Jdrama Review: Hitsudan Hostess

Reviewing a Japanese SP drama that I watched awhile back that I highly recommend called "Hitsudan Hostess" which translate to hostess with a pen or conversation by a writing hostess. 

Synopsis: This drama is actually based off a true life story. They actually showed video clips of the actual person in the beginning of the drama. Sato Rei is a girl who was born in Aomori Prefecture who lost hearing at a young age of one year and 10 months. Because she is unable to hear which caused her to go through many struggles and difficulties in life. She was teased and criticized by her friends in high school who thought she was a nuisance to be around with and as a result leading Rie to drop out of high school because she felt like her friends didn't understand her and her existence in school wasn't of importance. She met a clothing shop owner who was nice enough to hire her to work as a sale associate at the store. Rei enjoyed her job as a sale associate because she was able to help her customers even though she could not hear or speak. Just when she thought a bright door has opened upon her, the shop owner suddenly decided to close the shop down due to low increase in sales. Rei fell back into her lonely depression hole and felt devastated. Until one day she randomly met a woman who is an owner of a hostess club and changed her life with a new bright opportunity. Rei became a hostess at a night club despite the fact that she could not hear or speak. She communicated with her customers through using paper and a pen as form of communication. She soon became really popular at the club because she listened to her customers with sincerity and expressed words of wisdom that touched the heart of her customers. But when her family found out that she has been working as a hostess at a night club, they strongly opposed her to continue working there, especially her mother. What her family failed to understand was being a hostess at a night club gave Rei a sense of hope and value as a person. She was being appreciated by her customers for her kind heart and words and it was the first time she ever felt "accepted" by people as if she was just a normal person. Rei left home to live off on her own with a dream of becoming the most popular hostess at a hostess club in Ginza, Tokyo. There she met a lovely old man who was her customer and whom she grew close with and also helped him out when he was going through a rough time. The story goes on from there and it talks about how she became a popular hostess at the #1 hostess club in Tokyo. 

My thoughts on this SP drama: It's a very inspirational drama. Kitagawa Keiko did a really great job in acting her character as she always does. She is definitely one amazing and talented actress. There was a lot of really great inspirational quotes said in the drama too. The drama is also great for those who want to know more about the life of a woman being a hostess at a night club. And in case you don't know what a hostess is. It's basically kind of like you're selling yourself out as a host. You serve male customers, mixing them alcohol drinks, and talking to them to help them relax and have a good time. It may seem like a bit of a shady job but it's not. There are no sexual activities involved. You can go on dates with customers to have a drink or eat dinner at a fancy restaurant but they cannot ask you to offer them sex or do any inappropriate things. And this drama SP shows you that being a hostess can be seen as rather elegant and beautiful. There are actually host clubs in Japan as well in which men work there as a host and serve female customers doing relatively the same things that a hostess would do. I especially really like the ending of the drama where Rei and her mother had a deep heart to heart talk where they both spilled out words kept deep within their hearts and how Rei's mother finally accepted Rei to be herself and what a beautiful person she has become! That scene had me crying sooooo much. T____T Prepare tissues when you reach the end of the drama. Overall I'd give this drama a 5/5! Well acted and a very inspiring story. I also watched this SP at a time when I was feeling extremely depressed in my life and watching this SP made me think how there are other unfortunate people who are born with the inability to do things and yet they are able to pull through and make a worthy living life. It inspired me that you can do anything as long as you keep trying and keep having faith in yourself! 

Some of my favourite quotes from the drama:

A life without challenges is an innocuous life, and a life with challenges is an appreciative life.

You cannot change the past and others, but you can change the future and yourself.

The character for "stars" is written as "a day is born". During hard times, look up at the sky. Surely, tomorrow will be born.

Fancy is wanting yourself to be loved. Love is showing your true heart.

The important thing is not how much you do. It is how much you do it with your whole heart.

If there is someone next to you, discouragement will change to tenderness.

Difficult times happen on the way to happiness.

No Makeup VS Makeup

So while I was watching one of the latest episode of the show "Generation Tengoku" in which Yamapi is one of the MC hosts in the show, I found some pretty interesting topics that I wanted to also talk about on my blog. I actually quite like watching this show, the topics are always so interesting to watch. I think I would've still watched this show even if Yamapi wasn't in the show at all. 

