Nao Kanzaki and a few friends

Erika Toda- Behind the scenes of both Death Note movies

2012-01-27T01:51:00.000-05:00

Didn't realize there was one but found a DVD of just Death Note special features which has both movies and a fairly extensive behind the scenes exclusives. However what really matters is Erika in the movies, took some screenshots of her on the set of both films and here they are, starting off with the first film, not as many pics of her playing Misa as her role wasn't as big in Death Note 1.

And here's some shots from the second film, few more here as her role was much bigger in this one, quite an important part she had and of course aced her performance!

Erika Toda: Cut and Voce mag scans

2012-01-23T20:24:00.000-05:00

Two new mags that have just come out featuring Erika, the first scan is only one page, it's from the March issue of Voce and the others pics are from the Feb. issue of Cut.

Masami Nagasawa Bushin drama promo pics

2012-01-23T20:17:00.000-05:00

Some promo shots that have been released of Masami from her new drama Bunshin which will be starting on February 12th at 10:00 pm on WOWOW.

Erika Toda Homemate 2012 calendar #1

2012-01-17T16:43:00.000-05:00

The first of two Erika 2012 Homemate calendars, the other one is in the post just below this one, click on them for a bigger size though they're really not all that huge but big enough.

Erika Toda Homemate 2012 calendar #2

2012-01-13T17:26:00.000-05:00

Erika has had 2 calendars put put by Homemate for 2012, will post the first one soon, here's the second of them. Click on the pic for a bigger view, they're not huge calendar pages though.

Masami Nagasawa 2012 magazine scans- January

2012-01-13T17:20:00.000-05:00

Masami has certainly been so much more active doing various magazine spreads and interviews, here's a few that she's already done for this year.

Feb. issue of Swak.

Feb. issue of Brutus.

And finally the Feb. issue of Jille.

Yuki Uchida's 1995 film Hana Yori Dango: synopsis and trailer

2012-01-05T13:51:00.000-05:00

Sure most of you know all about the Hana Yori Dango/Boys Over Flower mangas and dramas, a quick recap of it:
Hana Yori Dango is a Japanese shojo manga series written and illustrated by Yoko Kamio. The story is set in Eitoku Academy, an elite school for children from rich families. It follows lead protagonist Makino Tsukushi, a student from a working-class family, and the members of Eitoku Academy's elite Flower Four, commonly known as the "F4". The manga series was 37 volumes long selling over 55 million copies and was adapted into two live action dramas that ran in 2005 and 2007.

What most may not know is that before the dramas it was made into a TV movie that came out in 1995 starring Yuki Uchida as the heroine plus a few other stars before they hit it big. Not going to go into depth about this movie as it followed the mangas closely for the most part though at only 80 minutes it was a real rushed effort at that.

Have been a fan of the mangas though not so much the TV dramas, this effort fell into the same lines, an okay watch but if you haven't seen it you haven't missed too much. Then again if you're a Yuki fan you have missed something, she does a good job in this as the spunky, can never be beaten down heroine Makino, she really carried the film and was in just about every seen, this was really her first big starring role, she pulled it off well but the film itself was just so-so. Would recommend it for Yuki fans and perhaps if you're a fan of the series so you can say you've seen everything about Hana Yori Dango but besides that don't go out of your way to view it, except for Yuki it was the only reason I watched it and I would think that's why most others have seen it.

Here's the cast list for the film plus the trailer for it, check out the next post for many pics of Yuki from the movie.

Year: 1995 Length: 78 minutes Theme Song: "Baby's Growing Up" by Yuki Uchida

Cast:

Yuki Uchida as Makino Tsukushi
Shosuke Tanihara as Doumyouji Tsukasa
Naohito Fujiko as Hanazawa Rui
Koichi Hashizume as Mimasaka Akira
Marie Eguro as Toudou Shizuka

Yuki Uchida- screenshots of her 1995 Hana Yori Dango film

2012-01-05T13:21:00.000-05:00

Masami Nagasawa 2011 news and mag scans

2011-12-31T13:34:00.000-05:00

More Masami so we can end the year off on a good note, first off here is her at a Keirin awards ceremony 2 days ago, don't know the name of the person who won the award but he's a bike racer.

From Hot Pepper Beauty which is a free mag and there were 4 different covers of Masami.

Masami Nagasawa 2011 news and mag scans

2011-12-30T13:26:00.000-05:00

Mentioned earlier about Masami's new drama starting up in February called Bunshin on the WOWOW channel, some promo shots they've released for it.

The Moteki movie was a huge hit when it was released back in September, never hitting the top spot at the box office but stayed at #2 for 4 weeks, now it's been announced that the DVD will be coming out on March 23rd, looks loike though it's another release without English subs, let's just keep our fingers crossed and hope that one of the versions will have some, to get you in the mood here's some shots of Masami from the film.

Just a one page scan from Escala.

Masami from Kokuriko Zara Kara.

And finally, hope I have the name of the show correct, Masami on KiraKira Afuro show 2 days ago but that's the host of A-Studio who's driving the taxi.

