dangermousie | Delicate, swoony and pitch-perfect

I have just finished the first episode of the 2006 jdrama starring Yamada Takayuki and Sawajiri Erika, as Koji and Kaoru, two 19-year-olds about to embark on a doomed, heartbreaking love affair. He is recently unemployed, hopeless and with his dreams beaten out of him. She is obsessed with music, probably more so because she has a rare condition known as XP which prevents her from going out in sunlight, and is guaranteed to give her a short lifespan (I've seen dramas, when a doctor says that sufferers of this rarely reach past their 20th birthday and she's about to turn 19, I know where it's going...)

Sounds melodramatic and ridiculously emo, right? But it isn't. I can only imagine the overwrought production a kdrama would make of this plot, but TnU is filled with gentle melancholy (and hard-won hope) and is not overwrought in the least - the emotions are understated, delicate, unspoken.

I HAVE NO WORDS FOR HOW MUCH I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS.

I haven't loved a jdrama since I watched Matsujun's Smile, which came out in the spring 2009. So - almost two years. But the thing with jdramas is this - most of them don't work for me but when they do, they hit it so right it hurts. After the first episode, I feel like crying and laughing simultaneously. And swooning - because the development of the romance is so pitch-perfect. Most jdramas (especially newer ones) don't seem to want to do romance at all, let alone as a main topic, but the few that tackle it really do it for me in a way even a kdrama doesn't. Part of it is probably because even in a romance-centric jdrama, there are other themes that are crucial - in this case, the theme of music that ties together Koji and Kaoru (she first notices him 3 years before the story starts, when she picks up and starts using the guitar he threw away), and the story of finding your goals and following your dreams, whether your road is short or long.

Another reason this is so good is due to the leads. Not only do they have crazy chemistry - not of the hyper-sexual kind, this isn't that kind of drama - but restrained/passionate romantic chemistry of the deepest kind. But they are wonderful separately too - they make me care for the characters and root for them desperately. I don't believe I've seen Erika in anything (nothing will make me watch 1 Liter. Even I have my limits as to the angst I can take) but she is wonderful in this - she is no meek or saintly sufferer - she's strong, abrasive, a little odd, very emotionally open. I love love love Kaoru.

I have been impresed with Takayuki since I've watched half of Byakuyako. Byakuyako was indubitably the most messed-up and dark (if excellently done) drama I've ever seen and ultimately I had to bail (I am weak!) but I was so impressed by the leads in it. Takayuki made me sympathize with and pity his monster of a character much longer than should have been possible. The same vulnerability and a sort of terrified wistfulness comes across here too but he's portraying a good person and so the impact is about 500x stronger. I also love that he doesn't look movie-star (or idol) over-made-up and high-maintenance gorgeous but more of a type of a guy who you'd find good-looking if you saw on the street.