Favorite J-Pop Singles: Yoshino Kimura: “Iruka no Natsu”

As we go into season two of the lively buddy cop comedy drama “No Activity2” and are reunited with Yoshino Kimura as the brash and outspoken Police Dispatcher Satomi Misato, I thought it might be fun to harken back to 1998 and reminisce when Yoshino was moonlighting as a sweet, singing IDOL, and on Pony Canyon, no less!

Though her vocal career was brief, one of her songs really caught my ear and became one of my favorite songs of that summer: The song was “Iruka no Natsu” (Dolphin Summer), and I might have missed it altogether if not for my friend Golden, who included it in one of his many J-pop mixes! With its' jangly guitars and solid backbeat, it instantly captivated, and my first thought was, “EHH? That chick from Riso No Joshi can SING????” 

Yep, up until that point I’d only known her from acting in "The Ideal Boss" with Yuriko Ishida and Yasuko Matsuyuki (and Kyozo Nagatsuka as the titular boss), color me impressed when I found that she was a capable singer, belting out a tune that I had to grab for myself!

I had no idea where this song came from or what it was promoting, watching this youtube upload of the Iruka no Natsu MV, seems it was the CM song for some Instant Cream Spaghetti mix, huh, who knew?!

From here Yoshino would go on to star in dramas like "Over Time" and "(Not so) Perfect Love", among others, assuring her ascent into superstardom!

Sayonara, Maestro

An almost identical reworking of the Mugi Kadowaki drama “Reversal Orchestra”: Genius musician at the top of their game who has to withdraw due to the hospitalization of a family member and then retires. Years later a small-town orchestra needs their guidance to build back interest in the music (or the evil government people will close down the orchestra for good)…Little by little they are coerced into taking the leadership role, which they then flourish at and find they love the music life after all.

Instead of Mugi Kadowaki as a lead violinist, we have Hidetoshi Nishijima as a conflicted Symphony Conductor. Other than that, it’s basically a real retread of the former, with even a bit of Gekokujo Kyuji  thrown in (which Sayonara Maestro ironically just took the place of)… Like the other shows, it seems they will focus each episode on the personal problem of a specific member, and they already delved into one of them...I can't say that sounds too interesting, though I'm curious about the Yuko Araki and Ami Touma characters...

“The Demon King of Changing Jobs” Tenshoku no Maou Sama

After a grueling and morally sapping experience at her advertising job under a power harassing superior, Chiharu Hitsujitani (Fuka Koshiba) had been trying to get a new job, with little success.

=She is losing hope, and the long looks she takes over big falls makes one think she's thinking of ending it all!

Her Aunt Yoko (Yuriko Ishida) manages a job-placing agency, and offers to help Chiharu by placing her with one of her agents to try and get her employed once again. Without much else to lose Chiharu ventures into the offices to check it out!

She is greeted warmly and Aunt Yoko is sympathetic to her problems. She tells Chiharu she will be placed with an special agent named Arashi Kurusu (Ryo Narita), whose unorthodox means and special insight has helped him become the “Ace” of the company with his record of success!

She is excited to meet her new career manager, but when Chiharu is introduced to the man, she is shocked to recognize him as a man she had seen just the other evening in a VERY bizarre circumstance!

The night before, Chiharu had been walking and met a man who told her that "He has someone he needs to kill"!! Worried by the remark,  she follows him out of concern, and gasps when he brandishes a knife and runs up to stab a man walking with a cane.

Chiharu cries out "Watch out!" but this dapper man has the situation well in hand, quickly subduing his assailant, talking to him, and getting him to calm down.

THIS is the person that Aunt Yoko wants to handle her employment? Though he managed to de-escalate the situation and send the man on his way, she does have to wonder what could POSSIBLY have happened to make the man so FURIOUS as to pull a KNIFE on him! 

Looking him over, Chiharu has doubts about this man and his methods!

Indeed, this man is a hard person to crack. He is cold, standoffish, and blunt to the point of offense! And in just a short time, he's realized something: the problem is not with the jobs Chiharu has been applying for, but her lack of personal self-worth. He proves this by making her re-visit her old job and breaking her down.  Arashi wants Chiharu to realize her true self and wants her to imagine the person she really wants to be, and that can only work by starting from the ground up!

Until she can figure that out for herself, she cannot truly be happy at any job she is placed in. So for the time being, kind Aunt Yoko has a place for her at the agency- as one of the career agents who will help others find work!

She will be working alongside the usual bunch of oddballs that all these job-themed dramas have (including Goki Maeda, Sayaka Yamaguchi, Oideyasu Oda and Taiyu Fujiwara)...

but her biggest obstacle will be her on-hands training…for the man set to teach her the ropes is the super-strict and coldly blunt Kurusu himself!!!

