Review of Innocent Love

Title: Innocent Love
O.A. Start: 20 Oct 08
Number of episodes: 10
Broadcast by: FujiTV
Timeslot: Mondays, 9pm
Official website: here
Theme song: Eternally - Drama Mix - by Utada Hikaru


Cast:

Akiyama Kanon - Horikita Maki
Nagasaki Junya - Kitagawa Yuujin
Sakurai Mizuki - Kashii Yui
Akiyama Youji - Fukushi Seiji
Segawa Subaru - Narimiya Hiroki
Father Yoshimichi - Naitou Takeshi
Toono Kiyoka - Uchida Yuki
Ikeda Jirou - Toyohara Kousuke

Review:

I am feeling amazed that I even managed to finish watching this drama despite the fact that I have lots of complaints about it. I guess the sight of Narimiya Hiroki and Uchida Yuki helped to make things more bearable in a way.

First of all, the story is simply long-winded and silly. The so-called surprise developments e.g. Kanon's past, Subaru's feelings for Junya, Kiyoka's true feelings didn't provide the much-needed twists to the story. Everything was predictable (you sort of get the flow of events after watching so many dramas over the years) so I was really bored and disappointed with the story. Indeed, this being a gekku drama, I think it's seriously lacking in the story department. I think the worst part was when Junya tried to save Seika and ended up being in a coma, causing Kanon to take care of him like what he did for Seika. That's really repetitive and meaningless. I just get the feeling that the scriptwriter was trying to make things more difficult for Junya and Kanon instead of a smooth happily-ever-after ending.

Secondly, Horikita Maki is a big problem here. I don't know whether it is her luck or just that her agency doesn't really choose the right roles for her. Her career has been going up and down. When she appeared in the movie, "ALWAYS", she was quite outstanding. Then came along Teppan Shoujo Akane which did really bad in ratings. Hanazakari no Kimi tachi e followed by Atsuhime pushed her up to new heights again. And then, Innocent Love just made her slip once more. She seemed to be trying really hard to show the so-called adult and feminine side since she turned 20 last year. For example, when she tried to put on a smile, it really looked awkward and forced. I mean, you can smile but you don't have to go to the extent of trying to show off your teeth and your face muscles feel as if they are twitching. Given the fact that I also didn't like Kanon as a whole, I really cannot bring myself to say that I enjoyed Horikita's performance. Well, she can try slowly to break away from her usual youthful image but this drama was too much of a big jump for her.

Thirdly, Kitagawa Yuujin is another issue. I know he doesn't have much acting experience but then the way he speaks, his voice and sometimes exaggerated way of expressing himself simply puts me off. And the chemistry between him and Horikita was seriously lacking.

Like what I said above, Narimiya Hiroki and Uchida Yuki were the bright spots in the gloomy story, at least to me. I think they both looked pretty good in this drama. I dislike Kiyoka as a character but I do like Uchida. As for Narimiya, he looked more at ease in his acting (he's good at playing characters with a dark or hidden side) than he was in Hachimitsu to Clover. As for Kashii Yui, I still don't like her. Maybe it's something in her image which puts me off. I get the feeling that she's quite stiff in her acting at times and that there is a haughty air around her.

With regards to the theme song, I didn't pay attention to the song when I got the album some years ago. That being said, this new version wasn't a hit with me too.

And my ratings for this drama...
Story: 1 out of 10 (I was tempted to give it a zero...)
Acting: 4 out of 10 (Nothing much to speak of. The leads didn't carry the story well at all.)
Theme song: 4 out of 10 (It didn't leave an impact.)
Visual effects / Scenery: 4 out of 10 (Nothing impressive.)
Teamwork / Chemistry: 4 out of 10

Total: 17 out of 50

Autumn 2008 drama anticipation ranking (Oricon)

This is a survey done by Oricon to find out which dramas are highly anticipated by viewers prior to the start of the season.

