A Wild Renbutsu Misako Appeared!

  Thoroughly enjoying the Kimura Takuya/Ueto Aya drama I'm Home (by the way, when I was looking for subs, I was looking for it under the Japanese word "Tadaima", but no, the title is actually the english words: "I'm Home") and who should appear in one episode as the younger sister to Miki Mizuno's character Kaoru, but old favorite actress Renbutsu Misako!

 Nice to see that she's still looking as fabulous as ever, but still awaiting a starring drama for herself...We'll keep on the lookout!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Crush Of The Day: Yoshida Yo

Pretty Yo Yoshida in Sutekina Sen Taxi

Watching another terrific episode of Sutekina Sen Taxi when I come across this beautiful (if yet rather cold) woman who I at first thought to be pretty Sayaka Yamaguchi: same icy exterior, same razor sharp swept bob hairstyle and same pert nose…but going onto Dramawiki, found out it to be none other than actress Yoshida Yo(吉田羊), whom some of you may remember really caught my fancy way back watching Hero2. 

Yoshida in HERO2

Even then I though she was so goddamn gorgeous, but it was as Shinozaki Misako in Sutekina Sen Taxi that I really fell in love with her- more than just the calm and collected stern beauty she played on Hero2,  Misako was a witty, expressive and altogether adorable girl!

 Misako, a 30-ish Surgeon desperate to get married, joins a Matchmaker Cooking Club, and instantly becomes embroiled in a battle with a younger Nurse Tomomi (played by good old Reina Asami, whom I haven’t seen in years!) to snag the “best man” in the club. 

The Man She Wants: Yoshihiko Hakayamada

Misako VS Tomomi: Yoshida Yo with Asami Reina

Despite her best intentions, Misako loses the fight for the man to Tomomi, but once the dejected woman discovers Eda's Time Traveling Taxi, it's time for a rematch! However, Tomomi's character is more crafty than she thought, and Misako continues to lose against her. With each failure she gets, she makes her way back to the Time Travelling taxi, bickering with Eda who states, "You are a woman who doesn't know when to give up!" LOLOL Too much fun!

Though she was only supposed to appear in her slotted episode, she was so good that they brought her character back for a cameo in a later episode (remember she was a doctor? Well, in a later episode Eda’s client is staying at a hospital, and Shinozaki is registered there!Once again the two bicker and I’m just enjoying it all!

Takenouchi Yutaka and Yoshida Yo

I already had her on my mind, when I began watching the new Tabe Mikako/ Okura Tadayoshi drama DOS DEKA, a show about a masochistic detective named Kuroi (Tabe) who is constantly at odds with her supervisor chief…the latter whom was played by none other than Miss YO YOSHIDA herself! 

Yoshida as the stern Shirokane Fujiko in doS DEKA

Yoshida Yo and Tabe Mikako

Yoshida, Okura Tadayoshi and Tabe Mikako in doS DEKA

Although back to playing her “stern” character, it it such a  joy to see her, though she takes a back seat to Tabe Mikako’s (admittedly cute) antics, just seeing her there and checking out her pretty outfits is worth it!

So intrigued by her I moseyed on back to dramawiki and found out that this gal has actually been in a HELL of a lot of shows I’ve seen, albeit in bit roles, usually the victim of a crime show or a client, in shows like:

Take Five (2013)

13-Sai Hello Work Week (2012)

Perfect Report (2010)

Face Maker (2010)

Mr. Brain (2009)

and even Cat Street (2008)!

Huh, going back and re-watching these episodes to get the screencaps, her parts are so small no wonder I barely remember her in them! And It's funny how she's always playing such stern and stuffy roles, Sutekina Sen Taxi shows that this woman is JUST as adept playing fun comedic roles, J-drama writers out there I implore you, it's time to give Yo Yoshida a leading role in a show!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Matchmaker Blues in "Renai Jidai"

Higa Manami and Mitsushima Shinnosuke in Renai Jidai

Renai Jidai tells the tale of a young divorced couple who, to their dismay, find that since they were so intergrated into each others’ lives when married, they can’t help but keep seeing each other on a day-to-day basis. The solution they come up with is that each person needs to marry someone new so that their old lifestyle pattern will be severed and their subsequent paths won’t cross as much anymore.

