Never Mind The Jackal, Here Comes Seo YiAn

Kim Jaejoong and Song Jihyo in Codename Jackal

  I’ve been dying to check out the Song Jihyo/KimJaejoong movie The Jackal is Coming ever since I first heard about it almost a year ago, so I’m kind of bummed to report that I wasn’t overly thrilled with the movie when I finally DID get to see it. The story of Jackal Onda which concerned a hapless Hitman named Min-Jung (Jihyo) who’s on the case to assassinate Hallyu Star Choi Hyun (Kim Jaejoong) while the police are infiltrating the building on the hunt for the mysterious Jackal, actually started out pretty good, but by midway through it got SO slapstickly silly-

 By the time it got to Jihyo hiding behind a couch trying to poison ChoiHyun's manager, it felt more like I was watching a zany SNL skit than a theatrically released movie...and it didn’t help that pretty Jihyo was set up with the most god-awful of afro wigs! Blech! Why couldn’t she have looked like the smoking siren she was in the Theatrical Poster? 

Seo Yi An as YoungSun

Thankfully, there was ONE bright star in this whole mishmash of silliness, and that was the pretty young actress playing the part of the protégée Police Detective Young-Sun, a “Level 9 Ranked Officer” according to her. Stats say her name is Seo Yi-An, and she was just about the only reason I stuck around when the film began moving south! In fact, strangely enough, the sillier the movie got, the more serious and pretty SHE got! 

  When she first appears in the scene with Inspector Ma at the Police Station, I was like, “Whoa, that girl in the background is kind of cute!”, then when she accompanied Ma to the Crime Stakeout and I got to see her in her “regular”clothes, i.e. tanktop, flannel shirt and demin skirt, I was all like “Aw Heck yeah, this chick is freaking FINE!” 

From a character who started off in the movie simply as the assistant to Inspector Ma who makes her the errand girl whose main job seems to be to get snacks and drinks for the stakeout team (where she silently demands money from the head inspector, so funny!)...

...before you knew it, she began to emerge as the only competent agent there! While everyone else is out and about getting into zany situations, Young-Sun is the ONLY one seriously working the case, poring over the Jackal casebook articles and examining the clues...

...As well as even going undercover as one of the Hotel Staff so she can look through the lodging's past receipts (and all the while getting hit on by the Hotel's sleazy manager, LOL) Look at her face, one of the cutest aspects of this character is how she NEVER shows any kind of emotion regardless of if she's happy, sad, interested or angry, it's always that same blank expression (her apathetitc demeanor kind of reminded me of f(x)'s Krystal, LOL)

 SO yeah, by the show's halfway point, YoungSun was the MAIN reason I was watching the show! And I can't hide how disappointed I was that she wasn't a bigger factor in the show's conclusion (in fact, it seems like as the story wound down, they kind of just forgot about her, tbh)... So much for THIS movie- I’ll have to see MORE of Seo YiAn in some of her OTHER shows!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

At the Halfway Point, "Hanzawa Naoki" Continues to Impress!

Sakai Masato as Hanzawa Naoki

Holy CRAP, just finished watching the conclusion to the first "arc" of the drama series HANZAWA NAOKI and was properly blown away as I've continued to do so throughout the show so far! Now we're off onto the second half of the Hanzawa Naoki saga, and it looks like things are gonna get even MORE intense in the coming weeks!!!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

A Wild Rika Adachi Sighting!

Watching the extremely silly and entertaining Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo, (the high school drama of the boy named Yamada (Yusuke Yamamoto)and girl Shiraishi Urara (Mariya Nishiuchi) who switch bodies whenever they kiss), and happen to notice that the girl bullying main character Shiraishi looks VERY familiar….

Yep, turns out it’s none other than the lovely Ms. Rika Adachi, one of my favorite gravure idols ever, here baring her claws as one of those clichéd “arms-crossing bullies” I’ve talked about before. Cliched, true, but when you look as good as Rika, you can get away with it, even when coming down to pretending to be friendly with the victim, inviting her to lunch…

"Won't You Join us for Lunch?" purrs the conniving Rika....

