A Touch Of Kaho Takada

 Must say Kaho Takada has been looking particularly scrumptious in the titular role of Rinko in her romcom “Rinko-san wa Shite Mitai” as the Wedding Planner whose one desire is to lose her virginity and become a complete woman!

Like Rio Uchida’s series “Raise De Chanto Shimasu”,which also deals with sexy situations, Rinko-san is a fairly bawdy show, with naughty dialog that wouldn’t get past prime time censors, but evne knowing that, I was still taken by surprise to see Rinko in all her Bra-and-Panties Yumminess!!! WOWOW

At the halfway point of this drama, and though I’m starting to get weary of the “we’re pretending to be Boyfriend and Girlfriend but we secretly love each other for real” that seems to be the plot for 75% of the romcoms I’m watching , I find Kaho positively PRECIOUS and I can’t get enough of her!

Adventures In Cuteness: Fumika Shimizu

You may remember how much I loved Fumika Shimizu back in her stint in Kaseifu no Mitazono, as well as her fun role in the Suteki Na Sen Taxi Special. At the time I noted that Fumika was a former Kamen Rider Girl (because, of course she was…ALL young actresses I like are former Kamen Rider girls, it seems!) but I had to yet to actually see her in it...

Kaseifu no Mitazono

Suteki na Sen TAXI SP

Well, with Toei’s Official channel Tokusatsu World fully stocked with a wide assortment of their classic shows, I was finally able to watch some episodes of the show Fumika starred in, Kamen Rider Fourze. Not only was I surprised to see Kamen Rider Fourze alter ego Gentaro played by none other than Sota Fukushi(!), but…HOLY HANNAH, Fumika’s character of Yuki Jojima was the hands-down CUTEST and most SPUNKY and ADORABLE character EVERRRRR!!!

I’m not kidding, every scene she was in was completely STOLEN by her adorable antics, spazzy behavior and 100% ALL-IN enthusiasm, as evident in this terrific scene with Yuki and Gen:

A  monster has invaded the school and a hero is needed! Say, this monster reminds  me not just a little of Kome Kome Club's James Onoda!

Gentaro has the spirit to fight the baddie but not the smarts when he realizes he has no idea how to work the transform belt.

But never fear, Yuki Jojima is here to help!

Grabbing the device from him, she slaps it around his waist and tells him the switches and levers he must turn on to invoke the mechanism!

Then some genki words of encouragement  before running to hide behind a corner to watch the pyrotechnics!

"B-But how do I change after flipping the switches??"

"You make the moves like this...and say...HENSHIN!!!!"

HENSHIN FOURZE!!!

And thus Kamen Rider Fourze is born, much to Yuki's delight!!!

"YOSSSSHHHH!"

Fourze uses his newfound powers to vanquish the vile foe....

...and then it's time to celebrate their VICTORY!!!

Watching Fumika (now going by the name Yoshiko Sengen) in Kamen Rider Fourze, and how unbelievably charismatic she is, I’m astounded that she isn’t a more well-known actress. Is it because of her religion thing? Someone with this much radiance should be having dramas lined up down the road! And yet we haven’t seen much of her in recent years, such a shame!

BTW, I still can’t get over that it’s Sota Fukushi as Kamen Rider Fourze. And if that wasn’t enough of a shock, there was Erina Mano as Kamen Rider Nadeshiko to come in the Fourze Movie! 

Takane No Hana-San And Amai, Too

 After the original subber for the Rika Izumi/Yuki Ogoe rom-comedy “Takane No Hana-San" seemingly dropped the series after episode 3 earlier this year, I had little hope of seeing the rest of its 12 episodes. But when I joined Luwang’s Server, I was PLEASANTLY surprised to find they’d picked up the show and subbed the entire thing!! WOWOWOW!

WELL! After acquiring all the episodes, I watched the entire thing in one afternoon, and the tale of the bumbling but good hearted Yowaki (Ogoe Yuki) falling for the bossy and commanding superior  Takamine (Rika Izumi) and she him, was as FUN and WACKY as I remembered!

But as I watched it, I was surprised to find that what really began to take up my interest in the show was NOT the story of the two leads, but the SUPPORT character Ichigo Amai, played by the sassy Kanon...She went from a one-dimensional throwaway character to probably the most human and flawed person in the show, one that I found myself INVESTED in and ROOTING for!

Originally starting out as a snoopy comedic foil for the burgeoning romance between Takamine and Yowaki,  Ichigo was primarily there for airheaded comedy relief- appearing as a girl who only pretended to like Yowaki because of vanity (and to be a troublemaker), and you were meant to have a laugh at her zany attempts to come between Yowaki and Takamine….

And when the outspoken girl discovers she REALLY likes Yowaki, all her clumsy attempts to catch Yowaki and make him fall in love with her are once again played for laughs (and, admittedly, fun it is!)…

But it was at around the halfway point of the show that they started showing Ichigo in a more serious light when she heartbreakingly realizes Yowaki has little interest in her even as she falls more and more in love with HIM…You really feel for her when she wants to be desired by him.

And when the lovesick girl sums up her courage to finally confess her feelings for Yowaki, she is given and gentle but firm rejection, a blow which really breaks her.

Ichigo stammers a confession

Later, a rejection via text.

Her depression leads her to retreat into alcohol, and slowly she becomes a bitter and uncaring person.I remember thinking “Wow, they’re really taking a lot of time to show Ichigo’s side of things- to show how HURT she is!”

Strangely, the thing that finally takes her out of her funk is seeing Yowaki working so hard to see his ideas come to fruition. Out of her alcoholic haze, she finds inspiration from him to take stock in herself, to actually find purpose and passion in what she is doing, and by the end, we have seen a wiser and smarter Ichigo Amai!

The romance between Takamine and Yowaki runs its course towards its expected happy end, and we see that the new and improved Amai has done well for herself  too! 

Satisfied, I leaned back and thought, “The Ichigo storyline could have been  its own spin-off drama!" Ichigo Amai’s arc was far more heartfelt and nuanced than the main storyline of Takamine and Yowaki which was basically the same wacky set-up stretched over 12 episodes! Yes, you knew that Takamine and Yowaki loved each other and you knew they were ultimately going to end up together, but it was for Amai that I invested myself in those last 5 episodes, desperate NEEDING to see what would happen to this girl next. And I got a wonderful conclusion out of it!