The Magic of Meruru in "Kururi: Dare ga Watashi to Koi wo Shita?"

Meru Nukumi is Back!

Ah, the good old AMNESIA drama vehicle! So tried and tested there must be a good 4 or 5 different shows (including Unmet and 366 Nichi) on RIGHT NOW with SOMEONE  suffering from memory loss, and now we have “Kururi: Dare ga Watashi to Koi wo Shita?” to add to the mix!

 With a premise almost exactly like the 2011 movie “ Yubiwa wo Hametai” (where Yamada Takakyuki lost his memory, found an engagement ring in his briefcase, and then three different women showed up all claiming to be his fiancée), we have Meru Nukumi as Makoto Ogata, a woman who, after a bad spill, gets amnesia, finds an engagement ring in her purse, and then three mysterious men appear before her, all of whom seem to have some kind of romantic connection to her. But who is her true love?

There is Yuki Asahi (Fuju Kamio), a colleague at work who seems to know her best...

Kotaro Nishi (Koji Seto), a florist who always seems to be there when she needs help...

...and Ritsu Itagaki (Ryubi Miyase), a dashing chap who seems to have a past with Makoto as well.

She has no clue who she should trust, but until her memory returns (if it ever does), the Doc informs her that she should try and get back to her regular routine, and that includes getting back to work!

But with no memory of who she is or what she did, it's going to take the help of all those around her to get up to speed!

That’s the set-up and this drama is clearly billed as a rom-com (especially with the very tropey and uninspired promotional poster), however I was very intrigued by the show’s subplot of Makoto trying to collect as much information of herself she can...and dealing with the fact that her past self may not have been a very nice person. 

Think of J-dramas like the Anne Nakamura drama “Love Rerun” or even the 1991 Harrison Ford movie “Regarding Henry”, where everyone  is surprised to be dealing with this new, kinder and more thoughtful person than the cool and calculated person they knew before, and you’ve got the idea.

I love this aspect of the show as well as the new friendships she makes with co-workers and neighbors, bonds that could never have happened with her old self. More than romance, I’d like to see them focus more on THIS stuff!

Making friends with neighbor Kae (Rei Maruyama) who helps her study old social posts to gets clues on who she was in the past.

Flower Shop girl Ai Konno (Yuka Kohinata)

In any case, I’m very pleased to see Meru “Meruru” Nukumi continuing to headline shows of her own. She was easily the best part about “Sexy Tanaka San” and she continues to dazzle with her adorably quirky sense of style! Eager to see more!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

More J-Drama Deja-Vu: Nippon Maru Memorial Park

I’ve already covered the much-used appearance of the Yokohama Red-Brick Warehouse waterfront in so many dramas , but there’s a particular part of the park that’s now become quite fashionable as the backdrop recently. It’s the grassy area in front of the Nippon Maru Memorial Park with the striking image of the Yokohama Landmark Tower behind it:

Saw it first in Ousama ni Sasagu Kusuriyubi (with Kanna Hashimoto and Ryosuke Yamada in the clovers)...

Followed by a brief backdrop in Sexy Tanaka-San with Haruka Kinami and Meru Nukumi...

Most times you can see the masts of the Nippon Maru Ship sticking up behind them, but so far I haven't see them unfurled in any drama. In fact, I had to go onto Google to see what it looked like with the sails up!

Since then I’ve seen it in a few more places (though sometimes not quite at the same angle) in dramas like My Second Aoharu and Kotatsu ga Ienai…among others that I just can’t remember right now~!

In any case, love that this is becoming the new place where the characters have their “personal talk” scenes… hope to see more!

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