Nobuta wo Produce Drama Review

A #recycled post, originally written and posted on 27th of May 2009.
Just to remind myself that this is one of the best J-Dramas I have ever watched, and to tell the rest of the world that this is one of the best J-Dramas ever existed. :P

Assalamualaikum and hello all. :)

I was a J-Dramas fanatic back then. It's not like I stopped watching any of them anymore. It is more to, limiting the intake of J-Dramas, haha.But really, those who intended to watch at least ONE Japanese Dramas throughout their whole life should watch this particular drama. Nobuta wo Produce.

Blogged on the 27th of May 2009, Wednesday at 11.33 a.m

Nobuta wo Produce is the most inspirational, warm, touching Japanese Drama I've ever watched. And it's not an exaggeration if I do claim that it is the most inspirational, warm, heart rending, touching, moving DRAMA I've ever seen. It is the BEST Japanese Drama I've ever set my eyes to to date. It's even BETTER than Hana Yori Dango and Hana Kimi. And this is the first ever drama that I ever shed my tears for.

It is not a love story, nor is it about scandals and conspiracy. Unlike Malay dramas, it isn't about those guys who left their wives, have mistresses, social issues and all those gibberish talks about businesses. Unlike Indonesian dramas too, it is not about irrelevant fairy stuffs, where the stereotyped plots are the ones showing the scandals and arguments over the rights of inheritance, evil stepmothers with heavy make ups and nor does it showcased the phony acts of crying and moaning each time something bad happened.

It is more than that. It is a complete series, compactly packed in just a 10 episodes drama. It is a series about friendship, overcoming obstacles, being what you what you want to be and being true to yourself.

Nobuta wo Produce tells about the main protagonist, Shuuji Kiritani (Kamenashi Kazuya) who is a popular guy at school who dates a girl he doesn't even like just to maintain his popularity. He is always the one whom everyone seeks helps from, as he is the one who emphasizes on pleasing others, putting others ahead of himself without realising that he is not being true to himself.

Another guy, Akira Kusano (Yamapi) is a loony guy who got high over 'bean' milk (soya bean). He is an outcast in his class but he doesn't really care about all those absurd popularity-clamouring stuffs, as long as he is happy himself. He has a very jovial characteristics that can be shown by his weird yet funny laughter. He is the son of a company's president who refused to take over the company. Shuuji is constantly irritated with Akira's behaviour.

Then comes Kotani Nobuko (Maki Horikita), an extremely shy, timid girl who has no confidence at all towards herself due to the impact of being rejected by her stepfather when she was young. This in turn, results to a series of constant bullying, of which she received and patiently endured since kindergarten until now.

Shuuji who can't bear to see Kotani being bullied, made a plan with the unlikely Akira, of which they vowed to spend their youth wisely by doing something that they will be proud of when they grow up. And so, a friendship is slowly formed between the three different characters who are unlikely to be friends if not given such circumstances. They made a project ' Nobuta wo Produce'. That is, producing Nobuta (Kotani's nickname) to become the most popular girl at school.

Shuuji who gave too much priority over his popularity, secretly helped his new made friends and pretending that nothing ever happened. He was afraid that his popularity will be diminished if they (the students) were to find out that he was hanging out with the two most unpopular students at school. While they were determined to execute each plans accordingly, there will be someone, someone that is unknown until later on, someone that always destroy every plans that were carried out to make Nobuta popular.Shuuji later realised that he can show his true self instead of pretending to be a Mr. Nice Guy when he was with Akira and Nobuta. He feels that he is most comfortable being with both of them. An unfortunate event occurred where Shuuji lost his popularity and is being ostracised in class. No one believes him except for Akira and Nobuta, who will always believe him no matter what.
Akira had developed feelings towards Nobuta but forget all about it later on as he realised that he will not make Nobuta happy. Nobuta on the other hand, secretly shows a liking towards Shuuji.

The main antagonist who destroyed all their plans earlier on is now being discovered. She is Aoi-san, a girl that is also Kotani's first friend. She hated seeing the three of them together and in order to break the three of them apart, she used various despicable methods. 

 But, none of them are able to break apart such strong relationship that is tightly intact. She finally realised her mistake and everything is coming back to normal. It seems like their 'Nobuta project' is slowly becoming successful as Nobuta is slowly gaining popularity.

Until, Shuuji discovered that his dad had to be transferred to the other side of Japan, of which he has to follow through. This comes one of the most heart wrenching part. The whole class bid him farewell but he had his eyes only towards Nobuta and Akira who were standing at the back.

" Everything in life is a game. Those who stopped in the middle and couldn't continue are idiots,"

Shuuji started his new life in a totally different environment.

"We can live our lives wherever we are,".

And when he started introducing himself, he saw something surprising. Someone who was standing at the back of the class. Apparently, Akira decided to transfer to the same school the day before, just so he can be with Shuuji, his best friend. And when Shuuji asked what will happen to Nobuta when both of them are not there with her, Akira said that Nobuta told him that she will be fine. She might be crying for the first three days but she will go through it all.

At the same time, Nobuta was with Mariko- Shuuji's popular ex girlfriend. She has forged a new relationship with her and is now able to carve a smile on her face.

Shuuji and Akira were at the seaside when Shuuji looked up at the sky and say " Somewhere
beneath the same sky, Nobuta is there,"

In class, she saw the empty seats left by Shuuji and Akira. She went up to the top floor, the place where the trio spent their time together before, creating plans and agendas in producing her, the new Nobuta. She looked at the sky and say " I can now smile," and she smiled.

Shuuji looked at the sky and said to Akira " Hey, can you see the sky smiling at us?"

" We can live our lives wherever we are,"

This is the most unforgettable drama about friendship that I've ever watched. And I couldn't suppress my happiness when this critically acclaimed drama won many awards.

47th Television Drama Academy Awards Japan

Best Drama: Nobuta wo Produce
Best actor : Kamenashi Kazuya (Shuuji Kiritani)
Best supporting actress: Maki Horikita ( Kotani Nobuko)
Best Director: Iwamoto Hitoshi( Nobuta wo Produce)
Best Scriptwriter: Kizara Izumi (Nobuta wo Produce)
Best Musical Arrangement: Nobuta wo Produce

I would highly recommend you to watch this drama. 
The message is effectively conveyed (at least that is what I thought). You want to prevent bullying, you want to instil confidence in students, you want them to be good people when they graduated from school, this is the way to convey the messages. You want to prevent social issues, you don't go and produce movies such as 'Bohsia' or 'Rempit'. ( A confession: I watched Bohsia, boohoo).

Please produce something that is close to the teenagers' hearts. Something that made them realised that they are missing something important in their lives. Something important like family, friends and the joys of being youths. 

As for me, I want to grow up being 'abnormal'. Hoho, don't get me wrong. Meaning, I do not stick to the status quo and I do not want to forever go on with the flow. So what's the big deal if you can't score 4 flat or even 3.5 above for every exams? They are important, of course, but don't devote yourself too much towards such slavery. This is our youth. Enjoy it. =)

My verdict: 10 out of 5 stars. :P. It IS, the BEST Japanese Drama I've ever watched.

The end.