"Akumu-Chan" Rocks!!!

Kitagawa Keiko as Mutoi Ayame in Akumu Chan

Holy Crap, just finished watching episode 4 of the Kitagawa Keiko drama AKUMU-CHAN, and I must say that at this stage, I am properly BLOWN AWAY!!! I thought  I was lovin' this show with episode THREE, and now four jsut takes it up another notch! I swear, each episode just keeps COMPOUNDING the levels of interest, and just when you think you know what's going on, they introduce new elements into the show, and I have to say right now, this show is firing on ALL CYLINDERS!

  With a fantastic storyline regarding the aspect of dreams and the wielding of Dream prophecy and interpretation, the sci-fi aspect of the show is one of the most innovative yet, and even when it comes down to the drama focusing on the children and their problems, I find that I'm now completely convinced...episode 4 just showed me that even as a straight forward School/Teacher drama, Akumu-Chan is as strong as any...and Keiko Kitagawa's no-nonsense Ayame Mutoi is the coolest fricking teacher since Eikichi Onizuka!

Onward with Akumu-Chan full speed ahead!!!!!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

An Adorable Scene in "Going My Home"

I've already talked about how wonderful the pacing and style of the Hiroshi Abe / Yamaguchi Tomoko drama Going My Home is, and Episode Two continues to please! The episode was filled with the same quirky sensibilities is the first one, but I just HAD to mention this one particular passage that had me laughing and rewinding the scene over and over...
 Tsuboi Ryota (Abe) and his daughter Moe (Aju Makita) have taken a trip to his father's hometown while he lies in the hospital. During the stay Moe makes plans with a boy named Daichi to go with his mother (Miyazaki Aoi) to hike into the forest and look for Kuna, magical forest little people. While Ryota doesn't believe they'll come across any elves,he IS concerned about the bugs, and is adamant about getting some insect  repellant to guard him from getting attacked.

 Ryota and Moe make a trip to the store to pick up a box of repellant while Diaichi dn his Mom wait outside. I'm watching thsi scene and am already tickled by the little nuances like Moe's absentminded examination of the box, and the cutaways to Aoi and Daichi examining something in the gutter grating  outside, LOL!

But then came the crown to this awesome scene, as the four begin their trek up to the hill, and Moe begins diligently pasting the insect repellant patches onto her father's jacket!!! Ahahaha, Oh my GOSH, this was so DARN adorable!!!! As I rewound and rewatched the scene over and over, I had to wonder just how many takes it took to get the thing done, as it was shot in one long take! Amazing!

Keep in mind that this wonderful scene was shot with no dialog at all, so the viewer was  able to simply enjoy the passage on its own merit! Such a sweet scene, such an incredible drama!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Baby V.O.X. "Ya Ya Ya"

Baby V.O.X.

All Running Man fans certainly know of the "Love Connection" between Kim Jong Kook and actress Yoon Eun Hye, when they were both on X-MAN, a point that Jaesuk and the others constantly remind him about, and the teasing became so great that I really wanted to see that infamous clip so I looked it up on Youtube. Not only did I get to see the original episode of X-Man (which was hilarious), but I also found out that besides her acting career, Eun Hye got her start in the girl group Baby V.O.X.!

Yoon Eun Hye and Kim Jong Kook in X-Man

BabyV.O.X.

Wow! As one of the seminal K-pop acts along with S.E.S. and FINK.L, I was VERY interested in hearing Baby VOX’s music, and finding out that Eun Hye was in it, decided I'd better investigate immediately!  i then spent an evening watching their videos and variety show clips, and I liked all their songs right away (especially "Killer") but the one I loved most was this cute poppy song called "Ya Ya Ya".

 I find it hard to believe this was a group that came out in the 2000's (well, actually late 90's) because it sounds soooo 80's J-pop. I liked it so much that I put it on a mix even though the style contrast made everyone in the car say "What the HECK is this?" when I played it! LOL
    On Youtube, I found a very recent reunion Baby VOX did on a show called Chocolate, and they did both "Ya Ya Ya", and also "Killer "(!) So I was pretty stoked. The girls are all lovely ladies now. They still sound terrific!  Funny that Eun Hye who is by far the most successful of them as an actress is actually the maknae, and when they were being interviewed, she reverted back to that cute status with them. So much fun hearing stories of their baby VOX days!

Watching and re-watching their MVs, I’ve come to like quite a few of their songs and have tried to get some CDs from them, but they’re all for the most part out of print and they are like really hard to find on ebay, and when I do see some, they command collectible prices, like 85 dollars and such. So so far I've only got MP3s. Anyway, short story long, one night, I was looking for more BabyVOX stuff, and came across a performance of SECRET doing YaYaYa. I don't know what I was expecting, but they do it so well and sincerely, I have to tell you it brought tears to my eyes! It’s so goddamn sweet.

