Juunen Saki mo Kimi ni Koishite Review

Juunen Saki mo Kimi ni Koishite

Japanese Title: 10年先も君に恋して

Chinese Title: 十年之後依然愛你

Alternative Title: I'll Still Love You In 10 Years

Duration: 6 episodes

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Science Fiction

Telecast: 2010

Synopsis:

The story starts with Onozawa Rika (Aya Ueto) in year 2020 with a divorce paper on her table. Then, it goes back ten years earlier. Rika is being stalked by a mysterious man (Uchino Masaaki) who claims to be from the future. When Rika confronts him, he tells her that he is her future husband, but she doesn’t believe him and runs away. While waiting on a bus stop, Rika is again approached by her stalker and is told not to take the bus no matter what. He is trying to stop Rika from meeting himself, or rather, his younger self, who is at the bus. Rika agrees, thinking that doing so would stop the man from following her. Despite that, she still meets the younger Maruyama Hiroshi somewhere else. Upon their meeting, the two develop positive feelings towards each other. As their relationship progresses, future Hiroshi promises himself to do his best to pull them apart. He comes from the future with the goal of rewriting Rika’s future by getting himself out of her life.

Cheerfulnuts’ Review:

Juunen Saki mo Kimi ni Koishite’s plot is similar to Hollywood’s Back to the Future movies, but it is still very interesting. I couldn’t wait to finish the whole series the first time I watched it. Some viewers, especially those who are not familiar with actor Uchino Masaaki, may find him too old for the doll-faced Aya Ueto. The pair’s first meeting in Juunen is quite funny so I wasn’t much bothered by their huge age gap. Amazingly, the young (or present) Hiroshi does look much younger than the actor’s actual age. I have seen a few dramas of Aya Ueto. Her acting is a bit bland for my taste. I like her in Juunen though. She is very pretty and I think she’s able to portray Rika so well.

Hiroshi and Rika seem to be a perfect match. None of their family and friends would have thought that their marriage would end ten years later. Even in real life, we tend to ask the question “why” when we see couples break up. Love doesn’t seem to last no matter how much in love a couple were. It is surprising (and sometimes heartbreaking) to see how much people can change. It’s scary and it makes love a risky adventure. Love seems to be only suitable for the brave souls.

I wish that Juunen is a few minutes longer because the ending doesn’t really feel like an ending to me. Having said that, the drama had a strong impact on me.  It is shorter than a standard Japanese series, but I think it is enough to convey its powerful message. I find it very meaningful. This is definitely worth watching whether or not you’re into Japanese dramas.

Here’s an insight I got from this drama: All couples will have bumps in their relationships, but as Rika beautifully puts it, “I am confident that ten years from now, I’ll still love the same person.” I’d also like to quote from Disney’s Enchanted, “Everybody has bad times. Do we sacrifice all of the good times because of them?”

Cheerfulnuts Verdict:

9 out of 10 stars

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The Secret World of Arrietty Review

The Secret World of Arrietty

Japanese Title: 借りぐらしのアリエッティ

Chinese Title: 借物少女艾莉緹

Alternative Title: The Borrower Arrietty

Language: Japanese

Year: 2010

Based on the English novel The Borrowers (written by Mary Norton), The Secret World of Arrietty is a 2010 Japanese animation film created by Studio Ghibli (the creator of Princess Mononoke and The Spirited Away). It is directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi and is written by Hayao Miyazaki, director of several famous anime, and Keiko Niwa. It will be released early this year in the US by Walt Disney Pictures.

The movie won The Animation of the Year award in the 34th Japan Academy Awards.

Note: Borrowers are little people who get their supplies such as food, clothing, and other materials from humans. They are very careful not to be seen by humans since they do not trust them.

Synopsis:

Fourteen-year-old Arrietty is excited to go to her first “borrowing” with her father. She has been training hard for that day. Her family is the only Borrowers left in the area. On her first borrowing, she is accidentally seen by Sho, a sickly teenage boy who has just moved into the old house where Arrietty’s family borrows. She panics and drops a sugar cube to the floor. Though her kind keeps away from humans, Arrietty is curious about Sho. Sho also is fascinated with Arrietty and has been waiting for her reappearance since then. Despite their differences, they feel a connection with each other. After a few more encounters, their friendship starts to grow.

Cheerfulnuts’ Review:

The Secret World of Arrietty didn’t win the Animation of the Year award for nothing. The movie is a complete eye-candy.  I can watch it over and over again and still be amazed by its fluid movement. It is excellent not only in animation but also in every aspect – story, characters, sound, and voice acting.

In The Secret World of Arrietty, it’s more than just the good looks. There is something special about each character. The characters are very endearing. I love how Ghibli movies portray love and friendship between two characters. Since the main characters are young, it is easy for children viewers to identify with them. Despite the movie being made for young audience, it’s not “corny” so adults can still appreciate it.

