Narimiya Hiroki is back on my screeeeeeeeen! He unretired!!!!!!!!!
(And he's playing a serial killer - a real one not a wrongly believed one like FoE dude - but also a good husband which according to twitter/tiktok/mdl girlies would make him "a whole green forest.")
Dousoukai follows the story of three characters - Orihara Natsuki, Andou Fuuma and Atari Kousuke, all who studied at the same high school in rural Toi. Ten years later, with all three of them working in Tokyo, their lives take an unexpected turn with the introduction of Arashi, who as his name suggests, brings a storm of chaos into their lives.
The most iconic 90s LGBT drama from Japan which had a huge impact on Japan and the content as we know it now. Just like previous Ossan's Love, it was a pillar of a certain time period. Granted, there were other dramas and movies in the 90s starring queer characters, but Dousoukai was a drama that did it on such a scale that no other drama from that period could ever compare.
It's said that the streets of Shinjuku 2-Choume (gay district in Tokyo) emptied out around the time this drama aired because everyone would be watching it from 10 to 11 pm.
I'll warn in advance that this drama contains a huge amount of nude scenes, sex scenes and later on some assault scenes, so please keep that in mind before starting it. But don't let that discourage you since this drama has lots of beautiful scenes and unique views on love to offer.
This has been years in the making, so I hope you enjoy the first ep!
Mega
Dailymotion
Pixeldrain
You're free to choose which version you want - 480p is the original video, 1080p is the upscale for better readibility of subtitles, so I recommend that. The characters were color-coded in the past to keep track all of them even at a later time, so I've included that version as well. The colors have no particular meaning as they're random. The color-coded version has karaoke as well.
My most sincere thanks go out to @furritsubs for even agreeing to work on this together with me. Together we could figure out most lines and it was hard work that spanned sooo many hours and replays. That said, if you know any Japanese people who can caption some difficult parts of the drama, feel free to let me know! Also, if you spot any errors and you know they're wrong with absolute certainty, I'd also appreciate you reaching out ^^
Translation notes below the cut.
00:45 - The iconic scene of Natsuki scratching her crotch was recreated again in a 2007 MBS/TBS drama お・ばんざい!.
03:12 - He meant the words having atari in them and here it's all words with the kanji 当, but not the same kanji as in Atari's name which is 中 (he uses the naka kanji).
magureatari (紛れ当) - lucky shot
baatari (場当たり) - ad hoc, playing to the gallery, spur-of-the-moment
yatsuatari (八つ当たり) - venting anger
03:22 - "Since June, the interest rates have been liberalized, so do consider transferring from your regular savings account from now on."
Hope this one makes sense banking-wise because economics isn't my strong suit. 1993 was a year of huge financial reform in Japan, you can find out more about it with this scientific article
08:27 - "People from Matsuki Bussan are
here to proceed with the formalities." this line was kept vague on purpose because I don't know what they meant banking-wise
09:20 - A lot of the drama is situated in Toi located on the Western side of Izu Peninsula. Toi is known for its onsen, nature, gold mining and beautiful early cherry blossoms. Here it is on google maps.
17:11 - Chose to omit the fishing section with Katsushige because it's nothing important. Just fishing talk and I wasn't sure about some lines, so I thought it's best to skip it since it overlaps with the music anyway. If anyone knows all the lines spoken, do let me know.
17:57 - "I mean, when they'd be awarding the participation awards, they'd say it's only for those who finished, even though I registered when they first announced it."
I think that's what she meant when she mentioned the participation awards, but not fully sure because of one word.
24:07 - I guess Hige not releasing his pheromones when surrounded by old men and women is a reaction to Shidehara's line of him being blunt, but how that's related still eludes me.
35:02 - "Around the time when the Showa
era ended and Heisei era started." - They meant end of year 1992 / start of 1993, forgot to add it.
43:23 - "This summer, the LDP government collapsed,
and Hosokawa's new cabinet was born."
