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Another Japanese Drama.

Jiro Kanzaki is 32 and is a “has been” F3000 pilot.
Before he left Japan, he won many races in the F3 Japan serie ; then, to gain experiences, he left the country to attempt European F3000 (serie before F1).
Unfortunately, years after, his European experience was not as benefit as he expected.
During a test for his team, Jiro messed up and was responsible for a collision with the “team #1 pilot” while he was only a test-driver. Then he’s got fired.
It seems like no team wants to hire Jiro anymore.

Back to Japan after this bad experience, he returns home : an orphanage. The place is run by his father whom Jiro didn’t heard about for 5 long years.

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Just a short billet to say a couple of words about …. Shibasaki Kou.

Who is that ?

I have discovered her in a Japanese drama (yes again lol) called Orange Days.

Kai Yuuki (Satoshi Tsumabuki) is in his senior year at university studying social welfare psychology. At present, he is in the middle of job-hunting season. He is finding it difficult with no job offers so far. One day, he meets a girl who is playing violin in the campus. She is Sae Hagio (Kou Shibasaki). In marked contrast to her beautiful tone and attractive looks, her personality is somewhat impertinent. And to top it off, she communicates through very vulgar sign language. Four years ago, she lost the most important thing for a violinist - her hearing. As a result Sae closed off her inner self from the outside world. Kai finds himself on a date with Sae, in place of his best friend. Unexpectedly, he comes into contact with Sae’s private side. Love, job-hunting, friendship… Setting a campus in spring as a dorama`s backdrop, it’s the start of a glittering youth drama. (JDoroma.com)

She is amazing as an actress !!
At least she was in Orange days and I recommand it to you. (more details on the link right above)
In the drama, she played a mute and deaf young lady.
I have no idea if you count to watch it or not but I’m gonna to reveal you a “secret” :p She is not mute and deaf at all ….. in the real life lol
Her acting was sooo great, I was 100% sure that she was all mute and deaf in the real life lol.
The way she acted and if you do not have any sign language experience or knowledge, you are easily “bluffed” (I’m not sure about that word in english but I have no dictionnary right here :/ ).
The fact that no sound is coming out from her mouth (normal she is supposed to be mute ) and “speaks” with her hand, her body language, her face expression, …. everyhting in her acting really make you think that she is handicapped.

Then I watched Good Luck, another j-drama. She is also in it.

Having achieved his life-long dream of being a pilot, Hajime is first officer on an international jetliner and is now working to become a captain. But he can’t seem to please Captain Mizushima, who has become an exacting taskmaster since an air incident many years ago. To complicate matters, he begins a relationship with stubborn and straight-talking mechanic, Ayumi, whose parents died many years ago in the plane crash for which Captain Mizushima feels he is responsible. What follows is a story of 21st century love, dreams and passion. (JDorama.com)

In this drama, I was kinda shocked to hear that words could come out from her mouth ; she speaks and hears !!
That is how I realized how much she was really great in Orange Days !
By the way, Good Luck is a neat drama to watch either. It is a HUGE commercial for ANA (All Nipon Airlines) Kind of a “the everyday time life in an airlines company”.

A really great japanese actress

By typing this billet, I also found out that she is also a singer. Is she an idol ? I’m gonna find out more if she sings as great as she acts. ^_^
She was also a student in the silly movie Battle Royale.

(all pictures are from a Shibasaki Kou’s Unofficial Fansite ^_^ )

Aka :My pet boy:

This is a japanese drama again based on 10 episodes ; 45 min lenght each.

The story.

Simure-chan owned, when she was 10 years old, a dog named Momo. He was her confident, her best friend, her “lover”. He meant so much to her.

After her graduation from Tokyo University, she is a very respecfull young lady. A career woman in journalism in external affair department. She is brilliant, successfull, determinated, …. but lonely after her work day.
A night on the way back to her place, she found a huge box. She opened it and a young boy was in it. He was seriously injured. She was ready to call the police but couldn’t remember the number (lol). And it is starting to rain.
Under panick, she finally brought the huge box into her appartment.
She healed and fed the unknow young boy.

The day after, when the young boy got recovered, it is time for him to leave but he begs her to stay because he has no place else to go.

Him : “I’ll do whatever you want”
Her : “then, you will be my …. pet”

and blablabla

Basically, the story is about a pet-boy who lives with her wonderful master. She bathes him, she hugs him, pats him, he jumps on her anytime she is back home, …………. a human-pet relationship but here the pet is a boy (yeah, it sounds crazy lol) Everything was perfect until the day Sumire-chan “college-boyfriend” re-appears. (She is got cheated by her ex-boyfriend because he felt inferior to her.)

