Ayase Haruka as ICHI

It was another Merry Christmas for me when I received the SHOCHIKU Samurai movie ICHI from my friend Car this year! Folks round here know what a BIG Ayase Haruka fan I am, and I’d been wanting to see this movie for a while now!

I’d been in love with Ayase Haruka since her cute and sexy role as the heroine of the quirky Japanese drama HOTARU NO HIKARI, and back then, whenever I’d go online looking for videos and pictures of her, the posters and stills of ICHI would pop up and the more I read about it, the more I wanted to see it!

ICHI puts a feminine twist on the “Zatoichi / Blind Swordsman” legend with Ayase as a blind girl who uses her hyper sense of hearing to perceive her surroundings and destroy opponents. Along for the ride is love interest Takao Osawa as Toma, he himself a gifted swordsman but unable (for psychological reasons) to draw his sword.
This movie was interesting and quick-paced, the fight scenes quick and stylized, and Ayase Haruka, besides being as pretty as ever (even dressed in rags!), is entirely convincing as the cold and ruthless Ichi. I loved every scene she was in, and especially liked the scenes with her and the little boy who shows her around the village and lovingly follows her around as she shuffles through town.

This movie was a welcome sight after the last Ayase Haruka Drama I watched, MR BRAIN; a show that, though it had its good points, I think just totally wasted her talents. Not only did they under-use her, she was treated like no more than a supporting cast member and “comedy relief”, and MY GAWD, that haircut they gave her was just the WORST, second only to the awful permed hairdo they gave Hiro Mizushima!

Fortunately I still had awesome dramas like “Shikaotoko Aoniyoshi” and “Byakuyakou” to keep my Ayase Haruka faith alive during the time I was waiting for ICHI to get around to having a domestic release so I could purchase a DVD with subtitles! That’s where distributors FUNIMATION came in, and I guess Car was watching the release dates closer than I, because at the time I opened my Christmas gift, I hadn’t even realized the DVD had been released!!!!!! WHAT AN AWESOME CHRISTMAS SURPRISE!

That’s where distributors FUNIMATION came in, and I guess Car was watching the release dates closer than I, because at the time I opened my Christmas gift, I hadn’t even realized the DVD had been released!!!!!! WHAT AN AWESOME CHRISTMAS SURPRISE!

Favorite J-Pop Singles: Hamada Mari / Hey Mr. Broken Heart

A friend once made a mix tape for me that featured songs from (among many others) artists like Mariya Takeuchi, Miho Morikawa, Mari Hamada and Harumi Tsuyazaki, but unfortunately never got around to giving me a list of the groups and song titles that the cassette contained!

Over work one day, he tried to remember which artists he put on the mix, and came up with a chopsocky mixture of artists and titles, leaving me to do some guesswork ad “match the song with the artist”!! I remember frantically scribbling down notes on the back of a poster as he rattled off the information as it came off the top of his head..."Uhm...I think that first song was Harumi, and then followed by Mariya, if it's that fast song." Err...

In any case, as I got to know the artists better, I was more orless able to discern which vocalist was singing a particular song, however, I still made an error or two, and somehow ended up attributing the song “Hey Mr. Broken Heart” to singer/songwriter Mariya Takeuchi rather than the ACTUAL artist, who was none other thatn heavy metal rock goddess Mari Hamada!

For years I had NO IDEA why I just COULDN’T get my hands on any Mariya Takeuchi greatest hits compliations that included Hey Mr Broken Heart, and it was only after the arrival of the mighty INTERNET that I was able to go online and REALIZE that ALL THESE YEARS I had been looking for the WRONG SINGER!!! D’oh!

Well, I corrected THAT mistake right away and so was FINALLY able to get ahold of that sweet, sweet Mari Hamada song (which is especially gentle and happy when compared to her earlier rock-out days!!!), though occasionally I’ll still refer to it as a Mariya Takeuchi song!!!

