Nemureru Mori and variety ranking
Nemureru Mori
Another dark mystery drama. I liked the plot twists. There are at least five characters I suspected of being the culprit XD. Everyone is so suspicious. I found that, despite his portrayal as a creepy guy, Naoki was the most harmless-looking character in the whole drama.
There are some points in the script that I wasn't totally convinced with though, such as:
[Spoiler (click to open)]1) The "scientific" explanation behind the plot, with the limit of 15 years before the buried memories come back to the surface. It was hard for me to be convinced by this "expiration date" of 15 years. But I'm willing to take this point as an Axiom belonging to the drama's universe, like you accept the existence of ghosts or magic in supernatural/fantasy fictions.
2) Kokubo attacking Naoki. I just don't get why he attacked him so violently given that he only had a grudge against Kiichiro and Naoki was trying to protect Minako. Unless he thought Naoki was working for Kiichiro? But he was watching them before and he should know that it wasn't true and that Keita was the one who would take his info to Kiichiro. idk.
3)The scene in the last episode where Kokubo stabs Kiichiro and the boat's staff conveniently forgot about the injured man until the talk with Minako ended. I feel like the director/script-writer ignored the common sense for the sake of the dramatic effect in this scene.
Despite these weaknesses, I enjoyed the drama a lot.
Another highlight of the drama is Kimura being hot as fuck and wearing tanktops most of the time ;)
It's funny that, after all this time, I'm still taken by surprise by the sexy charisma of actor!Kimura every single time I watch one of his dramas. lol. When I first got into smap, the first image I had of Kimura is "the guy who hates to lose and gets easily competitive". Through time, I got to know more about him: the pervert guy who loves dirty jokes, the cool guy who miraculously gets the victory for smap in the last second, the guy who carries his kouhai on his back, the guy who loves one piece, surfing, animals, kids and nattou, the guy who adores kusanagi and shingo like little brothers, gets hit on by Goro and has that dark bond with Nakai, the former teamer, the guy who watches every TV show ever, the guy who attacks like an angry lion but needs the other members to defend him when he gets attacked,etc.
With this image, I always tended to think that I was safe from the "kimutaku effect". Even when Kimura looks sexy as fuck in performances I'm more like "Look at our Kimura, as expected!".
But, whenever I watch his dramas, I'm shocked by how easily I fall in love with that charismatic and hot actor. The effect is stronger with 90's dramas that turn me into a fangirl from the 90's screaming for that Sex God.. Probably because I'm much less familiar with 90's Kimura.
On the other hand, I can't help but burst out laughing whenever the line "Chottomatteyo" comes on an old Kimura drama, no matter how dramatic or romantic the scene is. He always insists that he doesn't say it and I'm like "Here! You said it!" XD
SxS Presents: Takuya-senpai Kimura having fun and looking hot
I usually complain about the SxS Presents episdes but this time I have no reason to complain. The show had excellent quality and it was focused entirely on a smap member. I immediately got the impression that the staff knows Kimura very well and knows how to film him in the best way. Was it the Santaku staff? The OST was cool too.
I loled when he immediately was able to stand up on the flyboard from the first try. As expected :)
And then 5 minutes later he was acting like a 5-year-old in the camping store <3
PS: I loved the flyboard girl.
Momm!!
Senga directly confessing his love for Nakai <3 I feel bad for that kid, we know very well how it is like to fall for an evil troll XD
I think I get now why Mary was so scared of letting the Kouhai interact with SMAP: between the Nakai-coaster and Kimura's suddenly-calling-by-first-name attack, the whole agency would turn into a 2TOP harem in no time. And the few survivors will be seduced by Goro.
Nakai and the fans
Nakai: You can't reach me, I'm an existence above the clouds for you
Fans: *cheer*
Nakai: You're my bills, my electricity, my gas
Fans: *cheer*
Nakai: I work to sleep with good women
Fans: *cheer*
Nakai: I didn't date girls until the age of 18
Fans: Eeeeeeeeeeh
Nakai: That's a lie. I dated as much as I wanted
Fans: *cheer*
My First ranking
SMAP Members' Variety Shows Ranking
Starting with the unranked Shows :
Unranked: GoroDeluxe
I'm not including this show in the ranking because I simply don't watch it enough for that. I watched the episodes where other members are guests and some other random episodes. And all the episodes that I watched were very interesting. But I can't really follow the show because I always end up not understanding most of what they're talking about. I'm under the impression the japanese is the most difficult out of all other smap shows and there are not enough visual hints for me to get it. I should make being able to watch this show my goal for japanese learning.
