A male princess and a female prince fall in love. What could sound stranger?! Well, it is strange, but oh, so romantic!

After reading about 5 volumes of the manga, I was ecstatic when I found out they were making a live action movie. I already expected that it would be different from the manga, less hormonally driven if you get my drift, and I was right.

They made a couple of changes that I didn't care for, like having a character that moved away in the manga be a main character in the movie. This kept Akira from fulfilling what I considered an important role. There were a couple of other changes too, but nothing so dramatic that it kept me from really, really liking the finished product.

I LOVED Karam as Akira, although it shocked me to learn that he's Korean. That boy speaks Japanese like a pro. Ito Ono as Mizuki was a little bit harder for me to connect to. I don't know, I think she was too pretty, too obviously cute. It always felt to me like Mizuki was cutest to Akira in ways that not everyone else understood. He was the blatantly cute, everyone mistakes him for a girl, one. With Ito Ono, you know she's a girl; it's obvious.

Still, the movie is adorable, and bizarre, and gender-bending, so know what you're getting into. Loving the manga as much as I do, I'm thrilled that I liked the movie. Cheers!

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Every other drama that I have ever or will ever watch will pale in comparison! I always feel this way, about every drama I find, but this time I seriously mean it. The other dramas I've loved up until now have been good, excellent even, but none of them have touched my heart, made me laugh, and cry, and pray as much as "Buzzer Beat." You can't top this kind of emotional perfection. I love how there are consequences to the lies that are told, even lies told with good intentions. They felt like real people with real problems and real fears, and that's what puts this at the top of my list for all time.

Yamapi may even be a better actor than my personal favorite, Kamenashi Kazuya, and that's saying something. Although, yes, I admit that watching Yamapi kiss does knock Kame down a couple of rungs on that ladder. It's always a shock when an Asian actor kisses like he means it, and Yamapi definitely acted like he meant it. That's what I mean, the passion between him and the leading lady, Keiko Kitagawa, is amazing. And I thought Kame and Haruka in "Tatta Hitotsu no Koi" was awesome!

What more can I say. Well, one little thing, I don't love dramas with a sad ending. *winks*

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From what one of my BFF's tells me, this show is an absolute staple in South Korean drama, and I would have to agree. However, I'm not really one to cheer on Han Gyul (the male lead) as he comes to grips with his attraction to who he thinks is a boy, but is actually Eun-Chan, an unfeminine girl. His angst over his attraction to a "boy" drove me nuts as did her LYING, but, still, the show is adorable. It really is. Although Han-Gyul is an idiot. How could he NOT tell that she was a girl? She's not THAT flat up top! As the actors go, Gong Yoo is absolutely gorgeous and fun as Choi Han-Gyul and Eun Hye Yoon is cute as Eun-Chan, but it was Jae Wook Kim as the Japanese-speaking waffle-maker that stole my heart. Maybe it was hearing Japanese in a Korean drama that did it or the fact that he has all the delectable qualities of Japanese men while still somehow being Korean. I don't know, but Sun Ki is my man! Great show, a little unbearably annoying at points, but still lots of fun.

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Some movies are great with a Jpop singer/actor in the lead, but "Rurouni Kenshin" needed more, and that's what it got in casting Takeru Sato as Kenshin. It felt like I watched Kenshin come alive, for the first time. I love the anime, don't get me wrong, but I always wondered what the plot would be like in live action. In a word, it's brilliant. I only wish there were more because one movie is definitely not enough.

It's fun hearing Kenshin speak the same way he does in the anime, with an eccentric something tagged on the end of his sentences. It's cute, and it suits him. You get to know the battle-scarred Kenshin, and he is seriously scary, but you also get to know the Kenshin who's seeking a place to call home, as he experiences that need for connection. Isn't that the human condition, the need to connect?

I can't praise the movie high enough. It's different from the anime, but that's okay. There are so many story arcs in the anime that something a little condensed is very refreshing. This movie is high-quality directing, acting, and staging, with absolutely STUNNING battle sequences. I wish all Japanese movies took the time to make such a magnificent work of art.

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Kamenashi Kazuya is usually more my cup of tea, but a friend of mine told me that her favorite actor/singer is Gackt, so I decided to give "Moon Child" a try. It helps that I love vampire stories too. Turns out, Gackt can really write one intense tale that actually had me crying at a few points. I think HYDE is my favorite between the two, but really, how do you pick between two characters who have such a tight charisma? This movie is speculative fiction, so definitely not for everyone. But, if you're like me, and like extremely pretty Japanese boys and vampires, and don't mind sobbing your eyes out, then "Moon Child" fits the bill pretty well.

Now I'm fighting the urge to show it to one of my friends who loves vampires, but doesn't usually go for Japanese stuff. I'm a mystery to her, but she loves me anyway. *grins*

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