Hanzawa Naoki

Karate went well today, though I felt extremely slug-like during class today...

Besides that, my day was pretty normal. I spent my afternoon finishing the first arc of a Japanese dorama that I'm currently watching: Hanzawa Naoki. It's about a banker who was set up to take the blame for a 500 million yen deal that went wrong. Therefore, he had to work hard to save his neck.

So far, based on the first arc, I can see why it had such high viewership ratings in Japan. It's a riveting story, following Hanzawa as he tracks down the culprit who wouldn't return the money. What makes this drama different than other dramas of a similar nature is that it feels really realistic in terms of the emotions portrayed by the various characters in the show. At times, I even felt sympathy for the ones who are doing Hanzawa wrong.

I just started the second arc today, but I'll try to keep it down to an episode a day. It's going to be tough, since the story line is quite a thriller, but I'll stick to my word!!! Somehow...

Besides that, I finished up an anime series I was watching: Sunday without God. It had a great premise: the world was abandoned by God, therefore there are no new births, but no deaths at the same time. When people "die", they come back as the undead. Pretty much they're zombies, but function like if they were living. The only way these undead could find peace is if Grave keepers (special humans that God gave to people before He ditched them) properly bury them.

It had the potential of being a great series based on the storyline. I really enjoyed the first 6 episodes. It was a bit slow, but it earnestly portrayed the main character as an innocent 12 year old, trying to save the world as a half grave keeper/human. However... the last 6 episodes could have been done without. I felt like that the last 6 episodes were simply fillers, for I couldn't see what purpose it served to the original intentions of the main character. In the end, I have to say that I was disappointed with the series. It had great potential, but I believe it didn't deliver.

And onto a picture I snapped for today! I was moving some lumber, and I found an interesting beetle! It's something I never seen before. To be honest, I'm not sure if it is a beetle...