bury me in this dress

I finished watching Orange Days last night and I can honestly say that it’s a good dorama. Very light, sometimes bittersweet, sometimes funny too.

It stars Satoshi Tsumabuki (of the Waterboys fame) and Kou Shibasaki (the crazy girl in Battle Royale).
Here’s the synopsis according to the TBS site which produced this dorama:

Kai Yuuki (Satoshi Tsumabuki) is in his senior year at university studying social welfare psychology. At present, he is in the middle of job-hunting season. He is finding it difficult with no job offers so far.

One day, he meets a girl who is playing violin in the campus. She is Sae Hagio (Kou Shibasaki). In marked contrast to her beautiful tone and attractive looks, her personality is somewhat impertinent. And to top it off, she communicates through very vulgar sign language.

Four years ago, she lost the most important thing for a violinist - her hearing. As a result Sae closed off her inner self from the outside world.
Kai finds himself on a date with Sae, in place of his best friend. Unexpectedly, he comes into contact with Sae’s private side.
Love, job-hunting, friendship… Setting a campus in spring as a dorama`s backdrop, it’s the start of a glittering youth drama.

One of the reasons why I like this drama is the gentleness of some of the characters like Kai, Akane and Keita in contrast with the more in-your-face personalities of Shohei and Sae. They’re all about to graduate and going out into society is a really big step for them so they try to enjoy the few months they have before the graduation where they will pursue their careers. So one of the subtexts of this dorama is the Japanese working class society where in the adults strictly adhere to corporate rules and decorum because if they don’t, they might risk their jobs.

Another reason why I like Orange Days is because I became more aware of the feelings, fears, and struggles of deaf-mutes. Sae is a deaf-mute but she isn’t born that way. She was a child prodigy for violin and was asked to study at Julliard. While there, she caught a rare disease which damaged her hearing. It was a shock to her and the people who loves her. She is used to being the princecss. She’s very pretty, talented, admired by many and suddenly becoming deaf is a huge blow. She misses her old life, she feels so different from those with normal hearing. She’s angry but doesn’t know whom to blame. When she met Kai and his friends, she slowly learned that there are people who will support her and make her feel a part of their group. And through Kai, she learned how to love and to trust again.

However, this isn’t my favorite dorama. I just really enjoyed watching it.