A Calculated Revenge: Miss King

Ahhh, Japan does love its' revenge flicks, and here we have the latest with MISS KING, a tale of revenge set against the backdrop of Shogi. Our Story:

Asuka Kunimi (actress Non) is the daughter of a famous shogi player named Soichi Yuki (Shido Nakamura II). A grandmaster in his field, he is loved and respected by all, and Asuka lives an happy young life with him and her mother Keiko (Kaoru Okunuki).

That is until Soichi’s great defeat at an important event and his subsequent fall from grace within the Shogi Chess community thereafter- after the devastating loss, he struggles to regain his foothold and began to take it out on his family. Believing them to be a hindrance to his reinstation, He abuses them both physically and mentally until he ultimately submits divorce papers to Keiko and abandons them, erasing them from his life forever.

Years pass by. And in time Soichi is able to regain his place in the shogi world and make his way back to the top in even grander fashion as a top master and even author. Soichi has remarried and is living a life of wealth and fame with his new wife Kaori (Sayaka Yamaguchi) and son Tatsuya (Shoot Mori)… but for Asuka and her mother, things haven’t been so good. 

Since being abandoned by Soichi, poverty, debt, and health problems have been continually plaguing them as they struggle to get though the days.Though Mom Keiko always kept positive with a smile for her daughter, Asuka has had nothing but a deep resentment for the man that left them, a man who will not even aknowledge them when her Mother is dying and Asuka begs for financial help.  And when her Mother finally passes away from illness, Asuka falls into black despair.

Having to watch this man she once knew as her father and his family boasting his successes with his grandmaster title and glorious new family in in the media and in his books , and with nothing  now left to live for, makes up her mind that before she dies, she will meet up with the man who abandoned her and her mother…and KILL him!

There is to be a grand tournament with Yuki  Soichi in a highly promoted event for a championship, and Asuka decides it is time to act. On the fateful day, she makes her way to the event and blends into the background crowd. Hiding in the wings, Asuka withdraws the huge knife in shaky hands and in a crazed fashion, begins stumbling out to the stage.

Her murderous plans are halted when she is stopped by a man named Seigo Todo (Naohito Fujiki). Like Asuka, he seems to have some kind of grudge against Soichi Yuki, but advises that killing the grandmaster with a knife is not the way to get her revenge.

He explains to her that if Yuki is murdered at the peak of his game, he will be elevated to deity-like status and loved and worshipped even MORE. No, the only way to truly slay the king, he says, is to defeat him on his own terms- on the platform and at the shogi board. Only a defeat there can truly kill him.

 

And when he sees Asuka gravely playing against her father’s chess moves on a nearby shogi board, he realizes that this angry young girl may have the power within her to do just that- to rise up to the Master’s level, and defeat him at the top!

But this is not so easily done. True, Asuka played much shogi as a child under her father, but she has not held a piece in years and must start from the very bottom and work her way back up. Only once she has attained “Kishi” status will she be able to go up against another master like her Father, and for that, she must become very, very strong and win every game set before her!

It seems an impossible task, but with the help of Todo and his friend Reiko Sakai (Kana Kurashina) to guide and support her, Asuka puts her future into their hands and slowly makes the first steps towards true retribution!

Mommy Dearest: Haru in “Fake Mommy”!

Haru gets motherly in Fake Mommy

 Kaoru Hanamura (Haru) is an intelligent and succesful businesswoman working for a prestigious company. But when she is skipped over for promotion by a subordinate for politically correct reasons, she takes it upon herself to quit the company and reinvest in her career. 

But she is soon to find that the business field isn’t as open as she’d like, and having mysteriously quit from a top company doesn’t make her seem a good candidate. When we meet her she is just on her latest rejection, from a food company called Rainbowlab.

Dejectedly leaving the employment office, Kaoru is suddenly called out to by  a woman pulling up in a sports car.  This is Mamie Hidaka (Rina Kawaei), the president of the Rainbowlab company, the one which had just rejected her for a job.

Yes, she admits, her company DID just reject Kaoru for the business position at Rainbowlab, but she has a DIFFERENT kind of job she’d like to hire her for- to TUTOR her daughter Iroha (Aoi Ikemura) who is trying to get into a prestigious academic school.

