More jdrama than you can shake a stick at
So: weekend drama tally.
1. I have finished Romantic Princess, the twdrama from last year. I think I could feel my brain dying. The drama design was very cute (almost as cute as Wu Zun) but OMG...the stupid. It burns. I think my problem with RP was that in any good drama (or what I consider good drama, I realize everybody has subjective differences in opinion) no matter how improbable the situation, the emotional response of characters to these situations rings true, and the characters themselves come across as consistent, believable people. In RP, the reactions lacked any depth and emotion and the characters were not people, but a collection of superficial traits stuck on good-looking dolls. They did not feel real.
2. I have also finished Hotaru No Hikari, which was just as awesome as it started being as. I don't feel like metaing about it, but it was wonderful and highly recommended. Ayase Haruka was great and so was Fujiki Naohito (*sigh*). I am such a sucker for friends who fall in love. And oh, the ending was the funniest, most adorable thing. I also liked the secondary characters and that Makoto was a sweet, if incompatible guy, not a villain.
Hmmm, seeing that I adored Sapuri, and thought HnH was great, and even KwP ended up working for me, once I realized what it was and what it wasn't, I suppose I can't claim any more that I don't like office dramas :)
3. Zettai Kareshi, first episode. OMG.
So much LOVE.
The story revolves around Riko, a sweet, oldfashioned, and unlucky in love office worker employed by a cake company. One day, through various circumstances, she ends up, without realizing it, purchasing a 'robot,' whom she names Night Tenjo. Night has been programmed to be the perfect boyfriend (of course), but can Riko have feelings for a thing? Can a thing actually have feelings? Oh, and how about Soshi, her senior at the company, who might actually be the real, flesh-and-blood guy she is looking for?
First ep was a total delight. If this keeps up, this might end up a favorite.
I adore the manga this is based on (am a Watase fangirl in general) but, oddly, didn't mind any of the changes. In a way, this is like Hana Yori Dango adaptation: they take the gist of the story and the situation and rearrange it into something same yet different.
I have not seen any of the three actors in anything else (except for Soshi who was Nanba-Senpai in Hana Kimi, but I exited that show really hastily, and he left no impression on me), but I adore them here. Aibu Saki is awkwardly adorable as Riko. You could see both her cookiness and her vulnerability and I just want to squish her. Hayami Mokomichi as Night is spot-on with his slightly robotic and stiff movements and expression. He is 'human' and yet he is 'off' somehow, too. Oh, and Night is just as much a darling in the live-action as he was in the manga. So sweet and stupid :P But, also developing feelings on his own. And I really loved the little subversive point in the manga which is kept in the drama: of course you can have the perfect shoujo boyfriend who will be tall and handsome and utterly devoted: he is programmed to be! In RL, perfection does not really exist.
I have seen Mizushima Hiro in Hana Kimi, but I disliked that drama and never got much into it. He is awesome here, as (in the biggest change from the manga) the playboyish but kind Soshi. I am swooning for him.
And speaking of...Such a pretty drama!
Gaku and the Boss in front of their newest project at Kronos Heaven:
Which is:
Poor Riko. She is crushing on a guy from marketing, who is pretending to be sweet but is totally a Bad Guy.
Her friend is encouraging her to go for it, but since I've read the manga, I...stabbity.
Gaku decides Riko will make a perfect test-customer for the company's new 'roboto.'
And takes her to Kronos where she fills out various profiles and forms. She seems to think it's a dating agency, btw.
Did I mention she works for a cake company?
Mmmm. Soshi:
And then Riko is home. LOL at Riko's face at seeing her delivery:
She pokes it:
It's activated by kissing :)
But it doesn't wake up:
And then she has to run. And in the empty (and very messy) apartment, Night opens his eyes (I have to say, Mokomichi is ridiculously pretty):
Credits:
LOL. He is too tall to walk through doorway and too stupid to bend his head :)
He identifies the owner:
"Nice to meet you, girlfriend" I loled so hard I might have broken something:
Gaku fixes his hand:
LOLOLOL
That is the cutest office:
Soshi being a total dork:
I like Soshi. Can you tell?
