YIPS Back on my Viewing Schedule!

Bakarhythm and Shinohara Ryoko in YIPS

After being dropped by its initial subbing team back in 2024, the Bakarhythm/Ryoko Shinohara crime drama YIPS is happily being subbed by a new group and after all this time,  I'm finally going to be able to check it out! And so far, it's been GREAT!

In sports there is an ailment called YIPS, those cases when an athlete suddenly psychologically loses the ability to do some move or action anymore, and this drama tells the story of two people suffering from a similar psychosis. There is Toru Morino (Bakarhythm), a police detective who, after years of being lauded as the genius ace of the department who always cracks his cases, suddenly finding him unable to properly do his job due to the overwhelming expectations laid upon him.

And then there is Miko Kuroba (Ryoko Shinohara), a famous crime novelist who, after years of penning best seller after best seller, is faced with the same crippling burden of over-expectation for her new work, and when she sits at her desk, finds herself unable to come up with a single idea.

By chance the two characters end up at a popular new spa, and while they ming their own business at first, Morino instantly recognizes Kuroba and begins pestering her with questions about her new novel, and why her last few were so mediocre. How Rude!

Through his words, Kuroba realizes this guy has been criticizing her works on social media under an alias, and calls him out! While they immediately begin to bicker and get on each others' nerves, it is cut short when they discover a dead body floating in the spa pool nearby!

As a mystery writer, Kuroba is thrilled to be witness to such a crime, gushing "This is the first time seeing a real life corpse!" to the detective heading the case, the pompadour coiffed Sakai (Ryosuke Mikata). But Morino seems determined to keep out of it, perplexing her, until he reveals his position as a detective and his malady of being psychologically unable to complete his investigations.

It's here that Kuroba comes up with the novel idea for them to pool together their efforts- she'll help him with his shortcomings in the investigation, and she'll use the knowledge she gains from the case to get out of her book writing slump!

With two such opposite characters (Kuroba an outspoken loudmouth and Morino a mumbly recluse), you'd think this partnership can't last, but what do you know, they really compliment each other, and make signifiant headway into the crime- including zeroing in on cutie-pie guest of the week Reina Triendl as their main suspect....

Yes, when these two put their heads together, it seems they can crack any case! And with some success, they may even get over their self-imposed YIPS syndromes and get back to their jobs in earnest!

I was initially drawn to this drama for the Bakarhythm connection, however it's not a Bakarhythm-scripted show this time, and rather one he's simply co-starring in. Nonetheless it's fun and he and Shinohara are GREAT together!!!  This will be a drama well worth the long WAIT!

Favorite J-Pop Songs: Miho Nakayama: "Title", Revisited!!

 Awhile ago I had gushed about the Miho Nakayama song ”Title”, an album-only track off her excellent 1994  release “Pure White” and, upon seeing the songwriting credited to “To Be Continued”, wondered if they were the same group featuring Kohki Okada/Taka Sato/Tomosuke Goto. WELL, perusing the awesome GENERASIA page recently, I found a footnote to that Miho Nakayama song which noted that not only was it INDEED that selfsame To Be Continued that wrote it, they had actually covered it themselves, on their 1994 album “Beyond The Light”!!!

For some reason, their version was called “Ashita E No ACCENT”, a fitting name since that was the recurring chorus line in both versions, wonder why Miho’s one was called “Title”. In any case, I HAD to hear it, and I have to say that BOTH versions are pretty darn GREAT!!

As some of you know, “Title” was the very first song I knew from Miho Nakayama, heck, one of the very first J-Pop songs I ever knew PERIOD, and I am HUGELY sentimentally attached to it. Even today the strains of the chorus take me back to those golden days of early J-Pop discovery!!

MAN, I still can't believe this wasn't a SINGLE for Miho, I think it woulda rocked the charts at least as much as the album's actual single release "Sea Paradise  OL no Hanran"!

PS: Ironically enough, the first song I ever knew from To Be Continued, (given to me on a mix tape by the same guy who gave me the Miho one), was ALSO a non-single, album-only track, the awesome HOLIDAY (from their album Music-a-Holic), another favorite J-Pop single I've got to write about someday as well!!

Favorite J-Pop Singles: Tokiko Kato: "Bara Iro no Handkerchief"

 By mid-1996, I was completely immersed in all things J-Pop and picked up two J-Pop compilations, Sony Records “Complete CF Songbook” and “TV-CF Songbook”” two terrific albums which introduced me to a whole new bunch of musical artists and songs, including acts like Rie Miyazawa, MISATO, NOKKO, Masatoshi Ono, and Ruriko Kuboh, and of whom had songs on it that would eventually become all-time favorites of mine!

Among all the pop/rock tracks, however, was a decidedly NON poppy song, a gentle vocal ballad called “Bara Iro No Handkerchief” and, though not the style of J-pop I was currently into, really caught my ear and had me replaying it over and over! 

The artist was a woman named Tokiko Kato, and though I did not know it at the time, was (and still is) a legendary vocalist in Japan of Diva-like status for her powerful and moving songs. All I knew was  that I could not get the song out of my head and though it didn’t fit in with my usual J-pop songs and I probably wouldn’t be blasting it at work, still had to tack it on the end of a mix tape so I could listen to it on my walk home!

