Saka no ue no kumo

[shikisoku]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEgZKCElDJo

Does anyone watch the series?
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[Owarikenshi]

Is this running right now? Looks really good!

Owarikenshi

[mktanaka]

similar to NHK Taiga year long dramas, I like this one as well. Not Samurai JD as it begins with 1st group of children of the Meiji restoration and follows a few thru adulthood. I am somewhat amazed on how fast Japan became a Military Naval power soon after they began to open up their country.
Katsu Kaishu orders from the Shogunate to launch the nation's Navel Acadamy and then a few years later, disbanding it in the mid 1860's.
At that time, the European/Western nation couterparts generations ahead..
I see much of the discipline in Samurai culture carried forward into Japan's military in subsequent decades.

this JD centers around two brothers, Akiyama Yoshifuru and Akiyama Saneyuki who began in very modest families but their aspirations to further themselves..as well as finding ways to contribute to their country...

two of the leading characters, Abe Hiroshi played Kenshin in Tenchijin, and
Kagawa Teruyuki played Hideyoshi in Toshiie/Matsu Taiga dramas in years past.


Looking forward to season 2.

[Kayjee]

I missed the first part, but this time I'll probably watch it.

Also, seems like the novel will be translated to English. Good news to me.

[Date Onigiri]

Now this is a darn good series, despite the historical inaccuracies. I just don't like how NHK has broken it into two parts shown over two years.

[wicked iemon]

3 Parts over 3 years actually .
Anyway i thought the first season was about as exciting as an overdose of Valium .
God it seemed like an Eternity just watching the first two eps .
Bad move on NHK's part they should have dumped this tedious mess that goes nowhere and gone with the drama about the great Temple in Nara .

Anything with a Sara Brightman theme song deserves ...well you get the idea .
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"One mans washing machine is another mans music "

[shikisoku]

[mktanaka]

see season 2 starting to show up on dvd. will order copy.. (as Ryoma Den 2nd half of season) began to show up on dvd a few weeks ago.. (my local tv station no longer broadcasts NHK Taiga dramas since early 2010)

[wicked iemon]

I would be very careful of Part 2 of Ryomaden on DVD .
Not only is the final episode missing but the subs are awful .
Ditto Saka .

It is a very bad sign when a DVD comes out just days after the end of the broadcast .
The first Volume of Ryomaden that had perfect subs came out around Sept ,while Vol 2 popped up within a week of the series end .
I also noticed they were put out by different Malay/Thai Mfg's so id hang and see if the people who did Vol 1 come back with Vol 2 .
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"One mans washing machine is another mans music "

[shikisoku]

[mktanaka]

good points on how the dvd's are created as well as bad subs... but here is my take:

bad subs is better then nothing.
nothing is what i have due to local broadcast
decision not to air. not blaming them, just how it is.

similar to napster 10 years or so back when there was no itunes/ipods. (I have a ipod and buy tunes from itunes (or amazaon) now, but then,when they did not exist, i got them, where i got them)

[wicked iemon]

Every time i call FUJITV (KTSF is the main outlet Fuji rent time from )to ask them to restore the Taiga they just say "But we have Japanese Movies "
To which i reply
"But i do not want to watch some 30 year old Toei film split into 5 parts and shown over 5 weeks ,i want the Taiga back !".

So my pleas fall on deaf ears so im watching KING OF LEGEND (GEUNCHOGO OF BAEKJE)over on KTSF 173 instead ,rather watch a Taiga though .
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"One mans washing machine is another mans music "

[mktanaka]

Wicked,

I must say in reading your posts, you have as much knowledge of Taiga dramas as virtually anyone on these boards. Even if Taiga drama embellish the stories to help make viewership of them more compelling such that they are not perfectly accurate representation of history. (but that happens everywhere) With that said, they have a canvas of 40 or so hours to tell the story that can span 10, 30, 40 years that 2, 4, 6 hour movie hard to do justice to. Even if I do not agree with all of your reviews of each TD, (can two people ever?) does not change fact of insightful perspectives you give.

