Itazura ichiban wrote:

I just hope it doesn't become a predictable Pollyanna formula. Right now, it looks like they're going to throw Atsu-Hime at every problem and she will solve it in a snap. She's very attractive, but I am not buying that she can outsmart the royal court single-handedly. The side-story with her "mother" and "father" was very touching, however.

I kind of like that way she handles the various problems. I also assume this has some relation to the real Atsu hime so that her problem solving abilities must have some basis from history. Nevertheless for me this adds another interesting plot developement to an already overpowering and masterful drama.

Last weeks episode though started to show the relationship between Kimiko Yo (Churasan, Yasashi Jikan) and Nariakira. It wouldn't hurt to have them veer off in this direction for a few episodes.

gaijinmark wrote:

Last weeks episode though started to show the relationship between Kimiko Yo (Churasan, Yasashi Jikan) and Nariakira. It wouldn't hurt to have them veer off in this direction for a few episodes.

I had no idea that Hisa hime is Yoko from Churasan. I will have to pay more attention to her now. Of course with that veil on her face I could not recognize her.

Looks like the folks on Runboard are avidly enjoying this drama and announcing the taiga for 2009 will be Tenshijin... and in it will be ....
trumpet blast...... Hiroshi Abe.....
But I don't see any cuties in it so it's back to traditional nothing.

Kinda weird how they're going back to Fūrin Kazan again. Many of the ladies seem to like Hiroshi Abe, so all's fair in love and war....
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http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Tenchijin

The cast list looks promising at the moment...

ralphm1999 wrote:

Looks like the folks on Runboard are avidly enjoying this drama and announcing the taiga for 2009 will be Tenshijin... and in it will be .... trumpet blast...... Hiroshi Abe..... But I don't see any cuties in it so it's back to traditional nothing.

The main star is Satoshi Tsumabuki, and there will also be Takako Tokiwa, Masami Nagasawa & Saki Aibu.
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Kanjani8's 18th single, "365 Nichi Kazoku" out June 8th, 2011!

colorbar credits to nannandesuka@LJ

WD wrote:

The main star is Satoshi Tsumabuki

Will he have a topnot or will he have the same hair as all of his dramas?

bmwracer wrote:

Will he have a topnot or will he have the same hair as all of his dramas?

Haha!! He did have different hair in Dororo. I like his usual style though, looks good on him.
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Trade with me!!! Marspeach's Drama Trades!!!

Well, he had a sort-of samurai 'do in The Haunted Samurai:

ralphm1999 wrote:

But I don't see any cuties in it so it's back to traditional nothing.

Maybe they'll put Morning Musume in a Taiga for 2010 to appease you.

bmwracer wrote:

Maybe they'll put Morning Musume in a Taiga for 2010 to appease you.

That would help me a lot and certainly shoot the ratings thru the roof.

However, since Masami Nagasawa is in it, I will watch enough to see if she can rope me in although she is no Aoi chan. Wasn't she the younger sister of Sakura in Sakura?

Runboard forum just announced:

2009 - 2011 Special Taiga Drama

Saka no Ueno Kumo (��̏�̉_) Clouds Over The Hill


http://www.runboard.com/bcjkdramasincalifornia.f5.t169167%7coffset=150

I'm in.... yippee... Takako Matsu and Kanno Miho.... Taiga purists stay away this will have too many cuties.

A three year Taiga? And I thought Lizzie McGuire-hime was pushing the filler limit with each episode. This sounds like they'll be trying to make it near realtime.

Kijinnmaru wrote:

A three year Taiga? And I though Lizzie McGuire-hime was pushing the filler limit with each episode. This sounds like they'll be trying to make it near realtime.

But it's only 13 episodes of 90 minutes each. So that's about half the length of a regular Taiga in terms of screen time. I wonder why they need to spread it over three years.

This means there will be 2 Taiga dramas airing concurrently at the end of 2009, no Taiga during much of the year for 2010 and 2011...

xploring wrote:

But it's only 13 episodes of 90 minutes each. So that's about half the length of a regular Taiga in terms of screen time. I wonder why they need to spread it over three years.

Job security?

xploring wrote:

But it's only 13 episodes of 90 minutes each. So that's about half the length of a regular Taiga in terms of screen time. I wonder why they need to spread it over three years. This means there will be 2 Taiga dramas airing concurrently at the end of 2009, no Taiga during much of the year for 2010 and 2011...

