Amazon’s “Happy Marriage?!” review

In which I applaud the main leads and some of its supporting cast, but lament the remaining cast and some badly enacted scenes...

I stumbled upon Amazon’s Original Happy Marriage when, like most of us these days, I flicked through Amazon, Netflix and other streaming services, trying to find a new series to watch to kill the lockdown time. It was a mixed bag in the first place, but I’m glad I stick to it and watched till the end. At least I can say that I like Dean Fujioka, though I think he’s a better musician than he is an actor (like Lee Jong-hyun a better musician than an actor, but both ikemen are still lovely to watch). But I also found Shirasu Jin, an actor about 22 years old who I think should be cast alongside Okada Masaki soon enough due to his acting talents. Oh, and Seino Nana is a darling actress as well here!

Anyway, “Happy Marriage?!” is a tale about a sales girl who was rescued from her poor living condition because a rich man offered him marriage. Sounds like a Cinderella story? You got that right.

Musashi 2003 Taiga Drama

Left: the classic cover of Yoshikawa Eiji's "Musashi"
Right: Ichikawa Shinnosuke's NHK Musashi

Happy New Year! May 2019 be kind, healthy and beautiful for us all…

When I was a teenager, I happened upon “Musashi”, a novel by Yoshikawa Eiji about a well-known Japanese historical figure called Miyamoto Musashi (宮本武蔵). I read the seven volumes of the novel and I liked it. I do think it was a bit difficult for me to understand; not language-wise (it was in Indonesian), but because it spoke of Zen, something I didn’t get as a teenager.

Yet the story cling to my mind, such that in 2004, just before I had a surgery, I searched for the books again (I had misplaced my first copies).  Gramedia said the book was out of print, such that I eventually bought the copies (all the seven volumes) from my local book rental. The copies were dirty, but I treasured them so much. I read them again as I recuperated from my surgery. This time, the values in the novel was easier to understand. And this time, I appreciate the main characters more.

A Lost Love, A Found Love

A Chiisana Kyojin fanfiction, starring Okada Masaki, Yoshine Kyoko and Hasegawa Hiroki. Contains spoilers, thus those who prefer not to be spoiled might be better off not reading this fan-fiction… 

Okada Masaki-kun as the sizzling hot Yamada Haruhiko 山田春彦 (Chiisana Kyojin, Ep 5)

The autumn rain kindly drizzled just as the funeral service was being concluded. Since it was just a drizzle, none of the very few attendants moved away from around the grave; they just produced their umbrellas and respectfully waited until the priest had finished the procedure. Yet, as it rained harder, one by one the attendants left, leaving Yamada Haruhiko standing in the rain as he watched the workers industriously closed the pit.

Sayōnara, Otō-sama…

Yamada felt warm drops slowly running over his face. Warm, so uncharacteristic of the autumn rain. Yet, it wasn’t the rain: it was his tears. Annoyed, he wiped his tears away.

“Yamada, we should go home now.”

Masaki Medley

Okada Masaki's latest character as Nijimura Keichō
in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (2017), a totally irresistible bastard 

I haven't watched Okada Masaki series for a while. The last Okada series that I watched was Legal High 2 (2013) where he was the supporting actor for Aragaki Yui's and Sakai Masato's characters. I wasn't really impressed by Masaki-kun's character in Legal High 2 (too upbeat and cheerful, too one-dimensional), until the last episode that is, when Sakai Masato's character managed to make Masaki's character angry. And it was a very nice explosion, but too limited a use of Masaki's spectrum of talent.

Anyway, then about two weeks ago, I found out that Masaki-kun starred against Oguri Shun again in 2017 in Gintama live action as Katsura Kotarō. That finding rebooted my fan-girling of Okada Masaki, thus this post, where I will briefly post videos, photos or GIFs of Masaki-kun in his recent roles since playing as Minamoto no Yoritomo in "Taira no Kiyomori". Including in this post are Masaki-kun's character as Nijimura Keichō (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure), Katsura Kotarō (Gintama), Kakushidate Yakusuke (Okitegami Kyōko no Biboroku), Yamada Haruhiko (Little Giants, Chiisana Kyojin), and... a very surprising fact that Masaki actually participated in 2-3 stage performances (!!) in 2014!

It has been a great journey re-finding Okada Masaki, for his acting has matured since then... (although I am very proud that he played Yoritomo and narrated that Taiga drama!). Hence, consider me a very happy fan of Okada Masaki!

