[Seven Actors] Strawberry on the Shortcake: In Which Jin and Takki Share the Same Woman
Since I'm clearing out kimi-no-koe.net, non-fic entries need to go somewhere. So, I'll post them here.
I really enjoy doing posts this like, but... am I the only one who is amused by this?
*sigh*
Also, my harddrive may have taken my Gokusen 2005 raws with it. T____T
Anyway, ONWARD!
(This post is spoiler-free, if you haven't seen the drama yet.)
So I have finally seen my first Takki drama! Huzzah! I had actually wanted to watch Strawberry on the Shortcake (hereby refered to as SOS because I'm lazy) quite a few years ago, long before I discovered JE, but most likely due to a lack of subtitles or a lack of seeds on bittorrent, I never bothered to download the show. Until this past weekend.
I wanted to watch a drama that was as far removed from Johnny's as possible and, even though this one has Takki in it, I figured that since I don't really fangirl Takki that much, it would be ok.
(See, the last drama I saw before discovering JE was Nobuta wo Produce and that's the last drama that I've really been able to make it all the way through from start to finish and really enjoy. I think that part of the reason for this is because it was the last drama I could watch and be able to see the actors as just actors and not as singers and dancers. It's weird, but... yeah.)
Anyway! So SOS! From the Drama Wiki:
At some point, Irie Manato began to withdraw himself from the world. Even when picked on, it's not the real Irie, but an act. However one day he meets a strange girl - Misawa Yui. Yui, who finds the tedium of everyday life unbearable, teases Manato with her almost too upfront and honest manner. Alone and afraid Manato wavers but finds himself drawn to her. But his feelings for Yui are doomed to be unrequited. --TBS
Takki stars as Irie Manato, a third year high school student who has lost himself. He's bullied in class and he has wet dreams about his English teacher (and then steals her bra). He's just a mess: a little bit suicidal, a tad homicidal. The show opens with Irie-kun in a book store, about to steal a math book. At the last minute, he's startled by a loud voice of one of the customers and he drops the book, running out of the store. He's followed by Misawa Yui, a weird girl who is bored with life and wants to find interesting things.
It's obvious from the beginning that these two will be our main romance and, based on the background music played throughout the episode/series, angst is sure to follow our couple everywhere. Let me say right now that Takki!angst? Ranks right up there with Kame!angst. And man! I love me some Kame!angst.
Ah! Before I continue, I have to comment on the opening and ending themes of this show. When the vocals start in the beginning of episode 1, my first reaction was "...the hell? Is that ABBA?!" and yes, it is indeed ABBA. It seems weird at first, but by the end of the series, it fits perfectly.
Here's a random, artsy shot from the opening. Mmmm..... strawberry.......
Irie-kun gets picked on by other students in his class. Exhibit A:
You know, at first, I really thought that Takki looked too old to be playing a high school student and it bothered me throughout much of the first few episodes. But, as it turns out, the man was only 18 when this show was filmed. I don't know. People I went to high school with didn't look like that. :(
Anyway, when the bullying gets to be too much, Irie-kun fights back. With a pocket knife!
He's stopped from killing any of his tormentors by Saeki-kun (my favorite character of this series):
Saeki-kun is a bit like Akira from Nobuta, but way more awesome and sexy. He has sex with most of the main cast of the show and... guh... he's so cool.
Of course, I recognized him right away as that kid from G.T.O.:
The man on the right of that screenshot, we all know from his later role on Tatta Hitotsu no Koi:
See? Only seven actors in Japan.
Anyway, so Irie-kun ends up falling in love with Yui.
A few years later, Yui has an affair with Jin (in Xmas Nante Dai Kirai):
This leads to Takki!angst:
(Takki has really ugly feet...)
Eh, I kinda fail at writing reviews. It's hard to do without spoiling things.
Strawberry on the Shortcake was a good series and I'd definitely recommend it. It reminded me a lot of Tatta Hitotsu no Koi with Takki's constant voice-overs about how he'll "never forget" Yui and I spent most of the second half of the series wondering which character was going to be the one to kill themselves. But unlike TattaKoi, the angst didn't seem over the top for me, which is probably the only reason that I liked SOS better.
The subtitles were pretty good. The only thing that really, REALLY bothered me was when a character spoke in English (which they randomly did throughout the series), the subtitle would show the Japanese equivalent. For example, at one point, Saeki-kun says "This is a pen" and the subtitle shows "Kore wa pen desu." Very annoying. Especially since the actors aren't that great at English pronunciation and a few times, I had to rely on what the Japanese subs said in order to figure out the English dialogue. That's fine for me, but must suck for viewers who aren't familiar with Japanese. And I kinda thought that was who fansubs were for... Oh well.
So. Yes. Go watch this drama! Especially if you're a Takki fan! If you've seen the show, comment and tell me how you liked it. :D
Next up on my extremely long To Watch list: Sushi Ouji!
