The new version of "Tokyo Love Story" (hereinafter referred to as "East Love") will usher in the finale this week. Although not favored in the early stage, this web drama jointly developed by Fuji TV and Amazon has achieved gratifying results.
The drama ranks first in the number of domestic TV dramas on its broadcast platform FOD, and its reputation is even equal to the old version. Last week, a Japanese media launched an online poll to survey the audience’s satisfaction with the new version of "East Love": 42% of the 355 people who participated in the vote believed that “the new version and the 1991 version have their own merits,” and 7% thought that “the new version is better than the The old version is good".
In 1991, "East Love" starring Honami Suzuki and Hiroshi Oda became popular in Asia and became the "love enlightenment" of a generation. The new version of "East Love" 29 years later, although it also revolves around the four protagonists of Akana Rika, Nagao Wanji, Mikami Kenichi, and Sekiguchi Rimi, it has made a lot of adaptations of the background and character of the characters: this drama has become less so. "Pure love", but more successfully captured the contemporary struggle between self and love.
Different Lixiang
1991 Lixiang, you can only have my
2020 Lixiang in your eyes, love can not tie the wings
Whether it is the new version or the old version, Akana Lixiang is the soul of this story. In 1991, Rika, played by Honami Suzuki, was an idealized female character in all aspects. She was passionate, dedicated, sweet and direct. Her appearance also represented the mainstream aesthetic of the year: long hair, melon-seeded face, and full of vitality. Smile. The new version of Lixiang does not look so pleasing. Lixiang, played by Ishibashi Jinghe, debuted with a short hair style that is closer to the original comics, and her personality is more selfish and unrestrained.
Regarding the scene where Lixiang and Wanji met for the first time, the old version was like this: Wanji who had just arrived in Tokyo seemed a little at a loss. Lixiang was like a heart-warming little angel: "You have to turn your daily memories into shiny badges, proud Wear it on your chest." In the new version, the newly hired Wanzhi said hello to senior Lixiang. Lixiang looked straight at the young and simple newcomer, as if seeing the prey: "Did someone say you look like white rice? "" The old version of
emphasized the purity of Lixiang in love: she took the initiative to confess her love after she fell in love with the treatment, and after the two were together, she did not shy away from publicly confessing love in the company. However, this love is also oppressive. Lixiang asked Wanzhi to belong to her wholeheartedly: "You have to love me 24 hours a day, whether it's work or playing with friends. Use your sincerity to say love me. If you want to catch me, you can only have Me. Otherwise, I will run away!" In contrast, the new version of Lixiang clearly reflects the independence and self of women in the 21st century. When Wanzhi said to Lixiang, "Promise me not to go anywhere", her response was "I don't like making appointments." Lixiang is like a wild horse running off the rein, no one or anything can hold her back. She even thinks: "The time not with me is the other party's personal belongings. So, to the extreme, when not with me, it is his freedom to even like others. As long as the two of us are When we were together, he was willing to love me wholeheartedly, that's enough." Regardless of the new version or the old version of
, the only thing that remains unchanged is that Lixiang is always ahead of the times. In 1991, Lixiang told the world loudly: Women can also actively pursue love; in 2020, Lixiang declared: Women also have the right to pursue a free life, and love cannot tie anyone’s wings.
Different eras
Telephone in 1991, communication inconvenience caused misunderstandings
Mobile phone in 2020, the Internet is not a love elixir
"Tokyo Love Story" comic book original author Chai Menwen once talked about the expectation of the new version of "East Love": "There is nothing in the original. Of course, smartphones and social networks will also appear on the stage. Great changes have taken place in Tokyo. What will happen to this TV series?" In the new version of "East Love", smartphones and social networks have also become "invisible protagonists."
In the old version of "East Love", the misunderstanding caused by untimely communication has become a major factor in advancing the plot: Lixiang did not see the note Wanzhi left her, and misunderstood that Wanzhi deliberately released her pigeons; Lixiang was in Wanzhi's home The answering machine heard Rimi’s message and thought Wanji would go to meet Rimi again with her behind her back...With smartphones and social networks, will the misunderstanding between lovers decrease?
In the new version of "East Love", social networks have indeed made the previously unimaginable instant messaging possible.Yes: When Lixiang travels abroad, Wanji, who is in Tokyo, can also confess her "want to see you" in the communication software. During the six months that Lixiang worked in New York, the two kept making phone calls and videos every day...but , Not only are social networks not a panacea for love, they may even create more new problems. When Lixiang and Wanzhi were awkward, all the messages that Wanzhi sent to Lixiang showed that they could not be read back; the long-distance relationship that relied on the Internet would become boring over time, just as Mikami said to Wanzhi: I chat with her every day, but do you still remember the touch of her skin and the scent of shampoo?"
