The VILLAINESS Rocks!

Just got ROCKED by the absolutely EXPLOSIVE Korean Action Thriller THE VILLAINESS (Ak-Nyeo) starring the svelte and sexy Kim OkBin as the titular Villainess Sook-Hee....

DAMN, from the minute this movie started the fireworks went OFF with guns a-blazin', swords a-slashin' and fists a-thumpin', and I haven't been so blown away by an opening scene since perhaps John Woo's THE KILLER waaaaay back in the day!

 After watching the 2016 Zombie/Apocalypse flick TRAIN TO BUSAN, I knew that I could count on those crazy South Koreans to dish out yet another special-effect and stunt-laden epic, and oh my GOSH did it deliver!!!

 Aw MAN, The Villainess is Cool, Stylish and EXCITING!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

My Dinner With Jiyeon

Can't believe I just watched 20 minutes of T-ARA's Jiyeon and Eunjung doing nothing but eating and watching television, but i'll be darned if it wasn't entertaining as heck! Lots of fun watching the girls as a sort of "fly on the wall" as the two barely acknowledge the camera at all! Jiyeon in particular is fun to watch as she meticulously prepares her instant ramen...

and when the delivery comes, it is quite impressive to see the girls put away so much FOOD! Very soothing listening to them chatter casually while they mix and match their dishes, alternating spoonfuls of the various dishes as they laugh at the show on TV!

But before you know it, it's time to wrap things up, and Jiyeon walks up to the camera to call it a day!

Nighty Nite, girls! See You in the morning!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Morning Musume's OG Reunion on the FNS Kayosai

There was a time there in the early aughts where Hello Project group Morning Musume was my favorite J-pop group, and for awhile there my favorite song from them was their debut single "Ai No Tane". This was the original 5-member group who were told if they sold a certain amount of copies they would officially become Tsunku's new act (and once they did he decided to add three new members of his own) and so it was a thrill to hear that they would be reuniting for a performance at this year's FNS Year End Concert Special!

Back in the day I was totally in love with Aya "Ayappe" Ishiguro so I was particularly excited to see her again (and YES, she looked BEAUTIFUL!) , but what surprised me even more was the appearance of Asuka Fukuda, the "main vocalist" of the group who was the first to leave the biz for a "normal" life. Members like Yuko Nakazawa and Kaori Iida occasionally appeared in reunion acts over the years but I didn't realize that this would be the first time seeing Asuka since Gen2!

Seeing the girls again was so thrilling and hearing the wonderful song again brought tears to my eyes!

Such a sincere and emotional performance!

It was such a thrill to see these girls again!!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Dal Shabet The Latest K-Pop Casualty

Ah, Dal Shabet were one of my big favorite K-pop acts for awhile there, but when my biases Jiyul and Kaeun left the group in late 2015 I have to admit my interest in them waned. I still liked their music, but not enough to run out and buy them like I did with all their previous releases.

Still, it was refreshing to see new clips of the four remaining girls still out there promoting and singing their hearts out, so it was sad news to hear that Serri, Subin and Ahyoung would not be re-signing with Happy Face Entertainment, marking yet another end of a great K-pop group!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Okusama wa Toriatsukai Chuui 終わり

The Haruka Ayase/Hidetoshi Nishijima  drama Okusama wa, Toriatsukai Chuui  wrapped up this week and as with other shows that I love and get accustomed to watching every week, there's going to be a huge hole in heart for awhile! I really loved the characters and thought the great charm of the show was the friendship of the three main ladies (Ayase, Ryoko Hirosue, and Tsubasa Honda) was just as important as Nami's butt-kicking skills (which,  of course, provided the cherry on the top each week!)

That said, I wanted more out of the last episode. They seemed pretty rushed to wrap up the secondary storylines, and when I saw that it only had like 8 minutes left to go, I knew they weren't going to conclude Nami's 'story with her husband to any satisfactory degree.

Still, I did like the ending well enough (unlike Gomen Aishiteru and Kurokawa no Techou, which were some of the best dramas I'd ever seen until the last episode which took them off my list completely) and it's save to say that I'll be re-watching this show in the future.

You know what would help the end of Okusama wa, Toriatsukai Chuui ? A Movie or a Special, just to properly tie up the story of Nami and her husband without leaving things so...meh. I remember watching the Masami Nagasawa/Tomohisa Yamashita Proposal daisakusen and thinking the ending was unfulfilling, then when the movie came out, it tied things up so satisfactorily that it ended up being one of my favorite dramas of ALL TIME!

Come on, NTV! With a 12.65 Viewing Average rating isn't Okusama wa, Toriatsukai Chuui

WORTH IT? 

