Princess Princess D (プリンセス・プリンセスD - 2006)

Starring:
Kamakari Kenta as Yutaka Mikoto
Fujita Rei as Shihoudani Yuujirou
Sato Takeru as Kouno Tooru
Saito Takumi as Arisada Shuuya
Adachi Osamu as Sakamoto Akira
Nakamura Yuichi as Hanazono Otoya
Shibuya Kento as Minamoto Kurou
Kazuma as Mori Ranta
Ishiguro Hideo as Kujouin Haruka
Minami Shota as Koshino Masayuki
Sato Haruhiko as Harue Wataru
Yoshihara Hiroshi as Tadasu Takahiro
Yamamoto Kohei as Nadashou Kaoru

In all-boys school with a tradition of Princesses (boys chosen to attend school functions dressed up as girls to alleviate the tension between the students), Yutaka Mikoto, Shihoudani Yuujirou and Kouno Tooru are this year's chosen Princess team. Dissatisfied with the half-hearted efforts of the current Princesses, Hanazono Otoya creates his own team of Dark Princesses to rival for the students' attention.

Based on the shoujo manga Princess Princess (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Princess_%28manga%29), by Mikiyo Tsuda.

Hmm? This was an average drama. It was okay. Not the best. In actuality, it bored the crap out of me the first few episodes but held on for improvement which it did.

It wasn't overly funny. I guess you could say this was a boredom buster since all my favorites have completed already or I'm waiting for updates of new episodes. I don't think I would have held on for those few episodes but had nothing else to do.

The guys were cute. That wasn't a lie. But the story wasn't all that intriguing. A little yaoi here and there but nothing that had my heart go pitter-patter.

This drama, to me, had no focus, no moral to the story, no learning experience. It was okay fun...thankfully the story picked up or I would have killed 4 hours of my not-so-exciting life.

Kamakari Kenta

Gokusen 3 ( ごくせん -2008)

Starring:
Nakama Yukie as Yamaguchi Kumiko (Yankumi / Ojou / Kumichou) (Math Teacher/Class 3D adviser)
Namase Katsuhisa as Sawatari Goro, Kyoto (School Vice Principal)
Enami Kyoko as Akagi Ryoko (Board Chairman)
Utsui Ken as Kuroda Ryuichiro (Kumiko's grandpa / 3rd Generation Oedo Yakuza Boss)
Anan Kenji as Wakamatsu Hiro
Kaneko Ken as Asakura Tetsu
Uchiyama Shinji as Tatsukawa Minoru
Ryogoku Hiroshi as Sugawara Makoto
Takaki Yuya as Ogata Yamato
Miura Haruma as Kazama Ren
Ishiguro Hideo as Honjo Kengo
Nakama Junta as Ichimura Rikiya
Kiriyama Akito as Kuraki Satoru
Miura Shohei as Kamiya Shunsuke
Waki Tomohiro as "Kuma" / Kumai Teruo (Former student of Yankumi)
Azuma Mikihisa as Baba Masayoshi (PE Teacher)
Koizumi Kotaro as Natsume Seichi (School Doctor)
Hirayama Aya as Takano Aoi (English Teacher)
Hoshino Aki as Ayukawa Sakura (School Nurse)
Sato Jiro as Yajima Hosaku (Japanese Classics Teacher)
Sakigake Santaro (魁三太郎) as Hatoyama Yasuhiko (World History Teacher)
Ishii Kota as Tsuruoka Keisuke (Physics Teacher)
Ishihara Atsumi (石原あつ美) as Kumai Ami (Kumai Teruo's wife)
Yamada Yu as Kazama Kaoruko (Kazama Ren's sister)

Class 3D
Ito Ryusuke (伊藤竜翼) as Ashida Ryusuke
Uefune Hiroto (上船弘人) as Ikeda Hiroto
Kanno Atsumi (菅野篤海) as Ishibashi Atsumi
Kido Yuya as Okuma Yuya
Kujirai Kosuke (鯨井康介) as Ohira Kosuke
Kobori Shinpei (小堀慎平) as Okada Shinpei
Koyanagi Shin (小栁心) as Katayama Shin
Shimizu Ryotaro (清水良太郎) as Katsura Ryotaro
Chiba Keisuke (千葉恵佑) as Saito Keisuke
Terada Shinya (寺田慎矢) as Suzuki Shinya
Totani Kimito (戸谷公人) as Takahashi Kimito
Nakayama Masei (中山麻聖) as Tanaka Masei
Hamao Kyosuke (浜尾京介) as Terauchi Kyosuke
Maeda Goki (前田公輝) as Hamaguchi Goki
Mayama Akihiro as Gen Akihiro
Maruo (まるお) as Hosokawa Maruo
Yazaki Hiroshi (矢崎広) as Matsukata Hiroshi
Yamada Ryohei (山田亮平) as Miki Ryohei
Yuki Jutta (夕輝壽太) as Murayama Jutta
Yuji (ユージ) as Yamamoto Yuji
Wakaba Ryuya as Yoshida Ryuya
Warabino Tomoya as Wakatsuki Tomoya

