Last Friends

ラスト・フレンズ
Last Friends

Nagasawa Masami as Aida Michiru


Ueno Juri as Kishimoto Ruka


Nishikido Ryo as Oikawa Sosuke


Eita as Mizushima Takeru


Mizukawa Asami as Takigawa Eri


Yamazaki Shigenori as Ogura Tomohiko

I'm been crazy about Nishikido Ryo ever since I saw him in Ichi Rittoru no Namida (2005). I hadn't seen him in anything new since then...he's been in other stuff but I hadn't seen him in any of them. In fact, there was a special episode of Ichi Rittoru no Namida in 2007 that I haven't seen yet so I have to get on that as soon as I finish this one.

When I heard Ryo was going to be in this new drama, I knew I had to watch. I read a summary of the show and thought it would be interesting. There was going to be a gay character in it, which I thought was very different from the stories I'd seen before. For the most part, gay themes aren't the norm and neither is domestic violence.

Michiru works in a hair salon. She's an apprentice there so she does the odd jobs and is treated badly by one of the other girls there. She knows she's still a newbie so she has to take the abuse. Sosuke is her boyfriend. He works for the Child Welfare Division and seems to be a nice guy. In the first episode, Sosuke asks Michiru to move in with him. After talking to her mother, she agrees she could go live on her own. She's so happy to be moving in with Sosuke, she goes out and buys some things for the apartment. At one of the stores, Ruka is looking for a mug. She's made the purchase and turns around in time to see Michiru walking past the store. She runs after her. As she runs off, she drops her mug and knocks down Takeru. Michiru gets on a bus and Ruka chases on her bike. When Michiru gets of the bus, someone knocks her packages over and she has to gather them which gives Ruka time to catch up. She calls out her name and Michiru looks over to see Ruka. She gets up and runs to hug her.

Besides the fact that Ruka looks like the gay character, you could pretty much tell she has a thing for Michiru from the way she looks at her.

As the episode progresses, it looks like Sosuke and Michiru are happy together until she catches him going thru her phone messages. He suspects Ruka is a man she is seeing and asks Michiru to prove to him Ruka is a female. She offers to go back to her house and get her yearbook. While she's home looking, he calls her. She runs to the kitchen where she's left her phone but misses the call. As she's going back to her room, the phone rings again...she goes back and picks up the call. Sosuke asks her where she is and why she didn't pick up the first time. She tries to explain and he asks her if she's with a man. He orders her to get home right away.

I thought Ryo was so handsome in Ichi Rittoru no Namida...just adorable. Which is why what I saw next was pretty disturbing. She arrives back to the apartment and Sosuke grabs her arm and pulls her inside. He yells at her and throws her down on the floor. As she falls, she hits a lamp and it falls over and breaks. While she's still on the floor, Sosuke bends down and slaps her three or four times and then he ends up kicking her really hard. Wow...I'd never seen something like this on a J-drama....this one has to be "ground breaking" or possibly even scandalous back in Japan.

I watched the first six episodes one after the other today...I couldn't stop watching..There are 5 more episodes to go and 1 special episode. I'll probably be able to finish this one by the end of the week.

Japanese Movies

With my viewing of "Gohatto"I think I've opened the door to a new avenue of my fascination. I went a little crazy and I started to download a whole mess of "J-Movies". I managed to watch 1 so far and during the upcoming 3 day weekend, (YAY Labor Day!) I will probably watch a few.

Not only is my new "thing" going to cut into my J-drama watching, it's going to be the reason I'll need to start yet another blog for my J-movies. That will be my project for tonight....

First movie on my list..."g@me"...you'll know why when you see who is in it. Actually, I didn't even bother to read the plot summary...I saw this actor was it in and i clicked "download this movie" without hesitation. I didn't care what the story was about...turned out to be a damn good movie.

Okay, so enough with the movie porton. I'll post a link later once I've created the blog.
I will attempt to fit in the rest of Oishii Kenkei before I watch Ashita no Kito Yoshio. I've tried to watch 4 or 5 dramas at one time and it's not fun. It's not so much confusing as it is a pain in the ass to remember where I was when I go back to one drama after having watched 1 or 2 episodes of others.

