Rio Uchida is a Japanese actress who was born on September 27, 1991, in Tokyo, Japan. She played Kiriko Shijima, the main female lead of the fantasy, sci-fi, and action-themed “Kamen Rider” TV series and associated spin-off movies in 2014-2015. In 2018, she appeared in the dramas “Princess Jellyfish” and “Ossan’s Love,” scooping the Best Supporting Actress prize at the Nikkei Sports Drama Grand Prix awards for the latter.

Uchida Rio

TV Asahi

At thirty-three, Soichi Haruta (Kei Tanaka) should have been living a full, happy, comfortable life. Unfortunately, he’s not. As an employee at a local real estate office, Soichi isn’t exactly unsuccessful in his career but when it comes to women, he has absolutely no luck. Still living with his parents, Soichi often wonders if his luck will ever change. Ironically enough, it does; but not in the way he was expecting.

Done supporting him, Soichi’s mother decides to walk away, leaving her son to find a way to survive on his own. With no idea how to cook, clean, or generally take care of himself, Soichi wastes no time in accepting his co-worker, Ryota Maki’s (Kento Hayashi), offer when he invites Soichi to live with him. Though Soichi is happy to be enjoying Ryota’s impeccable housekeeping skills, he’s completely caught off guard when he learns that Ryota has long had a crush on him. To make matters even more complicated, Soichi’s boss, Musashi Kurosawa (Kotaro Yoshida) has recently confessed his love for him.

Surrounded by men with strong feelings for him, Soichi finds himself caught in an unexpected love triangle. How will he be able to sort out his own feelings when he’s constantly being pulled in opposite directions?

One of the very first Japanese boys’ love dramas, “Ossan’s Love S1” is a 2018 Japanese romantic comedy drama directed by Saito Yuki and Toichiro Ruto.

Ossan’s Love

Unexpected Love Team

In high school, Sato Tamio (Daichi Watanabe), or Satomin to his friends, lost the only girlfriend he ever had. Though he was the one to end things between them, he never found anyone to replace the woman he once loved. Spending the years that followed completely alone, Satomin never once regretted his decision as his confidence in his ability to find his true love never wavered.

After graduating from university with a degree in art, Satomin took a job as a temporary art teacher at a local high school. At the time, he wasn’t worried about his new job being temporary, but as the years went by and his position never became permanent, Satomin began to sink into a deep depression. Feeling lost and alone, Satomin decides, on a whim, to visit a local love hotel where he secures the services of a woman named Serika (Haruka Kudo). In one of those rare moments of “love at first sight,” Satomin falls madly in love with Serika as does she.

Desperate to make Serika a permanent part of his life, Satomin tries, but his lost confidence in himself has severely hindered his ability to find love. Will he be able to find a way to overcome his self-doubt or will this brief encounter with love be nothing more than a fleeting gift?

Adapted from the manga of the same name by Akane Torikai, “Romance Storm Zone” is a 2022 Japanese romance drama directed by Koyama Takashi and Mizunami Keita.

Romance Storm Zone

Destined to Meet you

When Shizuku Tachibana (Yuko Araki), Yori Suzuki (Ryo Yoshizawa), and Subaru Tojo (Yosuke Sugino) were young children, they were firm friends with a shared dream: They all wanted to become famous.

But as they grew older, their families moved away and they lost contact with one another.

Celebrity dreams have come true for two of the three, with Shizuku Tachibana now a successful model and Subaru Tojo embarking on an acting career. Only Yori Suzuki has failed to make it big. Now a high school student, he decides he will stop at nothing in his quest to also become a star – and also reunite with Shizuku Tachibana, as he harbors a secret admiration for her.

He manages to transfer to the school she attends and also manages to land a role as a production assistant on a commercial she is shooting. By a stroke of luck, he manages to appear in the ad – developing phenomenal popularity overnight as a result.

Can he capitalize on his sudden success, and find a way to win Shizuku Tachibana’s heart – even after Subaru Tojo (who also has feelings for her) reappears on the scene?

This drama was based on a 2014 manga series of the same name.

“Anokono Toriko” is a 2018 Japanese movie that was directed by Ryo Miyawaki.

Anokono Toriko

Two Lovers Team

Fuji TV

Tsukimi Kurashita (Kyoko Yoshine) lost her mother to illness while she was still a young girl. Her enduring memory of her mother is jellyfish – after an emotional visit to an aquarium with her mother. Ever since, she has been completely obsessed with these aquatic creatures.

She lives in a Tokyo apartment with a group of young women on the fringes of society, most of whom have little or no romantic experience, shun outsiders, and are unemployed.

Tsukimi Kurashita dreams of escaping this dreary apartment and her housemates. She wants to retreat into her own world and become an illustrator.

But her life is sent on a brand new course on the fateful day when she quarrels with an uppity pet store clerk about a jellyfish, which she believes may be on the verge of death.

A remarkable looking stranger intervenes: a stunning beauty queen (who later turns out to be a cross-dressing man): Kuranosuke Koibuchi (Koji Seto). The stranger buys the jellyfish for Tsukimi Kurashita, who repays the favor by letting this exotic beauty stay with her at the apartment – much to the disdain of her housemates.

But the chaos has only just begun, as both Koibuchi Kuronosuke and his brother Koibuchi Shu (Asuka Kudo) slowly begin to fall for Tsukimi Kurashita…

This drama was based on a hit manga series of the same name, and also spawned an animated series and a 2014 live-action film.

“Princess Jellyfish” is a 2018 Japanese drama series that was directed by Ishikawa Junichi.

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