Review of Onna no Ichidaiki: Sugimura Haruko - An evil woman's life~An actress who married acting

I have two sides to my life - a woman and an actress.

Sugimura Haruka - the first and last actress of Japan's acting history. Unknown facts about her life will be shown in this drama. She had taken prominent roles in movies directed by famous directors like Kurosawa Akira and Ozu Yasujiro.

She did not dabble in alcohol or cigarettes but her life was channeled towards men and acting. The energy she derived from them gave her the power in her acting.

Cast
Sugimura Haruko - Yonekura Ryoko
Morimoto Kaoru - Yanagiba Toshiro
Nagahiro Kishiro - Yamaguchi Tatsuya
Ishiyama Tsunehiko - Narimiya Hiroki
Tagami Fuyuko - Sugita Kaoru
Ogawa Yasuo - Itao Souji
Oji Kiwako - Sonin

The final segment stars Yonekura Ryoko as the actress Sugimura Haruko. Throughout her life, she was in love with three men played by Yamaguchi Tatsuya, Yanagiba Toshiro and Narimiya Hiroki.

Yamaguchi's role was Nagahiro Kishiro who was Haruko's childhood sweetheart in Hiroshima. She left her hometown because she was ostracised by her friends when her teacher told everyone that she was an abandoned child of a geisha even though she was living in a rich family. Well, that teacher did it just to get back at Haruko who was very popular in school and everyone kept saying how good she was at singing and playing the piano to the extent that she was better than the teacher. Anyway, this changed Haruko's life and made her determined to become a swan instead of remaining as an ugly duckling. Thus, she insisted on going to Tokyo to enrol in an acting school but failed. She then joined a theatre group to gain experience. Kishiro came to look for her with Haruko's adopted mother so they found out about her living conditions. Subsequently, Kishiro came to live with her after his parents refused to accept Haruko and they got married without registering since he was still a research student while she wasn't making much money. Things between them were very sweet until Haruko aborted her child because she had the chance to be a lead actress. However, Kishiro did not blame her even though he was very upset. He knew how much she aspired to be an actress so he even kept her in the dark when he was going to die due to tuberculosis. That scene when Haruko couldn't make it in time to see Kishiro before he died was very sad.

The second man was Moriyama Kaoru (Yanagiba Toshiro) who was a married scriptwriter. He had an affair with her while his wife was away in her hometown during wartime and gave her the first hit stage play of her life. However, he too died of tuberculosis.

Last but not least, Ishiyama Tsunehiko (Narimiya Hiroki), a medical student younger than her went against all odds to marry her after they met when Haruko was suffering from a leg illness. They headed to a tragic end as Tsunehiko died of tuberculosis and he had asked Haruko to stay by his side to no avail since she wanted to act in a movie.

It's such an uncanny coincidence that the three men in her life all died of the same illness.

Anyway, the bulk of this segment was on the relationship front of Sugimura Haruko so the part on how she became a top actress was not explored in detail. Although it is like the first segment which chose to focus on the relationship aspect, I find that the potrayal here is much better since it does give the viewer an idea of how much she loved the men in her life. In the first part, I simply get the feel that the character was just desiring for company rather than being in love with those men.

Yonekura is fine in this role but seeing her act as a 19-year-old makes me cringe. Well, she looks so mature so acting young is really uncomfortable for me. Although she didn't impress me as much as Amami Yuki, I certainly think that she was better than Miyazawa Rie.

As for the guys, the first relationship was the one I liked most followed by the last one where Tsunehiko was practically begging Haruko to stay but he gave up in the end. The second one seemed to be the result of loneliness so I didn't get the feel that they loved each other very much.

Well, the ratings for this paled in comparision with the other two but I thought it was OK. Maybe more emphasis on her career might be better. I simply get the impression that this was just on her love life.

Review of Onna no Ichidaiki: Koshiji Fubuki - Life of Love ~ I will sing till the end of my life

Life is shorter than what you think. That is why I don't want to live with regrets.

25 years after her death, the life of entertainer Koshiji Fubuki is replayed on screen.

Koshiji Fubuki who was famous for wearing branded stage costumes and boasting of a series of hits, can be considered a mega star of the Showa Era. Besides singing, she was also involved in movies and stage plays. She won many awards included the Record Daisho, Monbu Daisho and Golden Arrow. Audiences were mesmerised by the fantasy world she showed them through her performances.

The drama will replay her past hits and show the 30-year relationship between her and her manager, Iwatani Tokiko which also exposes the background details of showbiz.

Amami Yuki, like Koshiji was a top star during their Takarazuka days and this will be the first time that Amami shows her singing and dancing abilities on TV.

