Car 13, Where Are You? No Activity 2 is Here!

When we last saw the gang from NO ACTIVITY in 2021, they had just finished the case of the Drug Smuggling run and, whether it be from their enthusiasm (or lack thereof ) all seemed to go well despite them stumbling and bickering through the entire procedure from start to finish!
Well, it is now 2024 and the entire wacky team from the Metropolitan Police Department is back, including Etsushi Toyokawa as Tokita, the lazy detective who tries his very best to NOT get involved with any actual work…

...the sturdy and affable Shiina (Tomoya Nakamura) who, unlike his partner, is dedicated and sharp eyed and, indeed through him is the only reason they get any work done! Getting Tokita  motivated is a full time job in itself, luckily he's up for the task!

Whenever a call comes in, they are quick to avoid geetting involved, yet SOMEHOW they always end up being RIGHT where the action is! What's a lazy cop to do!!!

Back at the station we are once again in the company of those charismatic and OH SO GOSSIPPY  and CATTY gal dispatchers, with the hard-working but stiff and rigid Arira Ohira (Nana Seino) on one end….

…and the brash, big-mouthed and outspoken cougar of the department Satomi Misato (played with unabandoned glee by Yoshino Kimura), on the other! As before, Satomi is a mile-a minute talker, and from the first second of her appearance, she fills every scene with loud non-stop chatter!

Along with the regular cast, we are treated to some new friends and acquaintances with Dai Okabe as Yotsukado, a former-buddist in training and now a rookie detective on the force…

BTW, the scenes with he and Kimura are some of the most hilarious passages ever, I was laughing SO HARD as the mischievous senior dispatcher tries to "break" him!!!

Mai Shiraishi appears as a struggling street musician named Fuyuka Hiiragi, who Tokita takes a fancy to…Unfortunately, his infatuation with her causes her to inadvertently get involved in the latest caper and puts her life in danger! Just hanging OUT with Tokita is hazardous to your health!

And of course we’ve got a brand new big-bad guy, this time played by Takahashi Katsunori as the yakuza mogul Tadato Orihara, aided by his newbie henchman Ren (Hiroya Shimizu). How will THIS villain threat fare against the police?

Already having the time of my life watching this season- as usual for this show, it isn’t the crimes themselves so much as the wonderful dialog and funny scenes that run throughout the show!  Like dramas like Ishiko to Haneo (another Nakamura vehicle), it's more about the characters than the cases- Too much FUN to just hang out with them and listen in on their ridiculous banter!

Just like Season One, No Activity2 is a mere 6 episodes long, just enough time to dedicate to one story, a perfect length, but over all too soon! Gotta make this one last!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Shoujiki Fudousan おわり

 Just watched the final episode of Shoujiki Fudousan, and it was a wonderful episode which encapsulated the wholesome feeling and lessons the series shared throughout, with the two heroically honest real estate agents Nagase (Tomohisa Yamashita) and Tsukishita (Haruka Fukuhara) showing that truth and compassion will always win out in the end, even in a cutthroat business like Real Estate! 

It was a wonderful set-up with a clear establishment of the good guys, namely Tosaka Real Estate, with Nagase and Tsukishita as the team's veritable Batman and Robin!

…We also got a clear establishment of the not-so-good guys with rival company Minerva Real Estate, led by the coldhearted Ikaruga (Takahashi Katsunori) and his loyal (but wavering) second in command, the impeccable Hanazawa (Kana Kurashina)...

In each episode we got to see the teams wage their wars against each other all the while learning more about the characters themselves, and even had some fun moments with romance with banker Enomoto (Rika Izumi) setting her sights on Nagase as a possible suitor!

The drama played with Enomoto and Nagase having an on and off sort-of relationship, which was fine, but I personally was hoping Nagase would end up with Tsukishita! Alas twas not to be!

In ANY case, this was an absolutely terrific drama- one which I came away really loving all the characters, and one which they clearly set up for sequels, so crossing fingers on that!

Take A Letter, Hatako: Tabe Mikako in "Tsubaki Bunguten"

Tabe Mikako as Hatako

Mikako Tabe plays Hatako, a young woman who has returned to her hometown for her grandmother’s funeral. Her Grandmother ran a notary store in town where she would write letters for those who cannot, and at one time, Hatako was assumed to inherit the business. But a falling out with her grandmother made Hatako flee to the big city and this is her first time back in 8 years.

She means to  stay in town only as long as it takes to settle her grandmother’s affairs, but is met the next day by a old woman who has come asking on behalf of a letter of condolences she has requested. It seems Hatako’s grandmother had passed away before she could write it, and Mikiko is stunned to hear that she is expected to fulfill the request herself! Well, she doesn’t have any experience with such stuff, but when she finds that the letter of condolences is for a pet monkey, she sighs and figures that in this she supposed she can help!

The next few days are spend rediscovering the town, the laid back vibe of the place as well as its eccentric and colorful townsfolk.

