Kyaaaaaa~! Hotaru No Hikari 2!!!!

Just found out through Kiiro Namida's wonderful Arashi site that this summer, my beloved, beloved, BELOVED comedy drama HOTARU NO HIKARI will be airing a brand new SEQUEL to the series, aptly titled HOTARU NO HIKARI 2!!!

Holy CRAP, youll have NO IDEA how FRICKING excited I am about this news!!!!

Hotaru No Hikari holds a dear space in my heart, for it not only introduced me to one of my very favorite actresses ever in super-cutie Ayase Haruka, but jump-started my love of japanese dramas in general, a hobby of mine that I was heavily into in the mid-nineties, but which had dropped off to almost an average of one drama a year by 2008. By chance I happened to watch Hotaru No Hikari, and I loved it so much that my love of j-dramas was COMPLETELY invigorated!

As you all may or may not know,the original Hotaru No Hikari storyline was about Hotaru, the wonder secretary at work who was secretly a carefree slob at home, who gets thrown into living with her rigid and fussy section chief, Takano. Think the "Odd Couple" with a japanese twist. Though Hotaru's gamely trying to win the heart of office heartthrob, we all know deep in our hearts that Takano (or "buchou" as she calls him) is really the one for her, and all we're waiting for is for THEM to realize it, too!

Though the series DID have the "happy ending" I was hoping for, I found myself vaguely unsatisfied with its conclusion, if only because the ending seemed really...abrupt. Instead of happy embraces, tears and kisses that usually follow a romantic drama ending, the show finished pretty much the way it ran throughout the series: Buchou playfully insulting Hotaru and Hotaru happily rolling around on the floor. I wanted more! If there was ANY show that needed a sequel or at LEAST a Hotaru Special to "wrap everything up nicely", it was this one...and NOW, it looks like my wishes are FINALLY going to be answered!

As with all drama sequels, there is, of course, a possible chance that the sequel will not only fail to live up to its predecessor, but actually ruin the original series, but when I read the ASIANMEDIAWIKI stats page and found that THIS time around the plotline follows Hotaru and her Buchou as they entertain notions of MARRIAGE, I though that was a FINE "next chapter" of the Hotaru Storyline!

Coincidentally, I've just finished watching Ayase Haruka's movie Amemase No Kawa [River of First Love] and was gushing to my friend Car about how much I just love Ayase Haruka in just about EVERY movie and drama she's in (with the possible exception of MR. BRAIN, a drama that absolutely WASTED Haruka's talents and gave her one of the worst haircuts of her career) because no matter what the character or situation, Ayase Haruka makes the person seem likeable and believable, a VERY strong plus in any story!

Just last night I got an email from CD Japan that, of all things, Ayase Haruka was releasing another one of her (few and far between) musical releases, and with the added bribe of a bonus DVD with the first pressing, put in my order for her new CD Single MARGUERITE! I hadn't even had time to rest before I found out about the upcoming HOTARU sequel, and am now FULLY back into "Ayase Hakura" mode!

Gahhh, I CAN'T WAIT!

Crush Of The Day: Kagami Saki

As a longtime fan of Ai Iijima (in both her AV and genoukai careers) I was quite interested in checking out the  2001 movie PLATONIC LOVE, based on Iijima's best-selling semi-autobiography detailing the ups and downs of her tumultuous adolescent life, her stint as an AV queen and her subsequent rise to popular japan personality!

I didn't really know what to expect when I dug into the movie, but I have to say I was immediately taken by the cute actress playing Aoi Kadokura, the girl who eventually becomes Ai Mizuki. Kagami Saki was her name, and she really sold me on this tragic tale of love, betrayal  and self-worth in much the same way that Actress Mayumi Iwasa did In Deep Love- with dark soulful eyes that really brought across what words could not! In each scene , her wordless acting just broke my heart! This gal was great, and I was surprised to find that Platonic Love was actually Kagami Saki's acting debut!

Though she was playing the part of Iijima Ai, Kagami Saki reminded more of a mix between the younger Akiko Yada (during her Say You Love Me years) and AV starlet Koharu Tohno (famous as the dominating victim/aggressor in the first of the ENJO KOSAI BOKUMETSU UNDO series) , a look that TOTALLY worked for me!

And though the movie was about a girl who became an AV actress, the show didn't delve too much on that topic and focused primary on Ai's romance with Club DJ Iwasaki (played by a blonde Odagiri Joe), but in between the AV movies and DJ romances was a stint as a hostess in a caba-club, and you can bet that it was THIS that really "did" it for me, as Kagami Saki was dressed in the sexiest outfits and giving out her girliest pouts and gestures!

She would soon move on from hostessing to her adult Film star role, but you know, to me, it really seemd like this was the time when seemed happiest in her life. Though a dark profession to be sure, there is something about the way her face brightens as she's getting the hang of her work, and she looks so radiant as she asserts her new independence and confidence! With the encouragement from her peers, she even manages to rise up to the number two spot in the club! Days off are spent laughing and shopping, as well as lounging around the apartment on sunny afternoons in only her underwear! :)

After watching Platonic Love, I went online to learn more about this pretty actress, and was excited to see she appeared in Tenshi No Koi, a movie I'd been wanting to see because of my love of actress Nozomi Sasaki, but so far I have yet to come across it online! Hmm, now that I think about it, I'd better get back trying to find that one! AHAHAHAHA!

