Quentin Tarrantino miraculously did NOT participate in the making of this movie. It has Tarrantino written all over it. It's outrageous, extreme, unpredictable and most of all, brainless.
Yosuke plays a hilarious part here, my supper almost fell out of my mouth when I saw him in drag. He's too funny to be true. Actually, there isn't so much of him except in the beginning and until he gets seduced by Ookabe. After that, it's over. 
The movie would have been a lot more interesting if they'd gone further with the thing between Akiyoshi and Ookabe instead of immediately changing scenes to brainless gunfights which last to the end of the movie. Ookabe too, deserved a lot more character development. Who murdered his family? Would he listen to Akiyoshi? What exactly does he do? Why would he want to die? Who is he, for chrissake? The end was very blunt, to say the least. Another movie I wouldn't have watched if it wasn't for Yosuke. Who did an awesome job. Just imagine Yosuke Kubozuka with false eye lashes, long pink nails, stilettos and a knee-high pink skirt, fidgeting about like one hell of a drag queen, all the while emphasizing: "I'm not gay". His priceless scenes made this movie worth watching, but scenes without him were all the more boring.

GO! - Sugihara


Sugihara is a Zainichi, a Japanese-born Korean boy who tries to live the life of a normal Japanese citizen in modern Japan. Although he's going to a North Korean school where teachers violently punish students for speaking Japanese, he doesn't really care about Korea much. He often gets involved in stupid things with his peers and eventually falls in love with Sakurai, his first-ever girlfriend. Knowing Koreans aren't overly appreciated in Japan, he hesitates to tell her his Korean first name, afraid to ruin the relationship. His father, a former pro boxer, uses violence to make Sugihara strong-willed and courageous and he eventually tells Sakurai his first name...

This movie has won loads of awards, but honestly, why? Yosuke's acting was brilliant and natural as expected of him, he did a great job, but the movie itself was not more than a slice of life of a boy with a complex if you ask me. Being neither Japanese, nor Korean, I may not grasp the profoundness of the issue, but honestly, I think Sugihara might as well have been Japanese and fat or handicapped. He rarely faced rejection or other drama another youth wouldn't face.
It was a good movie and you should watch it, but I think Yosuke's done better projects. But you have to watch it, even if only for his toothless grin (his dad beat 2 teeth out of his mouth)

GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka) - Yoshito Kikuchi


Yoshito Kikuchi is one of the many trouble makers of class 2B (?), a class constantly bullying their homeroom teachers out of service. This bullying campaign, initiated by Miyabi Aizawa, goes as far as to spread pornographic material about the new teacher, Onizuka, all over the campus. As it turns out, those pictures are fake, created by no one else but Kikuchi, the genius of the class. Not only that, top student Kikuchi even boycots Onizuka's lessons and by doing so, jeopardizes his future as a teacher. Will Onizuka manage to get Kikuchi back to school and maybe even make the little bastard his ally?

Anyone who read the GTO manga will be very disappointed at this cheap, boring drama adaption. Onizuka isn't even blond, he does none of the pranks he did in the manga, there's no Urumi Kanzaki (I loved her!) and all in all, it's very disappointing. Nice to watch on a boring afternoon, but nothing more. Even fans of Yousuke won't get their dose of loveliness as Kikuchi doesn't have such a spectacular part. Episode 2 is all about him, but other than that, it's more about Fuyutsuki-sensei I think... Also please note, there is NO Yousuke in the movie and the special!
Yousuke played Kikuchi quite nice as such but it's no wonder I didn't notice him when I watched GTO for the first time a few years ago. He just doesn't stand out. However, I don't think that's Yousuke's fault: a) he was inexperienced at that time and b) the director just did a shitty job at the whole damn thing!

IWGP - G-Boys King Takashi Andoh
 
I know these aren't the best shots of Takashi, but they best reflect his personalitie(s).

Takashi Andoh is the "King" of a street gang called G-Boys (short for Girigiri-Boys, "To the limit"-Boys). As the King, he commands about 300 boys age 13 to 25 in various missions and monkey business. He may order them to climb ontop of each-other and then collapse in a heap, but the order may also include what I'd call murder. His G-Boys mean everything to him and he watches over them like a big brother. However, he won't hesitate to harshly punish them for doing things he condemns, such as using drugs. He has them follow a strict code of conduct and does not tolerate any "uncool" behaviour such as needlessly hurting innocent people. As silly as he may appear at first glance, he takes his role as a leader very seriously and always assumes responsibility. The G-Boys often do the work the police is uncapable to deal with, leaving the cops extremely humiliated.

His senile/ever-drunk father runs a sauna and seems to be very proud of his 20-year-old son. His personality seems to be alot like Takashi's. The police is always breathing down Takashi's neck and often arrest him but he never talks. What about?

