Shitsuren Chocolatier Heartbreak

 

By the way, I don't want to make a huge, huge deal about it, but I have to at least MENTION how disappointed I was with the final episode of the Matsumoto Jun/Ishihara Satomi drama "Shitsuren Chocolatier".... Man, I was REALLY loving this drama (for some reason I really loved and cared about the characters), so I was looking forward to see how everything all wrapped up. Without giving away any spoilers, I'll jsut say I expected more with that last chapter than what they gave me. Sigh.

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Ode To The Romantic Comedies of the Past

Kitagawa Keiko and Kusanagi Tsuyoshi in Dokushin Kizoku

 Oh Man, Doukushin Kizoku is such an awesome drama so far! I love, love, love it!!! I’m up to episode 6 and my initial feeling that this story seemed like a throwback to old fashioned romantic comedies wasn’t off the mark- the show is just FILLED with nods and references to the beloved films of the past!
  With music from such movies West Side Story (I Could Have Danced all Night) and the Wizard of Oz (Somewhere Over the Rainbow), the music transports you to those movies of yesteryear, and they’ve even got the sweet Audrey Hepburn tune “Moon River” (from Breakfast At Tiffany’s) as the show’s recurring interlude song!

Speaking of Audrey Hepburn, even the storyline of the stoic and proper Mamoru (Tsuyoshi Kusanagi) and the suave and dashing younger brother Susumu (Ito Hideaki) both fighting over the affections of humble poor girl Yuki (Kitagawa Keiko) reminds me of the 1954 movie “Sabrina” where Humphrey Bogart and William Holden were fighting over the dainty Audrey!

The characters in the show are so great and colorful- besides the main cast, I’ve already mentioned Renbutsu Misako, here portraying the cute and frustrated Sumika (LOLOL):

...but even Nishihara Aki as Yuki’s hippie roommate Saori and Hiraiwa Kami as Mamoru’s scatterbrained would-be fiancé are glorious to watch! BTW, it took me a couple of episodes to realize Yuki’s bossy and yet insecure immediate supervisor Yuta was played by Fujigaya Taisuke!

Ito Hideaki and Renbutsu Misako

Kitagawa Keiko and Fujigaya Taisuke

While chatting about romantic comedies of the past and present, Mamoru and Yuki's conversation goes from “An Affair To Remember”to“Sleepless In Seattle”, and one doesn’t need to be a major moviegoer to notice the significance of the Empire State Building snuck into the background on a market poster LOL!

And take this scene of Mamoru rescuing Keiko from a would-be attacker- I took one look at it and had to chuckle as it reminded me of the ending scene of “The Graduate” so much! And that’s just one of the many, many winks the show gives to viewer! For a drama about movies and moviemaking, they certainly are giving the audience a lot of food for thought!

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What Dreams May Come: The Haunting New Drama "Double Tone~Futari No Yumi"

Just started watching the incredibly haunting and melancholy drama Double Tone/Two Yumis, the strange tale of two women named Yumi, one a simple housewife and the other an up-and-coming designer, who uncannily see each others' lives play out in each others'  dreams.! At first only mildly curious about the dreams they've been having, their fates take a darker turn when they find out that the dream are not only real, but are separated by years... years in which one woman has apparently passed away! A J-drama with a decidedly David Lynchian twist!

The drama stars pretty actresses Nakagoshi Noriko (last seen by me in Lucky Seven, though I admittedly don't remember her) as designer Yumi Nakano and Kurotani Tomoko (who I hadn't seen since appearing as the ex-wife of  Takano Bucho in Hotaru No Hikari) as troubled housewife Yumi Tamura, two awesome actresses who make this show really something to watch!

Such a gripping and thought-provoking drama, I was crushed to find that this show is only going to be 6 episodes long, so rather more like a long movie than a drama proper, but perhaps that's all for the best...a very linear tale like this certainly doesn't need any unnecessary sub-plots or characters to get right to the heart of the situation!

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