Remote (リモート -2002)

Starring:
Domoto Koichi as Himuro Kosaburo
Fukada Kyoko as Ayaki Kurumi
Konishiki as Bob Kato
Nagura Jun (名倉潤) as Otaguro Keibu
Tamaki Hiroshi as Shingo
Sakai Miki as Sakaki Naomi
Kimura Yoshino as Sakaki Yuka
Takasugi Ko (ep5,6)
Waki Tomohiro as Fudo Shinichi (ep6)
Matsumoto Rio as Karen Chikumagawa (ep8)
Kinouchi Akiko
Eita as Sawamura Keisuke
Inoue Yoshiko

Locked away deep in his home and hiding a secret that keeps him there, Detective Kozaburo Himuro remains ever vigilant in his duties of police work. But how does the wunderkind detective investigate crime scenes without ever stepping out of his home? Enter traffic cop Kurumi Ayaki. She's a young lady who's about to marry and resign from the force when tasked with being Himuro's eyes and ears on the beat. While on the scene of the crime their only means of communication is via mobile phone. Together they investigate a series of mind-boggling murder mysteries that put them, particularly Kurumi, in constant danger. Can Kurumi keep up with Detective Himuro, and the fast-paced and dangerous work of criminal investigation? -- NTV

Okay, this was another one of those dramas that took me a few attempts to watch. Am I nuts? Some of the harder ones for me to watch are usually the better ones. LOL!

This was another good one. Tamaki-kun was insanely hilarious! It was so strange to see him in that part. I guess compared to Nodame Cantabile it was like seeing a fish walking. Ya know?

I fell in love with Domoto Koichi! I never realized how cute he was and how well he can act. I'm so used to seeing his "other half", Tsuyoshi.

Again this was another drama, even though the story was awesome, the ending left me befuddled. I wanted more. They left us with the thought of another season and the "love" story wasn't quenched. Even though Tamaki-kun is one of my faves of all time, I was all over Koichi-kun like syrup on a pancake. Why must they torture me so?

Definitely worth seeing and great time-killer. And, yeah, Koichi-kun is definitely something to look *gulps* at!

Domoto Koichi

Gakko Ja Oshierarenai (学校じゃ教えられない！-2008)

Starring:
Fukada Kyoko as Aida Mai
Tanihara Shosuke as Himuro Kensaku
Ito Ran as Kageyama Meiko
Naka Riisa as Yokoyama Eri
Nakamura Aoi as Mizuki Kazuki
Maeda Goki as Narita Shizuya
Asakura Aki as Kenjo Hitomi
Kato Mizuki as Suzumura Rei
Norizuki Kohei (法月康平) as Inai Shintaro
Natsume Suzu (夏目鈴) as Kameda Maho
Yanagisawa Daisuke (柳沢太介) as Nagasaki Kiyoshi
Morisaki Win (森崎ウィン) as Nishikawa Tomu
Yagyu Miyu (柳生みゆ) as Yoshizawa Kana
Miura Aoi (三浦葵) as Shingyoji Natsume
Matsumoto Hiroya (松本寛也) as Ma-kun (ep2&6)
Natsumi Elena as Meiko's daughter (ep8-10)

Fukada plays Mai Aida, a woman in her third year as an english teacher at a private all-girls high school. Due to declining enrollment, the school decides to admit its first male students. Those five freshmen initially feel they're in paradise, but the concerned Mai tries to help them adjust by creating a social dance club and inviting five girls. Those ten students become the focus of the drama, which is described as a story of love and adolescence.

I really liked this drama. I little off the beaten wagon but generally fell along the same guidelines about being an individual and trusting yourself and your friends.

I was a little disappointed in the end. I don't know why. I guess I was hoping for a more general climax to the story but it didn't accomplish that goal. Maybe I was hoping that Kazuki would end up "confessing" his love for Hitomi, who obviously loves him. Well, atleast a little something that I had been waiting for happened at the very end. *smiles*

I really loved Tanihara Shosuke's character. I new it would be good from the time his first scene aired. He was a sweet, eccentrically loveable character. His usual norm for being studious but yet his OCD was what made him so loveable at the same time.

Since this show was about young love, it wasn't surprising that most of the pairs became girlfriend/boyfriend. The backdrop of the story being that of a social dance club. This was definitely a show for young adults and pre-teens. A sweet show but yet I felt it could have been a little more in depth in character. Since it was only a 10-episode series, I feel they left too much character definition behind.