I was also thinking about re-watching Densha Otoku. I really liked that one. I've already watched Bambino twice. Well, I have 5 more episodes to go before that's a true statement. I can't seem to fit it into my busy schedule. Anyway, I'm off now. Time to go watch the next movie...

Oishii Kankei

おいしい関係
Delicious Relationship

Momoe lives a life of luxury until one day, she loses everything... her money, her father and her lover. She must now find a way to support herself. With no experience whatsoever, she nonchalently applies for a position at at French restaurant where she once enjoyed a consomme soup many years earlier.

Momoe was attracted to the French restaurant, La Petit Lapin, because of the wonderful owner, Kansuke and the delicious soup that was invented by the chef, Orita Keiji. Keiji, a first-rate chef, was trained in Paris at the two-star restaurant, Grand Bleu, and is as a result, a little spoiled and snobby. Find out what happens next when Momoe is taken on as an apprentice and must prove herself to Keiji



NAKAMAYA MIHO as FUJIWARA MOMOE

KARASAWA TOSHIAKI as ORITA KEIJI

KUSANAGI TSUYOSHI as KIMURA KAZUMA

Ashita no Kita Yoshio - Main Characters

Kohinata Fumiyo as Kita Yoshio

Kita Yoshio wants to commit suicide in 11 days.









Matsuda Ryuhei as Yashiro Heita

Yoshio literally runs into Heita on the first day. During a
cab ride they share, Yoshio tells Heita he will end his life
in 11 days.







Kuriyama Chiaki as Hasegawa Rika

Rika is Heita's girlfriend.









Konishi Manami as Washizu Mizuho

Yoshito's ex-wife.








There are a few minor characters that I'll get into in the next post before I start the episode summaries.

.

Ashita no Kita Yoshio

世界一不運な男の、奇跡の１１日間
Sekaiichi Fuun na Otoko no, Kiseki no 11-nichikan
The World's Unluckiest Man, and his 11-day Miracle

Started this drama yesterday. Here's how I found this one...

It started a few months ago when I decided to find Takeda Shinji's movie "LoveDeath". I found it and downloaded it but I've no idea if it's any good since there are no English subtitles available. I searched all over the internet and nothing. So I watched it anyway...hoping that maybe I'd be able to get the jist of the story. No luck. I await patiently for someone to make the subtitles available.

I looked up what other movies Takeda Shinji as been in and I found this one called "Gohatto"(Taboo). It's sort of a samurai movie....kind of. Here is the summary from wikipedia:

At the start of the movie, the young and handsome Sozaburo Kano is admitted to the Shinsengumi (新撰組), an elite samurai police group led by Isami Kondo that seeks to defend the shogunate against reformist forces. He is a very skilled swordsman, but it is his appearance that makes many of the others in the (strictly male) group, both students and superiors, attracted to him, creating tension within the group of people vying for Kano's attention.

I thought it was interesting so I downloaded it and watched it. They actor who played Sozaburo Kano was pretty hot..though he looked like he could be gay in real life...he was "pretty". That's him below...


Anyhoo, a good movie.

So, after having seen the movie and thinking Ryuhei Matsuda (Kano) was pretty hot...I looked him up to see what else he'd done..of course so I could watch him some more...and I saw he was in a few dramas. One of the dramas, Ashita no Kita Yoshio, is pretty recent...it ran from Jan '08 to March '08. I figured what the hell...let me see if this is any good. I've downloaded the first 3 episodes and i've watched the first 2 so far. It's pretty good...Here is the description from drama wiki:

Can a coward commit suicide?

Meet Kita Yoshio, a very unlucky man who has chosen his close friend’s death anniversary as his suicide date, which is 11 days away. The number 11 has been quite significant throughout his life: he was born on November 11th; his roll call number at school was #11; and 11 years ago, he and his wife, Mizuho, went through a divorce. Debt-laden and feeling unneeded to the world, he sells off all his belongings and plans for his death date. However, on the 1st day, he meets Yashiro Heita as well as numerous other characters who will cause him to experience the most eventful 11 days of his life

I'll have to review the first 2 episodes later and also add it to the left. I'm also going to add individual photos of the key characters. I see Konishi Manami is in this one as well...I've seen her in "Hotman" as Furiya Shima and in "Ruri no Shima" as Shimabokuro Sanae. In both of these dramas, Konishi Manami's characters were nice women...in this drama she's a total bitch. It was difficult to see her like that...as Washizu Mizuho. Definitely not her usual character type!!

