This was a difficult drama to watch. Not because I was un-interested but because the first few episodes showed just how cruel teenagers can be to one another. The level of bullying (which is what the show is about) was extreme. It became easier to watch about mid-way through the season because the "bullying" became so extreme it was comical.
I guess I can kind of see it as bullying to conspire to have someone jumped by a gang, but to have someone kidnapped and raped??!? That's not bullying. That's some sort of felony.
The main 'villainess' goes from someone you could maybe sympathize with (compulsive need to be loved b/c of wealthy family background) to someone who seems to have some sort of psychotic inability to feel guilt or remorse. But surprisingly she won a best actress award for her portrayal of this charcter
And speaking of psychotic, the male 'villain' is utterly ridiculous. It took 8 episodes for the heroine to exclaim "you're nuts!" and that he was. His sexual oddity for non-consensual bondage was strange - and the fact that he convinced a teacher that she should fall in love with him is even stranger.
I understand that this drama was supposed to bring light to a prevalent problem in Japanese high schools (and in the U.S. as well), but it took the bulying situations to an extreme that became comical and hard to identify with. And all of this started b/c the main character (the protagonist I guess) outscored her friend on the entrance exam and as a result the friend attempted to commit suicide.
The only bright spot in this dark show is the relationship that develops between Ayumu (main character) and Hatori-san: a pretty loner who is often picked on, but doesn't really seem to be phased by it and often is successful in defending herself. Not surprising Ayumu like a lost puppy gravitates to Hatori Miki. And like a mother hen Hatori-san protects Ayumu at all costs - often telling her she does not need to pretend to be happy in front of her. it's all the classic elements of a good friendship - feeling like you can be yourself around the person. It really is quite sweet, despite the fact that much of the relationship is shown as Hatori-san rescuing Ayumu from ridiculously dangerous situations.
Overall:
Too many ludicrous situations piled on top of one another made this really an unbelievable series (although it started off strong). It's not even entertaining b/c the subject matter is so dark. I watched it b/c it had received high ratings, but I'm not sure that I would recommend it to anyone else except perhaps if you're purely interested in good acting b/c I thought the main character did a pretty good job.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Only Doramas
I think that I will give up blogging about current anime. There are many bloggers out there now who write about the same topic. And while no one blog covers the wide array of interesting anime that's out, all together they do a pretty good job of tackling the topic.
That doesn't mean that I will give up blogging all together. I still have not found blog sites that talk about Japanese Dramas with any depth. Since there are so many good ones out there, I think that I will focus my blog abilities on this topic alone.
I wish I would have come to this decision earlier because I would have made sure to save some screen shots from the most recent drama that I finished, Hana Yori Dango (season 1). But, I think I will blog about it without photos and hope the pictures from season 2 are sufficient.
That doesn't mean that I will give up blogging all together. I still have not found blog sites that talk about Japanese Dramas with any depth. Since there are so many good ones out there, I think that I will focus my blog abilities on this topic alone.
I wish I would have come to this decision earlier because I would have made sure to save some screen shots from the most recent drama that I finished, Hana Yori Dango (season 1). But, I think I will blog about it without photos and hope the pictures from season 2 are sufficient.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Negligence
Even with the addition of Iryu 2 I am way behind on my postings. I went 1.5 months without posting anything although I definitely continued to watch. There are some shows that I will not be able to blog about because I no longer have the videos: Bambino, Jotei and Hotaru no Hikari fall into this category. Then there are some that I could write on, but I am not sure that I will take the time to do so: Galileo and Genshiken 2. *sigh* I will try to be better with the next dramas I have queued: LIFE, Liar Game and Hana Yori Dango (season 1).
