The 8-Year Engagement

Just finished watching the Takeru Sato/ Tao Tsuchiya movie “8-Nengoshi no Hanayome~The 8 Year Engagement”, the true story of a newly engaged couple named Hisashi and Mai whose plans get thrown into despair when Mai gets a brain seizure which puts her in a coma for months, and when she does miraculously awaken, finds that though she remembers her parents, she doesn’t remember a thing about her engagement or even Hisashi himself!

Takeru Sato is great as the faithful Hisashi, who was always by her side while she was hospitalized and never stopped believing she would wake up and heal, and Tao proves yet again why I like her so much as the sweet and vulnerable Mai.
Also good are Hiroko Yakushimaru and Tetta Sugimoto as Mai's parents who do their best to absolve him of any sense of obligation to stay by Mai's side when she is hospitalized and possibly never to regain conciousness (but shed tears of gratitude when they realize his love for Mai is true and he is here for the long haul)...

This movie reminded me not just a little of the Yutaka Takenouchi/Emi Wakui drama “Mou Ichido Kimi ni, Propose” where Husband has to win the love of his wife all over again when she loses her memory and forgets who he is. But The 8 year Engagement is a bit more compelling in that the couple has not yet married and the fiance does his best on pure love and faith towards the girl he dreamed of marrying one day.

Yeah, this movie was another heart tugger for sure and of COURSE I was wiping away the tears by the show’s end, but sometimes ya gotta just go with the flow and let yourself be a weepy girlyman...LOL!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Shudan Sasen: Everyone's Demoted!

Masaharu Fukuyama stars as Hiroshi Kataoka, a company man who has been promoted as Bank Manager for one of the company’s extended branches. He is excited about the news until he learns from his higher up Yokoyama (Hiroshi Mikami) that the branch he will be running is slated for CLOSURE, and that his only job at his new bank will be to make sure it fails.

Come to find out that the Bank had a merger with another bank awhile ago for its assets, but now they are working behind the scenes to liquidate all the branches that were part of the other company’s. Only with his complete cooperation will Kataoka be promised a job when his branch closes, otherwise he can be expected to be laid off like the others.

This is a problem for Kataoka’s “go get ’em” attitude. He can’t simply stand by and watch the bank he is in charge of go under without a fight, but with direct orders for corporate to not do anything “unnecessary” his hands are seemingly tied.

He isn’t greeted very warmly at his new branch. Everyone is suspicious of him, especially manager Mayama (Teruyuki Kagawa), who seems to know that Kataoka is here only to orchestrate their demise as ordered by the uppers, and perhaps that is what he intended to do at first.

But when Kataoka sees how hard the younger members of his new team are working, and how important the small  town bank is to its customers, ever so slightly he begins bending the rules to help the bank achieve its goals.

This causes a stir within the upper management and Yokoyama and Kataoka butt heads until they reach an ultimatum: If the bank can successfully hit  the (outrageous) goal of 10 Billion in profit by the mid-term, he will allow the bank to continue. But with corporate doing everything in their power to see him fail and the stand 0ffishness of his employees, Kataoka will have quite a job on his hands if he is to make the goal!

After watching the first episdoe, i have to say that so far the show seems like a weaker copy of the infinitely superior "Harassment Game" which followed a similar storyline, and somehow Fukuyama's portrayal of Kataoka is...Odd? Very spazzy and hyper but sputtery and confused as well. Very hard to get behind, but we'll see how the story develops.

A bonus is babealicious Anne Nakamura as Kataoka's secretary Mieko Kida and the lovely Akiko Yagi as Kataoka's wife Kaori.-they'll help me get through this drama....

