Crush of The Day: Ai Yoshikawa

 I have gushed more than once about child actress Riko Yoshida, whom I first met in “Mei-Chan Shitsuji” as Miriku Mamahara way back in 2009 (along with Ryohei Suzuki):

She soon left the business to focus on school, before coming back years later under her new moniker Ai Yoshikawa... where I was promptly floored me at how entrancingly BEAUTIFUL she had become! WOW, was this the SAME girl??!

Well, since they she'd been winning me over with appearances in dramas like “Koi wa Tsuzuku yo Dokomademo”,

 “Influence” 

"Hajimete Koi o Shita Hi ni Yomu Hanashi"...

and “Hiru”,

...and NOW, with her latest drama “Ashita, Watashi wa Dareka no Kanojo” absolutely DELIGHTING me, she has finally and utterly captured my heart with her role as the sweet, kind and pure Yuki Shirai!

With a set-up both parts "Rental no Koi" and "Fruits Takuhaibin", Ashita, Watashi wa Dareka no Kanojo follows an assortment of interesting young women who work at an agency that deals in "Rental Girlfriends", a business of whom Ai's character of Yuki is one of the most requested, and it's easy to see why when you see her in action!

So sweet and seemingly genuine in her caring of you, any guy would love to have her as his girlfriend, even if just for a day!

But more than that, it's the personal interaction she shares with her friends and fellow workers that shows you how wonderful she is- this is really a thoughtful and kind girl, and though painfully shy and secretive about her "real" self , she is totally supportive and understanding of the problems of her friends!

I know I'm doing it again: I'm projecting the character she's playing onto the actress herself, and in fact, the person I have a "crush" on is more the character of Yuki than Ai herself, but to me, they come as a package, ya can't have one without the other. And I don't think anyone could play Yuki like Ai's done- so sweet and sincere, I just HAD to fall in love!!!

Here's to seeing even MORE of her!

Waru: Hataraku no ga Kakko Warui Nante Dare ga Itta おわり

 And a fine time was had by all!

Really enjoyed Mio Imada’s first starring outing as the starry-eyed super-employee Maririn Tanaka in the business comedy drama “Waru: Hataraku no ga Kakko Warui Nante Dare ga Itta?" as she goes about using her unstoppable positive energy to help and heal workers who are being crushed by the daily struggles of work!

Watching her spazzilly stumble her way up through promotion through promotion (and facing new adversaries along each step!) made you want to cheer her on and made it such a joy whenever her sincere sensibilities persevered and won the day!

 

Above all, I loved the friendships Maririn builds over the course of the series, her sweet heart creating bonds that will help and guide her throughout all the highs and lows of the job- especially when it comes time to hunkering down and getting SERIOUS about bringing the goodness back to the company!

I admit I had reservations about svelte beauty Mio Imada taking on such a wacky and zany role (I just could not shake the feeling she was imitating Fuka Koshiba for those first few episodes, NGL) but of course she won me over and by the show’s latter half I was completely in her camp! 

WOW, can’t wait to see what Mio does next!!!

My Family おわり

 I was initially really intrigued by this story of the harried game developer Narusawa (Ninomiya Kazunari) who never has time for his wife (Mikako Tabe) or child, who is suddenly forced to see things in a real light when his daughter is kidnapped.

Strong characters and a smart police team led by Katsuragi (Hiroshi Tamaki) made me think this was going to be a crime drama of high stakes with the family and police coming together to track down the kidnapper and bring the daughter back home...

But almost immediately, it degenerated into the typical red herring fake-out “suspect of the week” shenanigans as both the police and the family seemed to be doing the most boneheaded of moves! As you all might recall from my experience with Shinhannin Flag, I have no patience for this stuff, and thought I might have to drop it.

But I stuck with it, and I must say, by the halfway point, it was beginning to gel and by the show’s last three episodes, all the parts came together to paint a very compelling narrative, and by the show’s last episode, I was on the edge of my seat in anticipation of how it would all play out! The way the story all wrapped up was so satisfying (and tear-inducing!!!), I began to worry that they would ruin it by adding one of those cheap ‘gotcha’ twist things at the end. But I needn't have worried as this one closed with as good an end as you could get!

The way the story all wrapped up was so satisfying (and tear-inducing!!!), I began to worry that they would ruin it by adding one of those cheap ‘gotcha’ twist things at the end. But I needn't have worried as this one closed with as good an end as you could get!

Glad I stuck this out out!!!