The 10-years delayed dinner

After about four years of hiatus, I saw Okada Masaki's series again. Love them, still love him. Then I saw Himitsu no Akko-chan last night (Eng-sub), and decided to write this fan-fiction. Hope you like it. The story takes place after the last scene in the movie. 

Akko (Haruka Ayase) and Naoto (Okada Masaki), Himitsu no Akko-chan (2012)

Kagami Atsuko looked absentmindedly at the paperwork in front of her. The approval document for the new organic facial cleanser that she developed with her new team has to be signed by the manager of the R&D team tomorrow. She knew there was nothing wrong with the document or the associated product, trials had indicated that the customers loved the product and it would sell well.

However, there’s one tiny problem for the document. It had to be signed by Hayase Naoto, the R&D Manager. And since her reintroduction to Akatsuka last April, facing Hayase-san, or Naoto as she used to call him, had been difficult. Apparently, things didn’t remain the same forever.

Originally, she was ecstatic that she was accepted in the Research & Development Office, the same department that Naoto had been leading for more than 10 years. The department was bigger now, it had an established cosmetics section and a separate skin care section. Within the cosmetics section, they had developed cosmetics for daily use, for gala dinner, and for anything in between, including a new section for teenagers. Within the skin care section, they had developed the organic line. Akko was assigned in that department, which shared the same wing with Naoto, yet a different section thus she couldn’t always see him.

Okada Masaki's new English-subbed movies: Space Brothers, Himitsu no Akko-chan, & Life Back Then

Update 26 Sept 2017: click here to read my update of Okada Masaki's performance since 2012. 

Okada Masaki on 'Life Back Then' Friday next week on RED!

It's a bit difficult to find new Okada Masaki movies with English sub these days.According to Asian Wiki, Okada has at least three new movies/series that are already released for 2013, but I haven't been able to see them due to the lack of English sub.

However! It's with real pleasure that I announce that the great subbers of Dramacrazy.net etc have uploaded the following movies for us:

Space Brothers with Oguri Shun (already seen it on RED, but I love the movie so I will watch it again!)

I'm watching the bits part of it now, and I think the RED translation of Space Brothers is better than this online version. Still, better than nothing!


Himitsu no Akko-chan with Ayase Haruka (click this link to see it online)

Pics from Akko-chan's Secret (from Jaewinter). It's really a good movie!

And last but not least...(click to read about Life Back Then and Ikuta Toma (!)):

Uchuu Kyodai (Space Brothers) in English subtitle next Friday!

Nanba Hibito (Okada Masaki) in the cockpit of Artemis, courtesy of RED

Fans of Okada Masaki and Oguri Shun, at long last, we can watch Uchuu Kyodai (Space Brothers) in English subtitle! RED (Screen Red Asia) is airing the cool movie in Japanese with English sub starting this Friday (1 March 2013) at 9pm Jakarta time (GMT+7). Indonesian viewers can watch this show if they subscribe to Indovision.

Click here for my past review of 'Space Brothers'. Under the cut is the complete airing time of 'Space Brothers' for March 2013. Thank you so much, RED! (anyone can tell me how to record this show from Indovision?)

Aishiteru Kizuna: the Bond of Love

Update 26 Sept 2017: click here to read my update of Okada Masaki's performance since 2012. 

Have you ever thought why you had to be born in this weird world? Have you ever thought of why you have to experience those horrible things? Have you ever wondered how it would feel to be born in a different family than your current one? If so, then perhaps ‘Aishiteru: Kizuna’ is just the movie for you.

I originally watched ‘Aishiteru: Kizuna’ because of Okada Masaki (duh!). However, when I realised how deep the meaning of the movie is, I have to recommend it to you for its deep lessons and beauty. The fact that Mukai Osamu plays as Masaki’s big brother is a big plus for me, for I love both actors, and seeing them together in a movie like this is such a treat for me!

Fans of Mukai Osamu and Ikuta Toma will understand what I meant, particularly because Osamu and Toma were at the same movie – Hanamizuki  – but they only shared one very short scene together. In fact, in Aishiteru:Kizuna, Masaki and Osamu also only shared one scene. But it’s a long and very important – if not the pinnacle – scene of the movie. Hence, I guarantee that Aishiteru: Kizuna will please the fans of both shining stars.

