Japanese Drama - Moon Lovers /Tsuki no Koibito

I love watching Kimura Takuya's drama and has been looking forward to his next drama since "Mr Brain". In what's being promoted as his "first full-scale love story" in 10 years, SMAP heartthrob Takuya Kimura stars as a successful furniture manufacturer in "Tsuki no Koibito" (Moon Lovers; Fuji TV, Mon., 9 p.m.).

The drama finally aired its first episode on the 10th this month. According to initial reports from video research, the average ratings reached 22.4% in the Kanto area. In Kansai the ratings were at 20.2%, while Nagoya was at 23.6%. At the highest, it peaked at 24.5% in the Kanto area. Of the drama serials that are airing this spring, it surpassed ratings from Abe Hiroshi's detective drama, Shinzanmono (TBS), which originally had the highest ratings at 21.0%.

In Moon Lovers, Kimura plays Rensuke, the boss of an interior design company who becomes entangled in a love story. Appearing with him are Taiwanese actress Lin Chi-ling from the movie Red Cliff, Shinohara Ryoko, who plays the role of an interior designer in the drama, and Kitagawa Keiko, who plays a model coming from a wealthy family. The drama will develop many storylines revolving around the characters. This will be Shinohara Ryoko's first actual drama since taking a break to give birth to her child in 2008 and she is one of my favourite Japanese actress and i always enjoys watching her drama. She plays the role of a very skilled interior designer who has been hanging out together with the Kimura’s role since their student days. Her feelings for him have always been beyond the friend stage, but she kept on hiding them even as an adult.

Rensuke (Kimura) has become a major force in Japanese interior design with a policy of trying to please as many consumers as possible. He built his furniture empire from scratch, and now has his sights set on China. He plans to build his first overseas Regolith furniture store in Shanghai, but construction is being held up by local demonstrators who claim that the opening of the new store means the closing of factories that employ them. Rensuke has asked his old schoolmate, Maemi (Ryoko Shinohara), to do the interior design for the new store, and the two of them travel to the site and meet with a representative of the factory workers, a woman named Shumei (Lin Chiling). It's a meeting that changes the lives of all three participants.

Following the drama, Fuji TV also aired the variety show SMAP X SMAP (10:09 p.m. ~ 11:09 p.m.). The live broadcast featured all three actresses and attracted average ratings of 20.4%, which ended the night on a high note. I watched the first episode on http://www.mysoju.com/tsuki-no-koibito/ today and can't wait for more episodes to be uploaded.

(Source: http://asianfanatics.net/forum/topic/720910-kimutakus-tsuki-no-koibito-moon-lovers-reach-224-ratings/)
(Source: http://asianmediawiki.com/Tsuki_no_Koibito_~Moon_Lovers~)
(Source: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/rss/fd20100509cs.html)