Kiina Official Soundtrack

Title: Kiina OST
Price: 2,500 yen (inclusive of tax)
Date of release: 25 February 2009
Number of discs: 1
Total running time: 73 minutes
Produced by: Vap

Kiina Clear File

Title: Kiina Clear File
Dimensions: A4
Price: 315 yen
Available at: NTV web shop

Kiina Notebook and Bus Pass Case

Title: Kiina Notebook and Bus Pass Case
Price: 735 yen
Available at: NTV web shop
Materials: Plastic cover with a paper notepad
Dimensions: 22 cm x 7.4cm (when opened) / 11cm x 7.4cm (when closed)

Review of Kiina ~ Fukanou Hanzai Sousakan (Winter 2009)

Well, this is another of my long overdue reviews. There are more to come so please do keep coming back for more.

I'm just glad that I finally got the time to write the review for Kiina and explain why I like this much better than Voice. Although both dramas are from different viewpoints i.e. the police officer vs. a pathologist, both have a major similarity i.e. trying to use scientific logic and facts to resolve things which seem impossible to happen in real life. However, Kiina handles this in a better way. Why is that so? The key lies in the central theme i.e. "this drama is made from true facts このドラマは“事実”から生まれた". If not for this, I believe Kiina might have gone out of focus in the middle of the season. At least, this guiding principle helped them to stay grounded and ensured that they did not deviate too much from the theme.

As such, we get this drama which is very factual. Everything has a clear explanation with examples and historical facts to back up. And they do not do it in a boring manner. Kiina's narration and explanations are usually peppered with humour points e.g. using words to express uncertainty when asked about the legitimacy of her arguments. It never fails to tickle me when she says words like "tabun" or "kamo" which both mean "maybe". It is not done in the same way as Voice where Eita's character, Daiki suddenly thinks of something and says that the truth should be as what he said. I wasn't too convinced by Voice's approach. On the other hand, Kiina does it slowly and nicely. For example, they would not shove the facts in your face right at the end and expect the viewers to take it at point level. Instead, they give you some insights into the issue at various intervals of the story and then tie up the loose ends nicely at the end. And I prefer that they do less lecturing as compared to Voice i.e. saying all those beautiful theories about what is best for the deceased or what the people involved should do which sound really jarring to me. Those lines are too old-fashioned and should not appear anymore. I really don't need an ethics lesson every time I watch a drama. However, it doesn't mean that Kiina doesn't do this too for dramatic effects. My point is how to handle it in such a way that it does not go overboard and feels like something which is forced upon the viewer.

It also helps a lot that Kiina is a better developed character as compared to the lead character in Voice who strikes me as a busybody. There are lots of conflicting traits about Kiina which makes her personality stand out. She's cute and sweet in terms of appearance but is seen as an eccentric weirdo especially from her colleagues' viewpoints. Although people would assume that Kiina will be popular with guys, she keeps getting dumped by guys who are put off by her personality of putting work first and the nature of her job. To top off the list of ironies, she is still pining for a man widely viewed as unattractive in the eyes of everyone. The multi-dimensional view of Kiina makes her more endearing to viewers rather than showing a single facade of a character. It also helps that Kanno Miho brought out the essence in Kiina especially when it comes to balancing the logical and ditzy sides of her character. Even though she's already in her early thirties, she doesn't go overboard with her ditzy performance of Kiina. Some actresses try too hard and it really gets on my nerves all the time. Thus, it is no wonder that she won the title of Best Actress for the winter season.

As for her buddy Yamazaki played by Hiraoka Yuuta, I think he did a decent job but the sparks between Yamazaki and Kiina were kinda weak. It is hard to find actors of a similar level of calibre to be buddies or enemies in a drama or movie. Given Hiraoka's inexperience, he seemed to be pulled along by Kanno just like what Yamazaki had been subjected to during the drama. As such, the bantering between Yamazaki and Kiina could have been more interesting if Hiraoka could be on par with Kanno in terms of acting skills. Nonetheless, I still think he did an acceptable job and has room for improvement.

On the other hand, I thought Kanno had great chemistry with Tsukaji Muga instead. Tsukaji played the role of Kudo, the researcher who always helped Kiina with her investigations and was her ex-boyfriend. The two of them were really hillarious on screen and it was a joy to see them. No doubt Tsukaji is not the typical handsome guy in dramas, his acting was good enough to create sparks with Kanno whenever their characters meet.

