[Discussion] CHANGE - Kimura Takuya's Spring 2008 drama

Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 8:57 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Change feels like Engine done on a bigger, higher level. Except that there were so many veteran heavyweight actors in Change who were sorely under utilised. Pity that.

Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 8:58 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Change feels like Engine done on a bigger, higher level. Except that there were so many veteran heavyweight actors in Change who were sorely under utilised. Pity that.

Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 8:59 am Post subject: Post Rating: -1

Change feels like the drama Engine done on a bigger, higher level. Except that there were so many veteran heavyweight actors in Change who were sorely under utilised. Pity that.

Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 9:00 am Post subject: Post Rating: -1

This drama feels like Engine done on a bigger, higher level. Except that there were so many veteran heavyweight actors in Change who were sorely under utilised. Pity that.

Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 9:01 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Oh goodness there are so many multiple posts and I can't seem to delete them.

There was some bug/coding error it seems.

Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 9:02 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

There were many scenes in Change that clearly showed up Kimura Takuya's acting ability. One particular episode was I think 7 or 8 where he felt anguished and perhaps betrayed but he just couldn't portray the build up of those emotions. So they had to settle for some creative camera work to try to convey the somber, dark mood.

Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 6:39 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Takuya had never been an awesome actor. He is decent mostly, sometimes good, never awesome. He had shown no remarkable growth as an actor with the same focus on his lip bitting. I guess you can call him a steady actor with cookie cutter perfomances. Although he had played many characters of different occupation. The characters' personalities are very similar. IMO of course.

While he might not be the better actor, I find takenouchi's acting style (appearing in Tomorrow at this time) much more suitable for asakura's character. Of course, he is the more serious, brooding type and would not have meshed well with the slapstick script. However, I can guarantee that takenouchi would have given a much better, more touching monologue. Also, I would have enjoyed the drama better if it had a more serious tone in the mold of shiroi kyoto and takuya's character had real human flaws (besides his kindness/trust).

Lastly, the talents of fukatsu and hiroshi were never utilized. I was surpised fukatsu was able to make something out of nothing with her character. What a shame.

FansubWiki · Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 9:05 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Man, what's with multiple posts? Massive server lag?

Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 1:15 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Relatively speaking... yes, he is above average. Strictly speaking... he is a very good entertainer, but an average actor at best.

“The distinguishing features of Asakura's character was that "He had the words" (passionate), and that people are drawn to him (charisma/charm). The character was clearly designed specifically for KimuTaku. No one else could've possibly matched him in this role.”

Yes, I agree that the character likely (at least the initial campaign) was designed for taku, but I tend not to think takenouchi would be just another politician in a similar themed drama. Like you said indirectly... jdrama acting runs from bad to average (thus your opinion of taku being above average) and stereotyped, then wouldn't the script be one that can see more development and be more fluid? That's why I mentioned I would have enjoyed it more with a more serious tone and thus allowed asakura's character to be more complex.

As I alluded to previously, the slapstick script would not have worked with takenouchi's acting style and seems likely to be designed specifically/altered for takuya. Those early campaign speeches were just tailor-made for takuya. From his speeches, I can see the writer using takuya’s charm to convince the viewers of his supposed passion for the people. As takenouchi cannot pull off that love & peace BS/fantasy, he would likely have to propose a tangible yet radical policy that bucks the company line. In addition, I believe there are plenty of ways to get the already everyman-like takenouchi elected.

My premise is while there were a few parts only Takuya could have done well, there are so much more in the drama that takenouchi could have easily replaced him and performed better. While the show started out all slapstick-y (right into taku's wheelhouse), it ended in a serious note. Frankly, takuya isn't any good with the serious act and gives nothing but the grimacing in thought while biting his lips like we have seen so many times. Of course, it wouldn't be the "CHANGE" we saw with the changes I preferred so all the crap I mentioned were all just academic. But as the current script stands without changes, Takenouchi would have bettered taku in the middle episodes and far outperformed takuya the last 3-4 episodes. He would have mugged takuya and stole his daughter’s lunch money during that monologue.

This was like casting Ronald Reagan as Jefferson in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
He had more charm (hey, enough to be elected president), but jimmy stewart was a much better actor and portraits the rough yet sensitive everyman look perfectly. Takuya’s appearance is too refined/sophisticated/womanizing (aka his charm) for the portrayal of a countryside teacher or even a salary man. I can assure you that jimmy wouldn’t need the star-gazing, curly hair crap to convince you that he was an everyman nor do takenouchi. While takenouchi isn’t the actor stewart was either, but I think he would have done better than taku and the drama better overall if the slapstick part was toned down and used another vehicle to get him elected.

So I don’t know if I should blame the writer to not write a script that was perfect for takuya or that takuya is just an actor that can’t excel even with a script tailored for him.