Hideko Takamine in "Arakure" synopsis

2011-12-28T14:01:00.000-05:00

The next Hideko Takamine film we'll be taking a look at is from 1957, Arakure also known as Untamed Woman, also another movie directed by Mikio Naruse. It's based on a 1915 novel of the same name written by Shusei Tokuda and takes place during the early 1900's, the late Meiji era in Japan.

Synopsis: Hideko plays Oshima, a woman who has had so many downs in her life but yet keeps struggling to reach the next level only to once again take a fall. As the film begins she has been recently married to a widowed factory owner, this was an arranged marraige as they had nothing in common and really did not like each other. He also had a mistress on the side, during an arguement about that the pregnant Oshima tried to flee away only to take a tumble down the stairs and losing the baby, shortly after the two of them got divorced.

Next Oshima goes to work for an owner of a hotel to pay off her brothers debt, the owner quickly falls for Oshima due to the fact his wife is very ill and in the hospital. Eventually though the wife gets better and heads home leading to Oshima having to leave the hotel though she really did enjoy being there and also came to fall for the owner, feelings she had throughout the rest of the film, they may have gotten even stronger but the two of them never end off being together. Her next step is becoming a tailor for a friend she knew, she became so successful at it she eventually started her won business doing it with a deliveryman Onada, they also end up getting married. Business was good but not good enough as their company folds, both work enough at some other jons to get money and once again they open up another tailoring shop.

Once again their venture is mildly succesful but her husband has some straying eyes, after telling Oshima he was going on a business trip for a week she tailed him and found that he was starting an affair with another woman, the same woman who had an affair with her first husband. At this point we're not sure what happened to Onada as he fled away but Oshima once again stood proud, as the film ends she calls up the shop's assistant and tells him they're going to start their own shop which he quickly agrees to. What happens next is anyone's guess as the film ends with Oshima walking along the street in a downpour, will things work out this time or is she once again going to be dealt a bad hand?

I really enjoyed this film, more than most other Takamine/Naruse efforts though quite a few other reviews on it are mixed. Was a bit slow in the middle which is one complaint, another was that it stayed almost too true to the novel but they're both minor issues, one being that most of us have never read the novel or perhaps have never heard of it. For me Hideko was just superb in this film, showed such a wide range of emotions and character, she was a woman in this film who constantly got beaten down but always kept coming back even more confident each time. Have mentioned before Naruse films don't need ratings, they all need to be seen, sure some are better than others but I've never seen one bad one yet, regardless of what some other reviewers have said this is a recommended film, especially for Hideko fans, if you're not one this would be a good place to start.
Check below for the movie info plus the next post has many screenshots of Hideko from the movie, also have reviewed a few of her other movies this month which you may want to check out, her acting and screen presence become so addictive in a good way, recommend any movie she's been in.

Year: 1957 Length: 121 minutes Director: Mikio Naruse

Cast: Hideko Takamine, Daisuke Kato, Masayuki Mori, Ken Uehara, Keiko Kishi

Hideko Takamine "Arakure" screenshots

2011-12-28T13:18:00.000-05:00

Masami Nagasawa 2011 news and more

2011-12-26T13:47:00.000-05:00

Has an article before about Masami's new drama that is starting up on February 2nd that's called Bunshin, here's the cover for the theme song for it with Masami on the cover of it.

Small spread here of Masami from the January issue of Hot Pepper Beauty.

And some older pics here, had mentioned before about Masami's play back in August, Crazy Honey, had posted some promo pics for the play but no shots from the actual play itself, here's some here.

Hideko Takamine in "Yearning", synopsis and trailer

2011-12-24T13:30:00.000-05:00

Continuing on with our unofficial Hideko Takamine month, here's a quick look at my last watch, her 1964 movie Yearning aka Midareu. This was another film directed by Mikio Naruse, they did 12 films together, not all are masterpieces but they surely all deserve a watch, think this was the final one they did together.
Synopsis: Hideko plays Reiko, a widowed woman who continues to run the family's small grocery shop and still lives with them. Times are not good for the shop and the other small shops in the area as they are all losing business to the new and inexpensive supermarket which has just opened. Her younger brother in law Koji(Kayama) has no interest in the running of the store, he has recently quit his job at a firm and just hangs around gambling most days despite having a college degree.

Meanwhile, Koji's mother and two sisters are anxious to have Reiko out of the house so they can sell out to another large supermarket that is offering Koji the position of manager. Koji begs off stating that Reiko would be much more qualified, with the reply that Reiko would certainly be offered a position, as an employee. What also makes her life so confusing is that Koji has professed his love to her even though she is 12 years older, she politely refuses him but this is what finally drove her to the decision to leave the store and family and to head back to her hometown.

Reiko finally leaves but is followed by Koji and the two of them share a long, long train ride to her hometown but they never make it there as they depart the train before her destination. Staying at an inn Reiko finally tells Koji despite her being so flattered about his feeling towards her to take the next train back home as she would rather be by herself, though she really gives off the impression that she doesn't want to be alone, perhaps waiting for Koji to come on stronger(?), the viewer is just as confused about her feelings as she is. Finally Koji leaves the inn to get drunk at a bar and what happens next will not divulge here, but it's quite an unexpected and shocking conclusion.

