Gokusen V.S. Change

This battle between the new dramas in Japan this season is starting to look very interesting indeed! Gokusen 3 starring Nakama Yukie has exceeded all expectations scoring a sky high rating of 26.4% on its very first episode last Saturday! This result has undoubtedly put pressure on ratings king Takuya Kimura's new drama Change which will debut on May 12, whether Gokusen 3 will continue to triumph when Change debuts remains to be seen. But it definitely looks set to be a tough fight!

[Update 20/05/08
According to the latest ratings for the week of May 12 to May 18, Gokusen 3 is still on top with an average rating of 25.3% beating Change's 23.8%. But Change is only just a little behind and could still end up being the ultimate winner as this dorama has been getting generally postive reviews since it started airing on May 12. ]

The main attraction of Change is undoubtedly Kimura as the Prime Minister of Japan. He reportedly gained weight to make himself look more serious and authortative. And after seeing some screen shots of his new "un-kimutaku-like" nerdy image in the drama serial from this site, I think this drama could just be the vehicle that he is looking for that will finally allow him to leave his "teen idol" image behind him and propel him to greater heights in his acting career.

And besides Change, he is also starring in a new English language movie - I Come With The Rain with Josh Hartnett, South Korean hunk Lee Byung-hun and Hong Kong hotshot actor Shawn Yue. Here is the trailer of the film that I managed to find on YouTube. With so many good looking hunks all together at one place, this definitely looks like a great movie to me ;-)



Tags: Gokusen 3, Change, Kimura Takuya, Nakama Yukie, ratings, Japanese drama serials, drama series, dorama, I Come With The Rain.