Mitsushima Shinnosuke as Riichiro

Higa Manami as Haru

Only problem is that you can tell right off the bat that these two are really meant for each other- despite the two constantly nagging at each other, the guy Riichiro (Mitsushima Shinnosuke), and the girl Haru (Higa Manami) are the only ones who really understand each other, and when it gets right down to it, the real reason they fight so much is because they are so comfortable with each other.

However, both participants are bull-headed about any kind of reconciliation, and when confronted about their feelings, lash out and protest even louder. And so it is that ignoring the fact that their best choice is to try again and make the relationship work, they find themselves instead in the act of finding potential marriage candidates for each other.
   Not that there’s any shortage of people in their lives to pool from-  both Haru and Riichiro are surrounded by equally crazy and/or interesting characters as well!
 There’s Nagatomi Shohei (Fuchikama Yasushi), a man who fell in love with Haru back when he was an attendant to their wedding years ago, and now, with the two separated, is giving his best shot to woo her…

Fuchikawa Yasushi as Nagatomi

There’s Kitajima Ryuichi (Sato Ryuta),  a shy, geeky and awkward man who’s been taking swimming lessons from Haru and has definite feelings towards her (and doesn’t it seem Sato has been playing these secondary characters a lot lately?) though she isn’t aware of his interest at all…

Sato Ryuta as Kitajima

Shizuka (Matsukawa Akari) is Haru’s cute little sister who has to sit in the sidelines and watch her sister thrashing about with her relationships . She is often the one who points out Haru’s mistakes, but then Haru gets irritated with her and threatens to send her back to the dorms, LOL…

Above and below: Matsukawa Akari as little sister Shizuka

And then we’ve got the deliciously ditsy and curvy bombshell Kasumi, an old classmate of Haru’s . As Haru gets reacquainted with her, we find that, like Haru, she has been married and gotten divorced, and even has a little girl! She hints that she's looking for a guy, so you KNOW this bubbly gal is sure to become a candidate for Riichiro! 

Satsukawa Aimi(!) as Kasumi

Unbelievably, Kasumi is played by none other than the awesome Aimi Satsukawa, I can not BELIEVE this energetic, outgoing girl is the same girl who played shy and mousey Kiyomi back in Funuke Domo!!!

Aw, this is such a fun, zany drama so far! The two lead actors are really likeable despite their seemingly caustic dispositions (their arguments are freaking hilarious- fun, sharp and witty, two old pros who have no problem slinging the dirt on each other) and it’s whenever these two are fighting that the show is at its best!! Can't wait to see more!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

My First Haruki Murakami Book: “Dance, Dance, Dance”

 I guess the first time I ever saw acclaimed Japanese writer Haruki Murakami’s name was when I saw his book IQ84 (a striking cover featuring a cool femme fatale’s steely gaze) but it wasn’t until I heard a reading of his terrific short story “On Seeking The 100% Perfect Girl one April Morning” on the NPR radio show This American Life that I discovered how wonderful his writing was.
 Intrigued, I read up more on the story and found it was from a collection of Haruki Murakami’s tales entitled “The Elephant Vanishes”. When I heard a reading of another fantastical story from the book called “The Little Green Monster” (a surreal story of a woman, who, when stalked by a loving creature in her yard, fights back with picturesque descriptions of her killing him), I realized how quirky and eccentric his writing could really be!

  I made a note to myself to seek out The Elephant Vanishes, but happened to come upon one of Murakami’s earlier works instead, a book entitled “Dance, Dance, Dance”, and reading just the first page of this tale of a man obsessed with revisiting a place called the Dolphin Hotel because he has dreams of a voice calling him back, instantly captivated me and I knew I had to read this one first!

  Years Ago, the man (an un-named character) had gone to the hotel with a call girl named Kiki (at least, this is the name she gives him). His memories of the place are of a beaten down, drab and altogether shabby hotel, yet dreams of the place mesmerize him, and a voice calling out to him makes him realize he’ll never sleep again until he goes back to visit the place.

  He makes plans to go revisit the hotel, but when he does, he is shocked to find the entire business has been replaced with a rich, glitzy (and yet altogether shady) establishment. When asking a pretty bespectacled receptionist what happened to the old place (and its owners), he is met with unfriendly and standoffish reaction.

  Things get even stranger when the receptionist confides in him that she has experienced things of a supernatural nature and feels it’s connected to the old hotel…and why no one seems to want to talk about it.

