Thursday, June 30, 2011

Trick Special 2006

TRICK THE MOVIE 2006




  • Movie: Trick The Movie 2
  • Genre: Mystery, suspense, comedy
  • Director: Yukihiko Tsutsumi
  • Assistant Director: Hisashi Kimura, Koji Kotoku
  • Writer: Koji Makita
  • Release Date: June 10, 2006
  • Runtime: 111 min


Ueda and Naoko accept to hear a proposal from a young man (Yuta Hiraoka) living in Fumo-mura village. The proposal is to bring back his childhood friend, Misako (Maki Horikita), who was taken away by a psychic, Hakogami Sawako (Nagisa Katahira), 10 years ago. 

Upon request, the pair head for Hakogami-jima where Hakogami lives. They succeed in bringing Misako back, however, it incurs the wrath of Hakogami and they are sucked into a situation that takes the pretense of a paranormal phenomenon. 

Naoko manages to see through the trick, and Sawako kills herself as a result. The incident reveals Sawako's sorrowful past as she was one of its victims as well.



  • Nakama Yukie as Yamada Naoko
  • Abe Hiroshi as Ueda Jiro
  • Muhammad Abedin - Jimmy
  • Yuta Hiraoka - Kazuhiko Aonuma
  • Maki Horikita - Misako Nishida
  • Tetsuhiro Ikeda - Harando Akiba
  • Nagisa Katahira - Sawako Hakogami



Trick Shinsaku Special 2005

TRICK SHINSAKU SPECIAL 2005




  • Movie: Trick Shinsaku Special 
  • Genre: Mystery, suspense, comedy
  • Director: Yukihiko Tsutsumi
  • Assistant Director: Hisashi Kimura, Koji Kotoku
  • Writer: Koji Makita
  • Release Date: November 13, 2005



Ueda Jiro together with 3 other scholars from different universities was invited in a TV program which features the super natural power of a fortuneteller. And of course, all of them were not convinced that such powers do exist. Midorikawa Shoko is known to predict how, when and where will a person dies. 

And due to some unexpected turn of events a certain man really did die when the show ended as to what Shoko predicted. Meanwhile, Yamada the super magician is once again fired from her job and coincidentally, she saw the TV program on her way home. 

Ueda phoned her about it and she insisted that she will never go with him no matter what, but because she was kicked-out from her apartment, she went with him nonetheless. And so, Ueda & Yamada went to Midorikawa's mansion and together with the 3 other scholars, they decided to expose Midorikawa Shoko's fraudulent act.


  • Nakama Yukie as Yamada Naoko
  • Abe Hiroshi as Ueda Jiro
  • Katsuhisa Namase - Kenzo Yabe
  • Yoko Nogiwa - Satomi Yamada
  • Nobuo Kyo - Aisuke Kikuchi
  • Tetsuhiro Ikeda - Haro Akiba
  • Masahiko Nishimura - Kumio Oshima



Monday, June 27, 2011

Trick Special 2002

TRICK THE MOVIE 2002



  • Movie: Trick The Movie
  • Genre: Mystery, suspense, comedy
  • Director: Yukihiko Tsutsumi
  • Assistant Director: Hisashi Kimura
  • Writer: Koji Makita
  • Release Date: November 9, 2002
  • Runtime: 119 min


Disaster befalls a village's inhabitants every 300 years. A popular self-styled magician named Naoko (Yukie Nakama) is summoned as a deity to rid the people of their anxiety. But there are many would-be deities there, each posing as a god. 

When a series of bizarre incidents occur, Naoko is cornered with a genius physicist (Hiroshi Abe) and Detective Yabe (Katsuhisa Namase). Do deities actually exist, or are they charlatans?



  • Nakama Yukie as Yamada Naoko
  • Abe Hiroshi as Ueda Jiro
  • Namase Katsuhisa as Yabe Kenzo
  • Kyo Nobuo as Kikuchi Aisuke
  • Nogiwa Yoko as Yamada Satomi
  • Shinji Yamashita as Akio Kanzaki
  • Miyoko Yoshimoto as Etsuko Minagawa



Trick 3 2003

TRICK 3 2003



  • Title (English): Trick 3
  • Tagline: Troisième Partie
  • Genre: Mystery, suspense, comedy
  • Broadcast network: TV Asahi
  • Episodes: 10
  • Viewership ratings: 15.62
  • Broadcast period: 2003-Oct-16 to 2003-Dec-18
  • Air time: Thursday 21:00
  • Theme song: Watashi to Warutsu wo by Onitsuka Chihiro


A unique duo of a beautiful female magician and a strange physician are back! After two successful TV series, a record high DVD sales record in the newly released drama category, a smash hit theatrical movie, the best selling novelized book, etc., the show has made a come back to a weekly prime time slot.