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

A Love for 4Minute Renewed

4Minute Girls: Sohyn, Jiyoon, HyunA, Gayoon and Jihyun

 I have been REALLY getting into sultry Cube Entertainment group 4MINUTE recently. On one of the (mostly J-Pop) forums I follow, they posted up some 4Minute Albums, and after listening to them a few weeks, I think I am going to have to purchase some of these, especially "For Music" and "Hit Your Heart", they are soooo good. MAN, when I listened to "Hot Issue" for the first time, I. WAS. FRICKING. BLOWN. AWAY. That is such a KILLER song, and MAN, the BASS in that song is so dense, when I threw the song onto my ipod and blasted it in my car, the windows were shuddering like I was driving a Low Rider!!!

After that I began going online to look for more videos and live performances of 4Minute, and  boy, there was so much more to discover! Unbelievably, though 4minute was pretty much the first K-pop group I really liked, I have to say that in reality I didn’t know too much more about them beyond the songs I knew of theirs like "I My Me Mine" and "Volume Up"…I'd never even seen a live perf of "Huh" before! 

A Sexy Rendition of "Mirror Mirror"

 Diving into their back catalog was like discovering a whole new band and each video and live performance gave a new and exciting dimension to them- and GADS, the chicks are so WICKED in those clips! Watching the performances of "Hot Issue"....Holy Crap, Hyuna really showed me why she's so damn popular, I tell you. I didn't realize it was their first single, so it was really cute to see the original MV for the song and then contrast it with a smoldering recent performance. From cute and girly to sultry and SEXY!

Fun Beatles Code with Jihyun, HyunA, Jiyoon and Sohyun

And while we're on that subject of girly, when I first saw 4Minute, the girl I focused on most was Gayoon. Her looks were so exotic and striking to me (kind of Israeli-ish looking, if you know what I mean...come to think of it, I thought that the first time I saw Gyuri in the "Mister MV, too.) Later when I fell in love with Hyuna from Invincible Youth, I had to go back and re-watch I My Me Mine 'cause I didn't remember her at all.  But now that I've been watching a bunch of stuff from them, all their MVs, Live Performances, etc , I kind of know all of them, and I have to say for the record: HOW IN THE HELL DID I NEVER NOTICE JIHYUN BEFORE??? 

Nam Jihyun

Jihyun on Beatles Code

OH MY GOD, this girl is sooo DAMN pretty, such a feminine girly-girl! I just watched a recent Beatles Code, and every time Jihyun was onscreen, I couldn’t stand it!!! Such a CUTIE, I can't believe she is the oldest and the leader. Not only did I think Jihyun was the MAKNAE, I thought Gayoon was the leader! And she really seems like it when I watch her on Travel Maker. Very commanding and no-nonsense, such a cool chick.

Gayoon

In fact, after watching a few epsidoes of this Travel show, I really began loving ALL of the members, Gayoon, Hyuna, Jihyun, Jiyoon and the adorably picked-on maknae Sohyun…all of them together make the 4Minute experience such a joy to watch! And I find when I go back and watch the live performances and videos again, I have a new appreciation for it since I now KNOW them all! 

HyunA decides Sohyun should test the water...

Poor Sohyun! LOL

Travelmaker is such a fun show, unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be all that many episodes translated and subbed! So far all I've got is four episodes to watch (with the rest RAWs) so I've got to make the most of it!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Going My Home

Abe Hiroshi and Yamaguchi Tomoko in Going My Home

When I first heard that Yamaguchi Tomoko was going to be starring in a new drama after all these years, I was sooo excited, and when I heard her co-star was going to be Abe Hiroshi, I knew it was gonna be a great one! Then I heard that it was going to be about their child who sees imaginary people and their Father who believes in Little Forest People. From there my interest waned a bit, I must say. And even when I got my hands on the first episode, it took a while to actually get around to watching it.
  I dunno, I thought it was going to be a wacky drama like Marumo No Okite, that drama with the talking dog (and since co-star Sadao Abe was in that one, too, it didn’t give me any reason to think otherwise!) But with the list of fine actors assembled for this one, I HAD to check it out, and what I saw when watching “Going My Home” was anything BUT wacky- if fact, it was one of the most thoughtful and slow-paced dramas I’ve seen in quite a while, and (so far at least) firmly placed in reality. 

Abe Hiroshi as Tsuboi Ryota

Yamaguchi Tomoko as Sae 

Aju Makita as Moe

  The Story of “Going My Home” concerns a TV Ad Exec named Ryota Tsuboi , his busy wife Sae (who works as one of those “Food Presenter” Photographers who make food look good) and their daughter Moe, who’s having a bit of a time in school because she claims she can see people who aren’t there. But the parents have no time to help as Ryota’s father collapses and the family must work around his state. 

