Title: 夏の恋は虹色に輝く Natsu no Koi wa Nijīro ni Kagayaku
English Title: Summer Romance Shines in Rainbow Colors
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Year: 2010
Episode: 10
Cast:
- 松本潤 Matsumoto Jun
- 竹内結子 Takeuchi Yūko
- 沢村一樹 Sawamura Ikki
- 松坂慶子Matsuzaka Keiko
- 小林星蘭 Kobayashi Seiran
- 桐谷美玲 Kiritani Mirei
- 笠原秀幸 Kasahara Hideyuki
- 永山絢斗 Nagayama Kento
- 谷花音 Tani Kanon
SYNOPSIS
嵐 Arashi - Love RainbowKusonoki Taiga is the youngest son of Kusonoki Kotaro, a well-respected and excellent actor. Taiga decided to become an actor just like his father but he is only known in the industry as a second-generation actor. He has yet to prove himself as a talented actor, which is why he usually appears on variety shows.
One of Taiga's hobbies is skydiving. During one of his skydiving trips, a strong wind drags him away and he gets stuck on a tree. Kitamura Shiori, a beautiful woman, passes by and she helps him to get down from the tree.
Shiori is a cheerful woman with a young daughter named Kitamura Umi. Shiori is an avid fan of Taiga's father and she regularly writes fan letters to Kusunoki Kotaro. Shiori moves to Tokyo with her daughter and since she's acquainted with Kotaro's manager, he offers Shiori a job in the talent agency.
Shiori visits Umi's new school to get to know her daughter's teachers. Kusonoki Daiki is one of Umi's teachers and Taiga's older brother. Daiki is immediately attracted to Shiori's beauty and charms.
REVIEW
Natsu no Koi wa Nijīro ni Kagayaku clearly reflects the predicament of children who choose to pursue the careers of one or both of their parents.
In some ways, these children have things easy because they have inside knowledge about the field and they have connections.
But in some ways, these children have things harder compared to other people because they are pressured to live up to their parents' reputation, and they need to prove to other people that they are capable of succeeding on their own merit.
There are certain careers or fields wherein most parents would insist that their children take after them, such as doctors and lawyers. I'm glad that in this drama, Taiga was the one who willingly chose to follow his parents' careers.
I like Kusonoki Taiga as a character. He is flawed but he is serious about his craft. In some ways, he is too serious about acting and maybe that's why he comes off as wooden and ineffective.
I was able to see how things work in a management agency through this drama. It was interesting to see how actors audition to get a job as well as what preparations actors need to do for their craft such as speech training and acting workshops.
The drama also shows the complications of having a romantic relationship with someone who was seriously involved with someone else in the past.
Kitamura Shiori's case is particularly complicated because she and her husband did not part ways; they were still very much in love with each other when her husband suddenly died due to an earthquake. What complicates matters more is the fact that Shiori has a young daughter.
In Natsu no Koi wa Nijīro ni Kagayaku, Taiga is much younger than Shiori. The age difference is not much of a problem in their case because Taiga is mature enough to handle a complicated relationship with Shiori and her daughter Kitamura Umi. Although he is not yet a real father, I think he can manage to be a father-figure to Umi.
However, there are some instances wherein the age difference is a huge problem such as if the guy is still in high school or college and the girl is already in her early 30s. In this particular case, both parties are at different phases of their lives, usually with different values and priorities.
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夏の恋は虹色に輝く Natsu no Koi wa Nijīro ni Kagayaku
