Orthros no Inu DVD Box

Title: Orthros no Inu DVD Box
Price: 21,945 yen (inclusive of tax)
Date of release: 27 Jan 09
Total number of discs: 6
Produced by: Warner Home Video

Orthros no Inu's Episode 7 to be delayed and replaced with an emergency SP

The following is translated from the official website of "Orthros no Inu" and posted by the staff of this drama:

We are grateful for the support shown for our drama and wish to thank all the viewers.

The 7th episode of "Orthros no Inu" originally scheduled to be shown on 4 Sep will be replaced with "Orthros no Inu - Emergency Live Broadcast SP". Cast members Takizawa Hideaki and Mizukawa Asami will be appearing live during the programme.

Nishikido Ryou is scheduled to return to filming on 4 Sep thus we will look into the possibility of letting him appear live on the show too.

As the O.A. schedule of the future episodes is now being discussed, we will announce this once the decision has been made.

Nishikido and Yamashita on the road to recovery

According to Johnny's Jimusho, Nishikido Ryou and Yamashita Tomohisa are currently on the road to recovery and their temperatures have gone back to normal. However, they would need to be isolated for at least another 2 days even if they are no longer having the fever. As such, it is unclear when they can go back to work. At the moment, both FujiTV and TBS are planning to make changes to the next O.A. of "Buzzer Beat" and "Orthros no Inu" since filming wasn't completed for the both of them. In the meantime, filming of the other cast members will be done first before the two of them return.

More details on Nishikido and Yamapi's conditions

Nishikido Ryou and Yamashita Tomohisa have been isolated at home following the confirmation that they have contracted H1N1 (Type A Influenza). In response to this sudden development, many people are now in a frenzy trying to contain the infection as the duo had been in contact with many people especially during the weekend when they took part in NTV's "24 Jikan Terebi" charity show.

Nishikido was the first to show signs of H1N1. In the morning of 30 Aug, he was already feeling feverish when he appeared at NTV's "24 Jikan Terebi" with his fellow members from NEWS. Upon checking his temperature, it was 38 degrees so he headed to the hospital for the H1N1 test which turned out to be negative. On that day, he went back to work after being put on the drip. Things took a sudden turn the next day when Nishikido turned up at the Midoriyama Studio to take part in the filming of "Orthros no Inu". He complained of feeling chilly and tested his temperature again. As he had a high temperature of 39 degrees, his manager drove him to a hospital and did the H1N1 test again. This time round, he was tested positive. As Nishikido went straight to his resting room when he reached the studio that day, he did not come into contact with any of the staff or cast members. To prevent the spread of the infection, Nishikido's manager is also isolated at home for the time being while TBS steps up its precautionary measures by providing handwash and reminding the crew to be more alert to their own health conditions.

On the other hand, Yamashita was still fine on 31 August when he turned up for filming of "Buzzer Beat". Suddenly, he started to feel feverish on 1 Sep and found that he had a high temperature of 38.2 degrees. He was then tested positive for H1N1 at the hospital. FujiTV announced that they cancelled the filming on 2 Sep and will adjust the other cast members' schedules before resuming the filming.

As both of them hold significant roles in their dramas and it is unknown how long they would take to recover, NTV and FujiTV are looking into delaying the OA of the dramas since they had not finished filming the parts for both of them in the next episodes.

NEWS was involved in the "24 Jikan Terebi" event at Tokyo Big Site where about 5000 people gathered. A lot of them were fans of NEWS and spent up to 8 hours at the place. Even though this was an outdoor venue, there is worry that the infection may have spread due to the large number of people gathered due to the weekend.

At the moment, Johnny's Jimusho has made all of its artistes wear masks and are closely monitoring whether anyone else is showing signs of influenza. The other members of NEWS are said to be fine at the moment.

Nishikido Ryou & Yamashita Tomohisa diagnosed as confirmed cases of H1N1 (Type A Influenza)

Johnny's Jimusho sent a fax to members of the press announcing that two of their artistes i.e. Nishikido Ryou and Yamashita Tomohisa (both from NEWS) are down with influenza and have been diagnosed as confirmed cases of H1N1 (otherwise known as Type A Influenza). They were diagnosed separately on 31 Aug and 1 Nov. Under orders by the doctors, the duo have been ordered to stay at home to recuperate and all their work activities have been stopped.

