Nogizaka Cinemas: 'Story of 46', episode ten recap starring Mai Shiraishi

 Fuji-TV/FOD homepage link for the show:  https://www.fujitv.co.jp/nogizakacinemas/

This drama began on January 21st and ended on March 30th, it had ten episodes featuring one Nogi member who are in the above pic and here's the list of who was in each show plus it's rating:

 Episode one- Asuka      7.5/10

 Episode two- Manatsu  7.1/10 

 Episode three- Sayuri   8.0/10

 Episode four- Mizuki    6.5/10

 Episode five- Hinako     7.4/10

 Episode six- Miona        7.7/10

 Episode seven- Yuki      8.5/10

 Episode eight- Erika     7.0/10

 Episode nine- Shiori      7.0/10

 Episode ten- Mai           7.5/10

 The series aired on Tuesday nights until the end of March. Will give a big thanks to Beam Subs who did the subs for the show, first five episodes were done quickly but then there was a huge gap of two months due to no translators. However the final five shows were completed in about a week and the subs for every episode were solid.
 Here we are with the final recap and at the bottom will give my overall thoughts on the series, the good, the bad and the ugly. As you can see Mai was the featured Nogi member in this show and it was one of the last things she's done for the group. Mai is still with Nogi but won't be doing many activities with them in the future, she's mainly sticking around for her farewell concerts but will they ever happen this year? Doubt if regular concerts will be held but will save those thoughts for a group post. To me Mai is a decent actress and excels in shows which are a bit dark and intense, this one was to an extent. Not the best show as you can see by the rating but it did have a very interesting twist at the end and her character's name is Yuri Takei.

Episode title.... 'The Children of the City'

 In that first screenshot we saw Yuri at a hospital where they told her to return the following day. It was quite easy to figure out what Yuri's condition was as she kept feeling nauseous and needed to use the bathroom often. Being pregnant was her condition and to give a minor spoiler away we learned by the end of the show it was actually an abortion clinic Yuri was at. Upon leaving the clinic Yuri hitched a ride in a taxi driven by an unnamed driver though we may know what is is at the end.
 This driver talked on and on which was leaving Yuri a bit furious, she was in such a bitchy mood which I guess was caused by the pregnancy and whether to abort it. The driver did refer to the 'Dragonball' series a few times and it happened that Yuri was a big fan too. In the front seat was a little girl about eight in age whose name was never mentioned and didn't utter a sound until the very end. That driver kind of beat around the bush about whether the child was her own but the main problem was that she had a meeting with her mean boss and would Yuri look after her?
 No Way! was Yuri's reaction but she didn't have much choice in the matter as the little girl jumped out of the taxi and headed into an aquarium. Yuri followed the girl as the taxi drove off and this may have been a test from the driver to see if Yuri was fit to be a mother or wanted to be one, the driver could tell she was pregnant. Things at the aquarium didn't go so well as Yuri was feeling nauseous again and left the little girl to use the bathroom. Upon returning the girl was nowhere to be seen and Yuri became so frantic trying to locate her.

 After finally finding the little girl Yuri was furious at first but eventually mellowed out and seemed to take a liking to the girl. Yuri was reminded of her youth so much when she was with the girl who still wouldn't say a sound and it appeared Yuri may have been the same way too, we'll say her age is 27 as that's what Mai is in real life. After a long wait the taxi did return and this is when the episode started becoming much more interesting. Not that that events until now were putting me to sleep but the show went into a much darker mode the last seven minutes.
 As you can see above Yuri was asking the driver some personal questions about the girl, one odd inquiry was is she the girl's mother? To that the driver answered NO but it wasn't a case of kidnapping or anything illegal. The driver has been letting the girl ride with her at night as the girl is apparently homeless and is known for wandering the dangerous streets of Shinjuku every night. The driver told Yuri she couldn't have any children so she's kind of 'adopted' the girl and she has no clue about her parent's whereabouts or how she survives the night. The girl up until two minutes were left had never uttered a word but finally blurted out to the driver Momma... which was kind of heartwarming and bet now the driver will officially adopt her....

 .... or perhaps not as I did mention in the intro that there was a Major Twist to the ending. After Yuri and the driver had a nice heart to heart talk the taxi driver soon drove her home. Before exiting the vehicle Yuri looked at the woman's name on her ID tag, to her and out surprise it was 'Yuri Takei'! With that the scene in the taxi ended but we still had another minute to go in the show. The setting was back at the abortion clinic and it was actually the same scene from when the show began. A nurse had been calling Yuri's name and she eventually woke up wondering what happened.
 There's one of two possibilities, either Yuri was just dreaming or she had some sort out out of body experience which to me is what happened. Perhaps Yuri's fairy godmother was able to get into her head and showed Yuri how her life may turn out if she does have the abortion. There's no way Yuri would ever want to be a cab driver and is that the life that may await her? Yuri thought about things for a few seconds and eventually headed to the operation room as the episode ended. To me Yuri didn't go through with the abortion but they did keep us in the dark about it but her time with that little girl definitely changed Yuri way of thinking about children.

