Crush Of The Day: Sakurako Ohara

 Oh boy after my gush of ongoing drama  Tsumari Suki tte iitai n Dakedo, I bet a few of you already figured THIS one was coming, and after three fun episodes, adorable Sakurako Ohara is officially this week’s Crush Of The Day!!!

Like I mentioned before, I LOVE when the main girl character is given lots of pretty and fashionable clothes to wear, in particular I LOVE the very flowery and feminine style she’s been given- so GIRLY!!! And those looks! Those EXPRESSIONS!!!

Tellin' ya, this girl is knocking it out of the park each week!!!

Below: Sakurako reading that she has become my latest Crush Of The Day!

Even when down to a DISDAINFUL look she's still fetching as all get out!

So many of these screencaps were contenders for the lead-in post picture, had to do quite a bit of hemming and hawing!

Just too many great ones to choose from, I could NOT STOP screencapping!!

 I first fell in love with Sakurako through the wacky Bishonure Tantei Mizuno Hagoromo and as then and in THIS drama, her great comedic chops shine through!! She's simply a darling here!

To date I’ve seen three dramas proper starring Sakurako, including Tsumari Sukitte Iitain Dakedo, Bishonure Tantei Mizuno Hagoromo, and Piple: AI to Kekkon Seikatsu Hajimemashita...

...also small roles and guest spots in dramas like  Ano ko no Yume wo Mitan Desu, Sukina Hito ga Iru Koto, and even her first role in the Satoshi Ohno drama Shinigami-kun! Though the latter I remembered her not at ALL and had to re-watch it to see who she was!

LOL, look how young she is here!!!!!

Sakurako seems well on her way to becoming one of the fantastic new wave of actresses including Nana Mori, Tuka Koshiba, Minami Hamabe…one of these days, they’re going to be the current bunch of stars!

PS: I wonder: Is Sakurako part of Airi Matsui’s agency? Not only are they both appearing in this drama together, but Sakurako’s whole makeup and styling seems SO SIMILAR to Airi’s!! )See above pic) There were several times when I was watching Tsumari Sukitte Iitain Dakedo that I thought, ‘"Huh, she looks JUST like Airi!!!” 

EDIT: Ok, they’re not. Sakurako is on Victor and Airi is on Amuse. Though Amuse and Victor DID collaborate on a venture….

The Adorable Sakurako Ohara Charms Again in “Tsumari Sukitte iitai n Dakedo”

 Having already fallen in love with adorable Sakurako Ohara in her hilarious “Bishonure Tantei Mizuno Hagoromo” series, I was eager to see her in more roles, and here we have her in her very first proper rom-com “Tsumari Suki tte iitai n Dakedo” along with actor Kaito Sakurai!

Chitose Saejima (Ohara) is a grade-school teacher who absolutely hates lying, so much so that when a student tricks another student with deception, she scolds him sternly enough to cause her to lose her job!

Come to find out Chitose has a deep-seated hatred of lying because she was bullied by a kid in her early school years, a boy who would take advantage of her gullible nature and trick her into things like showing up for school in her gym clothes, etc. Since then she cannot stop herself when she sees lying!

 Having just lost her job, she comes home to find that she is being evicted from her apartment as well!  Thus,  with the threat of losing her job AND place to live, Chitose gets ready to go out for job interviews. 

But fate steps in that very morning when, after a few rejected interviews, she finds a lost phone. When it rings, she tentatively answers it, where a man named Higashiyama tells her to please drop it off at a TV studio nearby.

She enters the studio and is looking for Higashiyama when she is stopped by a kakkoi but rather blunt and rude young man who tells her she can’t go in as it’s restricted. They tussle over the phone and, as most romcoms do, they end up entwined on the ground in an embrace!

Shrugging off the ordeal, Chitose finds the man who lost his phone, and she learns that this Higashiyama (Masahiko Nishimura) is a producer of television shows. He is forever grateful that she returned his phone and though she doesn’t want any reward, she does accept a tasty-looking bento the staff is passing out.

After eating the yummy meal, she is once again met with the cocky young man from earlier, and she is to find that he’s quite a big star. His name is Sena Fujishiro (Kaito Sakurai), and he treats her with the same arrogance as before…but he seems entertained by her as well!

Higashiyama notices this, and when he finds Chitose’s resume, the very next day, he calls her up to make her an offer!!

The baffled Chitose doesn’t know WHAT the offer could be, but is unprepared when she meets with him and finds it is to be Fujishiro's MANAGER! 

WHAT! Chitose has NO experience in such things and vehemently refuses, but is convinced by the charismatic Higashiyama to give it a go- She can always quit if it doesn’t suit her later on, and in the meantime, she can pay her bills and keep her apartment! Reluctantly, Chitose agrees to give it a trial-run.

Thus the former grade school teacher becomes an actor’s manager-but it certainly won’t be easy! From his aloof attitude and womanizing personal life (with a different lover each morning!) , everything Fujishiro does seems to rub Chitose the wrong way…

Everything, that is, except when it comes to his acting. Somehow, whenever he is on camera, she absolutely believes everything he’s saying, whether it be pitching desserts or an emotional role on a TV drama, her heart just swells! 

Somehow between being irritated by Fujishiro and being captivated by him, she's able to keep her head above water and make a go at this managing thing!  It's enough to drive a girl crazy (as she complains over beers with her best friend Miku (Ruka Ishikawa)...But there’s a secret about Fujishiro that Chitose doesn’t yet realize (though I’ll bet you’ve probably guessed what it is) which will make their relationship even harder!

Oh MAN, I have never seen Sakurako so beautiful and VIBRANT!!! She simply SHINES in the role of the affably clueless Chitose Saejima, and though this drama is about as basic a plot as could be, she is charming to the nth degree... 

...and HEY, in a drama that ALSO features former Crush Of The Day Alumni such as Eriko Sato (as Machiko Hara, part of the management staff) and pretty Airi Matsui (as fellow actress Ayumi Kurio), this show is basically a MUST WATCH for me!

PS: Oh, and, JUST like her drama Bishonure Tantei Mizuno Hagoromo, Sakurako sings and performs the ending song “Poppin’ Love”  herself! 

Guess that’s the bonus of being a singer as well as an actress! Gotta love it!!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com