J-Wednesdays 水曜日だ！: Christmas in Japanese Dramas & Movies.

For this post, I'm going to talk about a movie and a drama which are both of the romance genre. As some of you might already know, Christmas in Japan is a time for couples. Unlike what we're probably used to, me being Filipino, our Christmas is usually spent with our families. In Japan however (and same with S. Korea), their Christmas is about spending time with your lover and just before Christmas is approaching, everyone (or most people) will be stressed in finding someone who could be their date for Christmas. Well, it's not far from what is usually happening here in the Philippines just before Christmas, where everyone will also be stressing out about being lonely for Christmas, with lonely meaning having no boyfriend or girlfriend to spend the rest of the Christmas season with, after spending enough time with your own family. However, Christmas here is really about getting together with the family (or even the clan), cooking Christmas eve dinner (Noche Buena), giving gifts to each other, and going to church together on Christmas day. 

Going back to Japan, I've emphasized that Christmas is a time for couples to be all lovey-dovey and not be judged by other people. They're even envied by some "lonely" people on Christmas day. On Japanese media, I've also noticed some reflection of this practice. I saw "Christmas" on romance-themed shows, but I doubt that there really are movies of the Christmas genre about just the essence of Christmas itself, in Japanese movies or TV dramas. (but if there is though, please do inform me)

Tokyo tower illuminated in rainbow color for Christmas. (screenshot from the J-drama Watashi ga Renai Dekinai Riyuu)

After the Christmas "light down," a heart shaped light from Tokyo tower was seen, which is (by one of the character from the drama) said to be a "Christmas present for everybody who wants to be in love." (screenshot from the J-drama Watashi ga Renai Dekinai Riyuu)

I'm going to start with Christmas for these three ladies of Watashi ga Renai Dekinai Riyuu (The Reason I Can't Find My Love). I also did a blog post about this drama which is linked above. In the last episode of this drama, it was shown that it was the winter season in Japan, and that Christmas is approaching. These three ladies went out for dinner, just the three of them, celebrating their life and not stressing out about finding the love that they deserve. Maybe they've already found love, or maybe taking a break from falling in love, or maybe they're just happy with themselves that it is not a problem anymore whether they're dating or not. I think that this drama showed people that even if it's the Christmas season, finding love should not be rushed, even though the pressure of Christmas is there. It's more than enough to have people to spend it with.

Risa thought that she would be spending Christmas alone, with all of the couples and families spending their Christmas together around her. (screenshot from Lovely Complex live-action movie)

But then Otani shows up, and that made Risa happy and even grow feelings for her frenemy, Otani. (screenshot from Lovely Complex live-action movie)

Next is the movie Lovely Complex (live-action). This is the first Japanese romance live-action movie that I've ever watched, and it was when I was still in high school. In the movie, we see Risa going alone on a Christmas concert of her favorite singer, which is also Otani's favorite. She was supposed to go with Otani but then Risa insisted that Otani spend Christmas with his ex-girlfriend who had asked Otani to join her on a Christmas reunion party. However, Otani didn't attend the party and instead went to Risa just before the concert started. It was the cutest!

Now, I didn't know back then about how Christmas is in Japan, but I figured that it was not spent with the family because how could Risa be allowed by her parents to spend Christmas in a concert? I even thought that if I were Risa, I will not be allowed by my parents to go to a concert by myself, on Christmas! And why the hell is there a concert on Christmas anyway? And if that's so, then who will go to that concert? Christmas should be spent with the family, right? Will there be a family who loves that rapping guy (whom Otani and Risa loves) who apparently only few appreciates? Those were my questions back then. So that's when I knew that Christmas was celebrated differently in Japan, and I did a little internet research, so I found out what it's all about.

Even though Christmas in Japan is mostly about lovers, probably because only a small portion of their population are Christians and probably because Christmas is highly commercialized, we can't take the fact that it gives people cheer (except for those single people who feels lonely every time) and something to celebrate on a cold day. 

That's it for Christmas in Japanese Dramas and Movies. I hope I provided more insight as to how Christmas is spent in Japan as it's shown on TV and movies, and how it differs to a Filipino or even Western celebration.

