Poster for Galileo (Season 1) (2007)
Kou Shibasaki and Masaharu Fukuyama
1. The Japanese mystery writer Keigo HIGASHINO has written a series of novels and short stories with Associate Physics Professor Manabu YUKAWA and detective Kaoru UTSUMI as the main characters.
"Detective Galileo" is the nickname given to Associate Physics Professor Manabu Yukawa.
According to the article "Keigo Higashino" in Wikipedia, there are 3 novels and 5 short story collections in the Detective Galileo series.
Seven of the 8 books have been translated into Chinese and I have read 4 of them; they are all very good read.
(While 5 of the novels are published in both mainland China and Taiwan by different publishers, 2 are published in mainland China only.)
(In general, books published in mainland China are in Simplified Chinese and books published in Taiwan are in Traditional Chinese.)
A novel in the series, The Devotion of Suspect X ("容疑者Xの献身") (2005), won the Noaki Prize in 2006.
(The Naoki Prize is among the most prestigious literary awards in Japan.)
According to Wikipedia ("Keigo Higashino"), the English translation of The Devotion of Suspect X (2005) is in 2012:
(a) Nominee for Edgar Award for Best Novel.
(b) Nominee for Barry Award for Best First Novel.
(c) Chosen by the American Library Association as Best Mystery Novel for their 2012 reading list.
2. In recent years, among Asian TV dramas, I enjoy watching Japanese dramas the most.
One reason is because many Japanese TV dramas have very good scripts.
I suppose that is so is because some of them are based on very good literary works.
Examples are the TV dramas:
(a) Galileo (Season 1) (2007),
(b) Galileo SP (2008), and
(c) Galileo (Season 2) (2013)
and the movies:
(d) Suspect X (2008), and
(e) Midsummer's Equation (2013)
all based on the Detective Galileo series of mystery novels.
I have watched all the TV dramas and the movie Suspect X (2008).
(I like to thank one of my younger brothers for supplying the TV dramas and movie for me to watch.)
Some of the short stories in the Detective Galileo series are very brief and the TV dramas have fleshed them out.
In general, I like the TV versions better.
Also, I am very impressed by actress Amami YUKI's performance as the "Woman Saint" in the last two episodes of Galileo (Season 2) (2013), which is based on Salvation of a [Woman] Saint ("聖女の救済") (2008).
3. KISS shite ("KISSして") (2007) is the ending theme song for the TV drama Galileo (Season 1) (2007) and is sung by Kou SHIBASAKI.
The actor playing Associate Physics Professor Manabu Yukawa is Masaharu FUKUYAMA.
The actress playing detective Kaoru Utsumi is Kou Shibasaki.
Masaharu Fukuyama and Kou Shibasaki are both accomplished actors and musicians.
Both the music and lyrics of KISS shite (2007) are composed by Masaharu Fukuyama.
After the drama, Fukuyama and Shibasaki formed a band called "KOH+".
("Masaharu Fukuyama", Wikipedia):
"In 2007, after a four-years absence from drama, Fukuyama returned to television, starring as the brilliant but eccentric Physics Associate Professor, Manabu Yukawa, in the widely acclaimed television drama Galileo. His won 'Best Actor' at the 55th Television Drama Academy Awards for the role. He also formed a band, KOH+, with his co-star in the drama Kou Shibasaki."
4. KISS shite (2007) by KOH+ with Kou Shibasaki as lead singer and Masaharu Fukuyama as guitarist:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_uU5JwkCzQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5_fQpCH7No
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-rnb4P2FIM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL20p-rrKiY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnVhkPB28lA
5. KISS shite (2007) by Galileo (Season 1)'s lead actress Kou Shibasaki:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMZ4keO5Bbw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp1TpyHtbQI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCgS87aRQ2k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usINnsqkM4U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4u_XCxHxYg
6. KISS shite (2007) by Galileo (Season 1)'s lead actor Masaharu Fukuyama:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRyntzUmMjY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqzTWwBw3AE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sJ-wdgWqzQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzb7CE_yIaQ
7. This upload has the song twice:
The first is by Kou Shibasaki with video from the TV drama and the second by Masaharu Fukuyama in concert:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo15efX5YN8
8. Names, Words and Phrases:
Amami Yuki (Traditional Chinese: 天海祐希; Simplified Chinese: 天海佑希).
Detective Galileo (Traditional: 神探伽利略; Simplified: 神探伽利略).
Kaoru Utsumi (Traditional: 内海 薫; Simplified: 内海 薫).
Keigo Higashino (Traditional: 東野圭吾; Simplified: 东野圭吾).
KISSして (Traditional: Kiss 吧; Simplified: Kiss 吧).
Kou Shibasaki (Traditional: 柴咲 幸; Simplified: 柴咲 幸).
Manabu Yukawa (Traditional: 湯川 學; Simplified: 汤川 学).
Masaharu Fukuyama (Traditional: 福山雅治; Simplified: 福山雅治).
Midsummer's Equation (Traditional: 真夏方程式; Simplified: 真夏方程序).
Noaki Prize (Traditional: 直木獎; Simplified: 直木奖).
Salvation of a [Woman] Saint (Traditional: 聖女的救贖; Simplified: 圣女的救赎).
The Devotion of Suspect X (Traditional: 嫌疑犯X的獻身; Simplified: 嫌疑犯X的献身).
References:
"Galileo (TV series)", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_%28Japanese_television_drama%29
(accessed 2014-07-26).
"Keigo Higashino", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keigo_Higashino
(accessed 2014-07-26).
"Kō Shibasaki", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kou_Shibasaki
(accessed 2014-07-26).
"Masaharu Fukuyama", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masaharu_Fukuyama
(accessed 2014-07-26).
"Midsummer's Equation", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midsummer%27s_Equation
(accessed 2014-07-26).
"Salvation of a Saint", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvation_of_a_Saint
(accessed 2014-07-26).
"Suspect X", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspect_X
(accessed 2014-07-26).
"東野圭吾", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/%E6%9D%B1%E9%87%8E%E5%9C%AD%E5%90%BE
(accessed 2014-07-26).
"柴咲幸", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/%E6%9F%B4%E5%92%B2%E5%B9%B8
(accessed 2014-07-26).
"福山雅治", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/%E7%A6%8F%E5%B1%B1%E9%9B%85%E6%B2%BB
(accessed 2014-07-26).
"伽利略系列", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/%E4%BC%BD%E5%88%A9%E7%95%A5%E7%B3%BB%E5%88%97
(accessed 2014-07-26).
End.
