Sunao ni Narenakute – The Twitter J-Dorama

I’ve been missing from the Japanese drama scene for a while now but for the last couple months I have been sneaking in an episode or 2 of a couple series I am watching. Completed watching Sunao ni Narenakute or Hard to Say I Love You recently and decided to try my hand at reviewing it and sharing my thoughts on it after watching.

Sunao ni Narenakute cast
The main cast of Sunao ni Narenakute

Firstly let me say that I still very much a J-Dorama newbie so unless it’s Maki Horikita I couldn’t care much about famous guest stars from some other form of entertainment like music. Sunao ni Narenakute’s reference to Twitter is the main reason I wanted to check this series out but was it worth my time?

Nishimura and Mizuno

Plot Synopsis

Sunao ni Narenakute is a story about the blossoming friendship of five young people all dealing with their issues who were brought together by Twitter – a popular social networking site, and their journey to finding honesty with each other and with themselves.

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The gang meeting up for the first time

Main Cast

  • Nakajima is a photographer whose father was a wartime photographer and is his idol. He works as an assistant for gravure magazines.
  • Mizuno is a little quirky andΒ  is a assistant high school teacher with dreams of becoming a full fledged teacher after passing the necessary exam.
  • Nishimura is Mizuno’s best friend, she is the owner of a small clothes store. Her loneliness has caused her to be very promiscuous.
  • Ichihara works for a popular magazine in Japan where he is being blackmailed into sexual favours by his chief editor.
  • Park is originally from Korea and works at a company that sells medical equipment. On Twitter he lies about being a real doctor.
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Ichihara's boss is an evil witch, seriously...

Love Pentagon

Sunao ni Narenakute is a Japanese drama of the highest quality to cast was top notch and the story undergoes many twists and turns by the time it ends in the 11th episode. It is very deep with the different characters complimenting each other while still being interesting individually. Mizuno and Nakajima were excellent leads but if I had to pick a character I liked the least it would have to be Park. The first couple episodes does well to hook you on the series but there were 1 or 2 episodes that left a lot to be desired. The whole love pentagon (I would have said triangle but trust me it was way more that that) become annoying after a while as everybody seemed to fall in love with multiple people for one reason or the other.

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Mizuno's mother runs into a ghost!

Where did Twitter go?

I was disappointed that somehow Twitter eventually faded out of the memory of everyone, though I can understand it’s role became unnecessary after a while. Another of my concerns were the repeated scenery – I swear I can now recognize every grain of sand, light fixture and rock in that park Mizuno and Nakajima walks through just about every episode. All things considered though this is a good drama to check out, just be prepared for the occasional awkward moment and a whole lot of running back and forth on screen.

[eek]

12 thoughts on “Sunao ni Narenakute – The Twitter J-Dorama

  1. I used to watch some Asian drama like 3-4 years ago, but got pretty bored with it. Now and then there’s a good one, but too many are made the same way, things get predictable, which means they supply some leisure time to certain groups. I know in Taiwan it’s usually for single women. An ugly girl will always fall in love with a handsome guy and he’ll pick her in the end. [eek]

  2. LOL at the comment above me. I’ve tried to watch Asian dramas as well and became completely uninterested. I’m not sure if it is because it reminds me of American soap operas which I cannot stand or if I’m missing some cultural implications. I don’t believe its the latter because I love anime. I will give this one a look-see but it almost sounds like the series Friends except not as funny.

  3. sorry to offend but japanese dramas are kind of stiff for me. I’m more inclined to watch korean or mainland dramas which carry more emotions, action, love….well everything. I’d pick a japanese manga over any other anyday but i’m still searching for some good japanese drama, something as awesome as korean drama “FATED TO LOVE YOU”. I’m taking recommendations…

  4. As someone that’s watched a bit of JDorama, I love it… there’s definitely some crap out there as well, but a good one is hard to put down. The thing is you need to get used to either (a) the sense of humour, (b) the tendancy to over-dramatise, and (c) the incredible love affair with sentimentality that the Japanese have. If you can come to terms with these things then there’s a lot of enjoyment to be had. Of course – there’s no law that says ya gotta love JDorama, so it comes down to personal choice.

    Check out d-Addicts.com for a good selection (not that I condone that)….

    1. I check d-Addicts.com from time to time πŸ˜‰

      The over dramatization is what I am finding it hard to get used to, especially the tear jerking stuff which at times is quite corny!

  5. Yeah – I couldn’t believe how sentimental and manipulative JDorama can be… but I think this says something fundamental about the Japanese psyche… coz they don’t think of this as corny at all. Many a discussion has been concluded at home with a cold stare from my wife and a “I can’t believe how uncaring you are”…

    Actually, if you try not to view it through the cynical lens we often apply to these things (from a Western perspective), the sentimentality often hides a longing for connection… perhaps as a way of expressing and relating to emotions that they would not normally be able to show. That’s not to say the Japanese aren’t very emotional people… they are… and the relationships they have are deep and textured. It’s just that they feel sincerity in the situations where those emotions are (putting it politely) enhanced.

    I’m sure there’s much to be made by a study of JDorama by an anthropologist or ethnographist (if it hasn’t happened before).

    By the way – I’m starting up another blog… Raising Adelaide which is looking more at our family life here in Adelaide, Australia. Not much there at the moment, but it will slowly start up. Please pop on over when you get a chance… don’t expect much at the moment however. ?;-p

  6. Just saw the first episode. Enjoyable emotional ride and a welcome sidestep from all the ecchi this anime season. The hour long episode was a suprise though.

      1. Just watched it all.. By the last few episodes I just wanted to smack everyone. It was doing so good too for most of it.

        The whole thing with Haru’s brother was a let down and basically went downhill from there, like they switched writers halfway through or something.

        Haru wasn’t even honest in the end she just kept on deluding herself, Park was such a prick and that whole tangent about Haru’s mother and Nakajins father had no point.
        [sad]

  7. This drama was a let down for me, it had Ueno Juri, eita and Tamayama Tetsuji but still it was quite meh.
    The love triengle between Mizuno, Nakajima and Park could have been something interesting especially the fact that Park was korean but instead they made him some useless guy who just pines after Mizuno and I felt bad for they way Mizuno treated him.

    You should watch Jin, it was one of the best dramas from last year. It has a interesting story and good cast.
    You like Horikita Maki ? Me too^^ She’s been doing a lot more movies lately propably the most expected one is the remake of Byakuyakou (Γ§β„’Β½Γ₯€œè‘Œ).

  8. I really, really enjoyed this drama, but one of the big reasons I watched it is because I was a fan of virtually everyone in the cast. I do agree that the love triangles got crazy and kind of annoying, and I wish Twitter had been a bigger part of it, but I still personally ended up loving this drama. It was interesting to read your take on it!

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