~Reminiscing an all-time favorite drama series continued…. and tonight we’ve reached the final episode of this series. And just like the first episode it’s an extra long episode which this time runs about an hour and nine minutes. More to love right? =) So it’s all built up to this episode and I promise it delivers… so keep that box of Kleenex handy and let’s get to watching!!
My Long Vacation DVD box set
「ロングバケーション final episode 11」
(English subtitled)
So I’ll be posting each episode singly one episode per week every Friday …all 11 episodes here ^^.
And as aforementioned I think “Long Vacation” is the best drama ever written! Stars Kimura Takuya, Yamaguchi Tomoko, Takenouchi Yutaka, Matsu Takako, Ryo, and Inamori Izumi…. not to mention it also has one of the most iconic theme songs of all-time in Kubota Toshinobu’s “La La La Love Song” and if by chance you don’t know it, trust me you’re gonna fall in love w/ it head over heels I promise and even the opening credits remains as one of the very best cast montages!!
So I got the idea to watch and comment along with this episode before actually publishing this post publicly, as my thoughts/ reactions came to me in “real time”, so hopefully this acts like a conversation starter if you reply to any of the comments below and add new ones of your own thoughts if you’d like, as this great and final episode rolls along =).
~fin~
モーニングBerryz48...the morning after..... "Always wear protection before reading…(^q^)." 
Firstly, thank you Derek-kun for watching this drama along with me! We’ve come a long way and now it’s the final episode and it’s an extra long one too, even better right!
Haha okay remember the aforementioned little scene where I said a tipsy Shinji would be singing a really popular hit from the mid nineties? It’s right at the beginning here, see if you can figure out what song he’s singing on the way up to Sena’s apartment =).
The Minami escape here is hilarious with of course Shinji coming dangerously close to discovering her time and time again… well thanks to a shower and the need for some shampoo! =D
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Just finished this… sorry it took me so long. This week has been tremendously busy, being that I’m preparing to head back to Japan for a few weeks, and also was recovering from touring around with Perfume. BUT I couldn’t wait to see this final episode, honestly, and, well, there are no words. It ended exactly how I wanted it to end, and it was beautiful, and well deserving of all the praise it’s received in terms of people calling it a classic. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I cried watching this tonight. I’ll get to that here eventually.
I really should be thanking you for sharing this gem with me. I feel very grateful we took the time to really go through this week by week. It’s been a glorious ride. Truly. I’m forever going to remember this MB.
Also, couldn’t figure out what the song is… I kept thinking AKB’s AITAKATTA lol because Shinji kept saying he was glad to meet somebody. Sorry, that’s just my idol mindset!
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And after all of that, Shinji happens to see his sister anyway =P. Shoes…hah!
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I love Momochan’s reaction! Minami’s self doubting about their relationship feels perfectly natural here and whom better to talk to, Momochan of course =).
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This was right about the time the video stopped working. I tried three different browsers and also my phone. It kept stopping and starting. I was so bummed, but then, because I wanted to watch this sooooo badly, I uninstalled Opera and reinstalled it and then it worked flawlessly! Yatta!
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Boy is that going to be the awkwardest of conversations when Minami reveals her relationship and feelings for Sena, unless she doesn’t tell Tetsuya who it is and just says that she’s found another love…. hmmm?
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SO desu ne!!! But in a way, this has to happen, right? The story is now fated to head in one direction, or so at this point I thought.
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No NO NO NO! It’s Sena’s dream~*, he can’t give up the competition when he’s come this far and passed!! And leave it to Mr. Meanie to state that Sena would need a miracle to pass as he’s already banking on Ryokochan winning the competition. =/
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Yeah, that guy was kind of harsh. Truly. But in a way, he’s telling the truth… Ryoko chan is extremely talented and after hearing her play in this series so far, I agree that it might just take a miracle for Sena to win against her. Not saying Sena isn’t awesome, but it’s all going to depend on whether or not Sena plays for somebody or plays with his mind instead of his heart. Oh man… I can’t wait!