[Tornadoes28]

[wicked iemon]

Yes we used to get Japanese Tv from a local station,
Actually we still do ,but they dropped the Taiga because it is expensive to carry but also the audience declined .

We can get TV Japan but they want 35 a month and you are locked into a 3 year contract ,its the contract more than anything that puts me off .

Thanks MK ,Its good we have different perspectives though ,adds more variety.
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"One mans washing machine is another mans music "

[shikisoku]

I can't believe Amazon is selling Chinese bootleg DVD.
http://www.amazon.com/2010-Japanese-Drama-Ryoma-Den/dp/B003V89BN0/ref=pd_sim_d_1

[Tatsunoshi]

The Ryoma one has been pulled. It's sometimes tough for Amazon to determine what's a legal release and what's not, especially with the Chinese and Southeast Asian bootleggers. They're actually listed by 'Amazon merchants' (who assure Amazon they are legal), not Amazon themselves. If they get reported to Amazon, they'll get pulled.

[Owarikenshi]

Watching this excellent late-Meiji-era series Part II now. For the record, Part II is MUCH better than the first half, which was all "buildup." This is one of the most visually stunning NHK productions I've seen yet, and the acting is also superb with many familiar faces.

Naval ships and action really give you the feeling of emerging power that the Japanese must have felt at that time period--literally, "shock and awe."

HOWever, beware the DVD's circulating on eBay and elsewhere--these have the WORST subtitles ever seen. So bad you're better off watching it with them turned OFF. You get what you pay for.

Enjoy!

Owarikenshi

[ltdomer98]

My apathy for this time in Japanese history is so pervasive that I haven't watched the series yet, even though I'm *IN* it. I was an extra in one of the Yokohama scenes they shot in Kumamoto Prefecture, though I think all shots of me ended up on the cutting room floor, sadly.

Kagawa Teruyuki is a really nice guy, as is Nishida Toshiyuki. Great guys who took pictures and talked and smiled with everyone. Mokkun, however, is a bit of a jerk, or at least he was with the fans. I wasn't impressed with him.

One day I'll get around to watching it.
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The Sengoku Field Manual Blog

[Owarikenshi]

Cool. That makes it more interesting yet! This period in Jp. history interests me only insofar as it formed the national character of the time which debatably still resonates in some modern budo--particularly kendo. IOW, how we got from the Edo jidai to today. Not that any of it much affects the much older koryu that I practice.


Owarikenshi

[shikisoku]

Title back mountain - Mt Korenge(N Alps)


Saneyuki


Yoshifuru

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[mktanaka]

I feel this period of Japan's history showed the world how strong Japan was and was to be reckoned as a player on the world stage. Once Japan embraced the Western Military technologies, they were able to use it to their advantage in warfare. Was there another time in the history of Japan that other nations feared the military might of Japan than the period of 1900 to 1945?

[kitsuno]

Probably on the korean peninsula a few times, otherwise the world was a lot bigger pre-1900, and japan never had ships that could threaten anyone other than close neighbors. During the Sengoku period, it's my understanding that japan was fieding the largest armies on the planet, but with no armadas I don't know what that's worth on the world stage.
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[mktanaka]

Hideyoshi tried to invade China in the 1590's but found it was much easier said than done. That campaign was never clearly bought into by the Daimyo lords.
the 1880 to 1945 period, the entire nation of Japan rallied around the industrialization and militarization that showed the world that Japan was a force. This rally to one central theme as well as the development and support of industries around production of military weapons/industry in such a short period of time. I have not studied this in any details, but would imagine that Japan's military accent during this period was as steep a slope as any nation's in the past few thousand years. Having a Samurai based led society at the beginning of this period was one key reason the rise was so fast..

I also feel Japan’s ability to pull technology towards them, copy and then enhance the designs as well as the manufacturing of ships/planes without need of external nations to produce helped advance the Nation’s fighting abilities during the period of WWI to end of WWII. Japan’s naval fleet as well as the Zero fighter planes are examples of their ability to produce and supply the military sea and aircrafts
(IMHO)

[kitsuno]