Minami-kun no Koibito (Minami's Lover)

Based on a manga by Shungiku Uchida.

[TV ASAHI SYNOPSIS]: What would you do if you were suddenly only 16 cm tall?
What would you do if your loved one was suddenly only 16 cm tall?
A best selling sentimental love story is dramatized for the second time!

Everything started when a high school couple, Chiyomi (Kyoko Fukada) and Minami (Kazanari Ninomiya) had a mysterious and ominous fortune cookie at a Chinese restaurant… “If you stay close to him, he will become great and the two of you will be together for a long time. However, when the two of you drift apart, horrible thing will happen”.

Just as the prophesy, on the very day when Minami decided to leave Chiyomi, a magical curse struck Chiyomi. Believe it or not, it shrunk her into a size of merely 16 cm tall! What would happen when a tender boyfriend and a miniaturized girlfriend secretly starts living together?

[Excerpt from Televiews, Daily Yomiuri, by Wm. Penn, July 15, 2004]: Definitely not worth watching is the remake of Minami-kun no Koibito (Thursdays, 9 p.m. on the TV Asahi network). The 1994 original was humorous and heartwarming. The 2004 remake has a definite 21st-century harshness to it. Characters and subplots have been altered. These teens are too sophisticated, and the sympathetic parents of the original have been replaced with guardians who smack their kids around. Yuck! If you want to see what Minami-kun no Koibito was really all about, get thyself to a video
store.

STARRING:  [1994 VERSION] Takeda Shinji,Takahashi Yumiko, Kusakari Masao, Nishida Hikaru, Chiba Reiko/[2004 VERSION]:Fukada Kyoko, Ninomiya Kazunari, Miyaji Mao, Kitamura Soichiro, Tanabe Seiichi, Ishii Tomoya and more.
NETWORK: TV Asahi
THEME SONG: [2004] "Hitomi no naka no Galaxy" by Arashi
DURATION: (2004 version) July through September 2004
REVIEW: