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karenedI was watching tv last night when mokmok surprised me by calling all the way from Australia! Thankies dear!!! She asked me this question which a friend of hers posed to her.
What's your purpose on earth?
I have no idea, actually. And I don't think there's a fixed answer. All of us have different purposes, and our purposes change every now and then as we experience life and change our priorities and outlook in life. Well, coincidentally, the tv dorama i was watching then kind of posed a similar question.
I was watching タイヨウのうた (Taiyou no Uta//Song of the Sun). Mokmok: You like watching such shows about death.多分な。。。=]
LOADS OF CAPS & SPOILERS AHEAD.
I've finally watched this dorama. When I heard of this dorama and that Sawajiri Erika is the female lead, I became really interested in it and was waiting impatiently for th dvd to hit local stores. However, during the waiting period, negative news/tabloids about Erika appeared now and then and that caused my interest in the dorama to wane...till a week ago.
The reason behind my rekindled interest in this dorama is this guy:
Yamada Takayuki 山田孝之
DOB: 1983-Oct-20 (25 years old)
Height: 169cm
Has a son with an ex-gf, 3 years old
I was really shocked when I read that he has a son. He's only 25 years old! Amazing ne!
I first saw him in Water Boys where he was just one of the many cute guys. (woah, that was very long ago!) He didn't really leave much of an impression on me other than his being cute =P
Then, over a year ago, I caught him on tv again, this time in 世界の中心で、愛を叫ぶ // Crying Out Love, In The Center Of The World (caps from here). I wasn't really interested in it initially because by then, Takayuki's face had lost its presence in my brain and I wasn't really a fan of Ayase. The only reason I watched it was because I quite enjoyed the movie version.
And then, Takayuki wowed me again with his charisma! It was after this dorama that I recalled why I liked him in Water Boys - his dorky expression (see top right picture in the Water Boys picture). It's so...non-star and that makes him look like the regular guy next door. カワイイじゃん！His acting is natural so his slow-witted personality on-screen doesn't make me feel irritated. It was endearing instead. However, the ill-fated Takayuki didn't stay with me for long. Before long, I got swept off my feet by Jun's Doumyouji-sama and Shin-chan. So Takayuki's image disappeared from my limited storage.
And now, just last week, I saw him again! I was getting really bored so I went to the vcd shop to buy myself some dvds - I left the shop with more than 5 dvds (movies/doramas) and CROWS ZERO was one of them.
I bought Crows Zero because of Shun. However, I was totally not watching Shun when he appeared. I was thinking of Takayuki. o.O He wasn't actually the main lead and for much of the middle of the movie, he wasn't there at all. However, I was hoping he would come out soon every time Shun's on the screen. It's amazing how I took to him right away despite me not having seen him for so long. Yappari he's my favourite Jap male actor ne! (He made it to the top after Sekai no chuushin de) In fact, I was quite torn between who to root for - Shun or Takayuki - during the final 'battle'. All I know is that, when Takayuki lost, I felt sad. Hopefully they will iron out their differences and become friends in the sequel.
After Crows Zero, I went to watch そのときは彼によろしく. I had bought it simply because Takayuki is in it. I wasn't really looking forward to this movie because the story sypnosis I read from online etc sounded odd and didn't manage to grab my attention. But well, since it was a "Buy 2 get 1 free" promotion, I bought this, together with ただ、君を愛してる // Heavenly Forest and コナン // Detective Conan 2007. So it was purely by chance and by fate that there wasn't something else I wanted and just had to buy SonoKare.
Right after Crows Zero, SonoKare slapped more Takayuki onto my face. Again, he was in the role of a slow-witted guy. He's always doing such roles (for the few doramas/movies I've seen him in) but I totally don't mind because he is really good at it. If you ever ask me to suggest a guy to lead in such a role/story, I will definitely vote him. He's good and convincing!
The thing with Takayuki is that every single time he makes an appearance before me, he wins me over. However, unlike many others, he doesn't make me go gaga. I think it has to do with the types of roles he takes on. They're usually sobering, non-idol-like kinds...which I absolutely buy and totally adore. So, while the strong dosage of Takayuki lingered in my mind yesterday when I stepped into Poh Kim, that didn't give me any impulse to buy anything with him in it. However, there was a sad draught of good Jdoramas (I'm so waiting for Maou and Zettai Kareshi!) so I ended up buying タイヨウのうた // Song of The Sun. The thing is, remember I said in the start that Erika's negative image kind of made me turn away from the dorama? Somehow, time made that pale and instead, Takayuki's presence made me buy it.
Of course, there were many points where I was sceptical about the Erika's role as someone so nice, friendly, strong and upbeat about life. However, I quickly shook those doubts away. In the end, I finished the show tearing and feeling touched.
