QUOTE (JCDRANZER @ Jun 21 2008, 02:18 PM)I just finished off Bambino!, it was a light dorama and definitely not my type of genre. The first few episodes were pretty sloppy but it gradually picked up drama wise and got to a decent level. It was kinda boring and predictable. Not much romance, not much comedy, which gave me a general negative view towards this dorama but when the actual tension within the drama picked up, you become to appreciate it.
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Anyways, Poonk, I think you should try Bambino!, you might like it more than me, just don't expect too much.
I actually did start this a few days ago-- I'm throwing it onto my iPod and watching it on break at work. I'm up to ep03 and it's... enjoyable enough. The first few eps were mainly Ban being "cut down to size" by his new coworkers, but now that they've got his ego in check, I'm looking forward to learning about the other characters. Interesting that you say there's not much romance-- I was actually hoping he was going to break up with his hometown girlfriend and go for "that one girl" (whose name escapes me). Oh well! Anyway, overall I think Bambino! is just fine (and strangely appropriate) for a lunch-break drama-- although whatever I'm eating never even compares to what they're serving, sadly enough.
On a side note: I was pleasantly surprised to see that Kitamura Kazuki (as Yonamine, the "capo cameriere") cleans up pretty nice (I've only really seen him in Akihabara@Deep as the lollipop-sucking quasi-villainous Nakagomi, and a small role in Galileo).
Oh, and JCD-- thanks for bringing Stand Up!! back to my attention. I had been sitting on the first 6 eps for about 2 years but I'd read somewhere that it was "like a Japanese version of the 'American Pie' movies" (which did not interest me) so I never watched it or finished DLing it. But last week I found myself with nothing to watch (I'm watching more older dramas now and the torrents for those are slooooow) and I remembered your recommendation so I checked it out. And I actually really enjoyed it. The fan-service elements, mostly involving Mochizuki-sensei in a bra/bikini or Asai's detours into fantasy-land, were not overdone (plus I feel I can't complain, having just finished Beach Boys
). All 4 boys are very sweet, likeable characters (and wow, I like Oguri Shun so much more in this, as the excitable Kou-kun, than as the sullen Sato in Hana-Kimi), and Chie-chan is wonderful as a "real-girl," to provide a contrast to their fantasies. I've just finished ep06, wherein Kenken tells Asai of his intent to ask Chie out -- so now I'm just waiting for the torrents to finish on the last 5 eps.
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Anyways, Poonk, I think you should try Bambino!, you might like it more than me, just don't expect too much.
On a side note: I was pleasantly surprised to see that Kitamura Kazuki (as Yonamine, the "capo cameriere") cleans up pretty nice (I've only really seen him in Akihabara@Deep as the lollipop-sucking quasi-villainous Nakagomi, and a small role in Galileo).
Oh, and JCD-- thanks for bringing Stand Up!! back to my attention. I had been sitting on the first 6 eps for about 2 years but I'd read somewhere that it was "like a Japanese version of the 'American Pie' movies" (which did not interest me) so I never watched it or finished DLing it. But last week I found myself with nothing to watch (I'm watching more older dramas now and the torrents for those are slooooow) and I remembered your recommendation so I checked it out. And I actually really enjoyed it. The fan-service elements, mostly involving Mochizuki-sensei in a bra/bikini or Asai's detours into fantasy-land, were not overdone (plus I feel I can't complain, having just finished Beach Boys
