Recently saw the Japanese movie First Kiss (was almost the youngest person in the cinema). Then I start to watch the Fuji TV series Omameda Towako and Her Three Ex-Husbands, starring the same actress, Takako Matsu. Mildly jarring to see her again in a different role. But – this being a genre that recycles an apparently limited number of actors – it gets much worse.
The guy playing the first of the three ex-husbands (the publicity photo helpfully numbers them) is also appearing in another series I’m watching, the 156-episode Ama Chan. He plays a talent scout for a Tokyo idols company who recruits a girl who dives for sea urchins in a small northern fishing village. The actor playing ex-husband number 2 also appeared as an alien passing as a hotel staffer in the series Hot Spot, which I recently finished. (More confusion: the multiple-divorcee’s best buddy is played by the actress who is the alien’s colleague at the hotel.) Ex-husband number 3, meanwhile, is played by the same guy who is a judge in the 130-episode drama Tiger With Wings, about Japan’s first female lawyer, which I am also about halfway through. And the actress who plays the lead role in that series does the voice-overs for Omameda Towako and Her Three Ex-Husbands.
Nothing like Japanese TV dramas to keep your brain alert.
(In case you’re wondering, the 150-episode epics are morning shows lasting 15-20 minutes. I’m not wasting that much time.)
what a terrifying portrait of retirement you paint
this being a genre that recycles an apparently limited number of actors
Shades of TVB
Watch “Sanctuary” on Netflix. It’s actually really good. As far as J dramas go.