The drama takes place at a remote mountain village bound by convention. In each episode, a beautiful female magician and a strange physician witness various supernatural phenomena far beyond their imagination. Just as the previous series, the two will try to investigate and seek what lies behind these paranormal events and logically prove what the tactful trick would be, only, if any. 

Now reaching its third series, the drama assures an ever more emphasis on the performance of the unique casting, stronger and original scripts, and more fun delving into the mysteries of this favorite title!


  • Nakama Yukie as Yamada Naoko
  • Abe Hiroshi as Ueda Jiro
  • Namase Katsuhisa as Yabe Kenzo
  • Kyo Nobuo as Kikuchi Aisuke
  • Nogiwa Yoko as Yamada Satomi
  • Oshima Yoko as Ikeda Haru (Yamada's landlady)
  • Abedin Mohammed as Jami-kun (Johnny)
  • Seto Yoichiro as Yamada's secret fan



Sunday, June 26, 2011

Trick 2 2002

TRICK 2 2002



  • Title (English): Trick 2
  • Genre: Mystery, suspense, comedy
  • Broadcast network: TV Asahi
  • Episodes: 12
  • Viewership ratings: 10.57
  • Broadcast period: 2002-Jan-11 to 2002-Mar-22
  • Air time: Friday 23:15-24:10
  • Theme song: Ryuseigun by Onitsuka Chihiro


Trick 2 keeps on describing the strange relationships of Yamada Naoko, a skilled and unemployed magician, and Ueda Jiro a physics teacher who doesn't believe in supernatural powers. 

Each story gives us the opportunity to meet these funny characters including Police Officer Yabe and Naoko's mother.



  • Nakama Yukie as Yamada Naoko
  • Narumi Riko as the young Naoko
  • Abe Hiroshi as Ueda Jiro
  • Namase Katsuhisa as Yabe Kenzo
  • Maehara Kazuki as Ishihara Tatsuya
  • Nogiwa Yoko as Yamada Satomi



Trick 1 2000

TRICK 1 2000



  • Title (English): Trick
  • Genre: Mystery, suspense, comedy
  • Broadcast network: TV Asahi
  • Episodes: 10
  • Viewership ratings: 7.94
  • Broadcast period: 2000-Jul-01 to 2000-Sep-08
  • Air time: Friday 23:15-24:10
  • Theme song: Gekko by Onitsuka Chihiro


Although 23 year old Yamada Naoko is a "super" magician, she is continously fired and constantly hounded by her landlady for the rent being late. After being fired once again, her boss shows her an ad of a physics professor, a non-believer of all things magical, offering money to anyone who can prove to him that magic is real.

Desperately needing the money, Naoko accepts the challenge, which is how she comes to meet Professor Ueda. Falling prey to her simple magic tricks, Ueda is impressed, and enlists Naoko to help him uncover the tricks behind a local cult. 

Their hilarious antics, along with those of police officer Yabe, leads them onto further mysteries, all with tricks needing to be solved in sort of an "X-Files" meets "Scooby-Doo"...



  • Nakama Yukie as Yamada Naoko
  • Narumi Riko as the young Naoko
  • Abe Hiroshi as Ueda Jiro
  • Namase Katsuhisa as Yabe Kenzo
  • Maehara Kazuki as Ishihara Tatsuya
  • Nogiwa Yoko as Yamada Satomi



Friday, June 10, 2011

Taiyou No Uta

TAIYOU NO UTA


  • Title (romaji): Taiyo no Uta
  • Also known as: Song of the Sun
  • Format: Renzoku
  • Genre: Romance, Human drama
  • Episodes: 10
  • Viewership ratings: 10.26%
  • Broadcast network: TBS
  • Broadcast period: 2006-Jul-14 to 2006-Sep-15
  • Air time: Friday 22:00
  • Theme songs: 
  • Opening: Invitation by Shibasaki Kou
  • Insert: Taiyou no Uta by Kaoru Amane
  • Insert: Stay With Me by Kaoru Amane



While working at a seaside inn with his high school buddies, Fujishiro Koji meets Kaoru Amane, a street musician. Kaoru is suffering from an incurable disease called XP (xeroderma pigmentosum), and can’t be exposed to the sun. 

Under the sun, the two would never have met. Still, destiny brings the two together. Since the day he suddenly lost his job, Koji has lost sight of his dreams. But when he meets Kaoru, who is making positive efforts to become a singer, Koji regains his long-forgotten passion for music.