For those who are not quite familiar with the show and have never heard of it or watched any of the episodes. Generation Tengoku is basically a Japanese variety TV show that talks about various trends and topics that are currently really popular in Japan at the moment. It cover topics such as makeup, fashion, health, beauty, food, music, dramas, anime, etc. Each episode focuses on a different topic that is currently "in trend" or that is really "popular" at the moment. They also invite panel guests on the show to discuss the topic for that episode and all the guests are split into 3 different age groups starting with banana generation (people born in the 50's-60's), kiwi generation (people born in the 70's) and mango generation (people born in the 80's and 90's...this is also where I belong! lol) They also do a top 10 best ranking on the topic and show what is most popular among in all the 3 different generations. It's a really great and interesting show. I'd highly recommend it to anyone to watch it who is not a Yamapi fan (which really Yamapi hardly gets any spotlight in the show. He's soooooo quiet and untalkative that he just fades in the background of the show, LOL!) but if you're interested in knowing what's currently popular and in trend in Japan right now then this is a must watch show for you so don't miss out! Especially if you plan on visiting Japan anytime soon, this show will let you know where to go and the best things to look out for while in Japan. 

Anyway, the latest episode I was watching did a top 10 best ranking for "popular things for women" that Japanese men like in women. And can you guess what was ranked #1? Girls with simple makeup! Yes, apparently believe it or not, the #1 thing that Japanese men find popular or like the most are girls with simple makeup. And of course, one of the host (Imada) goes and ask Yamapi for his opinion on this topic to which Yamapi responds with "It's not simple makeup that men like, it's no makeup!" and all the young female guests on the show react in shock like why?!?!?! Yamapi then explain that he likes girls who wear no makeup because it is more courageous and takes more courage to do so. 

OMG WELL SAID YAMAPI. WELL SAID!!! *applauds* 

It does take more courage to do so and I pretty much agree with Yamapi (even if I am a girl myself), I do think wearing no makeup is better than having a ton of makeup on. And it is true that most guys don't really mind girls who don't wear/have makeup on. It's just that we girls are always our own biggest self critic that we think we look absolutely horrible without makeup on that we should never show anyone with our no make face which is not true.

I think I've already said this before on my blog but I don't wear any makeup at all on a daily basis. ZERO. Absolutely no makeup at all! The only times I do wear makeup is when I take pictures and outfit snaps and occasionally on those special days when I want to look a little pretty just so I can look somewhat presentable. Oh and on a day when I have to go for a job interview so I don't look like a dead zombie because as much as I hate to admit it, how you look also determines whether you get a job or not. We do live in a superficial world where everything is all about looks! But other than that, I generally don't like wearing makeup on a daily basis because I find it unnecessary and I'm totally comfortable with going out with just my bare naked face. It's no big deal, really. Maybe it's because I've been doing so for the past 20 something years of my life. I wish more girls would not be so afraid to do this. I mean I really don't want to become one of those girls who would even refuse to go out to eat or buy something at the grocery store without having any makeup on. Really, it's okay to show a little flaw and be yourself just for 15-30 minutes in your life. No one is perfect in this world. Yes, you might look a little tired with dull looking skin and dark circles showing, so what? WHO CARES! Nobody is going to point at you and pin out all your flaws. There isn't a need to look perfect and flawless every second and minute in your life. 

I mean I guess I can somewhat understand if you are a person with acne prone skin and you have pimples all over your face or if you have really dry skin that you need to wear makeup to cover it up. Otherwise if your skin is perfectly fine with no pimples, no dark spots, no freckles or any dryness at all, why do you need to wear makeup everyday? What is there to cover and hide? I guess I'm more lucky since I don't have any of the skin problems mentioned previously other than I do have a few moles and acne scars on my face. No I don't have perfect skin but I am not afraid to show my imperfections and flaws. Instead of using makeup to cover them up, I just leave them as it is. Because to me what's more important is having clear and smooth skin than to cake my skin with loads of makeup trying to cover my flaws. That is also why I spend much more money on buying skincare products than makeup. Also because I don't share the same love and passion for makeup as I do for fashion. So rather than spending so much money on makeup products to hide the imperfections, why not spend the money to buy skincare products to "fix" the imperfections? Because really when a person has good and clear skin to begin with, then there is no need to be afraid of showing your natural self and be more confident of who you really are. But I'm not trying to say that makeup is bad for you and that you should never wear makeup. While I do think makeup can help to enhance a woman's beauty and make them look beautiful, it is also important for a woman to feel comfortable in her own skin. To be able to look in the mirror everyday and tell yourself that you look beautiful just the way you are. And even though I do think the me with makeup on does make me look a whole lot prettier, I still find myself to love the me without any makeup on because it's the most "自我" (most true) self of me and who I am. No fake mask, no filters and no photoshop edited work...just me! 