Oh...also, watching Gohatto, I found Kano's lover...Hyozo Tashiro (Tadanobu Asano) to be pretty hot...on a hotness scale from 1 to 10...he's a 7. Not really that high but 7 is good. I don't know that I would look too hard for any of his other movies but if I happen to find one, I'd watch it. As for Ryuhei Matsuda, I give him a 7.5 in Gohatto and an 8.5 in Ashita no Kita Yoshio...maybe a 9 at times, depending on my mood.

Not drama related

Ok. This isn't exactly drama related but I had to post this...This is the newest Arashi single and I just love the video. Watching it makes me think of the 80's...the clothes, at least remind me of the bright solid colors we used to wear.

Zutto Issho sa & Yokogao

I really liked the song at the end of Bara no nai Hanaya. I found the song and added it to my playlist...AND I also found another song by Yamashita Tatsuro that he sings in English...wow...I'm going to have to make a playlist for my NON J-drama songs...Yamashita's will have to go first..It's really really nice...I also added the theme song from Hotaru no Hikari, Yokogao by Aika...enjoy.

Done with "Bara no nai Hanaya"

YAY! I'm done with another one. Geez, I'm so lame. It was a tearjerker of an episode though it didn't end how I thought (hoped) it would. It was still a good ending.

The story begins when Shiomi Eiji meets Shirato Mio. He owns a flower shop and this particular day, it's raining hard and a pretty woman is standing under the awning trying to stay dry and Shiomi offers her an umbrella. He also offers her to come inside where it's dry. She becomes offended that he would think she was that type of girl...we soon realize she is blind and doesn't realize she's at a flower shop.
The relationship that grows was nice until you realize (by the end of the first episode) what's sort of going on. Later, the reason for what is going on is revealed.

I'm going to put up the last part of Bambino's first episode and then I'll start to put in part of the first episode of Bara no nai Hanaya. Also soon, pics of Shiomi and Shirato and the rest of the cast...

I really should move "Crying out Love" up to the currently watching group...eh...next time...

Mirai Koshi Meguru - Episode 01

Well, I watched the first episode of MIRAI KOSHI MEGURU. Let me remind you I'm watching this because of Takeda Shinji...so far I'm sorry, but I'm not impressed. It's always a little boring when I start to watch these because I don't know the characters. It helps when I recognize actors that I've seen before in other dramas so, by the end of the episode, I have already decided I like the show. I didn't get that feeling from watching this one yesterday...

The basic story here is about this girl, Yoshida Meguru, who is a teacher at a "cram school". Cram school is like prep classes...each cram school specializes in one subject...you'd attend after school and some cram schools are for extra help with entrance exams...BTW, Takeda Shinji is the principal at that school...

Yoshida has a grandfather who can see 20 years into the future. One day, when they are eating, she sees her grandfather eat only a little and she asks him how come and his reply is that he always eats until he's 80% full...which at the time, means nothing but it's handy knowledge for later.

Yoshida goes out to eat with her boyfriend, Yuki. They eat and I forget why she leaves the table...but when she comes back, there is his chubby guy sitting at the table and Yuki is gone. The guy gets up and tells Yoshida he's going to to pay the bill and will meet her outside..when she goes out, she sees Yuki and tells him they have to leave because there was this weird guy at their table when she got back...and they go away.

She goes into work and they have pastries there...she scarfs down one and goes to her classroom where there is a roomful of adults sitting there. She walks out thinking she's in the wrong room and sees it's the right one. When she re-enters, the kids are sitting there...she realizes that she too can see who the children will be in 20 years because she stuffed herself. She runs to tell her grandfather who tells her that is why he only eats until he's 80% full!