Yama Onna Kabe Onna ( 山おんな壁おんな -2007)

Starring:
Ito Misaki as Aoyagi Megumi
Fukada Kyoko as Mariya Marie
Oikawa Mitsuhiro as Okuzono Masayuki
Koike Eiko as Oyama Haruka
Tanihara Shosuke as Tamura Takehiko
Nishijima Hidetoshi as Iguchi Shohei
Kawata Hiroki as Matsubara Tetsuhito
Miura Rieko as Koroita Rika
Uehara Misa as Yoshino Kanako
Yazawa Shin as Toyokawa Misato
Nukumizu Youichi as Kazunuma Tadashi
Wakabayashi Go as Okuzono Goemon
Komoto Maki as Nagashima Masumi
Yonehara Kosuke (米原幸佑) as Morita Goro
Tokui Yuu as Harada Kenji
Suzuki Sawa as Harada Yuko
Matsuoka Kanon (松岡佳音) as Kuwata Ryoko

Guests
Washio Machiko (ep1)
Masako (雅子) as Jinguji Sayoko (ep2)
Ogura Hisahiro as Tominaga Shigeo (ep2)
Iwahashi Michiko (岩橋道子) as Tamura Miyuki (ep2,5)
Sasano Takashi as Aoyagi's father (ep2-5,7&8)
Yamanaka So (山中聡) as Uenohara (ep2,3)
Yoshimura Tamao (吉村玉緒) as Swimsuit saleswoman (ep3)
Kasahara Orito as Mariya's younger brother (ep3-5)
Hasegawa Jun as Herself (ep3)
Maro Akaji as Ijuin (ep4)
Matsumoto Jun as The pickle merchant (ep4)
Muramatsu Toshifumi as Sasaki workshop manager (ep4)
Enjoji Aya as Nankota (ep5)
Oka Mayumi as Mariya's mother (ep5)
Hida Keiko (樋田慶子) as Mariya's grandmother (ep5)
Minami Miho (南美穂) as Nana (ep5)
Megu-chan (メグちゃん) as Marie (ep5)
Suzuki Kosuke as Komiyama (ep5)
Taguchi Kazumasa (田口主将) as The custodian (ep5)
Kinoshita Hoka as Midorikawa (ep6)
Takemoto Satoko (竹本聡子) as Takoko (ep6)
Seki Keisuke as The doctor (ep6)
Suzuki Shohei (鈴木昌平) as Sleepy man on bus (ep7)
Akaza Miyoko as Aoyagi's mother (ep7)
Sato Jiro as Kazuo, Aoyagi's cousin (ep7&8)
Yatsu Isao as Doctor Oyabu (ep7)
Oshima Yoko as The angry customer (ep7)
Takasugi Ko as Kokubo (ep7)
Yamaguchi Makiya as Sawada (ep7)
Ono Haruko (小野晴子) as Makihara Masato (ep9)
Sato Kazuya as Kuzunuma Daisuke (ep9)

Megumi is a top sales person at the handbag section of a department store. Many people admire, and sometimes even envy, Megumi for her beauty and outstanding skills to sell products to customers. However, Megumi secretly suffers from a complex: she is flat-chested and was once nicknamed "kabe onna" (wall woman) by her former classmate. One day, a new sales person named Marie joins Megumi's department. Unlike Megumi, Marie is extremely busty as if she's carrying mounds (yama) on her chest. On top of her great bosoms, Marie also has her own special way of effortlessly selling the products to the customers. Though feeling a little threatened by Marie at first, Megumi soon realizes that they have more things in common than anybody else: they both take pride in their career and dedicate themselves to helping their customers. Through numerous obstacles, Megumi and Marie foster special friendships with each other. --groink

Okay, I was prepared to say this was one of the funniest, light-hearted, romantic shows on. Then I got to the last episode. That got so F'd up that I wanted to throw the computer through the window. This is a Japanese drama..it's not supposed to end up like a freakin' Korean drama....damn it to hell!

Okay, she chose the guy I hoped she would at the end but then.......well, she ended up with him but yet...didn't.

Okay, okay, okay....it was hilariously funny with the "boob" jokes. Then you had the idiot puns and physical comedy included. I won't lie that it wasn't funny because it was damn funny.

I wonder what Tanihara Shosuke looks like in everyday clothes. He's always in a business suit and dressed up to the "nines". I'd like to see him in some old, faded jeans and worn t-shirt. LOL!

I really loved this drama until the very last second when the drama failed me. They had to play dirty tricks. EVIL!

I Hate Christmas (Xmasなんて大嫌い, Kurisumasu Nainte Daikirai-2004)

Starring:
Fukada Kyoko as Kurihara Fuyumi
Akanishi Jin as Kitagawa Sho
Yamada Yu as Murakami Rena
Kimura Ryo as Okura Masaya
Kabira Jay as DJ Sugisaki
Yue Takeyuki as Ueda Tomohiro
Monsieur Kamayatsu (ムッシュかまやつ) as Okura Hiroshi
Kaneko Ken as Kihara Kensuke
Nakayama Megumi



I have to say I don't hate Christmas but this mini dram sucked something terrible. There wasn't enough time in the alloted episodes to make this show. Fuyumi was annoying as hell. I wanted to beat her up and throw her out the window. How could Shou like a girl like that? She slept all day and did jack! No motivation. There was no drive or will to make someone like her. So it was completely incapable for Shou to have liked her. So unbelievable. An hour and a half wasted. Thankfully it was only that. The only...and I mean ONLY good thing about this show was that Akanishi Jin and Kimura Ryo were in this show. That was it. And that is the only reason anyone would have watched this crappy show!

Akanishi Jin