Crush Of The Day: Seto Saki

After yesterday’s gush about sweetie Hirayama Aya in her cute drama HARUKA 17, I thought it only fair to mention that a show is only made better with a good opponent, and Seto Saki (last seen by most of us as Asai Yuriko in HANA YORI DANGO 2) makes a great case as Sakura Yuri, the model who would go on to become Haruka’s fiercest rival for the idol crown!
Perennially pouting and brooding, Yuri’s portrayal of a spoiled and bossy model is set as a direct opposite of cute and innocent Haruka. While Haruka is shaking and unsure in a bathing suit, Yuri is out there knocking ‘em dead with her killer body and calculating smile. And ooooh, how that girl can FILL OUT A BIKINI:
Where Haruka is unsure of herself in front of a camera, Yuri is OWNING the photo shoot. These passages are meant to endear the viewer to Haruka’s naïve innocence, and it does, but it ALSO makes the viewer think, “Holy HELL! That Seto Saki is a fricking sexy as hell bombshell!”
Yet even from the beginning we see that Yuri isn’t some sinister villain (they left THAT role to Yuri’s manager, played with cold precision by Tetta Sugimoto) set out to destroy Haruka, but rather a girl who simply wants to make sure she gets what she deserves. (or at least what she THINKS she deserves) no matter what the cost!
As the show goes on, we see her reveal more of her feelings, and by the end of the drama, she’s even shown us she has a heart, and even (though, admittedly, a bit narcissistically) makes up for all her nastiness directed at Haruka throughout the show!
Addendum: Going online to look up more information about Ms. Seto, I was happily astounded to find a whole cache of Saki Seto goodies in the form of bikini ladened video clips and sexy photo shoots! Miss Seto, you have officially gotten my attention!! AHAHAHAHA!
8/10 Edit: Falling in love with Saki-chan all over again watching the incredibly wacky dramedy SHIMOKITA GLORY DAYS where I got a chance to see her play a decidedly sweeter and more innocent role as main character Yuuta's adorable girlfriend Minori! Mmmm, would love to see her in more roles like this!

Crush Of The Day: Hirayama Aya

After watching the devastatingly sad and heartbreaking first episode of the new Matsuyuki Yasuko drama MOTHER, I really needed something that was light and happy to watch next, and going through my folder of dramas that I’ve stockpiled over the years, came across the fun and zany drama HARUKA 17!
A cute story of a 22 year old mousey girl named Haruka who moonlights as a beautiful 17 year old model, I downloaded this one awhile ago when I was in the mood for a comedy, (but ultimately decided on Ryoko Yonekura drama SEIKEI BIJIN instead) and this was REALLY the tonic I need to lift my spirits and just LAUGH again!
The drama is based on the manga HARUKA 17 by Yamazaki Sayaka, and the characters are as fun, exaggerated and colorful as if they stepped right out of the comic, and even MORE exaggerated and colorful are the gorgeous girls in the show! When you’ve got a drama based around models, idols and talent agencies, you naturally expect to see some beautiful girls in bikinis and sexy dresses, and this one SURE doesn’t disappoint!

he Actress Du Jour this time is pretty model Hirayama Aya as the titular heroine Haruka Miyamae, a girl who though I’m seeing for the very first time, completely won me over with this show! Playing the dual roles of both Haruka’s “dorky” side as well as her “outgoing” self, I wasn’t sure how well she was going to pull it off, but within minutes of the show, I fully bought into both characters and set back for a fun, laugh-out-loud time!

Haruka is a girl who has just graduated from college but can’t seem to find a job. Dejected, she is thrilled to find she’s been hired by the Doumu Agency as talent manager. What she DOESN’T realize is they’ve ACTUALLY hired her as a model and it is only by convincing/tricking her that they manage to get her into a bikini and onto a photo shoot.

