STRAWBERRY ON THE SHORTCAKE

Strawberry on the Shortcake is a fillm starred by Takizawa Hideaki and Fukuda Kyoko aired in 2001. It is the story of teen perspective and challenges.


SYNOPSIS:


The story is about a Junior High School student named Irie Manato and his unrequited love. There was a point in his life where he has separated himself from the world by playing a character (known as his fake self). According to him, it is a result of losing reason or purpose. One day, he meets a girl named Misami Yui who seem to be very cheerful and odd in some ways. Like him, she feels that everyday life seems boring and is looking for something interesting and entertaining to make life exciting. After meeting this girl several times, he learns that she will be his step-sister.  He also realized that he has fallen for her,even before knowing their relationship. Sadly, Misami Yui has her eyes set on Saeki Tetsuya, a senior who was held back for two years and is having an affair with one of the instructors. While Manato deals with his feelings for Yui, he starts receiving blue letters in his shoe box from his next-door neighbor and classmate Sawamura Haruka. It is interesting to see how Irie Manato's unrequited love will turn out as he and Yui  spend everyday living under the same roof.

Characters:

Irie Manato, played by Takizawa Hideaki, is a Junior High student who is unpopular and being bullied and faces it by playing an act. Due to acting, he lost his true self over his fake self.  When his parents separated, he lived with his father. His father then remarries and was married to Misami Yui's mother. With the help from Yui, his love and step-sister, he was able to regain his true self.

He is very gentle and caring for the person he loves. He is willing to sacrifice his feelings just to make his love one happy. He willingly grants his love one's whims and requests to the expense of his feelings.

Misami Yui, played by Fukuda Kyoko, is the object of Irie Manato's love and his step-sister. She is very weird and seems to be bored with life's tedium. She is very straightforward and honest. She thinks of something, she does it. She is very persistent when it comes to going after what she wants and when she asks something form Manato.

Sawamura Haruka, played by Uchiyama Rina, is Manato's childhood friend, next-door neighbor, and classmate. She is athletic and harbors feelings for Manato for a long time. She is, as the series says, very old fashioned and has a very strong character. She was the first to discover the relationship of Tetsuya and the English teacher Asami Mariko.

Kubozuka Rina, played by Saeki Tetsuya, is Manato's classmate and newly found best friend. He was held back for two years because he lacks the number of days for his attendance. He posted as someone who had a serious illness just so he can stay in Junior High. He wanted to stay in Junior High because of his long-time relationship with Asami-sensei. Apparently, he is very talented and very intuitive. He is the object of Yui's affection. Though he seem to be happy-go-lucky but deep inside he seems mature. He dislikes being disliked and shoves problems with a smile.

Cast:

Takizawa Hideaki as Irie Manato
Fukada Kyoko as Misawa Yui
Uchiyama Rina as Sawamura Haruka
Kubozuka Yosuke as Saeki Tetsuya
Ishida Yuriko as Asami Mariko
Okada Nana as Mizawa Yurie (Yui's mother)
Nagashima Toshiyuki (永島敏行) as Irie Kengo (Manato's father)

LINKS:
Official Site click here  
Jdorama page click here
AsianMediaWiki page click here
Wikipedia page click here
MySoju ( watch Online) click here
DramaCrazy (watch Online) click here
D-Addicts (download series) click here

Writer's POV:


At first, I wasn't really a fan of the series because it felt like watching a series about a third wheel, but as the story progressed I learned to like the series because of the many issues they have addressed such as teen love, virginity, pre-marital sex, and identity crisis. These issues are rampant even today. I also wanted to see how a martyr and self-sacrificing love will turn out in the end.

I love how Takizawa Hideaki played his role here. He also looked a lot like Harry Potter. LOL! His character was very self-sacrificing and a martyr, and I really liked it.

Fukuda Kyoko's role was also interesting in that she is very unpredictable. Even in the end, I never guessed her true feelings and emotions. I was also surprised how her character could just throw herself to the person she likes. The character was well played.

I also liked their use of the differences in eating a strawberry in a shortcake to show difference in perspective.

Overall, the series was very good and the ending was great. The time spent watching it wasn't a waste.

Images:

 

Note: these images are those that I have gathered online. These aren't used for profit but for entertainment purposes only. Thank you to those who posted these photos.... I don't own any of these photos...