Iryu 2
Also Known As: Team Medical Dragon
Here is a summary of the plot of the drama (for those of you who have seen season 1 you will not be surprised by it at all:
Dr. Ryutaro Asada is a superhuman doctor who specializes in cardiac surgeries. He believes in order to be a successful surgeon he must surround himself with a well-oiled team. Unfortunately in this season his initial team is split up. He is forced out of Meishin hospital with the young surgeon Ijyuuin and the cardiac medical doctor Fujioshi. The new hospital has been stripped of any competent doctors leaving Dr. Asada to assemble a "rag-tag" team from doctors all of whom have personal issues that have compromised their abilities to be successful. As before Asada is pretty aloof and doesn't really pry into the emotional lives of the doctors. But, as the series progresses each of the doctors works through their own issues and by the end Asada is able to bring into the team: a hot-shot young doctor, Seiji Toyama; a socially awkward medical engineer, Hirohito Nomura; a troubled anesthesiologist, Nanami Kodaka; and a reformed alcoholic gastroenterological surgeon, Kotaro Matsudaira.
Iryu 2 is a bit more "preachy" than I remember the first season being. There are strong overtones of hospitals seeking to achieve fame and wealth at the expense of the poor patient. However, the episode methodology has remained the same. Dr. Asada is confronted with a patient who has a dire cardiac problem. He consults with his team, usually involving the emotional growth of one of the team members. At some point the situation for the patient becomes urgent an a surgery is needed sooner than expected. The team goes in to the surgery room to do its magic and lo and behold, the cardiac situation is even more severe than expected. Instead of having to perform the procedure originally planned there is a second or a completely different (and ultimately more complex) procedure that needs to occur in order to address this heart complication. Against all odds Dr. Asada is able to complete the surgery in the limited time allowed and with the successful recovery of the patient. Hooray!
But, despite this repetitive formula I still liked the show. I read on another blog that when asked what his favorite part of shooting the second season was Kenji Sakaguchi (Dr. Asada) said "the surgeries". And I must agree with him. The surgery descriptions this season were even more elaborate often showing an animation of the surgery to be performed making it even more accessible to all of us who aren't doctors. One negative of the surgery scenes was the horrific music that would be played as the outcome to the surgery began to look more positive. That whining song in English annoyed me to the point that I would mute the sound everytime it came on. However, other than the grating music, the surgery scenes were impressive!
I learned a lot about cardiac illnesses and their accompanying surgeries. And for those who saw and liked the Bambino threesome of Kazuki Kitamura, Yuki Uchida and Kuranosuke Sasaki, you get to see them together again here (granted only in the first and last episodes...and even then, I'm not sure that all three of them are ever in a scene together....).
I give this season a 6.5
Here is a summary of the plot of the drama (for those of you who have seen season 1 you will not be surprised by it at all:
Dr. Ryutaro Asada is a superhuman doctor who specializes in cardiac surgeries. He believes in order to be a successful surgeon he must surround himself with a well-oiled team. Unfortunately in this season his initial team is split up. He is forced out of Meishin hospital with the young surgeon Ijyuuin and the cardiac medical doctor Fujioshi. The new hospital has been stripped of any competent doctors leaving Dr. Asada to assemble a "rag-tag" team from doctors all of whom have personal issues that have compromised their abilities to be successful. As before Asada is pretty aloof and doesn't really pry into the emotional lives of the doctors. But, as the series progresses each of the doctors works through their own issues and by the end Asada is able to bring into the team: a hot-shot young doctor, Seiji Toyama; a socially awkward medical engineer, Hirohito Nomura; a troubled anesthesiologist, Nanami Kodaka; and a reformed alcoholic gastroenterological surgeon, Kotaro Matsudaira.
Iryu 2 is a bit more "preachy" than I remember the first season being. There are strong overtones of hospitals seeking to achieve fame and wealth at the expense of the poor patient. However, the episode methodology has remained the same. Dr. Asada is confronted with a patient who has a dire cardiac problem. He consults with his team, usually involving the emotional growth of one of the team members. At some point the situation for the patient becomes urgent an a surgery is needed sooner than expected. The team goes in to the surgery room to do its magic and lo and behold, the cardiac situation is even more severe than expected. Instead of having to perform the procedure originally planned there is a second or a completely different (and ultimately more complex) procedure that needs to occur in order to address this heart complication. Against all odds Dr. Asada is able to complete the surgery in the limited time allowed and with the successful recovery of the patient. Hooray!