Though confused as to exactly WHY she’s in a bikini, the shoot goes well, and the struggling agency realizes they have stumbled upon a gem that they can pin their hopes on. Although angry at the trickery, Haruka is pleased to find that she is needed and appreciated by everyone at the agency, and agrees to model for them until they can get on their feet. Going through the motions each day, Haruka slowly begins to enjoy what she’s doing, and with the love and support of her family and protective nurturing form her Agency, we see her grow not only as an idol, but as a person as well!
The show always begins with the geeky bespectacled Haruka studying up on the latest assignment to tackle, hilariously interacting with the rest of the wacky agency members: her Boss (played by Furuta Arata in his best role ever) her manager (Kaneko Takatoshi) and her flamboyant make-up artist (hilariously played by Fukuzawa Atsushi) as they work out her schedule for the day. Then of course it builds up to the actual shoot/assignment, where Haruka’s “gorgeous” persona is revealed, always looking preciously sweet and innocent!
As her idol/model persona, Haruka is always stunning, of course, but strangely enough, it’s her “mousey” persona that really steals the show! With her stammering speech, slouching posture and hunched-over shuffling stride, she really brings the character to loveable life, and at times she even seemed to remind me of Shida Mirai (and from ME, that’s a HELLA good point!)
Kudos to Aya for breathing to life such a lovable character in Haruka! With every step that Haruka takes on the path to stardom, Aya truly makes you believe Haruka, and you feel in your heart that you really want her to succeed!
Because of this new interest in Aya Hirayama, I’m not only digging up Gokusen 3 and Hataraki Man, but also attempting to acquire her 2006 movie BACKDANCERS and am thinking it’s high time I got that notorious WATERBOYS movie that launched so many careers!
PS: Besides featuring other pretty young actresses like Seto Saki (more later) as Haruka’s rival and Aizawa Sayo as Nanako, the agency’s established star, HARUKA 17 also has a few older actresses I’ve always loved, like still-gorgeous Takahashi Hitomi appearing as Haruka’s mother and Suzuki Sawa (whom I’ve loved since AGRI) as a corporation Agent Takamura who believes in Haruka’s potential. Nice to see these gals again!

Crush Of The Day: Otsuka Nene

Huh. Well, HERE’S one I NEVER saw coming, not in all my years of watching Japanese dramas and Japanese actress-lusting. Because you see, while Otsuka Nene may have been a good little actress and easy enough on the eyes, I have ALWAYS associated her with fractured j-drama Aito wa Keshite Koukai Shinaikoto, a show about a brother and sister’s incest relationship, and every time I saw Ms. Otsuka after that, I just couldn’t get that drama out of my head!
I mean, taking on a touchy subject like that is hard enough, but having the theme song sung by wacky funsters TUNNELS, crooning ‘Omae ga Hoshiiiiiiii” over home footage of the brother and sister playing as little children during the opening credits just added that extra amount of creepiness to the mix! So I’ve always felt weird seeing either Ogata Naoko or Otsuka Nene in anything after that, and before long, I didn’t see them in any new dramas and eventually put them out of my mind!

It wasn’t until 2008 came around that I suddenly started seeing Nene Otsuka appearing in dramas again. Honestly speaking, the first time I’d seen her again after all those years (in Uchino Masaki crime drama GONZO), I didn’t recognize her at all, and actually mistook her for fellow 90’s actress Asou Yumi at first!

Then came her appearance as hard-as-nails Maijima Misa in TOKYO DOGS followed almost immediately with her portrayal of ramen-lovin’ Todoroki Furuko in ARASHI SP Saigo No Yakusoku and it seemed to me that Nene Otsuka was suddenly everywhere! I wondered- had she recently come out of retirement or something? But a quick check on Dramawiki informed me that Nene had been solidly working since I’d first seem her in Ai To Wa Keshite Koukai Shinaikoto, so it simply had been a case of me not noticing her, I guess. Watching her in the aforementioned GONZO, I noted that time had really worked well for her, and she’d turned into a pretty fine MILF-ish type actress. But her character of Psychiatrist Matsuo Risa was just a little bit too “granola” for me, and it wasn’t until I dug up her previous drama AROUND 40 that I got to see just how sexy she could get!Watching the first episode of Around 40 (which I’d dug up primarily for my love of warm and quirky actress Amami Yuki), when Fashion Editor Morimura Nao first came onto the screen, I ONCE AGAIN thought, “Hey, It’s Asou Yumi”! I thought she was a hot little number indeed, and was quite taken aback when the beginning credits rolled and I saw that the role of Nao was in fact played by none other than Otsuka Nene ! My first thought was, “Ohh, Nooo! That hot chick I was drooling after was the sister in that incest drama!” But by the end of that first episode, I was beginning to like her too much, and by the time I was halfway though the series, found that she was my favorite character in the show and that I was utterly in love with her! By the time the series ended, any old feelings I might have had harbored against Nene were totally obliterated! As Nao, Nene had it all: Sexy as well as subdued, Confident and at times heartbreakingly vulnerable. Because of her perf in Around 40, I now LOVE Nene Otsuka, and can cherish her as the hot little actress she really is! PS: Funny thing about always mistaking Nene for Yumi Asou- In the Sanma/Kimura Takuya drama Sora Kara Furu Ichioku no Hoshi, when I saw sexy as hell Maho Toyota appear onscreen, once AGAIN, I though, “Hey! It’s Yumi Asou!”! And even stranger is the fact that when I actually SAW Yumi Asou in Toshishita No Otoko, my first thought was, “Who the heck is that?” AHAHAHAHA!

