Saturday, August 7, 2010

Drama Review- Aishiteru to itte kure



Aishiteru to itte kure(say you love me) is a hit romance dramam starring Tokiwa Takako and Toyokawa Etsushi with script by Eriko Kitagawa. Eriko Kitagawa is an immensely popular scriptwriter who has won numerous awards for scriptwriting. Her dramas are usually romantic and sentimental.

Aishiteru to itte kure was aired in 1995 and was the drama with the highest viewership that year. It led to a brief sign language craze. The theme song is 'love love love' by Drams come true, one of Japan's most popular bands. This single sold over two million and is the tenth best selling single in Japan.

In the middle of a bustling metropolis, how could it be that there is only one apple tree? No matter how much Hiroko jumps to try to pluck the apple, she cannot reach it. Fortunately, Kohji passes by and plucks the apple for her. Kohji is a rising young artist who because he lost his hearing at the age of 7, lives by only expressing himself through paintings. Furthermore, Hiroko is a young actress who practices acting with a drama troupe while holding a part-time job.

The two meet again and again in the park until one day, she learns that Kohji is deaf. Through their initial attraction, Hiroko begins to learn Japanese sign language in order to communicate with Kohji and as their relationship develops, several obstacles arise as well.

-dramawiki

The story is much like Beautiful Life. However, in this drama the man is handicapped. It follows the format of every other Keiko Kitagawa drama. It has twelve episodes of one hour each.

Tokiwa Takako and Toyokawa Etsushi act very well. Their expressions relate to the character.
It gives a very emotional and nostalgic feeling much like Beautiful Life but inferior. The scenes are average but the love develops very well.

It is not rushed and the first few episodes are very good. The drama is interseprsed with romantic and sentimental scenes.
There is a conflict in the first few episodes in the form of 'Shiori'. It leads to character development.

However, I was disappointed by the ending. It was much like Beautiful Life but inferior. I find it very strange that Tokiwa Takako switches between men and it spoils the mood of the drama. Also, when she attemps to get back or breaks up, it seems very fake. She is not serious about her dream and keeps going back and forth. She is quite suspicious but this quality doesn't lead anywhere. It only worsens the problem.

It was all right till the ninth episode much like Beautiful Life. After that, she broke up and created problems. When she gets back in the end, it seems very unrealistic.
The last scene though good was ambiguous. I felt that it was useless watching this drama. Tokiwa Takako's character also, is not very strong or good. It is much like any other Eriko Kitagawa story.

The sign language was good but sometimes it gets tiring. Also, there was not much monologue so, the characters' feelings were unknown.
The music score was average. The song 'love love love' was played in sad as well as happy scenes. It seemed as though there was no other song in the drama.

Overall, I would recommend Beautiful Life over this. It is a much inferior version of Beautiful Life. The end is also not very satisfying. If you're an Eriko Kitagawa or Tokiwa Takako fan, you might find this good.

3.6/5

Pros

Initial episodes
Idea
Emotion

Cons

Ending
Later episodes
Break/ forced love with Ken chan
Misunderstanding over trivial things
Weak characterization

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