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| Aragaki Yui as Koume in Papa To Musume No Nanokan |
Though I’ve loved actress Aragaki Yui in many dramas before, they’ve always been ones that have featured her as part of an ensemble cast. Shows like GALCIR and Dragon Zakura have made me a big fan of hers, but they’ve never been those where Yui was the main featured actress… Silly as PAPA TO MUSUME NO NANOKAN (the story of a high school girl switching bodies with her salaryman father) may be, it’s the first drama I’ve seen where Gakky is the main character, and for the first time, I really feel like I “know” Aragaki Yui as a character rather than just a face in a bigger cast…and naturally, all this close contact with her has totally enamored me to her!
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| As Yoshino in Dragon Zakura |
Funny, as I’ve mentioned many times before, it was in Dragon Zakura that I first fell in love with Aragaki Yui- the tough tomboyish ganguro persona she played, with all the trappings therein: bleached out hair piled on top of her head and heavy, garish makeup along with the usual earring and bracelets, was instantly striking, to say the least, and not only did I fall head over heels for her, I actually thought that was what she looked like!
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| Yui's appearance in Domoto Tsuyoshi Shojiki Shindoi |
Car had seen Gakky before in some other drama, and warned me that I would be in for a surprise if I ever got to see what Yui “really” looked like, but I’m happy to report that the first non-Dragon Zakura appearance I saw her in (in the Domoto Tsuyoshi variety show SHOJIKI SHINDOI) wasn’t disappointing in the least, though, to be fair, at this stage she still kinda looked a lot like her Yoshino character.
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| As Yamada in Waruboro |
It was only after seeing her in dramas like GALCIR and movies like WARUBORO that I got to see the plain, clean-cut image that she usually looked like: straight hair with minimal makeup and sensible bangs. Not quite as impressive as her Zakura turn, but still very, very nice!
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| with Tachi Hiroshi in Papa To Musume No Nanokan |
Now we have her in Papa To Musume no Nanokan, and It’s been SO much fun watching her finally get to go the “cute” route. Really, even when she’s supposed to be channeling her father (the ever-adaptable Tachi Hiroshi) she’s adorable beyond belief, like in this one passage where she scarfs down an entire plate of peach slices! AHAHAHAHA!
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| Polishing off a plate of magical peaches in Papa To Musume |
From Papa To Musume no Nanokan, I was really in Aragaki-mode, and dug up KOIZORA, a movie I’d downloaded awhile ago but never got around to watching. High on the romance and BIG on the tragedy, this was a LOT different from the cute comedy I’d just watched, but it gave me a more rounded perspective of Yui’s acting skills, and it was wonderful to see her play another fully developed character! I now REALLY felt like I “knew” her!
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| As Mika in Koizora |
Though I’m a BIG fan of Erika Toda as well as Yamapi, I’ve really not had any interest in seeing any of those CODE BLUE series in either its first or second incarnations, but this THANG I’ve got with Yui happenin’ now makes me think that perhaps the time is right!
Oh, and though Aragaki Yui’s musical career hasn’t been breaking down any doors, I think her tiny, sweet little voice makes the cutest records ever! Listening to her “Akai Ito” single, I tell Car, “It’s like a little mouse singing her heart out!”AHAHAHAHA!
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| Aragaki Yui |