According to TBS, Nishikido has not filmed any of his scenes for the 7th episode of "Orthros no Inu" which is due to be shown this Friday. He had complained about feeling unwell before the filming session on 31 August thus had taken leave to go to the hospital. As such, TBS is looking into how they may handle this crisis while monitoring Nishikido's condition. Yamashita is also involved in the drama "Buzzer Beat" as its lead character but it is still unknown how FujiTV will handle this problem.

Summer 2009 first episode ratings report

Now that all dramas in Summer 2009 have begun their run, it's time to assess their performance based on their debut episode. Here is the ranking of the dramas:

1) Kyuumei Byoutou 24 Ji Part 4 (FujiTV) - 20.3%
It's for the story, Eguchi Yosuke + Matsushima Nanako and a stable of competent actors in the supporting cast. I have high hopes for this and expect that it will not let me down.

2) Ninkyou Helper (FujiTV) - 17.5%
The concept is quite interesting - the underworld and the elderly healthcare sector. Coupled with the fact that Kusanagi Tsuyoshi is back, it increases the hype about this drama. HOWEVER, there are some flaws here and there so I'm not completely satisfied so far. More on that when I write the review. I guess the biggest redeeming factor is that they do not make Kusanagi's role clean and wholesome right from the start especially after that scandal but it will be boring if Tsubasa Hikoichi does turn over a new leaf completely at the end.

3) Karei Naru Spy (NTV) - 15.6%
I'm at a loss for words about this. At least for the first episode, it tries to balance tension, suspense and humour at the same time. HOWEVER, some of the jokes are seriously lame. And the retro style of fashion and things amidst the modern time setting seems quite out of place. I will give it a chance over the next few episodes to see if it still interests me.

4) Buzzer Beat (FujiTV) - 15.5%
Although I entertained thoughts of watching this for Itou Hideaki, I think Yamapi + Kitagawa Keiko is enough to keep me away. And the story doesn't interest me at all, especially when I hate seeing weak guys as the lead character.

5) Kanryoutachi no Natsu (TBS) - 14.5%
Very serious theme but there's a strong cast of actors holding things afloat. Still watching this.

6) Kochikame (TBS) - 12.2%
No matter how big a hit is Kochikame (in terms of anime or manga), I am still not drawn to it. The story seems cliche (hero saving the situation etc) and I am not particularly fond of the cast except for Karina who impressed me in Love Shuffle. The moral of the story is, I'm not watching this.

7) Tonari no Shibafu (TBS) / Orthros no Inu (TBS) - 11.4%
Tonari no Shibafu reminds me too much of Double Kitchen starring Yamaguchi Tomoko years ago. No particular interest.
Orthros no Inu seems OK so far but I have my reservations about some areas. Refer to my detailed Ep 1 review for more info.

9) Otomen (FujiTV) - 9.6%
Other than Liar Game, Life and SP which interested me, this timeslot's selection usually doesn't appeal to me.

10) Meido Deka (TV Asahi) - 9.5%
Not keen.

11) Akahana no Sensei (NTV) - 9.4%
Although Kobayashi Satomi appears here, Ooizumi Yo and the story doesn't really interest me.

12) Dandy Daddy (TV Asahi) / Call Centre no Koibito (TV Asahi) - 9.3%
Not keen.

14) Koishite Akuma (FujiTV) - 8.5%
A Japanese remake of Twilight?!

15) Saru Lock (NTV) - 7.3%
Not keen.

The titles which I highlighted in purple are those which I've started watching or am going to watch. It is surprisingly that my selection for this season so far are managing to stay afloat above the 10% mark but it is still too early to judge. The first episode's rating is rarely an accurate indication of what is to come as the season progresses. Here are two trends that I noticed based on the figures:

1) Johnny's Jimusho artistes out in full force?
Just look at it, we have the veterans like Kusanagi Tsuyoshi, Katori Shingo, Nagase Tomoya, the half-seniors with some experience like Takizawa Hideaki, Nishikido Ryo, Yamashita Tomohisa and newbies like Nakayama Yuuma. Of course, a drama's success or failure does not depend solely on the cast or lead actor. However, it certainly doesn't look nice to have most of them struggling to keep things going. Nakayama's drama has been languishing in single-digit category, Yamapi, Katori, Takki, Nishikido all came up with ratings which went exactly the opposite way of expectations. Especially for Katori where TBS is said to have dumped lots of money and attention on Kochikame, the figures certainly don't justify the investment. Currently, based on the situation so far, only Ninkyou Helper looks set to stay above the 15% mark and may give Kyuumei a run for its money when it comes to the battle for No.1 this season.

