Pin to Kona - First Impression (Eps1-2)

When I read the premise of the story, I wasn't that impressed with it and I'm not really too interested in Kabuki. But there are a few actors in this drama that I recognize, so I decided to take a look at the first episode and see what happens. So far I'm really enjoying this show. Mostly because it has an interesting rivalry between the main characters and a cute non-cheesy romance. 

 

So, here we have two big rivalry guys, Kynosuke Kawamura (Yuta Tamamori) and Ichiya Sawayama (Yuma Nakayama). Kynosuke is the son of a famous Kabuki performer, Sezaeman (Goro Kishitani). But Kynosuke has lost his passion for Kabuki and he does his performances half-heartedly. This happened ever since his mother passed away and his father always puts Kabuki first before his own family. But his hate for Kabuki changes when he meets Ayame Chiba (Umika Kawashima). Her love for Kabuki makes him regain his passion for it.

Ichiya is pursuing a goal to become the top star of Kabuki. He takes it very seriously and he works hard to get lead roles in Kabuki.  He's also Kynosuke's rival. Later, Ayame learns a shocking fact about him that he is actually her childhood friend, Hiro, that she was waiting and searching for. As they were children, he made a promise to her that when he becomes the number one Kabuki actor, he will come to look for her.(dawwww) However, things get complicated because Ichiya already has a girlfriend, Yuna (Aoi Yoshikura). She grew up in a Kabuki family and she also gives him leverage to accomplish his goal.  

First Impression:

I love the tension and rivalry going on between Kynosuke and Ichiya. Kynosuke has everything handed to him, while Ichiya has to work hard to get where he is right now. On top of that, they are forced to work together and they don't want to lose to one another over Ayame. But it looks like Kynosuke might be winning because Ichiya has been busy and then there's Yuna. Kynosuke gets the opportunity to hang out with her more often. I guess eventually Ichiya will have to make the biggest decision whether he's going to continue to pursue his goal and give up on Ayama or vise versa. That's why I want to keep watching this to see what will happen next.  (Ganbatte Ichiya! I'm rooting for you.)  

I'm very impressed with Nakayama's performance. Especially, when he's on the Kabuki stage. He was playing the role of a female character. When he wears the full Kabuki make up and Kimono, I hardly recognize him. I don't know much about Kabuki, but I thought his performance was flawless.

I finally found my ikemen summer drama to watch. But I'm looking forward to what the story will bring. In addition, I might learn some things about Kabuki.

Jesse Lewis, what are you doing here!?