Five people, all twenty-somethings, are active in the workplace as well as members of the digital world. Somehow, via Twitter, or some other social network which they’ve used to communicate, they ultimately agree to meet. This is how the 11 week Japanese TV series called Sunao ni Narenakute begins. I’m not sure what the title actually means – but the tag-line of the series is - It’s hard to say I love you, and that is a pretty good description about what will follow.
Basically, over the life of the series, which ran this year from mid-April through June 24th, we will learn some in depth info about the five lead characters. We watch as they struggle with their problems like: their aversion to commitments, their lack of confidence, their unwillingness to either express the truth or to face it.
If that sounds kind of grim and disturbing to you, you can rest assured that the series is not completely or only about bumps in the road, it only seems that way. The cast is youthful, attractive, and their problems/issues are not too remote for most of us to identify with or relate to. As they’ve agreed to meet for the first time in the opening Episode, I’ll give you a little thumbnail sketch about each of them to help you decide if you’d like to watch this series.
I haven’t looked at photos of Minase in a very long time which is a shame because she is such a cutie, plus she is in one of my all time favorite photos for a gravure model. Just recently, I became reacquainted with her when I saw this post. So if you are like me and haven’t checked out Minase in a while, here’s your chance to do so.
Shinzanmono is a Japanese TV Series that just ended its run last Sunday night, June 20th. Broadcast on Japan’s TBS Network, this show was definitely prime time as it aired on Sunday nights at 9:00 PM. The 10 episodes of the series can most simply be described as a detective story. The crime was a murder, and it took place in the Ningyo-cho neighborhood of Nihonbashi, Tokyo. Of course the series was shot in the very neighborhood being portrayed.
I think shinzanmono means something along the lines of ‘new neighborhood people or person’, which is what Detective Kaga Kyoichiro is in Ningyo-cho. Kaga was just tranferred to the Nihonbashi precinct, is placed in charge of the case. With virtually all of the residents of the neighborhood’s main shopping street, harboring one secret or another, they will all emerge as suspects, Detective Kaga must use his keen sense of deductive reasoning to uncover the truth about these people as well as solve the case..
Much of that is from the synopsis provided on the d-addicts.com website. But it really doesn’t do the series justice. Calling it a detective show is truly an over-simplification. Unlike American detective shows where the detective solves a new crime each week, this series focuses on just the one case. We, much like Detective Kaga, are in the dark. Though we witnessed the murder in the opening episode, and have seen snippets of it, in flashbacks, in every episode that followed, we still have no idea. This is a literal, “Who done it?”
When I saw this bit of news this morning, I couldn’t believe it. But not only does Anri Suzuki have a doctorate in history, but as a way to apologize for the Japanese invasion of China, she has been offering free sex sessions to the Chinese students who are studying in Japan. While focused on the Japanese invasion of China, Anri was shocked to learn about her country’s past, so she’s atoning for those past wrongdoings by offering sexual compensation.
If I was a Chinese student studying there, I would take her up on this offer in a heartbeat. You’d be silly not to. But I hope that this bit of news brings some attention to the readers here who are also unaware of the Japanese invasion of China, which is a history that doesn’t get much attention and when the Japanese government has repeatedly try to deny and remove from textbooks.
Currently airing on Japan’s Fuji TV Network is the lively and entertaining Tsuki no Koibito or Moon Lovers. It just started a few Monday’s back on May 10th, so it’s 3rd episode has already aired today, the night of the 24th in Japan.
The lead role of Rensuke Hazuki is played by the Japanese superstar, Takuya Kimura. He’s the CEO of the Regolith Corporation. Under his guidance, Regolith is about to pass the Mastpole Company, and become the number one brand name in interior design.
Simply described, he is in the furniture business and he’s very smart about it. So he’s successful, rich, and ambitious for more, much more.
I remember when Asuka Sawamoto made headlines by flashing her rump in the middle of Akihabara which drew massive crowds that came to take photos of her. She claimed to be 22 years old until it was found that she was actually 31 years old and a gravure idol with a few IVs already available.
What I wasn’t aware of was her adult video debut this April which I found out about yesterday while looking at the latest video game news on Kotaku, and that this news was already available here on the forum before Kotaku’s article was published to the internet. So I decided to take that information and turn it into one convenient post for your enjoyment.
I have been a huge fan of The King of Fighters series by SNK since King of Fighters ‘94. I had high hopes for The King of Fighters XII when it was released in 2009, but the game wasn’t as good as I thought it would be, plus one of my favorite characters was missing from the roster.
Mai Shiranui has been a part of the series since the beginning, and I did not like that she was not a part of KOF XII. The good news is that Mai returns to the roster with the announcement of The King of Fighters XIII which will be out in arcades this summer. So let’s celebrate with some sexy cosplay by Sayuki Matsumoto. And if you haven’t acquainted yourself with Sayuki in a while, now is a good time to do so, especially since she looks amazing in Mai’s costume.
A recent article in Japantoday.com was a short piece about beautiful actress Akiko Yada and her marital woes. You can read the piece here, but the long and the short of it is that hubby Manabu Oshio is currently being detained, as in held in custody, by the Tokyo police, while facing a charge of failing to exercise due care resulting in a death.
It seems, per the article, that Akiko long suspected her husband of infidelity, but she is surprised that drugs are also involved. She filed for divorce four days after Oshio’s arrest.
I’m not going to comment further on the arrest, the alleged crime, the alleged drug use, or infidelity. Those things will work themselves out with or without press coverage and definitely without my opinions.
Maybe it is part of the press campaign for her next motion picture. In a more recent Japantoday.com article, they’ve announced that Akiko will play a police detective along with Kenji Sakaguchi doing the Bruce Willis role in the Japanese version of Die Hard. Read more…
Real Clothes was a Japanese TV Drama series that played last fall. Starting on October 13th, its last episode aired on December 22nd, a few days before Christmas, and just a little more than two months ago. The DVD will be released in the middle of next week on March 3rd. Simply described, the story has everything you ever wanted to know about high fashion, or to be more exact – it is about selling high fashion which is really the selling of dreams. If they had a tag-line, it might have been, To be your best, you have to look your best.
Karina has the lead role and is just one of many Japanese beauties lighting up the screen in this 11 episode series. She does a superb job as Kinue Amano, a girl who was doing quite well selling bedding in the fictional top of the market Echizenya Department Store in Tokyo. Then one day she finds she’s been transferred to the Women’s Clothing Department.
Karina as Kinue Amano, looking like a plain Jane in Episode 1. This scene is in Paris where the series begins.
Speaking of Asians and the Olympics, should pole dancing become an Olympic sport? If it means that I would be able to check out Mai Sato, the current world champion in her sport on national television, absolutely.
There’s video of her in action after the break, but I don’t know why anyone would be against making pole dancing an official event. Who wouldn’t want to watch women work the pole? Plus, think about the ratings the sport would get if it is televised nationally and internationally. If figure skating and curling can draw millions of viewers worldwide, so could pole dancing. Hopefully, it makes it in someday.
Five people, all twenty-somethings, are active in the workplace as well as members of the digital world. Somehow, via Twitter, or some other social network which they’ve used to communicate, they ultimately agree to meet. This is how the 11 week Japanese TV series called Sunao ni Narenakute begins. I’m not sure what the title actually means – but the tag-line of the series is - It’s hard to say I love you, and that is a pretty good description about what will follow.
A recent article in Japantoday.com was a short piece about beautiful actress Akiko Yada and her marital woes. You can read the piece
