Nodame Cantabile

Nodame Cantabile. Nodame of the title is the girl, cantabile esentially means a piece that atempts to mimic the human voice, and its flexibility, it feels like a song. This is aptly named as i will soon explain why.
Here's a basic rundown of the plot. We have Chiaki Shinichi, a student at a very prestigious music academy and unquestionably the best student there, a piano major, perfectionist in every way about music, he plays flawlessly. One day, as he is leaving, he hears a song, Beethoven's pathetique. He smirks at the numerous mistakes but then stops and does a double take. For while it is full of mistakes, he senses something within the music, a serene spirit. This is the start of a journey for him. For that person who was playing is Noda Megumi, also a piano major. While she is not as talented as Chiaki, her ear is second to none. He is a perfectionist who will not tolerate mistakes, she is a free spirit who wants to play however she wants. Chiaki with all his heart wants to become a world famous conductor as his mentor is, but he has suffered a series of unfortunate events that make him too scared to take any means of transportation to leave the country, neither by plane or by boat, as his plane when he was young had to make a emergency landing and he once almost drowned.
They are polar opposites. To Chiaki, Nodame is everything he dislikes, she's a slob and does whatever she wants, to Nodame, Chiaki it the epitome of everything she wishes to be, beautiful, talented. Together they change each other and grow, not only individually but as a couple. She helps him to overcome his fears, and he helps her to gain the courage to take the next step in her piano skills and enter a competition.
This drama really does jsut about everything well. The plot is amazing, and because it was themed on classical music, at least in my opinion, the music is stunning and breathtaking, it really will get almost anyone to love classical, their piece choice was amazing. just listen to the soundtrack, you will agree with me. The cast was well picked and they played wonderful parts of their characters. But don't only believe me, believe the drama awarders who gave this drama these awards:

• 51st Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Drama
• 51st Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Actress: Ueno Juri
• 51st Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Director: Takeuchi Hideki
• 51st Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Musical Arrangement: Takeuchi Hideki
• 51st Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Opening: Hattori Takayuki

certainly has earned it's place, watch it you'll love it, i promise :)

Cupid no Itazura

Cupid no Itazura, the prank of cupid. What is this prank? Well, we have a guy, who seems to have been cursed with a quite unusual fate. He has been sentenced to only have sex 7 more times, or more specifically, he can only err orgasm and release sperm 7 more times. Each time this happens, a ball will come out, different colors based on the rainbow, thus making this disease to be named Rainbow Balls Disease. The balls come out in the reverse of the ROYGBIV order, so the last one is the red one, which according to legend, if a man is having sex and a red ball comes out, it means his time for sex is up and in essence so is his life. So as the drama starts he has 7 and he begins to lose them, the first is lost in a "private alone time' session, the second in the doctor's office so she could have a rainbow ball specimen to research. However, this man has a pure heart and an honest personality, as he is a virgin, his dream is to have a virgin girlfriend with whom they can mutually share their first experience with and then marry and be happy forever. Well this drama employs a classic love triangle, namely 1 boy and 2 girls, the first girl is a person from his work that he has had a crush on and eventually dates, the second is a classmate he is close with who eventually falls for his honest personality as well. As he slowly, forgive my crude language, loses his balls, what this drama begins to do is take on a maturation sort of storyline, as he begins to learn more about love and life. It doesn't have a very strong beginning, but by the end, i would put the plot up against many romantic dramas, believing wholeheartedly it could stand its own. It's romantic, but has a maturation as well a la proposal daisakusen, and while i would not put it that high on my list, it does deserve at least some place of recognition.
This drama had classic romantic elements, as if you manage to look past the sex involved and woven into the theme, you will see many classic drama elements included to enhance the plot and the romance of it. it is a nice story, as the couple in the end manages to grow. You learn the true miracle of the rainbow balls, and it is precisely that, not a curse but a gift, for with this disease, by being limited, it takes away the impulsiveness of the man to just go out and have sex with whomever. Because he is limited, he instead begins to search for the perfect person, one who would love him beyond the physical carnal desires. By limiting, he must narrow down, and by being limited, rather than finding temporary physical "feel good" love of the moment, he finds true love, one that transcends everything, he finds not an attraction, which is only an impulse, but a love that comes from the heart and goes beyond mere sex, to a love that is unconditional, needs nothing but the other person.
While the plot could have been better, the meaning is incontestable. Plot-wise, i would honestly give this a 5 or a 6, the plot is quite simple, has a few twists but nothing major, and personally i wasn't all into the sex that it was themed to include. Overall however, while most aspects would be given a 5-6, and I'd give the drama normally a 6 based on that, i will go against that decision and give this a 7 1/2. Why? because i can, because this drama had something that really touched me. The plot, the characters, the music, they were not special at all, i will not remember them that much. However, i will remember one thing from this drama, the fact the couple in this drama, had a true and pure love that required nothing else, and had no need for sex to reassure it, it was a love that burned brightly and could not be put out simply, and that the love was found not by luck, but by being put to the ultimate test.