Night is trying to be a boyfriend:
With bartender friend of Riko's:
Riko's 'friend' and crush. Ugh:
The scene with the cakes. I died of the cute!
YUM:
Night is being fixed:
This is crazy pretty:
Soshi overhears the Bad Guy being a bastard:
But even worse, Riko overhears what the guy who she was crushing on says about her:
OMG, Night!
Soshi sees:
Off they run!
Boooo! I guess she is the drama's Mika:
I really liked the last scene.
Height difference:
I guess she is getting friendly with her toaster:
Awwww. Soshi eats the cakes that Riko made for Bad Guy and which ended up on the ground. Awwww, Soshi.
Aww again. Did I mention she named him 'Knight' because he comes to her rescue?
Now they are adapting Zettai Kareshi, I think they should adopt Ayashi No Ceres (if Takeshi Kaneshiro was a decade younger, he is the picture-perfect Toya), or if that is too weird for TV, Fushigi Yuugi. Takizawa Hideaki was born to play Tamahome.
4. Neither of these being available, and with my craving for jdramas (I go through stages of kdrama-heavy watching, jdrama heavy watching etc), I started the excellent (so far) Aishiteiru to Itte Kure, a 1995 drama with Toyokawa Etsushi and Tokiwa Takako. She is an aspiring actress, he is a painter deaf since childhood.
Here is a MV for it:
It's excellent so far, and both leads are pitch-perfect. I have a problematic relationship with some older dramas (even Long Vacation didn't work for me) but this is excellent.
Though I might alternate between this and Yoshitsune. Takizawa Hideaki with a sword! I think meganbmoore is the only one who've seen it on my flist. Do they do Shizuka's dance in the drama? I always loved that part of the story.
Online Videos by Veoh.com
I think I just might finish this first, after all.
1. I have finished Romantic Princess, the twdrama from last year. I think I could feel my brain dying. The drama design was very cute (almost as cute as Wu Zun) but OMG...the stupid. It burns. I think my problem with RP was that in any good drama (or what I consider good drama, I realize everybody has subjective differences in opinion) no matter how improbable the situation, the emotional response of characters to these situations rings true, and the characters themselves come across as consistent, believable people. In RP, the reactions lacked any depth and emotion and the characters were not people, but a collection of superficial traits stuck on good-looking dolls. They did not feel real.
2. I have also finished Hotaru No Hikari, which was just as awesome as it started being as. I don't feel like metaing about it, but it was wonderful and highly recommended. Ayase Haruka was great and so was Fujiki Naohito (*sigh*). I am such a sucker for friends who fall in love. And oh, the ending was the funniest, most adorable thing. I also liked the secondary characters and that Makoto was a sweet, if incompatible guy, not a villain.
Hmmm, seeing that I adored Sapuri, and thought HnH was great, and even KwP ended up working for me, once I realized what it was and what it wasn't, I suppose I can't claim any more that I don't like office dramas :)
3. Zettai Kareshi, first episode. OMG.
So much LOVE.
The story revolves around Riko, a sweet, oldfashioned, and unlucky in love office worker employed by a cake company. One day, through various circumstances, she ends up, without realizing it, purchasing a 'robot,' whom she names Night Tenjo. Night has been programmed to be the perfect boyfriend (of course), but can Riko have feelings for a thing? Can a thing actually have feelings? Oh, and how about Soshi, her senior at the company, who might actually be the real, flesh-and-blood guy she is looking for?
First ep was a total delight. If this keeps up, this might end up a favorite.
I adore the manga this is based on (am a Watase fangirl in general) but, oddly, didn't mind any of the changes. In a way, this is like Hana Yori Dango adaptation: they take the gist of the story and the situation and rearrange it into something same yet different.
