Sleeper Agents of Another Kind

Yuiko (Kimura Manatsu) and Mutoi (Kitagawa Keiko) in Akumu-Chan

 Just finished watching the latest episode of Akumu-Chan, and was once again properly blown away! I could say that the show is getting better and better, but even more than that, with episode 5, the show has moved up into another gear COMPLETELY! With its beginnings as a "Teacher/Problem Students" format, this drama has revved up into a real sci-fi action flick, with teacher Ayami Mutoi (Kitagawa Keiko) and student Koto Yuiko (Kimura Manatsu) using their dream precognition abilities like freakin' SUPER-POWERS!

Each Episode begins with Mutoi not wanting to get involved...

But when things get serious, she's determined to help!

  When two of the school's students have gone missing without a trace, it is up to Mutoi and Yuiko to find out what happened, and watching them run to the Health room and get into sleep position was as exciting as watching Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson slide down the pole to the Batcave, it was like, "Aw, HELL YEAH, they're bustin' out the POWERS NOW!

Ayami goes into Sleep Mode...

...and Jumps Into the Dream State!

 No good superhero action drama would be complete without its villains, and Gackt as the sinister Dr. Shiki and his unwitting accessory to the crime, Health Aide Hirashima (Yuka) fit the bill perfectly! At this pivotal point, Shiki has split from the "Good Guys" and has gone on solo to become the enemy!

Shiki (Gackt) and Hirashima (Yuka)

 Throw in Fumiyo Kohinata as a wizened Commissioner Gordon/Alfred the Butler type Dr. Koto, and you've got yourself another traditional Super-Hero masterpiece complete with all the trappings!!!!! School is now in session!

Kitagawa, Kohinata and Kimura

Another Problem Averted thanks to the Dynamic Dream Duo

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Adventures In Cuteness: Makita Aju

Makita Aju in Going My Home

  As I’ve mentioned before, the drama “Going My Home” works as sort of four or five individual stories getting told to make up a bigger story, and as you all know well, my favorite of all these HAS to be the ones with Makita Aju, who, as Moe, is really the heart of the drama!

  Makita Aju is such a terrific little actress- most of her scenes involve no dialog and must convey  feelings with only facial expressions and gestures, but she does them so well, you actually feel like you are watching a young schoolgirl going about her day.

 Episode three was even more wonderful than usual, because since she is technically “on leave” from school, a good deal of the drama consists of Moe spending her days merrily exploring the small town, its fields, stores and animals, and then of course there’s that obsession with those elusive Kuna!

  She always has a thoughtful and curious expression on her face, and watching her running through town made me feel like I was watching my childhood somehow, through her eyes I was reminded of those magical days of youth when everything was a mystery and magic was around every corner!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Who's That Girl: Kanno Rio

So who's this sweet actress who's been playing the part of Tsuboi Sae's  ever suffering assistant Jun-Jun in the awesome drama Going My Way? After an extensive search, I found out the girl's name is Kanno Rio, and to my amazement has been around for some time now!

Rio Kanno AMUSE homepage

  Rio's had quite a few bit-part appearances in a bunch of Dramas and Movies, though sad to say, most of them I haven't seen. The handful that I HAVE seen that she appeared in (dramas like Star No Koi, Yankee Kun To Megane Chan and the Zettai Reido SP), I sure can't recall which parts she would have played without digging those out and watching them all over again! Sure is cute, though! 

  Though Jun-Jun's role is to play underling to the Martha-Stewart-ish Tsuboi Sae (Tomoko Yamaguchi), she really brings some gentleness to the strictly no-nonsense Sae... The recent episode regarding the vintage Bento-Box was sooooo sweet, mostly in part to her caring nature!Now, if ONLY they'll have an episode or two wearing something besides those tomboyish T-Shirts all the time!

 Ahahaha, just found out she's even a Super Sentai Veteran, having appeared in both GoGo Sentai Boukenger AND Kamen Rider DECADE! Seriously, in light of actors like Takeru Sato and Kobayashi Ryoko,  is this where all the fresh eyed new talent is coming from nowadays? LOL
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Oh My Rika!

Paraphrasing an adage used by my friend on his twitter account with the hashtag #RikaIsGod, I present some wonderfully stunning Adachi Rika scans kind folks have shared over the internet (with some slight color punch-up)...

