Yappari Oshii Keiji 終わり

Wrapped up the Yappari oshii Keiji series and oh wow was it FUN! Love how they took a lighthearted, wacky premise of a bumbling detective who somehow always inadvertently blunders into solving his crimes, added a cast of terrific supporting characters and fleshed it out into a full drama!

With the stumbling Detective Oshii (Shunsuke Kazama), his stalwart assistant  (Sei Shiraishi), cool backup Yokode (Atsuhiro Inukai) as well as the sturdy support of ace detective Haida (Ren Ishikawa), this was a cast which I loved and enjoyed tuning into every week, and I even found myself wishing it could be like some of those other long-running mystery dramas like Aibo!

I only wish they didn’t feel the need to do that “big” mystery thing with  the series building up to one overarching case...

I always ends up being corrupt cops or politicians, so why not just avoid all that and give us nice, individual episode crime cases like Investigator Mariko or Sakura no Oyakodon instead? I would watch it diligently forever!

Bishoku Tantei Akechi Goro 終わり

 Well, after an enigmatic beginning and an agonizing pause in the middle due to COVID19, the tale of the Gourmet Detective Akechi Goro and the Bento Chef Kobayashi Ichigo who assists him finally came to a close, and what a ride it was!

 I mentioned before what an awesome villain Eiko Koike was as the mysterious Mary Magdalene, and holy cow, she just got better and better! I love the way that the innocents she ‘corrupts” (or saves, depending on which view you are taking) become steadfast supporters of her, and by the time of the final showdown, she had amassed a veritable Legion Of Doom of her own, and when it came for the heroes and villains to have their final showdown, I was feeling like I was watching a superhero comic come to life!!

 Lots of thrills and chills, with romance and heartfelt confessions thrown in for good measure, and it became quite serious in tone towards the end, with Ichigo finally coming face to face with the enemy and her cohorts! This was a true "Wrap Up"!

 Though it got serious at times, there was still room for humor-As you know, a running gag is that instead of calling Kobayashi by her name Ichigo, he keeps calling her Kobayashi 1- well, in a hilarious addendum, when Ichigo’s friend Momoko (Miu Tomita) begins helping them out, Akechi calls her “nigou” AHAHAHAHA

 BTW,  I LOVED the way they dealt with the COVID hiatus restrictions- in episode 6, the cast and crew had one more scene to shoot but were locked down before they could do it. So they simply shot Tomoya Nakamura and Fuka Koshiba separately and edited them together on a blank stage to say their lines.

 (They had a message at the bottom apologizing for having to do it this way) Somehow was STILL powerful, like watching a play!

Additionally, during the 3 or 4 week interim, the show released special recap episodes so we wouldn’t go into withdrawals  while waiting (and thank you to subber Monchi for subbing those as well), this was one show that really took care of its viewers!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Nagi No Oitoma 終

Well, the final episode of Nagi No Oitoma ended tonight (or, at least, they uploaded the subtitles anyway) and it was as warm and feel-goody as I expected!

Like I mentioned before, this drama is a wonderful companion piece to Haru Kuroki’s drama Mi wo Tsukushi Ryoricho - both featuring Haru as these sweet, thoughtful and good-hearted girls who change everyone around them simply by being themselves. Additionally, the stories themselves are very similar: whimsical and kind-natured with a care to take time to stop and smell the flowers and environment around you. 

I will say I was satisfied with the way the drama ended up- at some point I wan’t sure which way they were going to go but ultimately the main focus was the story about the meek and timid girl truly finding herself when she feels she’s lost everything and has to start all over again.

A terrific bunch of people as well, with good friends whom you’ll miss when they’re gone, as will I once I accept that I won’t be able to watch any more episodes of this awesome show!

 We need more dramas like this!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Favorite J-Pop Singles: Sohma Hiroko / Hoshi Ni Negai O

Now here’s an ususual one for me in regards to japanese dramas. You know how I always rave about certain dramas having killer songs that simply made the shows better? And how there were even dramas that I loved BECAUSE the theme song was so good?

Well here’s one for the books- there was a drama where I LOVED the ending song-but didn’t like the drama at all!! So I would tune in at the end of each episode to see the credits roll because it was so good, even though I’d given up on the show itself after around episode 4! Oh, I continued to watch it in that sort of “It’s-on-but-I’m-doing-other-things-at-the-same-time” kind of way, just in case it got better, but I’m sad to say that (for me, anyway,) it never did.

