Eric Takabayashi wrote:

> I have rented about 270 videos since late
> October to take advantage of the 100 yen campaigns at local stores. About 80% of
> that was Hollywood movies, mostly action, less than a handful of other foreign
> films, and the remainder being good Japanese movies (except Love Story), and the
> entire series of animated Heidi and Dog of Flanders for my kids, who watch one to
> three episodes per day.

Oh, I forgot: I also watched the first two runs of "Initial D", a street racing
animation featuring computer graphics and a Eurobeat soundtrack which used to be on
late night tv. It would be very difficult to make in real life (or even to make
convincing hand drawn cels), and I have seen big budget car action movies. The
protagonist's "girlfriend" has a secret sugar daddy, but there is no sexual content or
nudity. The protagonist takes offense when he finds out about the girl's secret
relationship (they had previously only kissed) and coldly cuts off ties with her
despite her protests. Other male characters also lose their chance at relationships
because of their indecisiveness or lack of maturity.

In other words, other than the limited nature of organized street racing on winding
mountain roads (naturally illegal) and teenage prostitution, and the unnatural driving
ability of a 17 year old high school boy with NO technical knowledge and no license,
the storyline is mature and fairly realistic, with decent production values. It is not
for children, it is not porn, and if it appeals to otaku, it would naturally be car
boys. And my wife watched the entire series on her own, while refusing to watch works
by Kurosawa and Kitano.

Oh yeah, I am still waiting for suggestions for decent Japanese live action videos NOT
featuring porn, historical settings or characters, traditional martial arts, youth
comedy, gangsters, juvenile delinquents, truckers, men in rubber suits,
extraterrestrials, robotics, animals, the paranormal, or the supernatural, for my wife
to take to Hawaii. She doesn't even like the work of famous Japanese directors or
performers which feature such things. We already have some fantasy or drama like
Himitsu and Poppoya, and select TV series like Hoshi no Kinka, and I suppose would
need more of same, but the remaining selection is quite sparse.