Dr. Asura おわり

Wakana Matsumoto in "Dr. Asura"

 The “Medical Drama with the Genius Surgeon” is surely one of Japan’s most enduring and popular tropes and follow such an unwavering formula that many episodes could be interchanges between shows with nary a hitch!

Despite their similarities, there are some medical dramas which strike me as mundane-and others which dazzle me and keep me on the edge of my seat, and I’ve concluded that it all comes down to the charisma and passion of the actor/actress/team who are are playing the lead role(s). It’s THEY who are responsible for my interest and involvement with the stories, and so it was with Wakana Matsumoto as the titular character and the terrific ensemble cast in the highly entertaining DR. ASURA, which kept the show as a “must see” for me this season!

From its first episode all the way to its very intriguing last, this drama kept me thoroughly entertained, holding my breath through its intense operating sequences and wiping away the tears during some of its more touching and inspiring passages!! 

Wakana Matsumoto has moved WAY up on my list of favorite actresses, and I'll definitely be keeping a lookout for what projects she decides to do next!!

Wakana Matsumoto is "Dr. Asura"

Generally speaking from my limited observations, J-drama medical series tend to fall into two camps: one where the show is more grounded in real-life (so to speak) where it’s mostly about gifted surgeons with a strong sense of doing what is right, (think shows like Radiation House, Fragile, Lady Davinci no Shindan, Unnatural, etc), and then there are the ones which feel more like sci/fi super-hero thrillers, with quirky physicians boasting almost superhuman medical abilities (Get Ready, Dr. White, even the charming Doctor Chocolate)...

And now we have the spirited “Dr. Asura” which seems to be mostly of the latter style, featuring the brooding Shura Anno (played with deadpan delivery by the svelte Wakana Matsumoto) who has an almost preternatural sense when it comes to the patients she sees in the Emergency Room of a struggling Hospital!

She can sense any malady a patient may have- simply by sight, smell and/or their actions and she even knows when a new admission is on its way even before the telephone can ring! And her skills in almost any field of surgery is unsurpassed- even performing TWO operations at ONCE!

Dealing with the injured at the scene of a horrific accident along with her newbie subordinate Yakushiji (Masaya Sano), they must think on their feet as they meet unexpected challenges...

Beautiful, calculated and always cool, in the end, the obsessed Dr. Asura and her team always gets the job done! But there is a dark past fueling Anno's determination, and the operating room victories are always bittersweet. Thanks are rarely given and indeed unwanted. The patient's well being  and recovery is her only desire.

As is natural for ALL Japanese medical dramas though, the real problems aren’t the emergencies that come their way or the complications the patients bring with them, but (of COURSE), those corrupt hospital heads, all crooked and up to (seemingly) no good, and it’s up to Asura Sensei to defy them all! 

Nagisa Katahira

Atsuro Watabe

Seiichi Tanabe (with Worst Haircut of the Season)

Yoshiyoshi Arakawa

Koyuki

Shiro Sano as the big bad hospital director Fudo

Checked this one out for the charismatic Wakana Matsumoto and she’s a real dream in the front seat of this drama- really like her character and despite the show’s many cliches, is somehow quite fun to sit back and watch! Watching Dr. Asura,  it almost seems like they’re setting this series up to be the next generation’s “Doctor X”! 

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

This Season’s Worst (?) Actor

Dog not feeling it.

 As all the dramas of the season slowly work their way towards their conclusions,  there will soon be awards hailing the best shows, the best actors, and best actresses from the quarter. And while there are MANY to vote for in those categories, I have but one contender for WORST actor of the season: Wakana Matsumoto’s DOG in “Saionji-San wa Kaji wo Shinai"!

Saionji: "Riki!"

True, the dog is a small part of her scenes, but in every one he is distracted, spazzy and hyperactive, and I just can’t help but get taken out of the scene as Wakana Matsumoto struggles to do her scenes with him, LOL!

Riki: "Let Me OUTTA Here!!!"

For Example: A usual trope of a pet owner in shows is to have the main character holding the pet’s face in her hands as she talks to him, usually to complain about her day at work, etc....

 but in this scene, “Riki” absolutely won’t stand for having Wakana hold him in one place, much less hold his face in her hands! Very funny to see her finish her conversation with no one in front of her!

In the scene, Saionji san is supposed to having a relaxing walk with a prospective beau Matsuya Onoe , happily chatting away while their dogs walk with them...

 While Onoe’s dog is calmly walking alongside his owner, Riki is making every effort to break away from Wakana and it’s taking all her effort to hold him back!

This was another scene that made me laugh- anyone with a dog knows well the big deal that happens when you arrive home, with the pet showing his happiness and excitement over your return~

In Saionji-san, not only does the dog not jump up with excitement when the family returns home, when the girl calls "Riki, we're home!", he doesn't even look at her when he wakes up, instead immediately looking off-camera to someone off screen!

OKAY, maybe Riki ain't the WORST actor, shall we call him...the most DISTRACTED???

Bet he would win that poll with flying colors! LOLOL

Wakana Matsumoto and Our Nominee

I See What U Did There: Fun with Wakana Matsumoto

Ganbare, Saionji-san!!!

The fun drama "Saionji-san wa Kaji wo Shinai" features the oft-used trope of the "Two People Who Don't Get Along Pretend to be a Couple", with Wakana Matsumoto and Hokuto Matsumura as the respective leads. We're at the point in the drama where Wakana's character (the titular Itsuki Saionji) is desperately fighting her romantic feelings for Kusumi, making it hard for them to work together!

Even working on her computer is a task when the one she's trying NOT to think about sits down right next to her! He still thinks their alliance is a mere transaction but she's slowly falling head over heels for him!

Over beers Itsuki laments to her friends Himari (Kayo Noro) and Yosuke (Takashi Tsukamoto) about her plight. "I cant get him out of my mind!" she sighs, and it's here they suggest she try blind dating to get her mind off Kusumi.

"Yes!!" Itsuki thinks- a new guy to forget about a guy!

WELL, we all knew this point in the drama where she falls for her fake partner was going to happen as ALL dramas using this chestnut have them, however I HAD to LAUGH when, after starting a matchup app and making a date, Itsuki hooks up with her blind date...

...and the guy playing her prospective new boyfriend turns out to be none other than actor Matsuya Onoe!

LOL, As some of you may remember, both he and Wakana were a married couple in the turbulent drama "Yangotonaki Ichizoku", only in THAT one, Wakana's personality was on a TOTALLY DIFFERENT level- Whereas Saionji-san is thoughtful, level headed and kind, Wakana's character of Mihoko Miyama was of a manipulative, selfish and scheming dragon woman, with vitriol aimed not only at poor Tao Tsuchiya, but also her schleppy husband Onoe as well!

So funny to see them in Saionji-San as these shy and nervous blind daters being oh so polite to each other! On the dog walk with Saionji, Onoe's character says, "We Seem Like  Good Match!", oblivious to the fact that in another reality, he was in the Marriage from HELL with her! HAHAHA!

Not that it matters, because after trying a few more of these blind dates, Saionji eventually gives up and admits to herself that she's in love with Kusumi anyway! And of COURSE, we know that Kusumi HIMSELF is secretly falling for HER, too! How THAT will all turn out you can pretty much guess, but I must say I've been really enjoying Saionji San so far nonetheless!

PS: Love these behind the scenes photos with Matsuya Onoe and Wakana, showing that despite how their characters may interact onscreen, how sweet the two really are with each other!

PPS: Must also say again how friggin' CUTE Wakana is here!