  As he researches more, he finds that there is a lot more going on than what appears on he surface- besides the ghostly elements, there is a definite feel of mob force and political corruption motivating the players. As the Man explores more. he crosses paths with a handful of new and interesting characters- from a former classmate turned movie star named Gotanda to a precocious 13 year old girl named Yuki (easily my favorite character in the book), and the more he looks, the more he finds himself getting deeper and deeper into the murky mystery.

A perfect depiction of Yuki! (from Streetbjorn.com)

Right Now I'm about halfway through the book, and things are getting more complex- with new characters entering in and out of his life, to airplane jumping trips to the Dolphin Hotel to back home, and even a stint in Hawaii, so far a very eccentric yet captivating tale!

PS: Whoa, that Kenichi Matsuyama/Rinko Kikuchi movie “Norwegian Wood” is based on a Haruki Murakami book? Gee, when I saw it posted, I figured it was a generic romance story, but if it’s anything like his other works, Hell, I’d better go find that one and check it out!

PPS: Reading more, I’m finding out that Norwegian Wood is actually Haruki Murakami’s most famous work, talk about me coming late to the party…ah well, it’s always exciting to discover something new and I guess we can’t all be there from the beginning, LOL
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

The Sultry Sulli Stuns in Sexy New Cosmopolitan Magazine Pictorial!

Good GRAVY, are you seeing what I'm seeing? I know that as recent as last year's RED LIGHT album, f(x)'s Sulli has slowly but surely become the group's resident sex kitten, but DAYUM! If these pics are any indication, her self-imposed sabbatical has surely paid off!!! This pictorial from the latest Cosmopolitan proves that this girl has GOT THE GOODS!

 Ooohhh MAN, with such striking and devastating shots, this must be Sulli's way of telling the world "I'm Back!" (or at least, one can HOPE) and with the other four members of f(x) (Amber. Luna, Victoria and Kyrstal) currently together for the recent Baskin Robbins CMs, one can only wonder- will ALL FIVE members be back for THIS YEAR'S release?!!! Pleeeeeze!!!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

The KonMari Method

Marie Kondo

At the store where I work, I was advised to really stock up on a new book that was coming in, a “Self-Help book about Tidying Up by a Japanese Lady” that had been written up in the paper and was sure to be in big demand. And sure enough, when the book arrived, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo sold out almost overnight! Three more cases arrived and even THOSE sold out… What was it about this book? I had to find out!

 Here in Hawaii, when you say “Japanese Lady”, you immediately think “Local Hawaii Woman”, especially when it comes to household helper books, so I was surprised to find that this Marie Kondo (or, KonMari, as she is better known) is actually a famous Tokyo Tidying Consultant and the book is actually an English-translated version of her successful Nihongo Book.

Kondo's method of organizing consists of going through all your things, and then, one by one, deciding if the item is worth keeping or not (Does this object bring me joy? Is it just takling up space?)  once sorting through everything, you then begin organizing and utilizing various ways of finding places to permanently put them. "Have a place for everything and make sure to put each item away when you use it".
    My friend, who has a bit of a problem when it comes to keeping things uncluttered and organized, asked me if I could pick up the book for him, which I happily did, and since I wasn’t going to see him til the weekend, took the week to read the book myself- though I’m a pretty organized guy, I knew there would be things even I could learn!

  Gotta say, though there WERE much to take in and learn, the REAL JOY of this book is reading the personal stories of Marie Kondo’s life peppered throughout the book- tales of her as a precocious 8 year old already reading ESSE magazine and having her parents get her a subscription to Home and Design Magazine, a cleaning-obsessed 10 year old coming home from school, and while still in her uniform, going straight to the pantry to organize the shelves, reading about new space saving techniques at the store and running home to try out the new ideas in her room.. all these stories made for SUCH an enjoyable read!

  Seeing as how famous Marie Kondo was, I wondered if there were videos of her online, and sure enough, there were MANY clips, though most of them posted by English Speaking clients and businesses with translators doing the talking…Much prefer the Japanese interviews with English Subtitles…

PS: By the way. When I finally gave my friend the book, he perused a few chapters before rejecting the KonMari method of “Discard and Put Away”, saying “this woman clearly has never had to deal with someone who is a Contractor, Plumber, and Landlord . I can’t discard any of this stuff, it’s ALL important.” He handed back the book, saying “I can’t use this”, but it was just as well seeing as how I’d fallen in love with the book and was happy to keep it!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com