FansubWiki · Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 5:19 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

^
Maybe this genre of dorama is just not your thing. I can see why some may think it could've had more character developments, but I thought this series had a really nice flow, and it really connected with me.

With or without KimuTaku, CHANGE was never meant to be a dark or super-serious dorama since it's directed by the same person who directed HERO, and scriptwriters are also the same. Complaining about that is like saying one genre's better than another.
The focus of this series is same as HERO: Inspiration and achievement of a charming, hard working protagonist "doing the right thing" and helping the weak. Also pointing out couple of things wrong with "the system" in the progress. There was nothing wrong with the character setting for this purpose, and Kimura Takuya was the perfect (if not the only possible) casting.

Plus I don't understand your fascination with Takenouchi. He would've been disastrous in the current script since his acting is practically the opposite of passionate and emotional... How could he possibly have handled that monologue? There was no way he could've portrayed a young, radically earnest politician who wouldn't sleep even sleep for work, as well as Kimura did.
Frankly, he's not even that good of an actor IMO. I would think he's below average among dorama actors...

The only person I think would've done well as Asakura other than KimuTaku is Odagiri Joe... His personality is a lot darker than KimuTaku, but he excels in emotional scenes as good if not better than KimuTaku, and actually has the naturally curly hair Whistling

The series would've been a completely different tone, but could've worked with existing script and would've been quite interesting.

Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 6:08 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

watched the final ep yesterday..wow, it was soo good. it had it's funny/ tearful moments..I was impressed by the 22 minutes speech..it was soo well done..well kimura is a great actor after all ( at least for me)..all the cast did well..from the prime minister to the SP ( I love the SP guy..he was cute and funny pinch

)..kimura/eri sure did have a great chemistry together..as welll as kimura/abe..

I never knew that I'll ever like a political drama that much..some scenes in it really touched me..I think it became my favorite drama this year thumright

I'm sad now that it ended. hope that they will decide on making a special episode..that would be great Roll Eyes

and all the thanks for Massuki Fansub for providing us high quality subs for this drama thumleft

Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 7:52 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

just finished watching the last episode a few minutes ago.. Wow, i was captivated by the monologue. I dont think there's anybody better for this role. Im not saying this because Im kimutaku's #1 fan, ok,haha, i am saying this because i am his #1 fan...

Asakura oozes with charisma and I dont think anybody does it better than kimutaku. I would have preferred it to have more episodes -- there were a lot of angles that were left uncovered -- plus, no kissing scene! waaah... haha. ok, thats the fangirl in me again. Seriously, they could have tackled a lot in the drama, could have even had at least two more episodes. Oh well, im just glad that I got to watch this drama. I can go to sleep and dream about politics and the cutie PM now...

Casting is always an "what if" game, isn't? The discussion about how the drama would turn out if Takenouchi had Kimura's role is quite interesting.

I enjoy the work of both actors very much. I think Kimura has grown as an actor, and his recent film roles are proof (except for Hero). He was very good on 2046 and I loved him in Bushi no Ichibun. His role in the upcoming I come with the rain looks promising as well.

Takenouchi, on the other hand, has proven to be a very versatile actor and every new role seems to bring something different. I admire his capability to telegraph emotions with very few words (or none at all).

Change was a great drama, but I have to agree that it relies heavily on Kimura's charm to make it work. He's able to balance the goofy and the serious stuff like no one else. Takenouchi can do comedy, as seen in Shotgun Wedding, but he would bring a certain gravitas to the role, in my mind. Would that work better? I think it would be a totally different drama. Change, as it is, has the Kimura imprint all over it.

Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 12:42 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

I just finished watching the final episode and just blown away, Kimura kun is AMAZING! Though I'm also dissapointed that there's no kissing scene lol!! Isn't this Kimura kun's first drama without a kissing scene?? Also, it wasn't shown if he won the election to enter the prime minister office again.

Just a question.. not sure if this is a spoiler but those who haven't watched maybe skip reading this part!

What did he mean when he said to Miyama san, that he wanted her to be by his side, forever? Was that a proposal in code or something?? Or did he just want her as his secretary forever? Japanese subtleties are sometimes just that... way too subtle!!

Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 12:47 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Spielbol: i think i would like to disagree with you regarding the character of keita will be much better portray by takenouchi than kimura. i only knew kimura recently but i've already seen almost his drama. i known him when i tried to watch the drama pride and that lead me to search all his works. so far that i had seen in his acting he give justice to all the characters that he had been portrayed. will regarding as keita it suited to kimura that takenouchi, i saw the drama tomorrow but to tell you the truth i felt bored with the drama even though the actor is good looking. i'm not attracted to the drama because it doesn't pulled me to watch it(sorry this is only my opinion). even though change was a simple drama so far i'm entertained by it because kimura give justice or life to the role he was portraying. Big Smile

peace.