Sapuri Ep 1

I had finished watching this first episode last week but didn't have any motivation to post a review. In fact, I'm dropping this immediately because I find this a waste of time. The pull factors are too weak to sustain my interest as there is an overwhelming number of push factors which are putting me off.

As many of you would have known, I wasn't very keen about the choice of the leads i.e. Ito Misaki and Kamenashi Kazuya. Both of them aren't exactly known for their acting skills and to do a story which has been rehashed in many formats over the years i.e. the older woman-younger man premise is tantamount to suicide. At least a more refreshing genre would have helped to take the attention from their lacklustre performances. Doing an old-fashioned story is not the worst thing which can happen to actors, the issue is how to make things appear interesting despite the age-old setting. And I do feel that these two can't make it. Sorry to fans of Ito and Kamenashi, I really don't think they are cut-out to be leading actor-actress material yet.

Just look at dramas like Anego. Nothing particularly new...a woman in her 30s, single and facing the ticking of her biological clock, meets a younger man but the chemistry between Shinohara Ryoko and Akanishi Jin is still something I remember fondly.

Let me talk more about the story first before going into details on what I found lacking in the leads' performances.

Originally, I was under the impression that the heroine in this drama, Fujii Minami is someone who really does enjoy work and regards love as something which spices up her life at times. However, the drama shows Fujii as someone who seems so overworked, tired and stressed where I don't really see much of her passion for work. For someone who is supposed to love work as much as her life, Fujii appears so haggard and exhausted instead of showing that shine and glow of people doing things which they enjoy.

After a lengthy first episode, I am still lost as to where the story seems to be heading. Are the scriptwriters going to focus more on Fujii's work life or the development of her relationship with Ishida Yuuya? If the storyline from the manga is to be strictly followed, the relationship should take a backseat. However, the impression I get from the promotional efforts and this episode would be that the relationship is placed at top priority. If the story is good, this would have covered the flaws of the cast but too bad, I didn't see any possibility of this materialising.

Ito Misaki's potrayal of Fujii is so one-dimensional. I can only see her looking tired out from work. Where is her drive and passion for a job which she loves to the extent of standing up her boyfriend many times? And spare me from her monologues which sound like she's reciting from a textbook. No tinge of emotion and involvement which gives the idea that Ito's just reading something from the script instead of speaking about her role's inner thoughts.

As for Kamenashi, one of the biggest issues I have would be the setting of his role. Ishida is such a irresponsible and immature brat who needs someone to teach him how society works instead of expecting others to treat him nicely and give him the freedom to do anything he likes. It is indeed amazing to imagine someone like Fujii liking him. And for heaven's sake, I feel like I'm seeing Shuuji from Nobuta wo Produce, fast-forward to a few years later. His mannerisms remain largely unchanged from the last drama I saw him in, which doesn't look good if he wants to develop as an actor in future. Of course, if Kamenashi had a stronger partner to guide him along instead of the equally bad Ito, he might have sizzled in this role. The reverse holds true too in my opinion so I view it as a case of the blind leading the blind. I think FujiTV is extremely daring to put them in charge of a gekku drama and shudder to think of what would happen to Nodame Cantabile next season since their leads aren't actually known to be good actors too, just like Ito and Kamenashi.

With regards to the supporting cast, Sato Koichi and Shiraishi Miho's combination seems quite interesting. That enjoy oyaji trait in Sato's role gets on my nerves too. Shida Mirai is in it too as Sato's daughter. Eita and Ryo may have something going on as the drama progresses. Although I'm interested in the supporting cast, this will not be a strong reason to keep me tuning in to the drama after all.