But, despite this repetitive formula I still liked the show. I read on another blog that when asked what his favorite part of shooting the second season was Kenji Sakaguchi (Dr. Asada) said "the surgeries". And I must agree with him. The surgery descriptions this season were even more elaborate often showing an animation of the surgery to be performed making it even more accessible to all of us who aren't doctors. One negative of the surgery scenes was the horrific music that would be played as the outcome to the surgery began to look more positive. That whining song in English annoyed me to the point that I would mute the sound everytime it came on. However, other than the grating music, the surgery scenes were impressive!
I learned a lot about cardiac illnesses and their accompanying surgeries. And for those who saw and liked the Bambino threesome of Kazuki Kitamura, Yuki Uchida and Kuranosuke Sasaki, you get to see them together again here (granted only in the first and last episodes...and even then, I'm not sure that all three of them are ever in a scene together....).
I give this season a 6.5
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Black Lagoon
I love vacation. And not the jet off to some exotic locale kind of vacation. The just kick it at home kind where you can really relax and recharge your batteries.
It is also great because I can watch anime and doramas all day and all night long. I have recently finished Black Lagoon (season 1) and I really like it. Many of the reviews describe it as Cowboy Bebop here on Earth and that is a pretty good summary of the genre of anime it falls into.
Characters
The "main" character is the most boring in my opinion. His name is "Rock" (name given to him by the leader of the group) and he joins this band of because he was inadvertently abducted during a case and after being abandoned by his company he decides to join this team. The job of the Lagoon Company is a lot like Akabane's team in GetBackers, they are "delivery men". They make sure that property (mostly illegally obtained) makes it safely from one party to the next. To ensure the safety they are heavily armed and trained fighters.
Revy (sometimes subbed as Revi and Levi) AKA "Two-Hands" is a Chinese heritage shoot-em-up girl. She has tons of attitude born from years of hardship growing up in New York City. But, it's clear that she's really very troubled underneath the tough exterior. Fighting appears to be all she knows how to do in order to express herself. Despite the multiple spellings of her name, I think it should be Rebi like a nickname of Rebecca. [**although I just saw on a website that "Rivi and Rivy" are nickames for Rebecca so maybe the spelling should be one of those??**] Revy seems to be the real main character of this show b/c she's infinitely more interesting than Rock.
She and Rock are lead by Dutch (pronounced Dutch-y by most). He's a big Black guy who is pretty cool and reserved under pressure. He negotiates most of the deals and has a yet unknown history. If he were to be played by an American actor, I imagine Ving Rhames playing the role....
He's a dead ringer, eh?? Wonder if the artist had him in mind...
Dutch works closely with a woman who heads the Russian mafia (Moscow Hotel) in the South Pacific, Balalaika. She was a former Russian soldier who worked in Afghanistan. It was there that she received the disfiguring scars that she has on her body. She's a great leader and pretty badass in her own right (much more level headed than Revi).
Finally the most minor of the Lagoon characters so far is Benny, the random blond Jewish guy who does the electronics stuff. I think he's American, but I can't remember if they said so in one of the episodes or I'm just making assumptions.
Plot
In 13 episodes there are about five or six different stories, all surrounding different jobs that Lagoon has been contracted to do. The character development continues across the episodes (what little of that there is), but that storyline is contained to two or three episodes. However, I like that well enough. You really are only watching it to see who fights who and how they miraculously get out of each situation. Very few times, despite all of the gunfire, do any of the main characters actually get hit by a bullet -- actually I only think that happens once.
Overall
I like this series. It's fast paced and very watchable. There's tons of blood, likeable characters and tons of nationalities represented in the cast (although they all speak japanese, which is weird but only stand out in the last job when one character, speaking japanese, tells another character to stop talking to Rock in Japanese, as if he doesn't understand the language. :-?)
The story undertones all have a "fight the power" edge to it. Whether or not it is German/American NAZI-ism or South American guerilla fighters and drug cartels or Arab anti-zionist fighters. The "bad" guys are often driven by a desire to overthrow what they consider to be an oppressive regime. Kind of interesting.
Another thing that tripped me out was the ending theme song which was eerily slow and would abruptly cut into the action of the show...I guess this was their version of creating a cliffhanger.
Other memorable characters from Black Lagoon -
Roberta/Bloodhound/Rosarita: South American maid (Columbia is switched for Venezuela half-way through) Her character is a little too resilient, the reference to the Terminator is accurate.
Mr Chan: I don't know what I like him so. He has a good sense of humor, but is also a badass fighter...but, smooth-like. I don't know he has a sexy appeal to him...maybe played by George Clooney, although I've never seen GC in a fighting movie. hmm.... [Eps. 11&12]
Shen Hua: Taiwanese knife thrower, the classy version of Revi [Eps. 11&12]
The old NAZI leader is also pretty memorable, b/c he's so damned offensive...yet, cunning. He masters the back-handed compliments. But he doesn't fight and so there's no real point to a picture of him.
It is also great because I can watch anime and doramas all day and all night long. I have recently finished Black Lagoon (season 1) and I really like it. Many of the reviews describe it as Cowboy Bebop here on Earth and that is a pretty good summary of the genre of anime it falls into.
Characters
The "main" character is the most boring in my opinion. His name is "Rock" (name given to him by the leader of the group) and he joins this band of because he was inadvertently abducted during a case and after being abandoned by his company he decides to join this team. The job of the Lagoon Company is a lot like Akabane's team in GetBackers, they are "delivery men". They make sure that property (mostly illegally obtained) makes it safely from one party to the next. To ensure the safety they are heavily armed and trained fighters.
Revy (sometimes subbed as Revi and Levi) AKA "Two-Hands" is a Chinese heritage shoot-em-up girl. She has tons of attitude born from years of hardship growing up in New York City. But, it's clear that she's really very troubled underneath the tough exterior. Fighting appears to be all she knows how to do in order to express herself. Despite the multiple spellings of her name, I think it should be Rebi like a nickname of Rebecca. [**although I just saw on a website that "Rivi and Rivy" are nickames for Rebecca so maybe the spelling should be one of those??**] Revy seems to be the real main character of this show b/c she's infinitely more interesting than Rock.
She and Rock are lead by Dutch (pronounced Dutch-y by most). He's a big Black guy who is pretty cool and reserved under pressure. He negotiates most of the deals and has a yet unknown history. If he were to be played by an American actor, I imagine Ving Rhames playing the role....
He's a dead ringer, eh?? Wonder if the artist had him in mind...
Dutch works closely with a woman who heads the Russian mafia (Moscow Hotel) in the South Pacific, Balalaika. She was a former Russian soldier who worked in Afghanistan. It was there that she received the disfiguring scars that she has on her body. She's a great leader and pretty badass in her own right (much more level headed than Revi).
Finally the most minor of the Lagoon characters so far is Benny, the random blond Jewish guy who does the electronics stuff. I think he's American, but I can't remember if they said so in one of the episodes or I'm just making assumptions.
Plot
In 13 episodes there are about five or six different stories, all surrounding different jobs that Lagoon has been contracted to do. The character development continues across the episodes (what little of that there is), but that storyline is contained to two or three episodes. However, I like that well enough. You really are only watching it to see who fights who and how they miraculously get out of each situation. Very few times, despite all of the gunfire, do any of the main characters actually get hit by a bullet -- actually I only think that happens once.