This dorama isn't as sad as 1LOT...there are parallels to be drawn, such as the incurable illness, a dorky guy who stands by the side of the female lead, the female leads losing physio-motor abilities etc etc...However, I think the two are quite different.
1LOT made me cry more out of sympathy. It was heartwrenching to see a healthy and sunshiney girl like Aya slowly losing everything she has...and how God can continue devestating her in spite of her trying to stay strong. In contrast, タイヨウのうた made me cry more because of Kaoru's strength and beliefs. I admire her having a clear direction in life. I was touched by her struggles between her desire to love Kouji and her fear that loving will make her weak; between discarding her dream to live and disregarding her life to dream. Like what someone said in one of the episodes, the reason why everyone loves Kaoru is probably because of her strength.
タイヨウのうた was really an enjoyable show where I laughed almost as much as I cried. So here I am with loads of screencaps, mainly from the opening theme and the trailers for each ep, since I'm lazy to go to each individual ep to get caps.
Our leads! If there is one thing I want to complain, it'd be Takayuki's sideburns in the dorama. It's super long, like down the entire length of his cheeks! Go look out for them in the rest of the caps!
I was watching the BTS clips and Takayuki was really good at shooting. He made a hit with every shot he took! It was Erika's first time and he taught her how to aim at the targets.
Yes, he shows this look everytime, in every show I've watched him in. The blur look which totally swept me away. <3
こんな顔が大好き！
And below, my fav members of the band! Hamada Gaku's the bottom one. He's short but cute! I really liked him in here, much more than I did watching him in Proposal Daisakusen!
Top: Kaname Jun. I first came across him in Tantei Gakuen Q and he really stood out amongst all the kids. He did quite well in this dorama too...I kind of disliked his over-pragmatic ways of doing stuff but later, he became a nicer person and we started to understand how even he is sometimes helpless in how things are run.
Bottom: No idea who he is but he is darn funny. I found myself either laughing or chuckling whenever he appears. His facial expressions and his body movements really tickles the funny bone! He add comic relief to the whole dorama.
Ok those were from the opening theme song. Following this we have screencaps from trailers to each episode!
After a bad start (Kouji pissed Kaoru off with his laidback attitude towards life, saying that "He doesn't mind dying tomorrow", to which Kaoru replied asking "Why not just die right away, since the sea is right before them." That pissed Kouji off and in turn, he continued to anger Kouru by critisizing her 'pretence' of being enthusiastic since she claimed to want to be a singer but only sings others singers' songs), Kouji started to open up to Kaoru.
Kaoru and Kouji plotted a 'coincidental meeting' at the theme park so that their best friends Misaki and Ryusuke can have a chance to patch up. So it was a date of some sort. I love the small scene where Kouji's friend Yuta told Kaoru that it was the first time he saw Kouji enjoying talking to a female. I thought that hinted at some advancement in their relationship. However, Kaoru's happiness was later crushed when Yuta told her about a mysterious girl who went to look for Kouji one night.
Of course, she managed to clarify things with Kouji when the gang went to ride on the ferris wheel. Her joy didn't last long though. Due to an extremely odd and rather hilarious reason, the two of them were stuck in one of the ferris wheel cars in midair because no one realised they were still in the car.
It was only after this incident that the gang realised that Kaoru has XP. I think Erika did a rather good job in this scene where we could see her trying to hide her worries and anxiety from Kouji as the time to sunrise nears. When Kaoru finally explained her illness to Kouji and showed signs that she wanted to just give up, Kouji scolded her for having such thoughts. He used words that Kaoru had previously used on him to spur him out of his laidback outlook in life. So, he remembers her word eh? =)
With the truth of her illness made known to Kouji, Kaoru decides to end her dream of being a singer and to end her love for Kouji. I really like this part where they showed Kaoru struggling with herself, with her conflicting desires.
And on the other side, Kouji had a tough time thinking about his feelings. Did he like her? Was he willing to stay by her side?
He finally decides to attend Kaoru's birthday party (It was kind of sad when her dad said that he should go because it may just well be her last birthday. Of course we later know that it was. T.T) He sewed a UV-protection suit for her but was rejected by Kaoru.
When he returned to the shop where they worked and stayed at, dejected, Yuta told him it was better that way since she'll die anytime (he had read up on XP) and it better not to get so close to her anymore. When Yuta said, "Are you sure you have the courage to watch her die?" Kouji really blew up and the two got into a fight. I think this fight really spoke volumes about how Kouji thought of Kaoru.
When Asami (his childhood sweetheart/first love) went to look for him, Kouji refused to listen to her. However, when she mentioned Kaoru's name, he gave in. He realised that Kudou (Kaname Jun's character) was not interested in helping Kaoru debut and only wanted to get her to help as a ghost writer to write songs for Asami.
