The upcoming Mokuju (Thursday at 10) J-dorama is the highly anticipated (by me) Last Cinderella starring Shinohara Ryoko, Miura Haruma, and Fujiki Naohito. I’ve noticed for the last few years there has been a spate of old maid dramas from Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, though always starring a truly gorgeous woman we are asked to believe can’t find a man to love her. A few have been solidly done, with a very believable and prickly heroine that we can see why she might have trouble with opposite sex issues even if she has self-esteem and professional success. I adored My Name is Kim Sam Soon, and was surprisingly won over by My Queen. Will Last Cinderella manage to find that perfect combination of funny and poignant without resorting to cheap shots? Shinohara Ryoko is one of Japan’s A-list actresses, and two babies later she’s still got that beautiful natural attractiveness about her. I tried so hard to like her Anego but something was off, and I can’t figure out if I was bored by the cookie cutter office setting or that neither of her leading men made compelling options for her to choose between. Here I think the both of those problems won’t exist – the setting is a quirky neighborhood hair salon called Happy Go Lucky (adorable name) where the heroine works as a talented stylist, and Fujiki Naohito plays her boss and perhaps something more? As she starts growing facial hair due to a hormone imbalance, her friends push her to venture out into the dating scene again and that is where she meets free-spirited lothario BMX biker played by Miura Haruma. It’s hilarious how unattractive Haruma looks with his lion’s mane gone wild, while conversely Naohita is making my toes curl and my stomach do twirly whirls with his scruffy look and casual attire. The man cannot look bad even if he tried. Another bonus? The PD for this baby did Rich Man, Poor Woman. I am so sold it’s not even funny. LC premieres this Thursday April 11th.
Naohito Fujiki looks SO GOOD here not even funny. I was swooning – highly inappropriate given our large age gap, ha. I’m a little bit excited about this one, no kidding haha. I hope it delivers!
I watch this Last Cinderella was bcoz of Rintaro Tachibana!! 🙂
Been patient & Wat he’d even before Eng sub & …. Duhhh! Pretty frustrated with the ending 🙁
No satisfaction at all in the end.
Now I can’t wait for RMPW season 2 if any ?
Cheerio…!
Shinohaya Ryoko is absolutely gorgeous 🙂 I watched Anego as well! Despite Akanishi Jin’s rather stiff acting, there was a certain charm between the two of them (of course, Shinohara Ryoko can do no wrong). Couldn’t say the same for her other love interest though. There’s very neatly a whole middle section that could be skipped so that you just watch the cute parts.
Caught her in Tsuki no Koibito too, though I found that show a lot harder to stomach, because of the ‘acting’ of Lin Chi Ling. The love line changed so suddenly at the end that it made me wonder if it was the power of Shinohara Ryoko.
Anyway this is just to say — I’m excited about this as well! Can’t wait for the premiere 🙂
I was the minority who wanted Takuya Kimura to end up with LCL… Shinohara Ryoko acting is good but she doesn’t have onscreen charm that make me root for her. Even in Anego, she was alright…
I guess it got something to do with my taste for actresses’ face(my shallow part), she is not the eye-candy type.. but there are plenty of other actresses whose face are not pretty in my eyes but won over me with a character. So, I guess I have to wait for her to win over me with a good character.
This drama looks cute but Miura Haruma(I always find his mole distracting)…. I feel like I’m rooting for Fujiki Naohito already.
She has the right idea. Stop angsting and just marry them both! All I need to know is when to start watching.
Does anyone know the set up for the scene in the pictures? I am getting excited about this because of the PD, but now I am curious. The two (beautiful) men are completely decked out while the female lead is in jeans (my fantasy I have to say–two gorgeous men who are still after me, and I don’t have to wear Spanx and heels? I’M IN!).
Been waiting for Shinohara Ryoko to lead a drama again in years. It doesn’t matter who her co-star is cos I’m sold!
Hi Koala-san, by chance will you be blogging Last Cinderella?
I just watched this !!! ep1-3, very good I must say, the reason why the younger guy pursued her in the beginning was because….. *spoiler* …. Pretty realistic I must say, can’t wait for ep4, please blog this drama if you like it too Mrs.Koala :):):)
first time watching SR and MH in a drama seen FN before started watching last Cinderella bc of him and I LOVE IT!!! funny n sweet at the same time
I’ve watched 7 episodes of this show so far and I’m really enjoying it. I’d seen Miura Haruma in “Bloody Monday,” but I had no clue he’s a child star. He doesn’t get too much air time, due to the big ensemble cast, but he’s definitely grown on me.
i have watched the 10 episodes but it has not yet ended. from episode 1 till 10, i have been watching this drama with raw (without English subs) and re-watch when the subs are available. i hope Captain Koala makes a brief summary of Last Cinderella when the drama is finished.
please, please, please do make a summary of Last Cinderella, Captan Koala…
I have been reading and enjoying your blogs since you give meaningful and colorful narration/recap… I thank you wholeheartedly.
Mrs Koala, are you watching this (last episode tomorrow though…)? I love it almost as much as I loved RMPW!