Crush Of The Day: Kitagawa Keiko

I’ve been watching the latest episodes of the Basketball drama BUZZER BEAT, and I have been just delirious with crushing love and affection for actress Kitagawa Keiko [北川 景子], proving once and for all that my initial attraction to the cute and quirky girl playing zany clairvoyant Hasegawa Momoko in fave drama MOP GIRL was NO FLUKE!!!
With my j-drama nights filled with vision of Keiko, I had a big hankering to write up a “Crush of the Day” essay on her, but thought (wrongly) that I’d ALREADY written up about her after watching the above-mentioned MOP GIRL. But then I realized the first post WASN’T a Crush of the Day” post more than a general raving about the MOP GIRL show itself, so an official blog entry on Keiko, a REAL “Crush of The Day”, was in high order!
Fans of Keiko know that the actress hasn’t been in all that many dramas, so when I heard she was going to be in a new show with Yamashita "Yamapi" Tomohisa and Aibu Saki, I couldn’t WAIT to get my hands on it!!! I was excited at the prospect of seeing Keiko in a new drama though I did wonder if I would like her character as much as I loved her Hasegawa character, who seemed so full of energetic personality!

Well, it seems I had no reason to worry, for her character Shirakawa Riko; the frustrated violin virtuoso of BUZZER BEAT was just as charming, loveable and GOOFY as Momoko ever was! With the same grimacing, guffawing and mugging for the camera whenever she was tired or frustrated, you could easily believe Riko WAS Momoko!!!

Along with Shihori Kanjiya’s character Ebina Mai, (easily the best personality she’s done since neurotic Mei in Love Shuffle), these two genki actresses join forces to become this energetic and dizzy duo that tickles you with their funny banter while at the same time warming your heart with their support and closeness to each other. Every scene they are in is lively and puts a smile of your face, they are so infectiously peppy!
It also doesn’t hurt that these girls are extremely easy on the eyes- Keiko-chan ALWAYS looks just fantastic with WHATEVER outfits she happens to be wearing whether they be smart dresses, pretty blouses or suits…and MAN does she ever rock those skin-tight Capri pants! She gives a whole new meaning when they use the term “The pants look spray painted on” to describe how a girl is dressed…in fact, my heart just about stopped in this one scene where Riko’s straightening out her outfit before auditioning for a violin combo, and her EPIC display of jeans-tugging surely gave new meaning to the term “backfield in motion”!!! I was ENTHRALLED!!!
Keiko, Keiko, Keiko…MAN I just love this chick! Fo’ Reals, Yo!!!
Funny thing about Kitagawa Keiko is that though she always plays these friendly and warm characters onscreen, my friend Car informs me that (at least on her guest appearance of Shin Domoto Kyodai, anyway) that “The girl has ZERO personality and just sits there like a stone!” HAHAHAHAHHA! Oh well, I’m not lovin’ her for her life OUTSIDE of the TV screen, and everyone knows that when I say I’m in love with an actress, it’s ALWAYS because of what comes across in the drama they’re in! I guess my “Crush of the Day” should be Riko rather than Keiko!

An Afternoon ripping my Hikaru Nishida CD singles.

Spent a pleasant afternoon ripping my Hikaru Nishida 8cm singles into MP3s. When I first got my Ipod, the Nishida Hikaru CDs were among the first CDs to get the MP3 treatment, but I didn’t get around to digging out the singles until now. I’d put it off for as long as I ccould, but there were a few singles (like fave song Melody, et al) that didn’t appear on any of her albums proper, and I really needed to get those onto my player! Not only that, but one of the great things about those old Pony Canyon singles was the fact that most of them were BACKED by songs that weren’t featured on any of her albums either, and some of them were pretty darn awesome!
One thing that struck me as I was taking them out of their cases and ripping/scanning them was just how BEAUTIFUL some of the covers were! Hikaru was an idol of the highest degree, of course, and the photographers always made the very most of each shoot, producing some of the prettiest covers ever! Here are scans of just a few of my faves.
Besides the covers, some of the CD singles had cute little bonuses like cards and (in one strange instance) an unusual “Hikaru All- Access Pass”(!) What in the world was this supposed to give me aceess TO?! Ahahahahaa! Some cd singles even seemed to be given the “deluxe” treatment, and in particular, the CD single for Hikaru’s single “Tokimeite” had this elaborate fold out cover with pretty pictures of Hikaru throughout, packaging that made one wonder if Pony Canyon was making any money on the sale of these singles after spending so much on the presentation!

