Starring:
Hayami Mokomichi as Tenjo Night
Aibu Saki as Izawa Riiko
Mizushima Hiro as Asamoto Soushi
Sasaki Kuranosuke as Namikiri Gaku
Maya Miki as Wakabayashi Fujiko
Nakamura Shunsuke as Asamoto Masashi
Ueno Natsuhi as Ito Mika
Sasai Eisuke as Shirasagi Yuki
Satoi Kenta as Hirata Hajime
Nekoze Tsubaki as Adachi Kyoko
Lomoto Maki as Sato Nozomi
Kaji Masaki as Tanaka Yoichiro

Zettai Kareshi is the story of Izawa Riiko, a temp working at Asamoto, a pastry company. One day, she meets Namikiri Gaku from a company called Kronos Heaven who asks her what her ideal boyfriend would be like. She visits their company and answers a questionnaire and doesn’t think much of it. That is until the next day a giant package from Kronos Heaven arrives with a guy inside. He’s a lover robot customized to fit Riiko’s ideals, as listed in her questionnaire.

I’ll be really honest. I only started watching this drama because they cast Mizushima Hiro as a main character and I’m semi-obsessed with him lately. I read a lot of the manga this drama was based on and when it was announced there was going to be a drama adaption, I thought to myself that it wasn’t going to be worth watching. I guess I had to take back my words. (although I’m still not sure if the drama itself is worth watching, it is if you’re just watching for Hiro.)

Usually I complain about the changes writers made to the story, but here I have to commend them. They changed it from a weird and annoying high romance with a lover robot (how wrong is that?) with no good (or any, I can’t remember) side plots to still a weird romance with a lover robot with side plots of business and pastry-making.

The romance was the least interesting thing for me. I don’t know if this was intentional on the producers’ part to make Night less like a human and more like a robot, like how he’s very stilted. It’s kind of nice, because you really get the feeling that he’s a robot. The worst thing about Night is that he is so annoying! I don’t understand how Riiko even puts up with him, and then they suddenly become all close. If it was me, I probably would have returned him about the first day. Actually, if it was me, I wouldn’t have been as naïve as Riiko was to just go to some random company, which I’ve never heard of, to complete some weird survey on my ideal boyfriend. But whatever. Anyway, I was annoyed by Night for the better half of the series.

As for Aibu Saki as Riiko, it was also annoying to see how naïve and indecisive she was. Later on in the series, it became a little less annoying and a little more endearing, but still, not would I call a favorite character. Anyway, onto Mizushima Hiro as Soushi. It’s a little bit similar to Nanba Minami in Hana Kimi, except maybe slightly more matured. I did like the change from childhood friend to superior at the office and making him more charismatic was also nice. I think my favorite character in this series would have to be Sasaki Kuranosuke as Namikiri Gaku. He was quite funny and as a CS student myself, I enjoyed the little bits of programming talk (though I can’t wrap my head around something running on a program and then suddenly have a mind of its own). Maya Miki was also a nice addition; anything I watch her in, I always like her character.

I also enjoyed the patisserie side story (maybe that’s just because I love food), which was rather charming, although it was pretty much your average underdog story. At times, I would think, “enough of this crappy romance story! Give me more pastries!” Also, the character of Mika is just your typical backstabbing ‘best friend’ who gets semi-redeemed at the end.

Generally, if I’m not really into the main storyline but there are side plots worth watching, I’ll still keep watching. That’s the case with Zettai Kareshi. The main storyline is your average over-the-top backdrop for some weird romance story with average characters. The side stories are better and worth watching, but side stories shouldn’t be carrying the entire drama. The idea of robots being integrated in regular society is very interesting and definitely worth pursuing, but not in this shoujo-manga romance way (though there was no getting around that because of the manga tie-in). It would be interesting to see a drama or movie about robots in everyday life without the whole “perfect lover robot” theme in it.

