Ishi no Mayu (WOWOW drama) new 60sec trailer. It's getting my hopes up with each new trailer. They better not pull a MOZU here coz MOZU had great cast which were mostly wasted with a poorly written plot. Anyways, I can't wait for this! Fumino Kimura in her first detective role

August 16th
Only 5 episodes (the usual WOWOW format). I like their dramas, not as mainstream as the other TV channels.

JIN is one of the best period/modern dramas ever to come out Glad you finally watched it.

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Additional cast has been announced for NHK Taiga fantasy drama 2016 'Seirei no Moribito' (based on a fantasy novel by the same name). It depicts the adventures of Balsa, a spear wielder who becomes Prince Chagum's bodyguard. Last year, it was announced Ayase Haruka will take on the role of main character, Balsa. Other casts include Tatsuya Fujiwara and Fumino Kimura who will act as the Prince Chagum's parents. The filming will take place over the span of 3 years to cover all 10 volumes of the novels.





I'm more interested in the fact that this will carry on for over 3 years, that's so much longer than the yearly taiga drama (1 year of commitment).


Our Little Sister (Umimachi Diary) trailer
Cast: Ayase Haruka, Masami Nagasawa, Kaho, Suzu Hirose





This post has been edited by avanpiper: Jul 29 2015, 11:41 AM

This 'monitoring' show is really great. Pranks on celebrities. Just gonna share a few here.

Actress Kimura Fumino (Mother Game, Zeni no Sensou) spooked by haunting voice, shaking plates and blackouts. Really adorable reactions




Actress Takei Emi got entangled with a love triangle she didn't even know about. The partner being a kid




DAIGO's lack of reaction is funny too and him being so detailed about the timing



This post has been edited by avanpiper: Jul 31 2015, 11:41 PM

TBS Drama Special Red Cross~ Onnatachi no Akagami
8/1 and 8/2 (divided into 2 parts)



Synopsis


Some screencaps for Part 1

Maybe you can try Gomen ne Seishun, it was pretty funny.

PMed you

This post has been edited by avanpiper: Aug 10 2015, 08:59 PM

Ah thanks for the reminder

One of my highly anticipated dramas this season. WOWOW dramas are often made in higher qualities than normal channels. Plus the stories are mostly darker in nature

Synopsis

The body of a person who died an unnatural death is discovered encased in mortar like concrete in the basement of an abandoned building. Why was the person murdered this way? The next day, the investigation task force receives a phone call from the criminal who calls himself Toremi during a meeting to discuss the investigation of the case. Then, in a short time after her transfer to the First Investigative Division, Kisaragi Toko becomes the negotiator. Toremi mocks and provokes the police while offering hints regarding the murder. A second murder soon occurs just as Tremi had warned. The victim's head has been covered with concrete as they had expected. What is the criminal's motive and why is the criminal fixated with concrete? The criminal's surprising actual target soon emerges.
source

Ishi no Mayu Press Conference
WOWOW drama (5 episodes)
Starts on August 16th (sunday, 10pm)



(Brief translation from multiple sources)

The director Uchikata Akira, Fumino Kimura and co-star Aoki Munetaka appeared. They shared some behind the scenes experience and interesting bits during filming.
Speaking about her feelings, Kimura said “Since it’s also Toko’s first time dealing with a tragic criminal case where up until now, she has never had to pull out her gun and my first time to act as a detective, I could feel the link between the two in terms of ‘first-time experience.” Even though she played a beautiful modern lady in the movie Initiation Love, she said this current role is her most feminine and it was pretty tough to truly express Toko’s swaying emotions.



Kimura Fumino’s character, Toko Kisaragi has a small stature. The character stands at only 152cm in the novel and often called ‘chibi’ by her colleagues. Because of that, Fumino (who in real life is around 164cm) wanted her character to really show that petite stature. Hence, even though the size of her clothes are usually Size 9, she decided to try fit a size smaller and ended up cramming herself in Size 7 clothes throughout the whole filming. She also cut her bangs a little. (I think this is wise because it actually makes her look younger like a kid. Her character Toko Kisaragi is also described physically as child-like in the novel).

Kimura Fumino doesn’t sweat even under intense heat?

Speaking of the weather, they were also shooting under the rainy season during summer. Aoki Munetaka mentioned the situation was so hot that they would wear swimsuits and get ready to jump into the river or sea during the intense heat. They were served watermelons and ice so he was grateful for those. Fumino said with a cool face – “When you sweat in the midst of intense heat, it will produce good performance. So even though it’s physically tough, I didn’t take any preventive measures for the sweat.” Hearing her say that, Aoki replied “It’s only her! I didn’t see any sweat, not even a trickle on her face. We, the men were all drenched in sweat, especially when we wore the bulletproof vest. She really has the ‘actress’ genetic composition.”

Anything about the director that surprised you?

“The director would often ask me every morning during shooting ‘How are you today? How’s your condition?’
Initially I thought I should never answer ‘I’m tired or sleepy’ but in the middle till the end, I wanted to try tell him ‘I’m sleepy’ just to see his reaction. But he wasn’t discouraged at all and continued to communicate. I was surprised by his determination” – Fumino.

“He’s really genki (energetic) on location. For example, yesterday during the crank up, in every ‘cut’ he was yelling with such enthusiasm. I like that kind of spirit. Also when you asked whether this scene is good or not, he’d know exactly what he wanted and carefully explained his reasons etc That really helped to let us understand.” – Aoki




The director mentioned, “The drama has a lot of intense scenes and continuous rising tension. Kimura-san managed to cleverly divide her ‘on-off’ moments, controlled herself while having fun at the location.” He complimented her “Yaru jyanai ka” (can mean = not bad, well done, you’re really something).

