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Eriko Kitagawa has done it again. She has written the best drama of the new season. Love Story (Sundays at 9 p.m. on TBS) appears destined to quickly move to the top of the ratings. Etsushi Toyokawa plays Ko Nagase, a quirky, cranky, highly successful writer in his mid-30s who is in the midst of a maddening 2-year long case of writer's block. Into his life plummets Misaki (Miho Nakayama). She has struggled to find a place in the publishing world for a decade and now, at 30, is about to have her one-year contract dropped if she can not coax Nagase into writing again. Kitagawa's latest effort combines the love story between the pair with some interesting commentary on the writing experience and the creative process. Nagase is the author of a series of serious bestsellers, and he writes them all in pencil on special "genko yoshi" writing paper, each sheet bearing his name. A character who owns neither a computer nor a cell phone, Nagase is an incredibly refreshing change of pace. In real life too, many of Japan's best established writers (those who can set the rules with their publishers) evidently still persevere with pen and paper and pursue the old concept of manuscripts as the process of putting one's soul down on paper. Editors are usually portrayed in Japanese TV dramas as long-suffering drones who coax, coerce and beg the esteemed writing "sensei" to keep turning out a steady stream of work, often regardless of quality. Misaki is different. She is both an editor and a fan of Nagase's books and she wants him to do his best. Misaki is the first editor to see Nagase for what he has become--a sour, negative, unproductive artist. He seems to feel real warmth only for his grandmother, who runs an old fashioned sembei (rice cracker) shop nearby. Misaki can understand the author's angst but does not pander to his self-pity. When he agrees to write a trendy love story for his publisher just to get something in print, only Misaki is bold enough to tell him the truth: it is mediocre and completely out of character. At this point, Nagase realizes she is the editor for him. One wonders how much experience Kitagawa herself has had with the topic of writer's block. She seems to have been churning out one successful drama after another for most of the last decade, beginning with Sugao no Mama de back in 1992. This was followed by Asunaro Hakusho (1993), Kimi to Ita Natsu (1994), and Ai Shiteiru to Itte kure (1995). The latter love story, also with Toyokawa in the starring role, was Kitagawa's first major hit, and it also served to jump start Toyokawa's career. Things got even better in 1996 when Takuya Kimura and Tomoko Yamaguchi sent Long Vacation shooting up the ratings charts. Saigo no Koi (1997), Over Time (1999) and Beautiful Life (2000) followed. Although Love Story starts out on a serious note, Kitagawa has told the press she plans to turn it into her first comedy since Long Vacation. The process should be interesting to observe. And the message, she says, is that it is not necessary to mold yourself to the mood of the era. Just be yourself and be able to face yourself. Most of the first episode involved developing the writer-editor relationship, but fate is also about to link the pair on another level. Unknown to Nagase, Misaki is also a devoted customer of his grandmother's shop. Unknown to either of them, grandma conspires to set up an omiai (arranged marriage) meeting between her favorite customer and her moody grandson. The first episode ends with their surprise meeting. The concept of two people who already know each other on a professional level suddenly brought together for an "omiai" has been done before, but Kitagawa does it particularly well in this series. The supporting cast includes Shingo Katori of SMAP as Nagase's neighbor across the hall. He is a successful DJ who dreams of becoming a professional illustrator. Yuka plays his girlfriend from the countryside. Poor Shingo has dyed his hair so many times it looks like gray straw in this series. We can only assume Kitagawa has plans to reshape his unappealing character into a more lovable creature by week 11. You may want to take a closer look at the illustrations Shingo will brandish about. He did them all himself. Love Story is definitely worth checking out. The new drama season is off and running, and one certainly can't fault it for lack of variety. Doctors, innkeepers, public prosecutors, school teachers, reporters and architects are all lined up to entertain us. STARRING:
Toyokawa Etsushi, Nakayama Miho, Katori
Shingo, Yuka, Kato Haruhiko, Hatano Hiroko, Ono Takehiko, Kotani
Kinya and more. This drama season seems pretty dry but "Love Story" may be the drama that will catch the audience's attention due to the top two actors in this drama. [From Rick Frankum]: My favorite drama of the year. Does ToyoEtsu look vulnerable in anything else he's done? (4 stars) Copyright © 1993-2003
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