Things We Love About Mami

 With the last episode of the highly entertaining drama Talio Fukushu Daiko no Futari coming up, I thought it would fun to showcase one of the many things I loved about Minami Hamabe’s Mami Shirasawa: Her hilarious case of OCD whenever she and partner (Masaki Okada) are sitting down to a table to interview people for their cases!

No matter how serious the person or how grave the situation, Shirasawa just CAN’T focus until things are aligned as straight as she can make them, LOL

This has been a great little show so far (episode 6 was particularly great, a perfect mix of wackiness and seriousness), sad that they only allotted a mere 7 episodes for this series! Hopefully we get a Special or something afterwards! With this drama, Minami Hamabe has moved WAY up in my list of new fave actresses!!!

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...

The Hilarious Running Gag in Gokushufudo of Miku “Helping Out"

 Caution: Hazardous Housewife! The set-up of a rough ex-yakuza Tatsu (Hiroshi Tamaki) becoming an efficient mild-mannered house-husband in the comedy GOKUSHUFUDO is an intriguing concept on its own, but the running gag of working wife Miku (Haruna Kawaguchi) being SO spectacularly bad IS TOO FUNNY!

Watch Miku Tackle T-Shirts...

Tenderize the Hamburger...

...and give a real POWER-WASHING to rinsing her rice!

Wow, with skills like this, it's no wonder Tatsu comes home to such a battlezone whenever Miku decides to make dinner!

Who could refuse such wonderful repast? Ah well, it's the thought that counts, right? LOL

When the Detective Your Housekeeper Hired Won’t Leave You Alone

 Detective Chikumagawa (Kenichi Takito) has been hired by the Sogawa Housekeeper (Miki Mizuno) to keep an eye on Ichika (Alice Hirose), the heir to the family fortune, and make sure no harm comes to her. But he has an additional incentive to keep after Ichika- she still hasn’t accepted the huge inheritance coming to her and his fee is still unpaid! Until he gets his payment, he intends to be directly IN HER FACE all day long!

 

Tantei ga Hayasugiru is probably my favorite drama right now, sadly the subbed releases are very intermittent and I’m afraid that it might even be on hiatus or dropped! Crossing fingers that we get some new episodes soon, I love it so much!

EDIT: Yup, it's been confirmed by the subber that this drama has been dropped. Sigh. 

Scrutinized by Her Fiance’s Mistress, “Kareshi Loan de Kaemashita”

It’s bad enough that Tae’s (Erina Mano) fiance is cheating on her, but it’s even worse when she is confronted by the same woman and put down! Fortunately, Tae’s friend Reika (Kyoko Hasegawa) comes by to save her from more bullying by the sardonic mistress. One thing I really loved about Kareshi Loan De Kaemashita is the friendship between Tae and Reika. Tae is a sweet and gentle girl who is constantly taken advantage of, and Reika is always there to help her out and have her back!

Poor Tae-Lucky she's got a Rental Boyfriend at home to take things out on!

PS: I'd never heard the term "Zuta Zuta" before, so looked it up online. Didn't come up with anything, so re-typed it "zuta zuta, Japanese slang" and came up with "Zuta Zuta, slang for "shattered, completely destroyed" LOLOLOL!!! That mistress really GAVE it to Tae, didn't she!

A Shinigami Stunned to Find a Human Can See Him, “Omukae Death”

Tsutsumi (Sota Fukushi) passes by two people having an altercation, but doesn’t think much about it…til he sees one of them disappear right in front of him!
He then turns his attention on a man dressed in a big pink bunny costume (Ryohei Suzuki), who is astounded when he realizes Tsutsumi can see him!  But there's more to this guy than meets the eye....

A Slave With An Unwilling Master- Sato rejects President Amagi’s request to dominate him, “Kono Otoko wa Jinsei Saidai no Ayamachidesu”

Company President Kyoichi Amagi (Hayami Mokomichi) has a masochistic streak and wants his subordinate Yui Sato (Airi Matsui) to dominate and humiliate him. Sato wants none of it, and has expresses so several times. However, the more he fawns over her and interrupts her work, the angrier she gets, and she always ends up losing her cool, giving him EXACTLY want he wants!

Becoming Friends With Someone You Used to Hate, “Bokura Wa Kiseki Dekite Iru”

 Very thought provoking scene where Aikawa (Issei Takahashi) explains to Ikumi (Nana Eikura) about the kid he hated growing up and how much better life got once he made friends with him.

Accidentally Dusting Your Superiors with Anti-Wrinkle Powder, “Yume Wo Kanaeru Zo”

 Hoshino (Asami Mizukawa) has just been let go from her company with only a can of Wrinkle-cream as a going away gift! Turning a corner, she collides with her higher-ups, causing an explosion of powder on all of them! When her adversary (Maruyama Tomomi) accuses her of doing it on purpose, she shows him what “on purpose” looks like!

“If The Shoe Fits”: Tsubasa Honda Kicking Butt in “Zettai Reido 4”

Is the character of Yui Odagiri Tsubasa Honda's coolest role ever? It's GOTTA be up there!!!

Thank You for All The Wonderful Moments, Yuko

 Our Beloved Yuko Takeuchi in the scene that made me (and so many others) fall in love with her, “Lunch No Joou”...

Rest In peace, Yuko, and thanks for all the wonderful dramas you've shared with us. You'll be sorely missed.