Takako Matsu Lets It Go...

I saw a fascinating video where we got to see the vocalists who sang the classic "Let It Go" in 25 of the other languages which it screened, and as it went, I was wondering which Japanese singer would be the one who sang it for the Japan version. I have to say, even though I know Takako Matsu sings (and one of her songs is even in my Favorite J-pop Singles List!) I was rather surprised to see HER belting out the familiar tune! You Go, Girl!

Hear Takako's Complete Performance :

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

More Yukiko Okada Goods

As a latecomer to the absolute awesomeness that is Yukiko Okada, i've spent a lot of time trying to get my hands on her CDs, Singles and Collectibles, all with only moderate success. One of the BIG items I've always wanted for my collection was her first two CDs, "Cinderella" and "Fairy". I had managed to acquire her three later albums, Juugatsu no Ningyo, Okurimono II, and (my favorite album of hers) Venus Tanjou, but it seemed no one wanted to give up their copies of her first two releases!

In 2015, Pony Canyon announced the release of all 5 Yukiko Okada albums in UHQCD, but I was still holding out hope on getting my hands on the "original" releases just to complete my set. but by late 2017, I realized that if I didn't grab the re-issued Fairy and Cinderella now, I might NEVER own a physical copy of them. So order them I did...and I was SO GLAD I did!!!

Yukiko "Cinderella"  CD and booklet

Cinderella Gatefold

Well, just this week, my order came in, and I was blown away by how freaking BEAUTIFUL these albums are- I'd thought these re-issues would be regular CD-sized paper sleeves, but what I got were 7"x7: glossy mini ALBUMS, complete with Gatefold Centerfolds! Each album contained a mini booklet and lyric sheet inside, and even had LP OBI reproductions for FAIRY and an LP album Sticker reproduction for Cinderella!

"Fairy" CD and Booklet

Fairy gatefold

Also, since I'd never owned the CDs before, I had no idea what the back covers looked like, and to see them for the first time as an 8x8 glossy presentation was a sweet bonus!!!

These Re-issues look and sound so damn great that now I'm looking into purchasing the remaining three albums in this series. But at 32 dollars a pop, I will have to see if the budget allows it! But I know if I'm gonna do it, I'd better act before they get away!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Okusama wa, Toriatsukai Chuui Still My Favorite Drama On!

Just finished watching the latest episode of the highly entertaining Ayase Haruka drama Okusama wa, Toriatsukai Chuui, and DAMN, Episode 8 might be the best one yet! Terrific, well paced direction where even just showing Nami going shopping with her husband is captivating ....

 

  Or even following Nami talking and hanging out with her friends....

 ...and DAMN, those explosive fight scenes which end each mystery are terrific!

We've got only two more episodes to go and things are steadily building up nicely! I'm expecting a great wrap up for this show!!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

A Reversal Of Roles...

Just began watching the drama “Itsuka Kono Koi wo Omoidashite Kitto Naite Shimau” (Some Day, When We Remember This Love, We Will Surely Cry) starring Kasumi Arimura (whom I just finished watching in the cute movie Flying Colors) and Kengo Kora as two sensitive people from opposite sides of the tracks whom meet through a strange act and whom become sources of strength for each other.

Kengo Kora is Ren Soda, a young man working as a Mover in Tokyo trying to raise money to buy back land his grandfather got swindled out of.  His no-good friend Haruta (Kentaro Sakaguchi) had crashed his pad and Ren is dismayed to find he has stolen a woman’s purse to catch a ride back to town.

 

 Normally Ren would just leave things be, as he is a shy man who doesn’t like confrontation, but whne he finds a precious letter from the woman’s deceased mother among the things in the purse, he decides he must find the owner of the purse and return the belongings to her.

Finding out the town Haruta stole the purse from, he makes his was to the country, and using information in the purse, locates the woman. The woman is Oto Sugihara, and she is a person who has had a very hard life. She was orphaned at a young age and left with a grouchy and selfish man who doesn’t care anything about her and only cares for her as a person to work and bring in money.

 When she meets Ren, she at first pretends she isn’t the woman he’s looking for, but in the end confronts him, calling him a thief for stealing her purse. it takes all his effort to prove to her that he isn’t the robber and had pure intentions.

Little by little she starts to believe him, and over conversations begins to open up to him.

As fate would have it, Ren has come at a pivotal point in Oto’s life: her greedy guardian has made a deal with an older man who will pay handsomely to have Oto as his bride. She doesn’t like this of course, and when she voices her objections, he lashes out at her. When she defies him, he takes her mother’s ashes and flushes it down the toilet. this finally breaks her and in tears, runs out to find Ren.

Ren is about to make his way back into town, and he immediately takes her in, and without any more connections to this world, Oto decides to leave with him and start a new life in Tokyo with him.

When they arrive in town the next morning, Oto has to take care of some things and Ren says he’ll wait for her by the van, Unfortunately, at that moment his childhood friend Konatsu (Aoi Morikawa) shows fup and tells him she needs his help right away. And so it is that when Oto returns, Ren is nowhere to be found…and the two end up living in town without knowing where the other is.

* * * * * *

I initially checked out Itsuka Kono Koi for actress Mitsuki Takahata whom I fell in love with from her adorable portrayal of the titular heroine in “Kahogo No Kahoko” but I was TOTALLY unprepared for the character I saw- far from the sweet, innocent, naive and adorable Kahoko, Mitsuki was playing a rich, beautiful, confident and SEXY woman named Kihoko, the sometimes-on and sometimes-off love interest of Ren.

Damn, Mitsuki was so alluring and gorgeous in this drama, I could scarcely believe she was the same actress from Kahogo no Kahoko!

But she wasn’t the ONLY one who shook me up with decidedly DIFFERENT personalities than I’d been used to: Kentaro Sakaguchi, whom I last saw as the weak, shy and introspective Satoru Hyuga in GOMEN AISHITERU is a loudmouthed bum who doesn’t care about anyone’s feelings or even common decency. He has no problem stealing a woman’s purse, inviting himself into Ren’s home and eating all his food. What a twist!

As well,  Issei Takahashi, whom I loved as the caring and thoughtful in QUARTET, is just the BIGGEST jerk, as Ren’s co-worker at the Moving Company, he takes advantage of Ren, blames him for damaged inventory and sits back while Ren does all the work. GADS, do I HATE this guy, and I can’t believe he’s the same sensitive violinist I came to like so much!

Well, I don’t quite know how this show is going to end up, truthfully I am not a fan of these shows where  the hero (and heroine) of the show are these constantly bullied and picked on people (really gets aggravating after awhile) but I do really want to know where the relationship between Oto and Ren will go, so for now I will have to stick with it and keep watching it!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

The Sexy Side of Sachiko Suzuki

J-pop duo Wink were among the very first artists I learned when I first got into Japanese music, and even then I think I had a thing for Sachiko Suzuki whom captivated me from the start!

Whenever I would blog about my favorite songs from Wink, I would always put a little caveat about how much I dug Sachiko Suzuki, and when I found out that after Wink  had run its course she had begun releasing  photobooks and gravure movies, I knew I just HAD to get my hands on some of them! But it was harder to acquire than I thought.

When I FINALLY got to watch it, I could see why all the clips floating around on the internet were so bad...the actual video ITSELF was shot in this muddy, darkly contrasty and PURPOSEFULLY BLURRY style, making the entire movie seem like a low-budget arty-farty flick...(which, in some ways, I suppose it was.)

Stil we got to see Sachiko in her absolute sexiest: From bikinis to Bra and panties, and even a touch of S&M!

VERY captivating stuff!!!