A Very Odd Drama: Kirei No Kuni

Man, Kirei No Kuni is like some David Lynchian surrealistic drama in the vein of Mulholland Falls, where you are never sure the order of things as they are played out, never sure if the characters you are seeing are who they appear to be on the surface!!

 Our story begins with an old married couple (Yo Yoshida and Tetsu Hirahara) who love each other but must admit their lives are rather mundane.

At the same time we meet a young unmarried couple (Misako Renbutsu and Yuzu Aoki) who are constantly clashing with each other and ultimately end up breaking up.

These two seemingly separate lives intersect in a dramatic way, all carefully documented by a mysterious “Director” (Goro Inagaki) who may be the one orchestrating the direction of the players’ lives….

Well, to say any more would be going into spoilers (and by the way, I notice that all synopses online seem to take spoilers into consideration when trying to describe this show by being vague as heck) so I will just say this is one strange but so far quite intriguing, original drama!!

PS: Christ, Misako Renbutsu is SO doggone pretty in this drama, I can't even...

I knew there was a reason I fell in love with her all those years ago!

SMAP to Break Up?

Whoa, still haven't wrapped me head around THIS one! This was ONE group that I thought was going to be around forever! But News agencies are saying that due to "Internal Feuds", SMAP will be breaking up, with Only Kimura takuta remaining in Johnny's, the rest to seek out new agencies.
Man, this was one act that really was with me through me entire journey into J-pop, J-dramas and the like- just can't imagine it without them! But I'm sure we'll still be seeing the individual members for years to come...
Seems like so far they've still got a bunch of obligations, but I wonder if this past week's Kohaku might be the last performance I see of these five. Thank God it was a good one!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

2015 Kohaku Uta Gassen Highlights

Ayase Haruka, Kuroyanagi Tetsuko (!) and Inohara Yoshihiko

It was another year of Nostalgia for me with this year’s Kohaku Uta Gassen as many of the guests appearing were from when I FIRST got into J-pop, not only was seeing their faces again a throwback, but they even performed the songs from way back when that I loved!
Masaharu Fukuyama doing "Hello", V6 doing "Music for The People, I had to check to make sure I hadn't timeslipped abckk to 1995!

V6

TOKIO

TOKIO rocked out with their great “Ambitious Japan”, a song that has in a lot of ways become their signature song! Is it just me or is Nagase getting scuzzier and scuzzier with each Kohaku, LOL

AAA

AAA were back and I'm always happy to see them appear…just wish they’d sing some of the more FUN type of songs they used to sing back in the day! Mmm, the girls Chiaki and Misako are looking as fine as ever!

Takashi Hosokawa

Ayako Fuji

On the enka side my two fave perfs were Hosokawa Takashi doing a fun song called “Kokoro No Kori” and on the Red Team’s side I was THRILLED to hear Ayako Fuji doing a smooth version of Eternal Idol Momoe Yamaguchi’s rocking “Manjushaka”, WOW!!!

Akiko Wada

The first time I ever saw 1970’s Akiko Wada performing, it was doing her cool song “Waratte Yurushite’ and so it was a real gas seeing her performing it here in all her masculine glory, LOL! Gotta say, this woman really gets the crowd up and at ‘em!

E-Girls

Though this night was all about the acts of the past, a few newer acts I loved were E-Girls’ performance of “Dance Dance Dance”, a VERY catchy song, and AKB48 doing their  (now classic) “Flying GET”. One interesting thing about AKB is now that I’ve gotten to know Anna Iriyama from the drama SIREN, I can’t help but see her adorable face smiling out from wherever she happens to be standing! So Cute! 

AKB49 with Anna Iriyama, center behind

(BTW, Anna Iriyama as Sailor Mars? Hell YES!)

Yumiko Udo and Nao Matsushita

Ikimonogakari performed their song “Arigato”, the theme song from the NHK Asadora GeGeGe No Nyobo froma few years back, and while it was a very good perf, what really made it for me was having cutie pie Nao Matsushita on hand to introduce the song!

X JAPAN

One of the first acts I ever saw on the Kohaku back in 1995 was X Japan (doing their incredible “Rusty Nail”) and it was great seeing them reunited once again  20 years later! 

Miki Imai

The absolute highlight of this years Kohaku for me HAS to be the Miki Imai performance, where she sang  “Piece Of My Wish”, one of my all-time favorite J-pop songs and one that I’ve always wanted to see her do on the Red and White! Finally got my wish, and she was as awesome as I’d hoped!

