Yurina Hirate is COOL as ICE!

 WOW, just HAD to drop a note GUSHING about character Aoi Asamiya in the current episodes of ROPPONGI HOUSE! She has GOT to be the coolest, most interesting character I’ve seen in recent times, and actress Yurina Hirate has been playing the fierce, outspoken and unabashedly SOCIOPATHIC Aoi with decided RELISH and FERVOR!

She’s been stealing the show from the very first episode as the self-proclaimed love rival for Miyabe’s affections, and pitted against the svelte Yuka Kusunoki (Yuko Araki) we have a formidable CLASH of wills, and it's their pointed POWER STRUGGLES over the heart of Miyabe that have me on the edge of my seat!

When she was first introduced, I was like, “Is this girl’s role going to be the obnoxious character who keeps sabotaging the hero's plans?”, but OH! How wrong I was: After initially messing with Miyabe at his newly-opened restaurant, (where  it DID seem like she was going to be there strictly to screw him up), LO and BEHOLD, she is INSPIRED by him rather than DISMISSIVE, and instead of being a foe, becomes a a steadfast ally, a move I was NOT expecting!

I LOVE Aoi Asamiya here, and at once it’s easy to see why: Her candor and lack of tact makes her an unusually RELIABLE character in the world of J-dramas where MOST problems arise simply by everyone being "nice" and not wanting to "hurt others feelings"- i n CONTRAST, the BLUNT and EXACT way Aoi speaks her opinion no matter who she offends is a HEAVENLY breath of FRESH AIR!!  

She is constantly surprising me, and her “DEFENSE!!” line has to be one of the most ORIGINAL moves on an love rival that I’ve EVER seen in my 25+ years of J-drama watching!

Thanks primarily to her, my assessment of the show, which initially languished at ROCK BOTTOM of my rankings, has SHOT UP to become one of my most anticipated shows each week! NOW, it’s a MUST SEE!!!!

PS: MAN, looking over her dramawiki stats, It’s hard to believe this is only Yurina’s FOURTH drama…ande even MORE surprised to find that she’s apparently AKB alumni! So many of these fresh faces are coming from there it seems…

Crush of The Day: Wakana Matsumoto

 Already did a fair amount of gushing about how absolutely amazing Actress Wakana Matsumoto is in her latest drama “Fukushuu no Miboujin” in my earlier post about it, but since then she has just been WOWING me more and more and I just HAD to extoll her virtues AGAIN!!!

Seeing Wakana in two dramas at the same time playing polar opposite styles of character really shows me the range of her skills- so exaggeratedly over-the-top was her performance as Mihoko Miyama that I actually had to double-check to make sure she was the same actress playing the cold and calculating Mitsu Suzuki in Fukushuu!
I thought the first time I saw Wakana was in Toshi no Sakon as the svelte and stylish ex-wife of the male lead (and she was very good in it!), it seems I’ve been seeing her in bit parts for years, and it’s been only very recently that she’s been given fuller roles…
Going onto Dramawiki, I was stunned at just HOW MANY dramas she’s been in that I’ve seen!
The first drama I’d actually seen her in was Around 40 in 2008, where Wakana played one of the nurses working under Yuki Amami-who, unlike Amami’s character herself, seemed simply man-hungry, as evidenced by her sly moves put on Naohito Fujiki…

She kind of disappeared from the drama scene for a few years, and the next time I saw her was in 2012 in Lucky Seven, and it was only a bit part in the first episode as the admittedly SEXY AS HELL lover of Jun Matsumoto’s character….She was only there to establish Matsumoto's character as a ladies' man and was never seen again, but WOW what an appearance!

Then a blink-and-you’ll-miss-her appearance in “Legal High” as the girlfriend of Yui Aragaki's crush...

A guest spot in “Angel Heart” in 2015

A put-upon and harried OL in “Age Harassment” 2015

Hippocrates no Chikai 2016

Hello Harinezumi, 2017

A relative (sister in law? ) of Odagiri Joe in Cheer Dan (yes, I only watched one episode of this, more on this later) 2018

dele 2018

A heartbroken mother of a murdered child in “Trace” 2019

One of the produce-named call girls in “Fruits Takuhaibin” 2019, "Kabosu" a sexy minx on the job but cute and funny in real life!

Genius sisters (along with Arisa Mizuki) crossing paths with Yamapi in

“In Hand” 2019

The childhood crush of Nokishita in an emotional episode of “Radiation House” as a new bride who is concerned about the possibility of cancer affecting her future with her husband…

A dramatic role in "Watashi no Kaseifu Nagisa San” as a past co-worker of Nagisa who teaches him a cautionary story of overworking when she goes from a bright and motivated person to a distraught and desperate employee whose spirit is crushed by work...

A fan of Author Taiga Nakano in “Anoko no Yume wo Mitan Desu”

Her aforementioned appearance in Toshi No Sakon as the refined ex-wife of Maiko’s new husband where she first struck me with her beauty!!!

A kind and caring wife in "Coffee Ikaga Deshou" in 2021

A crucial witness in the very first case in “Ichikei no Karasu”

“Dakara Korosenakatta” as the wife of Shiraishi (Tamaki Hiroshi) whose relationship is destroyed when he chooses work over family, exposing her father in a scandal because it was the “right thing to do”…

A super-cool performance as badass detective Tomi Nekota in  "Mystery to Iunakure” tracking down a serial killer along with Sairi Ito and the force....

And her WONDERFULLY psychopathic and Oh! So entertaining stint as Mihoko Mizuki, the Sister in law from HELL giving it to poor Tao Tsuchiya in every episode of Yangotonaki Ichizoku…

…and then, FINALLY, after a decade and a half of bit parts, getting her very first STARRING role as the murderous widow Mizuki Suzuki in ‘Fukushuu No Miboujin”, the role which firmly planted her as a new FAVE actress of mine and one to look out for from now on!!!

She is so wonderfully convincing as the woman seeking revenge on those that pushed her husband to suicide-  friendly and smart while undercover at work, but icy and vicious when extracting her vengeance...

We've got only TWO more episodes to go with Fukushuu no Miboujin and I'm frankly on pins and needles! But no matter HOW it ends, I'm eager to see whatever she does next!  I can only hope it will be another meaty role like this one...

PS: Doing a deep dive on Ms. Matsumoto, I was to find that her very first role was as a Kamen Rider Girl! Because of COURSE she was a Kamen rider girl! ALL new faves of mine turn up in at least ONE of them, and Wakana’s been in THREE!

Now if you don’t mind, I’m off to go look for cheesecake pics of her, most of which are abundant and plentiful on the internet!

It's Wakana's time to shine!