Starring:
Eguchi Yosuke as Hayama Shinsuke
Ando Masanobu as Nohara Takashi
Miyazaki Aoi as Michiki Mari
Kojima Hijiri as Detective Shibata
Torihada Minoru as Konno Soichiro
Matsuda Ryuhei as Picasso

This film centers around people who suffer from a disorder known as Synesthesia. People who have it will, when sensing one thing, will also sense something else. It’s kind of hard to explain theoretically but easier to understand in examples. Someone with Synesthesia might see a letter or number connected with a color. Or maybe they would associate sounds with colors. It’s a very interesting concept to use in conjunction with a murder mystery, which is what Gimmy Heaven (aka Synesthesia) essentially is.

Michiki Mari seems to just have death surrounding her. Her third foster parents were murdered, as were her previous foster families. However, something unique about this murder is a wine stain left in a shape known to be connected to a serial killer known as Picasso. The detective investigating believes that Picasso is a synesthete and that there may be another synesthete who can “translate” what this mark means. Hayama Shinsuke has synesthesia, which makes him feel distanced from his friend/partner, Takashi, and his girlfriend. By chance, the two end up taking in Mari. Soon, Picasso contacts Shinsuke, telling him to give Mari over to him. Of course, this leads them to believe that Mari is Picasso’s next target.

While Synesthesia is definitely a very interesting concept to explore, there is something to be desired. Even my love for mysteries couldn’t make me enjoy this movie more. Generally, it’s hard to follow and at the end, there seemed to be so many unexplained things and plot holes abound. One of the last scenes attempted to depict what a synesthete might see a particular scene. Unfortunately, I don’t think it was quite meant to be that way. For a movie that focuses on synesthetes, I still don’t quite understand how they view the world. I understand logically what it is but am still not exactly sure how it’s supposed to work.

The performance of the leads was very good but, unfortunately, can’t fix the faults in writing. I think this film bites off more than it can chew. Throughout the film, there are many side plots introduced but never really actualized. There must be a better way to highlight Synesthesia and its effect without losing it in all the other plotlines. Maybe in a more slice of life type film without the burden of a complicated plotline.

Starring:
Nagasawa Masami as Aida Michiru
Ueno Juri as Kishimoto Ruka
Eita as Mizushima Takeru
Mizukawa Asami as Takigawa Eri
Nishikido Ryo as Oikawa Sosuke
Yamazaki Shigenori as Ogura Tomohiko
Nishihara Aki as Hiratsuka Reina’
Baisho Mitsuko as Aida Chinatsu
Nagashima Mitsuki as Kishimoto Shogo
Shibuya Takeru as Higuchi Naoya
to Yuko as Shirahata Yuko
Tanaka Tetsushi as Hayashida Kazumi
Asaka Mayumi as Kishimoto Yoko
Hirata Mitsuru as Kishimoto Shuji

Last Friends is the story of people who have been hurt and continue to be hurt. They try to escape it, but they can’t. The only thing they can do is try to cope. Michiru is a budding hairdresser with a careless mother and a father she doesn’t ever speak to. She has a kind boyfriend, Sousuke, but when she moves in with him, he begins controlling and abusing her. Ruka is Michiru’s friend from high school and the two coincidentally met again. She’s a motorcross racer but holds a deep secret. Eri is a flight attendant who is friends with Takeru, a hair and make-up artist by day, a bartender by night. Through Eri, Takeru and Ruka become friends, and through Ruka, Michiru and Takeru become friends. Like Ruka, Takeru holds a secret from his childhood.

Last Friends is one of those dramas that evoke so much emotion from you while you’re watching. I think this is because the drama attempts to talk about a lot of serious issues in an up-front, not beating around the bush manner.

If we look at Michiru’s story with Sousuke’s abuse – why does she put up with it for as long as she does? Her father was an alcoholic and abused her mother; she knows what happens, she knows it’s wrong. Sousuke is also the product of an abusive household. By day, he is a kind child welfare worker, but his life is so paradoxical because he goes home and abuses Michiru. But Michiru stays with Sousuke because she says that she has never felt like she was loved until she was with Sousuke. Because she feels loved for once in her life, she continues to stay in this dangerous relationship. Anyone who has learned about basic family sociology knows that the percentage of people from abusive households that become either abusers or victims of abuse is quite high.

