The Return of Ayase Haruka

Ayase Haruka in Kyouwa Kaisha Yasumimasu

  Seems like its been quite some time since I’ve watched anything with Ayase Haruka, the actress who almost singlehandedly brought me back to the j-drama fandom with her turn as the loveable Hotaru Amemiya in Hotaru No Hikari back in the day. I began watching her latest drama Kyou wa Kaisha Yasumimasu not knowing what to expect, but once I got into it, whaddaya know, the old feels came right back to me and I found my self falling back in love with her!

Above and below: Ayase Haruka as Aoishi Hanae

Kyou Wa Kaisha Yasumimasu deals with an efficient Office Clerk named Aoishi Hanae who, upon reaching 30 years, is not only inexperienced in love, but still a shy virgin to boot! When a chance meeting with a cool young coworker named Tanokura Yuto (Fukushi Sota) turns to physical contact, Hanae’s world is rocked as she knows nothing about how to react for her “first time”. Should she be bold about it? Not talk about it? Or simply quit work so as to never have to deal with him again?

Fukushi Sota as Tanokura Yuto

Interdepartment Relation Problems Brewing

 These questions are hard enough to deal with, but Hanae also has to put up with her curious, meddling and zany co-workers, among them Okawa Hitomi (Naka Risa), a vivacious sexy young thang, the outgoing hyperactive loudmouth Oshiro (Taguchi Junnosuke), and Asao Yu (Tamaki Hiroshi), the wise and knowledgeable CEO who has ALSO taken a shine to Hanae and her doings!

Naka Riisa

Taguchi Junnosuke

Above and below: Tamaki Hiroshi as Asao Yu

 As usual with most of the movies and dramas I’ve loved with Ayase Haruka in them, it’s her shy, naïve and innocent facial expressions and body language that really sells her characters to me- From Hotaru Amemiya in Hotaru No Hikari to Tachibana Saki in JIN, you always feel the warmth and sincerity in her roles, you can now add Aoishi Hanae to that list!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Hayami Yu: Like A Fine Wine...!

  So I’m perusing live 80’s idol performances on Youtube, and I come across an absolutely stunning young girl by the name of Hayami Yu. I had her single “Natsuiro No Nancy” on an 80's Sun Collection I acquired some years back, but I didn’t know anything about her, least of all how beautiful she was! 

Yu Hayami in the Mid-Eighties

  Unlike the other gals at the time, Yu had this decidedly exotic look about her-  she had kind of a darker complexion, and somehow, kind of reminded me of actress Jessica Alba. I told a friend later, “this girl looks like she could have come from Hawaii, she has such a “local” aura about her.”  Little did I know, but looking her up on Wikipedia later, I was to find that Yu Hayami INDEED lived here in Hawaii for YEARS growing up as a child! Yappari, you just can’t shake that Local Flavor, I tell ya…

Shooting Coca Cola CM in Hawaii

Performing Candies with Hori Cheimi and Ishikawa Hidemi

   Anyway, at some point watching all her videos, it occurred to me: If Yoko Oginome has grown up into such a fine LADY, then my GOSH, Yu Hayami must be JUST as pretty now! I HAD to find out what she looked like nowadays! Going back online, I found that Yuu has actually kept pretty busy in the genoukai circles in recent years, but it was this 2005 clip from Utaban that just knocked my socks off…SURE ENOUGH, Yuu had grown up into a freaking GORGEOUS, refined WOMAN!

Yu Hayami in 2005

 DAMN, these 80’s Idol Girls sure APPRECIATE with time!!!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Comments via twitter:

tanikaze: Did I ever tell you I'm recording this cooking show on NHK World hosted by Hayami Yu?!! Great stuff!

tanikaze: That's about as close as I'll prolly ever get to 1980s J-Pop. BTW Hayami's English is Nishida Hikaru perfect...

zdorama: Watching a Coca Cola CM with Yu Hayami riding a bicycle thru town, saw a  "TheBus" drive by her, reminded me of Hikaru's Foremost days!

tanikaze: OK I just looked up the CM. YES COKE YES!