One of Yoshida's students is a boy who is the son of a doctor and pharmacist and his older brother is a med student...it's expected the boy will also become a doctor. The problem is, he wants to quit cram school and become a singer. Yoshida sees the boy will end up being a painter in 20 years and she tries to encourage the boy to stay in cram school so he can master English. The boy decides he will stay until he wins a singing competition that could start his career. Eventually, the boy's parents find out he is quitting cram school and they go to speak to Yoshida. The boy is there during the meeting and he decides to go to the bathroom where he meets up with an American rapper who tells him his English is pretty good for an Asian kid. The boy is so impressed he tells his parents he will stay at cram school to master English after all so he will do better as a singer.

Forgot to mention, Takeda Shinji, as principal, Monden Masaru, spends most of his time trying to figure out a new name for the school...even though he recently changed the name, he wants to change it again.

At some point, Yoshida goes to Yuki's job to see him and on this particular trip, she is full and she sees the chubby guy from the restaurant that was at her table...she soon realizes...that's Yuki in 20 years!

Ok, telling the story makes me realize it's not that bad a drama. It's different...I understand that there is a "comedic boom" now in Japan as they are just starting to discover they can be funny. Used to be American comedies didn't go over so well in Japan but now...there are a few that are pretty popular.

Anyway, I'm going to watch episode 2 this week; not sure when though. I am going to watch the last episode of Bara no nai Hanaya tonight. I'll have to write about the first episode of this one later tonight before I watch the final. I really like this drama...but that's for me to tell on another post.

Hotaru no Hikari: The Gals

For the girls, I decided to use their real names instead of the character name. There were only two girls that were really essential to the story...Amemiya, of course, and Yuuka...They both like Teshima Makoto. After the girls, I've included more pics of Ayase Haruka, she's just beautiful...

Ayase Haruka as Amemiya Haotaru
Kuninaka Ryoko as Saegusa Yuuka



And more Ayase Haruka...



Ayase Haruka was also in Crying Out Love, in the Centre of the World. She was excellent in that. Well, I watched most of it but I haven't finished...guess that shouldn't go in the "Already Watched" area...I'll have to move it...later.

I'm going to start watching Mirai Koshi Meguru. This one stars Fukada Kyoko, who is also in Shiawase ni Naritai! and Takada Shinji in a supporting role.

Look for my new mini banner on the left and a review of the first episode!

Hotaru no Hikari - The guys...

Ok Here are the guys from Hotaru no Hikaru...

Fujiki Naohito as "Manager" Takano Seiichi
Kato Kazuki as Teshima Makoto
Takeda Shinji as Jinguuji Kaname



I'll post the gals as soon as I have them...

Done with "Hotaru no Hikari"

I finally finished watching "Hotaru no Hikari". This is the first time I've been surprised by an ending.

In the beginning, you see Hotaru Amemiya at work, in an office (interior design). She's well dressed and efficient. At the end of the work day, all the women go out to drink to celebrate that their design has been chosen for a project and they talk about how Hotaru has run home. They figure she probably has a guy at home waiting for her. They comment about how they all better get to it bfore they become "himona-onna" (dried out woman). It's becoming a common thing now with women in their 20's. One of the girls asks "What are they"? Women who at work put on a face of a lively office lady but as soon as they get home...they change into jerseys...and their hair in a samurai style top knot...and they might even scratch their butt...snack in one hand; canned beer in the other...the other girls gasp at the thought. On weekends, himono-onnas don't go on blind dates; they go straight home. She never has a guy around her...One of the girls says she's sure there are no women like that at work. Little do they know that they've just describled Hotaru. They go on to describe himono-onnas as women who hug their pillows because they don't have a guy.

Meanwhile...in an empty apartment...a man is packing up his things, with a friend by his side. His wife has left him and he's packed his things and going to go live at his parent's house since the home is vacant. He walks in to see pairs of shoes on the floor. He walks in further to see that it appears someone is living there! In the distance he sees a mountain of newspapers moving...he grabs a plunger and uses the handle end to poke the newspapers. He realizes there's a person underneath and uses the plunger to slowly remove the newspaper to reveal the samurai top knot..he runs away to the other side of the room. The person moves around and stretches to reveal, it's Hotaru. She wakes up and rises from under the newspapers..she stretches again raising her arms in the air and she notices the guy. They stare at each other and she says..."Manager? Manager Takano" Hotaru asks him what he's doing there. He's still stunned so she tells him she's Amemiya Hotau. He starts to remember the girl at the office that he knows...as Hotaru. He's surprised it's the same girl...

