Beautiful Life (2000– )

Shuji, a confident young hairdresser working in Tokyo, has an accidental run-in with Kyoko, a wheelchair-bound and somewhat mousy librarian. When Shuji asks Kyoko to be his makeover model, ... See full summary »

Stars:

Takuya Kimura, Takako Tokiwa, Atsurô Watabe

Cast

Series cast summary:
Takuya Kimura	...	Okishima Shuji (11 episodes, 2000)
Takako Tokiwa	...	Machida Kyoko (11 episodes, 2000)
Atsurô Watabe	...	Machida Masao (11 episodes, 2000)
Miki Mizuno	...	Tamura Sachie (11 episodes, 2000)
Chiaki Hara	...	Ozawa Mayumi (11 episodes, 2000)
Hiroyuki Ikeuchi	...	Okabe Takumi (11 episodes, 2000)
Kenzô Kawarasaki	...	Machida Yoshio (11 episodes, 2000)
Kôji Matoba	...	Miyama Kouzou (11 episodes, 2000)
Moro Morooka	...	Tsuchiya (11 episodes, 2000)
Takanori Nishikawa	...	Kawamura Satoru (11 episodes, 2000)
Akemi Ohmori	...	Machida Kuniko (11 episodes, 2000)
Masafumi Senô		(11 episodes, 2000)
Koyuki	...	Nakajima Satsuki (3 episodes, 2000)

Storyline

Shuji, a confident young hairdresser working in Tokyo, has an accidental run-in with Kyoko, a wheelchair-bound and somewhat mousy librarian. When Shuji asks Kyoko to be his makeover model, she is skeptical, but agrees to give it a try. The two gradually start to grow closer to each other, and eventually fall in love. Things seem to be going well for the couple until Kyoko's illness starts growing more severe. Will she recover, or will this young romance end in tragedy?

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Plot Keywords:

librarian | handicap | library | dog | wheelchair | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

Tokyo Broadcasting System, Inc. [jp] (japanese)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

16 January 2000 (Japan)

Filming Locations:

Hasse-cho, Miura-shi, Kanagawa, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS)

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Sweet, maybe a little too sweet

This is pretty much standard fare as far as Japanese TV drama goes. Boy meets girl, they fall in love, then they have to overcome obstacles and misunderstandings along the way, blah, blah. And in the end, true love triumphs over all. Or does it....

The twist here is that the girl is wheelchair-bound and is suffering from some mysterious illness. Will she get better? Or will she kick the bucket? Well, that doesn't matter much since any reasonably intelligent person should have guessed the ending halfway through the series.

What makes this drama series work isn't the mystery of whether or not the girl recovers, but in the appeal of the lead and support characters. Takkako Tokiwa is radiant. If I am her doctor, I would diagnose her illness as Ally McGraw disease. Anyways, after awhile, you can't help but care about these characters. The series is enjoyable on that level.

Based on its merits, this series warrants a look for fans of Japanese dramas, although I think women will enjoy it more than men.