Unranked: Momm!!
Unranked because I don't know myself how I feel about this show. I watch it every week and I enjoy it a lot. But it changed formats too many times in a short period and I'm under the impression it's more of an experiment lab to test the concept for the next nakai music show on TBS. I think I wouldn't mind if it got replaced by Utage or any other show. But I do actually like every format it went through, including the current one which isn't exactly a music show. It's confusing...
And now to the real ranking:
7) The Sekai Gyouten News
This show is the one where we get the most epic Nakai quotes. But I watch it mostly for the studio talk parts and I scroll on the vtr parts most of the time, especially when they're too dark or sad. I like the long specials better than the regular episodes because they have longer talk parts and a highest percentage of funny stories and informative topics. I totally love the NakaixTsurube combination.
I have a preference for the re-enactment vtr's filmed by the japanese staff. The actors are better, and there's no weird dubbing.
6) Pusma
I love the KusanagixYusuke combination. Yusuke is a total pervert XD. I also love the KusanagixEgashira dynamics. My favourite corners are the Idol dance club, Guitar man, and the comedians' audition thing. I also like the game corners. I often scroll through the gourmet episodes and the ika-bu episode though.
5) Smastation
Like for Pusma, I usually scroll through the gourmet episodes (unless the guest is someone I'm interested in), but this show made me realize how much I like watching vtr's about stationery and 100 Yen goods, lol. The rankings are fun and I often discover a lot of things I didn't know about.
There were other interesting corners in the past, like the Bera Bera station (though I'm under the impression Shingo didn't learn a lot from it XD) and other corners I discover whenever I watch an old episode. One of the show's most epic moments was the live double-broadcast with Fuji TV's 27hrtv.I have a vague plan for marathoning old episodes of the show one day.
4) Mininaru Toshokan
I started watching the show regularly since the Shiranakya Yokatta format started and I think I never missed an episode since. I learn a lot of info from it. And for some reason I noticed that it's the show where I learn the most new japanese words. Probably because of the slow talking pace and the high rate of telops. I also love watching Nakai getting excited about food XD.
Also, it's the show where The Dress appeared.
2) Ojamap
Nothing better than Shingo wandering around in public places, enjoying food and being his troll, random, perfect business idol self. I just love how every kid in a perimeter of 100m ends up suddenly in Shingo's arms, and how he casually walks hand in hand with random regular people. There is always a crowd that appears immediately around them, but I love when they meet obvious fans.
The Nazo map format was particularly fun, when they would ring the bell of a random, inaccessible-looking big house, and the voice through the interphone is like "Shingo-chan!!!!!". And I'll never forget the Toilet Paper Mystery.
2) Kinsma
Kinsma is imo the smap regular show with the best quality after sxs. It's not ranking on #1 only because I skip some episodes especially the ballroom dance episodes and the agriculture episodes.
My favourite episodes are the haranbanjou that always make cry. The episodes that are more information-oriented are always interesting. The re-enactement VTR's always have a high level acting and production. It's a human show filled with love and respect, almost every episode that I watch leaves a huge impact. It also shows a side of Nakai that doesn't appear in other variety shows. I'll never forget the episode with Becky's interview.This year's Ongaku no Hi had many stories from Kinsma and that gaves it a lot of meaning and depth.
1) Nakai no Mado
It's a pure variety show that I find myself enjoying no matter what the topic is. It's also the show that displays Nakai's MC skills the best. The Guest MC thing was Nakai's idea and it became one of the biggest strengths of the show. The sitting disposition around a circular table and the cameras filming from both inside and outside that circle is another strong point. But the biggest strength is of course Nakai himself. The show is built mainly on his skill at putting the spotlight on the guests and showing the most interesting sides of them. No wonder so many talents got their unexpected second-breaks thanks to that show: The Nakai Masahiro Talent Recycling Factory XD The Nakai vs 100 talents sp were impressive.
Well, that was my first ranking. I'm so bad at doing this. I wonder if there will be more rankings in the future.