LIFE

yes i finished 2 dramas in 1 day :)

So we have LIFE, which basically depicts a pretty exaggerated example of high school bullying. We have Ayumu Shiiba, oh what a sad tale this girl has to tell. She enters a school she should be proud to enter scarred, having seen her best friend attempt suicide because she failed to enter but Shiiba was able to. She is s oafraid of that happening again she tries to please everyone, so as to not make anyone sad again, thinking it is better to not make friends, as that way she won't disappoint anyone. However, she does make one friend, a girl named Anzai Manami, initially depicted as a wonderful girl, the most popular in the school. However, this is a pamered spoiled brat who will get her way and is used to getting wahtever she wants. When she doesn't like someone, she has a group of friends who aid in her bullying the person, and Shiiba is dragged along for fear of disappointing the one person who helped her enter the high school social circles. However, her conscience prevails and she does indeed act against Manami, only to find herself the new target for bullying. However, she manages to befriend Hatori Miki, a student who obviously has not succumbed to the bullying against her, who inspires Shiiba and realize that rather than try to prevent a dark future, she should work to ensure a shining one, that action speaks louder than passivity. With a newfound determination she sets out to fight back against her bullys, to show that she is no longer fazed and to turn their world upside down when the bullied suddenly is not intimidated anymore. Just as Hatori inspired her, she begins to break through and inspire others. All the while Anzai Manami slowly sees her control fall away and as most confident/bordering on arrogant antagonists, the tables are turned on them when the truth is let out for the whole world to see, and she finds herself the target, experiencing firsthand the torment she inflicted against everyone, by the very people who helped her, alone, as her victims once were (how's that for poetic justice)

While things probably would not escalate to the level they did in this drama, it does show a stark realit of how cruel bullying can get and the psychological effect it has, especially the mob effect, people joining in or succumbing to prevent themselves being the target. The song choice for the theme of the drama is appropriate, LIFE by Nakashima Mika, the plot mostly consisted of people new to me, but then again, there are many actors and actresses i haven't seen in movies or dramas yet. They played their parts quite well, and to a believeable level. The drama really sucks you in, you wish to cry out in defense of Shiiba whenevr something happens to her, and cannot feel pity for her unfortunate happenings and inspired by her decision to fight back against a force that is quite grand to oppose. I can see why i was told to watch it, it's a nice break from the romances i've found myself watching as of late, a very nice plot that winds and flows quite nicely. The ending was a bit cliff-hanger, but still seemed to bring a slight closure to the story.

9/10

Ryokiteki Na Kanojo

Some of you would not believe me even if i told you, but the translation of this drama comes out to approximately mean Sassy Girl. Yes, this drama was based on the hit korean 2001 movie My Sassy Girl. Yes, that now adds to the list, first we had the american remake which is set to come out later this fall, and we have this, a japanese drama based on it. it is obvious as so many references are present, here's a list in fact of the ones i remember:

1. girl is drunk and is saved by male lead
2. girl throws up on train
3. guy is angry at girl but is nice enough to bring her to a hotel
4. guy gets caught naked and ends up in jail
5. Pachabel's canon on piano makes an appearance in here
6. the list of things to remember when dating the girl makes an appearance
7. the finger flicks make an appearance although under different circumstances
8. the time capsule although it's only a year and not 2 years like in the movie
9. the roses appear again, as she likes roses
10. the girl once again is bossy
11. the infamous "wanna die" line makes another appearance
12. standing a distance away and shouting to see if they can hear each other
13. him declining meeting someone in a blind date who turns out to be the person he's in love with coincidentally
(will update more if i remember em)

