Thank You for All The Wonderful Moments, Yuko

 Our Beloved Yuko Takeuchi in the scene that made me (and so many others) fall in love with her, “Lunch No Joou”...

Rest In peace, Yuko, and thanks for all the wonderful dramas you've shared with us. You'll be sorely missed.

Yuko Takeuchi 1980-2020

  Oh My GOD, I cannot believe the headlines. This is horrible. While they are still investigating, they suspect suicide? I am DEVASTATED. Such an awesome, wonderful actress.

From AramaJapan:
It was reported that actress Yuko Takeuchi (40) was found dead at her residence in Tokyo. The Metropolitan Police Department is carefully investigating the possibility of suicide.
Yuko Takeuchi is an actress who has headlined several popular dramas including the getsu9 drama “Lunch no Joou” and “Strawberry Night”. Her most recent role appearance is in the movie “The Confidence Man JP: Episode of the Princess”.

Goddamnit, this is such sad news to hear. Love you, Yuko.

EDIT: Okay, I am reading more details of her passing, and it's really horrible. I'm

 in tears right now. Such tragic, tragic news.

From Nippon.com:

Tokyo, Sept. 27 (Jiji Press)--Japanese actress Yuko Takeuchi, 40, has died in apparent suicide.

She was found hanging by the neck at her apartment in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Sunday, according to investigative sources. Takeuchi was sent to a hospital and confirmed dead there, the sources said.

Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department suspects that Takeuchi committed suicide.

Takeuchi's husband and actor, Taiki Nakabayashi, 35, found her hanging herself in a bedroom in the apartment around 2 a.m. (5 p.m. Saturday GMT), according to the sources. No suicide note has been found.

Man, what is GOING ON???? why are so many beloved actors and actresses leaving us in such a devastating way??? I just cannot comprehend it. It's too sad.

My Hikaru Nishida Concert Collection is Complete!!!

 

As some of you may know, one of my favorite J-pop artists of all time is 80’s idol Hikaru Nishida, and besides feverishly acquiring all her CDS and Singles, was also desperate to get all her concert laserdiscs that she had released thru the years- Fortunately, at the time I got into Hikaru, most of her Concert output was still available to get through special orders at Tower Records and Hakabundo….
There was, however, ONE Concert laserdisc that I was unable to acquire, her very first concert release, MANATSU NO SURPRISE. This wasn’t too much of a shock, as both the debut concert releases of fellow Pony Canyon artists Coco (Heart To Heart) and Ribbon (Parade Parade) were equally hard to obtain. But OHHH, How I wanted it- Not only was it Hikaru’s debut, but she was covering songs from her first few albums (from Clear to Tokimeki No Prologue) that she didn’t perform later in the concerts I had. And some of them were songs I really loved!!!
 I tried in so many ways to get my hands on this concert, and some of you may even remember that when I had my old geocities J-drama trading page, Hikaru’s Manatsu No Surprise was high up there!!! But to no avail! Even Otokichi Premium, which filled in holes for so many of my J-pop wants (including those two aforementioned Coco and ribbons discs) came up empty.

My only option left was to wait for it to show up on ebay or the like. Only took 2 DECADES but a copy of Manatsu No Surprise FINALLY came up for sale on ebay recently for a tidy sum, but a price I had NO hesitation paying!!! Well, after MONTHS of waiting (Disc came all the way from Australia, of all places!) , my Hikaru Laserdisc came in today, and WOW, it was WELL worth the wait!!!!

The disc was as beautiful as could be and, aside from some banged-up edges inflicted during shipment (wish it was packaged better, TBH), was a bright and glossy as if it had just come off the shelves! As all Pony canyon fans know, one of the nice perks of the laserdisc is the sweet insert full of colorful pics, and this was no exception!

And the actual concert itself? PERFECTION!

Man, from the moment she took the stage performing her song “Natural Summer Days”, Hikaru took control with the confidence of a seasoned performer! After seeing so many artists’ debut concerts and having to watch a lot of shy and awkward performances, it was a ray of sunshine seeing someone so doggone CAPTIVATING!!

She then went into”Fifteen” and by the time she got to “Koi Wa Shiroi T-Shirt”, I was breaking out in goosebumps, she was so DARN GREAT!!!!!  

She then went into”Fifteen” and by the time she got to “Koi Wa Shiroi T-Shirt”, I was breaking out in goosebumps, she was so DARN GREAT!!!!!  Fifteen, Pun Pun Pun, Te No Hira no Watashi, Namida no Pearl Moon, Sorezore no Hibe E, Hikaru's voice and the awesome LIVE BAND sounded so great!!

Loved this one scene during Te No Hira no Watashi: A fan's dream come true: Someone threw a stuffed plush seal onto stage while Hikaru was strutting along and she scooped it up and held it during her perf, SO CUTE!!