LDP (Liberal Democratic Party) is a nationalist and conversative party that has been in power almost continuously ever since 1955 (its establishment). However, 1993 was a year they didn't manage to hold onto the majority and lost in the general election.
From wikipedia:
"The LDP managed to hold on to power in 1990 Japanese general election despite some losses. In June 1993, 10 members of the party's liberal-conservative faction split to form the New Party Sakigake. The end of the postwar miracle economy, the Japanese asset price bubble and other reasons such as the recruit scandal led to the LDP losing its majority in 1993 Japanese general election held in July of that year.
Seven opposition parties – including several formed by LDP dissidents – formed the Hosokawa government headed by Japan New Party leader and LDP dissident Morihiro Hosokawa, who became the Prime Minister preceded by Kiichi Miyazawa. However, the LDP was still far and away the largest party in the House of Representatives, with well over 200 seats; no other individual party crossed the 80-seat mark. Yohei Kono became the president of the LDP preceded by Kiichi Miyazawa, he was the first non-prime minister LDP leader as the leader of the opposition."
I still cannot believe how this took years in the making and now EP1 is finally out! So honored @nicks-den reached out to me about this project. Nick definitely poured out his entire heart, time and effort towards this project. I cannot believe how his patience ran deep for this drama. And now we're here!
We are both so excited to share this work with you. I hope you stay patient with us for the upcoming episodes as well.
This was a drama that was ahead of its time when it was released in 1993. It was absolutely groundbreaking. Japanese viewers (you can see their comments about it on youtube where a user uploaded the episodes of this series up there) still talk about its impact to this day and how iconic of a series this was. Reading their comments about it made me imagine how they felt back when this was airing.
My color-coded HL show, Futari Solo Camp, is coming to an end, and the Blue Boy is struggling without camping (and his Red Rascal?).
So I was happy this Blue Boy found some time to go day camping.
And give us a little tutorial with his miniature blue camping gear.
But I'm even more excited that his Red Rascal showed up to say hi!
They are adorable, and as far as the colors and I are concerned, they are in love.
He even made them matching kits to start fires with together!
And she said she would take good care of it because the fire is symbolic of the passion that has ignited in their hearts during their time together because of 💕LOVE💕
Even as he celebrates his father's life and all his father taught him about camping, he smiles because he is thinking about her (BECAUSE HE IS IN LOVE!!!)
So at the end of all of this, he will still go camping because it's what he loves.
But he will go camping WITH HER because he also loves her camping with her.
So even though the show ended without them saying they love each other, it did end with him saying he is a former solo camper and that their journey is far from over, so it gives me hope for a second season. But above all else, it ended with them in their colors, together.
The family a person has now is not necessarily a safe or happy place for that person. I was saved many times by this song, which says that you can become a family with someone who truly accepts you and gives you security and love, even if they are not related to you by blood. A family of my own choosing.
Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna (2022)
[She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat]
Chosen Family by Rina Sawayama
@asiandramanet creator bingo - [lyrics]
Part of the anthology film Seishun Discovery Film Nandatte Seishun-hen. This one may not be what you're expecting, but that's what makes it fun.
Synopsis:
Akira and Youichi are both working as security guards. One day, Akira gets run over by a van, but he suddenly springs back to life. Later, Youichi finds out that Akira intends to go back home and has one last thing he wants to do before he leaves the city. He sets out on helping him accomplish it.
Cast:
Kaminaga Keisuke as Akagi Youichi
Kuroba Mario as Akira (or you know what)
Ogasawara Ken as Taneda Kouhei
Earsubbed as usual, so there may be errors. Still not fully sure about like 5 lines since it's so hard to make out sometimes, but sharing it anyway.
Raw + subs
Mega
Hardsub
Mega | Dailymotion
Curious what people will think about the ending! It definitely adds a new level of confusion. Feel free to share your thoughts anywhere.