A New Old Favorite: Yoko Oginome

My First Oginome Yoko Purchase!

Up until recently, I wouldn’t say that I knew an awful lot about 80’s idol Yoko Oginome, though I liked the few songs I did know from her, but when I came across a newly updated version of her song “Dancing Hero (Eat You Up)” from her new 2014 album Dear Pop Singer, it totally knocked me out and made me pay attention!

 Now, I’d already known Dancing Hero and had even recently marveled at her awesome performance of it on this past year’s FNS Kayosai, but DAMN, there was something about this new PV that really got me going! It was stylish, it was catchy, and OH MY GOD was Yoko looking BEAUTIFUL! I must have watched the new video three or four times just taking in how gorgeous she was, soooo darn pretty and FIERCE, and after all these years!! I knew it was time I took a closer look at what this gal had to offer!
Going onto Youtube I was rewarded with an amazing handful of terrific live performances of some of Yoko’s biggest hits, including both songs I knew like Dancing Hero and Gallery, and introducing me to some new, exciting tracks like “Roppongi Junjouha”, “Dance Beat Yoake Made” and the stellar (and totally kick-ass) “Stranger Tonight” and “Wangan Taiyou Zoku”!  Even better, these clips were from the Glory Days of J-pop on shows like Yoru No Hit Parade and The Best Ten, complete with live backing band!

I was so taken in by the performances I saw that I no longer was satisfied with the meager downloaded MP3 files I had- it was time to get myself some proper Yoko Oginome CDs, and what better way to start than by picking up an all-encompassing Anthology Collection, and going online,  I found someone selling Yoko's awesome (and out-of-print) Double CD OGINOME YOKO HISTORY which fit the bill!!

 What an incredible collection! Like I said, I knew only a few songs from her before, but I wasn’t prepared for how freakin’ impressive her output was- each and every song was so strong, and Yoko’s voice was never cooler! I found myself taking walks playing this collection over and over and getting to know her better and better…MAN, I’m loving it so much that I’ve been downloading MP3s of some of her other albums… and DAMN, even THESE are freakin’ GREAT! Man, it looks like it may be time to make the leap to pure Yoko Oginome fandom!!!!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Kitagawa Keiko Appears in Generic Tearjerker, Still Manages To Break My Heart

Dakishimetai: Nishikido Ryo and Kitagawa Keiko

 I just finished watching the movie “Dakishimetai" (I Wanna Hug You!) starring my beloved Kitagawa Keiko as Tsubasa, a girl who, due to brain injuries sustained in a high-school car accident, has lost the use of her legs and right arm. Additionally, her memory is cloudy and her doctors say her condition may even get worse as time goes on. But throughout this, she is meeting life positively, and when she meets a young man named Masaki (Nishikido Ryo, playing what appears to be the exact same character he played in One Liter Of Tears; the sturdy heart-of-gold boyfriend who will stand by her side no matter what the ailment) for the first time she thinks about her future as a housewife and mother.

First Meeting: Masaki meets Tsubasa

Becoming Friends

 This was a fairly “By The Numbers” tearjerker, but you all know how much I love Keiko, and as usual, her acting lends to very likeable and believable characters…I was taken with Tsubasa from the moment I saw her. This film was heartbreaking for me not so much for its grand, tragic end, but more for the parts where you see Tsubasa going through her everyday life coping bravely with her handicap (doing her errands in her wheelchair, doing housework with the use of only her right arm), and the footage of her shortly after her accident when she was first going through the arduous and painful task of rehabilitation was harrowing and yet so admirable to watch. When the reviewers say that this movie is not so much a story about Tsubasa’s tragic death as a celebration of her life, I totally agree.

