Tokyo Love Story 東京ラブストーリー

I wonder how many of you know about this great Japanese drama, Tokyo Love Story (Japanese title is "東京ラブストーリー")? It used to run on Fuji TV in 1991. I don't recall it ever having been broadcast in Singapore, though. I only heard about it from a Japanese friend when I was in Japan, that it is the greatest Japanese love drama ever and that I must watch it. So I came back to Singapore, found the VCD version being sold in a local VCD shop, and got myself a copy.

And ended up loving it.

The lovely character of Akana Rika (played by Suzuki Honami, she was so cute) really left me with a deep impression. Here is someone who is daring, fun-loving, out-going, yet deep inside, she faces her inner turmoils about how she really wants to go about handling her relationship with Nagao Kanji (played by Oda Yuji).

Arimoto Narimi, playing the character of Sekiguchi Satomi, showed just how good an actress she was. She played a character that was always hesitant, that emphasises herself as the weak and lost female. She played the character so well that she was hated by many of the female viewers in Japan when the drama aired, so much so that there were letters of complaints being sent to Fuji TV.

I am a sucker for love stories, like The Return of the Condor Heroes. I am intrigued by people who can love without reservations, who dare to express their feelings without having to worry about how the other people around them may disapprove. Guess that is why these love stories just seem to make their way into my inventory...