The things that Sousuke does to keep Michiru in line are so ridiculous that I just don’t want to believe that stuff like this happens. For example, when Sousuke sees Michiru cutting a man’s hair at her workplace, he asks her to cut his hair. She agrees, but when they set everything up, he grabs her scissors and attempts to cut off his ear. It’s only when Michiru cries that she won’t cut a man’s hair again that he stops. Most people would just say let him cut off his ear, who cares? But Michiru is so deep in this relationship that she just can’t. So, she suffers at her workplace because of his new rules for her life.

I think one thing drama wanted to express is how difficult it is to get out of this situation. It’s not just getting her away from him; it’s not as simple as that. First off, Michiru has to want to be saved. You can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be saved. Even if Michiru was taken away from Sousuke by her friends, if she still loves him and wants to be with him, she’ll just go back. And then even after knowing that he’s bad for her, she can’t help but still feel a connection because of their similar backgrounds and their history together.

Getting away from that, both Nagasawa Masami and Nishikido Ryo were great in their roles. It’s amazing how Ryo can look so kind and second later be beating her up. It’s also interesting that a Johnny’s guy was cast as the wife beater; I suppose this gives him a new depth. There is also a very interesting interview he gave regarding his character.

Onto to Eita’s character, Takeru. His backstory isn’t revealed until over half way into the series, and even then it’s barely ever mentioned or explained. I don’t know what the writers were trying to accomplish with this, especially since everything else doesn’t seem to be hidden to the viewers. Generally, it seems that his story takes a back seat to Michiru and Ruka. I’m not sure I understand the point of making him a main character while his back story is barely discussed. Even at the end when it’s finally explained, it seems like a bit of a cop out. On all the short teasers, it says that Takeru has a phobia of sex. I don’t want to spoil things for people who haven’t watched (even though the nature of reviews makes it impossible to have no spoilers at all), so all I’ll say is that the explanation makes no sense to me.

As for his character, Takeru is the kind of friend that everyone should have. Do people this kind and gentle actually exist? While others are worried about their friend, Takeru goes the extra mile to see how they are doing. I was impressed with Eita’s portrayal, though I have to admit that the stylist choices for his clothes are kind of strange. I can understand why they wanted him to be a little more feminine in his wardrobe, but wouldn’t it actually be more realistic if he were a little better dressed? He is a stylist after all and works in the fashion industry.

As good as Nagasawa Masami and Eita were in their respective roles, I have to say that Ueno Juri blew me away with her portrayal of Ruka. A lot of the time when you see actors and actresses in different roles, it’s not always the character you see but the actor. In Nodame Cantabile, Ueno Juri was perfect as the spacey Nodame. And here, she takes a complete 180 turn with the boyish Ruka. Her voice and mannerisms were completely in synch with this new character. Before this, I didn’t really follow Ueno Juri’s career, but now I think I’ll have to go back and watch some of her previous works, because that’s really how much she impressed me.

It was also a treat to see Mizukawa Asami as Eri, though like Takeru, Eri didn’t seem to have much of a back story. It seems to me that she is type to bottle up her feelings and not always tell people what’s bothering her. She puts on a happy face even though she feels lonely or sad. In the end, I don’t think this was dealt with completely, although her ending is pretty happy.

I also have to talk about the opening theme sequence. Is it amazing or what?? The white backdrop with the red strings of fate whirling around everywhere was really interesting. A couple of other observations: in the promo image, Takeru is the only one with his eyes open. And in the ending images of the opening sequence, everyone is completely in white except for Sousuke’s black tie. It would be nice if the Prisoner of Love PV that followed this same concept. Or if there was a Last Friends version of the PV.

Overall, Last Friends was an amazing series. Not only was the storyline very well written, the acting was also top notch. I was a bit disappointed in how some of the loose ends in the some side stories weren’t tied up properly, but this was definitely the best drama of the season for me.