Will have to watch a few more episodes of this show to see if I warm up to it more- as it is, it doesn't really grab me, and I’m really just watching this show until Fuka’s last drama “Nai Yo Kiite Kuru” gets finished being subbed. But perhaps this one will become a fave, who knows?

PS: Have to smile when I see how wonderfully Yuriko Ishida has made the transition from saucy chanteuse type roles  to the ”cool and fun Aunty” characters she’s now portraying!

OOOHHH, and gotta give a shoutout to how freakin’ PRETTY actress Ayaka Imoto has gotten! Haven’t seen her since the highly wacky (and totally fun) “Joshi Kosei no Mudazukai”, but her role as a friend whom (along with partner Shota Inoue) runs a Lunch Truck where the characters meet and talk, had me STUNNED by her BEAUTY!

Man, we GOTTA see MORE of her!

Okay, back to J-drama watching.....

Tsuma, Shogakusei ni Naru

 Taking the wacky factor of “Papa ga Moichido Koi o Shita” (where a girl’s Mother is reborn as a fat old man) and the creepy factor of “Himitsu” (where Sasaki Kuranosuke’s wife is reborn into his teenage daughter’s body) and you have “Tsuma, Shogakusei ni Naru”…

Starring Tsutsumi Shinichi as the Husband Keisuke, and, given the unbelievable plot, I expected this drama to be a wacky laugh-riot in the tradition of his earlier family comedy “Super-Salaryman Saenae-shi”! Instead I got a touching, melancholy, and oftentimes tear-inducing little drama which immediately became a MUST SEE!
Keisuke Niijima (Tsutsumi Shinichi) is a good-natured man married to an outgoing, charismatic and caring wife named Takae (Yuriko Ishida) who are raising a young daughter named Mai. The three are content and happy with their lives,  though both Husband and daughter agree that Mom is the motivating force in their lives. 

And so it is devastating for the family when Mom Takae is killed in an automobile collision. In an instant, the family becomes unmoored, and when we check back in on them 10 years after her passing, we see that both Keisuke and their daughter Mai (Aju Makita) have been morosely plodding on through life like zombies without aim. The future without Takae seems meaningless. Something needs to be done!

Just then, at the exact 10 year anniversary of Takae’s death, a 10 year old elementary school student named Marika Shiraishi (Nono Maida) wakes up with all the thoughts and memories  of the deceased Takae Niijima! At once it is clear to her that she, Takae, was reborn as this child Marika but given 10 years to “grow up” before revealing her true destiny as the Niijima’s Wife/Mother!

Much like the other Mother/Wife reincarnation shows I mentioned earlier, the family doesn’t  believe a word Marika says when she finally approaches them (waltzing into the house like she’d been there just the other day) claiming to be their departed loved one, and assumes she is part of a prank or, more diabolically, a part of a scam.

"Keisuke! It's Me, Takae! I've returned!"

"And Mai! How you've grown!"

 ? ? ? ?

In all the excitement she realizes the time and says "Oops, I've got to get home! But I'll be back! Take Care!" leaving the Father and Daughter with befuddled looks on their faces!

But return she does, and the more she interacts with them, the more they begin to see just how much this young girl is like their beloved Mother and Wife. The speech patterns, the memories, and knowledge of everything about them might convince anyone that this girl was indeed Takae.

But besides all that, the fact of the matter is, despite their skepticism,both Keisuke and daughter Mai have a hole in their hearts and deep down, they WANT to believe that in some miraculous way, their beloved Mother and wife has come back to them.

In the end, they decide to believe that by some divine intervention this girl is Takae, and accept her into their lives. And for the first time in years, it feels like Takae is back with them and they are complete once more....

It's not that there will be obstacles to hurdle! There is Yoshimi Moriyama, (Misato Morita)  Keisuke’s new department supervisor who seems to be building up to become a romantic interest for him and of course as a foil for the reborn Takae!

And we also have Marika’s biological mother Chika (played by Yo Yoshida in a particularly stern turn) who is very suspicious about what her 10 year old daughter has suddenly been getting into, disappearing for the better part of the days. She will likely become a problem for the family’s happiness.

Adding to the bittersweet feel of the drama is the fact that no one knows how long Marika will even retain the memories of Takae. She implores Keisuke and Mai to remember that her being able to be with them again is a miracle and they must appreciate the time together while they can. Makes for a very sombre tone! 

Gotta say how IMPRESSED I am with that young girl Nono Maida playing the role of the reincarnated Yuriko Ishida. She is amazing channeling a grownup when she speaks to her “husband” and easily looks like she is wiser than her years. Looking up her stats, seems this is only her second role (after playing the young version of Hana Sugisaka in Ochoyan), it’s crazy how good she is here.

Have a really good feeling about this drama!!!

PS: In a bit of a coincidence, I just realized that the deceased Mom reincarnated into Mirai Shida’s body in “Himitsu” was played by Hikari Ishida, Yuriko’s sister! Those Ishida sisters, always being reincarnated as someone or other!