UP NEXT: (2008) Ties of Shooting Stars ~ Ryūsei no Kizuna ~ 流星の絆

 I know I had a list of dramas that I wanted to watch an episode of and then figure out what order to watch them in.  That plan went a bit sideways when I got addicted to the 2nd drama I chose and I ended up watching all 40 episodes without touching any of the others.

Well, I went back and started watching episode 2 of Miss Night and Day until I got a phone call and I had to pause it.  While I was talking I was looking at the list of shows available of Netflix and I happened to see a "Recently Added" drama.  I recognized 2 of the 3 actors on the poster.  I had to add it to my list and watch 1 episode right away.

Ryo Nishikido was the first one I noticed.  Had a crush on him since I first saw him in 2005's 1 Litre of Tears (Ichi Rittoru no Namida).  Then I saw him in 2008's Last Friends. OMG!  He was so good in that drama but it crushed me to see the character he played.  Back in the late 00's it was still a bit difficult to find good J-dramas with subs so I watched what I could find.  Luckily, it's a rare thing to find a drama that is just so bad, I can't bring myself to finish it.  Recently saw Ryo Nishikido in this year's Extremely Inappropriate.  Shortly after I saw 1 Litre of Tears, I researched him and found out he was part of the idol group NEWS.  I was able to find several of their songs which were pretty good.  

I also recognized Kazunari Ninomiya from Arashi (by far my favorite Jpop band).  Saw him in the movie Letters from Iwo Jima and he's in the drama that is on my original list, Black Forceps. I haven't really made it a point to watch dramas he's been in but now that I have access to more Jdramas than I used to, I'm going to watch more of them. He is in a drama from 2009 called Door to Door which looks interesting.  I'm pretty sure I watched the original American version of that because the story sounds familiar. I also checked out some movies he was in and I found he was part of the Japanese version of Murder on the Orient Express from 2015 which I now have to watch!

Lastly, though I did not recognize her face, I did recognize her name.  Erika Toda.  I remember her from Gal Circle which is the 1 Jdrama that I almost gave up on after the first or second episode.  She was also in the 2nd season of Hana Yori Dango and in Taisetsu no Koto wa Subete Kimi ga Oshiete Kureta from 2011 with Miura Haruma (RIP).  She was also Misa Amane in 3 Death Note movies. I know I've seen her in at least 1 or 2 other dramas but atm, I can't remember which ones.

Synopsis: (fm Wiki)
During their childhood days, the Ariake siblings -- Koichi, Taisuke, and Shizuna, lived peacefully with their parents who owned a western restaurant named after their family name that specializes in hayashi rice.  One day, in the night, the siblings ran away from home to watch a meteor just to later find out that their parents were killed while they were gone.  The case remained unsolved due to lack of evidence and witnesses; only Taisuke has barely seen as a suspect, and a plastic umbrella with no prints was apparently left by the killer.  Leaving a great impact to the lives of the siblings, they made a promise to find the killer and kill him themselves.

There was more but I purposely did not read it in case it told me more than I wanted to see.  It sounds like a good drama.  So, I am going to finish the 2nd episode of Miss Night and Day and then I'll start this one!

(2024) The Double ~ 墨雨云间 (E02)

Wrote this a month ago shortly after I started E02 and I got so involved in it, I just couldn't stop watching the show.  With limited time to spend on it, I am on E32 of 40 I think.  Going to try and finish it off in the next week.  This is a GREAT show!  

E01 ends with Xue Li making a deal with the woman at Zhannv Hall.  Xue Li tells the woman she will take the place of Jiang Li so the woman doesn't get in trouble for beating Jiang Li to death.  Nobody has seen Jiang Li in 10 years since she arrived at Zhannv Hall so nobody knows what she looks like now.  Xue Li tells the woman she calls the shots at Zhannv Hall so no one would dare defy her.  The woman is skeptical and asks Xue Li "What is your motive?".  Xue Li tells her, "She's still better off than me.  She's the daughter of the Chief Secretariat. It's better than a peasant woman like me. Perhaps the Jiang family will remember heir daughter someday. Then I can live a life of luxury."  The woman rolls her eyes.  Xue Li asks, "Do we have a deal?".  Hidden from the woman's view is Jiang Li's maid Tong'er who is listening to everything while she holds a pair of shears in her hands.

Next scene, the woman is met by one of the girls who complains to her, "Chief, Ms. Jian still dares to lie in her bed?".  The woman smacks her. She says, "Tell everyone to butt out of Jiang Li's affairs".  The girl says "Yes".  The woman continues, "She'll be recuperating here for the next seven days."  And she walks away.

Next scene, Jiang Li is buried by Tong'er and Xue Li.  Once they're done shoveling, Tong Er tries to attack Xue Lie with the shears.  She tells her that if it wasn't for her, Jiang Li wouldn't have died.  She tells Xue Li that she's an ingrate who stole Jiang Li's identity.  She says, "Today, I'm going to kill you to avenge her ladyship!" Xue Li tries to reason with Tong'er by asking her if it's enough to kill her and the chief.  How about everyone else at Zhannv Hall who wronged her and the people who ignored her for 10 years?  Xue Li gets the shears from Tong'er and convinces her that she needs Jiang Li's identity.  Both their reputations were tainted and no one was willing to believe them but Jiang Li believed in her and she believed in Jiang Li.  Jiang Li is dead now and she can't clear her name.  She asks Tong'er to help her clear it. "They think our reputation will forever be tainted, don't they? Let's show them how you and I can clear our names".