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Into the World of Yu Hayami

The Lovely, Lovely, Yu Hayami

I was hanging at a local Izakaya and having a conversation about my huge love of 80's idols like Yukiko Okada, Iyo Matsumoto and, more recently, Yuki Saito. We got to talking about Yu Hayami and it occurred to me that although I really liked her NOW, as a beautiful geinokai and TV host, I really didn't know much of her music outside of the popular singles like her famous "Natsuiro No Nancy" with her signature "Koi kana YES! Koi janai YES! " and I decided it was time to rectify this!
Last month as you may recall it was "Sheena Ringo" month where I used my vacation time to seriously delve into Ringo's catalog of music, and I thought it was time to make the month of May my "Month of Yu Hayami Discovery"! Over the past week I took on four of Yu's early albums and the early reports are as follows:
Week One:
And I Love You [1982]

My first outing with Yu Hayami and it was a nice listen. It didn't quite blow me away like the first time I heard Yukiko Okada or Iyo Matsumoto's debut albums, but there were a few tracks that became immediate favorites! This was promising!
Image [1982]

Took this album with me on a long sunset walk before dinner and this was another fine album. Though nothing stood out right away, it certainly put me in a good mood with its happy tunes! I will give this a few more spins before I re-review it...
Sincerely [1984]

Oh man, THIS is the one that did it for me! Though I meant to listen to all Yu's abums in order, I was on a short walk that wasn't going to take much time and so I chose one of her shorter albums and WOW, this one was the best one yet!
More New-Wavey than her earlier albums, this album rocked me with each and every song and I couldn't WAIT to play it over again and listen to it from the beginning! So far my favorite release from hers!
Dear [1983]

Already amped up by how much I liked Sincerely, I decided it was time for "Dear", the album that launched her biggest hit (and the first song I knew from her)" Natsuiro No Nancy", and Whoohoo, this was another great time! Listened to this album twice that night!
Week Two: 
Lanai [1983]

As a Hawaii native, it always made me proud to know Yu came from these lovely isles, and when I saw her next album was called "Lanai", my first thought was, Yep, Local girl!
But I wasn't sure if she was referring to the island of Lanai, or the local name for the back patio. Only after hearing the song "Rainy Boy" off this album did I learn it was about the island! Another okay album, much like "Image", bright tunes, but nothing that particularly stood out for me, at least not yet.
BTW, I forgot to mention, just to show what a local girl she is, at the end of "Dear", she gives a little farewell at the end of the album and ends it with "LATAS!" HAHAHA, how local can you get?
Music [1984]

WOWOW, another STRONG album from Yu, this is another one that knocked me out from the moment I played it! I must say that, like "Sincerely" before it, there is a distinct difference from her earlier albums in not only the song writing and production, but in Yu's singing as well! VERY powerful and jazzy with lots of catchy hooks! Right now probably my second favorite album from her!
Wrapped up the weekend re-listening to both "Image" and "Dear" as well...
Week Three
Gave "And I Love You" another spin and I have to say it's really growing on me, with several strong songs becoming faves.
Colorful Box [1983]

Another OK album which I'll have to give a few more listens before I can really make an assessment of. Did quite like two or three groovy songs so far!
Recess [1984]

Liked this one. Yu sounds like she's doing her take on Yoko Oginome, and in fact one song sound just like "Dancing Hero". I can hear her moving more towards the electronic sound in Sincerely.
Week Four
Instead of introducing any more albums into my playlist, I decided to concentrate on re-listening to the albums I'd already heard again, this week.
First up was Image again, and finally the songs are "sticking" with me, with several songs making me go "Ah! Love this one!" I noticed that once the track "Nanatsuno Love Letter" hit, I loved that and every song after that, all the way to the end. I wonder if this was side B to the original LP, it had a certain "Swoop" to it.
Next up was a re-listen to "Music" and, yep this is indeed becoming a BIG fave of mine from Yu. Once again gotta say the production on this one is superb, very "dense" sound, and I especially love Yu's vocals, she sounds so warm and sparkling!
Also gave another listen to "Sincerely" and it was as good, no, even BETTER than my first listen...I really LOVE this one!! If I may say so, quite "Pony Canyon-esque" with VERY catchy songs with 80's synths and beats...and Yu sounds so sweet!
Had a little more time before I got home so I also re-spun "Dear" for the fourth time, making for a wonderful day out with Ms. Hayami!
Next Day gave both Colorful Box and Recess again. Still have to give Colorful Box a few more listens, but Recess blew me away with its second play- it's so good! Very catchy song, and I think that so far, along with Sincerely and Music, are my top favorite albums from Yu!
Been QUITE a month discovering the sweet music of Yu Hayami, and it's exciting to know there's even MORE to uncover! No matter what, though, Yu's already impressed me and made me a fan of hers for good!!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