Starring:
Ella as Lu Rui Xi
Wu Chun as Zuo Yi Quan
Jiro Wang as Jin Xiu Yi
Tang Zhi Ping as Mei Tian
Tang Yu Zhe as Liang Si Nan
Xie He Xian as Da Shu
Xie Zheng Hao as Guan Ri Hui
Chen Wen Xiang as Jiang Ye Shen
Yang Hao Wei as Li Cheng Yang
Ethan Ruan as Shen Le
Nissa as Julia
Kao Chi Hung as Jiu Duan
Duncan as Yuan Qiu Ye

Hua Yang Shao Nian Shao Nu is the Taiwanese drama adaptation of the popular manga Hanazakari no Kimitachi e. It aired in late 2006 and early 2007 and was a great success, averaging ratings of 3.89 (out of 10). Pretty much an idol drama, it starred Ella of S.H.E fame and Wu Chun and Jiro Wang from Fahrenheit, Taiwan’s hottest boy band after the Taiwanese F4 (now known as JVKV). Generally, Taiwanese dramas are cheesy with exaggerated characters and plotlines. Hua Yang is no exception. Taking the hit Japanese manga and transforming it into a huge hit, Hua Yang was largely successful due to its all-star idol cast. But how did these idols match up in this adaptation?

The majority of Taiwanese adaptations of manga, if not all, follow the original plotline very closely. Of course, this makes for a true manga-come-to-life live action, unlike most Japanese drama adaptations. Also, since there’s no getting around comparisons to the Japanese version, I won’t hold back, okay? I’ll just call the Taiwanese version Hua Yang and the Japanese version Hana Kimi.

Hua Yang was surprisingly mature compared to Hana Kimi. There are a lot of references to sex and plenty of drinking abound, whereas in Hana Kimi nothing of the sort popped up at all. Even the Sano getting drunk wasn’t drinking but vegetables pickled in alcohol. In Hua Yang, don’t be surprised when you see the college guys sitting around and guzzling beer.

The appearance of Julia was nice and very welcome. The interaction between Ella and Nissa was really charming, as well as the random English phrases that popped into their conversations. It really made it feel as if the two were from the States, instead of both just speaking only Chinese. I was sad to see that Julia wasn’t present in Hana Kimi, but it seems like the upcoming Hana Kimi SP has cast Minami as Julia, so it’ll be interesting to see her take on the character and how the writers portray her.

Hua Yang’s ending, though, is a complete cop out. I mean, it’s not a bad ending, but it ignores the building tension throughout the series and seems as if a sequel is due, but it has already been announced that there will be no sequel. I just get the feeling that the writers didn’t want to deal with it and left it open for a sequel because they were lazy or something. Also, the series focuses heavily on Rui Xi and Quan’s relationship and not too much on high jump. In the end, the writers didn’t really resolve that either. This really was a series that deserved one or two more episodes to wrap up the story and give it a proper ending.

Now, onto the characters. Ella as Rui Xi was definitely very endearing, but there is one thing that bothered me throughout the entire series. Ella is so boyish looking that, unlike Maki, I cannot understand why other characters could mistaken her for a girl. That’s no real fault of Ella, though, and overall I did enjoy her performance. Wu Chun as Quan was better written in this adaptation than the Japanese version. He and Ella interacted really well together, and it was obvious that they were very close friends (unlike in the Japanese version, which I think I have complained about enough already, I still love you though Oguri Shun!). Jiro Wang as Xiu Yi was over the top and crazy but not endearing the way Toma was. Though it was entertaining sometimes, it was just as annoying, if not more, at other points. I don’t think there will ever be a better Nakatsu than Toma.

Japan is a lot better at fleshing out side stories for other characters, but I’m afraid the same is not true for Taiwan. In Taiwanese dramas, there really is only the main storyline; there are no sub plots. Although this does make for an exciting main story, but for someone like me who likes hearing about smaller characters too, it’s can get pretty annoying. Like Yi Hui and Ye Shen (Noe and Sekime), are they like connected at the hip or something, because they don’t ever appear alone. Even Mei Tian (Umeda in the Japanese version) didn’t get the attention he deserved, though he appeared plenty of times. And Rio made only one very short appearance. Although Nan was not bad, I’m just in love with Mizushima Hiro’s Nanba. Seems like Nan here looked more like a preppy prick with his sweater over the shoulders rather than a charismatic playboy.

I could go on and on and talk about all the little details, but I think you get the point. Don’t get me wrong, though, I really enjoyed this adaptation. It was very funny and Ella made this character really loveable. Though it doesn’t really utilize all the special effects as the Japanese version, it doesn’t really need it. I laughed out loud at a lot and would definitely recommend this version, especially to Hana Kimi, manga and drama, fans.

