Jo's Journal
"I'll try and be... a little woman, and not be rough and wild, but do my duty here instead of wanting to be somewhere else."
- Jo, "Little Women"
College is simultaneously speeding up and winding down for me. I have a shitload of work to do this quarter, but at the same time I'm taking my senior pictures (MY SENIOR PICTURES OH MY GOD) in less than eleven hours and I'm going to declare candidacy and register for graduation before the week ends. I've already been thinking about what to do when I get home; obviously, I need to find a job, but what? I have to go out into the Real World and take on adult responsibilities and all that jazz. It's so easy to forget when you're on a college campus - school is like a little bubble and you can barely live life outside of it whether you want to or not. I want to go home, but I don't have a ride as of yet. But if I don't go home this weekend, I won't be able to go home for a month. I spent Spring Break in New York and Las Vegas, so I didn't get to really stay at home. Ordinarily I don't mind that, but I have to go back and get stuff that I left at home AND/OR begin to take stuff home so that the car isn't piled to the ceiling with my crap when I graduate. My dad's medicine and saline solution for kidney dialysis already takes up a big chunk of car space, and it's not like he can't bring those to SB and back, so I've got to compromise. But more importantly, HOLY SHIT I'M GRADUATING. Only a little more time before I have to sack up and get my grown woman on.
Someone posted an interesting thread on Crunchyroll: a J-drama version of "Little Women." Not sure if it's true or not (the OP was ambiguous) but that idea got my mental gears turning because I LOVE LITTLE WOMEN (the book, not small females XD). I read the book when I was seven (it's hella long, but it wasn't a big deal considering I started reading when I was two) and identified VERY strongly with Jo. Tomboyish, a hot temper, doesn't really like anything about her looks except her hair, best friends with a dude growing up (who may or may not have had feelings for her, and her for him), loves to write if this LJ wasn't an indication with a flair for the dramatic, although she is NOT your cliche drama queen - that just means she has a bent for the performing arts. As you may or may not have gleaned from reading this journal, my name is Joanne, so I demanded to be called Jo for most of my childhood after reading that book. (Most of my family still calls me that, but I suspect it's more for brevity than any literary sentimental value.) When I think about it now, maybe there's a lot of Amy in me too: slightly vain, was a bit of a Miss Manners growing up, loves big words - except that I use them correctly - drew all the damn time, and spent a good chunk of time in Europe. But I am definitely a lot of Jo, and probably will be forever just because of that book's role in my formative years. Also, the Japanese apparently really liked this book enough to make a classic anime of it (like with Anne of Green Gables or Heidi), so I think a drama version would be well-received with the right cast.
So anyway, I tried to cast the main characters and have a bit of a time finding people because I naturally pay more attention to the guys than the girls. One absolute essential, though, is to cast Ueno Juri as Jo. I can't think of any J-actress better for the role than her - totally badass, has an awesomely wide range of emotion, down for anything and totally cute with short hair (remember, that was a very important plot point...)
Meg is harder to cast because I can't think of many actresses that are close to Juri's age but older than her (she's a year older than me) - maybe Aoi Miyazaki because she's pretty ladylike, and Meg is all about being ladylike. I liked her as Hachi in Nana. I also like Mizukawa Asami - I've seen her in all sorts of different roles, from a concert violinist to a yankee girl gang leader (she's Sho's wife in Pikanchi Double XDDDDD) and she could probably rock this role. She has a sleek, ladylike look to her, which could work for the lovely (but vain) Meg, even though she's described as "plump and fair" in the book. (She's also older than Juri LOL.) She's been with Juri a lot, though.
Beth needs to be super super pure - she doesn't get as much character development as the other girls, so the role isn't as demanding (I think) but she definitely has to have an air of innocence. I was thinking maybe Aragaki Yui - I'm excited to see her in Smile and she has that beautifully sweet look to her.
Amy is also a bit of a toss-up - here I'm between Horikita Maki and Toda Erika. Maki could give Amy a bit of attitude but still look cute enough to be Amy, the spoiled-but-sweet baby of the family. I loved Erika in Ryusei no Kizuna, but I'm still not sure if that's because I am madly in love with the two actors opposite her or because she's actually pretty good. (Same story with Death Note.) Both times she's shown her ability to bounce pretty quickly between personas, as with Shiori's disguises and Misa's double personality, and the drama showed that she was capable of emotion. She's also prettier in a more girly way - Maki is better in a tomboyish style (think Hana-Kimi) but I already wanted Juri as Jo so yeah.