Besides Keiko and Ryo Nishikido, Dakishimetai featured an all-star ensemble cast, including two former “Crush Of The Day” alums, Eriko Sato and Aya Hirayama, albeit is minor roles. So good to see them again, and for the first time, I realized how much Eunji of K-Pop Group Apink looked like Eriko “Cutie Honey” Sato! When she came onscreen, I thought to myself, “Eunji?! Oh WAIT, that’s Eriko Sato, LOLOL”

Sato Eriko

Aya Hirayama

I’ve got yet another Kitagawa Keiko Movie on the burner, the exciting suspense flick “Roommate” with saucy Fukada Kyoko as poor Keiko’s antagonist in a modern “Single White Female” retelling…You can be sure I’ll be reporting back once I’ve checked it out!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

An Okada Yukiko Surprise!

Okada Yukiko "Juugatsu no Ningyo" with OkurimonoII and Venus Tanjyo

  Was stoked to find that on a recent trip to Japan my friend was able to pick up a copy of Okada Yukiko’s third album Juugatsu no Ningyo (October Mermaid) on CD for me. As you may know, all four of Yukiko’s albums are out of print and pretty hard to find, (I myself was only able to locate a copy of her fourth and final album Venus Tanjou through ebay, as well as Okurimono II, one of her greatest hits packages) so this is a welcome addition to my eventual goal of obtaining all of her wonderful releases!
  I do already have MP3 copies of all of Yukiko's CDs, but I love them so much that I really wanted to have "hard copies" in my collection...gotta say, the CDs look mighty fine on my J-pop shelf!!!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

A Bittersweet K-Pop Package: Girls' Generation "THE BEST"

Girls' Generation THE BEST CD/DVD Set

Like I’d mentioned before, I’ve been trying to cut down on my K-pop purchases, and so when Girl’s Generation released their Japanese “Best Of” Collections months ago, I passed on them, even though they contained a few unreleased tracks. It was only when they repackaged the Greatest Hits into a deluxe version with all the songs PLUS two MORE new singles that I decided to buy it. Little did I know that I would be buying the last Girls’ Generation album with my beloved Jessica in it.
  Really a shame that there's this melancholy aura surrounding this release, because this is a BEAUTIFUL box set! As usual, the girls' Japan packaging blows away what others are doing- their Girls and Peace II Deluxe Box still has to be the most elaborate configured casing, and they made sure THE BEST lived up to expectations!
  First off, as you may be able to tell from the pics, this is a HUGE thing- when I saw the package sitting on my doorstep, I thought, "that CAN'T be the size of the CD, can it?" Frankly, I expected nothing more than a double Jewel Case! But it WAS- its full dimensions 5x7x3, and housed in a hard plastic slipcase. The double CDs are housed in beautiful long hardcover photobook:

And underneath was was the biggest surprise of my life: a box with 9 mini-figurines of the girls! Thinking back, I knew it said 9 collectible earcaps (they sure are gonzo on these things) but I had no idea it was going to be so nice! 

Each figurine measures at about 2 inches high, and each girl is dressed in a different image outfit from each of their promotions, and if that wasn't enough, the earcaps fit into a hard plastic "stage" !

The attention to detail is impressive, and even the BACK of the figures are detailed nicely!

 The bonus songs "Chain Reaction" "Invincible", "Show Girls" "and "Divine" are all quite good, and the DVD comes with the PV and making for "Divine", so at least I can console myself that I did get a few more songs and one more video with Sica as a part of the group. From here on out, I’ll have to do without her wonderful voice.

  I also got my copy of Girls Generation TTS’s new album “Holler”, along with the bonus poster. The album songs are actually pretty awesome and the book and poster is very pretty, but boy, this comes with such bittersweet happiness in light of the shakeup. 
PS: You know, through the whole ordeal between Jessica and SNSD, I was so hoping that Jessica leaving was just a rumor or at least a problem that could be easily resolved, and that I could hold tight to the dream of the "Nine Sisters Forever", but it seems that everyone involved has finally come to terms with it and have "moved on". 