Little Naoto and Tomoya (Mukai Osamu)

Aishiteru: Kizuna is the sequel of a TV series called ‘Aishiteru: Kaiyo’. I never saw this series, and I don’t think I will (can’t bear it), but this is what I’ve learned: The series talked about a 12^th grader student (Tomoya, played by Kakazu Issei) who accidentally murdered his playmate, 5^th grader Kiyotaka (played by Sato Shion). Throughout the series, we learn about the ramifications of Tomoya’s actions for himself, his family and the family of the victim. We also eventually learn the reason behind Tomoya repeatedly hitting his friend’s head to the ground (and hence murdered him): the friend was badmouthing Tomoya’s mother. 

Space Brothers the Movie: Always reaching out to your dreams

Update 26 Sept 2017: click here to read my update of Okada Masaki's performance since 2012. 

Nanba Mutta (Oguri Shun) and Nanba Hibito (Okada Masaki) in 2012 Space Brothers

It is a natural inclination for a non-native English speaking person like myself  to hope that my Asian movie stars would speak English, so that I can either converse with them in the unlikelihood of me meeting them one day. Or at least, just the pleasure to know the possibility that my favourite stars can join English movie projects one day.  So I was hoping and hoping to hear a bit of Nicky Wu Qilong speaking English, but to date I only know that he understands English, but not speaking it fluently (hence my hope crashed). I’m quite pleased to learn that Osamu Mukai spoke English well in Hanamizuki (couldn’t tell if Ikuta Toma speaks English tho; he didn’t speak English in that movie). Watanabe Ken is out of the question; not because I’m not a fan of his, but because he already speaks English fluently enough to participate in The Last Samurai and Inception. Then, for several months, I was wondering whether my dear Okada Masaki could speak English fluently.

Masaki playing guitar in 'Space Brothers'

Two nights ago, I found myself watching Masaki’s 2012 movie with Oguri Shun: Space Brothers (Uchuu Kyodai).  The movie was in raw Japanese (no English subtitle yet), so I was afraid that I had to struggle to understand it. However, since this movie involves not only JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) but also NASA, English was the secondary language for this movie. And I squeed and wheed a lot when I realized: 1) Masaki plays guitar (!); and 2) Masaki speaks English in this movie (!!). Okay, I couldn’t hear Masaki singing (he probably can’t sing well, but so what), but his guitar scenes seemed real (he did move his fingers correctly), good enough for me! Click this link to watch the movie in raw Japanese (no English subtitle yet).

Update 26 Jan13: RED is going to air Space Brothers with English sub!!! Not sure of the time yet, but I'd say around March. I really hope it's not when I have to go out elsewhere. I failed to see Ikuta Toma's Genji Monogatari (Eng sub) because I was in AU. This time, I better see the Eng-subbed SB!! Fans in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, be happy!

Now, please, click 'read more' to see the English-subbed trailers and read the plot summary and review.

English lyrics of Ōhashi Torio's 'Fairy' (Raiou OST)

Okay, it indeed looks like that I have nothing to do. Wrong. I have an abstract to submit and a new computer to fiddle around with. Still, I took time to translate Ōhashi Torio's 'Fairy' (OST of the movie Raiou). It is a beautiful song with beautiful lyrics. So, enjoy the song with the English lyrics, and disclaimers that I always can make mistakes.


English lyrics and the full 5min ver after the 'read more'. Below is the short, Raiou version (with Masaki and Yu).

Lightning Tree/Raiou OST: Maika’s ‘Kokoro’ (with English lyrics) and Ōhashi Torio’s ‘Fairy’

The poster of 'Raiou'

RED has been re-airing ‘Lightning Tree/Raiou’ these days. I’ve re-watched it several times and remembered how this movie first captured my attention to Okada Masaki (and subsequent almost sleepless nights afterwards to watch his other dramas). I have made a post about the movie here, and in fact, I received my first comment on that post today! Yay!

I have to tell you this: I miss Masaki-kun so much. ‘Taira no Kiyomori’ finished last December, and I cannot tell you how I miss his Minamoto no Yoritomo. I haven’t found Masaki’s other English-subbed projects, so I’m down to re-watching his past projects (The Golden Piggy/Ogon no Buta, Holy Monsters/Seinaru Kaibutsutachi, Otomen and Young Black Jack are on top list). I also downloaded many Masaki-related OSTs, or if I cannot do that for techy reasons, I have been streaming the OSTs over and over again. One such OST is Raiou’s OST, titled ‘Kokoro’ and sung by Maika. 

