Pretty Proofreader, Dictionary Version: Elaiza Ikeda in "Fune wo Amu"

Elaiza Ikeda in "Fune wo Amu"

 As you all know, I’m a huge fan of the 2016 Satomi Ishihara drama “Jimi Ni Sugoi~Koetsu Garu Kono Etsuko", the story of a fashion-conscious girl trying to get job at a Fashion Magazine where she is abruptly put into the publisher’s proofreading section instead. Though miffed and overwhelmed, the young lass will soon find she has a flair for the job and actually shine in it, using her skills not only in work, but life and love!

Below: Satomi Ishihara in Jimi Ni Sugoi:

And now we have the new drama “Fune wo Amu: Watashi, Jisho Tsukurimasu”, a drama starring Elaiza Ikeda as a fashion-conscious girl working for a Fashion Magazine, who gets abruptly moved to another of the publishers’ departments, this time the Dictionary section!

Ikeda as Midori Kishibe, Fashion Magazine designer...but not for long!

With the advent of digital media, more and more physical outlets are dying and their magazine is yet another to be axed. But not to worry, says her supervisor (Ayumi Ito)...for she has a NEW department position set-up for her to go to...

Venturing into her new home: The DICTIONARY department of the publishing house!

This is NOT a place for a hip and stylish girl like herself! There MUST be a mistake, she thinks...but NO, this is the place!

Meeting her new supervisor Majime (Yojiro Noda)

...as well as the rest of the team: Sasaki (Makiko Watanabe) and Tendo (Maeda Oshiro)

A brief description of the job...

Getting her first realization of how much words play in life.

Meeting the many people who are working on the dictionary and cooperating to make THEIR new dictionary a reality...

Midori feeling out of place and out of her depth!

Being reassured by Majime that she DOES have the talent to work in their department.

Slowly delving into the thick tomes and for the first time getting enlightened by the words and descriptions within....

Growing every day at her desk and learning more and more til words become a part of her life!

When I read the synopsis for Fune wo Amu, it was SO similar to the premise of  Jimi Ni Sugoi, that I initially wrote it off as a copy and made no real plans to watch it. But I do love actress Elaiza Ikeda a lot and so, when several subbing teams picked up the show, felt I should at LEAST check it out once!

Well, sure enough, there are identical elements that are hard to deny- the “fish out of water” element of the stylish gal suddenly thrown into the stark and rigid department of editing, the stern but compassionate guidance of the elders in the section, the slow realization of the importance of the job, and the inevitable use of the skills in her own life, etc. 

When the details of the actual job is talked about, the text of the subject appears onscreen for the viewer to understand, much like Jimi ni Sugoi did...

Heck they even stop the show for a “fashion check” montage, a harkening back that made me wonder if the show was giving an actual WINK to the Satomi Ishihara series!

In any case, I enjoy the show well enough and, my GOSH, Elaiza is so darn PRETTY in this that I know I’ll be QUITE happy to wile away the days here!

Elaiza goodness aside, should be an interesting one and eager to see more!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

What I'm Watching Right Now

 Once again yet another light J-drama viewing season, but here are the handful of dramas I'm keeping up with, as usual listed in order of how much I'm liking them....

1. Hanasaki Mai ga Damattenai

Without a doubt the drama I'm most faithfully watching, not only for the adorable antics of Mio Imada in the titular role, but for the show's easy bite-sized case episodes. Not really a fan of the long-winded political thrillers of late, and Hanasaki Mai is the perfect antidote to entertain each week!

2. Unmet: Aru Nogekai no Nikki

Another medical themed drama with ALL the usual cliches surrounding the genre regarding the doctors, nurses, patients and  higher-ups, however the overarching  story of main character Miyabi and her short-term memory medical condition and her hidden past is very interesting and keeps me hooked as the facts come out little by little....

