Bijo ka Yajuu (美女か野獣 -2003)

Starring:
Matsushima Nanako as Takamiya Makoto
Fukuyama Masaharu as Nagase Hiromi
Watanabe Ikkei as Kuze Teruhiko
Yashima Norito as Towatari Kantaro
Sasaki Kuranosuke as Kote Hiroshi
Shiraishi Miho as Shirai Yukino
Nagai Masaru as Yamamoto Takeshi
Papaya Suzuki as Kacchin
Fukaura Kanako as Akiyama Fujiko
Kodama Kiyoshi as Sakuragi Kyoichiro
Shimizu Shogo as Tamaru Reishi
Shiga Kotaro as Tsurumaki Yukio
Yamamoto Ryuuji as Sakamoto Daisuke
Morishita Tetsuo as Todo Seichi
Okada Tadashi (岡田正)
Guests
Katsurayama Shingo
Nakamura Ikuji (中村育二)
Matsuo Masatoshi
Tomoya Nanami (七海智哉)
Taguchi Mitsuhisa (田口光久)
Sano Mizuki (佐野瑞樹)
Tozawa Yusuke (戸沢佑介)
Masu Takeshi
Sahara Kenji (佐原健二)
Tsurumi Shingo
Ishida Taro
Michael Tomioka (マイケル富岡)
Mizukawa Asami
Kusabue Mitsuko
Watanabe Noriko
Ikari Yukiko
Komoto Masahiro
Anan Kenji
Ishii Kota
Kunimura Jun
Asanuma Shinpei (浅沼晋平)
Ogishima Shinichi (荻島眞一)
Aoki Kenji (青木堅治)
Okuno Tadashi (奥野匡)
Ryu Raita
Yamada Meikyo
Tokui Yuu
Hiraga Masaomi
Morishita Chisato
Kagaya Junichi (ep7)
Yamamoto Ryuji

After graduating from the Tokyo University School of Law, Takamiya Makoto (Matsushima Nanako) goes on to Harvard University where she earns an MBA. She later works at one of the "big three" networks in the United States as a news reporter. While covering a story on an international symposium in Paris, Makoto is scouted to work for JBC Television in Japan. The news producer at JBC wants to use Makoto to help raise low viewer ratings. He persuades her to work for him for an absurdly high salary, and also gives her the right to hire who she needs.

While Makoto is being brought in to be the savior of the News Department, one man gets transferred from the Variety Department. His name is Nagase Hiromi (Fukuyama Masaharu). Since joining JBC Television, all he has done is variety programs. Although Hiromi has done everything he possibly could to ensure his programs are a success, his boss just could not take anymore of Hiromi's behavior which ranged from getting caught up in scandals with female television personalities, punching-out assistant directors, to taking kickbacks from production companies. His boss finally tells Hiromi to make a fresh start in the "hard nosed" News Department.

So now the News Department has Makoto who thinks high ratings are the meaning of life, and Hiromi who values the success of a program as just a tool for the full enjoyment of life. These two totally different personalities mix it up and somehow reach a mutual understanding, creating a delightful "light comedy" for adults.

Okay, this drama took me atleast 4 tries. No joke. Not that it was bad but because the newer dramas were coming out and I kept puting it off to watch.

Anyway, finally finished it this morning. This was really, really, really cute. Okay, I had to start from the beginning because I kept forgetting the beginning but once I got on a role....this was a decent comedy/drama with a few popular faces we've seen before.

Fukuyama Masaharu is cute as a button. And he's my age!!!! Okay, he's a little older but dang if he ain't a hottie near the age of 40! Whew!

Anyway, back to the drama. Of course, it had the typical moral to the story plot. This was one that told the story of personal values and truth. Time and again, each episode showed the protagonist fighting her personal demons about what was "right or wrong". The stories were filling and endearing in many ways.

My only qualm from this is that the story ended well but didn't finish the story between Hiromi and Makoto. They were in love 9 years and 3 months ago. They come back together and help each other in many ways but yet......Makoto leaves for NY but we are left with a "Huh?" because we ( I was anyay) were led to believe that the soulmates would be back together. So I was romantically dissatisfied with that but in all....the show was top rate.

Galileo

Starring:
Fukuyama Masaharu as Yukawa Manabu
Shibasaki Kou as Utsumi Kaoru
Kitamura Kazuki as Kusanagi Shunpei
Shinagawa Hiroshi as Yuge Shiro
Watanabe Ikkei as Kuribayashi Hiromi
Maya Miki as Jonouchi Sakurako
Hayashi Tsuyoshi as Murase Kensuke
Aoi as Taniguchi Saeko
Fukui Hiroaki as Kobuchizawa Takashi
Takayama Miyako (高山都) as Watanabe Miyuki
Ito Takahiro as Mori Eita

In "Galileo," Fukuyama Masaharu plays a genius physicist and university associate professor, Yukawa Manabu, who solves difficult mysteries. Affectionately known as Tantei Galileo ("Detective Galileo"), Yukawa is brilliant, an all-round sportsman, tall and handsome but eccentric. Yukawa's partner is a rookie cop, Utsumi Kaoru (Shibasaki Kou), a hot-blooded woman with a strong sense of justice.

FINALLY! The Japanese have done it again. A refreshing new concept to television drama. This show was a class act, top rated, mind-engaging rollercoaster ride. This sort of reminded me of the U.S.'s CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) blended in with Japan's Hero drama series.

The show begins out with Galileo reminding us (almost every episode) that emotions are illogical. Where as, Utsumi derived her detective skills on intuition and emotion. Throughout the show, we watch both characters begin to blend their knowledge and strengths and learn to relatively trust each other to a fault. And both begin to learn the value of the other's aptitude....Galileo showing emotion and Utsumi using logic.

Against Korean drama, this show moved relatively fast and didn't leave me with want to run to the last episode to find out the conclusion. Korean's are good about making you suffer through episodes and dragging out the story until you are shaking with an insane amount of curiosity for the end. In this case, Galileo leaves you spellbound and looking forward to the next episode.

Fukuyama Masaharu


Kitamura Kazuki