Undead And Loving It: My Undead Yokai Girlfriend

Been blazing through the wacky and totally zany Amazon Prime drama series “Boku no Itoshii Yokai Girlfriend”, the story of a hapless gaming dork who summons a youkai from another dimension to be his girlfriend and then has to deal with the fallout as she binds herself to this plane and begins executing the gods who have imprisoned her.

Starring actor Hayato Sano (last seen by me as the humble Manabu Taira in “Trillion Game”) as the unwitting college student Takashi Inukai, this is a guy who'd do ANYTHING for a girlfriend...enough so that when his buddy Tanuki (Anthony) finds a supposed ritual online to supposedly summon some sexy goddess to him, he leaps at the chance!

Haphazardly performing the seance by night according to the vague instructions on the web, he doesn't REALLY think this thing could work...

...but is shocked out of his mind when the next day, a portal opens up in the sky and a commanding warrior woman steps out from the time rip to confront him!

She is IZUNA (Ai Yoshikawa) , a yokai who has travelled across time to this timeline and, as her 
summoner", immediately announces she must "consummate" their bond with him so she can anchor herself to this reality!

Though Tadashi finds this demonic woman attractive indeed, he's too chicken and nervous to pursue any hanky-panky with her, and ultimately thinks it best if h left this girl alone to her devices! But no matter WHAT, Izzy continues to show up in front of him, in school, in his room, at parties....Tadashi has to wonder just WHAT he's gotten himself IN to!

Though Tadashi is the main character of the show, the real star HAS to be the vibrant Ai Yoshikawa as the bloodthirsty demon yokai Izuna “Izzy” Imiki! WOW, Ai really shines here and it’s just fantastic to watch her go through the ropes, seducing her hapless mortal boyfriend, slaying the undead opponents as they appear…and still managing to go on dates and experience the wonderful foods of this time!

Watching her drink Coca-Cola for the first time or experiencing a sugary crepe, there are times Tadashi feels like she could be a regular, human girl suitable for dating....

...But then he'll come home and find her showing off the severed head of her latest KILL!

!!! Things have GOT to change!!!!

LOLOL, Clearly a very lowbrow comedy, I’m actually surprised how many BIG names are attached to this drama, not least Takashi Sorimachi (!) as the detective in charge of investigating Izzy's strange murders…not only is he determined, but we will find that he's also Takashi’s FATHER!

Also featuring Anna Ishii as Sorimachi’s goofy assistant, Nico Suzuki, a real "comedy relief" character if there ever was one! Ishii looks like she's having a BALL here!

We also have Naoto Takenaka as a mysterious billionaire who may have descended from the same demons plaguing Izzy...also Yukiya Kitamura and Yoshihiko Hakayamada as his sinister agents.

Another actress I really love is Yuna Taira, here as an occult specialist named Arisa Renjo. She helps out the boys as they go about the sticky business of taming their resident yokai!

She's very helpful...though it seems even SHE has secrets no one can know about....We'll have to wait to find out more!

Like I said, this drama is off the rails with silliness, yet I just couldn’t stop watching it! As it's an Amazon Prime series, the whole thing is up and ready to watch, so i just DUG IN! And I gotta say, Ai Yoshikawa does it again! SUCH a cutie!!!

PS: By the way, there’s no doubt that this is an Amazon Prime drama, all right- every episode is just PEPPERED with characters talking about all the fun stuff they’re going to order off of AMAZON.com, surely one of the best bits of advertising yet!

An Ex-Yakuza's Work Is Never Done: Ninkyo Nuttiness in "Gokushufudo"

Tamaki Hiroshi as Ex-Yakuza Tatsu

 Tatsu was once a legendary Yakuza by the name of “Immortal Tatsu” who single-handedly took down an enemy organization …before leaving the business to start a family!

Now his focus is on the well being of his wife Miku (Haruna Kawaguchi) and their precocious daughter Himawari (Shiratori Tamaki) and his yakuza skills are now used to better his home life!

His Yakuza Tanto Blade, once a sign of fear...

...is now used to slice veggies...

...for making cute bentos!!

Sadly Wife Miku (Haruna Kawaguchi) is running late and can't stay...

...So breakfast ends up just Tatsu and Himawari!

A peaceful mealtime!

His fastidiousness has made him a hit with all the neighborhood wives, including Tanaka (Megumi) and Ota (Michiko Tanaka) who hilariously take advantage of Tatsu’s skills (and naive sense of camaraderie) to get him to help with all sorts of housewive things!

His past cannot help but creep back into his life, however. There is unrest within the Yakuza families and his former clan boss Kikujiro (Naoto Takenaka), Hibari (an almost unrecognizable Izumi Inamori) and Tatsu’s former kohai Masa (Jun Shison) are desperate to have him back and help abolish their foes.

Masa finds Tatsu out grocery shopping and cannot believe the once mighty warrior has been reduced to becoming a Mother Hen!

Tatsu would like to ignore things and stay committed to his family, but a confrontation with a rival gang lets him know that some Mob altercations are unavoidable and that he may have to step in…

This is a problem because though wife Miku is a scatterbrained and seemingly sweet natured woman on the outside (who can’t even make dinner without reducing the kitchen to rubble, LOL)…

…once she hears about Tatsu interacting with his old Yakuza colleagues, transforms into a LION and properly lays him OUT! Seems there’s ONE person whom Tatsu can only bow his head to, and that’s his lovely wife!!

So far seems like a pretty good dynamic, with shades of Ayase Haruka’s “Okusama wa, Tori Atsukai Chui” or Chiaki Kuriyama’s “Himitsu Chohouin Erika”, though a LOT more on the slapstick side!

Love the running gag of how lazy Miku can be in regards to housework, there’s this scene where Tatsu’s folding t-shirts and she tries to "help” in this utterly useless way that had me laughing out LOUD!

Also love the way that naughty Himawari keeps getting Tatsu into trouble by tattletaling on him, she is such a rascal! Loved her roles in “Nagi No Oitoma” and the recent “Kanojo ga Joubutsu Dekinai” and she continues her adorable troublemaking here!

PS: Jun Shison surprised me in this role as kohai Masa- when I first saw him in Heaven Gokuraku Restaurant, he was SO flamboyantly girly that I thought it was the ONLY kind of role he could play! Nice to see him in a straightforward role for a change!

Hey, come to think of it, he’s ALSO in Hanbun Aoi , as one of the manga employees!!! 

And speaking of Hanbun Aoi, Kenichi Takito is in this drama TOO, as another yakuza sprung from prison! Chalk up two MORE actors linked to that fateful asadora!

posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com