Cast:
Koshiji Fubuki - Amami Yuki
Iwatani Tokiko - Matsushita Yuki
Naitou Houmi - Osawa Masaetsu
Yuko - Sudo Risa
Ota Kazuko - Uehara Misa
Koshiji Fubuki (teenage) - Aragaki Yui
Mayuzumi Toshiro - Tanihara Shosuke
Yamamoto Shiro - Tsurumi Shingo
Abe - Harada Taizo
Matsuoka Tatsuro - Tamura Ryo
Fujimoto Masumi - Kazama Norio

Amami Yuki excels as Koshiji Fubuki and brings out the aura of a natural performer. That stage presence and her vocals lend credibility to the potrayal of the role that you can feel the passion Koshiji has for singing. She actually glitters so much that you can't bear to take your eyes off her. In that era, I get the impression that she was an icon to the people who had lost their zest for life since WWII had ended. She took it upon herself to bring hope to them after she returned from a trip to Paris. It's almost as if you are seeing the real Koshiji Fubuki in this drama. If it was just the stage facade of her, it would have been too one-dimensional. However, the drama did show Koshiji's softer side when she was deliberating over whether to have an abortion and how she was fearful of contracting cancer since her parents and elder brother suffered from it. That gives a more complete picture of the character and I think Amami really showed her acting skills especially in the part when Koshiji was shivering in fear as she handled the funeral of her father who was the second in the family to die of cancer.

Likewise, her friendship with her manager Iwatani Tokiko is also one important point to note. The two of them had known each other since their Takarazuka days where Iwatani was a reporter and Koshiji was a student. Both of them influenced each other to bring about the success they enjoyed and it's easy to understand how their strong relationship developed. Credits to Matsushita Yuki who had such good chemistry with Amami and showed the independent and confidence of Iwatani.

As compared to Part 1 where the emphasis was on the romance factor, this segment was lacking in this area. In Koshiji's case, she had one man only i.e. her husband Naitou Tsunemi so this was not as "exciting" as what Setouchi Jakucho went through. However, I think more could have been done to explore how Koshiji and Naitou fell in love and subsequently got married. It was kind of strange for the story to show Koshiji telling Iwatani suddenly that she wants to get married to Naitou without explaining how they got together in the first place.

The story showed more of Koshiji's life as a performer and how she attained success but that journey wasn't smooth-sailing. However, I think the pace of the story was generally faster than the first instalment and there were times when more explanation should be available when introducing new characters. I get the feeling that they popped out from nowhere and it was hard to see the link between some of them especially those mahjong pals of Koshiji. Where and how did they come together? Surely there must be a reason for this?

On the whole, I am very satisfied with the acting of Amami and Matsushita. However, more could have been done to make the story succint and clearer to the viewer so that the developments do not seem to have a linkage. Nevertheless, this is clearly a notch higher than the first instalment so I will see if the final segment can overtake Part 2.

Review of Onna no Ichidaiki: Setouchi Jakucho ~ Being a nun is as good as dying while living

"The passion hidden in my heart has a terrifying power to destroy."

This drama talks about the days of passion during her youth till she achieved peace at heart after becoming a nun.

Setouchi Jakucho's teachings bring courage and purify the followers' hearts. Whenever she takes part in preachings, many people would come to listen to her. In addition, female fashion magazines visit her regularly for interviews. As an author, she has released many books and is still full of energy at 83 years old.

However, her life was not a smooth-sailing journey. She got married while she was a student, abandoned her husband and children to elope with a young man, got involved in affairs, broke up with the men in her life, started writing fervently before she became a nun at 51.

Cast:
Setouchi Harumi (Jakucho) - Miyazawa Rie
Kosugi Shingo - Abe Hiroshi
Kinoshita Ryota - Nakamura Kantarou
Saeki Juuzo - Kano Shohei
Setouchi Koharu - Ichige Yoshie
Ima Tomitsu - Ibu Masato
Kusumoto - Sano Shiro
Setouchi Toyokichi - Oosugi Ren
Setouchi En - Saito Yuki
Kohita Kin - Izumi Pinko

Frankly speaking, amidst the hype over this series, the first instalment did not impress me too much. I have to admit that Miyazawa Rie is my least favourite among the three actresses in this series so you may feel that I may be picking on her. Somehow, she didn't convey the aura of the character Setouchi Jakucho strong enough and I think that she should have done more to show the writer side of Setouchi instead of focusing on the emotional side. I think that would be something worth exploring in depth since she actually got banned for writing a provocative novel where no publisher wanted to deal with her. No doubt I thought that she did OK for her scenes with Abe Hiroshi who acted as her married lover but sparks did not fly between her and the younger lover Ryota whom she abandoned her family for. A little bit lacking here and there is enough to make me feel that this is not as good as it seems on the surface. And Miyazawa is so thin that I can't help but worry that she might get blown away by the wind especially for the scene when her husband made her take off her belongings as she wanted to leave him.

The story itself was not very condensed and I felt that the links between each development was done in a hurried manner. One moment they were talking about this but the next, something else happens. And the final section about how Setouchi became a nun was quite vague. I thought that should be the climax of this story but I couldn't feel the weariness of the character with regards to her life at all.

On the whole, I'm quite disappointed with this segment so I hope the other two can impress me.