I do occasionally watch Taiwanese or Korean dramas, but I prefer Japanese dramas since the season is shorter (10-11 episodes) compared to Taiwanese or Korean (14+ I believe) and each episode is shorter (45 minutes vs 1 to 1.5 hrs). This way, I find that there is less filler and they normally get straight to the point!
Why start with my top 5 Tear Jerkers? The reason being is that I normally don't watch these dramas for I find some of them to be very emotionally draining. At times, I come very close to tears, and this being said due to the fact that I haven't shed a tear for about 9 years now... Also, I was listening to a theme song last night as I was falling asleep, which inspired me to start these series of blogs!
Anyways, I want to finish off on a happy note with my Top 5 Inspirational Dramas, or something along those lines on a later date!
How do I pick these 5 tear jerkers? I guess those that were the most draining to me and that left an impression on me.
KEEP IN MIND THAT THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPHS WILL HAVE SPOILERS! Just read the title of each drama and skip the paragraphs if you're interested in watching them!
This list will be in order, starting from my 5th choice and finishing with my 1st choice. Synopsis are retrieved from drama-wiki (wiki.d-addicts.com). All images are also taken from drama-wiki.
At number 5: Beautiful Life
Starring: Kimura Takuya and Tokiwa Takako
Synopsis: Kyoko, a young woman with an unhindered spirit despite being physically bound to a wheelchair due to illness, and Shuji, a stylish and popular fashion magazine hairstylist, are brought together in a fateful traffic incident. Despite their confrontational meeting, they soon find themselves falling in love, with Shuji drawn to her courage and enthusiasm and Kyoko attracted to his ability to look beyond her physical limitations and into her heart. However, Kyoko's protective older brother and her worsening condition begin to test the bounds of their love for each other and threaten to end their beautiful life together.
Rationale: This drama had really high viewership (41.3%). I'm assuming its due to the fact that Kimura Takuya was the main star of the drama. Anyways, I didn't expect it to be so sad since I watched a bunch of sad dramas before this one. It's pretty much a love story between two people, but one of them has a terminal illness and is expected to die. What really got to me was the last episode, where the main actresses (Tokiwa) playing the role of Kyoko passed away and Shuji was applying make up to her face to prepare her for her funeral. The words he said to her and the lack of words at times made it really did the trick. It was a tearful moment, yet peaceful, as strange as it may seem. Shuji took great care of putting the make up on Kyoko despite how distraught he was probably feeling inside.
At number 4: Shiroi Haru (White Spring)
Synopsis: Former yakuza Haruo is finally released from prison after completing his sentence. With nine years worth of prison gratuities in hand, he stops at a restaurant to enjoy a good meal, but all of his money ends up being stolen. With nothing left, he spends the night at a net cafe, and he manages to look up his old friend from his yakuza days. When Haruo visits the next day, he learns that his old girlfriend Mariko was living with another man, but later died of illness. Haruo, who had committed murder 9 years earlier to earn the money for Mariko's medical treatment, is shocked and angered. He decides to track down that other man, who runs a bakery with his wife and daughter Sachi. Haruo later runs into Sachi at the park, but he has yet to find out the truth about her.
Rationale: Great story line. Hiroshi plays the main star, Haruo, the ex-gangster. He wanted revenge since he thought that the money he made for his hit job went to Mariko's "husband" aka the baker (I don't think they officially married). As he was scheming in the park, he met the main actress (Ohashi) who plays the young daughter of the baker. Throughout the series, the two of them grew closer and closer. Haruo even starts working at the bakery! Very soon, Haruo realized that Sachi was actually HIS daughter, but doesn't tell Sachi, but of course... Sachi figures it out in the end. Initially, he wanted to fight for the custody of his daughter, but realized that it was best for her to stay with the baker.
The drama overall was beautifully written, until the last 10 minutes of the final episode where they didn't know what to do with Haruo after he acknowledges the baker to be Sachi's "real" dad, so they killed him off. What makes this a tear-jerker is that it was painful to see Haruo realize that Sachi was in fact his daughter, yet she didn't initially know that he was her father. Also, the supporting actors and actresses' characters were developed with a similar notion to Haruo, in that their families were not as whole compared to others.
Coming in at number 3: 1 Litre of Tears
Synopsis: 15-year-old Ikeuchi Aya was an ordinary girl, the daughter of a family who works at a tofu shop, and a soon-to-be high schooler. However, odd things have been happening to Aya lately. She has been falling down often and walks strange. Her mother, Shioka, takes Aya to see the doctor, and he informs Shioka that Aya has spinocerebellar degeneration - a terrible disease where the cerebellum of the brain gradually deteriorates to the point where the victim cannot walk, speak, write, or eat. A cruel disease, as it does not affect the mind in the least. How will Aya react when told about her disease? And how will Aya live from now on?
Rationale: This was my first tear-jerker, though I didn't find it to be sad. I found it to be quite inspirational actually since Aya never gave up on life, despite having that debilitating disease. However, since most people view this as a tear jerker, I decided to place this drama in this category. And a side note: Sawajiri looks SO MUCH better without heavy make up...
Anyways, it was tearful to watch Aya as she went through life, getting weaker and weaker as each episode went on. Like any normal teenage girl, she wanted to fall in love and spend time with her friends, but she couldn't due to her disease. As time went on, she began to lose more and more motor abilities. Also, she started losing friends since they couldn't adapt to her needs. Despite her setbacks, she had a core group of people that she could rely on, including her family (mother, father, sister and brother) and her good friend Asou Haruto (played by Nishikido).
