Osozaki no Himawari (2012 Japanese TV Series)

Dear Entertainment Diary,

Before anything else, I am very happy to show my gratitude to everyone who is reading my blog. I can't believe that it has already 39,000+ overall pageviews since I started my first post and in top of that, my entertainment diary has a daily of 1000 pageviews although I haven't post anything last week. Thank you all so much. :)

Moving on from that teary dramatic intro, I just started watching a new Japanese drama entitled, Osozaki no Himawari, which literally means Late Blooming Sunflower ~My Life Renewed~ in English and is currently airing in Japan since October 23, 2012, every Tuesday, 21:00 - 21:54 on Fuji TV. 

Honestly, I haven't heard of this drama until this 1 am in the morning when I can't sleep and have nothing to do. I can't wait for next week to come to watch my the new episodes of the drama I am currently tuning in. That's the freaking problem of watching dramas currently airing in other countries. You need to wait for them to air. Oh, how much I hate Time Zones.

So yesterday, I finished watching the latest episodes of I Miss You, American Horror Story, and Partners, and I am not in the mood to watch any movie so I decided to look and research for a new drama and this came across in my search when I was looking up on the asianwiki page of my fave Japanese actor, Ikuta Toma. Toma-kun!!! <3

Frankly speaking, I only chose to watch this drama because of Toma. I started being his fan when I watched the Japanese version of Hana Kimi and God, isn't he funny, cute, and ultimately talented, a man with so much treat. Ok, enough of him, I need to talk about the drama. LOL.

Oh, and also, I don't recognize any other actors/actresses from here except for Toma, although I think I remember them from somewhere.

Plot (from dramawiki):

This is a story of 7 young adults living their ordinary days near the Shimanto river of Kochi prefecture, renowned as the last of the crystal clear streams. Somewhat nostalgic, somewhat new, they hold on to their dreams and insecurities. 

Kodaira Joutarou is an easy going, slow starter who spends a rather relaxing time at a private college before graduating to work at a company as a contract employee. He leads a so-so life with moderate satisfaction and moderate uneasiness, like any other young man of the modern times. Later, his character and honest ways are acknowledged by the company and he is planned to become a full-time employee when suddenly things take a complete turn. He is not only laid off, but left behind by his girlfriend who he dated for over 7 years. 

Joutarou returns to his parents' home only to find that his brother was now the central part of the family, working for the government, the most dependable figure in the family. There is no room for him to fit in and feeling bewildered, he finds a website online that is recruiting volunteers for the revitalization of Shimanto city, Kochi prefecture. Without much thought, he desperately jumps at the opportunity and finds himself in the middle of Kochi, where nature is grand and time is of abundance. --Fuji TV

At the moment, I only watched the first two episodes because as I said, it's still currently airing in Japan and has aired only 3 or 4 episodes at the moment. Secondly, there are no subbed episodes for the 3rd episode uploaded in the internet yet. 

I actually liked and enjoyed watching the first two episodes. I felt very heavenly alive inside as I watched it especially during the scenes where it shows the beauty of Japan. I don't know places in Japan but in the series, the location is in Shimanto and damn, I wanna go to Shimanto River. I think it's very peaceful to live there despite the negative sides being shown in the series.

I got very emotionally attached to this series very quickly, mainly because it contains cast and characters of old people and I know I am very soft and smoochy when it comes to elderly pips. 

The series is very funny because of Toma acting very awkwardly funny and somewhat stupid and lazy, and also irresistibly cute, effortlessly. 

It is a very good drama, for me, about family, love, friends, neighborhood, but mainly, life and dreams. A drama reminding us to look at our past and never forget them, ever. I have to say it, shamelessly, but I cried during the 1st and 2nd episode. It just touched my heart and the next thing I knew, I was already wiping the tears from my eyes. I dunno, maybe it's only because of the wind. HAHA!

There are many quotations being said about life during each episode in this drama and I know we can all relate to it so much. I know,I can relate to this drama because like Jotaro's character, I haven't decided of my future yet, but I also want my future to be successful just like a sunflower's bud, ready to bloom, even though it's already late. 

Again, this is a drama about life, dreams, and love, where we can get many moral values and can inspire us to strive hard, love one another, look back to our past especially the land where we were born and raised, and care for one another. 

Here are some quotes that I fancy from the series:

• What I thought was just an odd, simple job is actually really important for the lives of the people here.
• The answer isn't easy to find. What  are we living for? Where should we live? Where should we try to go from here?
• I wonder what the future will bring...
• If we don't face our past, we can't move forward.
• To fear love is to fear life.
• If we can't see a future, we can't find a way.
• What are we supposed to do now that we won't know what will happen?

The opening credits is also very good where we can see the 7 main characters sing the theme song, especially Toma. He is very talented!

Now, this series is included in my list, Currently Watching Series.

OH!!!! AND DAMN THAT GIRL WHO DUMPED TOMA HERE!!!

CAST (from dramawiki):

Ikuta Toma as Kodaira Joutarou

Fukuzaki Nayuta (福崎那由他) as young Joutarou

Maki Yoko as Nikaidou Kahori

Kiritani Kenta as Fujii Junichi

Kashii Yu as Morishita Ayaka

Emoto Tasuku as Matsumoto Hiroki

Kimura Fumino as Imai Haruna

Kuninaka Ryoko as Shimada Sayori (cameo appearance)

Matsushige Yutaka as Kusaka Tetsuya

Taguchi Junnosuke as Aoyama Kaoru

Araki Makoto (荒木誠) as Kinoshita Kazuma

Hotaru Yukijiro as Kodaira Masakatsu

Kato Kazuko as Kodaira Yuuko

Ikuta Ryusei (Fuji TV Announcer) as Kodaira Keitarou

Satoi Kenta as Nikaidou Ryuuzou

Asaka Mayumi as Nikaidou Tokiko

Yashiba Toshihiro as Shimada

Ihara Ryoka as Shimada Mei

Takashima Kotoha (高嶋琴羽) as Shimada Yui

Shimada Kyusaku as Fujii Toshio

Baisho Mitsuko as Ohmura

Mickey Curtis as Ohkouchi Kinji

Sakagami Kazuko (阪上和子) as Ishikawa Yoshiko

Itou Koujun (伊藤幸純) as Yamashita Kenji

Onuki Kae (小貫加恵) as Inoue

Shima Hiroko (島ひろ子) as Toyota

Nakamaru Shinsho as Okajima

  

I don't own any images. The copyrights of the images used still go to their respective owners.

tumblr.com

dramawiki

tokyohive.com

(c) Fuji TV

Posted in: 2012,asian,Japanese,tv show