3. Believe: Kimi ni Kakeru Hashi

Like I said, I'm not a huge fan of the corrupt politician/diabolical company kind of drama, however I find the Takuya Kimura drama Believe more a study of a person's strength of character in the face of strong adversity, and at times I felt it seemed like a modern-day "Spartacus" as we see architect Kariyama, wrongfully imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, slowly win over his fellow cellmates and make connections with them much as he did as a savvy businessman. At this point I'm wondering if this will turn into a drama like "The Fugitive", but only time will tell!

4. Tsubame wa Modottekonai

A riveting drama about a couple (Yuki Uchida and Goro Inagaki) who, due to medical reasons, cannot successfully bring a child to term, and a healthy but down-on-her luck woman (Shizuka Ishibashi) with limited work prospects and a crippling debt. Between them is Plante, a Reproductive Medical Clinic dealing with infertility problems and act as go-between to match up those who can fulfill each other's wants... 

The real strength of this drama has to be the character development where everyone seems to have well-rounded personalities. both good and bad....Must say I was completely taken in by this show from the beginning and feel it may go on to become another must watch!

5. Kururi Dare ga Watashi to Koi wo Shita

Meru Nukumi as a woman with amnesia who finds an engagement ring in her purse, and then three mysterious men appear before her. That’s the set-up, however I was much more interested in her journey rediscovering her past self and the friendships the "new" persona makes with co-workers and neighbors. More than romance, I’d like to see them focus on THIS stuff!

In any case, I’m very pleased to see Meru continuing to headline shows of her own. She was easily the best part about “Sexy Tanaka San” and she continues to dazzle with her adorably quirky style! Eager to see more!

6. RoOT

New drama RoOT tells the tale of a young private investigator and her sidekick looking into a series of cases, all of which may be connected. Have to say, for a drama that I initially watched solely for Yumi Kawai,  it has turned into a fairly entertaining and interesting show! Funny because for the first few episodes, her bumbling partner (Ryota Bando) irritated me so much with his incessant screw-ups that I almost dropped it! Glad I held out as it's shaping into a fun ride!

7. 9 Border

While holding out for the second season of Oi Handsome ( that drama with Haruka Kinami as the oldest of three sisters who go through life and love together) I reluctantly opted for 9 Border, a DIFFERENT show featuring Haruka Kinami as the oldest of three sisters who go through life and love together! Though primarily a Haruna Kawaguchi vehicle, I must say the breakout STAR of the series HAS to be Mei Hata as the girls' precocious little sister Hatsumi!

8. Nanyobi ni Umareta no

What started out as what I thought would be a predictable and cliched teenage high school romance story actually surprised me by how well fleshed out all the characters were and how interesting I found them!

Marie Iitoyo plays a hikikomori girl who has withdrawn from society after a bad motorcycle accident when she was in high school. But when her manga father makes a deal with a famous author (Junpei Mizobata) to collab on a new series using her backstory as the basis, we slowly learn her past, get introduced to her old classmates, and learn of their dreams- until the tragedy separated them all. Each episode is just crammed with back story and it’s interesting to learn about each character, even as the author is falling in love with his subject himself!

This is a drama from a few seasons back that I’m only now getting into...better late than never!

9. Anti-Hero

From the beginning I was interested in this drama following the lawyers who step up to defend those accused of murder, especially as it seemed the slant was that the people they were defending were actually guilty, but recent episodes have had me wondering just WHO we're supposed to be rooting for! Interested to see how it all shakes out!

10. Onsha no Midareta Shimasu

Fun and lightweight drama showcasing the talents of charming Hirona Yamazaki, here playing the studious OL by Day, and affair-ending vamp by night Rei Saegusa! Both predictable and unbelievable at the same time, this is pure entertainment! And at a mere 8 episodes, you can't lose!

11. Hakubo no Chronicle

As you all know, I’m a HUGE fan of cutie Airi Matsui, who always tends to grab these unusual and odd roles. Blue Birthday, Eroi Kareshi ga Watashi wo Madowasu, Shanai Marriage Honey, her characters are always so eccentric and QUIRKY and she is a delight to watch! 