The Newly Reformed 8-Member SNSD

Jessica Moving Ahead with her Fashion Brand BLANC

Ah man, hope things become brighter for both Girls' Generation and Jessica as the days go by… 
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Sibling Rivalry in "Dear Sister"

Matsushita Nao and Ishihara Satomi in Dear Sister

When I read the synopsis for the new Ishihara Satomi/Matsushita Nao drama Dear Sister about two sisters, one who is smart and sensible (if a bit awkward in social situations) and the other sister slutty and ditsy (while outgoing and friendly), I knew EXACTLY which actress was going to be playing which! Satomi’s stellar “bimbo” role in Shitsuren Chocolatier and Nao Matsushita’s introverted character in CONTROL really made their casting as the eccentric Fukazawa sisters a no-brainer! 

Matsushita Nao as Hazuki Fukazawa

Ishihara Satomi as Misaki Fukazawa

  Dear Sister tells the tale of the straight laced Hazuki (Matsushita) working hard at her job with the plans of marrying soon, when her rebellious younger sister Misaki (Ishihara) shows up out of the blue to turn her organized life upside down! From disrupting her serene daily routine to getting between Hazuki and her fiance (quite literally at times),Misaki is a handful and a half!

with Hiraoka Yuta as Hazuki's fiance

Misaki ingratiates herself into their evening activities

Much to Hazuki's dismay and distrust!

As they go through the days, the events that Misaki bring out convince Hazuki that maybe her life isn’t as great as she once thought it was…and though Misaki seems outwardly super-energetic and spastically peppy, she has a dark secret of her own, too! Now that they've reconnected, can their opposite personalities help each other out?

Above and Below: the Fukazawa Sisters: each with secrets of their own

Hazuki's fiance is played by Yuta Hiraoka in yet ANOTHER of his identical roles as the shleppy mundane love interest for the lead actress. With so many other characters being set up as Hazuki's possible future romances (including Tanabe Seiichi and Hirayama Hiroyuki among others), you know it's only a matter of time before he's delegated to supporting character, LOL

Another great sighting is seeing former "Big Boob" gravure model and sometimes actress MEGUMI making an appearance here (God, how I loved her back when she was a frequent guest on G No Arashi!), this time as one of Hazuki's grouchy co-workers Naoko, too funny! Hope to see more of her in future episodes!

Megumi as Naoko

Misaki herself seems to have only one true friend, a skater-boy named Hachi (Iwata Takanori of EXILE fame) who she believes to be gay, but if the way he looks at her is any indication, that sexual preference doesn't seem to apply with her! But she relies on him for sanctuary when she needs to get away, and can always count on him for a snuggle! Talk about being friendzoned...

"Let's see what Hachi's up to"

Venting to her buddy Hachi (Takanori Iwata)

   This tale of the “Odd-Couple” sisters where the “slobby” one moves into the “neat” one’s home is not new (right off the top of my head I can recall Tomoko to Tomoko), and so far it’s a pretty standard story, but they almost seem to be self-aware that they’re in a clichéd type drama!

 On that subject, there was this one really great (and rather endearing) scene that touches on this point, where Hazuki and Misaki have a major blow-up , ending with Misaki leaving... 
   As usual, as far as these plots go, Hazuki soon finds that Misaki was actually helping her out and so guiltily goes out looking for her in the rain. She remembers that whenever Misaki would run away as a child , she’d go to the park, and sure enough, finds her huddled in one of the playground crawlpipes. 
  As she sees Hazuki crawling into the pipe with her, Misaki poutily chides, “You’re late!” sweetly showing the bond that the sisters have that she KNEW Hazuki’d come looking for her to take her home. 

"I was right, there she is" thinks Hazuki

"You're Late!" pouts Misaki

And to even further advance that self-aware angle, Misaki as-a-matter-of-factly reflects that “In all stories, whenever the little sister runs away, she always waits at the playground they used to play in!”. Nao can only agree.
  So the two main characters are a treat to watch, but inasmuch as this is also a pretty generic romance drama (complete with unrequited love interests and cheatin’ fiancés), there are a LOT of elements to this show that are boring to me, so we’ll have to see how long the sheer antics of the two girls can sustain my enjoyment of this show! But, so far, so good!!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com