Love Generation / ラブジェネレーション

Rabu Jenerēshon



KIMURA TAKUYA is 38 this week!

Happy Birthday, hotty!

(I wonder if he's still single - cause he's REALLY close to me in age - just kidding.
I know, he's married with 2 kids.)

This JDorama goes all the way back to 1997, and it stars one of my all-time favorite, Japanese actors, too.

At the beginning, his character, Katagiri Teppei, has this glorious mane of long, thick, and wavy brown hair that made me wish I could just slide my fingers through it, grab hold at the sides of his gorgeous face, and stick my tongue down his throat.

sorry ...

Anyway, the story starts out where he's kind of hanging out at or near a bus stop when a girl who just got into a fight with her fiance is dumped at the curb.



Aloof Teppei pretends not to notice anything until she starts to walk away, and then he invites her to sit beside him and even offers her a smoke - which she accepts and then proceeds to choke on after the first drag.

He nonchalantly invites her to entertain him at a nearby 'love' hotel, and while it seems as if she intends to oblige him, she ends up singing karaoke until the wee hours of the morning instead.

Undaunted, Teppei tries encouraging her to get in the mood, and she suggests that he shower first.

When he leaves the bathroom wearing nothing but black Calvins (sigh - wait a sec - I need a moment to simmer down from THAT delightful memory) he dives onto the bed only to discover that our heartbroken girl is fast asleep.

They part ways, but it isn't long before the two, mismatched strangers are thrust upon one another yet again at the office - where cocky Teppei is removed from the design department at an ad agency and forced to work in the Business Department unless he wants to resign instead.

He's not happy, of course, and he looks as out-of-place in a business suit as he feels about having to wear the stuffy garments.

He's at least pushed back his glorious mane in a ponytail, but the head of the department informs him right away that long hair is NOT acceptable and that he must conform by looking exactly like all the other men in the department - unless he chooses to resign instead.

Poor Teppei.



The girl he tried to shag the night before ends up being the OL whose desk is directly beside his, and when, after a few days, Teppei still sports the ponytail, the chick takes a pair of scissors and ... GASP!

No! You horrid, wicked, evil BITCH!

Yes, she did do that - she cut that ponytail right off his head, and I think I threw something at the computer screen, too, I was so angry.

Okay, whatever ... so, this is the story of a few love situations that all converge.

Teppei is still in love with his high school sweetheart, who turns out to be his older brothers fiance, and the OL he spent a loveless night with at the 'love' hotel still has feelings for the man who eventually dumps her for another woman.

Teppei also has a cute friend who has a crush on the OL, and she has a friend who wants to get busy with Teppei.


Whatever - of the 27,791 total views at aznv.tv, a majority of them gave this a 5 out of 5 points, and even as old as this thing is, I have to agree.

Yes, it was predictable, but even without my shallow observations about Kimura's super-fine ass being the biggest draw, he is an amazingly versatile actor who effortlessly draws you in and makes you believe in whatever character he portrays on screen.

There are a lot of issues personal and otherwise that need to be worked out in order for our destined pair to finally come together, and even then - Teppei's past keeps creeping in and messing things up for the budding romance.

I LOVE THIS GUY!

I liked watching Love Generation, too.

Again, it seems inevitable that the two, quarrelsome strangers will eventually come together in the drama, but the in-between stuff that occurs in the eleven episodes were nothing to complain about, trust me.

There were a few times when Teppei said something to make the girls laugh, and his delivery was so right-on that even I giggled like an idiot while staring at his smirking expression as he asked the laughing chick beside him, "What - was I funny?"

I know it's an oldie, but if you haven't watched this yet, I strongly suggest that you do - if anything (and like me) for a chance to drool over Kimura and his charismatic ways.