A Most HATED J-Drama Cliche!!!!!

WARNING:

Spoilers for "Osama ni Sasagu Kusuriyubi" and "Watashi No Oyome Kun"

...also for "Summer Snow", but shouldn't you have seen that by now? LOL

Out of ALL the cliches that have been around since I began watching J-dramas in the mid 90’s, so many of them have been phased out and relegated to occasional chestnut, but the ONE cliche that CAN’T seem to DIE is the “Because I Love You, I’m Going To Dump You” cliche, and it’s driving me CRAZY!

In not just ONE, but TWO of the dramas this past season, they’ve “gone there” with this sad, time-wasting trope, and I mean to tell you,  I WANT IT TO STOP!

It’s always the same set-up: Guy and girl fall in Love and everything is going SWIMMINGLY, until one of the couple’s friends secretly says to the other that they are HOLDING their partner BACK, (or, in the case of the health-issue stories, are told they are BAD for the partner’s HEALTH and WELL BEING), and if they CARED for their partner AT ALL, they would LEAVE THEM IMMEDIATELY!

The concerned partner of course, ALWAYS stupidly takes the friend’s advice and I get it, they care about their partner and truly want what’s best for them… but then comes the NEXT part, which always makes me INSANE:

The person plans to DUMP their partner for THEIR SAKE, but not without VERY ENTHUSIASTICALLY saying “We’ll be together 4-Ever!” the day before. Then the next day, the partner is BEWILDERED when their partner GHOSTS them, IGNORING their calls and AVOIDING their visits. When they DO finally meet up, it’s for the person who dumped the other to say they HATE them and NEVER want to SEE them AGAIN!

Below: One of the first dramas I remember seeing this trope in, "Summer Snow" with Tsuyoshi Domoto and Ryoko Hirosue.

Same scenario with recent Osama ni Sasagu Kusuriyubi:

also "Watashi no Oyome Kun:

Tears are shed and it all seems over…until a concerned person pulls the hurt party aside and tells them “ You KNOW they did it for YOU, right? They only DUMPED YOU because they actually really LOVE YOU, and YOU’RE the one with the problem!”

Below: The revelation in Ousama:

in Watashi no Oyome-kun

And then the wounded party CONFRONTS the other, says they now KNOW they did it for THEIR sake, and it’s ALL GOOD…and then they GET BACK TOGETHER again!

I’m BEGGING you drama screenwriters out there…STOP USING THIS DELUDED CLICHE, it’s a TIRED crutch to fall back on it order to pad the show with more drama at the end!

PS: Gotta love how YOUNG everyone in Summer Snow is, ESPECIALLY Oguri Shun, who looks like a 8 year old boy, and cute Chizuru Ikewaki who, for a brief time, I was MADLY in LOVE with!

Once again, gotta say how time sure does fly!

The Fine Art of the J-Drama Ending Credits

Nakama Yukie in Gokusen's Ending Credits

American Culture TV Sitcom fans know well the power of a good, catchy theme song, and it’s even been proved that the songs for shows like Gilligans Island and Brady Bunch were more than just the jingles that played during the cast and crew listings- it’s a HUGE part of what MADE the show!
  Sadly, by the 90’s, TV shows began to adopt a disturbing trend of  disposing of the lengthy theme songs altogether and began to replace them with shorter sound bites of music and began running the cast credits during the show’s undercrawl in an effort to minimize screentime for more advertising slots. Understandable but still a bummer for the Pop Culture fanatic!

 Fortunately, it was JUST at this time that I began watching Japanese dramas, and it was here I found that the opening and closing tunes were very much alive, and in fact still treated as an important component to the shows they were promoting. Not only were songs written and recorded by artists specifically for the show, but the clips and images running during the song are just as beautifully crafted and magnificently put together as the drama itself!

