Yonekura Ryoko

Wowie...! :bonk: :bonk:

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bmwracer wrote:[image]

Getting your Xmas shopping done early, Beem? :mrgreen:

Eve wrote:Getting your Xmas shopping done early, Beem? :mrgreen:

Yup, and she's at the top of my list. :bonk:

Stunning. :love_eyes:

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WARNING: PLOT REVELATIONS ABOUT SEIKEI BIJIN BELOW!


I received a copy of Seikei Bijin a few days ago. It didn't sound like I would like it, and I'd only seen her in Haru e Natsu, which did not fully showcase her talents. Without much real interest, I sat down to watch it, and almost from the first moment, I was riveted, amazed, obsessed, and addicted. I just blew through it in two days. I bow down before this incredible actress and what seems to me like the performance of a lifetime. I liked the leading man a lot as well and thought they made a terrific onscreen couple.

I just find her so perfectly adorable. Especially at the beginning when she is doing all the madcap things she does to win him over. And in the midst of all her zany behavior, she will become serious and say such touching and thought-provoking things about love and beauty and appearance and perseverance. The first time around, I thought he was looking at her coldly, but the second time I watched it, I realized that his feelings are growing inside him, and I can see in his expression that he is interested in her in more than a casual way but can't express it. Can't act on it.

It's so fascinating to me to see how what is framed as a fairy tale is so much more real than something like Churasan, which is nothing more than a fable. This is so real it knocks me over with the truth of its insights.

All her thought processes that lead her back to restore her old face are valid. She came into beauty without the backup of a whole lifetime of self-assurance and even the arrogance that physical perfection breeds. So instead of the subtle games that people play when they know they are attractive, she blunders right in to grab what she wants. She's like the kid who never had any money for sweets and suddenly her parents get rich and give her a big allowance, and she runs to the bakery and candy store and grabs everything she can put her hands on, not able to wait a single second longer.

Honami is that way with the flower arranger...she's lived too long without love, so she has to try to seize it, because now she can. But she finds that her insecurity is still there, it's just not so much about appearance anymore.

I think she slowly builds a sense of self-acceptance, finally integrates all the disparate elements of her personality and experience into one coherent whole. She realizes that all her beauty can't bring her happiness, and of course she sees her parents, very plain people, so happy together, so in love, still courting, in a sense, with a family they adore. So her old assumptions get turned upside down.

So part of her integration of all these elements is to go back to her former face. Mr. Florist has made it clear he can't love the lie, so maybe she feels he can love the reality. She says that she doesn't need the artificial beauty to feel really beautiful, and of course that's the lesson most of us learn, that what you look like outside is a reflection of what you think of yourself inside.

It also made perfect sense to me when she decided to leave her new face the way it was. I believed her completely when she said she wanted to have the face that she had when she met him and knew him. And he had also told her in England that if she lost that face, in some way he would lose her and the memory of her.

So what might look very schematized and pre-programmed in another drama, here took on the freshness of real motivation of real people. Just the circumstances were extraordinary, but it was still all there in terms of believability.

I like Mr. Florist a lot. He's a little stiff, but that is because of his withdrawn personality, because of his deprived childhood. In his way, he was almost as rejected as she, because his father rejected him when he was a kid. Kids see that as rejection, when a parent leaves. But I thought he had a sweetness about him even at his most stern, and definitely a gentleness, that was most appealing. It was refreshing to have a hero like him...he was very soothing to be around, and he actually listened to her and didn't storm around and have sulks and fits. I thought his one "leave me alone" moment was valid. Even I was shocked when she told him about her surgery, and I knew already!

This drama's impact emanates from her superb performance. Every nuance, every subtlety, every change, every longing, every hope...everything is mirrored in her expression....her eyes, her smile. She is so vulnerable, yet she hides it when she needs to.

She is just amazing. I was thinking about how as an actress, she just gives her all, puts herself right out there and holds nothing back. She takes every risk an actress can take and pulls it all off. You can't play to the audience and try to be funny, you can't step out of character ever, you can't have a hint of self-consciousness, like an expression that says "look at me, am I not funny?" She walks the line between wildly impulsive and vulnerable and keeps her appeal going strong throughout.

I think she's marvelous.

Great review, Harriet.

I suppose you'd want to enter this review in the Seikei Bijin thread located here: http://jdorama.com/viewtopic.1328.htm and check out the other comments, which are surprisingly divergent. :sweat:

I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment of Ryoko's performance. She shows an incredible amount of range and versatility in this role... A great performance.

bmwracer wrote:Great review, Harriet.

I suppose you'd want to enter this review in the Seikei Bijin thread located here: http://jdorama.com/viewtopic.1328.htm and check out the other comments, which are surprisingly divergent. :sweat:

I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment of Ryoko's performance. She shows an incredible amount of range and versatility in this role... A great performance.

Actually I think it fits in here as well as it is more of an approbation of the great talent of your favorite actress. And thanks to you both Harriet and I have discovered a great talent also. :bow: :bow: :bow:

ralphm1999 wrote:Actually I think it fits in here as well as it is more of an approbation of the great talent of your favorite actress. And thanks to you both Harriet and I have discovered a great talent also. :bow: :bow: :bow:

Thanks, Ralph, but I can't take any credit for introducing Ryoko to Harriet: she discovered Ryoko all on her own. :)

Are you done with the drama? Hope Harriet's commentary didn't spoil anything. :sweat:

bmwracer wrote:
Thanks, Ralph, but I can't take any credit for introducing Ryoko to Harriet: she discovered Ryoko all on her own. :)

Are you done with the drama? Hope Harriet's commentary didn't spoil anything. :sweat:

I'm already half way thru the second time.

Harriet is my NY correspondent and I traded her a copy to get her perpective on Yonekura Ryoko. :victory:

ralphm1999 wrote:I'm already half way thru the second time.

Oh, that's right. :doh:

Harriet is my NY correspondent and I traded her a copy to get her perpective on Yonekura Ryoko. :victory:

Cool.

Spread the word, friend. :thumbsup:

Back to the fashion show. :bonk:

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Shit, my image host is down again. :mad:

bmwracer wrote:Shit, my image host is down again. :mad:

dood, your image host goes down like once a week....they must suck....

Tu_triky wrote:dood, your image host goes down like once a week....they must suck....

Yup, my image host is flaky like a well-made croissant.

bmwracer wrote:
Yup, my image host is flaky like a well-made croissant.

haha...sounds like they might be better suited around an oven and not a comp.