Orange Days

Cast:

Kai Yuuki - Satoshi Tsumabuki
Sae Hagio - Kou Shibasaki
Maho Takagi - Manami Konishi
Shohei Aida - Hiroki Narimiya
Akane Ozawa - Miho Shiraishi
Keita Yashima - Eita



Sooo orange!

When I bought this drama, the lady told me that this is very interesting because it’s about stealing oranges. But she was proved wrong. Sure, there was the involvement of the actual fruit but it was more than picking oranges from someone else’s yard.

Orange Days is about the college days of 5 people coming in with different life stories and different group of friends. The main characters Yuuki Kai (played by Tsumabuki Satoshi) and Hagio Sae (played by Shibasaki Kou) first met when Sae was playing the violin and Kai just happened to pass by after plucking an orange. He was amazed at how she played and ended up handing the orange to Sae because he could not give anything else when she gestured to ask for alms.




Sae is deaf. But she can play the violin and piano very well. Kai, on the other, is a Social Psychology major who has an older girlfriend and is pressured by her maturity. So he is constantly looking for a job that would make her happy. At the turn of events, Kai and Sae started to see each other often. And that made Kai very much interested in the kick ass attitude of Sae despite her misfortune.


Having their first orange camping

Obviously they dated in the middle of the story. But one thing that really did amaze me in the drama is on this focus on Sae’s disability. It may sound funny but she is the living proof that God is fair. Many times in the drama, there were God-involved lines when Sae kept asking why it has to be her. She even selfishly claimed that there are a lot of people who does not care about school, who does not care about music, now why does it have to be her? In contrast, Aida Shohei (played by Gokusen’s Narimiya Hiroki) who felt frustrated after overhearing his boss that he has no talent in photography. He envied Sae because despite her deafness, she knows what she wants in life and she knows what she can do. His girlfriend, Ozawa Akane (Shiraishi Miho) answered in defense of her friend that he has no idea of what Sae had been through. Going back to Sae’s why question, Kai beautifully answered it with the old-aged lecture, “God does not give us something that we cannot overcome”.




Okay, enough of the spiritual and biblical matter.

One major lesson that I have gained from the drama is how hope is reflected on each character. I also learned that comparing your life with another person is futile. You have to work with what you have. Self-pity is the most pitiful act one can do. And there’s definitely no point in waiting for someone else to show pity at you.

Tsumabaki as Kai and Shibasaki as Sae

Tsumabuki Satoshi did a great acting job in the drama. After his Waterboys days, he has continued to progress when it comes to his skill. His character as Kai is commendable. On the other, I’m not so much of a fan of Kou (acting and singing wise) but compared to her evil acts in Battle Royale and her catatonic stint in Good Luck, she handled her role very well in this drama. And for all the cast, they did a good job in making the Japanese Sign Language smooth to watch.


The Orange Society

Just a spoiler: Orange is the thing here so expect all the oranges. They have the fruit; they have their orange emails and even an Orange notebook. And mind you, they did a good job in singing along with Orange Range with the catchy song
“Shanghai Honey”.


The unspoken love: Kai and Sae

Nobuta Wo Produce

Cast:

Kazuya Kamenashi - Shūji Kiritani (桐谷 修二, Kiritani Shūji?)
Tomohisa Yamashita - Akira Kusano (草野 彰, Kusano Akira?)
Maki Horikita - Nobuko Kotani (小谷 信子, Kotani Nobuko?) (aka Nobuta)
Erika Toda - Mariko Uehara (上原 まり子, Uehara Mariko?)

I thought it’s going to be something really poignant because of how Kamenashi Kazuya opened the drama with a very dismal tone “Life is a game” narrative. But once he started to show his frenzy over the missing willow tree and even identified the “Sadako-posture” of Nobuko as the willow fairy, I knew this drama would be a light one.

5 points that would summarize what this drama is all about:

1. The predictable bullying process for those new and “uncool”

Kotani Nobuko (played by Horikita Maki) was always ridiculed and played at by her classmates because of how she carries herself everyday in school. She never raises her chin up, walks in a very funny way, dresses funny and almost never talks to anyone. One can barely see the outline of her face because of her messed up hair. One hardly had the guts to talk to her because she always ends up stuttering in response. As a result, the Bando girls (the popular evil girls, I suppose) find it amusing to torture her stay in school: putting paint on her uniform, throwing away her lunch, showering her clothes with water, etc.

2. Metaphor for commercialism

When Nobuko became Nobuta to be produced by the tandem of Kusano Akira (Yamashita Tomohisa) and Kiritani Shuji (Kamenashi Kazuya) I knew that somehow this drama aims to simulate, if not mock the marketing process of, entertainment artists in particular. Their goal was to make Nobuta the most popular girl in school. When her popularity was starting to rise, they started to sell products that are associated with her name. There was even this incidence of piracy when other students from another school learned about the keychain they were selling and started to copy it.


Together with their Assistant Principal, Katherine

3. Fame isn’t everything

A continuation of number 2, when Nobuta started to get popular, she has lesser time spent with her friends. Akira, who has started to like Nobuta, felt a pinch of jealousy because everybody likes Nobuta.


Crazy Tandem: Kat-tun's Kazuya and NewS' Tomohisa

4. Trust vs. Mistrust

I like the character of Shuji because the climax of the story depended on him. Shuji was very well liked in school. Everybody trusts him. During the school festival, he was invited by a number of people from different groups because they knew he is a reliable person. But Shuji came out of his nice shell and decided to be true to himself. Then, everybody started to throw their mistrust angst against him. He learned that trusting someone is really a difficult process. Trust does not rely on fame. Trust does not rely on acquaintance. Making someone believe you is very difficult.

5. Friendship over Romance

I was kind of expecting that there will be a major love triangle within the friendship of the three (Akira, Nobuta and Shuji). However, this drama failed that anticipation of mine. Well, Akira did like Nobuta. There were some parts wherein the viewer would actually assume that Nobuta likes Shuji more than Akira. But in the end, it’s all about friendship: being fair to your friends, having no favorites and biases. Akira even gave up his interest in Nobuta when he learned that it will only ruin their friendship.



Friendship over Romance

+++

Of course, there are a lot of loopholes in the drama. There was this part wherein a mysterious character claimed to be Nobuta’s friend came up. Another would be their eccentric vice-principal, Yoko Sada aka Katherine (played by Natsuki Mari) who kept on doing acrobatic stunts. And there was this really funny bookstore owner, who hates bad and ugly people.

I guess, the drama is not so bad for the light-takers. It’s actually good for one-time viewing. And you can’t help not to get hooked of what’s going to happen to the character of Nobuta. Will she actually become beautiful? Will someone fall head over heels for her? Will she really become popular? Who will she end up choosing in the end? It’s teen stuff. However, I definitely admire the opening and closing lines of Shuji.


Partners in Crime: Shuji, Akira and Nobuta


Life is just a game. If you choose not to enjoy it, then you lose, if you do your best to enjoy it, then you win.



Nobuta Power, Enter!