 |
 |
feeling: meh
listening to: BLOOD - Morphine (1st period version)
Yamauchi Nana.
There. Saving that name was pretty much my only reason for posting here. Just finished watching a J-drama that I didn't really care much for, and I'm thinking of making it the first drama I've ever downloaded that I actually delete straightaway instead of saving on discs. Only thing I can honestly say I liked about it was the character played by Yamauchi Nana, a little girl about 7 or 8 years old who was absolutely adorable. Seriously, she's going to grow up BEAUTIFUL, and I intend to remember her name so I can someday see it.
So. Yamauchi Nana.
...ok, so Narimiya Hiroki was nice to watch too. But he was too out of his element. That little girl though... bloody adorable. Add her to the list of Japan's cutest child actors, right alongside Kamiki Ryuunosuke. I MISS HIM. What has he been up to lately... *tempted to watch Mukodono again now*
Bleh, I need to decide whether or not I want to save that drama before I run out of drive space again...
Oh well. First I believe I'll rewatch Nobuta o Produce. Because Yamashita Tomohisa was ridiculously funny in it. Akira SHOCK!
And someday I need to find the Kimi wa Petto manga. I know it's been picked up in the states, but no idea where to find it. Especially with the stupid English title they gave it. Tramps Like Us? What the HECK does that have to do with "you are my pet"? Bluh. Dips.
Ha, that's convenient. First Love by Utada Hikaru just came up on my playlist. This was the theme song to Majo no Jouken, which I watched a month or so ago. Funny thing was I had this song for years before I knew it was a drama theme. Can't remember why I got it, but I did, back in... 2001 or 2002 or something. Never was my favorite Hikki song, but for some reason after seeing the drama I appreciate it a little more.
...How did this turn into a J-drama-only ramble post? Apologies to those who have no idea what I'm babbling about. Which is... everyone, I'm sure. Heh, if I'm gonna shoot off like this all the time every time I open a blog post form, I might as well go ahead and write up my pointless J-drama reviews. Hey, should I start now? Don't really have anything better to do. Well, I do, but I haven't procrastinated enough yet.
J-drama stuff that no one cares about below! Be warned!
So. Guess I'll start with Ai no Uta since I just finished it tonight. Ai no Uta, or Love Song, is about a young woman who live her entire life unloved and unwanted in the most melodramatic and extreme of ways, starting from the day when her mother tried to leave the hospital without her after she was born. Eventually she decided to commit suicide, so she ran off to Tokyo alone and jumped off a bridge into a river. But then she ended up swimming ashore, very much alive, and dragging herself into a restaurant where she passed out in front of three police detectives, who took her to a hospital. When she awoke she realized that she was in a place where nobody knew her name or anything about her, so she decided to start a new life and faked amnesia. She tried to escape from the hospital, but with nowhere to go, she was immediately found by one of the detectives who had brought her there, Kataoka, who took her to his home to stay. Now, Kataoka is one of those aggravatingly cheerful and gentle-looking middle-aged guys, who looks old enough to be the girl's father. He does in fact have three young kids of his own (the middle one being Yamauchi Nana's character), and is a widower. So basically this drama follows this very cold, abrasive, unfriendly (to put it nicely) young woman who has never been loved in her life, who suddenly finds herself in a household full of love and family and all that sappy heartwarming stuff and learns that even she is capable of finding happiness. But of course there are a couple twists in the whole story that add the necessary layers of weepy melodrama. For example, after she falls for Kataoka, she learns that he's dying. Honestly, there's more crying and sobbing in this series than any other I've seen to date. It sort of got old. Or maybe I'm just heartless?
Why didn't I like this drama much? Mainly because the male lead, Kataoka, just came across as sort of creepy to me. I have a hard time believing characters (or real people for that matter) who are CONSTANTLY smiling as this man is. Plus he looked about 10 years too old to be the father of kids that young, and about 20 years old to end up in a romantic relationship with "Ai-chan." The other principal female character, Fusako, was just plain annoying... even Narimiya Hiroki was disappointing, not because of poor acting, but because the role of the totally serious and determined police detective did NOT suit him. More power to him for attempting such versatility, but honestly... a guy who's as naturally... twitchy as him is best suited for spazzy, goofy characters. Or at least regular-guy college buddy roles like his character in Orange Days.
So in sum... Ai no Uta was meant to be all heartwarming and full of love and happiness and sadness all at once, but it all came together in a melodramatic and mismatched jumble. None of the main characters were very convincing, or were just plain annoying (except the three little kids, who were admittedly cute). It was also totally predictable, and the ending felt sadly incomplete. Can't see myself ever watching this one again.
