Vampire By Night, Mirei Style

Checked out the 2010 Mirei Kiritani movie “Koisuru Vampire” because a tale of a teenage girl vampire brought up without human interaction who meets and falls in love with a mortal boy and makes it her mission to find him again in the real world sounded like it would yield some interesting story-lines...

 Somehow though, once Kiira (Mirei) hooks up with the boy as a teenager, the show turned into a drama  about a girl who uses all her love to convince the boy that his singing and guitar playing is awesome and he can win a talent show, if only he'd believe in himself.  Yeah, they managed to stick a generic, clichéd storyline into this movie, just like they did with The Girl Who Leapt Thru Time. I mean, they DID eventually get around to the whole “vampire” thing at the end, but by then I almost didn’t care, LOL. 

Plus Points for Mirei’s super-cuteness, but I gotta tell you, for a vampire movie, a good 80% of this could have been just a regular teen romance flick! I guess that was the demographic they were going for? OK.

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Rainbow Returns With EP "Prism"!

The Rainbow Girls Are BACK!!

 I absolutely loved Rainbow’s new song “Whoo” from the first moment I heard it, it was such a catchy,  explosive 70’s flavoured tune that I was cranking up the volume immediately,  but you know, even more than that, I was just so happy to look and see ALL SEVEN of the original members still there performing their their hearts out and looking more beautiful and sexy than ever! 

It really touched a sentimental nerve in me and so though I’ve been really stepping back on my K-pop purchases in the past few months, I felt like I just HAD to pick up their latest album, if only to support the girls for still giving it their all!

Going online to put in my K-pop pre-order, I was a little brought down by the album’s absolutely mediocre cover, this group is filled with seven of the cutest K-pop idols out there, but time and again we are presented with these plain, nondescript covers (Rainbow Syndrome, Sunshine, etc) Would it kill them to have a cover like “Gossip Girl” or “So Girls” again? Honestly! (said in Austin Powers voice)

Fortunately the pictures INSIDE the album make up for it, the girls look as pretty and fabulous as ever, even my RAINBOW bias Woori looks great here despite sporting new yellow locks. Woori, Oh Woori, WHY did you dye your hair BLONDE? Took so long for you to grow your hair out after cutting it short last promotions, and now this! LOL

Luscious Leader Jaekyung

My Bias Woori all blonde

Hyunyoung

Jisook

No Eul

Seung Ah

Yoon Hye

And Hallelujah, the music is solid! Good old Rainbow giving us what I’ve always loved from them: cool, happy pop tunes with great vocals and catchy hooks and performances featuring the girls ultimate sassiness! These five songs clearly show that Jaekyung and the girls are absolutely ready to step up to the mantle and take the top spot KARA left to become DSP’s flagship girl group!!!

 PS: The bonus Trading Card that came with my CD was none other than pretty leader Jaekyung! Wouldn't been nice to get Woori, but Jaekyung is always a fine, fine, second choice!!

So good to see them again! Check the girls out in their latest single WHOO!!!!

Oh My GOD, so Freaking SEXYYYYYYYYY!!!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

An Awesome Addition to my Meisa Kuroki Collection

Meisa Kuroki "Magazine" CD Versions A and B

Meisa Kuroki is a beautiful and capable actress and I love the dramas I’ve seen her in, and another thing I really love from her is her musical output. Sure, it’s almost a given that most popular young actors and actresses try their hand singing, (Ayase Haruka, Mirei Kiritani and Emi Takei all have done so, heck, even Fujiki Naohito and Tamaki Hiroshi have released singles!) and while some are decent, every once in awhile you get one that’s really GREAT, and Meisa’s debut release HELLCAT was so good that the electronic dance album has gone on the become one of my favorite J-pop CDs of ALL TIME!

Meisa Kuroki "Hellcat" CD

 Bad Girl, Like This, Criminal, oh MAN this album was sooo sooo good, since then I’ve always kept an eye on her singing career, and up until Meisa’s abrupt departure from music (to get married and give birth to her first child) I’ve tried to pick up as many of her releases I could get my hands on!
 Meisa returned to acting in 2013 and has been involved in some great shows, and with her latest drama “Designer Baby” on right now, I’m back into Meisa mode and have been trying to get the singles and CDs I’m missing from my collection.  Slowly I’ve managed to get most of them (truthfully, Meisa has only a handful of albums, so it wasn’t that hard) but the one album I was having a time getting was her second album MAGAZINE.

