Another "Cold Case" Drama: OKURA: Meikyu Iri Jiken Sosa

 Just caught the first episode of "Okura: Meikyu Iri Jiken Sosa" with Takashi Sorimachi and Yosuke Sugino as two unwilling agents put together in a team set to investigate cold case crimes.

WELL, there ain't anything here you haven's seen a million times before in cop dramas like these: the "Loose Cannon" senior (Sorimachi) and the "Straight-Edged Newbie" (Sugino), Both men clashing even as they team up to solve the crimes....

Even the motivations are as overused as they come: the hell-bent agent whose partner was killed in the line of duty, the former ace detective who, due to a mistake, has been demoted to the dregs of the department, the daughter of the slain detective (Mai Shiraishi) who is now a hard-as-nails agent herself, you've seen these characters time and time again....

Along with them come the usual gang of misfits: the sassy middle aged woman, the absentminded person who doesn't care about the job, the "young whiz-kid" on the computers, even Jun Hashimoto as the kind, eccentric uncle type chief of the department  which harkens back to shows as far as Shomuni!

Takashi Ukaji

Sayaka Aoki

Maeda Oshiro

Jun Hashimoto

Avalanche, QUEEN, Crisis, Zettai Reido, etc, etc, we've seen this exact set-up so many times as to have lost count! And YET, despite all of that, I GOTTA ADMIT I actually found myself really enjoying Okura- I like the way Sorimachi and Sugino play off each other, and Takashi Sorimachi seems to be giving his all in the role of the unhinged investigator who has no problem breaking rules if it allows him to get his man!

Yeah, it's all so predictable, yet the journey is completely engaging - looks like this one might work! 

Also featuring Shunsuke Nakamura as  the "heavy" of the department who is constantly riding the Okura team...

Was also pleasantly surprised to see sweetie Arisa Mizuki here in a secondary support role as the forensics agent Shu Ibuse! Hmmm, after her portrayal of cold case forensics agent Sakurako in "Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru", I'm beginning to see a pattern of roles here....

In any case, I'm Cautiously optimistic for this drama!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Gals Galore in "Konkatsu Tantei"

A show from 2022 which I put on my "Plan To Watch" listing on MDL, however, it never got subbed, at least not that I saw. Only very recently did I visit a forum that showed Konkatsu Tantei HAD been picked up and fully subbed at some point, and I wasted no time grabbing it!

A fun, lighthearted comedy, Konkatsu Tantei tells the story of a self-professed "hard boiled" detective named Kurosagi  (Osamu Mukai) who goes through his life playing a hard-edged badass, especially in front of his impressionable kohai Yagami (Maeda Oshiro)

However, at night, eating his convenience store bentos alone, Kurosagi feels the void of not having a significant other to share things with. And when a bright billboard advertising a MARRIAGE MATCHING consulting company shines from across the way, he takes it as a sign that it's time to act!

Kurosagi is nervous about being in such a place and many times thinks of leaving. but before he can, he is met by the positive and energetic Madoka Kido (Riko Narumi), a gung-ho matchmaker who truly believes she can help anyone find their fateful marriage partner, and ASSURES him there is someone for HIM as well!!

 And so, despite his reservations, Kurosagi dives in headfirst, into the ups and downs of potential marriage matching with the guidance of his intrepid counselor Kido so he can meet the "one" and settle down!

A fairly basic plot but so much FUN and WOW, the guest stars appearing as Kurosagi's possible partners are ALL stunning beauties in their own right! Actresses like Akane Hotta (here as a shy and mousey type)-

Aimi Satsukawa, genki as ever

Maho Nonami 

Yui Ichikawa

...and even the bubbly Miwako Kakei among others, all of them seeking the man of their dreams!

Each of Kurosagi's attempts gets varied results and he usually ends up striking out for ONE reason or another, but Kido is always there to encourage and support him! In FACT, we soon quickly realize that SHE might be better than ANY of the actual clients she's matching him with!

Kurosagi's personal life outside of the marriage matchmaking game is filled with beauties as well, with women like his former partner's surly daughter Shinna (played by the pretty Natsumi Okamoto) who drops in to bug him.

...or even the bartender Kurano who works at the bar Kurosagi frequents (and who seems to have a fixation on him as well), played by Manami Hashimoto:

Seems like this guy is just SURROUNDED by babes of ALL walks of life! If ONLY he could get lucky and actually end up MARRYING one of them!

Aw, this was one heckuva entertaining little drama and I'm glad I was finally able to see it!

Pretty Proofreader, Dictionary Version: Elaiza Ikeda in "Fune wo Amu"

Elaiza Ikeda in "Fune wo Amu"

 As you all know, I’m a huge fan of the 2016 Satomi Ishihara drama “Jimi Ni Sugoi~Koetsu Garu Kono Etsuko", the story of a fashion-conscious girl trying to get job at a Fashion Magazine where she is abruptly put into the publisher’s proofreading section instead. Though miffed and overwhelmed, the young lass will soon find she has a flair for the job and actually shine in it, using her skills not only in work, but life and love!

Below: Satomi Ishihara in Jimi Ni Sugoi:

And now we have the new drama “Fune wo Amu: Watashi, Jisho Tsukurimasu”, a drama starring Elaiza Ikeda as a fashion-conscious girl working for a Fashion Magazine, who gets abruptly moved to another of the publishers’ departments, this time the Dictionary section!

Ikeda as Midori Kishibe, Fashion Magazine designer...but not for long!

With the advent of digital media, more and more physical outlets are dying and their magazine is yet another to be axed. But not to worry, says her supervisor (Ayumi Ito)...for she has a NEW department position set-up for her to go to...

Venturing into her new home: The DICTIONARY department of the publishing house!

This is NOT a place for a hip and stylish girl like herself! There MUST be a mistake, she thinks...but NO, this is the place!

Meeting her new supervisor Majime (Yojiro Noda)

...as well as the rest of the team: Sasaki (Makiko Watanabe) and Tendo (Maeda Oshiro)

A brief description of the job...

Getting her first realization of how much words play in life.

Meeting the many people who are working on the dictionary and cooperating to make THEIR new dictionary a reality...

Midori feeling out of place and out of her depth!

Being reassured by Majime that she DOES have the talent to work in their department.

Slowly delving into the thick tomes and for the first time getting enlightened by the words and descriptions within....

Growing every day at her desk and learning more and more til words become a part of her life!

When I read the synopsis for Fune wo Amu, it was SO similar to the premise of  Jimi Ni Sugoi, that I initially wrote it off as a copy and made no real plans to watch it. But I do love actress Elaiza Ikeda a lot and so, when several subbing teams picked up the show, felt I should at LEAST check it out once!

Well, sure enough, there are identical elements that are hard to deny- the “fish out of water” element of the stylish gal suddenly thrown into the stark and rigid department of editing, the stern but compassionate guidance of the elders in the section, the slow realization of the importance of the job, and the inevitable use of the skills in her own life, etc. 

When the details of the actual job is talked about, the text of the subject appears onscreen for the viewer to understand, much like Jimi ni Sugoi did...

Heck they even stop the show for a “fashion check” montage, a harkening back that made me wonder if the show was giving an actual WINK to the Satomi Ishihara series!

In any case, I enjoy the show well enough and, my GOSH, Elaiza is so darn PRETTY in this that I know I’ll be QUITE happy to wile away the days here!

Elaiza goodness aside, should be an interesting one and eager to see more!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com