Nagi's Long Vacation is a television drama based off of the manga of the same name created by Misato Konari. The drama was directed by Toshio Tsuboi and rewitten for television by Satomi Oshima. A full cast of up and coming actors and actress take part who include, Haru Kuroki(To Each His Own, Million Dollar Man), Issey Takahashi(The Lies She Loved, Million Dollar Man), and Tomoya Nakamura.
Nagi is a women who always "reads the atmosphere" in most situations that she's in. She doesn't like to stand out or cause trouble for others, so she keeps her true feelings to herself. She has a regular job and a boyfriend who, even though they work for the same company, he ignores her most of the time, only coming to see her for sex. Women who Nagi would consider her friends also only use her to do their project for them while talking about her behind her back. On top of all of this, Nagi's natural hair is a curly afro. Soon many events happen that cause Nagi to have a big wake up call about the life she is currently living. She decides to pack her bags, stop straightening her hair, and move out to the countryside where none can find her… So she thinks…. This is Nagi's LONG Vacation.
I wasn't aware that Nagi's Long Vacation was originally a Manga series. I just decided to check this drama out because many people had good things to say and you don't get that with a lot of East Asian dramas nowadays. Nagi's Long Vacation could have hit many stereotypical potholes on it's road to successful storytelling. These would have been potholes that I wouldn't have minded so much. I'm a big fan of anything where the main character becomes a better person than who they were when the story first started. Nagi's journey could have stayed in the same old "shy girl becomes confident girl" category as I had expected it would but Nagi does well taking the roads less traveled by other East Asian drama scripts. It takes this drama about two episodes to solve a conflict that would have taken a Korean drama twenty episodes to solve. I was shocked out how Nagi faces her problems at a fast pace that doesn't feel rushed or sloppy. Viewers instead feel refreshed by the new dynamics not rarely seen, then they wonder what will happen next. You come to find as you continue through the episodes that Nagi isn't the only person in her life who can't learn how to be themselves. Both men she runs across also have to same mentality as her, which was a nice touch to the script. Nagi's dismay center focuses outside herself and connects to the dismay of the other characters. Yes, there's romance in this drama but you don't really support love the way you would watching other dramas. If I were to put it into simple words, viewers will end up rooting for Nagi's progression of her own self love than you will any other relationship that happens in Nagi's Long Vacation.
I loved the cast of characters, even though Issey's character causes severe mood swing syndrome….At least on my part anyway. I'm actually a fan of Issey as an actor and have been since some of hi early dramas such as Quartet and Love That Will Make You Cry, He's finally getting lead roles in dramas and films so I'm proud that his talent is getting more recognized. Haru portrayed Nagi has a very flawed human being. One episode could make the different on the character's progress to becoming a stronger, more emotionally independent person. Watching her performance was sometimes very frustrating since the character would do so well, then all of a sudden take two steps back into her old habits. Haru is a good actress. This I know after watching her in To Each His Own before she crossed over into becoming Nagi, who are two very different characters. Tomoya was like Nagi's reflection in a way. His character helped her grow. All I can say is some men need to realize what they have before it's gone. This could be said about all the men in this drama. Oh. I lastly want to mention that I noticed a black actor in this drama too. I believe his name is Moctar. Having more representation of us in Japan is nice to see.
There's something special about the location used to film Nagi's Long Vacation. The drama constantly goes back and forth between two places: the city and the country side. Each transition from places to place feels smooth to the viewer and Japanese people make simple living always single a kind of rebirth. Most of the cast can be seen walking down various roads to get home or to work. The country had a lot of grassy hills where small apartments stood(similar to Nagi's place) or a road that ran along the riverside.
I forgot to mention above that Nagi's Long Vacation has many sub genres. Comedy can be seen mixed with romance and a slice of life. This drama defiantly goes on the list as on of the best Japanese dramas of 2019….. Just for being original at that. Hope everyone has a happy holiday!
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