Guests
Omiya Taro (ep1,4,11)
Hojo Takahiro (ep3)
Kaneda Akio (ep5)
Shindo Gaku (ep5)
Kusumi Kaoru (楠見薫) (ep5)
Hirayama Keiko (平山慶子) (ep5)
Mashita Yuuki (真下有紀) (ep5)
Kojima Haruna (ep6)
Masu Takeshi (ep6)
Suzuki Hiromi (鈴木ひろみ) (ep6)
Matsuda Satoshi (ep7,11)
Fukuda Moe (福田萌) (ep7)
Kudo Aya (工藤亜耶) (ep7)
Miyazaki Yoshiko (ep8)
Takiguchi Yukihiro (ep8)
Shibuya Momoko (ep8)
Yagami Ren (ep9)
Nadaka Tatsuo (ep10)
Tokoshima Yoshiko (ep10)
Take Yutaka (武豊) (ep11)
Aoki Sayaka (ep11)

Miura Haruma, Nakama Junta, Kiriyama Akito


OMG! I'm shocked this has ended so soon. It seems like yesterday I just started watching this. Ugh!

Again this was pretty much the same theme, different year with the exception that this year didn't end with everyone knowing that Yankumi was yakuza. I was hoping that finally that Yankumi would finally find love with the doctor. Why do they make her suffer so? Does this mean we might get another Gokusen? Who would the main guys be this time if there was? I wish..........

I was surprised that I caught myself tearing up near the end when Ren got hurt and was in critical condition. To watch Yankumi break down.....yeah, it got me good. Damn tears!

Another good year, another set of good kids, and another round of teaching the basics in self reliance, self worth, friendship, and love of school. This show should be shown in schools because of the set of values it teaches.....in the States especially.

I really loved this season because I'm so in love with Haruma-kun! Just got done with Binbo Danshii too. Now I have to go on the hunt for more of this cute guy! He's got the looks and he's got the ability to become great!

Miura Haruma

Byakkotai (白虎隊-2007)

幾人の　涙は石にそそぐとも　その名は世々に　朽じとぞ思う

Ikutari no namida wa ishi ni sosogu tomo sono na wa yoyo ni kuji to zo omou

"No matter how many people wash the stones with their tears, these names will never vanish from the world."

Byakkotai Samurai
Yamashita Tomohisa as Sakai Mineji and Sakai Shintaro
Tanaka Koki as Shinoda Gisaburo and Shinoda Yusuke
Fujigaya Taisuke as Itou Matahachi
Saito Shota as Tsuda Sutezou
Tomita Sho as Nishikawa Katsutaro
Sakimoto Hiromi as Iinuma Sadakichi
Tsujimoto Yuki (辻本祐樹) as Nagase Yuji
Hashidume Ryo as Ishida Wasuke
Tochihara Rakuto
Kujirai Kousuke (鯨井康介) as Adachi Tozaburo
Kotani Yukihiro (小谷幸弘)
Tagana Masaya (多賀名将也) as Ibuka Motaro
Hanaya Mitsunori (花谷充規)
Kouno Hiroki (河野弘樹)
Kato Takashi (加藤崇)
Otani Sho (大谷翔)
Gonda Yuichiro (権田裕一郎)
Fukuda Yusuke (福田雄介)
Ueyama Manabu (植山学)
Aoyama Masafumi (青山雅史)
Tomihira Kazuma (富平和馬)
Ezaki Oe (江嵜大兄)
Yoshitake Shuhei (吉武周平)
Ishiguro Hideo
Yamada Akira (山田晃)
Saito Rikimaru (齋藤力丸)
Kawanishi Hiroshi (川西裕士)

