JAPANESE DRAMA DATABASE: CAMPUS NOTE

CAMPUS NOTE

A dorama of college life staring Yuki Uchida and Masato Hagiwara. I'm mainly interested in the scenario, and "Campus Note" is written by Nishiogi Yumie, who did the so-so "Double Kitchen" and then the fabulous "Sweet Home"., But "Campus Note" (returning to her signature two-English-word titles) is done by TBS, with a cast that includes no one that I dislike (such as Asano Atsuko and Eguchi Yousuke) and it seemed Nishiogi just might be returning to her former glory....I guess one worry I had was that the drama seemed aimed at a younger audience, which was dangerous.

First friends, first clubs, first love, first everything. This drama covers entering college til graduation, a four year time span. Haruka (Uchida) is a college freshman at Shonan University. She is a student in the physics department. She always wanted to live the lifestyle of a college student and now she is in college to fulfill that dream. On her way to class, her high heel breaks and she meets Kuwata (Ogiwara) a senior who is known as a guy who tries to sell anything to pay for his school tuition. Actually he has a three year old son that he is taking care of. The child's mother died soon after child birth. He helps her out and Haruka starts to like him. Her friend Tooyama also likes Kuwata too. What will happen?

Starring: Uchida Yuki, Hagiwara Masato, Nishio Mari, Yamato Takeshi, Tooyama Kyouko, etc..
Theme Song: Shiawase ni naritai by Uchida Yuki
DURATION: January 12, 1996 through March 22, 1996. 11 episodes.
REVIEWS:

I enjoyed this drama. I felt it was very good and targeted the "GenerAsian Y"...I don't think older people will like this drama. I think younger people who like young adult dramas will like this. - KNDY

And although I could see flashes of good dialog at times, it was restrained by the mediocre acting. There is one excellent actor in it, whose name I can never remember but who's the father in "Sweet Home" and was in "Kekkon shitai otokotachi" as well, and he's great here as well, but everyone else is young and not so great. Actually the guy who plays the photographer (can't remember his name either) was very good in Matsubara's "Shiawase noketusdan" but her he overdoes it and is just annoying. Uchida Yuki, who seems really popular these days but whom I'd never seen before, was unremarkable. In both her acting and singing (she sings the title song which is pretty good) she seems a Kyonkyon wannabe, but without the talent. - John