Nobuta wo Produce (Producing Nobuta) Episode 1-3
Title: Nobuta wo Produce (Producing Nobuta)
Director: Iwamoto Hitoshi, Sakuma Noriyoshi
Starring: Kamenashi Kazuya, Yamashita Tomohisa, Horikita Maki
Download (Eng sub)
Nobuta wo Produce is one of those films everybody seems to fuss about - and for which Kame earned his first lead acting award. I came in, expected that it would be overrated - I mean, how good can a drama about school life can really be? Basically, I was just very eager to catch up on all the Japanese drama I've been missing, and Nobuta wo Produce appears to be the most likely choice to be the first one. Not to mention it features two things I’m a sucker for: my favorite Johnny’s song, Seishun Amigo by Shuuji to Akira, and my favorite Johnny’s, Nakajima Yuto in chibi form.
Well, I was proven wrong just after the 1st episode.
Clearly I’m also a sucker for beautifully developed friendship, round and dynamic characters, and beautiful art direction.
I’ve just finished episode 3, and I know I haven’t watched a lot of Japanese drama, but I think I should say this just to be on records:
Nobuta wo Produce is the best Japanese drama, and one of the best TV series I’ve ever watched.
I intended to only write a review after I finished watching each drama as a whole, but for Nobuta, I feel I need to bend the rules. Which is why I’m writing this after 3 episodes (and restraining myself from watching the 4th episode before finishing this review.)
Here’s a short summary of the 3 episodes so far (spoilers!)
[Episode 1]Episode 1: Basically exposition of the main characters: Shuuji, whose goal at school is to be popular and remain popular; Akira, who is quirky and eccentric and do not care about what everyone else say about him, and is very clingy towards Shuuji; and Nobuki (Nobuta), who always appears gloomy, which thus make her the target of bullying at every school we go to. Shuuji and Akira, despite not being friends at first, decided to team up to “produce” Nobuta into the most popular girl at school to “celebrate their youth by doing something that no one has ever done before”, to quote Shuuji.
[Episode 2]Episode 2: More about how Nobuta is bullied, and why she is such a gloomy person in the first place. Shuuji and Akira start the first step of their “production” of Nobuta, who after much persuasion agree with their plans. Compulsory shopping/makeover segment, as well as traumatic haircut. They support Nobuta when her school jacket has the word “ugly” written on it by writing on their own uniform as well, making it a trend in the school.
[Episode 3]Episode 3: School fair - haunted house episode. Nobuta is designated/forced to do all the work by herself, and only Akira stands up for her, which means at the end only the two are doing all the work. Shuuji tried to help, but due to his wanting to remain as cool, as well as his various talents in singing/acting/photography he could not give the haunted house his entire focus. The night before the fair, the house is destroyed, but they managed to rebuild it in time, with the help of three former students’ spirits. This episode ends with a very touching friendship talk that had me in tears.
I love how Nobuta wo Produce introduces and builds up the 3 main players of the story. Most importantly, I love how it is so economical and efficient in sketching out their basic characters as well as their motivations/reasons for their actions. One thing I look forward to while watching movies/drama is reflecting back after watching, and be like “Oh, so that’s why (they did what they did)!” Nobuta wo Produce evokes this experience perfectly, especially when it comes to Shuuji - at first, Shuuji claims that his “producing Nobuta” is only to “celebrate their youth”, but reflecting on his character, “celebrating their youth” seems to be a lacking explanation: Shuuji genuinely wanted to help Nobuta.
On a deeper level, I enjoy how the 3 main players are foils of each other, and represent 3 very different approaches to the same aspect of life. For example, Shuuji, despite being a warm person at home, plays up his cool side so as to appeal to the people around him. Meanwhile Akira does not even care what people around him think, yet still exaggerates his behaviors - but unlike Shuuji, not his coolness but his quirkiness. On the other hand we have Nobuta, who also does not care for the opinions around her, but only because she is too often bullied that she finds trying to fit in do not even work… Frankly, I would love to do a character analysis about these 3 main characters and explore how they are so different and the significance of this to the drama.
I am also surprised by how good the acting has been in this drama so far. Kame really portrayed the two different sides of Shuuji well - not to mention I can completely believe that he is the most popular in the school, what with his boy band looks and overall cool aura. I love how Horikita Maki acted as Nobuta, and was especially impressed with the “unsmile” scenes. The most surprising of all would be Yamapi as Akira. Fandom has always given me the impression that Yamapi can’t act (what with calling him Dead Fish Eyes and all). Well, he certainly can in Nobuta wo Produce, and truly I never thought he would be capable of playing such an eccentric character (he seems like the cool face type of actor for me). I heard that some of his lines/actions are ad-libbed, which increases my admiration for him tenfold.
Perhaps now I should talk about the friendship depicted in the drama? No, I’ll save it for a later review (likely at the end of the drama.)
Other things I love about Nobuta wo Produce: The cinematography is exquisite. Best cinematography I’ve ever seen in a Japanese drama. My favorite sequences involve the one in episode 1 where Shuuji and Nobuta ride on Shuuji’s bicycle to follow the willow tree, as well as the makeover in episode 2. Here’s a screenshot of my favorite scene in episode 3:
Another thing I must not forget to mention is the music. The last scene in episode 3 that makes me cry, it does not help that it is set to wonderful music. Japanese drama often pushes the music to extremes, and in certain parts Nobuta wo Produce is still guilty of that, but overall, the drama has generally better use of music than average.
3 episodes may not be sufficient to judge a drama, but I really have high hopes for Nobuta wo Produce to continue its sensitive treatment of friendship and finding yourself. Really, if you haven’t watched it before, just go and do so. Now.
Here’s an illustration of an extent to which I’m falling in love with this drama:
I’m already thinking about how sad I would feel when I watch the last episode of Nobuta.