Taiyou No Uta 05

nobody@vox.com(Blivy) — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 20:02:43 -0400

While working at a seaside inn with his high school buddies, Kouji Fujishiro (Yamada Takayuki) meets Kaoru Amane (Sawajiri Erika), a street musician. Kaoru is suffering from an incurable disease called XP (xeroderma pigmentosum), and can’t be exposed to the sun. Under the sun, the two would never have met. Still, destiny brings the two together. Since the day he suddenly lost his job, Kouji has lost sight of his dreams. But when he meets Kaoru, who is making positive efforts to become a singer, Kouji regains his long-forgotten passion for music.

i hate to make a comparison to 1 Litre of Tears but it's inevitable since 1) i picked up this series because of Sawajiri Erika's performance as Ikeuchi Aya and 2) she's dying again. once again she plays a character with a fatal disease, only this time the show is more romance-oriented. 1 Litre focused on how Aya coped with her illness, while Taiyou no Uta has several plotlines and doesn't assume from the start that Kaoru is going to die. Kaoru is also unable to face her disease the way Aya did--not to mention she's angstier and does quite a bit of whining, too.

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not that her whining isn't justified or anything, considering her condition. it's just the way Kaoru is portrayed in the series (i have yet to watch the movie). she's not ... likable. let me rephrase that. it's more like this: when you're watching Sawajiri act as Kaoru, you get the feeling that she's talking to herself. even when she's smiling very cutely and interacting with other people, her character still feels extremely self-involved. it's similar to the Tom Cruise Syndrome, except Tom Cruise makes you want to listen to him complain. whereas with Kaoru, i'm tempted to fastforward.

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it might not be Sawajiri's fault; it could be the direction or the script. either way, Taiyou no Uta puts a sort of distance between its audience and itself. none of the acting feels real, and it's hard to connect with the main characters. the supporting characters are less intriguing than they are stereotypical, serving as meek attempts to insert humor into what would otherwise be a very serious show about a serious subject. but the comedy doesn't mesh with the rest of the melodrama, and it isn't very funny period.

but bad direction, bad acting, and a lame script could be saved by a good soundtrack--and unfortunately, Taiyou no Uta doesn't have that either. whereas 1 Litre had "Konayuki" by remioromen, which would play during every Aya-and-Haruto (her love interest) scene and basically break a lot of hearts in the process, the music in Taiyou no Uta comes off as mostly bland background songs that you wish you didn't notice were playing. even if they were building up to a good moment, the music would sometimes kill it.

that's my general impression of the series. NOW, about episode 5 :D it had some good scenes, i thought, most of which included Kaoru's guitar. Sawajiri's most moving moments are when she looks utterly helpless. that and her singing face. but it's the face that says "Save me" that gets me every time. just when i think i don't want to watch any more of this show, she pulls the "Save me" face and--yeah, well i'm still here. i know i went on and on about how the music isn't that great, but they had a new insert song (not sung by Sawajiri, i believe) that played while Kouji confessed about his past and relationship with Tachibana Asami. and then it led into Kaoru suddenly saying, "i have a new idea for a song" and taking out her guitar to strum the first few chords of her new song, "Taiyou no Uta" as it's later named. i loved this part. she's just strumming the same chord four times, and then another chord four times, etc. it reminded me of when i used to try to write songs on the guitar, and had a raw, honest quality that's missing from the rest of the show. not to mention the beautiful violin playing in the background of that scene--i don't know why there's a violin, but it sounds good.

the other scene i liked was of Kouji playing the guitar for Kaoru after she finds out she can't use her right hand anymore. since the right hand controls chords, this is the end of her life as a guitarist and, she assumes, singer, too. Kouji's strumming sounds much more experienced than Kaoru's, and in his impromptu performance he's already tweaked her new song a little for her. the contrast between their guitar-playing skills was interesting to see, especially because Kouji is the reason Kaoru started playing in the first place, and it makes sense for him to be better. it also hints at all the history that Kaoru still hardly knows about, Kouji's past, and why he gave up music. this was a good way to end the episode and made me want to watch the next one, if only to see more of Kouji's guitar-playing =D

one question i have regarding Kaoru's narration throughout the episodes: does this mean she's not going to die?

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Taiyou No Uta 05