Shibatora (シバトラ -2008)

Starring:
Koike Teppei as Shibata Taketora
Ohgo Suzuka as Hosho Mizuki
Tsukaji Muga as Hakuto Shinsuke
Miyagawa Daisuke as Shinjo Toru
Minami Akina as Ayukawa Tamaki
Uchida Shige (内田滋) as Nanbara Kantaro
Sotaro (聡太郎) as Uzaki Tei
Matsuda Tamaki (松田珠希) as Manabe Yuna
Konno Narumi as Miyagi Mei
Maya Miki as Chiba Sakura
Fujiki Naohito as Fujiki Kojiro
Supporting & Guests
Imada Koji as Kinoshita Mitsuo (ep1)
Omiya Taro as Hosho Mitsuhiko (ep1,10)
Tsubaki Takayuki as Iketani Noboru (椿隆之) (ep1)
Yagami Ren as Urazawa (ep1)
Nishiyama Sosuke as Mizumoto (ep1)
Yamane Kazuma as Takagi (ep1)
Haru as Rumi (ep1)
Kawano Naoki as Kusunoki Yuji (ep1-4,7-10)
Daito Shunsuke as Kato Gakuto (ep1-4,9-10)
Miura Ryosuke as Kanazawa Takeshi (ep1-4,8-10)
Suenaga Haruka as Machida Rika (ep1-4,7-8)
Suzuki Ryohei as Mura Hiromi (ep1-4,9-10)
Kuranuki Masahiro as Mori Bunmei (ep1-4,8-10)
Suzuki Taku (鈴木拓) as Class 2-B Adviser (ep1,2,4)
Takahashi Tsutomu (高橋努) as their supervisor (ep2)
Karato Ryo as Mizoguchi (ep3)
Koike Ayame (小池彩夢) as Yagi Yuria / Mary (ep5)
Kono Yoichiro (河野洋一郎) as Yagi Yuria's father (ep5)
Takaku Chigusa (高久ちぐさ) as Yagi Yuria's mother (ep5)
Hiraga Masaomi as Ochiai Takeo's relative (ep5)
Tengenji Ryu (天現寺竜) as an artist (ep5)
Sakamoto Mitsunari (坂本三成) as as a police detective (ep5)
Ito Keita (伊藤圭) as a police detective (ep5)
Kawano Yoshiko (川野良子) as an announcer (ep5)
Hashizume Ryo as Ochiai Takeo (ep5-6)
Harada Kana (原田佳奈) as Chiba Yuri (ep5-6)
Shida Nanako (志田菜々子) as Ikushima Toko (ep5-6)
Aoki Shinsuke as Iwaki (ep5-6)
Ohira Natsumi as Ikuno Yayoi (ep7)
Yuge Tomohisa as Shishido (ep7)
Kohata Ryu (木幡竜) as Kanai Masaki (ep7-8)
Ideguchi Tetsuya (出口哲也) (ep7-8)
Kiriyama Renn as Igarashi (ep7-8)
Haruki Misayo as Machida Rika's mother (ep7-8)
Okouchi Hiroshi (大河内浩) as Kosugi (ep9-10)
Kyo Nobuo as Ino Takayoshi (ep9-10)
Sugiura Takao (杉浦太雄) as Wakabayashi (ep9-10)
Nakagawa Shingo as Fudo (ep9-10)
Toma Sora (藤間宇宙) as Masuda (ep9-10)
Inoue Waka as Tokiwa Ryoko (ep9-10)
Abe Ryohei (ep11)

No matter how you look at him, Shibata Taketora is just a quiet, ordinary junior high student. He looks so vulnerable that bullies try to rip him off on the streets, but he is actually a police detective and an expert swordsman in kendo. Taketora has a special ability to see the "hands of death" around people whose life is nearing the end. One day, Taketora is assigned on undercover operations. He sneaks into a high school, a maid cafe and a juvenile detention center... With the cooperation from his various friends, he gets to the bottom of the matters. --Fuji TV

This was a pretty good series but typical. Nothing spectacular really. The idea of the story was good though. Again another thought provoking Japanese series that left a huge moral to the story.

A good time waster but was hoping for a really good ending. I will say there was a twist that I wasn't expecting. I was really shocked. I really wasn't expecting it so that left a good feeling for this drama.

The acting was average and Fujiki-san looked horrible with that bleached hair. WTF? Go back to dark brown or black, leave the bleach behind. It made my eyes bleed.

I wish there had been more depth to this story and more money spent because this drama could have amounted to something............

