Horipro's 50th Anniversary

(Source: Sanspo) It was announced on the 17th of January 2010 that in order to celebrate Horipro's 50th Anniversary since its establishment, Horipro will start production on a new suspense movie called "Inshitemiru".

This movie will feature an all-Horipro line-up; cast includes Ayase Haruka (above) (24), Hirayama Aya (26) (bottom), Fujiwara Tatsuya (27).

Ayase Haruka in Ichi

(Source: Mainichi) Ayase Haruka (23) stars in the female-version of Zatoichi, "Ichi" as a blind fighter-woman. The official press conference for the completion of the movie was held yesterday, 15th July 2008, in downtown Tokyo. This project was Ayase's first experience acting in a period drama, and she commented that she enjoyed all the killing and fighting scenes, for which she had trained very hard for. The director also praised her reflexes and psycho-motor skills.

The movie will be released on 25th October 2008. The official site for the movie can be accessed here.

I think she looks terribly like Akanishi Jin here -- remember this post?

Osaka CMs

Since today's news is rather unexciting, I've decided to post my long overdue Osaka post! (that I've been talking about since before I moved from the old blog to here). I just took photos of ads which I hadn't seen before outside of Japan, or maybe really hardcore and resourceful fans would have found them online already or something but whatever, I'm dumping them here. There are more on my Samsung phone but my bluetooth ain't working. neither is the USB cable. Will save it for another unexciting news day.


Matsuyama Kenichi (Horikita Maki appears in the same series of ads too, but the photo's in my phone!)


(Click to view larger) Left: Izumi Sano station! Call me slow, but I didn't realize the names of all the characters in Hana Kimi were from Osaka train stations -_-.
Right: Matsu Takako


Yamapi (from supermarket) and MatsuJun! (vending machine along the street)

SMAP. Do you notice that this ad, has NOTHING to do with drinks at all? At least Yamapi and MatsuJun above were "holding the drink". This is just, face and brand name. Haha. Not a very "new" or original revelation but just felt like pointing it out. ^_^

Oguri Shun, Ayase Haruka and that-old-guy whom ive seen in many movies. (Shitsureeshimasu!)

Shibasaki Kou, who's going to marry Satoshi Tsumabuki =(.
And Miyazaki Aoi in a bland CM!

and Becky, for Jetstar!? I didn't even know Jetstar flew to Japan!

Ayase Haruka's Red Dress...

(Source: Sanspo) Ayase Haruka attended the [Nikkei Entertainment! NEXT HIT PARADE 2008] on Saturday, 21st June 2008, in a red dress which reminded me of hospital clothes! So I googled "Hospital Clothes", and got the pic above (right) from alibaba.com. HAHA. I think it looks even more like hospital gear in the photo below where she is seated. But seriously, she's so pretty (imho) that i bet nobody really cares!!

Shibatora Manga to be adapted into J-Dorama, starring Koike Teppei and Ohgo Suzuka

(Sources: AnimeNewsNetwork and Idolgravure) Yes, Ohgo Suzuka is that girl who looked more Sayuri than Zhang Zi Yi (I'm so not a fan of that woman) and who is, according to her Wikipedia entry, an award-winning child actress! What a baby-faced couple for manga-turned-dorama Shibatora! It is scheduled to be released in summer this year.

Koike Teppei is slated to play Taketora Shibata, a "rookie cop who has the ability to see anything at a crime scene." According to Idolgravure, this is a well-suited role for Koike because both him and his character are supposed to be cutesy pretty boy types. Ohgo Suzuka will play his accomplice, and I think her character's called Mitsuki. (Neither source explicitly stated this.)

This will be Koike's first time playing the main character in a drama-series. "Although I would like to continue playing side roles for awhile in order to gain experience, since I am undertaking this role (of Shibata) I will be giving my all to work hard for the role." He said.

This is said to be the first source of pressure for Koike. The second source of pressure comes from "Johnny's siege". Here is the list of summer doramas to be released, which will be Shibatora's direct competitors:

1. Maou, starring Satoshi Ohno and Ikuta Toma (click here to find out more about this dorama)
2. Code Blue, starring Yamapi
3. Yasuko to Kenji, starring Tokio's Masahiro Matsuoka and Kanjani8's Ohkura Tadayoshi
4. 33 minute Detective Work [literal translation from: 33分探偵], starring Domoto Tsuyoshi

Tough fight! By the way, did you know Koike Teppei was apparently rumoured to be going out with Ayase Haruka? O_O and another actress called Takizawa Saori. *shrugs*