I'm SO excited when another Kitagawa(the writer)-Kimura(the main lead) duet is out!! Coz, I just LOVE Asunaro, Long Vacation and Beautiful Life!!! So, I'm expecting something REALLY good on Sorakara!

Man!! I'm sooooooo dissapointed >_< This is NOTHING like Hisashi Nozawa's Sleeping Forest or Ice World(as I'm a fan of those)!! It's a dark type and Ryo's character is just disgusting....I can't believe, my #2 fave actor accepted this role =(

The story is slow-paced. In Sleeping Forest, we get to find BUNCH of new puzzles in every episode. Even one revealed, comes another. Which made it so exciting to watch. But, all there is in every Sorakara episode are talks & talks, and sometimes there's NO good coming out from talking with an important character. One puzzle show up OR revealed, usually, in every ending of the episode. I have one matter to tell Kitagawa-sensei, "Stick to romantic stories!!" =P

The ONLY things I like from Sorakara ARE the ending sequence and the cruise ship scene^^ I like 60s western songs! That's why, I'm really into the ending themesong, SMILE by Elvis Costello(formerly sung by Nat King Cole). And the ending sequence, shows flying puzzles with blue atmosphere...and in the end, it gathered and formed a picture of Ryo, Yuko and Dojima. I like it! The cruise ship scenes in the first episode are fabulous, too!

Okay, so how's Ryo disgusting?! Well, apparently, in the beginning of Sorakara, Ryo have a girlfriend(Miwa) and a sex partner(Yuki). EW!!

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*SPOILER* * * * * * * * * * But then, Miwa later killed herself, and Yuki realized she doesn't want to be his 2nd girl anymore.

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"Let's create a world without war together"

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*still SPOILER* * * * * * * * * * At last, after few friendly interactions with Yuko(Eri Fukatsu), Ryo noticed her very much now, and realized she's 'the one' for him. He begins to open up to her, and it seems he really need her and care about her. So, they're going out together and really fallin love with each other. When I thought, "Finally! Ryo has changed, he became a good character!". Bam! Suddenly, he slept with this other woman since he needs money from her!!O_o What the---?!? And, what made it even WORSE: after Ryo and Yuko made love for the 2nd time. Ryo's flashback show up again in his head. Usually, he sees himself as a little boy playing a jigsaw puzzle by himself. But now, another figure comes up, he's playing with a little girl....and he realized that the little girl has the same face with Yuko's childhood picture. He murmured, "Imoto?". EWWW!!!! Ryo and Yuko are birth siblings!! It is super-incestual!! I prefer Sleeping Forest MUCH MUCH MORE than Sorakara!! At least, Naoki and Minako had never kiss or slept together >_<

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"Let's create a world without war together"

i am currently watching this show on tv.. and so far after 2 episodes i don't really like the story.. probably because katase ryo seems like he's two-timing miwa.. please can someone tell me what is this show really about and what's shibasaki kou's role in the story? is she connected with the murder.. in the first episode.. i dun mind spoilers.. because if not i might stop watching it.. it doesnt really seem my kind of show..

oh my.... where to begin wif this show??!!!
i mean, this is one of the shows you gotta watch from beginning till the end...
cos' nothing is what it seems...
it's a really dark show with it's fair share of twists and turns...

Kimura is not a good guy in the show...
his character and what moulded him is revealed little by little...
so i find that it's not that easy to give you a full synopsis...

solie ah... tok so much... but still not really answering your post...

no it's okay.. i dun really like seeing TK in a bad guy show.. hmmz...

though he is not the good guy (but his not really that bad either... his character is just a little wierd... not a typical kind of character you see in doramas....), one still can't help but feel sorry for him at the end.....

there's a lot of 'grey' in this show... nothing's really 'black and white'....
actually i find it rather worth watching...

ohhh
arashinokoto...i'm like that too when the first time i bought the smile has left your eyes
i was like wondering..
what the hack!...kimutaku is the bad guy!..
didnt really expect him to be like this..
fooling all the girls...two timing etc..

but later in that drama...
i found out that he's not that bad after all..
i dont consider him as a bad guy..
he's just a little weird..as what kook05 said...
just keeping everything to himself...
n doesnt wanna trust anyone..

the ending is really sad....
very sad indeed...


this is something diff. from kimutaku...
at least something new..
rather than every single year watching the same old romance drama...

thanks everyone for that advice.. i'll really should give it a try shouldnt i.. it's just that after watching two episodes i really like miwa.. and i can't help seeing her being treated that way...

heh.... i would definitely ask you to give the show a chance...

when i first watched the show, i also don't really know what to expect...

i mean, i really do feel that Ryo is such a jerk at first!!!

but as you watched on, you will find that he is not that bad... you actually begin to sympathise him more and more....

erm... it's been a long time since i've watched that show... but miwa...erm.... not really that impt in the show... so.... you get my drift??!!!

