Friday, August 15, 2014

Takashi Kashiwabara: Happy Plan Episode 2



Starring: Takashi Kashiwabara, Lin Chu Han

Cheng Si Si (Lin Chu Han) and Zhi Yan (Takashi Kashiwabara) continue to keep in contact after the previous encounter. Although, both of them were living at different side of the world, they were able to overcome the language barrier and communicate with each other. 


Zhi Yan apologized to Si Si for the misunderstanding , and she apologized to Zhi Yan for venting her frustration on him. Perhaps because of what happened recently (loneliness, fall out of love and was dismissed from work), Si Si opened up her feelings to Zhi Yan. she shared about the supposed trip to Japan with her boyfriend next month. Zhi Yan suggested that she go traveling happily by herself. After that, he continued to promote his Happy plan which irritated Si Si who just wanted to find somebody to talk with. 


Eventually, Zhi Yan suggested to Si Si to carry out the Happy Plan to make herself happy. First of all, she have to go for a haircut. Si Si was hesitant initially but still went ahead with the plan. She went to a hair salon and cut her hair short. She immediately took a picture of her new image and send it to Zhi Yan. Both of them text message each other using LINE frequently, as a result their relationship became closer.  


Zhi Yan is interested in chinese culture and shared that his family ramen restuarant is called Guangzhou Times Square. On the other hand, Si Si revealed that she wanted to visit Japan and she had learned some Japanese too. Finally, Si Si mustered up her courage and requested to speak to Zhi Yan on the phone. However, Zhi Yan kept silence for a period of time before he apologized to her. Although Si Si was disappointed with the rejection, she tried to laughed it off. She told Zhi Yan that she had brought a pair of shoes and is ready to take the first step now. 


At the Ramen restuarant, Zhi Yan appeared to be troubled as he finds it hard to explain his difficulty (he could not speak). A flashback showed us that Zhi Yan encountered a terrible experience when he was young. The family photo revealed that the Ramen restuarant boss is Zhi Yan father and his mother is no longer around. From then onwards, Zhi Yan had lost his voice and became antisocial. 


Si Si asked Zhi Yan for his name in one of the text message. He was surprised that Si Si does not know since he had emailed to her the proposal for the Happy Plan. Si Si was embarrassed and explained that she had overlooked the message as she was not in a good mood during that time. Si Si checked the email again and realized that his name is Orihiko Amano, a Japanese travel insurance agent. Zhi Yan thought that Si Si had send a email to him about The Happy Plan and was curious that the the surname was different (Cheng and Wang).


Si Si suddenly remembered that a few weeks ago, she and her boyfriend intended to visit Japan and they even brought the air tickets. Her boyfriend used her mobile phone and emailed to Zhi Yan travel insurance company. This encounter was not accidental, in fact Zhi Yan got confused with the data and thought that Si Si intended to purchase the Happy Plan. In order to keep in contact with Zhi Yan, Si Si decided not to disclose this matter.


They did not exchange text message with each other for the next two days. Suddenly, Zhi Yan send her a formal message and apologize for sending the email to the wrong person, as he was newly employed as the company travel insurance planner. Si Si was upset that the message sound so distant, but she was thankful to Zhi Yan for being there during the lowest point in her life. Therefore, she suggested the final chapter of the Happy Plan is to meet up with each other. She boldly took the first step and asked Zhi Yan for a chance to meet up with him, in order for her to move on in life. 


Initially, Zhi Yan was hesitant about the meet up, however he appeared to be deep in thoughts as he stared at the family portrait. Soon, Si Si received a Japanese text message, she used the dictionary and interpreted that he will be meeting her at the Guangzhou Times Square. Si Si was so excited and happy that she message back, "Ok darling" to Zhi Yan. 

My thoughts


What a dreamy show! How I wish in reality I will have this encounter too. However, in this society is it so easy to believe someone especially since the other party is a complete stranger? The storyline is unique but the content need to be strengthen. This is Takashi Kashiwabara first debut as a scriptwriter, thus he definitely needs more encouragement. His performance was good for a newbie writer and can be further polish in his way of writing. 

The story has continued after their first encounter on the phone and in this episode, there are more interaction between the leads. Takashi Kashiwabara acted as a reserved and antisocial insurance agent in this short film. He have to rely on his facial expression and gesture to convey his thoughts and feelings since he does not have any dialogue. The only time we can hear his gentle voice is when he read out the text messages. I like the scene where Takashi Kashiwabara was flipping through the book and appears to be deep in thoughts. He executed an attractive sophisticated charm from head to toe.

Lin Chu Han who acted as Cheng Si Si did moderately well, despite her stiff expressions. Her performance can be further improved as time goes by and when she accumulate more experiences. Subsequently, I look forward to their first meeting and what type of adventure awaits them. 




5 comments:

  1. The second episode! 😆😆😆

    Don't you think it's a bit ironic when Takashi is the scriptwriter but then he has no dialogue at all ( except for the written mesages)?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello Mulanrizu,

    It was indeed ironic that Takashi did not have any dialogue. :) I think there are three reasons why:

    1) This film was produced by LINE, therefore he had to promote it to the Chinese market.

    2) This is a film specially made for his China fans. I think his focus is to develop a story based on the Chinese actress. Furthermore, Takashi cannot speak mandarin, it will be weird to use a Voiceover in dialogues and I am glad they did not use any of that or else it will be weird. I rather hear Takashi gentle voice.

    3) Honestly, the tight budget of the movie which does not allow them to do much and they have to film it within a time frame. If you notice, Takashi is mainly at the Ramen restaurant since his character in this film is an antisocial travel insurance planner. I think Takashi still look charming without saying anything. (Love letter)

    Mulanrizu, I am curious to know when did you started to like Takashi Kashiwabara? :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Konnichiwa Drama Queen!

    I'll just go to number 2. hehe.

    2. Woah, that means Kassy have a really strong fan-based in China then? Yup2, I think it would not great if they use voiceover, and for sure the fan missed Kassy's voice so much. =D

    3. Maybe his persona it's already charming without having him to say anything. Just the facial expression and body language, what an actor!

    well, I'm a bit shy to share this, but I have noticed Takashi Kashiwabara back in 2008 when he was acting in Honey and Clover. It was just a supporting role by the way. Not a main lead. But I was too busy with my studies (college and uni) to be following his updates. Now that I have graduated and still have some time before I start working, this passion is driving me again. XD.

    To be honest, it's ONLY HIM. I don't know about other japanese actors. but This one really catches my attention. XDDD

    What about you? since when did you like Takashi Kashiwabara?
    [p/s: why are you curious? isn't normal to like an actor? hehehe)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Mulanrizu,

      Actually I am just curious which Kassy drama/film caught your attention and it is absolutely fine to like an actor. :) Yes, I like Kassy role in Honey and Clover too but not the drama.. Haha too boring for me. I used to watched Kassy drama and listen to his band music (nowhere) when I was studying in school. Those were the golden years of Jdorama and Kassy was very popular then. I personally like his earlier famous works such as Love Letter, Mischievous Kiss and Shota No Sushi. Kassy is a low profile actor that has charisma. Hope he get more opportunity as an actor and more recognition.

      Delete
  4. ヤバイ!i wish i encounter such handsome man like takashi kashiwabara san. If i was in her position. I would definitely want to know him more.

    ReplyDelete