Trouble Man

Just watched the first episode of what looks like to be a MOST promising drama! Written and directed by SABU, TROUBLE MAN stars Kato Shigeaki as Tokuda Kazuo, an insurance agent whose live gets turned topsy-turvy when he gets unwittingly thrust into a web of mystery and intrigue involving murderers, would be rapists and the Yakuza!And if that wasn't enough, I was jazzed to see the ADDED bonus of both Satuskawa Aimi and Iwasa Mayuko in it (and this coming right off GALCIR!) as well as ANOTHER small role by Kamiwaki Yu!

Not really a proper drama, this show seems more like a long movie that’s been divided up into separate chapters, and with each episode clocking in at a mere 30 minutes, makes me wonder just how this originally aired…was this originally in 10 minute increments?

However the format, this is one heckuva show, where you never know what’s going to happen next and the surprises just keep on coming! When the first episode ended (quite powerfully so, I might add) and it immediately went into NEWS’ new song BE FUNKY against the backdrop of Tokuda fleeing in dramatic slo-mo, I found myself dying with anticipation for the next episode!!! Just can’t WAIT for the next one!!!!

She's Just The Cutest Thang! More Erika Toda

This is what you would call "running a subject to the ground", but I just HAD to share more Toda Erika goodness via her zany turn as cute n' klutzy Saki in GALCIR. So there I was, screen-capping like an Erika- Obsessed Otaku when I noticed that in this one particular passage, Erika neatly runs though her whole catalog of cute expressions in a mere 10 second span! This is after Angel Hearts leader Remi has made a big announcement, and absent-minded Saki has been daydreaming in the back of the clubhouse. She suddenly realizes everyone is staring at her, and reacts accordingly... Obsessed? Moi? Surely You jest...Ahahahahaha...

Zany Antics with Toda Erika in GALCIR

Since I apparently didn't do enough gushing about super cutie Toda Erika in my last post, I will continue the rambling on in this one!

As I may have mentioned here and there, I'm really not too sure just exactly WHICH drama it was that I first set eyes on Erika Toda, but I do know that it was the twin pronged attack of dramas BOSS and Ryusei No Kizuna that brought her too my attention, and as you can see, I've never come back! From there I've seen her in so many different dramas, but in all of those shows, none have been as zany as this one (Galcir is a comedy with a capital "C"!) and it's hilarious to see Erika throwing herself into the role with such abandonment! Really, this show is as wacky as they come, and as far as Physical comedy goes, Buster Keaton ain't got nothin' on Ms. Toda: whther they be pratfalls, slapstick violence or plain all-out nuttiness, Erika's got 'em ALL!

Much of the comedy comes from the point of Erika's Saki character battling it out against Fujiki Naohito's cowboy Shinnosuke. The humorous war they have going on with each other produces the greatest laughs as she's either karate kicking him out of frustration...

Accosting him to demand 5000 yen compensation for the grief he's giving her...

Or even tripping him up just for the fun and entertaining sake of picking on him:

But the fun doesn't end there, for Saki is as klutzy as they come, and in between tripping over her own feet as she's trying to get away from Shinnosuke...

she still finds time to battle with Yaguchi Mari in a trough of mortar mix...

and duke it out with Namase Katsuhisa (the town's neighborhood leader) in a hostess bar...

as well as get punched out by her Galcircle leader Remi in a deranged fit of possession!

In the end it doesn't matter, because no matter what the situation, somehow, Saki always ends up on her butt!