 Have those final thoughts after these pics and will say this was a decent way to end the series off with. Gave it a rating of 7.5/10 but that was because of the beginning as the second half was a rather intense and as I've said Mai does well in darker roles or in horror films.

 Overall will give this ten episode series a rating of 7.4/10, will recommend it for Nogi fans but if you're not one then you won't miss anything by skipping it. As I've said a major problem was the length of episodes that ranged from 21 to 24 minutes. A half hour show would have worked out so much better as the stories were rushed at times which meant many details were left out and we had to guess at some of them. My other beef is that in four of the shows the Nogi member wasn't the main character and can't understand why, that was especially the case in the ninth episode.
 By far the seventh show with Yuki was the best and it's one I'll view again, really seemed a lot of it may have been based on her life and some problems she may have faced being so short. Sayuri in episode three also did a solid job and often she's been given fluffy roles in dramas but to me she's better as a more serious actress. On the flip side though I do like Mizuki her acting leaves something to be desired, her performance was subpar in her show which was the fourth.
 She also didn't do that good of a job in the 'Video Girl: Mai' series but she keeps getting such a big push. Just occurred to me now but a member who I really would have liked to have seen in this series was Ayane and bet she'd do well in some sort of dark role but sadly she's not among the more popular members. Now that this series is complete and there's no more new Nogi shows to view will be going back to normal dramas and hoping on Saturday can have two recaps for the "Shiyakusho" drama that aired last Autumn and so far what an excellent show it's turning out to be.

Mai Shiraishi: "Yonimo Kimyona Monogatari" drama recap

 Air Date: May 12, 2018 on Fuji-TV at 9:00 pm, consists of five segments 20-25 minutes 

Cast:

Mai Shiraishi as Koharu

Sayaka Tomaru as Saki

Daichi Saiki as Naoya

Chiaki Kawachi as Hako

Ayane Taketatsu as the voice of Mimiko

 Small cast and really the only person who had a major role was Mai who was in at least 95% of the scenes which was fine by me. This is a long running Japanese series which airs 2-3 times a year. Have five of the DVD collections and all of them are highly recommended. The stories aren't overly scary but can be a bit creepy and there's a lot of supernatural elements in the stories.
 These specials are always narrated by Tamori and many may know him from Music Station, he's quite the character. The TV movie also goes by the name of 'Tales of the Unusual' with segments running from 20 to 25 minutes, this one ran for 23 and the title for it was.....

Follower

 It was a bonus having Sayaka in this show, didn't know she was in it though wish her part was a bit bigger but the whole story really revolved around Mai who played the character of Koharu. Koharu is someone who leads a double life, by day she works as a clerical aide at a small printing factory. She's quite bad at her job as Koharu spends most of her day on her phone checking how many new followers her account(Twitter?) has gotten and what compliments they've given her.
 By night she leads an entirely different life, one that's nothing but a huge lie. Koharu is addicted to her Twitter page and her whole life has become consumed with getting as many followers as possible, hence the title of this segment. But to her 'fans' that follow her Koharu is not a lowly worker at a small printing factory but is an OL that works in the prestigious Minato District of Tokyo. She also uses Haru as her name on the internet and the page that she's set up is just a fantasy life that she wants for herself but it's spun drastically out of control.

 But you can see above how Koharu really lives which is in virtual poverty and most of her meals just consist of packaged ramen. But she knows every trick in the book to make her followers think she's a big deal who lives a life of luxury. For instance Koharu will 'buy an expensive dress, necklace, shoes or anything that will impress others and to make them think she's a high class woman.
 Her secret is after taking pictures of herself wearing the items she'll return them to the store and do the whole process over making Koharu's followers believe she went out and purchased even more luxury items. Think there's many others in the world who are consumed with having others believe that they're not what they really are but Koharu really took it to the extreme. She even will take pictures of other people's shoes or cars to post on her account and claim that they're her own or her boyfriend's even though she doesn't have one.
 As bad Koharu has been with her compulsion to trick others to follow her it's about to get worse. As you can see above Koharu noticed one her fans talking about someone new who has outshone Koharu and that person is another OL named Sayu. To Koharu she's now her rival and whatever Sayu does she has to do better, if a new handbag cost her 40,000 yen then Koharu has to buy one for 50,000 yen. But there is a new follower of Koharu's who has given her the inspiration to try even harder in life or should I say try harder to deceive her fans.