Case in point: Just the other night I was going through an old harddrive of J-drama stuff, and came across the ending song for Yukie Nakama’s wildly successful drama “Gokusen” in MP4 format. Remembering how much I liked the theme song “Feel Your Breeze” by V6, I clicked on it, and I have to say, watching the song play with the set images rushing by of teacher “Yankumi” playing Kick the Can with her students gave me goosebumps, and then when it got to the chorus of the song, I remembered that it always played at the scene where she’s holding the can up and running from her students, PERFECTLY matching the song, and I have to say, watching this made me tear up with emotion, it gave me SUCH a warm feeling!

After it ended it made me remember that the ending song for the old Emi Wakui drama “Pure”, which featured the song “Namonaki Uta”, ALSO employed this style of affixing a certain phrase of the song with a set image, in the case of Pure, the Rickenbacker Guitar chiming into the chorus was ALWAYS set to the image of Emi tossing an armful of feathers into the air at the same moment each time, til the viewer found he was always waiting for it!

Wakui Emi in Pure's Ending Credits

  I then began to try and remember other shows with favorite ending credits and in fact, MANY of them have already been uploaded and talked about here, including the aforementioned Pure with Mr. Children’s “Namonaki Uta”, Okane Ga Nai with “Over The Trouble” by Oda Yuji, NAOMI’s ending “Girls Be Ambitious” by True Kiss Destination, Masahiko Kondo's "Ai Wa Hitotsu" from the crazy drama Stalker~Sasou-Onna, "Himawari" by Sugar for the drama Shiawase Ni Naritai, and the incredible Shomuni ending "Sunaona Mamade" by IZAM with Astral Love! 
     Others I've still to do write ups for eventually are credits for shows like Tengoku Ni Ichiban Chikai Otoko featuring TOKIO's "Oh! Heaven", KinKi Kids' "To Heart" from the Domoto Tsuyoshi drama of the same name, and probably much more I can't recall right now!

Fukada Kyoko and Domoto Tsuyoshi in To Heart End Credits

And for ending credits that are simply heartbreaking to watch, try  "Only Human" by K from the drama One Litre No Namida, Seija No Koshin's "Ito" by Miyuki Nakajima or Yutaka Ozaki's "Oh My Little Girl" from the morose Konoyo No Hate!
     Though most of the J-drama ending credits I highly regard are from the era I was watching them most vivaciously (mid 90’s to 00’s), show like the aforementioned Gokusen prove that they’re still on top of the game! In fact, thinking now, later shows like Yaoh with TOKIO's "Mr. Traveling Man", "Orange Range's "Kimi Station" from Loss:Time:Life, Oda Kazumasa's "Sayonara Wa Iwanai" from Triangle, and "Wonderful Life" by &G from Boku To Kanojyo to Kanojyo no Ikiru Michi are just as powerful, and even the Horikita Maki drama Hanazakari Kimitachi e ending song with Ai Otsuka’s “Peach” gives me the same sense of warmth and wonder!

I’ve been watching J-dramas for a good 20+ years now , and I think I can positively state that when it comes to the sacred thing known as the ending song credits, those folks have REALLY elevated it to an ARTFORM!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

A Happy Surprise on Shojiki Shindoi

Matsushita Nao on Domoto Tsuyoshi No Shojiki Shindoi

Been watching some of my older Kinki Kids TV shows (like the Shida Mirai one I just blabbed about earlier), and while going through my collection of Domoto Tsuyoshi No Shojiki Shindois, I came across an episode where I leapt up in excitement when I saw who the guest was!


Domoto Tsuyoshi No Shojiki Shinoi is a sort of free-form exploration show like Soko Ga Shiritai (in a sense), as each episode features Tsuyoshi and a guest going shopping or enjoying a new town or place, and then eating at some interesting establishment. The guests are ususally female guests so as to  give Tsuyo a "mock date" for that week's excursion, and it was always fun to see which actress or geinokai would show up next!


So I'm watching this one particular Shojiki Shindoi, and the show begins with his striding up to an outdoor cafe to meet his date/ co star, and who should be waiting at the table but Ms. GeGeGe herself, NAO MATSUSHITA!!!!! WOOOOOT!!!!  I couldn't WAIT to see what they were gonna do!