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And we HAVE witnessed one miracle already haven’t we!=)
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I was shocked that even his mentor had lost a bit of faith in Sena winning and yet deep down I believe he thinks he can win but maybe didn’t want to get Sena’s hopes up too high whereas he could just settle for another set job here. Still Sena must enter the competition!!
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And one last time we’re treated to a little brotherly and sisterly love! =) Notice how the now very familiar piano piece gets a bit more intense here just as they’re showing Sena outside of Minami’s place. And OH what timing that Tetsuya’s just now pulling up to see Minami too…. uh oh…?
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I thought Minami had seen Sena walking away but then realized she didn’t later on when Sena talked about going to her place this evening. Very tense part for me to watch… I kept thinking Tetsuya was going to sweep in and say something to convince Minami to go back with him. Boy, was I wrong, and super happy about being wrong too!
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And she just missed Sena. =(
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And here it comes…. it’s so good that Minami’s being totally honest and not giving Tetsuya the run around as so often it occurs in other dramas. And Tetsuya even guessed it was Sena immediately. I’m already teary with each “gomen nasai” Minami says to Tetsuya…. even if you’re rooting for Sena & Minami to be together this still hurts to watch.
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See, it didn’t make me sad so much as made me uncomfortable after I realized she was really going to tell Tetsuya how she felt about Sena kun. I thought it was incredibly brave of her, and out of all the characters in the series so far, it was at this moment that I realized this show is the greatest testimony to Minami as a powerful Japanese female. I mean, I don’t even think Sena kun ever really says to Minami directly how much he really loves her, you know? I’m so proud of Minami in this moment, even though I feel bad for Tetsuya, but who are we kidding? They weren’t going to end up together. There was no passion there, no real spark.
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Funny how Momochan and Shinji are so frank with one another and it’s wonderful to finally get an all Momo and Shinji one on one conversation here at last. Did you happen to catch that one extra in the background spying the sexy Takenouchi Yutaka for just a moment? I cannot blame her LOL! =D
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I didn’t catch that. I was too busy looking at Momo chan and her nice, extremely toned and defined stomach! Yummy!
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You really sense Shinji and Rumiko are somewhat back together again…? And Ryokochan calls him on it so directly at last. Go back just a few episodes and the timid Ryokochan would never have said those things you have to imagine.
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I bet Minami’s heading over to Sena’s right NOW! And then it’s Ryokochan outside just then…. it’s really wonderful how their friendship has grown so much to the point that she now finds comfort in confiding in Sena.
Hah! isn’t that the story for all of us, we’ll never understand the male mind at all LOL =P! Just kidding…. but it’s true um slightly.
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I feel like Sena kun though too.. I will never understand women just as much as I think women don’t understand us men lol. It’s a never ending cycle, isn’t it? Too funny.
Ryoko chan has certainly become strong, because this show, I think, is really about character growth more than anything else. Ryoko has grown from the hazukashi senpai to the girl who knows she doesn’t want to be screwed around with. I did get a sense that Animal Shinji was back with Ru, but at the same time, until the very, very end of this episode, it’s not exactly clear what’s going on there. I do like the relationship between Sena and Ryoko, but I kept thinking, Oh no, she’s going to give Minami the wrong impression!
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How many times has the little basketball court been a place of good conversation…. Sena always being so positive for Ryokochan as both bear their souls this time around.
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Hahah Minami’s wine boxes are still all around Sena’s place. NO NO NO NO don’t be making any CD!!!!!! The competition! I don’t often favor a beer but they sure make you wanna have one now and then don’t they LOL =P. Mmm…. the old shake the carbonated drink joke.
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Ha ha, carbonated drink joke. I got that too.
