REVIEW (J-drama)
Yay, my first review of a Japanese drama. I have actually seen quite a few J-Dorama before, but this is the first one that I wrote a review for. Anyway, here it is -
Sutaa no Koi, or roughly translated to "Love of a Star".What it is aboutKirishima Hikaruko (played by Fujiwara Norika) was a super star. Her face was everywhere, on TV, movie, magazine, poster, drink labels. You name it, she's on it. Her love life was just as spectacular. Her relationship with male actors never last longer than a couple of months.
Nakata Sosuke (played by Kusanagi Tsuyoshi) was an ordinary guy. He moved to Tokyo to work for a company that sells ham. His house was small, but cozy. His colleagues were his friends. He's not a guy who would dream of meeting a super star, let along talking to one.
One day, while all of Sosuke's colleagues went out to catch a glimpse of the movie set that Hikaruko was working on, it was Hikaruko herself who turned up at the company. Sosuke didn't realise that it was her because he was busy answering the phones. In all the madness, she took a piggy keychain as a present. Hikaruko then sat on a seat nearby and took a nap. It took Sosuke some time to realise a big star had turned up at his place. Sosuke covered Hikaruko with his jacket to prevent her from catching a cold.
Hikaruko then woke up and left with the piggy keychain along with Sosuke's jacket. It was then that Sosuke remembered the gift that he had prepared for his girlfriend was still inside his jacket that Hikaruko left with.
Meanwhile, Hikaruko found out that her boyfriend was seeing someone else. To take revenge, she invited Sosuke to her birthday party. During the party, Sosuke befriended a famous director. But it was Hikaruko's plot that took the centre stage. She kissed Sosuke in front of all the guests and media. Later on in a news conference, Hikaruko declared that she was going out with a white collar worker.
Within a week, Hikaruko's boyfriend tried to make up with her. However, Hikaruko continued to see Sosuke. And within that same week, Sosuke had said some meaningful things to her that would ultimately cause her to break up with her boyfriend. After the storm was over, she decided to be honest with Sosuke and told him that she was just using him in order to take revenge on her boyfriend. Sosuke finally snapped out of his dream and went on with his business.
Everything would have gone back to normal had it not be Hikaruko's manager who insisted that for the next month they continue to pretend that they were seeing each other in order to avoid bad publicity.
And so the story dived into the special relationship between the super star and an ordinary worker.
What I think of itIt took me just three days to watch this 11 episodes series. It is a short series, and for once in many years, I actually want more. The story is fast and free flowing. And it has no major flaws.
The first half of the series deals with the feelings of Sosuke and Hikaruko as their fake relationship slowly turns towards becoming real. The second half concentrates on Sosuke's realisation that Hikaruko is a celebrity and he is just a nobody. His realisation brings with it a wall that Sosuke builds around himself in order to avoid contact with someone he likes. He even tries to hide his true feeling by going out with his female colleague, Koizumi Tsubami (played by Hasegawa Kyoko) who has an interest in him.
But what Sosuke does not realise is that he is the most influential person in Hikaruko's life. Whenever Hikaruko is unable to meet the standards set out by the directors, Sosuke is there to help her. She even disappears for a week to live at Sosuke's place because she can't belt out the dialogue. It was Sosuke who helps her to have confidence in herself again.
It's definitely not a one way street. While Sosuke helps Hikaruko with many things that she does, she also helps him in his business. Besides helping him financially by buying ham from his company for parties, she even helps to take care of the office while all of them are doing the runabout, trying to lift their ham sales.
The story goes straight to the point. During the first 15 minutes, we already established the characters Sosuke and Hikaruko and the world that they live in. Something that could take an episodes or two for other series to do. It was nice and quick.
The plot is interesting. The subplots usually only last an episode, which gives the show a fast-paced continuous motion. Each subplot builds on to the previous one. As the story goes on, the main characters slowly realise their feelings for each other. Being only 11 episodes is somewhat a bit short, but I think it is appropiate. I rather watch a short, but enjoyable series, than a long, dragging one.
This drama is funny to watch. When Kirishima first appeared at Sosuke's front door, he opens the door, then closes it and goes back to his noddle, telling himself that he must be dreaming. This happens a couple more times until Sosuke finally figures it out. I was laughing so hard that it hurts. In another scene, Hikaruko was so absent-minded that she was saying thankyou to the filming equipments rather than the staff. And her blank look expression make the scene so funny.
The acting is superb. Hikaruko lives in a care-free environment, and Fujiwara expresses that care-free world very well. It is great to watch that Fujiwara can protrait Kirishima as a professional actor, who would do what is asked of her, and as soon as the scene is over, she would go back to her old self. It is particularly evident in one of the episodes where her heart hurts. It is amusing to see that she can change mood so quickly, from the 'on-screen' Kirishima to the 'off-screen' Kirishima.
Kusanagi performance as Sosuke is... weird. Maybe it's because his look is... different. He's definitely not the best looking guy you will see on screen. But his performance is okay. It's natural, and belts out the dialogue quite smoothly. Whether he fits the role of a ham seller is debatable, but he fits the role of an ordinary worker.
I particularly enjoyed Morimoto Leo's character, director Kanetanaka. His look is that of a kind person, and he doesn't get angry when Fujiwara's character can't bring out the dialogue the way he wants. His dialogue is of great guidance to both Fujiwara and Kusanagi, much like a father giving valuable advise to his children. It is a shame that we see so less of him.
Some of the dialogues that Hikaroku said in her movies actually reflects her emotions towards Sosuke. It's ironic that she can say a dialogue so easily, and yet, so hard to convey the same message to the person she likes.
The camera angle used in this series is amusing to watch. The director uses alot of close up. One second you would see a big close up of Fujiwara, the next, you'd see Kusanagi. As they deliver their dialogue, the screen would cut back and forth to the speaker. It's definitely not a traditional camera works. And I like it. It makes it more fun to watch.
One thing I've noticed throughout the show is that Fujiwara's wardrobe must have been a huge warehouse. The off screen Kirishima never wears the same outfit twice. I bet the costume designer must have spent so much time to find the right clothings for Fujiwara to wear for the occasions. Some of the outfits are stunning and some are casual. I can't think of any other show that has so many different outfits.
The last episode is a bit of a surprise. I thought I've got the wrong show. And during the entire episode, I still wasn't sure if the ending is a happy one, or a sad one. I'll leave that for you to find out.
The use of parallelism is one of the strength for this show. It is everywhere. I especially like the one when Sosuke is doing his archery grading exam at the same time as Hikaruko performs her archery scene on a set. It was such a moving moment.
OverallI throughout enjoyed this show. It's funny. It has a solid script, and the actors are really good acting out their characters. I always wonder what would happen if I meet a star. And this show more or less answer that question.
If you're into a light-hearted romantic comedy. I highly recommend this one.
Score (out of 10)Music: 7Setting: 8Character: 9Plot: 9Overall: 10
