Since we were talking about curvaceous model Akiko Hinagata the other week, I thought it was time to come clean about a guilty pleasure of mine.
Remember that Japanese drama that came out around 1997 starring Akiko Hinagata and Jinnai Takanori called STALKER~SASOU-ONNA? The one where Akiko plays the psychotic Glenn Close to Jinnai Takanori’s Michael Douglas a la FATAL ATTRACTION? And was universally panned for being outrageous and silly? That One?
I fricking LOVED IT!
That is to say, all the way up until the last episode, I thought that show was right up there with shows like LONG VACATION, SAY YOU LOVE ME and HITOTSU YANE NO SHITA! Gasp!
But then, the LAST episode aired, and they concluded the show with a very fake stuffed Akiko Hinagata falling down a flight of stairs… and I had my moment of clarity: “Say…maybe this drama AIN’T all that, after all!” Then I thought about the past 10 weeks when I was raving to anyone who would listen about this fantastic, gripping show, and how I would have to face them afterwards! Ahahahaha!
But…Why did I love it so much?
Well, like I mentioned before, the drama WAS a more or lessj-dorama rip-off of Fatal Attraction, with Akiko as the nut case girlfriend, Jinnai Takanori as the befuddled cheatin’ husband, and forever slighted Yumi Aso as the heartbroken wife, and HEY at least it was ENTERTAINING, right? And of course, Akiko was lovely to look at either way,(except for when she had a knife in her hand, of course) so think I would have rated this an OK drama anyway, but the fact of the matter is, the thing that I absolutely LOVED THE MOST about the drama was THE THEME SONG.
It’s true, and I think if you ask any of my friends who I’d preached to about the show’s greatness, they’d agree that the thing I always raved about was the way the drama would have this chilling cliffhanger, then the show would fade to black, and the incredible song “Ai Wa Hitotsu” would start and the credits would start scrolling. A perfect song to match the show, rocking and melodramatic at the same time, It was one of those ending credits that had the same collage of clips set to the music, so that after about three episodes, you got used to seeing specific images with specific lines in the song- THAT SHOW WAS LIKE THAT!
Well, for 10 episodes that show thrilled me, but unfortunately, as I’ve already mentioned, that last episode was so dreadfully silly and zany that it made the other episodes seem silly as well, and one blogger somewhere (I forget where) sums up the entire series in the most accurate and succinct way: “Akiko Hinagata threatens Jinnai Takanori each week, and he makes his “Oh No Mr. Bill face!” Ahahaha, Oh My Gosh that was it exactly!
I remember later I saw Akiko on some show (I think it was MECHA MECHA IKETERU) and she was happily involved in a hilarious spoof of Stalker Sasao-Onna, where instead of demanding Jinnai Takanori to make love to her, she’s demanding the guy (I think Okamura dressed as Jinnai Takanori) to let her put mayonnaise on his head!
Instead of breathing “Shuji-san, make love to me”, she’s going “Shuji, Shuji…Mayonnaise! Mayonnaise!” And of course the spoof ends with Okamura sitting there while Akiko happily squirts some mayo out of a tube onto his face! AHAHAHAHAHAA!!
Whew! That was too much! Okay, Here’s Ai Wa Hitotsu” by the big old Johnny’s Dai-Sempai himself, Masahiko Kondo!
Comments from the Original Post:
* MorningBerryz wrote:
Ah did you manage to transfer the drama to DVD? I purchased the recorder but have yet to attempt a VHS to DVD transfer. You know I never knew that this theme song was done by a Johnny's member but then again all I really knew back then was Smap! :P This song's really catchy and you can really picture the credit footage. LOL OMG the 'dummy'??!! It was like they suddenly ran out of budget to make it look a bit more um real. :/ Still I remember you ♥ing this drama so much! ^ ^
LOL I wish I could've watched that spoof too~! Sounds so funny and..eh?...'mayonnaise?!' :O Birdman was really bothersome for me though...just kept thinking...why aren't you doing something?!! >_< But then years later Kato Noriko would do much the same in a sense and I remember M saying that...and I quote: "she just stands there looking pretty." LOL :O I think the drama had Asuka singing the theme song..was in "One?"..I can't remember at the moment.