In conclusion this turned out to be a solid watch, bit depressing and dark, filming it in B&W helped give it that tone, but as always a Naruse film, especially one that stars Hideko needs to be watched though a few of their other films they did together are slightly better. Don't like to rate the two of them's films but if you're a fan of either one it's certainly a recommended film, check below for the film info and trailer plus the next post has many Hideko screenshots from the movie.

Year: 1964 Length: 98 minutes Director: Mikio Naruse

Cast:

Hideko Takamine as Reiko Morita
Yuzo Kayama as Koji Morita
Mitsuko Kusabue as Hisako Morizono
Yumi Shirakawa as Takako Morita
Aiko Mimasu as Shizu Morita

Hideko Takamine "Yearning" screenshots

2011-12-24T12:57:00.000-05:00

Masami Nagasawa IQueen Vol. 1 magazine scans

2011-12-17T14:01:00.000-05:00

Masami scans from IQueen Vol. 1, looks both funny and stunning as usual in these!

Ayumi Kinoshita is now 二十九才!!!! A day late celebration #1

2011-12-14T13:49:00.000-05:00

Well, we're a day late celebrating one of our all time faves, looks like she did the celebrating for us, but Ayumi turned 二十九才 yesterday, still looks as fabulous as ever! Hasn't been much to report on her lately, guess she's taking a mini break so nothing new to post here nor many new pics of her so we'll go back in time and look at some older things of Ayumi's, pics and shows that made us lifetime fans! Also check out the next post for a continuation of looking back at Ayumi's recent years.

Ayumi at some promo events, top 2 are for the Uramiya Honpo DVD release folllowed by some pics of a few Masters of Thunders DVD promo events and at a screening of the 2007 film Peeping Tom.

Ayumi did a 2 episode guest spot on the 2010 edition of Kamen Rider, episodes 21 and 22, some shots of her from it.

From the movie Natural Woman 2010.

Few assorted pics from Ayumi's blog, good place to get pics of her just leading a regular life but hasn't put anything new up for a while.

And to end off some breath taking pics of Ayumi, there's no doubt that she is one of the most beautiful woman in the world....ever!

Ayumi Kinoshita is now 二十九才!!!! A day late celebration #2

2011-12-14T13:11:00.001-05:00

Bit of a continuation from the above post, let's look at a lot of various pics of Ayumi and hope that she still looks as good 二十九 years from now!

Few magazine covers of Ayumi's since 2004 or so.

Some screenshots of her 2006 drama Wedding Dream Believer.

Few promo pics of our fave DekaRanger, Jasmine.

To end off just a bunch of great looking photos of Ayumi and as we all know, they're all great.... or more so!

Masami Nagasawa- New drama and EyeScream mag scans

2011-12-09T15:21:00.000-05:00

Info from Mantan Web on Masami's new drama:
The cast of the WOWOW mini-series “Bunshin” has finally been revealed. Actress Nagasawa Masami (24) will star, playing two very different characters.

“Bunshin” was originally a suspense novel by bestselling author Higashino Keigo. The drama, which was first announced last month, tells the story of two identical-looking women who seek to uncover their mysterious past. Nagasawa will play both characters. One is a young woman from Hokkaido studying child welfare, while the other is a college student in Tokyo who is part of a band.
Katsuji Ryo, Usuda Asami, Suzuki Sawa, Tezuka Satomi, Ibu Masato, and Sano Shiro have also been cast. Nagata Koto (“Little DJ: Chiisana Koi no Monogatari”) is directing.
The series will run for 5 episodes in a Sunday 10:00pm time slot on WOWOW, starting on February 12.

Masami scans from the new issue of EyeScream.

Hideko Takamine in "When a Woman Ascends the Stairs", synopsis and trailer

2011-12-08T14:17:00.000-05:00

Latest movie watch was the Naruse 1960 classic When a Woman Ascends the Stairs starring Hideko Takamine, one of so, so many films they've done together, here's a short synopsis.

Keiko(Takamine), whom everyone calls Mama, narrates her story: she's a hostess on the Ginza, 30, a widow. She describes life's vicious cycle: acting cheerful around drunks, dressing and living well to convey confidence, needing money for these expenses and for her demanding mother and brother, and knowing she's growing older. She's of an age when she must choose: to seek marriage (difficult given her tarnished occupation), to be a kept woman, or to borrow money to buy a bar of her own. Each route has dangers, including investors demanding a return on their loans. Keiko has a quiet dignity that attracts men, but are they what they seem? Does she actually have choices?

It really doesn't serve much purpose in reviewing Naruse films, all are so good, some are better than others but all deserve at least one viewing, this film here is no exception, really needs a couple watches. As usual Hideko Takamine turns in a A+ performance as the bar hostess who is at a crossroads in her life and has no idea where to turn, as a matter of fact by the film's conclusion we still have no clue what's going to happening to Keiko as she still hasn't bought a bar and has turned down all of the advances or proposals by a few of her suitors. This is actually a common trait in many of Naruse's films, leaving the audience to wonder what happens next, perhaps not always a fitting conclusion but never an ending which takes away from the film.

