Tuesday, June 30, 2020

The Devil You Know

Also about halfway through the legal/suspense drama "Akuma No Bengoshi" starring Jun Kaname and Becky. When I first saw the promotional pictures for this drama, I thought for sure it was going to be a comedy in the vein of "Bengoshi no Kuzu", with the lawyer doing scuzzy things but with a heart of gold. I mean, seriously, doesn't this look like a comedy?
But from its opening with a troubled young boy wielding a huge blade and about to dismember a little girl into pieces, this was going to be more serious that I thought! Then come to find out that this boy, who because he was underage at the time he did his killing, had his slate wiped clean when he became an adult...and grew up into the titular main character!
Yoko Kusakabe (Becky) is already nervous to apply for the job as paralegal, but she finds she's the only person who showed up and is hired immediately. She doesn't know WHY she's the only one who cares to work with this guy, but once in court, she is to find that this man, Reiji Mikoshiba (Kaname) is a ruthless lawyer who has no problem using cruel tactics to win his cases. 
In the first case Yoko sees, Mikoshiba is lambasting a woman suing for the death of her son- she claims he was bullied and therefore took his life, but Mikoshiba alleges that it was her dominating expectations of him that put so much pressure on him that he took his life.
 Yoko is shocked to see such heartless methods, but since he wins the case, she cannot complain.
Yoko's best friend Asumi (the pretty Lee Hyun Ri) is an investigative journalist who keeps a keen eye on Mikoshiba's court cases, and, one night when they are looking a a site that list juvenile offenders, they recognize the young Mikoshiba as the child killer.
 Yoko is torn between exposing Mikoshiba and supporting him while he is on the case of an abused girl, and in time wonders if there should be a space where one can atone for crimes of the past, no matter how horrible they might be.
Not all see it Yoko's way. Asumi, of course, wants to use the information to publish a great scoop on the former child killer, and in the courts, Mikoshiba has an adversary in Kyohei Misaki (Kanji Tsuda) , a straight-arrow prosecutor who feels that no one should be above the law and that every crime must be met with strict punishment.
 He already disapproves of Mikoshiba's unscrupulous methods in the courtroom, and when he finds out this man is the former "Dead Body Deliverer", he makes it his MISSION to drive him out.
So far a very gripping drama, and very interesting to see Becky in a more serious role for a change. I know that she had some kind of scandal recently, is this drama before or after it? in any case, a good comeback for her.
And poor Jun Kaname- He never quite made it as a "leading man' type, and in later years instead, became the "good looking guy who was actually a bad guy" like his villainous role in  Okiegami Kyoko no Biboroku...now we see he's embraced the stereotype and made himself a character that 's both a bad guy and one you support...
Posed by zdorama@zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Monday, June 29, 2020

Return Of The Original Hataraki Man

The character of the Super-efficient Office Worker who excels in her job but is cold and oblivious to social graces outside of the job is a hugely popular trope in modern dramas these days- But before there were the roles of characters like Keiko Kitagawa's Machi Sangenya in "Ie Uru Onna", Miho Kanno's Hiroko Matsukata in "Hataraki Man", Mitsuki Takahata's Sakura Kitano in "Douki No Sakura", or even Mikako Tabe's Sanako Moriwaka in the recent "Kore wa Keihi de Ochimasen", there was Ryoko Shinohara as "Super-Temp" Haruko Omae in the excellent  "Haken No Hinkaku" back in 2007, and SO enduring is her character that she's made a return on 2020 with a sequel!
 Really dug this drama at the time-After my J-drama implosion in 2000, I was only watching about two J-dramas a year, and while it would take another year before Hotaru No Hikari jumpstarted my love for the genre, shows like Haken Ni Hinkaku and Dragon Zakura were the dramas that kept me interested in J-dramas in the interim!
 Must confess, I'm not sure how well this character has aged. As I mentioned, there have been DOZENS of characters just like Haruko Omae  since 2007, and all of them have had more actual warmth and caring than the Shinohara character, who really seems to write off and denigrate everyone! LOL!
 We do however, have two new temps who make up the bulk of the show, Aki Fukuoka, played by Ayako Yoshitani (who stole the show for me in Grand Maison Tokyo as the quirky patissier Moe Matsui)...
  and Chiba Konatsu (Maika Yamamoto, last seen by me as the dazzling Asuka in Shinitai Yoru Ni Kagitte)...
Despite it being Ryoko Shinohara's show, the story seem to revolve mostly around these two girls, and though Omae is the star of the show and always comes to the "rescue" of the girls, they seem to be sort of the "main" characters in the show....
Not that I'm complaining! Because this show really needs some humanity and warmth, and these girls really give it!
Posted by zdorama@zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Sunday, June 28, 2020

Love Is Pink

Awhile ago I downlaoded the frist couple of episodes of Pension: Koi Wa Momoiro, starring Lily Frankly and Sairi Ito as a quirky father and daughter who run a pension.
While not a huge fan of Lily Frankly (always rubbed me the wrong way ever since "Moteki"), once I found out Miwako Kakei was in it, I HAD to at least check it out!!