Maika - Kokoro Vidéo Milano-san sélectionnée dans Musique

Hanamizuki ~ a love lasting for 100 years

The beautiful Hanamizuki (dogwood flower)

After the contemplative post below, I'd like to close this year with this gorgeous, beautiful song titled 'Hanamizuki' by Hitoto Yō. Hanamizuki is the Japanese word for 'dogwood flower' and it is also the title of a 2010 J-romance movie starring Aragaki Yui, Ikuta Toma (!) and Osamu Mukai (!!). I haven't got the time to review the movie, but it's really really beautiful. The music is gorgeous as well. 

Herewith I present you the Hanamizuki MV, Hanamizuki OST by Hitoto Yō and another version by Aragaki. Also presented are the Romaji lyrics, English translation and the original Kanji lyrics from Jpopasia.

Happy New Year, and may the love we share with our loved ones lasts for 100 years!

OST Hanamizuki by Hitoto Yō

Taira no Kiyomori ep 43: Shanaō became Yoshitsune

Shanaō (Kamiki Ryunosuke) became Yoshitsune, ep 43

TNK ep 43 opened this week with Narichika asking Shigemori to beg Kiyomori to spare his life in the aftermath of the Shishigatani Incident last week. We also have Lady Tokiwa for the first time after more than 10 episodes, as well as Shanaō and Benkei, plus Yoritomo and Masako (of course!). Regulars like Kiyomori himself and the two-faced Go-Shirakawa were always there. Someone got sick, and someone would die in ep 44. Below is the NHK summary:

Narichika, who has been exiled by Kiyomori, dies from starvation. Shigemori becomes worn down by the passing of his brother-in-law and from the considerations shown for the cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa. Around the same time, Kiyomori learns of Tokuko’s pregnancy and prays for the safe delivery of the baby. Tokuko finally gives birth to a boy, the son of Emperor Takakura, who later becomes known as Emperor Antoku. In izu, Yoritomo and Masako are trying to get permission for their marriage from Masako's father Tokimasa.

By the way, I made a mistake in ep 42 last week. I said that Narichika was beaten several times by Kiyomori. Well, I was so wrong. Narichika was arrested and exiled (because of Shigemori’s plea), while the monk Kiyomori beaten to his death was Saiko. I’ve fixed ep 42 with this new info. So in ep 43, since Shigemori failed to bail out Narichika, the latter somehow died in exile due to starvation. It was a sorry scene which I chose to ignore (and browsed the net instead), for it was rather gruesome. 

Taira no Kiyomori ep 42: Yoritomo confessed his love to Masako!

Minamoto no Yoritomo (Okada Masaki), ep 42

This week’s Taira no Kiyomori brings me the happy news about Yoritomo confessing his love to Masako! Of course the feeling was reciprocal, but the confession did not happen before an arranged marriage and a girl’s escaping the wedding entourage. On the Heike side, we have Kiyomori murdering Saiko and Narichika, an action which appalled his darling son Shigemori.

You may be able to watch it online in Pandora TV, FC2 or the like, but perhaps you have to wait for more than 24 hours. The Pandora account where I usually watch the rerun of TNK episodes have deleted ep 41, and I don’t think he/she will upload ep 42. But I got lucky last night and found another Pandora account which uploaded TNK ep 41 here. I assume he/she will upload ep 42 as well. Fingers crossed. [Edit: Click here to watch ep 42 online! I've watched it several times by 16 Nov, and this is by far my fave TNK episode]

Episode 42 opened with a Heike scene as per NHK World Premium’s summary here:

Kiyomori receives secret information that the cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa and his aides, including Narichika and Saiko, are plotting to overthrow the Taira family. Kiyomori bursts in anger and captures Saiko to extort a confession out of him. Saiko, however, outrages Kiyomori by saying things that rub Kiyomori the wrong way, and Kiyomori orders for the execution of Saiko. Narichika is also captured and killed off by Kiyomori, despite Shigemori's desperate plea for Narichika's life. Witnessing Kiyomori's mercilessness to those who stand in the way, Shigemori becomes fearful of Kiyomori.

From the Genji side, Hōjō Masako (Watanabe Anne) was practicing her archery skill when her father Hōjō Tokimasa (Endo Kenichi) summoned her. Turned out, dearly beloved father wanted Masako to marry Yamaki Hangan Kanetaka, a powerful local Heike ruler. I am under the impression that this arranged marriage was connected to ep 41, in which two Taira goons (I think their names were Yoshiaki and Hideyoshi?) came to the Hōjō house and said something that concerned Tokimasa. Anyway, whatever. Tokimasa told her daughter how Yamaki Kanetaka was a good man; he was going to make her happy, etc etc etc. As expected, Masako politely declined the marriage offer (I mean, order). I’m not sure if she said that her heart was with someone else, but as the result, Tokimasa slapped his own daughter. 

