Pretty Young Newbies Cast as the Leads of the Japanese Movie Version of Itazura na Kiss

Casting is complete and filming underway for the upcoming Japanese movie adaptation of popular shoujo manga Itazura na Kiss. The movie is called Itazura na Kiss The Movie ~Haisukuru hen~ (Mischievous Kiss The Movie: High School version) and stars two newbies in the lead roles of cold smart male lead Irie Naoki and bumbling one-track minded Aihara Kotoko. Hitting all the requirements of young, tall, and handsome, 19 year old young actor Sato Kanto will need to give his own interpretation of Naoki, while pretty 21 year old Visa Reina will have to do her best to convince us of her dim and kindhearted personality. I’ve liked all the ItaKiss iterations to varying degrees, and firmly believe which version works the best is judged on a personal connection level. The last version was out of Japan in the 2013 J-dorama Itazura na Kiss: Love in Tokyo, which was quite popular among the younger crowd but never connected with me. But it’s revival of this story in Japan does make it good timing for the movie version coming out in 2016. Continue reading

From Favorite to Best: The Three Versions of Itazura na Kiss Poll and Discussion

Everyone has their own favorite flavor of ice-cream, and even the exact same flavor of ice-cream can taste different despite the same basic ingredients of milk and sugar. I look at the various drama adaptations of the Japanese manga Itazura … Continue reading

MV Montage to the Best Kisses and Couples of 2010

I’ve seen quite a few MVs floating around various video sharing sites that aim to collect and showcase the best K-drama kisses of 2010. After watching quite a few, I must say that 2010 was exceedingly fanservicy with the kissing … Continue reading

A Koala Reminisces: 2010 Year End K-Drama Reviews

2010 heralded the dawn of a new decade. Where’d the last decade go? I could have sworn that I took a brief nap after college, only to wake up with an entire family and a boatload of new responsibilities. On a more drama-centric note, … Continue reading