A trivia though: Christmas food in Japan is usually fried chicken (KFC, usually) and cake, while Christmas food in the Philippines is puto bumbong, bibingka, fruit salad, and many more!

J-Wednesdays 水曜日だ！: Summer Nude (J-drama 2013)

Summer Nude is a Japanese drama that aired last summer 2013. It stars Yamashita Tomohisa or as we like to call him, YamaPi. Together with YamaPi, whom I really miss, is Toda Erika and Karina. These three make up the lead characters in this summer drama. I shall now introduce you to the story and the main as well as the supporting characters.

Like in the subtitle above, it is indeed, Asahi's (YamaPi) third (lonely) summer since the girl on the billboard vanished from his life. Why and how did that happen? Let's find out later in this post.

The lady in the wedding dress is Natsuki (Karina), a respected chef who initially just got married in the first part of the first episode. The man standing, just on the right corner of the screenshot, is the official photographer of the wedding and our male lead character, Asahi.

Just after getting married and in their reception area, Natsuki's husband ran away, and didn't want to continue with the marriage anymore. Asahi also captured this moment, and also the start of Natsuki's sorrow.

Here is Toda Erika, who plays the character Hanae, Asahi's best friend. Hanae likes Asahi a lot, and she also usually expresses her feelings to him, but Asahi does not think much of Hanae's feelings. Hanae has liked Asahi ever since they met in high school, but Asahi never seems to care about whether Hanae likes her, especially when Asahi fell in love with a certain girl who left her three summers ago.

That girl is Kasumi (Nagasawa Masami, she's also the actress in Proposal Daisakusen, whom YamaPi was also chasing/loves). They met three years ago during summer, and also fell in love during those days. However, Kasumi suddenly left town and never came back, without saying anything to Asahi.

Now, back to the present summer. Because of certain circumstances, Asahi ended up asking Natsuki to go to his town and manage his friend's restaurant, since his friend, Setsuko (Itaya Yuka), just gave birth and still couldn't manage the restaurant.

Natsuki went to Asahi's town, thinking that it was only a one time job. However, she immediately found out that it was for the whole summer, and so she outright rejected the job. In the mean time, she stayed the night in Hanae's house, and they bonded together.

Finally, we have Hikaru (Kubota Masataka), another one of Asahi's close friends. He likes Hanae, but of course, Hanae is not aware of that, and no one knows. He is well aware of Hanae's one-sided liking for Asahi, and also knows of her suffering because of it.

In the next episodes, Natsuki will eventually manage Setsuko's restaurant in the mean time. Also, Natsuki will be showing her support for Hanae's pursuit of love, and that makes it all the more complicated since we can already foresee a love web going on within the group. Summer really is the season for adventures and new experiences outside of our daily lives. Let's see how each of these characters' summer goes as we go on with the drama. I'm hoping to finish this soon, because it only has 11 episodes and I'm already on the 5th episode. Looking forward to a refreshing summer drama despite it being (almost) winter already. Nonetheless, there are only two seasons here in the Philippines and it always feels like summer anyways. Might as well enjoy it!

J-Wednesdays 水曜日だ！: Switch Girl!! (J-drama)

I started watching Switch Girl!! around last year, but it was really hard for me to get a copy of its first season back then, so I stopped after watching the first episode. I then read the manga, because I wanted to know how the story goes. As far as I remember, I've read the manga quite a lot. I even bought a volume of its manga (in Japanese) when I went to Singapore last year. Now, I've gotten a complete copy of Switch Girl!! seasons 1 and 2, and I plan on watching it all consecutively.

The main character is "Switch Girl" Tamiya Nika, a beautiful and popular high school girl. She's popular among girls and boys probably all because of her appearance and friendly personality in school.

Nika, when at school, always has her switch "ON." However, when she arrives at home, she lets her switch "OFF" and becomes like the girl in the screenshot above. When at home, she does not care about her appearance (but her hair needs to be like that), she's stinky and dirty (and also her room), and she's just like everyone of us at home, carefree. She's the complete opposite of the Nika in school, and that's why she's afraid that someone at school might know about her appearance at home, because they might end up bullying her and disregard her.

This is Nika with her older sister (who's much like her, also has an ON and OFF switch), Rika. 

