Living No Matsunaga-San

 A  girl named Miko Sonoda (Hikaru Takahashi) finds out that her family is moving to another town just as she is about to start her graduation year at high school. Desperate to finish her school semester here with her friends, she moves in to a share house run by her uncle. While there she meets the gruff but reliable Jun Matsunaga ( Kento Nakajima) who, though they get off on the wrong foot,  eventually ends up standing in as her guardian while her parents are away.  In this close living situation, will romance soon follow? Well, what do YOU think, LOL. Seems to be a typical share house drama set-up, but Hikaru Takahashi is her usual adorable self so may be worth tuning in!

Halation Love

I’ve watched episode 1 of the new “Halation Love” and I have to say I'm still not even sure what’s going on!  At first seemingly like a highschool-drama, it quickly became more of a suspense/mystery show. Guess the ecchy green tint should have been my first hint!

Story involves a girl named Akari Miyama working part time at her family's Photography Shop while juggling school.

One day, a quiet and morose man named Kyosuke Asami (Hikaru Takahashi) brings in a very old roll of film which he wants developed. She warns him that when film is old, there can be defects to the negatives, but he gives the go ahead.

After developing it and printing the photos, she is pleased to find they have turned out OK. Additionally, the pictures spark a sense of nostalgia within her and she recognizes some of the places in them!

Meanwhile, at school things are happening, with Akari constantly being hit on by a man named Makita (Kaito Yoshimura), though she shows no interest. She IS shocked, however, by the return of an old childhood friend of hers, a guy named Fujiwara (Hayate Ichinose). Though she's known him her whole life, even he has secrets he may be harboring....

And after all these things have passed, strange things begin happening to Akari, things that she cannot explain. Who may be behind the bizarre events she has no idea.

Ermmm, So yeah, like I said, I really don't know where this one is going. A few more episodes will probably make clearer the plot!

 I’ve liked pretty Hikaru Takahashi her ever since her adorable turn as the quirky cosplaying Akiho Harada in “Takane No Hana” back in 2018, and it’s nice to see her in a lead effort, but I must admit, this drama has so far not really piqued my interest. 

Hopefully it develops as the show goes on….

Your New Honolulu Tour Guide: Hikaru Takahashi!

Though Emi Takei will always be my favorite JTB Campaign Girl, when my friend (who works at JTB ) told me that actress/model Hikaru Takahashi was going to be the new face for the JTBLook campaign, I thought her a worthy successor!!

I haven’t seen Hikaru in all that many things, but readers of this blog may remember, she made quite an impression on me as the sweet and sassy cosplaying princess Akiho in the Satomi Ishihara drama ‘Takane No Hana” this past year!

Hikaru’s looking as cute as can be running around Hawaii’s hot spots...

…and-HEY! That's Cafe Morey's! Why, that's right down the way from my street…Hikaru should call me the next time she drops in and I’ll MEET her there!

With Hikaru making all these trips to Hawaii, I'd best keep my eye out for her whenever I’m out and about...wouldn't want to miss her!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

The “Unattainable High Peak” Satomi Ishihara charms in “Takane No Hana”

Satomi Ishihara is back in the new drama “Takane No Hana” as a pretty girl named Momo Tsukushima. When we first tune in on her, she is in the middle of hurriedly bicycling down to the park…to stalk her ex-fiancé who dumped her on the same day they were married! 

 She is taken away by the police and once she is released, she is picked up via limousine(!) by her mother (Naho Toda) and little sister Nana (Kyoko Yoshine), and we learn that Momo is the daughter of a affluent Ikebana Family. Mother tells Momo to consider her image in the eye of the public but all Momo can remark is that she has to pick up her bicycle, still at the site of her arrest. 

Once she gets to her bike, however, she flees from the family, pedaling off in frustration…til she runs into another bicyclist- causing her to veer off the path…and into the river!

This brings her in contact with a gentle lad named Naoto Kazama (Actor-Musician Kazunobu Mineta). He runs a small Bicycle repair shop along with a genki cosplaying girl named Akiho (played by the adorable Hikaru Takahashi) where he spends the days playing shoji on his phone and taking care of his elderly mother (Yukiyo Toake).

He certainly doesn’t know what to make of this bossy girl who appears at his shop with a destroyed bicycle and a dress covered in mud, but she is a customer and thus he listens to her demands of fixing her bike, getting her some clean clothes and water to rinse off with. 

 Changing out of the muddy clothes, a defeated Momo wonders how she ever got into such a situation.

 The next day, she is woken by sister Nana where they discuss the latest problem threatening the Ikebana Family- there is a new hot-shot Flower Arranger in town named Ryuichi Utsunomiya (Chiba Yudai), who is using garish methods of ikebana to scoop up all the new hopefuls and steal all the business from other arrangers. 

Momo is called up to the house by her father, the patriarch of the Tsukushima Ikebana School, Ichimatsu Tsukushima (Fumiyo Kohinata), where she expects to be chided for her stalker arrest the other day, but rather, father tells her that he knows how hurt she was when her fiancé dumped her at the altar, and suggests the only way to reset her heart is to take some time off and dabble in a relationship that is a bit more frivolous and low-key…(you can see where this is going) Momo doesn’t think something like this is practical, but Father says she should try it and only then will she know if what she felt in the first place was true love.

The next day Momo returns to check up on the condition of her bicycle and she finds that not only has Naoto’s mother passed away, but he is in the middle of an omiai!!!

Later they defer to the neighborhood bar where Naoto’s friends hang out. They poke fun at Naoto’s omiai, and while on the subject of beauty, rank Momo a 4…and mistakenly believe she is a hostess at a cabaclub! Momo takes this in stride, even mocking a sweet voice, saying, I’ll make sure you get a free bottle of champagne when you drop by! LOL 

Meanwhile things are brewing with the Flamboyant Flower Arranger Utsunomiya, who has requested a meeting with Momo’s Father and Mother. They are stunned when he reveals that he is not there to challenge them but instead make a suggestion of alliance…though marriage! But which daughter does he favor? 

The next day Momo is back at Naoto’s, and after some time slaving away at it, her bicycle is as good as new! 

They go to the bar afterwards, and through some serious chatter, Momo finally confides her problems. She reveals that the reason her fiancé dumped her is because he found out his ex got pregnant and couldn’t abandon her. Though frustrated, she admits that it was the only solution if it was going to be between her or getting rid of the pregnancy. But she just cannot get over him! Naoto explains to her that only a good woman would love someone she should hate, and they all agree.

Cheered up, Momo joins them in a marathon drinking-karaoke session til she finally passes out! The next day she is awoken to a humble, traditional Japanese breakfast and Naoto tells her his omiai got rejected! The two laugh it over, and Momo realises she sees something in Naoto- this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!

 Awwww yisss, Our Satomi is back in action!!! People online have already been complaining that the storyline for Takane No Hana seems entirely cliched, but so what? When you get right down to it, all I want to see is an enjoyable rom-com to relax with, and Satomi is totally in her element here, looking as beautiful as ever, in the prettiest of outfits, tossing that hair around and flashing that smile like nobody’s business!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com