Toujin No Negoto　★　唐人の寝言

I realize it's an older drama, but Bambino is a good one, that touched close to home. The story revolves around Ban (伴), a wannabe chef who goes from a small Fukuoka Italian restaurant to a super-popular one in Roppongi, Tokyo.

The story follows his hardships, and his struggle to become a good chef. Great story, plays out like a manga, wouldn't be surprised if that's where it's from.

Anyway, it might come in handy if you want to learn some new words relating to restaurants, especially speaking to the customer.

Of course you can also refer to this page to learn a lot of other restaurant-related words, but here are a few more phrases from the show.

• ご案内いたします goannai itashimasu - I'll show you to your seats
  
• ごゆっくりどうぞ goyukkuri douzo - Take your time and relax
  
• お決まりになりましたら、お呼び下さいませ okimari ni narimashitara, oyobi kudasaimase - When you have made your decisions, please call for me
  
• ご無沙汰しております gobusata shite orimasu - Long time no sea (polite)
  
• またいらっしゃって頂けたんですね mata irassahtte itadaketan desu ne - You came again (friendly)
  
• 確か、福岡の方ですよね tashika fukuoka no kata desu yo ne - If I recall, you're from Fukuoka, right?
  
• 素敵な女性は忘れたくても、忘れることが出来ません suteki na josei wa wasuretakutemo, wasureru koto ga dekimasen - I couldn't forget a beautiful women even if I tried.
  
• ご説明いたします gosetsumei itashimasu - I will explain.
  

This drama is about magic, or rather the supernatural. Yamada, one of the main characters is a magician, and she's a third-rate one at that. Ueda on the other hand, is a physics professor of some sort who one day decides to challenge all those claiming to have supernatural powers.

He wants to get to the bottom of a local cult lead by the self-proclaimed supernaturalist 'Big Mother.' She has cursed Ueda, and so he's looking for proof that she's a fake.

The story is so so, but there are thiｎgs I especially like about this series. One is that, like other dramas such as Liar Game or especially Galieleo, you come to understand things later, when Yamada enlightens you as to how the miracles performed by Big Mother could have been performed.

Also, the comedy is great. It's dry, it's quirky. Add this to the zaney directing and you have a hit. The camera work is very playful and it gives the show a very light feeling, though it deals with some serious topics.

The acting is good. Both Ueda (Hiroshi Abe) and Yamada (Yukie Nakama) are played well, as can be expecte from the seasoned actors. In fact Abe Hiroshi is a favourite of mine, and his character here really fits his style.

It's a great show that you can find on Crunchy Roll, though it seems to be VHS quality, it's still very watchable.

Following my quick introduction to the world of GTO in the post below, I have been watching the drama again. I'm sort of on the hunt for good, tacky, quotes to post on here and disect linguistically, and GTO, being largely a story of morals, is a great source.

The situation: Onizuka's student Kikuchi refuses to go to school to be taught by a teacher with such a low IQ. Kikuchi says he can learn nothing from Onizuka, so Onizuka decides to pay him a visit at his home. Onizuka calls Kikuchi out to the window, and stands in the rain, giving him a moving speech. It was actually really hard to pick up, so there may be errors. I'll get someone to check it for me later.

鬼塚：俺には・・・お前から教わることが何もない。
菊池：何だって？
鬼塚：だってお前の言ってること全部教科書に書いてあるんだからよ。　毎日毎日お前そんなもんばっか脳みそ詰め込んで楽しいか？　毎日先のことばかり考えて楽しいか？　人間って言うのはよ・・・本当は今もっと大切に生きなきゃまずいんじゃないのか？　今日一日を大切に生きとくべきなんじゃないのか？

Onizuka: ore ni ha... omae kara osowaru koto ga nanimo nai.
Kikuchi: nan datte?
Onizuka: datte omae no itteru koto zenbu kyoukashou ni kaite arun da kara yo. mainichi mainichi omae sonna mon bakka noumiso tsumekonde tanoshii ka? mainichi saki no koto bakari kangaete tanoshii ka? ningen tte iu no ha yo... hontou ha ima motto taisetsu ni ikinakya mazuin janai no ka? kyou ichinichi wo taisetsu ni ikitoku beki nan janai no ka?

Onizuka: For me... there's nothing I can be taught by you.
Kikuchi: Huh?
Onizuka Well, it's because everything you say is written in a texbook. Is pouring those things into your brain fun? Is thinking about your future fun? Humans have to cherish their lives more, right? You should cherish every day, shouldn't you?

Wow that didn't turn out as natural sounding as I thought, but meh. It's interesting no note that Onizuka was using a water hose to make fake rain, which he promptly turns off after his speech. The only reason he actually gave the speech was to win a bet.

教わる osowaru - to be taught
教科書 kyoukasho - textbook
脳みそnoumiso - brains
詰め込む tsumekomu - to cram in, to stuff
先 saki - the future
べき beki - have to, should

It's not often that I do, or can, watch the same drama or movie twice. If I can, it must really be great. Hana Yori Dango is one of the dramas that I'm now watching for the third time. It's a love story, sure, but it's pretty damned cool. It stars some big names, such as Jun Matsumoto and Mao Inoue (who is beautiful I might add).

Anyway, I'm watching through the episodes now, and I came across a tacky, but cool metaphore that could be used to wow some native speakers at some point. Here goes:

The situation: Yuki has just found out her boyfriend is dating other girls, and she's sad. Soujiro (who is a tea ceremony expert), is consoling her over a cup of tea.

雪：苦い
ソウジロ：でしょう！俺もガキの時初めて飲んで、「これは人間の飲み物じゃない」と思って・・・　でも・・・実はこの苦さがいいの。　（中略）　恋愛も一緒。　辛くて、苦い恋があって、人は成長する。　雪ちゃんには今回の恋は必要だったんだよ。　次は間違わないよ・・・ね？

Yuki: nigai
Soujiro: deshou! ore mo gaki no toki hajimete nonde, "kore ha ningen no nomimono janai" to omotte... demo... jitsu wa kono nigasa ga ii no. (chuuryaku) renai mo issho. tsurakute, nigai koi ga atte, hito ha seichou suru. Yuki chan ni ha konkai no koi ha hitsuyou dattan da yo. tsugi ha machigawanai yo... ne?

Yuki: It's bitter
Soujiro: Isn't it? When I first drank it as a kid, I also thought "this is not a drink for humans..." but, actually, it's the bitterness that is good. (Middle ommitted) Love is the same. People have tough, bitter love, and they grow. You needed this last experience. Next time you won't make a mistake... right?

苦い nigai bitter
ガキ gaki kid, child, brat
人間 ningen human
恋愛 renai love
恋 koi love
成長 seichou growth

This is one drama I think anyone would like. The main characters are Kaoru, a rookie police detective and Yukawa, a strangely detatched physics professor at a big-name university.

From time to time, the detective will come to Yukawa with a seemingly impossible case, for example, an apparent ghost haunting, which Yukawa will (somewhat hilariously) apply science to and solve.

I just love the part in every episode where Yukawa literally pushes everything and everyone out of his way so he can write his crazy science equations. It seems like an out-of-character thing for the always calm Yukawa to do. What the hell's with those equations anyway?

That said, it is a great drama, and even a little educational. I'm fairly sure all the science is (exaggerated, but) accurate.

You can likely find this drama torrented, perhaps on Veoh, but I got it from Crunchyroll.