Engine

Cast:

Takuya Kimura as Jiro Kanzaki
Koyuki Kato as Mitzukoshi Tomomi

I was thinking, if it was a personal choice of Takuya Kimura (being privileged as a famous actor), to be doing roles involving automobiles since he played the role of a pilot in Good Luck. In this TV series, he starred as Jiro Kanzaki, a washed up, messed up, former racing champion, who “ran away” from Europe after greeting shame when he lost an important race in his career. I had foreseen the series would be all about race, the dirty work of it— risking lives and maneuvering one’s way through a tangle of rivals and competitors. I thought gangsters, iniquitous plans, money and all that mafia, casino grandeur will all be seen, I was again on the wrong track (gee, I’m always on the wrong track!).

This drama is far more dramatic, far more enthralling and far more interesting than the cool pose and flight of Good Luck. In the story, we can the see the complexity but unpretentious scaffold of the human heart. Well, that sounds too boring for some, yet I was propelled to be glued to the tube for an entire day to be able to finish 11 episodes of this marvelous and heart-stinging effort. Maybe because the director and the writers fronted 13 adorable kids, who spiced up the drama with “juvenile, terrible, irresponsible, chaotic and bizarre” characters that remind all adults of their origins, their best times, their carefree moments of childhood.

Not only that it’s about kids in the world of adults. These kids aren’t the ordinary and happy ones who are having the best times of their lives. They are orphans, coming in with different sad and tragic stories. Some were abandoned, some lost parents because of accidents, the others were rebels whom their parents could not bear living with. All of them are living in an adoption institution that has no rules except come home, be settled on the dining table like a family whenever it is time to eat.

13 kids, who had been transferring from different homes, meeting different foster parents and teachers, suddenly encounter Jiro, a nonchalant, indifferent race aficionado, who, according to his ex-girlfriend, just like the other racers, cares about nothing but his car, his best girlfriend. Sure, Jiro hates kids for they annoy him. He can’t even stand the fact that his foster father turned their house into an orphanage when he was gone in Europe for 5 years. But no matter how he tried to avoid burdensome circumstances, fate and his compassionate and human heart, really made a terrible yet ingenious way for him to look into his self and try to wake up his child-like heart.



To be able to earn his right to have food at home, he was assigned to be the bus driver, and eventually, the guardian of the kids to school and elsewhere (whenever a kid runs into trouble and terrible drama, he seems to successfully and shrewdly contrive essential words and ways to enlighten their young and impulsive minds). His troublesome ways have paid off as an alternative method of teaching and counseling the kids, unlike the other teachers’ orthodox manner to educate and discipline the children.

There have been a lot of movies and series in the past that tell and show us the importance of determination, especially in our goals and dreams in life. No matter how many times we fall, we should be able to stand up, be proud and get back on track. Jiro experienced the greatest downfall in his career when he lost endorsers and his finance group to support him when he lost his title as a champion. Nevertheless, he was strong-willed to kneel down and plead before his coach to let him race again. He accepted, with all humility, the punishment, if not a tricky test, of his coach to work as a mechanic to be able to see a race car again. But still something is lacking. For whom will he win the race for? It’s still about him— winning, being on that stage, popping out the champagne, hearing the screaming voices of people cheering and going crazy over him, having queuing race car girls by his side, his wide smile plastered all over the newspaper, and of course, getting rich with the coveted prize money.

Meeting the kids and feeling the comfort of his home and his family, his goals changed. One of the great lines delivered in the series was told by Jiro’s coach: “A driver should not only think about himself because in a car, there are passengers depending on him. A driver is not only focused on getting to a destination, he is also concerned about how to safely reach that destination because of his passengers.” Jiro was hungry about winning because he made a promise with the kids that he will win, no matter what. The best driver is the one who sympathizes and empathizes with his passengers.

