"Summer Snow" (2000) TV series

User Rating:

9.7/10   

Directors:

Tamaki Endou
Shunichi Hirano

Writer:

Eriko Komatsu (writer)

Cast

Tsuyoshi Dômoto	...	Natsuo Shinoda
Ryoko Hirosue	...	Yuki Katase
Chizuru Ikewaki	...	Chika Shinoda
Shun Oguri	...	Shinoda Jun
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mayuko Fukuda	...	Yukari
Hideko Hara	...	Sakurai Miyako
Tsubasa Imai	...	Hiroto Suetsugu
Takuzo Kadono	...	Shogo Katase
Ryoko Kuninaka	...	Misa Suzuki
Shunsuke Nakamura	...	Seiji Tachibana

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Quite simply the best drama I've ever seen.

Summer Snow is one of those dramas that starts off as your typical, run-of-the-mill family stories based on a group of young teenagers. However, what sets this piece of amazing work apart from the rest, is the growing feeling of anger, torment and depression, that eventually leads up to a single point of the story itself, that is explicably noted right at the start, and in the title.

Growing up is never an easy topic, and Summer Snow tries to show this through a number of characters that we undoubtedly understand further into the eleven episodes. Pursuing through this topic is life itself, and thus involves women with heart disease and another with pregnancy. Although quite controversial, these issues are dealt with in a manner you wouldn't quite expect.

Most shocking, of course, is the eventual ending that the viewer receives. It is certainly a shock, but not in a way that it causes the whole series to be distasteful. Instead, it allows the viewer to think through the problems that the characters themselves have been through, culminating to a final 'point' in the purpose of the series itself.

The characters are well defined, and actors prove their very worth in this emotional drama. Considering that these actors are quite young (Tsuyoshi Dômoto was around 21 during the filming of this series; Shun Oguri, the most notable actor, was around 17/18), truth be told they display a wide range of techniques that only further improve the impact of the story.

Summer Snow deserves a lot of praise for it's unique storyline, and how the scriptwriters, director and actors handle certain aspects. If you haven't considered this series yet, your best bet would be to check out JDorama (via google) for more information. I personally rate this the best ever drama series I've ever seen.

One note; the name Natsuo means Summer, while Yuki means Snow. Bare this in mind while watching this fantastic drama.