Compatible Color Outfits? LOL

First off, I have to say that Nao-chan was quite lovely-looking, with this pretty blouse and necklace, and they both had to laugh when Tsuyoshi remarked that their clothes looked almost color-coordinated, they matched so well! Ahhh~ was so much fun to see Nao being HERSELF, and I have to say that as Tsuyo went about town with her, I felt pangs of jealousy, for I wanted it to be ME taking her out on that date! AHAHAHAHA!

Nao-chan enjoys, Tsuyo is distracted...

Exploring the sights during a light drizzle

From an early unagi and rice meal to start out the day, stops at the various shops around the area, pulling over to get some green tea ice dessert, playing around with the marionettes at a specialty puppet shoppe and having a seafood nabe at a fancy restaurant then finishing up the trip with a hamburger steak dinner, it was a FULL day I wish I could have been a part of! 

Marionette Fun at the Puppet Shoppe

Nao-chan and her disarming laugh!

And what better way to wrap things up with a rousing game of Jenga! Tsuoyshi was his usual cool and laid back self, but it was sheer joy to watch cute Nao's face wrinkled with determination as she struggled through the nerve-wracking challenge; in the end the tower of blocks eventually came crashing down on her, which of course elicited even MORE adorable squeaks of surprise from her! God, I LOVE this girl!!!!

Jenga!!! Ganbatte, Nao-chan!!

CRASH! LOL

The discovery of this wonderful episode  was timely indeed, for besides being on my mind almost all the time lately, I  was to realize that today is in fact Nao-chan's BIRTHDAY!!! Yes, this adorable actress who stole my heart as Fumie Murai in that NHK Morning Drama turns 26 today!!! Omedetto, Nao-Chan!!

Favorite J-Pop Singles: KinKi Kids / Zembu Dakishimete

By the time Morning Musume had released their 7th single “Manatsu No Kozen”, I loved them so much I ran out and bought “Zembu Dakishimete” by KinKi Kids!

EH?

Yes, My Love of Morning Musume got me to buy a Kinki Kids Single! But Why?

Well, for most of you, the reason I did this is probably glaringly obvious, but for the sake of this blog, here’s the story of how an obsession with Hello Project ended up with me buying a Johnny’s Jimusho CD single!

I wasn’t really a fan of Morning Musume when they first came out, but when a sub-group of MM featuring members Iida Kaori, Yaguchi Mari and Aya Ishiguro called TAMPOPO appeared on Music Station, I was instantly taken in by Aya (Ayappe, as they called her!) They were on to perform a single called “Motto”, and the song really stuck with me, too! In the end, I dubbed that video rental, and later that week, trucked down to the local J-music store and bought Tampopo’s first CD.

From there I had to have everything Ayappe was in, and of course it didn’t take long till I started buying all the Morning Musume stufff with her, too! Pretty soon I was a big fan of both groups,and wanted to see more!

Right in town there were (at the time) about five or six places you could rent the latest japanese music shows that frequently had Morning Musume on as guests, including shows like MUSIC STATION, UTABAN, HEY HEY HEY, COUNTDOWN TV, FUN, and…

LOVE LOVE AISHITERU!

Yes, the variety show hosted by Johnny Jimusho’s dynamic duo KinKi KIds and wackily co-hosted by ever-suffering Tomoe Shinohara was a GREAT place to see the latest musical acts, and to that end, Morning Musume AND Tampopo regularly made visits, so much so that at one point, it occurred to me:

1. Hey, I’ve watched that show so much, I remember the theme song!
2. Wow, I really LIKE that theme song!

In the end I loved the song so much that I special ordered the single, ZEMBU DAKISHIMETE, the “catchy song with the unbelievably hard-to-sing speedy verses” and amidst much ridicule by friends who thought it wasn’t “cool” to be buying Johnny’s, ran out of the store clutching my CD single with a cackling laugh!

The cool thing about it is years and years later, after watching the awesome Akai Hidekazu/Tanaka Misako drama SECOND CHANCE, my friend Car fell hopelessly in love with Tsuyoshi Domoto, and I was able to turn her on to Tsuyoshi and KinKi Kids in general through this awesome song, even thought the show itself had long been replaced by its seemingly similar show “SHIN DOMOTO KYOUDAI”!

