This is a pretty fun show. Nobuta wo Produce is a ten-episode Japanese drama series (with plenty of comedy thrown in) that follows the attempts of two high school students (one popular and well-liked, the other a flighty and unpopular dingbat) to "produce" Nobuko Kotani, a new female classmate of theirs. Nobuko, you see, is constantly bullied by her peers, and after witnessing some of this abuse the two students feel sorry enough for her that they decide to try to turn her into the most popular girl in school -- by "producing" her in the same manner that record companies manufacture pop starlets. They've got their work cut out for them: Nobuko (adeptly played by Maki Horikita, who had a small role as Tsuyoshi's younger sister in Densha Otoko) rarely speaks (and tends to stutter when she does), is terrified at the idea of interacting with others, and scares people whenever she tries to smile.





Shuji Kiritani (Kazuya Kamenashi) gets the most screen-time, and is the ostensible hero of the series -- a popular teenager, beloved by his classmates and by Mariko, the best-looking and most sought-after girl in the school. Though outwardly happy, he sees his popularity as something of a facade, the result of putting a great deal of effort into the "game", as he calls it, and he often frets over how differently he acts at home as compared to school. But he's otherwise a pretty typical kid. Akira Kusano (Tomohisa Yamashita), meanwhile, our other hero, is an oddball, a free-spirit who always seems to be getting on someone's nerves with his dopey, overly-familiar mannerisms (Shuji ruefully admits towards the beginning of this first episode, via his inner monologue, that Akira is the only person in the school that he has trouble understanding and getting along with). Akira isn't interested in popularity, and reacts to much of the world with an exaggerated sense of innocent childlike wonder -- he seems to have very little awareness, for instance, of the unspoken rules of the social ladder that govern high school cliques. His eccentric performance is a little annoying at first, but as you learn more about the character, the more he grows on you.

The unlikely duo conspire to turn Nobuko into the most popular girl in school...or at least, to get the other kids to stop bullying her (Akira comes up with the idea, and Shuji goes along with it following a sort of crisis of conscience). Nobuko is reluctant to go along with the plan at first, preferring not to cause anyone any trouble, but a final bout of bullying changes her mind -- although she remains skeptical about most of the plans that Shuji and Akira cook up.





This first episode focuses mostly on the hatching of the initial plot; as such, we're treated to a lot of Nobuko (whose nickname eventually becomes Nobuta; don't ask) being bullied and harassed by other girls, namely Bando, the ringleader of the school's resident "bad girl" group. Bullying has a different flavor to it in Japan than in the United States, at least if the events depicted in this series are any indication (and from what I've read about Japanese high schools, it probably hits pretty close to the mark): bullying over there takes the form of studied and deliberate social ostracism, compounded by elaborate, sometimes well-planned efforts to humiliate the victim. That sort of thing can happen anywhere, of course, but I don't recall ever seeing anything quite like it when I was in high school; bullies at my school, at least, never seemed to put a great deal of effort or forethought into their bullying. They struck randomly, hard and fast, then immediately proceeded to forget that their victims even existed.

At any rate, Nobuta wo Produce is an entertaining slice-of-life series -- lively, playful, and occasionally moving, even in this first episode. I liked it quite a bit.

A special thanks to dancestar24, pokute, tianj, mystery korean, oscar_6, gryzze, and that whole crew (they know who they are) for giving us the opportunity to review (and enjoy) this series. Thanks guys! And keep up the good work.

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