I really enjoyed watching it. The story was kinda weird ; no, it is definitely weird lol. Have you ever think about having a human-pet ? Not a “slave” or someone living and depends on you but …… a human-pet. Like a pet lol yeah i know it is kinda confusing lol
Both characters are really great.
She is the kind of person who always seems “to be somewhere else”. Never know what she really thinks. She is “mysterious”. And she is cutter when she doesn’t smile. She is so pretty when she cries :p

For the less drama I saw, she was also a supporting actress in My Husband (browse furthermore down or check my March database).
About the pet, he is also performing in Gokusen (browse down too or check my March database)

(screens from the first episode - JTV’s release)

<edit : finally found out that she is also the girl in Edward Zwick’s The Last Samourai with Tom Cruise.
I got the DVD since april 2004 (a year ago) while I spent a semester in the US but haven’t watched it yet That is a good opportunity right now lol >

I don’t really know who she is but I have recently discovered her in :My Husband: and lately in :Pride: - both are japanese drama.
The first one is a really really good drama (browse further more down to read my billet about it) and the second one is great because of the main characters

2 words about :Pride:
(http://jdorama.com)

Back to Takeuchi Yuko ^_^
She is soooo cute (yes one more cutie in my blog )
She is the kind of girl when she cries you feel terribly sorry for her. She can hurt you in the deep of yourself lol really
But when she is smiling, ………… O-M-G !!!!
If you are enough lucky to receive a smile from a such person, you will feel so restless and feel like within a second that all your troubles and worries are gone away !! And in peace with yourself ^_^

I have a silly cousin kinda like this.
My cousin is not as cute as Takeuchi Yuko ( :D ) but both have a smile which can make anyone fall down
So Yuko in the real life ………………….. ^_^

(http://www.asianology.com/advanced/takcuchi_yuko)
(more pictures in the link above)

A picture of my cousin ? She is not successfull with guys ( :p ) so with a good picture of Takeuchi Yuko right above, putting a picture of my cousin here won’t help her heehee :p (she is gonna kick my ass lol )

(aka :Mukodono!: )
One more japanese drama !
I had d/l this drama 2 months ago I guess and the 1st episode was in my Archos but anytime I had tried to watch it, I couldn’t go over the first 5 mintutes. It didn’t seemed to be any attractive and the fast forward didn’t really help :p
My bad because this drama is a MASTER PIECE drama !!!!! lol

The story :

Imagine a super-mega star in Japan. Sakuraba Yuichiro is a 23 songwriter and singer.
As being a mega star, his fans are all over Japan. He is everywhere (magazines, giant screens in Tokyo downtown, adds, radio, ……….). It impossible to make a step without him arround.
Someday, he accidentaly met a young lady, Arai Sakura, at the hospital. They started to date each other but they both decided to keep it secret.
Tired to hide themself anytime they hang out together, he decided to marry her.
At first, Yuichiro’s manager didn’t agreed. Yuichiro’s fans will be disappointed since they all know that Yu’s “lover” is his loneliness.

Yu grew up all by himself after her mom passed away when he was kid. He never had any family dinner, family scraps, family worries, ……. By marrying Sakura, he also realized one of his dream : being the member of a family.

Finally, they both get married but still also have to keep their marriage secret from Yu’s fans ; that is Yu’s manager condition to not deceived them.

As being a new member of the Arai family, Yu will bring a new breathe into Sakura’s family.
Yu will have a double life : a mega star the day and a husband the night.

I really enjoyed watching this drama. I had spent an over night to watch the complete serie from the first till the last episode (12 ep ; 45 min. lenght each). I couldn’t stopped watching lol
There is everything in this drama. Joy, comedy, charm, tears, “elder’s voice”, betrayal, “family’s secret”, family’s values, ……….. everything. Plus My Husband is probably sponsorized by kleenex lol ; see what I mean ? hahaha

Yu’s life as being a mega star and as being a husband the night are totally different.
To give you an idea, it is like Ryo Saeba from City Hunter.
The drama turns into a theater show anytime Yu lives his life as being a husband ; his “too much” side whereas he is very calm as being a star. Plus the “soap opera” side of the drama lol

Another must be seen drama

Some screens from the first episode.

Sakura and Yu ; first morning into Sakura’s family after being accepted. Both fit so well together

Yu’s new family.

Yu’s “too much” side at home.

Yu and Sakura’s wedding at home.

and a serie of Yu’s pictures at work ; see how different he is ? lol

Takeuchi Yuko 竹内結子, Arai Sakura in the drama, cries and smile so easily ^_^
Looking forward for another drama with her in

another japanese drama ^_^ (12 episodes + 2 specials)

It is also from an anime / manga. The drama was first aired in 2002 on the nippon television.

What is the story about ?