Taira no Kiyomori ep 41: Yoritomo started to trust Masako

Minamoto no Yoritomo (Okada Masaki), ep 41

This week’s TNK brings us more Matsuda Shota – I mean, Go-Shirakawa – mourning Shigeko with Lady Gion (Matsuda Seiko) by his side. We also had quite a lot of Yoritomo-Masako, to my glee, in addition to the budding bromance of Benkei and Yoshitsune.  In the Heike side, we have Taira no Shigemori starting to question his father’s action. Below is the summary from Auberginefleur:

In 1177, Saiko's son gets into a skirmish with Buddhist monks at a temple on Mt. Hakusan, and the incident escalates into a brawl, involving Buddhist monks of Enryakuji on Mt. Hiei. The cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa orders Shigemori to take up arms against the warrior monks, however, Shigemori's retainer accidentally hits the mikoshi (portable shrine) carried by the monks with an arrow, which triggers a new problem. To quell the disturbance, Kiyomori again leads his troops into Kyoto.

As you may be well aware now, I’m not a Japanese speaker. So I rely on several times watching TNK to understand what transpires in each episode (or at least in the scenes I’m interested in). Unfortunately, the Pandora TV site hasn’t uploaded ep 41 yet (they even deleted ep 40, OMG!), so I am just writing this based on my memory and notes (yes, I did make notes while watching TNK, in between stirring my risotto tonite!).  

[Edit 27.10.12: Click this (Pandora TV) or this (FC2) to watch  TNK ep 41 online.]

'Haru comes down from the second floor' (Gravity’s Clowns commentary)

Haru (Okada Masaki) came down from the second floor

I got a new favourite song a few days ago, called ‘Sometimes’ by S.R.S., an indie Japanese music group. The song was the OST for ‘Gravity’s Clowns/Juryoku Pierrot’, a 2009 movie starring among others my favourite Okada Masaki. It was another beautiful movie of Masaki’s which showed his maturing acting skill back three years ago. 

In the movie directed by Mori Junichi, Masaki was paired with Kase Ryo, a very talented actor 15 years older than Masaki, and Kohinata Fumiyo – a very impressive veteran actor – as his father, Mr Okuno. The story was based on a 2006 novel titled ‘A Pierrot’ written by Isako Kotara and was translated into the wide screen by Aizawa Tomoko. Watch it online here.

The movie plot revolved around a dark family secret that was kept away from the two Okuno brothers (Ryo as Izumi and Masaki as Haru) until the death of their mother. Along the way, the movie introduced us to several arson cases all over the city of Sendai, some random graffiti, a female stalker and a chronic rapist let loose. The seemingly unrelated events came together after the Okuno boys discovered that the arsonist left a series of clue in the form of DNA codes. 

This deep movie is made deeper by the fact that the story was set in Sendai, one of the places obliterated by the Tohoku (east Japan) earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011.

Click here for the cool English version of ‘Sometimes’. The Japanese version and the spoilers for the movie are under the cut.

Taira no Kiyomori ep 40: Shigeko and Masako

Taira no Shigeko, NHK

This week’s TNK focuses on two important women in the Heian Era: Taira no Shigeko and Hōjō Masako. The episode takes us to a big event in Cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa’s private life: the death of Shigeko (his favourite court lady). In addition, Minamoto no Yoritomo started to interact with Hōjō Masako. Below is the summary from Auberginefleur for episode 40:

In 1174 in Fukuhara, Japan-Sung trade has already started. Kiyomori advises the cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa and Shigeko to visit Itsukushima Shrine to pray for the nation's prosperity. Meanwhile, Saiko and Narichika (Go-Shirakawa's aides) start to fear the growing power of the Taira family. Shigeko tells Saiko and Narichika to act as a bridge between Go-Shirakawa and the Taira family. However, after the passing of Shigeko in 1176, the power balance within the Imperial Court begins to fall apart. Around the same time in Izu, Yoritomo and Hōjō Masako are gradually nurturing their love.

'Yoritomo and Masako gradually nurturing their love' didn't quite capture what happened here. Read on to know why. 

