I usually avoid melodramas and just stick to romantic comedies BUT Iately, while looking around for a nice follow up to Secret Garden, im starting to feel kinda bored with the mediocre Korean rom-coms now available to me, so before I get really sick and tired of them, I’d better set my sights on another direction. In my case, that direction always leads me to… Japanese dramas(dorama). I figured, since jdramas are usually just 10-11 episodes, 45-50 mins each, if it turns out to be a bad production, my misery will be short. With my experience with doramas, when it is done right, it is the very best there is out there. It is the reason why I always go back and immerse myself at the beauty of their productions.
Another classic rich girl-poor boy falling in love with each other story. objections were raised on both sides. Complicated by class issues and health problems that beset our lead girl and our lead boy’s younger brother. Happily, friends interfere to help and cheer on the sidelines. Simple right? Well, it seems that way when I put it like that BUT when the storytelling started, when the story was unraveled, when the sequences progressed and the scenes were unfolded… im only on episode 2 and there was I thinking… hallelujah, im in for another treat, AGAIN!
Who says a character has to be handsome in a “flower boy” sort of way AND rich to be cool and attractive? How in the world has this guy’s charms escaped my fangirl radar after all these years??? I wouldn’t exactly call Kamenashi Kazuya(nickname KAME) as Kanzaki Hiroto, handsome in a conventional sort of way, at least not to me. In fact, I purposely avoided some of his earlier work precisely because the shallow fangirl in me thought he wasn’t goodlooking enough to be a leading man. Actually I only saw one of his previous works, Nobuta Wo Produce, which I watched because of his co-star, pretty boy Yamashita Tomohisa(nickname YAMAPI). Im afraid I may have overlooked at his charms in the past because in the boyband Kat-Tun where he is a member, my favorite is former bandmate Akanishi Jin. BUT I just saw a recent TV appearance of Kame and there is a noticeable weight gain that to me only added to his hawtness(the underground/alternative rockstar style), hence, my watching this drama now. *ok guilty, kill me now for being a one dimensional, superficial being* I love how he carries himself on and off screen… brooding and yet, there is an air of confidence, and brashness with a hint of naughtiness. Some people are just born with tons of charisma and loads of sex appeal :p anyway, in this drama, Hiroto works hard every day and night for the survival of a small ship repair factory (inherited from his late father) as well as the survival of his mother and younger brother. When you look at him you could sense that he feels like the weight of the world is upon his shoulders and yet there is an obvious defiance within him that refuses to be a failure. *how can i not love a character like that?*
Ayase Haruka plays Tsukioka Nao, the daughter of a popular jewelry shop owner in a fashionable street in Yokohama. I love how Nao is so innocently straightforward, she was able to unsettle Hiroto a couple of times with her honest declarations of affection for him. Jeez, one of my favorite scenes here was when she wanted to be kissed by Hiroto, sooo… kawaii! The Very Best Scene! She has displayed on numerous occasion that she is such a sweet and nice girl and the fact that she is rich made me think a couple of times… Hiroto is one lucky dude, he hit the jackpot when Nao fell for him big time.
Part of this drama’s charm is that there is really no evil villain here. You can sympathize with all the characters in this drama in a way that even if they are making it hard for our love team to be together, you just cant hate them for their good intentions. You would totally understand why Nao’s family just want to protect her and get her out of harm’s way. truth of the matter is, I admire her family and their behaviour is utterly appropriate under the circumstances specially after the stunt Hiroto’s mom pulled… haaay Okasan, why did you have to make it even harder for Hiroto… honto? I just have to pay a little tribute to one of Hiroto’s two friends, Ayuta. He is the very best kind of friend there is. Ready, willing, and able to help, 24 hrs a day. He is the nicest of guys and I kinda feel bad for him ‘coz he’s got no lovelife because he’s in love with... secret... and why is that the case, what could be wrong with him? Welll, its because nice guys never gets the girl, unfortunately. May I also mention that Nao’s friend Yuka hooking-up after a few meetings with Hiroto’s weird if not downright retard friend Ko is absolutely unbelievable. im not being a snob here BUT, no matter how I look at it, what an odd and awkward pair. my complaint here is not because they don’t look good together nor because she comes from an affluent family while he is a mere truck driver but I didn’t see it coming. I saw a certain degree of admiration and maybe even pity, but, that’s it, that’s all! but when Ko waited for Yuka outside her school and she basically ignored and avoided him… oh mannn, how sad is that and yet how powerful is that scene. Ko was brought down to earth after floating on air with the idea of being in love with a cute and rich chick. Well, im not gonna reveal even more spoilers here so, as far as this odd pair is concerned, watch out for episode 9.
Before I end this, let me go back to the scene that made me fall in love with this drama in the first place. That whole shiny orange ball thing in episode 2 and how he got it for her and then when he was trying to reach for her hand behind him and the silly girl gave him the orange ball instead, wooo, that scene was… silly, but somehow when she finally put her hands in his it was… sweetness in its purest form! That scene was sooo sincere and innocent and… pure love! Actually, that was just the start, its a preview of how love unfolded onscreen and how it was wonderfully presented. This production was never boring… never overly ambitious… never pretended to be anything but a touching and simple love story with a heart. Once again, it reaffirmed why I love Japanese dramas. They have a unique charm totally different from other asian drama productions. It is an unembellished, classic story beautifully told in a sober and toned down quality, without the hyterics nor the histrionics oftenly associated with this kind of stories. i was like racking my brains looking at any distractions or real flaws that I could nitpick on… and i found none. Not the acting, not the story, not the pacing, not the ending… nothing really. Im actually running out of anymore superlatives to say, except maybe, to recommend TATTA HITOTSU NO KOI if you are looking for a good love story to watch, this is it. meanwhile, I will leave you with a video*fanvid* that captured the beauty of the story of Hiroto and Nao and the creepy orange ball that played an important role in their relationship… aishiteru…