So shall I move on to Orange Days next? Orange Days was pretty enjoyable and even refreshing, for some reason I still can't identify. It's about a group of friends in their last year of university, dealing with that awkward stage in between being kids and being good reliable working grown-ups. Everything sort of revolves around Sae, who excels in playing the violin and piano... and happens to be deaf. Her character is really interesting... she's frustrated by her disability, but whereas I sort of expected her to be withdrawn and sad because of it, she was actually quite animated and lively. Even if pretty much everything she ever said was caustic and a little offensive.
Anyway... so Sae was standing in the middle of campus playing her violin when Kai saw her from afar, was drawn to her music, and tried to talk to her, not realizing she was deaf. Later, somehow, his buddy Keita was set up for a blind date with Sae, but when he learned she was deaf he backed out and sent Kai in his place, and from there everything began. Kai befriended Sae, and it helped that he happened to know sign language, and he brought her into their group of friends, who later called themselves the Orange Society. The members: Kai, Shouhei, Keita, Akane, and Sae. Kai is the fairly straightforward kinda guy who just wants to do well in his last year of college and find a good job. Shouhei is the playboy who'll sleep with any girl once (or once per hour), and sort of a jerk on the outside, but actually a pretty nice guy who looks out for his friends and cares for his disabled younger sister. Keita is the typical "nice guy" (think of the famous "nice guys finish last" saying). Akane is Sae's best friend, who knows sign language well and has helped her through college in many ways, and her connection with the three guys is her... interesting relationship with Shouhei.
So that's the setup, pretty much. I'm still not really sure why I liked this drama as much as I did. All the characters were definitely well suited to their roles and wholly believable, which is pretty rare for a drama with so many central characters. Sae's personality was unexpected and oddly engaging. And Narimiya Hiroki is always fun >.>... ahem... And yeah, things just played out in really interesting ways. Not too rushed, not too draggy, not too cheerful, not too depressing or frustrating or melodramatic. Just a nice, smooth, balanced ride.
So, shall I move on to Majo no Jouken (Witch's Requirement)? Ah, where do I begin... this one sort of bounced me all over the place. I really got into the first few episodes, then I started to get a little annoyed, then just plain ticked off by the way things continued, and by the end I was just depressed and felt like I'd been thrown around and ricocheted between parallel brick walls for about 3 hours. But you know what? I would recommend it. But only if the viewer has an open mind, because it focuses on a relationship that's... a bit on the taboo side.
So first we meet Hirose Michi, a 26 year old high school teacher who's engaged to a guy she's not sure she really loves. One morning on her way to school she's nearly run over by a young guy on a motorcycle, who draws her interest as he shrugs off his own wounds to help her find the engagement ring she lost in the near-wreck before continuing on his way. Later, she learns that she'll be getting a new student at school... and lo and behold, it's motorbike boy, 17 year old Hikaru. Turns out he's the troubled type and has been moved around between several different schools, and his rich mother has paid this one not to expel him if he ever misbehaves (secret to him, of course). So of course, teacher and new student immediately recognize each other from the near-wreck, and from then on become more and more drawn to each other. Yes, this is the story of a high school student and a teacher who fall in love.
Honestly, though, that's not the horrifying part of this drama. Their relationship is actually quite sincere, and they truly care for each other and are serious about staying together. But of course, NO ONE is going to give them an easy time of it. The school wants to fire Michi for being involved with a student. Michi's father, who is conveniently one of the higher-ups on the school board or whatever, is absolutely livid when he learns of his daughter's exploits, and is ready to kick her out of the family. Michi's fiance turns into the possessive and obsessive (and even drunk) ex. Michi's best friend turns out to be a backstabber. And Hikaru's mother... ugh, lord, that woman is messed up. Her obsession with keeping her son to herself borders on not only madness, but incest. There's plenty of other drama going on around them too, like Hikaru's mother getting into some precarious situations with her otherwise cushy job, one of Michi's other students who is regularly abused by her father, and... ahem... won't go into the rest. Spoilers.
So as I said, this drama went from lovey and sweet and enjoyable to annoying to infuriating to depressing in a mere 11 episodes. You can't help but root for the lead couple in the beginning (if you have an mind open enough to overlook the age difference, that is), but then they do some really stupid things for the sake of defying everyone around them and staying together. At first you can feel for them, because they're perfectly sweet and sincere and simply in love, but just surrounded by close-minded people who can't accept that at all. But then... um, yeah. They make stupid, stupid choices that end up getting them in way deeper sludge than they should have been. And I won't go into why it ends up depressing as that would spoil the story, but yeah. A lot goes on in this drama, far more than just a teacher and student in love. Their story turns into one big, nasty mess. Their ending isn't a very happy one. And Michi's character is disappointingly hollow considering she's such a well-loved actress.
Anyway... I think that's enough reviewing for now. I'm getting sleepy. Might work on more later. Just for my own amusement of course, since I can't imagine anyone else being interested enough to read all this.
comment! (2)
dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 2/23/2007 01:42:00 AM
|
|
: 1:58 PM