Long Vacation (1996)

"the wall was blown into the next stratosphere"

The statement said to Sena by his mentor encapsulates this wonderful enchanting drama that took me by surprise. I've long been meaning to watch more Japanese Dramas, and have decided to make a concerted effort this year.

Imagine my surprise (pleasant) when I, rather grudgingly pressed play on episode one, you know concerted effort and all that. Granted, episode 1 to 5 were engaging enough for me to continue watching but I wasn't sold on this drama until episode 6 onwards. It's a story that literally takes you by surprise; the impactful moments crept up on me and I found my eyes welling up during seemingly innocuous scenes; for example the two mismatched wine glasses sitting on the makeshift crate coffee table with the bottle of Bordeaux became a symbol of Sena and Minami's budding feelings.
It's a very well crafted, incremental story of two people who appear to be very different falling in love with each other and monumentally changing each other in the process.

The acting is superb by the two leads, I found the lead actress's performance a tad irritating in the earlier episodes, but she improved in latter episodes. Kimura Takura dazzles as Sena, he has a naive, reticent quality yet he is also emotionally strong and mature; the actor managed to encapsulate these different characteristics into one extremely likeable package.
The female lead, I believe is supposed to be more complicated and a little bit unlikeable as she is the one who, although she's older than Sena, has the most growing to do.

The cast overall is so good, I enjoyed Sena's mentor/professor as a constant stabilising force in his life. The other pairings were not very well developed and the relationships seemed undeveloped at the end. However there is an epilogue at the end of the last episode which may shed some light on the final pairings of the supporting cast.

I loved loved loved the soundtrack in this, the songs by Cagnet are beautiful and spot on, they have a 90's feel but can very well stand their ground in 2020. The show is interspersed with lovely piano music, and this juxtaposition of the different music genres is genius. Music is 10 out of 10

In actual fact this is a drama and cast that can stand their ground in 2020, it's not often that you come across such unaffected performances.

Never mind about the 1996 date of production, just watch this drama, its really worth it.

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A hidden masterpiece of the past

It should be a freaking crime for this to have 7.9 this is easily a 10!!! I don't get the ratings at this point cauz really bad dramas get 8 at least and this ahhh. now where do I begin?? I love love love all the characters here they feel very relatable and down to earth yet very strong despite all the struggles I love how gradually and realistacally the leads fall for each, it's not out of the blue but their romance is very long awaited. FL might be my favorite actress in the entire world just phenomenal and ml isn't an immature young boy that's why it worked out so well. This is easily a must watch i would 100% recommend it to everyone I know

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That's how it's done!

A great drama from beginning to end. Infact it's so great that despite being made in 1996, it's feels so modern and relevant. A heartwarming romcom that actually shows us the leads lives and wide range of emotions and struggles and how a forced Co habitation turn to two people come to depend on each other then naturally fall in love. The first time they kissed, I was like finally yes! They built the momentum for the romance in the most realistic way, at some point I forgot I was watching a drama. Her a model at the end of her career struggling to see where she can find her place in society after being dumped by her fiancee on her wedding day, him a pianist that struggled to convey raw emotions while playing. I don't want to talk about the chemistry, i want everyone to watch a text book on how to have a good chemistry in this drama. As the title that's just how you do it. Anyone intimidated by how old this drama is, just give it a go!
Ps The opening song will forever live in head!

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My favorite Jdorama of all time.

Long Vacation remains to this day my favorite Jdorama of all time. The story, the cast, the OST, the pop culture influence it created - it is simply a classic. The story is simply but very moving and certain scenes left a deep impression on me, especially the conversations between Sena and Minami. Long Vacation is an apt title to describe where the main characters are at - it's about the period of time when people come at a crossroad and they're lost about what to do with themselves. The chemistry between Takuya Kimura and Tomoko Yamaguchi is simply spectacular and untoppable. Tomoko makes her character very fascinating with her bursts of energetic intensity and moments of vulnerability. Takuya shows his true depth as an actor here with his touching portrayal of Sena. Two thumbs WAY UP!

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Old but GOLD!

Came across with this very recently so I watch it out of curiosity and it turned out to be one of my favourite romance dramas of all time. Note that it's 2021 when I first watch it. Even though this drama is already 25 years old I still find this amusing, definitely a masterpiece. Definitely classic and aged well. Everything is just perfect, shooting technique, character development, storyline, right pace, rhythm, inspiring and everything. If I have to pick something I don't like about this drama, that would be the poor picture quality, its so low definition that I feel it could hurt my eyes. Hopefully somebody can remaster it one day. Nevertheless, it's still worth the watch. Absolutely recommended!

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THIS IS HOW YOU DO ROMCOMS

This was a rewatch.