I find love stories that are very subtle very sweet, though honestly, I’m not even sure if The Secret World of Arriety falls under this category. In the movie, no words of love have been said. You can only see their growing affection for each other through their actions. To me, the subtlety made the movie much more interesting.

I highly recommend this movie to everyone. I had enjoyed a few Ghibli movies before. As a Ghibli fan, I can say that The Secret World of Arrietty doesn’t disappoint me. I love it and will definitely watch it again.

P.S. Before watching the movie for the first time, don’t watch the US trailer (I haven’t seen the Japanese trailer yet). It shows almost the entire movie and there won’t be any mystery left for you.

Cheerfulnuts’ Verdict:

10 out of 10 stars

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Sankaku Review

Sankaku

Japanese Title: さんかく

Chinese Title: 三角

2010

Language: Japanese

Genre: Romance, Drama

Synopsis:

During the school break, 15-year-old Momo (Erena Ono) goes to Tokyo to spend the vacation with her sister Kayo (Tomoko Tabata). Kayo is living with her partner Momose (Sousuke Takaoka). The couple’s relationship is already sour prior to Momo’s arrival. To add insult to injury, Momose becomes infatuated with the sweet Momo. Eventually, Momo goes back to her hometown when school is about to start. Believing that the feelings are mutual, Momose breaks up with his girlfriend to be with Momo. However, he is emotionally tortured when Momo never responds to his calls and messages.

Cheerfulnuts’ Review:

It’s quite common to hear stories about someone cheating on his/her lover with the “bestfriend”. Sankaku also narrates such stories, but the “bestfriend” is a sibling instead who is below eighteen.

Sankaku is presented from Momose’s perspective. It’s not hard to see why he had fallen for Momo. Momo is very sweet, pretty, innocent-looking, and young. But at the same time, she is also subtly seductive. Erena Ono did a great job for portraying Momo. Actually, her appearance perfectly fits the role. I also think that Sousuke Takaoka and Tomoko Tabata are great in this movie. For a movie with limited dialogues, the delivery depends entirely on the cast. And I think the movie has successfully conveyed its story.

If you’re a guy, Momo is someone you’d love to hate but can’t. To us girls, we’d love to pull her hair out if we see a real-to-life Momo. What could be worse than cheating with your own sibling’s lover? The guy really had messed up his life for breaking up with Kayo to be with a kid. I pity Kayo, but she should not be too clingy. She is very scary after the breakup though.

I appreciate the story. The plot is so simple, yet it has tackled a lot of things about human emotions. What I realized from this movie is that feelings are very hard to understand. Love can be easily mixed up with infatuation. Temptation is hard to resist. When we love, we should not forget to use our head and our values.

After watching the movie, my twin sister loves me even more for being a gazillion times better than Momo. She keeps telling me, “I’m so thankful you’re not Momo chan.”

Cheerfulnuts’ Verdict:

8 out of 10 stars

Heartstrings Review

photos from koreandrama.org
edited by cheerfulnuts

Heartstrings is a 2011 Korean romantic-comedy drama directed by Pyo Min Soo, most notable for his award-winning drama Full House. The lead character, Lee Gyu Won, is played by Park Shin Hye who became famous for her Mi Nam in You’re Beautiful. The leading man, on the other hand, is played by CN Blue’s lead vocalist Jung Yong Hwa. It is his first leading role. The supporting roles are performed by Song Chang Ui (Kim Seok Hyun), So Yi Hyun (Jung Yoon Su), CN Blue’s drummer Kang Min Hyuk (Yeo Jun Hee), Lee Hyun Jin (Hyun Gi Young), and Woo Ri (Han Hee Joo).

Heartstrings

Korean Title: 넌 내게 반했어

Alternative Titles: You’ve Fallen for Me, Festival, You’re into Me

Chinese Title: 你為我著迷
15 episodes, 1 special

Genre: romantic comedy, drama

Telecast: 2011

Synopsis:

Lee Gyu Won is the sole granddaughter of Lee Dong Gun, a famous Traditional musician in Korea. To follow her grandfather’s footsteps (and as her grandfather wishes), Gyu Won majors in Traditional Music and practices her gayageum everyday. She meets Lee Shin, a major in Applied Music who plays in the band “The Stupid”. Because of their differences, Gyu Won and Shin loathe each other.

Kim Seok Hyun, an alumnus to Gyu Won’s university, arrives from the United States to direct the school’s 100^th year anniversary musical. He is forced to work with his ex-girlfriend Jung Yoon Su, a former ballerina who is now a professor in school. He has his special eye for Gyu Won after hearing her sing at a local bar. He wants her to become the lead actress of the musical. However, Han Hee Joo , the school president’s daughter, is eyeing for the role. She and her mother will do anything to make sure Gyu Won doesn’t steal the spotlight.