Going to be doing more posts in honor of Hideko this month, it was last year at this time that she passed away at the age of 86. She truly was one of the more memorable actresses in her era, she had a long career but her prime was from 1941-64, will be looking at a few films from that era as they are all worth watching, not all are great but Hideko certainly makes them must watches. Realize it wasn't a lengthy review for this film, as mentioned the Naruse/Takamine films are just all so good, no point in giving any of them a rating as all need a viewing.
Check below for the cast info and trailer while the next post has many images of Hideko from the film.

Year: 1960 Length: 111 minutes Director: Mikio Naruse

Cast:

Hideko Takamine as Keiko Yashiro
Masayuki Mori as Nobuhiko Fujisaki
Reiko Dan as Junko Inchihashi
Tatsuya Nakadai as Kenichi Komatsu
Keiko Awaji as Yuri
Ganjiro Nakamura as Goda
Eitaro Ozawa as Minobe

Hideko Takamine "When a Woman Ascends the Stairs" screenshots

2011-12-08T13:50:00.000-05:00

Masami Nagasawa: Sunday Mainichi and Seda magazine scans

2011-12-01T16:38:00.000-05:00

From the Sept. 25th issue of Sunday Mainichi.

October 2011 issue of Seda magazine.

Masami Nagasawa Weekly Shonen scans October 2011

2011-12-01T16:33:00.000-05:00

Rena Tanaka misc. pictures

2011-12-01T16:28:00.000-05:00

Keep wanting to post more Rena things but keep forgetting to do that, here's a bunch of various things about Rena.

Promo mag scans and the poster for her film Drugstore Girl.

At the premiere for her 2010 movie Flowers.

On the Iitomo show promoting the Flowers film.

Just a bunch of really good lookin' pics, actually all of Rena's are!

Erika Toda: With magazine December 2011 scans

2011-12-01T16:09:00.000-05:00

Nothing new to report for Erika, probably rehearsing for the play that's starting in January but she did post these mag scans on her FB page.

Masami Nagasawa Anan magazine scans 2011

2011-11-28T13:38:00.000-05:00

Masami's spread from the October 5th issue of Anan magazine, click on them for a bigger view.

Masami Nagasawa: Moteki and Kokuriko-Zaka Kara premiere shots plus some Crazy Honey pics

2011-11-28T13:32:00.000-05:00

Moteki ended up doing superbly at the box office, finally had dropped out of the top 10 but was in it for 6 weeks including 4 straight weeks at #2, there were a few premieres, some pictures of Masami from them looking incredible as usual at them!

Masami was also in a stage play back in August called Crazy Honey, here a bunch of things from the show, some promo ads then some pics from a rehearsal and some from a press conference for the play.

And finally Masami from the July premiere of the Kokuriko-Zaka Kara film, it's an anime but she was one of the main voices in it.

Erika Toda- shots from the Girls Lock! radio show

2011-11-22T13:50:00.000-05:00

Nothing new to report on the Erika front, as mentioned in a few of her posts she has a stage play opening up in January but besides that no news on any new dramas or movies coming out.
So let's go in the past for this post, Erika used to be a host for the Girls Lock! radio show, she did it from 2007-09, no longer does it but here are some pics of her hosting the show.

Yuki Uchida turned 三十六才 today.... a look at Yuki's younger years....

2011-11-16T14:25:00.001-05:00

Little late for Yuki's b-day celebration as it's already tomorrow in Japan but we all can celebrate her every day! Gonna look at some of her older pics here from some dramas, movies, mag scans, etc, check out the next post for some great pics of Yuki and how she looks these days, still #1 in whatever age category she's in!

Beat movie premieres 1998.

Some shots from the Beat movie, will be doing a synopsis with more pics real soon.

Various trading and phone cards from the 90's.

Shots from the Big Wing drama 2001.

Epson promos from the 90's.

Various covers from mags, VHS concerts and more.

Akimahende drama 1998.

And to end off just a bunch of pics from everything Yuki!

Yuki Uchida turned 三十六才 today.... a look at Yuki's older years....

2011-11-16T13:53:00.001-05:00

As the title said older but certainly not old, was the best looking 35 year old until today, now is the best looking 三十六才!!!! Here's a look at some of her more recent pics from some dramas, movies, premieres, etc, all these are after she turned 30, few may be repeats from other posts but one can never get tired at looking at anything Yuki!

Bakamono film premiere 2010.

Earlier this year on the A-Studio show.

Shots from a couple Welcome to the Quiet Room premieres 2007.

Flash magazine Feb. 2011.

Don Quixote drama 2011.

Shots from some Takefuji CMs 2008.

And to end off her b-day just a mish-mash of recent pics.

Erika Toda November going ons

2011-11-10T14:14:00.000-05:00

Not much to report about Erika this last month, DOG X POLICE opened on October 1st and was a mild success, was in the box office top 10 for 4 weeks reaching a high position of #4. Also Hankyu was released on DVD at the end of October, still waiting for a subbed version before viewing it.
Coming up though for Erika will be her first stage play called Hogi Uta, it will be starting on Jan. 5th and running through Feb. 2nd at Tokyo's New National Theatre. Also starring in the 3 person play will be Shinichi Tsutsumi and Jun Hashimoto, it's the story of a couple wandering thru Kansai post nuclear war world (1979), Erika plays the role of women as an innocent wive, here's a poster for the play.