But he added a cute observation of Fumino. At least once every 2 days during early mornings, when Fumino arrived at location, her character’s attire was not in proper manner. For example, the collar of her shirt would not be upright but rolled inside instead and the hem of her suits rolled up. (I think she’s the type who doesn’t pay much attention to her clothing? lol) He said “probably during the moments she’s lacking of tension/relaxed, she showed this cute moment. During times like that, I feel like saying “Fumi-chan, please wear your clothes properly’ like a parent to child. Then she’d blush and say “Dad, I’m sorry”.




More preview pictures from official site.




Behind the scenes



This post has been edited by avanpiper: Aug 14 2015, 10:07 AM

My favorite drama last season - Mother Game
shameless promotion

Cast:
Fumino Kimura, Dan Rei, Kyoko Hasegawa, Adachi Yumi, Kanjiya Shiori, Seto Koji

Synopsis

ep1 digest

Mother Game

Ep2 digest



Ep3 digest



Ep4 digest



Ep5 digest



This post has been edited by avanpiper: Aug 14 2015, 01:29 AM

Just finished Shi no Zouki yesterday. Great drama, as expected, WOWOW dramas are different. Always unexpected twists at the end. It was a great ride.



I love how they're able to capture the death of that woman so mysteriously beautiful. There's also a brief collaboration with Taiwan (didn't expect that but it's a nice addition and plays a huge role in the truth behind the death of the woman). Recommended

This post has been edited by avanpiper: Aug 14 2015, 12:49 PM

I get them from d-addicts too. But yes, that's the sad truth...some dramas just don't get subbed (Shi no Zouki is not currently subbed). I depend a lot on d-addicts for the most part, but if there's no sub for the dramas I really like, I still end up watching without subs by relying on my japanese understanding. I'm currently self-learning the language so it helps one way or another.

I think there's advantage too if you know Mandarin because from what I observed, a lot of J-dramas get subbed in Chinese. Even WOWOW dramas sometimes have Chinese subs. (too bad I'm a banana Chinese, know how to listen/talk but not read ) WOWOW (private paid channel) dramas rarely get subbed in english because of the lack of Japanese subtitles, the channel doesn't provide subtitles like others do (FujiTV, Asahi, TBS etc)

For example here's the site for japanese subs:
http://jpsubbers.web44.net/Japanese-Subtitles/

Most subbing groups rely on these as reference to make english ones. Imo, since WOWOW don't provide them, their dramas are rarely subbed which is a huge waste because I actually prefer their dramas sometimes over the usual channels. Their shooting quality is just different, some are really like movie cinematography
Anyways, I think Ishi no Mayu has a low chance of being subbed too but I'm still going to watch it


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Another WOWOW drama - Enka Gold Rush which just finished this season. It's basically a black comedy
That Osaka-ben is kinda tough to understand but still quite amusing.

Cast: Mirai Moriyama, Mitsuki Takahata

Synopsis


Sharing ep1 digest screencap.



This post has been edited by avanpiper: Aug 14 2015, 05:16 PM

So what dramas are you guys currently watching???

Anyone watching Tantei no Tantei (Keiko Kitagawa)? If you're looking for a cool female detective kicking some ass and suspense, this might be a good pick. Personally, ep2-3 imho was slightly disappointing but I think it's starting to pick up pace with lesser loopholes.



If you're up for some family drama, then try 37.5°C no Namida. I mainly watch this for Renbutsu Misako. As far as the plot goes, I still think Mother Game is one of the best family dramas in recent years (alongside Kazokugari (very very dark drama), Woman, Mother etc).

Continuing with the screencap digests

Mother Game

ep6


ep7



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Ishi no Mayu starts tomorrow!



More previews



This post has been edited by avanpiper: Aug 15 2015, 05:15 PM

Omotesando Koukou Gasshoubu! is quite nice if anyone's looking for some high school themed drama this season, it's the only one at the moment. It's basically about this group of students trying to revive their choir club again.

ep1 digest

Ishi no Mayu ep 1 - GREAT PILOT Trust me, that first minute is going to send chills down your spine. I nearly asked myself, what was I watching? Perfect opening I couldn't ask for anything better. The pacing is just right, suspense is throughout the show, and I absolutely loved the meeting scene where the criminal called the police. The way he provoked them And it's creepy, the whole vibe. Needless to say, it's my favorite drama already this season. (I need HD version of this show!)

I watched the raw version (but low quality), it was released only on last Sunday night. But if you know chinese, it's already subbed at maplestage or pandora.tv. I'm actually already in the process of subbing this drama. Since nobody announced yet, I've decided to give it a try with help from my cousin who can read chinese. After I get hold of the proper HD raw version, I'll finalize the timing, quality check and release the english sub.

If anyone's interested, I've just started subbing Ishi no Mayu (Stone's Cocoon). There will be 5 episodes.
Just visit here for the subtitle.
It's basically a suspense police drama.

Episode 1 screencap digest


2nd episode preview

Ishi no Mayu ep2 - What else can I say? This is obviously already my favorite drama of the season. It's not just because I have a bias towards cop shows but seriously, the whole pacing and events that unfold in this particular episode is worth applauding. Actually, I'd like to thank the director for making the whole thing feel like a horror suspense especially the hospital scene. SO INCREDIBLY GOOD. But Toko's rookie clumsiness might make you laugh because I did lol a bit in some parts. She's so friggin timid and it shows. Takano on the other hand is so cool and kakkoi! But damn, that 2nd victim...now we know what the criminal used that sledge hammer for. WOWOW did a nice job with the makeup. The OST is TOP NOTCH. I wish they actually sell the OST because I would so buy it. Overall, this is even better than ep1 which was already quite promising