Mother’s Work is Never Done: Atsuko Maeda in “Densetsu No Okaasan”

In the tradition of video-game spoofing dramas like Yuusha Yoshihiko Maou No Shiro and Akuryo No Kagi comes Densetsu no Okaasan~The Legendary Mother!

In a magical videogame Kingdom the Regency is up in arms over the news that the Demon Lord has resurfaced and they send a message of help via pigeon to the gods who had once successfully dispelled them.

Unfortunately, life in the magic Kingdom ain’t what it used to be, and Magical Wizard Mei has her hands full taking care of her Baby!

When their messenger pigeon is ignored by Mei, they dispatch Kato(Kai Inowaki) to pay her a visit and plead their case...

 but amid struggles with childcare services...

...and a lazy husband who has just been laid off work (Reo Tamaoki), she just can’t find someone dependable enough to care for her child if she should leave!

In the end, the original team of warriors (including the feisty Megumi as the butt-kicking Bela) agree to reunited to take down the evil forces...even if Momma Mei has to take baby along WITH her on the journey!

This drama has all the makings of a fun and hilarious show, but ehhhhh…gotta say that at two episodes in, it ain’t nearly up to par with similar spoof dramas like the aforementioned Yuusha Yoshihiko shows or Super-Salaryman Saenai-Shi, but it’s been fairly entertaining watching Atsuko Maeda in action!

As Atsuko has taken on the role of Mommy in real life, it’s time for some of her roles to reflect the times..who would have thought that the girl from Heavy Rotation would someday be out playing mothers with kids!
Posted by zdorama@zdoramaagain.blogspot.com/

Kono Otoko wa Jinsei Saidai no Ayamachidesu 終わり

Like Mada Kekkon Dekinai Otoko before it, Kono Otoko wa Jinsei Saidai no Ayamachidesu is yet another drama that entertained me completely during its run but then petered out with extremely uneven, boring and uninspired last episodes…

I mean, I get it with Mada Kekkon Dekinai Otoko that they wouldn’t end the show with Hiroshi Abe making any real commitments since they know they’ll just throw ‘em all out if they make another sequel, but with Kono Otoko wa Jinsei Saidai no Ayamachidesu, I feel they could have had a real, strong ending. In fact, all the elements were there, but they didn’t seem to know what they were doing towards the end…

Still, it was a fun and entertaining ride while we were in it, and it made a Airi Matsui fan out of me, so in the end I’ll give this drama a cautious thumbs up anyway…

Another Destiny With Miori Takimoto

Unmei Kara Hajimaru Koi~You Are My Destiny seems to have taken all the cliches of a bunch of different romcom dramas and built an entire story around it, but it doesn’t matter because Miori Takimoto is so doggone adorable in it that I’m gonna watch it all anyway!

Miori plays Aya Sato, a plain and shy OL working in a company where everyone treats her like their personal slave (Sticking post-its on her whenever they need something and inevitably ending up with Aya completely covered in them, LOL).  Though she is taken advantage of, she knows it and, rather than blaming others, chastises herself for being a coward.

Meanwhile we have Kei Ichijo (Takumi Kizu), a charming and dazzling young man set to take over his family’s company…if he can marry and produce an heir!

Kei already has a bride in mind, the gorgeous Anna Shiraishi (Ren Ishikawa) but she is pursuing her career as an actress and her romance (such as it is) with Kei is sidelined by her goals.

Back at the company, Aya meets a young lawyer named Yamaguchi who seems to have an interest in her.

He asks her out on a date and even invites her to his college Anniversary Celebration. But when he asks if she can foot the expenses for both him and her, we know something is up…

Indeed, when we get there, we find that his only intention with Aya was to make an ex girlfriend jealous!

But Aya doesn’t know this and, in an attempt to be accepted by his friends, has drunken herself into oblivion, even as Yamaguchi begins hooking back up with his ex!

Kei is also an alumnus from Seio University and is at the get together, waiting for his beloved Anna who promised to meet him there. He’s on pin and needles as he’s been waiting for this day so he can propose to her. But she is late to the celebration, and, in the end, has to return to the states for an acting opportunity, leaving without ever seeing Kei.

Kei doesn’t know any of this as he has been surreptitiously drugged by a team of workers protesting his closing of one of their warehouses. Fighting them off, he staggers to his room....

Meanwhile, a thoroughly drunk Aya stumbles to her room, but in her inebriated state, goes to the wrong room...KEI'S ROOM, where she promptly falls asleep!

 A dazed Kei makes his way to his room, expecting his Anna to be there, not knowing she has departed. In his state he doesn't realize that the girl in bed is not Anna but the drunken Aya!

 !!!

 And so it is that the two end up in BED together!

The tale of the mousey and shy downtrodden girl who crosses paths with the dazzling rich socialite is one we’ve all seen before, and I was surprised to find Unmei Kara Hajimaru koi was based on a Korean drama…With such a generic plot wouldn’t it have been easy enough to just write an original story?? But so far it’s a satisfying way to idle away the hours, and like I mentioned before, Miori is great in this one!

Posted by zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Mikako Tabe Gets Strict in “Kore wa Keihi de Ochimasen!"

Started watching the Mikako Tabe drama “Kore wa Keihi de Ochimasen! ~Keiribu no Moriwaka-san”(This Is Not A Business Expense! Moriwaka-San of Accounting Department) from this past year, about the adventures of a highly efficient, No-Nonsense office Worker in a company’s Expense Department!

So far it’s a fun drama (with Tabe’s Sanako Moriwaka reminding me not just a little of Mitsuki Takahata’s straight-edged OL in Douki No Sakura), but I’m having a hard time adjusting to seeing some of the other actors in the roles they’re playing, like Daiki Shigeoka who plays Moriwaka’s romantic interest Yamada…. he’s supposed to be goofy and likeable, but I just CAN’T get past what an absolute JERK he was to Yuriko Yoshitaka in Shiranakute Iikoto…just the sight of him pisses me off, LOL...

And if that weren’t enough, we have Airi Matsui, whom you all know is my current darling, playing one of those two-faced sneaky secretary types…ARGH! I suppose they're making her the foil for Moriwaka's attraction to Yamada since she seems all up in him but geez...

Couldn’t they at LEAST have let her have play Mikako’s pretty best friend or buddy co-worker  instead? But the “Pretty Best Friend”  role seems to have been handed to actress Hanae Kan… 

...and the “Buddy Co-Worker” role is played by actress Sairi Ito…

 I guess I can’t complain about those choices but still...sigh...
There were some laughs, in particular whenever she is talking to her superior. He tries to pay out of his pocket for some thing she needed, but she refuses because it would affect her paperwork...and the amount he gave her isn't enough anyway, LOLOL

We’ll see how long I last with this drama!
Posted by zdoramaagain.blogspot.com