Heterochromia

I wish I was more excited about the live action Hachikuro. But how could I be, really. The movie was not so great -though I still ended up buying the dvd regardless-. I thought, “If they could botch a movie, they could botch a drama.”

When I first went through the cast, I liked the male side of it all. Ikuta Toma will definately make a better Takemoto than Sakurai Shou, there is no doubt about that. It is his performance in HanaKimi that makes me think he has a chance to at least portray Takemoto rightly I just don’t think he has enough to hit an out of the park homer with his acting. Narimiya Hiroki I also thought would be able to knock down the quirky parts of Morita… but I worry about the serious parts of the character. He just has that cat-like grin that I cant help but imagine when I think of him that wont let me take him seriously (read: Nana Movie) and we all know Morita is pretty damn serious. Mukai Osamu as Mayama… that was my least favorite. I dont even remember him being in Nodame until I looked it up. I remember him from Bambino! and he wasn’t taken seriously then. He’s more of a mystery, but he’s got potential.

Like in Nana2 where they changed Hachi to look sexier, the same holds for Narumi Riko and Hagu. Just how tall is she really (read: Just how loli is she really)? HMMMM? She’s cute, just tall for Hagu. As much as I’d love for Aoi Yuu to take up the role, that’s pretty much impossible for she’s more of a movie girl than drama girl. And for Harada Natsuki as Yamada… at first I didn’t think she was anywhere near as sexy as Yamada should be especially with her part in HanaKimi, but that’s not really solid grounds for not believing in her.

So when I went to go watch the first episode, I had hopes but I knew better…

I have a few things to nitpick but all in all, I suppose it could be worse. The thing that bothered me most was their inability to follow the story. Unlike the movie where they crammed everything into the allotted time, these guys have 11 episodes to get it right. After my initial fury of it following NOTHING story-wise, I was later overcome with a slight sense of relief by how it ended. Let me lay it out for you. When I say story wise, they keep the basic important things like the character names, the fact they all go to an art school, and their respective love triangles. Takemoto still has the hots for Hagu, Hagu and Morita’s still has hints of something, Yamada still pines for Mayama who is *thankfully* not as creepily obessed about Rika like in the movie.

So when I say the story is different, I mean the mini side stories. They invented a story where Takemoto is forced to stand in line reserved for First Years to get this special Mountain Curry. If we ignore the fact that this never happened, in this little story, it makes Mayama seem too much like a trouble maker. We all know Mayama is *on the surface* more serious than Morita, but here, he’s running around like a goofball, pulling a cart, and getting Takemoto in trouble along with Morita. He’s supposed to be the understandable and reasonable sempai afterall. It gets worse little bit later, when these trio of supposed troublemakers finally get some curry. It turns out that Takemoto’s cart, left unguarded, hits Shuji’s bike. Afterwards, though understandably angry, Shuji is briefly portrayed as this no-fun teacher who isn’t even that close to the gang.

We’re not even that far into the episode yet but I see “mistakes” abound. All we’ve done is merely seen every important character -save for Rika-. What’s wrong so far? New mini-stories are made for the show. Takemoto meets Hagu earlier than in the real story. Mayama has suddenly become a jokester. Shuu-chan is a jerk. Hagu is not underaged. Errr. Yeah. What about the rest of the episode? I only have one major peeve: Takemoto gets pummeled by Yamada a couple times later on. They’re making Takemoto to be too much of a foil, here. Even though I cited HanaKimi as a bright spot forIkuta Toma, they make him seem to much like his previous character. And worst of all, Romaiya-sempai is some fat bald guy who plays teachers in other dramas (Nobuta wo Produce). You dont even see Leader (the dog) at Fujiwara Design! … okay, it could be worse.

But as I mentioned above, I eventually breathed a sigh of relief. Honey and Clover is my favorite series of all time. It’s one of the few series I’ve watched multiple times and I’ve even cried watching it. The stuff is beautiful. This drama does not come CLOSE to the anime. Yet in the end, I was able to supress some fury and decide to not be anal about every small detail and watch it for what it is: another person’s interpretation of a great series. I cannot consider this a remake of the anime, for it’s too different. BUT. But I thought it showed a little hint of what Honey and Clover the anime was for me. So, as I start a new semester of college, I’m gonna make a concentrated effort to at least watch this drama because of my love for the series and not lose too many tears over the artistic changes that are made.

Oh, and by the way. Who is “I”? You may have realized from the way this post was written, it’s not Sasa. Some of you may remember me as Os from Kono Sono and Karoshi. I was *sorta* pressured into writing this post (plus, I had to vent after watching the episode and this is the best way I know how). I may contribute a post here or there from now on… I may just try and revive my career here… or I may just wait until Summer to start again. Who knows. Hope you enjoyed this, it surely has been quite a while.