Asian Beauty Appreciation

Years back, okay – a little more than 9 years ago when we were in the previous century, they were called stewardesses, then the term flight attendants came into vogue as a way to describe the job. Nowadays, at least in what you might see in a Japanese tv series or movie, or even in a Hong Kong film, the job title has been modified yet again. We are now in the era of Cabin Attendants.

It is a popular job. Or so they want us to think. So much so, that they (the suits that make the decisions on what movies to produce and what TV series to broadcast) regularly trot out a tv series or romantic comedies for the movies featuring cute and pretty actresses as CA’s. Let’s have a look at some of them.

Our first title is called Flying Rabbits (2008). The leading role, Yukari, is played by the popular and very cute Satomi Ishihara. This was a movie about Yukari serving in two distinct spheres.

First she’s training as a cabin attendant for JAL (Japan Airlines), and second, due to some paperwork snafu, she’s also been recruited for JAL’s female corporate basketball team called the JAL Flying Rabbits, which does exist in real life. Two players from that team played on the Japan National Team in the 2004 Olympics.

Well despite her claims to not being able to play hoops, she’s forced to practice with the team. She doesn’t show any skills at all, but somehow the team coaches show a lot of faith in her. we are asked to root for Yukari to achieve her goals both on the hardwood court as well as in the skies.

On the television side, we have Attention Please!, a 2006 series that ran for 11 weeks, which starred the wonderful Japanese superstar Aya Ueto. Brought up as something of a tomboy, one day punk-rocker Yoko Misaki (Ueto) takes up a challenge and decides to become a Cabin Attendant. She’ll face a lot of ups and downs in her training.

This delightful series was so popular and well received, that it was brought back twice for Specials – one of which took place in Hawaii was broadcast in 2007, and the other in Sydney, Australia, and was aired in 2008.

Ueto as Misaki-san brought energy and cheerful brashness to the role. Even when she screwed up, and acted out in ways that would infuriate her training mentors as well as her colleagues, you couldn’t help but love her.

This was a magical role for Aya, and a series that was quite enlightening about the airline industry and how their Cabin Attendants are trained. If that sounds dreary, you can just forget about it. This was a fun series.

From Hong Kong, we have the 2005 film It Had to Be You. The stars Ekin Cheng as Jack and Karena Lam as Jill, each portray people who meet at work which happens to be an Italian restaurant in Hong Kong called Casa Nostra (he’s the new Chef, she’s the Maitre-D).

And each of them share the same misfortune as being the other guy and the other girl in their respective relationships. In short both Jack and Jill’s lovers have another lover. Meaning Jack and Jill are the back-ups.

In this film, Jack’s girl is an airline Cabin Attendant. While this film isn’t really about the Cabin Attendant, she does have a prominent role. Meanwhile this is a cute urban romantic comedy with a lot of production values, from that stellar studio U.F.O. (United Filmmakers Org.) that it make it a treat to watch.

I’m not going to tell you whether Jack and Jill end up together or not, but their characters names should give you a big clue. So like most rom-coms it’s not about where you end up, but the fun is in how you got there.

Our 4th subject is called Call Me CA. This series starred Arisa Mizuki as the 28 year old Sae Yamada. It seems that 5 years prior, Sae had lost a boyfriend to a CA. So to find happiness, and possibly a well-to-do husband, she becomes a CA with the fictional Aero Nippon Lines (ANL).

As a CA working only domestic flights, she’s looked down on by the snobby international flights CA’s. She feels she’s overworked, underpaid, and because of the erratic scheduling, she hasn’t had a real date in 5 years.

While you do feel sympathetic to Sae’s plight, often she is her own worst enemy. But there’s plenty of enjoyable moments in this series, including some fine looking gravure beauties like Misako Yasuda, Karina, Eriko Sato, and Haruna Yabuki, in supporting roles.

Our last series is called Good Luck!. Broadcast in 2003, it is the story of a pilot who struggles to earn his first Captaincy. Takuya Kimura stars as the dashing Hajime Shinkai who has reached 1st Officer status and is now pursuing his Captain’s stripes. Besides looking great in his uniform, Shinkai has a plethora of girls whom he works with.

There’s Hitomi Kuroki as his friend Noriko (below). She’s older, has more experience than he does, and they share a nice platonic and confidant friendship.

Rina Uchimaya is the eager CA Fukaura (below) who isn’t afraid to say she’s a CA for one reason – to find a husband. She makes a run at Shinkai quite quickly.

Then there’s the gruff,outspoken, and scared to fly ground mechanic. Her name is Ayumi Ogawa. She’s played by Kou Shibasaki. One day, on an inbound flight, Shinkai’s Captain and pilot, suffers a bit of incapacitation. So Shinkai has to bring the plane in for landing at Narita, Tokyo’s main international airport. While he does get everyone home safely, his landing was anything but smooth. Later on the tarmac he runs into mechanic Ayumi, who tells him about his so-so landing in the image below: You suck!

And there you have it. The skies are filled with people who look glamorous but in some cases are still learning about their jobs. You will learn that those big jumbo 767′s are really no different than offices where gossip and jealousy exist side by side with dedication and perseverance. And a final thought- as a passenger you really know next to nothing about how an airline functions. It is a lot more complex and involved than you may have thought.

But any of these movies and TV series will show you a side of the industry that you might not otherwise get to see. And you’ll have a good time as you do so.