So which adaptation is better? I’m not sure which one I like better. I liked the slickness of the Japanese version as well as Ikuta Toma’s Nakatsu, as well as many other characters, but Hua Yang had the better plot adaptation and Wu Chun’s Quan was written eons better than Oguri Shun’s Sano. All I have to say is that if you need an answer to this question…watch it yourself! Everyone has different thoughts and it’s hard to compare the two because Taiwan and Japan have two very distinct style of drama production. If I watched parts of each without any sound or without recognizing any actors, I would still be able to pin point which is a Taiwanese drama and which is a Japanese drama, that is how different they really are.

so please excuse the momentary mess of my categories and tags.

Also, a note to say that since the drama season has pretty much ended, I have written up a bunch of drama reviews. Some of them are still being worked on, since I’ve only written bits and pieces of them. Also have a few Taiwanese drama reviews coming up and maybe a movie review or two that I’ve been lazy about finishing.

Utada Hikaru

HEART STATION
Tracklist
1. Fight The Blues
2. HEART STATION
3. Beautiful World
4. Flavor Of Life -Ballad Version-
5. Stay Gold
6. Kiss & Cry
7. Gentle Beast Interlude
8. Celebrate
9. Prisoner Of Love
10. Take 5
11. Boku wa Kuma
12. Nijiiro Bus
13. Flavor Of Life (Bonus Track)

HEART STATION is Utada Hikaru’s seventh album. It was released on March 19, 2008 and, of course, became a hit. HEART STATION has passed the 1 million copies mark, something very rare in today’s music industry.

I’ve always liked Utada Hikaru. She was a good artist with some songs that I really enjoyed, but I never considered her to be one of my favorites. Lately, I have to admit this has been changing. Her newer synth and more experimental style has really appealed to me, and while her older albums are definitely very good, I just love her ULTRA BLUE and HEART STATION albums. Maybe I’ll even eventually get around reviewing her older albums (I would really like to! But there is only so much free time I have, even in the summer time).

Fight The Blues is a really excellent starting track. The arrangement is well done with nice little fills at the end of each line. One thing I like about this track are the ‘ah’s backing her up during the pre-chorus, and the actual chorus itself is pretty catchy as well.

The namesake, HEART STATION, has a great catchy chorus. It’s has nice rhythm and feels both upbeat and a bit sad at the same time. There’s also a short talking part in the background, which was also nicely done and is interesting without being overpowering. I also really like the intro and outro.

Beautiful World has become one of my favorites in a short time. The gorgeous piano lines with the synth make for a great backdrop against Hikki’s dream-like vocals. Don’t even get me started on the how much I love the chorus. Simple flowing lines occasionally accented with a few high notes are like candy to me (and I love my candy (and ice cream)).

Next is the ballad version of Flavor of Life. I really like the original version of Flavor of Life (also included as the bonus track) with all the ethereal synth, but the ballad version is not bad. The more traditional instrument usage is still nicely done, especially the strings. The contrast with the high and low notes in the chorus is nicely done, and that doesn’t change from one version to the other. And the low vocals in the verses are really good too.

The first time I heard Stay Gold, I wasn’t impressed to say the least, but now I really love it. The simple piano lines are just love and with the light percussion…man. The simplicity in Stay Gold’s arrangement is really its strength. Because the accompaniment is so light, it puts the focus solely on the vocals and melodies, both of which are very strong. Especially the parts where Hikki sings the melodies of “daisuki dakara” and “good luck.”

Kiss and Cry is a really unique piece starting with some big band brass and then later sampling a previous song of hers “Hotel Lobby” from her Exodus album. It’s a really interesting combination and nicely done of her part. The chorus is just great, especially the “kiss and cry” line. Not to mention the closing line.

The Gentle Beast interlude is so well done and just flows seamlessly right into Celebrate. The first time I listened to it, I didn’t even realize the end of the interlude and start of Celebrate had come. Of course, now that I am more familiar with the album, I know that when the thumping beats start, Celebrate has begun. The verses have a nice lounge-y feel, while the pre-chorus progresses to a bit of a club feel and then finally the chorus comes in with a nice balance between the two.