FWIW: My Princess Princess Song Ranking!

As regular readers of this blog well know, Princess Princess is one of my favorite j-pop artists of all time, right up there in my Top Three! At one point or another, each and every album of theirs has been my favorite, and one day for fun, me and my fellow Puri Puri fans decided to rank every single song they’d recorded in order of how much we loved it!

Ah man, that took literally like, weeks, listening to the albums over and over, really poring over the songs, making sure the list reflected a true ranking of our appreciation of those Princess Princess’ songs! But in the end , it was really worth is, and it was such a GAS comparing our lists with each other! Interesting to see just how many songs we like equally, and just as much fun to see how many songs DIFFERED!

Thought that since I’d worked so hard on it I may as well share it with any of you who might care to check it out, and HEY, maybe it might even inspire some of you to create and share a Puri Puri list of your own? Ya never know! Anyway…

As usual with these lists, there’s a general rule of thumb I follow in that each song is placed on the list in a sort of "general" placement of the songs in the list. By that I mean that a song ranked at, say, #11 isn't necessarily more loved than a song at #13, but probably more beloved than a song at #33 or so. The list reflects all of Princess Princess’ regular releases from Kiss De Crime through to The Last Princess (and everything in between, including singles and B sides) but not including their early Akasaka Komachi Album...

Z's プリンセス・プリンセス SONG RANKING!

01. Seven Years After

02. KISS

03. Sayonara Darling

04. Sekai De Ichiban Atsui Natsu

05. Diamonds

06. Go Away Boy

07. 19 Growing Up~ ode to my buddy

08. M

09. One

10. Fly, Baby, Fly

11. Papa

12. My Will

13. Koi ni Ochitara

14. Pilot Ni Naritakute

15. Girl's Night

16. Voice

17. Wonder Castle

18. Parade Shiyouyo

19. So Long, Dreamer

20. Yuuhi ga Yondeiru

21. You are my Starship

22. Ding Dong

23. The Summer Vacation

24. Highway Star

25. Bee-Beep

26. Koisuru Champion

27. Koi no Pending

28. Maware! Merry-Go-Round

29. Bird’s-Eye View

30. Sweet Valentine

31. Rollin' On The Corner

32. Guitar Man

33. Seishun Daydream

34. Sore Jyane

35. Joudan Jyanai

36. Koi wa Balance

37. Kataomoi

38. Get Crazy!

39. Omoide no Sukima

40. Dakara Honey

41. Power

42. Tomodachi no Mama

43. Kiss De Crime

44. Oh Yeah!

45. Tokyo Kanojyo

46. Nagisa Wa Namida no Paradise

47. Futari Ga Owaru Toki

48. Kizuato

49. Kareshi Ga Hoshii

50. Tsukiyo no Dekigoto

51. Uchi Ni Kaerou

52. Street Woman

53. Kaisoku to Watashi

54. Tinker Bell

55. Hitorijime

56. Propose

57. Regret

58. Aibou

59. Romancin' Blue

60. Namae no Nai Machi

61. Motion Emotion

62. Koi Wa Cantare

63. Hypnotized

64. Stay There

65. Shake It Off

66. She

67. I Love You ~Madobe Ni Te

68. The Last Moment

69. Rain

70. Julian

71. Dear

72. Birthday Song

73. AB/AC

74. Love and Blood

75. Melody Melody

76. Bara Iro No Jinsei

77. Kaze Ga Fuitara

78. Bye-Bye

79. Vibration

80. Sorenari ni Iihito

81. Romance

82. Keep on Lovin' You

83. Wedding

84. Sabaku no Taiyou

85. Rock Me

86. Moonlight Story

87. Kanashimi No Aru Fuukei

88. Flame

89. Spies in Love

90. Shoujo AMAZONESS

91. Himawari To Cardigan

92. Tokimeku Tono wo Sukidemo

93. Umi ni Hitoshizuku

94. Hetchara

95. Jyunai

96. Yasashii Satsui

97. Sabitsuki Blues

98. Hitomi Dake wa Mitsumenai

99. Joker to 100 Hito no Mouja

100. Minato No Mieru Oka

101. Nigero

102. Typhoon no Uta

103. Iwanaide

104. Heart Stompin’ Music

105. Kuchizukewa Ohayameni

106. Natsu No Owari

107. Sora Yori Umi Yori ~Pri-Pri Samba ‘91

108. Hello!

109. Oh! Monkey Woman

110. Glass Heaven

111. Hareta Hi Ni

112. Eyewitness

113. Jungle Princess

114. Come Back

115. Summer Madness

116. GARAKUTA wo Fuki Tobase 

Looking over the list, one thing strikes me- Princess Princess are one a HELL of a Live Band! For, while some of the songs I simply liked right off the bat, and some songs I learned through PVs, MOST of my favorite songs here have been influenced by seeing one gripping live performance or another, either through TV shows or during one of their many Concerts. In fact, it was a THRILLING live performance on a Music Fair Special that made me fall in love with them in the FIRST place! Ah, Puri Puri, there will never be another one like them!

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!!!