as you can see, it's obvious where this drama takes its roots from, but it must be remembered that this is not a copy per se, the plot and character backgrounds have been altered a bit, but the overall idea still is somewhat the same but also different.
Ok here's the basic plot. We have Masaki Saburo, a marine biologist/university teacher, he has just been dumped by his girlfriend and on his way home coincidentally runs into a drunk girl (she has a name this time), named Takami Riko. The two get off to a rough start and some confusions occur regarding them but are cleared up. By coincidence she ends up living across the hall from him, and it is this proximity that brings them as close emotionally to each other as they are physically. But of course, like the original movie, the girl has some hidden pains, namely her previous boyfriend who up and left her without a trace, and by coincidence she actually came and is living there because that is where her boyfriend previously lived. Masaki, in his altruistic personality which cannot help but feel obligated to help, tries his best and finds out the secret as to why her boyfriend is hiding from her and left. Over time, as previously said, the two become much closer and eventually fall in love with each other. But of course there are some minor hardships and situations that present themselves, and she ends up on 2 different occasions being engaged to someone else to marry. Saburo really goes through a few hardships but the feeling both have for each other is undeniable :).
Ok that's the plot, now for talk on the other aspects. Musically, it didn't stand out as much, but the songs were appropriate in creating the atmosphere to match the situation. The cast was well done, with some names like Matushita Nao from taiyou no uta, and Kanjiya Shihori, who made a small appearance in Hana Yori Dango 2, but all of teh actors did a good job. Plotwise, it's a comedic romance, a la taking from its roots. Some of the obstacles weren't quite as insurmountable as other dramas, so the plot accordingly isn't as complex or concrete as others, but obstacles are obstacles nonetheless. It has it's funny moments as well as serious moments, a nice contrast that helps to keep the viewer from settling into one specific emotion, and helps to serve as a release valve, inserting humor to bring down the mood from a serious moment. In all, i'd give the music a 7, plot a 7, cast an 8, overall that would make it around a 7-8
so 7-8 it is, 7-8/10

enjoy

My Girl

FINALLY FINALLY FINISHED IT OMFG, took too long to do it xD

ok, so here we go with the normalities of a drama review. First, summary. We have Ju Yoo Rin, a professional swindler and liar by necessity, her father's in debt to mafia type people and is money greedy, so when he skips town, she's left to own up to her father's deeds, and thus has to resort to disguises and hiding from them. By chance, while on jeju island, she comes upon a summer cottage type house complete with tangerines. She decides since the owner is not around, she will take the tangerines and sell them, however she is caught and has to give back all the money she earned. Turns out the owner is the director of Avenuel Hotel, a big expensive 5 star hotel. But he has a secret. His grandfather had turned away one of his daughters and disowned her, so that daughter had run away and eventually died in an earthquake in japan. Deeply feeling regretful, he has fallen ill with remose and worry with a last wish to see his daughter, who had gone missing since that day years ago and had yet to be found. So it has fallen to this director, Seol Gong Chan, his grandson, to find this person and fulfill a dying man's last wish. However, so far he has failed, and his grandfather's health is starting to decline. Seeming to be running out of time and nto wanting his grandfather to die, he concocts a plan. He finds Ju Yoo Rin, and asks her, with her ability to lie, to pretend to be his cousin, at least until he can find the real one. He will provide her with a home and shelter and pay off her debts and take care of her until a time when he finds the real one. Initially she refuses, but later on agrees (sounds like another fake contract style don't it :P). Things are going well and they are able to overcome the initial doubts about her, genuinely thinking that Gong Chan has really found the grand daughter. However, there is more, Gong Chan used to have a girlfriend, Sae Hyun, who left him to become a famous tennis player, leaving him feeling betrayed and abandoned, and also a best friend, a close family friend, Jung Woo, who also met Yoo Rin and felt there was more to this mysterious girl. We have a nice little love...mess, especially when Yoo Rin falls in love with Gong Chan, Jung Woo falls in love with Yoo Rin, and Sae Hyun returns and wishes to continue where she left off.
There's lots of jealousy and obstacles, typical of a romantic drama. We have the usual contract style agreement that brings the two lovebirds together, the classic previous love, the incoming obstacle who also loves the girl, the lie that if revealed will blow over, especially after being accepted by the family, the revelation, the pain of separation, the package is essentially complete. The romance, while slow, culminates in the two being miserable without each other. Also for others who watch dramas, there's a nice little "cameo" appearance/mini "trailer" type moment at the end which hints at another drama that aired a year later, in the next year's winter season, i particularly liked that, especially since i had already seen the drama it hinted at, quite a nice moment.
All in all, you romance seekers will have no complaints about this drama other than the trouble you might run into trying to find it to watch, as it is licensed and has been essentially taken off most places, although knowing most of you, you should have no trouble beating the system heh.

Enjoy, really a romance drama that those who enjoy this genre cannot miss.