I also meant to write that I don't remember anything at an onsen but that might have been at the dormitory. Or maybe it's later in the series than they are broadcasting in the Bay Area. I don't remember any flashing but it could have happened in the dormitory also. That trip to Katsuragi's hometown, I don't think it was in winter, it could have been fall at the latest. Or maybe my memory is faulted!

Kathy

Thanks Kathy for the synopsis! I did indeed see the trip back to Katsuragi's hometown. That was a cool storyline. You see inklings of Sakura having feelings for Katsuragi when she mumbles to herself that its weird to think of him having a onesan(i think thats is wife but misspelled). That is the first episode I really got into and for the most part after that I watched every episode. So I saw the part where Midori has a baby, the mom writes a book, etc. In the very beginning I did see an early episode where she is out with the school staff and everyone is getting very drunk but thought the series was boring upon the first impression. I really regret it now and have ordered the first half of the epiosdes from someone else so I'm waiting for them to arrive at this time.

Well these NHk morning dramas run 15 mins in Japan without commercials becuase NHK is a paid network according to my friend in Japan. She said its rare that working people are able to watch these cause it around 10 am so when I asked her how it ended because I also felt tortured like you ... she told me that only students and obasans would know.

You can read this interesting but very long article on how nikkei view this drama and they give a background on the genre.
http://www.jamco.or.jp/2004_symposium/en/yano/

Let me know if you want any more spoilers in detail. I was so anxious like you but now I kinda feel like I spoiled it for myself. I knew what was coming when this past episode aired on saturday. A very nice fellow jdorama member made me a copy of this past episode to the end and i watched it in May. So lately when they were flashing back to Katsuragi brushing her cheek and patting her head I just figured out where it was from! But I dont regret it though.. it was a sweet ending. But I wont ruin it for you.

Oh and the flash back I am talking about with the onsen, katsuragi flashing her, teasing her about her bra selection and driving in a car during a winter excursion is in the next episode. All these clips I didnt recognize from earlier episodes. Its apart of a sequence where she is thinking about the time she first met him.

Thanks, Shek. Yeah, I guess I haven't seen the onsen stuff yet because none of that rings a bell. I've only missed a few episodes (thank you, ReplayTV!) but a few times they were important ones. Like I missed the episode where Robby goes to visit Katsuragi before he breaks up with Sakura. And then Robby quotes something that Katsuragi said when he broke up with Sakura. And Katsuragi calls him on it after he breaks up with Sakura. I never quite figured out what happened. Did Katsuragi imply that Robby was not Sakura's best partner? That would seem to acknowledge his feelings for Sakura to Robert before he acknowledged them to himself so it seems unlikely. Anyway, if you can put in the missing piece, I'd be grateful.

So are you saying that Katsuragi and Sakura go to an onsen next?

Oh, this once a week thing is torture.

How did you get episodes mailed to you? Are they with subtitles?

Kathy

Hi Kathy,

Nope the onsen scene is probalby from really early in the series cause the scene is described in that long article. Sakura doesnt realize its a unisex pool and Katsuragi comes along and tries to get her to join him and she falls in!

As for the episodes you missed... it was because Fuji TV was playing this special film during memorial day weekend and the week after. The thing with Fuji Tv is that they will change the schedule from time to time during special holidays ie Cherry Blossom season etc and they will annouce the scheduel change during the commericals. So because you have replay TV you missed th annoucement. Sakura played at 10pm that week and the week after.

Robby comes to Hida for Christmas and Sakura and him meet at the Tofu restaurant for a romantic dinner. Sakura is about to give him a Christmas present then he asks for his ring back. He reasons with her that he probably isnt her best parnter after he sees how connected she is to Japan after the candle making episodes. The best partner concept I believe is from the tofu restaurant lady. She asked Sakura if Robby was her best partner. So right before robby goes to sakura he meets with Katsuragi and tells him that she has changed and he isnt certain that what who he is matches her anymore. This is not the exact wording... but the gist. But at the end.. Katsuragi says just dont hurt her. Did you see the part where Katsuragi sees Robby after he breaks up with Sakura and throws up against the walls holding his collar and says " Was that just a reason to break up with her"? You may have missed that part too. Let me know if this makes sense.. I can try to clarify.

Episodes 120-156(yeah it will be another 36 episodes before you see the end) I got from a fellow jdorama member that I became friends with. He was so kind to make the copies for me so I gave him money for his effort. The first half I purchased from a drama trader and I paid $140 for it but I am waiting for the shipment at this time. As you can see I am really into the series too! Yes they have subtitles.