My main issue when it comes to dramas and romcoms it's how no matter the plot, specially in Korean teen dramas, I always end up pissed off because the characters are horrible people. Either I can't stand the lead, or she ends up with the douche that treated her like crap instead of the nice guy and I just hate the whole thing. It's dramas like this that made me realize I actually like romcoms and dramas, just well written ones.

In this drama Sena, a pianist falls for Minami, a model, who falls also for him. I love how the drama revolves around these two but it's also about how Sena tries to find his way through his musical career and how Minami tries to find her place in the world outside of modeling. It's so nice when, specially girls are more than just the love story.

Overall the drama is fun and entertaining, a nice slowburn with very likable characters, which make the drama perfect for me, because I do love when you can't hate any character and can understand why they do whatever they do. From the OST in English to the main Japanese song, I genuinely loved to rewatch this drama on Summer specially, but any season is good.

It's an amazingly written slow born of strangers to friends to lovers that has you hooked from episode one, incredibly open minded as how young women and men are without missing a beat on fun and comedy relief, with an amazing and fangirl type of ending that I just loved more every time I watch it. Definitely recommend this to everyone!

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Love works in a mysterious way

Idk where to begin. This show is just pure joy and so original. The acting is so natural and the story unfold beautiful from start to finish.

One of the most memorable drama when I was growing up. This show remains to be my top 10 favourite dramas of all time.

The main leads were phenomenal. Their chemistry was so good from the get go. The rest of the casts are amazing as well. The interactions and conversations are so natural like it didn't feel it was written. Thats how good it is. Its like real people, dealing with their daily problems or inner-issues. The aspirations and the struggle to achieve the dream. Just how important it is to have someone next to you, when you feel down and defeated.

There are many moments in the show that I still remember to this day, particularly the rubber ball. Whenever I saw one, immediately I imagine myself bouncing it outside of my window from the top floor. Epic satisfaction!

As always; Would I watch it again in a whole? YES.

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A very long vacation aka a slow burn

The first episode was not great as I was watching and I wondered if it was a good pick but the ending of the episode touched my heart and that is when I began to enjoy the story.

The acting and characters are wonderful and the story is sweet but there are times when you wish they had gotten together already. Then again the show is titled 'Long Vacation'. You're in it for a long ride.

The piano and OST are beautiful and catchy but there are times when the music overlaps on the piano playing which is a possible drawback. I would have liked to listen to Sena play more.

Sena and Minami make a good pair with her outgoing and overly positive and peppy nature and his introverted, shy, and hesitant nature which she brings out the best in while he provides her with the dependable sweetness that she longs for.

I would have loved to see some moments of them as an official couple where they know where they stand with each other.

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Outstanding Love Story

tl;dr - An amazing and unpredictable love-story that will be hard to put down. Worth giving a chance!

I was hooked on this story and could not get enough of it. Its a great romance where the Sena (Takuya Kimura) and Minami (Tomoko Yamaguchi) both complete each other, and how supportive each of them are to their dreams/lives. The story starts out with each of them at the lowest point of their lives - Sena is a pianist but is missing something that holds him back from being a professional, so he gives up and becomes a piano teacher for annoying kids; Minami is about to be married but left at the altar and finds out her would-be husband just ran off with a younger, more attractive woman and on-top of that, her modeling career is coming to a close as she loses opportunities to her age. Both Sena and Minami start filling in the gaps and lift each other up in odd ways, and its a love-story of 2 people at rock bottom who both make an incredible comeback.

Something I loved about this one is that usually for romances, its relatively easy to predict how the male/female love interests will respond to certain events - for example, when a guy finds out the girl he has a crush on likes someone else, you predict he'll be upset and maybe take out his frustrations on one of them. In this drama's case, the personalities are unique, you can't predict how each of them will react to the situation and that makes it that much more enjoyable.

Music is great, I still listen to some of the tracks of the drama to this day, and probably will still continue to. The acting is also top-notch as well.

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What is his was pretty good. It was short and sweet. I really like the overall concept of the series. How do you know the series revolves around a female who is left at the altar and ends up living as a roommate with her ex fiancé‘s roommate. The two developed a unique friendship that transforms overtime. What I like most about the series was that was unique and showed the struggle of an individual with dreams, how they are motivated and demotivated and how that affect their lives. It was like a series about your personality, your character and making the most of it.

But at least not like about the series with that the female lead was super annoying and borderline immature. Although somethings were done when she was somewhere in suffocated it still seemed like she should’ve known better. This type of thing happened only once but her character was too much. Just imagine going somewhere and meeting someone that is over the excited , overly talkative and has a problem with speaking with boundaries.

I absolutely think the series could have been better if there was a modification to the female lead behavior. But because she was annoying in a please shut up kind away I with a little bit put off.

Overall the plot of the series seemed really great, the builder of events for the male lead was really good. If you can tolerate the female lead doing random things that a teenager would do then you may like this.

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