A Retake on "Retake"

As you all may recall some years back I attempted to watch the Riko Narumi / Tsutsui Michitaka Time-Jumping sci-fi drama RETAKE without subtitles, and how, despite many headache-inducing evenings struggling with the plot, I failed miserably at it.

Some good news came to me when NGN Channel announced they were going to air RETAKE, complete with SUBTITLES! 

Well! After watching the first episode again with subtitles, I have to say how very, very brave or foolish I was thinking I could watch this show without subs…it was SO dense with complicated dialog  and twists that I could barely keep up even WITH the subtitles, LOL!

But it’s been soooo worth it, such an intriguing story, following the “Timecop” style detectives as they track down rogue time travelers to apprehend them before they can muck with the timestream, and as you all know well, I love Riko Narumi…seems I see her playing bit parts more often than not, so it’s great to see her in a nice, juicy role!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

The Complete Ribbon Singles!

As I’d mentioned in earlier posts, some of my favorite tracks by Pony Canyon Idol Trio ribbon were songs that were featured as exclusive “B” sides to their early singles, such as “Circus Parade” (the c/w of  Sobani Iru Ne) and my BIG favorite 1/2 Ticket (the B side of their debut single Little Date).

I’d always been frustrated that the only copies I had of those songs were crude rips of the original 3.5” mini disc singles, and so I was THRILLED when Pony canyon released their “Singles Complete” collection with both A and B sides and all totally remastered!

Unfortunately, I didn’t know about this CD release until it was too late- all the copies had been sold and the double disc colelctions was now OUT OF PRINT! Arghhh, that’s the problem of not being plugged in the the J-pop scene… quite often I am MONTHS behind finding out about new releases, and such was the ribbon one.

By that point the only way to get my hands on that ribbon CD was through secondary markets like ebay and amazon. Not only were the pickings slim, but when they DID have it the crafty sellers were selling em for upward of 180 dollars!

As the years went by I got used to the idea of never having that elusive CD in my collection. Now, I’d checked Amazon Japan before, but of the most part, the sellers don’t ship outside japan. But lo and behold, there was a seller willing to ship to USA, and JUST today, the CD came in! AWW YEAHHH!

Wasted no time throwing those discs in the player and ripping ‘em to MP3 and have been BLASTIN’ them out LOUD! Aw MAN, they are JUST as FANTASTIC as I’d hoped and I am now riding HIGH on a ribbon buzz!!!

Worth every single penny!

Tracklist:

Little☆Date

1/2 no Ticket 

Soba ni Iru ne 

Circus Parade

Ano Ko ni Yoroshiku 

BA BU RU

Virgin Snow

Koko ni Oide

Taiyou no Yukue

Maybe, OK!!

Silent Summer 

Lady ni Naritai

Sore wa Iwanai Yakusoku

Rakuen e Ikou 

Deep Breath

Yasashii Uta

Taiyou ni Hi wo Tsukete

Tadashii Heart no Yuke

"S"ENSATIONAL WIND

LET'S GO

Do You Remember Me?

Heartbreak

Be My Diamond!

Sotsugyou

Yoake Nante Iranai 

Merry-Hurry de Aishite

Nippon Cha Cha Cha

The collection also came with an exclusive-to-this-collection-only track “Nippon Cha Cha Cha” which turned out to be 5 minutes of classic “wacky” ribbon with lots of zany dialog, sprawling song structure and LOTS of laughing, LOL!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Napoleon No Mura meets Age Harassment in “Harassment Game"

Napoleon No Mura told the tale of a City Public Officer Eiji Asai, (played by Toshiaki Karasawa) who is sent to a small country village slowly becoming a ghost town and uses his friendliness with the townspeople and an understanding heart to their concerns to turn the town’s fortunes around.