The show was a drama called Konna Watashi ni Dare ga Shita (Who Made Me This Way?) starring Shinji Takeda and Tsutsumi Michitaka as a struggling comedic duo who can’t seem to get any breaks. They frequent a Club that sports a giant framed bulletin board that’s covered with photots of all the great comedic stars that have “Made It” from the club. “Someday, We’ll have OUR photo in that case”, they firmly believe, if they can enlist the aid of the legendary manager who nurtured these great stars. Unfortunately for them, they find the talent agent (played by Esumi Makiko) has become bitter and jaded and refuses to help them. They have to prove to her that they can make it!

So that’s the general premise of the show, the trials and tribulations of the duo as they overcome obstacles within the business and within themselves to try and reach for the brass ring. Throw in Takako Matsu and Ryoko Hirosue and you had a pretty visual show, but really, nothing that could keep me entertained, that is, until the ENDING SONG STARTED.

The ending credits begin with the sound of a steel door slamming as the title of the Show: “Konna Watashi ni Dare ga Shita?” appears. Instantly, Hiroko Sohma’s voice begins singing its earnest song, then. as chimes break in with the drums, the (all-star) cast headshots flicker by: Shinji Takeda, Tsutsumi Michitakai, Hirosue Ryoko, Matsu Takako, etc, then as the credits starts scrolling up as they begin showing recaps of the episode…

Then, as Hiroko works her way to singing the chorus, in black and white, the scenes are intercut with this dreamy future of Shinji and Tsutsumi nervously climbing the stairs up to a stage. The symbolism isn’t lost on me, the climbing of the stairs is supposed to stand for their struggles, and as each clip goes back to them climbing, you really get the sense of them working their way to the top til they finally, they get to the stage, look at each other as if to acknowledge: “We’ve Made It!”…then as they walk out, the crowd erupts into applause!!!

Then as the song comes to an end, the shot of them turns into a photo and pulls back to show it’s hanging in the famed bulletin board in the Club! They’ve MADE IT! Kakkoi!

Like I said, after a few episodes, my interest in the drama itself waned, but I still tuned in just so I could watch that incredible ending. I ended up videotaping those credits, and watched it like it was the actual PV for the song! HAHAHA!

Check it out for yourself, and see how perfectly the visuals match the song as the uplifting choruses go alongside the duo's symbolic "rise" up the stairs towards success!

In an interesting side-line, years later I knew this guy who loved Takako Matsu and wanted to know if I taped Konna Watashi Dare Ga Shita. I told him I only taped the ending song. I showed it to him, and he excitedly said, Can you make me a copy of this?!  I said,"But it's only the ending credits", to which he replied, "Yeah, but Takako Matsu is in it for a few seconds!" WHOA! Now THAT'S dedication! And here I thought he wanted it for the song!

PS: Funny Thing about vocalist Hiroko Sohma… I’ve always suspected that Hiroko might actually be awesome singer/composer Kohmi Hirose, because the singing AND writing seem SO similar to her style! In fact, it almost looks like the name “Hiroko Soma” is an anagram for “Kohmi Hirose”, dessho? But of course, I may be reading JUST a bit into it!!! AHAHAHAA!

*Addendum: Hey, just found out through Kohmi's Wikipedia site that she DID in fact 
write Hoshi Ni Negai O!!! There just ain't no mistaking that style!!!

Favorite J-Pop Singles: L<->R / Knocking On Your Door

Theme song for the extremely funny and heartfelt drama BOKURA NI AI O! (Give Us Love!!) starring Eguchi Yosuke, Takeda Shinji and Suzuki Anju (looking particularly yummy here!)

Eguchi runs a dilapidated rooming house filled with equally dilapidated boarders (among them the always quirky Kokubun Taichi of TOKIO!), but he find a goal to strive for when cutie stewardess Anju Suzuki and friends move into next door’s fancy hotel.

Whenever I hear this song, I can’t help picturing the opening credits for the show… so wacky, they've even got Eguchi and the gang lip-synching to the song, happily playing away on instruments and dancing as the credits rolled!

Arg, another song I tried once upon a time (very unsucessfully) to sing at karaoke...