It’s true, Kaoru is smart and, as a graduate of Todai University, certainly has the brains and know-how to help a child get into school, however she had no experience at ALL as a teacher, and certainly has no desire to try! But this Miss Hidaka is adamant about having Kaoru as her daughter’s teacher and offers her more and more money to take the job. And with no other job options on the table, Kaoru reluctantly takes the job...for the time being!

Kaoru has heard that TWO tutors who had been hired had given up and quit, and after only one exasperating evening with Iroha, it’s easy to see why- Mamie’s daughter is apathetic and has no desire to sit down and study, rejecting the school study books and preferring to ignore her teachers and read her ipad.

It’s only when Iroha draws all over the apartment walls in an act of supposed defiance, Kaoru realizes she’s mathematically mapped out the entire solar system on her own that she sees this kid is actually really, really smart.

When Iroha sees that Kaoru “gets” her and the things she is interested in, she opens up to the stodgy woman and thus begins their new tutor/student relationship. Kaoru is amazing at Iroha’s intelligence and is proud to draw out her natural talents every night, and Iroha is delighted to have a teacher who understands her!

Seeing how well the two are getting along, Mamie then drops the ultimate bomb on Kaoru: once her daughter had learned all the necessary prep for the exam…she wants Kaoru to accompany Iroha during the school’s exam and screening interview…and pretend to be Iroha’s MOTHER! WHATT!

You see, though a successful businesswoman, Mamie is self acknowledgedly crass, garish and vulgar, traits that are always a no-no with school boards and SURE to get Iroha rejected. No, she need someone svelte, composed and capable to be stand as Iroha’s parent, and she’s gunning on Kaoru for the role!

As impersonating someone in an official capacity like school admissions is HIGHLY illegal, Kaoru naturally balks at this, and nervously waves it off. That is something she just CAN'T do!

Mamie laughs and lets it go for the time being. Is she even serious? Kaoru can't tell!

In the meantime, Mamie is having a hard time at her company, with various problems overtaking her at every turn. More and more often she must call on Kaoru to stay later and later to watch Iroha as she deals with problems, and though Kaoru always happily agrees,  an altercation on the road one day with another driver casts Mamie into a negative light not even Kaoru can help her out of:

While waiting for some children to cross a crosswalk one morning, a car behind Mamie rudely honks his horn and the outspoken woman rolls down her window and cusses him out. Unfortunately for her, her explosive actions are caught on camera and her moment has gone viral.

The company is doing their best doing damage control to the company brand, but the worn-down Mamie is soon to realize that this altercation will surely put a black mark on her and will NEVER pass the scrutiny of the prestigious School academy. In a rare moment of concession, Mamie tells both Kaoru and Iroha that she’s given up trying  to get her daughter into the school as she’s just ruined it all. 

But knowing of the huge potential  Iroha will be wasting if she doesn’t get into this school, Kaoru finally and, against her better judgement, agrees: She WILL INDEED play Iroha’s Mother  for the school exams and admissions interview and, if Iroha should happen to get IN, will CONTINUE to portray Iroha’s mother as such time need BE!!!

With new hope and the realization of what a wonderful thing Kaoru is doing for them, the three embrace as a would be family of daughter and two moms, ready to take on the school education system!

With Mamie’s partner at the company Kuroki (Koji Mukai) posing as father, counterfeit family portraits are made up, documents are forged, and the sham Mother/Daughter relationship is a go!

On the fateful day, Kaoru stoically walks with Iroha into the halls of education with Iroha and is ready to give the performance of her life, when who should be admitting them but Kaoru’s childhood FIRST LOVE, a Mr. Tomoya Sasaki (Aoi Nakamura)!!!

 Though he apparently doesn’t recognize her, this throws a SEVERE wrench in Kaoru’s confidence and she realizes this “Fake Mommy” business might be more that she can handle!!!

 Only time will tell if she and Iroha will succeed!!!

Aw man, ya gotta LOVE Haru- she’s back with yet another one of her trademark “Feel Good” family dramas, and at episode 1, it’s been So sweet and charming! This has possibilities to be SUCH a fun one, can’t WAIT to see what happens NEXT!!