When I got into Hikaru Nishada (around 1996), I was lucky enough to get all her albums (at that point she had just released the awesome “2-4”) 90% of her concert videos, and about 80% of her singles, as well! If memory serves, I think that by the time I discovered the Used J-Pop CD store Otokichi Preium, I only needed to get two or three singles (and one concert) to complete my Hikaru Nishida collection!

In 1994, Pony Canyon released a CD collection called “The Very Best Of Hikaru”, which featured many of the elusive B-sides like Koi Wa Shiroi T-Shirt and Truth, but a single CD just wasn’t enough space to cover them all, not to mention all the singles and b-sides that came out after 1994! So tracking down the actual singles seems to be the only way to get em all! Besides, when the CD packaging and artwork is so nice, it really makes it worth the effort!

Hikaru ‘s last album release was the sweet “Love For All Seasons”, and her last single was “Sorairo”, way back in 2000, almost ten years now! She left the biz for a bit to get married and raise her family and though we’re extremely happy for her, we’re still waiting for her to stop by again with some new tunes!

Moritaka Chisato on the 2009 FNS Kayousai!

This year’s FNS Kayousai was really a treat for those like me who were really getting into J-pop music in the mid-to-late nineties! With Performances by LINDBERG, KOHMI HIROSE and NOKKO (among others!), it really was a nostalgic night, but for me, the highlight just HAS to be the appearance of one of my all-time favorite j-pop artists Chisato Moritaka (whom I’ve gushed about many times before!) in a cool medley with awesome fellow j-artist alumnus Noriyuki Makihara and featuring a whole slew of artists in for the ride!

Starting things off with a bang with Arashi performing Makihara’s “Fuyu Ga Hajimaru yo”, an AWESOME tune that just gets everyone in a genki mood, the boys themselves look like they’re enjoying it to the fullest!
Soon they’re joined onstage by Makihara himself, and he simply jumps in~ keeping up with the cool and swinging vibe! Watching they perform together, it strikes me how similar their styles are~ it looks like Noriyuki’s up there with younger versions of himself!

Once the song is over, Arashi bows out stage left and are replaced by two pretty vocallists in the form of JUJU and Aoyama Thelma, and they get together with Makihara to perform a ballad with the backing help of the girls in SPEED and the Hexagon All-Stars!!

As they sing, the camera pans out into the audience, and over Noriyuki’s shoulders we see petite Chisato Moritaka enjoying the song, and no sooner has the song ended when they start up with a fave Chisato song, the fun WATASHI GA OBASAN NI NATEMO!

It really was a treat to see the gals in SPEED taking turns singing this song, but the funniest part of the performance has to be when Noriyuki harmonizes with Hiroko, and they sing to each other: “When I’m an Old Lady, You’ll be an old man, too!” Then he pats his stomach as he harmonizes with Eriko singing the line “You won’t be so cool…and You’ll have a pot-belly!!” AHAHA!
Then Noriyuki departs to let the girls take over, and SPEED leads the chorus of gals in a rousing rendition of “Junanasai” before the princess herself, Ms. “Lovely Legs” Chisato Moritaka herself comes onstage to close the medley with one of her very best songs “Watarase Bashi”!!! WOW!!! What a Set!!!

Crush Of The Day: Kobayashi Ryoko

Back when I had just finished watching the awesome movie NANA, I found myself just smitten with actress Aoi Miyazaki, and after watching her adorable wide-eyed portrayal of Nana Komatsu, found myself going online to look up information about this wonderful actress and download pictures of her as well. It was a funny thing though, I found that while all the pictures of Miyazaki were nice and pretty, somehow, something about what I found so fascinating about her in NANA seemed to be missing in the actress’ real-life pics. I related this feeling to my friend who agreed, saying that when he saw pictures of Miyazaki in publicity shots, he realized “Some sort of Magical Makeup seemed to have been lifted”. It was only after stepping back did I realize the problem: I was in love with the character Miyazaki was playing, not the actress herself! Though I would come to love Miyazaki as one of my favorite actresses, at the time it wasn’t Miyazaki I was in love with, but Nana Komatsu!

