The Man wrote:

Thanks for that information. Might be a little bit more confusing, since Wham! also sings a tune that includes the lyric "Wake Me Up . . ." (YOU '80s cats know the song).

Oops.
Did I confuse you?? Sorry...
I mean this drama uses two of Wham!'s songs, "Last Christmas" at the beginning and "Wake Me Up (Before You Go Go)" at the end.
Yuji Oda sings these songs for this drama.

i've watch the first episode, looks kinda good~
definately a diff role for yada akiko, ex-punk?! COOL
and tamaki hiroshi looks kakkoi, drools*

It looks good. Think it will be the hit for that season for nothingelse seems to have heavy star power. Looking forward to it after watching orange days.

For those who don't know japanese here is the english website
http://www.fujitv.co.jp/en/index2.html.
Those who have watched it, is it more romance or humour based?

both
but i think will be more romance the next episodes

Just watched ep.02...still looking good !

A few pics from the episode:

Hi! Can someone tell me where i can dl the bt for the first episode of Last Christmas? Thanks!

still looking for ep 2 myself. I hope the HDTV ver will be going up soon. As for ep 1, you can get that at www.d-addicts.com

Taken from Daily Yomiuri On-Line website :

Wm. Penn's reviews on "Last Christmas", "Kurokawa no Techo", and "Mother & Lover".


For the love of tough ladies and mama


Wm. Penn / Special to The Daily Yomiuri

Last Christmas (Mondays, 9 p.m., Fuji network) is not likely to hold my attention until this Christmas. Yuji Oda is excellent, as always, but there is something about the script, his costar Akiko Yada and the supporting cast that just doesn't click.

The story begins on Christmas 2004 with Haruki (Oda) in Yellowknife, Canada, trekking out alone to watch the aurora with a present in his pocket. (Haruki is an office worker and a nice guy still not married at 36, whose last fiancee left him when she found out his mother was in a long-term care facility.)

Then the plot suddenly jumps back a few months and we find Yuki (Yada) moving into the apartment next to his in the company housing complex. There just happens to be a door between their two rooms and it allows them to peak into each other's private lives.

While Yuki is dating his friend (and boss), Haruki can see he is just one of a long line of eager suitors. Her complicated past also includes membership in a "ladies" motorcycle gang and she still throws a pretty powerful punch.

Yuki is one of the "akujo" (nasty lady) heroines who are all over the small screen this season. She is tough but no competition for Ryoko Yonekura whose role in Kurokawa no Techo (Thursdays, 9 p.m., TV Asahi) requires her to be a bank robber, hostess bar mama, extortionist and all-around dangerous lady. Poor Ryoko, this series was much worse than expected and is not likely to draw any viewers away from Wataru Seken wa Oni Bakari (Thursdays, 9 p.m., TBS network).

But back to Last Christmas. Haruki discovers Yuki does have a soft side. When a drunken Yuki kicks a video through the door, he can't resist playing it. Several years old, it reveals she is divorced and shows her talking to herself the night before entering a hospital to face a life-threatening illness.

Now flash to another 2004 scene where we see her back at the hospital. Her doctor is holding a wrapped package similar to the one Haruki sported in the first scene. On her instructions, it is to be delivered to someone later on.

Is she still sick? Is she Haruki's soul mate? Is it worth sticking around to find out? Can't answer any of those questions yet. Viewers will definitely get an aurora at the end but so far no stars except the always able Oda.

With the dearth of competition, the Fuji network's Mother & Lover (Tuesdays, 10 p.m.) could end up being one of the season's better romantic comedies.

The sensitive Shingo (Kenji Sakaguchi) is a very macho mama's boy, and his mother (Keiko Matsuzaka), while filled with nostalgia for the past, is not particularly controlling.

Shingo, who studies acting, supports himself by pulling tourists around town in a rickshaw. This is how he has met 30-year-old Hitomi (Ryoko Shinohara). Viewers are supposed to believe he can trot about all day without collapsing from exhaust fumes or being run down by a taxi or a two-ton truck.

Fate has somehow thrown passenger and puller together and her heart goes all atwitter just looking at him. But it is not long before she learns why he has been left behind on the boyfriend market shelf.

