Another "Cold Case" Drama: OKURA: Meikyu Iri Jiken Sosa

 Just caught the first episode of "Okura: Meikyu Iri Jiken Sosa" with Takashi Sorimachi and Yosuke Sugino as two unwilling agents put together in a team set to investigate cold case crimes.

WELL, there ain't anything here you haven's seen a million times before in cop dramas like these: the "Loose Cannon" senior (Sorimachi) and the "Straight-Edged Newbie" (Sugino), Both men clashing even as they team up to solve the crimes....

Even the motivations are as overused as they come: the hell-bent agent whose partner was killed in the line of duty, the former ace detective who, due to a mistake, has been demoted to the dregs of the department, the daughter of the slain detective (Mai Shiraishi) who is now a hard-as-nails agent herself, you've seen these characters time and time again....

Along with them come the usual gang of misfits: the sassy middle aged woman, the absentminded person who doesn't care about the job, the "young whiz-kid" on the computers, even Jun Hashimoto as the kind, eccentric uncle type chief of the department  which harkens back to shows as far as Shomuni!

Takashi Ukaji

Sayaka Aoki

Maeda Oshiro

Jun Hashimoto

Avalanche, QUEEN, Crisis, Zettai Reido, etc, etc, we've seen this exact set-up so many times as to have lost count! And YET, despite all of that, I GOTTA ADMIT I actually found myself really enjoying Okura- I like the way Sorimachi and Sugino play off each other, and Takashi Sorimachi seems to be giving his all in the role of the unhinged investigator who has no problem breaking rules if it allows him to get his man!

Yeah, it's all so predictable, yet the journey is completely engaging - looks like this one might work! 

Also featuring Shunsuke Nakamura as  the "heavy" of the department who is constantly riding the Okura team...

Was also pleasantly surprised to see sweetie Arisa Mizuki here in a secondary support role as the forensics agent Shu Ibuse! Hmmm, after her portrayal of cold case forensics agent Sakurako in "Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru", I'm beginning to see a pattern of roles here....

In any case, I'm Cautiously optimistic for this drama!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Undead And Loving It: My Undead Yokai Girlfriend

Been blazing through the wacky and totally zany Amazon Prime drama series “Boku no Itoshii Yokai Girlfriend”, the story of a hapless gaming dork who summons a youkai from another dimension to be his girlfriend and then has to deal with the fallout as she binds herself to this plane and begins executing the gods who have imprisoned her.

Starring actor Hayato Sano (last seen by me as the humble Manabu Taira in “Trillion Game”) as the unwitting college student Takashi Inukai, this is a guy who'd do ANYTHING for a girlfriend...enough so that when his buddy Tanuki (Anthony) finds a supposed ritual online to supposedly summon some sexy goddess to him, he leaps at the chance!

Haphazardly performing the seance by night according to the vague instructions on the web, he doesn't REALLY think this thing could work...

...but is shocked out of his mind when the next day, a portal opens up in the sky and a commanding warrior woman steps out from the time rip to confront him!

She is IZUNA (Ai Yoshikawa) , a yokai who has travelled across time to this timeline and, as her 
summoner", immediately announces she must "consummate" their bond with him so she can anchor herself to this reality!

Though Tadashi finds this demonic woman attractive indeed, he's too chicken and nervous to pursue any hanky-panky with her, and ultimately thinks it best if h left this girl alone to her devices! But no matter WHAT, Izzy continues to show up in front of him, in school, in his room, at parties....Tadashi has to wonder just WHAT he's gotten himself IN to!

Though Tadashi is the main character of the show, the real star HAS to be the vibrant Ai Yoshikawa as the bloodthirsty demon yokai Izuna “Izzy” Imiki! WOW, Ai really shines here and it’s just fantastic to watch her go through the ropes, seducing her hapless mortal boyfriend, slaying the undead opponents as they appear…and still managing to go on dates and experience the wonderful foods of this time!

Watching her drink Coca-Cola for the first time or experiencing a sugary crepe, there are times Tadashi feels like she could be a regular, human girl suitable for dating....

...But then he'll come home and find her showing off the severed head of her latest KILL!

!!! Things have GOT to change!!!!

LOLOL, Clearly a very lowbrow comedy, I’m actually surprised how many BIG names are attached to this drama, not least Takashi Sorimachi (!) as the detective in charge of investigating Izzy's strange murders…not only is he determined, but we will find that he's also Takashi’s FATHER!

Also featuring Anna Ishii as Sorimachi’s goofy assistant, Nico Suzuki, a real "comedy relief" character if there ever was one! Ishii looks like she's having a BALL here!

We also have Naoto Takenaka as a mysterious billionaire who may have descended from the same demons plaguing Izzy...also Yukiya Kitamura and Yoshihiko Hakayamada as his sinister agents.

Another actress I really love is Yuna Taira, here as an occult specialist named Arisa Renjo. She helps out the boys as they go about the sticky business of taming their resident yokai!

She's very helpful...though it seems even SHE has secrets no one can know about....We'll have to wait to find out more!

Like I said, this drama is off the rails with silliness, yet I just couldn’t stop watching it! As it's an Amazon Prime series, the whole thing is up and ready to watch, so i just DUG IN! And I gotta say, Ai Yoshikawa does it again! SUCH a cutie!!!

PS: By the way, there’s no doubt that this is an Amazon Prime drama, all right- every episode is just PEPPERED with characters talking about all the fun stuff they’re going to order off of AMAZON.com, surely one of the best bits of advertising yet!