Tomatsu Haruka to Appear in, Sing Ending Theme for Koko wa Greenwood Live-Action Dorama
Hooo boy, here we go again. Tomatsu Haruka is appearing in yet another live-action adaptation of a manga (the other being RH Plus). Koko wa Greenwood, which begins July, features lots of B-grade actors I’ve never heard of…plus Iwata Mitsuo (Marcosius in Shana) as narrator and our friend the airhead Fukui Yukari (facepalms).
I mean, look at the actor playing our supposed ‘guy who looks like girl’ Kisaragi Shun. That don’t look like no trap to me. More like a transsexual operation gone wrong.
So er…Tomatsu’s cast as the idol singer Nitta Mieko, and she even gets to sing the ending song. But then, I’m not even sure that she’s a good singer at all… but it’s her official debut single so I’ll probably buy it. Google tells me ‘Naissance’ is French for birth. If you’re wondering why Haruka is even involved in this, it’s because Aniplex (owned by Sony) are one of the producers of Koko wa Greenwood. Haruka’s signed to a Sony seiyuu agency, as are access, singers of the opening theme ‘Dream Runner’. But seriously, they should stop making her do drama series that nobody watches. I certainly don’t think it’s going to advance her career one bit…
June 26th, 2008 at 8:06 am
Watched the OVAs and enjoyed reading the manga, so odds are I’ll give the drama a try. It’s pretty much slice of life comedy ala Honey & Clover but a lot more light-hearted.
BTW, Iwata Mitsuo VA’ed one of the main characters in the anime so that’s kinda cool they got him for the drama as well. His character in the anime is actually one of his better performances IMHO and probably the first time I heard him back in the day (I think the OVAs came out in the 90s?).
June 26th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Well, everyone who enjoyed the OVAs (me included) will probably want to give the drama a check out… Though Jun was probably a near impossible role to cast anyone in anyways -_-”
June 26th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Let me rephrase that: “…nobody but anime/manga fans, and gaijin otaku, will watch”. There are no big stars plus it airs on a station that isn’t particularly famed for its dramas (Tokyo MX TV). They can’t get mega Jpop stars to sing the theme songs either.
Maybe you’re thinking, hey! Not having famous actors doesn’t always mean the show will suck! But hey, when I think of good manga->drama adaptations, I think of star-packed productions like HanaKimi, Nodame or Hana Yori Dango.. not RH Plus or Tokyo Ghost Trip! (the two drama that aired before Greenwood in its Monday 10.15pm timeslot on Tokyo MX TV).
But seriously, there are lots of other potential blockbuster summer drama I’d rather watch like Atsuhime, Code Blue or Shibatora… well, maybe Greenwood will prove me wrong *shrug*
June 26th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
LOL, to be completely honest, I don’t even watch J-dramas to begin with, so I have absolutely low expectations for Greenwood (actually, considering I’m so much fo a 2D > 3d person, I’ll probably end up hating it). You’re probably right about the “…nobody but anime/manga fans, and gaijin otaku, will watch” statement, I think people are too exited for Hana Yori Dango Final or something to care.
July 5th, 2008 at 7:12 am
No JPop stars in the cast? GASP! Maybe this will actually be a *good* drama then. Hanadan, Hachikuro, and most of the manga doramas I’ve seen are terrible - lots of times due to the j-pop idols horrible acting skills and the mind-boggling casting choices all to stick a well known name in a role.