With the news that actress Maki Horikita will be retiring from the enterainment industry to rasie a family (though people say it’s because of pressure from her husband Koji “That Handicapped Brother from Under One Roof” Yamamoto rather than her own personal choice), I thought I’d use this opportunity to list my Top Five favorite Maki Horikita dramas in order!
5. Higanbana
Her most recent (for me anyway) drama, the highly entertaining (and star-studded cast) Detective show Higanbana is, if this is really her curtain call, a nice drama to go out on, Nagisa Kinomiya is a character in the classic anti-social Maki Horikita mold!
4. Tokujo Kabachi
After seeing maki playing mostly morose and mumbly characters, it was a shock and breath of fresh air to see her playing a much more genki role, her role of Misuzu Sumiyoshi in the lawyer drama Tokujo Kabachi is one of passion and energy! One of my favorite Sakurai shows as well!
3. Innocent Love
A very serious drama, one that really grabbed me fromt he beginning nad kept me there til the end (and what a bizarre ending it was!), a show drenched in depression a la Kono Yo No Hate, this isn’t one for the suicidal!
2. Nobuta Wa Produce
The drama that introducecd me (and, I’m guessing, a whole lot of other j-drama viewers) for the first time to the moody mubly Maki Horikita, playing the ugly duckling Nobuko Kotani foil for the Shuuji to Akira Duo.
1. Hanzakari Kimitachi E
And then we have the big one, the drama that not only launched quite a few careers, introducing a whole slew of actors to the general public, but has also spawned a Special AND a Korean remake (To The Beautiful You, starring f(x)’s Sulli) which I also loved! A drama that I’ve watched and re-watched multiple times, everyone in the show is so great, and there’s that simple awesome Ai Otsuki theme song at the end to seal the whole deal!
And while we’re at it, I must also mention “Always Sunset on Third street” a wonderful movie that is still one of my very favorite Japanese Movies!
Hope you have a fulfilling life with your family, Maki, but always remember you can come back to the industry any time you feel like it!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com