Meisa Kuroki "Magazine" Regular Edition

 Well, it wasn’t that it was hard to get the regular release, as it was and is still available on the CD Japan website, but what I wanted was the FIRST PRESSING version. All my Meisa Kuroki albums are the First Editions because they come with DVD bonus featuring her sultry and sexy VIDEOS, but the first pressing for Magazine came not only with the bonus DVD with video, but came with TWO different cover versions!
 I HAD to get these First Edition releases somehow, and after checking regularly on ebay with no results, I was told to check out Amazon Japan. Well, they DID have it, but just then I was able to find a seller on the Domestic Amazon seller list...and they were selling BOTH versions A and B!!!! I jumped on that immediately!

  My parcel came registered mail so I had to pick it up at the post office, and I have to say that the first thing that surprised me was the sheer SIZE of the package. I’d assumed (from the pictures on the auction site) that they were 5x7 sized CD boxes…little did I know that the Magazine release’s theme was to look like a REAL magazine, and came not only in standard magazine sized 8½ x11 dimensions, but came with GLOSSY HARDCOVERS with 46 glossy pages of luscious Meisa photographs inside as well! Holy CRAP, these were AWESOME!!!

As far as the music goes, Magazine is another fine addition to the Meisa Kuroki catalog, like her later album Unlocked, this album features some strong singles (in this case Shock, 5-Five, and LOL) and balances it out with some softer songs and some bright , sunshiney pop tunes as well! (Wasted’s a big fave)
Usually Meisa includes the c/w songs from her singles on the parent album, but “The Only One” and “So Smooth” off 5-Five aren’t here…better hold onto my single!!
  I bought both versions of Magazine because of the different artwork on the cover and back, knowing that the inside content was going to be the same, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that while Version A’s bonus DVD included Meisa’s Video Clips (from debut single Like This~ to the then-current LOL) Version B’s DVD had a MINI CONCERT! WHOA! Talk about STOKED! I couldn’t WAIT to pop in that baby!

Meisa’s mini concert “1st Solo Live Attitude 2010” consisted of 7 tracks: Hear The Alarm, Shock, Bad Girl, Awakening, Are Ya Ready?, Kind Of Guy, Stand Up, LOL, and Wasted.
This was a really great treat because I’ve only seen Meisa’s songs in PV form and never got to really see her do these songs live, and the latter songs in particular, Meisa is grooving and having a lot of fun onstage. One really funny thing happens when she’s performing “LOL”, in the middle of the song’s second verse, the glitzy Egyptian looking necklace she’s wearing snaps and falls off, and as she scrambles to pick it up, you can hear her chuckling as she sings, a REAL “LOL” if you will!”
  Magazine’s packaging is so beautiful I couldn’t wait to add it to my Meisa Kuroki Collection, but when I put ‘em all together,  the oversized Photo album dimensions just didn’t sit right with the regular jewel case CDs….

Above: My Meisa Kuroki Collection:

Magazine

Hellcat

Shock~Unmei

Atttitude

Wired Life

One More Drama

Unlocked

5-Five

LOL

Upon considering the size of the releases, it seems it makes more sense to store the Magazine books with my Meisa Kuroki “Love Meisa” Photobook, dessho? Mmm, Yup!

Now that Meisa’s back into the acting game, I’m wondering if it’s safe to start hoping that she’ll resume her musical career as well. Perhaps she won’t be singing the same kind of songs she did before, but having children never stopped Namie Amuro from continuing to rock! Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s STILL a single from Meisa that I need to hunt down….the collector in me won’t rest ‘til I’ve got it!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Crush Of The Day: Rin Takanashi

The new Maki Horikita-led crime drama Higanbana~Keishicho Sosa Nanaka is just chock full of lovely ladies that I love, including Dan Rei, YOU, Kang Jiyoung and the stoic Mao Daichi, but the one actress who has been sailing head and shoulders above the rest is darling, darling Rin Takanashi, here reaffirming the initial attraction I had for her in 5 Ji Kara 9 Ji Made: she is cute, cute CUTE!