We even got a kick out of watching old live performances of Zembu Dakishimete on Music Station, and realizing the background dancers featured future members of NEWS, T&T, ARASHI and KAT-TUN! How many can YOU recognize?!

I Love YOU!

Years and years ago, I purchased a set of Pony Canyon collections that showcased greatest hits from their catalog of the 70’s and 80’s. Along with Pony Canyon greats like Shizuka Kudoh, Hikaru Nishida and the mighty Checkers, the CDs also featured a quirky new wave group with a peppy anime-voiced lead singer- the group was FAIRCHILD, and the vocalist was a girl named Ehara Yukiko, better known as the charismatic YOU!

    This group was pretty spectacular, for along with YOU’s interesting (to say the least) vocals, the band also featured respected session musicians Seiji Toda on Bass & Keyboards, and Hirokazu Kawaguchi on guitar! Through this introduction I got to know hits such as Chiisana Hoshi, Sagashiteru Noni and the super-catchy Jelly Eyes wa Amakunai (My all-time fave song from them!)…Here, Check out this awesome live Fairchild performance of Jelly Eyes at Hibiya-Yaon (yep, THAT arena that Princess Princess and Ribbon fans alike will instantly recognize!)

Nowadays, most people know YOU through her famous starring role as the dead-beat mother in the popular movie Daremo Shiranai (Nobody Knows), but it was through her frequent guest-appearances on (of all things) Kinki Kids’ Domoto Tsuyoshi’s show Shojiki Shindoi that I fell in love with her!

   It’s hard to explain to someone not familiar with the show how loose and carefree the set-up is for the program. Tsuyoshi does this thing called the “Shindoi Walker”, where he’ll get dropped into some various town and he and a guest will simply walk from venue to venue, sampling the restaurants, happenings, and secluded haunts, soaking up the atmosphere.

   I’d gotten used to the sassy, raspy voiced YOU’s antics on Shojiki Shindoi before, but a special three-part Shindoi in *HAWAII* is the one that knocked me out! She was SOOO funny, so naughty and HELLA SEXY! Besides her devil may care attitude, she had these quirks that always made me smile- when she and Tsuyoshi would be eating something delicious, instead of just saying “Oishii”, she’d  stop with her mouth full and hit Tusyoshi!  He’d just snicker and blow her off, just the way she expected him to! SO ENTERTAINING-I’d watch these Shindois OVER and OVER again!

  Even after that, YOU’s appeared on the show several times since,  always winning me over with her  crazy ways! And I think it’s saying something that she’d be on a show with someone like uber-boobed Eiko Koike and I’d still only be staring at YOU!

 YOU was just on Shojiki Shindoi again a few weeks ago, and when I decided to write up a little entry on her, I was stunned to find the lack of pictures of her on the internet. Despite her LONG legacy in Fairchild and her work with DOWNTOWN, it seemed like the ONLY pictures available were the stills from Daremo Shiranai! I downloaded the best ones I could find, but sadly, she didn’t look so great in the movie. After all, she was a slummin' Mommy, and she really wasn't painted in that great of a light...I was bummed that these were the only shots I could get of her!

 Then fate stepped in, as I wandered one weekend through the store that carried used japanese fashion magazines… and there, in the front row, stood the very magazine you see scanned here, the February issue of IN RED!!!

My heart leapt up, and even though I got some funny looks from the lady ringing me up, ( what’s this guy doing buying a japanese girl fashion magazine?!) I threw down the seven bucks with pride and triumphantly left the store with my treasure! Its time to share!

Hirosue Ryoko: A Revelation of Sorts

My first memories of Hirosue Ryoko was back when we were collecting idol magazines aoound 1995 or so.Back then we were hungry for those Babe-a-licious idols like Miura Rieko, Hinagata Akiko and Kanno Miho, so we were quite confused when plain-looking (in fact, rather tom-boyish) Ryoko Hirosue started taking over the pin-up magazines!
“I just don’t GET it!” I would say to Morningberryz, “Why is this chick so popular?!” “She ‘s not a babe, and in fact, with that haircut she looks like…doraemon!” We just didn’t see her appeal back then.
She played the part of a child-prodigy piano player who gave Kimura Takuya a hard time in the classic drama Long Vacation, and thereafter was always affectionately referred to by us as “Piano-Brat”. “Piano-Brat’s on another Kindaiga cover!” Or: “Piano Brat’s in that new drama Shota No Sushi!” It seems we couldn’t get away from her!