Which brings us to my current crush of the day.

A few months ago I began watching the Toma Ikuta/ Ohno Satoshi drama “Maou”, the dark story of a devilish lawyer named Naruse Ryo (Ohno) who pushes and manipulates a cop named Serizawa Naoto (Ikuta) who had accidentally murdered Ryo’s brother back when they all were children. Naruse has been systematically threatening and killing off all the people who played a part in not only the actual murder, but all who have helped to get Serizawa off the hook with a “Self Defense” plea.

Amidst all this blood and turmoil, Naruse comes across a quiet and shy girl working in a nearby library who becomes friendly with him through pleasant small talk. He later finds she’s been gifted with a sort of second sight and has been working with Serizawa in the case, interpreting the mysterious tarot cards that he has been sending his victims. Despite this obvious conflict of interest, however, her sweetness and innocence strangely touches his heart.
Her name is Sakita Shiori, and she is a sheltered girl- a girl who attends church and works part-time at a library and lives above a friend’s coffee shoppe. Believing Naruse Ryo to be a straight arrow who can help with the case, she finds herself falling for Naruse, and it is her faith and purity that coaxes out his humanity that has been buried deep inside his heart since his brother was murdered all those years ago.
Well, the “sweet and innocent” image will never get old, and I found myself liking Shiori from the very first episode, and as they developed her character and you got to know her a little bit more, I found myself falling for her the same was that Naruse Ryo was! They always had her dressed in these very girly type of blouses, and I just loved how she looked in each scene she was in! As the story advanced and Shiori began actively pursuing Naruse (i.e. asking to be taken to the festival or stopping by with cookies), she started wearing even sunnier and prettier clothes, and MAN by the time Naruse fell for her, I knew EXACTLY what he was going through because I was there too!

So it was at this point that my earlier experience with “Nana” came around again, for, as I began going online looking for pictures of Kobayashi Ryoko, I found the same dilemma I did when looking for those pics of Miyazaki way back when… Something was missing in these pictures of Ryoko-chan!

Why, Kobayashi looked like…a normal girl!

It then hit me that history had happened once again, and I was in love not with Kobayashi Ryoko per se, but her character of Sakita Shiori! I DID find quite a few really nice pictures of Kobayashi, but it seems the girl I love can ONLY be found in the episodes of MAOU!

Ah well, I'm sure the more roles I get to see Ryoko Kobayashi in, the more my admiration will grow, and I’m looking forward to seeing more dramas with this adorable actress to see what new characters she'll be offering up!

PS…Strangely enough, going online, I found most people referred to Kobayashi Ryoko as “That spooky looking actress with the weird/scary eyes”. Ehhh? A strange label that even Sakita Shiori couldn’t have predicted with all her tarot cards!

Shida Mirai appears on Himitsu no Arashi, Remains Cute Doing So

The adorable Shida Mirai appeared on Himitsu No Arashi weeks ago to promote Shokojo Seira, her new drama remaking that timeless classic story of "A Little Princess" and was as affable and fun as you'd expect!

Besides discussing the latest drama, she found time to also discuss the allure of Hiroshi Abe, tomatoes, and, in a strange but fun twist on Arashi No Shukudaikun's "Food Tasting" segment, the merits of tuna with Mayonnaise!

After tasting the tuna and finding it quite palatable, she offers up the dish for Arashi to have a taste...

And after tasting both, Matsujun has to agree that it is indeed "Umai"...

Much to the vindicated delight of Mirai-chan!

Ah, I must say that Shida Mirai is turning into quite the pretty young lady! Definitely a gal that will be around for a while!