1) Ryuusei no Kizuna (TBS) 59.6 points

2) Team Batista no Eikou (FujiTV) 58.8

3) Bloody Monday (TBS) 54.3

4) Aibou season7 (TV Asahi) 53.1

5) Innocent Love (FujiTV) 50.9

6) Celeb to Binbou Taro (FujiTV) 49.4

7) Yume wo Kanaeru Zou (NTV) 49.2

8) SCANDAL (TBS) 48.7

9) Room of King (FujiTV) 47.7

10) Shouni Kyuumei (TV Asahi) 47.3

Innocent Love's press conference report

The production press conference of "Innocent Love" was held on 2 Oct 08. Cast members Horikita Maki, Kitagawa Yuujin, Kashii Yui, Fukushi Seiji, Narimiya Hiroki, Uchida Yuki, Toyohara Kousuke as well as the scriptwriter Asano Taeko, producer Nakano Toshiyuki and director Katou Hiromasa attended the event. Kitagawa played the song "Itsu kushimi fukaki" with a children's choir before the press conference. The actors wore black for the event while the ladies were all dressed in red so as to resonate with the theme of the drama.

Ryusei no Kizuna and SCANDAL off to a good start! / Autumn 08 dramas' debut episodes ranking

Source: Mainichi Shinbun

Ryusei no Kizuna made its debut on 17th Oct 08 with the highest first episode rating of 21.2% among fellow Autumn 08 drama competitors. Meanwhile, SCANDAL which started on 19 Oct also achieved a relatively high rating of 16.9%.

With all Autumn 08 dramas having shown their first episode, this is the ranking so far on the basis of the debut episode's ratings:

1) Ryusei no Kizuna 21.2%

2) Kaze no Garden 20.1%

3) Celeb to Binbou Tarou 17.6%

4) Innocent Love / SCANDAL 16.9%

6) Team Batista no Eikou 15.2%

7) Salaryman Kintarou 13.8%

8) Scrap Teacher 12.6%

9) Gira Gira 12.2%

10) Bloody Monday 11.4%

11) Room of King 10.4%

12) Shouni Kyumei 9.6%

13) Oh! My Girl! / OL Nippon 8.3%

15) Yume wo Kanaeru Zou 7.1%

Innocent Love's first episode rating - 16.9%

Source: Mainichi Shinbun

The first episode of "Innocent Love" shown on 20 Oct 08 achieved a rating of 16.9%. Although this drama starred Horikita Maki whose popularity has reached a high due to her appearance in NHK's Taiga drama "Atsuhime", the debut episode rating was lower than expected. This result also makes "Innocent Love" the first Gekku drama in 1 year to obtain below 20% ratings for the debut episode. The past 4 Gekku dramas i.e. Galileo, Bara no nai Hanaya, CHANGE and Taiyo to Umi no Kyoushitsu all achieved above 20% for the first episode.

Theme song of Innocent Love to be sung by Utada Hikaru

Utada Hikaru will be singing the theme song for FujiTV's autumn Gekku drama, Innocent Love. The song, "Eternally - Drama Mix" was featured on Utada's second album, "Distance" released in 2001 and has never been performed live at her concerts before. As the production crew for Innocent Love is the same as the one for Last Friends which had also used Utada's song as the theme, they made an offer to her which she readily accepted. To revamp the song, Utada did a remix of the song in London and changed it to a ballad instead of its original version which focused a lot on the bass and drum sounds. The mobile phone ringtone of this song will be released on the same day as the first O.A. of the drama.

Source: Sanspo

Innocent Love - Autumn 2008

Title: Innocent Love
O.A. Start Date: 20 October 2008
Timeslot: Mondays, 9pm
Broadcaster: FujiTV
Scriptwriter: Asano Taeko
Theme song: undecided yet


Cast:

Akiyama Kanon (19) - Horikita Maki
Nagasaki Junya (28) - Kitagawa Yuujin
Sakurai Mizuki (23) - Kashii Yui
Akiyama Youji (24) - Fukushi Seiji
Segawa Subaru (28) - Narimiya Hiroki
Father Yoshimichi (53) - Naitou Takashi
Toono Kiyoka (28) - Uchida Yuki
Ikeda Jirou (43) - Toyohara Kousuke

Storyline:

7 years ago, 13-year-old Kanon watched helplessly as her house went up into flames. This marked the end of her happy life to date as her parents ended up dead and her elder brother, Youji charged with the murders. As a result, Kanon had to live on her own.

At 20, Kanon is still regarded as the younger sister of a murderer and faces difficulties in getting a job. However, she believes in Youji's innocence and would try to encourage him whenever she goes to visit him. In order to move on with her life, Kanon moves away from their hometown without telling Youji and gets a job as a house cleaner in Yokohama. She happens to meet a pianist Nagasaki Junya which signals the beginning of their fated encounter...