Thursday, June 30, 2016

They See Dead People: The Paranormal Partnership of Madoka and Sachi in "Omukae Death"

Tao Tsuchiya and Sota Fukushi in Omukae Death
Omukae Death tells the tale of a young, moody and detached student named Tsutsumi Madoka (Sota Fukushi) who meets an odd if striking young woman named Sachi Aguma (Tao Tsuchiya) on campus one day, who tells him that his fly is open. She then disappears, but little does Madoka know that they are destined for bigger plans together!
He is to later find that both he and the girl are endowed with a strange supernatural power that lets them see, speak and interact with the dead. They're recruited by a team of enthusiastic otherworldly agents, Nabeshima, a genki and energetic guy (played by Ryohei Suzuki) dressed as a snazzy pink bunny, and Yuzuko, his adorable younger partner (Kokone Hamada), who are charged with helping the dead, or rather, the dead in limbo, who need guidance before leaving this plane for the heavens.
"Hey, this guy can see me?" thinks Nabeshima
"We've got a business proposition for you...!"
Sachi, meet your new partner Madoka
If they can’t persuade the dead to settle their affairs and leave, the deceased turn into crazed zombies which are a problem  to the upper management, and it’s here that the two humans who can see the dead are employed to provide the “physical” human interaction to their customers that the ghostly agents cannot do. With their help they help the recently deceased make peace with their past and happily go off to their resting grounds.
The Partners on the Job
Sachi dragging the reluctant Madoka
Counseling a wandering spirit (Shiro Ito)
Such wonderful characters on the show, besides Tao and Sota we've got reliable Ren Osugi and Mako Ishino as Madoka's parents and cutie Karen Omoto as his younger sister Sayaka, all whom think Madoka's gone off the deep end because he's seemingly talking to himself! Little to they know he's actually conferring with his spirit supervisors!
Mako Ishino and Ren Osugi as Mom and Pop
Karen Otomo as Sayaka
Then there’s the mystery of a recently deceased spirit named Chisato (Mugi Kadowaki) who had romantic attachment to Tsutsumi when she was alive (it was her who first told Sachi to tell Tsutsumi his fly was open) who is living with Sachi but unable to face Tsutsumi. It looks like this will develop into a bigger story arc, especially when Tsutsumi starts gravitating towards Sachi romantically!
Mugi Kadowaki
Another great idea this show has: I love how they present the Afterlife Business: Surly and strict bosses with starched suits belittling the ‘foot soldiers” like Nabeshima and Yuzuko who are a bit more personable and friendly to the dead...
The Board Of Death Directors Meeting
Uptight and Strict Supervisors
Laid back and Humane Handlers
...and MAN, the cool, COOL agent they have to banish the dead when they become zombies  (Mayuri, played by Yu Hirukawa) really knocked me out and set the mood for the rest of the show!DAMN!
Yu Hirukawa as Demon Banisher Mayuri

I have to admit that at first this drama struck me as too similar to the Satoshi Ohno drama “Shinigami-Kun” as both featured agents helping the deceased with settling their affairs before going to heaven, but my GOSH, Tao Tsuchiya was sooo, soon charismatic as the pretty and captivating Sachi that she quickly became my favorite character and helped turn the show into a BIG fave of mine!
Very passionate towards her mission and very emotional when it comes to the deceased person’s feelings as well as their loved ones, she is the “heart” of the show for me, and it’s through her that Madoka finds it in himself to help others as well!
Guest Miho Kanno
So, so far, there are a LOT of things going for this show that I love! Throw in guest appearances by actresses like Manami Higa and Miho Kanno and you’ve got all the makings of another FAVE! So far such a fun, intriguing drama and I can’t wait to get back for more!
Special Thanks to Hamanosilence for recommending this one!!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Sunday, June 26, 2016

Shirokiya’s Restaurant Town Food Court Opens!

Went to Shirokiya’s new “Japan Village Walk” in Ala Moana Shopping Center along with my friends and half the entire island population or at least it SEEMED that way! The Restaurant village had its Grand Opening this weekend and the air was full of excitement with giveaways and lots of loud taiko-drum infused entertainment as the masses perused the new shops and stores!
The new place seems to have it all: restaurants from Japanese to Vietnamese to traditional and even American stuff of the Cheeseburger variety, Bakeries and pastry shops and even gift stores welling Japanese wares that reminded me not a little of good old Iida’s back in the day!
O
ne of the perks of dropping in on opening day was that they were giving out free gifts for the first 12,000 visitors: cute little amulets with your “Guardian Spirit” animal which you received and then were invited to read up on what your character meant in the neighboring exhibit!
And after spending the day having lunch and drinks, we couldn’t leave without topping it off with an assortment of those famous Hello Kitty Waffles for dessert! Mmmm...Got the custard, chocolate and regular ones, maybe next time we’ll get the Cream Cheese, Strawberry and Red Bean ones!
So much to see and I’m still not sure we saw all of it- we kept walking past alleys that we’d missed in the initial walkabout, but we’ll definitely be coming back for more! I gotta say, when we first showed up, the line to get in was so long and had snaked from Shirokiya around the corner and almost all the way back to Old Navy, and I thought we'd perhaps made a mistake coming so early, but one inside it was all worth it!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Assassins VS Assassins VS Assassins in “Grasshopper”

Ikuta Toma as Suzuki
There’s a war going on between the Contract Killers of Japan between an underground Mob Boss named Terahata (Renji Ishibashi), his son Junior (Norihito Kaneko), and all the various Crimelord Rivals.
Big Boss Terahata

Son "Junior" Terahata
He’s got Assassins pitted against Assassins and in the middle of all of this is a kind and gentle man named Suzuki (Ikuta Toma) who, when his fiancé (Haru) gets killed in one of Terahata’s machinizations, goes undercover as a fledging newcomer to the ranks.
Doomed Fiance (Haru)
Suzuki wanting Revenge
O
nce inside, he enters the colorful world of Contract Killers, each with his own specialized brand of assassination. Semi (Ryosuke Yamada) is a man with knife skills who goes into psychotic bouts of killer rage when on the job but is a passive and thoughtful guy on the outside.
Semi (Ryosuke Yamada)
Kujira (Tadanobu Asano) is a man who uses his penetrating eyes to hypnotize men into committing their own suicides, and Suzuki himself is tracking down a man who uses his silent stealth to creep up behind his victims and shove them to their deaths.
Tadanobu Asano as Kujira
Suzuki has a lot on his plate trying to do his job, making sense of the killing going around him while trying to get closer to the big boss…and all while his explosive direct superior Hiyoko (Nanao, in yet another luscious femme fatale role) is riding his butt and chiding him over every mis-step he makes and scrutinizing every advance he makes into the inner workings of the organization!
Nanao as Hiyoko
Lots of great action scenes in this one and so many intriguing characters, and it becomes a madhouse of murder as each killer becomes either hunted or hunter, switching back and forth in an intricate game of cat-and-mouse til you aren't sure WHO to root for!
 All this, Nanao, adorably cutesy Aimi Satsukawa as a ditsy former-student of Suzuki’s who gets accidentally involved with the whole brouhaha herself, and even a cameo with Kumiko Aso as the wife of one of the assassins!
Bouncy Aimi Satsukawa
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com