Kumiko Yamaguchi is a new teacher in xxxx high school (too hard to remember japanese name lol). As in GTO, Kumiko will be in charged of the class that none other teacher wanted. The worse of the school, the 3-D class.
Contrary to GTO, Onizuka’s students look fine. Here, Kumiko’s students are delinquents. Long hair, blond-colored haired, “dirty”, ……. they look like real bad guys.

Kumiko’s first step in the 3-D class :

It sounds to be a very funny drama like GTO was. Maybe it should be better. I’ll tell you later

As Onizuka sensei, Kumiko do not accept the fact that her students are considered as wastes. She is ready to defend and protect them. She is also ready to get into fight for them.

How a “tiny” teacher like Kumiko can fight for those delinquents ?

haha that is the funny part lol ; When I first watched the first episode, I didn’t really know about the story except the fact that Gokusen is a “GTO female like”.

Here is Kumiko (red suit) the first day when she was introduced to her students during a short celebration. The girl on her left is a new teacher too. As you can see, she (not Kumiko) looks “hotter”.

Of course, during their presentation and their short speech in front of their audience (students), Kumiko’s colleague was applaused while Kumiko was ……………. at that moment if the students had eggs or tomatoes, ……………

(maybe you have noticed it, she is also the crazy girl in You’re under arrest !)

Kumiko is not really attractive ugh ? hahaha

But she is soooooo cute lol

in fact, she is a “two face” girl . You know like Clark/Superman. He takes off his glasses and he is someone else. But in Clark you can easily recognize Superman and vice versa.
But with Kumiko it is kinda different lol
In her sport wear and sneakers, she is not really attractive. At school with her small and friendly voice, she is not really respected by her students and even her kyoto (principal).
In the first episode, after her first day class, she is on the way back to her place. Arround her place, it seems like everybody knows her and is very popular ; on her path, anyone salute her. Those 30sec is a huge contraste to the Kumiko from school.
Then she started to untied her hair and when she went through her gate, she took off her glasses.

It seemed to me that it was two different actresses ; I had to backward a couple of time before to admit that both Kumiko were the same hahaha

For your pleasure …. and mine another screen from the generic.

The thing is that Kumiko has been raised by her grand father after her parents lost. Her grand father is ………. a chief of the third generation of xxxxx (couldn’t remember the name again family. In some others words, she is from a Yakuza family hahaha

Once more, a must be seen drama.

You can get the seven first episode here (#SARS fansub page).
The japanese DVD set box do not have english sub :’(

(Screens are from the 10 first minutes of the first episode)

aka High School Teacher.
Why 2003 ? Because the previous and original drama was from the early 90′.

The main characters :
While Hina, a 11th grade student, wanderered into an arcade show-room where she met an older guy.
After sharing a drink, she spent an over night at her new friend’s place. (nothing happened )
The day after, back to school, a substitute math teacher is introduced to the 11th grade classroom.
What a surprise, the new teacher is the older guy Hina met the day before.

How about the story ?
I’m not sure.
This is an 11 episodes drama. After watching the 2 first one, we know that the teacher is hopeless sick (brain tumor or whatever).
Hina collapsed during the math class after getting hurt during a basketball match.
She is driven to the hospital with her sensei assistance.
There, once she is recovered, she looked for her teacher whom was with his own doctor.
She is gonna heard the conversation between her teacher and his doctor.

That is the way we learn that the teacher is ill ; 6 months to go for him. Once she heard the conversation, she sadly ran away. Her teacher run after her and we finally learn that Hina misunderstood the early conversation and thought that she is dying !
Stupid teacher, he hid the truth to her. He didn’t told her that it was nothing to see with her but only him.
So I guess in the most incoming episodes Hina still might think that she is dying and will persue the life diferently. The climax must be the moment when she will discover her sensei’s lie.

It sounds to be a drama-drama/romance
Hina is played by Ueto Aya, a japanese idol so she is also a singer, a model, ……
She is so cute in the drama ; her smile, her hair cut I like her with her huge yellow scarf !! lol

In spite of the story sounds great, it is a teacher/student relationship though. Glups !!

few screenshot from the first episodes.

I need to watch Azumi now I bought the DVD a couple of months ago but i haven’t seen it yet. I couldn’t go over the first minutes. The picture was weird. I don’t know.

<edit : I finally watched the complete drama. Despite the fact I really enjoyed watching it, I don’t know what to think about this drama.
It is a drama/romance between a teacher and her student.
Because I don’t know how a such relationship is persued in Japan, I cannot feel if the authors wanted to leave a “message” or what through this drama. It might but in which sense ? Good ? Not good ? Denunciation ? Awake to this society fact ? I don’t know and have not a clue
Beside this teacher/student relationship, there is also the problem about teachers rapping their female students !!! Grrrrr !!! and I don’t need to be Japanese to know if it is good or not !! >

It is said that an 11th season will be written soon.
lol

No, I’m not talking about the worldwide known american show but a japanese-korean drama. What a surprise lol.
This drama was the first drama co-produced by Japan and South Korea.
This concurrence occurs in 2001. Remember 2002 ? Japan and South Korean co-organized the Fifa World Cup where the french were sooo bril-liant

Few words about the story.
A movie student from Seoul accidentaly meets a japanese girl in Hong Kong (in the genuine screenplay, the meeting place should be New York but because of 9/11 ……). While Tomoko (the main feminin character) gives a look through a shop-window to admire … (I don’t remember what lol) a robber steals her back. She ran after her robber all accross the city. She finally lost him.
Then she perceived someone dressed like her robber and accused him to have stolen her hand bag.
Basically, that is the way both of them meet together.