He asks her what is with the outfit...why is it so messy?? He wants to know what happened to her and she replies "nothing in particular". He wants to know where the efficient Amemiya is. She tells him that since he's seen her as she is...she confesses she is like that at home, so it's normal.

Manager Takano tells Hotaru that he decided to live in the house...alone..to think about things..ALONE. Hotaru tells him he's going to have to find a place to live since she lives there. He tells her it's his house and she reminds him she's the one living there. She runs to get a piece of paper. Apparently, she was at a bar owned by Manager Takano's father. He had told her he was going abroad and not sure when he would return. She walks away...Takano picks up the "contract" and reads it
"Lend me, please?"
"okay"
Hotaru pops back into the room and says the rental agreement is on the back...Takano turns it over...
"forever, please"
"sure"

Takano says she needs to move out since it won't look good if it's found out he's living with his "junior" (subordinate). Later he decides since she is himono-onna, it's not really like he's living with a woman. He tells her she's himono-onna, dried up...and with a set of rules, they decide to live together. First episode is also where we meet Teshima Makoto. A guy that used to work with them but had gone to London and now is returning. We find out that Yuka, one of the girls in the office, has a thing for him.

This dorama was rather silly at times, which was nice. It was comedic. Oh, and...the reason I picked this one was because I looked up Shinji Takeda's list of doramas he's been in and this was the most recent (if I remember correctly). I was so eager to see him again...eager to see if he still has that "pretty" look about him that I used to like. Though he was in the first office scenes at the beginning of the show, I couldn't be sure if the guy I thought was him really was him...upon closer watching...I could see it was. He was more mature looking. Still "pretty" but not so much anymore...his face looked like he still couldn't grow facial hair...lol. I also noticed, he's kind of short for a guy. When the co-workers go out together, he's the shortest one there; but it's ok, he's still plenty gorgeous. I'm going to have to look at the other doramas he's been in and watch another one. AND...as I was surfing the net for some pics of him, I came upon one from a movie called "Love Death" which he was in. I THINK he stars in it...I have to get my hands on this movie cuz I found this pic...and if he's got a body like this...oh baby...He kind of looks like a guy here so at first I wasn't sure if it was him or not...but yeah, that's my boy...

 
UPDATE: (16 JULY 2011)
Had to take this pic out cuz it was no longer available.  Will try and find a new one so I can post it again!




And here's a picture of him as he usually looks...


UGH...I can't believe he looks like a guy now. Oh well, I guess it was bound to happen...I first saw him when he was probably about 22 or so...and now he's like 35...
I've got some more pics coming as soon as I get 'em...in the meantime...here's one of Amemiya in her himono-onna attire:

Bambino!

I have two objectives with this blog. First, I need to keep track of all the dramas I'm watching. I had no idea I had already watched as many as I listed. The second objective, which should really be the first...is to get people to watch them. They're not like soaps as we know them. I mean, to a certain extent yeah, some of them are because the whole point of the plot is the boy/girl meet, they can't be together and in the end they are...but it takes only 10 to 13 episodes to do it. It's not an endless black hole of garbage. AND...they aren't always about getting the couple together. "Bambino!" wasn't about that. It started with a couple but it didn't end that way.

So...I'm going to write a little bit about the shows I'm watching and then I'll try and add some clips. I'm hoping some of the plots will be interesting enough that you'll actually want to watch them.

I'm going to introduce the J-drama "Bambino!". I already finished watching this one though it's not on my list...I still have to create a little thingie for it so I can put it on my list.

After having watched Hana Yori Dango, I was totally crazy for Matsumoto Jun and so of course I had to watch another drama with him in it. I chose "Gokusen". I'm not quite done with that one
actually, I think I have 3 episodes left. Anyway, I liked that one so far but he's pretty much the same type of character in that story. In HYD, he was a bully and so he was in Gokusen. I read somewhere that they liked him in Bambino! because for a change, he played the underdog. So I watched the first episode and I loved it. The theme was about food so THAT was a plus.

