Into The World of Manga with Haru Kuroki in "Juhan Shuttai!"

Haru Kuroki as the Perpetually Perky Kokoro in "Juhan Shuttai!"

Despite how much I love actress Haru Kuroki, somehow her drama JUHAN SHUTTAI! from 2016 completely slipped under my radar, so I was excited to see it up for grabs at the J-drama forums! Wonderfully winsome and sweetly sincere, Juhan tells the story of Kokoro Kurosawa (Kuroki), an energetic and spritely young girl who never lets the negative side of life get her down and always aims for the positive! 

A one-time Olympic Judo contender, when a devastating injury takes her out of the game, she looks into herself to see what she can contribute to the world now that she has been sidelined, and, remembering how the world of manga was the original inspiration for her love of Judo, wishes to be involved in those that made those stories a reality!

Friends Sara (Rina Takeda) and  Tsukasa (Emiko Tomiyama) 

Always looking at life from the perspective of sports, she tackles the job interview for a magazine publishing company she wants to join with the same outlook: observing the opponent, predicting what they will do, and choosing the right time to make moves!

Surprising the interviewers with her energetic outlook and smart answers to their queries, she seems a shoe-in for employment...

...until she makes the mistake of applying the world of Judo to the interview too literally and accidentally judo flips an elderly janitor…who just happens to be the company PRESIDENT!!!

Anyone else would surely have NO CHANCE of getting employed after that, and even Kokoro figures she's blown it... but Kokoro’s friends remind her she has this thing called “weird luck”, and she is to find that rather than being insulted by the judo maneuver, the Company President sees much potential in her and she actually gets HIRED!!!

With her athletic background, one would assume she’d be placed in the sports department of the magazine, however the employees are shocked when she is placed right in the section she's been dreaming of getting into- the MANGA Department of VIBES Magazine!!!

Kokoro is all smiles as she meets the team-

Senior Editor Iokibe (Joe Odagiri) and Section Chief Wada (Matsushige Yutaka)

 

Kikuchi (Nagaoka Tasuku) , Yasui (Yasuda Ken), and Mibu (Arakawa Yoshiyoshi)

"Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu!!"

The employees of the Manga department don’t quite know what to make of this naive, chatty and eternally bubbly young girl, but she is eager and determined to learn all she can and do her best! And as she learns the ropes of the manga department bit by bit, she will prove to all her naysayers that she has the moxie to get the job done!

helping outside sales agent Koizumi (Sakaguchi Kentaro) promote works with bookstore clerks...

...and even when problems come up for Kokoro and Iokibe (such as dealing with doubts felt by a senior manga creator, played by Fumiyo Kohinata), Kokoro’s unorthodox insights are sometimes the very thing that can help snap out of it and get both the manga and creative team back on track!

 

Finding inspiration in the strangest palces!

Awww man, like I mentioned, I’ve always loved Haru Kuroki ever since “Mi Wo Tsukushi Ryoricho”, (as well as others like Nagi no Oitoma, Ichikei no Karasu and Boku no Neechan) and her role as the super sunshiney Kokoro has immediately become another BIG favorite of mine!!!!

As I already mentioned, this drama came out in 2016, and it makes me sad that I don't remember anyone talking about it when it was actually airing. Like I said, even I hadn't heard of this drama til recently! Such a great little show with tender moments and a LOT of heart, and worthy of viewers!

As for me, I'm gonna really enjoy this one!!!!!!

The Truth Is Out There: AARO: All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office

Tatsuya Fujiwara and Alice Hirose in AARO

YATTAAAAA! After MUCH fervent wishing and finger-crossing, my prayers have been ANSWERED as AARO: All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (Zen Ryouiki Ijou Kaiketsu Shitsu) has been PICKED UP and is being subtitled, and by NETFLIX, no less!!! Hallelujah!!!

On the streets of Shinjuku, Crime Investigators Aranami (Yusuke Santa-Maria), Ninomiya (Riko Narumi) and Kitano (Rio Komiya) are called to the scene of a bizarre and horrific sight: a body seemingly completely dissolved away, leaving only their worldly clothing, accessories…and blood behind!

This is the latest in a string of similar murders, and with all avenues being investigated coming to dead ends and without any other leads, the authorities consider the possibility of supernatural explanations, and thus a formal request is made to a govermnent department few know about except in hushed tones: Zenryoiki Ijou Kaiketsu Shitsu, the “All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office”, Zenketsu or AARO for short.  It is THEY who are used to investigate things of the paranormal and unexplainable!