Takashi is usually mellow, friendly, talks a bit like a girl and stuffs his face with sweets. While in the manga, he's rumored to be gay, in the TV drama he has a girlfriend, Jessy, who's about 10 years older than him. However, if you watch his behaviour with Makoto, one might think Jessy is merely a status symbol as every King needs a Queen/Bitch. Watch Takashi, I bet he's gay with a weakness for Makoto. He appears rather silly and cuddly and will allow people such as the police to beat him up without resisting, never losing his goofy grin.

However, the mellow, funny Takashi who loves to kiss anything male and who uses "-chan" when talking to men, can also turn into a ruthless... monster... who'll cut off people's limbs while laughing his ass off. One such incident included him cutting off Yamai's finger to punish him for selling drugs. No matter what mood he's in, he's usually rather violent.

Then there's the other Takashi. When hurt badly, for example when his friend gets murdered and Mako-chan of all people, won't stand by his side, he slicks his hair back, loses his everlasting smile and forgets all about friend or foe, just screaming, crying and lashing about. It's really hard to watch.
In the SP episode (Soup no Kai) of which I've only seen a tiny part, he runs a noodle restaurant, possibly because Makoto loves noodles. And he's bald ;__;

Yosuke played Takashi brilliantly. This is the first part I noticed Yosuke in. I've also watched GTO long ago, but didn't really notice the actor behind Kikuchi. Takashi had me fall in love with both the character and the actor; I have to admit I like the silly, violent and insane type. Also, being a gang leader is something we once had in common and I enjoyed close combat as much as Takashi.
What's worrying is how naturally Yosuke played such an extreme nutcase as Takashi. I'm not the only one suggesting that Takashi isn't so different from the real Yosuke who's often avoided by producers due to his not-so-easy-to-handle behaviour which is said to reach from a foul mouth over drug-promotion to gratitious violence.
I'm very sad IWGP was cancelled after 11 episodes. But apparantly Takashi had a bad influence on the audience who went and created G-Boys of their own...

Kyouki no Sakura - Yamaguchi

Yamaguchi is a naive, idealistic young nationalist who, clad all in white, patrols the streets of Shibuya with his two comrades in order to cleanse Japan of gangsters, illegal immigrants, homosexuals and other potential victims of... right wing hooligans. Their "cleaning" methods involve beatings, rape, theft and destruction. One day, they're offered a job by the local mob and eventhough Yamaguchi keeps hanging on to his convictions, the three friends soon grow apart. Will their ideologies survive the temptation of power? Will they survive the world they're plunging into?

This movie reminds me alot of Clockwork Orange, only that CO is an intelligent movie about stupid guys who beat the hell out of innocent people while KnS is a not-so-intelligent movie about not-overly-dumb guys who beat the hell out of not-so-innocent people. Frankly, it was a good, enjoyable movie but I think it kinda missed the point. It was screaming "Tarrantino" (brainless entertainment), not "Kubrick". I don't need Kubrick but this movie was clearly intended to send a message and "teach" people something, but it failed. Still liked it. Yousuke was, as always, awesome and funny.

Laundry - Teru

Teru(o) is slightly mentally handycapped: when he was a child, he actually managed to fall into a manhole (I love you) and hurt his head and brain. Eversince, he needs to wear a hat outside to prevent spasms. This handicap won't stop him from executing his job with pride: he watches over his grandma's laundry shop so nobody would steal any lady's underwear. In this laundry shop, lots of interesting people come and go. Even a boxer who spends the night in a washing machine after losing his 19th fight. One day, a mysterious woman named Mizue comes to wash her clothes but forgets a piece upon going home. Good Teru follows her to return her shirt and they get to know each other. Mizue seems to be very lonely and fragile but quickly finds a friend in naieve, innocent Teru who doesn't talk much but who makes a great listener.
One day, Mizue leaves for her hometown and again forgets a piece of laundry at Teru's. Teru washes the blood-stained shirt and delivers it all the way to her hometown. He hitchhikes with a mid-aged man who gives him a sixpack of beer as a farewell gift. When Teru, drunk, woke up at the final bus station, nobody else but Mizue stands in front of him. He and Mizue spend some time together, Mizue seeking protection from herself with the apparantly ever-happy Teru who can't even tie his shoes by himself.

One day, they meet the man who gave Teru a ride again and live with him, helping him with his job of having pidgeons fly at events. The man then decides to leave Japan and hands all his belongings to Teru and Mizue. Then it had to happen: Teru's grandma dies, yet "little" Teru doesn't quite grasp the meaning of "death". Yet he feels that Mizue is now his only friend and, without grasping the profound meaning of that either, asks her to marry him.
Little does Teru know Mizue is a shoplifter and about to betray him...

