Antique (アンティーク-2001)

Starring:
Takizawa Hideaki as Kanda Eiji
Shiina Kippei as Tachibana Keichiro
Fujiki Naohito as Ono Yusuke
Koyuki as Izuka Momoko
Abe Hiroshi as Kobayakawa Chikage
Enari Kazuki as Yoshinaga Shota
Nishino Taeko (西野妙子) as Uchino Akane
Tsuji Kazunaga (辻萬長) as Munakata Katsuo
Manabe Kaori as Shimazaki Tamami
Muta Teizo (牟田悌三) as Kanda Genichi
Yachigusa Kaoru as Shirai Fukiko
Ikuta Etsuko (生田悦子) as Tachibana Hiroko
Kimura Midori (木村翠) as Shirai Eiko
Kobayashi Susumu as Noma Atsushi
Nonaka Isao as Kisha Saeki
Aoki Tadahiro (青木忠宏) as Muto Tadahiro
Konishi Manami as Nakano Itsuko
Nagatsuka Keiji (長塚圭史) as Onizuka Toru
Imai Eri as Namiko (Toru's girlfriend)
Nakagoshi Noriko as Makino Junko
Shiraki Makiko (白木美貴子) as Obayashi Yukiko
Oshima Yuko (大島優子) as Obayashi Kayoko
Sudo Risa as Toyama Midori
Murano Mia as Takeuchi Hideko
Masu Takeshi as Ono Keisuke
Hosokawa Naomi as Ono Reiko
Suzuki Sawa as Morooka Mieko
Nishiyama Mayuko
Uematsu Mami


This story is about four men who work in a confectionary. Tachibana Keiichiro (Shiina Kippei) is the owner; Ono Yusuke (Fujiki Naohito) is the superb baker that has a mysterious and mesmerizing aura; Kobayakawa Chikage (Abe Hiroshi) is the waiter and close bodyguard of Tachibana; and last but not least is Kanda Eiji (Takizawa Hideaki), the ex-boxer who loves cake so much that he becomes a waiter at 'Antique'. This is a refreshing, yet heartfelt comedy about the 4 very unique personalities that work until the wee hours of the night at the small confectionary. The series follows the romance, family life, and most importantly friendship that these 4 men from different generations experience.

This is a confectionary with a "flavor" not like most. Located in the middle of an ordinary residential area, "Antique" stays open until 2 a.m. Every single thing in the shop is antique, in fact even the sherry glasses that water comes in look like they would cost 50,000 yen. On top of this, all the sweets that are sold are unbelievably delicious. The thing that is most peculiar about "Antique" though is that all 4 of the men that work here are very handsome, and each has an interesting past. Those that frequent the store also have a story to tell.
Edited Excerpt from JDorama.com

Okay, I loved, loved, loved this drama. Maybe it's the older dramas, I don't know, but they seem to keep my interest much longer. Maybe the stories aren't rehabilitated or reconditioned into another story. Again, I don't know.

My only upset with this movie, was with the subtitles. I wish SARS or another top notch Japanese subber could redo this. The only episodes I could find online were Chinese subtitled and then resubbed into English. Well, the person or persons who subbed them totally screwed up. I hate having to translate someones latent scope of the English language. (Example....past tense, future tense, present tense) It took me forever to figure out this person's usage for "milk oil" was really "cream". Eeergh. So here I sat for almost 2 days having to translate English to where I could undertand what the cast might be saying. I got through.

Anyway, this might seem a little boring to some. I thought it was sweet. I have to say that Ono was freaking GORGEOUS! That beautiful face! Aaaagh! *dreaming* Those bedroom eyes simply melted my soul. The one scene with he and Kanda, showing Shota-kun how to kiss a girl, was so freakin' amazing. I have to say I felt my heart quicken. It was sooooo sexy! Even if it was between two guys....well, those of you have read my blog know I'm fascinated with "yaoi". HEHE!

Give this one a go. If you can handle the subtitles, and let me tell you, you won't find any better subs because I've checked everywhere.......watch it!

Fujiki Naohito