Wednesday, August 18, 2021

Crush of The Day: Mugi Kadowaki

 I had already fallen in love with actress Mugi Kadowaki in the role of Saiko Sato in the spritely drama “Todome No Kiss” back in 2018 and she has officially entered Crush Status with “Ukiwa: Tomodachi Ijo, Furin Miman”as the entirely sweet Maiko Nakayama!
Ukiwa tells the story of a young couple Maiko and her husband Takuya (Shunsuke Daito), who has just transferred to a new job and have just moved into an apartment complex next door to Takuya’s supervisor Ichi Futaba (Naotaro Moriyama) and his wife Sei (Naomi Nishida).
Seeing Hubby off
Introduction to the team
At his workplace, Takuya is reconnected with his college friend Ayumi Fukuda (Misako Renbutsu) and he finds himself spending more and more time with her after work than coming home to his wife, and when he is at home, he is distant, leaving Maiko feeling lonely for most of her day.
With both Takuya and Sei always at work or business and never at home, Maiko and Ichi are the ones left to care for the home, and after crossing paths over and over, they become friends of sorts. In fact, Takuya's wife Sei leaves so early for work that it is Maiko who inadvertently sees him off each morning!
Doing the grocery shopping
Putting out the garbage in the early morning hours
Meanwhile both Takuya and Sei seem to be gravitating towards illicit romances and further alienating their spouses. Alone in their respective cold apartments Maiko and Ichi lean on each other for support.
Aw man, as the naive and innocent housewife, Mugi was simply KILLING me here! Every action she does makes me want to give her a big hug!
There was this adorable scene where they showed her outside sweeping the front of the apartment and she was chasing a tuft of rubbish that the wind was blowing around, trying to sweep it up with her broom, I DIED~!
But it isn't just that, it’s the small quirks that really make her- the shy looks, the loopy way of moving around that she does, and especially that disarming smile of hers~!
Maiko is such a sweet and loveable character, I can scarcely believe this is the same actress who played that dour ghost girl in “Omukae Death” or even that extremely racy movie "Ai No Uzu" such dark roles- she’s come a long way!
Omukae Death
Ai No Uzu
PS: By the way, special note MUST be made of Sakurako Konishi whom, as the naughty office gossip Risa Atago, stole EVERY scene she was in with her manic pixie meddling! 
Apparently there is a spin off mini-drama of Ukiwa featuring Sakurako’s character, would be great if someone picked that one up, too! *crosses fingers*

Friday, August 13, 2021

A Skewered Romance in "Chijou no Seppun"

 Waka Kashiwagi (Yurika Nakamura) is a single girl working at a library when she is confronted by a man that she at first doesn’t recognize as Shinobu Kamijo (Ryosuke Hashimoto), the boy who stole her first kiss way back in high school before disappearing from her life.
For 10 years he has been in Germany, and has finally come back with one goal in mind: to win the love of Waka that he wanted before!
Hurt by his initial disappearance, Waka has grown considering dating a pain in the neck, and prefers to be by herself and her books. But when her parents (Reiko Takashima and Tatsuhiro Ikeda) announce they are moving to Malaysia, she finds herself out looking for a place to life and without the funds to obtain it!
Overhearing her plight, Kamijo offers her a room in the apartment he has just rented, and though she doesn’t much care for the guy, the space and price of his offer is too good to pass up!
Soon the two are living together, and though it is mostly pleasant, Kamijo makes it clear he wants to date Waka no matter what!
He co-workers(Marin and Ayane Sano) tell her the only way out is to get him to dislike her, that way she can live there hassle-free! But with Kamijo’s constant come-ons and Waka’s own secret desires coming forth, things may be harder than she thought!
Sigh, what’s a girl to do?
Yurika Nakamura has come a long way since I first saw her as a student in Jigoku Sensei Nube back in 2014, playing a whole range of characters from sexually charged girls like Rui in “Guilty” or morose dead-eyed gothics like Akane “Robo” Saginomiya in “Joshikosei no Mudazukai”, and it’s nice to see her blossoming into a pretty lead actress!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com