*first published on 7october2010
To say that im a big fan of Kimura Takuya a.k.a. Kimutaku is an understatement. Why not, when the guy has given me no reason to change my mind. I love love love everything that I have seen of his work so far, even those stories/dramas that ended in tragedy. How can I not take my hats off to him when he becomes the character that he’s playing …raw, no frills, no effort at all, pure talent baby! He doesn’t need the over-the-top wardrobe and more importantly for me, he doesn’t pile up on the foundation/makeup/lip tint as most male actors in their neighbor country does, thank goodness !!! NO to aesthetics and all gloss alone, but YES to substance and content.
I may be a big fan of Kimutaku but im not one to say that every material he has done and worked on is excellent BUT his portrayal of his role is ALWAYS topnotch, there was never a question about it in that score. Pride, A Million Stars Falling Down from the Sky, Love Generation, Change, and Kirei Naru Ichizoku are among his most noteworthy works as far as im concerned. I heard that Hero is a real gem too BUT I have not seen a hardsubbed copy of it anywhere so that is one that I have yet to see(jeez, why didn’t I request that when Q was asking for requests? Too late!)
When Tsuki No Koibito, his latest drama came out, again, I got into my overly excited/giddy mode. Wanting to watch it and yet afraid to ‘coz that means as soon as im done, I no longer have anything to look forward to watching again. Sounds stupid? Yeah, I am stupid …about these things…FYI, im the same way with books … haha. Anyway, as soon as I saw the first episode, I knew I would dread watching the succeeding episodes ‘coz that means a step closer to the end. It is after all only 8 episodes. Can you blame me, Kimutaku looks his best here, how old is the guy for chrissakes, he is sooo freakin’ HOT in this drama and his entire “look” was just my “thing”! from his hairstyle to those short suit jackets that he often wears here, the man totally Rocks with a capital R specially when those jackets are paired with those funky shoes, just the perfect look for a designer/tycoon, wooot! oh and his eyebags are still there which means only one thing ...he has not gone under the knife, YES! who says actors have to look physically perfect to be appreciated, hello, too shallow. And his character …OMG, a bad boy who uses people to further his interests but in reality very lonely inside that’s why you just cant hate him ..hello, can the succession of good news for me never end? Of course not, there are 3 actresses here and he ended up with the one that I liked! oh my dear drama gods, what have I ever done to deserve this gift of a drama?
Tsuki No Koibito is simple, its real …nothing overly melodramatic, just as I like ‘em. No evil villain, nobody was in a terrible accident that could either maim or result in the main character having an amnesia, no dangerous other woman …you just wont find the usual stuff here. To me, it is one man’s journey where he started doing something that he loved until it became a demanding job that became too big and somewhere along the way you loose yourself until eventually he found himself back to the place where it all started. You know how it is when you think you want something badly only to find out later on, after all that has been said and done, that your happiness doesn’t lie in the direction you thought it would. The main character Rensuke is a ruthless control freak driven by ambition and who will have no qualms about using anybody to reach his goals. Ive always thought that the brilliance of Kimutaku’s acting skills are in his eyes and in them lies the message and the emotions the he wants to send across to his viewers, and in this drama, the guy still has it. The girls whose lives will be entangled with his are not-too-shabby in their performances too. 1st is Yuzuki, a simple-minded girl, the only child of his chief competitor. She would give anything to have Rensuke. my favorite scene of hers was when she told Ren the she will be his little sister and she motioning him to carry her like a kid would, while others may hate it, i thought Kitagawa Keiko looked adorable here :)The 2nd girl is, Xui Mei, a nice and innocent but poor Chinese girl whom he made as the image model of his company and he found himself attracted to. if i may classify that attraction, i guess its more like feeling sorry for her and the life she has led and him having that "knight and shining armour" complex that would save her from all that gloom. And the 3rd girl is Maemi(who appeared as the lead in Anego), an old friend from his school days who was always there and in her company, Rensuke can be himself, weakness and all. Don’t I always say that the bad boys always end up with the leading ladies in real and reel life so, inspite of and despite Rensuke’s mean character, all 3 girls are in love with him. Who he will eventually choose to remain by his side is the question. oh, and i have to remind you to please take note of Kazami, Rensuke's assitant, he is also a character to watch in this drama. I will not give away too many details of this drama ‘coz it may spoil the viewing pleasure of those who may want to see it, just in case. Of course, im also aware that most of my friends in this account does not appreciate Jdramas, that’s ok too, to each his own.
The final episode was pretty amazing, all the loose ends tied and very nicely executed. although, if i were the producer of this drama i would have added maybe 2 more episodes which is just enough to add more scenes of Rensuke and the girl he ended up with, 'coz he spent most of his time with another girl in most of this 8episode drama(if i had any complaint about this drama, this is it!) and maybe a add a twist on the storyline and make a conflict between Ren, Maemi, Kazami and Xui Mei BUT producing a Kimutaku drama is just one of my wildest dream that will never happen so im already quite happy with this one. Suffice it to say, I could not find any major flaw in this one. And yes I did look but I just couldn’t fault the creators of this drama for what it set out to do, even the uniquely Japanese “quirkiness” is present in this drama, some people don’t get it but im sooo ok with it. in the love story genre you may ask, is it as good as Pride ...hmmm... not really. is the story as strong as that of Kirei Naru Ichizoku ...again, not. but it is still d*mn good. Of course, again, this is just my opinion, if anybody has a contrary opinion, bring it on and put me in place please ..haha :)
Now, after thoroughly enjoying that drama, the problem of what to watch next is a BIG question mark. Another benchmark has been set for me and I may have to opt not to watch anything for now ‘coz whatever I’ll see next will pale in comparison to this one. Haaay …I knew it…