Episode 40 (see here online) opened with the trade between Japan and the Sung Dynasty. I liked it how the Sung people spoke in Mandarin instead of Japanese. Then the story switched to Cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa and his wife Taira no Shigeko. Shigeo (Narumi Riko) was not only Go-Shirakawa’s wife; she was also Kiyomori’s sister in law because Shigeko was Tokiko’s sister (Tokiko was Kiyomori’s dear wife). Shigeko held an important role in the Heian court, because she was the bridge between the Emperor family and the Taira clan. Shigeko was also the mother of Price Norihito, later known as Emperor Takakura. Go-Shirakawa (Matsuda Shota) seemed to love Shigeko very much. Despite his monk status, he still flirted with her, read poetries with her and making love with her.

Matataki (Blink)

Poster of Matataki

a.k.a. ‘Piecing Me Back Together’ was a 2010 movie I watched this afternoon to quench my thirst of another Okada Masaki performance. The movie didn’t disappoint me, although Masaki’s screen time wasn’t a lot there. It wasn’t because he wasn’t the main actor. He was. But rather, because Matataki is telling the story of Sonoda Izumi (Kitagawa Keiko), a young woman whose boyfriend died during a traffic accident they experienced together.

Yep, Matataki is a sad story. Sad, but encouraging as well in the end. It didn’t stop me from crying like a baby, though. My eyes were wet into the first 5 minutes of the movie. I wailed – yes, wailed – during several scenes. I sobbed when I learned what truly happened to Izumi and Junichi Konou (Masaki’s character). But here I’m getting ahead of myself as usual. After the trailers below, I post the recap of Matataki. Heavy spoilers, so for those who want to see it online here (English subbed) without spoilers, you better stop reading this.  

Taira no Kiyomori ep 39: Yoshitsune vs Benkei!

Yoshitsune defeating Benkei, from Vingle

TNK ep 39 (1172 CE) opened with the legendary fight between Yoshitsune and Benkei at Gojo Bridge. Yoshitsune (Kamiki Ryonosuke) was at that time known as Sanaou; Benkei (Aoki Munetaka) was known as Onikawa. It seems that Benkei thought that Sanaou was a Heike. Because the monk was always challenging Heike samurai, Benkei attacked Sanaou. But the boy easily took over the monk’s sword and defeated the monk. Soon enough, the scary Heike girls in red came and challenged them. For some reasons unknown to me (oh, English subtitle...), the girls ran away. Yoshitsune found himself parrying Benkei’s naginata once more. But when the boy defeated the stubborn monk again, for some reasons Benkei realised that he wasn’t dealing with a Heike. He was in fact fighting one of the sons of Minamoto no Yoshitomo. Apparently, Benkei had met young Sanaou in the past (when the boy’s name was Ushiwakamaru). Surprised to see the child already grown into a boy, Benkei held Sanaou and twirled him around. Sanaou’s funny expression reminded me of Himura Kenshin’s (Sateru Satou) amused expression in Rurouni Kenshin live action (that I haven’t seen because the English sub hasn’t been distributed outside Japan yet. Arrrgghh!).

Meanwhile, back with the Heike, here’s Auberginefleur’s summary (taken from NHK, I think):

In 1172 in Fukuhara, Kiyomori with the backing of the cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa steadily advances construction work of a port, together with Usagimaru (Kiyomori's retainer) to prepare for the trading with Sung. Kiyomori orders Usagimaru to complete the construction as quickly as possible, however, Usagimaru condemns Kiyomori for acting out of self-interest, over his once held ambitions. The rift between Kiyomori and Usagimaru become irreparable.

Taira no Kiyomori opening music & Yoritomo ep 32-34

Yoritomo, Yae-hime and baby Senserumaru (NHK)

I've been listening to the opening music of Taira no Kiyomori so many times. The music is so beautiful. Alas, I can't find the opening credit in YouTube or other embed-dable sites. However, I found this video on YouTube containing just the music (without the video), but that should be enough to give you a taste of how it good it is. Click here to watch the opening credit (it's actually the first ep of TNK with English sub).



 
Also, since there isn't enough Okada Masaki these days (I'm still waiting for the English-subbed of Space Brothers and Akko-chan), I watched ep 32-34 of TNK just to know what happened to Yoritomo. Well, as I posted earlier, in ep 32 Yae-hime and Yoritomo had a son. A kawaii son called Senserumaru. From what I saw in ep 32, it seems that Yae-hime was scolded by his family for getting pregnant with Yoritomo's offspring. But Yoritomo insisted that he would protect Yae and the baby. So, when the baby was already delivered, Yae took the baby boy to see his father. Yoritomo's surprise and happiness were very apparent. For a while, he believed that he could be happy again.