In much the same way we have Compliancy HR man Wataru Akitsu, also played by Karasawa, who uses the same charm, social skills and understanding to cut through his company’s various harassment cases and get down to the truth of the matters!

Wataru Akitsu was once a powerful director of the huge Supermarket Chain MARUO, but when an underling accused him of power harassment his team turned against him and he was demoted to grocery manager in one of the store’s small-town markets.

This setback would have destroyed most (and indeed, we see a few others whom have succumbed to despair in the show) but the positive thinking Akitsu embraces his job and becomes a bright, energetic manager who is beloved by his co-workers and his customers.

So it is a bit of a jolt when he is suddenly called BACK to the main office to assume the new role of head of the company’s HR Compliancy department.

There he meets his new team, smart and determined Makoto Komura (Alice Hirose), who schools the old-fashioned Akitsu about all the many new and lesser known kinds of harassment there are, and the cool and collected Lawyer Kotaro Yazawa (Yuki Furukawa) who at first doesn’t trust Akitsu but soon realizes how passionate Akitsu is about helping those in need and joins the team fully.

All this demotions and promotions are hard on Akitsu’s wife Eiko (Mako Ishino) and daughter Natsumi (Noa Kita) whom have had to move, change jobs and schools every time he is shuffled around, but they are a loving family and often give Akitsu the insight into human nature that he needs to break the case!

Akitsu takes to his new job with gusto, but there is a darker, more hushed up reason for his return: Fearing an usurpation by his board members, Company Boss Takafumi Maruo (Kenichi Takito) has brought in Akitsu to snoop around and get dirt on the man he fears is trying to oust him.

This is hard enough for Akitsu, but the man he is instructed to monitor is Haruo Wakita (Masahiro Takashima), his former supervisor and partner who betrayed and abandoned him at the time of his power harassment case!

The two butt heads immediately and its soon clear that there are many micro machinations going on in the corridors of the company, with Wakita’s clever underlings Mizutani (played by the always oily Shiro Sano) and crafty secretary Minako Komatsu (Yui Ichikawa) always up to some devious deed…

Can Akitsu sort if all out while taking care of the seemingly never-ending harassment cases? Well, with  firm determination and a remarkable team, he’s out to prove that there’s nothing he can’t do!

Akitsu is fascinating to watch, and I just love watching his team with Komura and Yazawa in action!

They are such straight arrows  fighting for what’s right that seeing them do their thing reminds me of the Michael Keaton drama “Spotlight”, with his team of Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams as  diligent and tenacious investigators for the Boston Globe! 

As I'm also still in the middle of the Takako Tokiwa drama “The Good Wife”, it is jarring to see the juxtaposition of boss and subordinate with Karasawa and Takito. Just last week I saw Karasawa ordering his underling to “find the information, and in Harassment Game, it is TAKITO ordering Karasawa! LOL! 

And speaking of pairing, I also love the banter whenever Akitsu goes home and playfully fights with his wife Eiko. She is so sassy, always giving him a hard time that it reminded me of Kyozo Nagatsuka and Fubuki Jun in “The Ideal Boss”, one of my favorite TV couples of all time!

Man, I can’t stress how much I’m loving this drama. Karasawa was one of the very first actors I knew when I first got into Japanese dramas waaaaay back in 1994 (his drama “Kagayake Rintaro” is still one of my very fave shows), and he shows he still has the warmth and charisma to turn any character into one you really care for and want to follow!

I had no IDEA at the time I began watching this how much it would GRAB me, but after watching just ONE episode, I BLEW through FIVE more and forced myself to STOP so I could gather my bearings and do this little write up! Having done that, It’s BACK to the show!!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com