That makes much more sense(the 13 episodes part).

Here's the whole announcement from Runboard forum:


2009 - 2011 Special Taiga Drama

Saka no Ueno Kumo (��̏�̉_) Clouds Over The Hill

NHK announcement (Japanese)
DramaWiki: Saka no Ueno Kumo

Upcoming series. Originally set for a 2006 broadcast, but the scriptwriter of the series committed suicide, causing a delay in production. This will be the first Taiga Drama to stagger its airing throughout three years. (Fall 2009 - Fall 2011)

Details
* Title: ��̏�̉_
* Title (romaji): Saka no Ue no Kumo
* Also known as: Clouds Over the Hill
* Format: Renzoku
* Genre: Period drama
* Episodes: 13 (90 mins. each)
* Broadcast network: NHK
* Broadcast period: Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Fall 2011

Synopsis
The story takes place during Japan's tumultuous 19th century Meiji Period and is told through the military officers and brothers, Akiyama Yoshifuru and Akiyama Saneyuki and the poet Masaoka Shiki who used their ingenuity to fight an uphill battle during the Russo-Japanese War.

Cast
* Motoki Masahiro as Akiyama Saneyuki
* Kobayashi Ren
* Abe Hiroshi as Akiyama Yoshifuru
* Someya Shota (���J����)
* Tanaka Shohei (�c���˕�)
* Kagawa Teruyuki as Masaoka Shiki
* Sasano Takato (�����̋M�l)
* Kanno Miho as Masaoka Ritsu
* Yoshida Riko
* Ozawa Yukiyoshi as Natsume Soseki
* Ito Shiro as Akiyama Hisayuki
* Take****a Keiko as Akiyama Tadashi
* Matsu Takako as Sakuma Tami
* Kato Go (������) as Ito Hirobumi
* Fujimoto Takahiro (���{���G) as Takeo Hirose
* Marina Aleksandra (�}���[�i�E�A���N�T���h��) as Ariadna
* Fyodorov (�q���[�h���t) as Nicholas II of Russia
* Joe Bunrin (�W���E�u������) as Ding Ruchang
* Watari Tetsuya as Togo Heihachiro
* Miyauchi Atsushi (�{���֎m) as Fujii Shigeta
* Kataoka Tsurutaro as Yashiro Rokuro
* Shinjitsu Ichiro (�^����H) as Ohara Kanzan
* Kikuchi Masayuki (�e�n�^�V)
* Hinokio Kenta (�w������)

Comments from NHK Corporate:
(Comment by Toyohiko Harada)
NHK is planning to air a 13-part drama series titled Saka no Ue no Kumo (Clouds at the Top of the Slope) over a three-year period from the autumn of 2009. The entire script for all 13 episodes has now been finished and location shooting inside Japan is scheduled to start in November. The filming will take more than three years, finishing in 2010. Location shooting in Russia of scenes in which Czar Nicholas II appears will start at the Ekaterina Palace in St. Petersburg in late January next year. That will be followed by various other location shoots in Japan and China and also studio shooting. The whole of next year will be devoted to shooting the first five episodes, which together comprise Part I and will be shown in the autumn of 2009.

(Comment by Hidemi Hyuga)
Saka no Ue no Kumo is a special drama series to reflect on the 150 years that have passed since Japan�fs opening to Western countries, in the hope of providing food for thought for present day Japanese now seeking to chart the future.

(Comment by Yoshiki Nishimura, Executive Director-Producer for the Saka no Ue no Kumo Project)
The shooting started last November as the first step of the three-year-long production period. The production work is advancing smoothly. About one sixth of the shooting has been finished so far. We shot in St. Petersburg for more than two weeks in the second half of January, covering the scenes of a meeting between the Russian Czar, Nicolai II and Japan�fs first Prime Minister, Hirobumi Ito (performed by Go Kato), at the Ekaterina Palace, which is now a designated World Heritage site. They met to discuss ways to avert war. The first location shooting inside Japan was conducted in Hiroshima on March 23, and we will be going to various other parts of the country as well. The second round of the overseas shooting is scheduled this autumn in Russia, China and Europe.

Wow, that's a period I never I''d see covered.
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ralphm1999 wrote:

Here's the whole announcement from Runboard forum: 2009 - 2011 Special Taiga Drama Saka no Ueno Kumo (��̏�̉_) Clouds Over The Hill

Uh, shouldn't this be in the Upcoming Dramas thread, not this thread?