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| Erika Toda in Keizoku2 SPEC |
Funny, ever since she appeared in Ryusei No Kizuna (where she stole my heart) with Nino, she's always referred to him as her "Oniichan" even in real life. She suggested that maybe it was time to stop since it had been years since the show ended, but I like how nonetheless, she seemed to gravitate towards him, standing next to him whenever the Arashi activities were about!
I was a fan of the original KEIZOKU series starring Miki Nakatani, and at first was a little disappointed that the drama wasn’t really a sequel per se(as I recall, Nakatani’s character died in the original series, so it’s not like it could have been a real continuation, anyway) and instead was about a new team that did the investigating of paranormal cases a la X-FILES. At least they still had Ryu Raita as the arare-peanut eating section chief.
My lack of interest in the show changed when I read hamanosilence’s blog and found that it starred Erika as a slobby genius investigator with zero social skills and a penchance for pigging out… In the back of my mind, I made a mental note to check this drama out when it got around to getting subbed. It wasn’t until she made her appearance on Himitsu No Arashi Chan that my interest was renewed!
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| as Saya Toma in KEIZOKU2 SPEC |
In the show, Erika’s character Saya eats a lot of gyoza, and , having made that note, Sakurai Sho found a gourmet gyoza shop that offered up 70 different kinds of gyoza for them to all try. While they didn’t spend all that much time on that segment, I DID get two perfectly cute screencaps of Erika happily nibbling away on her gyoza treats!
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| On HnA eating Natto Gyoza |
After that episode was over, I IMMEDIATELY made a bee-line online to see what the status of SPEC was, subtitling-wise…and whaddaya know? Episode One was ready and UP FOR GRABS! YATTA!!!!
The first episode so far was sooooo good, Erika as the deliciously eccentric Toma just absolutely stole every scene she was in, sooooo cute and funny watching her schlepping around like a dirtier Columbo, reeking of Gyoza and garlic, you just GOTTA LAUGH!!
PS: The only thing that didn't sit right with me was the new theme song.
The song from the original Keizoku was the hauntingly beautiful Chronic Love, sung by Nakatani Miki herself, and the mysterious, lilting melody really matched with the paranormal theme of the show. In Keizoku SPEC, however, that song by the Ricecookers (wth?) sounds more like Jack Johnson singing Curious George ditties while sipping pinacoladas under a palm tree. Not a match AT ALL!
