18-19??? Plenty of time for our favorite speculated elements:
- I vote for an earthquake in Kyushu - the perfect ironic touch, ne?
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Ah! It's nice to read that we've gotten to the point where the viewers want to see the whole cast of Wakaba die in a massive earthquake.

That means the end isn't too far off.

It always happens with the NHK Morning dramas. (The NHK Asadora dramas?) You start out loving the show, but then it goes on so long that it really starts to tick you off.

After watching 4 of these series from beginning to end, I decided to give "Wakaba" a pass (even though Sayaka Yamaguchi is listed as a regular)... an I have to say, I don't feel like I've missed a thing.
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Has KTSF already decided what will be aired after Haru e Natsu finishes its run? I haven't had a chance to watch the tape of last week's episode yet to see if there were any previews... but I'm getting antsy for something new.

And I vote for a fire taking out the Chinese Restaurant. They all congregate there around the clock anyway, so it would be like shooting koi in a barrel.

CK

Old-Ant wrote:

With Wakaba safely married to Mr. Boring and Mom finally having "the conversation" with Grandpa, what's left? I calculated that this show would last until sometime this Summer, but... Could it just have been a miscalculation? Or are we going to be waiting around until Mom marries Mr. Look-a-like?

Wakaba could get pregnant or something. I guess I'm the only one who likes this show.

MikeNolan wrote:

I guess I'm the only one who likes this show.

We dislike it, but we'll miss it like hell after it ends. That's why we're all taping it. Didn't we keep wishing Sakura would end soon? Now look at us: we keep re-watching it. That's why they call us dorama addicts.

The only good thing I got from "Sakura" was the ability to bring it up whenever my Japanese friends complain about misrepresentation and miscasting in "Memoirs of a Geisha." (Even though I didn't bother seeing the movie myself for those reasons. It's just that occasionally it needs to be pointed out that Hollywood doesn't have a monopoly on that kind of thing.)

Err, anyway. "Wakaba." It's kind of holding my interest, and it doesn't make me wince the way "Sakura" did. But it does seem to be a bit aimless at the moment. Our whole household misses "Egao no hosoku" and other shows before that. I'm finally watching "Haru to Natsu," but there's nothing on Saturdays that I really look forward to right now (the taiga dorama
The only good thing I got from "Sakura" was the ability to bring it up whenever my Japanese friends complain about misrepresentation and miscasting in "Memoirs of a Geisha." (Even though I didn't bother seeing the movie myself for those reasons. It's just that occasionally it needs to be pointed out that Hollywood doesn't have a monopoly on that kind of thing.)

Err, anyway. "Wakaba." It's kind of holding my interest, and it doesn't make me wince the way "Sakura" did. But it does seem to be a bit aimless at the moment. Our whole household misses "Egao no hosoku" and other shows before that. I'm finally watching "Haru to Natsu," but there's nothing on Saturdays that I really look forward to right now (the taiga dorama is hard for me to follow due to all the minor characters, and it's a historical period I'm not too interested in). Especially when they run that "D" show instead of "IQ Supli."

Meh! Oh well, this Saturday I'll be at a conference anyway. I don't know if my housemates will successfully record the shows, so if they don't, I hope you guys will fill me in on any announcements there might be of what will follow "Haru to Natsu." is hard for me to follow due to all the minor characters, and it's a historical period I'm not too interested in). Especially when they run that "D" show instead of "IQ Supli."

Meh! Oh well, this Saturday I'll be at a conference anyway. I don't know if my housemates will successfully record the shows, so if they don't, I hope you guys will fill me in on any announcements there might be of what will follow "Haru to Natsu."
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Waldo T wrote:

We dislike it, but we'll miss it like hell after it ends. That's why we're all taping it. Didn't we keep wishing Sakura would end soon? Now look at us: we keep re-watching it. That's why they call us dorama addicts.

Yeah I'm going to miss Wakaba too, its almost a year and a half I've watched every episode. I don't really miss Sakura that show wasn't very good.

wintersweet wrote:

Especially when they run that "D" show instead of "IQ Supli."

I ended up just renting IQ Supli from the video store.

I live kind of between San Jose and San Francisco, so neither one's too convenient in terms of renting and returning stuff. Especially with gas prices the way they are. :p Sigh.
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wintersweet wrote:

I live kind of between San Jose and San Francisco, so neither one's too convenient in terms of renting and returning stuff. Especially with gas prices the way they are. :p Sigh.

Yeah, if I didn't work near San Jose, it would be inconvenient as well.

Strictly for Wakaba fans:

Say, isn't that Wakaba as a patient in the hospital over on the "Dr In Love" dorama on Sunday night? (And don't you hate the Dr's wife?)

And what is this show that started on Sunday night at 10:30? The TV schedule indicates the title "Rico's Miracle" but nothing comes up by that name on the Jdorama dbase.

Oh, and did anyone else notice that TTV now has one-half hour less of programming on Sunday nights (starting at 8:30 instead of 8pm)?

Andru wrote:

Say, isn't that Wakaba as a patient in the hospital over on the "Dr In Love" dorama on Sunday night?

You're right. I found this in a news release from FujiTV about episode 6 of Doctor in Love:
���l���q��������̂͌��c�Ċ�B�f��w�R�R�j�C���R�g�x�ŏ��D�f�r���[���ANHK���̘A�������w�킩�΁x�Ńq���C���𖱂߁A���̕�������Ȃ������A�w�Ƃ�D�悵�Ă��邽�߁A�����h���}�ɂ́w������L�؂̗��x��2�x�ڂ̏o���ƂȂ�
It says more or less that this is Natsuki Harada's second appearance in a drama series after taking a study break following Wakaba.

Here's something weird. I was in Japan last February, and NHK ran a Wakaba stage play on TV. The main set was auntie's Chinese restaurant although I think there might have been other sets brought on and off. It included most (if not all) of the main cast of the series. I didn't get to see much of it since it was playing opposite one of my fiancee's favorite shows, but I got to see a little during the commercial breaks.

Old-Ant wrote:

NHK ran a Wakaba stage play on TV

Well, since I have the day off and time to burn, here's what I found:

It's from this website:
http://www.meijiza.co.jp/info/2005/08/begin.html

Huh? The Wakaba story is so compelling they made a stage play about it? Or maybe this is common to do for the NHK morning doramas? Come to think of it: I do remember seeing an ad for a stage show of some other "asadora" a couple of years back in Eye-Ai magazine. But I think that asadora was much better than Wakaba.

The other day I asked about "Rico's Miracle" the show that recently started at 11:30 Sun nites. I googled it and found this:

http://www.fujitv.co.jp/en/program/other_prog/v_wed10.html

Apparently, "CoCo Rico's Miracle Type" is a comedy show that started on FujiTV in 2001. And what is showing on KTSF now is some sort of "dorama special."

hmmm, was just looking at yahoo's tv schedule, loks like faruhata ninzaburo is going to replace haru e natsu next sat.

wonder if it's true, guess we will find out tonight

ap

Hmmm. I wonder if they mean Furuhata Ninzaburo?

If so, it sounds cool. But those are both (they did 2 series, on in '96 and the second in '99) pretty old shows, even for KTSF.

Have they done one more recently and it just hasn't found it's way into the data base?

Oh well, like ap said, we'll find out tonight.
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It could be the Furuhata Final specials, the five?? episode one. I remember watching both the first and second seasons on KTSF.

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