Another CM for Homemade phones will be coming out soon, here's some shots from it I think, they could be older ones but haven't posted them if they are, got them at their site.

On her FB site Erika posted some new mag scans for the new SPEC movies that will be coming out next year, 2 are TV movies and the last one will be a theatrical release, click on them for a better view.

Yuki Uchida: Thru the years #4

2011-11-04T14:51:00.000-04:00

Can never get tired of looking at Yuki thru the years!

From the Hana Yori Dango TV movie 1995, will be doing a few posts on it in the future.

Mag scan from 2009.

Interview for the No Make video and the cover of it.

And to end off more Yuki pics both old and new.

Yuki Uchida: Thru the years #3

2011-11-04T14:36:00.000-04:00

And we continue on with Yuki thru the years.....

Behind the scenes of the Cats Eye movie 1997.

Don Quixote drama 2011.

Yuki's 1995 concert DVD cover and the rest of the package.

Just some random pics, old and new.

Dare Yori mo Mama wo Aisu synopsis

2011-11-03T14:50:00.000-04:00

Papa/Kazutoyo Kamon is a stay at home father, 25 years ago he quit his job as a banker to stay home with their new born child Yuki and let his wife Chiyo pursue her dream of becoming a lawyer, which she did. Along the way the way they had 2 more children, Akira who was born 2 years after Yuki and then a birth which surprised the family, their second son Kaoru who was born when the couple were in the young 40's. Quite a bit of the drama is told thru the eyes of the young son Kaoru, though he loves them all deeply he knows they are quite a unique family, with a pair of strange and funny siblings plus he's the only person he knows who has a stay at home dad, most of the neighbors and such look at that situation in a perplexing way.

The oldest child Yuki(Uchida) is probably the strangest and wackiest of the family, she's 25 yet still lives at home, her one dream is to find a rich, handsome husband so she doesn't have to work and work is one thing she's not good at, going thru job after job and never being successful at any of them, though she finds a lot of suitors they tend to dump her for various reasons. On the other hand Akira(Tamayama) is a bit of a ladies man, he has to turn most of them away and for being quite a smart guy he's working as a hair stylist, but of all the characters to change thru the series his did the most, in a way none of us thought would happen. And the youngest child Kaoru(Nagashima) is in the 6th grade, he do has all sorts of problems, the biggest is his crush on Tomo(Kawashima), the 2 of them have some sad, funny and uplifting moments during their time together until she moves away.

Papa(Tamura) as we hear thru the voice of Kaoru loves his wife more than any husband in Japan, he's a funny character too though doesn't try to be. He easily beats any wife as far as being an excellent homemaker, plus he has such an open mind which he needs having to deal with all the problems that constantly arise in the family. Mama(Ito) is quite a successful lawyer but doesn't spend that much time with the family due to that fact, is always working late and it seems as though some of the family's problems over the years were because of not having her around enough, especially Yuki's problems.

There were also a few major characters outside the family, their next door neighbor Kozue(Kobayashi) who had just moved in, for the first half of the series she came off as an irresponsible woman who drank too much, though ended up she may have been the most sane person on the show as she was a doctor who eventually went back to th eprofession and may have saved Mama's life. There was also Pinky-san(Abe) who was a gay cross dresser and somehow comes into contact with the womanizer Akira, their relationship quite funny and sad but he really contributed to Akira growing as a person and helped the famly out with some of their problems too though they always didn't realize it. There was also Tomo(Kobayashi) who was Kaoru's classmate and first crush, they came from different backgrounds and her family looked down on the Kamons but that too worked out in the end.

Final conclusion of mine is this is one of the finest family dramas that has come out, didn't have high expectations going in but it ended up being perhaps not a must watch but one that is highly recommended. Started out a bit light hearted and fluffy, still stayed that way until the end of the show but also became quite dark and depressing at times as some of the storylines dealt with cancer, gay relationships, attempted rape amd more, they really made it an interesting watch and what sets it apart from most others in the family drama genre, would highly suggest this drama for anyone, think you'll really enjoy it. Check the next 2 posts for a mega amount of Yuki Uchida screenshots from the drama, cast and other info are right here.

Cast:
Masakazu Tamura as Papa Kamon
Ran Ito as Mama Kamon
Yuki Uchida as Yuki Kamon
Tetsuji Tamayama as Akira Kamon
Mitsuki Nagashima as Kaoru Kamon
Satomi Kobayashi as Kozue Tsunami
Sadao Abe as Pinky-san
Hitori Gekidan as Yamashita
Seiko Sakurada as Sato-sensei
Umika Kawashima as Tomo-chan

Year: 2006 # of episodes: 11 Average rating: 10.4%

Yuki Uchida Dare Yori mo Mama wo Aisu screenshots #1

2011-11-03T13:59:00.001-04:00

Episodes 1-6 screenshots of Yuki- click on them for a bigger view.

