Beautiful Life

Time to resurrect an old thread again.

I just finished this series last night and I have to say, while difficult to get through at times, it was a wonderful story. It gives you a very interesting perspective on being disabled and interacting with relationships. Kyoko is a great shallow and defensive character with a deep undertone of dispair and alienation. Shuji is woefully misunderstood and barely gets himself but is not afraid to step out on a limb to do what he thinks is right.

The ending is heartbreaking and heartwarming. I won't spoil anything, but even though it's a hard story, it's a very sweet one in the end. Of course, typical drama antics ensue - love interest misunderstands affection and gets turned off.. vice-versa. Rinse repeat. The characters are awfully mean to each other at points in the story.. but I'm beginning to think that's a hallmark of all dramas.

I watched the JTV version - the subtitles were a little underwhelming at times - there were whole passages that were left out. But, in general, it was totally possible to get the story from them and it worked just fine.

I don't know why this series doesn't have more fanfare here - it's great. Download it - go see it!

this drama is one of my fav!!

everytime i watched it, i'll burst into tears..

amyhisashi wrote:this drama is one of my fav!!

everytime i watched it, i'll burst into tears..

It's a very emotional experience, to be sure.

I got to about episode 8 of this drama, but found it too depressing for me.

But, as a disabled person myself (full-time wheelchair user), I thought the depiction of a disability was good. That is, that a wheelchair user was shown having a life, and going out doing stuff. I also liked that Kyoko wasn't depicted as having a faultless character just because she was disabled.

Keps wrote:I also liked that Kyoko wasn't depicted as having a faultless character just because she was disabled.

I actually think that was something I liked most about the drama - she was flawed and she was angry and she was confused.

Even though she acted confident, she was scared and she was incredibly sensitive to bi-pedal cultural differences.

I'm sorry to hear you didn't finish it. It was a really wonderful ending and I think you may be smart to go back and see the conclusion - sure it's somewhat depressing, but I think it's even more uplifting.

This is the very first jdorama I've seen and i got hooked and just last month my sister in California who is a korean drama fan told me about her new love its jdorama and the main character is a hairstylist and a girl in a wheelchair I told her its BEAUTIFUL LIFE and she ask me how did you know, and I told her WELCOME To our World :applaud:

phlargo wrote:

I actually think that was something I liked most about the drama - she was flawed and she was angry and she was confused.

Even though she acted confident, she was scared and she was incredibly sensitive to bi-pedal cultural differences.

Very true, I quite agree. "Bi-pedal", I like that. :D

I'm sorry to hear you didn't finish it. It was a really wonderful ending and I think you may be smart to go back and see the conclusion - sure it's somewhat depressing, but I think it's even more uplifting.

Maybe one day. ;)

simone wrote:This is the very first jdorama I've seen and i got hooked and just last month my sister in California who is a korean drama fan told me about her new love its jdorama and the main character is a hairstylist and a girl in a wheelchair I told her its BEAUTIFUL LIFE and she ask me how did you know, and I told her WELCOME To our World :applaud:

Lol Simone, "welcome to our world" indeed. :dancing:
Now your sister is beoming a jdrama addict like the rest of us, will you be directing her here to Jdorama.com?

Keps wrote:

Lol Simone, "welcome to our world" indeed. :dancing:
Now your sister is beoming a jdrama addict like the rest of us, will you be directing her here to Jdorama.com?

it's a good one to start with - I really hope I can get more of the regulars to check out this one. I'm really glad I did - a good friend told me he had seen it a few years back and gave it very high marks

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deseipher wrote:[image]

The frame-grabber starts a new drama :)

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phlargo wrote:

The frame-grabber starts a new drama :)

:mwahaha:

More caps!

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Lotsa sweet moments in that drama, really. I remember times where I got a little impatient with it, but in the end, it was well worth my time. They're really sympathetic characters.

And her little car is so cute for her!

phlargo wrote:Time to resurrect an old thread again.


I don't know why this series doesn't have more fanfare here - it's great. Download it - go see it!

It's not that the dorama doesn't have its fans; you're coming to the game a bit late, vis-a-vis most of the others who post here or have posted here. This dorama aired eight years ago.

Having said that there are lots of great shows that are really old...in fact the older ones are generally better than the later generation shows...as I have stated on more than one occasion. Moreover, as to be expected, most of the buzz around here focuses on shows that have come out with the last year or two....

Tu_triky wrote:

It's not that the dorama doesn't have its fans; you're coming to the game a bit late, vis-a-vis most of the others who post here or have posted here. This dorama aired eight years ago.

Having said that there are lots of great shows that are really old...in fact the older ones are generally better than the later generation shows...as I have stated on more than one occasion. Moreover, as to be expected, most of the buzz around here focuses on shows that have come out with the last year or two....

I'm way late to this party it seems. :sweat: Well, I'll just keep posting 'caps for the time being and when I'm done watching the drama I'll post my thoughts on it. Maybe it'll bring in a new set of fans, the younger set who haven't seen dramas like these and are drooling over Last Friends or something :beaten:

The final episode is definitely one of the best finale ever in the history of J-Dorama, it's sad but it's worth it.

I finished watching the drama earlier and the ending was pretty heartwrenching :puppydog:

Kyoko really tried to appear strong on the outside, but in so many ways she showed weakness. She did do things on her own, like take the trip to the U.S., but she was so aware of her disability that it hindered her. She held herself back so much, especially when it came to her relationship with Shuji.
Shuji to me comes across as the nice guy who really just couldn't quite get it right at times, but as awkward as it might have been at times he really did care for Kyoko.

Overall, I enjoyed this drama, even if it did remind me of Orange Days quite a bit.

Tu_triky wrote:

It's not that the dorama doesn't have its fans; you're coming to the game a bit late, vis-a-vis most of the others who post here or have posted here. This dorama aired eight years ago.

Having said that there are lots of great shows that are really old...in fact the older ones are generally better than the later generation shows...as I have stated on more than one occasion. Moreover, as to be expected, most of the buzz around here focuses on shows that have come out with the last year or two....

Toshi-kun is my senpai when it comes to recommending excellent shows. He hasn't gone wrong with me once. :glomp:

Wynter wrote:

Toshi-kun is my senpai when it comes to recommending excellent shows. He hasn't gone wrong with me once. :glomp:

Well one only has so many cards in one's hands...you've been told of the good ones thus far...there are ppl who've seen far more dramas then I have...so you're in good company (if not better company) when asking for recommendations.

In any case, it's easy to recommend the dramas that lots of the old school Japanese audiences seemed to like back in the day :victory:

P.S. I know I raved about Tiger and Dragon and I know you liked that one.

With respect to Beautiful Life though, as I mentioned, Eriko Kitagawa wrote the script and she has a pretty darn good track record for hits...

Am I the only one who did not like this drama? I found it to be too slow-moving that it bored me. While there were a few moments that I liked in Beautiful Life (the ending is especially heart-breaking like other mentioned), I felt this was an overrated drama and that was a shame since this was the first drama that featured these two drama stars in (I think).