Car 13, Where Are You? No Activity 2 is Here!

When we last saw the gang from NO ACTIVITY in 2021, they had just finished the case of the Drug Smuggling run and, whether it be from their enthusiasm (or lack thereof ) all seemed to go well despite them stumbling and bickering through the entire procedure from start to finish!
Well, it is now 2024 and the entire wacky team from the Metropolitan Police Department is back, including Etsushi Toyokawa as Tokita, the lazy detective who tries his very best to NOT get involved with any actual work…

...the sturdy and affable Shiina (Tomoya Nakamura) who, unlike his partner, is dedicated and sharp eyed and, indeed through him is the only reason they get any work done! Getting Tokita  motivated is a full time job in itself, luckily he's up for the task!

Whenever a call comes in, they are quick to avoid geetting involved, yet SOMEHOW they always end up being RIGHT where the action is! What's a lazy cop to do!!!

Back at the station we are once again in the company of those charismatic and OH SO GOSSIPPY  and CATTY gal dispatchers, with the hard-working but stiff and rigid Arira Ohira (Nana Seino) on one end….

…and the brash, big-mouthed and outspoken cougar of the department Satomi Misato (played with unabandoned glee by Yoshino Kimura), on the other! As before, Satomi is a mile-a minute talker, and from the first second of her appearance, she fills every scene with loud non-stop chatter!

Along with the regular cast, we are treated to some new friends and acquaintances with Dai Okabe as Yotsukado, a former-buddist in training and now a rookie detective on the force…

BTW, the scenes with he and Kimura are some of the most hilarious passages ever, I was laughing SO HARD as the mischievous senior dispatcher tries to "break" him!!!

Mai Shiraishi appears as a struggling street musician named Fuyuka Hiiragi, who Tokita takes a fancy to…Unfortunately, his infatuation with her causes her to inadvertently get involved in the latest caper and puts her life in danger! Just hanging OUT with Tokita is hazardous to your health!

And of course we’ve got a brand new big-bad guy, this time played by Takahashi Katsunori as the yakuza mogul Tadato Orihara, aided by his newbie henchman Ren (Hiroya Shimizu). How will THIS villain threat fare against the police?

Already having the time of my life watching this season- as usual for this show, it isn’t the crimes themselves so much as the wonderful dialog and funny scenes that run throughout the show!  Like dramas like Ishiko to Haneo (another Nakamura vehicle), it's more about the characters than the cases- Too much FUN to just hang out with them and listen in on their ridiculous banter!

Just like Season One, No Activity2 is a mere 6 episodes long, just enough time to dedicate to one story, a perfect length, but over all too soon! Gotta make this one last!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Crush of The Day: Meru Nukumi

 Seems quite awhile since I’ve done a “Crush of The Day” post, but after being simply swept away by actress Meru Nukumi in the wonderful “Sexy Tanaka-San”, I just HAD to get my gushing out!

Sexy Tanaka San feels like this generation’s answer to “Shall We Dance”, that classic film about rigid salarymen who find an outlet for the daily grind through ballroom dancing, only in this case, it’s Office ladies and the secret outlet is BELLY DANCING!

The invincible Haruka Kinami stars as the titular Kyoko Tanaka, a stoic, silent and highly efficient accountant within a Company,  who moonlights as a vibrant, charismatic and, yes, SEXY Belly dancer...

But to me, the real focus of this show is the OL in the same company by the name of Akari Kurahashi (Meru Nukumi) . Like Tanaka, Kurahashi strives to do her best in work, love and life, and appears to all as a popular, carefree, flighty girly girl, a HUGE contrast to the icy Tanaka, whom the other girls avoid if they can!

Kurahashi herself actually finds Tanaka fascinating- while appearing cold, there seems to be a aura about her that she just cannot place. Akari admires Tanaka's professionalism and  perfect dedication to her job. This looks like a woman who has it together!

This is a bit of a sticking point for Akari. For while she puts on the face of the happy-go-lucky to her friends and co-workers, she actually isn't too satisfied with the way her life has so far been playing out.

The permanent career she had hoped for has only been a temp position, the men she has been hoping for futures with all turn out to be deadbeat duds (with one continually showing up to crash at her place), and it seems the stable “normal” life she has wanted will remain a dream.

This has to change, and the catalyst that awakens her happens one night when she ventures into a hole in the wall Persian Eatery called Sabalan. After enjoying a fine meal, is enthralled by the stage show, and in particular the exotic dancing of a mysterious woman Belly-dancing onstage!

Her name is Sari, and she twirls and spins with gusto along with the exotic music, and Akari is captivated!

 How Akari wishes she could let herself lt loose and fly freely like this stunning woman in front of her…but what she doesn’t know is that this energetic whirlwind in front of her is the quiet and reserved Tanaka from work!

Tanaka recognizes Kurahashi right away, but is relieved when she doesn't seem to recognize HER, and thereafter avoids Kurahashi as often as she can! But inevitably, the light goes on in Akari’s head and after doing a little spying on her own, finally figures out that Tanaka is the enigmatic Sari herself!

"Sari! You're Sari, aren't You?!"

Tanaka is mortified and shamed to be caught as the brazen belly dancer Sari, but the wide-eyed Akari only has positive thoughts and HUGE respect for her. 

A tentative friendship of sorts develops between the two women who couldn’t be further from each other, and they begin to change each other’s lives!

Just WHERE will this friendship go?!

GAHHHHH, I had no IDEA this drama was going to be THAT GOOD, but from just 10 minutes into the show I’d already fallen in love with the show and Akari Kurahashi, and it’s ALL due to the sweet and SINCERE portrayal by Miss Meru Nukumi!!! 

Really, she just LIGHTS up the screen whenever she’s on, her eyes conveying so much warmth and feeling, whether it be interest, sadness or hurt, and when she’s happy, her smile just DAZZLES!

Up to now, I had seen Meru in only a handful of dramas, including the recent “Nichiyo no Yoru Gurai wa” where she co-starred with Nana Seino and Yukino Kishii as one of the three main girls, the upbeat and positive Wakaba Higuchi (here cheering up the dour Kishida):

… an appearance in a couple of episodes of “Ishiko to Haneo” as a troubled client jailed for assault…

...and a smaller recurring role in the Hana Sugisaki drama "Koi Desu: Yankee-kun to Hakujou Garu” as the romantic rival Hachiko Tono who tries to come between  Sugisaki and Yosuke Sugino...

Thankfully, Meru's been steppin' up he game, and so far, there isn’t anything like her role as Akari in Sexy Tanaka San. She’s SENSATIONAL here, and I’m hoping with this drama she can get wider exposure (at least as much as her co-stars Nana Seino and Yukino Kishii!) so we can see just how far she can go!

Psed by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com