The people are hoping that Hatako has come to succeed her grandmother and they are saddened to hear that she intends to close the shop and sell the land.

Seems that while the townsfolk love her grandmother and the shop, Hatako only has rough memories of the place, being schooled by her strict and proper grandmother about the ways of writing.

 When the letter for the pet monkey backfires on her, she realizes that what is expected is a lot harder than she thinks!  But with the help and care of the neighbors and townsfolk, Hatako learns how to put her heart and passion into the important letters she is asked to write!

 Ah, such a calmly paced and gentle drama. Very relaxing to watch at the end of the day, it’s like taking a trip to that small little town and taking the time to catch your breath. In fact, the drama reminds me a lot of the old NHK Asadora AGRI, which is my favorite drama of all time!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

A Double Dose of Yoshida Yo

Regular readers of this blog know of my drooling attraction to svelte, sexy and stoic actress Yo Yoshida and it looks like the time has really come for her fans as we’ve got not one but TWO excellent dramas showcasing her awesome acting sensibilities!

First up we’ve got “Medical Team Lady Da Vinci No Shindan” which from the get go reminds me a lot of the Maki Horikita drama “Higanbana” with its’ crackerjack team of eccentric yet excelling women, only in this show it isn’t a police station where the girls do their detective work, but though the operating rooms of the Hospital.

Yoshida plays a neurosurgeon named Shiho Tachibana who withdraws from practice when she begins having fainting spells. She is then approached by an old colleague named Kitabatake Masayuki (Takahashi Katsunori) who says he is creating a super-team of doctors who can “Solve medical problems on one else can”.

She agrees to join up, but when she gets there, she finds that the rest of the team are cold and  unfriendly to this new outsider and it is only once she shows the others how capable she is do they grudgingly accept her.

The team is led by Yoko Iwakura (Ran Ito), a celebrity surgeon who even has her own television show who is used to being the center of the team, she and Tachibana will butt heads on more than one occasion!

We’ve got Aibu Saki in another one of her “Bitchy chick” roles (hmmm, seems she’s been playing a lot of these lately) as Yukino Nitta, a girl who is reserved and yet fascinated by Tachibana..

Pretty Yuko Fueki (whom you may recall stunned me with her looks way back in Otenki Oneesan) as Iwakura’s gushing second…

Satomi Ai (Kumiko Shirotori), a no-nonsense member who seems to ignore the power playing amongst the head doctors and just does what is need.

Saori Takizawa in yet ANOTHER one of her “man-hungry over 30 woman” roles, still looking as luscious as ever, as Yui Uematsu. Man, who would have thought Saori could make an entire career out of playing these desperate ladies? 

…and finally we have cute and cuddly Riho Yoshioka as Ayaka, the girl chosen to be Tachibana’s assistant and befuddled partner in crime.

Together these women team up to solve the hospital’s more bizarre cases, using their extensive knowledge of maladies, expert footwork and a whole lotta spirited speculation.

And then we’ve got a lot darker murder mystery type detective show featuring Yo as an able detective in the Japan remake of the successful American detective show COLD CASE.

As usual for WOWOW, this is a detective show that is a LOT darker than others, every scene seems to be drenched in this sickly greenish blue tint making everything seem bleak and dour, and from the get go things are grim, grim, grim.

In this show, Yoshida is once again heading a team of crackerjack agents, only this time they are gruff, seasoned detectives whom look upon this wisp of a woman as a curiosity more than a prime leader in her field, but they do work together to get things done.

First we have Tomokazu “Mr. Momoe” Miura as the head of the Cold Case department...

Mitsuishi “He Always plays the Dad” Ken:

Kenichi “That guy from Hanzawa Naoki” Takito...

..and Kento Nagayama as the young man assigned to the team who HATES having to work under a lady, LOL!

Like the CBS Cold Case series, this drama deals with a team assinged to solving old unsolved cases using modern CSI technology that didn’t exist back then to bring the criminals to light, and I was tickled when they showed a flashback to 20 years ago and the song they chose for the scene was “Namonaki Uta” by Mr. Children…GADS, has it been 20 YEARS already? LOL

So far I have to say I like Lady Da Vinci a bit more than Cold Case- not only is it a lot brighter in both tone and actual color, but Yoshida is allowed be goofy and cute, usually executing her detective work with a mischievous twinkle in her eye:

With Cold Case, it is so dense and so serrrrioooouuuusssssss.... I think y0u can easily see the "mood" of both shows by simply taking a look at these two screencaps!

Additionally, Cold Case is so similar to other generic Japanese Detective dramas, one wonders why they felt the need to secure the licensing for it. Wouldn’t it have been easy enough to create a cold case series of their own? I mean, it’s not like CBS has the lock on the cold case theme, even Aya Ueto’s Zettai Reido used the similar format of old unsolved cases resolved through modern means, right? 

Ah well, no matter what, i'm definitely gonna be watching both of these wholeheartedly, after all, more Yo Yoshida in my j-drama viewing life is ALWAYS a good thing!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com