Ore No Ie No Hanashi

 As some of you may know, I am a HUGE fan of the 2007 rakugo based drama “Tiger And Dragon, and when I read that the same Director (Fuminori Kaneko) and Cast (Nagase Tomoya, Nishida Toshiyuki, Arakawa Yosi, etc) were going to be in a new drama Ore No Ie No Hanashi, I couldn’t wait to see it....

Basic storyline is that Pro Wrestler (Nagase) comes from an established family of NOH players, one of which he had long since abandoned. He gives up his career when he hears his father (Nishida) is ailing and prepared to take over the family legacy. But with a fussy father, grumpy siblings  and a suspicious  caretaker (Erika Toda) seemingly  interested in his father for his inheritance, he has his hands full....

So far I can't say I've been overly thrilled by this drama... Far from the fun premise of a Pro Wrestler becoming a NOH performer, this is filled with a lot of morose moments and draggy plot points..Hope the show picks up soon!

More J-Drama Catching Up To Do!!

Besides Sakurako there are a handful of other older dramas that I’ dusted off and began watching this past week, all to varying degrees of success!

Code Blue
As a huge Yui Aragaki fan it has always bothered me that I haven’t seen the Code blue series as it’s one of her more popular titles- Well, with THREE seasons to it as well as a bunch of specials I certainly have a lot to catch up with!

Quite happy to report that the drama DOES life up to the hype- VERY charged and emotional scenarios the characters go through, and you end up caring about each one.

Ina a way, it reminds me of the classic drama “Kagayaku Toki No Naka De~ A Time To Shine” where the young doctors learn firsthand how unkind and brutal life can be, and you are right there with them as they go through their heartbreaks as well as their hard-earned triumphs.

HERO

My love for Keiko Kitagawa was what propelled me to watch the sequel of this drama, HERO2, and it’s only now that I’m getting around to watching the first one which, though it doesn’t feature Keiko in it, is as spirited as the latter!

Was kind of surprised ALL of the cast is different, since it’s supposed to be the same office. No Yo Yoshida here (one of my fave characters in the sequel), but we DO get a very sexy Nene Otsuka, and of course Matsu is great as the addled Maiko Amemiya.
Another drama I really like.

Puzzle

Another early Satomi Ishihara drama that, like Reinoryokusha Odagiri Kyoko No Uso, showcases Satomi’s early talent for the fun and slapstick!
Satomi plays Misako Ayukawa, a two-faced Teacher who seems like a kind and dedicated teacher to the faculty, community, and parents, but reveals her greedy, selfish and manipulative side to her poor students!

 Students Shinichi, Akira, and Yoshio would love to spend their weekends doing what they want, but always end up tangled up in yet another treasure-hunting situation with their money-hungry instructor!

I love how Satomi really throws herself into these kooky characters, ya just gotta love her! 

Hanayome To Papa

Also finished up Satomi’s early drama “Hanayome To Papa” which was JUST as much fun!

 As usual Satomi was her usual precocious little self, so funny to think that when she started out in Kimi Wa Petto she was so dour and introverted!

 This story of the strict father with an overprotected daughter reminded me not just a little of the Mitsuki Takahata drama

Itazura Na Kiss

 Started watching this years and years ago and finally decided to finish it up. I love Aiko Sato to death, but HOLY TOLEDO, was her character Kotoko ANNOYING as HECK!!

For the first three or four episodes I was entertained because of the show’s wackiness, but I began to see that despite the show’s intentions of showing her as a klutzy but kind-hearted girl, Kotoko was an actual menace to poor Naoki, systematically destroying his life! And yet I’m supposed to believe he falls in love with her? Naw, dog.

 I WILL say a couple of interesting things about the show, one of them being pretty Majyu Ozawa in a VERY early role as the “bitchy” girlfriend of Naoki…

 …as well as one of the FIRST drama appearances of Yukie Nakama as one of Maju’s cohorts!

Who would ever guess that the actress playing the least important character in the show would go on to become one of the biggest stars in Japan!

Itsumo Futari De

And speaking of annoying characters, we have Takako Matsu in an admittedly very cute role as a country bumkpin named Mizuho who, under the impression she has been selected as a new novelist for a publishing company, moves to the big city where she finds she has been swindled and has no place to stay!

After being rejected by her girl friends who have no space or inclination of putting her up, goes to mooch off her childhood friend Kenta (Kenji Sakaguchi). The hapless guy is already dealing with his brother and his girlfriend living off him, and suddenly he has a THIRD person to support. She turns his world upside down with her meddling, but when it gets to the point where Mizuho is LECTURING Kenta about sticking up for himself and not letting others take advantage of him, I was like “Are you kidding me with this drama???”

Oishii Proposal

Have to say out of all the dramas on this list, this is the one I'm having the hardest time getting through...

Regatta

Another old drama I began watching but never finished. Have to say it was quite a cliche-filled slog to get through, about a kayaker who drops the sport when his best friend gets killed, but is encouraged to resume it when he meets up again with his unrequited love, team captain Misao (Aibu Saki).

