pure. magical. reality.
23 Jan 2011 03:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kaigouSo I'll just link outright: Nobuta wa Produce review: part one & part two.
At first I was leaning towards dismissing the series as just another fluffball, if a slightly odd fluffball considering the only way I could handle one character's behavior/delivery was by seeing him as a permanently-stoned, slightly-tipsy, Spicoli done over as a Japanese idol. But before I knew it, the story grew on me, and by the halfway point (maybe even by ep3), I could see why the reviewer raves over the series. It's certainly not your average idol-based drama, that's for sure.
It's a little more insular than My So-Called Life, with its focus more on school-time; the characters' families or homes are in passing at best and afterthoughts at worst. The real focus is between the three leads; also, unlike MSCL's understated grittiness, and provocative introspection, NwP is really, as endersgirrrl puts it in her review, pure magical realism. A fair bit of goofball who's the wise fool, a withdrawn shy girl, and a lonely boy scared to reconcile his true self with his popular image... with Santa Claus, shared dreams, and piggy good-luck charms. Also, the granting of wishes, even if the one that comes true is the wish for curry bread.
Maybe someday I'll have the brain cells to tackle some of the marvelous ways this little fluffball-series showed a core of real passion and strength. Probably not today, though, so I must rely on another's review to do the convincing. All I can say is: it's a series worth watching.
Admittedly, Nobuta wo Produce hardly looks impressive on the surface, and can be dismissed by the casual observer as just another idoru vehicle set against the disposable backdrop of high school — with the fluff, the stereotypes, the puerile laughs — only to be swallowed in a sea of other mass-produced Jdramas of the same teen-wanking formula… But no. This one is different. Because once in a while we drama fans are gifted with a viewing experience so transcendent in both style and substance, a triumphant synergy of directorial creativity, of writing deep and resonant, and of characters so heartbreakingly authentic.
At first I was leaning towards dismissing the series as just another fluffball, if a slightly odd fluffball considering the only way I could handle one character's behavior/delivery was by seeing him as a permanently-stoned, slightly-tipsy, Spicoli done over as a Japanese idol. But before I knew it, the story grew on me, and by the halfway point (maybe even by ep3), I could see why the reviewer raves over the series. It's certainly not your average idol-based drama, that's for sure.
It's a little more insular than My So-Called Life, with its focus more on school-time; the characters' families or homes are in passing at best and afterthoughts at worst. The real focus is between the three leads; also, unlike MSCL's understated grittiness, and provocative introspection, NwP is really, as endersgirrrl puts it in her review, pure magical realism. A fair bit of goofball who's the wise fool, a withdrawn shy girl, and a lonely boy scared to reconcile his true self with his popular image... with Santa Claus, shared dreams, and piggy good-luck charms. Also, the granting of wishes, even if the one that comes true is the wish for curry bread.
Maybe someday I'll have the brain cells to tackle some of the marvelous ways this little fluffball-series showed a core of real passion and strength. Probably not today, though, so I must rely on another's review to do the convincing. All I can say is: it's a series worth watching.