Overall
I like this series. It's fast paced and very watchable. There's tons of blood, likeable characters and tons of nationalities represented in the cast (although they all speak japanese, which is weird but only stand out in the last job when one character, speaking japanese, tells another character to stop talking to Rock in Japanese, as if he doesn't understand the language. :-?)
The story undertones all have a "fight the power" edge to it. Whether or not it is German/American NAZI-ism or South American guerilla fighters and drug cartels or Arab anti-zionist fighters. The "bad" guys are often driven by a desire to overthrow what they consider to be an oppressive regime. Kind of interesting.
Another thing that tripped me out was the ending theme song which was eerily slow and would abruptly cut into the action of the show...I guess this was their version of creating a cliffhanger.
Other memorable characters from Black Lagoon -
Roberta/Bloodhound/Rosarita: South American maid (Columbia is switched for Venezuela half-way through) Her character is a little too resilient, the reference to the Terminator is accurate.
Mr Chan: I don't know what I like him so. He has a good sense of humor, but is also a badass fighter...but, smooth-like. I don't know he has a sexy appeal to him...maybe played by George Clooney, although I've never seen GC in a fighting movie. hmm.... [Eps. 11&12]
Shen Hua: Taiwanese knife thrower, the classy version of Revi [Eps. 11&12]
The old NAZI leader is also pretty memorable, b/c he's so damned offensive...yet, cunning. He masters the back-handed compliments. But he doesn't fight and so there's no real point to a picture of him.
Monday, December 10, 2007
These posts take a lot more time than I would have thought. So, I apologize for taking so long to write the next update. (although I'm skeptical that anyone is even reading this.) I have watched a fair amount of anime and one other j dramain the interim, but I am going to write about j drama Kimi wa Petto.
Synopsis:
One evening after a long day at work Iwaya Sumire comes home to find a beaten-up young man in a cardboard box in front of her apartment building. She decides to take him in and nurse him back to health. He becomes attached to her during this period and he reminds her of her dead dog Momo. So, she decides to keep him in her apartment as her pet.
Most of the drama is spent with Iwaya trying to hide the fact that she has a young man living in her apartment, especially once she begins to date her college crush. And with Momo trying to get Iwaya to see him as more than just a pet and to fight the fear that one day she will abandon him.
There are two sub-plots: one with Takeshi and one with Iwaya:
1) In Iwaya's subplot a scheming woman on her job tries to ensnare Iwaya's boyfriend.
2) In Takeshi's subplot involves his ex-girlfriend and his best friend (Eita! :0)). In typical love triangle form, his ex still loves him and his best friend loves his ex.
Neither of these plots are that interesting although Iwaya's co-worker is the biggest schemer I have seen on tv in a long time. You will love to hate her!
Despite the fact that Iwaya and her boyfriend work in a newpaper office, this is not an office drama. I would put this completely into the romance category (with hints of humor).
Characters:
Takeshi/Momo: I don't think that he's "attractive", but his character is supposed to be such in this dorama. (there are frequent references to his good looks). His personality is the most interesting of the group because on one hand he is an amazing ballet turned modern dancer. But, on the other hand he is a confused homeless 'animal' looking for a safe space to be loved. Matusmoto Jun handles both of these aspects of his personality really well.
Iwaya/Sumire-chan: Is played by Koyuki. Again she is supposed to be "attractive", according to the many references to her beauty, but she is not what I would consider to be attractive (and she is shockingly thin, even for a TV personality). Her personality reminded me a lot of myself. She has a need to be strong and poised when at work and when interacting with others, but in reality she longs to express her weaknesses just like everyone else. She enjoys her time with Momo because she can cry freely in front of him (he's not a person, he's a "pet"). I imagine that there are many career women who feel similarly.
My Impression:
When I first read that a woman keeps a young man as her "pet-to" I thought that it was more like a gigolo sort of pet. No. She really treats him like a pet dog and he responds like one. There are some episodes where he woofs at her and her date. And typically he greets her return home by jumping up on her. She enjoys patting his hair and scratching his neck. Quite strange....