I was going to say that the wine boxes at this point are really nostalgic to see, but watching these two down beers is really awesome and I can just watch that all day long. They are so funny when they get to talking after drinking, or they are really argumentative. Looks like we were going to see the latter tonight, which sucked because I didn’t want them to fight anymore, or have any further tension. Seeing them together in bed at the beginning of this episode was so incredible and a looooong time coming that I thought they were just going to treat that like it never happened. But I guess talking here sort of them dealing with the fall out of sleeping together, ne? Really incredible.
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And a moment of truth is here, amazing how Minami comes right out and asks sooooo directly “why did you sleep with me and what were your feelings…?” Now that’s the kind of directness we all crave for don’t we, it’s just that it’s so difficult to come out and say such things really.
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And they were soooooooooooooooooooooo close to revealing their love for one another just now! And yet after a bit of awkward jabbing and bantering it’s not meant to be. And Minami played the Ryokochan card, did not see that one coming as she must know that their truly just friends with no one sided love interest anymore. And here Sena still thinks that Minami’s marriage to Tetsuya is still on and she just has to say it…. say it! =P The ugly past is now rearing its head….. funny how a good conversation can go bad so quickly after just a single ill timed comment. xD
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I was waiting for them to say how much they loved each other here too… Minami was doing her best to set up the perfect situation, at least at the beginning of this conversation, so that it would happen between them to confess the words that would back up the deed they did the other night. But no… we got a really devastating conversation ender where they said they should’ve stayed friends. ouch!
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Minami so didn’t mean that “just friends” comment just then, it’s written all over her face and Sena’s as well after she’s darted out angrily. =(
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I so wish we had a rooftop where you could go to clear your thoughts….. but it couldn’t be any more than two or three stories high as I’m afraid of heights like no one else!~! =P
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You are afraid of heights? I don’t like being near the edge of rooftops for sure, but being up in the air isn’t all that bad… as long as you have somebody to be up in the air with.
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And it’s sad here to witness Minami’s thoughts on Sena perhaps not loving her as much as she had thought… NOT TRUE! HE LOVES YOU! Sena’s going to Boston is now an unfortunate possibility in Minami’s mind. Ah see her keyboard there in the background? It’s such a memorable instrument wouldn’t you say! =)
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so awesome and memorable indeed!
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Oh boy! Tetsuya’s here! =O And he’s going to fight for Minami, you just know it. =/ She’s just not that into you cameraman!!!!!! =P YAY Sena says he’s serious about Minami!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Best words ever!
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Yes, we get a wonderful Sena moment here. I loved it!
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And he’s saying NO! to that CD idea thingy!!!!!!!! Ditto YAY! =D
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Hey mean piano dude, Sena’s full of miracles as is Minami!~!~ ! He’s so blunt saying that Sena doesn’t stand a chance in the competition, really gets your blood boiling this guy! xD
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And I’m sooooo glad that Meanie asked! YES Sena has witnessed a miracle~*! Take that! haha such a satisfying scene. \(^o^)/♥ Sorry I just don’t like that guy. =P
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See! Sena’s mentor believes in miracles~* too! =D
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And what a treat to get one last scene in that warm little eatery~♥! =) “Jumbo gyoza!” that sounds yum! And now I want to eat ramen again too.
OKAY an invitation to Sena’s piano competition. Minami must attend. And the problem here is that Minami believes that Sena will go to Boston without her if he wins =(. Ugh they could have cleared that up in the earlier scene in Sena’s apartment, but this wouldn’t then be a drama would it~! =)
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Yeah, they take liberties here because if Sena was just up front about how he feels in regards to Minami, this whole dorama would’ve been a few episodes. Same with how Minami really feels, but the tension and the will they or won’t they question that kept getting asked in this series didn’t get to be annoying, really. And it’s moments like this that the tension is worth it all…Sena gives her a ticket to his competition, which is something that Minami probably doesn’t want him to do that well in because it means he will be in Boston, away from her, and she would lose him to his performance, in a way. YET, you can see in her eyes that she needs to support Sena no matter what. It’s a beautiful moment for sure.