The first time I listened to Prisoner of Love, I didn’t particularly like it. I kept reading about how much people liked it and while I thought it a good song, it wasn’t really the best new track. Although, I still don’t know if I consider it to be the best new track, I really like this song now. The arrangement and beats are so great and the melodies are so good and catchy and just amazing. I love the amount of emotion put into this track, and the connection to Last Friends helps too. And as another plus, the phrase “prisoner of love” doesn’t even sound corny at all!

Take 5 is probably the most interesting of the new tracks. Heavier on the synth and with lyrics that speak metaphorically of death, Take 5 is a bit more of a mature track. The ethereal vocals are a nice touch with the lines about the sky.

Following the mature sound and heart of that is Boku wa Kuma, a children’s song. It’s a simple little song with cute lyrics and soothing arrangement.

Nijiiro Bus is the faux ending of the album (because of the original version of Flavor of Life). It’s a semi-upbeat synth piece with really catchy rhythms and plenty of melody repetition. While the track certainly has a lot of repetition, it’s still a really nicely done piece and leaves you with a pleasant feeling.

Tracklist
1. Yoku Aru Hanashi ~Mofuku no Onna Hen~
2. Kaze Yura no Uta
3. Yoku Aru Hanashi ~Mofuku no Onna Hen~ -Instrumental-
4. Kaze Yura no Uta -Instrumental-

Shibasaki Kou’s 16th single was released on June 4, 2008. It peaked at #6 on the weekly Oricon charts and has current sold around 21,000 copies.

Yoku Aru Hanashi ~Mofuku no Onna Hen~ has a very jazzy feel to it, especially with the big band backing up Kou’s quick and rhythmic vocals. The arrangement is so good, energetic and upbeat, but it’s not overboard, though I admit it at times it makes me want to get up and dance to it. =) The chorus is fun and somewhat catchy. I like the quickness of the tempo but also that there’s no hurried feeling to it. The track gives off a nice, carefree summer feeling. It’s interesting to note that difference between the cover art and the feeling of the title track. Kou is dressed in traditional garb and the colorful background makes me think of courtesans a la Anna Tsuchiya’s Sakuran. But the track has a very modern feeling with the brass - also like the contrast in the Sakuran and its soundtrack (by Shiina Ringo and it’s great if you haven’t listened to it).

The b-side is a ballad. Kou uses pretty low vocals and seems to chest the entire song. The arrangement is nice, but the combination of strings and percussion here feels very heavy. That with the low and drawn out notes really weighs down the entire track. It’s not bad, in fact it can be quite nice at times, but generally, the heavy feeling is way too much for me.

So, this summer, I decided that I should try and brush up on my Chinese a bit. After all, it’s no good if some of my cousins think I can’t speak any (I can, seriously!!). So I started up my old livejournal (which I’ve used on and off for the past how many years now?) and I’ll be posting in traditional Chinese. well, I’ll try to. Sometimes I’ll just write in English phrases if I don’t know how to say it in Chinese. At those times, I hope that people who are better at Chinese than I am will help me out a little and tell me how it’s supposed to be said. And same goes for me writing anything that doesn’t make sense. I’m sure some people can understand how mangled Chinglish can get. After all, the whole point of this blog is for me to practice and hopefully improve.

If anyone is fluent, semi-fluent, wants to practice reading, or just wants to look at Chinese characters, please read! All posts will most probably be pretty short, as I’m pretty slow at typing in Chinese. And I often have to look up words to make sure I’m writing the correct characters.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Let’s go!

Koizora

Starring:
Aragaki Yui as Tahara Mika
Miura Haruma as Sakurai Hiro
Koide Keisuke as Fukuhara Yu
Karina as Minako
Usuda Asami as Saki
Haru as Aya
Nakamura Aoi as Nozomu

Koizora is a very interesting mix of a pure first love story mixed with an over the top soap opera. Aragaki Yui plays an innocent girl-next-door type of girl, Mika, who meets through…interesting circumstances, Hiro (played my Miura Haruma). He’s a bit of a delinquent, as evident with his bleached blonde hair and biker older sister, but the two fall head first into love. They face many trials as a couple including (but not limited to) rape, pregnancy and jealous exes.

