GiraGira ( ギラギラ -2008)

Starring:
Sasaki Kuranosuke as Nanase Kohei
Maya Miki as Sonobe Yuki
Hara Sachie as Nanase Momoko
Miura Shohei as Shoji
Sato Tomohito as Ichikawa Kenta/Hideyoshi
Abe Tsuyoshi as Eiji
Ashina Sei as Yuuna
Tanaka Yoji as Fukami
Kotegawa Yuko as Jinguji Rena
Ishibashi Ryo as Katsuragi Taisei
Yamazaki Hajime as Tahira Hiroshi
Yuki Jutta as Toma
Sakimoto Hiromi as Yuki
Sakuragi Ryosuke (桜木涼介) as Akira
Nishiyama Sosuke as Rikuto
Yuji as Ken
Matsumoto Hiroya as Ren
Nagamachi Taro as Ryo
Matsushita Kouji as Leo
CHIKARA as Sakuya
Suzuki Mie (鈴木美恵)
Fujisawa Karin
Shikanai Daishi as Haruki
Guests
Igarashi Shunji as Eagle (ep1-2)
Hara Mikie (原幹恵) as Sayo (ep1-2)
Toda Keiko as Asaoka Misa (ep1)
Mitsuya Yoko as Kyoka (ep3)
Kobayashi Emi (小林恵美) as Saki (ep3)
Nonami Maho as Kazuki Sarina (ep4)
Kikawada Masaya as Sachiel (ep6)
Nishihara Aki as Hime/Oohara Maiko (ep6)
Wada Masato as Kazuma (ep7-8)

Based on a hit manga, this adaptation depicts the life of a married man Nanase Kohei after he returned to his former job as a male host. He woos the clients with his gentle and caring nature, and soon retrieves his former credit as the ace of the club. However, the transition back for this middle-aged man is not without its challenges. Afraid that his wife will find out about this job, Nanase is also garnering jealousy and displeasure from the younger hosts. Throughout the course of his employment, he demonstrates to others that hosting should not be the vulgar occupation it has become where the entire goal is to make the women frivolously spend money, rather, it is about a human connection that is so often overlooked.

This was a pretty good show. Not the overly best. It started out really interesting but got sorta of boring near the middle. It was the same old, same old where Kohei had to save the day and the woman. I wanted to see more character development with Shoji and the other hosts at the club. More so of Shoji since he was the closest to Kohei.

The ending was sort of abrupt and ended differently to that I thought it would. It was a happy ending but sort of lame. This show was a great boredom buster if and when I ran out of my other dramas to watch. I will say there was plenty of eye candy galore and was pleasantly surprised to see Wada Masato (Shigeshoshi) in the last two episodes. I am so looking forward to his dramas. He is a great actor and hidden talent in the Japanese TV world. If I were to see him on the Tokyo streets one day, I'd be all over him like "a fly on poo."

Another talent, that is starting to show up more often than not is Igarahi Shunji. Cute, not handsome, but something about him draws your attention to him. And he, too, costarred with Wada Masato in Shigeshoshi.

Miura Shohei


Wada Masato

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.

Attention Please (アテンションプリーズ-2006)

Starring:
Ueto Aya as Misaki Yoko
Nishikido Ryo as Nakahara Shota
Maya Miki as Mikami Tamaki
Aibu Saki as Wakamura Yayoi
Uehara Misa as Hirota Saori
Koizumi Kotaro as Tsutsumi Shuusuke
Kohinata Fumiyo as Sakurada Shinya
Otsuka Chihiro as Sekiyama Yuki
Nanase Natsumi as Kinoshita Asami
Otomo Minami as Higashino Haruka
Fueki Yuko as Asou Kaoru
Takahashi Mariko as Kagawa Reiko
Koichi Mantaro as Watanabe Makoto
Asano Kazuyuki as Wakamura Shozo
Inoue Jun as Dazai Shinichiro
Mano Yuuko as Murayama Mizuho
Hoshino Natsuko as Takemoto Rie
Tanaka Sogen (田中聡元) as Ooki Mitsuya
Ishikawa Maki (石川真希) as Chief Nagano
Guests
Takaoka Sousuke as Tsukasa (ep1)
Higashihara Aki as Tsukasa's girlfriend (ep1)
Yamasaki Shizuyo as Yoshimura Chiemi (ep1, 11)
Sai Ryoji as Saori's gym mate (ep3)
Moriguchi Yoko as Katsuragi Shiho (ep5)
Yatsu Isao as the taxi driver (ep6)
Yamasato Ryouta as Okaba Goro (ep7, 11)
Asami Reina as Kubota Rina (ep7)
Yamaguchi Nikki (山口日記) as Oshima Megumi (ep7)
Takuya (たくや) & Kazuya (かずや) as the twin passengers (ep9)
Ichikawa Chieko (市川千恵子) (passenger, ep9)
Arai Kazuo (新井量大) (passenger, ep9)
Mori Koko (森康子) (passenger, ep9)
Rui Hisashi (塁央) (passenger, ep9)
Komuro Yuta (passenger, ep9)
Kuroda Shiho (黒田志保) (passenger, ep9)
Kimura Kaela (木村カエラ) as herself (ep10)
Fujimoto Shizuka (ep10)
Yamada Meikyo (passenger, ep11)
Izumi Akiko (passenger, ep11)
Shibuya Asuka as the newcomer trainee (ep11)