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Sugar Time Again

  So I was talking to a friend the other week about older K-Pop groups like S.E.S., FIN K.L. and of course Baby V.O.X. (which was the whole reason I was getting so interested in the earlier acts) and asking him which groups he knew of and/or liked.
 He said that though he'd heard a few songs here and there from all of the above groups, he didn't know them too well. He DID mention a group that he WAS into, though, and it came from a rather unusual source- seems he's been a fan of a Korean traveling show called "Tasty Road" and had fallen in love with one of the hosts. There was something about her that made his sure that she MUST be more than "just a host", and going online, he was to find that this girl, Park Soo Jin was indeed more than that- she was from  an early 2000's K-Pop band, and the band's name was... SUGAR!
 Sugar! You know, the whole time I've been into K-pop I don't think I ever connected Sugar with K-pop at ALL! Though in the back of my mind I knew they were from Korea and had a long Korean career, they have always seemed like a J-POP band to me! But I DID love them so, and even did a blog entry about them and my favorite song of theirs, "Himawari', from the Fukada Kyoko drama "Shiawase Ni Naritai"!

 Man, I was SOOO EXCITED when he told me that he was into Sugar! I  began blathering on about how much I loved them, in particular Himawari and its parent album COLORS 4 WISHES, which ironically enough, was just about the last album they put out before breaking up! I promised him I would be making a copy of this album for him and have subsequently been replaying it over and over again!

Ahhhh, sure brings back some happy memories!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

The Sexy As Hell Adachi Rika

Sexy Rika Adchi

 Went online to see what pretty actress Adachi Rika has been up to because it seems like I hadn’t heard from her or seen her in anything for awhile (been years since GeGeGe No Nyobu, that’s for sure!) and though it looks like she’s had bit parts in several small things, she hadn’t appeared in any major dramas since 2011!  What she HAS been keeping busy with, I was happy to find, was her awesome GRAVURE model career, and I was blown away to discover she was just as HOT and SEXY as ever! 

 Several of the sexier situations the curvy tarento gets into are the clips like the one where Rika's playing a sort of Batsu-Tennis, where she has to remove an article of clothing each time she misses a shot, til she's basically playing in her underwear...

...And the scene where she arrives at the church for her Wedding, but somehow forgets to put on a Wedding Dress, LOL (This scene was in fact so hot that they used it for the Cover shot for the DVD!)

...And what Gravure video wouldn't be complete without a melancholy, introspective sunset/dusk beach shoot to wrap things up nicely (and end with a bit of class, LOL)...

Checking out these AWESOME latest videos assures me that even though she may not be appearing as much acting-wise, Rika Adachi's MODELING CAREER is still full speed ahead!!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

"Check It Out, Yo!!"

Double Face 偽装警察編

Kagawa Teruyuki and Nishijima Hidetoshi in "Double Face"

Watching the Kagawa Teruyuki/Nishijima Hidetoshi TV Movie “Double Face~Giso Keisatsu Hen”, I was to realize two things, One: This movie was yet another remake of the highly successful 2002 Hong Kong Crime Movie “Infernal Affairs”, and Two: this was the movie that Aoi Yu cut her lovely long locks for!

  Getting past THAT trifle was a bit hard for me, but once I did, I was treated to a helluva movie! Awesome acting cast, with Kagawa, Nishijima, Aoi, Wakui Emi, Kohinata Fumiyo among others, and intense directing, several scenes had me on the edge of my seat!!! Everyone was great here, Kagawa in particular excelling as the weaselly, conflicted Takayama , the kind of character Kagawa is famous for playing!

Kagawa Teruyuki

Nishijima Hidetoshi

Kohinata Fumiyo

Wakui Emi

Aoi Yu

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Second Half Of My Afterschool Order Arrives!

Afterschool CDs

  After much waiting, the rest of the purchasesI  made during a week of unstoppable Afterschool mania came in, including the incredible 3rd Mini album BANG!, the Japanese releases for both Lady Luck/Dilly Dally and Diva, and a Taiwan release that compiled their first album New Schoolgirl and Because Of You. Was pretty stoked, though it must be said that I'm so spoiled by the Korean releases with those huge hardcover photobooks and glossy pamphlets chock full of glamour shots that the simple jewel cased Japan releases leaves me kind of underwhelmed; even though they both had cool bonus DVDs and random photocards, the basic CD insert with absolutely no pictures or additional material seems so lonesome! LOL
Time to rip these babies onto the ipod!!!!!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com