What a boring, but adorable movie! Yosuke does a perfect job playing Teru, maybe Teru is another side of Yosuke, like Takashi? He's being incredibly cute, always making a pensive face with big shiny eyes... Plus, he reminds me alot of a friend of mine. Last time I checked, he never fell into a manhole, but he still has issues and is a bit of an overgrown child and is so disgustingly innocent. Also, the 2nd picture above doesn't only show what that friend of mine does alot, but with his face like that, Yosuke/Teru looks an awful lot like him. It's even scary. Maybe that's why I like Yosuke so much, because he reminds me of that other guy.
So, while Laundry is a very quiet and simple movie, it's kinda adorable. Teru doesn't do or say much, neither does Mizue, but the small things they do and see make this movie special. And Yosuke with long hair and a hat knit by grandma, is just the cutest thing on earth ♥

Lipstick - Kouki Makimura

Kouki Makimura is currently doing time in a juvenile penile facility for having forced his girlfriend, Anna Miike, to sell herself by brainwashing her. Anna is doing time at the same facility for, d'oh, being a whore. She continues to love him deeply and even obeys each time he tells her to commit suicide. Kouki's logic behind this is: you can love each-other without physical contact and even while "cheating" on each-other. According to this logic, Anna has been done by several men except Kouki. But what makes Kouki act that way? How is a golden microscope his trauma? After several slaps and beatings from the therapists, we find out...

Yousuke only plays a minor part in this. Actually, he only emphasizes Anna Miike's character as this drama mainly focuses on 5 girls.The main characters are Ai Hayakawa (?) and her mentor who secretly cherish feelings for each-other. Still, even if Yousuke isn't the main character in Lipstick, it's very worth watching. It's interesting to discover how people who seemed to be assholes at first, all turn out to be quite innocent in the end. Ai beat up a couple at a record shop. Why? And why did Mashiro Ikawa push her step father down the stairs? Lipstick paints a very nice portrait of the human mind which is at the same time guilty and innocent and how there is no distingquishing quality between ward and prisoner except that one is outside, the other inside. I enjoyed Lipstick very much.
Also, for some reason, the revelation of Kouki's trauma was such a Yousuke-moment... It's so tragic and funny at the same time. Yousuke did a nice Kouki, who is an evil genius and at the same time, a poor baby.

And yes, this is the prelude to a humping... The guy on the left is Kouki/Yousuke

Long Love Letter - Akio Asami-sensei

The cuteness kills...

Akio Asami is a 23-year-old teacher (and I'm a 23-year-old useless, how humiliating) who's very popular with his students, especially the girls. One day at the book store, he meets a rather strong-headed woman who buys the book he wanted and ends up developing an interest in her rather than the book. It turns out she is a former teacher at the same high school, fired for hitting a student (with profound reasons). Her nickname: MASH. They like each-other but his mobile phone gets stolen and he loses contact with her. One day, Mash walks in on him as he appears to be assaulting a female student and appalled, she walks away, cursing him. Eventhough it was the girl who forced herself on him...
So one day, as they try anew to talk like grown-ups on the school yard, desaster strikes. The school and all 22 people in it, gets teleported to the near future of 2020. While the people of the present think those people are dead, the 22 students and teachers are trying hard to survive in a world with no resources. All around the school, there's a desert with no life. The children miss their families back home and Asami has to oppress his personal emotional needs in order to support his students. As food runs out, water gets polluted and people start dying, Asami and "Mash" realize: if the present world keeps getting exploited, this future will actually happen to the entire world. But can they ever return and tell the world?

When I first saw the title, I thought it'd be a boring love story, but it turned out to be no love story at all. It's a frightening sci-fi like drama warning us not to keep up our destruction of this planet or else. The way they played with time was brilliant and you feel how slowly time seems to go by when you don't know how much is left. Three days seemed like months. Watching a bunch of helpless, fickle children rely on only two adults who have nobody to rely on themselves, as medicine, food and water run out, gives you an eery feeling about how this world is very likely to end if we keep ruining it.
Yosuke did a great, but typical Yosuke-job as Asami. Ofcourse, men had to be kissed, he had to play the big baby and was just plain cute as always. I couldn't believe when a student called him "teacher". Even when he was having his home room, I thought he was just a conceited student. It's simply weird to see Yosuke in a mature role  Teacher!! After seeing him as Takashi, it's just...
Anyways, as always, Yosuke did a great job as a very emotional, loveable character. The kind of character you want to protect and smack up at the same time.

