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| Above and Below: Yuka Itaya in Hotaru No Hikari |
I’ve always quite liked pretty actress Yuka Itaya since seeing her for the first time in Hotaru No Hikari. As Sachiko Yamada, the senior businesswoman at the Interior Design company, she played big sister to the girls working under her, and they affectionately referred to her throughout the show as “Yamada-Neesan”.
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| Big Sis Yamada-Neesan in Hotaru No Hikari |
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| Consoling Kuninaka Ryoko |
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| with Fujiki Naohito |
Perhaps it was because of this character, but I’ve always felt that Itaya Yuka exuded a really friendly vibe from her, and when she appeared as Lady-In-Waiting Hirokawa in the NHK Taiga Drama ATSUHIME a few months later, I felt like I was watching a friend of mine onscreen!
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| Promotional pic for A STRANGER OF MINE |
Funny that despite her extremely gorgeous looks, it took watching the crazy-good movie A STRANGER OF MINE (Unmei Janai Hito) to realize what a SEXY VIXEN she was and made me all gushy over her! As Femme Fatale Ayumi Kurata, she was this sultry mankiller who played guys for their money and now finds herself on the lam with the ultimate payoff- the entire contents of her current lover’s safe. Only problem is, her lover is a big Yakuza Boss who surely won’t let her get away with her actions! Using her seductive powers (and a sexy, flowery short dress) to entice her former lover's best friend (and detective) Kanda to help her escape with the goods!
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| Above and Below: Yuka in A STRANGER OF MINE |
Oh Man, I've never seen her so sassy and sure of herself! After seeing her in the dreadfully morose TOKYO SORA movie (where she played equally morose would-be-author Yoko), this character of Ayumi was a breath of fresh air! OK, Tokyo Sora DID feature Yuka working in a Lingerie Bar, so I suppose that counts for something.... But even THAT wasn't as sexy as her latter role!
Hahaha, As usual, going onto the Dramawiki Stats page, I was once again surrised to find that my current crush had appeared in many dramas I'd seen much earlier than her turn as Yamada in Hotaru No Hikari...Come to find out she's appeared as far back as 1999 in the Fukuyama Masaharu /Kimura Yoshino drama Perfect Love!!!! It's like I always say: "Everyone comes from somewhere!"
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| Yuka in Perfect Love (1999) |
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| Yuka in Haken No Hinkaku (2007) |
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| Yuka in Nagareboshi (2010) |
Of recent times, I've been seeing her in the Takenouchi Yutaka/ Ueto Aya drama Nagareboshi and as soon as I saw her as the fiance of Yutaka Takenouchi, I just knew she was going to be nothing more than the party who gets dumped in favor of the lead actress, a formula we've all seen in many, many dramas! Too Bad, I would love to see her in a lead role of her own, and I've seen that she's got the FIRE to do it!!
