I am still in the middle of going through this season’s dramas, but one thing I noticed, there’s definitely an influx of chibi actors and chibi love teams in most of the shows. Probably, the most mature pairing I have seen so far (excluding the childish acting by Kanno Miho) are the leads from the medical drama, Tomorrow.
20-23 year old doctors/interns in Code Blue: To watch these kids do an amputation, flock around the ER, and not to mention the Grey’s Anatomy-esque competition had placed this drama behind my watch list…but who am I to complain when the catchphrase itself is so “engrish” – Doctor Heli? Ha. Ha. Cute!
Gakko ja Oshierarenai: Talk about chibi love teams times five! Let’s not forget the eternal immature Fukada Kyoko who gives a whole new meaning to the word, “airhead.” But this drama is a guilty pleasure to watch! I have to find time and write something about it, because it is surprisingly great.
Maou: I guess, the Maou actors fit more in to their roles, age-wise. But Kobayashi Ryoko ruins it! For some reason, I cannot stand her face on screen. I’ve mentioned this already and I’ll probably repeat it again in the future when I do my Maou review, but geez, she looks like 10 frickin’ years old. A tarot reader…A librarian…Pffft!
I’ll skip our chibi love teams in Seigi no Mikata and Yasuko to Kenji as I have blabbed about those two from my previous entries, so I’ll jump right ahead into my main subject…
Of course, when it comes to chibiness, we can’t just leave out the ultimate babyface of jdoramas: Kokei Teppei.
Harry Potter look-alike (emphasized in IRYU), Koike Teppei, plays a 24 year old detective – Shibata Taketora or Shibatora for short – often mistaken for a middle school student who’s favorite line is “Shinji ru”. I am assuming Koike’s face boosted his chance on getting this role. But forget about that for a minute, for it’s not Koike’s youthful face that made me do a doubletake but this instead..
No no no no…Why does he look so familiar? Kaname Jun…? Nah, can’t be. Oh wait, that voice…I know you! FUJIKI NAOHITO?????? Is that you, Fujiki Naohito? I had to look up the drama info to confirm it. But yes, he bleached his hair and borrowed Kaname Jun’s clothes – our very own buchou from Hotaru no Hikari!
About the drama itself, it follows an episodic case format with some plots expanding more than one episode. The first case introduced us to Shibatora’s leading lady, Mizuki (Ohgo Suzuka). This forms yet another chibi love team that I’d love for them to develop! The second episode is the start of the Onigami case in which Shibatora plays an undercover student in Mizuki’s new school. Obviously, this was meant to aggregate the main leads into one place. The bad news is that this is rapidly turning into another school/delinquent-type drama. Oh, mannnn.
Shibatora’s gang is composed of Fujiki Naohito (who plays his landlord, daily saviour, and sugar daddy? Oh, God, I hope not!), Tsukaji Muga (who plays the butt of Fujiki’s piggy jokes), and Maya Miki (who appears to have gotten some Angelina Jolie lips since her last project, Zettai Kareshi). All of them are reputable comedic actors who I love, so even if the plots is fairly average, I’ll definitely keep this in my weekly watching sessions.
Oh, one last thing I forgot to mention are the shinigami hands and another cheap pupils’ effect to back them up. What’s that other drama with this kind of supermagical powers…? Mop Girl, right? I won’t attack the lame twist (ooppss, I just did it), because after all, they’re just following what’s in the manga.
aww, chibi couples! <333
Fujiki Naohito really surprised me with that hair and clothes XDDD
Yeah, I guess Fujiki Naohito-san goes out to tell that world that even oldtimers can be hip. XD….. Ughhh, really that is really weird and like you I actually needed to double take and look at official cast listings.
That’s Fujiki Naohito?! I totally didn’t recognise him!
I was going to watch Shibatori but I think I have an aversion to dramas that are too episodic.