12. 366 Nichi

As a stalwart fan of Alice Hirose, I'm glad to see that 366 Nichi has been pulling in the viewing numbers. Sadly, this drama just hasn't been doing it for me and is simply FILLED with ALL the usual cliches. Hope things turn around soon as I adore Alice and love seeing her, but most of this show has (so far) been putting me to sleep!

13. Destiny

Argh, this is just the kind of mystery drama I really dislike, with the characters more like virtual game pieces in a board game as they are led from one clue to one suspect to one confession to one false alarm to another clue to one red herring to another false confession.... Quite astounded how well this drama is doing, but with similar shows like Shinhannin Flag and the like, I'm guessing it's all the rage nowadays...

14. Blue Moment

With a drama starring Yamapi as an emergency team expert and the color “Blue” in its title, I had the vague idea that Blue Moment was a spin-off of his earlier series “Code Blue”, however it seems to be its own thing entirely!

Focusing on Yamapi as a man heading a Special Disaster unit which covers weather accidents,  it nonetheless very much seems like Code Blue all over again, (though the first episodes reminded me a lot of other disaster shows like TOKYO:MER and DCU as well.

Not much going on character-wise (outside of the usual set-ups) as the main focus is the disasters themselves and all the technical mumbo-jumbo involved with solving the problems, so I’m not sure how much I’ll be invested in this one.

OK, that's about where we stand....most of these dramas are only at episodes 4-5 so I'm hoping to see some dramas move up the list!

The Magic of Meruru in "Kururi: Dare ga Watashi to Koi wo Shita?"

Meru Nukumi is Back!

Ah, the good old AMNESIA drama vehicle! So tried and tested there must be a good 4 or 5 different shows (including Unmet and 366 Nichi) on RIGHT NOW with SOMEONE  suffering from memory loss, and now we have “Kururi: Dare ga Watashi to Koi wo Shita?” to add to the mix!

 With a premise almost exactly like the 2011 movie “ Yubiwa wo Hametai” (where Yamada Takakyuki lost his memory, found an engagement ring in his briefcase, and then three different women showed up all claiming to be his fiancée), we have Meru Nukumi as Makoto Ogata, a woman who, after a bad spill, gets amnesia, finds an engagement ring in her purse, and then three mysterious men appear before her, all of whom seem to have some kind of romantic connection to her. But who is her true love?

There is Yuki Asahi (Fuju Kamio), a colleague at work who seems to know her best...

Kotaro Nishi (Koji Seto), a florist who always seems to be there when she needs help...

...and Ritsu Itagaki (Ryubi Miyase), a dashing chap who seems to have a past with Makoto as well.

She has no clue who she should trust, but until her memory returns (if it ever does), the Doc informs her that she should try and get back to her regular routine, and that includes getting back to work!

But with no memory of who she is or what she did, it's going to take the help of all those around her to get up to speed!

That’s the set-up and this drama is clearly billed as a rom-com (especially with the very tropey and uninspired promotional poster), however I was very intrigued by the show’s subplot of Makoto trying to collect as much information of herself she can...and dealing with the fact that her past self may not have been a very nice person. 

Think of J-dramas like the Anne Nakamura drama “Love Rerun” or even the 1991 Harrison Ford movie “Regarding Henry”, where everyone  is surprised to be dealing with this new, kinder and more thoughtful person than the cool and calculated person they knew before, and you’ve got the idea.

I love this aspect of the show as well as the new friendships she makes with co-workers and neighbors, bonds that could never have happened with her old self. More than romance, I’d like to see them focus more on THIS stuff!

Making friends with neighbor Kae (Rei Maruyama) who helps her study old social posts to gets clues on who she was in the past.

Flower Shop girl Ai Konno (Yuka Kohinata)

In any case, I’m very pleased to see Meru “Meruru” Nukumi continuing to headline shows of her own. She was easily the best part about “Sexy Tanaka San” and she continues to dazzle with her adorably quirky sense of style! Eager to see more!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com