The end of this December is a period of Japanese craze for me. It had somehow caught me unaware, all over again, when I saw the movie poster of Taiyou no Uta (literally means, A Song of the Sun) at GV Plaza Singapura and recognised that the lead actor Takashi Tsukamoto was the blond haired guy from Stand Up! (starring Nino from Arashi, Yamashita Tomoshisa, Oguri Shun – Tsukamoto’s best friend according to Adeline, Hiroki Narimiya etc) the J-drama. Rewinding from here, let’s see, I knew of Taiyou no Uta as Takayuki Yamada’s newest drama this year. Before this, I was hooked onto others starring him and Ayase Haruka paired up in Byakuyakou ??? then Sekai no Chuushin de Ai wo Sakebu ???????? (adapted from a novel. There’s also a movie version to this and Mirai Moriyama was cast as Matsumoto Sakutarou instead.). On the other hand, Nobuta wo Produce and Kurosagi (both by YamaPi and Horikita Maki) are dramas that I absolutely love of very different themes and genres from the previous two. The only J-drama I remember (and own) from my secondary school days will definitely be Waterboys, which was soooo engaging and hilarious that I failed to finish watching the movie version of it twice. These night, I spend my time online discussing J-stuff with Adeline, lol. In fact, my J-fetish (not that strong to call it a fetish though) dates back to those days where they used to have this Japanese drama ‘Fuji TV’ and ‘goggle’ time thing on channel U, probably during the late 1990s and 2000/01. Now that I know a bit more, I suddenly remember these titles: ????? (Tackey/Matsushima Nanako), To Heart, Love 2000(Takeshi Kaneshiro), Hero, Nana the amateur doctor, ?? ????, ????(3Peace!), Love Generation, GTO, ??, a show about ???? and this guy cook, another one about emergency ward, ????(Tokiwa Takako/Takuya Kimura), Summer Snow, Kindaichi series ETC and alllllll the OST pieces to the dramas. Yeah, just go search dramawiki. That was before the Korean wave hit. The thing I like about J-pop is the fact that everybody, in some way, is connected / has something that’s connected to another. Which means, answering questions like Who is whose best friend in real life? what is the actor/actress/singer’s real age? how did they look as their chibi selves? is this the guy who acted in that show?! It’s probably my greatest pleasure in satisfying my curiousity learning about these.
Just a random paragraph here. Adeline was telling me about Japan not having adequate streetnames for people to navigate about unfamiliar territories and how we pitied postmen who are new on their jobs. I would love to visit Japan sometime too! But it’s not quite possible after we factor in the costs of travelling, accomodation, necessities and SHOPPING. And grabbing VCDs/CDs and cooping ourselves in cheap hotels watching/listening to them all day long. Haha, talking about streetnames. I suggested to manufacture our own and bring them there to hang up. YamaPi Street, Ayumi Hamasaki Lane, Oguri Drive, Tsukamoto Avenue, and blah. Then they’ll be notable enough for people like us not to lose our ways (yeah like real).
Anyway, all that rain that appears to be falling since forever is making this December feel so surreal. There’s nothing like a hot bath on a chilly night. Hot in the sense that you can actually see the vapour all around. Christmas season has just passed by like a waft of sweet scent, in the beginning it had been slow and gradual, but when it has ended, you know it very well. Too many good stuff to enjoy, I’ve no idea where to start or stop. And I am not the sort who burns myself out on good stuff all at once. Still, ????????????
But nevermind, I’m just here to do a bit of introduction on some Japanese movies and dramas I caught this holidays:
Title: Taiyou no Uta (Midnight Sun)
Cast: Takashi Tsukamoto, YUI
This story revolves around a 16 year old girl Kaoru (YUI) who’s down with this terminal illness Xeroderma Pigmentosum and cannot be exposed to sunlight. She roams the streets at night and plays on her guitar self-composed songs as a street musician near the train station. Kouji (Tsukamoto) meets up with his buddies to go surfing at 4+ in the morning, which is the time for sunrise in Japan and also the time by which Kaoru has to be home. For quite some time Kaoru has observed Kouji from her window and she decides to do something about the crush she has on him one night. The introduction! It’s a really funny scene of the movie besides the signboard-being-moved scene because I believe Kaoru hardly interacts with anyone since she dropped out from school and hence has developed an innocent and cheerful personality. In the movie Kaoru mentions that she love bananas, whereas in reality it’s Tsuka that lists it as one of his favourite food. The director commented that “…Tsukamoto-san wasn’t very good at surfing, but he did his very best during the entire project. That’s just how he is, I think.” (Adel says: now we know why he “doesnt seem to improve no matter how hard he tries”) 
From the beginning, it is known that there is no cure for Kaoru’s illness but she continues to sing and live life to the fullest with support from her family, her close friend and most importantly Kouji. Sacrifices are made, suppressed tears are shed, the last song is sung, and life continues. But the one theme that is evident throughout the entire film — optimism, instead of looming misfortune. To me, the most nostalgic part isn’t when she left, but how Kouji and the rest of them are going to continue living with the memories of Kaoru. Kaoru’s determination to live has definitely affected Kouji in his life afterwards; we can all see that he does not take anything for granted anymore. He’s started living properly.
Kaoru’s last song is entitled ‘Goodbye Days (click to download)’ and I guess it’s dedicated to Kouji if you notice the scene where she performs outdoors with a large group of audience for the first time. For those who enjoy good films that involve stunning landscapes, wonderfully subtle and apt music tracks and quiet atmosphere with much space and time for one to think through, Taiyou no Uta is the film to watch.
Title: Battle Royale I (2000), BR2: Requiem (2003)
External links: BR forums, BR @ Wiki
Watch it on youtube.