The movie was based off a cell phone novel that was later sold as an actual novel that sold millions of copies. The novel was written by first time author Mika, who supposedly based the novel off her own life. I say supposedly because I’m not sure if I quite believe that all these things can happen to just one couple. I enjoyed the movie for the most part, but there were its fair share of faults. Although the movie does span a time of 4 years with another time jump later on, there are so many overly dramatic events crammed next each other that the better part of the film feels like you’re on a roller coaster.

I mainly watched this movie because there’s a drama adaptation coming out for the summer season and wondered what exactly it was about. I read mostly positive responses about it, but very short, things of the ‘really great, I cried!’ variety. And I love a good romance story myself, so I checked it out. I can definitely understand why some people would cry, as it can be quite a tearjerker if you’re prone to crying during dramas or movies (I’m not, though, so I didn’t). After watching the film, I am looking forward to the drama. The drama will (hopefully) better space out these events, so it will less of drama stacked right on top of each other. And provide some side stories of the minor characters, always a plus in a story (for me at least).

I hope the leads in the drama give as good of a performance as the leads in the film did, though. While by no means groundbreaking, the two have a nice chemistry and are very charming in their roles. The film is also quite pretty, with some beautiful scenic shots. It’s set in the countryside or what seems to be like the countryside, which is quite picturesque. It’s a pretty interesting mix, though, of kids from the country, but are still quite hip and very Tokyo-esque.

While I did enjoy Koizora, a lot of things felt very over the top and sometimes like it was just a drama fest. Fans of this genre and of the leads will definitely enjoy this film, though, as it was quite sweet in many moments. Hopefully, the upcoming drama will be able to fix the faults in time-spacing.

Taiyou no Uta
Starring
YUI as Amane Kaoru
Tsukamoto Takashi as Fujishiro Kouji
Toyama Airi as Misaki
Asagi Kuniko as Amane Yuki
Kishitani Goro as Amane Ken

Taiyou no Uta stars YUI as a 16-year-old teenager with a skin condition called Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP), which makes the body weak to UV rays, so going out in the sun is very harmful. So instead of sleeping at night and going out in the day time, she sleeps during the day and goes out at night. Every night, she goes out to the train station and plays her guitar and sings. She’s always careful to come back well before sunrise. From her window, she has a good view of the bus stop and every morning, she sees a guy (played by Tsukamoto Takashi) waiting there with his surfboard for his friends to come. By chance, one night while she’s playing, he walks past the train station. What follows is a sweet story of innocent love.

The question you should ask is not “was it good?” but rather “why was it so good?” Because let’s admit it, at face value, Taiyou no Uta is a very cliché type of Asian film. First off, it’s about a young girl battling a fatal disease. Why the Japanese love stories about dying teenage girls is a mystery to me, but they do. They just love it. Second, this type of innocent and pure love story is also very popular among viewers. A young sweet first-love type of story really appeals to people in today’s modern society. And lastly, the lead actress is a singer-musician by trade and her character just happens to be a wannabe singer-musician. I watched this movie the other day again, but my sister watched for the first time. And when the scene of Kaoru first going to the station to play came on, she groaned and said, “of course the girl in the movie is a singer too!!”

But even in the midst of these clichés, Taiyou no Uta just works. For me, YUI is Kaoru. She did the street musician thing before and it’s very obvious while watching the scenes of her performing. Also, YUI’s vocals consistently have a very honest feeling, and I think it is this quality that radiates through her character of Kaoru to give it a very real feeling. I was also equally impressed with the rest of the casts’ performance. I’ve only watched a few other things with Tsukamoto Takashi in it, but I noticed that they were all overly arrogant-type characters, so it was interesting to watch him in a relatively mellow role. The addition of Kaoru’s parents as integral characters was a nice touch as well, since many dramas and movies seem to just side-step the parents.

I also watched the drama version of this movie, and the route they decided to go was for a more modern feel. The movie, however, depicts a much more innocent and pure type of first love. The thing I didn’t like about the drama was how the writers took away the very pure feeling and replaced it with tons and tons of over the top drama. By adding it in, it made the story feel more cheesy and less real. I like the simplicity of the movie.

Overall, Taiyou no Uta is a beautifully shot film with a touching storyline.