Really nostalgic! Thanks for sharing the single and memories! ^ ^
* zdorama replied to MorningBerryz’s comment:
Did you manage to transfer the drama to DVD?
Naw, for this entry I only copied a snippet of it on DVD so I could capture the elevator scene with Akiko checking out Jinnai.
Oh, and I found that j-dorama page that made the “Mr. Bill” quip, it was on micahworld http://www.micahworld.com, where they had this to say about Stalker Sasao Onna:
Best "So Bad It's Good" Dorama: Sutouka Sasou Onna (The Stalker). Unintentionally hilarious show about a woman who goes off the deep end. It's worth watching just for Jinnai Takanori's constant "Oh No!" Mr.-Bill expressions, but there's a lot more! By the time you reach the final episode and the ending, you'll be rolling on the floor.
I don't think I really knew Matchy (as they call him) was Johnnys at the time either, but remember on the 1995 Kohaku, when he did "Midnight Shuffle", KinKi Kids danced the intro and sang the first verse with him onstage, so I should have had an idea, I guess!
* Yametekudasai wrote:
Kondo and Nakamori Akina kinda lived this drama, no?
* MorningBerryz replied to zdorama’s comment:
'Best so bad it's good' drama! lol! Ah that's so true though....Birdman was definitely channeling Mr. Bill throughout~! O__o By the 'ending' like you mentioned they must be referring to the "dummy" incident. :O It's like the whole production team lost the will to even try realism and it really does make you go Eh?! O__o
Wow you're right they do have similar tastes! I haven't heard of that drama either though....was it on NGN? This person's pretty old school though...thank you for sharing the link! ^ ^ LOL! EH?~! '55?'....... O__o Saburo may be right! ^o^
Kinki Kids....Kinki Kids.....when did I know of them?...hmmm.....(goes to check...) not until the Summer of '98 when I first purchase a single and their first album. Are they still using alphabets to name them? A friend once joked that after they reach "Z" they'll have to start calling their albums "AA....BB....until one day it's "AAA" for car assistance! :P And I remember having trouble back then convincing a few people that "Kinki" is a prefecture if you know what I mean!......the jokes never ended back then so I eventually gave up and joined them! :P If you ever bump into Jim W. mention Kinki Kids to him if you dare! :) Wow you knew of them from way back and I didn't even know that they existed back then....must say your memory is amazing!!
MorningBerryz
* MorningBerryz wrote:
And speaking of the Kinki Kids I forgot to mention....what in the world is going on with Domoto Tsuyoshi?! O_o I didn't know what was going on with his hair at first but then it's like he became an old man inside. O_o ?!! This is not the same person that I enjoyed watching in "To Heart" and "Summer Snow!" :O It's like he's trying to be someone else....I just haven't figured out who that is yet. Granted I haven't watched Domoto Kyoudai in ages and thank you for those! ^ ^
zdorama
* zdorama replied to MorningBerryz’s comment:
It's funny because his all around image has gotten even stranger since!
At first it seemed like he was doing his Johnny Depp, but in the latest Shojiki Shindois, he's wearing these glasses that make him look like a 50 year old driving instructor!
MorningBerryz
* MorningBerryz replied to zdorama’s comment:
Ah Johnny Depp! I think he was best in "Sleepy Hollow"..so funny and cool at the same time! ^ ^ But Domoto Tsuyoshi is beginning to weird me out a little or maybe that's too strong. Okay, puzzle me. O_o Hmmm...if he's going for a '50' year old look now I shudder to think of what image he'll portray when he's actually 50 years old. :O ....."OMG! Tsuyoshisan is bringing his walker onto the set again!" :o