Eventually I made a definitive mix compilation culling my favorite tracks from those two CD collections, beginning with the explosive “Otoko” by Ruriko Kuboh, down through songs like “Hitosuji Ni Narenai“ by Kome Kome Club, "Totteoki No Toki" Seishiro Kusunose, “Akai Hana” by Rie Miyazawa and others, and for its album closer was, yes,  Tokiko’s “Bara Iro no Handkerchief” , a PERFECT conclusion, and it always left me feeling in a melancholoy mood every time I listened to the tape!

I was just listening to the said J-Pop mix tape, and upon hearing Bara iro No handkerchief again, just got goosebumps listening to it…it’s so darn great! Sombre and soothing, like a cool night wind…

Must say that I had no idea back then that those two Sony Music CD compilations would have such an everlasting impact on my J-pop music experience...two albums well worth their price!!!

Your Monthly Keiko for September 2025

And we're back with a ponderous Keiko for the month of September!! It's times like this that I sometimes wish I also purchased her wall-size calendars as they are bigger and feature completely different photos, alas I simply do not have the room for it!!

The Keiko Kitagawa 2025 Wall Calendar.

PS: Last week I posted a montage of Keiko through the years and I found another compilation short by Talentjournal which showcased a bit more of Keiko's different roles over her career!

I love these clips, watching Keitan grow right before my eyes is a pure delight! Ooooh, so many of these characters are real favorites of mine!

Mr. Children's "Tomorrow Never Knows" a nice background companion to the clip!

Another Child Abduction Drama…With A Twist! “Yukai ni Hi”

Child kidnapping seem to be ALL the rage in J-dramas lately, with the stellar Keiko Kitagawa “Anata wo Ubatta Sono Hi kara” (Since the Day I Took You Away) recently wrapping up, and now we have Yukai No Hi (The Day of the Kidnapping)!

Masamune Shinjo (Takumi Saito) is a man who has a young daughter in need of a serious and expensive surgery to save her life, and without funds or a future, plots with his estranged wife Shiori (Yumi Adachi) to kidnap the Hospital Director’s daughter and hold her for ransom to get the money for the operation.

While very passionate about his daughter, Masamune is admittedly not very bright, and it is up to his wife to orchestrate the entire kidnaping via phone instruction. She finds the Director’s home, maps out the getaway routes, and guides Shinjo through the dark night streets to the house, where they expect the girl to be asleep and easy for stealing away.

Though nervous, things seem to be going according to plan, however just as Masamune arrives at the house, a dazed girl steps out on front of his car and he narrowly avoids hitting her. She slumps down to the ground, and when he goes to check on her, he finds that it is the girl he was meant to kidnap!

Confused about why she would appear outside of the house in the middle of the night, he nonetheless accepts it as a bit of luck on his side, and he takes the unconscious child and spirits her away to his hideout just as they’d originally planned!

The next morning when she awakens, Masamune considers tying her up until he realizes that she has amnesia and cannot remember what has happened or even who she is! Seizing the chance, Masamune tells her he is her FATHER, and that this is her home!

He hopes she will buy this lie, but this is no ordinary girl. Her name is Rin Nanase (Yuno Nagao) and she is nothing short of a genius! Possessing a hyper-intelligent brain, she immediately pieces together that something is wrong about the situation, but until her mind can clear, is content with “playing along” with the ruse.

In the meantime, Masamune has been calling and calling the house to give the parents his demands, but they never pick up. Eventually , a confused Masamune goes back to the house to see what the holdup is…and is STUNNED to find that both the Director and his wife have been MURDERED! WHAAA!!!

Masamune has NO IDEA how to deal with this turn of events- he now has no parents to blackmail for ransom and is stuck with a kidnapped child! He calls Shiori in a panic, but they msut sit tight til they can get more information about what is going on! In the meantime, he must continue his charade as Father to young Rin!

Police Detective Tsukasa Sunouchi (Yosuke Eguchi) is assigned to the murder case, and they quickly realize that Rin is missing and possibly kidnapped. But the mystery grows when, searching the house, they discover a secret laboratory in the basement where it looks like strange experiments have been going on! Who IS this family, and what has been going on here?

Looking over the security cameras, the cops get their first look at the hapless Masamune picking Rin up off the ground and taking her away, and he immediately becomes their number one suspect for not only the abduction...but for the DOUBLE HOMICIDE as well!

Msasamune is forced to go on the run with his fake daughter in tow as an all points bulletin is put out for him, and if that weren’t bad enough, a sinister organization led by the mysterious  Yukiko Mizuhara (Yuki Uchida) is ALSO after the young girl, and they’ll stop and NOTHING to get her!

It’s time for Masamune to come clean about who he really is to the young Rin, and once they realize it’s them against everyone else, have to team up to stay one step ahead of the enemy’s clutches! And with Masamune’s energy and passion and Rin’s amazing intellect, they may get out of this yet!

Oh man, this is an exciting and FUN one- Yukai no Hi is full of twists and turns and I breezed through the first four episodes in one crack! We are now up to episode 7 and things are really ratcheting up!

Takumi Saito and Yuno Nagao are great as the sham Father and Daughter, this could be the set-up for a Disney style ongoing series with the way they keep getting in and out of sticky situations! As you may remember, Yuno played the younger version of Sakura Ando in the excellent “Brush Up Life” and she continues her streak of charming kid-friendly shenanigans! 

Posted by zdorama @zdoramaagain.blogspot.com