Upcoming Dramas...of Disappointment

Everyone else is doing it, so why shouldn't I?

Now that the Summer season of dramas has ended, it is time to look forward to Fall's upcoming dramas...or so I thought. It looks like it's going to be a very disappointing Fall. So, let's take a look at some of the dramas lined up for us, shall we? It looks like everyone and their mammas are solving mysteries this season...so watch out, Kindaichi (松潤バージョン) .

Galileo -ガリレオ
Starring: 福山雅治 - Fukuyama Masaharu & 柴咲コウ Shibasaki Kou
Who? Some dude I've never heard of, in some dramas I've never watched. And Shibasaki Kou, a singer/actress, I enjoy some of her music and have seen some of her dramas and movies - Orange Days, Good Luck!, 世界の中心で愛をさけぶ and Battle Royale.
What's it about: An extremely smart man (Masaharu), who is nicknamed Galileo (clever), who solves mysteries no one else can with the help of his hotheaded rookie cop (Kou).
Rating - Blah.

Joshi Deka! - ジョシデカ！
Starring: 仲間由紀惠 - Nakama Yukie (Yay! Claps!)
Who? Nakama Yukie has been in a bunch of things and I love her! She's hillarious! But also a really talented actress. She's probably most notable for her role in the Trick series. She was also in Shinobi...which was popular.
What's it about: SUPRISE! Solving crime. Nakama plays a rookie cop, whose only talent is being an excellent shot, paired with a veteran cop with a #1 arrest record, the two must work together to fight crime.
Rating - I like Nakama. So, I'd watch it. Despite it being a cop drama.
What I really mean - I'll probably get half way through, find something shiny on my floor and get distracted.

Hataraki Man - 働きマン
Starring: Kanno Miho 菅野美穂 & Hayami Mokomichi 速水もこみち
Who? Kanno, some chick I don't know, who's been in some stuff I don't know. And Hayami who's been in 女帝(jotei)! Which hopefully you all have checked out...hint hint...nudge nudge...wink...and other good dramas like Tokyo Tower, Densha Otoko, Gokusen 2, Tokyo Wankei...
What it's about: It's based off the manga by Anno Moyoko, about Kanno who is an editor of a weekly magazine and is so focused on her career she has no time for her personal life, let alone romance. Her co-workers call her "hataraki-man" (working man).
Rating - Hmmm. Eh. I used to read the manga and got bored and feel the drama would do the same. If they want to make an Anno Moyoko manga based drama, make 花とみつばち. Good stuff. Read it!

Mop Girl - モップガール
Starring: 北川景子 Kitagawa Reiko & 谷原章介 Tanihara Shosuke
Who? Kitagawa was Sailor Mars in the Sailor Moon live action series. Tanihara is in Fuurin Kazan 風林火山, which hopefully everyone checked that out as well.
What's it about: Reminds me of Pushing Daisies Super Happy Japanese REMIX 2. I dunno. Kitagawa works for a funeral services company. Oh, she also carries around a mop and mops up around dead people. Whenever she comes across a corpse of someone who leaves strong feelings after their death she travels back in time to try to save them.
Rating: Crazy. I'd watch it. Better than some of the other ones. Actually, it looked like it was the best on the line up, which is sad.
What I want to know - Does her mop have special powers? 'Cause if it does. That's awesome. Also, I think it should talk. A talking magical mop. Cool.

Dramas to BOYCOTT.
Yukan Club - 有閑倶楽部.
Why? 赤西仁 Akanishi Shin.<--(,,#ﾟДﾟ):∴;'･,;`:ｺﾞﾙｧ!!
Trust me on this one, folks.

*These are just some of the dramas. There are plenty more, but none worth mentioning. You can find more here if you're so inclined.

What wonderful treasure do I have for you this week?



Love it. Watch it. Roadshow. 10/27!

(^ _ ^)/~~サヨナラ

女帝 Jotei

Bring the Osaka nightlife to you. With rivaling hostesses, dramatic nightlife, politicians, yakuza, the underworld, and a story that centers around a girl who is bent on revenge, no wonder I'm addicted to 女帝 Jotei. Ayaka, our hero, seeks revenge on those who wronged her and vows to become 女帝 "empress" of the Osaka night scene...and is willing do anything in order to succeed.
女帝 started in July and just ended last week. I, however, just started watching it because I am behind on my drama madness! School+internship = bum kicking. NO TIME! BUT NEVER FEAR! I will make TIME for 女帝, because I want to know what happens! I want to see the revenge in action! If you watch the first episode you will be as outraged as much as I was! And if you are like me...you speak (ahem) *yell* at the screen...in a plethora of emotions...and scare the roommates in the other room. How colorful I am.

Also ナナムジカ does the theme song 彼方. Which, because I love you, I have put here for your listening/viewing pleasure. I know. I'm awesome.



You can learn more about 女帝 by visiting TV Asahi's official site and download it either by torrent from d-addicts or visit crunchyroll to get your fix.

(￣(エ)￣)

They let Gackt be in a drama?!

