ロングバケーション - Long Vacation
Hello, again.
So, I have a Japanese exam in the last week of July that will decide whether or not I'll be allowed in to Japanese 3B (last time I was writing I was in Japanese 1B!) so for practice, I'm back watching J-Dramas ^_^.
Over the weekend I watched the 11-episode summer-set Long Vacation from.... get this.... 1996!
Anyway, This drama is based around a Minami (Yamaguchi Tomoko), a woman whose fiance abandons her on their wedding day, so out of anger, spite and convenience she moves in to the apartment he used to live in - with his ex-room mate, the wide-eyed, boyish pianist Sena. Played by Kimura Takuya (whose resume is longer than my arm!) Sena is a recent-graduate and piano teacher who has not/cannot play for other people. His teacher (the oh-so-handsome-a-23-year-old-falls-for-him Morimoto Leo) tells him to break down the wall, to let his emotions show through, but... things are complicated.
Short version:
Sena likes Ryoko
Ryoko falls for Shuji
Sena falls for Minami(?)
Minami falls for Sena(?)
The 'problem' in this whole thing is that Sena is 24 and Minami is 31. OH MY GOD. No, really. And there is this HUGE assumption that Minami is basically going to marry the next guy she dates, meaning she can't really think of Sena as dateable material. However, when she does meet Mr Dateable-Material (Toyohara Kosuke, who also played Nodame's mean piano teacher), there are sparks, but not really enough.
Who will end up together?
Watch and see.
The story itself is quite well-told, and though it might seem a bit slow in the beginning and you might want to tell Minami to just grow-up/shut-up, you learn to appreciate her spirit and courage, which is a stark contrast to the reserved Sena.
AND this drama currently hold the award for BEST KISS IN A JAPANESE DRAMA. There were three kisses total between the leads, and the reason they were all so brilliant is that they actually seem spontaneous, as if they only did one take of the kiss, so however it played out in front of the camera, that's what they used. They just seemed... genuine. Maybe it's because I've been watching too much K-Drama lately that I'm used to the stock-standard of 'boy grabs girl by the wrist and kisses her while she stands there awkwardly with her eyes open', which, as much as I see it, I still don't like it.
But with Minami and Sena, the kisses are amazing. There are fireworks. Yes.
Oh, and if you have a thing for boys and collar bones like me, you will LOVE this scene. Here's a taste:
So, I have a Japanese exam in the last week of July that will decide whether or not I'll be allowed in to Japanese 3B (last time I was writing I was in Japanese 1B!) so for practice, I'm back watching J-Dramas ^_^.
Over the weekend I watched the 11-episode summer-set Long Vacation from.... get this.... 1996!
Anyway, This drama is based around a Minami (Yamaguchi Tomoko), a woman whose fiance abandons her on their wedding day, so out of anger, spite and convenience she moves in to the apartment he used to live in - with his ex-room mate, the wide-eyed, boyish pianist Sena. Played by Kimura Takuya (whose resume is longer than my arm!) Sena is a recent-graduate and piano teacher who has not/cannot play for other people. His teacher (the oh-so-handsome-a-23-year-old-falls-for-him Morimoto Leo) tells him to break down the wall, to let his emotions show through, but... things are complicated.
Short version:
Sena likes Ryoko
Ryoko falls for Shuji
Sena falls for Minami(?)
Minami falls for Sena(?)
The 'problem' in this whole thing is that Sena is 24 and Minami is 31. OH MY GOD. No, really. And there is this HUGE assumption that Minami is basically going to marry the next guy she dates, meaning she can't really think of Sena as dateable material. However, when she does meet Mr Dateable-Material (Toyohara Kosuke, who also played Nodame's mean piano teacher), there are sparks, but not really enough.
Who will end up together?
Watch and see.
The story itself is quite well-told, and though it might seem a bit slow in the beginning and you might want to tell Minami to just grow-up/shut-up, you learn to appreciate her spirit and courage, which is a stark contrast to the reserved Sena.
AND this drama currently hold the award for BEST KISS IN A JAPANESE DRAMA. There were three kisses total between the leads, and the reason they were all so brilliant is that they actually seem spontaneous, as if they only did one take of the kiss, so however it played out in front of the camera, that's what they used. They just seemed... genuine. Maybe it's because I've been watching too much K-Drama lately that I'm used to the stock-standard of 'boy grabs girl by the wrist and kisses her while she stands there awkwardly with her eyes open', which, as much as I see it, I still don't like it.
But with Minami and Sena, the kisses are amazing. There are fireworks. Yes.
Oh, and if you have a thing for boys and collar bones like me, you will LOVE this scene. Here's a taste: