differences and help each other get their love interests. But as they get to know each other better, Risa’s feelings for Otani begin to blossom. When Koizumi does realize she feels more for him than friendship, comedy and even a bit of angst ensues while she decides what to do about it. But Otani is too conscious of his height, and he acted like an idiot in so many occasions, breaking Risa’s heart time to time.

Lovely Complex teaches that you wouldn’t give up just from one or two rejections or failures. You must try your best! Heights and a person’s physical attributes aren’t everything and what matters - is the person’s qualities deep inside

One notable fact about Lovely Complex is that instead of speaking standard Japanese, almost all characters speak in Kansai-ben (the story takes place in Osaka). While having one or two characters speaking Kansai-ben is common in many anime shows, having all characters doing so is unusual.

Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Episodes: 11
Genres: J-dorama, Romance, Comedy, Live-Action
Directed by: Ishii Yasuharu, Tsuboi Toshio, Takei Atsushi
Produced by: Setoguchi Katsuaki, Mishiro Shinichi
Written by: Kamio Yoko (story), Satake Mikio
Starring: Inoue Mao (as Makino Tsukushi), Matsumoto Jun (as Domyoji Tsukasa), Oguri Shun (as Hanazawa Rui), Matsuda Shota (as Nishikado Sojiro), Abe Tsuyoshi (as Mimasaka Akira)
Release Date: 2007

Official Website: Hana Yori Dango Returns Official Site
Theme Song: Love So Sweet by Arashi

Plot Synopsis:
This second season of Hana Yori Dango picks up right after Domyoji leaves for New York. After confessing to Domyoji, Makino has not spoken to him for a year. Rui and the other members of F4 try and help Makino meet Domyoji again by going to New York for the christmas holidays. Though F4 and Makino meet Domyoji again, he has become a completely different person, and so they leave for Japan.

Some time later, Domyoji’s mother annouces that they will be returning to Japan. There, they hold a giant super-rich and classy birthday party for Domyoji and announce something very important. Domyoji, like in the first season, is engaged to a rich girl and heir. The only difference is that they are to be wed soon. What will Makino do? On the side, Rui begins to fall in love with Makino… will this become a love… square?

Hana Yori Dango-2 also features side stories like that of Soujiroh’s first love, Yuki’s efforts to make Soujiroh like her, and a peek at mafia boy Akira’s family life. It finally managed to provide clear, character descriptions of the main players because in the first season fans of manga were mostly confused with the exact personalities of Akira and Soujiroh. In HYD2 those two guys began coming out of their sidekick roles and taking on the main scene like they should be in the first place.

The production team did impressing scenes in downtown New York and used a lot of foreign extras.The glamour and posh of the wealthy lifestyle was always shown in a good and sometimes, hilarious way. The drama even attempts to showcase some of Japan’s nice spots in the city. The production quality sure is high, and the editing is very good.

I’m particularly impressed with the way that characters sit in the background, growing more and more colorful and then finally being inserted into the plot as necessary.

Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Episodes: 9
Genres: J-dorama, Romance, Comedy, Live-Action
Directed by: Ishii Yasuharu, Yamamuro Daisuke, Katayama Osamu
Produced by: Setoguchi Katsuaki
Written by: Kamio Yoko (story by), Satake Mikio, Fujimoto Yuki, Takahashi Natsuko, Arai Shuuko
Starring: Inoue Mao (as Makino Tsukushi), Matsumoto Jun (as Doumyouji Tsukasa), Oguri Shun (as Hanazawa Rui), Matsuda Shota (as Nishikado Soujiroh), Abe Tsuyoshi (as Mimasaka Akira)
Release Date: 2005

Official Website: Hana Yori Dango Official Site
Theme Song: WISH by Arashi; Opening theme - “Love So Sweet” by Arashi; Insert song - “Flavor of Life” by Utada Hikaru

Additional Information:
The series is based on the Japanese shoujo manga “Hana Yori Dango” by Kamio Yoko. The story evolves about a poor girl who entered an elite high school where she met a group of 4 powerful rich boys. From then onwards, she had been encountering various troubles, and also started a piquant spring story.

Having a sale of 48 million copies, the comic was turned into movie in 1995 and followed by TV anime. It was also shot into Taiwan drama serial Meteor Garden in 2001, making it the 13th country to have a high viewership.

Plot Synopsis:
Makino Tsukushi is the only poor student at Eitoku Gakuen, the school of the ridiculously rich and privileged that is ruled by Flower 4 or F4, a group of four boys who come from extremely powerful families: Domyoji Tsukasa, the leader and heir of the Domyoji World Finance Group; Hanazawa Rui, the introverted son of a large company; Nishikado Sojiro, a player who is the heir of a tea ceremony school; and Mimasaka Akira, a madam killer with ties to the underground. If a student gets on the F4’s bad side, he/she gets a red notice and is bullied and driven out of school.

