the first thing that comes to mind when i think of akai ito, for some reason,
is the theme tune and that first line sore demo ii...
it meant nothing at first but after some way through
those lines coming in would conjour up a little sad feeling
that made me want to watch more.
im so drawn to anything relating to the red string of fate concept,
and that is just what led me to this drama some time ago.
akai ito is not fantastically gripping, or hysterically funny,
in fact i found it quite sad but it is one i think worth watching.
minamisawa nao plays the lead character mei (great nose)
who as a small child met a boy on her birthday once outside a cake shop.
this boy, we soon find out, is back in her life years later and
we wait to see if this means a destined bond between them will flourish.
mizobata junpei plays a-kun, the boy mei met in the past.
but unknown to anyone is the harsh history he has and the trials he still faces at home.
with these two characters everything is pretty serious and melodramarie
(yes im aware i just made up that word)
and by rights with me and my lack of tolerance for these type of people
they should kind of annoy me
(there'd be no problems if they were just straight up about how they felt when they felt it)
but they dont really bug me that much as its just how teenagers are
and its realistically portrayed in that way i guess.
now, because of all the drama with mr and mrs serious-face
we have taka-chan and sara. my favourite characters who give us the qwerky
funny moments akai ito would be too skwirmy to watch without.
is skwirmy a word?
annoyingly enough, the really harsh and upsetting moments later in the drama
come from these two characters aswell - even more so than mei and a-kun for me at least.
so really i guess with akai ito you cant f*cking win, its gonna be sad whichever way you look at it.
i loved taka-chan, played by the geniusly brilliant kimura ryo
who for once is not playing someone crazy gay or even slightly gay.
(i truly truly love him as a gay guy though)
he is the most textured character in this and though he's not being
mr crazy gay he does still get to go nuts - its not pretty but he does it so well.
theres suicide, pregnacy, drugs and abuse.
its not exactly the happiest thing you could choose to watch but
it doesnt completely destroy your soul or anything either.
the whole group of friends are likeable, made up of a supporting cast that are
all familiar faces from other dramas.
to me it feels like it was made years before anything else we've seen them in
but actually it was aired in 2008 so it was after the likes of
seito shokun, hana kimi, and nodame etc.
(mizobata)(mizobata, kimura) (kimura)
its frustrating how no-one wants to talk openly and you just know eveything would be solved
if they all just stopped being d*cks about it especially a-kun's mum
but then she is a drug addict - you expect her character to wind you up a little.
its kind of sad and pretty frustrating but its also sweet and emotional.
there are many great moments from sara (sakuraba) especially when she's all
lolita'd up and dancing for the band at the festival and such.
akai ito has a kind of weird story to follow and stretches over quite a long period of time
and having been so long since i watched it i cant really even remember exactly how it ends.
but as with all these strained and perilous red thread relationship journeys it does come to a
rather dramatic head and as usual there are some hugely sad and
regretable moments to endure before any hope of that happy ending.
my favourite point of the journey is somewhere in the middle
before everyone has gone into psycho angry death mode
but after everyone has become close and formed a great bond as a group.
this is a really hard review to round off and end. so i'll leave it rather abruptly here
with taka-chan's lovely psycho p*ssed off face. ...he's still pretty though right? (^_^)
:p
so a little side note about the movie (why this is in the 'movie reviews' as well)
akai ito is also a movie - its not a follow on, it is exactly the same.
its made up of the same footage, its just compressed into a movie.
you dont get the same development of characters so i advise watching the drama
over the movie. you just dont get to love the other people that much
its mainly all about the two leads.
the other characters are worth wanting to get to know during the drama
so dont miss out with the film, i say.
but its still good. i guess i'd have liked it if i hadnt seen the series but we'll never know.
it doesnt tie up all the loose ends like the drama does.
but you would expect that with a film and its limited time frame.
mainly i just want to grow to love taka-chan before he goes nuts
not just think he's a d*ck. cos he aint.
he great. mizuki stoopid. - oh wait thats hana kimi, hang on
team taka-chan-san! *waves flag*
that'll do.
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