.....and poor Teppei-kun. He will always be portraying a teenager as he ages. I don't think he'll ever look mature. Maybe he's lucky....or not.

Around 40 (アラウンド40 -2008)

Starring:
Amami Yuki as Ogata Satoko
Fujiki Naohito as Okamura Keitaro
Otsuka Nene as Morimura Nao
Matsushita Yuki as Takeuchi Mizue
Tsutsui Michitaka as Ohashi Sadao
AKIRA as Ogata Tatsuya
Sakura as Ogata Maki
Matsumoto Runa as Ogata Ruka
Hayashi Ryuzo as Ogata Tomoyasu
Kaga Mariko as Yoshinaga Haruko
Jinbo Satoshi as Takeuchi Akio
Kimura Haruki as Takeuchi Yosuke
Matsuo Takashi (松尾貴史) as Kawasaki Kengo
Matsumoto Wakana as Katayama Haruka
Hoshino Ryoko (星野涼子) as Uemura Asuka
Hiei Yosuke (日栄洋祐) as Yajima
Katagiri Hairi as Yanagihara Kazuko (Matchmaker)
Kato Masaya as Kanasugi Kazuya
Hashizume Jun as Kanbayashi Shozo
Maruyama Tomomi as Shinjo Takafumi
Oba Kumiko as Nakayama Michiko
Kichise Michiko as Minami Yukari

39-year-old Ogata Satoko is a highly capable psychiatrist who is single. She's forthright, a caring older sister and reliable in her job and in private. Her interests are staying in luxurious Japanese inns and watching stand-up comedy videos.

Satoko hasn't had a boyfriend in the past five years. Nevertheless, she derives satisfaction from work and isn't worried about her finances. Among her good friends that she hangs out with are 35-year-old Morimura Nao, her junior who proclaims that she won't marry, and 39-year-old Oikawa Sadao, her peer since high school. Satoko is happily enjoying the single life.

At an alumni reunion as everyone is on the verge of 40, Takeuchi Mizue, her good friend since high school who is now a full-time housewife, rushes Satoko into action. "If you want children, you should marry now" and "It's women's happiness", but both are lost on Satoko, who isn't convinced.

One day, Satoko attempts to cheer up Nao, who is downcast over a shocking incident, and goes to her favourite hot-spring inn. There she coincidentally encounters a breakup between a handsome but somewhat odd man, Okamura Keitaro, and his girlfriend...--jade_frost

I was only interested in this show because of Fujiki Naohito. That man is too damn cute for his age. *sigh*

This story line had promise but as the series progressed I felt that they focused too much on her profession. I thought this was about love in the 40's. In a way it was but I felt nothing in the progress of romance. So in a way, the story got depressing and lost its objective. Or so I thought.

I will say the character of Keitaro was amusing. He had his quirks but was really endearing and loveable. I never really thought of my trash and water they way they had him focused on. LOL! I guess I'm not environmentally friendly. Ooooops!

If you are of the younger mind set, this show really isn't for you at all. It might be even boring. I myself am pushing "Around 40" so I thought this would be great. Ehhh. It was okay. I was really down trodden about how they portrayed us at this age.................

Hotaru no Hikari (ホタルノヒカリ -2007)

Starring:
Ayase Haruka as Amemiya Hotaru
Yoshida Riko as young Hotaru (ep1)
Fujiki Naohito as Takano Seiichi
Kuninaka Ryoko as Saegusa Yuuka
Kato Kazuki as Teshima Makoto
Takeda Shinji as Jinguuji Kaname
Itaya Yuka as Yamada Sachiko
Yasuda Ken as Futatsugi Shouji
Asami Reina as Sono Minako
Watabe Gota as Sawaki Shun
Shibue Joji as Tadokoro Junpei
Matsumoto Marika as Murota Suzuko
Matsushita Sara as Kasumi Hatsuko
Maruyama Tomomi as Goutokuji Ken
Matsunaga Hiroshi as Yamaguchi Takatoshi
Kurotani Tomoka as Miyuki

Hotaru works for a famous interior design company. It's a glamorous job but Hotaru's private life is totally the opposite of glamorous. She lives alone, and when she isn't working she's mostly lazing about her rented house in training wear. She's not interested in men. In fact, she isn't interested in anything. "I'd rather lay around than fool around," is her motto.

Her landlord is a bar owner, and one day his son, who has just separated from his wife, comes to inspect the rental property, not knowing that someone is living there. He is shocked at the mess, but not as shocked as Hotaru. He turns out to be her boss, Takano. -- Japan Times Online

I fell in love with this drama. And yet again, another one that I threw away because I wasn't patient.

