Eternally grateful to those who uploaded the episodes of Takuya Kimura’s Change online so quickly! It’s such a great pick-me-up for my less-than-stellar mood. In fact, it was so brilliant that it even deserved a mention on The Wall Street Journal!

And here’s what the drama critics at Yomiuri said:

If there is an heir to Shiba’s intelligent, socially conscious style of scriptwriting, it just might be Yasushi Fukuda, who, in recent years, has given us Kyumei Byoto 24-ji, Galileo, and now the political drama Change. The showpiece of the July 14, five-star finale was an inspiring 20-minute speech by Prime Minister Asakura (Takuya Kimura) that emphasized accountability and responsibility for politicians and voters alike. It was so good, the public would probably elect Asakura tomorrow if given the chance.

Change just completed airing in Japan last week and you can already watch the entire drama from YouTube. For those who prefer English subtitles, check out www.mysoju.com but the last episode hasn’t been uploaded though.

Takuya definitely gave the REAL politicians and bureaucrats a tough act to follow.

Thanks to Ashes for sending me this.

Cauliflower hairdos are quite a disaster and I believe only Takuya can make it look so loveable. Ha!

And make no mistake; the theme song for Change is Miles Away from Madonna’s new album.

Grooved to 4 minutes.  Hard candy isn’t so tasty.  But Madonna is sure hot! 

Watched Iron Man with the boys.  Robert Downey Jr is incredibly sexy!  And I’m gonna name my next toy Pepper!

As a Takuya Kimura zealot, I would never forgo the opportunity to catch any of his dramas or movies.  But after watching the trailer for I Come With The Rain, I’m wondering if I want to see it at all.  

The story looks interesting enough and the movie appears to be artfully made, but it also looks gory enough to turn me off.  Well, you watch it and decide for yourself.

Anyway, instead of posting the gory trailer here, I rather put up this sexy Gatsby commercial.  And if you want to find out more, read my post over at Asian Celebrity Commercials. 

Madonna is providing the theme song “Miles Away” from her new album Hard Candy for the upcoming Takuya Kimura drama series titled Change that will air on Fuji TV next month. This is reportedly the first time one of her songs will be used as the theme for a television series.

Here is a recorded video message from Madonna to Takuya: “I wanna wish you a lot of success on your new television show and I’m very happy that you are using my new song ‘Miles Away’! Good Luck!”

The diva sings for my Takuya and even wished him luck! OMG OMG OMG!!! I bet she was already impressed by him during her visit to SMAPXSMAP in 2006 because she even kissed him then!

The woman is so brilliant. I’m SO going to buy Hard Candy for sure!