Drama Review- Beautiful life

Beautiful Life is one of the very popular tragic dramas in Japan. It stars Takuuya Kimura and Tokiwa Takako who are very famous in the japanese entertainment industries. Both have produced super hit dramas and won numerous awards.

Beautiful life is a tragic love story of Shuji, an upcoming hairstylist and handicapped librarian Kyoko. The drama had 31.86% viewership ratings which is extremely high.

One day while Kyoko is driving to the library, she puts her hand out of the car window to check whether there is rain. Shuji, who is driving, is disturbed by this and yells at her for putting her hand out in the middle of the road. They both are appparently going to the same library. After Kyoko parks her car, Shuji parks his two wheeler next to hers. She tells him to park it away from her because she needs more space. He thinks that she is an arrogant woman who needs space and parks his vehicle a little away from her car. When she gets out, he notices that she gets out on a wheelchair. He immediately feels bad for being rude to her.
In the beginning of the drama, she has curly hair. Shuji borrows a book on KoH from the library. Kyoko thinks that he's going to make bombs but later gives up the notion when her friend Sachie tells her that it can't be used to make bombs.

Shuji starts visiting the library regularly. Kyoko begins to await his arrival. She keeps looking at the door and Sachie thinks that she's smitten by Shuji. One day, Shuji's boss tells him that magazine reporters are coming for an interview. He has to style a woman's hair and the best hairstyle will get a full page in the magazine.

Shuji asks Kyoko to help out. She agrees. He straightens her hair (which makes her look worse) and does a razor cut (I think). She is pleased and the magazine reporters interview Kyoko.

However, they publish her full photo (with the wheelchair) in the magazine that pisses her off. Shuji too feels bad. He thinks he got the page just because Kyoko was handicapped. He apologises to her and takes her to a ramen shop.

Beautiful life is a very simple love story. The atmosphere is very calm. Takuya Kimura doesn't over act like many actors do. He fits the average person role well. Tokiwa Takako acts really well but I must admit Takuya Kimura and Tokiwa Takako don't make a god couple. He looks very fat in that jacket and she looks too thin and small in the sweater. His face too looks like a dinosaur egg in comparison to hers which looks like a hen's egg.

Their love slowly develops. But it has its own share of hurdles. Kyoko's brother disapproves of Shuji and tells him that looking after a disabled person is not as easy as he thinks. Shuji's old girlfriend also appears and while trying to spy on her, Kyoko falls down and hurts herself. Hot Lip's manager also has eyes for Shuji.
Shuji becomes popular in the hairstyling world and cannot spare a lot of time for Kyoko. However, he apologises later and says that she's more important than his career. He promises to marry her even if it means sacrificing his sleep, children and career.

Kyoko's health condition worsens and the doctor says that she won't live long. Kyoko spends the last days of her life with Shuji. He shifts into her house. Sachie also starts dating Kyoko's brother who tells her he'll marry her one day.

While seeing a fashion show Shuji helped with, Kyoko hurts herself and an ambulance is called. Shuji rushes into the ambulance and the others are left behind. She dies after telling him that she liked his show.

Story- 3/5
Cast- 4.5/5
Acting-4.2/5
Music-2/5
Overall- 4.1/5

Takuya Kimura is suited for romance roles. When he hugs, it gives such a warm feeling. In this drama especially, Takys Kimura looks very warm with those layers of winter clothes.

Kitagawa Eriko's scriptwriting is wonderful. There are some really touching lines in the drama. The story unfolds gradually.

Acting, no doubt is very good. With all he top actors in one drama, there's no way the acting could have been bad.
The atmosphere of the drama is very refreshing. It is always calm and serene. I felt very warm and happy while watching the drama.

The ending however, is not very good. It suited one litre of tears but it doesn't suit this drama. The viewers were never prepared for this ending. It was too abrupt. Kyoko never showed any signs of serious health problems. All through the drama, there's no mention of a chance of her dying and she unexpectedly passess away in the end.

After Kyoko passes away, Shuji moves into a house near the beach where he has a private hair styling salon in his house.
In the end of the drama, a high schooler comes to get her hair cut because she had a break up. She looks at all the photos of Shuji and Kyoko and asks where Kyoko is. Takuya Kimura points to his heart and tells the girl that she lives there.

Pros

Script
Atmosphere
Cast
Romance

Cons

Ending
It could have been longer
No conclusion to Sachie's story