Nobuta wo produce
Nov. 2nd, 2006 06:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scottishlassProducing the pig.
Well the title sounds worse than this Japanese series is. It stars two Japanese heart-throbs and singers Kazuya Kamenashi (Kame) and Tomohisa Yamashita (YamaPi).
summary:
Shuji Kiritani (Kame) is a high school student who sees his student life as a sort of game. He is the most liked student at school and he gets along with nerds, weirdos and jerks alike. He finds his classmates so predictable that he excels in the character that is Shuji-kun, but at home he is a totally different guy.
And even though he gets along with every one on a superficial level, there is one guy he really hates - Akira Kusano (Yamapi). Akira is a happy go lucky, carefree guy who talks as he likes, jokes as he likes and somehow holds a certain affection for Shuji. He also is the only one who sees behind the mask of Shuji-kun which freaks Shuji out on many different levels.
These two unlikely characters join their forces when Nobuko Kotani (Hirokita Maki) joins their school. She is a shy, timid girl who lets herself being bullied as she is used to it since pre-school. Shuji almost freaks out when he sees her, as she stood at the empty hole where his favourite willow tree had been uprooted and told him she wanted to commit suicide there by hanging herself from that very tree.
Shuji who is appalled by Nobuko and her lack of style decides together with Akira to produce her. To make her the most popular girl at school. Under the oath of secrecy the three try to change Nobuko who is affectionately called Nobuta (little pig) by Akira and Shuji.
What then follows is a rite of passage, of friendship and love ...
review:
I love, love, LOVE this series. It was the first Japanese teenie series I have seen and instantly fell in love. Shuji and Akira are such lovable character with quirks and flaws that you cannot wipe a grin off your face as you watch them becoming friends for life. Kame and Yamapi bring those characters to life and I love how over the top Yamapi portrays Akira (sometimes you get the feeling he is constantly high) - Akira is a free-spirit, even though he is a rich kid and could easily become the most popular guy at school, he doesn't care about all this and just wants to live his school days as he sees fit before he is groomed and trained to follow in his father's foot steps. He is a unrestricted character but with a deep sense of loyalty and empathy. He immediately sees through Shuji's ploy of being the most popular boy, but he doesn't look down on this shallow concept of life as he understands that it comes from fear of failure on Shuji's part. He teases Shuji, holds more than once a mirror into Shuji's face but always in a teasing, friendly way.
Shuji on the other hand does think far too much. He mentally prepares himself for his role as Shuji-kun every day on his way to school. He is a manipulator and through his friendship with Akira and Nobuta he realises that it stems from his fear of being all alone and his insecurity.
He is far too good-natured for his own good, and deep down he knows it hence the super-cool Shuji-kun persona at school.
Watching Nobuta coming to life through the friendship and love of these two guys, is a feel-good happening. These three become friends and companions and each of them give the other something that is lacking in their characters. Nobuta finds and receives love for the first time and from the gentle wooing of Akira she gets more confidence to in turn fall in love with Shuji. It could be a bad love-triangle but each person's character lack the greed and the evilness to try to best the other and so is the love unrequited but innocent and pure. It is more of a Like than a Western love concept.
This series is a passage from childhood to adolescence, the characters learn to accept themselves and from there on to become the adults they are supposed to be.
Well the title sounds worse than this Japanese series is. It stars two Japanese heart-throbs and singers Kazuya Kamenashi (Kame) and Tomohisa Yamashita (YamaPi).
summary:
Shuji Kiritani (Kame) is a high school student who sees his student life as a sort of game. He is the most liked student at school and he gets along with nerds, weirdos and jerks alike. He finds his classmates so predictable that he excels in the character that is Shuji-kun, but at home he is a totally different guy.
And even though he gets along with every one on a superficial level, there is one guy he really hates - Akira Kusano (Yamapi). Akira is a happy go lucky, carefree guy who talks as he likes, jokes as he likes and somehow holds a certain affection for Shuji. He also is the only one who sees behind the mask of Shuji-kun which freaks Shuji out on many different levels.
These two unlikely characters join their forces when Nobuko Kotani (Hirokita Maki) joins their school. She is a shy, timid girl who lets herself being bullied as she is used to it since pre-school. Shuji almost freaks out when he sees her, as she stood at the empty hole where his favourite willow tree had been uprooted and told him she wanted to commit suicide there by hanging herself from that very tree.
Shuji who is appalled by Nobuko and her lack of style decides together with Akira to produce her. To make her the most popular girl at school. Under the oath of secrecy the three try to change Nobuko who is affectionately called Nobuta (little pig) by Akira and Shuji.
What then follows is a rite of passage, of friendship and love ...
review:
I love, love, LOVE this series. It was the first Japanese teenie series I have seen and instantly fell in love. Shuji and Akira are such lovable character with quirks and flaws that you cannot wipe a grin off your face as you watch them becoming friends for life. Kame and Yamapi bring those characters to life and I love how over the top Yamapi portrays Akira (sometimes you get the feeling he is constantly high) - Akira is a free-spirit, even though he is a rich kid and could easily become the most popular guy at school, he doesn't care about all this and just wants to live his school days as he sees fit before he is groomed and trained to follow in his father's foot steps. He is a unrestricted character but with a deep sense of loyalty and empathy. He immediately sees through Shuji's ploy of being the most popular boy, but he doesn't look down on this shallow concept of life as he understands that it comes from fear of failure on Shuji's part. He teases Shuji, holds more than once a mirror into Shuji's face but always in a teasing, friendly way.
Shuji on the other hand does think far too much. He mentally prepares himself for his role as Shuji-kun every day on his way to school. He is a manipulator and through his friendship with Akira and Nobuta he realises that it stems from his fear of being all alone and his insecurity.
He is far too good-natured for his own good, and deep down he knows it hence the super-cool Shuji-kun persona at school.
Watching Nobuta coming to life through the friendship and love of these two guys, is a feel-good happening. These three become friends and companions and each of them give the other something that is lacking in their characters. Nobuta finds and receives love for the first time and from the gentle wooing of Akira she gets more confidence to in turn fall in love with Shuji. It could be a bad love-triangle but each person's character lack the greed and the evilness to try to best the other and so is the love unrequited but innocent and pure. It is more of a Like than a Western love concept.
This series is a passage from childhood to adolescence, the characters learn to accept themselves and from there on to become the adults they are supposed to be.
