Up In The Air with "Nice Flight"

Airport-based Romcom featuring a young pilot named Sui Kurata (Yuta Tamamori) who finds a connection to the voice of an air-traffic tower controller when she guides he and his co-pilot Nanami Kitami (Michiko Kichise) out of a tense landing situation.

Drawn to the soothing and concise voice during his missions, he becomes obsessed with finding the woman behind the voice in hopes of thanking her for her service…little does he know but he’s already bumped into her!

Her name is Mayu Shibuya (Anne Nakamura), and though she is stoic and sure-footed behind the microphone of the Air Traffic tower, she is a gruff and introverted person outside, and after literally bumping into Kurata outside, has decidedly negative feeling towards him!

During a goukon (of sorts) which CA Rikako (Tomoka Kurokawa) has put together (to hook up with a mechanic James (Ukon Onoe), LOL), both Kurata and Shibuya are rooked into attending, and when he realizes both Shibuya and new trainee Kasumi Kawahara (Tina Tamashiro) work in the control tower, Kurata asks if any of them know the woman behind the voice.

Though both girls know it is Shibuya that Kurata is looking for, they say not a word, and in fact Kurata manages to get even further under Shibuya’s skin!

Things could have been left at that, but when Shibuya’s bicycle chain breaks as she's ready to go home, Kurata takes it upon himself to repair it, and a truce is made. For the first time, Shibuya can see the good side of him!

It’s during this short time that they make a connection between each other, alas it is seemingly too late as the crafty Kawahara, who is interested in Kurata, has lied and taken credit as the woman whose voice he was looking for! (Nooooo Tina!!!!)

A fairly basic Airport drama of which we’ve seen many times, I suspect the bulk of this show will be the usual: irate or incapacitated passenger problems, prideful or put-out personnel, etc, however it features a nice cast and I’ve been looking forward to seeing Anne Nakamura branch off into bigger roles like this!

PS: While I was anticipating this drama for the Anne Nakamura goodness, I had no idea Tina Tamashiro was going to be a part of it til she tweeted out some behind the scenes pics on her twitter before the first episode!!

Awww, so glad to be seeing her again, even though it seems a very naughty role at that!

Just what are you up to, Tina?!

Notes on "Junai Dissonance"

Junai Dissonance, a gripping melodrama about an unorthodox teacher named Masaki Nitta (Yuta Nakajima) and a troubled student named Sae Izumi (Ai Yoshikawa) who meet under unusual circumstances and eventually become close.

A well-loved teacher named Yukino Kosaka (Miwako Kakei) suddenly asks Masaki if he would take over for her teaching duties while she goes on hiatus. She doesn't say why,  but once Masaki starts at the school, he finds the other teachers very vague and stand-offish about why Kosaka would leave. He instantly feels something has happened, but cannot think of what it could be.

Teachers like Usui (Manami Higa) and Kagami (Hidekazu Mashima) keep it vague.

He finds out that the students, however, very much loved Kosaka, and are very worried about her departure. In particular, Sae confesses to Nitta that Miss Kosaka was the only adult she trusted.

She is very concerned about what may have happened to Kosaka, and is determined to go look for her. In the end Nitta agrees to help with her search, and it's here they get to know one another.

In their personal lives, both Nitta and Izumi are having a hard time- Masaki is being pressured into taking over his overbearing Father’s business ( one he has no desire for) and Izumi herself has to deal with a scatterbrained Mother with abusive and thieving boyfriends.

Below: Father (Satoshi Jinbo) pressures his son.

Meanwhile Mother (Yasuko Tomita) makes daughter's life hell.

It is in the midst of this melee that the two connect and find solace in each other.

Individually, they've always felt detached and alone. But now they feel like there is someone who understands them.

Of course, a relationship like this between a teacher and Student is strictly prohibited and many go out of their way to make sure they stay far apart. But as the pressures become harder and harder, they have only each other to turn to....

A mesmerizing show so far, in particular Ai Yoshikawa is outstanding, (the fight with her Mom’s boyfriend had me on the edge of my seat!!!),  this might be the best acting I’ve ever seen from her!

So many facets to this show, so many intriguing storylines and at this point I still have no idea where it will all lead (though whoever did the synopsis for MyDramaList gave away some VERY HEAVY spoilers in their description, ACK!) and can’t wait to see more!