Other Characters
Yakushimaru Hiroko as Sakai Shige (Mineji's mother)
Nogiwa Yoko as Sakai Mon (Mineji's grandmother)
Takashima Masanobu as Sakai Yasuemon (Mineji's father)
Ito Shiro as Sakai Mineo (Shintaro's grandfather)
Kuroki Meisa as Asai Sayoko
Ito Kazue as Asai Sumie (Sayoko's mother)
Matsushige Yutaka as Yamamoto Kakuma
Masu Takeshi as Sugiyama Eitaro
Kikawada Masaya as Sakai Takie (Mineji's brother)
Matsuo Toshinobu as Yamakawa Hiroshi
Tsutsui Mariko as Tsuda Suguko (Tsuda Sutezo's mother)
Ida Kisuke (飯田基祐)
Yamada Meikyo (山田明郷)
Takuma Takayuki
Hirooka Yuriko
Nishihara Aki
Kanno Rio
Hitomi Sanae (人見早苗)
Kobayashi Ken
Matoba Koji
Nakagoshi Noriko as Yamamoto Yaeko
Sugata Shun (菅田俊)
Ida Kunihiko
Namiki Shiro
Sonoi Koji (園井光司)
Okayama Hajime
Watari Hiroshi (渡洋史)
Sakaki Hideo (榊英雄)
Sakai Toshiya
Enjouji Aya
Ishimaru Kenjiro
Ishikura Saburo
Bengal
Kinoshita Hoka
Musaka Naomasa
Watanabe Ikkei
Kataoka Tsurutaro
Wakamura Mayumi as Shinoda Shinko (Gisaburo's mother)
Wakui Emi
Asano Yuko
Kobayashi Nenji as Saigou Tanomo
Higashiyama Noriyuki as Matsudaira Katamori

The "Byakkotai" were a group of 19 samurai youths ( all aged 16-17 ) who committed "harakiri" or ritual suicide as they looked down at their castle from the top of Iimoriyama Hill. On seeing smoke rising from the castle they presumed it was on fire and all was lost. (In fact, the castle itself was not on fire). This Memorial Hall is dedicated to their tragic story and also has details about the last Aizu clan leader.



OMG! This story was BEAUTIFUL! A MUST SEE! The best drama ever for Yamashita Tomohisa. I've a new found respect for his acting skills. Hell, even for Tanaka Koki. I really saw these guys as just teen idols until I saw the most amazing acting skills that came out of this show. The story was so terribly sad. And yeah, I cried through most of it. I knew something horrible was coming...and then BAM! I'm still sniffling........

As an American this reminded me of our own young during the Civil War. The time period is the same. The young men who went out to war for their "side" and for their families welfare. I think now of the new found respect our soldiers go through for our countries.

If you are wanting to learn more about the history of Japan....this drama is great one to start. God, I really loved this!!

I'm not adding any hottie pics only because I think that would take away respect for this show and for those boys who really died for their cause. Most of the characters were real. I can't do it.

Brother Beat(ブラザー☆ビート =2005)

Starring:
Tanaka Misako as Sakurai Harue (46)
Tamayama Tetsuji as Sakurai Tatsuya (24)
Izumisawa Yuuki as Young Sakurai Tatsuya
Kuninaka Ryoko as Tamura Chisato (24)
Hayami Mokomichi as Sakurai Riku (22)
Hirota Ryohei as Young Sakurai Riku
Nakao Akiyoshi as Sakurai Junpei (20)
Namase Katsuhisa Noguchi Hideki (46)
Asami Reina as Kudo Ai (22)
Akai Hidekazu as Sakurai Tsutomu
Iwasa Mayuko as Aizawa Miyuki
Kaneda Akio as Yamaguchi, Tatsuya's Boss
Tsubota Hideo as Higashi
Mizushima Hiro as Yoshi
Otomo Minami as Tsukahara Saori
Takeuchi Miyako as Toda Yumiko
Yamashita Yuko as Nomura Megumi
Miya Naoko as Nishihara Kyoko
Matsuda Kazusa as Keiko
Okamoto Aya as Yoshihara Rie (ep1) / Aki (ep1&8)
Takabayashi Yukiko as Rie's mother (ep1)
Hasegawa Tomoharu as Morimura
Yajima Kenichi as Aizawa Miyuki's father
Uemura Kyoko as Tamura Fusako
Kadono Takuzo as Tamura Shougo
Ishiguro Hideo as Tamura Kei
Okamoto Nobuto
Kuranuki Masahiro
Murakami Tomoko (ep05)
Enari Kazuki (ep09)

Tanaka Misako stars as a woman struggling to raise her three sons - played by Tamayama Tetsuji, Hayami Mokomichi and Nakao Akiyoshi - after her husband dies. Kuninaka Ryoko will appear as Tamayama's girlfriend, Chisato.

