My first movie of the year to watch was 2015’s “Have a Song on Your Lips” (くちびるに歌を) starring Aragaki Yui, and based on a novel of the same name. I enjoyed it quite a bit, especially the setting of eastern Nagasaki. The ocean and islands are amazing – I wouldn’t mind living there!
The story is about an accomplished concert pianist (Aragaki) who returns to her hometown to substitute teach the middle school music class as a favor for her childhood friend (played by Kimura Fumino) who is going on maternity leave. For reasons that we are unaware of at the beginning of the story, she hasn’t played piano for a year. The main plot is about her and her students’ transformations as they prepare for the regional choir competition.
I’ve watched a couple movies starring Aragaki Yui in the past year and I have been impressed with her acting. It has greatly improved since I first saw her in a dorama a few years ago. I can’t wait to see her in more movies!
Have a Song on Your Lips (くちびるに歌を) is a beautiful movie, with plenty of contemplative moments and wonderful acting… I recommend it if you like slow-paced and heartwarming films!
I had such high hopes for NHK’s Mare まれ, the 92nd asadora from NHK, but overall it was disappointing. Tao Tsuchiya (土屋太鳳) is one of my favorite Japanese actors and the story of her quest to become the world’s best patissier showed promise, so I was really looking forward to watching. Unfortunately, the story got derailed by too many sub-plots and consequently never got too deep into the main plot, which was by far the most interesting.
The story had a solid start, establishing that the family “fled” Tokyo after going into debt, and was looking for a new home. We learn about Mare’s personality and her feelings about ambitions and having dreams. So far so good. The story got even better after Mare moved to Yokohama and started her apprenticeship at the patisserie. The relationships she had with the head chef, sous chef and assistant were interesting and fun, and just when it seemed like the the story was going to the next level, the silly sub-plot of the Wajima lacquer appeared and it got booooriiing! What an incredible and effective way to put the brakes on an interesting story – introduce the passion that is Wajima lacquer. Zzzzzz… It seemed like there were a few times when the story went back and forth between being intriguing (and returning to pastry-making), only to turn yet again into a snooze-fest. There’d be a glimmer of hope, only to disappear. Boy, the middle weeks of the drama were really a struggle!
Here’s a short list of the subplots that they should have cut from the script:
Wajima lacquer
Ichiko’s big-city experience and wan-wan blog
Takashi’s weird crush on Mare’s mother
Maki’s mysterious past
Keita’s cold relationship with his father
Mare becoming proprietress of the lacquer business
The fisherman’s omiai
There were several other subplots that wasted airtime, but I’d rather not spend any more time thinking about them. On the other hand, here are the things they should have kept exploring:
Mare’s apprenticeship (including France trip that never happened)
Mare’s relationship with her estranged grandmother
Mare and Toko’s professional rivalry
Mare and the Chef’s apprentice/master relationship
Mare’s pastry shop
Anything else that has to do with Mare’s quest to become the World’s Best Patissier
My last rant has to do with the plot trying to span too much from a time-frame. For instance, Ittetsu gets married too quickly and has kids. Let’s imagine that he didn’t get married or have kids. The show would have been exactly the same! What a waste of screen time. And then, Mare also gets married and has kids. Too much.. too soon. I know that family is one of the main themes of the show, but really, they could have developed the family theme more quickly and strongly without bringing in kids. The theme of having both a career and being a mother seemed forced, especially since it was introduced so late in the show. They should have kept the theme simpler… sacrificing your career for your spouse’s, which was a theme from earlier on.
In the last couple weeks of the show (when the plot became interesting again), a couple of the characters point out that Mare has lost 8 years of her patissier life… I kept thinking that the show lost 8 years of plot development! That’s a real shame because I think the actors, particularly Tao Tsuchiya, did a great job.
If you take a look at the character chart below, you could pretty much keep the top row of characters, the Yokohama crew in blue, plus Mare’s grandmother, and you’d have a much better show.
Photo info: SONY SLT-A77V, 50mm, f/2.8, 1/90 sec, ISO125 Moto G and 木村 文乃
This is my new phone: a Motorola Moto G (2nd generation). My two-and-a-half-year-old Galaxy S3 finally died after a few resets and so I decided that it was time. The Moto G is not the latest and greatest in terms of technology, but it is decent, comes with the latest version of Android, and is only $179 total, off-contract.
One thing I have learned is that I do not have to load every app under the sun to have a great experience. After resetting the S3, I had to reinstall apps and each time I reset it, I would install less and less, until I was down to the bare essentials. I realized which apps I actually used and now my phone is pretty uncluttered. Also contributing to the streamlined phone is that it runs stock Android, not some manufacturer skin. So it’s nice and fast. That speed is a great feeling! (and no monthly payments is also wonderful)
Mondai no Aru Restaurant is my favorite new dorama. It’s really fun, with plenty of small inside jokes, especially generational things that are specific to different age groups. This is a good one!
South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami
Just a couple of weeks into the new year, and I have finished reading my first book! South of the Border, West of the Sun
by Haruki Murakami has been sitting on my shelf for a long time now (the receipt I found in the book showed that I bought it at Borders 14 years ago!). Actually I sort of forgot about it, but when I started reading it I couldn’t put it down! That happens often when I read a book by Murakami.
I won’t go into the plot of the story, but the one thing that I kept thinking as I was reading it is that I really miss Japan. This is normal a normal reaction with all his books. But I always can picture the scenes, especially the ones in the city and I can remember when I stood in the same locations as his characters. At least the same neighborhoods.
Like most of Murakami’s works, there are many details that get left unsaid and unexplained. It’s fascinating to read about everyone’s theories about these loose ends. There’s a nice thread on Reddit if you’d like to read them.
. My two-and-a-half-year-old Galaxy S3 finally died after a few resets and so I decided that it was time. The Moto G is not the latest and greatest in terms of technology, but it is decent, comes with the latest version of Android, and is only $179 total, off-contract.
