What Ever Happened to the Rain Fall?
Japanese TV Drama series actress, movie star, and former gravure idol, Kyoko Hasegawa made a lot of news in the spring of 2008 after signing to appear in a spy-thriller movie called Rain Fall.
Her co-star was to be one of western filmdom’s leading villains – Gary Oldman. Also starring in the lead role of John Rain, an American-Japanese covert operations agent and spy-extraordinaire, was Japanese actor Kippei Shiina. This film’s plot is about a hitman who after one of his assassinations, determines to protect the daughter of his victim.
Of course that is the bare bones of the story which has been called a Bourne-esque thriller filmed and set in Tokyo. The film opened in Tokyo on April 25th, 2009, any may still be playing in a neighborhood cineplex in a Tokyo suburb, but I can’t really offer any more about this film as I haven’t seen it. I don’t believe it was released in the US, and there’s no available DVD at this time. [Edit on Aug 5th - just announced: A Blu-Ray DVD and a standard DVD of this film will be released on October 7th, 2009.]
So then, instead of wasting our time discussing a film, that neither most of you nor I can watch at the moment, I’ll provide you with this link to the film’s Official Website (http://rain-fall.jp/), so you may have a more detailed look at the movie if you like.
Here, we’ll just move on and look at the movie’s female lead – the beautiful Kyoko Hasegawa. I’ve seen her in a number of Japanese TV dramas series, and we will use those to give you a better look at her.
The first J-TV series that I’ve seen with Kyoko Hasegawa is called See You in Kowloon. This series was broadcast in the spring of 2002. This is a tale of 5 people in their 30′s whose paths cross in Kowloon forming a love story, or should I say, some intersecting love triangles. Kowloon, which is across the harbor from Hong Kong Island, is the setting. Hasegawa plays the 2nd female lead in the role of Jasmine.
It was an OK story, with lots of situations stemming from one girl having two lovers, and one guy having too many girls, and four of the five work together. Sort of revolving door hijinx, as in who will get caught next? And who will take an innocent situation out of context and view it in the worst possible light? While no is actually caught with their pants down, it sure seems like it could happen at any moment.
But Kyoko as Jasmine looked good, albeit young, and looking even better were the multiple on-location settings all over Hong Kong and Kowloon. I’ve been to Hong Kong many times, and when I’m there I usually book a Kowloon hotel, so this was a familiar setting for me.
Our second Kyoko TV series is called Wonderful Life and was broadcast during April-June 2004. It stars Takashi Sorimachi as Kirishima, Japan’s most famous baseball player. Kirishima is a playboy, and an arrogant, self-centered jerk. He’s used up all his chances, and now finds himself washed-up as a ballplayer, unemployed, his wife and child have left him, besides that, he’s broke with collectors from the loan-sharks on his tail. Enter Hasegawa as Mizuki, a girl who is studying to become a lawyer. Her little brother plays for a young boys’ baseball team that is about to be disbanded. On a whim, she writes to Kirishima, offering him the job as coach.
It’s a heartwarming story about redemption, and baseball, with romance mixed in making it a drama fit for the whole family. Kyoko plays her role of Mizuki as a wholesome, principled, and determined woman, but she’s far too pretty to pass as a ‘plain-jane’.
Our next look at Hasegawa-san is in the series called M no Higeki or The Tragedy of M. Kyoko stars with the talented Japanese actor Goro Inagaki. The broadcast period was Jan-March 2005. This is a puzzling story that is about the human heart. Mix hate, jealousy, revenge, and anger along with love and you have the ingredients of this story.
In simpler terms, Mamoro’s (Inagaki) life begins to seriously unravel after a chance meeting with Misa (Hasegawa) on a Tokyo commuter train. He has no idea as to why any of this is happening as he watches his life take this downward spiral, and his descent gets steeper and steeper.
Hasegawa plays the mysterious Misa whose character arc swings between being a glamorous, sophisticated, and desirable woman, to being frightening and/or terrified. It’s a great dramatic thrill ride.
Okay, what’s next?
Let’s move on to April to June 2006. Kyoko starred in a tasty number called Delicious Proposal. She plays Suzuko Shiraisi, the head chef of a small French restaurant. Her leading man is Keisuke Koide and he’s the son of the CEO of a huge conglomerate. He’s a honcho himself with his own division to run. But his father has advised him that his division will taking over the restaurant with the intent to close it and re-open it as part of their chain. His job is to oversee the orderly transition of the restaurant and its staff.
Will the Chef and the Chief attract each other or be repelled? Will supporting cast member Eiko Koike, another former gravure idol, who plays the roommate of Suzuko, get enough screen time to show off her ample assets?
As I said, the title is Delicious Proposal, and this is really a tasty treat to watch.
Our last tv series with Kyoko is called Scandal. It began its run on October 19th of 2008. This is a drama that looks like it could be called a woman’s show, but there’s enough of a msytery and a lot of eye-candy to hook male viewers as well. Here’s a quick plot outline:
Risako is getting married. She invites four women that she’s known separately but who don’t know each other to the wedding. After the wedding, Risako corrals these four women and challenges them to a game. They will all go to a bar and the game is that they all must go out and pick up a man with the last one to return to the bar having to pick up the check for their drinks. At first the women are disgusted and haughtily refuse, but no one really wants to be a party-pooper so they begrudgingly agree to play.
Mind you, this is Risako’s wedding night. Well, the thing of it is, she, Risako disappears. What follows is the mystery of what happened to Risako, and beyond that, as the story unfolds, we learn more and more about these women, their lives, and the facts that the everyone involved – the wives, their husbands, and even the police detective, all have some secrets.
We are watching a group of lives that are slowly being bared and peeled away, layer by layer. At times it is riveting. Kyoko plays one of the wives, and she’s the one with small children, an overbearing husband, and financial woes on top of everything.
They’ve asked Kyoko to play this as a somewhat less than glamorous house wife though you’d never know this from the glamor-packed intro. Beyond that they really didn’t try too hard to make her less noticeable.
Summary: Kyoko Hasegawa seems to be an all purpose actress. She’s done horror, dramas, rom-coms, and even mysteries and action-thrillers. She’s guaranteed to turn heads when she enters a room. Me, I love this woman, and I’m hoping to get my hands on Rain Fall as soon as it hits the shelves, anywhere.
You can buy many of Kyoko’s TV series with English subtitles. The Japanese TV Drama Store is based in California. Just find the search box on their home page and search for Hasegawa Kyoko.