Mikami's love affair with Satomi reflects the characteristics of the social network era. Falling in love with Playboy Mikami, the smartphone has become a "torture instrument" to torture Rimi: During the days when I couldn't meet, Rimi sent a number of messages to Mikami to share his daily life, and Mikami didn't even bother to open it; One day, Mei accidentally saw the chat history of Sanshang’s mobile phone, and then realized that Sanshang had an appointment with other women for dinner. She fell into a self-abuse circle and kept searching for clues on social networks, trying to find the "third party". All kinds of information... modern love has become a slave of information.
Different breakups
1991 ending, missed is just helpless
2020 ending, it seems inevitable to break up
in the old version of "East Love", the vacillation of the end has always been the target of public criticism, even the actor Yuji Oda also complained about him. Simply man". Wanji finally didn't have the courage to go with Lixiang, but chose the meek Satomi. This ending made many Lixiang's fans uneasy.
Lixiang and Wanji are a Tokyo girl and the other is a country boy. They have different personalities and visions. It is not difficult to understand why Wanji chose the "similar" Satomi in the end. However, because the old version uses pure love as the keynote, it downplays the differences brought about by the growth background of the two, while the new version emphasizes the gap between the two people's experience and concepts. In the sixth episode of the new version of
, Lixiang took Wanzhi to an international art exhibition curated by her friend. She was able to communicate with professionals about the art in English, but Wanzhi was completely unable to intervene. If this is just a difference in ability, then in the fifth episode of the dialogue between the two people about the "unknown", it is obvious that the two people's concepts are quite different. Wanzhi said to Lixiang: "I have lived in the country since I was a child, and Tokyo has a lot of unknowns for me. People are always a little afraid of the unknown." Lixiang said, "I will be very excited when facing the unknown."
Ishibashi The combination of Shizukawa and Ito Kentaro restores the "sibling relationship" between Rika and Wanji in the original manga. Ito Kentaro's version of Wanji is green and slightly clumsy, and looks like a "little dog" waiting to grow up in front of Lixiang. Can this Wanji grow into a man suitable for Lixiang? The ninth episode of the new version directly sentenced Wanji to the "death penalty": During the six months when Lixiang went to work in New York, Wanji gradually adapted to life in Tokyo, and was no longer the austere and simple appearance of the past. However, the completion of the treatment of "grow up" did not get closer to Lixiang's spiritual world, but began to feel that Lixiang's strong love was a burden. Wanji confessed to Satomi: "For me who just came from the country, Lixiang is very exciting, and her expression changes every day. She is like Tokyo. I got Lixiang like Tokyo, and it seems that I have also got Tokyo." When he After getting accustomed to life in Tokyo, he "wants to escape Lixiang".
Different questions
's innocence in 1991, why didn't Wanzhi choose Lixiang?
The reality of 2020, has Lixiang loved Wanzhi? The viewers of the old version of
have more or less entangled "have Wanzhi ever loved Lixiang". In the old version, Lixiang is a perfect image of a goddess, but Wanji always vacillates between Lixiang and Rimi, and eventually escapes from Lixiang cowardly. But for the audience of the new version, their question is: "Have Lixiang ever loved Wanzhi?"
If the old version of Lixiang pursues pure love, what the new version of Lixiang wants is the excitement in life. She described Wanzhi as "white rice", not overwhelming and very versatile. For a girl like her who was born and raised in Tokyo, Wanji's simplicity and simplicity is what excites her. However, whether it is changing a job in New York or talking about a "world's first love" with Wanzhi, Lixiang enjoys only the feeling of rapid heartbeat.
Compared with the 1991 version of Lixiang’s boldness towards love, the new version of Lixiang seems more powerful and free, but there is still a dissatisfaction in his heart.Hollow. When Wanzhi praised Lixiang sincerely for being different, Lixiang was instantly lost: "Everyone said that, and left me when we finished. At first everyone said Lixiang was interesting, and then we said that we were not the same kind of people, so we separated. No one wants to see my true face, so I am lonely." Lixiang is running all the time, but after finishing treatment, she is seeking stability. When he was in love, Lixiang enjoyed the freshness that Wanzhi brought him, and Wanzhi continued to persuade herself to cooperate with Lixiang, but they never really entered each other's world.
Some people say that the pure love story of the old version of "East Love" is outdated. The screenwriter of the old version of "East Love" Yuji Sakamoto wrote "The Most Perfect Divorce" and "Quartet" after many years. It is a more complicated and delicate love. form. The 21st century has entered its second decade. In such an era where self-worth is more emphasized, people will inevitably continue to struggle between love and self. From this perspective, the adaptation of the new version of "East Love" is undoubtedly successful.