Kouji didn't want Kaoru to get hurt so he went to beg Kudou to give her a chance as a singer. He even got onto his knees yo! However, it was all but fruitful.
He had no choice but to tell Kaoru the truth. To his surprise, Kaoru didn't get too upset. She was stronger than he thought. Kaoru probed about how Kouji found out about it and Kouji finally told her about Asami.
Kaoru then happily said that two good things happened to her that day.
1. Kouji went all the way to Tokyo for her sake.
2. Kouji told her of a secret (that he knew Asami from before) that he had never told anyone about before.
And after that, she went home and wrote a new song called タイヨウのうた. When the melody was finished, she asked Kouji out to be her audience, the first to hear her new song.
She was playing the guitar and singing to the melody while Kouji was sitting in front of her, enjoying the song. However, her left had suddenly lost strength. Kaoru made an excuse and left Kouji. After a checkup at her doctor's, she realised that she can never play the guitar again because her left hand had lost its strength, one of the syndromes of XP.
Dejected and lost, she ran away. With just a few hours to dawn, everyone ran around town to look for her. They each had one of the UV-protection suit with them just in case.
He finds her by the sea and despite him trying to console her, she had lost all hope. To her, she lived her life to fulfil her dream of becoming a singer. With that dream being taken away from her, she couldn't find any reason to live for anymore. Hence, she grabbed her guitar and made a dash for the choppy sea. Kouji chased after her and pulled her back, refusing to let her go.
When Kaoru asked why,
Kouji finally, for the first time, clearly stated his feelings for her.
Yuta and the rest saw Kouji playing the guitar at the park and felt that he looked really sauve playing the guitar. When they returned, they decided to form a band and take part in the Band Fest!
I think it's amazing that the casts really went to learn how to play those instruments just for this dorama. Although they may not look too polished, I appreciate their efforts!
Two weeks later, Kouji asked Kaoru out on a date. She had expressed a wish to look at the moon from the nearby light tower and Kouji wanted to fulfil that wish of hers.
Unfortunately, one of Kouji's acquaintance from his past spotted Kouji and decided to make trouble for him. They sneaked up on Kaoru while she was waiting at the tower and took her to the nearby park.
They tried to rape her but fortunately, Yuta and gang were passing by and heard her screams. They rushed over to help but were beaten up by the baddies. Kaoru was cornered by one of the baddies and it seemed as if she was going to fall into his clutches when Kouji appeared! Kouji was no match for him though...but luckily for them, a policeman came by and chased the baddies away.
The cap above doesn't do that shot justice. In the actual thing, a single teardrop rolled down his cheek as he looked at the frightened Kaoru. He didn't say a word. I felt that his expression touched much more than any words could ever do so.
What I felt was odd was that Kaoru didn't seem as frightened as I expected a girl to be after being nearly raped. o.O
In fact, Kouji seemed much more affected by it...
Kaoru probed into Kouji's past and asked him if he still thinks of Asami. At that point, Kouji asked her if she trusted him anymore. He then suggested that he is not suitable for her.
Kaoru, being such an outspoken and affirmative girl, told Kouji that she wants to be with him forever.
The following day, Kaoru's best friend Misaki went to confront Kouji and gave him a slap for forcing Kaoru to leave him the night before by using her illness - she can't be in the sun and hence had to leave Kouji when dawn approached although she still had much to talk to him about.
After that, Kouji left and disappeared.
Kouji decides to run away with Asami.
A few days before that fateful day (which was the same day as the Band Fest), he spotted Kaoru in the town where he escaped to.
Kaoru had went to the bento factory where she knew Kouji had previously worked in. From there, she found out the town where Kouji lived in before he moved into the factory's hostel. She then went to look for him there by giving out flyers with his picture printed on them.
Kouji was at a convenience store buying an onigiri when he heard other shoppers talking about a girl wearing a pink suit standing in the sun. Instinctively, he ran out of the store and went to search for the said girl. It was Kaoru.
When they finally met, Kaoru didn't ask him to return. She simply told him that everyone was practising hard for the fest. She said that he was very fortunate to have so many people caring for him and so he should return that favour to them.
Kouji asked her why she wasn't mad at him for practically dumping her and she told him that she had ran away from him once so with him doing the same this time round, they were quits. I really think this scene is very true to Kaoru's strong character. She believed in Kouji and she showed that through her actions.
Her trust was not wasted because Kouji returned, just in time for the Band Fest.
That scene had raindrops falling and I thought that the director added that just for special effects. However, after watching the BTS clips, I realised that that raindrops were unintended and it actually rained quite heavily that day.
