Wide ocean
Story/Emotions: Such a controversial topic was handled delicately and realistically and still represented the positive possibilities which one person should pursue when caught in the harshness of life. It is not just a love story, but a pure and beautiful life changing one at that. You quickly forget the age difference between the main couple when you look at their characters and their process of falling in love with them. At first one might question their beginning of love, but what this drama does make you realize is that you never quite know what exactly makes you fall in love with one particular person and why that one person is the only one who holds that special spot in your life. Other people even though having the same specs or even better ones still don't make the cut in your life. Their love story from start to end remains realistic at best. It is the love that empowers them to discover themselves . Their is a perpetual question of whether you give in to the love or realize your personal dreams; especially when faced with such a difficult love. But this drama beautifully shows how love gives them the motive of achieving other things in life as well. The opposition is all expected , yet you ride this roller coaster begging some understanding and happiness for the couple. Their journey is a long one and this drama will tug at your heart. It is an extremely incredible feat that the director and writer managed to make a love story even more interesting than a thriller. And this is a story you are not bound to forget for a long time.
Characters: Not one character is such that you wouldn't empathize, Even the most difficult of characters are still the one who you will warranty your understanding. Both Akira and Hijiri's characters undergo a growth that is otherwise only superficially shown in other dramas. Full marks to all the characters , even the minor ones. No character in this drama is dull or stupid. The highlight being Akira's character who grows from a boy to a fantastic and extremely capable young man who doesn't give up even in the toughest of times. His is an astoundingly clear-headed character. The depth of the awareness of his own emotions is displayed right from the beginning. Even his childishness which is often the part of your first heady days of love (couple it with his adolescence) is hardly blamable. But the transition that he undergoes post the first half of the story is a real piece of cake. Akira's mother also has a very strong character and is also one of the strongholds of the story. Yoshida Yo's character is a brilliant one and one that will have a lot of impact on the viewer throughout the story. Her depth of character reading of the people around her is a personal goal.
Acting: This a department that elevates the drama to the all time lists in my opinion. This story commanded exceptional acting due to the complexity of each of the characters and the story line anyway. Even the minor characters are made memorable by the respective actors. Akira's mother, the renowned middle aged actress does the mother's part exceptionally well. You would hate her persistent opposition throughout the drama and yet understand her protective heart for Akira. She is fiercely portrayed and has some of the toughest scenes in the series. Yoshida Yo gives another brilliant performance as Haraguchi. You are bound to like her character the best in the series and it is all thanks to this great actress. This also gives you a rare example of a fierce and extremely outspoken Japanese woman that is hard to come by in japanese society. Arimura Kazumi is a little shadowed due to other stellar performances but by no means is her acting lacking. She plays the naive and kind hearted teacher to the best and you empathize with her hardships and even with her initial confusion over Akira and her fiance. It was a pretty tight spot to pull without making her character hateful but she still manages to display the precise emotions. Machida Keita is also decent although his is the only character that you would find less attractive in spite of having the perfect high specs.
The real gem of this Drama is and will always be Okada Kenshi. I can pretty much write another full article on his acting. Enough has been said about no one believing this to be his debut role and having a huge potential and everything is 100% true yet I somewhere think it still doesn't do him enough justice. To begin with he clearly steals the show every single time he is onscreen. You will not get over his smile, the slightest twitch of his lips, the slightest change in his expressions and light in his eyes and the body language which is all so powerful that before even Hijiri falls in love with him , you will find yourself spiraling down that lane unknowingly. It is crazy how many emotions he can make you feel through his character. It seems that the role was written just for him and there is not one scene where I can pinpoint that he needed improvement. His looks already make you wonder if he is the handsomest man out there and to top that those acting chops are sure shot lottery to stardom.
Music: The background music has never been so apt and fitting. It played with my feelings big time. Some of the scenes while already memorably written and acted out , became absolutely ten fold phenomenal because of the background score. This background score will always remain on my playlist and still makes me go through a 100 emotions , all that I cherished while watching the drama. The Prologue by Uru will also remain etched in your memory.
Rewatch: Anytime! And every time it will make me feel sadness and happiness on a new level. For a love story it has amazing rewatch value for you will have new found appreciation for all the symbolism, dialogues, acting and cinematography. You are bound to discover something new every single time.
In gist, this was an extremely impacting and emotional drama that will grow on you with every passing moment until it becomes an obsession for you. It is bound to play with your feelings big time and yet inspire you throughout the journey that you live along with the characters. To each this will be a personal journey. The drama satiated all my drama expectations and made me reevaluate all the other dramas I had watched till date and mentally I deducted at least one star from all of them. In a world where kdramas rule the roast, this will make you hungry for Japanese dramas and leave very big shoes to fill in it's wake.
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Story:
The pacing is amazing. May be slow for some people but I am a sucker for slow , developing kind of dramas. So it is a total winner for me. The main leads fall in love and in forbidden relationships and lose everything in the process. The story doesn't try to cover or glorify any aspect of infidelity. The depiction is just so real and the emotions so raw that you just get caught in the story right from the first episode till the end.
Characters:
The characters were just a gem. All are 3D characters and hence so real that you live the story along with them. I was so mesmerized by Kitano sensei's character that I totally fell in love with him just as Sawa--san falls in love with him. The greatness of the characters is that you don't come to hate any character even though all of them are in wrong. I was drawn in the love between Sawa and Kitano. You come to realize that they just met each other a bit too late in life and they were always meant to fall in love. You are hopelessly wishing for them to be together all throughout. The beauty in the characterization here is that all of them are different in nature and disposition and that is depicted by their behavior or how they perceive things in life, not in a way that they is a live commentary that they are like this and that and you fail to see how they are actually through the story-line which is the case of most other dramas. The only people you start hating as characters are each of the main-characters married partners. It was excruciating to see how controlling they were and hence you understand how did it lead to infidelity.
Acting:
Superlative in every aspect and by everyone. I am in love with Saito Takumi's calm voice. Kichese Michiko was outstanding in the depiction and playing such a risque character. (No wonder she was chosen for Signal drama to depict the pivotal character of the Japanese remake). There is nothing more that can be said. They all were just outstanding hence, very difficult to pick. I only had complains about the voice of Sawa's mother in law. She has an extremely annoying tone and voice.
Music:
Haunting and so timely that you constantly feel the pressure in your head. It just makes the scenes so much more dramatic that you are unable to forget scenes.
Rewatch Value:
I only see myself watching the scenes between Sawa-san and Kitano-san when they fall in love. For one , it just too realistic hence you are not bound to forget anything easily, instead you will drown more into the misery that the characters go through.
Overall:
After watching this drama , I would personally find it too scary to even develop a harmless crush on someone once you are married. You never know how quickly things turn harmful. When something has that kind of effect on you, it's a winner through and through.
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