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Jiyoung x 7 in "Orphan Black"

I loved the BBC America Drama Series ORPHAN BLACK starring Tatiana Maslany as the four similar and yet wildly different clones of the same woman, and when I found out they were going to make a Japan version (like they did with BONES and COLD CASE) starring KARA’s JiYoung in the multi-personal role, I couldn’t wait, and just this week I was able to check out the first episode!

Blazing through the first episode, I am amazed how exact they were able to replicate the BBC show. So isimilar is the japanese version that I didn’t even have to wait for english subtitles as the drama is almost frame-by-frame identical!

As Orphan Black begins, we are introduced to  derelict girl named Sarah Aoyama who has just arrived back in town, only to see a professional-looking woman that looks JUST like her commit suicide by jumping off the platform into a running train.

Sarah Aoyama meets her double Maoko Shiina

Quickly getting over the shock, the streetwise girl snatches up the woman's purse and belongings, intending to steal her checks and raid her bank account. With the help of her brother Felix, (a fabulously gay raver and an admitted scene-stealer!), they manage to trick the cops into thinking that the jumper was the derelict Sarah Manning, and thus Sarah assumes the role of Beth.

Meeting up with brother Kaoru (Shun Nishime)

"This Shiina looks JUST like me!"

Maoko Shiina's ID.

"Holy Crap- What are you gonna do?"

But once stepping into the role of this woman, she finds that this Maoko Shiin was a police investigator whose last case may have the key to events directly impacting Sarah...

Becoming Police Investigator Maoko Shiina

Under the guise of the Police Investigator, Sarah-Maoko finds the reason that she and Maoko look so similar may have a more sinister reason than pure coincidence, and as she delves deeper, she makes contact with other women connected with the case.

  The next duplicate "Maoko" meets is a desperate purple-hair girl who reaches out to her. Apparently, she and the real Maoko were working together to gather evidence to expose some criminal activity. Unfortunately, Katja is taken out of the game before she can explain anything more to the confused Sarah, shot in the head right before Sarah’s eyes!!

That’s it for episode one and I can’t wait to see how they develop the rest of the clones, especially lesbian dreadlocked scientist Cosima and super uptight and bitchy housewife Alison Hendrix. Should be a real thrill watching Jiyoung tackling these roles!!!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Onto Another Emi Takei Blackmail Drama

Just started watching the Emi Takei/Dean Fujioka drama "Ima Kara Anata wo Kyohaku Shimasu (May I  Blackmail You?)" and it's a bittersweet situation: On one hand it's a decent drama and Emi Takei as the naive, simpleminded college student is captivating and charming, but on the other hand it's a burden knowing that the story will be altered and compromised as the episodes go on due to Emi's untimely pregnancy.

As far as the first episode goes, it's a lot of fun with Emi as Mio Kanesaka, a ditzy girl  who gets a strange DVD in the mail from a mysterious man who says he has her boyfriend Sato captive, and unless she pays 6 Million dollars, he will kill him.

 

This surprises Mio, not least because she doesn't have a boyfriend and has no idea who this guy is! Looking over the message, she realizes the sender has mistaken her for someone else.

She calls the number the video has instructed, and has the sad news of having to tell this would be "Intimidator" that he made a mistake and has sent the threatening video to the wrong girl!

The kidnapper's harsh demeanor turns to comical befuddlement when he realizes the flub he made, and attempts to disconnect.

 But Mio, a sweet and caring girl, is worried that Sato will be harmed, so in the most unbelievable act of good will, offers to pay the 6 Million anyway! The Kidnapper realizes he is dealing with one weird individual and attempts to hang up. much to Mio's chagrin.

The next day Mio is still worried about the date of Sato, when she is paid a visit by the kidnapper himself! He was so intrigued by this strange girl who would pay 6 Million dollars for someone else, that he just had to see her himself.

His name, we find out, is Kanji Senkawa (Dean Fujioka), and along with his partners Meguro (Hiroki Miyake) and Tochiotome (Haruka Shimazaki) run an unorthodox detective agency of sorts, where they are hired to "intimidate" people for their clients. And though they don't know it, Mio will soon become an unwilling participant in the strange case of Sato.

So far seems like a good show and it's heartbreaking to realize that the story that is being set up now will ultimately fall by the wayside when the drama is reconstructed to focus on Fujioka's character instead of Emi's. But I'll enjoy it while it lasts, and it's nice to see Haruka Shimazaki (last seen as Saenai's daughter in Super-Salary Man Saenashi) in a more charismatic role...

...with all this tinkering, I don't expect this drama will amount to anything great, but who knows....
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com