All the usual tropes of love denial over and over til- SURPRISE-they get together… Did not warm up to any of the characters- Really the only one I cared about was Chiko, the kogal girlfriend of Mokomichi whom you just KNEW was gonna get the shaft when he began working with Aibu Saki again, and sure enough, that’s just what happened.

Too bad, she was such a sweet character!

0 Goshitsu no Kyaku 

A magical Hotel room where one can go to find out ones true worth! Only by lottery can one get a chance to book the room and use its mysterious DNA analyzer to find an actual number ranking of your value...but will it enlighten ...or hinder? A Johnny's vehicle starring a whole smorgasbord of Jimusho Joes. 
A Pretty Fun one!!

Mukudono!

he story of a mega rock star named Yuichiro (Tomoya Nagase) who proposes to a small town girl named Sakura (Yuko Takeuchi in another adorable role) and the trials and tribulations they go through to achieve their dream of marriage, this was one CHOCK-FULL drama simply LOADED with stars! 

Besides Nagase and Taekuchi you had Kumiko Akiyoshi, Anju Suzuki, and Ryoko Shinohara as her sisters, Aiba Masaki as a nephew, Ken Utsui as her father,

Narita Rikon

I was just getting into Yumi Matsutoya when her song “Sunny day Holiday” was released, and when I found out it was the theme song for the new drama Narita Rikon, I really wanted to see it!

Alas, I wasn’t able to see it on the local Japanese channels and so for the longest time the only thing I was able to see was a spoof they did on SMAPxSMAP, with Tsuyoshi and Hiroshi Abe playing their characters…and Shingo Katori playing the role of Asaka Seto! Would I ever be able to see it?! WELL!

Thanks to the folks at RareDoramas, I am FINALLY able to watch it, and oh my GOSH, it is TERRIFIC! VERY witty, fast paced and fun,with an absolutely SCENE STEALING duo of Hiroshi Abe and Eri Fukatsu as friends who, while outwardly trying to help the divorcing couple, are both secretly delighted because THEY want to go out with the respective divorcees!

 What's a struggling couple to do???

You know, I never quite “got” Eri Fukatsu until now (though I’ve liked her in so many dramas)…She’s SO cute as the mousey Reiko…really crush-worthy material here!!

Love, Love LOVED this drama!!

Okay, back to more J-drama watching….

Posted by zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Ren Osugi 1951-2018

Sad to hear of the passing of Ren Osugi...he was one VERY prolific actor but my favorite role of his just HAS to be Nagase Tomoya's stalwart butler Kuroi in My Boss My Hero! 

That was the first really likeable character I'd seen him in (prior to that he always seemed to play such curmudgeon-y guys) but I loved him in this, and he was to star in many more great roles after that! He'll be missed!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Crush of The Day: Riho Yoshioka

Man, Riho is so darn sweet in the Nagase Tomoya drama Gomen Aishiteru that I knew it was only a matter of time 'til I fell madly in love with her, and at episode 6, it is finally official! Like Ritsu Okazaki, it didn't take long for her charms to work its spell on me!

Her character of Rinka Mita is so warm, cuddly and vulnerable that I felt my heart tugging from the first episode, and as they begin showing her in more romantic-type situations, its only grown bigger!

I think I mentioned this before, but when I first started liking Fumino Kimura, I regarded her as the “new Masami Nagasawa” and nowadays I find myself regarding Riho Yoshioka as “the new Fumino Kimura”, LOL! Not that they LOOK so very much like each other, but more in that smart, sensible and thoughtful persona that is a far cry from the haughty and blustery babes of the week. A personality I will always gravitate towards.

When I’m watching Gomen Aishiteru and my heart is all a-flutter watching Riho in action, I still can’t quite believe this is the same girl who played Ayaka Tamura in Lady Da Vinci’s. Her character was so twitchy and exasperated (a by-product, certainly, of being Yo Yoshida’s underling who had to run around doing all her errands) I could only see her as a character actress. Little did I know that with just a little change in her body language and behavior (and, admittedly, a bit of makeup as well), she could change her whole personality into a totally different thing, a capable and vulnerable girl.

Such was her chameleon-like way of changing her entire aura into something other than that mousey girl in Lady Da Vinci that I didn’t recognize her in either Gomen Aishiteru or her turn as the weaselly backstabber Arisu Kisugi in the excellent QUARTET! This was one girl who could seemingly play any type of role!

Now obsessed, I HAD to go online and look up pictures of Riho. didn’t know quite where she came from, but I wasn't prepared to find that she was not only a bikini model, but a very luscious and busty one, at that! WHAT!!!! I. Would. NEVER. have. DREAMED IT!!!!

This bookish, sensible girl was this same curvy and dreamy figure posing so provocatively in the pages of the Weeklies???? WHODATHUNK IT!!!! 

Oh RIHO!!! You’re just BLOWING MY MIND HERE!!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com