Marmee is definitely Kaga Mariko partly because she is a really good actress and partly because I think it would be hilarious to see Domyouji's mom act so level-headed and maternal instead of cool-headed and evil. Also, I'm not too familiar with older actresses. I don't know if Hannah should be a character - she functions partly as another voice of reason, but I doubt many Japanese families have housekeepers anymore and there's always Marmee.
NO ONE BUT EITA CAN PLAY LAURIE. The end. It's Eita - I defy you to name a better character actor his age, and also I'd like to keep the running joke about him never getting the girl or the lead; in Nodame he was the self-appointed/imposed sidekick, in Last Friends he didn't get Juri, in Kimi Wa Petto he got Jun's sloppy seconds (XDDDD), in Suppli he kind of got passed over for Kame, etc. Here (and in Voice, and possibly Unfair, which I haven't seen) he can get the lead... but he still can't get the girl (Jo). He gets Amy, but apparently the readers back in Alcott's day were all Jo/Laurie shippers. (Hell, I was, and I read it a century and a half after its original release.) Sorry Eita, you can't have everything you want... but I still love you anyway LOL.
There are a few other actresses I like, but I couldn't really fit them into the roles as easily as I could fit the girls here. Also, there's a whole bunch of side characters to be casted - for example, Jo's future husband Mr. Bhaer. I was thinking Kimutaku just for the ratings and lulz, but also because he's a bit older than Juri and he's getting older in general. There's also quite a bit of material (47 chapters) to work with, so I don't know what would get adapted, if anything, other than their personalities and major life events (Jo's writing career, Amy's trip to Europe, Beth's sickness, Meg's marriage, etc). The plot would definitely affect the casting - for example, I don't think either Erika or Maki can look twelve, no matter how hard they try (the novel begins with Amy at twelve, Beth at thirteen, Jo at fifteen and Meg at sixteen, but follows them until Meg is at least in her twenties). So all in all, I don't know how accurate my predictions would be but I'd still love to see them turn this into a live action series with a decidedly Japanese twist.
Three more days till I can watch J-dramas...
- Jo, "Little Women"
College is simultaneously speeding up and winding down for me. I have a shitload of work to do this quarter, but at the same time I'm taking my senior pictures (MY SENIOR PICTURES OH MY GOD) in less than eleven hours and I'm going to declare candidacy and register for graduation before the week ends. I've already been thinking about what to do when I get home; obviously, I need to find a job, but what? I have to go out into the Real World and take on adult responsibilities and all that jazz. It's so easy to forget when you're on a college campus - school is like a little bubble and you can barely live life outside of it whether you want to or not. I want to go home, but I don't have a ride as of yet. But if I don't go home this weekend, I won't be able to go home for a month. I spent Spring Break in New York and Las Vegas, so I didn't get to really stay at home. Ordinarily I don't mind that, but I have to go back and get stuff that I left at home AND/OR begin to take stuff home so that the car isn't piled to the ceiling with my crap when I graduate. My dad's medicine and saline solution for kidney dialysis already takes up a big chunk of car space, and it's not like he can't bring those to SB and back, so I've got to compromise. But more importantly, HOLY SHIT I'M GRADUATING. Only a little more time before I have to sack up and get my grown woman on.
Someone posted an interesting thread on Crunchyroll: a J-drama version of "Little Women." Not sure if it's true or not (the OP was ambiguous) but that idea got my mental gears turning because I LOVE LITTLE WOMEN (the book, not small females XD). I read the book when I was seven (it's hella long, but it wasn't a big deal considering I started reading when I was two) and identified VERY strongly with Jo. Tomboyish, a hot temper, doesn't really like anything about her looks except her hair, best friends with a dude growing up (who may or may not have had feelings for her, and her for him), loves to write if this LJ wasn't an indication with a flair for the dramatic, although she is NOT your cliche drama queen - that just means she has a bent for the performing arts. As you may or may not have gleaned from reading this journal, my name is Joanne, so I demanded to be called Jo for most of my childhood after reading that book. (Most of my family still calls me that, but I suspect it's more for brevity than any literary sentimental value.) When I think about it now, maybe there's a lot of Amy in me too: slightly vain, was a bit of a Miss Manners growing up, loves big words - except that I use them correctly - drew all the damn time, and spent a good chunk of time in Europe. But I am definitely a lot of Jo, and probably will be forever just because of that book's role in my formative years. Also, the Japanese apparently really liked this book enough to make a classic anime of it (like with Anne of Green Gables or Heidi), so I think a drama version would be well-received with the right cast.