Yuki Uchida Dare Yori mo Mama wo Aisu screenshots #2

2011-11-03T13:48:00.000-04:00

Episodes 7-11 screenshots of Yuki- click on them for a bigger view.

Yuki Uchida: Thru the years #2

2011-10-28T16:22:00.000-04:00

More looking at Yuki throughout the years, one can never get tired of looking at any of her pics!

Various mag covers over the years.

Her four regular album covers.

Junjoukaren, 1995.

Mi-Chemin, 1995.

Ai no Baka, 1996.

Nakitakunala, 1996.

Koori no Sekai drama, 1999.

Just some various pics I like, old and new.

Yuki Uchida: Thru the years #1

2011-10-27T13:44:00.001-04:00

Yuki's b-day is coming up in a few weeks, going to be turning the ripe age of 36 but probably the best looking 36 year old in the world today! Thought I'd start a little series of looking at Yuki thru the years, no real order to them but a lot of pics and such which I've enjoyed and hopefully fans of hers will also like them.

From the first Bayside Shakedown film.

Couple shots of Yuki live in concert from the late 90's.

From one of the Bakamono premieres in 2010.

Calendars

Ryoko Hirosue in 11 Nin mo Iru!

2011-10-27T13:31:00.000-04:00

Ryoko Hirosue's newest drama just started last Friday night, Oct. 21st entitled 11 Nin mo Iru! Ryoko plays of all things a ghost in this series to the Snada family, a family who is poor due to the fact the father is unemployed and the mother just owns a small eatery while the oldest son who is a senior in HS takes on some PT jobs to help the family make ends meet, but what really makes them poor is that they have 8 children.

Ryoko is the mother of 7 of the children but passed away many years ago, the father(Tanabe) remarried and him and his new wife(Mitsuura) had another child. For reasons which haven't been explained yet Ryoko's spirit comes back to the household but the only person who can see her is the child who wasn't hers. Hard to give a good breakdown yet of what exactly is happening or will happen in this drama, it was only the first episode and most of it was devoted to giving the story of the Sanada family, what's going to happen next is up in the air along with why the dead wife Megumi(Hirosue) has come back as a ghost, she's not there to frighten them but why she's there is a mystery so far.

Will be giving a better breakdown of the series once things unfild but it's great to see Ryoko now back in a drama plus she really looks fantastic, she's such a veteran of the show biz life yet she's only 31 years old, still a long career ahead of her, check out some shots of her from episode one.

Cast:
Ryoko Hirosue as Megumi
Seiichi Tanabe as Minoru Sanada
Yasuko Mitsuura as Megumi Sanada
Ryunosuke Kamiki as Kazuo Sanada
Kasumi Arimura as Niko Sanada

Rena Tanaka misc. pictures

2011-10-25T13:56:00.001-04:00

Have been a big fan of Rena Tanaka for a long time, don't know what took so long but today's the first time I've done any posts about her, many more coming up though. Post after this has a good mag scan from 2001 which you can download and right after that is a review and screenshots of Rena's 2006 film Tripping. To start off just a whole bunch of Rena pics for you to enjoy from her over the years, as mentioned many more posts of her to come.
Click on the pics for a bigger view of them.

Rena Tanaka WPB 19- Shueisha scans and download

2011-10-25T13:47:00.000-04:00

An oldie treasure here of Rena's from 2001, looks great then and still continues to wow us in the beauty department, here's her pictorial from the WPB 19- Shueisha web magazine, over 160 pics in all, really recommend this one, you can download it here.
http://www.mediafire.com/?gxnmbsci8u80l0j

Tripping- Japanese-Taiwanese movie review

2011-10-25T13:35:00.000-04:00

Synopsis: Shaodea is a Japanese girl, living in Taipei with her father. He moved to Taiwan with his wife to start a Chinese herbal medicine shop. Ever since her mother died, Shaodea wants to return to Japan, but her father refuses to give up his dream. One day, after an argument with him, Shaodea goes out with her friends. While breaking in into a museum, the girl is transported back in time to feudal Taiwan. Thinking she’s on a movie set, the girl gets involved in a bank robbery and soon has to run from the authorities. She teams up with Haishon, an attractive young man who became a thief to save the economic crisis of his hometown. Together with a Tao-master, who is transporting 2 zombies back to their ancestral lands, they set off on a fantastic adventure.

Most films one would not consider to ne masterpieces nor must watches, Tripping is another movie which falls into those categories but it's not to say it's not a fun watch because it is. Rena plays Shaoeda, a Japanese girl living in Taiwan, one who yearns to be back in Japan unlike her father played by the always solid Ren Osugi. As noted in the synopsis above, that's what the film is basically about, really thin on a plot but it ended up being an enjoyable watch, if you just want to be entertained and like sword fights and mystical characters then this would be right up your alley and would recommend it.

Rena always does well in her roles whether it's a drama or film, problem is she hasn't been in many really good ones, actually most would be subpar except her acting, looks and charisma bring them up a notch or so and make them worthwhile watches, if there's any film though that is close to a must watch is 10 Promises to my Dog which I'll be posting about after another rewatch.

