Somehow after only episode 2 of her recent drama "Rikon Shiyou Yo", I KNEW Riisa Naka was going to end up my Crush of the Day for the Week...and why NOT- her role of the sexy 'n' sincere Yui Kurosawa just HAS to be one of her BEST characters EVER, Sweet, Sassy, supremely PHOTOGENIC, and SO, SO LOVEABLE!!
IMHO, Rikon Shiyouyo has GOT to be one of her best...though I''ll be the first to admit, I haven't seen all that many of Riisa's drama and movies. In fact, looking over her work, there have been only a handful...but the ones I have have certainly made an impact!
Like a lot of people, the first thing I saw Riisa in was the 2010 movie "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time"(Toki wa Kakeru Shojo), a film which, though widely beloved, I was notably disappointed in, mostly because they discarded the whole time-jumping motif for a rote romance slog. But she certainly LOOKED cute (cute enough that co-star Nakao Akiyoshi would eventually go on the marry her!) and that was a plus.
The first drama where I really began to take real notice of Riisa was in her drama "Yankee-kun to Megane-chan" with Hiroki Narimiya- Holy COW was her character just the most adorkable thing ever! Really loved the initial premise (nerdy and naive dorky girl befriends the class yankee), was slightly disappointed when it's revealed that she's an ex-yank too. But still really liked this one!
Then came "Hachi-One Diver" where, as I've exclaimed in an earlier post, I discovered how "amply endowed" Riisa actually was, funny in all I've seen of her before, not ONCE did I ever suspect what she had hidden under there! Another cute role with Riisa as Maid Cafe girl who is secretly a genius Shogi Player. With Junpei Mizobata.
In 2009, she appeared in the excellent "Ninkyo Helper", though I did not get to see this one until much later, as a secondary character who worked at the Old Folks Home with Tsuyoshi Kusanagi.
Then came "Lucky Seven" and WOW, this was the BEGINNING of the SEXY Riisa as she would drop her "Cute" image for the luscious VIXEN type roles from here on out, and, as character Asuka Mizuno, had me drooling throughout!
She continued her svelte and stylish roles as Ayase Haruka's man-hungry co-worker Hitomi Okawa in the work-driven romcom Kyo wa Kaisha Yasumimasu...
And WHOA, if I thought she was sexy in Lucky Seven, next came Kurokawa no Techo, where Riisa pulled out all the stops as the "Femme Fatale" Namiko Yamada, the former best friend and subsequent arch-enemy of Emi Takei's Motoko Haraguchi..smokin HOT!
Next was dramas like "Koisuru Hahatachi" (playing another housewife with cheating husband)...
Confronting Husband's mistress, Misao Morita.
"Fruits Takuhaibin" as childhood friend of Gaku Hamada, who has turned to a life of an escort.
and the thriller "10 no Himitsu" with Osamu Mukai at the Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse...
HEY! looking over at Riisa's Dramawiki stats, seems I was wrong- Toki wa Kakeru Shojo WASN'T the first thing I'd seen her in- the FIRST drama I'd ACTUALLY supposedly seen her in was "My Boss, My Hero"! Whaaa?
As some of you know, My Boss My Hero is one of my BIG all-time favorite J-dramas, but I didn't remember seeing Riisa at all in it. And, digging up the drama and re-watching it, it's small wonder why I missed her- she was pretty much just a glorified EXTRA in the classroom, rarely getting personal screen-time or speaking parts (even fellow background filler Noriko Iriyama got to speak more!), though when she was in camera, she was centered a lot! Guess the director could see her visual appeal!
Riisa and Noriko Iriyama behind Gakky.
Looking over these scenes from waaaay back in 2006 now, it's clear Riisa had that something special, and it has clearly come to full fruition with Rikon Shiyou Yo!
Willya LOOK at her! Simply DAZZLING!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com