Gyu Won becomes a slave to Shin after losing in a contest. She runs errands for Shin – from buying him a cup of cappuccino everyday to cleaning The Stupid’s practice room. As they see each other more often, Gyu Won unknowingly falls for Shin, and Shin becomes less hostile towards her. However, when Gyu Won finds out about his long-time affection for Professor Yoon Su, she tries to convince Shin to stop pursuing the professor. This angers Shin and their “friendship” is once again strained.

Despite the tension between Gyu Won and Shin, the anniversary musical puts them together. Shin is assigned to compose the ending song for the musical. He needs to incorporate some traditional music into the song. Not knowing much about traditional music, he needs a little help from an expert – Gyu Won.

As they work more closely together, Shin, unknowingly, starts to fall for Gyu Won, too.

Cheerfulnuts' Review:

Knowing that Heartstrings falls under the romantic-comedy category, I didn’t expect much from this drama. Heartstrings caters to a younger audience. Still, the first few scenes (shot in Jeju Island) captivated my attention. It may sound cliché, but beautiful scenery plus some good looking actors seem to be the perfect ingredient to a great drama.

The story is set mainly in school, which makes me reminisce about my own school days flashback to many years ago. I’m not a Korean, but Heartstrings gives me an “at home” feeling. Actually, most school dramas make me feel nostalgic.

The first few episodes are just okay. After watching for several hours, I couldn’t seem to grasp the gist of the story. There were too many characters all at once. Lee Shin is a real jerk at the beginning of the drama. I think having a jerk lead male is a trend in romantic-comedies. As I watched Shin being mean to Gyu Won, I couldn’t wait to see how he’d fall for her. I wished he would have a hard time pursuing her haha.

Episodes 7 to 9, in my opinion, is the best part. In the entire 15 episodes, these are the parts that I would love to watch over and over again. The awkward transition from being an enemy to a lover is very interesting to watch. When Shin realizes his growing affection for Gyu Won, he doesn’t know how to show it to her. The subtleties of his actions – the stares, the secret smiles, and the hidden meaning beneath his words – made me swoon.

Heartstrings is about music, so expect a lot of singing and dancing here. This is great especially if you love the songs. CN Blue fans will surely appreciate it. Since it was Jung Yong Hwa’s first leading role, his acting is just so-so (though he had improved a lot throughout the series). I think the music had helped a lot in setting the mood right. I also found myself swooning every time Yong Hwa sings. I’m not familiar with CN Blue, so it was really a pleasant surprise to see the drummer Kang Min Hyuk sing in the drama. What a transformation it was when he sings - from being a silly and clumsy Jun Hee to a cute rockstar!

Having a young couple as the main characters makes this drama very “sweet” and somewhat “innocent”.  The plot is underdeveloped though. I like the characters, but they aren’t that special. The presentation of the story is a bit confusing. Moreover, random things happen just to have an “excuse” for more drama. You see them crying and you wonder, is this really necessary? The dialogues are not that strong either. Nevertheless, I find Heartstrings very entertaining to watch.

My conclusion is: Heartstrings is not for everyone. If you’re looking for an excellent story that will make you think hard, don’t watch this. But if you enjoy a light romantic comedy or if you want to feel in love, Heartstrings may be your cup of tea.


Cheerfulnuts' Verdict:

6 out of 10 stars

Lunch Queen Review

Lunch Queen

Japanese Title: ランチの女王

Chinese Title: 午餐女王

Alternative Titles: Lunch no Joou, The Queen of Lunchtime Cuisine

12 episodes

Genre: Comedy, Cooking, Family, Romance

Telecast: 2002

Every day, Mugita Natsumi (Takeuchi Yuko) looks forward to her favourite part of the day – lunchtime. She is very zealous about foods and even keeps a little notebook containing pictures and notes about different restaurants she’d been to. One time, she runs into Nabeshima Kennichiro (Tsutsumi Shinichi). Upon seeing her I’m-in-heaven expression while eating omurice, he decides to make an agreement with her. She will accompany him to his family restaurant and will introduce herself as his fiancé. In exchange, she could eat as much omurice in his family restaurant as she likes, which he claims has the best omurice in town. She agrees.

When the “couple” goes to meet the Nabeshima family, Kennichiro escapes along with the family’s cash. Natsumi is left, but she decides to play along. She promises the family to help preserve their delicious recipe. This starts the family’s journey in keeping the business alive with the help of its newest family member.