Episode 1 ended with the clueless Shingo protesting: What's wrong with loving one's mother? She is about to tell him, but then her heart goes all aflutter again. In Episode 2, they discovered Hitomi and Mom share the same birthday.

Not outstanding but in its own quiet way, Mother & Lover is far more satisfying than Last Christmas. Two stars.

flyingangel wrote:

Oh, really? You like it? Yeah, it's also one of my favourite Japanese TV Series. These two characters are really cute, Takako and Kenji had that romantic chemistry for sure.

Yep. While the story was rather predictable, the actors and supporting actors did such a superb job that I still really enjoyed it; nice theme song too! Matsu Takako has really grown as an actress since Long Vacation.
-PCM

pcmodem wrote:

Yep. While the story was rather predictable, the actors and supporting actors did such a superb job that I still really enjoyed it; nice theme song too! Matsu Takako has really grown as an actress since Long Vacation. -PCM

Yea she's definately one of the better actresses. So cute too!

so how is the dorama so far...i only watching up to ep. 2 ....

lunas wrote:

so how is the dorama so far...i only watching up to ep. 2 ....

want some spoilers????



yuji oda and yada akiko together adi......and tamaki hiroshi found out that actually he.........too

atheon wrote:

want some spoilers???? yuji oda and yada akiko together adi......and tamaki hiroshi found out that actually he.........too

huh???? i don't get it...

well......ALERT ALERT~


yada akiko and oda yuji together adi, become a couple, but at the same time, odayuji's ex wife wanna be together with him again, on the other hand, higaki(tamaki hiroshi) realise that he actually likes yada akiko, not setsuko(katase nana)~ typical story line.....

atheon wrote:

well......ALERT ALERT~ yada akiko and oda yuji together adi, become a couple, but at the same time, odayuji's ex wife wanna be together with him again, on the other hand, higaki(tamaki hiroshi) realise that he actually likes yada akiko, not setsuko(katase nana)~ typical story line.....

oh ic... i'm watching for Oda Yuji...well thanks for the spolier

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this is one of those series that i cant wait to watch the next episode. BGMs are good, story is quite interesting and lots of eye candies.

I think this is the first time i've seen Yada in a lively role - compared to her roles in yamato and my little chef. The first ep where she was drunk was quite funny. hehehe...
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Uh, I'm sorta late on this series, but my friend seems to be ga-ga about it... Is it available on disc with subs?

If I missed that post somewhere else, sorry for asking again...

BMW

Right now, I'm taping it without subs. Elton is working on getting it with.

It's gonna take a little while.

By the way, I mentioned this in another thread, but there are a lot of links between the storyline of "Last Christmas" and Oda's 1991 classic, "Tokyo Love Story".

IN '91 he played a guy named Kanchi who just arrived in Tokyo and started working for a company named, "Heart Sport".

In this series, he's Kenji, a project Manager at a company named "Heart Sport".

Both Kanchi and Kenji fall in love with a cutie who works in the office, and who has been romantically linked to the boss.

There's even a scene in both shows where Oda has to race through town in a white van to deliver the vital sports wear, to save the fashion show.

I'm only two episodes into both shows. Can't wait to find out how much more they have in common.
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Geezer wrote:

BMW Right now, I'm taping it without subs. Elton is working on getting it with. It's gonna take a little while. By the way, I mentioned this in another thread, but there are a lot of links between the storyline of "Last Christmas" and Oda's 1991 classic, "Tokyo Love Story". IN '91 he played a guy named Kanchi who just arrived in Tokyo and started working for a company named, "Heart Sport". In this series, he's Kenji, a project Manager at a company named "Heart Sport". Both Kanchi and Kenji fall in love with a cutie who works in the office, and who has been romantically linked to the boss. There's even a scene in both shows where Oda has to race through town in a white van to deliver the vital sports wear, to save the fashion show. I'm only two episodes into both shows. Can't wait to find out how much more they have in common.

Cool. Looking forward to it.

Interestingly, the friend who was asking about it lives in your neck of the woods... And I think his aunt (?) lives in Orinda as well...