The love story was not emphasized. It could be either good or bad. Good, because it maximizes the story line of how Jiro empathized with the kids since he, himself, is an orphan. Also, it adds up to the wholesome image the drama tries to project (especially diverting drama into frivolous romance with puppy love-like feel when the kids giggled while having a kissing scene in the end). Bad, because as aforementioned, race car drivers’ girlfriend will always be their cars. But it’s really not so bad. In the case of Jiro, his pride and aspirations will all steer towards the good side since the ending proved that Jiro had overcome that cliché.

As a rundown, there is always a child-centered feel in every scene that one couldn’t help shedding tears for this wonderful drama. The soundtrack is good. It even features Aerosmith’s Angel and Jimmy Cliff's I Could See Clearly Now. The Japanese are really good at taking things minimally— the lesser, the simpler, the better. No superfluous and unnecessary words. Simply-- ready, set, go!

Good Luck

Cast:

Shinkai Hajime (新海元) played by Kimura Takuya (木村拓哉)
Ogawa Ayumi played by Shibasaki Kou
Koda Kazuki (香田一樹) played by Tsutsumi Shinichi

If one would pass by the Daiso 88 shop in some malls, watch the accumulating anime shows and dwell in the cheesy Sanrio world, you’ll most likely underestimate the Japanese knack for filmmaking and screenplay writing.

If the opposite, if you admire the massive success of the Japanese, after colonization of many countries, seeing that they are now global leaders in automobile and technology, you will forthwith judge their movies to be like those Matrix, Speed-chasing, breath-taking, CGI-animated sequence or the heart-throwing massacre and scary sh*t horror films.

But I forgot the most important thing. Didn’t Matsuo Basho, the ideals of Zen Buddhism and of other art sages and pioneers imposed and taught gradualism, minimalism and even poetics and poignancy?



Watching the 10 episodes of Good Luck made me think of all of it. Prejudging its plain title that reminds of those mediocre and senseless “I Love You” titles of clichéd romantic films and assuming it is a poorly translated title because of language inadequacy and incompatibility, I was dead wrong. Watching it, for 5 hours in 2 days straight, feels like telling myself the same old expression, unstoppably.

Despite awful translation in the subtitles, which half of it I didn’t understand (assuming I’ve squeezed and racked out all my grammatical capability), the story and the actors made it all work almost like a silent film just by looking and taking note of their gesture, long pauses, facial expression and the vivid music.

The art of minimalism is reflected in the 10-hour cut of the series. Compared to Korean drama (which I am adept at and more familiar with), this particular series didn’t have repetitive flashbacks and excessive, and at times, exaggerated melodrama. There are no flowery scenes and schmaltzy romantic lines. Well, you’ll get fed up though, by the numerous shots of the sky, the plane, the hanger, the airport, the engine and everything associated with flying. But just like the story line, I only appreciated these illustrative scenes when the climax was reached.

The story highlights on holding onto your dreams. Everyone dreams and aims high. Some people do achieve their dreams and some don’t. For the latter, this is the same lesson most movies and novels are lecturing us: never to give up dreaming. The best part of dreaming is the former— those people who think that they have fulfilled their hopes and aspirations. The bigger challenge is on them, how to consistently and persistently hold onto that dream— to take care of it, to love it, to be proud of it and gracefully live it. There was a line directed to Shinkai Hajime when he was having his training as a pilot student: “The sky may be beautiful and interesting now, but after awhile you’ll get bored with it.”

I like the complementary aim for the love story of Ogawa and Shinkai. The girl works as part of the maintenance team for the aircraft. The guy is a determined and spirited pilot. The girl lost her parents because of a plane crash, so she worked to ensure that that thing will never happen again. The guy aimed to fly high than to stay and sail the humble boat of his father. The girl works on the ground while the guy flies high. The girl prepares the plane for the guy. The guy drives the first plane ride of the girl. Two people who love the sky. The sweetest and the most romantic line I’ve ever heard in the story was when Shinkai, after his accident and standing in crutches, told Ogawa, “I’ll be a pilot again and I’ll fly for you.”