It seemed obvious from the beginning that there would be a romance between the two main characters. *spoiler coming* I was afraid the drama was going to completely depart from the relationship already established and force them into some typical girlfriend/boyfriend scenario. However, they surprisingly stayed true to the relationship and left them in a very non-traditional friendship. *spoiler over*
There was something surprisingly intriguing about this dorama, although I don't think that I would call it a really good dorama. Each episode was annoyingly similar to the one before it and it took a bit too long to get to the resolution at the end. However, because of personal identification with the female lead and the strong acting of the male lead I give this dorama a 6.5
Synopsis:
One evening after a long day at work Iwaya Sumire comes home to find a beaten-up young man in a cardboard box in front of her apartment building. She decides to take him in and nurse him back to health. He becomes attached to her during this period and he reminds her of her dead dog Momo. So, she decides to keep him in her apartment as her pet.
Most of the drama is spent with Iwaya trying to hide the fact that she has a young man living in her apartment, especially once she begins to date her college crush. And with Momo trying to get Iwaya to see him as more than just a pet and to fight the fear that one day she will abandon him.
There are two sub-plots: one with Takeshi and one with Iwaya:
1) In Iwaya's subplot a scheming woman on her job tries to ensnare Iwaya's boyfriend.
2) In Takeshi's subplot involves his ex-girlfriend and his best friend (Eita! :0)). In typical love triangle form, his ex still loves him and his best friend loves his ex.
Neither of these plots are that interesting although Iwaya's co-worker is the biggest schemer I have seen on tv in a long time. You will love to hate her!
Despite the fact that Iwaya and her boyfriend work in a newpaper office, this is not an office drama. I would put this completely into the romance category (with hints of humor).
Characters:
Takeshi/Momo: I don't think that he's "attractive", but his character is supposed to be such in this dorama. (there are frequent references to his good looks). His personality is the most interesting of the group because on one hand he is an amazing ballet turned modern dancer. But, on the other hand he is a confused homeless 'animal' looking for a safe space to be loved. Matusmoto Jun handles both of these aspects of his personality really well.
Iwaya/Sumire-chan: Is played by Koyuki. Again she is supposed to be "attractive", according to the many references to her beauty, but she is not what I would consider to be attractive (and she is shockingly thin, even for a TV personality). Her personality reminded me a lot of myself. She has a need to be strong and poised when at work and when interacting with others, but in reality she longs to express her weaknesses just like everyone else. She enjoys her time with Momo because she can cry freely in front of him (he's not a person, he's a "pet"). I imagine that there are many career women who feel similarly.
My Impression:
When I first read that a woman keeps a young man as her "pet-to" I thought that it was more like a gigolo sort of pet. No. She really treats him like a pet dog and he responds like one. There are some episodes where he woofs at her and her date. And typically he greets her return home by jumping up on her. She enjoys patting his hair and scratching his neck. Quite strange....
It seemed obvious from the beginning that there would be a romance between the two main characters. *spoiler coming* I was afraid the drama was going to completely depart from the relationship already established and force them into some typical girlfriend/boyfriend scenario. However, they surprisingly stayed true to the relationship and left them in a very non-traditional friendship. *spoiler over*
There was something surprisingly intriguing about this dorama, although I don't think that I would call it a really good dorama. Each episode was annoyingly similar to the one before it and it took a bit too long to get to the resolution at the end. However, because of personal identification with the female lead and the strong acting of the male lead I give this dorama a 6.5
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Orange Days
I watched this dorama after looking at a top 50 list. I knew nothing about it and I was utterly impressed!
Synopsis:
There are 5 friends, two women and three men, in their final year of college. One of the women, Sae, is a talented deaf violinist. She is asked out by Keita but when he finds out that she is deaf, he asks his friend, Kai, who speaks sign language to go on the date in his place. This starts the interaction between the 5. These 3, plus Sae's friend Akane and the third male friend, Shohie, form a friendship group Orange no Kai (orange club) and then write down thoughts to one another in a journal. The majority of the episodes focus on the relationships between the men and the women and how they all navigate the entrance into adulthood in different ways.