Things slightly changed for me around mid 1996, when she starred in serial in the re-newed Mokuyo No Kwaidan Mystery show with Tamao Nakamura. The story was about a girl who befriends a ghostly spirit, and the theme song was Maji de Koi Suru 5byou Mae, sung by Ryoko herself! I have to say that I watched the show pretty regularly, and even ended up buying the single of this unbelievably catchy tune!

Next I saw Ryoko in dramas like Beach Boys and Boku ga boku de Aru Tameni, but it wasn’t until the comedy / drama Sekai de ichiban Papa ga Suki with Akashiya Sanma that I actually started really liking her as an actress. Actually, it was the NG stuff on FNS HAPPENING that warmed me to her, she was so funny when she flubbed her lines, you could tell she was fun to be around in “real life”. There was this one NG scene where she is handcuffed to Sanma, and they both trip and fall, she is laughing so hard, you start laughing, too!

Next was a real 90 degree turn for her, as she played two very dark suicidal characters in both Seija no Koushin and Lipstick. I remember even then thinking, “Wow, she’s come a long way since the Piano-Brat days.” I truly thought her new image was going to be a more rebellious-type character, and thought she could do it,too!

I didn’t see Ryoko Hirosue again until Otousan in 2002, (which I was watching for Kyoko Fukada) , and was surprised at the character she was playing, a sad, introverted girl with no self-confidence. I was shocked ‘cause I’d never seen her like this in any of the other dramas I watched. But I had to admit it was a pretty interesting character.

Jump ahead to 2007, and my friend Car is obsessed with all thing Domoto-Brothers related. Browsing through some blog online, I notice that the three Domoto Tsuyoshi J-doramas that fans seem to love are Second Chance (I loved it,too!), To Heart (with my babes Kyoko Fukada) and one called Summer Snow. Summer Snow? How did I not see this one before? So I downloaded the show. Here it is 2007 and I’m downloading a show from 2002.

The story’s about a young man named Natsuo, (Domoto Tsuyoshi) taking care of his two siblings, who meets a young girl (Hirosue Ryoko) suffering from a heart-disease. The two compliment each other well, she is kind and insightful, and he is fun-loving and outspoken. The drama is about the chance meeting the two have and the relationship that develops.
Without giving away any spoilers, I have to say that the drama was incredibly touching. Lots of good acting here, ESPECIALLY Hirosue Ryoko and Chizuru Ikewaki (such a cutie here!), who really knock their scenes out of the ballpark.

Ryoko’s character Yuki Katase….what can I say. This was without a doubt the best character I’ve ever seen her play. She was so positive and yet so vulnerable. When she was happy, she was so adorable, you just wanted to hug her to bits, and when she was sad, it just broke your heart.

I think this is the first time I’ve fallen in love with one of Ryoko Hirosue’s drama personas; she was just the sweetest thing ever! And the scenes where she’s crying made me realize that NO ONE breaks down like Ryoko Hirosue! So real and emotional, it just destroys you. But for whatever reason whether it be her acting, the story, or my personal preferences, all the scenes really hit home!

I might rate the Summer Snow drama an 8, but I’ll DEFINITELY rate Ryoko Hirosue’s performance of Yuki a 10! When the show was finally over, I just couldn’t stop thinking about it. More precisely, I couldn’t stop thinking about Ryoko’s scenes… I had to laugh- This drama has got me smitten with Ryoko Hirosue! With the actress I once referred to as Piano-Brat! I just HAD to write up this little blog entry, if only to state for the record for Ryoko Hirosue and Ryoko Hirosue’s fans :

O.K., O.K….I “GET” IT NOW!