From beginning to end, with all of the absolutely nutty situations Saki gets into each episode, Erika Toda has been an absolute joy to watch and seeing her go through such hilarious antics each episode has certainly brought her that much closer to my heart!!!

The Lovely Ladies of GALCIR

I acquired the zany Naohito Fujiki comedy drama GALCIR awhile ago, but at the time I’d just finished watching Kou Kou Kyoushi and though I know there are many of you out there that like that drama, I just wasn’t in the mood for more Fujiki after that, so onto the shelf Galcir went.
It might have remained forgotten there if not for my current love of Iwasa Mayuko. While perusing her data sheet on dramawiki, I saw GALCIR listed, and thought, “Hey! I have that drama!” So I dug it up, and I am so very happy I did! Starring Fujiki as a spacey Japanese Cowboy who shows up in Shibuya to help the population of para-para dancing street-wise young ladies solve their problems, this show was REALLY a SCREAM!
Besides being hilarious as heck and sporting one of the catchiest ending credits ever (just can’t stop smiling whenever it comes on!), the show naturally featured a WHOLE BEVY of beautiful young actresses both whom I’d seen in other dramas and some who I’m seeing for the very first time!
After seeing Mayuko in Deep Love and Mei-Chan No Shitsuji, it was quite a switch to see her playing the sexy and sassy Rika, the tuff but amicable ganguro who’s singing and dancing in all her scenes! I just loved seeing her in such flowery girlish dresses, complete with suede boots and bleached-out hair done up in jewels and ribbons!
Actress Suzuki Emi, who will forever be burned in my heart as uber-babe Kisakura Karen in that wacky Jin Akanishi drama YUKAN CLUB, is here as Remi, queen of the Shibuya gal groups and reigning leader of the gal circle ANGEL HEARTS. Already striking with her tall posture, her appearance gets an added oomph by have Remi wearing the shortest cutoff shorts allowed on prime time TV!!
Another old love making an appearance on this show is Aragaki Yui, whom I’d fallen in love with back in DRAGON ZAKURA as her kogal-ish turn as Yoshino. Strangely enough, her performance of Nagisa is a more "tomboyish" take of a Kogal than the very girly one she played in Zakura!
Satsukawa Aimi is another one that looks almost unrecognizable to me because the last character I saw her play (that of persecuted Kiyomi in Funuke Domo Show Sme Love You Losers) was such an introverted and mousey girl- here, (though she’s still a bit meek) is a brighter and decidedly sunnier girl!
One of the girls that I’m seeing for the very first time is cutie Nishida Natsumi. Her portrayal of third-in-command Angel Heart Ran reminded me an awful lot of Nozomi Sasaki, and I actually had to check the dramawiki stats to make sure that it wasn’t her!
aguchi Mari plays Yurika, the Angel Heart that, at 23 is considered the “granny” of the group is a feisty bundle of pure energy, and as anyone who has seen old Morning Musume in their prime know, this is PURE MARIPPE unleashed! Really, this character couldn’t be any more similar to our beloved “Shorty” of the group!

And then we come to Toda Erika. Though Galcir is more or less an episodic drama where each episode focuses on a different girl’s trouble, this show is clearly hers. As klutzy but determined Saki, she is the girl that holds the group together and is the thread that ties that wacky Cowboy into the Angel Hearts and their problems. Watching Ms Toda in action has made me remember just how fun and sexy she really is! Though I began watching this show for Mayuko Iwasa, GALCIR has instead re-ignited my fire for Erika-chan!!! In fact, there are even MORE Erika Toda gushings coming in the next few posts!
Another added bonus is that just like MASSUGU NA OTOKO, the show once again features appearances by both Kamiwaki Yuu AND Miura Rieko! Kamiwaki’s role in the Angel Hearts is more or less a “face in the crowd” one…
But Rieko’s one is an entirely different role, where she plays the neighborhood’s “dorky” lady, and Rieko’s beauty is hidden behind glasses and pinned back hair! Whenever she’s in the scene, the old men always yell at her, “What are you doing here, ugly?!” Ah…but is she hiding something from them all…? Too Funny!
Right about now Galcir is really as good as it gets... A drama chock-full of beautiful actresses featuring stories with ridiculous comedy balanced out by dramatic situations with heartfelt solutions, GALCIR is a one of a kind hit!