Yoshiyuki Kazuko, Abe Hiroshi and YOU as the Family

Sibling Rivalry: YOU as sister Takiko arguing with Ryota (Abe)

  Visits to the Hospital become trickier because he must also get involved with his Mother, Sister and her Husband, and as Ryota sorts through his Father’s things, he finds that the man has many secrets including a mysterious woman  (played by the always affable Miyazaki Aoi) who may or may not have been his mistress, and a "Best Friend" (Nishida Toshiyuki) who tells Ryota His father believed in Imaginary Little People!! 

Miyazaki Aoi as Naho

Nishida Toshiyuki as Osamu Torii

   The Aspect of the Little People or “Kuna” as they’re called here, is here less as a CGI sprite spiraling in to save the day, but more like James Stewart’s situation in “Harvey”, where the imaginary creature exists more as a powerful idea that moves the characters  than any actual appearance (but hey, it’s only the first episode,  so who knows!)
   Rather than a Japanese drama, Going My Home reminds me of those old great Robert Altman movies where he’d take a few talented actors and actresses and put them into curious “vignettes” that seem almost like one-off shorts, but which together add up to a greater story. Watching stellar actors letting loose in these these wonderfully crafted and highly eccentric scenes is such a joy to watch; I find that even when the scene has little to do with anything, I find myself chuckling  and entertained! 

Bakarizumu and Hiroshi Abe

Yoshiyuki Kazuko as Mom Tsuboi at her Haiku Class....

   Scenes like the bus stop conversations between Ryota and his eternally depressed (think “Debbie Downer”) colleague, the cutaways to random Haiku Classes with Grandma Toshiko, and especially the fun verbal arguments Ryota has with both Wife Sae AND daughter Moe, these are brilliantly written scripts with such FUN dialog!!! 
  And GOD, I totally forgot how SEXY I think YOU is, but her role as Abe’s sly and bawdy younger sister instantly reminded me- she really stole the scenes for me- such a sarcastic, vibrant lady! The scenes with her and Mom Tsuboi giving it to Ryota are freakin hilarious!

Yoshiyuki Kazuko and YOU

  And while we’re on that subject, I have to say it’s awesome to see Yoshiyuki Kazuko still as commanding as ever! You know she’s the daughter of Agri Yoshiyuki, the War-time Hairdresser who was the inspiration for my favorite NHK Asadora of all time AGRI, right? Yep, I knew you knew, just checking! LOL!
 Okay, looks like Episode Two is finished downloading, so I'm gonna hve to go and check it out! Hope the next episode is as interesting and fun as the first one!

 PS: Okay, Who’s this sassy, sweet Young Thang playing the intensely spoiled and super-pouty Mano? Thought it’d be easy to identify her since she’s obviously a Gravure Model or Idol or something, but hours online have given me no clues! She sure looks familiar...looks a lot like Perfume's A-Chan, actually!

edit: LOL. It's just been pointed out to me that curvy Mano is played by none other than Ms. Aimi Satsukawa,  best known (by me) for her roles in Funuke Domo~Show Some Love, You Losers and GALCIR! So awesome to see her again!

More Afterschool Goodness

Afterschool Flashback Poster with Orange Caramel

 So remember that Afterschool Haul I received a few weeks back? Well,  their CD mini album for FLASHBACK was supposed to come with a 2'x3' poster, but as the poster comes unfolded, it shipped separately from the rest of the order in a sturdy tube. I've ordered from this one particular dealer Silver Cold Metal many times, and have always gotten the posters and CDs together, but this time when I went to the Post Office to pick up my package, it only had the CD package!
  No Biggie, I thought, the poster should be here any day now! But as the weeks went by, I was beginning to worry, so emailed the dealer to inquire how long it was supposed to take. When he related that the items were shipped together and should have arrived at the same time, I knew my poster had become one of those dreaded items called "Lost in the mail", NOOOOOOO!
  Instead of waiting to see if the package would ever show up, however, the dealer instead immediately sent me ANOTHER rolled up poster, all at his expense, and this time with registered tracking to make sure the item got to me! Not only did I receive it in a few days time, he had even added a poster of Orange Caramel's Lipstick album promotion for my troubles! How cool is that? You can BET he got some positive feedback from ME! 
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Akumu-Chan Sparks a Childhood Memory...

Princess Keiko in Akuma Chan 

Watching this past week’s episode of Akumuchan where an enchanted Keiko Kitagawa romps through the lands of her dreams and chows down on a magical house made of out of candy and cookies reminded me of a hilarious comment my sister had made when our mother was reading Hansel and Gretel to us as kids...