When Asami learns that Kudou wants to sign Moon Child up, she went to beg Kaoru to give up Kouji and not take both music and Kouji away from her. She questioned Kaoru's ability to give Kouji happiness since Kaoru's most probably going to die within the next few years.
I'm glad that unlike typical Korean soap dramas, our Kaoru here told Asami that it was precisely because she will not be there for him in 10 years time that she has to give him 100 years worth of love right now. =)
Later, when news of Kudou's intentions to sign them up reached the ears of Yuta and gang, they got mad at Kaoru for rejecting the offer without even discussing it with them. Kouji stays by her side to give her comfort.
Kaoru finally decides to accept the offer.
Their happiness if short-lived because the media soon finds out (due to some evil scheme) that Kaoru has the incurable XP and she is in a love triangle with Kouji and the red hot Asami.
Upon learning this, Kouji rushes to Kaoru's house to check up on her.
Kudou decides that Moon Child was ruined by all these scandals and wants to discharge their contract. The guys went to his office to plead with him. However, even Kudou couldn't do anything about it.
When they went back to their town, Kouji phoned Kaoru to apologise for not being able to change anything. Instead of being disappointed, Kaoru tries to encourage Kouji by telling him that as long as their persist, their dream will not die; it is something that no one can snatch away from them. Hence, they should just view this as a chance missed but not give up.
Just as you think that it'll all die down soon, Kouji returns to the shop to see a crowd of people swarming the shop - the reporters had found out where he lived in! While trying to break free from the reporters, one of them got injured and he claimed that Kouji did that, causing him to get brought away by the police.
Upon hearing that, Kaoru dashes out of the house without her protective suit, in broad daylight. =(
What for? I don't get.
Fast forward to the last ep where we have Asami's concert where Moon Child makes their debut as a guest performer.
Kaoru thanks each member for helping her fulfil her dream....
but after that, she burst into coughing fits. That hinted at a respiratory problem. That was a fatal syndrome for her and the doctor had wanted her to undergo sugery to remove her vocal chords to prevent that problem from reoccuring. However, that would mean that she won't be able to sing anymore. It was a tough choice for her but she decided that rather than to give up her dream to live, she wants to pursue her dreams, even if her life was at stake.
She once asked Kouji what was the right choice to make. Kouji replied that he doesn't know, although he know the choice which will leave her with no regrets. I like this part of the script! It has deeper meanings than to have Kouji tell her a bunch of theories (aka long grandmom stories). In fact, Kouji said nothing about what she should do. Even after Kaoru made her choice, he didn't comment on it. He chose to just stay by her and stand by her choice, although I thought I saw a tinge of sadness when Kaoru decided not to undergo the surgery. Yet, he said nothing. I so love his character yo!
To performing with her >>>
Finally, she's under the sun of the stage, called 'Spotlight'.
She's so close to fulfilling her dreams...
Will her dreams be fulfilled, finally?
Go watch it and I guarantee you will be touched by the scene and by what Kouji said...I love how the sriptwriters always give Kouji lines that I'd never expect someone in his shoes to say and how those lines echo his personality.
And also, ありがとう instead of 愛してる. That makes it more special ne.
Don't get what I mean? GO WATCH IT!
Kouji and Kaoru
Their first sunrise
============================================================
Gomen, neighbours, for such a long, graphics-intensive post! I wonder if anyone even bothered reading. =X
I reckon this is the longest post I've ever typed for a dorama. =/ I really like this dorama, but it doesn't make me doki doki and gaga...like tw idol dramas/HYD etc do....it's enjoyable on another level.
I guess I do like 純情なラブストーリー ne! XP They won't happen in rl but sometimes, it's good to believe in the pure!
Aniwaes, I was just reading up on Takayuki when I realised that he's the guy in Densha Otoko. o.O MY GOSH...I never realised. I keep seeing him in vcd shops but because I liked neither the female lead (too old) nor the male lead (too ugly) and that I 'didn't' know them, I never bothered to have a second look. But...the guy's Takayuki! They did a darn good job at transforming him into an otaku!
So, one last question:
What's your purpose on earth?
----------------------------------------Comments transfered from vox
Jul 5, 2008
haaa ojou you guess what?? i have been stalking your vox for the past 4hours? you actually used 4hours+++ to finish this post!! XDD
this show really seems interesting from your introduction yo. a girl pursue her dream no matter what its take. it really nid to call up alot of courage to do it yo! and i love the guy for being so supportive towards the girl. *thumbs up*
my purpose on the earth? to create trouble for people? muhahaha!! never thought of tat before ne.. =.=""
p/s: mokmok is shuwen right?? the one i ate lunchie a year ago before? LOL!!