On the whole, I think that this is a drama not to be missed by the following groups of people:

1) Those who derive joy from watching investigative dramas based on facts rather than shaky guesswork
2) Those who like Kanno Miho (she's brilliant in this drama)
3) Those who are of the practical type and never believes in the supernatural (this drama will show you why some things happen even though they are said to be unbelievable)

And my ratings for this drama...
Story: 9.5 out of 10 (I like it for the fact that it stays true to its theme and presents logical explanations to everything)
Acting: 8 out of 10 (This is largely for Kanno and Tsukaji. The rest of the supporting cast didn't get too much time to show off their mettle which I felt was a bit of a pity. Kiina is simply too outstanding to be overshone by anybody.)
Theme song: 4 out of 10 (The theme song didn't leave a deep impression on me. I don't even remember the melody to date.)
Visual effects / Scenery: 6.5 out of 10 (Generally nothing special to speak of because there were quite a lot of indoor shots. I like some of the studio sets though.)
Teamwork / Chemistry: 7 out of 10 (Although Hiraoka Yuuta was supposed to be Kanno Miho's partner, I thought Kanno had better chemistry with Tsukaji. Nonetheless, it was a good effort by Hiraoka, considering his inexperience.)

Total: 34 out of 50

The 60th Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2009)

Best Drama: Mei-chan no Shitsuji

Best Leading Actor: Matsuyama Kenichi (Zenigeba)

Best Leading Actress: Kanno Miho (Kiina)

Best Supporting Actor: Sato Takeru (Mei-chan no Shitsuji)

Best Supporting Actress: Katase Nana (Uta no Oniisan)

Best Directing: Zenigeba

Best Script: Arifureta Kiseki

Best Theme Song: Kumorinochi, Kaisei by Yano Kenta starring Satoshi Ohno

The Television Special Award: Aibo

Kiina DVD Box

Title: Kiina DVD Box
Date of release: 22 May 2009
Price: 17,010 yen (inclusive of tax)
Number of discs: 5
Produced by: VAP
Total run time: 435 minutes
Number of episodes: 10

Winter 2009 Drama Ratings Ranking

The Winter 2009 drama season has finally ended and here is the report on the ratings ranking as well as some input on the dramas which I've seen. To date, I've only finished Zenigeba, Triangle and Love Shuffle while I'm still in the midst of Kiina and Voice. And coincidentally, these two dramas which I've yet to finish are in the Top 2 for this season. The ratings for this season are pretty horrendous, so as to speak. The difference separating Kiina and Voice is a mere 0.01% and all Top 3 dramas failed to cross the 15% mark. One-third of the dramas went below the 10% mark. I would have thought that when the weather is cold, more people would stay at home to watch TV. Anyway, these ratings do not take into account people who actually record these dramas and watch at their own leisure time. Recently, there is talk that Video Research has developed a technology to capture figures of the number of people recording the shows so this may lend a bit more credibility to the ranking as well as reflect the true tastes of the viewers. Oh, I almost forgot that I haven't finished Uta no Oniisan too...

First up, we have Kiina from NTV which scored an average of 14.57%. I'm only 3 episodes into this drama. It's not that I don't like this drama but rather the episodic storyline doesn't give me any motivation to continue watching. I will finish up this drama soon though, maybe side by side with Voice. Frankly speaking, these two dramas are very similar to each other. Both are suspense stories which focus on investigative work BUT the approach is different. Kiina may look like a supernatural story on the surface but there are lots of theories and logic behind each phenomenon presented. As such, I thought the story wasn't as far-fetched as I expected. Nonetheless, it can be a bit mind-boggling to hear all those big words so I'll do a more detailed review on this once I finish.

Next up is Voice from FujiTV which scored a mere 0.01% lesser than Kiina. I've watched 5 episodes of this and I've toyed with the thought of dropping this. I must admit that I kept comparing this drama with Kiina and found that I liked the latter more. More on that when I complete the remaining episodes. Again, the main reason stopping me from watching this faithfully every week is the episodic nature. If the story doesn't develop over the course of the season, it's hard to get the viewers to continue watching the same format over and over again.

Third on the ranking in Mei-chan no Shitsuji which seems to be a big hit among the younger audience. I did not watch this drama so I can't comment much on this. From the looks of it, this seems to be a comedy featuring lots of ikemen. Another version of HanaKimi?

And here's the rest of the ranking plus a few comments I have...

4) Triangle - 12.36% (I was fuming mad when I got to the last episode. More on this later. It made the same fatal mistake as Koori no Sekai. And both dramas are from the same TV station. They simply didn't learn their lesson.)