Definitely give it a chance. You should form an opinion when you have watched the entire thing. Yes, his character is dark but he pulls it off very well. He shows us he's multi-dimensional as an actor and not just someone who does the mushy stuff all the time.

hmmm... what can i say?? i totally agree with sony md...
i really do like TK in all these 'dark roles' (eg. this show, wakamono no subete, nemureru mori)
find that he's just such a great actor that he gives me the creeps sometimes... esp his eyes!! so intense!!! *swoon*

ok.. thanks everyone... i'll give it a chance and continuing watching.. maybe it's just because i usually watch shows that are of a less serious level and i was a little overwhelmed by a show with a little less humour.. thanks..

a couple of comments to add regarding this drama:

it features the most mature performance from kimura san to date. certainly fascinating to watch. the drama offers an interesting insight into this high profile performer's growth over the years as an actor- remember the toothy grin of asunaro and the cool of gift?

well, that's culminated in this one hell of a deeply-absorbed role. kimura takuya is ryo.

also very good is igawa haruka as miwa: a stirring, layered, passionate performance.

some of the music reminded of that in taiyo wa shizumanai.

the end theme piece brings out the sad sad aura of the drama. (is that the smile piece?)

having already read the very good synopsis from the groundbreaker site, some of the most tragic parts of the drama are yet to come (now at about episode 6). judging from the ambience already created and the standard of acting, this drama is probably gonna end on an overwhelmingly sad note

i guess so too.. i tend to always form my conclusions when i watch the first few episodes.. i'm watching this show mainly for kimutaku and fukatsu eri but now already at ep 6.. i'm starting to be interested in the plot.. probably because of the murder cases aspect i guess... but after this.. i;m definitely going back to watching more light-hearted dramas.. they make me feel better...

tk a bad guy ? nope just a weird guy to me. like to keep all the secret to himself. like his character in this drama. really diff. hontoni sugoi
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I've been trying to watch this drama but I'm having a hard time, not because it's dark but because so hard to believe. Eri Fukatsu is one of the best (and cutest) current actresses but I can't understand what her character sees in the character Kimutaku plays. She knows he's a 2-timer (having a serious relationship with her childhood friend while fooling around with the character Kou Shibasaki plays. And he always acts so wierd and self centered around her. Then she goes to see him right after her childhood friend's death and lets him hug her. WTF. Unbelievable!

Could some kind person explain her motivation to me? Is it just that they both have burn scars? That's too shallow for me.

Maybe should not read if you have not seen. ???Spoiler?? Not sure

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In my opinion this is one of the best dramas that Kimura san has made. the character is definitely dark and sad. the story is fascinating and the way is has to work out in the end is perfect Greek tragedy style. At the same time Kimura is doing the finest subtle acting and still being very sexually appealing. Sanma is wonderful as the detective. Not one false step as any sign of being a comedian. The women were not exactly lily pure and until he met the one he really loved he owed nothing to any of them. Heartbreak time was the most terrible shock for him. His decision to make her hate him was so sad.

I loved this drama.

Peggy

Suggest you don't read this if you have not watched this drama. Might be a spoiler (altho I don't think so really.)

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Click on button to reveal/hide spoiler:

In my opinion this is one of the best dramas that Kimura san has made. the character is definitely dark and sad. the story is fascinating and the way is has to work out in the end is perfect Greek tragedy style. At the same time Kimura is doing the finest subtle acting and still being very sexually appealing. Sanma is wonderful as the detective. Not one false step as any sign of being a comedian. The women were not exactly lily pure and until he met the one he really loved he owed nothing to any of them. Heartbreak time was the most terrible shock for him. His decision to make her hate him was so sad.

I loved this drama.

Peggy

Please read the Posting Guidelines regarding the use of the spoiler tags...

Spoiler tags added.

Well, I went to the trouble of watching the whole thing but I still think it sucks. It's unbelievable, unashamedly contrived with all the bizarre twists and turns in the plot just added to make ending more dramatic. On top of that, they REALLY milked the ending. ERI puts on a fine performance at the end but I couldn't believe her character's behaviour at the beginning which is needed to believe the ending. There were a lot of other holes in the story, too. (But I guess it was worthwhile as a Japanese language listening study exercise.)

If you liked this drama, you should try watching Koukyokoushi '93. It has the same dark themes but it not as contrived and, IMO, better acted.