.gif)
Love Generation (television series)
Encyclopedia
is a drama
that aired on Fuji TV
. It first aired in Japan
from October 13, 1997 to December 22, 1997 every Monday. It enjoyed a very high rating of 30.8% and features music by Cagnet
.
Teppei's apartment has many unusual items such as a Thai
artifact, a 30-year-old refrigerator that is no longer manufactured, and a crystal apple. The meaning behind the apple is that there is only one true love, between Adam and Eve
, that is. A crystal is very fragile, and when one would look in it, his or her views would appear upside down. The apple is seen upside down for the 10 of the 11 episodes. At the last episode, however, the apple is no longer upside down. The apple was also on the album cover of Love Generation's soundtrack.
The advertising poster appears over and over again. The model
is holding a crystal apple, and the message True love never runs smooth (based on the quote from William Shakespeare
's A Midsummer Night's Dream
) symbolizes the relationship between Riko and Teppei, which constantly faces struggles from when they meet for the very first time to the love triangle. This advertisement is visible everywhere from the park to Teppei's 30-year-old refrigerator, as "True love never runs smooth" is the unofficial tagline of this TV series.
Japanese television drama
, also called , are a staple of Japanese television and are broadcast daily. All major TV networks in Japan produce a variety of drama series including murder romance, comedy, detective stories, horror, and many others...
that aired on Fuji TV
Fuji Television
is a Japanese television station based in Daiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, also known as or CX, based on the station's callsign "JOCX-DTV". It is the flagship station of the Fuji News Network and the ....
. It first aired in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
from October 13, 1997 to December 22, 1997 every Monday. It enjoyed a very high rating of 30.8% and features music by Cagnet
Cagnet
Cagnet is a "soulful pop and R&B" group that has become very successful in Japan due to their contributions to drama soundtracks like "Long Vacation" and "Love Generation"...
.
Cast
- Katagiri Teppei - Takuya KimuraTakuya Kimura, nicknamed , is a Japanese singer and actor. He is also a member of the Japanese idol group SMAP. Most of the TV dramas he starred in produced high ratings in Japan...
- Uesugi Riko - Takako MatsuTakako Matsu, born , is a Japanese actress and pop singer/songwriter born on June 10, 1977 in Tokyo, Japan. The style of her music is often laid-back and relaxing.- Profile :* Interests: Watching movies and stage plays...
- Takagi Erika - Norika FujiwaraNorika Fujiwarais a Japanese beauty queen, model and actress. She became Miss Japan in 1992 and was an exclusive model for CanCam magazine. She has appeared in various commercials and TV series and a number of films in Japan.-Career:...
- Katagiri Soichiro - Masaaki Uchino
- Mizuhara Sanae - Junna RisaJunna Risais a Japanese actress.-Filmography:# 夜間飛行 # ショコキ! # 白い影 その物語のはじまりと命の記憶...
- Yoshimoto - Kawabata Ryuuta
Characters
- Katagiri Teppei is a talented advertisement designer and a playboy with an egocentric attitude and dislike for mediocrity. He starts a relationship with Riko, but still misses his past girlfriend Sanae at the same time.
- Uesugi Riko is a secretary who works in the same department as Teppei. Hoping to become more independent, she moved away from her family in Nagano to TokyoTokyo, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. She is a girl with a lot of spirit, and eventually becomes part of a love triangle. - Takagi Erika is a flight attendantFlight attendantFlight attendants or cabin crew are members of an aircrew employed by airlines primarily to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers aboard commercial flights, on select business jet aircraft, and on some military aircraft.-History:The role of a flight attendant derives from that of similar...
and Riko's best friend. While she secretly likes Teppei, she frequently gives helpful advice to Riko to help her maintain her relationship. - Katagiri Soichiro is a prosecutor and Teppei's brother. He is very serious in his doings unlike Teppei, and thus Soichiro is his brother's role model. He was engaged to Sanae, Teppei's former girlfriend, but he meets his own past girlfriend and develops an affair with her later on in the story.
- Mizuhara Sanae is a translator of between Mandarin and JapaneseJapanese languageis a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
. She was Teppei's high school sweetheart. Later, she became engaged to his brother Soichiro, but later finds herself falling in love with Teppei again. - Yoshimoto is Teppei's high school friend, who falls in love with Riko at first sight, but is rejected by her.
Summary
Love Generation, as the title suggests, revolves around the relationship of the two leading protagonists, Katagiri Teppei and Uesugi Riko, who begin their relationship as squabbling colleagues before falling in love. Katagiri Teppei is a talented designer and very popular among women. Unfortunately, Teppei, who despises conformity, is forced to move to the sales department for his egocentric behavior. Throughout the series, he is forced to adapt to the new working environment, which includes cutting his precious locks of hair to create a neater and more professional image. As he struggles to adapt, he meets Uesugi Riko. While she does not like him at first, she eventually falls for him. However, Teppei runs into his high school sweetheart Mizuhara Sanae, and discovers that his ex-girlfriend is now engaged to his brother Soichiro. Fortunately, Riko is there to console him, and this eventually blooms into a romance. Not long after, however, Sanae realizes she still has feelings for Teppei, and thus creates a love triangle. To make the matter even more complicated, Soichiro starts to have an affair with his past girlfriend.Crystal apple
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
artifact, a 30-year-old refrigerator that is no longer manufactured, and a crystal apple. The meaning behind the apple is that there is only one true love, between Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve were, according to the Genesis creation narratives, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by YHWH, the God of the ancient Hebrews...
, that is. A crystal is very fragile, and when one would look in it, his or her views would appear upside down. The apple is seen upside down for the 10 of the 11 episodes. At the last episode, however, the apple is no longer upside down. The apple was also on the album cover of Love Generation's soundtrack.
True love never runs smooth
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
is holding a crystal apple, and the message True love never runs smooth (based on the quote from William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
) symbolizes the relationship between Riko and Teppei, which constantly faces struggles from when they meet for the very first time to the love triangle. This advertisement is visible everywhere from the park to Teppei's 30-year-old refrigerator, as "True love never runs smooth" is the unofficial tagline of this TV series.