Takuya Kimura is delectable. However, his dramatic skills are yet to be honed, unlike the supporting role of Tsutsumi Shinichi, who played the stiff, strict and stone-cold supervisor. There are great sceneries in the series that you can be acquainted with. It’s funny because countries like Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, China, Korea, Paris, London and the US were mentioned and pictured but never the Philippines given that they used a handful of comic relief with Durian and even had the girl, cleaning the plane, bump into Takuya and muttered a Tagalog line “Aray, ang sakit, ano ba yan!”

The soundtrack is great. I felt like I was flying with them, soaring high literally, and most importantly, metaphorically. I suddenly felt this gush of “go-ness” that I’m ready for something, for some fight, battle or challenge; that I can soar and be free to be someone, to somebody worthy to be notice; to do something I’m willing and wanting to do but never did. Reminding myself, tapping myself, patting myself, telling myself always, continuously, wonderfully, positively, Good Luck!

To sum it all up, the drama is too cool, savvy and poignant to be missed! So fly high!

My Love Patzzi

Cast:

Kim Rae Won as Kim Hyun Sung
Kim Jae Won as Kang Seung Joon
Hong Eun Hee as Eun Hee Won
Jang Na Ra as Yang Song Ee

Because of awful subtitles during the first part of the drama, I couldn’t understand well why the title involves the word “Patzzi”. Is it a name of a person, place? Is it a Korean word? Well, I should know better because Koreans do not have the letter Z unlike the Japanese language, which I doubt they took it from. All I know is it’s taken from a popular Korean children’s fiction read during the first few minutes of the drama. The said story is important for the characters and their lives were patterned to it.

The drama focused on characterization which is quite impressive. The following are the four main characters in the drama that one should take note of:

Kim Rae Won plays the role of a live animal show trainer in the amusement park. He is a very secretive, recluse yet happy-go-lucky on the outside. He is a good buddy whom you can confide to. He can see the good and bad side of things and does not judge people the way most people do.
Hong Eun Hee is the embodiment of ambition and cunning. Her timid appearance and down to earth yet smart and beautiful strut earned her influenced and inspired short-term friends, dependent team members and the wagon of positive reputation. But what these people don’t know is, underneath her adorable shell, lies a rotten heart and a despicable character.

Kim Jae Won plays this typical; rich, sleek guy who always sashays his way with a serious but balanced gait. Unlike the rich guys in other dramas, he didn’t center his life on girls, money and fame. Instead, he marvels on studying human behavior, practically. He screens people that he meets fortuitously. And luckily, he gets to understand and learn their personalities.

Jang Na Ra- a brusque girl who witnessed since childhood how physique can be a great disadvantage to get a hold of equality, respect and liking from other people. She grew up in a stunted way that she appeared to be obnoxious around people. She cannot display fake smiles and do the nitty-gritty habit of “socializing”. That’s why people dislike her. They take her for granted and most of the time, they belittle her genuine attitude and abilities.




The story’s highlight is treasuring one’s unique but positive trait and personality. Jang Na Ra aspired to level up with the thought-of standards of the wealthy Jae Won, what she didn’t know is that the more she aspires, the she lies, the more that her uniqueness wavers, the lesser she is liked because all the lies, all the changes will just intensely prove false accusations of people about her.

It is quite a short drama for a typical Korean series (10 episodes). The story is simple yet interesting. There are a lot of comical scenes (especially Jang Na Ra’s comic trail, wearing the male mascot). Kim Rae Won’s acting is superb. He maintains that coolness even though at times he is to be pitied. He always has that brisk, bracing and vigorous sprint and dash. Jang Na Ra is like the Korean Shan Cai (Meteor Garden). She is adorable but at times, annoying especially when she tries her best to get along with people who don’t like her. And please! What’s with the orange hair color? Kim Jae Won is angelic as ever. I could not fathom how he, as an actor, could do extreme roles (in this drama and his rude demeanor in 100 Days with Mr. Arrogant). I like him better when he is angelic. Don’t you?

The story’s progress is simple and predictable. It is like one of those fairy tales that we read in our childhood. We know it’s going to be “and they live happily ever after” ending. What a coincidence with selecting the amusement park for the setting. The drama is a good treat for those who are slightly having distorted values and losing their grip of individuality.