I was first introduced to Tomoka Kurokawa in the Mitsuki Tanimura drama CAT STREET. With her cute portrayal of insecure gothic lolita Noda Momiji, I remember wishing the show had devoted more time to her than the main story, but when you’re watching an ensemble cast show with only 6 episodes, you take what you can get!
Watching Tomoka go through her scenes with her adorable face and totally “girly-girl” disposition, I couldn’t help but feel that I’d seen her in some other shows before becasue she had SUCH a "familiar" face.... (In fact, she reminded me a LOT of Maiko Kikuchi in the old asadora Futarikko) But going onto the mighty Dramawiki site, I was to see that though she’d appeared in a ton of dramas and I’d even heard of most of them, Cat Street was the only thing I’d seen her in!
While browsing around on one of the j-drqma sites I regularly visit, I downloaded a short TV Asahi Special that sounded interesting called KANOJO TO NO TADASHI ASOBIKATA. The story centers around a girl named Yuna and boy named Takeshi who have an interesting game going on between them, started when they were mere grade-schoolers: She pretends to be a princess, and he has to pretend to be her servant. During school time, they’ll behave like normal students, but once school is over, the game is in effect! This will go on until someone discovers what they’re up to, and as the two make their way towards graduation it becomes harder and harder to keep up the contest!
What a fun premise! I watched that show just as soon as I finished downloading it, and was PLEASANTLY SURPRISED to find that the actress who played the main girl Yuna was none other than the super-sweetie herself, Tomoka Kurokawa! Costarring Hiro Mizushima as the forever befuddled Takeshi, the show even made a cute nod to CAT STREET by having Mitsuki Tanimura in a small but revealing cameo!
This show (Drama? Special?) is the one that really did it for me and pushed Tomoka Kurokawa from a passing fancy to a true "Crush" as I can't get her out of my head! The character of Yuna in Kanojo to no Tadashi Asobikata is such a great one- at first seemingly perfect and conceited, little by little, as she and Takeshi go through the motions at school and outside, you see how awkward and insecure she is about herself- moreover, you see just how much she really loves this guy. MAN! Tomoka really SOLD ME!!!!
Aw, with all those Tomoka dramas out there, I’ve really gotta get around to ACQUIRING some of them! Hmmm, I see that she’s appeared in the Takenouchi Yutaka/Kanno Miho drama TOMORROW…that’s one I’ve been meaning to watch anyway so maybe it’s high time I checked that one out, ne? AHAHAHA…Time for more Tomoka-chan!
BTW: When my friends and I would draw comics and stories for our school fanzines and such, I would always draw my girls with very distinct features. Occasionally, we’d come across girls in real life with these features, and my friends would say, “Man, that girl looks like you drew her!” Well, Tomoka Kurokawa is in fact, another one of those girls that fits into that category!
EDIT: Well, looks like the next Tomoka Kurokawa drama I'll be watching is the highly wacky MENTANTEI CONAN specials which has the added bonus of featuring not only Tomoka but pretty Mayuko Iwasa as well! Yep, I'm enjoying this one!
