Ousama ni Sasagu Kusuriyubi

 Ousama ni Sasagu Kusuriyubi~ The King and the Wicked Woman: A wildly uneven and tonally inconsistent story of a so-called wicked woman from a poor family who suddenly becomes involved in a sham marriage with an arrogant wealthy heir to a vast family fortune.

Kanna Hashimoto stars as Ayaka Haneda and Ryosuke Yamada stars as Togo Nitta, an Employee and Boss of a Wedding Planner service, both of whom seems mostly unlikeable to everyone save those closest to them!

 Out of the blue they suddenly announce their MARRIAGE PLANS, to the shock of everyone, but we will soon find that both Bride and Groom have their own secret agendas for the union to take place….

On the surface, it’s your standard ‘fake marriage” romcom set-up, but the writers can’t seem to make up their mind if the characters are supposed to be loud and outspoken or kindhearted and sympathetic and what is presented varies wildly throughout the show, as if no one could figure out what the true characters motivations and purpose is!

I’ll say ONE thing for this drama: it’s FULL of stars, most notably in the actors playing the Parents, with actress Ryo and Muga Tsukaji as Ayaka’s humble Mom and Dad...

...and regal looking Nanako Matsushima and Go Riju as Togo Nitta’s refined and affluent Parents

Also a handful other others like  Ryoko Kobayashi as Saya Okada and Ryota Bando as Kento Kamiyama. These are the people that the Wedded Couple ACTUALLY care for, guess we'll see how they play into this set up....

Kento Nagao as Ayaka’s caring brother (who also serves as narrator)…

And as the couple's respective assistants/juniors we have Yuki Morinaga as Akita Koji, Nitta's secretary...

...and Ryota Miura as Haneda's wide eyed and gushing kohai Koki Takemoto!

Despite its’ scattershot and willy-nilly approach to the story, I’m guess I'm interested enough to see where this whole thing goes...and besides all that, MY OH MY, Kanna Hashimoto looks simply dazzling in this one!! If not for ANY other reason, I’ll watch it simply as a showcase for how PRETTY Kanna can get!

PS: There was this great gag where they're showing how Kanna's character Ayaka has been popular her whole life, and show a flashback where an online news crawl had dubbed her the "Once in a 100 Years Beauty", obviously making fun of the similar dubious title bestowed upon the REAL Kanna not so long ago, AHAHAHA!!

This isn't the first time a drama has taken a dig at that lofty nickname given her, looks like it will be awhile til Kanna can ever live up to it...or live it down!

Is This The Real Life? Riho Nakamura Shines in "Cinderella Is Online"

In the online gaming world of "Tenkyo", Riho Nakamura plays a badass character named ViVi, highly skilled and respected by all her colleagues. She has an unusual relationship with an online character named Leon, who marries her out of convenience for the game and drops her just as quickly! But it's all in a day for the vivacious Vivi who doesn't let anything bother her!

That's in the gaming world- In reality, she is a humble student named Ichika Arisawa who unlike her online persona, has no interest in love or romance (a tried and true trope for the ages!), unlike her best friend Umi (Anna Tsuihiji) , who is swooning because a popular boy named Asahi Onoda (Toshiki Seto) is coming!

Ichika herself has no interest in boys- but the two already have a connection that she doesn't know about...that this boy Onoda is in fact Leon, her online partner for months!!!

Fate steps in one day when Ichika is at a restaurant blissfully playing Tenkyo when who should walk in but the Big Man on Campus Asahi Onoda!

He sees the girl playing on her laptop and doesn't give it much thought...

...until he walks by her...and realizes SHE is VIVI!!!

He makes no attempt to approach Ichika, but keeps his eye on her and thus is there when she happens to lose a sneaker when chucking it at the head of a bully. Rushing to slip the shoe back on, in complete Disney Cinderella style, he is immediately captivated by her....

But when Ichika realizes she is interacting with that super popular boy, she instantly becomes shy and with a quick, "Will ya look at the TIME?!"...DASHES away!!!

LOL, seems that though she may be as tough as nails in the gaming world, in real life she isn't QUITE as brave! A very UN auspicious first meeting between the two! LOLOL

I will be the first to admit that this kind of drama with High School Kids, High School Romances and the World of Video Gaming isn't my cup of tea at all, but Riho Nakamura is SO DOGGONE CUTE in this that I just HAD to check it out!!! 

The first episode of this drama was very charming , but I can already see by the previews of the upcoming episodes that it will soon fall into the usual boring and trite make-up-and-break-up teenage romance tropes that all these school dramas do. Will see how long I can stick to it!