Take care!
susie

Shek, yeah, I saw the breakup (that would be a tough one to miss!) but I missed what came before it. The last thing I saw before it was when Sakura was still angry with Robby over the hotel thing and then the next thing I see she is all excited about his impending visit at Christmas. So I saw Katsuragi throw Robby against the wall. That was nice, you could really see that he had feelings for her that were propelling him to react stronger than if she was just a friend and co-worker... It was interesting to miss those episodes in between because it makes you realize that considering how upset she was with Robby over the hotel thing she still takes the breakup really hard. But I guess that's why they call it a drama!

Kathy

kheilmann wrote:

Shek, yeah, I saw the breakup (that would be a tough one to miss!) but I missed what came before it. The last thing I saw before it was when Sakura was still angry with Robby over the hotel thing and then the next thing I see she is all excited about his impending visit at Christmas. So I saw Katsuragi throw Robby against the wall. That was nice, you could really see that he had feelings for her that were propelling him to react stronger than if she was just a friend and co-worker... It was interesting to miss those episodes in between because it makes you realize that considering how upset she was with Robby over the hotel thing she still takes the breakup really hard. But I guess that's why they call it a drama! Kathy

Oh right you missed two episodes... so as you know the restaurant gets saved..but its because another location was found for the hotel. Sakura is really happy and they all celebrate at the tofu restaurant. At the end of the first episodes you missed Robby and Sakura are sitting at a table away from the others who are celebrating and she says "I love you Robby" and he says I'll be right back and goes to the others who are toasting. He doesnt return the sentiment really just kinda smiles. So at this time you already know something is up with Robby. Then at the very end of the episode, Robby calls Sakura and tells her he will come to Japan for Christmas. Intially she was thinking of going home to Hawaii to see Robby. She gets excited and makes plans for them to visit Tokyo for the New Years and Christmas.

I dont remember if Robby exactly said that he doesnt know if Sakura is his best partner but he does say that she has changed and talks about how she really loves Japan and doesnt know if this change in her is tearing them apart.

Yes, as the series wears on... I really fall for Katsuragi as he is so sweet about his feelings for Sakura. He keeps them hidden but you cna tell he really loves her. There is one part much farther along where they ask Katsuragi if he loves her and he says he does and how he thinks its wonderful to love a woman that he truly respets. All this time, Sakura is there listening but dressed up as a glamourous woman in a black dress and wig. It actually does look good on her(the hair that is). But he wants to allow her to be a "bridge between Japan and Japanese Americans". This episode storyline Momo comes to Japan to try to understand why Sakura is having such a hard time with her decision to come back to Hawaii or stay in Japan and Momo discovers Katsuragi and Sakura both love each other but have supressed their feelings because they can't be together in Japan. Sakura is resentful during this time because she wants Katsuragi to just ask her to stay but Katsuragi doesnt want her to stay and miss an opporutunity.

Thanks, Shek, for supplying the missing parts to the puzzle. No, I didn't know that the restaurant had been saved, I only knew that nobody seemed upset about it anymore. And that would explain why Sakura wasn't upset at Robby anymore.

Well, you've seen the ending so you would know if this is relevant or not, but I always thought it was interesting that they established near the beginning of the series that Katsuragi had an MBA from an American university (can't remember which one, somewhere in the midwest, I think). That was before he decided to go into teaching. But anyway it established early on that Katsuragi and Sakura as a couple could live in either Japan or America. But knowing NHK I would bet that in the end they stay in Japan, right?

kheilmann wrote:

Thanks, Shek, for supplying the missing parts to the puzzle. No, I didn't know that the restaurant had been saved, I only knew that nobody seemed upset about it anymore. And that would explain why Sakura wasn't upset at Robby anymore. Well, you've seen the ending so you would know if this is relevant or not, but I always thought it was interesting that they established near the beginning of the series that Katsuragi had an MBA from an American university (can't remember which one, somewhere in the midwest, I think). That was before he decided to go into teaching. But anyway it established early on that Katsuragi and Sakura as a couple could live in either Japan or America. But knowing NHK I would bet that in the end they stay in Japan, right?

Thank you also for the missing pieces! Those scenes where she appears to be living with Katsuragi make sense now. And I didnt know that Katsuragi was educatd in the states. I do remember that he worked in Tokyo before he decided to go into teaching? Oh I forgot to tell you that when Sakura is dressed as a glamourous woman she is hiding so Katsuragi is telling everyone else that he loves Sakura but wants to let her be the bridge from Japan and America. Everyone has sad faces including a disguised Sakura. When she joins the group and shocks Katsuragi that she was there all along but at another table, she asks him..."Will you meet with me again someday". He gives his standard ,"O" or is it "yo" in agreement and they both look so sad. Sakura decides to go back to Hawaii and take the chief researcher job.