And if you look as good as Kitagawa Keiko with no makeup on, why would you even need makeup to begin with? lol. But of course, not everyone has perfect flawless skin as Keiko does (she's just really lucky!), but I'm just saying for those who already have beautiful skin to begin with but still think they look awful without makeup on is being too hard on themselves.

  
This girl looks stunning even without makeup on. Keiko has so many scenes in the drama Buzzer Beat with no makeup on that I applaud her being so brave because not many actress would be as willing to show themselves on TV without makeup. 

And here we have Keiko in very pretty natural makeup. I LOVE her natural makeup in the drama. It's always so natural but yet so pretty! *____* Although I still think she looks much better without all the makeup on her face. What a lucky natural beauty she is! ♥

Anyway, another rather interesting topic brought up in the show of Generation Tengoku that ranked pretty high for what was most popular for women among Japanese men was wearing all white as it gives out a very "清純" (pure and innocent) look to women. Yamapi also blurted out with another shocking response when he was asked what he thinks about this topic. Yamapi actually said while the people with this kind of "white pure innocence beauty" image from the banana generation makes it very persuasive to believe but it is also very questionable to him. He later explained how you'd often associate these type of girls to have a very "clean and neat" image but Yamapi isn't so certain of how true this would be as in today's world, everyone likes to play around and it really makes you wonder if such pure innocent beauty even exist anymore.  
OMG THIS IS WHY I LOVE THIS MAN!!! Another great applaud for Yamapi! I LOVE YOU! Very true and well said. In today's world now, there are less people who take relationships seriously and everyone is just all about screwing around and having fun. Even if a girl can appear to be all sweet and innocent with a beautiful face, you never know if she's really an angel or she's really just a devil who goes around sleeping with a bunch of other men and just partying it up. Kind of makes me think if Yamapi had a similar experience in the past where he was "cheated on" with a girl who appears to be all pure and innocent like an angel but she was actually just a devil slut who likes to sleep around and play with emotions. But either way I'm glad that Yamapi actually acknowledge this and brings up a very good point to take into consideration. I've always loved how high Yamapi's EQ is and how smart and mature he thinks for his age. He always has some very deep and insightful view on things that gets to me! ♥_♥

And another rather interesting thing that was popular for women that Japanese men like was "marshmallow girls" a.k.a chubby girls. Yamapi expresses how he likes this type of girls to which he surprised all the guests and everyone on the show. He explained how he likes the atmosphere of eating together with a marshmallow girl because it increases his appetite to eat more food. AWWWW what a sweet and adorable thing to say! Yamapi sure knows the way to make a girl's heart melt. ♡(˃͈ દ ˂͈ ༶ ) *teehee* Even one of the guest Izumi Pinko was like, "now all the mothers watching this on TV will surely love Yamapi even more and become his fan" and that his fan base would start increasing like a mob. LOL! XD 

What are your thoughts on makeup? Do you think makeup can be deceiving that it can make someone look like a sweet innocent angel to hide their devil and ugly personality? What about people who wear seductive sexy makeup to seek attention from men and gain personal benefits? Comment below and let me know! =)

Fall Japanese Dramas 2012

Reviewing some new Japanese dramas that I am currently watching for the fall season. It's been a while since I last reviewed a Japanese drama. I can't remember when was the last time I wrote a review for a Japanese drama, it has probably been years ago. 

Anyway, some time ago I also seem to have lost interest in watching Japanese dramas as well. I tried watching things here and there between different seasons and nothing really caught my interest to finish watching the entire drama. I always give up after a few episodes due to the lack of interest and it just bores me. Some dramas I tried to watch in the past seasons were Legal High, Lucky Seven, Zenkai Girl, Papa wa Idol and the recent summer drama Rich man poor woman which was supposedly one of the best rated dramas for the summer? I don't know. I watched an episode and couldn't even get myself into the drama and eventually gave up on it. Maybe I'll go back to watch it again sometime when I am bored and have no other new dramas to watch. I did watch one summer drama that was rather relaxing and enjoyable to watch though. I will do a separate review for that later on. 

But this fall season's drama has finally revived my love for Japanese dramas! Oh where do we start with this fall season's dramas. There are so many that I am interested in watching including MONSTERS, Akumu-chan, Osozaki no Himawari, PRICELESS. I haven't had a chance to watch the ladder 2 yet because I've been quite busy and I am biased towards MONSTERS and Akumu-chan for obvious reasons, lol.