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The “Long Vacation” is over as Sena says here…. the final episode, it’s all happening so quickly. LOL okay it’s been like eleven episodes now but you know what I mean…? ^^
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I felt that was a little cheezy, but I forgave the Long Vacation reference. It was fine, because I knew what they were trying to get at and say, and it was a reference to the very first few episodes, right? So it was all good.
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And Sena’s taking Minami’s charm~* she gave him! Love that he’s kept it all this time and for the really important things he always takes it along.
It’s like Ryokochan vs. Sena, doesn’t it feel that way.
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So wonderful that Minami sets things as done between them clearly here and I have to say I do so love Tetsuya’s mature ways even when facing such a devastating loss of love. His “stray cat” analogy was cute too! ^^*
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The stray cat analogy was awesome. He’s a great guy, but I also feel as though he had every right to be ten times more upset than he acted here. I was relieved that the writer’s just made him more easygoing about the whole thing, and the stray cat analogy is why he was… he realized that never really had Minami. That was a mature as heck thing for him to say and accept in his heart. Tetsuya I hope finds real love in his life after this show is over! Wait…this isn’t real lol, what am I saying? Ha ha.
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Tetsuya’s truly a warm hearted gentleman!
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I can’t get over that Momochan’s crush is Sena’s mentor LOL =O.
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You can cut the tension with a knife! Competition about to start!~!
And Minami’s not there….yet?
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Seat still empty, where in the world is Minami~chan?? =(
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You just knew that Ryokochan would play so beautifully~♥…. and Matsu Takako really does play the piano in real life too. =)
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She plays in real life? USO??? So beautiful! And of course she owned! It was amazing, as to be expected. No Minami though..I was getting nervous…..
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Seat’s still empty! Minamichan doko ni iru no?? =(
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And alas those doors OPEN! The light it brings in with Minami are as if she were an angel… Sena’s angel that is. =) And now you can see it on his face, he can break down that wall finally once and for all.
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So this part is where I really started to feel the tears swell, and how the whole thing where I said about the doors opening and that Sena would hear it at the prelims kind of came to fruition here. I felt what Sena was feeling in that moment, truly. And seeing her kind of not wanting to be there but knowing she needed to be there. The wall was coming down for sure. It had to. Sena needed to destroy it, rise above it, and oh my goodness…..when he started to play….
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The thing that’s killing Minami is how she doesn’t even think that Sena would like to take her to Boston with him if he wins this competition. Her emotions must be so conflicted inside you have to imagine and why she was perhaps even a bit hesitant to attend.
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LOVE LOVE LOVE! how they flash back the history of Sena & Minami as he plays so eloquently. To relive these scenes one after another and how we all got to here is a pretty amazing boost of chicken skin!
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And right in the middle there’s Minami’s theme being played….♥. Minami’s overjoyed for Sena with those tears and yet destroyed that he may be gone from her life is he wins.
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Amazing yeah! What a climax of music! And the applause says it all!~! Sena’s WON! YES!!!
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I really, really can’t put into a comment how the whole segment made me feel. I literally sobbed like a little baby and had to cover my mouth with a pillow because I was THAT emotionally affected in this part. I waited all these episodes for this exact moment. The summation of all the events that tied into this performance, watching Sena’s face as he played and recollected everything, being lost in that musical moment of perfection onstage…his final moment on the keys before he stands up and realizes he just “went” someplace far above any wall or even anywhere on this earth, seeing Minami in the crowd, hearing the roar of the audience, the cheers of “BRAVO!” much like I wanted to yell at the top of my lungs too when he was finished…. it all rocked me to my deepest core. I really was blown the eff away. I mean it MB. I am not sure I can ever watch this part again… it was so emotionally devastating in a glorious yet melancholy yet powerful way.