2) The trend of irregular first broadcast gets more prominent
As I've mentioned before, TV stations are now showing the first O.A. at a different date as compared to the usual starting period. This season, most dramas began in the period of 1 July to 18 July. However, other than Kyumei 4 which was delayed due to Eguchi Yosuke's injury, the rest of them seemed to have done it on purpose: Saru Lock (23/7), Orthros no Inu (24/7), Meido Deka (26/6), Kochikame (1/8) and Otomen (1/8). Close to half of the dramas this season had vastly different starting dates. What was the rationale for the delay? Did it give the crew more time to do their work? Was it unfair to those who began their run on time to fit the regular season? And it certainly isn't fair to compare ratings especially when adhoc events can skew the ratings. If the dramas aren't shown in the same period, these simply isn't any point to compare.

It is still early to say who will win the race at the end. Hopefully, the first ratings report can give you some insight into who are looking like favourites and who are the dark horses. Do feel free to write your views in the comments section!

Review of Orthros no Inu Ep 1

"Orthros, a double-headed dog in Greek mythology. His name means speed and one who flies quickly in Greek. Being the son of Typhon and Echidna, his elder brother is Cerberus, the guardian dog of Hell. He is black in colour with each strand of its beard made up of snakes. Orthros is rash and hot-headed. When he was guarding the bulls for Geryon on Island Krete, he was beaten up and killed by Hercules. Orthros fathered 4 sons and 1 daughter with his own mother while he was alive."

From the way it looks, the reason why Orthros was chosen as a figure to personify the drama's theme could be the fact that he is double-headed. If the power to heal or kill someone is represented by Orthros, the two heads would probably signify the good and evil natures of human. The same power can be used differently among individuals so switching the stereotypes of good and evil is what makes this drama interesting, at least on paper before the season started.

On one end, we have Ryuuzaki Shinji (Takizawa Hideaki), an evil man who has been in prison for three murders he committed when he was 18. He doesn't show his true feelings and would do anything just to achieve his aim. Having the power to heal, he doesn't think that he should use this power without gaining anything in return. On the other end, we have Aoi Ryousuke (Nishikido Ryou) who is a Japanese language high school teacher. He has a kind personality but has the power to kill by touching someone. He seems to realize that he had this power some time ago but would only use it to protect the people he cares for. As such, we have one man who's more than happy to use his power for his desires and the other who seems reluctant to use his power even when the situation calls for him. If not for the fact that police detective Hasebe Nagisa brought about their fateful meeting, things may not have gone out of control...

Frankly speaking, I liked the concept of the story before the season started. It seems like a story which could go against expectations and present lots of twists and turns in the process. I like such stories which can spring surprises on me. However, some portions of this first episode made me wonder why there are so many illogical developments and similarities with other works.

Firstly, Ryuuzaki's resemblance to Yagami Light in Death Note is simply hard to disregard. I am not talking about appearance but rather their motives and characters. Although Light initially had good intentions of improving the world with his Death Note, I always felt that deep down, he looked down on people who were not as good as he was all the time. If not for his elitist mindset, he wouldn't have killed people without batting an eyelid. Similarly, Ryuuzaki thinks that in order to achieve his goal, anything can be sacrificed. It is still not known whether his behaviour is by nature or induced by some events but his theory about being God and trying to improve the world by being heartless is definitely twisted like Light's. Yeah, right! It is just a loser's attempt to justify their actions, in my opinion.

Secondly, the idea of having two male characters who should never have met and chaos is bound to happen as a result of their meeting reminds me a bit of Maou. Remember that in Maou, we have Naruse (Ohno Satoshi) and Serizawa (Ikuta Toma) whose fates are interwined in a tragic manner and they ended up dead together. Likewise in this drama, based on the trailer for the 2nd episode, it seems to suggest that Ryuuzaki and Aoi could have met with something during their childhoods which led to them possessing their powers to heal and kill. If this is indeed so, does it mean that the ending will be something like this i.e. Aoi kills Ryuuzaki and then commits suicide because he feels bad about killing people? If so, doesn't this look too similar to what was in Maou?