Makai Tenshou - Amakusa Shiro Tokisada


Amakusa Shiro(etc.) is the leader of the Christian revolt in Shimabara in 1638 (a historically real event, also a plot in Rurouni Kenshin), however he and his followers are killed by the Tokugawa forces. Ressurected to destroy the Shogun, Shiro summons fighting demons.

A very short summary of plot and character, isn't it? Well, because it SUCKED! Yosuke is worth more than this movie and he should have turned down the part if you ask me. The plot was good but poorly realized and the result could have been alot better if they'd made it a series or something with more time to develop characters but as a 90-minute-movie, it sucks.
Also, Yosuke doesn't fit into Shiro's character. Yosuke's personality is very strong and oozes through no matter what costume. Yosuke's a wild thing and playing the mysterious, very quiet and overdressed evil hellraiser doesn't suit him, period. It was too obvious that Yosuke was wearing a costume. He did his best, but Yosuke playing this kind of character is like asking a dog to meow. Dogs are great, but they make poor cats. I heard that one movie he made, flopped badly. I bet my ass it's Makai Tenshou.

Omiai Kekkon - Junichi Ohata


Junichi Ohata

Yosuke did an adorable job. I definately don't like this cheesy love-marriage genre. I mean, if it wasn't for Yosuke starring in it, I wouldn't have watched it at all. But the romantic, somewhat klutzy Ohata who plays a rather small but memorable role, just refuses to bore you. Yosuke is Yosuke after all, and he wouldn't be himself without jokes, silly moments, childish behaviour or sudden fits of anger. As Ohata, he keeps reappearing for short and worthwhile moments, usually of comical or at least, heartwarming nature. Because, as the fortune teller in one episode described him, he has big shiny eyes, a sweet smile and may I add this, a temper. 

By the way, the above pic is from a scene that looked like a botched suicide attempt. Thinking of Kyoko, he shoved two ballpens up his nostrils (at work and watched by all his coworkers, I think he likes making scenes). The only logical (okay...) explanation for that would be him planning to smash his face down on the desk and drive the pens into his brain.  As a bonus, this hilarious pic:

Strawberry on the Shortcake (S.O.S.) - Tetsuya Saeki


Here, Yosuke plays the ever-torn Tetsu (nobody but me calls him that) who has a love affair with his English teacher. However, afraid to lose somebody, he tends to hide his true feelings behind a playful and somewhat arrogant attitude and keeps backing off and drawing close to his beloved teacher who starts to consider dumping him. She loves him alot, yet doesn't want to ruin his future which he is already ruining himself by constantly flunking and repeating school terms so he could see her. So he keeps playing ill as an excuse for not graduating despite his age.
When one day he meets Yui, his friend's non-bloodrelated sister, he gets both her and himself in trouble. Being a nice guy, he yields to her advances and plays boyfriend for her, while in reality, the only person he truly loves is his teacher. Saeki will have to decide: make things clear by hurting Yui or keep up juggling two women at the same time? Or could there be yet another girl who truly understands his personality?

So, Yosuke played the mean playboy in this one. And a bored rich kid to boot. Although I'd never watch S.O.S. without Yosuke in it, I have to say I liked Saeki. Maybe because Yosuke's personality oozed through the charakter Saeki again. Playful with lots of funny faces, not so funny jokes and ofcourse a good dose of fidgetiness made Saeki a typical Yosuke performance. Still, if interested in the actor, you may not want to start with S.O.S. but rather IWGP.

Tomie Replay - Fumihito Sato
 

Strange things are happening at the hospital. Employees have retired, gone mad or killed themselves. Long-term patient Fumihito Sato knows that, too. One night, he even sees a naked girl walking by. This naked girl is then taken out of the hospital by Fumihito's friend Takeshi who, soon after that, starts to act crazy, too. Fumihito then joins up with Yumi, the daughter of the hospital director. Together, they try to find out about the disappearance of Yumi's father who has brought Tomie to life when he surgically removed her head from a little girl's body, and about Tomie, this girl who seems to drive all men lethally mad and who gets killed and keeps coming back. But is Yumi safe with Fumihito, who is only a man himself? Can he resist Tomie's chilling charm and keep his sanity? Where did Yumi's father go?

Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooring! Dead girl appears, dead girl drives men mad, men kill for dead girl, men kill dead girl, dead girl returns, dead girl gets burnt. All 4 Tomie movies are pretty much the same and lacking the "WAAAAAAAAA!!" effect. Plus, many effects are really cheap.
I did recognize Yosuke though. As always a bit clumsy, somewhat helpless and, even in this horror movie, funny. Take the 2nd pic above for example. He came in from the rain, and with a towel on his head, suddenly hears a noise behind him. He was scared to death, staring outside, with a towel on his nose  For Yosuke fans, it's worth watching, but don't expect too much. He put a hatchet in his shin though. Owch.