Some Satomi Ishihara "J-Drama Deja-Vu" on Rewatch of Jimi Ni Sugoi

 While rewatching my beloved Satomi Ishihara drama "Jimi Ni Sugoi" (a show which I would LOVE to see a sequel series to) for the first time in a LONG while, I noticed that her character visited a couple of places on my "J-Drama Deja-Vu" sites, including the "Tinkerbell Office Entrance", (this time standing as the home of a writer):

There's that pool

"Is it just me or is this house really, really familiar?"

LOL!

Satomi also visited the Hakozume Rooftop Roundabout,this time going up from the back and utilizing the stairs that leads to the white arch. Usually this arch is in the background, so cool to see someone actually using it!

BTW, I MUST add that while rewatching Jimi Ni Sugoi, MAN, I forgot how gosh darn PRETTY Satomi is in this! Like, "take your breath away" gorgeous! Here she is in one of my (many) favorite outfits! Not practical for office work but SO EASY on the eyes!

Mmmm, it's no wonder she's SUCH a BIG fave of mine!!!

On The BORDER

I'd downloaded the Television Special "Border Shoudou" purely on the fact that it starred Haru and only after securing subs for it did I discover there was an entire series which preceded it! I immediately went back and grabbed not only the whole 9 episode series, but the Shokuzai SP as well!

Border tells the story of a police Detective named Ishikawa Ango (Oguri Shun) who gets shot in the head during a perimeter search during a homicide.  

 He survives, but the bullet is lodged in his head in a precarious position so they leave it in. He seems to be healing alright, but while resting outside on the court, he spies a little girl standing in the ourtyard.

 

 He doesn't think too much of it til later, back inside the hospital, when he sees a pair of grieving parents lamenting the loss of their daughter. In the mother's arms is the same teddy bear. Strange, but merely coincidence?

 

 Soon fully rested, Ishikawa is soon back on the force and is in time to cover a family homicide. While walking the perimeter, he comes across a most peculiar girl staring at the windows to the house.

 Come to find out she is Higa Mika, the forensic doctor assigned to the case and she is an odd character, indeed, speaking in cold monotone with a no-nonsense style.

 But she is perceptive, and like Ishikawa, feels something dark about the case.

 Going inside, Ishikawa and the team make a quick scan of the room and examine the murdered bodies.

 The rest of the men leave, and it's here Ishikawa receives another vision, THIS time, the husband and wife whom lie dead right before him!

 The ghostly apparitions tell him to please catch the man who murdered them, and Ishikawa doesn't know if he's hallucinating or really seeing the spirits.

 During the autopsy, Ishikawa marvels at Higa's immaculate skills, and wonders if she might be the person he can talk to about his strange visions.

 

 Using clues Higa has extracted from the dead bodies (as well as testimony from the ghostly victims themselves), Ishikawa manages to track down the killer and put him way.

 Such a great ensemble cast and an intriguing story- and MAN, Haru has GOT to be the coolest Forensic Doc EVER!!!

I'm two episodes in to the series and I gotta say, MAN! What took me so LONG to watch this??? It's so freakin' GOOD!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Satomi Ishihara is Back in Full Bloom with “Jimi Ni Sugoi”!!

Satomi Ishihara is BACK!

Just finished watching the first episode of the new Satomi Ishihara drama Jimi ni Sugoi~Koetsu Garu Kono Etsuko (Simpleness is Great!! Copy Editing Girl Kono Etsuko), and I already love, love, LOVE it!!!

Satomi Ishihara as Etsuko Kono

 Jimi Ni Sugoi tells the tale of a pretty young fashionable woman named Kono Etsuko who has dreamed all her life of becoming an editor for her favorite fashion magazine Lassy, unfortunately the company isn’t ever hiring new editors and it has been a solid six times since graduating that Etsuko has come in interviewing for a spot with the publishers with no luck! 

This time however, Etsuko manages to strike a chord with Shoon Takeyama, (the always fun and goofy Goro Kishitani) the head of the proofreading department, when she asks him where he got his unusual necktie pin. Such a strange girl, he thinks, but at least he'll remember her! Etsuko leaves crossing her fingers that the seventh time will be the charm!
When Etsuko gets the call from the company that evening telling her she’s been hired, she is in seventh heaven! She strides in to work the next day beaming with charisma and confidence, ready to meet the team...

A Dream Come True!

Finally at Lassy!

Here I am!

"Who IS this chick?"

...but she is rudely awakened when she finds that she HASN'T been hired for the fashion editing room at ALL...but the dour and drab dungeon of the company’s PROOFREADING department!

Etsuko finds her REAL department...

...the Proofreading Section!

Flabbergasted, she tells Takeyama that there must be SOME kind of mistake because she applied for  the FASHION section, but Takeyama reminds her that, as they said in the interview, they’re just not hiring for that department…

Takeyama (Goro Kishitani) explaining things.

But when he noticed that her name, Kouno Etsuko, sounded an awful lot like “proofreader” (Ko-etsu), Takeyama took it as a sign…and hired her for his own section! LOL!

Your name means you were MADE for this job!

