Friday, June 21, 2013

The Hearts for Fashion – Carnation

Konnichiwa minasan! It has been a long time that I did not blog about the Japanese drama series. Well, there is a Japanese drama series that I would like to recommend to you all which I am watching it on the Astro Quan Jia HD Channel (channel 3O8) currently. The title is called “Carnation”. It is a true story of a Japanese fashion designer.

The story is based on the life of fashion designer Koshino Ayako, who passed away in 2006 at the age of 92. Although she was a successful designer in Japan, she also single-handedly raised three daughters who followed in her footsteps to become internationally known designers, named Hiroko, Junko, and Michiko.
 
 
Title         : Carnation
Genre       : Historical, Family, Drama
Episodes  : 151
Air Time   : 8:00pm – 8:30pm Every Monday – Friday @ Astro Quan Jia HD Channel
                    (channel 308)

Story        :

The story begins in 1924 when Itoko Ohara is a rambunctious and free-spirited 11-year-old girl. The eldest daughter of Zensaku, who runs a small kimono fabric shop, and Chiyo, who left her rich family to elope with Zensaku, Itoko loves the Danjiri Matsuri, but is upset that girls are not allowed to participate. She finds a substitute in dressmaking after she sees Western dresses for the first time when visiting her grandparents in Kobe. After proceeding to girl's middle school, she gets her first glimpse of a sewing machine and becomes obsessed with working that device. Pressing her stern and obstinate father, who objects to Western clothing, she finally convinces him to let her leave school to pursue her dream. But she has to overcome many hurdles along the way, which she does through her persistence, creativity, and indefatigable nature. She first works at a shop that makes a form of men's underwear, but gets fired when times get hard. She finally convinces a sewing machine saleswoman to teach her Western dressmaking, and succeeds in designing and creating the uniforms of a Shinsaibashi department store, but Zensaku still makes her work at a series of establishments after he complains of her lack of business acumen. At first a tailor shop and then a fabric store, Itoko greatly increases business through hard work and innovation. Convinced that his daughter has grown and that kimono fabric is a dying business, Zensaku retires and hands the business over to Itoko, who finally opens her own Western dressmaking shop in 1934.

 
Masaru Kawamoto, who was Itoko's co-worker at the tailors, proposes marriage and enters the Ohara family as a mukoyōshi. The two have three daughters while running a successful business making Western-style clothes for men and women. But their world is profoundly changed by Japan's pursuit of war. Their neighbors Taizō Yasuoka and his younger brother Kansuke are both drafted and die in battle. Zensaku is badly burned in a fire at home and eventually dies. Itoko's former schoolmate Natsu, who ran a high-class ryōtei, has to sell it when business goes bad and then flees town to escape her debtors. Even Masaru is drafted and sadly dies of an illness at the front shortly before the war ends.

 
After the war, Itoko is able to rebound rather quickly and assists others in recovering as well. She helps Yaeko, Taizō's widow, resume her hair permanent business, and when she discovers that Natsu had become a prostitute for American servicemen, she convinces Tamae, Taizō's mother, to save Natsu by hiring her. Itoko joins the local fabric guild and meets a young tailor from Nagasaki named Ryūichi Suo. Through various circumstances, the two come to work together and fall in love—even though Suo has a wife and children. Resolving to solve the situation, Itoko supports Suo in opening his own shop and never sees him again.

 
As time passes, Itoko's three daughters begin to decide on their careers. Yūko, the eldest, initially wants to go to an art college, but when Itoko challenges her on whether she really wants to be an artist, she decides to attend a fashion design school in Tokyo instead. Naoko, who always seems to be fighting with Yūko, decides to go to the same school, much to Yūko's consternation—and then becomes the first to be successful by winning a major award. Yūko returns to Kishiwada after graduating to help her mother, but Naoko stays in Tokyo to open her own boutique. When it begins to flounder due to Naoko's abrasive personality, the gentler Yūko travels to Tokyo, despite being married and with a daughter, to help out. Meanwhile Satoko, the youngest, who seems furthest removed from the clothing world, gives up a promising tennis career to learn dressmaking under her mother. Itoko, however, starts to feel her age as fashions change from Dior to Louis Vitton to miniskirts, and contemplates handing over the business to Yūko. But Kishiwada is too small for Yūko, who starts her own boutique in Shinsaibashi. Even Satoko, whom Itoko thinks of giving the shop to next, decides to go to London to try her design skills.

 
The years pass and Itoko's daughters are solid successes in the fashion world. Yūko's daughter Rika, however, had become a rebellious youth who flees her mother to stay with Itoko. Through her grandmother's love, she finally finds herself and eventually begins working for her mother. Itoko helps others as well. Succumbing to the pleas of a son of an old friend, she designs some clothing for the elderly, and is such a success she starts her own brand of clothing that makes her even more famous. Doing a fashion show at a hospital, she runs into Natsu for the first time in decades, and even meets the daughter of Suo. Working everyday into her nineties, and even renovating her home, she collapses in March 2006 and dies in the hospital at the age of 92. The many she helped gather at her home and watch the Danjiri Festival from the window—while Yōko tells her sisters that a TV network wants to do an asadora of their mother's life.

 
 
Cast :
Ono's character in the drama, modeled after Koshino, is named Ohara Itoko. She  plays the character from her teenage years to her fifties. The story is set in the Kansai region, but Ono did not have problem with the dialect since she is originally from Nara.

 
Well, let us take some peek of the drama series “Carnation” at below.
 
 
 
 
 


The “Carnation” is also has won few awards in the 72nd Television Drama Academy Awards in Japan. The awards are listed as below :-

 
Frankly speaking, my mother and I are enjoying watching “Carnation” every night. The reasons are the story is interesting and I also like the character of the lead actress “Itoko”. She is the person that did not give up easily and always tries to overcome her troubles to pursue her goals and finally she became a popular fashion designer. I think it is a positive attitude for us to learn from her. :P

 
Well, if you would like to enter the world of fashion, you may click “Carnation” to catch the drama series.

 
Enjoy watching!!! ^.^

Friday, June 14, 2013

Good-Bye to my Most Favourite Manga Series -- Vampire Knight

The manga series "Vampire Knight" by Matsuri Hino has been ended finally. I have been followed such manga series for years and I selected it as my most favourite manga series and anime series too.

Well, the ending could be considered as sad and happy for me. Sad is due to the character Yuuki could not be together with Kaname. However, she is finally married to Zero and have a daughter and son with him. Both the characters Kaname and Zero are my favourite male characters in the manga series.

I remember one of my online good friends and I are very fond of the character Zero and we discussed about the ending of "Vampire Knight"before. I recalled my ending for the story was that Kaname has dead and Yuuki is with Zero but carried with the child of Kaname. Well, this is my thought of the ending. In the manga series, Yuuki is with Zero, Kaname has dead and alive again but Yuuki did not carry his child! Haha!!! But there are still some similarities!!! Don't you think so?!! :P



Since the manga series has ended, I wish there would be Season 3 of the "Vampire Knight" anime series to show the later part of the story of the manga series after the 2 seasons of anime series. I guess this is the wish of all the fans of the "Vampire Knight", am I right?! :P

Anyway, if you yet to read this manga or anime series, I am strongly recommend it to you as it is a shoujo manga series with romance, action, supernatural and tragedy!

You may read or watch the series of "Vampire Knight" in the respective links below.
Vampire Knight Manga Series
Vampire Knight (S1) Anime Series
Vampire Knight (S2) Anime Series


Enjoy reading and/or watching!!! :)