Mail Order Rocks!

Lately it seems that all I've been doing is working and it didn't help that the first thing I see after I checked my email today is a thinly veiled personal attack on my apparent lack of taste because I had nothing good to say about a TVB series called "Steps" and because I dared to actually suggest that Chen Fala was NOT devoid of acting ability in said series. Strangely the person who left me that comment actually seemed to think that I would find it immature that they didn't leave a name other than "anonymous". Shouldn't my only logical reaction be to react to the immaturity of the content of the message and not the fact that someone left me a message signed with an unverified nickname or name?

I know I shouldn't be surprised that I might attract this kind of comments from time to time and I suppose I've been lucky that there haven't been more as I'm often not kind to series that I find terrible. I suppose the lack of such comments in spite of my trashing of several TVB series in my blog has lulled me into a false sense of security. Sigh... it must be one of those days... =(

Anyway, in order to chase the blues away, I thought I would just ramble a bit about my new obsessions, Matsushima Nanako, Japanese dramas and learning Japanese. =)



Now as you guys who know me well know, I'm simply terrible when I get obsessed. I was like that with Ada Choi for a while and now it's the same with Matsushima Nanako. And like it was with Lau Ching Wan, Moon Lee, Jade Leung and Ada Choi, I've set out to try and watch everything Nanako has ever been in. Now I failed with Lau Ching Wan simply because the man's filmography is like ridiculously long and a lot of it is quite un-watchable, so much so that even I the crazy completist cannot find the strength to continue the struggle, so I gave up. =) Thankfully, Nanako's filmography is only a fraction of Lau Ching Wan's and is mostly filled with quality work and so I have had little trouble watching most of it. The most difficult part right now isn't the watching, it's the getting.



After a great deal of effort, I've managed to acquire almost everything that Nanako has been in and today I added a very difficult to find title to my collection. =) The best part of today was to find in my mailbox, the dvd of 「加賀百万石 母と子の戦国サバイバル」 (kaga hyaku man seki ~ haha to ko no sengoku sabaibaru ~ ). =) Sadly, this made for tv title doesn't have any English subtitles but I'm happy to get it nonetheless. See... told you I'm a nutty completist. =)

I can't really figure out the exact dates this particular story is set in since it's in Japanese with no English subtitles and my knowledge of the Japanese language is quite sad at the moment. What I can figure out though is this, this telemovie is set in the Sengoku era in Japan's history and seems to concentrate on Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Maeda Toshiie and Maeda Matsu's twilight years. If you're a Jdorama fan, you would most likely have watched, or at the very least know of, this popular and highly rated series called Toshiie and Matsu (利家とまつ). This series which stars Nanako as Maeda Matsu also has in its cast some of her generation's most popular and talented stars.



There are a few points of interest if you're a Nanako or Toshiie and Matsu fan. It might amuse you to watch the young Nanako play the proud Lady Yodo in this telemovie. This telemovie was made in 1999 and Nanako played 淀殿 , also known as Cha Cha or Lady Yodo, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's concubine and Lord Oda Nobugana's niece. Who would have known then that 3 years later, in 2002, she would go on to portray with greater success the wise Matsu of the powerful Maeda Clan. Lady Yodo doesn't feature much in either Toshiie and Matsu or "kaga hyaku man seki ~ haha to ko no sengoku sabaibaru ~ ". At the time she made this telemovie, I don't think anyone knew then that she would become one of the most famous and popular Japanese drama actress of her generation.

Another point of interest is that Takashima Masahiro who plays Maeda Toshinaga really looks like the same guy who played Tokugawa Ieyasu in Toshiie and Matsu. Now if only I understand Japanese, I'm currently 10 or so episodes away from finishing Toshiie and Matsu and it would be interesting to be able to compare how they each portray the events of that time.

Wow, it's already 2:40am... sigh... will need to sleep now. Too bad, maybe next time I'll have enough time to give a brief comment on the other Nanako series I've seen and also talk about Jdoramas on the whole and maybe even touch on this other TVB series I finished watching during Chinese New Year

Anyway, that's it for now... good night. =)