They don’t know when to stop, and live life to the full—meet the never-a-dull-moment Sakurai family, where nobody holds their feelings back. Returning to serial drama for the first time in five years, Misako Tanaka and the three hyperactive sons provide a story with a heartbeat. Sakurai Harue (Tanaka) who has brought up her sons alone after her husband died, is absolutely hopeless at running a household. Her eldest, stickler Tatsuya (Tamayama), does the job in her place while keeping younger brothers Riku (Hayami), and Junpei (Nakao) firmly in line. The sparks are constantly flying, but that’s the way it goes in this home. Tatsuya, a serious-minded advertising agency worker, and his brothers, an easy-going swimming instructor and rather naïve student, are three good-lookers who, along with their useless live-wire of a mother, keep getting into all sorts of scrapes—in love and at work. This is the Sakurai household, where everything hangs loose and everyone always speaks their mind. Tanaka says she really loves this ‘perfect family.’ They are sure to win your hearts too!

They won my heart. OMG! I loved this drama so much that I stayed up till midnight to watch the entire freakin' series in one day. As the oldest of 3 siblings, I really related to Tatsuya. I cried out of happiness from this show. I actually went to bed thinking that I wanted to write letters to my younger sister and brother and thank them for being my siblings. Geez, I'm starting to tear up already. This show wasn't tiring to watch. It was paced well enough to keep my interest and wasn't drawn out like a Korean drama and wasn't boring like most serious Japanese dramas. Totally recommend this one to anyone. And if you have a siblings, you'll see some type of correlation to your own relationship to your own familly.

Tamayama Tetsuji


I don't know what to say about Tetsuji-kun. Why are Japanese men so freakin' fine? Why? Tetsuji-san is gorgeous. *kawaii* First, I fell for his character and then everything else fell into place. I want to lick him like a lollipop..........

I was happy to see Mokomichi-kun (Absolute Boyfriend/Zettai Kareshi) in this. His looks are so dreamy. *sigh* Dang, he's soooooo tall. Hiro-kun was in this as well. His role was terribly limited and he didn't look anything like he does now. Who would have thought he would have become the hunk he is now. Whoa! Then there is Hideo-kun...his new drama Gokusen 3 is out as well. And, he too, was totally different looking. Well, in Gokusen 3 his hair is bleached white..so that does make a dramatic difference. LOL!

Gokusen 3

YANKUMI IS BACK!

I can never get tired of this show. I've only seen the first episode so far. There are only 2 episodes shown so far that I know of. It's only been out less than a month, so we Americans and other countries have to wait patiently for private fansubs to get those things taken care of for us Asian drama junkies, ya know?

I will have to say so far, from just the first episode, the first episode starts out with the same recipe as the two other seasons. First you start out with class 3-D of rebels, mix in uncaring teachers, add one head teacher, add one teacher who was raised by a yakuza, and then bake for an hour of laughs and sentiment.

This years class this time has two leaders of one class. So what does that mean? You have two gangs of hormonal male teens vying for attention and head honcho.

On a personal note, the actor playing Ogata Yamato looks almost exactly like Akanishi Jin of KAT-TUN!!!!! For those don't know, Akanishi Jin was in the second season, Gokusen 2! "Kawaii!!"

Class 3D
Miura Haruma as Kazama Ren
Takaki Yuya as Ogata Yamato
Ishiguro Hideo as Honjo Kengo
Kiriyama Akito as Kuraki Satoru
Nakama Junta as Ichimura Rikiya
Miura Shohei as Kamiya Shunsuke

Blast to the Past...Gokusen 2...
Kamenashi Kazuya as Odagiri Ryu
Akanishi Jin as Yabuki Hayato
Hayami Mokomichi as Tsuchiya Hikaru
Koike Teppei as Takeda Keita
Koide Keisuke as Hyuuga Kosuke

...Gokusen...
Matsumoto Jun as Sawada Shin
Oguri Shun as "Uchi" / Uchiyama Haruhiko
Matsuyama Kenichi as Mori Kenichi
Ishigaki Yuma as Minami Youichi

Miura Haruma


Takaki Yuya