Nika's life will change upon meeting this guy, Kamiyama Arata. She met Arata for the first time in a supermarket, and she taught him how to make many cucumbers fit in a bag, because apparently, the supermarket near their house has a promotion that all cucumbers that could fit in a bag are just for one price. 

When they went to school the next morning, Nika met Arata again.

After the two of them met again, Nika found out that Arata was the handsome (but rude) guy that he met at the rooftop back then. Nika was shocked upon finding out that Arata has a handsome face and that he's just hiding it with the use of the fake glasses. Arata doesn't want attention, that's why he's doing that. The two related with each other, and became friends. However, Arata also knows Nika's OFF side, and so their friendship is also bound by a secret that these two doesn't want to reveal to everyone at school.

Now for my comments. I find this similar to Horimiya, the manga that I wrote about back then. I first knew about Switch Girl!! before finding Horimiya, but I think I find Horimiya to have a better concept. I think that Switch Girl!! might be just your typical shoujo manga/story because of the way the characters react to situations, and I'm only realizing that now. There's this reaction unique to shoujo manga characters that are the same in every manga. Nevertheless, Switch Girl!! is also interesting, but seeing as it has the same concept with Horimiya, I now have lesser interest in it than before. I still am going to finish watching it though, because even though I said that it's the same with Horimiya, it still has something special to offer.

P.S.

I am writing this on a Thursday and I should be ashamed. My night was so spontaneous yesterday, and I got home at midnight so I didn't get the chance to write J-Wednesdays yesterday. Okay, I'll admit it. I watched OneRepublic's concert last night! It was awesome.

J-Wednesdays 水曜日だ！: Watashi ga Renai Dekinai Riyuu or The Reason I Can't Find My Love. (J-drama 2011)

Watashi ga renai dekinai riyuu or The reason I can't find my love is a Japanese drama that aired last 2011. I watched it when it was still airing in Japan, but I only get to write about it now. It's really hard for me to look for Jdramas nowadays and I think that this might be the last romance Jdrama (apart from ItaKiss ~love in Tokyo~) that I liked. I love this Jdrama and I think that most Jdramas that involves romance like this are really heart-warming and thought-provoking. This drama tackles the topic of finding love in a way that involves every aspect of a person.

This drama stars Karina as Fuji Emi, a woman who does not entirely act lady-like, and usually dresses in a boyish kind of way. It's probably a reflection of her personality and her chosen career, which is a lighting technician. Emi finds love troublesome, and that's why she doesn't want to get involved in it. This is likely because when she fell in love back then, it didn't work out that well and she just chose to become distant in that matter.

The next main character is Ogura Saki, played by Yoshitaka Yuriko, a woman who's Emi's kohai (lower classman). Saki has a hard time finding a perfect job for her, that's why she winds up becoming a hostess. She is a woman who doesn't want commitment when it comes to love, and has her own set of rules when it comes to dating. She's the most knowledgable in dating among the group.

Lastly we have Oshima Yuko as Hanazawa Mako. Mako is the youngest among them. She's a zealous person but very naive when it comes to love or dating. She wants to fall in love and experience dating but she can't seem to have the courage because of her lack of experience.

These three girls end up living together, and with that, they share all their worries about life and love with each other. They find out what they're capable with when it comes to love. Even though one finds love troublesome, another is afraid of commitment, and the other lacks the courage to find love, they all gave love a chance but ultimately fails, because it seems that they found the "wrong" ones (in the first episode, that is).

At first, they were introduced as people who are incapable of falling in love. They tried, yet they failed. Will they eventually find the love that they deserve?

***

In the final episode, they finally move out of the house where they all lived together, and went on with their separate lives. The start of this drama was when they moved in that house, that's why it ended with them leaving it.

It was also finally revealed that Saki was the narrator of the story of these three women in Tokyo who tries to find love.

Finally, it was shown that they meet up casually to enjoy dinner together, even after leading their separate lives. It is up to you to find out who among them ends up finding their love by watching the show. Rest assured, these three ladies learned their lesson well and throughout the show you'll also learn together with them.