Thirdly, I can never fathom why Aoi is so stupid. Ryuuzaki was right. Being able to heal someone doesn't mean the dead can be brought back to life. And being kind doesn't mean being gullible, right? I don't know why the scriptwriters had to make Aoi a guy who cannot think logically. Oh well, if Aoi wasn't senseless, how could Ryuuzaki have managed to break free from prison? I guess I have to accept some illogical events so that the story can progress. Then again, given Ryuuzaki's intelligence, he might have come up with another way to break free of prison one day even without Aoi's "assistance".

Last but not least, the significance of Hasebe Nagisa (Mizukawa Asami) is quite similar to Shiori's position in Maou. All Hasebe does is to run around like a mad woman and get fooled by Ryuuzaki. Sooner or later, her life is going to be in shambles now that she has one foot into the animosity between Ryuuzaki and Aoi. Something may happen to her sick daughter (maybe Ryuuzaki blackmails her to do something or he would not save her daughter?) or her boyfriend may leave her (either he betrays her or he is killed in the process?). At least these are some of the developments which I can guess based on the information so far. I seriously think that it is a waste for Mizukawa to be relegated to such an unimportant role but I don't think setting her up with the guys is a smart move too. It makes me cringe just to think that the two leads will fight over her. It has nothing to do with their ages or appearances but rather from the fact that their characters are arranged in such a way that forbids any romance to bloom between them i.e. Ryuuzaki being so evil and Hasebe having a daughter and a boyfriend. As such, it's best to keep romance out of the picture and focus on the dynamics of manipulation instead.

As for my views on this drama so far, I would say that this is on a KIV list. For a start, I do not like Takizawa Hideaki at all. Although his monologue was pretty good at conveying the coldness and ruthless nature of Ryuuzaki, I don't really fancy seeing him on screen especially with that long hair. I can understand that his hair grows longer because of Ryuuzaki being in prison for a long time but surely there are barbers in prison, right? Then again, Ryuuzaki is probably categorised as someone who's too dangerous for the barber to approach. Now that he's out of prison, he should head for a haircut ASAP. I really hate it when guys have such long hair especially when they don't look good in it.

In addition, this story is full of loopholes so I may not be too happy with the developments if this goes on. For a suspense thriller, logic is a key ingredient to making it work. For heavens' sake, it is not a romance story (romance doesn't need too much logic ^__^) so I hope that the scriptwriters do not treat the viewers as idiots. No doubt the concept is relatively far-fetched but still it should not deviate from the norm too much. The way this drama is written is said to be quite different from the normal process. Usually, most dramas will have one chief scriptwriter but some will also have a few sub-writers for a small number of episodes. In this case, there will be 6 writers who come up with the outline for the episode. 3 of them will then be selected to write their individual scripts. Subsequently, the good parts from each writer will be picked out and put together into an entire script by the show runner. Let's see if this drama will do well by using this method of script writing usually seen in American dramas.

Last but not least, I seriously hope that this drama will try to do something extraordinary. If the ending is what I predicted above or if it turns out that Ryuuzaki repents, I think this could be quite boring. Frankly speaking, I am hoping that Aoi will change for the worse because his character is too boring. I liked Nishikido best for his performance in "Last Friends" where he balanced evil and good very well. In this first episode, I simply detested the sight of Aoi. He is someone who we can hardly find in real life so I do not like the idea of having someone who's so angellic until we cannot find fault with him. It will be interesting if Aoi becomes bad because of Ryuuzaki's doings and the evil fight the evil in the end. If Aoi continues to be goody-two-shoes throughout the drama, I can safely say that viewers will only take notice of Takizawa's performance and forget all about Nishikido in the end.

Top 10 most anticipated Summer 2009 dramas (Ori*Star)

1) Kyuumei Byoutou 24 Ji Part 4

2) Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kouen mae Hashutsujo

3) Buzzer Beat ~ Kakebbuchi no Hero

4) Otomen

5) Karei naru Spy

6) Akahana no Sensei

7) Orthros no Inu

8) Ninkyou Helper

9) Saru Lock

10) Kanryoutachi no Natsu

Preview of Orthros no Inu オルトロスの犬 (The Dog of Orthros) - Summer 2009

Title: Orthros no Inu
Official website: here
O.A. Start Date: 24 July 2009
Timeslot: Fridays, 10pm
Broadcast by: TBS
Cast: Takizawa Hideaki, Nishikido Ryo, Mizukawa Asami, Yaotome Hikaru, Yamamoto Ryuji, Harada Natsuki, Oshinari Shugo, Rokkaku Seiji, Shiba Toshio, Sasaki Kuranosuke, Takahata Atsuko