NOW, of course, on an extremely high Hikari Mistushima high and seeing how pretty Hikari looked in it, I just HAD to get it, and so spent the afternoon scrambling around to find a place where I could still get it! Fortunately, find it I did, and complete with English subs as well (subbed by the sturdy YuizakiLibra, the same team who did Quartet, maybe they really like Hikari?)
Oh man, what a dark and achingly sad this drama is. This drama tells the tale of a boy named Hiroki (Eita) and a girl named Fukame (Mitsushima).
When they were children, Hiroki was friends with Kenji (Shunsuke Kazama), Futaba's older brother, but it all came to an end one day when both Kenji and Kiroki's little sister Aki have gone missing.
The next day the police have come by both Hiroki's and Futaba's houses...they reveal that Kenji has killed Aki, brutally hitting her in the head repeatedly with a hammer and throwing her body in the lake. This violent act affects both families deeply and as we see them 15 years later, it has left everyone involved scarred and deeply damaged.
When they were children, Hiroki was friends with Kenji (Shunsuke Kazama), Futaba's older brother, but it all came to an end one day when both Kenji and Kiroki's little sister Aki have gone missing.
By chance the grown up Futaba and the grown up Hiroki meet when Futaba happens to drop by at the lake house where Hiroki and his father work.
Hiroki doesn’t recognize the grown up girl, but she seems to recognize him right away, and when he talks to her about the tragedy in his past, she cannot help but feel guilty and hangs her head. But Hiroki doesn’t know why, and treats her kindly.
Wracked with guilt, she tries to flee, but she is stopped by Hikari, and though he doesn't knowwhat her secret is, he consoles her.
Meanwhile, Hiroki’s father, who has spent the last 15 years bitter and depressed, has found out that the murderous boy Kenji has spent only 7 years in jail and has been released. This makes him so angry he makes plans to exact revenge, It’s here that Futaba sees up close what her brother’s act has done to the victim’s family.
Eventually It all comes crashing down and in a flurry of emotions, Futaba finally lets Hiroki know who she really is. And it’s here that Hiroki has to decide if he is going to open his heart to this sweet and kind girl or continue living a hateful life against the murderer and everyone in his family.
One of the show's strengths is the way they show the tragedy from both sides so you can see that the family of the murderer has suffered jsut as much as the family of the victim.
Goddamn, what a show, so SO emotionally charged and SO heart-wrenching! A recurring theme of this show is the movie “A Dog Of Flanders”, and just like THAT sad movie, this drama left me weeping buckets of tears! Such a sad but very POWERFUL drama, one that grabbed me from the minute if began and I just HAD to keep watching more and MORE!
Hikari Mitsushima. Oh MAN do I love this girl! Her “Quartet” character of Suzume was just that, a character in a story, but DAMN, there is SO much of Suzume in the Futaba character (the adorably mumbly way of talking, the nasally and almost snorty giggles, the wide-eyed innocent way of curiously peering at things) that i just HAVE to believe these are things that are inherently HIKARI! I love her so much!
So Yeah, I came in to this show for the awesome Hikari Mitsushima goodness, but I have to say, this show is simply CRAMMED with awesome actors and actresses, Fubuki Jun and Otake Shinobu are stellar playing the mothers on opposite sides of the tragedy: one the parent of the victim, the other the parent of the murderer- the way each one deals with it and goes about living is the foundation of this drama.
Also quite pleasant was seeing Mayuko Fukada appearing here as Futaba’s precocious little sister Akari. Her character was born after the scandal so she isn’t as affected as the others in the family are, and it’s cute to watch her dolling up and telling Futaba “I don’t wanna be like you! I don’t wanna lose my job or lose my boyfriend!” You can see Futaba is grateful that her little sister isn’t part of the pain.
And WOWOW, I just GOTTA mention how freaking awesome it was seeing buxom Eriko Sato appearing as Maki, the Bra-Busting daughter of the man who has hired Kenji after he got released from prison. Seeing her flounce around juggling those ample assets really made for some scene-stealing moments!!!
This drama has it all: depressing scenes, touching scenes, but most of all it’s one very solid show with a gripping storyline and incredible actors an actresses!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com