J-Dorama: Friends
"Friends" (TV Series: 4 episodes)
Japan / South Korea
Director: Hiroyasu Doi (2002)
Original Languages: Japanese and Korean
Cast: Fukada Kyoko, Won Bin, Yada Akiko, Toda Naho, Takeshita Keiko, Lee Dong-Gun, Han Hye-Jin, Ozawa Yukiyoshi, Doko Young-Jae, Sunwoo Eun-Sook
Wow! talking about great romance stories, this one’s the best of all asian dramas i’ve seen. unfortunately, i cannot categorize it under films because it was released as a television series aired both in Japan and South Korea.
The story starts in the busy part of HongKong where Ji Hoon (korean guy spending time in HongKong through the hospitality of his aunt) was shooting his own film, which he says to be his last one but his star quit because of him being stern… when Tomoko (who was spending vacation in Hongkong from Japan and got snatched off her money) stumbled to him mistaking him as the one who robbed her money (same hats as the robber). Since Tomoko has no money (no hope hehehe), Ji Hoon had to take care of her throughout her day in HongKong… in exchange, Tomoko has to be the star of Ji Hoon’s own film… and it was an unforgettable one… that’s where they started their good relationship as friends and even better as time passed…
I love the part on how they started everything in Hong Kong. Both of them have the same Chinese Characters in their names (of course Koreans do use Chinese Characters)…
but as the story develops, both become very inspired to work well and reach for their dreams (Tomoko - Learning Korean, Ji Hoon - pursuing movies)… plenty of conflicts happen and its all in the right track and as the watcher, mostly the music will make me feel the mood of the scene, but the acting and the great direction lead me to a greater level of inspiration in this 4 part series. how we remember very well the first time Tomoko and Ji Hoon met… to the people around them (the obstacles): sakamaki, hye-jin, kyung-ju, parents of ji hoon… we can see how sad it is for the two emerging lovers not seeing each other all because of korean and japanese values, another is hye-jin who have fallen for ji hoon for a long time, and many more. AWWW!!!
i think i got a headache…
breaking everything down…
the idea of a japanese girl and a korean guy as a love duet is really nice (damn! using cheesy filipino terms)… i like the music so much that everytime its being played, you could either cry or feel warm in the heart, its full of excitement when you listen to the music. when it comes to the characterization… Won Bin and Fukada Kyoko fits very well their roles and those goes with the whole cast. Hiroyasu Doi, as the japanese director… puts a sprinkle of the korean style drama to "Friends". the film treats us watchers so gently. its more of creating an excitingly lovely mood rather than seductive and sexual… i’ve seen japanese romance films as well and the j-filmmakers are really good in creating an atmosphere for their characters… y’know very 3-dimensional characters and the characterization of Ji Hoon and Tomoko are worked out by these japanese screenwriters very well.
anyways… i do not rate films, i just break them down… i love this film so much… its the film i’m going to look for in asian video stores.
–jic005024MMV2358H
