mysecretsoul

Thank you so much, Cheer! I'm glad you enjoyed the article. It would be fun to see more directors highlighted, no? You may enjoy Hana though, since samurai pictures interest you~ It's a great philosophical answer to the Chūshingura in particular.

A perfect assessment of his films! As quiet and beautiful as they are, one must prepare for a swift emotional punch in the gut when it is least expected. Which was it? I think it was Maboroshi, but I cried buckets during even during a quiet scene, haha.

Ah, now I want to see this soon! Maybe I'll push back something else to make time for it, haha.

I'm laughing because that third, Painter in the Wind? Absolutely the same. I almost thought they were all related for whatever reason when first starting out, haha.

Ah, you write as beautifully as ever! I believe I actually have this series on my PTW, but never got around to it. For some reason, I always get this confused with A Tree With Deep Roots, haha.

Mm, I like how you described this one. I hadn't planned to watch it, but it's been so long since my last K-drama and it sounds appealing.

Same here! I've actually being eyeing Cross Game and Touch for those purposes, haha~ There are so many to choose from, it's wild.

Ah, here it is! I like that you used the introduction speech from the opening credits to start, it's beautiful language. We agreed on lots of points, but it never occurred to me that the familiarity I felt toward certain parts of the drama was due to sports anime :o You're completely right, the feeling is very similar! If you heard during one of Itsuwa's game, they were actually using anime themes for the fight songs sometimes XD

That was my reaction too, haha!

I loved the jokes President Hosokawa kept making about the hidden ball play "If I told you, it wouldn't be a hidden ball." XD

For those fans of Confessions, the original novel by Minato Kanae-san is now availble in English. :)

N no Tame Ni had me at Minato Kanae-san! She is such a remarkable author, heavily influenced by the classics in her field, but resounding with originality. Anything Minato-san's writing is involved in, I will follow without a doubt. There are several other interesting titles here, but in these cases I'll let familiar faces guide my first choices: Nobunaga Concerto, Gomen ne Seishun!, and Kyou wa Kaisha Yasumimasu.

A great miniseries about a small yet important part of Japanese history. I loved that it focused on the strong figure of the wife, rather than the scientist husband; while he was a brilliant mind, she seemed to be the strength keeping him afloat in all ways. Two major problems: the pacing after the ascent to the Fuji observatory, and the effects used to show the summit. Matsushita Nao is much better here than in Kamo Goes to Kyoto, whereas Sato Ryuta plays a much more serious man than many will be used to with his resume. Fine performances, and an interesting story make this a worthwhile watch.

Mm! It's a great show, just not a perfect one. I absolutely adored the family, despite whatever issues; they're really sweet~

That makes me very happy to hear, thank you for reading it as always C: I also liked yours quite a bit, and it's awesome you mentioned Aoi Yu (whom I completely forgot somehow, yikes).

I am glad to hear it! Unfortunately, I am still a fledging when it comes to Japanese literature, but I always hope to learn. Soseki-san was featured in the historical Saka no Ue no Kumo; in his formative years at the college in Tokyo, he was a contemporary and friend of several important military and artistic figures featured in the series :o It astounds that so many great people were in one place at once.

So true! Probably one of the best scenes of the series, for that matter. Though, my take-away will probably be: "It needs no reason," haha. :,)

Though I wrote a review on this series as well, I completely forgot to mention the excellent quotations from this series. "What's wrong with crying when I want to cry," that also touched me deeply. Thank you for mentioning them! This was quite the series.

Since I recently watched something that briefly featured him as a historical figure, my choice would be "I Am A Cat," by Natsume Soseki. http://www.tuttlepublishing.com/books-by-country/i-am-a-cat

This is a wonderful contest! I love that our community is being given a chance to expand our horizons to Asian culture through literature.

You know, I've never seen a web series before. My first choice would probably be Lee Jun Kai, considering how I feel about Peter Ho.... Thanks for the article, it's an interesting thing to recommend to the community~ I figure it'll become a more popular medium in the future too.