The Best Of Ishihara Satomi

Ishihara Satomi is a notable Japanese actress who’s still active in the entertainment industry. She has starred in many Japanese dramas and appeared in the “World’s 100 Most Beautiful Faces” in 2018 and 2017.

I forgot when I started becoming a fan of hers. As I watched more Japanese shows, I noticed the same actress has been appearing as the main lead. So I looked her up and been a fan since. If you’re active in the Japanese drama scene, I’m pretty sure you would have watched at least one of her shows. For anyone who’s interested, here is the link to check out her basic facts along with her all of the shows she’s been in.

However, here are three Ishihara Satomi dramas that stand out from the rest in no particular order.

Dear Sister

I did a review on this one, and her performance in this is superb. The storyline, while not as great during my second watch, is still heartwarming and concludes well. It centers around two sisters who have completely different personalities who ultimately learns and solves their differences to rebuild their relationship. The family is the main theme in this drama.

Ishihara Satomi plays the mischievous younger sibling, Fukuzawa Misaki. She spontaneously moves back in with her older sister with a hidden secret that could either drive their relationship closer or further apart. Dear Sister has 10 episodes which can be finished if you binge for 1-2 days.

Pretty Proofreader

Pretty Proofreader is also known as Jimi ni Sugoi! Koetsu Garu Kono Etsuko. It’s mainly a business drama that centers around Kono Etsuko, a passionate and dedicated individual who strives to become a fashion editor. However, she gets placed into the copy editing department where the job is supposedly dull and boring. Though she finds out that each department has their own strengths and uniqueness.

What’s unique about this drama is that it’s also like a lookbook: before each major appearance, we get a brief full-outfit look of what Etsuko’s wearing. As Etsuko’s personality is usually bright and optimistic, it’s reflected in what she wears compared to what her colleagues wear in the copy editing department. How she interacts with those who are polar opposites to her also helps her character growth throughout the drama.

From Five To Nine

From Five To Nine focuses on Sakuraba Junko’s journey to work in her dream city, New York. At a funeral, she accidentally pours ashes onto the monk, Hoshikawa Takane (Yamashita Tomohisa). Later, when her parents set her up on a blind date, her partner is none other than the monk who has already fallen head over heels for her.

What I like the most about this drama are its quirky characters. You get some interesting personalities: leader, strong and silent, flirtatious, a boy who pretends to be a girl, and a woman with a secret obsession with BL are all types you’ll see in this show. Frankly, I was more interested in the relationship of Junko’s colleagues, but it’s still an enjoyable watch.

Other Notable Shows

Ishihara Satomi’s other notable shows include Heartbroken Chocolatier, Unnatural, and Rich Man Poor Woman. The reason why I didn’t have a separate category for each of them is that I didn’t watch them until the end.

I didn’t enjoy the storyline for Heartbroken Chocolatier and was drawn to the show due to its cast (Matsumoto Jun, Mizuhara Kiko, Mizobata Junpei) and soundtrack. It felt like the storyline kept going in a circle with no progress or an ending. Additionally, the main characters weren’t that great. However, the soundtrack for this show is amazing; it sparked my love for Ken Arai, the composer.

Unnatural had Ishihara Satomi play a slightly different character than her previous ones. In addition to being diligent and dedicated to her work, she shed her “cutesy” image for a no-nonsense leader who leads her team to solve unnatural cases. I wasn’t too invested in the storyline, though I’ve heard great things about it. Though, it’s likely I’ll give it another try in the future.

Rich Man Poor Woman is an earlier work of hers. Oguri Shun plays the male lead the CEO of a large Internet company, Next Innovation. Ishihara Satomi is a recent graduate who gets humiliated by Oguri Shun at the presentation for new recruits. Though, after hearing her name, he takes an interest in her as she introduces herself with the same name as his mother who disappeared when he was young. Again, I wasn’t too into the storyline and dropped it after a few episodes.

Let me know which of Ishihara Satomi shows you’ve seen and which you’ve enjoyed!

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