Tetsuota Michiko 2Man Kiro 終わり

 

A show more like a little Travelogue than a drama proper, Tetsu Ota 2 Michiko Man Kiro uses the structure of railfan otaku Michiko’s train-riding ventures visiting obscure and celebrated trains stations all over Japan to take the viewer on a soothing, relaxing trip of their own!

Little dialog is said during the shows outside of Tina Tamashiro’s gentle narration introducing the charms and specific allures of the places she goes to, and the rest is simply wide shots of her walking around the town, taking in the sights, peeking around corners, and investigating hidden pathways...

A sign indicating "Beware of Bears" gives Michiko pause...

...and then it's time to have her ekiben meal, exclusive specialty bentos sold at stations and traveler stops, it in itself another wonderful travel-specific point to share!

Not sure I’ve seen another drama like this- You as the viewer are really allowed to sit back and take in the sights, making you feel like you’ve been on the journey with Tina all along.

As someone who hasn’t traveled much, this drama is a wonderful way to see and enjoy the beauty of Japan all from the seat of my desk, however in one poignant summation, Michiko sagely remarks:

“You can’t find it just by Googling.
These are sceneries that can only be encountered by passing through it.”

-YUI

A gentle encouragement to couch potatoes like myself to actually get out of the house and go out into the wide world and discover what’s out there!
As Calvin once said to his tiger buddy Hobbes, “It’s a Magical World, Hobbes…Let’s go Exploring!!”

Gossip: #Kanojo ga Shiritai Honto no 〇〇

 Ririko Seko (Haru Kuroki) is a no-nonsense clerk in the accounting department of a major publishing company. She is highly regarded by her superior Masaki Niwa (Masanobu Ando) not only for her diligent accounting, but for her keen eye in discovering discrepancies and untruths in the receipts the employees give her; with only few clues she can get to the truth of things like a determined detective!

So good at her job is Rikako that Niwa takes her out of accounting and gives her a NEW task: To be placed as the head of a dying online news site the company owns named CAMPHOR News, straighten the employees up and re-focus the site as a Gossip Column instead of the old cut-and-paste News Site they were…and get viewership UP!

As soon as she gets there, she immediately bumps heads with the staff, for one thing, these are all employees who have long since given up on their Media site being popular and lazily drag their feet and scoff. Adding the problem is Ririko’s cold and unfeeling way of addressing people and situations, seeing everything in black and white with no room for feelings to get in the way.

But it is this very intensity about her that the staff will discover makes her unique, and they learn that because of her unwavering adherence to facts, she is able to turn a mere “gossip rag” story into a REAL News piece, and make Camphor News the place where a reader can find the actual truth about things! And slowly, she begins to earn the respect of her so-called peers….

Along with Ririko, the Camphor Staff are:

Michiharu Nezu (Junpei Mizobata)

Makoto Ichimoto (Anna Ishii)

Shuto Shimouma (Shuhei Nomura)

and Seiji Kabatani (Toru Nomaguchi)

REALLY enjoying this one so far, Ririko is yet another wonderful role for the talented Ms. Kuroki. Quite a relief to see for myself because I had seen early buzz online about the show's low ratings and people saying Ririko is “an unlikeable character that rubs you the wrong way”…I absolutely did NOT feel that (though I suppose the other characters in the show were meant to) and in fact I found her quite sweet and naive, a character I wanted to know MORE about!!!

There is this scene of Ririko fighting the urge to take a picture of a cute kitty, and watching it, I felt the same feeling I got seeing her in “Mi Wo Tsukushi Ryoricho” and “Nagi No Oitoma”, slowly paced, no dialog, just the camera following this girl...

Already up to episode 3 and am looking forward to more!!!!!

Your Monthly Keiko: April 2022

A Commanding Pose from Keiko for the Month of April