Not going to drag out the review for this film, really is a simplistic film plot wise but if you're a Rena fan it's one that you shouldn't miss, she's in almost every scene and really makes a less than stellar film one that's an enjoyable time killer. Besides Osugi didn't know any of the other cast, they are Taiwanese actors, don't know how popular they are but the other big star of the film Bo-lin Chen appears to be quite popular in his home country. Final rating of this would be a 7.5/10, so many better films out there but Rena as usual is a pleasure to watch, gonna hunt down a few others of hers to hopefully find a real winner, A Day on the Planet is supposed to be a real winner so that'll be coming up on my view list and hopefully can come back with a good review for it, post below this one has many screenshots of Rena from the film.

Cast: Rena Tanaka, Ren Osugi, Bo-lin Chen, Jimmy Hung, Lichun Lee
Year: 2006 Running time: 102 minutes Director/writer: Yiwen Chen

Rena Tanaka Tripping movie screenshots

2011-10-25T13:07:00.000-04:00

School!! Japanese 2011 drama

2011-10-23T14:24:00.002-04:00

Latest view was from this drama which aired from January to March of this year, School!! In this drama Eguchi plays Seiichiro Naruse who was a 42 year old tunnel construction worker who was offered the principals job at his old elementary school by his old principal despite having no experience in the education field.

Accepting the position, Seiichiro also moves in with his old principal Takeichi(Kishibe) and his grandaughter (Kitano) who is also a first year teacher at the Shingu Elementary School. It is a very small school with only one class each of 4th, 5th and 6th graders. Seiichiro was not very well accepted at first by most of the staff, one reason was him not coming from a teaching background and another being at trying to implement new ways of running a school, all of the staff already had ideas on what ways the school should be run and were not very receptive of any changes, but as the series wore on they slowly changed their minds and at the end were his biggest supporters.

I've seen many school dramas and this was one of the better ones, Dragon Zakura and Nobuta wo Produce both top it but they were High School shows, this is the first elementary school drama I've seen. Couple of reasons why it was so good was lack of fluffiness in it, sure there was some and most situations ended with a positive resolution but they were done in a classy way, they were always believable thanks to good scripts and some fine acting. Another reason was the pacing, never dragged, even most of the better dramas have slowdowns at some point but School!! didn't, perhaps having only 9 episodes had something to do with it but the first and last episodes were quite long so in total running time they equaled 11 episodes.

And one other reason for what made the show such an enjoyable watch was the cast, it being a small school there weren't many teachers so the cast itself was a bit smaller than most dramas which let all the characters have their own storylines and get to know them better and to see how they changed their views on the education process.
Not a huge fan of Eguchi, sometimes he can be a bit overbearing but he wasn't so much in this drama, he did do a solid performance, while saying I'm not a big fan of his have to admit every drama he's been in has been a good watch such as Triangle and Namida wo Fuite. Kii(e) Kitano also was quite good in this, much bigger role than what would have been expected, her and Eguchi worked well together as they shared so many scenes with her usually being dragged along with Eguchi as he tried to save or help a student out.
Rest of the cast was good too, Nishijima played a stern, unsmiling teacher, he plays that part in so many of his dramas/movies, he's good at it but would like to see more variety in the way he acts. Tsukamoto also did well as a teacher, he usually always does a solid job, here he plays a teacher who tries so hard but gets taken advantage of by his students which was a big storyline for the first half of the show. Also most episodes featured one or more of the students in a storyline, whether it was because of them bullying, their home life, etc, they all did well though not a standout job by any of them but good enough considering their ages.

I'd rate this about an 8.8/10, nothing new or original but good storylines and solid acting may not make it a must watch but one most drama fans should enjoy, easy enough to find at any J-drama site. Said it's not a must watch but would be if you're an Eguchi or Kitano fan, speaking of her check out the next post for many, many shots of her from the show.

Cast:
Yosuke Eguchi as Seiichiro Naruse
Kii(e) Kitano as Kanako Takeichi
Hidetoshi Nishijima as Iori Kirihara
Takashi Tsukamoto as Hitoshi Ohashi
Miwako Ichikawa as Yukie Okamoto
Keiko Horiuchi as Yuriko Yoshimura
Ittoku Kishibe as Mikihiro Takeichi
Broadcast period: January 16th to March 20th, 2011, ran on Fuji-TV with an average rating of 9.2%.

Kie Kitano School!! drama screenshots

2011-10-23T13:36:00.000-04:00

Kii or as she's commonly referred to outside of Japan as Kie is rapidly becoming one of my favorites, this is the first drama I've seen of hers but won't be the last, have also seen her in 4 movies and a TV special, of them all Halfway was by far the best, check out the synopsis and plenty of shots of her from the movie just a couple of posts below this one, here are shots of Kii from the School!! drama.

Yuki Uchida's 30 Haken Onna Ga Shuushoku Suru HouHou drama and screenshots

2011-10-21T14:09:00.001-04:00

Web dramas have become quite popular over in Japan the last few years and they usually draw some big names to star in them, here's one we'll quickly look at: 30 Haken Onna Ga Shuushoku Suru HouHou from 2010.

