Summer Snow (2000)

Starring:
Domoto Tsuyoshi as Shinoda Natsuo
Hirosue Ryoko as Katase Yuki
Imai Tsubasa as Suetsugu Hiroto
Ikewaki Chizuru as Shinoda Chika
Oguri Shun as Shinoda Jun
Nakamura Shunsuke as Tachibana Seiji
Kuninaka Ryoko as Suzuki Misa
Kadono Takuzo as Katase Shogo
Hara Hideko as Sakurai Miyako
Fukuda Mayuko as Chiro-chan
Tamayama Tetsuji as Gang leader (ep6-7)
Tsukamoto Takashi as Gang member (ep2-3,6-7)
Abe Sadao as Chiron-chan's father (ep6)
Ito Takashi

A love story between a young man who has been forced to grow up too quickly, and a young woman with an ailment that has placed restrictions on her life. Natsuo has been looking after his younger brother and sister since the death of their parents. He has also been running the family bicycle shop. Yuki becomes the only person in the world in whom he can confide. For Yuki, Natsuo becomes the catalyst that has her trying to break out of her cocoon. -- KIKU-TV

Okay, I'm going to type this up before adding the cast, synopsis, and pics.

This drama was so wonderful! But......I will never watch this again. I will be crying the rest of the day and all eternity. I had no idea this would turn out just like Heaven's Tree. I had a feeling something was up when they kept hinting about watching out for cars and organ donors. If you don't know what I'm talking about by now.....you must be brain dead. Yeah, I just spoiled the ending. But don't let that bother you because this drama had so many popular faces in it. I was so excited that my toes curled and my blood boiled.

This drama touched on important scenarios in our everyday lives....especially organ donation and teen pregnancy.

The important factoid that was stressed entirely in this drama was to be TRUE TO YOURSELF.

Now I'm a little beefed because this was a Japanese drama and it ended like a Korean one. I was not happy at all but then I was too busy shedding enough tears that I became a human Niagara Falls. Yeah, it was that good of an ending!!!

A definite tear-jerker if your willing to spare the water weight from your body. It'll take days to get over this one. How will I sleep tonight?

Now I shall post pics of guys I haven't posted of before...........shall I?

Imai Tsubasa

Domoto Tsuyoshi

Strawberry Shortcakes (Sutoroberii Shooto Keikusu/ストロベリーショートケイクス-2006)

Starring:
Chizuru Ikewaki - Satoko
Noriko Nakagoshi - Chihiro
Yuko Nakamura - Akiyo
Kiriko Nananan - Toko
Ryo Kase - Nagai
Masanobu Ando - Kikuchi
Ayaka Maeda - Michiru
Seminosuke Murasugi
Yoko Ishino


Based on the eponymous manga for girls by cartoonist Kiriko Nananan, the pic follows the ups and downs of four female friends in Tokyo looking for love and trying to cope with the responsibilities in their lives. The main characters, impeccably played by four powerful actresses, are modern, self-sufficient women and their stories are told with mild irony and a dash of melancholy. The result is a movie that is lighthearted at times, a little sad at others, crazy and sometimes serious, but always special, that investigates the psychology of its characters and offers an accurate depiction of urban Japan, thanks to its director’s know-how. While many overly ambitious directors struggle to tell even one fairly comprehensible story, Yazaki skillfully weaves a powerful depiction of not one, but four women, creating an indissoluble and moving whole that doesn’t succumb to sentimentalism.
I'm not sure if I liked this movie or not. It was a slow movie and the characters looked so much alike I couldn't tell who was who. So that was really confusing. And just when I thought I was going to start liking it....*boom!*....the movie was over.

It had a strange aura about it. I couldn't really feel any happiness in it. Sort of a gloomy movie. Even the end, even though they seemed to be in better spirits couldn't make up for the "gray clouds" that hung over this movie.

I so desperately wanted to like this movie because it had Masanobu Ando. But his little bit piece in the movie just wasn't enough to make this movie any better. Okay, naked Ando-san was a nice touch. LOL! *smiles*

If you are desperate, depressed, suicidal, or any of the combination of the three, don't watch this movie.