Led by the mysterious Tamio Ukino (Fumiyo Kohinata), he calmly hears the details of the case from above, accepts the investigation request, and begins putting the team in motion…

Koyume Amano (Alice Hirose) is a former PR agent in the Metropolitan Force who has been suddenly and inexplicably transferred to the strange and unknown department in the bureau called AARO. Amano has no IDEA what this department does, and doesn't even know where to FIND it! Situated in a little known undisclosed area, she is led by a trusted courier (Takaya Sakoda) to its’ location, a small building just beyond the old temple grounds.

Not knowing WHAT to expect, Amano makes her way into the base, where she is introduced to the lead agent of the department: Miyabi Okitama (Tatsuya Fujiwara) a man with a taste for the macabre and unexplained. As Amano takes a seat, she is told the legacy of AARO, and finds it bursting with MUCH history!

The department has supposedly existed since olden times as a dedicated group of people set out to investigate, understand and create defenses against everything occult and supernatural. Spirits, Haints, Mononoke, Yokai, the list is endless, and they document it all!

Whenever the government has something that they just cannot explain with rational reasons, AARO is sent in to assess and identify the problem, and this time they are tackling the aforementioned Shinjuku “Spirited Away” case, named thusly since the bodies have all seems to have been swept up and taken away!

Looking over the recent and past cases, amateur online enthusiasts have cited the God “Hiruko” as the being responsible for the deaths, but Okitama has his own suspicions that it is another entity called Shadow Man, as several witnesses have been quoted as seeing a dark shape running past just before and after the incidents. 

THIS is the case that Amano has been placed into, and she can only wonder just WHY she of all people has been chosen for such a task! But we will learn that she may have a gift for the unexplained as well!

From that point on, the AARO team of Okitama and Amano are formally brought into the official task force with Aranami and Ninomiya,  set to investigate the so-called Spirited Away murders/disappearances, and right off the bat the two teams are clashing, with Aranami’s side stuck on the cold hard “facts", whereas Okitama and the AARO team consider things of a more fantastic nature!

Yet, together this bunch of eccentric and hardheaded people must learn to work together to find out just what has been happening to the disappearing bodies, and with that in mind, the AARO team dives in headfirst, determined to solve the case no matter what!

While all this carnage and mayhem is going on, a mysterious girl (Riko Fukumoto) looks on from behind the crowds….just who IS this girl, and what does she have to do with the cases?

 We’ll have to wait and see!
Aw MANNNN, I’m SO STOKED that AARO is being subbed at last, I was REALLY ready to give up on this season, as this was the SOLE drama of the Fall that I was even REMOTELY interested in, and when I woke up today and found that it had been picked up, that MADE MY DAY and I didn't WAIT to jump RIGHT in!!!
So far, it’s been as interesting and intriguing as I’d hoped- From the beginning I figured it as a kind of “X-Files” type of show with Fujiwara and Hirose in the Mulder and Scully roles, and while not exactly like that, it has largely been just what I expected!

Of course, one of the the MAIN reasons for my huge interest in this show is the ever-lovely Alice Hirose, as she is one of my FAVORITE actresses right now, and OH WOW, does she shine here! So pretty, svelte and dedicated, her character of Koyume Amano would do Gillian Anderson PROUD!

In a previous post, I had mentioned my worries that Alice would be relegated to “the sputtering and clueless sidekick” who’d be only there to gawk at the lead’s eccentric and unorthodox ways, and while there is a tiny amount of that (when she voices her deductions only for Fujiwara’s character to invalidate her in front of everyone, Gads I hate this trope)... 

...when it comes time to do some butt-kicking, Amano is as bad-ass and cool a character as ANYONE on the team, a gal who can hold her own, and one to be respected! 

with Mirai Shida

Takin' down the thugs and taking names!

Now THIS is the kind of character I LOVE to see her playing and I can't get enough!

AARO is currently up to Episode 4 in Japan and Netflix is up to episode 2, so the "catch-up" wait for subtitled episodes will be about 2 weeks apart. That's time I have no problem with and know will be well worth the wait!

Can't WAIT to see MORE!

PS: Ooohh, and if that wasn't enough, we've got another visit to that famous "Love Distance" Apartment Complex! You just NEVER KNOW when it will appear next!!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com