Cheerfulnuts Review:

I was immediately attracted to Lunch Queen’s cast and fun atmosphere. You don’t have to be a cook to appreciate this series. I love seeing their mouth-watering foods! Lunch Queen introduced me to a Japanese food I’ve never heard of before – omurice. If you can’t cook or don’t like to cook, you may find yourself wanting to cook again. After watching the series, I searched for the omurice’s recipe and tried to imitate it. I failed to cover the rice with egg. But it was fun to cook.

Besides cooking, Lunch Queen tackles about career choice – whether to go out and look for a job or to stay in your family business. This is perfect for people having this dilemma. Or if you just want to relax and watch a funny show, this is also for you. I couldn’t stop laughing in some of the scenes. I didn’t expect to laugh so hard in watching the series.

Cheerfulnuts’ Verdict:

7 out of 10 stars

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Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World Review

Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World

Sekai no chuushin de, ai wo sakebu

Japanese Title: 世界の中心で、愛をさけぶ

Chinese Title: 在世界中心呼喚愛

11 episodes, 1 special

Genre: Drama, Romance

Telecast: 2004

(currently unavailable on Amazon)

Synopsis:

In a rainy day at the wake of a teacher, seventeen-year old Matsumoto Sakutaro meets Hirose Aki, a strong-willed girl in his school. The two fall in love with each other and have always communicated through a tape recorder. As their innocent love flourishes, Aki starts to show symptoms of illness. After the couple’s trip to an island, Aki is rushed to the hospital. She is diagnosed with stage 4 leukemia. Sakutaro is devastated. Fast forward to present, the 30-something-year-old Sakutaro is now a doctor. He is still depressed over the death of his first love, who has died shortly after the diagnosis. He has never married. This story is about a man’s struggle to get over the loss of his most beloved woman.

Cheerfulnuts' Review:

I have never shed so much tears from watching a drama series before. I have seen other series which were recommended by friends. They guaranteed that they would make me cry. I was disappointed after watching them and decided that I would hate “tear-jerking” series for the rest of my life.

In the first few minutes of the first episode, I thought to myself, “This is another tear-jerker that wouldn’t make me cry.” I watched it anyway because I like Yamada Takayuki (Matsumoto Sakutaro) after seeing him in the movie Train Man. The first few series is okay. They were mostly about the development of the young couple’s relationship. After the diagnosis of Aki, the series tackled things that had never been brought up in other series with a similar plot (a dying lover). It does not only show the sweetness and innocence of Sakutaro’s love for Aki, but also the ugly side of the disease. I know this is only a fiction, but it was really heartbreaking to watch the couple. To the drama’s actors, I give them a round of applause for doing such a terrific job! Both Yamada Takayuki and Ayase Haruka (played Aki) won the best actor and best actress award, respectively, for their performance in the series. Aside from the great cast, the dialogues are very meaningful and have always been planted in my memory. This is a must-watch for anyone who loves to contemplate about life’s purpose. I especially recommend this to people who haven’t completely gotten over the loss of a loved one and to those who are still in emotional pain.

Cheerfulnuts’ Verdict:

10 out of 10 stars

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Koukousei Restaurant Review

Koukousei Restaurant

Japanese Title: 高校生レストラン

Chinese Title: 高校生餐廳

9 episodes

Genre: Drama, Cooking, School

Telecast: 2011

Synopsis:

After resigning his job in a Tokyo restaurant, Muraki Shingo is asked by his childhood friend Kishino Hiroshi to go back to their rural hometown to become a temporary high school cooking teacher. The school is about to open its own restaurant that would employ its students as chefs and waiters. They desperately need an experienced chef to lead the students. Hiroshi believes that Shingo is the only one who can do the job.

On his first day of teaching, Shingo is immediately repelled by the school’s dirty kitchen. He asks the students to clean it, which outrages the students and causing half of them to quit voluntarily. With only half of its students and a little time left before the opening of the restaurant, the team faces a big challenge that would change their life forever.

Cheerfulnuts' Review:

In the first episode, Koukousei Restaurant looks promising. Though teacher-students stories are very common, the plot is a bit unusual to me. I’ve never heard of a school running its own restaurant that employs its own students. I love that idea and I strongly wish that we have this kind of education in my country. Before setting foot to the real world, Japanese students are given a preview of what life after school is like. With this exposure, students can decide which career path to take.

I totally love the episode 3. The students’ passion for cooking and their attitude towards their “job” greatly moves me. It is truly inspiring. I enjoyed watching them cook! The dishes make me drool. I was at first bothered by Muraki Shingo’s facial expression (played by Matsuoka  Masahiro). I find his eyebrow-raising habit a bit weird. But this is only a trivial matter and doesn’t affect my love for the series at all. I learned to appreciate him and find him suitable for his character.

I highly recommend Koukousei Restaurant to teens who are clueless about their career path and to any individual who are yet to find his passion. Before I forget, I love the drama’s OST.

Cheerfulnuts’ Verdict:

7 out of 10 stars

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