 That new follower is named Mimiko who quickly becomes Koharu's biggest fan. All day long Mimiko constantly posts on Koharu's page about what great taste she has in clothing, jewelry and her whole lifestyle which Mimiko says that make her so envious of Koharu. Mimiko even set up a special website where she's posted all of the pictures Koharu had uploaded to her account page. With such a loving fan Koharu is in seventh heaven and it never crossed her mind why someone would be so fanatical over her life.
 But it's still a struggle keeping up with Sayu, though Koharu now has over 80,000 followers Sayu always manages to stay a few thousand in front of her. But that's nothing compared to the mystery that's about to enter Koharu's life, one that ends up making her even more twisted. One night Koharu splurged and went out for ramen instead of having it at home. While she was enjoying her meal some unknown person had sent her a text message. It said 'hope your enjoying your meal, are you going to go out afterwards with your boyfriend?'.
 That message sent Koharu into a state of panic, is one of her followers following her? Koharu raced outside the restaurant but couldn't fond a person who may have sent the message. As she was about to head home on her bike another text came through asking why didn't Koharu's boyfriend give her a ride home in his expensive car? Now Koharu is about to lose it, if any of her fans find out about her secret life she's ruined but who could be doing this to her, her rival Sayu perhaps?
 That's what Koharu was thinking the next day at her job when her co-worker said to look at a news bulletin. It was of a woman who was killed as she had been pushed in front of a train, when Koharu looked closer she saw that the woman killed was Sayu! She began thinking her problems could be over but shortly after that she discovered they weren't and Koharu had even more of them to worry about. That's because the fax machine in the office soon delivered a message, it was a one line note which said 'With this you will not lose anymore'.

 Shortly after that fax another one came through, this had a picture of Sayu just before she was pushed to her death in front of the train! Now Koharu's state of panic has increased tenfold, who is this mystery fan of hers that would do anything to make her number #1? Koharu briefly thought about it could be Mimiko but quickly erased that thought from her mind, the only other person who may know about Koharu's secret identity would be her best friend Saki.
 Koharu was about to head to her place but first stopped at her own apartment to change or should I say her old apartment. That's because when Koharu arrived there moving men had emptied her place out and had put all of her meager belongings into a moving van. The head mover showed her the work order, it was to move all of Koharu's belongings to an exclusive pad in the Minato district where she said she worked. Koharu dashed after the van but was unable to catch up with it, she thought to herself what in the world is going on?
 Now there was little doubt to Koharu that the person behind these doings was her best friend Saki and she dashed over to her place. It wasn't a peaceful journey as along the way Koharu almost got clobbered by a flower vase that fell from a balcony as she was passing by a random building. It missed her by a foot at most and who knew that Koharu would be taking this route?
 Once again Saki came to Koharu's mind and this time she finally was able to get her friend on the phone before she arrived at her apartment. Saki did confess that she and her new boyfriend visited Koharu's fake site quite often and both had such a laugh at all of the lies Koharu was spewing to everyone. But Saki flatly denied having anything to do with making calls to expose Koharu's secret life and of course she had nothing to do with Sayu's death. What she said was 100% true for as Koharu was standing in front of Saki's apartment building who should come falling out of the sky and land a few feet away from Koharu than.... Saki(!) who had been pushed to her death.

 Coming close to the end of this recap, you wouldn't think so much could happen in a 23 minute show but it obviously did as this is as long as a normal drama recap. Seeing her friend Saki lying on the ground dead was the final straw for Koharu's mind as it finally snapped and she went on a very quick downhill trek to her doom. Plus there was no doubt to Koharu that her #1 follower Mimiko has been behind everything but there was no way she could stop her.
 The final four minutes it seemed like Koharu was on death row and was having her final meal. She did have that meal but was so poor from her activities she couldn't even pay for it and ran deliriously from the restaurant. As she was fleeing Koharu checked her account, at that moment she finally hit 100,000 followers and had wanted to post a pic to thank everyone. But Koharu had spilled some coffee on her dress and couldn't be seen like that so rushed into a store and quickly put on a new outfit without paying while shoving the employees aside.
 While running from the store Koharu also thought that she needed some new jewelry to impress everyone with, she was in such a deranged state Koharu attacked a pair of woman stealing a ring and necklace. She immediately put them on and as she was about to snap some pics to show her avid fans when a car out of nowhere came zooming down the street and ran over Koharu sending her flying.
 There was a group of people around who instead of helping Koharu took pics of her with their phones, know it had some sort of symbolic meaning but not sure what. But Koharu wasn't quite dead yet as she was able to crawl over to her phone to check on her account, her last sight in the world was watching the amount of her followers quickly dwindle down. In the final few seconds we had a view of Koharu from the car that hit her. The person in the car was a woman though we didn't get a good look at her but there was little doubt it was Mimiko who just may have been a serial killer of woman who set up these outrageous fake sites. When Koharu took her final breath Mimiko hit the 'unfollow' button on her account and with that we've finally hit the end of this recap.

 Not sure why this turned out to be so long but it's the way it worked out as I probably didn't leave one detail out. Thought it was an enjoyable watch and all of these mini movies in the series are, would recommend any of them if you've never viewed any. As you can see in the screenshots the subs were done by Depressingsubs, they still have this episode there if you want to grab it. Mai did a solid job and will have to say I've always enjoyed her acting as she is a bit versatile and will try to check out her new drama that began on April 20th.