Shiraishi on her guard! Are these girls REALLY her friends?

And then watching in glee as she opens her bento and finds someone has messed with it beforehand! Now, WHO could have scrambled up Urara's bento? Hmm, possibly THREE particular troublemakers?

  Little do Rika and her minions know that Shiraishi is in fact Yamada inside, and unlike the ladylike Urara, HE attempts to put a stop to it with a flying punch to the bullying Rika! Sadly, he’s stopped by Shiraishi (in Yamada’s body) who steps in front of Rika and takes the punch to the face instead!, Fortunately, Rika and those bullying girls got SO freaked out they stopped messing with Urara, so the problem got solved anyway, LOL!

Such a fun drama and I'll probably stick around for more...Besides the aforementioned cast, there's also the return of Ryoko Kobayashi and Karen Miyama, in equally mysterious and entertaining roles, so there's THAT to consider! 

Ryoko Kobayashi

Karen Miyama

Very energetic cast, and it's so funny to realize that Mariya Nishiuchi, the girl playing sweet main character Urara Shiraishi, is the same tuff and gruff chick that slapped the heck out of Shida Mirai in the equally fun and zany Seigi No Mikata about five years back! Oh how times and people change!

as Chika in the 2008 Shida Mirai drama Seigi No Mikata

and in 2013 as Urara Shiraishi

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Oh Aunty Michi, How I Have Loved Thee!

The Lovely Kimiko Yo as Aunty Michi in the 1997 Drama Virgin Road

   Watching Summer Nude, (gee a lot of posts have been about that drama lately, haven't they) the Photography Studio that Asahi (Yamapi) worked at reminded me so much of the Studio/Living Place that the family owned in the superb classic 1997 J-drama Virgin Road, that I just HAD to dig up my old dramas and compare the two.
   While the two Studio-Homes ended up not looking very much like the same place (my memories, it seems. are getting a bit rusty), I DID enjoy re-watching some of the Virgin Road episodes again, the heartwarming story of a pregnant Emi Wakui asking a cool Takashi Sorimachi to pretend to be her fiance for the sake of her dad (played brilliantly by Tetsuya Takeda) was so much fun and the dialog so witty, I was remembering why I love it so much! And MAN,  I was ALSO reminded of one of the MOST IMPORTANT reasons I watched this show, for the lovely, lovely Ms Kimiko Yo, here playing the family's pretty and reliable Aunty Michi!

WOW, was I EVER in  LOVE with her! As a matter of fact, she may be the first "Older Woman" j-drama crush I'd ever had, and I fell HARD! I'd already developed a hankering for her in the awesome "Say You Love Me"(Aishiteiru To Ittekure) drama series as Koji's Gallery Agent Kanzaki, but it was her role as Aunt Michi that set my heart aflutter and my mouth a drooling...so STYLISH and always in the PRETTIEST of dresses and outfits....Always looked forward to seeing her excitedly "wave" at me each episode during the beginning credits as Namie Amuro belted out "Can You Celebrate"!

Now THAT's a WOMAN!!!

This was really a prime-time to be checking her out, as her role of Aunt Michi was soon followed by the lusciously sexy role in the drama "Three Grown Men"(Otona No Otoko). In THAT particular drama, she had the hots for Koji Yakusho, and he's forever lost any respect I had for him for not JUMPING ON THAT ACTION when she 'd desperately "Come on" to him each episode! LOLOL, Okay, he didn't take advantage of her because he was a gentleman, demo sa....it's not what I would have done....

in Aishiteiru To Ittekure (Say You Love Me)

In Churasan

in Okuribito (Departures)

   Kimiko Yo has always been a VERY busy gal in dramas and movies, and even after that period when my flames of love (and lust) burned for her, I'd still continue to see her pretty face everywhere (some notable ones include the warm-hearted but klutsy Yoko in Churasan and the sympathetic receptionist Uemura in "Departures" (Okuribito), and I know I'll continue to see her in the years to come as well! Go, Aunty Michi, GO!!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

The Cast of "Aishiteiru To Ittekure" (Say You Love Me) Then and Now

…One thing I have to mention about the drama Aishiteiru To Ittekure (Say You Love Me) that amazed me (as I re-watched it looking for a decent screencap of Kimiko Yo for the Aunty Michi post)  was just how YOUNG everyone in this cast was!!! I was simply stunned to see Takako Tokiwa, whom I generally regard nowadays as a fine WOMAN actor, back in her days as this ADORABLE young thing!!! Gads, I forgot how damn CUTE she was in this drama, no wonder so many of us fell head-over-heels in love with her back then!