Not Funny

After snickering at his own joke, Takeyama tells her that, while the Proofreading Section isn’t what she hoped for, with proper motivation she can work her way up in the company until she gets the position she really wants. Giving in, Etsuko decides to make the best of it, planning on staying there for only as long as it takes to get promoted and get out of there!
The proofreading team themselves are not impressed with Etsuko’s flashy and outspoken demeanor, and are even less impressed by her proofreading skills!

Fujiwa (Noriko Eguchi) training Etsuko

Fujiwa Rion (Noriko Eguchi) is in charge of training Etsuko but after a headache inducing first day, she tells Takeyama that she doesn't think this dizzy girl is up to the task.

Takeyama tells her the story of his necktie pin- how Etsuko pointed it out and how he saw her later that day  investigating about it in a store, and tells her to give her a chance because this is a girl who notices details and will investigate questions until she gets the correct answers. And so begins Etsuko’s career as a magazine Proofreader!

Etsuko seriously applying herself

Boss tells her she must do things her own way.

Besides having to deal with her fellow proofreaders, Etsuko must also go up against the editors of the manuscripts they are given to correct, and almost immediately she butts heads with an editor named Hachiro Kaizuka (Munetaka Aoki). She doesn’t think much of her section, but when she sees him belittling the crew and making light of their work, she finds herself defending the proofreaders and verbally assaulting the man, calling him “tako” in front of everyone! Unfortunately for her, this is a higher up whom she will be dealing with on an almost regular basis, and can make things difficult for her!

Kaizuka belittling Yoneoka (Masato Wada)

Etsuko can't Keep Quiet!

...and who is THIS girl?

Mind your manners...TAKO!

Takeyama runs in to introduce the people to each other.

She does have a couple of friends she can rely on, one is a girl named Toyoko Morio (Tsubasa Honda), a fellow employee who is an old classmate who happens to work for the very Fashion Editing Section Estuko covets....

Toyoko Morio (Tsubasa Honda)

...and Cecil Imai, a cute and naive girl working as the company’s receptionist, (played by the squeakily adorable Rika Adachi), who immediately adheres herself to Etsuko’s side as her best buddy. Such a sweetie!!!

Above and Below: Yuri (Marie Soda) and Cecil (Rika Adachi)

 Together these two become friends Etsuko can have over for drinks where she can get drunk and "let it all out", passing out by the end of the night, LOL!

Etsuko also has the utmost support from the boss of the Okazuya she’s living above,who treats her much like a father (in fact, I first thought it WAS her father, their relationship is just like Anne and Ren Osugi in Hanasaki Mai ga Damattenai) as well as all the neighborhood regulars. They love and cherish her and do anything they can to help her get ahead!

Boss Oda (Hiromasa Taguchi) and the boys get Etsuko a gift!

A clearly touched Etsuko knows she is cared for.

There is also a sub-plot regarding Morio and her work- she’s tasked with looking for a new model for the company and sets her sights on a boy she saw online named Yukito Orihara (Masaki Suda).

"That's the look I've been looking for"

Orihara ( Masaki Suda): No interest in Modeling.

When she meets him, however, he has no desire to model but when he loses his job and then gets an eviction notice from his apartment, he changes his mind and agrees to work for her. The following day, he accidentally bumps into Etsuko who is literally AND figuratively knocked off her feet, it is LOVE at first sight! But as Morio seems to also show interest in this guy, I see some love triangles ahead…

One scene that really killed me and I laughed out LOUD was this scene where Etsuko is hobbling home, cheery and a bit tipsy over champagne when she spies an “Editor’s Bag” that she’s had her eyes on on sale.  She goes over and reads the details, but she is SO immersed in her job that before you know it, she’s taken out her editing pen and “proofread” the sale sign! LOLOL~!!!

 

MAN, i’m enjoying this drama so MUCH! As you all know, I’m a huge fan of Satomi Ishihara already, and her character of Etsuko Kouno is so bright, optimistic, sassy and charming, I fell in love with her before even 5 minutes had passed!!! She’s one of those quirky characters who dresses very casually at home but dresses up in five star STYLE when out on the town or at work, and the show does this very cute thing where after each scene is completed, a magazine spread pops up with Satomi as a model modelling the outfit! Not since “Hotaru No Hikari” have I seen a show care so much about the characters’ wonderful clothing, and I LOVE it!

Like shows such as “Underwear” or even “Ie Uru Onna”, the  show is very dense with actual facts and information about its business. Whereas Underwear introduced you to the world of Lingerie Designing and Ie uru Onna taught you the fundamentals about real estate, Jimi Ni Sugoi teaches you about proofreading, the procedures, the implementation and the research points of the job, and it is a thrill to see Etsuko not only learning the ropes, but finding she has a passion for it as well!

A fun, properly intriguing drama showing a dazzling Satomi Ishihara at her very best, this IS Satomi Ishihara in Full Bloom!

"The food is so yummy!"

"But who was that guy I bumped into?"

"Really, Sempai, he didn't seem that special to me."

Oh well...back to eating!!!! LOLOL

PS: An added bonus is the opening song to Jimi No Sugoi sung by a girl named CHAY which I immediately recognized as the awesome Yumi Arai (Matsutoya) song “12-gatsu No Ame” off her incredible “Misslim” Album! What a nice surprise!!! Looks like this show is off to a GREAT START and I can't wait to see MORE!!!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com