Did you ever see Tokyo Sonata by Kurosawa? Came out a few years back? Not sure if I had mentioned it before, but I had seen that movie obviously before this dorama, and I used to think the ending of that movie was so original and perfect. It ends very similar to what I’ve just described. I sobbed so hard when I saw the ending of Tokyo Sonata, as it was beyond perfection musically and in terms of what the music represented for the characters in the film up to that point. If you haven’t seen it, I strongly recommend that you check it out immediately. Anyway, now I realize that Kurosawa probably was watching Long Vacation one night and decided to do his own kind of spin on this part of the Long Vacation story. I really feel like I’ve watched one of the most important, if not THE most important Japanese dorama ever made, or at least I feel that way so far. I got many more to watch too, I’m sure. But this moment in the show… it will stay with me forever.
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See Mr.Meanie! Miracles~* do exist! =D
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Subarashii~! YUp something happened, Minami happened! ^^
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Sena do the shortest acceptance speech in the history of speeches and GO AFTER HER!
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I laughed at this part. Obvious he was going to do it but still… very much in keeping with Sena’s personality. He’s a man of so few words sometimes lol.
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Are you ready for one of the greatest finales ever?
The more Sena runs and looks for Minami the more desperate it gets until you see that little light bulb go off above his head when he finally realizes where Minami must have gone. Of course!
I love this part: “Minami..” “Hai” “Minami” “Hai” “Minamichan” “Hai~hai….” with a smile! And the embrace!!!!!!!!!!! Of course he’s taking Minami to Boston. LOL as a shocked Minami is speechless as Sena “threatens to kiss” her LOL =P And cue our beloved theme song “La La La Love Song.” I liked that little epilogue of dialogue by Minami just before the credits, forever love…♥. ^^
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Very creative way to bring these two together, and symbolic, all the running with Sena coming to Minami instead of Minami running to the man she was supposed to be with when the show started. Talk about a role reversal, and then they continue that at the very end after the credits with them running to the wedding (of course I stuck around! I didn’t want it to end!). Just really fun to watch too, and when they started to kiss and Sena Kun picked up Minami… it was so manly and so powerful of an expression, again, more tears! Team Sena/Minami did it! They ended up together!
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OH but don’t click stop yet, I mean you have to hear the rest of the song right? Plus there’s more!! You didn’t think they’d leave us without showing their wedding day right? So funny 30 minutes late and everyone’s in a little panic!
Now watching Sena and Minami banter a bit in the streets on the way to their wedding is just as it should be… and they lived happily ever after~* ^^*.
~The End~
Thank you Derek-kun for watching with me ♥!
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The ending was beautiful. My only small critique is that I wanted at least another ten minutes to show me more with Ryoko chan, Animal Shinji, Ru, and Momo chan, and what exactly happened to them. But I’m not complaining… by this point, I was just happy to see Minami and Sena finally tie the knot that they’ve been untying for so many episodes now. What a great, great dorama!
So…. what’s next? You mentioned another one possibly we can do? Please say yes! This was so much fun! And I feel very loved and blessed that you would share all of this with me! Thank you MB so much. I really feel like you gave me a great gift in sharing this dorama with me and commenting so much like you did. It’s a great way to see you off into the real world and whatever you will end up doing after you retire from this blog. But if you want, I can go another dorama series! Just throwin that out there for you to consider! Thank you too, MB, for watching with me!!!!
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Overjoyed here Derek-kun!!! I’m going to properly catch up on your comments here and I so would love to watch another drama with you! I’m deciding between 3 and I’ll have the first episode up by next Friday~♡. ^^
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Yeah!!! That’s wonderful news! I get to spend more time with MB! I’m so happy!
I believe in your dorama list you put up awhile back, you had the dorama Mother? Please don’t pick that one, since I had decided to watch that awhile back and am almost finished with it. Just a quick FYI. But any others I’m down for, for sure!
Thanks so much and yes, I’m overjoyed as well. I’m STILL thinking about Long Vacation, and I can’t wait to go thru your recent post with all the music from it too! Arigato!