Looking back, what really got to me was not her death in the last episode, but rather what she wrote in her diary. She wrote about her life, her daily struggles, her feelings and many other things. What made me come close to tears were her last word: Arigato. Despite the having the fear of death knocking on your front door, she was grateful for the life that she had lived.
The silver medal goes to: Good Life ~ Thank you, Papa. Goodbye~
Starring: Sorimachi Takashi, Igawa Haruka and Kabe Amon
Synopsis: The basis for the drama is the novel “Kashikogi” by author Cho Chang-in, which has sold 2 million copies in Korea since its publication in 2000. It has already been adapted as a television drama and a stage play in that country. On February 4, Shogakukan is publishing the book in Japan under the title “Good Life.” Sorimachi plays the part of Daichi Sawamoto, a newspaper reporter who has always prioritized his work over his family. When his wife suddenly leaves him, he finally notices the love he has been receiving from his son. Just as he decides to answer back, it is discovered that his son has leukaemia.
Rationale: While watching these drama, I realized that the story I wanted to write (A Father's Pride) was actually quite similar to the story line in this drama, in that the father was a workaholic, but through time realize what love is from his small child. Anyways, I was expecting it, since the child had leukemia and they couldn't find a bone marrow donor for his child. I was expecting the child to die, so I got myself ready for it. It was strange though, since it seemed like the son was going to die in episode 6 or 7, when there's still 4-5 more episodes left!
Waku (Kabe), didn't die though. They managed to find a donor and Waku quickly recovered from his cancer. What was ironic though was that the father discovered that he had advanced Pancreatic Cancer and was not expected to live for more than half a year. Realizing the love his son showed him, and the love he wanted to give to his son (for he had a tough childhood due to the fact that his mom died young and his father went bankrupt and tried to kill the two of them). Daichi could have extended his own life span by receiving treatment, but he decided not to forgo it because he wanted to spend whatever remaining time he had with his son.
The last couple of episodes made the drama so sad. To see the father in pain, but trying to bring what happiness he could to his son. When the father realized that he couldn't live normally and needed to be hospitalized, he used the old "I'm-tired-of-you-so-screw-off" technique by telling his son he didn't love him anymore and that he should go live with his mother. Sorimachi did an excellent job in portraying the pain while trying to hurt his son's feelings, in hoping that his son would forget him. In the end though, the mother (Igawa) and Waku managed to find where Daichi was hospitalized (since he sold his belongings and placed his condo for sale). Daichi reconciled with his wife in a touching reunion where he spoke of how he first fell for her. Also, we see the entire family enjoying the last couple of days that Daichi had left. The producer/director/whoever put it together finished the series nicely with a smiling Daichi in his wheelchair as he passed away peacefully watching his son play on the beach in front of his hospice.
And the top Japanese Tear jerker is: Sekai no Chuushin de, Ai wo Sakebu (Crying out Love, in the Centre of the World).
Synopsis: "I thought I might be using a lifetime's happiness in a moment. I was that happy and she was that beautiful." A young boy stands on the red earth of Australia under its blue sky. It is 17-year-old Sakutaro Matsumoto. His time with the girl comes back to him. The colored sand runs through his hands and a tear appears on his cheek. He wakes up. It's 2004 and he is 34 years old and in Japan. He thinks "I have been in a world without her for 17 years." Returning home to see his old high school for the last time before it is demolished, Saku confronts anew the loss of the love of his life, Aki, to leukemia 17 years ago. Now a medical researcher at graduate school, he has been living as if half of him died with her since then. Based on the bestselling novel that sold over 3 million copies, the past and present come together in this love story that is both pure and sad.
Rationale: This takes the top spot on my list without any doubt. We start off at the present with a 34 year old Matsumoto (not played by Yamada) still grieving about the death of his girlfriend. He keeps a vial of her ashes with him at all times to remind him of her. After finding out that the city was going to demolish his high school (where he met Saki [Ayase]), we're taking back to the past, where he first met Saki and where most of the story takes place.
It's a really simple story, but so sad and so pure. What also made it so sad was the OST that accompanied the series.
The main theme of this drama. It really drives straight to the point of being a pure and sad love story.
What really tugged at my heart strings was when Saki wanted to go visit Australia since she was unable to visit the country with her classmates during their graduation trip. She really wanted to see Australia, to be able to stand on Uluru (the red rocks in Australia aka: Ayers Rock), which was considered to be the center of the world before she died. A very weakened Saki collapsed at the airport, while Matsumoto (Yamada) grasped her, crying, telling that she will be alright. To Saki, who was starting to pass away, she thought that the airport was Heaven (for she never really believed in an afterlife), and that she was happy to have met Matsumoto. These 10 minutes or so were so heart-wrenching that I had to look away from the screen.
After watching the drama series, I went to Chapters and bought the book that it was based on. I also watched the movie adaptation of the series (the movie being a couple years older than the drama). I wasn't satisfied with the ending, for Matsumoto seemed like he couldn't move on from her death. The special episode that came out did her justice (and had somewhat of an ending that was similar to the novel).
In the special, it was a recap of the entire series, but in the end, the 34 year old Matsumoto walked onto their high school's rely track. He remembered how Saki always loved to run. He took out his vial and uncorked it to release her ashes into the sky.
Well that's it for now! Took longer than I expected, but it felt good to write this blog! My next topic will probably be my Top Japanese Medical dramas!
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