These dramas only average from 8-12 minutes an episode for about 12 total episodes, at the end of their run they're put on DVD and play out as one long movie, this one here ran for 133 minutes.
In this drama Yuki Uchida plays a single woman in her young 30's who's unable to find both full time employment and a husband. She ends up working for a temp agency doing various tasks, usually failing to do them successfully. She ends up meeting an old flame who she can't remember, though was he an old flame or someone from her many daydreams?

The old flame in question is played by Kosuke Toyohara whom they come into frequent contact through their jobs. They end up having one of those love/hate relationships but keep at it and eventually it comes to a fairy tale ending as they get married in the final episode.

That's the real basic breakdown of the show as like all the web drama from BeeTV it's unsubbed. Fairly enough to follow along with but these kinds of dranas really need subs for ones like me, there is so much dialouge plus Yuki talks so, so fast, especially when she gets a bit agitated which happens often in the show. Can't give it a rating becuase I missed too much without subs but still would recommend it, basic story is at least easy enough to follow plus if you're a Yuki fan should not be missed, she looks better and better every year. Check the next post out for many shots of Yuki from the show.

Yuki Uchida 30 Haken Onna Ga Shuushoku Suru HouHou screenshots

2011-10-21T13:51:00.000-04:00

Click on the images for a larger view.

Naoko Iijima in Zero Woman: Final Mission and other Zero Woman trailers

2011-10-21T13:32:00.000-04:00

After a 20 year abscence Zero Woman finally came back with a second movie called Zero Woman: Final Mission. This actually led to many more sequels following it, think about 7 in all, perhaps more. If you've seen one of them already the plot is exactly the same, Rei works for the Section Zero department as an assassin, usually taking out the bad guys that are associated with the government in some way, always playing a quiet, loner type.
Having seen 5 of this series this is still the best of the bunch, Naoko Iijima is just so stunning in the looks department plus she brings more personality to the Rei character than anyone else who has portrayed the role. This is also the tamest of the all as far as sex and nudity go though there is a bit in it though not so much for Naoko which is still okay, glad for her it wasn't any kind of demeaning role, it wasn't, she brought a touch of class to the film.
Not going to rate it on a 1-10 scale but if you've a Zero Woman fan and haven't seen this one then it would come recommended, good starting point too for those not familiar with the series though the most famous one is still the first one, Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs from 1974 starring Miki Sugimoto. Don't have to give up a lot of time for this film either as it clocks in at only 81 minutes and you can find it cheaply too as a triple back of the Zero Woman movies.
The next post has plenty of shots of Naoko from the Zero Woman movie, sadly there's no trailer for it on YT so here's the trailers for the next 2 films in the series to get an idea of what they are all about.

Naoko Iijima Zero Woman Final Mission screenshots

2011-10-21T13:22:00.000-04:00

Shots of Naoko from her Zero Woman movie, click on the shot for a bigger view.

Halfway movie synopsis, images and trailer

2011-10-19T14:09:00.001-04:00

Quickie breakdown: Hiro (Kie Kitano) and Shuu (Masaki Okada) start dating in high school. Falling deep into first love romance they have almost forgotten about being a halfway between adult life and graduation, but happy days are interrupted by a single fact - Hiro is planning to apply for local Hokkaido university, but Shuu is going to leave Hokkaido and enter Tokyo university. The couple is on their first hard decision thinking over priorities in their life.

This is truly one of the best films in recent years from Japan and that's really saying a lot for this film. Not a film that will go down in the books as a masterpiece but as far as entertainment value goes this should be at the top of anyone's list. Funny, sweet, sad, reflective and solid acting really make this a must watch, though more directed towards the teen audience anyone from any age can really relate to this young couples plight.

The acting in the film is top notch, Kie Kitano does a superb job as Hiro, who finally had the boy of her dreams ask her out and now he may be leaving her, her character is just so sweet, daffy, stubborn and airheaded, such a great job by Kie. As a matter of fact liked her so much in this have gone on to see 4 more of her films which though are not as good as this one she still does a solid job in all of them, will be looking at a few of them in the future.

Also a nice effort by Okada in the film too, his character is quite laid back and very confused at what to do in the future, it gets settled by the film's end and luckily for us in a high quality and not fluffy way. Really every scene in the movie has either Kitano or Okada in it, while many other characters none really has a big part in it though all do a good job with the little screen presence they have.

Final summary of the movie would be a rating of 9.5/10, it's hard to hit the magic number of 10 but this is as good of a film as you will see. You may not laugh or cry but you'll have a smile on your face the whole time viewing it, I've already seen it 3 times and many more watches of it will be coming up in the future, strongly recommend this film.
Check further down for the cast info plus the trailer which is subbed, also the next post has many, many images of Kie from the film.

Year: 2009 Length: 85 minutes Director: Eriko Kitagawa

Cast:

Hiro- Kie Kitano
Shuu- Masaki Okada
Megumi- Riisa Naka
Takanashi- Hiroki Narimiya
Hirabayashi- Takao Osawa
Tasu- Junpei Mizobata
Naoko- Miho Shiraishi