Side Note: Some have told me how shocked they are to see Hikaru ranked so HIGH on my "Favorite J-Pop Artists" list (ranked at #2) above others, but it's watching terrific performances like this that reassures me that her ranking is well deserved...She's absolutely one of my most beloved artists!!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Kanojo ga Joubutsu Dekinai Riyuu

A Guy and His Ghost

 “Kanojo ga Joubutsu Dekinai Riyuu~The Girl Who Can’t Enter Nirvana”  follows a guy named Emin(Win Morisaki)  who has come to Japan from Myanmar with the dream of pursuing a career as a manga creator.Things are off to a good start when he is enrolled in school, given a stipend to live on, and employed at a local convenience store.But things go from bad to worse when his backpack is stolen along with all his money, and he comes home that there is a ghost living in his closet!

Although the ghostly girl (Remi Takagi) seems to do him no harm, Emin cannot stand living with a spirit and tries to get out of his contract and move to another place. Unfortunately this doesn’t seem possible and he is forced to stay there!

At wits end, his manager at his workplace (who reveals himself to be a former monk, LOL) tells him that spirits get stuck to this plane when they have unfulfilled desires, and that the only way to get RID of the ghost…is to take care of those goals!

So in the end, it is up to Emin to get out a pad of paper, and with pen in hand, take down the ‘bucket list” of this ghostly girl and help her achieve her wishes so she can peacefully depart and emin can go on with his regular life-But things aren’t gonna be as simple as he thinks!

Haha, Kanojo ga Joubutsu Dekinai Riyuu seems to be a fun lighthearted show and it’ll be interesting to see where this drama goes….

Kyou No Nekomura -San 終わり

 For such a silly and frivolous drama, Kyou No Nekomura-san ended up being  pretty darn good!
A show starring perennially-cast tough-guy Yutaka Matsushige as a fluffy white housekeeper cat doesn't sound like something you could take seriously, and yet, thru its 24 2-and-a-half minute episodes it was a really sweet, funny, and often times quite touching drama full of sincerity!

One of the storylines I really liked was Nekomura trying to make friends with the family's belligerent delinquent daughter Oniko (Elaiza Ikeda), and it was really nice watching her slowly accept him, in her own crass and stand-offish way!

Also a FUN running gag with Nekomura and a gossipy neighborhood Mama (a hilarious Ando Sakura) who are always butting heads and trying to "one-up" each other, LOLOL!

A gentle drama I'm going to miss!

Once More, With Feeling: "Rich Man, Poor Woman"

 With the announcement that NGN is going to be broadcasting the Shun Oguri/Satomi Ishihara drama “Rich Man, Poor Woman” for the first time here in Hawaii, I thought I use this as an opportunity to dig it out and watch it all over again!

 The original files I had downloaded all those years ago was about 4 GBs for the entire series, an average sized file at the time, but re-watching it, the low quality was starting to bug me!

Thinking I could do better, I ran to Avistas, and whaddaya know, somebody had uploaded a nice, crisp 24GB rip!!!

Ahhhh, a MUCH better experience, now I could see the lovely Satomi Ishihara in all her glory! You know, Rich Man, Poor Woman was probably THE drama that really propelled Satomi to the Big Leagues, and what better way to honor it than by watching it in 1920x1080p quality!

Below: The average drama viewer might not see too much difference between the top pic (screencapped from the 1080p file) and the bottom LQ file capture, but for me, there's an infinite difference!

 The detail in Satomi's hair, the texture of her blouse, the vibrant color...all of it adds up to a better drama-watching time, and if you're gonna splurge, Rich man Poor Woman is a worthy choice!

PS: If you DO happen to see it in HQ, please do take notice of what a nice little tush Satomi Ishihara has, especially in the early episodes where they seemed to actually showcase it! 

Mm, Somehow the outfits she wears REALLY accent those curves!!

Ahhh, for being so boorish, I apologize-

Gomennasai, Satomi-chan!

I Get Schooled By Some Guy On Reddit

 LOL, thought it would be fun to upload that gif I made of Keiko Kitagawa in Ie Uru Onna (where she stops the elevator as the doors are about to close) on the reddit JDorama page....
After about an hour, I was excited to find someone left a comment! But clicking on it, it was just a guy telling me I spelled "Ohayo" wrong, LOLOL!

My first thought was, "Of COURSE the only time anyone feels compelled to comment on reddit is to point out my mistakes, LOL!" But fortunately, by mid-day, the Keiko fans had dropped by and left comments of a bit more positive note, and I felt a wee bit better! Ahahaha!

PS: Could be worse, I remember my sister thinking Ohayo was spelled "Ohio",  like the state!!!

J-Drama Deja-Vu: "The Love Distance" Apartment Again

 Was thrilled to see that after months on hiatus due to the COVID19 lockdown, the Takahisa Matsuda drama "Rental Nan mo Shinai Hito" has once again resumed shooting, and besides enjoying it thoroughly, in the latest episode I saw with Kaho Tsuchimura (who is still as adorable as ever) as the client, it's revealed that the apartment she lives in...

Is the same one used in both Youkai Sharehouse...

and of course in the Asami Mizukawa drama Love Distance!

That's becoming QUITE a popular place!!!