Atsuko and Yuko Asano Forever!

I've always thought of actresses Atsuko Asano and Yuko Asano as a collective- not just because of their same last names, but their long-running series "Dakishimetai!" starring the pair which began in 1988 and has made occasional specials ever since!
Yuko Asano in Dakishimetai 1988

Atsuko Asano in Dakishimetai 1988

 Good GRAVY were they a couple of BABES!

So when I was watching Atsuko Asano in all her goofy glory in episodes of the Michitaka Tsutsui /Riko Narumi drama "Retake", my mind would drift off and think, "I wonder what Yuko Asano is up to...Been seeing Atsuko in quite a few dramas recently but nothing from her."

WELL! Imagine my surprise when, watching the latest episode of the super-hyper Masaharu Fukuyama drama "Shudan Sasen" and whom should appear as a rich and arrogant Beauty-Spa mogul who wants to make a 3 Billion loan with the bank but Ms. Yuko Asano herself!!!

Ahhh, she's still looking as gorgeous as ever! You know, back in their heyday, Yuko always played the "straight" character against Atsuko's wacky one, and it's neat to see them still embodying those characteristics even now!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

An Iyo Matsumoto Reminder By Proxy

Iyo Matsumoto at the 2013 FNS Kayosai

Even though I’ve been a huge fan of Iyo Matsumoto and Yuki Saito in recent years, I’d completely forgotten about the time they appeared on the 2013 FNS Kayosai, and I was reminded in the strangest way- by coming across a screencap of Iyo Matsumoto at the FNS on some guy’s blog…that was STOLEN from MY original blogpost!

I’d been online looking for pictures of Iyo and when I came across the pic of her at the FNS, my first thought was, “OH yeah, she was on the FNS, I gotta re-watch that!” and then going, “HEY! That’s MY picture!!!” when I saw my “Zscan” watermark in the corner.

This was just before I’d turned my blog private. SO MANY people were just taking my content for their own blogs (not jsut pictures, sometimes entire entries and sometimes COMPLETELY, with just their “header” on top of mine!!!), I just gave up. I turned it back to public some years later but took my blog off Google search engines, which helps the online content thievery some. That's also why each entry is now tagged "Posted by Zdorama" with my address.

So in the MOST SARCASTIC way I can, I say “Thank You” to that blogger for reminding me of this wonderful FNS appearance…with my OWN picture!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Geeks, Gyarus and Gamers

Yuube wa Otanoshimi Deshita ne is a short and sweet little drama of a girl RPG Gamer named Powder and a guy player named Goro who become best friends while playing Dragon Quest X online, though they'e never met.

It is when Goro needs a place to stay and Pow invites Goro to stay at his apartment and they meet face to face for the first time, that  they discover that Goro is a yankee-type girl named Miyako (Tsubasa Honda) and the girl is a shy and introverted guy named Takumi (Amane Okayama).

Though Takumi is stunned at the prospect of Goro being a girl and furthermore LIVING with him, Miyako takes it in stride, and if Takumi can get used to his kind online partner Goro as this loud, outspoken gyaru, this might be the start of a beautiful friendship!

Fairly predictable storyline but at 6 episodes long you can’t go wrong and it’s been a fun ride!

PS: Bonus points to the show for having pretty Sei Ashina as Miyako's supervisor Kuriyama. Nice to see her in every episode if only for a moment!

PS: I don’t know how but somehow I mixed up this drama with “Kono Koi wa Tsumi Na No Ka” and I thought the main girl was going to be played by AKB48 actress Yuka Oshima.So I’m watching the drama and I’m like, “That girl isn’t Yuka…in fact, it looks like Tsubasa Honda!” And indeed it was! LOL!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

My Favorite J-Actresses, By The Numbers

Though I have the rankings of my favorite Japanese actresses posted up, it's easy enough to see where my favorites stand simply by looking at the count next to the actresses' names in the tag sidebar! 

Aoi Yu (20) Taking a quick glance,you immediately see who my top girl is, with Keiko Kitagawa at the top with a (so far) huge 60 separate posts with her in it! 

She's so far ahead that the next highest tagged actress is Emi Takei with a (comparatively) mere 32 tagged posts!

The next four actresses are tied with 

Aragaki Yui (28), 

Ayase Haruka(28), 

Ishihara Satomi(28), and 

Kiritani Mirei (28)

all with 28 tags to their names...

Then Fukada Kyoko with (25)

Toda Erika  with (24)

Mizukawa Asami (22)

...and Aoi Yu with (20)

The 8-Year Engagement

Just finished watching the Takeru Sato/ Tao Tsuchiya movie “8-Nengoshi no Hanayome~The 8 Year Engagement”, the true story of a newly engaged couple named Hisashi and Mai whose plans get thrown into despair when Mai gets a brain seizure which puts her in a coma for months, and when she does miraculously awaken, finds that though she remembers her parents, she doesn’t remember a thing about her engagement or even Hisashi himself!

Takeru Sato is great as the faithful Hisashi, who was always by her side while she was hospitalized and never stopped believing she would wake up and heal, and Tao proves yet again why I like her so much as the sweet and vulnerable Mai.
Also good are Hiroko Yakushimaru and Tetta Sugimoto as Mai's parents who do their best to absolve him of any sense of obligation to stay by Mai's side when she is hospitalized and possibly never to regain conciousness (but shed tears of gratitude when they realize his love for Mai is true and he is here for the long haul)...

This movie reminded me not just a little of the Yutaka Takenouchi/Emi Wakui drama “Mou Ichido Kimi ni, Propose” where Husband has to win the love of his wife all over again when she loses her memory and forgets who he is. But The 8 year Engagement is a bit more compelling in that the couple has not yet married and the fiance does his best on pure love and faith towards the girl he dreamed of marrying one day.

Yeah, this movie was another heart tugger for sure and of COURSE I was wiping away the tears by the show’s end, but sometimes ya gotta just go with the flow and let yourself be a weepy girlyman...LOL!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com