Jdrama Review - Taiyou no Uta (Song to the Sun)

Ok so I don't know if its better translated as "Ode to the Sun" or "Song to the Sun" but in anycase, this drama is good. It's about a girl who has XP, a [rare?] skin disease that prevents her from having any contact with sunlight. As a consequence, she becomes a "moon child;" living her life at night, helping her parents at their restaurant and writing music. Her story becomes intertwined with a young man who left music due to something in his past. But with time she changes him and he changes her. The two of them, along with friends, form a dream together of debuting their band only to be met with a stroke of tragedy.

Kaoru Amane (Sawajiri Erika) is both the character on-screen and the stage name for Erika's own musical career, as she wrote/performed the songs for this drama. Sawajiri Erika (the actress,) has a flair for tragedy. Many people compare this drama to her previous masterpiece, Ichi Rittoru no Namida* (1 Liter of Tears) in which she played another character who dies from a rare disease. The difference is that 1 Liter was based off of a true story and this drama is not. Also, if one watches 1 Liter first (like I did,) this drama seems kind of like a softer rehash. But in its credit, it is a good standalone drama and even if you've seen 1 Liter before it this drama still has a lot of different things to offer.

For one thing, the soundtrack is great and the setting is wonderful. There's something about living under the moon that is magical, mysterious, and even romantic; almost like giving off the sense of being in another world. The characters are fun and not too complex. The story is mainly driven by Kaoru and Kouji (Yamada Takayuki) but the supporting cast makes it more entertaining. If you're not into the really heavy and tragic types of drama, then you're better off watching this drama compared to 1 Liter. I enjoyed watching this one and I think the rest of you will too.

**Presentation/Story: 8/10
Characters: 7/10
Setting: 8.5/10
Music: 10/10
Value: 7/10
***Quirks: 3/10 (+7)


THE GOOD: 1 Liter of Tears now in chewable form for kids - only with more romance & less tears. Erika Sawajiri's hotness. Erika Sawajiri's music. (did i mention the hotness?)
THE BAD: Good effort, but if I have to choose between Erika's two tragedies, I'll stick with 1 Liter of Tears thanks.
THE UGLY: That stupid reporter!!


Review: 7.9/10


FOOTNOTES -
* [see my review for Ichi Rittoru no Namida:]

** Presentation/Story is now grouped together because some dramas are based off of true stories so there's not much room for adding fictional elements all the time. This is where the importance of presentation comes into play and for the fictional stories it will be judged based on the plot.

*** this is a new category. I realized that if I keep to my previous scale most of the dramas will fall into a high-tier rating which would make me seem like a pansy of a critic :p So this category is basically everything thats wrong with the drama (in number form.) It is calculated arbitrarily like the others but when figured in to the final score it is added by the inverse of its score (e.g- quirks: 1/10 (+9) divided by all 6 other categories.