The Truth Is Out There: AARO: All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office

Tatsuya Fujiwara and Alice Hirose in AARO

YATTAAAAA! After MUCH fervent wishing and finger-crossing, my prayers have been ANSWERED as AARO: All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (Zen Ryouiki Ijou Kaiketsu Shitsu) has been PICKED UP and is being subtitled, and by NETFLIX, no less!!! Hallelujah!!!

On the streets of Shinjuku, Crime Investigators Aranami (Yusuke Santa-Maria), Ninomiya (Riko Narumi) and Kitano (Rio Komiya) are called to the scene of a bizarre and horrific sight: a body seemingly completely dissolved away, leaving only their worldly clothing, accessories…and blood behind!

This is the latest in a string of similar murders, and with all avenues being investigated coming to dead ends and without any other leads, the authorities consider the possibility of supernatural explanations, and thus a formal request is made to a govermnent department few know about except in hushed tones: Zenryoiki Ijou Kaiketsu Shitsu, the “All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office”, Zenketsu or AARO for short.  It is THEY who are used to investigate things of the paranormal and unexplainable!

Led by the mysterious Tamio Ukino (Fumiyo Kohinata), he calmly hears the details of the case from above, accepts the investigation request, and begins putting the team in motion…

Koyume Amano (Alice Hirose) is a former PR agent in the Metropolitan Force who has been suddenly and inexplicably transferred to the strange and unknown department in the bureau called AARO. Amano has no IDEA what this department does, and doesn't even know where to FIND it! Situated in a little known undisclosed area, she is led by a trusted courier (Takaya Sakoda) to its’ location, a small building just beyond the old temple grounds.

Not knowing WHAT to expect, Amano makes her way into the base, where she is introduced to the lead agent of the department: Miyabi Okitama (Tatsuya Fujiwara) a man with a taste for the macabre and unexplained. As Amano takes a seat, she is told the legacy of AARO, and finds it bursting with MUCH history!

The department has supposedly existed since olden times as a dedicated group of people set out to investigate, understand and create defenses against everything occult and supernatural. Spirits, Haints, Mononoke, Yokai, the list is endless, and they document it all!

Whenever the government has something that they just cannot explain with rational reasons, AARO is sent in to assess and identify the problem, and this time they are tackling the aforementioned Shinjuku “Spirited Away” case, named thusly since the bodies have all seems to have been swept up and taken away!

Looking over the recent and past cases, amateur online enthusiasts have cited the God “Hiruko” as the being responsible for the deaths, but Okitama has his own suspicions that it is another entity called Shadow Man, as several witnesses have been quoted as seeing a dark shape running past just before and after the incidents. 

THIS is the case that Amano has been placed into, and she can only wonder just WHY she of all people has been chosen for such a task! But we will learn that she may have a gift for the unexplained as well!

From that point on, the AARO team of Okitama and Amano are formally brought into the official task force with Aranami and Ninomiya,  set to investigate the so-called Spirited Away murders/disappearances, and right off the bat the two teams are clashing, with Aranami’s side stuck on the cold hard “facts", whereas Okitama and the AARO team consider things of a more fantastic nature!

Yet, together this bunch of eccentric and hardheaded people must learn to work together to find out just what has been happening to the disappearing bodies, and with that in mind, the AARO team dives in headfirst, determined to solve the case no matter what!

While all this carnage and mayhem is going on, a mysterious girl (Riko Fukumoto) looks on from behind the crowds….just who IS this girl, and what does she have to do with the cases?

 We’ll have to wait and see!
Aw MANNNN, I’m SO STOKED that AARO is being subbed at last, I was REALLY ready to give up on this season, as this was the SOLE drama of the Fall that I was even REMOTELY interested in, and when I woke up today and found that it had been picked up, that MADE MY DAY and I didn't WAIT to jump RIGHT in!!!
So far, it’s been as interesting and intriguing as I’d hoped- From the beginning I figured it as a kind of “X-Files” type of show with Fujiwara and Hirose in the Mulder and Scully roles, and while not exactly like that, it has largely been just what I expected!

Of course, one of the the MAIN reasons for my huge interest in this show is the ever-lovely Alice Hirose, as she is one of my FAVORITE actresses right now, and OH WOW, does she shine here! So pretty, svelte and dedicated, her character of Koyume Amano would do Gillian Anderson PROUD!

In a previous post, I had mentioned my worries that Alice would be relegated to “the sputtering and clueless sidekick” who’d be only there to gawk at the lead’s eccentric and unorthodox ways, and while there is a tiny amount of that (when she voices her deductions only for Fujiwara’s character to invalidate her in front of everyone, Gads I hate this trope)... 

...when it comes time to do some butt-kicking, Amano is as bad-ass and cool a character as ANYONE on the team, a gal who can hold her own, and one to be respected! 

with Mirai Shida

Takin' down the thugs and taking names!

Now THIS is the kind of character I LOVE to see her playing and I can't get enough!

AARO is currently up to Episode 4 in Japan and Netflix is up to episode 2, so the "catch-up" wait for subtitled episodes will be about 2 weeks apart. That's time I have no problem with and know will be well worth the wait!

Can't WAIT to see MORE!

PS: Ooohh, and if that wasn't enough, we've got another visit to that famous "Love Distance" Apartment Complex! You just NEVER KNOW when it will appear next!!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Your Monthly Keiko for November!!

 As we head into the winter season, we have Keiko showing off her “cool beauty” vibes for the month of November!

Happy Halloween!!!

 Pretty Satomi Ishihara wishes you and yours a spooky Happy Halloween!

Judging by the poster behind her, this photo was taken during her "Jimi Ni Sugoi~Koetsu Garu Kono Etsuko" shooting back in 2016, but the holiday message is timeless!

An Underwhelming Fall Season of Shows....

 Must say that I really have not been 'feeling it" this Fall Season and, outside of "Usotoki Rhetoric" as the sole show I'm watching, none of the new shows have really grabbed me. While I still hold out a sliver of hope for Zenryouiki Ijou Kaiketsushitsu to get picked up and subtitled, here are a list of Fall Dramas that I Checked out one episode of and then Dropped for lack of interest...

Takaramono

Checked out  for Wakana Matsumoto as a woman who is in an abusive relationship with her husband and ends up getting pregnant from a childhood love, but as I'm not a fan of cheating  spouses OR abusive relationships, there really is nothing going on for me here. Hated every character in this show, especially Kei Tanaka who I abhorred every second I had to sit through with him.

Sono Bisque Doll Wa Koi Wo Suru

As expected, I just couldn't get used to as the characters in this manga adaptation of "My Dress Up Darling. Though there are many rallying behind the choices, I think the leads (especially Riko Nagase) were horribly miscast. Gave it a shot but seeing the previews for episode 2, I realized I just loved the original manga/anime too much and opted to drop the LA.

Ano Kuzu wo Nagutte Yaritainda 

I LOVE Nao but I feel like I've seen this set-up of the pushed around character wheo steps up to become a stronger person through boxing a million times, and after watching all the cliched characters (jackass boyfriend, tsundere love interest etc) I feared what was coming, and when Nao began getting the usual bossy attitude from the members at the gym, I was out.