Originally posted on July 1, 2008.
I really enjoy doing posts this like, but... am I the only one who is amused by this?
*sigh*
Also, my harddrive may have taken my Gokusen 2005 raws with it. T____T
Anyway, ONWARD!
(This post is spoiler-free, if you haven't seen the drama yet.)
So I have finally seen my first Takki drama! Huzzah! I had actually wanted to watch Strawberry on the Shortcake (hereby refered to as SOS because I'm lazy) quite a few years ago, long before I discovered JE, but most likely due to a lack of subtitles or a lack of seeds on bittorrent, I never bothered to download the show. Until this past weekend.
I wanted to watch a drama that was as far removed from Johnny's as possible and, even though this one has Takki in it, I figured that since I don't really fangirl Takki that much, it would be ok.
(See, the last drama I saw before discovering JE was Nobuta wo Produce and that's the last drama that I've really been able to make it all the way through from start to finish and really enjoy. I think that part of the reason for this is because it was the last drama I could watch and be able to see the actors as just actors and not as singers and dancers. It's weird, but... yeah.)
Anyway! So SOS! From the Drama Wiki:
At some point, Irie Manato began to withdraw himself from the world. Even when picked on, it's not the real Irie, but an act. However one day he meets a strange girl - Misawa Yui. Yui, who finds the tedium of everyday life unbearable, teases Manato with her almost too upfront and honest manner. Alone and afraid Manato wavers but finds himself drawn to her. But his feelings for Yui are doomed to be unrequited. --TBS
Takki stars as Irie Manato, a third year high school student who has lost himself. He's bullied in class and he has wet dreams about his English teacher (and then steals her bra). He's just a mess: a little bit suicidal, a tad homicidal. The show opens with Irie-kun in a book store, about to steal a math book. At the last minute, he's startled by a loud voice of one of the customers and he drops the book, running out of the store. He's followed by Misawa Yui, a weird girl who is bored with life and wants to find interesting things.
It's obvious from the beginning that these two will be our main romance and, based on the background music played throughout the episode/series, angst is sure to follow our couple everywhere. Let me say right now that Takki!angst? Ranks right up there with Kame!angst. And man! I love me some Kame!angst.
Ah! Before I continue, I have to comment on the opening and ending themes of this show. When the vocals start in the beginning of episode 1, my first reaction was "...the hell? Is that ABBA?!" and yes, it is indeed ABBA. It seems weird at first, but by the end of the series, it fits perfectly.
Here's a random, artsy shot from the opening. Mmmm..... strawberry.......
Irie-kun gets picked on by other students in his class. Exhibit A:
You know, at first, I really thought that Takki looked too old to be playing a high school student and it bothered me throughout much of the first few episodes. But, as it turns out, the man was only 18 when this show was filmed. I don't know. People I went to high school with didn't look like that. :(
Anyway, when the bullying gets to be too much, Irie-kun fights back. With a pocket knife!
He's stopped from killing any of his tormentors by Saeki-kun (my favorite character of this series):
Saeki-kun is a bit like Akira from Nobuta, but way more awesome and sexy. He has sex with most of the main cast of the show and... guh... he's so cool.
Of course, I recognized him right away as that kid from G.T.O.:
The man on the right of that screenshot, we all know from his later role on Tatta Hitotsu no Koi:
See? Only seven actors in Japan.
Anyway, so Irie-kun ends up falling in love with Yui.
A few years later, Yui has an affair with Jin (in Xmas Nante Dai Kirai):
This leads to Takki!angst:
(Takki has really ugly feet...)
Eh, I kinda fail at writing reviews. It's hard to do without spoiling things.
Strawberry on the Shortcake was a good series and I'd definitely recommend it. It reminded me a lot of Tatta Hitotsu no Koi with Takki's constant voice-overs about how he'll "never forget" Yui and I spent most of the second half of the series wondering which character was going to be the one to kill themselves. But unlike TattaKoi, the angst didn't seem over the top for me, which is probably the only reason that I liked SOS better.
The subtitles were pretty good. The only thing that really, REALLY bothered me was when a character spoke in English (which they randomly did throughout the series), the subtitle would show the Japanese equivalent. For example, at one point, Saeki-kun says "This is a pen" and the subtitle shows "Kore wa pen desu." Very annoying. Especially since the actors aren't that great at English pronunciation and a few times, I had to rely on what the Japanese subs said in order to figure out the English dialogue. That's fine for me, but must suck for viewers who aren't familiar with Japanese. And I kinda thought that was who fansubs were for... Oh well.
So. Yes. Go watch this drama! Especially if you're a Takki fan! If you've seen the show, comment and tell me how you liked it. :D
Next up on my extremely long To Watch list: Sushi Ouji!
Originally posted on July 1, 2008.