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| Masanobu Takashima then... |
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| ...and now! |
Lots of memories not only with it being one of the earliest j-dramas I watched, but its involvement with j-pop act Princess Princess (one of my all-time fave groups who provided the theme song for the show, which I detailed here) and my then-infatuation with Actress Tomoko Yamaguchi!
While watching it, it was exciting seeing everyone looking so YOUNG, besides Tomoko there was also Megumi Yokoyama, Shiro Sano, and Masanobu Takashima. 
And it was while watching Takashima in his role as the newlywed husband Kunoichi Hanaoka that it really struck me: What EVER happened to Takashima? Back in the day, he was THE go-to actor for the “nice guy” roles, indeed, if you look at his output in the 90’s he was J-dramas’ virtual Tom Hanks!!
Besides his role as Hanaoka in Double Kitchen, he had roles as good-guy characters like Ippei in the HOTEL series, Morio Kobayashi in the Miho Nakayama drama “For You”Shinichi Tsutzuki in “Kimi Ga Jinsei No Toki”... Heck, even brother Toyotomi Hidenaga in “Hideyoshi”, these were all kind and relatable characters whom you liked, and I remember at the time me and Golden even had a nickname for him: “Smiley”, for his always positive demeanor!
Then, I don’t know why, but he started appearing as these really evil and/or corrupt guys, like Hashida in “Kurokawa No Techo”, Naito in “Joshu Seven”, Akutagawa in Kareinaru Ichizoku, and Shibasaki in TWO WEEKS!
Really, it was as if Takashima was re-writing his legacy as a likeable guy into an utterly repulsive persona instead! Why, Takashima-san, why?
Telling you, this must have been what people felt when all-around nice guy Henry Fonda played the evil child-murdering Frank in Once Upon A Time In The West!
