Def Tech: My Way (With a Touch Of Ryoko Kuninaka)

 There’s this new channel on youtube called “The First Take” where they invite artists on to do a “one take” of their songs, and their latest episode featured classic duo Def Tech doing a one take of their 2005 song “My Way”!

WOW, Shen and Micro sound JUST as great as EVER! From the moment they began singing I was locked in, and once the groove kicked in, I was happily swaying side-to-side— ALWAYS loved this song and those vocals and hooks knock me out all over again!!! 

Whenever I hear “My Way”, I ALWAYS think of  “Brother Beat”, the 2005 drama starring Misako Tanaka, Tetsuji Tamayama, Hayami Mokomichi and Nakao Kiyoshi as a Single Mother and her Three Sons, as it was the “insert” song played during key moments in the show~

Ryoko Kuninaka starred as a shy and mousey girl named Chisato who falls for Tamayama’s character Tatsuya, and I always loved the way the Def Tech song would play whenever “something seemed to be developing”, like a fun wink to the audience....Awwww, as some of you may know, I fell MASSIVELY in love with Ryoko Kuninaka in this drama. So sweet and pure, Chisato Tamura HAS to be my all-time favorite role she’s played! One of my FIRST “Crush of The Day”  girls and certainly one of the most enduring ones as well!

Man, even just re-watching this episode to make the gif, I ended up watching 4 episodes of the show, I loved the storyline of her and Tatsuya SO damn much!

Sadly for Brother Beat, I did not care too much about either of the other two brothers, maybe that’s why despite how much I love the Ryoko Kuninaka parts, Brother Beat isn’t  higher on my list of favorites…though it SHOULD be, on sheer Ryoko Kuninaka merit alone!!

Singing On and On and On...

Crush Of The Day: Yoshida Yo

Pretty Yo Yoshida in Sutekina Sen Taxi

Watching another terrific episode of Sutekina Sen Taxi when I come across this beautiful (if yet rather cold) woman who I at first thought to be pretty Sayaka Yamaguchi: same icy exterior, same razor sharp swept bob hairstyle and same pert nose…but going onto Dramawiki, found out it to be none other than actress Yoshida Yo(吉田羊), whom some of you may remember really caught my fancy way back watching Hero2. 

Yoshida in HERO2

Even then I though she was so goddamn gorgeous, but it was as Shinozaki Misako in Sutekina Sen Taxi that I really fell in love with her- more than just the calm and collected stern beauty she played on Hero2,  Misako was a witty, expressive and altogether adorable girl!

 Misako, a 30-ish Surgeon desperate to get married, joins a Matchmaker Cooking Club, and instantly becomes embroiled in a battle with a younger Nurse Tomomi (played by good old Reina Asami, whom I haven’t seen in years!) to snag the “best man” in the club. 

The Man She Wants: Yoshihiko Hakayamada

Misako VS Tomomi: Yoshida Yo with Asami Reina

Despite her best intentions, Misako loses the fight for the man to Tomomi, but once the dejected woman discovers Eda's Time Traveling Taxi, it's time for a rematch! However, Tomomi's character is more crafty than she thought, and Misako continues to lose against her. With each failure she gets, she makes her way back to the Time Travelling taxi, bickering with Eda who states, "You are a woman who doesn't know when to give up!" LOLOL Too much fun!

Though she was only supposed to appear in her slotted episode, she was so good that they brought her character back for a cameo in a later episode (remember she was a doctor? Well, in a later episode Eda’s client is staying at a hospital, and Shinozaki is registered there!Once again the two bicker and I’m just enjoying it all!

Takenouchi Yutaka and Yoshida Yo

I already had her on my mind, when I began watching the new Tabe Mikako/ Okura Tadayoshi drama DOS DEKA, a show about a masochistic detective named Kuroi (Tabe) who is constantly at odds with her supervisor chief…the latter whom was played by none other than Miss YO YOSHIDA herself! 

Yoshida as the stern Shirokane Fujiko in doS DEKA

Yoshida Yo and Tabe Mikako

Yoshida, Okura Tadayoshi and Tabe Mikako in doS DEKA

Although back to playing her “stern” character, it it such a  joy to see her, though she takes a back seat to Tabe Mikako’s (admittedly cute) antics, just seeing her there and checking out her pretty outfits is worth it!

So intrigued by her I moseyed on back to dramawiki and found out that this gal has actually been in a HELL of a lot of shows I’ve seen, albeit in bit roles, usually the victim of a crime show or a client, in shows like:

Take Five (2013)

13-Sai Hello Work Week (2012)

Perfect Report (2010)

Face Maker (2010)

Mr. Brain (2009)

and even Cat Street (2008)!

Huh, going back and re-watching these episodes to get the screencaps, her parts are so small no wonder I barely remember her in them! And It's funny how she's always playing such stern and stuffy roles, Sutekina Sen Taxi shows that this woman is JUST as adept playing fun comedic roles, J-drama writers out there I implore you, it's time to give Yo Yoshida a leading role in a show!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com