We've reached the end! In this episode, Gen introduces a camping hack and reminisces about what has happened in the past year.
Previous episodes:
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7
Raws + subs
Mega | Google Drive
Stream here
I've also uploaded a batch of all the episodes on this link in case you're just starting out.
Thanks for everyone who joined me on this weekly! I'll miss them and the beautiful nature/food shots ^^ They did really well in adapting the manga and cut out some very hard to understand parts that wouldn't work for the drama. The dialogue was very manga-accurate too!
Translation notes below the cut as usual. I didn't want to ruin those lovely scenes with more text.
Yakitori - pieces of meat (mostly chicken) on a skewer grilled over a fire.
The preparation of the char cloth was very quick and not quite clear. This can be dangerous to attempt, so I recommend watching this video (you can understand it even without knowing what the Japanese captions say):
Hakama - traditional skirts or trousers worn over special kimonos and tied at the waist, usually used for ceremonial/formal occassions
Shiokara - fermented food made from viscera - internal organs (mostly guts) of all kinds of fish and seafood and their meat pieces, mixed with salt (for fermentation) and malted rice (koji). As you can imagine it has a very strong aroma, so it can be an acquired taste. The squid one is the most common type. The chunks of meat are fermented along with the guts for weeks to months. The salt and the viscera facilitate the fermentation.
Namerou - way of preparing fish or meat by cutting them into small pieces and mixing them with condiments. Gen has a spin on it with oysters by cutting them into small pieces and them mixing all the ingredients together.
Kabayaki is a special preparation of fish (typically eel) where fish is gutted, boned, butterflied, basted with a sweet sauce made from soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and sake, and broiled.
Chikuwa is a traditional Japanese fish cake made from surimi (a paste of ground fish, typically white fish) mixed with starch, salt, sugar, and egg whites. The mixture is shaped into a cylindrical form, often around a bamboo or metal stick, and then steamed or grilled. The name "chikuwa" (which means "bamboo ring") comes from how it looks when it's sliced.
Thanks for making it this far! Have a thumbs up from Gen <3
Synopsis: Sho, who has suicidal thoughts, suddenly receives news that his sister Nagisa had been in accident. He rushes back to their hometown where he learns the truth behind the urban legend of lemmings committing suicide and re-evaluates his life.
I fell in love with this short when I first heard the theme song. Somehow it's like I was drawn to it and I still love the short no matter how many times I watch it. I was so obsessed with it that I even subbed the trailer:
This short came to be after the director was diagnosed with infective endocarditis and was on the brink of death, and I could see how much love they all poured into this short, so I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did.
Nekocap
Hardsub - Dailymotion
Hardsub / Raws + subs - Mega
As always, earsubbed, so there may be errors.
The whole soundtrack can be found on Spotify and other platforms.
Here's the theme song Shindenzu (ECG):
I'll be working on more projects from this director for sure ^^
This show spoke to me in ways no other show had before. I'll always be grateful to have known it, and to have experienced season two as it aired.
Thank you, Tsukutabe, for coming into my life and changing it so inexplicably.
And of course, thank you, @furritsubs for providing translations. Without your hard work and effort, I could not have witnessed such a beautiful show, with its thoughtful and kind writing, and characters who will be part of my life for as long as I live.
I have a childhood friend of the same age who I've grown up with like a sibling since I was 3 years old. No matter where we go or what we do, it's only natural that we're always together. He's a guy, but that style suits him better.
My childhood friend is incredibly handsome, tall, and has a great figure. And that is why she's often mistaken for a guy. But the truth is, she is quite bothered about it.
This show spoke to me in ways no other show had before. I'll always be grateful to have known it, and to have experienced season two as it aired.
Thank you, Tsukutabe, for coming into my life and changing it so inexplicably.
And of course, thank you, @furritsubs for providing translations. Without your hard work and effort, I could not have witnessed such a beautiful show, with its thoughtful and kind writing, and characters who will be part of my life for as long as I live.