J-Wednesdays 水曜日だ！: Nobunaga no Chef

If you're familiar with Japanese history, you might be familiar with Oda Nobunaga. He's a well-known man because of his powerful leadership, which brought significant changes or events in Japan's past. Like perhaps Andres Bonifacio (Filipino hero), Oda Nobunaga is a noteworthy person whom the Japanese admire back then and until now.

When I was studying Japanese history, I wasn't really that familiar with it because I haven't been exposed to much of Japan's past. My classmates, however, were quite familiar with it and even know some of the popular names that comes out during class discussions. One of those names was Oda Nobunaga, the person that I talked about earlier. Nobunaga is widely known for his greatness, and many books, TV shows, movies, anime, and even games have portrayed him. I believe that's why my classmates then were a bit familiar with him and his works. My point here is, if you're a Japanese fanatic, somehow you'll be familiar with Japanese history because in this entry, I will talk about a Japanese drama wherein Japanese history will be tackled.

The title of this drama is Nobunaga no Chef, which means "Nobunaga's Chef / Chef of Nobunaga." The story is about a chef from the Heisei period (1989 to present), 2013, time-slipped and went back to the Sengoku period (Warring States period) while he doesn't even remember who he really is. Nobunaga, during those times, was a pioneer in the unification of Japan. They were at war still because they haven't achieved unification and that's what Oda Nobunaga was after.

This drama stars Tamamori Yuta (as Ken, the chef), Oikawa Mitsuhiro (as Oda Nobunaga), and Shida Mirai (as Natsu), my favorite Japanese actress of all time. The screen shot above shows Ken lying on the ground all hurt from running away from the war while Natsu sees him and tries to save him.

What's amazing about this drama is its capability to teach some facts (or speculations) from the past that we can also read from books or journals. However, isn't it more fun when you learn while being entertained? Like in the screen shot above, Ken tells the viewers that people from the Sengoku period weren't familiar yet with eel or unagi (they even call it "Ujimaru" back then) being cut open because it was only cut opened by chefs since the Edo period.

Ken, even though he couldn't remember anything about who he really is, still knew that he knows how to cook and whipped a meal for Natsu and an unknown man who raided Natsu's home. He cooked paella, a Spanish rice meal but with Japanese ingredients. Of course, the two were amazed because it was a totally foreign meal to them.

After tagging along with the unknown man, they found out that he was one of Nobunaga's men. Ken realized that the person they were calling "Oyokata-sama" was indeed, the great Oda Nobunaga.

It was then revealed that the unknown man, whom Nobunaga calls Saru, was Toyotomi Hideyoshi. It was so exciting and mind-blowing how these people that I've just read about and talked about in essays or exams are being portrayed in a modern TV show.

Ken, through the course of events, end up cooking meals for Nobunaga. Those meals that he prepared were so new to them that even Nobunaga was amazed by it.

Ken was at an advantage because he came from 2013, and he already knew some things about those people from the past, especially about Nobunaga. He knew that Nobunaga wouldn't kill a person of value and that's why he had guts in facing Nobunaga's sword.

Ken was put in a trial by Nobunaga twice and Ken passed both trials. Nobunaga was pleased with Ken's knowledge and considered Ken a "person of value" eventually. Nobunaga then entrusted his kitchen to Ken.

Another important character to take note of is this man, Akechi Mitsuhide. In this first episode, we see this man around Ken all the time and showing his interest to Ken's story of how he came from the future. This man was interested on what will happen to people from this period (especially Nobunaga) and continued on asking Ken, but he refused to tell him. All he was concerned about was his (Mitsuhide) name being known until the far future.

When Ken asked what his name was, he knew right then that that man was trouble. He was Akechi Mitsuhide, the man who killed Nobunaga. It wasn't just killing of an enemy, but it was betrayal. That's why it gave me the chills when Ken mentioned that he was the one who betrayed Nobunaga and killed him.

I'm only in the first episode of this J-drama and it has been an exciting first episode! I believe that this will not only be entertaining but also educational. I hope that I can refresh my Japanese history knowledge with this drama and also gain some new insights about the Sengoku period. I also encourage anyone who's interested with Japanese history to watch this show as it is a new sort of show that lets people be more interested in "boring" history.