Losing her mother at a young age, Misaki Yoko (Ueto Aya) was raised amongst three brothers. Yoko is a slightly boyish girl who is bullheaded and hates dishonesty. Ever since she was young, she enjoyed the company of boys over girls. She starts a band with four of her boy friends and becomes the lead singer. Then one day, one of the members of the band, Tsukasa, gets a job at a bank in Tokyo. Due to Tsukasa leaving town, the band breaks up and though Yoko finds herself lonely, she puts on a strong act in front of Tsukasa. She can't tell Tsukasa how she truly feels for him. On the day Tsukasa leaves for Tokyo, Yoko goes along with the band members to the airport to see him off. The guys get excited when they see some cabin crew ladies and Yoko has no idea why. She reminds them that even she can wear a uniform, but the guys only make fun of her. That's when Tsukasa tells Yoko he wonders what she'd look like dressed in uniform. This is when Yoko decides she wants to work as a Cabin Attendant.

Hmm? This was absolutely a cute drama. No doubt. I had my doubts but watching Misaki grow as an adult was pretty hilarious to see. I myself sometimes find myself not really wanting to grow up either. I guess we all keep a bit of the kid of ourselves hidden away somewhere.

I was a little disappointed in the "romance" between her and Nakahara. We all knew it was there. We expected it but they never really made the connection. Yeah, the special after the drama ended showed a little more concern for their romance but still they left us wondering..."What the hell?" Damn, a hug would have surficed. So that left me a little bummed.

So if you watch it, don't expect a lot from the male and female leads. But in all, this drama was quite amazing and I actually learned something about the behind the scenes activities of a cabin attendant. LOL!

Nishikido Ryo

Shopping Hero (ツーハンマン / Two Hand Man -2002)

Starring:
Nakamura Shunsuke as Yamada Makoto
Kawahara Ayako as Yuka
Tamaki Hiroshi
Maya Miki
Kohashi Kenji
Taguchi Hiromasa
Kusakari Masao
Suzuki Sawa
Becky

A story of a shy and quite office worker who by chance became a “masked demonstrator” in a TV shopping program. What happens when his longing lady fell in love with not the real him but the disguised self?

Yamada Makoto (Nakamura) works for TV shopping company as a troubleshooter. Although being a quite, shy, and extremely ordinary guy, he one day by chance performs as a “masked demonstrator” in a popular TV shopping program by wearing a superman-like costume. His enthusiastic speech and persuasive demonstration touches the heart of the audience, and not only he becomes a TV hero, he cheers up the people in need of help! A unique comedy love story is here! -- TV Asahi

This drama started out stupid but I didn't give up because the synopsis sounded cool. It actually got better. I didn't want to stop watching. I loved the fact that our "Shopping Hero" solved personal problems while selling a product at the same time. A few times I actually teared up.

I will say I wasn't too thrilled that they tried to make a romance between "Jimmy" and Yuka. First she was too ditzy and she had a fling with the president of the company who by the way is already married. Complicated? Yeah. I was actually routing for the girl that worked in the complaints department with "Jimmy".

Well, as the series progressed, the stories got boring. The last episode I fast forwarded to the end.....and the ending sucked. This drama became a dissappointment quick.

I really liked the character of "Jimmy" aka...Shopping Hero. He was sweet and kind but how could someone like him choose a woman who slept with a married man and she wasn't all that pretty anyway. Ehhh. So yeah, this drama sucked in my own personal opinion.

I hate saying that only because it had my first love Tamaki Hiroshi in it. I will say his character was sweet also. He loved an older women who has a small child. What endeared me the most was the fact that he loved the little boy as his own. *sigh*

Tamaki Hiroshi