SMAP

SMAP were back again and besides doing their latest single, they performed “Triangle” one of their later songs that I really like, one that they’ve actually done a few times on past re dand Whites…

Seiko Matsuda

After getting over the shock of not seeing Saburo Kitajima on the show, I was pleasantly surprised to see fave Seiko Matsuda as the closer of this year’s Kohaku, and more pleased to see that she wasn't doing her Red and White staple “Anata Ni Aitakute”, but the awesome, awesome  “Akai Sweet Pea” instead!
Aw yeah, It was another blast from the past for me this year!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Tales of Two Different "Homes"

Welcome To Our Home

Just got through watching the final episodes of both the Aiba Masaki drama “Yokoso, Wagaya E (Welcome To Our Home)” and the Kimura Takuya show “I’m Home”, both of which I’m happy to say, ended on pretty good notes!

I'm Home

I'm Home

Of the two, the one that I liked the most and was the most intriguing to me has to be I’m Home- this drama of a Cutthroat Power Broker (who gets amnesia due to a fire explosion and has to relearn his memories based on a set of 10 keys in his possession) kept me captivated and interested from the FIRST episode all the way to the LAST! 

 Each episode dealt with the mystery of what each key on his chain unlocked, both literally AND figuratively, as each door shed the light on another aspect of what he was doing in his former life. And as each memory came back to him, Ieji Hisashi (Kimura) learned that the man he was before the accident was actually not such a nice guy. So in a way, this drama is really more about a man attempting to redeem his life through new eyes- both at work, with friends, and, as the title of the dramas suggests, the most important thing- his home and family.

Kimura Takuya (with Sawamura Ikki behind)

I was entirely satisfied with this show and the way it wrapped up, and  I’ve mentioned this before, but I have to say that I think Aya Ueto really knocked it out of the ballpark with this one-  the role of Megumi, Ieji’s wife, was a character with so many layers, and she played it with such sadness and fragility…I loved her so much in this show!

Aya Ueto as Megumi

Aw, such a great show... And if that wasn't enough, why, look who decided to show up in a cute cameo in the last episode as the able assistant to the company's president:

(Not) Just Another Assistant!

Yokoso, Wagaya E (Welcome To Our Home)

Masaki Aiba as Kenta Kurata

The other “home” show, Yokoso Wagaya E, which dealt with the story of a young man named Kenta, who, because of altercationat the train station,  inadvertently makes his home and family the target of a stalker (or stalkers) who go about disputing the family’s property, social standing and physical safety.  This was the “main” storyline of the drama, but I have to say that though it ended OK, I wasn’t too overwhelmed by it, and the way they concluded the show in its last few minutes was a real groaner for me.

Jiro Sato, Aiba, Erika Sawajiri

The secondary story, on the other hand, where Kenta’s Father (Akira Terao) and his assistant Nishizawa(Sayaka Yamaguchi) take on corporate embezzler Mase (a wonderfully evil Naoto Takenaka) was an interesting and gripping tale worthy of Hanzawa Naoki writer Ikeido Jun’s namesake! This part of the drama saved the show for me- done so well, and of course, Sayaka Yamaguchi as the capable Ms. Nishizawa just DAZZLED me!!

Sayaka Yamaguchi

Yamaguchi with Akira Terao

 Speaking of it, it’s interesting to note that the bad guy in Hanzawa Naoki was Kagawa Teruyuki, while the bad guy in Yokoso Wagaya E was Naoto Takenaka, BOTH actors whom have played Hideyoshi in NHK Taiga dramas: Takenaka in Hideyoshi, and Kagawa in Toshie and Matsu!! Hideyoshi, of course, that historical underhanded manipulator- a real "embezzler" for the ages! LOL, Too good!
OKAY...time to look for some NEW dramas to watch!!!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

More Notes on "I'm Home"

Kimura Takuya as Ieji Hisashi

Ueto Aya as Megumi

  Just finished watching the latest chapter of the Kimura Takuya drama “I’m Home”, and I just have to note how amazing it is that this show is still captivating me! At episode 8 (of 10 episodes total),we are coming into the home stretch and yet the show is STILL keeping me on-my-toes trying to guess WHAT the final outcome will be for all involved!

Mizuno Miki as Kaoru

Ichinose Suzu, oops, I mean Yamaguchi Mayu as Subaru

Renbutsu Misako as Shoko 

Yoshimoto Miyu as Takanashi Yua

  Who are the good guys? Who are the bad guys? And what is the REAL story of the man Hisashi Ieji, his job, and his TWO families? Every time I think I’ve got it figured out, a new dimension gets added and shows me I‘ve only touched the tip of what's in store! In any case, it’s all going to wrap up soon, and I for one just can’t WAIT!