This was a well thought out show. Every single person is always looking for that perfect love. Sometimes we find it. Sometimes we don't. This was all about how one person fights for what she wants but comes to realize that the person right beside her was the love she wanted and didn't know it.

Yeah, this had my main man Naohito-kun in it. How did I let him go the first round? Was I stupid? I think what originally turned me off was the fact that he was married, going through a separation, and I felt that I wasn't going to watch a married man get the hots for this young girl. Oh, but it wasn't about that. Definitely a good show with some really good, funny moments.

I didn't really like the ending much though. I felt they could have given us viewers a little more of the "couple" being more loving. But hey!....can't always get what I want. I know. At least she picked the guy I wanted her with most!!

Since I have a buttload of "my man's" pics already up....thought I'd give y'all some more new eye candy! Kato Kazuki......GORGEOUS!!!

Kato Kazuki

Gal Circle (ギャルサー -2006)

Starring:
Fujiki Naohito as Kitajima Shinnosuke
Toda Erika as Saki
Suzuki Emi as Remi
Aragaki Yui as Nagisa
Iwasa Mayuko as Rika
Yaguchi Mari as Yurika
Satsukawa Aimi as Shizuka
Natsuko as Sumire
Furuta Arata as Geronimo
Yamauchi Nana as Momo
Namase Katsuhisa
Nukumizu Youichi
Oshima Satoko
Kamiwaki Yu as Yayoi
Miura Rieko as Akiko
Sato Ryuta
Kawamura Yosuke
Watanabe Tetsu (guest)
Kato Yoshika
Akita Makoto
Kishi Hiroyuki
Takase Yukina as Youko
Kobayashi Kinako (ep9)

Kitajima Shinnosuke, a cowboy from the USA who goes to Shibuya to find a group of girls to dance Para-Para. Along the way, he becomes a new type of hero, helping to solve problems that afflict Shibuya-Gals

It started out really funny. I loved seeing Naohito-kun in cowboy gear. I, living in the bible belt of cowboys, really appreciated this even though his character was totally way off and over blown. But that is okay. Just the thought of him in chaps was a glorious sight indeed. Oh, my only thing that really bothered me.....that patch of hair on his chin......had to go. I couldn't stop looking at the little thing. It draws focus away from his handsome face.

From the first few episodes it was really funny but then it started getting boring since the episodes were repetitive in nature. The last episode saved the show. Why did I finish watching this? F-U-J-I-K-I N-A-O-H-I-T-O!! He brings me glorious dreams........

Sad but as I was doing a photo search, I came across a sad read. HE'S MARRIED! Aaaaagh! Okay, I am too, but damn that ruined it for me! I actually felt my emotional, happy balloon deflate. *sigh*

Anyway, this was a pretty good show but senseless through some episodes. They did have morals at the end of each episode but I won't go through them. Too many. This was a good time waster if you are bored. But I definitely got full on the "eye candy".

Antique (アンティーク-2001)

Starring:
Takizawa Hideaki as Kanda Eiji
Shiina Kippei as Tachibana Keichiro
Fujiki Naohito as Ono Yusuke
Koyuki as Izuka Momoko
Abe Hiroshi as Kobayakawa Chikage
Enari Kazuki as Yoshinaga Shota
Nishino Taeko (西野妙子) as Uchino Akane
Tsuji Kazunaga (辻萬長) as Munakata Katsuo
Manabe Kaori as Shimazaki Tamami
Muta Teizo (牟田悌三) as Kanda Genichi
Yachigusa Kaoru as Shirai Fukiko
Ikuta Etsuko (生田悦子) as Tachibana Hiroko
Kimura Midori (木村翠) as Shirai Eiko
Kobayashi Susumu as Noma Atsushi
Nonaka Isao as Kisha Saeki
Aoki Tadahiro (青木忠宏) as Muto Tadahiro
Konishi Manami as Nakano Itsuko
Nagatsuka Keiji (長塚圭史) as Onizuka Toru
Imai Eri as Namiko (Toru's girlfriend)
Nakagoshi Noriko as Makino Junko
Shiraki Makiko (白木美貴子) as Obayashi Yukiko
Oshima Yuko (大島優子) as Obayashi Kayoko
Sudo Risa as Toyama Midori
Murano Mia as Takeuchi Hideko
Masu Takeshi as Ono Keisuke
Hosokawa Naomi as Ono Reiko
Suzuki Sawa as Morooka Mieko
Nishiyama Mayuko
Uematsu Mami


This story is about four men who work in a confectionary. Tachibana Keiichiro (Shiina Kippei) is the owner; Ono Yusuke (Fujiki Naohito) is the superb baker that has a mysterious and mesmerizing aura; Kobayakawa Chikage (Abe Hiroshi) is the waiter and close bodyguard of Tachibana; and last but not least is Kanda Eiji (Takizawa Hideaki), the ex-boxer who loves cake so much that he becomes a waiter at 'Antique'. This is a refreshing, yet heartfelt comedy about the 4 very unique personalities that work until the wee hours of the night at the small confectionary. The series follows the romance, family life, and most importantly friendship that these 4 men from different generations experience.

