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Hajimemashite minna san....welcome to my site on my fave Japanese Pop Culture likes such as dramas, movies, magazine scans, promo events etc. Mainly concentrate on my faves...Risa Watanabe... Kyoko Saito... Yui Kobayashi....Nana Owada.... Nene Shida.... if you're a fan at all of any of them then you've come to the right place(!) but many others are featured here besides them. Do mainly quick reviews on things I've watched, try to make the reviews brief, quick to read through with not too many spoilers, just whether they're good or bad and why I thought so plus whether you may find them enjoyable. Many, many screenshots are included from everything I've watched plus any video trailers if they're available. Hope you find something that interests you, don't hesitate to comment, arigato gozaimasu!

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Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Nogizaka Cinemas: 'Story of 46', episode five recap starring Hinako Kitano


 Fuji-TV/FOD homepage link for the show:  https://www.fujitv.co.jp/nogizakacinemas/

This drama began on January 21st, it will have ten episodes featuring one Nogi member who are in the above pic and here's the list of who will be in each show plus it's rating:

 Episode one- Asuka      7.5/10
 Episode two- Manatsu  7.1/10 
 Episode three- Sayuri   8.0/10
 Episode four- Mizuki    6.5/10
 Episode five- Hinako     7.4/10
 Episode six- Miona
 Episode seven- Yuki
 Episode eight- Erika
 Episode nine- Shiori
 Episode ten- Mai

 The series airs on Tuesday nights but seemed the first four shows aired in a week as the subs were done for all of those shows by the end of January. Now it appears we're back on a normal schedule and am caught up with the subbing team which is named Beam and they have their own site where many Nogi things have been subbed. These episodes last about 22 minutes which are long enough as through five shows none have been a huge winner though all have been enjoyable enough. Let's got on with the brief recap.




 Hinako was the featured Nogi member for this show and a few months ago she took over the mantle for being my fave Nogi gal. Was really looking forward to this show because of her though it was a tad of a disappointment. Not that Hinako's performance was bad but she didn't get enough screen time plus I wish the story wasn't about high school girls as she is 23 in age.

 Saki is the name of her character who is a senior at Hanase high school. Saki and her three close friends have entered the National Yuido Championship as you can see above. Have checked and not sure what the word Yuido really means, degree is one term I found such as a level but also it may have something to do with the quartet of girls hanging out in a small restaurant. Whatever it may mean could be a mute point as the main point of the competition is to confess your love to a target.
 However it's two schools going against each other to confess first, Hanase is going against their local rival high school Futabayama. Even if the girl manages to confess to the target first that boy must accept it, the boy the students were going after was Toyama from Yaegashi high school. Seemed like an easy enough game and it really was save for eight important rules which are these, break one of them and the other team wins.










 Saki had a long standing grudge against Futabayama's main girl Erika from many years back. When the pair were about twelve they were classmates and Saki had written a love letter to a boy she liked immensely. But Erika stole the letter from the boy's locker, that's not all she stole as she quickly became his girlfriend much to Saki's fury. At the time she was unable to do anything about it and that problem has persisted to this day.
 There's only one slot left to fill for the National Juido Championship which is a huge deal as many TV stations cover the results. Saki's team has gone all out trying to make sure they're the first team to confess to Toyama. They've filmed his activities, made maps of his school to ensure their complicated plans will work and have every detail planned to a T to make sure the 'day of confession' comes off without a hitch.
 Saki wasn't going to be the girl do confess to Toyama as her best friend Marina would have the honor. But everything needed to work perfectly as their rival high school has also been setting up a scheme to confess first, now it's the official day of the challenge. Saki has remained behind at the girl's favorite watermelon cafe where she'll coordinate everything via a computer and cellphone. So far on the eventful day everything is working out perfectly, what the girls are aiming to do is to trick Toyama into visiting an empty music room where Marina can confess to him.




 But like all great plans there's always something that could go wrong and it naturally did for our team of heroines. Before one of Saki's mates Anna could post a 'closed' sign on a music room door she had been captured by the rival team from Futabayama. Poof went their dreams of winning the entry to the National Juido Championship as Saki's enemy Erika learned of the plan and was waiting to meet Toyama in that empty music room. There was only one person left to save the day who of course was Saki who had to run about two miles from the watermelon restaurant to the school in under five minutes, it being a drama you know she did.
 However Erika had been waiting in the wrong music room as Anna had been able to change the signs showing what floor it was before she was captured. Erika had been waiting in the second floor music room while Toyama was going to the one on the third floor. Before that ruse was found out Saki had made it to the third floor room where the school's band was practicing and standing there in bewilderment was Toymama. Almost forgot to mention that Anna had put a love letter in his letter which said to meet him in the music room after classes. It was supposed to be empty but she was taken hostage before she could complete her tasks.
 The pair didn't know each other but Saki went up to him and confessed her love while the band began to play a romantic classical tune. Toyama eyed Saki for a few moments and to her amazement he replied that he liked her too thus giving the team from Hanase high school the Juido victory! Now it's on to the national round which there naturally wasn't enough time to take place as this show was only a little over 21 minutes and with that inspiring win the episode came to it's close.




 She wasn't in enough screenshots but you may notice my and your fave Sayaka Tomaru, she played the character Erika and also played Mai's best friend in a 2018 TV movie. Once again just an okay show and wish Hinako's role had been better. To me the characters she may portray the best are extreme ones such a loony, off the wall gal or perhaps even a serial killer as she has those types of facial expressions and she's too old these days to play a student.
 All in all the shows have been passable but am a bit disappointed as I expected the episodes to be a bit edgier. Episode six stars Miona who is also a fine actress with the right part, in "Zambi" she did well but no so much in the "Hot Gimmick" movie. Nogi has another drama beginning in early April with a trio of members which appears to be an interesting series, will have a bit more info about it in the next group post.























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