No.of Epis: 10Year/TV Station: 2008/FujiTV
Cast:
Horikita Maki ~ Akiyama Kanon
Kitagawa Yujin ~ Nagasaki Junya
Narimiya Hiroki ~ Segawa Subaru
Uchida Yuki ~ Tono Kiyoka
Fukushi Seiji ~ Akiyama Yoji
Kashii Yu ~ Sakurai Mizuki
Synopsis: (edited from Jdorama.com)
An arson took everything away from Kanon seven years ago. Her parents died in that fire, her brother was arrested as the prime suspect and her carefree life disappeared from that instant. She was shunned by the town as the sister of a murderer, yet she believes in her brother's innocence and often pays him visits with words of encouragement. As life gets harder when nobody is willing to give her a job, Kanon decides to try her luck in the city and there she meets the man of her destiny, Junya. There's a room in Junya's house which nobody can enter except him. Inside lays a woman Kiyoka, who is Junya's fiancee and Junya has two good friends beside him, Subaru and Mizuki. Both of them have hidden secrets too...
Slacker's review:
Asano Taeko didn't disappoint me with "Last Friends", but I like "Innocent Love" more. The drama is wintery & xmasty in mood, with some gentleness but kinda sad atmosphere as background. Every character was tagged with a theme, similar to "Last Friends", and the plot's twists and turns were done beautifully. I really like how the themesong matches with the drama...Utada did it again! It's the perfect combo! This is a romance drama cum mystery plot and the way the two themes infused together was just perfect. U can feel how Kanon and Junya fell for each other while the story slowly revealed the secrets of others.
I bet most ppl wld think that Kanon was the real killer of her parents, though her bro was convicted. Asano did gave a lil' surprise though, and tt Yoji was actually the killer. Haha! The reason why Yoji took action, was a sad one - a scar in Kanon's life. Some ppl said Yoji loved Kanon too, but I think it's bro-sis love. If Yoji really loved Kanon with another kind of love, I think he wld have get rid of Junya no matter how. I like how the love triangle b/w Junya-Kiyoka & Subaru evolved. Junya didnt know the truth...(Suba admitted that he liked him when Junya was in coma.) Sometimes I wondered why Subaru liked Junya, it wasn't clearly explained. But I like how he sacrificed by pulling Kiyoka to his side, thus allowing Junya to be with Kanon. As for Kiyoka, I initially thot she wld be dead. No! She woke up, but only rmbed Subaru...(coz' she only liked him...) I felt so sad for Junya, who took care of her for years...I think Kiyoka liked Junya somehow too la, maybe dun wan to lose him to Kanon, thus she wanna committed suicide. The last epi gave me some "heart attacks". Asano didn't even want us to relax ah. Lolz! Firstly, Junya slept into coma after saving Kiyoka..I thot he might nt wake up. But he did! Errr...he woke up, but end up like Kiyoka, cant rmb ppl ard him and didn't speak a word. He only rmb Kiyoka, which I think broke Kanon's heart...then my 2nd fear came! Kanon wld decided to let him be with Kiyoka again! Noooo! Last 10 mins or so, Junya playing the piece he wrote for Kanon. Yes! All his memories he had with Kanon were back! He didn't even bothered to look at Kiyoka and ran to the church to find Kanon! Finally, the long-waited happy ending! Haha! As for Mizuki, she must be feeling pathetic as Junya never looked at her more than a friend. I didn't like her actions, as she's jealous of Kiyoka and Kanon.
The cast was terrific. I nv expect Kitagawa to have such a lovely smile! He's nt tt handsome, but he can look quite different in diff angles. His smile was really warm ne! Acting wise, he's nt actually tt good la, but I think he hardly acts so must pardon him. (Btw, he's one of the members of Yuzu) Horikita! Finally I think she cld stand out from the crowd. Kanon is such a pitiful and lonely character. She brought that out, as well as Kanon's kind-heartedness and maturity.
Uchida did a gd job, though I didn't like Kiyoka la. I wondered why they picked her as she looked older than the cast. Narimiya....he's great! I like Subaru, he's not a one-dimensional character. I can see his internal struggles...he's really Junya's best buddie.
Fukushi was excellent too, though his role is small. Yoji seemed to be violent on surface, but he's such a nice bro in reality. He might seem overprotective of Kanon, but we knew the reason la. Hope to see him lead a drama someday.
Themesong "Eternally--drama mix" is my fav ballad from Utada now! The original version is nice too, but I like the feel of the drama version. Utada's singing skills definitely has improved after 6 yrs. (The original ver is in her 2nd album).
I still rmb the tears and smile in the drama, and the images are still in my memory...highly recommend the drama to u.