This is a confectionary with a "flavor" not like most. Located in the middle of an ordinary residential area, "Antique" stays open until 2 a.m. Every single thing in the shop is antique, in fact even the sherry glasses that water comes in look like they would cost 50,000 yen. On top of this, all the sweets that are sold are unbelievably delicious. The thing that is most peculiar about "Antique" though is that all 4 of the men that work here are very handsome, and each has an interesting past. Those that frequent the store also have a story to tell.
Edited Excerpt from JDorama.com

Okay, I loved, loved, loved this drama. Maybe it's the older dramas, I don't know, but they seem to keep my interest much longer. Maybe the stories aren't rehabilitated or reconditioned into another story. Again, I don't know.

My only upset with this movie, was with the subtitles. I wish SARS or another top notch Japanese subber could redo this. The only episodes I could find online were Chinese subtitled and then resubbed into English. Well, the person or persons who subbed them totally screwed up. I hate having to translate someones latent scope of the English language. (Example....past tense, future tense, present tense) It took me forever to figure out this person's usage for "milk oil" was really "cream". Eeergh. So here I sat for almost 2 days having to translate English to where I could undertand what the cast might be saying. I got through.

Anyway, this might seem a little boring to some. I thought it was sweet. I have to say that Ono was freaking GORGEOUS! That beautiful face! Aaaagh! *dreaming* Those bedroom eyes simply melted my soul. The one scene with he and Kanda, showing Shota-kun how to kiss a girl, was so freakin' amazing. I have to say I felt my heart quicken. It was sooooo sexy! Even if it was between two guys....well, those of you have read my blog know I'm fascinated with "yaoi". HEHE!

Give this one a go. If you can handle the subtitles, and let me tell you, you won't find any better subs because I've checked everywhere.......watch it!

Fujiki Naohito

That's Cunning! Shijo Saidan no Sakusen (1996)

AKA: That's Cheating! The Ultimate Mission

Starring:
Namie Amuro
Tatsuya Yamaguchi
Naohito Fujiki
Sadatora Araki
Riki Hayama
Taro Yamamoto
Masâki Takarai
Takeshi Masu
Akaji Maro
Toru Yuri
Yasuyo Shiroshima
Takashi Matsuo
Katsuo Nakamura

The plot, such as it is, involves a group of chemistry students (all of whom live in a notorious dorm called "White Bear") whose only hope of passing organic chemistry is by cheating. Their professor is a manaically strict man who hates cheating . Ironically, he is also a cheater - it comes out later that he is plagiarizing another professor's work. Anyway, the maniac professor hates cheaters and the students of the White Bear dorm, who happen to be one and the same. He hatches an anime - villain-worthy plan to tear down their dorm and build a hotel on that spot - UNLESS the group gets good grades on their finals, WITHOUT cheating.

The White Bear is a boy's dorm originally, but Yumi (Amuro Namie) decides to move in and, predictably, fight with the boys to preserve the dorm. The White Bear is a boy's dorm originally, but Yumi (Amuro Namie) decides to move in and, predictably, fight with the boys to preserve the dorm.

After a brave effort, the group realizes they don't have a hope of doing well on the final without cheating, so they create a new original cheating scheme that their professor will not be able to detect. This turns out to be really funny, and it provides the second highlight of the film, after the first sequence. After a brave effort, the group realizes they don't have a hope of doing well on the final without cheating, so they create a new original cheating scheme that their professor will not be able to detect. This turns out to be really funny, and it provides the second highlight of the film, after the first sequence.


This was absolutely hilarious. OMG! The cheating was so unreal and creative. I had to hide my son's eyes away from the screen because I didn't want to him to learn some of these techniques. LOL! Some of them were legitimately reasonable to get away with. No lie! LOL! Where was this movie when I was in high school? LOL!

This movie was a little remindful of the old university spoof classics like Animal House. I really think a lot of old schooler will love this movie. Made in 1996 (I was already out of high school....*pouts*), the genre is classic and reminiscent of that era. *pouts some more*

Since this movie is a little "old school", it was hard to find reviews or synopsis' for it. But some of the actors on the list are still around today.........and still hotter than ever!!!

Dragon Head (Doragon heddo/ドラゴンヘッド-2003)

Starring:
Satoshi Tsumabuki - Teru Aoki
Sayaka Kanda - Ako Seto
Takayuki Yamada - Nobuo Takahashi
Naohito Fujiki
Yoshimasa Kondo - Iwata
Kyusaku Shimada - Minila
Minori Terada - Andou
Jinpachi Nezu
Yutaka Matsushige
On a field trip to Kyoto, the train the students are on crashes horribly while in a tunnel, brutally killing all but three students, and horribly wounding the teacher. Teach doesn't suffer for long however, as Nobuo (Takayuki Yamada), a bullied student, beats him to death with a bamboo sword as retribution for him not intervening when he was getting pushed around. Getting the taste for violence, Nobuo builds a little den for himself among the corpses, and begins terrorizing the other two survivorsTeru and Ako (Satoshi Tsumabuki and Sayaka, respectively).

Teru and Ako eventually escape the tunnel through a collapsed pipe, but find themselves in a lifeless wasteland, where food and water are scarce, and everything is covered in snowy white ash from some unknown catastrophe. The two students begin looking for other survivors, but soon run afoul of crazed, homicidal townsfolk who seem to think that mass suicide is the only recourse...whether Teru and Ako like it or not.

Wow! This was better than what I thought it would be. I've had this movie saved for about a month now and just kept putting it off. So I finally just decided to watch it.

This is a very moving, thought provoking kind of movie...other than exciting. I sat there imagining what Earth would be like if I were to experience the "apocalypse". I can imagine people going crazy, nuts, psycho. I can imagine the suffering it would cause. I can imagine the plague of mass execution. I can imagine the self-destruction. I can imagine the abrupt shift in chaos.

This movie never truly clarified the cause of the destruction. My opinion....meteor onset then the Earth's shift plate shift that causes massive volcanic destruction. During the movie, I thought the "snow" was nuclear snow. But as the movie went on, it was more abundantly clear that it was volcanic ash. That is my uptake on that situation.

As the mass confusion set on for Ako and Teru, the struggle to survive became more apparent. People foolishly dying right and left surrounding them. Teru almost becoming a casuality to psychosis (Nobuo, a fellow train rider who survived but went nuts haunted him.) Ako surviving for Teru's sake amidst fellow survivors who ate tainted "survival food." All this........surrounded by an Earth bound and determined to die.

G@ME

Starring:
Fujiki Naohito-Sakuma Shunsuke
Nakama Yukie-Katsuragi Juri



Advertising executive Shunsuke Sakuma (Naohito Fujiki) is at the top of his game. Winning numerous advertising awards, the cool Shunsuke lives a life most men only dream of. He luckily lands a new massive product campaign for Mikado Beer, Japan's largest conglomerate corporation. Working on the project for almost two years with an estimated three-billion Yen invested, the project would "make" Shunsuke. But in its final stages, the project is suddenly dropped by a single man - Katsutoshi Katsuragi (Ryo Ishibashi) the son of the original founder and Vice President of Mikado Beer.

Declared "incompetent" by peers in the world of advertising and replaced by a nobody on the project, Shunsuke gets drunk and drives to Katuragi's mansion to "tell him off." But instead, he sees a girl climbing out from the house and trails her. The "girl" happens to be Juri Katsuragi (Yukie Nakama), Katsutoshi Katsuragi's eldest daughter from a mistress. Shunsuke approaches Juri, threatening that he would tell her father if she did not come with him. Initially, Shunsuke planned to bring her back to Katuragi to win his favor, but after thinking things through, he plots a "payback" scheme by kidnapping Juri. Juri, not wanting to stay with her father, goes along with the kidnapping. Scared of the media frenzy that would result if they found out that he had an extramarital affair, Katsutoshi Katsuragi goes along with the kidnapping. . . or does he? In a world of players where everyone is playing a game, who is the one to pull the strings? . . .

LOL! This one had me fooled and then some. Just when I thought I had it figured out. Duh. It was a great cat-and-mouse game to the finish. I definitely liked this one. Seeing "Yankumi" in another role other than her role as the teacher on all the Gokusen episodes was a bit strange. I knew something wasn't "quite right" with her character. Definitely hiding something but that something wasn't anything to what I had expected. Wow! And might I add that I sooooo wanted to be the recipient of that first kiss. I just know that Naohito-san has got to be a good kisser...something about those lips just had me starry-eyed..........*sigh*

Fujiki Naohito