 Really, to me it seems like not so long ago that I first watched this drama, but looking back, I realize that it’s been almost 20 years since that drama aired, and everyone had long since moved on up!!!  Suddenly intrigued, I decided to check out the latest dramas of ALL the primary cast members and see how they've changed since then! Fortunately, just about every actor and actress that appeared in Say You Love Me is still successfully working and it was easy locating most of their newest shows, and using my screencappin' skillz (LOL), I decided to take pics to show how our beloved characters have grown!

Etsushi Toyokawa

Above: Etsushi Toyokawa as Sakaki Kohji in Say You Love Me and as happy father Kinoshita Keisuke in 2012's Beautiful Rain (with Ashida Mana as Miu)

Takako Tokiwa

Takako Tokiwa as the adorable and innocent Hiroko in Say You Love Me, and as loving mother Misako in the 2013 Uchino Masaaki/Takeru Sato family drama Tonbi

Kohki Okada

As perennial “Nice Guy” and romance spoiler Kenichi “Ken-chan” Yabe in 1995, and as bankrupted merchant Itabashi in 2013's Hanzawa Naoki

Akiko Yada

Akiko as the devilish troublemaking Sayuri in Say You Love Me, and as Yurie Hamashima, one of the “Beautiful Women” in the fun 2013 comedy Nageki No Bijo (more on THIS drama later)

Yumi Aso

As fellow painter  Hikaru Shimada (and former love interest of Kohji) in Say You Love Me, and as Taeko, a Bar Mama in the same 2013 Takako Tokiwa drama Tonbi

Kimiko Yo 

As sexy and commanding Gallery owner Kanzaki Kaoru in Say You Love Me, and as the hilariously eccentric Rinko Kominato in the 2013 Rin Takanashi comedy Houkago Groove

 I just couldn’t end this essay without giving a mention to Dreams Come True, whose song “Love Love Love” not only totally MADE the drama into the heartbreaking masterpiece it is, but also provided the ANTHEM for our generation of J-drama watchers back in the 90’s!

In 2013, DCT are still going strong, and have just released their latest song "Saa Kane wo Narase" , the theme song for the fifth (!) series of the 1999 Medical Drama "Kyuumei Byoutou 24ji"! It seems the 90’s classics NEVER die and keep on coming!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

J-Drama Femme Fatales: Dan Mitsu

   Luscious, Luscious, Luscious!!! That’s the mantra going through my mind these past few episodes of drama "Hanzawa Naoki" regarding the gorgeous Dan Mitsu in her role as Higashida’s seductive mistress- SO sexy and hypnotic seeing her onscreen that before I knew it I was writing up yet ANOTHER gush on her loveliness, this time as the drama's resident "Femme Fatale"!

I thought I had seen it all seeing her rocking a bikini, but as I devour scenes of her in the sexiest of dresses and ensembles (as befitting her occupation of a Caba-Club Hostess),  I realize this chick is just TOTAL babe-ness WHATEVER she's wearing!!!!

I ‘d originally thought Dan Mitsu’s role as sultry Fujisawa Miki was going to be a minor background character but I have to apologize as Miki has turned into a major player in the game being dealt here! Who would have thought an actress with such a mousey voice could deliver such powerful passages, going head-to-head with Sakai Masato himself and creating such dynamic, gripping scenes!

   Growlll, even when she’s her usual brooding silent self, the flames of anger burn slowly behind her eyes, and you can actually FEEL the rage she’s feeling against Hanzawa, THAT’s how intense some of these scenes are! Pretty unbelievable how much depth this character actually has...you find yourself actually CARING about her...and that's a dangerous thing!!! Whoa, gotta get back for MORE!!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com