Yuki Amami Hits The Stage in 'Kaeru No Ojousama"

Kaeru No Ojousama tells the story of a self-proclaimed “Big Time Chorus Line Star” named Kurasaka Mio, living in New York, but when she finds her offers dwindling, she accepts a job requested by her old teacher Kanae Mori ( Akiko Kuno) back in her hometown to perform there onstage for an event.

When she gets there, however, she finds that the high profile gig she’s expecting isn’t what it seems. The performance stage is simply the old music building she once performed at as a younger girl, and the performers she’s going to be teaching are, far from the professionals she’s used to dealing with, simply a bunch of housewives and "mommy" singers! 

Come to find out that there is a reason Mori wants this performance to work: it seems the corrupt mayor of the town has accepted a merger between towns which will fill his coffers with money…but the main part of the deal is that they will destroy the old music hall and build a garbage processing plant there. With Amami’s help, Mori hopes to revitalize the town’s musical community, save the music building, and interest young people to move into their dying town.

 Mio had her work cut out for herself, as the women she’s working with are inexperienced, distracted and busy with their “regular” lifestyles of taking care of husbands, household chores and children. But the biggest obstacle Yuka has to deal with is working with Chuko Isaka (Yuriko Ishida).

Chuko’s been the leader of the Chansons since the old days and has a sound idea of what kind of music and image they should be performing. She wants the group to succeed, but doesn’t think that the way the loudmouthed, bossy and condescending Kurasaka’s ways are the way to go. And so the two become the groups’ figureheads, arch-rivals in the way things should be done!

After a few days, A frustrated Mio is ready to give up and “go back where she came from”…when she gets a bunch of boxes from her agency. In it are all of her stage outfits and garments…and a letter telling her she has been LET GO from her company! Yes, Yuki has been FIRED, and her heart sinks when she sees that THIS job in town is the only thing she has!

Realizing that whipping this motley group of singers into shape might be the only chance to her getting back her old job, Yuki turns serious and makes it her #1 goal to transform these ladies into successes, and the idea she has is to change their drag choir-like routine into something more dazzling: CHORUS LINE style!

Ah, such a hilarious show, very touching, and MAN, the songs the girls sing are SO darn catchy! From poppy dancey renditions of Kome Kome Club’s “Roman Hikou” to Momoe Yamaguchi’s “Flashback”, this drama is a regular Japanese GLEE production!

A fun, wacky and packed-full-of-catchy melodies...and the characters are so great, too! 
Yuki Amami as Mio Kurasaka might as well been based on Yuki’s real life, as part of the legendary Takarazuka Revue, Yuki was internationally known for her amazing performances onstage, maybe that’s why her portrayal of Mio is so realistic and her stories of the struggles to make it resound so true!

Yuriko Ishida, who is amazing at playing both dazzling beauties and mousey wallflowers mixes a little bit of both for her portrayal of Chujo Isaka, a very prim and proper woman (I always laugh when Mio disses her and calls her “Class Prez”) and the feminine, flowery dresses and outfits she wears make her looks so scrumptious!

It’s hard to be playing the striaght arrow character against the manic Yuki Amami character, but she does it well and you just know they’re gonna be friends in the end!

We have Chiba Yudai as a gay teenager Shinobu Takagaki who is happy to find an outlet for his singing as well as friend who accept him as he is. Bullied at work and made fun of, he gets encouragement from Kurasaka’s teaching (well, more like Mio’s tough-love scolding) to stand up for himself against his harassers.

Very cute Mika Kikuchi plays the adorable Tamako Minagawa, Man, Mika is so cute in this drama- she reminds me SO MUCH of Megumi Yokoyama back in the day; like a nervous chihuahua you just want to pinch and tease! Have I ever seen this cutie in anything before???

Even though I saw that the “Yankee” character of Minami Haneda could really sing, it still took me for a loop when I found out she was played by singer Miho Fukuhara, the pretty girl who belted out the classic “Love~Winter Song”, from the drama SCANDAL years ago. I REALLY loved that song and NEVER would have guessed this Thug-Like tomboy was the same lady!!!

Obviously cast as the group’s comedy relief, I found that I really grew to like Yoko Oshima’s character of Baba Mizore. mostly because, while someone like Yuki Amami or Yuriko Ishida could conceivably make it as a star, it’s far more believable when she says she’s embarrassed to go out onstage and dance, afraid to be laughed at, and when we see her huffing and puffing while her kids tease her, it really makes you like her determination!!

Tetsuji Tamayama plays a grumpy factory worker named Kazuki Inui who wants nothing to do with the music business. But Takagaki assures Mio that this guy used to be a huge star in town as the Marilyn-Manson type act Dr. Kill. Had a hard time imagining him singing with the ladies til they showed him in his glam guise.

There was this EXTREMELY funny scene where Inui, telling Mio to beat it, grunts, “Go do your line dancing with your leg kicking high”, and she actually does it- shoots out her long leg AND KICKS THE CIGARETTE out of HIS MOUTH! Oh my GOD, I just died with laughter!!!

Nana Katase is pretty famous for starring as these growling sexy man-eater type women, and she doesn’t disappoint here! Despite  being in the room with a ton of other beautiful gals, Nana still stands out as the SEXY girl who I drooled for in dramas like Onna Michi, Arakawa Under The Bridge, Pro Golfer Hana and Last Christmas! Still VERY YUMMY here!

All the characters are awesome in their roles, but the true heart of this show HAS to be Yuko Oshima, that adorable girl who's been winning me over left and right lately!

 As Mahiru Nonomura, she is the one who truly believes in both Chuko’s dream of the Chansons  reaching stardom, as well as completely accepting the harsh, brutal teachings of Mio to transform her into someone better.

She is the one whom you put your feelings in, as the humble, looked-down upon girl who is desperately searching to find herself in the world. She looks up to Mio as the one who can she her the way, and it’s the scenes with Mio and Mahiru as my favorites.

Such a great show and I’ve already burned through 3 episodes in one sitting, and after I finish with this post, gonna go back for more! Hmmm, The Chanson’s “Roman Hikou” is still running through my mind…I see Kaeru No Ojousama released a CD of their music…gotta see if I can get it somehow!

PS: As a HUGE fan of the Jonathan Larson musical RENT, I knew I would love this drama right off when it opened with Yuki Amami onstage singing “Take Me Or Leave Me’" as (my favorite RENT character) Maureen!!!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com