Makino is a girl from a working class family who managed to get admission into the socially elite school of Eitoku, she works hard on keeping a low profile amongst all the glamour and glitz of the wealthy teens there but she can’t help noticing the extravagance of the upper class. Makino hopes to pass her days quietly - without drawing any attention to herself - but one day, she stands up to Domyoji in defense of her friend. The next day, Makino gets the dreaded red notice. Even though she is harassed, Makino decides to keep going to school because she is a “tough weed”. She declares war right back on the F4.

Makino is as stubborn as her name suggests (Tsukushi generally refers to a weed) and when Domyoji makes a laughing stock of her bento (Packed lunch)and her family she declares that she wont be moved and is ready for war against F4 and promptly clatters Domyoji with a right hook which has Hanazawa grinning and everyone shocked including Domyoji. Her resolve gets the attention of her crush Hanazawa Rui and oddly enough, rouses romantic feelings in her worst enemy, Domyoji Tsukasa.

The story turns into a chaotic mix of romance, drama, with some allusions to social realities (poverty, injustice, corporate struggles, etc.)

Remarks: Hana Yori Dango is my favorite J drama! It’s a fantastic story ^^”

Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Running time: 120 minutes
Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
Directed by: Takahisa Zeze
Produced by: Takashi Hirano
Written by: Gackt, Takahisa Zeze, Kishu Izuchi
Starring: Gackt, Hyde, Wang Lee-Hom (”The Avenging Fist”, “China Strike Force”), Taro Yamamoto, Susumu Terajima, Zeny Kwok (”Glass Tears”, “Merry-Go-Round” ), Anne Suzuki, James H. Thomas
Release Date: 2003

Plot Synopsis:
I like this movie a lot… This movie talk about year 2045, after the Asia’s economy collapse, people all over Asia live in a country called Mallepa. All kinds of people live there - Japanese, Koreans, Taiwanese, Hong Kongs, all kinds of people. In this chaotic and raging city where all the dreams lie, fate brings 4 orphans to meet Kei, a man with eternal life - a vampire. Caught in the strings of fate, they cannot escape the conflict, which leads them to a point where they must face each other with hatred, love and guns. The story depicts the vulnerable characters in struggle to live, through action, love and test for friendship. Sci-Fi action drama starring glamorous Hyde of L’Arc en Ciel and Gackt Camui of Malice Mizer - two of Japan’s top rock music legends with a chinese music icon - Wang LeeHom. Filmed in Taiwan with upcoming international cast.

Japanese live in a large refugee community - one that is poor and despised. A gang of Japanese urchins, led by the brothers Sho and Shinji and their buddy Toshi, eke out a criminal living on the fringes of this community. One day, Sho encounters Kei (Hyde) - a wounded and desperate vampire - and takes him to the gang’s hideout. Soon after, a gangster shows up to reclaim a money-filled briefcase the kids have stolen. He shoots Shinji, but Kei tears him to pieces and sucks him dry.

Flash forward a decade. Sho and Toshi have grown into enterprising young hoodlums, who are plotting to rip off a local Taiwanese gang. Kei, who has added not a wrinkle to his ageless face, goes along as their ally.

In the ensuing shootout, the boys run into Son (Wang Leehom), a Chinese freelancer with the same plan in mind. Though they start by pointing guns at each other’s heads, they become friends and partners. Later, Son introduces Kei and Sho to his sister, Yi-Che (Zeny Kwok) - and they both promptly fall for her. Yi-Che, however, is mute - the result of a brutal gang rape. Her only means of expression is painting, at which she is highly talented.

This budding friendship and love triangle is violently interrupted by the Taiwanese gang, out for revenge. Kei disappears in the ensuing melee - and is not heard from again.

Fast forward a few more years. Shu and Son are now on opposite sides of the gang fence, when Kei comes back into their lives, as a condemned prisoner. Vampirism, it turns out, is a crime punishable by death. Can anything bring back the good old days - or will former friends and lovers be forever torn apart, spiritually and otherwise, by violence and death?

“The friends who become enemies” theme is classic, but Zeze further stirs the pot with the odd relationship of Sho and Kei: one mortal, the other not, but both bound by love for the same woman and for each other. There is not only the unintentionally steamy gay subtext - these guys even have an intimate tet-a-tet in an open sports car in the moonlight - but the distracting celebrity subtext. Both Hyde and Gackt overwhelm their roles with their pop-star auras. They seem to exist in universes of their own, apart from not only the other actors, but also from the entire film.

This movie talks about people, in real life, and the feelings and bonds with each friends. And you won’t really believe the ending that you’re going watch in the end of this movie, It’s kinda unbelievable.

I have uploaded some wallpapers of Jun-Chan here =^.^= Let me know what you think!