Angsty assassins in love and willful girls hot for teacher - welcome to the world of jdrama romance

[dangermousie]

I thought I felt like watching a fluffy, angst-free, silly jdrama.

Being me, I ended up with Love 2000 and First Love instead. Hello, my darling future super-romantic angstfests! First eps of both were excellent.

Let's star with First Love - a 2002 romantic drama starring Watabe Atsuro and Fukada Kyoko. Fukada Kyoko plays Kasumi, a woman in her early 20s. Kasumi is pleased to find out her older sister has just gotten engaged, that is, until she meets the fiance. You see, Nao, the fiance in question, was Kasumi's first love. He was also her high school teacher and they were involved in an angsty illicit relationship together until he felt so guilty he broke it off and disappeared. Ooooooooh, can you feel the aaaangst?

After all, their past involved things like this:















And then there is Love 2000, the one I am even more excited about. L2000 (also known as Nisennen no Koi) is a 2000 drama starring Takeshi Kaneshiro (a.k.a. the hottest Japanese actor ever) and Nakayama Miho.

Takeshi is a secret agent/assassin from a fictional country sent on a deadly mission into Japan. He meets a systems analyst, played by Miho, and plans to seduce her in order to access the information he needs. And then...in dangermousie's favorite fiction trope of all time...he finds he has fallen in love for real. And who could blame him - have you seen how warm and gorgeous Miho is?

Lots of kissing (across a chain-link fence!), hurt/comfort and angst ensues. Oh, that is going to end so well! (Seeing that at the start of ep 1 he had to kill his brother at the brother's request to complete the mission, I see sparkly happy endings all around).

Just look at them! MMMMM.




Supremely spoilery MV:

Comments

[timescout.livejournal.com]

LOL! You sure know how to pick 'em. Pity I'm not in a mood for more angst right now. *saving for later*

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

They are so angsty they make me lol actually

[bae-mac.livejournal.com]

TAKESHI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I imploded.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

He is so hot. MMM

[darkeyedwolf.livejournal.com]

I'm intrigued by the first if only because it shows the aftermath of an angsty illicit relationship rather than the passionate time-of.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Well, I am sure they re-fall back in love blah blah blah so there is that...

[issy-chan.livejournal.com]

i have seen both, love 2000 because i was so obsessed with Takeshi and i wanted to see everything he has done. but have to say that it's not one of his best dramas. of course Takeshi is just fine in every way but others are not. plus, the ending left me puzzled. did not get what happened and where that baby came from? ;-)there is no subs though

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

They have subs over at jdramas :)

[calixa.livejournal.com]

Love2000 looks great. I am not big on teacher-student romance so I'll pass on the other one, but TAKESHI KINESHIRO!!! is a must.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

He is so ridiculously hot it's unreal!

[mishane.livejournal.com]

(Seeing that at the start of ep 1 he had to kill his brother at the brother's request to complete the mission, I see sparkly happy endings all around).

LOL, in the first episode??

I watched the first episode of First Love a long time ago but never got around to finishing it.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

In the first 10 minutes even! After they discussed starving in their childhood and also seem to be on a mission to kill their father. I loled and loled.

[popaddict.livejournal.com]

Hold up! Wait a minute!

How do I not know of this presumably awesome thing known as Love 2000? I'm appalled at myself, after all I am a Takeshi fangirl and I love me some spies.

First Love. I tried it. I am not angst-friendly like you are nor did I actually like the story so I had to let that one go. But, Love 2000 must find with the swiftness.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

L2000 is at jdramas. It's cheesiness central but it has angsty hot spy Takeshi in glasses so who cares.

[vierran45.livejournal.com]

Love 2000 looks intriguing and it's Takeshi! I really must check it out :D!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

it's so cheesy and angsty!

[vierran45.livejournal.com]

Sounds good :)!

[er-mused.livejournal.com]

I watched this when it first came out! My schoolmates and I were all so excited about it, cos I mean, Takeshi doesn't make many Japanese dramas!

In all honesty, it was pretty boring....but very prettily shot. All I can remember about it is how gorgeous Takeshi looked in glasses (Sigh, be still my heart), and how perfect Miho's hair was (back then, Thermal reconditioning was a new thing and exclusive to Japan...hahaha)

Takeshi does angst very well, BUT he spends way too much time angsting on her couch....LOL
The directors really milked it, cos they filmed him in every possible angle angsting on the couch....LOL (Not that I'm complaining)

I'd recommend watching Takeshi in movies. I actually loved Turn Left, Turn Right (with Gigi Leung, and I think they look sooo good together) which is based on a taiwanese comic book. The film wasn't that well received, but I thought it was whimsical and beautiful, and strangely romantic even if they don't have that many scenes together. Then of course, there is that old Sylvia Chang movie...Tempting Heart, which is a must-watch. Oh, and Perhaps Love, which is probably his most recent "romantic" film. His newer projects seem to be chosen more to establish himself as a serious actor, and to distance himself as heartthrob...hahaha

[vierran45.livejournal.com]

I have seen several of Takeshi movies (like TL, TR and Perhaps, Love, etc), but I think Kamisama Mou Sukoshi Dake is the only drama I've seen with him, which is why I'm interested in this one :).

[er-mused.livejournal.com]

He was in Golden Bowl too, that was not too bad, quite funny.

Love 2000 is really for fans of his beautiful face....LOL

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Love 2000 is really for fans of his beautiful face....LOL

Meeeeee!