Review: Nada Sousou

Summary
Alternative Titles: Nada sô sô, 涙そうそう, Tears for you
Genre: Romance
Release Date: Sept. 30, 2006
Starring:

• Nagasawa Masami as Shingaki Kaoru
• Tsumabuki Satoshi as Shingaki Youtaro

When Youtaro was a young child, his mother marries another man who plays at a Jazz club in Naha, Okinawa (the place where Youtaro and his mother lives). The man’s daughter, named Kaoru becomes Youtaro’s step sister. Soon after, Kaoru’s father abandons her and Youtaro’s mother dies. Before she dies, she tells Youtaro to send Kaoru to his grandmother’s place. To fulfill his mother’s last wishes, Youtaro sends Kaoru to a small island to live with Youtaro’s grandmother while Youtaro says in Naha. Thirteen years later, Kaoru returns to Naha to live with Youtaro and attend high school. However, several problems face Youtaro and Kaoru as they continue to live together.

Review
After watching the trailer a few days before watching the movie, I thought Nada Sousou would be a boring movie to watch. After watching the movie, I was surprise to see myself actually enjoying some of the movie. However, I didn’t enjoyed not because of the story, but rather the superb acting by the main characters.

I thought the story was not very original. It’s just about brother and sister finding their ways through different problems. I also didn’t like certain aspects of the story. For one, there are a few “plot-holes” in the story, especially concerning Youtaro’s and Kaoru’s past . For example, we don’t really know if Youtaro went with Kaoru to his grandmother’s place, I just assumed he stayed in Naha to simplify things. Secondly, I thought that the last 30 minutes or so were absolutely unneeded. It just ruined the entire movie for me because it had no relation to any other part of the story and I felt like it was just thrown in there for no reason. The last 30 minutes also made me felt like the story had gone unfinished. I don’t want to explain this too much because I’ll be spilling out some spoilers, but if you watched the movie you might get a better understanding of what I mean.

On the other hand, although the story wasn’t very interesting, at least it was heart warming. You might get watery eyes when watching some of the scenes. Also, most of the acting was pretty good. Nagasawa Masami, who you might recognize from many J-dramas, does a superb job in this movie. The same can be said for Tsumabuki Satoshi and most of the other actors who are in supporting roles.


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Pros

• Not as boring as I first thought
• Nagasawa is a great actress (as always)
• Heart-warming story

Cons

• Last 30 min. of movie were totally unnecessary and ruined the whole movie
• Story was not very original
• A few elements of the story are unexplained

Recommendation
If you enjoy romance movies, I would definitely recommend the first hour and half. I just can’t recommend the last 30 minutes for the reasons I’ve previously stated.

Rating: 7.5/10

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Poll: Winter 08 J-Drama Season

I recently browsed through all the J-dramas that are currently-airing for the winter season (Jan.-Mar.) and I was just overwhelmed by the number of dramas that seem like they're worth watching. Therefore, I thought it would be interested to start my very first real poll and find out what currently-airing dramas you are watching or plan to watch.

Please note that I couldn't fit every single currently-airing drama on the list. I just choose the ones that are generally the popular ones. If there's a drama not on this poll that you want to vote for, just leave a comment. (^_^)

Here's links to each drama's wiki page:
Bara no nai Hanaya
Hachimitsu to Kuroba
Binbo Danshi
Saito-san
Koshonin
Daisuki!!
4 Shimai Tantei Dan
Edison no Haha
1 Pound no Fukuin