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| Kiritani Mirei as Sakura in Natsu No Koiwa Nijiiro |
OK, It’s official; I am totally ga-ga for Mirei Kiritani. Only took me eight episodes of Natsu no Koi wa Nijiiro ni Kagayaku to realize that this sassy girl full of SEXY ATTITUDE was my favorite character in the show, and as each episode went by, I found her getting cuter and CUTER til I just couldn’t stand it!!!
Like hamanosilence reflected, Kiritani Mirei reminds me a bit of Aragaki Yui, and her voice, sassy with a bit of a raspy touch to it, reminded me of Toda Erika….MAN What a winning combination! And besides looking terrific and wearing the prettiest, girliest clothes (all flowers and lace, YEAH!), she had a ultra-sharp condescending pout that could stop a block...
...As well as a few other *ahem*...appealing features...
Originally introduced into the show as a one-dimensional clichéd type of foil against Matsumoto Jun's character Taiga, Sakura was the “spoiled successful actress who whines and ruins everything”, even to the point of making Taiga her beleaguered personal assistant! At this point it seemed she was only there to make dramatic scenes in each episode and nothing more...
But then something happened- as the two worked together, they began to lose the animosity towards each other and began to respect what the other person did.
And you know, it’s funny, but the more I watched this show, the more I thought Sakura was the better choice for Taiga than Shiori(Takeuchi Yuko), the girl he was pursuing. To me, Taiga and Sakura's relationship was the most “natural” in growth: their relationship with each became closer after working together and developing a growing sense of respect and admiration for each other.
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| Visiting Taiga at Home |
In fact, to me, it seems like Taiga grew as a person more because of his interaction with Sakura than with Shiori. It was only after seeing Sakura’s excellent acting skills and professional behavior on the set that he began to realize there was more to acting than being a spoiled kid with attitude.
As the episodes went by, I was hoping in my heart that Taiga and Sakura would end up together, but since the drama was billed as a Matsumoto Jun/Takeuchi Yuko romantic comedy, there was never any doubt who Taiga was gonna end up with!
As the episodes went by, I was hoping in my heart that Taiga and Sakura would end up together, but since the drama was billed as a Matsumoto Jun/Takeuchi Yuko romantic comedy, there was never any doubt who Taiga was gonna end up with!
One of my favorite scenes is this bridge scene in the last episode. Sakura's confessed her love twice to Taiga before, and at both times, he unfeelingly brushed her feelings aside, treating her admissions as jokes. Here in the last episode, with both of them in the crossroads of their careers, she tries to confess her feelings once more. When he callously laughs her off again, this time the sassy girl gives Taiga something he's been deserving of for most of the drama...
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| As Kanna In Hanakimi |
Funny, in Hanakimi she plays a wide-eyed girl experiencing her first love, while in Otomen, she plays yet ANOTHER jilted girl suffering from unrequited love! AHAHAHA She plays those characters just TOO WELL!
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| Dramatic girl! Kiritani as Oharida in Otomen |