5) Hisatsu Shigotonin 2009 - 12.33% (Didn't watch this)

6) Uta no Oniisan - 10.76% (Still in the midst of this)

7) Arifureta Kiseki - 10.56% (Didn't watch this)

8) Tokumei Kakaricho Tadano Jin - 10.32% (Didn't watch this)

9) RESCUE - 10.00% (Didn't watch this)

10) Zenigeba - 9.94% (Superb! Matsuyama Kenichi puts up another brilliant performance! Mimura also surprised me in a good way. Shiina Kippei was magnificent too. The story, though short, managed to condense the developments nicely and didn't have too much excess. Detailed review coming up!)

11) Love Shuffle - 8.82% (This is something which you either love it or not. Nojima Shinji's style of comedy may be a bit lame at times e.g. the panda joke but I loved the twists and humour. Review coming soon!)

12) Akai Ito - 8.52% (Didn't watch this)

13) Honjitsu mo Hare Ijou Nashi - 8.30% (Didn't watch this)

14) Kami no Shizuku - 6.20% (Enough said about this)

15) RESET - 5.60% (Didn't watch this)

Hang on for more updates about the new Spring 2009 season!

Top 5 favourite actors and actresses from the Winter 09 drama season (OriStar)

Top 5 favourite actors from the Winter 09 drama season
1) Mizushima Hiro (162 votes)
2) Eita (147 votes)
3) Matsuyama Kenichi (70 votes)
4) Tamaki Hiroshi (66 votes)
5) Ikuta Toma (64 votes)

Top 5 favourite actresses from the Winter 09 drama season
1) Kanno Miho (269 votes)
2) Karina (146 votes)
3) Eikura Nana (127 votes)
4) Ishihara Satomi (81 votes)
5) Hirosue Ryoko (56 votes)

Winter 2009 Drama Satisfaction Ranking - After first episode O.A. (Oricon)

1) Triangle (FujiTV)

2) Hisatsu Shigotonin 2009 (TV Asahi)

3) Kiina (NTV)

4) Love Shuffle (TBS)

5) Uta no Oniisan (TV Asahi)

6) Tokumei Kakaricho Tadano Jin (TV Asahi)

7) Voice (FujiTV)

8) Tenchijin (NHK)

9) Reset (NTV)

10) Mei-chan no Shitsuji (FujiTV)

Top 10 most anticipated dramas for Winter 09 - before O.A. (Oricon)

1) Voice ~ Inochi Naki Mono no Koe ~

2) Love Shuffle

3) Tokumei Kakaricho Tadano Jin

4) Triangle

5) Tenchijin

6) Kiina ~ Fukakai Hanzai Sousakan

7) Mei-chan no Shitsuji

8) RESCUE

9) Arifureta Kiseki

10) Zenigeba

Top 10 most anticipated Winter 2009 dramas (Ori Star)

1) Voice ~ Inochi Naki Mono no Koe (FujiTV)

2) Mei-chan no Shitsuji (FujiTV)

3) Love Shuffle (TBS)

4) Tokumei Kakaricho Tadano Jin (TV Asahi)

5) Triangle (FujiTV)

6) Tenchijin (NHK)

7) Kiina ~ Fukanou Hanzai Sousakan (NTV)

8) Zenigeba (NTV)

9) Uta no Oniisan (TV Asahi)

10) RESCUE ~ Tokubetsu Koudo Kyuujotai (TBS)

MiChi to sing theme song for "Kiina ~ Fukanou Hanzai Sousakan"

Newcomer female singer, MiChi who made her debut in Oct 08, will be singing her first drama theme song for NTV's winter 09 drama "Kiina ~ Fukanou Hanzai Sousakan"/ The sonng titled "ChaNge the WoRLd" will be released as her second single on 25 February.

Winter 2009 Drama preview - Kiina ~ Fukanou Hanzai Sousakan

Title: Kiina ~ Fukanou Hanzai Sousakan
Broadcast by: NTV
Time slot: Wednesdays, 10pm
O.A. Start Date: 21 Jan 08
Official website: here
Cast: Kanno Miho, Hiraoka Yuuta, Tsukaji Takeo, Koike Eiko, Sawamura Ikki

Reasons for watching this:

1) Although I'm not too keen on the supporting cast, I'm willing to watch this for the sake of Kanno Miho.

2) The suspense/investigative genre is my cup of tea.

As the website has not been revamped at the time I am writing this post, I will provide more details of this drama at a later date.