I’m so sold on this in every single way lol. Netflix continues to flex not only its K-drama muscles but also the J-dorama fare, with Alice in Borderland being a huge hit and season 2 to commence filming shortly. The streaming giant has a slate of doramas it plans to produce and one of the most high profile will be a romance drama inspired by the hit song First Love and Hatsukoi (which is Japanese for first love) by Japanese-American songstress Utaka Hikaru. The dorama will star Sato Takeru, coming off hit romance Love Lasts Forever/An Incurable Case of Love (Koi wa Tsuzuku yo Dokomademo), along with rising actress Mitsushima Hikari. It’s set in the 1990’s through the 2000’s and follows the couple through their romance which sounds a lot like the oldie J-dorama Meguriai with Fukuyama Masaharu and Tokiwa Takako. I love this pairing and can’t wait to see what production has in store with the visuals and a guaranteed great OST.
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That is my ultimate fave of Utada Hikaru’s song. And Meguri Ai is where I fell in love with Masaharu and still remain my fave J-dorama of all time (and been repeat watching many times).
Talking abt that song, to me, it’s very synonymous to the doroma “Majo No Joken” with Matsushima Nanako and Hideaki Takizawa.
Anyway, whenever there’s Satoh, I ll definitely be checking out this dorama.
So heartwarming to find a fellow J-ent lover from that era who loved the same song(s) and dorama(s) as me. I love both too!
looking forward to this j-dorama.
Every time I see about Sato Takeru, I started to remember him. Looks like I still can’t move on.
not sure if we’re thinking of the same “him”.. satou’s best friend? because there’s always another actor that I tend to associate with Satou Takeru (his best friend, or at least during their younger years)…
It is him, Haruma. I got to know Sato Takeru through him. He was my first Japanese actor who introduced me to the whole Japanese culture. I just miss him so much.
Aihhh same…. I saw Sato Takeru’s name here and immediately thought of the other person.. I’m happy that Sato Takeru continues to flourish in his career, but I can’t help but feel sad when I think of the contradictory fate of the other person. It’s been more than 6 months but I still feel deeply heartbroken. I hope his soul is at peace.
Not sure if you can classify Mitsushima as a “rising actress”
LOL, it’s hilarious she called Mitsushima a “rising actress”, and spelt her name wrong.
I like both songs of Utada Hikaru, First Love and Hatsukoi! Hope the drama will be as good as the songs!
First Love was so good, the emotion she put in this song was beautiful. Hatsukoi was a nice OST. There was Eternally that I really liked too.
OMG late 90s and early 2000s jdoramas were *chef’s kiss*. I grew up listening to Utada. Memorized all the lines to First Love, even had it as a rotating song in my Xanga LOL! And I will pretty much watch whatever I can with Sato Takeru so I’m definitely gonna check this out.
I’m glad Netflix is starting to pick up Jdoramas. Ever since d-addicts closed down and Viki went legal, it’s been so hard to watch them. Hoping this one is really successful and we can get more offerings!
Interesting, I’m excited to see. OMy favorite song from utada…
It has been a long time since I enjoyed Jdrama. But I did watch Alice in Borderland and enjoyed it. Not my favorite but it was refreshing for Jdrama.
I am a fan of Hikari as an actress and a singer, so I hope she also participated in the OST and I wouldn’t mind if Hikki also releases a new love ballad too. FYI – please check out her song with Mondo Grosso: call Labyrinth. It’s wonderful.