Yamada Takayuki as Fujishiro Koji
Sawajiri Erika as Amane Kaoru
Matsushita Nao as Tachibana Asami
Tanaka Kei as Onishi Yuta
Sato Megumi as Matsumae Misaki




Sunday, June 5, 2011

Tatta Hitotsu No Koi

TATTA HITOTSU NO KOI



  • Title (romaji): Tatta Hitotsu no Koi
  • Also known as: Just One Love / Love of my Life
  • Format: Renzoku
  • Genre: Drama, romance
  • Episodes: 10
  • Viewership rating: 11.61
  • Broadcast network: NTV
  • Broadcast period: 2006-Oct-14 to 2006-Dec-16
  • Air time: Saturday 21:00
  • Theme song: Bokura no Machi de by KAT-TUN



The setting is in Yokohama, a modern port city known for its romantic atmosphere. Hiroto Kanzaki (Kazuya Kamenashi) works hard every day and night for the survival of a small ship repair factory (inherited from his father) as well as the survival of his mother and younger brother, who are suffering from health problems. Living such an underprivileged life, Hiroto has forgotten how to smile.

In contrast to him, Nao (Haruka Ayase) is the daughter of a popular jewelry shop owner in a fashionable street in Yokohama. She attends a prestigious exclusive women's college and grew up cheerful and blessed with affluent love. From the moment Hiroto meets her, his closed mind slowly opens up to Nao, who is so innocent that she utters whatever she thinks. Their three close friends, who are also 20 year old's, play an important role in their developing relationship.

The scriptwriter is Eriko Kitagawa, who earned the nickname "The Goddess of Love Stories." This classic love story enables those who are in the same generation to feel empathy, or be envious of the characters' lives; and the rest, who were once 20 years old's, to reminisce about their own "Love of My Life."


  • Kamenashi Kazuya as Kanzaki Hiroto
  • Ayase Haruka as Tsukioka Nao
  • Tanaka Koki as Kusano Ko
  • Hiraoka Yuta as Ozawa Ayuta
  • Toda Erika as Motomiya Yuko





Friday, June 3, 2011

One Pound Gospel

ONE POUND GOSPEL

  • Title (romaji): 1 Pound no Fukuin
  • Also known as: One-Pound Gospel
  • Format: Renzoku
  • Genre: Romance, comedy
  • Episodes: 9
  • Viewership ratings: 10.6 (Kanto)
  • Broadcast network: NTV
  • Broadcast period: 2008-Jan-12 to 2008-Mar-08
  • Air time: Saturday 21:00
  • Theme song: LIPS by KAT-TUN



Hatanaka Kosaku is a talented boxer who turned pro at the age of 19, winning his debut match with a first round KO. He is talented, but he has no guts. His uncontrollable appetite is an even bigger problem. 

He can’t put himself in the right weight class, he runs out of energy because of hunger, and he gets knocked out while his eyes are set on food at the ringside. 

However, Kosaku’s life changed when he met Sister Angela, a novice nun in the convent near his boxing gym. She became the source of his power, and Kosaku fights only to win her heart.



  • Kamenashi Kazuya as Hatanaka Kosaku
  • Kuroki Meisa as Sister Angela
  • Kobayashi Satomi as Mukoda Seiko
  • Okada Yoshinori as Ueda



Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Nobuta Wo Produce

NOBUTA WO PRODUCE




  • Title (romaji): Nobuta wo Produce
  • English Title : Producing Nobuta
  • Format: Renzoku
  • Genre: School drama
  • Episodes: 10
  • Viewership rating: 16.89
  • Broadcast network: NTV
  • Broadcast period: 2005-Oct-15 to 2005-Dec-17
  • Air time: Saturday 21:00
  • Theme song: Seishun Amigo by Shuuji to Akira (Kamenashi Kazuya and Yamashita Tomohisa)




Kiritani Shuji is the popular guy who gets along with everyone, from the jerks to the nerds to the just plain weird. The one person Shuji cannot stand is Kusano Akira. To Shuji, Akira is just plain annoying. He laughs, talks and acts funny. Things heat up when a new student comes to school. 

Her name is Kotani Nobuko, a girl who has no self confidence at all and is content at being made fun of and bullied in school. Shuji and Akira come to an accord that in order to make use of their youth they will produce Nobuko as the next popular girl. 

One of the conditions, however, is that nobody should find out that they are working together as a team to make this concept possible. Unveiled here is the story of true friendship between three unlikely candidates who would not have been friends if not given the special circumstances.





  • Kamenashi Kazuya as Kiritani Shuji
  • Yamashita Tomohisa as Kusano Akira
  • Horikita Maki as Kotani Nobuko
  • Toda Erika as Uehara Mariko