Into The World of Manga with Haru Kuroki in "Juhan Shuttai!"

Haru Kuroki as the Perpetually Perky Kokoro in "Juhan Shuttai!"

Despite how much I love actress Haru Kuroki, somehow her drama JUHAN SHUTTAI! from 2016 completely slipped under my radar, so I was excited to see it up for grabs at the J-drama forums! Wonderfully winsome and sweetly sincere, Juhan tells the story of Kokoro Kurosawa (Kuroki), an energetic and spritely young girl who never lets the negative side of life get her down and always aims for the positive! 

A one-time Olympic Judo contender, when a devastating injury takes her out of the game, she looks into herself to see what she can contribute to the world now that she has been sidelined, and, remembering how the world of manga was the original inspiration for her love of Judo, wishes to be involved in those that made those stories a reality!

Friends Sara (Rina Takeda) and  Tsukasa (Emiko Tomiyama) 

Always looking at life from the perspective of sports, she tackles the job interview for a magazine publishing company she wants to join with the same outlook: observing the opponent, predicting what they will do, and choosing the right time to make moves!

Surprising the interviewers with her energetic outlook and smart answers to their queries, she seems a shoe-in for employment...

...until she makes the mistake of applying the world of Judo to the interview too literally and accidentally judo flips an elderly janitor…who just happens to be the company PRESIDENT!!!

Anyone else would surely have NO CHANCE of getting employed after that, and even Kokoro figures she's blown it... but Kokoro’s friends remind her she has this thing called “weird luck”, and she is to find that rather than being insulted by the judo maneuver, the Company President sees much potential in her and she actually gets HIRED!!!

With her athletic background, one would assume she’d be placed in the sports department of the magazine, however the employees are shocked when she is placed right in the section she's been dreaming of getting into- the MANGA Department of VIBES Magazine!!!

Kokoro is all smiles as she meets the team-

Senior Editor Iokibe (Joe Odagiri) and Section Chief Wada (Matsushige Yutaka)

 

Kikuchi (Nagaoka Tasuku) , Yasui (Yasuda Ken), and Mibu (Arakawa Yoshiyoshi)

"Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu!!"

The employees of the Manga department don’t quite know what to make of this naive, chatty and eternally bubbly young girl, but she is eager and determined to learn all she can and do her best! And as she learns the ropes of the manga department bit by bit, she will prove to all her naysayers that she has the moxie to get the job done!

helping outside sales agent Koizumi (Sakaguchi Kentaro) promote works with bookstore clerks...

...and even when problems come up for Kokoro and Iokibe (such as dealing with doubts felt by a senior manga creator, played by Fumiyo Kohinata), Kokoro’s unorthodox insights are sometimes the very thing that can help snap out of it and get both the manga and creative team back on track!

 

Finding inspiration in the strangest palces!

Awww man, like I mentioned, I’ve always loved Haru Kuroki ever since “Mi Wo Tsukushi Ryoricho”, (as well as others like Nagi no Oitoma, Ichikei no Karasu and Boku no Neechan) and her role as the super sunshiney Kokoro has immediately become another BIG favorite of mine!!!!

As I already mentioned, this drama came out in 2016, and it makes me sad that I don't remember anyone talking about it when it was actually airing. Like I said, even I hadn't heard of this drama til recently! Such a great little show with tender moments and a LOT of heart, and worthy of viewers!

As for me, I'm gonna really enjoy this one!!!!!!

Minami Hamabe Back with New "Alibi Breaker" Special

 I fell in love with Minami Hamabe in her stint as the rascally troublemaking idol Junko Kuroba in the 2019 drama “Pure” (which I wrote about here), but it was her next drama “Alibi Kuzushi Uketamawarimasu” which really showcased her as a rising star to watch! 

As it was the first full drama I watched with Minami, (Pure was a mere 3 episodes) I’ve always had a sentimental attachment to the Alibi-breaking Tokino Mitani, and so when it was announced that Hamabe would be returning for a reunion speical, I was dying to check it out!

All the regulars from the 2020 series have returned as well, with Ken Yasuda back as the irritable detective Yoshiyuki Saji and Ryo Narita as the bumbling detective Yuma Tokai, also Tokio Emoto and Masanobu Katsumura, reconstructing the old team to once again take on new crimes and new alibis to break...

Ryo Narita

Shotaru Mmiya

Masanobu Katsumura

Tokio Emoto

WELL, after just finishing watching the special , I must admit to being mostly...underwhelmed. For some reason they decided to start the show with Saji being an absolute PILL to Junko, starting things off on a bad foot, at least in MY viewing experience! Secretly using Kuroba to 'solve" his cases is one thing, but forbidding her from offering her services (even deleting her webpage) to the public is a jerk move, in my opinion.

Was waiting for the moment where he slinks back to her and asks for her help, instead  it's almost framed like he's doing HER a favor by using her alibi breaking skills at the end. Which I guess it is since Kuroba's so gung-ho about using her brains to crack the cases, but still...

Will say that this special is just cram-packed full of secondary characters to keep track of: Rin Takanashi, Shotaro Mamiya,Shono Hayama, Yuma Yamato, Wakana Matsumoto, Akiko Hinagata, etc, etc, Egads, with all of them running around, this special felt more like an extended variety show sketch than a drama episode proper, and quite often felt like a mess!

Rin Takanashi

Shono Hayama

Wakana Matsumoto

Akiko Hinagata

Yuma Yamato

Ryosuke Yamamoto

Really, there was like 3 different arcs going on at the same time, and none of them particularly gripping or imaginative (come on, invisible ink as a crime method is something a 3rd grader would come up with!), and after all that brouhaha, still left the conclusion open-ended to leave room for more sequels (or even new series)…very exhausting!

So yeah….was glad to see the old gang again, and love that Minami is really curating her backlog of enduring characters, however unless they’re going to tighten up the cast and plot devices, it might be best to leave this one to stand on its own….

(Would love to see Hamabe reprise her role of Mami Shirasawa of “Talio Fukushu Daiko no Futari” - now, THAT would be something to see!!!