A New Fave K-Pop Act: TWICE!

Momo and the rest of TWICE

I will admit it was lusciously sexy Momo that first got me watching all the awesome fancams of TWICE, but once I did I was blown away by how incredibly catchy their songs were, not just with their singles like “Cheer Up” and “Like Ooh-Ahh” but album track songs like “Truth”, “Like A Fool” and the awesome “Do It Again”!

My TWICE gateway Drug: Momo

It was then that I realized I had to venture further into just what TWICE was all about, downloading both their albums to hear all of the music they had to offer, and then, ultimately, checking out all their appearances on Weekly Idol, the number one show (in my humble opinion) to really get to know the members of an act, their names, personalities and the “role” they played in the group, and I was happy to find them a really fun and energetic group!

TWICE on WEEKLY IDOL

 Strangely, though Momo was as lusciously sexy as ever, she really didn’t stand out personality-wise (in fact, she reminded me a LOT of Miss A’s Suzy; super pretty but kind of spacey) and I was to find that the member who intrigued me most was a member named Jihyo, whom I found was not only one of the main singers, but the leader of TWICE as well!

Jihyo

The thing that first attracted me to Jihyo was how much she reminded me of Nine Muses’ Ryu Sera. As you all know, I LOVE Sera so much (and am still stinging from her departure from the group) so Jihyo stood out immediately for me:

TWICE's Jihyo, at the end in green...

...reminded me somehow of Nine Muses Sera (far right in pink)

And once I paid attention to her, I realized Jihyo was SO MUCH FUN, so pleasant and talkative and WOW, soo, soo energetic on the dance floor, that I just fell in love!

Charismatic Jihyo

By the time I’d watched their second appearance on the show I already could instantly pick out Jihyo in any video I watched, she made such an impression on me! Up until that point, the only one I ever noticed was Momo (besides being my gateway drug, it helped that she was always the blonde one, very easy to pick out) but now I’ve managed to memorize both her and Jihyo as well as members like Tzuyu, Dahyun and Jungyeon!

Don’t get me wrong, at this moment, Momo is still my overall favorite member of TWICE, but Jihyo is a strong second in command, and I'm even getting attached to a few others like Dahyun as well, very cute end friendly girl who gives off a real “high-school friend” vibe and has a killer eye smile, to boot!

Dahyun

In fact, in the latest Weekly Idol, Dahyun showed that eye smile when a guy from BTOB was doing an insanely funny dance, and you can see the exact moment Dahyun (in the red shirt) sees how silly the guy looks, her face just lights up with laughter, it made ME laugh out loud!

AOkay, actually ALL of them look cute laughing, but Dahyun  really stood out for me, LOL...Anyway, as time goes by I’m sure I will learn to love even more members and songs as I learn more about them and their music. As we speak I’m in the “watching every single video of them on youtube” phase of TWICE fandom, and I’m sure this love will only grow stronger and stronger!

PS: Some interesting things I discovered since investigating into TWICE:

TWICE was a group created from the show “Sixteen”, and Momo was actually an eliminated contestant that JYP (bless his heart) put back into the group, to much outcry.

I read that Momo got into singing and dancing from watching Namie Amuro, this surprised me at first, til I learned that Momo’s name is Momo Hirai, and she’s JAPANESE, from Kyoto! And she’s not the only one, Sana and Mina are also Japanese! Huh, never would have guessed it!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Twice's "Cheer Up" Sped Up 2x!

Though I'd already fallen in love with most of K-pop Act TWICE's songs like "Like Ooh-Ahh" and "Do It Again", it was this ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE performance of the girls doing their new song "Cheer Up" on the awesome WEEKLY IDOL show...at TWICE the SPEED!

This "Speeding Up" game has been a recent staple of the Weekly Idol show (along with their classic "Random Dance" play) but MAN, the girls take it to the next level, especially Sana with her "Shy! Shy! Shy!" TOO FUNNY!!!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Keiko Kitagawa Returns in "Ie Uru Onna~Your Home Is My Business!!"

