Kimi No Yubisaki is 17 minutes of nothing. The first time I watched it, I didn’t get the message that it tried to convey. So I watched it again the second time and I still didn’t get it. I don’t know if the message was lost in translation or I was too fascinated with the stars that I didn’t about the story or what it tried to express.

But no matter what, that was the best 34 minutes of that day for me. You can’t go wrong with Maki Horikita and Meisa Kuroki. And with that, I leave you a couple of screenshots from Kimi No Yubisaki.

In One Missed Call Final, Emiri (Meisa Kuroki) is a shy high school girl bullied by her classmates. Asuka (Maki Horikita) stood up for her and became the target of the bullying. Instead of being in Asuka’s side, Emiri avoided her so that she wouldn’t be bullied again. Asuka tried to commit suicide but was saved by the school janitor. After that, Asuka remains in a coma.

The class goes to a field trip to Korea and strange things start to happen. Just like in any other horror movie, the pretty one dies first and in this case it was Azusa, played by Miho Amakawa. One by one, the students met their grisly death.

One Missed Call Final felt like a Final Destination movie except the deaths are caused by a vengeful spirit. Pam, or such I say Asuka’s alter-ego, is the one sending the cursed photos to her classmates’ mobile phones. It is a good premise for a horror movie but it got confusing when they tried to tie things up in the end.

Suddenly One Missed Call Final turned into Train Man as Emiri and An Jinu (Jang Geun Suk) asked netizens to send Asuka words of encouragement. I don’t get how a spiritual alter-ego can be connected to the computer and flooding her inbox can help solve the problem.

Like Emiri in the end, I was dazed and confused by the turn of events in One Missed Call Final. It tried too hard to have a clever twist to the story but it didn’t happen. Plus it failed to scare me at all. Maki Horikita made me stay until the end of the movie but I was not entertained by it. If not for Maki, I’ll say it was a waste of time.

I was enjoying Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac until the story focused on Yuji and his problems. The movie dragged from there until the end. Maybe It’s just me and my biased self because I wanted to see Maki all the time.

Speaking of which, Maki Horikita was cute in Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac. She’s prettier than Emma Roberts, who played a minor role in the movie. When she cut her hair short, I thought I was watching Hana Kimi again.

I would have definitely avoided Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac if not for Maki Horikita. Well it was not that bad. It did have some good scenes. I liked how she did her film class project and the way they incorporated photos all throughout the movie. But aside from that, I was pretty much bored by it.

After watching Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac I came to the conclusion that I’m not one of the target audiences of the movie. I haven’t read the book by Gabrielle Zevin and I don’t think I’ll be reading it in the near future. I wish I was a teenage amnesiac so that I can forget I saw this movie.

Have you read the Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac? Did you like this movie?

All throughout the book, Train Man is just Train Man and Hermes is just Hermes. But in the TV drama series, Train Man is Yamada Tsuyoshi (Ito Atsushi) and Hermes is Aoyama Saori (Ito Misaki), who I think was perfect for the role. You’ll definitely fall for her at first sight.

What I liked about Train Man the drama series is that it took the liberty of making side plots that focused on the people who read the electronic bulletin board. It just shows that these people have their own problems but they are still there to support the Train Man.

Densha Otoko’s supporting cast featured familiar faces such as Hayami Mokomichi, Shiraishi Miho, Oguri Shun, and a very young Maki Horikita. Maki was uber kawaii in this one as she plays Tsuyoshi’s little sister who at first can’t stand the sight of his brother but she gets closer to him as the drama progresses. AKB48 fanboys should not miss the Deluxe Special because the group performs Skirt, Hirari during the opening of the Densha Otoko museum.

Maki Horikita (photo not from Densha Otoko)

Another thing the drama had that the book didn’t is that Tsuyoshi had a rival and this brought hilarious moments. It’s fortunate for our hero that Sakurai Kazuya (Toyohara Kosuke) had luck going against him and he didn’t have the support that the Train Man had.

If you’re not a reading kind, then I’ll suggest that you watch Train Man or Densha Otoko the TV series. There’s something for everyone to enjoy, whether you’re an otaku or not. It has eleven episodes with two specials. Just like the book, it has a good mix of humor and drama that makes it entertaining for everyone.

The series becomes more interesting when Chisato met Shinzo and asked her to marry him and be the mother to his six adopted sons.  In exchange, her debt will be paid off.  This is no easy task especially when the six have their own problems to begin with.   On top of that, she must fulfill ten mothering goals as stated in the contract she signed before their supposed marriage.

Playing the six sons are Jun Kaname (Fuu), Yoshinori Okada (Takeru), Osamu Mukai (Sho), Yusuke Yamamoto (Masaru), Koji Seto (Satoru) and Tomoki Okayama (Akira).  It is amusing how they interact with each other and with their young stepmother as they live together at the Trick Heart Castle.   As the series progress, their views on family change and unite them against evil glasses guy’s plans.

Atashinchi no Danshi has eleven fun-filled and interesting episodes.  It has comedy, drama and a little bit of romance.  Chisato and Sho are cute and wish to see more of their pairing in the future.   The supporting cast delivers comic relief each week.  This makes the series light and fun to watch with the whole family. Inoue reminded me of Richie Rich’s maid Irona.

The plot might seem to be complex at first but everything is explained along the way.  Waiting a week for each episode was worth it.  And like what I’ve said before, Maki Horikita is turning out to be a good actress.

If you don’t want to be spoiled, STOP READING.   The ending was left wide open for a second season or a special in the future.  They found the Okura family treasure but they chose to be a family instead, just as what Shinzo has planned right from the start.  It was also revealed that Shinzo has two real heirs and Fuu is one of them.  The other one is not a son. *wink*

Maki Horikita takes on a challenging role, playing both Minato and Night in the movie. As a Tokyo boy, Horikita was scary. You can automatically tell whether she’s Minato or Night in the scene. I don’t want to be left with Night in the toilet alone.

I found Tokyo Boy to be slow. I don’t like how scenes were repeated to tell the story through the eyes of another person. It made some scenes redundant and I had to control myself from pushing the fast forward button. Horikita’s charm stopped me from doing so.

Overall, Tokyo Boy is a fun thriller. Finding out Night’s true identity, his connection with Minato and how Shu helped Minato resolve her problems in the end made it worth watching. I do believe that this movie could have been better. At least it introduced me to Maki Horikita. I expect better projects for her in the future.