J-Wednesdays 水曜日だ！: Itazura na Kiss/ It Started With A Kiss

No matter how old, no matter how many times it has been remade, I will still continue to love this story. It is one of those stories that I will always treasure in my heart, and that of which I will repeatedly go back to whenever I feel down. This story a girl who sincerely loved a guy, who is out of her league, but eventually gets the guy is something that touches me (in good places) every time. Maybe it's because she's living the fantasy of every girl who likes someone who might be considered "too good" for them. That girl, Kotoko, showed people the power of pure love and determination, and so it never fails to make my heart burst with happiness. I bet it's a love story for every girl who dreams, not only those who have their own dream guys, but girls who have a deep and sincere dream of having what they want to have in their life. Seeing Kotoko make it all happen inspires me and I assume other people as well to do their best and be sincere in doing it.

It Started With a Kiss (Taiwan) Photo taken from Dramawiki

My relationship with this wonderful story started with "It Started With a Kiss," a Taiwanese version of the story. It is definitely one of the dramas that made an impact in my life when I was in High School. Even now, it still brings me wonderful memories while writing this. This version is definitely my favorite one, maybe because of my attachment to it. Nevertheless, it's still a great version and I believe that the characters were portrayed well.

They Kiss Again (Taiwan) Photo taken from Dramawiki

They Kiss Again is the sequel to ISWAK (Taiwan). The story starts from after the couple's marriage and tackles their struggles being married while pursuing their careers. You wouldn't imagine how excited I was when I found out that there would be a sequel to that story, since I really assumed that it was the end when they got married. I hadn't found out then about the original story which is the manga, and I also didn't watch the first live-action drama which was aired in Japan in 1996.

Itazura na Kiss (anime) Opening credits

While I was getting all giddy watching They Kiss Again, the anime version of Itazura na Kiss was also airing and so I didn't miss the chance to also watch it. Since it is the most complete version, I think this is the best one. You see, the mangaka (author) of the manga Itazura na Kiss, Tada Kaoru, died in 1999, before she could even finish the manga. Good thing though that her plans for the manga were known by her husband and they put an end to the story itself in the anime. It's nice to see her work be completed even though she's not in this world anymore.

Playful Kiss (Korean) Photo taken from Dramawiki

Two years after the anime aired, MBC (Korea) released its own version of the story. Again, I was ecstatic about it and I didn't miss the chance to fall in love again with it. This version sort is sort of like the Taiwanese one because it ended kind of the same. However, it was completely different overall. I've read and heard from my friends mixed reviews about it; some say that it's better than the Taiwan version while some didn't like it. Nonetheless, I still liked it because it had its own charm which cannot be seen in other versions.

Itazura na Kiss ~ Love in Tokyo (Japanese) Opening credits

Finally, the latest version which was aired in Spring 2013. I admit, when I found out that there would be a new Japanese version of Itazura na Kiss, I was not interested because I was busy getting hooked with other Korean dramas then. That's why I didn't really take time to get a copy. However, when my friend who also likes the story had a copy, I watched it and definitely got hooked! I realized that I still love the story despite how many times I've seen it being remade. I would like to praise the Japanese actors who portrayed these wonderful characters yet again for their faithful yet refreshing portrayal. I wouldn't have gotten hooked had they've been lame. One thing that I have not much felt is how in love Naoki is with Kotoko and I'm demanding for a sequel because of that. Another thing that is quite different in this version is Kin-chan, who is Kotoko's one-sided lover. In all the past versions, I was rooting for Naoki all the time and sometimes got annoyed with Kin-chan's affection. In this version though, I liked Kin-chan and even sided with him during some parts when Naoki was all confused and extra cold to Kotoko. I don't know if it's just the actor or if I just grown mature and acquired different tastes. That's why it was more heartbreaking for me now that Kin-chan was rejected, compared with before. However when I saw how Naoki showed his feelings in the end, I was smitten with him. Just then, I realized how much this story meant to me, even now.

It has been seven years since I first encountered Kotoko and Naoki's love story. I watched different versions, fell in love with different actors who played them but still, their story remains alive. I thought that I had gotten over it after the Korean version but seeing that my feelings are still alive in 2013, there's no reason to deny anymore that I love this story and will never get over it.

Itazura Na Kiss / It Started With A Kiss from genina07 on 8tracks Radio.