Characters: I've watched around 10 doramas many of which have popular main characters. This dorama had two characters that I had seen before. Eita who I saw in Suppli (my first jdorama) and the much more popular Unfair. His character is a lovable but hopeless romantic. He definitely has matured some since the making of this drama. He has much more sex appeal now. I also have seen Shiraishi Miho in Suppli and the Japanese cult hit Densha Otoko. Her role was still small, but cute.
I love that the Japanese actors are becoming familiar to me because of their roles in multiple doramas over time. It is so different from the US when a popular actor has a very difficult time being cast in another show because of type casting.
The real praise goes to Shibasaki Kou who played the main female lead Sae and Tsumabuki Satoshi who played the main male lead Kai. It is no surprise that he won the Best Actor Award for the Spring 2004 television season.
Sae
Kai
Impression: This drama was absolutely amazing! It so aptly portrayed the slow discovery of love between two friends and the difficulties that come along with very passionate loves between people. Neither character is perfect and so they are both very relate-able. The situations that they found themselves in while a bit unlikely at the end, are not completely far-fetched.
If I have any criticism it would be of the minor relationship between Akane and Shohei. It was pretty obvious the direction the relationship would take at the outset. But, just because it was predictable did not mean that it wasn't well acted.
I cried at the end of this dorama. It wasn't sad in the traditional sense, but the love between Kai and Sae was so incredibly powerful that I couldn't help but be moved. I don't think of myself as a sap....but this dorama definitely brought that side out of me.
I recommend this to anyone who enjoys romantic-comedies, college/slice of life dramas. This drama gets my first rating of 10
Synopsis:
There are 5 friends, two women and three men, in their final year of college. One of the women, Sae, is a talented deaf violinist. She is asked out by Keita but when he finds out that she is deaf, he asks his friend, Kai, who speaks sign language to go on the date in his place. This starts the interaction between the 5. These 3, plus Sae's friend Akane and the third male friend, Shohie, form a friendship group Orange no Kai (orange club) and then write down thoughts to one another in a journal. The majority of the episodes focus on the relationships between the men and the women and how they all navigate the entrance into adulthood in different ways.
Characters: I've watched around 10 doramas many of which have popular main characters. This dorama had two characters that I had seen before. Eita who I saw in Suppli (my first jdorama) and the much more popular Unfair. His character is a lovable but hopeless romantic. He definitely has matured some since the making of this drama. He has much more sex appeal now. I also have seen Shiraishi Miho in Suppli and the Japanese cult hit Densha Otoko. Her role was still small, but cute.
I love that the Japanese actors are becoming familiar to me because of their roles in multiple doramas over time. It is so different from the US when a popular actor has a very difficult time being cast in another show because of type casting.
The real praise goes to Shibasaki Kou who played the main female lead Sae and Tsumabuki Satoshi who played the main male lead Kai. It is no surprise that he won the Best Actor Award for the Spring 2004 television season.
Sae
Kai
Impression: This drama was absolutely amazing! It so aptly portrayed the slow discovery of love between two friends and the difficulties that come along with very passionate loves between people. Neither character is perfect and so they are both very relate-able. The situations that they found themselves in while a bit unlikely at the end, are not completely far-fetched.
If I have any criticism it would be of the minor relationship between Akane and Shohei. It was pretty obvious the direction the relationship would take at the outset. But, just because it was predictable did not mean that it wasn't well acted.
I cried at the end of this dorama. It wasn't sad in the traditional sense, but the love between Kai and Sae was so incredibly powerful that I couldn't help but be moved. I don't think of myself as a sap....but this dorama definitely brought that side out of me.
I recommend this to anyone who enjoys romantic-comedies, college/slice of life dramas. This drama gets my first rating of 10
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