So, as I was perusing an article in some Japanese magazine, I came across something very peculiar...something very peculiar indeed! Apparently, Gackt is in a drama! Not just any drama, a period drama! 風林火山 Fuurin Kazan! For all of you out there who do not know what a Gackt is, let's consult my people for this one: one friend says "plastic, recyclable, harmful to the environment" - thank you シルちゃん, another says, " Botox-fueled androgynous man-thing" - thank you Laurien. My host sister who is obsessed with Gackt, says "beautiful and cool". I however, just find Gackt "creepy". Confused? You should be. Gackt is half man half robot and shamefully popular in Japan. He is a pop/rock singer/songwriter...oh, and "ACTOR". And the NHK (a TV network in Japan) have given him a part in a drama as 上杉謙信 Uesugi Kenshin. Now, if you look at the pictures of all the other cast members and then you look at
Gackt's picture...he looks so out of place! So let's play a game!
CAN YOU SPOT GACKT?!









答え！Alright you had 5 pictures to choose from. If you chose #1, you are wrong. That is the main character 大林勘助 Obayashi Kansuke...why is he wearing a cloth over one eye?! BECAUSE HE DOESN'T WANT TO SEE GACKT IN HIS PERIPHERAL! If you guessed #2, you are right! おめでとう...I guess. You win nothing! Yay! (claps vigorously). #3 is 上杉謙信 Gackt's same character from the TV Asashi version of Fuurin Kazan. Something seems...off. I mean really...what happened there?! They are supposed to be depicting the SAME guy! (sigh) If you picked #4 (sighs again) shame on you. And #5 is 今川義元 Imagawa Yoshimoto.

*You can navigate around the map and look at the other characters and story plot on 風林火山 NHK's official site.

Now if you still don't see why Gackt doesn't fit in...then...you have problems my friend. Plus he can't act. Here is a sample.


This then reminds me of the time he was in concert and fell off the stage.


I like to play it over and over. And over and over again. Ha.

But seriously folks, all laughter aside, besides Gackt and his "creepy", 風林火山 Fuurin Kazan is actually a very good drama. I'm usually not into period dramas, but 風林火山 is very addicting. You can watch it via torrent from d-addicts or it airs on KTSF 26 on Saturday nights.


*Oh and a side note to all the girls out there who think that they have a chance with Gackt-he's taken by his violinist...who is a boy.
（￣ー￣）ニヤリ

My dramatic blog about Japanese dramas.

Okay, so maybe my blog won't really be dramatic, but dramatically awesome...like me. Actually, Japanese dramas are some of the most interesting pieces of television I have ever watched in my life. Sometimes (rarely, and I'm sure people will debate this) they are well acted, other times the acting is so terrible it hurts. But one thing is true, Japanese dramas are ADDICTING. The story lines are awesome and cater to just about every taste. I, however, will be catering to my taste, the good taste, the fun taste. So I'll post a wide variety of Japanese dramas, plots, where to find them and so forth. Let the fun ensue. Here's a clip from My Boss My Hero
No subtitles needed folks, Universal Translation: Pudding.


Makes me smile a lot.(⌒▽⌒)ノ＿彡☆バンバン！

Some rather lovely blogs I found.

After searching long and hard, high and low, I have found a few blogs that have piqued my interest (and captured my very, very short attention span). The first, Tokyo Graph, which seems to be mostly dedicated to Japanese pop culture and dramas with a great deal of information about a wide variety of Japanese dramas from several different seasons, as well as information about the idols that star in them. I also noticed as I was navigating around that, according to Oricon, Arashi's (嵐) (Japanese pop band) new single "Happiness" has topped the charts in Japan! Yay! Even though I'm kinda sad it beat out Utada Hikaru's "Beautiful World", as it's been on constant shuffle on my iPod...but I digress--TOKYO GRAPH--The site is easy to navigate and has a nice lay out as well as interesting information on recent Japanese popular culture, news, music and television dramas and a nice archive of other information as well, so I was very pleased to find it. (^o^)/

The next blog I came across, I guess I didn't really COME ACROSS it, I was looking for it, was Goddess Carlie [dot] com. Her site is really interesting. It has some information on her favorite Japanese dramas, including Hana Kimi (which I have yet to see, but is basically about a girl who moves from the U.S. to stalk this boy she idolizes and wants desperately to go to school with him, but OH NO! He goes to an ALL BOYS SCHOOL! So she becomes a cross-dresser and dresses up as a boy and infiltrates the school and pretends to be a boy! And no one no one is the wiser. Oh the hilarity and drama that ensue...or so I assume, like I said I haven't seen it yet...but I can assure you...."hilarity" "drama" "romance" "ensuing"...aren't Japanese dramas fun). ANYWAY once again - digression- Carlie's site is really fun, it not only has information on dramas, but has fun little snippets of random videos and some fun music videos. I recommend the Orange Range one, that's on the main page "Ikenai Taiyou" makes me laugh, I don't know why. Easy to navigate, fun information and all around fun site...I enjoy it and she too enjoys the Matsujun. What is the Matsujun you ask?
That is a Matsujun.

And finally the last one I picked because it was actually done on blogger and done exceptionally well. It is a Nodame Cantabile (an extremely popular Japanese drama and manga) blog. It was actually done in my site layout too! Except hers is really, really pretty and nice. She has posted all sorts of information about the drama and some about the manga and she even put up some music from the OST, which I am actually listening to while I am posting this, quite nice. She also has some really nice resources, playlists and helpful links. I really encourage everyone to take a look at it even if you aren't interested in Nodame, even though it's a great show, and I will probably talk about it on my blog later on, just to check out her layout and organization so you can get ideas and everything.

Okay, I think this is all for now. CHECK OUT THOSE BLOGS. jya ne- bye bye!
ばいばい(⌒ー⌒)ﾉ~~~