  Such a gripping drama, and it’s in no small part to all the terrific actors and actresses involved, Kimura Takuya, Mizuno Miki, Yamamoto Mayu(the girl playing Ieji’s daughter Subaru) and a special mention for Ueto Aya, whom I feel holds the bulk of each emotionally complex situation. Throughout the series, her character of Megumi is the one that I’m most sympathetic towards, and I’m just praying that this story doesn’t end with her being the one left out in the cold...only time will see!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Another Intriguing Kimura Takuya Drama with “I’m Home”

Kimura Takuya as Ieji Hisashi in "I'm Home"

From the first glance at the promotional picture of Kimura Takuya’s new drama “I’m Home” with his wife and child’s face covered with ominous silver masks, I thought it was going to be another in line with his recent Sci-Fi adventures like Ando Lloyd, but after watching the pilot episode, it is (seemingly) anything but, rather a dark dramatic story of a man who suffers five years of memory loss due to a head injury he sustained in a huge gas explosion at his factory.

When our story begins, Ieji Hisashi (Kimura) is just getting released from the Hospital after 6 months in care. He rushes home to be with his family, tidies up the house and makes the meals…until his wife Kaoru (Mizuno Miki) and daughter Subaru (Yamaguchi Mayu) come home and, shocked to see him there,  inform him that they are his FORMER family and that he has been REMARRIED to a new woman for YEARS!

Ieji thinking he's Home Sweet Home

Daughter Subaru (Mayu Yamaguchi) thinking WTF is Dad doing here?

Ex-Wife Kaoru (Miki Mizuno) thinking "Why is my Ex-Husband Here?"

"Dad, You and Mom divorced years ago."

"Oh...That's Right." Remembers Ieji.

He needs help, this guy.

He slowly begins to grasp the situation and eventually finds his way to his current spouse and child…where he is appalled to find that he cannot register their faces or expressions as they are covered with those aforementioned masks. Why is this? Why can he not perceive their faces, why does he have such a hard time connecting ot them…and why does he still have actual feelings for his FORMER family in his heart? Ieji struggles to understand.

"Oh Yeah, THIS is where I Live..."

Gazing upon his loving wife Megumi (Aya Ueto) and his son...

Only to find that instead of their faces...

All he can see are cold, lifeless masks.

His therapist isn’t much help. When he hears of Ieji’s “Mask” dilemma, his doctor (Oikawa Mitsuhiro) shrugs and says “The Brain is a very mysterious thing, and much of what you’re going through may be psychologically affected.” Perhaps, but man, there’s just something about any character that Oikawa plays where I just CANNOT trust ANYTHING they say, LOL

Unhelpful Therapist Yoshiaki (Oikawa Mitsuhiro)

"My Doctor is a quack!"

 At work, things are just as tousled about- due to his injuries, he can no longer do the high-speed and intelligent work he once did, He is demoted to the basement department, a drab and shabby dead-end of washed up workers that resembles the SHOMUNI department not just a little! The Department is even run by a Leo Morimoto-type of older man, Kozukue Yukio, played by the likeable Nishida Toshiyuki. 

Movin' On Down To The Small-League

A SHOMUNI like atmosphere...

Section Chief Kozukue (Nishida Toshiyuki)...

..and pretty Takanashi Yua (Yoshimoto Miyu)

Though this is the lower end of the heap, with the co-operation of his fellow section employees (like the babe-a-licious Yua Takanashi, played by cutie Yoshimoto Miyu) Ieji takes on his work with a willing and optimistic mind.

Effective Takanashi always ready to help...

...though we find that even she has secrets of her own...

Because of his memory loss, Ieji  spends most of his time scribbling reminders to himself in a notebook as he re-learns things, this act (plus the hint of mysterious words scratched out), reminded me a bit of the Christopher Nolan Movie “Mememto”, but as the story progressed and we see that before his accident this Ando was a real ruthless SOB, it began to remind me more of the Harrison Ford Movie “Regarding Henry”. And just like that movie, we find that the new, gentle Ieji may just be the thing that everyone needs.

Writing Down the Pertinent Information

Getting to know his family all over again

Because of his memory loss, Ieji is a virtual “man out of time”, and there was this one particularly funny scene where they take him to a Karaoke bar where he finds that because of his accident, he doesn’t know any of the recent music. Then he brightens up when he recognizes a song, and begins to sing KARA’s “Mister”, to which the rest of the employees nod and say, “He IS living 5 years in the past!” HAHAHAHA

Ieji Doesn't know the Current Hits...

...But does a Killer KARA, complete with butt-shaking!

"He really is still back 5 years."

Though I spent most of the first episode kind of confused as to where the story was heading, things are shaping up nicely and I am getting really into it. You can usually count on Kimura Takuya’s dramas to have a certain amount of weight to them, and this one seems like another winner!

BTW- Say, what is happening with Aya Ueto’s casting choices lately, in the dramas I’ve seen her in recently, she’s been playing these same kind of pretty-but-passive Housewife characters, like in Hirugao and Hanzawa Naoki…though those roles were good and surely benefited by her playing them, whatever happened to the femme fatale Aya of AZUMI fame? Let’s get back to THOSE roles! Heh Heh!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com