Voice Actors In Love

Also about halfway through the light-hearted romance "Busu no Hitomi ni Koishiteru".

EXILE's Naoto Kataoka stars as a popular seiyuu named Osamu Suzuki whose fans seem to care more about his looks and sex appeal than his actual voice talent, which frustrates him to no end.
He then meets an auditioning vocal actress named Miyuki Oshima (played by Miu Tomita who stole her scenes in Hakui No Senshi and currently in the Tsubasa Honda drama CHEAT) and his whole outlook changes-

Though plain and heavyset, has such a good heart and respect and adoration for his voice work, that he promptly falls in love and proposes to her!

This doesn't sit well with everyone else, including Suzuki's management team (Taro Suruga and musician Aya Eto), who see this marriage as a disaster and do everything to, if not quash it completely, at least HIDE the marriage from the public!

There's also Yuka Hanayama (Harumi Sato of E-Girls/Flower fame) who, though once Miyuki's best friend, consumed by jealousy, becomes her most backstabbing enemy...

...Not to mention Suzuki's former girlfriend Alice (played by Arisa Komiya, the "Yellow" Buster of Go-Busters) who isn't as angry about getting dumped as much as the fact that it's for such a plain and unrefined woman!

Though the two come from different classes, united against a common enemy these gals really stir things up and make it as hard as possible for the newly engaged couple!

Haha, yeah, this drama is as CLICHED and PREDICTABLE as they come, but somehow at only 23 minutes an episode, kind of fun to watch after dinner, sipping some Chamomile tea...

Posted by zdorama@ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Hara 1991-2019

Oh man, this is such such heartbreaking news to hear. And yet, once Sulli passed away, we were all worried how Hara (who was well known as one of Sulli's dearest friends) would  handle it. Hara herself had been saved from an attempted suicide just months ago as well and we were afraid Sulli's passing would affect her.

Right after Sulli's death, a tearful Hara (who was in Japan at the time) made a heartbreaking personal video apologizing to Sulli that she couldn't be there for her funeral, and summed up the video by promising Sulli that she would find the strength to live for both of them.

But I guess Hara's demons were too much to fight against.

Hara had been through a lot these past months, with an abusive boyfriend threatening to release nude photos of her, calling the police on her and accusing her of assault just this past May. This triggered Hara's first attempt at suicide and though she pulled through, the news of Sulli's passing surely took its toll on her.

Such an utter shame. Hara was, as mentioned above, just in the middle of restarting her career with new music in Japan, and as some of you know, KARA was a huge, HUGE part of my life. They were the catalyst that first got me into K-Pop back in 2012, a love that still exists til today, and I just cannot imagine that that sweet girl with the sunny smile is gone.

Rest in Peace, Hara.

Yuko Araki Crush, Continued....

Still in a daze over my current Obsession with pretty Yuko Araki, and while digging back into her past dramas, I discovered that Yuko was a Kamen Rider girl! A Kamen Rider girl?

OF COURSE she was a Kamen Rider girl! ALL young ingenues whom I fall in love with, from Ryoko Kobayashi to Rio Uchida and beyond, end up coming from the famed Toei Canon!

Strictly speaking, Yuko isn't a Kamen Rider Girl per se- that is, she isn't part of the actual team, merely a guest in a couple of episodes of Kamen Rider Wizard back in 2013, but it's still something that I will inevitably find my new crushes listed in the Kamen Rider wiki pages!

Ah, the Yuko Araki love is strong! So strong that I've even downloaded her wacky sci-fi drama "Love Love Alien" so I can watch it -and that's without subs! 

The story of a girl named Sonomi (Araki) who finds a couple of stranded aliens in her house sounds like something fun...

 But boy, the interaction between the live stars and the CGI is so wonky that it would give Jonathan Lipnikci's dead stares at Stuart Little a run for his money...

Not that it matters anyway, because just like the Girl Who Leapt Through Time, it soon puts the sci-fi concept in the background so the drama can focus on ROMANCE problems that girls are having instead! 

 Ah well, that main thing is that Yuko is as sweet and darling as could be, and of COURSE I watched the WHOLE thing!

Heck, I'm even considering trying to watch Cheer Dan again, the Tao Tsuchiya drama which Hamanosilence recommended but I just couldn't get into. I only watched the first couple of episodes and I sure don't remember Yuko in it, but maybe it's time to revisit that one!

And OOH, I see (by checking out her Stardust Homepage) that she's got a new shashinshuu coming out in December...wonder if I should get it (only 25 bucks!)...

Or, maybe pick up one of her Calendars!!! Saw pics from her last few years and Whoooo damn they were NICE!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Sing A Song Of Sherlocks

After watching the  first episode of the new detective drama "Sherlock", I have to wonder- Is Dean Fujioka going to be making a career out of playing these snarky, arrogant geniuses with brilliant mind but zero social skills? 

Very unlikeable character which seemed like a cookie-cutter cutout of his last role as the con-artist Kanji Senkawa in the Emi Takei drama  "Ima kara Anata wo Kyouhaku Shimasu"... hope this isn't going to be his signature role type.

Reminds me a bit of Actress Yuko Takeuchi, who not only has also made a career out of playing these snarky type geniuses as well (most recently in the drama "QUEEN)...

...But ALSO played yet another "Sherlock" type character in her HBO/Hulu series "Miss Sherlock"  a few years back!

Funny, seems like in these Japanese dramas, all you need to be "Sherlock" is to be an unbearable blowhard...and play the violin at some point! 

 (Well, in Yuko Takeuchi's case, a cello, but ya know what I mean)

So strange, seeing as how neither of these dramas are meant to be the actual Sir Arthur Conan Doyle character Sherlock Holmes, just loosely BASED on 'em-why have them playing the violin anyway? LOL, It's like the writers were like, well, he/she's like Sherlock, so he/she HAS to play the violin.

Oh, and make sure to have your "Doctor Watson" type character as well. I liked Shihori Kanjiya as the "Dr. Wato" supporting role (Well I admittedly have soft spot for her anyway)...

...but having a harder time with Takanori Iwata as the Doc sidekick...not really compatible at all.

In fact, I wish they cast Maho Yamada (who appears in the Fujioka show as a police assistant) in the role as she's far more charismatic and "Watson-ish, IMHO.

Ah, Benedict Cumberbatch, what have you wrought?

PS: Out of all the incarnations, Cumberbatch, Downey Jr, etc, my favorite was and is STILL the Disney animated version "The Great Mouse Detective" which to ME is the perfect portrayal of Sherlock: Aloof Genius, Trusted Partner, and even a Man (mouse) with a Heart.

Also the perfect Watson! Yep.