Catching Up With My Drama Crushes, Kitagawa Keiko et al

Kitagawa Keiko in the new drama HERO

  Seems it’s been a while since I last checked out any Japanese or Korean dramas, but when I perused the awesome Plotboxes site and saw that two of my former reigning “Crush Of The Day” Princesses had recently come out with new Television shows, I knew I just HAD to check them out!

Kimura Takuya and Kitagawa Keiko

 Kimura Takuya’s drama “HERO” about an unorthodox prosecutor never really attracted me even though its’ earlier series featured Matsu Takako and Ayase Haruka, and to date I’ve never sat down and watched any of them. But with Keiko Kitagawa now firmly in the sidekick seat in this latest venture, I figured I had to at least watch ONE episode! 

Keiko looks sooo sooo pretty here, so that’s a plus, and even though I really didn’t know too much about the original storyline, it wasn’t all that hard to figure it all out. A nice ensemble cast, and Yoshida Yo looks particularly delectable!

Yoshida Yo in HERO

   Next we have the latest drama from my darling Emi Takei, who slowly but surely is turning into a fine young WOMAN, at least from what her new drama ”Zero No Shinjitsu”  shows us! 

Takei Emi as Matsumoto Mai in Zero No Shinjitsu

This show deals with a young girl named Matsumoto Mao from the US who, with an IQ of over 150 and an almost fanatical expanse of knowledge has already performed over 200 autopsies and is now joining the Japan Medical Team. When a body is brought in under questionable circumstances, she uses her abilities to extract the truths the bodies tell her and to bring justice to their loved ones.

Emi Takei with Kuranosuke Sasaki

I’m not a real big fan of Medical Mystery dramas, but with such a stellar list of actors including Sasaki Kuranosuke, who played Emi’s befuddled interest in Otenki Oneesan  (and in fact, Zero No Shinjitsu kind of reminds me of Otenki, with a super-smart girl with NO personality whatsoever shaking up her field) and Maya Miki (playing yet another sexy medical examiner a la Galileo), I’m already enjoying myself with this one!

Anne as the titular Hanasaki Mai

 Out of all of the new shows I’m watching, though, Anne’s show “Hanasaki Mai ga Damatte Inai (Hanasaki Mai Can’t Keep Silent!)” is the one I love the MOST so far… When I originally read the synopsis of a clerical back teller who gets put in a group that investigates Bank related problems and whose habit of speaking her mind gets her in trouble-and usually solves the cases-, I wasn’t too intrigued. I guess after that somewhat disappointing end to “Hanzawa Naoki”, I didn’t feel like another Bank series.

Kamikawa Takaya and Anne in Hanasaki Mai

 But after only 20 minutes into the show, I totally fell in love with Anne’s character Mai Hanasaki, she was so sweet, thoughtful and DETERMINED, I was totally sold on her and wanted to see her do her magic!! Blustery superiors and Jackass bosses are what we’ve come to expect from shows dealing with shady shenanigans and criminal dealings, it’s SUCH a TREAT to see this dorky and demure waif of a woman stepping up in defense of the weaker people, lashing out at them and taking them down a notch!!By the halfway point of the first episode, I knew this was a drama I was going to be watching to the end, and I quickly ran back and downloaded the entire series to watch!!! MNA, so good!

Jung Eunji as Choi Chun Hee in "Trot Lovers"

Lastly, I FINALLY got around to checking out “Trot Lovers”- you would think that just by how much I Love APink and their versatile lead vocalist Eunji that I would have grabbed this one from the get go, but with both Yoona AND Hyosung’s last dramas still on my computer waiting for me to finish watching them, I wasn’t too keen on picking up another! But man, Eunji is so charismatic and loveable as former athlete turned singer Choi Chun Hee I MAY have to find time to squeeze her in!
 Well, these are the shows on the burner, We’ll see how they all play out…
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com