Keiko Kitagawa Beyond The Call

As the title says, Ie Uru Onna (Woman who Sells Homes) is a drama about , naturally, a woman selling homes, but WOW, what a spectacularly STRANGE and ECCENTRIC woman it is!

Keiko Kitagawa as Machi Sangeya

Keiko Kitagawa stars as Machi Sangeya, a cold, chilly and extremely strict woman who is masterful at selling homes to clients (her motto: There’s NO HOME I can’t sell!) but is cold, bossy and unfriendly to her underlings, co-workers and even superiors!

Friendly Dai Yashida (Toru Nakamura) runs a real Estate agency where everyone gets along well and things are low-key. Only problem is, his kid-gloves approach to his workers has resulted in little to no sales from his unmotivated and sometimes downright lazy agents. The head office is sending them their “big gun”, the powerhouse seller Sangeya, who makes millions for the company with her sales, and right away, she shakes things up with her brutal ways of ordering people around, barking out commands and bullying the slackers into submission!

Sangeya partners up with Niwano Seigi(Kudo Asuka), a seller who has a hard time making sales because of his gentle and easily pushed around demeanor, and with her help and insight they manage to move some homes.

But the wide-eyed Niwano is shocked by the strong armed and sometimes deceptive methods Sangeya uses to make her sales, even going as far as using actors to trick her clients. It seems like she will do ANYthing to sell off a place, and she even says so, straight to his face!

In reality, however, Sangeya is someone who really understands families and the way a home works within your lives. She uses her cold, unflinching eye to look at the situation the client is going through to get them the best home they can buy, and solve some of their personal dilemmas on the way as well!

The once peaceful workplace is now a nervous minefield and chief Yashida has to wonder out loud just WHO the boss is around there, him or HER!

At the end of the day though, the workers, though they do not like Sangeya and her bossy and sometimes cruel ways of doing things, have to admit she gets the job done. And as the agent who sees Sangeya’s passion, Niwano is softening up to her and maybe even liking her a little bit, cruel as she is to him!

AW, such a GREAT show! Granted, Keiko’s role is a very strange one as she seems almost autistic in her actions, but it looks like Keiko’s trying to channel a Yuki Amami kind of vibe (i.e. icy, intelligent woman with zero social skills), and when I think of it like that, it seems perfect! Love watching her in action when she’s own the job, the way she robotically scans the homes as she’s assessing the value of the homes and the situations of the sellers/buyers and the meticulous way she catalogues info, too hilarious!!

I Love watching her in action when she’s own the job, the way she robotically scans the homes as she’s assessing the value of the homes (as well as the situations of the sellers/buyers) and the meticulous way she catalogues info, too hilarious!! I'm just LOVING this show and GOTTA see MORE!

Speaking of seeing MORE, WOWOWOW, who’s this absolutely beautiful waif playing the company’s resident office “secretary” Madoka Murata?

Oh my GOSH, she is such a CUTIE PIE, so sweet and lusciously GIRLY, I just want to eat her up! Dramawiki says her name is Yuko Araki, and says that she’s appeared in Dragon Seinendan and Real Clothes, both dramas I’ve seen, but I’ll be darned if I can remember who she was in them!

Tell ya ONE thing, I’ll be keeping an eye out for her in the future!Ahhh, they’ve really got the perfect role for this cutie, a pretty, fun and sassy character who is at once both sweet coy and reserved and yet radiant and glowing! 

And Oooooohhh, those pretty little flower print blouses she wears….just adorable! Mm Hmm, just one more reason to keep watching this great show!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Kyoko Fukada Pleases Again with Two New Photobooks!

Proving that she's still the greatest thing from Japan since the Shinkansen, actress Kyoko Fukada has just released another set of photobooks, "Akua" and "This Is Me".

MAN, we're still over here reeling from her LAST bunch of supremely sexy shashinshuu but it appears Fukakyon's motto is "Shake 'Em If Ya Got 'Em, and OH BOY does she EVER!!!

So wonderful to not only see the now 33 year-old Kyoko Fukada still as relevant and popular as ever, but looking just as great, if not BETTER than she did back in her early days!!!!

Mmmm, looks like this is ANOTHER book I'll have to pick up!!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com