I have not seen any of the three actors in anything else (except for Soshi who was Nanba-Senpai in Hana Kimi, but I exited that show really hastily, and he left no impression on me), but I adore them here. Aibu Saki is awkwardly adorable as Riko. You could see both her cookiness and her vulnerability and I just want to squish her. Hayami Mokomichi as Night is spot-on with his slightly robotic and stiff movements and expression. He is 'human' and yet he is 'off' somehow, too. Oh, and Night is just as much a darling in the live-action as he was in the manga. So sweet and stupid :P But, also developing feelings on his own. And I really loved the little subversive point in the manga which is kept in the drama: of course you can have the perfect shoujo boyfriend who will be tall and handsome and utterly devoted: he is programmed to be! In RL, perfection does not really exist.
I have seen Mizushima Hiro in Hana Kimi, but I disliked that drama and never got much into it. He is awesome here, as (in the biggest change from the manga) the playboyish but kind Soshi. I am swooning for him.
And speaking of...Such a pretty drama!
Gaku and the Boss in front of their newest project at Kronos Heaven:
Which is:
Poor Riko. She is crushing on a guy from marketing, who is pretending to be sweet but is totally a Bad Guy.
Her friend is encouraging her to go for it, but since I've read the manga, I...stabbity.
Gaku decides Riko will make a perfect test-customer for the company's new 'roboto.'
And takes her to Kronos where she fills out various profiles and forms. She seems to think it's a dating agency, btw.
Did I mention she works for a cake company?
Mmmm. Soshi:
And then Riko is home. LOL at Riko's face at seeing her delivery:
She pokes it:
It's activated by kissing :)
But it doesn't wake up:
And then she has to run. And in the empty (and very messy) apartment, Night opens his eyes (I have to say, Mokomichi is ridiculously pretty):
Credits:
LOL. He is too tall to walk through doorway and too stupid to bend his head :)
He identifies the owner:
"Nice to meet you, girlfriend" I loled so hard I might have broken something:
Gaku fixes his hand:
LOLOLOL
That is the cutest office:
Soshi being a total dork:
I like Soshi. Can you tell?
Night is trying to be a boyfriend:
With bartender friend of Riko's:
Riko's 'friend' and crush. Ugh:
The scene with the cakes. I died of the cute!
YUM:
Night is being fixed:
This is crazy pretty:
Soshi overhears the Bad Guy being a bastard:
But even worse, Riko overhears what the guy who she was crushing on says about her:
OMG, Night!
Soshi sees:
Off they run!
Boooo! I guess she is the drama's Mika:
I really liked the last scene.
Height difference:
I guess she is getting friendly with her toaster:
Awwww. Soshi eats the cakes that Riko made for Bad Guy and which ended up on the ground. Awwww, Soshi.
Aww again. Did I mention she named him 'Knight' because he comes to her rescue?
Now they are adapting Zettai Kareshi, I think they should adopt Ayashi No Ceres (if Takeshi Kaneshiro was a decade younger, he is the picture-perfect Toya), or if that is too weird for TV, Fushigi Yuugi. Takizawa Hideaki was born to play Tamahome.
4. Neither of these being available, and with my craving for jdramas (I go through stages of kdrama-heavy watching, jdrama heavy watching etc), I started the excellent (so far) Aishiteiru to Itte Kure, a 1995 drama with Toyokawa Etsushi and Tokiwa Takako. She is an aspiring actress, he is a painter deaf since childhood.
Here is a MV for it:
Click to viewIt's excellent so far, and both leads are pitch-perfect. I have a problematic relationship with some older dramas (even Long Vacation didn't work for me) but this is excellent.
Though I might alternate between this and Yoshitsune. Takizawa Hideaki with a sword! I think meganbmoore is the only one who've seen it on my flist. Do they do Shizuka's dance in the drama? I always loved that part of the story.
Online Videos by Veoh.com
I think I just might finish this first, after all.