Sakura does return to Japan at the end of the series. Let me know if you want more ... it might spoil the suprise. I dont mind knowing endings cause its all about the journey but sometimes you miss that extra element of suprise.

I have seen another clip where Sakura asks where is her samurai and he says they dont exist. Is that when they are in the dorm? and did katsuragi really flash sakura cause in the clip it looks that way.

And no, Katsuragi never really does consider moving to Hawaii to be with Sakura. That really isnt an option for him I guess. But the director of the school moves to Hawaii to be closer to Sakura's grandmother whom she was supposed to marry but htought he died in WWII. This choice made by the director does inspire Katsuragi to finally go after what he wants and stop sacraficing his feelings for the sake of others. Katsuragi is compared to a samurai in this scenes cause his mentality is to let Sakura go so others can benefit from her knowledge and spirit.

I just read one of your post more carefully and you already answered my question. I was really shocked to see this where he is about to/pretending to flash her because Katsuragi seems so proper and wouldnt do somethign like that. She calls him a pervert in the flashbacks. The only impression of have of him is after the visit to the hometown so its all good stuff. And yeah his ex gf Maki fell off his motorbike I believe and got really scarred up so much that she wont even wear short sleeves. Sakura gives her a rose t-shirt at the end of the episode.

Shek, you've told me so much, now you have to give away the details of the ending!

As far as the flashing goes, I honestly don't remember if that happened at the beginning of the series or not, but I do remember that they were always at each others' throats, and also Sakura had some episodes of culture shock over Japanese customs, maybe co-ed bathing was one of them. I also don't specifically remember Sakura asking Katsuragi where is her samurai but that could have been anywhere since she is always being cheeky like that. I wonder if maybe I missed another episode in there somewhere....

Who did you trade with / buy from to get the episodes for the end of the series? Have you ever come across episode summaries in English?

Kathy

I just read your post on the top of this page more carefully where you said that the onsen thing happened at the beginning of the series for sure, so I must have missed those episodes, too.

Kathy

Hi there!

thanks for letting us know! I envy because I missed the first half of the series. That's cool that you get four episodes at a time too! They only show one a week here.

shek55

Slackey wrote:

It's currently airing here in San Francisco. I watched the first couple of episodes but I didn't like it too much. It didn't hold my interest like Churasan did.

Hrm, I did a search for Churasan under Drama and it came up blank. Where can I find a synopsis?



Thanks,
Edward

I've been watching Sakura on KTSF in San Francisco for 10,000 years now, and it's clear to me that it will never end.

It'll just go on and on and on and on.

and on and on

and on...

All,

I've been watching Sakura now forever on Fuji TV (KTSF) in San Francisco. By the time it completes it will probably be close to a year as it only airs once a week on Saturday.

It is one of those dramas that had some good episodes and others not so good. The problem is that I am hooked on the story and want to see it through to conclusion.

Can anyone supply more information on actress Takano Shiho who plays the lead role of Sakura? She really makes the series with a great smile. Really a sweet girl. What other dramas has she been in and are there any photos of her. When I do a search on artist she doesn't appear.

Another week until the next episode...

Thanks

Takano Shiho is not a well know actress. From what I understand Sakura was her first appearence on the screen. She is not a Japanese American. she is from Japan but studied abroad. (Which explains her less than perfect English accent).
_________________

Man I thought Iwas the onlyperson who watched this show I just started to recently watch it and man they are so good IMO that I record them.

Space Godzilla wrote:

Man I thought Iwas the onlyperson who watched this show I just started to recently watch it and man they are so good IMO that I record them.

The show is only OK. The KIKU viewers in Hawaii seem to like it more, judging from their forum.

pcmodem wrote:

I did a search for Churasan under Drama and it came up blank. Where can I find a synopsis?

There are tons of ����炳�� (Churasan) sites on the web. It was an immensely popular series. In fact, Churasan was #1 on NHK's ������x���������̔ԑg ���N�G�X�g�����L���O �������N�G�X�g�x�X�g100 (Request Ranking of Programs You Would Like to See Once Again: Composite Rankings�\Best 100).

If you want episode-by-episode summary, there used to be a great Churasan site with episode summaries, but I haven't been able to find it for some time (maybe it's no longer active?) As a substitute, matusyou has episode-by-episode comments on Churasan, Sakura, and many other morning dramas. I find the writing difficult to read, though.

I've included links to matusyou's episode comments, NHK's rankings, rating information, and NHK's fifty year celebration in my Useful J-Drama Links.
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������ C/J/K Dramas in California

oh hey ccwf! you know who this is hyunkyu lol short world huh?
so this show is still going on casue its been over lol but its a good dorama