So anyway, I tried to cast the main characters and have a bit of a time finding people because I naturally pay more attention to the guys than the girls. One absolute essential, though, is to cast Ueno Juri as Jo. I can't think of any J-actress better for the role than her - totally badass, has an awesomely wide range of emotion, down for anything and totally cute with short hair (remember, that was a very important plot point...)
Meg is harder to cast because I can't think of many actresses that are close to Juri's age but older than her (she's a year older than me) - maybe Aoi Miyazaki because she's pretty ladylike, and Meg is all about being ladylike. I liked her as Hachi in Nana. I also like Mizukawa Asami - I've seen her in all sorts of different roles, from a concert violinist to a yankee girl gang leader (she's Sho's wife in Pikanchi Double XDDDDD) and she could probably rock this role. She has a sleek, ladylike look to her, which could work for the lovely (but vain) Meg, even though she's described as "plump and fair" in the book. (She's also older than Juri LOL.) She's been with Juri a lot, though.
Beth needs to be super super pure - she doesn't get as much character development as the other girls, so the role isn't as demanding (I think) but she definitely has to have an air of innocence. I was thinking maybe Aragaki Yui - I'm excited to see her in Smile and she has that beautifully sweet look to her.
Amy is also a bit of a toss-up - here I'm between Horikita Maki and Toda Erika. Maki could give Amy a bit of attitude but still look cute enough to be Amy, the spoiled-but-sweet baby of the family. I loved Erika in Ryusei no Kizuna, but I'm still not sure if that's because I am madly in love with the two actors opposite her or because she's actually pretty good. (Same story with Death Note.) Both times she's shown her ability to bounce pretty quickly between personas, as with Shiori's disguises and Misa's double personality, and the drama showed that she was capable of emotion. She's also prettier in a more girly way - Maki is better in a tomboyish style (think Hana-Kimi) but I already wanted Juri as Jo so yeah.
Marmee is definitely Kaga Mariko partly because she is a really good actress and partly because I think it would be hilarious to see Domyouji's mom act so level-headed and maternal instead of cool-headed and evil. Also, I'm not too familiar with older actresses. I don't know if Hannah should be a character - she functions partly as another voice of reason, but I doubt many Japanese families have housekeepers anymore and there's always Marmee.
NO ONE BUT EITA CAN PLAY LAURIE. The end. It's Eita - I defy you to name a better character actor his age, and also I'd like to keep the running joke about him never getting the girl or the lead; in Nodame he was the self-appointed/imposed sidekick, in Last Friends he didn't get Juri, in Kimi Wa Petto he got Jun's sloppy seconds (XDDDD), in Suppli he kind of got passed over for Kame, etc. Here (and in Voice, and possibly Unfair, which I haven't seen) he can get the lead... but he still can't get the girl (Jo). He gets Amy, but apparently the readers back in Alcott's day were all Jo/Laurie shippers. (Hell, I was, and I read it a century and a half after its original release.) Sorry Eita, you can't have everything you want... but I still love you anyway LOL.
There are a few other actresses I like, but I couldn't really fit them into the roles as easily as I could fit the girls here. Also, there's a whole bunch of side characters to be casted - for example, Jo's future husband Mr. Bhaer. I was thinking Kimutaku just for the ratings and lulz, but also because he's a bit older than Juri and he's getting older in general. There's also quite a bit of material (47 chapters) to work with, so I don't know what would get adapted, if anything, other than their personalities and major life events (Jo's writing career, Amy's trip to Europe, Beth's sickness, Meg's marriage, etc). The plot would definitely affect the casting - for example, I don't think either Erika or Maki can look twelve, no matter how hard they try (the novel begins with Amy at twelve, Beth at thirteen, Jo at fifteen and Meg at sixteen, but follows them until Meg is at least in her twenties). So all in all, I don't know how accurate my predictions would be but I'd still love to see them turn this into a live action series with a decidedly Japanese twist.
Three more days till I can watch J-dramas...