The Fairy-Tale House of your Dreams!

 My mother read, "...And soon Hansel and Gretel came upon a house made entirely out of cake, candy and cookies! The two hungry children ran up to the house and began eating from it, pulling off candy canes and cupcakes and stuffing themselves, when...” “But MOM!” my sister interjected, “If that house was made of candy, what about the cockroaches?!” My Mother assured her it was a MAGICAL house, and therefore had NO bug infestations!

Cookies, Candy, Doughnut, and YES, even Waffles!

Keiko nibbling on a piece of Waffle

  Another funny comment made by my sister was when our mother was reading “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”, though I think only those living in Hawaii will understand it: As my Mother read, “Goldilocks had fallen asleep in the Littlest bed, when whom should come home but the Three Bears!  Entering, they had no idea that someone had been in the house ‘til they saw the bowls of eaten porridge…”   “But MOM!” my sister cut in again, “Wouldn’t the Bears have known Goldilocks was inside because of her slippers outside?” LOLOL! Anyway....

Back to Reality with Yuka and Keiko

“Akumu-Chan” continues to be a fascinating tale as long as it’s focused on the subject of dreams, dreaming and possible precognition, but sadly, for the most part, this show is turning into another “Students with problems gets help from Unorthodox Teacher” kind of drama. Too Bad, because the Dream-theory part of the show rocks, the characters are totally engaging and it is funny as heck! This show needs more dreams, less reality! AHAHAHA!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Notes On f(x)Koala

 Well, I tried to make it last as long as I could, but at only 15 episodes it couldn’t go on forever, and just tonight I finished watching MBC’s f(x) KOALA, the fun and lighthearted travel variety show that has firmly entrenched f(x) as one of my top five favorite K-pop groups ever!
  If there’s one thing I’ve learned form this show is how much personality is just bursting forth from these girls- each one has such a strong sense of character: The gentle and thoughtful leader Victoria, the Playful Best friend Luna, the spacey and girly Sulli and the stoic and unfazed Krystal, they’re always bouncing off of each other, to play with, laugh with, or even at times to laugh at each other, making their “Korea Awareness” missions around the world a sheer delight to watch!

   I thought I knew these girls before, but from this show I’ve gotten to know the girls so, so much MORE, and the only shame is that Amber wasn’t part of the group at this time (she was still recuperating in America while this was airing), but I did get to check her out in the few “Hello f(x) episodes I got to see!
   Aww, such a shame it’s all over…thankfully, I’ve still got Afterschool’s “Playgirlz School” to occupy my K-pop viewing time between We Got Married and Running Man!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

A Song To Make You Smile: "Bing Bing" by Crayon Pop

So the other week my friend Shanomac sent me the link to this new k-pop girl group called “Crayon Pop” that he thought I should check out. He’s always been a supporter of the newer “rookie” groups, and every few weeks he’ll send me a new artist or group that he thinks I’ll find interesting… The link he’d sent was for their latest song called “Saturday Night”, and checking it out I liked it enough, but then I clicked on the sidebar link to another one of their songs called “Bing Bing”, and it was THIS song that HIT me- My GOSH was this a CATCHY tune!!!

 Whenever I watch a video from a new artist, I always try to watch a couple of videos from them so I can get a better “feel” of what the group is like; more often than not, I end up liking the other song even more than the one Shanomac recommended! This happened with T-ara when he sent me “Roly Poly” and I ended up liking “I’m Really Hurt”, GangKiz when he sent me “Mama” and I ended up liking “Honey Honey” and now the same thing happened with Crayon Pop!

Unlike the Saturday Night video where Crayon Pop look a bit more mature and glammed up, in Bing Bing the girls are childishly bright-eyed and rosy-cheeked, with the most playfullyly adorable outfits! Everything about them seems so sweetly J-Pop, with driving beats and cool horns and an awesome bass-line that makes you wanna shake your booty!  Just watching how much fun they’re having dancing around put a big smile on my face, it’s not often you see such unabashed playfulness! The song was so, soooo catchy I had to replay it over and over again, and the dance moves looked pretty awesome too- I wanted to find a dance practice video or something where I could see the choreography better!

Well, at the time I couldn’t locate a dance practice version, but I DID come across a live concert performance with a stationary center camera that did just as well, and upon watching THAT, I was completely smitten… the dance moves are so groovy and frantic, and these girls are so cute and look like they're having so much FUN, (love Soyul with her teddy-bear stuffed backpack, which I would later find she wore throughout the entire Bing Bing promotions!! ) watching them go through the performance all the while beaming their happy smiles, it added up to a perfect feel-good masterpiece, and from then, I was hooked! Check it Out!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com