Higanbana is an OK drama about a girl (Horikita) who uses psychic abilities to "hear" the voices of the dead, but more than that, the thing that keeps me glued to my screen is Rin’s playful portrayal of cutie pie Rin Ito (Yes! Her character’s name is Rin, too!) and her adorably girlish antics in each episode!

   Each member of the Higanbana Team has their personality; Jiyoung's an Americanized Gal, YOU is a harried mother, etc, and I was stoked to see that the character of Rin’s was of a sunshiney, cheerful , dizzy and giggly girl, she’s so cute in every episode, you just want to put her in your pocket and take her home!

  Her skills involve computer detective work and sifting through forensic evidence, but her true skills are that of a Martha Stewart variety: making crafts and baking cookies and brownies. Best thing of all, whenever she shows off her latest hobby creation, she is falling over with pride, squealing “look what I made!” LOL

   Boy, the Higanbana Directors really know how to properly play her up, with lots of wide-eyed innocent gazes, anime-speed girly speaking and OOOHH, those disarmingly effective POUTS! 

So much like an anime come to life, man, there are scenes where she looks like a living Japanese Barbie Doll! And did I mention how much I love a girl with ribbons in her hair? Mmm.

  This makes TWO dramas where Rin Takanashi is playing these wonderfully sweet and innocent babes, part of me is really worrying what I’ll do when I finally see her playing a crude and morose character. Will I be able to take it? LOLOL.Directors, please take note: continue to cast Rin Takanashi in Cutesy Roles forever!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

More Yui and Hiroshi With Aruitemo, Aruitemo (Still Walking)

Yui Natsukawa and Hiroshi Abe in Still Walking

Still riding on a very intense Yui Natsukawa high after falling in love with her in “Kekkon Dekinai Otoko” and was trying to get my hands the 2011 drama  “Shiawase no Kiiroi Hankachi” because it starred both Yui and Hiroshi Abe as a married couple. Well, I still haven’t managed to locate it, but I realized I DID already have a MOVIE starring Hiroshi Abe and Yui Natsukawa as a married couple, the film “Auruitemo, Aruitemo (Still Walking) which I’d been sitting on for years and I immediately dug it up to watch!

 This was one of those laid-back “absorb the atmosphere” kind of flicks, ones that take the time to show random things like an old man walking down a hill or a train clicking across the scenery…and it reminded me not just a little of the terrific Hiroshi Abe/Tomoko Yamaguchi drama “Going My Home”: Same story of a city resident going back to visit his relations in a small old-fashioned town, and once there, sitting back and taking in the slowed down pace on the town. Heck, they even got YOU to play his younger sister in both of them!

I’d originally downloaded this movie at the recommendation of a friend who really likes Hiroshi Abe , Ironically, he never remembers his name, instead calling him “that guy who looks like Rider-Man”. One day he told me, “Hey we saw this Japanese movie with that guy that looks like Rider Man, and it was really good! It’s about this guy who goes back home to visit his family, but he doesn’t get along with his father who thinks he’s good for nothing”. When I looked like I was thinking “That’s it?”,  he added, “eh, there was more to it, but it was more in the way the movie was shown than the story itself.” And how right he was!

 So I got it, but I never got around to checking it out til now (Well, some of  the beginning looks familiar, so I may have watched some of it initially but I don’t remember it)! But that’s okay because I don’t think there’s a better time to be watching it than right now, where I can fully appreciate both Yui and Abe’s acting skills and the way they play off each other! Actually, everyone was really great, such natural and organic scenes which were composed mostly of dialog, GREAT dialog which grew and simmered like real conversations… so realistic, at times if seemed like I was watching a hidden camera video recording of some family’s life!

Watching this has really reinforced my Yui Natsukawa love, man…she was so doggone pretty and delicate in this one, not at all like the tough realist Natsumi Hayakawa, but both really great characters. And of course, no matter who she plays, her characters always have those signature dimples, and in fact, there's a scene where Mother (played excellently by the awesome Kiki Kirin) even comments, "Oh, you have cute dimples!" LOLOL

PS. Was really cool to realize the line “Aruitemo, Aruitemo” used as the title of this movie came from none other than the immensely gorgeous Japan chanteuse Ayumi Ishida’s  song “Blue Light Yokohama”, how cool is THAT!!!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com