Why does it only happen in movies ? grrrrr lol
How many times did I errant like that and always pray for something happen this way lol

The drama is a romance based on 4 episodes (app. 50min length each).

I like the first episode a lot. After spending 2 “lovely” days in hong kong, both had to return in their own country. Him to Korea and her to Japan. And then starts a romance thru the …… internet with distance and language barrer (what a memory ! haha) He doesn’t speak any japanese but she can speaks a little korean. But she is gonna work hard on her korean “Me Tarzan, You Jane” It is also too funny when both are speaking english when she can’t find her words in korean. It is terrible.

If you like any romance story, it is a must be seen drama lol

Right now and for a couple of days, the second episode is available thru a bittorent link here.
For the first episode, go here and try to find out how to use IRC Some “Fserves” are avalaible in ASV chan in IRC.

<edit : the first episode is available right here (direct download) / version Nippon-Korea with french sub. Sub made by ASV Team>

I’m not a manga fan contrary to my sibblings.
They read almost everything and my sister has a huge collection ; a hundred and hundred of them. Look for something ? Just ask her lol
She is the mom of a 15 months old kid. I can easily imagine the day he is gonna take mommy’s manga and “fill-in” color in it ; I guess her mommy will turn mad lol And scribble is a most appropriate word i think

So the GTO I’m talking about is not the anime or the manga. But the live one ….. with real actors and actresses lol
I haven’t read any GTO mangas or just few pages when I could handle any in …. the toilet lol
I guess even if the story should be great -and I’m sure it is - I just didn’t like the character-design ; not enough attractive to me.
Either you like or not ; and so I don’t.

Why a “billet” (damn, I still have no idea how to say that in english ! ) about GTO and Summer Snow ?

I discovered both drama here on the internet through Fansubs website and I do appreciate both of them.
GTO is a comedy whereas Summer Snow is a romance-drama.

From the first one, I like a lot ………….. japanese high school alumni (just kidding ugh ). Onizuka-sensei (the “title-cast”) is soo funny. I like his “monkey face” ; it reminds me “monkey ball’s face” And the main woman character is also so cute ^_^ (but kind of dumb in it)
Plus the theme song is great ! To have an idea, click here (it is a midi file)
If you have the opportunity to get the OST, there are a great piano version and a music box version ! There are 12 episodes plus a special episode and a final movie (45min length for each episode and arround 1h30 for the special and the movie).

And from the second drama I like the “characters’ identification”.
I have no idea if the term in english is right but in french we said so when you are starting to create/write a new story (thx my “screenplay” class haha ……. a long long time ago )
For the one who knows me, they will understand why I like that story a lot
This is a 11 episodes drama ; 45min length each. The end is terrific ! I guess I have never seen any happy-sad end like this before.
Mostly, either people dies or live happy together and have kids but not here ; at least kind of !

Finally, to answer to my own question, I was talking about those 2 dramas because there are now available in direct download here.
They are in japanese with french subtitles made by Moshi Moshi team.
When I lost weeks and weeks to get them all through IRC (10kb/s !!!), you can now download them quite quickly if you have any high speed connexion.

Hope you will enjoy those dramas like I did

About GTO :

Eiji Onizuka, a graduate from a third-grade university cum a gangster head, has always wanted to be a great teacher. An opportunity has came when a school is short of a teacher and he happens to get employed! Although his gangster status and attitude create lots of headaches for many, his warmth towards teaching gradually touchs them and gains their acceptance. (Jdorama)

About Summer Snow :

A love story between a young man who has been forced to grow up too quickly, and a young woman with an ailment that has placed restrictions on her life. Natsuo (Domoto Tsuyoshi) has been looking after his younger brother and sister since the death of their parents. He has also been running the family bicycle shop. Yuki (Hirosue Ryoko) becomes the only person in the world in whom he can confide. For Yuki, Natsuo becomes the catalyst that has her trying to break out of her cocoon. (Jdorama)

<edit : thru the link above, “You’re Under Arrest” is also available ! A live drama from the manga. Comedy - 9 episodes - 45min length each. Either you like it or not ;-) ; personnally, I enjoyed watching it>