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I am equally excited about a second drama viewing here!! I’ve got it narrowed down to 2 dramas and will pick one by next Friday. You did mention traveling to Japan soon though so would it be a bad time and should we wait till after you’ve returned?
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Thanks for introducing me to this show. It’s been great. This is the most true-to-life Japanese show that I’ve ever seen, even though it has some romantic clichés.
It’s not the main, plot-turn, scenes that make this show so good. It’s all the little scenes that seem to be just filler, as far as the plot is concerned, but which make the characters seem real. The scene in this episode with the beer overflowing was like many in this series. It was a small thing but so honest to real life and real behavior. It almost looks like it was an accident and they improvised. (If it weren’t for the fact that the camera angle changes, I’d suspect that WAS unscripted.) The way she jokingly accuses him of shaking up the can. It’s not that funny a joke, but that makes the scene so good because she’s saying it out of nervousness. We all at some time, when nervous, make a mediocre joke and nervously laugh at our own joke. And then to top it off, she starts throwing the tissues around. It’s just a gem of a scene.
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Firstly I’m so blown away and overjoyed that you watched through this great drama with us!! And I so agree about those little scenes and the nuances of the characters bringing to life one of the amazing drama scripts by a writing icon. How Minami and Shinji were so believable as siblings always sticks out to me as well. A wonderful observation on the beer scene here and it really had an improvised on the spot feel about it, and just as you said it’s all in the actor’s delivery giving that impression.
Un my most beloved drama series for sure! And I have a couple more surprises to come which I’m going to link directly here in case you’re interested. If you’re subscribed to the comments here you’ll be sure to get them or you could just check back here.
I had a lot of fun watching this drama again as it’ll never grow old to me and again thank you for watching along and chiming in with your thoughts and reaction. ^^
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Hi!
I post it here because I don’t know if you would read the comments on a old post. Thank you very much for all the episodes of Shin Chan you provided! I am a huge fan of Shin Chan, it’s my favorite show. 😀 I grew up with the anime in the Netherlands. Could you please upload all the videos of Shin Chan that you have taped from KIKU TV on VHS? I would be very happy with that and I’m sure many other people to! 🙂
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Hiya Gerben,
I do receive notifications from all posts here, it would be wonderful if you could share a bit about your fandom of Crayon Shinchan there and it’s always great to meet a fellow fan of this beloved anime from yesteryear! It’s such a hilarious anime which pulls no comic punches, looking forward to hearing from you! ^^
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I loved the anime as a kid since I knew it was aired on a kids channel in the Netherlands and watched it every day if I could, ^.^ it was dubbed in Dutch with some censorship but still very funny. Unfortunately they only aired it from 2003 to 2007 because of complaints by parents. 😦 The last new episodes aired in 2005.
I especially like the head of the school! ( https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZdRF7BHahyc/hqdefault.jpg ), episodes with him are very funny. My favorite episode is that he wants to bring Shin homework to Shin’s house but Shin wouldn’t open the door because he didn’t trust it was him unless he did his screaming mafia/gangster impersonation demanding a ransom. He did that and Shin let him but the gossip woman neighbors of the Nohara’s hear it and think that Hiroshi joined the mafia and have debts with them. Because the school head of the felt on the TV remote a violent movie gets played with gun shots which the neighbors and the police agent that was called hear. In the end the head of the school gets taken away to the police station. It may not sound that funny if you read my bad summary but it’s really funny! xD
This is the Dutch intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf1cDtNBV_A It’s a nice tune but I think the Japanese intro that is included with some of your episodes is better!
The reason I’m very very happy with your posting of episodes is because there are very few Shin Chan episodes with English subtitles. If you decide to post more then you could just post the whole VHS recordings instead of editing, that way its less time consuming for you do and I won’t mind it. 🙂
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Oh um I actually meant @ the Crayon Shinchan post. =)
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I have posted it there now. 🙂
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It’s just a bit odd having these comments here. =)
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