Kon'na koi no hanashi

I happened upon this while channel surfing a few years ago. Luckily Fuji Television was being aired on a local Seattle television station late at night on the weekends. Plus it was broadcast with English subtitles.

I was hooked instantly by the story line, as well as I have travelled to Japan and the story takes you to many areas. So even if you have never been to Japan you get a taste of the different areas around Tokyo and a better understanding of the class system.

I was watching The Last Samuri and kept thinking Ujio certainly looks familiar.....I am so thrilled he was pictured in a film distributed in the US woo woo...

This is a drama worth watching. The story line was good, the actors (especially Sanada Hiroyuki and Tamaki Koji) really put in a marvelous performance. I would say the way the whole show was directed from start to end really glued the viewers to the tv screen, and the music too really is effective in setting the moods, funny, in suspence, hearbreaking and...romantic... I especially like the main track "Mr. lonely" (sang and composed by Tamaki koji).

After watching this show, I was so fasinated by both the main actors in this show that I start to search for more information on this two actors...new series, movies,fan page etc etc. Now I am a great fan of both of them. "Mr. lonely" too sets me off to be a music fan of Tamaki Koji!

The english name of the show is Rich Man Poor Man. The story is about a ruthless businessman whose motive is only to make money when he find out he has only half a year to live. Through fate, he bump into a man who is a total oppsite of him, a penniless man whose life is to gain happiness through helping people even he has no money. Slowly, the businessman changes his attiude towards life. The lead role Shuichiro Harashima is marvelessly played by Hiroyuki Sanada. His looks and acting skill make the character comes alive. He is cold yet not proud, 100% meeting the character's requirement. I will strongly recommend this show to everybody. For those who do not understand Japanese, try getting those with sub-titles.

I wouldn't be over dramatising this story if I called it the greatest love story of it's time. The story itself is really about believing that one can change their ways with the help of their friends... But like it of not A Story of Love is a love story, and a classic of that. The film is centred on three people, Harashima (Hiroyuki Sanada) the rich, dashingly handsome and cold man of the story who only has three months to live, his 30-yen-poor friend Konosuke (Koji Tamaki) and the beautiful, kind and (in Harashima's words) "amazing" Kaori (Nanako Matsushima) who almost instantly captures Harashima's heart and proves to him that love is a real feeling.

A Story of Love is also that of a forbidden love as Harashima is not only rich but engaged to a beautiful woman (Naho Toda) whom he doesn't love but is the daughter of a powerful man who will help his business. In eye-sight, poor Kaori doesn't stand a chance again her as she is poor and has nothing to offer Harashima but her love and support. However, Harashima can barely keep away from her. Despite his constant promises to his fiancée, Konosuke and even Kaori herself on the street (resulting in both of them rushing off home in tears), he always breaks them and hits her with his famous line, "Can you keep me company for a while?" Konosuke believes that Harashima is a good man at first when he thinks he's a gardener but once finding out he's Harashima, orders him not to go near Kaori ever again. Reason isn't because he believes he's a cold man has he had already seen the better side of him, but because he fears for Kaori's feelings. Kaori is one to fall in love quickly, but never had she fallen so deeply in love before. Knowing that Harshima is engaged and "out of her league" hurts her so much, that Konosuke fears for her self-confidence and even her sanity.

Fear not though, as true love wins over all of these boundaries and Kaori and Harashima stay together until the day he dies, and even afterwards as she and their friends will never forget him and she even talks to him sometimes. It's beautiful and very romantic. Not once does Harashima need to say he loves Kaori as it is right there is his eyes and the pain and longing he has to be with her is so wonderful that it makes your heart beat so quickly. Not once does he kiss her, he just holds her hand, hugs her and they sit together like a loyal wife would do for her dying husband.

"A Story of Love" has some of the most romantic, most poetic and most adorable love scenes I've ever seen. It stands alone among TV shows but it's space, it's colour and it's various story lines. If you have a chance to see it, the do so as you owe it to yourself to watch this amazing story of a dying man is is transformed by his friends and the woman he loves.

10/10