Miwako was, as expected, as darling as could be, but, man...watching  it RAW, you all know how THAT goes. I was left completely confused and lost, and after two episodes, gave up and the 5-episode series ended up just sitting in a folder on my desktop.
FINALLY got some GOOD NEWS as subber buttzilla (what a regal moniker, BTW) decided to pick it up, and I've JUST sat down to re-watch those same two episodes!!!
Well, after watching those two episodes, I gotta say, MAN, no WONDER I was so LOST trying to watch it unsubbed- this drama is SO dialog-heavy with scenes of random people talking about the most mundane and off-topic things, additionally the show seems to drift around from story to story with barely a connection between them!
Ah, but it's such a cozy show to watch when you can understand what they're saying...in ways, it reminds me of the best parts of "Quartet", those times just musing about things like Lemon Juice on Chicken Karaage and such...A nice little show.
PS: I even like Lily Frankly here!

Friday, June 26, 2020

Taking Flight With Wink!

My Recent Acquisition!!!!
As some of you may know, Pony Canyon idol group CoCo was my gateway drug into J-pop, introduced to me by my good friend Dan-O, and while the girls were our main points of infatuation, there were a few other groups he liked and introduced me to, among them Judy and Mary. Lindberg, and the girl duo WINK.
He had this one particular album from them called “Voce” which I simply fell in love with and was one of the very first non-CoCo J-pop CDS I ever picked up.
He also had a laserdisc video collection which introduced me to a few other songs (predominantly from their album “Overture” though I wouldn’t realize it til later) like Twinkle Twinkle and the awesome “Itsumodemo Suki De”, which became one of my favorite J-pop singles ever!
Meanwhile Dan-O had moved back home to Guam, and sent me copies of some of their other albums, Queen Of Love, Nocturne and Wink Remixes(!) 
Well, having spent the last year getting into Yu Hayami’s body of work (and body) and finding it very rewarding, I was hungry to start listening to some new (old) music, and my mind came back to WINK.
Wink! YES, NOW was the time, and I was pretty thrilled to finally seriously dive into their music, and, along with the albums Dan copied for me, J-Pop site JPOP80SS helped fill out my playlists so could begin my adventure into Winkdom!
From the FIRST album Moonlight Serenade, I was completely enthralled by the music I was hearing- COOL, catchy, GROOVY and smooth, Shoko Aida and Sachiko Suzuki’s music was, as the young’uns say nowadays, “A BOP!”
Especially for You, Twin Memories, Aphrodita, Nocturne, Overture, EACH of their albums blew me away, and I knew I wouldn’t be satisfied until I got ahold of their physical CDS as well!
Come to find out, Older J-Pop CDs from the 80s is getting harder and harder to find- I’ve bene having a HECK of a time trying to get copies of CDs from acts like Iyo Matsumoto and Yukiko Okada, and WINK seemed to be no exception!
But then I came across a seller auctioning a goldmine: Seems a couple of years ago, WINK celebrated their 30th Anniversary my releasing their catalog remastered on the UHQCD format (the same format I used to complete my Yukiko Okada collection), and this dealer had practically their whole output!
As each CD was about 33 bucks USD, I had to make some hard choices of which ones to get, but in the end with the exception of“At Heels Diamond” which was an EP of American covers and which I didn’t much care for ), I bought ‘em ALL!
Sadly, the only CD the dealer was missing, having already sold it weeks ago, was Wink’s FIRST album Moonlight Serenade. A real bummer since it's one of my faves! Still, it was QUITE a catch to get 13 of their releases in one crack*, and I blessed my good luck!
There was  bit of a worry because I was to find that, thanks to the COVID19 restrictions, most dealers out of Japan had suspended their overseas deliveries and no orders were being processed! ARGH.
After an agonizing week of no contact from the sellers, I then sent a sad message telling them that if they couldn’t ship it then they could cancel the order. Waited another hang-wringing week without response til JUST a few days ago the seller contacted me, telling me my order was being sent via DHL and should arrive any day!
HALLELUJAH!
Well, JUST today the package arrive, and as you can see, they are as BEAUTIFUL as could be!  Not only do I NOW have these wonderful albums and songs on hard disc, but have  the color covers, booklets and pictures that go with it as well!! 
A WONDERFUL addition to my Humble J-Pop collection!
PS:
I think I mentioned before that I love to listen to my music while taking long walks in parks where I’d catch the sunset an then head off to grab dinner….
There was this one particular park I always loved walking through while listening to Wink, and on the back of their album “Overture”, the girls were in a park that looked SO MUCH like the park I took my walks in!!
Overture Back Cover:
 My Park:

OK, maybe not an EXACT match, but definitely the same aura! Seems Wink Music was just MADE for my constitutionals!
*Yes, I even bought Voce since it was the remastered UHQCD version! Since it was my very first wink CD, I just HAD to have it int he BEST quality I could get it!