My Little Lover
Thumbelina is what comes to mind when I think of this Japanese drama. When Chiyomi Horikiri shrinks to a size that is smaller than a tea cup it is up to her old child hood friend, Shunichi Minami, to help her and figure out how to make her grow back to normal size.
Synopsis
Chiyomi Horiki and Shunichi Minami were best friends as children, but as they grew up they grew apart. Now both Chiyomi and Minami are in high school each have their own objectives for their lives and they are practically strangers. Yet, they just so happen to be neighbors. Their family hones literally are two feet apart.
When Chiyomi decides to finally tell her parents about her plans for the future they angrily tell her to find something more realistic. She then runs into Minami and pleads with him to tell her why they were no longer friends. After Minami angrily says some things he does not necessarily mean, Chiyomi runs away. The whole village is out to find her, but it is Minami who makes his way to a spot only they know and finds her shrunken to the size smaller than a tea cup. Now as her guardian he must help her figure out how to live their day to day lives (as well as with each other in the same room) and bring Chiyomi back to her normal state.
Review
I wasn't going to write about this one just yet. In fact, I had another drama already lined up and partially written out. I couldn't help it though, I owe a great deal to this drama. This, my dear reader, was my very first Asian drama. My best friend and I were having a bit of a throwback moment and watching a cartoon we both grew up with. I think you might have heard of it too, especially if you grew up in the 90's, Sailor Moon. Anyway, in the middle of it she mentioned she wanted to show me something, a guilty pleasure she called it. She mentioned it was an Asian drama and I can't lie to you, dear reader, but I snubbed my nose at it at first. I even told her that I don't like Aisian dramas, that they were weird and cheesy. Oh, what a silly fool I was.
We ended up watching it. We made a deal that if I didn't like the first episode we didn't have to watch anymore and we could continue watching what we were before. Well, after the first episode I oh-so-nicely let her watch the second one. Then we kinda just finished half of the series before we fell asleep that night. Before there is a little judgment I must add that the episodes are short and there aren't many of them. I gave this little adventure a 95% on story line and a 5/5 on direction.
I have to tell you, dear reader, that I just fell in love with this light hearted and sweet Japanese drama. The main actors are incredible. The actress in particular is so sweet I swear she must be made out of cream cheese frosting (my favorite). I think what definitely made this unique show shine was not just the performances from the leads but the story line. It about two friends who must relearn how to rely and trust each other again. Of course there is a great deal of comedy in this story too. That is bound to happen when a man and a woman are forced to live in the same house with each other, much less the same room. Also, add in the fact that one of them is the size of a peanut.
Although incredibly sweet, Chiyomi can be a bit annoying at times. Her immaturity and her over the top nature can grate on the nerves a bit. If you have indeed seen Sailor Moon then I would like to let you know that the characteristics were similar, she was even a bit of a cry baby as well. In fact, after a while I kept referring to them as Usagi and Mamo when they had their little arguments. What arguments you ask, well you'll just have to watch it to find out.
Then we have Minami's prickly nature, which can likewise be a bit cumbersome to watch. Seriously, he would throw his spikes at just about anyone (with the exception of his mother and grandmother who I might add are super adorable). He would say mean things to Chiyomi, only to feel guilty about them almost immediately afterward. He doesn't stay that way permanently, thank God! As the episodes continue he becomes more open and we soon see his sweet and caring nature. Pobrecito, you really do begin to feel bad for him after a while.
Oh, then there is one of the girls in Chiyomi's and Minami's class who is considered one of the best looking in the school. In fact, they playfully call her pheromone because she makes all the boys go wild. Whenever she walks on screen they play this exotically sexy song in the backcround. Honestly, it's hilarious. I had to snicker and roll my eyes whenever it happened. She made me very angry at some parts but in all she wasn't such a bad seed.
Anyway, I hope you liked this entry. This was one of my favorites. Of course, it has big sentamintalty value for me. I guess you can say it was my entry drug to the addiction that is Korean Dramas (K-Drama). Yes, I said K-Drama's because this little Japanese adventure led me to K-Dramas. If it wasn't for this show I may not have ever considered to watch them which would have been a shame. These unique foreign cinema masterpieces deserve to be seen. If you would like to give this lovely little fantasy a chance I watched it on Netflix. I hope you give it a try! Goodbye and until next time, my dear reader!