This first clip is only about 7 minutes long. I notice that blogger's video screen is kind of small...I'm not sure if you'll be able to read the subtitles...

Matsumoto Jun stars as college student Ban Shogo who works at an Italian restaurant with this fiance, Eri. It's up to the part where he steps into the restaurant of his Spring break job in Tokyo. Ban is from the country so having him go to Tokyo is like a culture shock.

The second clip starts once Ban enters Trattoria Baccanale and is greeted by the head waiter. This guy is very good looking, in a gay guy sort of way...He comes off as gay but no real hints as to if he is or not. Either way...really nice to look at. Clip ends when he is introduced to the kitchen...

The third clip starts from his first look at the kitchen up to when he has his first disaster.

I guess I'll leave you with this FOR NOW. I'll post the last of the first episode soon.

How it all started...

I was first introduced to J-dramas purely by accident. I'm sure I was channel surfing one day back in the early 90's. It was probably somewhere between 8AM to 10AM when I happened upon a show on one of the PBS stations, channel 31. They were talking in Japanese but there were subtitles so I know I stopped to see what it was. I wonder what made me so curious that morning because until that day, if you had told me that sometime in the future I was going to get this ridiculous fascination with J-dramas and eventually become obsessed to the point where I have to get my ass to Japan one day...I'd have thought you were crazy. I want to learn to speak it...I want to learn their customs...I just want to soak up everything my mind will allow me to.

I went back the next day to watch and it wasn't on...I'm sure I went every day until I realized that it's only on once a week and though I had caught the show in the middle, after a few weeks, it was over and a new one started. I remember the first three I ever watched...

1 - The very first one was "Shiratori de Gozaimasu" (I am Shiratori Reiko!) .
I vaguely remember the plot. Rich girl falls for an "ordinary" guy. I don't recall what the problem was between them but I remember they got together in the end. Isn't that what it's all about?

2 - "Good Mourning"
This one I watched from the beginning. A woman marries a man with a son and a few days after the wedding, he dies and she's left to take care of him. His family operates a funeral parlor and she goes to live with them. That's all I remember...but I do remember thinking it was a good one.

3 - "Bakumatsu Kokosei"
No idea what this means. I think someone told me it was High School Students something...I have to find out. In the beginning, it was in modern times and something happened when a group of students were on a field trip. Somehow they were transported back to the days of the Samurai. Can't recall how they got back or what happened while they were back in time. It's the first time I saw Takeda Shinji...*sigh* he was the first actor I had a crush on.

4 -"Give us Love!"
I remember a few guy that lived together next door to an apartment complex that was for the stewardesses that worked for an airline. One of the guys in the apartment fell in love with her. Of course there were the usual problems that kept them from getting together but eventually they did. Takeda Shinji was in this one as well...nice surprise.

5 - NO IDEA
I'm still trying to figure out which one this was. I remember a young couple with a child decide they will divorce. That's all I've got. It's not much but somewhere out there on the internet there is someone who saw that one and loved it. I'll have to be persistent.

After I saw these, channel 31 was sold and there were no more J-dramas for me. Channel 25 was another local PBS station but at that time, we had no cable so we were watching TV like they did in the olden days back in the 80's. I found out that there was this Japanese Samurai show on every once in a while and I was always looking for it. It was a great show and I never knew the name of it. That was pretty much all the shows I had watched for a while. My interest in Japanese things grew during the time I didn't have a channel to watch my shows.

In 2005, I found a channel that actually had J-dramas on it. I got hooked on one called "Crying Out Love, in the Centre of the World". I missed like the first 4 episodes of it; by the time I got into it, I had made out that it was 2004, the man was 34 and was reminiscing about the loss of his girlfriend 17 years ago. I think he was thinking about it because it was his HS reunion or something. Anyway, before it was over I moved to FL where they have absolutely no J-dramas...I was dying to know how this one ended so I looked up on line for where I could get the series...turns out I got the complete 10 episode (or was it 11?) show on DVD for $10 on ebay. I'm ashamed to say, I've only watched the first episode...I guess i'll have to go and watch those when i'm done with one of the ones i'm currently watching...


Until my next post, I leave you with Arashi singing "We Can Make it True".